October 31, 2007

Nightcrawlin'

Go outside at night and listen closely. You'll notice it especially in the fall before the freeze... tiny sounds, crickly-cracks, secret life bristling in the ground. That be the sound of earthworms coming alive, otherwise known as nightcrawlers if you're a fishin' grandpa. And it drives our cat Jasmine nuts. The very ground is teasing her... over here! No, over here! Our entire yard becomes a Confuse-a-Cat.

MUSIC: Under Feather, Runaway Train (Presumably no relation to the Soul Asylum song.)

This video first appeared on MInnesota Stories in September, 2005.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 11:42 AM | Comments (1)

October 28, 2007

Al Frankenstein for Senate

A Mad Scientist makes makes a political monster with 1 part comedian, 1 part author and 1 part Minnesotan. The result is Al Frankenstein...Feared on the campaign trail. A new classic vid from Steve Barone of MinnieIndie.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 02:40 AM | Comments (1)

October 24, 2007

Knocking Down Barriers To Video Citizen Journalism

The revolution will not be televised, but it will be uploaded.

One by one the barriers to creating your own mass media have been coming down. First blogs let anyone publish their own newspaper, then podcasts let anyone publish their own radio show, now online videos let anyone put out a TV show…if you have the equipment and technical know how. Cameras and editing software have become less expensive and easier to operate. But creating and distributing your own video news story can still be a complicated and frustrating proposition.

The UpTake is stepping in to get rid of that last barrier.

This weekend The UpTake has scheduled its first video citizen journalism class. It’s free and open to the public (registration is required ahead of time through Wellstone Action). The class will cover the impact video citizen journalism has had and can have, cover story telling techniques and some of the nuts and bolts of shooting and editing video.

Video produced by Mike McIntee.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)

October 23, 2007

Minneapolis Architecture

John Comazzi, a University of Minnesota Architecture professor, goes Cool Hunting around several superstar Minneapolis landmarks, including the Walker Art Center, new Guthrie, Weisman Art Museum, and even the ol' IDS Tower.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 12:57 AM | Comments (2)

October 22, 2007

Clown Diving

You know - clown diving? Beats me. The description from TedPCA: Masters Clown Diving at Masters National Diving event 1999 in Minneapolis.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 06:22 AM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2007

Citizen Journalism: Now, More Than Ever!

Citizens!

Lay down your ePods and cyberPhones for a moment, and take up the cause of citizen journalism. The health of our democracy is on our hands, and we must pick up our cameras and find the truth(s) out there ourselves. That's what The Uptake is all about - but we need your help. Why? We want to train and equip a legion of citizen journalists to cover events happening in our communities, all leading up to the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention.

Please come down to our fun[d]raiser at the 331 Club on Saturday, Oct. 20, from 3 - 6 PM. You'll get a couple of free beers, good company, citizen videos, and maybe even your own press pass. There's never been a more vital time for us to "be the media."

DONATE ONLINE HERE if you're not local or unable to attend. Thank you so much.

ALSO: Come on down to Solutions Twin Cities on Friday night. It promises to be a night of mind-expanding possibilities. I'll be making a very strange 7-minute presentation about citizen journalism, with some audience interaction. Don't miss it.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 05:34 AM | Comments (10)

October 18, 2007

The American Depression: Portrait of Neil Bain

Nick Bain directed this short documentary on his grandfather, Neil Bain, in 2006. It focuses on his experiences during the Great Depression. This film was exhibited at the Minnesota Historical Society and is now part of their permanent collection.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 02:45 AM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2007

Malcolm Gladwell

From Michael Bischoff:

Malcolm Gladwell, the author of The Tipping Point and Blink, comments on the future of crime and justice in Minnesota.

These are excerpts from Gladwell's speech in Minneapolis on 10.9.07. The full speech is available here. The report that he commented on is available at: crimeandjustice.org.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 12:45 AM | Comments (1)

October 16, 2007

Aaron's Lawn Gnome

Gnome on the run! Aaron's lawn gnome, that is. Here he is stumbling upon a magical town full of gnomes in Minnesota:

I continued walking West today and stumbled upon a town called Dawson. What happened after that isn't all that clear to me. I just know that I don't remember the last time I was so excited. It must have been such an overwhelming experience that my brain doesn't know how to categorize what I went through today. Simply put, I met a town full of gnomes!

Read more about this crazy tale on Aaron's blog.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 05:46 AM | Comments (4)

October 15, 2007

Pillow Fight

Paulino Brener was at the Oct. 12 pillow fight in Minneapolis, outside the Walker Art Center. Were you there? Looks like it was tons-o-fun! Except, not as heavy as that sounds.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 04:32 AM | Comments (0)

October 11, 2007

Chocolate Rain LIVE

Believe it! Tay Zonday at First Avenue Mainroom, 10/5/2007, opening for Girl Talk. Courtesy of Twin Cities Live. Watch the original here if you're feeling nostalgic.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 05:29 PM | Comments (3)

October 09, 2007

SPAM Museum

Recent Minnesota transplant and nascent YouTube star Aspidrador is taking a video tour of Weird Minnesota. He started, naturally, at the Spoon Bridge then headed into the Wabasha Caves. To complete a perfect trifecta of Minnesota stories, he braved that little slice of pig heaven in Austin, MN: the SPAM Museum.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 04:53 AM | Comments (0)

October 08, 2007

Zombifying

What happens before the brains are eaten? Here's Courtney, zombifying before the Third Annual Zombie Pub Crawl last weekend.

MNspeak link to more zombie photos.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 12:55 AM | Comments (1)

October 05, 2007

Pirates vs. Zombies

It's that time of year, when fingers fall off in your martini and Bloody Mary is having another bloody mary. That's right friends, it's the Third Annual Zombie Pub Crawl. Watch the sweet trailer here by Chuck Terhark.

And now, on to this epic video from Jesse Roesler and Jeremy Wilker.

Minneapolis' biggest and bloodiest pub crawl, the Zombie Pub Crawl met the Pirate Pub Crawl last fall for a showdown worthy of rememberance. Join the Pirates or Zombies this Saturday, October 6 for Pirates Vs Zombies 2. For more info visit www.piratepubcrawl.com. For more short films, visit www.deliciousfilmworks.com.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 03:56 AM | Comments (7)

October 04, 2007

Eaten by Andrew Zimmern

An extremely short film, precisely described by the title.

Talk about bizarre foods.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 12:22 AM | Comments (1)

October 03, 2007

Daft Hands

In case you're not one of the 4+ million people who've seen this video on YouTube, behold Daft Hands, created by Carleton College student Austin Hall. Apparently, Hall was inspired by the Carleton Singing Knights performing an a cappella version of Daft Punk's “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.”

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 01:16 AM | Comments (5)

October 02, 2007

Mike on the Smoking Ban

Mike from Minnesota wants you to know that Adolph Hitler was the first person to ban smoking in bars and restaurants.

Welcome to fresh air, Mike.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 05:51 AM | Comments (3)