Minneapolis a Top Biking City

So says Travel & Leisure magazine (via). But wait...the author of the article is Stephen Regenold, he of the Strib's occasional health & fitness article. Not sure if he lives here or freelances, but either way I think he has an accurate view of how great biking around the Twin Cities is.

Song of the Day by Dinosaur Jr.

What do you do when there's already another band called Dinosaur? Just become Dinosaur Jr., of course. Sonic legends are back with yet another critically acclaimed album. Check out the amusing first video from it here, or better yet, click through to the YouTubes and watch it in amazing full-screen high def glory!

"Over It" by Dinosaur Jr.

Playing Blitzhosen

I bought the new iPhone yesterday, 32G version, and had a blast playing with it last night. One cool new feature is voice recognition. You can call somebody or play a certain song just by saying it. In fact, one of the first things I did was accidentally put it in voice activation mode.

So after I got it synched up with iTunes, I went to test it out last night...

Kirk: "Play song by Replacements"
iPhone (in computerized female voice): "Playing Blitzhosen"
Kirk: "No, no..." [resetting voice activation to try again]
Kirk: "Play song by The Re-Place-Ments"
iPhone: "Playing Blitzhosen"

Probably the first and last time those 2 bands will be mixed up. Blitzhosen was a band that Gone Out Gone played a few shows with back in the day. They were pretty good, for a young band, but only put out one demo EP that I'm aware of. It has a couple good songs on it, but ain't no Replacements.

Poor Man's Girl Talk?

pretty cool mashup. Dude's making sweet music out of it, too.

Bike to Work Day Today

Today is the gramatically challenged Bike Walk to Work Day in the Twin Cities. I had the pleasure of meeting up with 3 co-workers along Summit Ave. at St. Thomas and lead them on a group ride to work in downtown Mpls. I start downtown St. Paul, so I rode the first half of my ride alone before joining up with the other 3. It certainly was plenty windy this morning, but I counted more than 60 other bicyclists along my route and I'm pretty sure that's a record (compared to the other 3 times I've actually counted, I mean).

Another co-worker led in a group ride of Thriventeers from Uptown and there were 9 cyclists in that posse. I was glad that Liz suggested I bring a camera because I got some great shots which I might throw up on here later.

It's great to see this event growing every year.

Song of the Day by Damien Jurado

I've listened to this song repeatedly since catching Damien Jurado at the Turf Club a little while back. There's also a YouTube clip of his performance at that show when he played the song by audience request and fumbled through it a bit because he recorded it with a band, but was only solo at the time. It was a charming moment, though, when a performer allows himself to be vulnerable on stage.

Damien Jurado - "Go First"

Cradle to Cradle Design

Another great TED talk from William McDonough, the founding thinker of cradle to cradle design. I love this stuff. So smart. So obvious. So why aren't we doing it?

The Tragedy of Suburbia

Are you familar with TED? Many fantastic intelligent and informational videos out there by today's leading thinkers across a wide array of specialties.



TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

Happy Birthday to Me

1970 was a good year...and I feel alright!

Flutter

Posted on Slateon 4/1...good humor.

Food for Thought

In my new innovation role at work I am finding it challenging to make an old-fashioned financial services company relevant for the 21st century. This video does a nice job of putting all of our current jobs (lives?) in perspective.

Bachmann's an Idiot, Part Mille

http://eyeteeth.blogspot.com/2009/03/minnesotas-finest-bachmanns-bizarre.html

So proud.

Nicaragua Photos

Here's a link to a snapfish slideshow of pics from my trip to Nicaragua with Liz. Most of the photos are from the city of Granada and environs, as our scheduled stops at two other locales were both quashed.

It turned out to be a great trip, given some of the challenges we faced.

Challenge #1: Large waves which overturned a ferry kept us from getting on another ferry in order to spend 3 nights on Isla Ometepe.
Challenge #2: Creepy, cultish, isolated resort at which we were to spend 3 nights. We bailed out of that one and made our way back to Granada.

Travel Travel Travel

It's been a busy couple weeks. This afternoon I got back from a weekend in Brooklyn visiting Liz's brother and celebrating her birthday. We had a great time and only set foot in Manhattan once to check out an art gallery. We stayed at a great hostel in Williamsburg, checked out DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights, and environs.

Prior to that I spent 5 days in Colorado skiing with Mikko, Steve & D. That was a blast, too. Great to see Steve (the guy I moved to Salt Lake with 10 years ago) & D (now in Denver). The weather was terrific and we enjoyed bluebird days at Breckenridge (where Mikko scored us a helluva deal on a condo), A-Basin and Loveland.


Next up is a week of down time at home before Liz and I take off for a week in Nicaragua. It's a rough life I lead.

See the Cold? Hear the Cold?

I love these days when you can see and hear how cold it is. The temp this morning was -17 and you could hear the car tires squeaking down the snow on the street in a tone that doesn't occur when it's above -5 or so. And I especially enjoy looking out the 15th floor window of my office building downtown Mpls to see all the exagerated steam and exhaust coming out of every building and car. I just wish I could have gotten a good photo of it. Tomorrow I leave for a ski trip to the balmy mountains of Colorado where it's in the teens and twenties, but maybe I'll try to snap a photo or two tomorrow morning.

Seeing, hearing & feeling Minnesota, indeed.

Best Breakfast in Town

Liz recently introduced me to a place we'd been meaning to go for months - the Clicquot Club Cafe in Seward. After dining there twice in the past 10 days, I deem it Best Breakfast in Town. I enjoy a great breakfast as much as all y'all, and tend to end up at the joints that serve the amazing (and filling) Tex Mex / Farmer's / Cajun, etc. But Clicquot Club steps above the fray with a far higher quality serving, my favorite being the Gorgonzola Fritatta. Simply beyond.

Gorgonzola Frittata $8.95
Spinach and Roasted Garlic Frittata eggs topped with melted Gorgonzola cheese, red onions, tomatoes, and smoked bacon. Served with roasted Potatoes and toasted baguette.

Everything is phenomenal, right down to the potatoes and bread. The prior week I fell in love with the Tex Mex at the Neighborhood Cafe on Selby at Snelling, but see myself going back to Clicquot Club again and again to explore the complete menu. In addition, the staff at Clicquot Club is terrific. And why wouldn't you enjoy your job when cranking out such masterful pieces.

Out for a Skate

Nothin' like having the neighborhood rink all to yourself.

Shinny anyone?

Abstinence Pledgers Lie, Certainly Going to Hell

Did you know the federal government has been spending $200,000,000 per year on abstinence education that does not work? So says a study that just came out of Harvard that looks at the sexual history of teens who took an abstinence pledge (I read about it here in the Strib). In fact, not only does the virginity pledge not work, but those who took the pledge are less likely to use birth control before marriage.

The study's conclusion:

CONCLUSIONS. The sexual behavior of virginity pledgers does not differ from that of closely matched nonpledgers, and pledgers are less likely to protect themselves from pregnancy and disease before marriage. Virginity pledges may not affect sexual behavior but may decrease the likelihood of taking precautions during sex. Clinicians should provide birth control information to all adolescents, especially virginity pledgers.

Album of the Year

I don't buy as many records as I used to, but still appreciate the beauty of a quality album more than any other art form. So I didn't listen to hundreds or even dozens of albums like the critics and websites I respect did. But I do read and listen to a lot of music reviews over the course of the year so I am able to pick up those I believe to be most promising. Here's my cream of the crop from 2008, with the #1 cd coming into my home only last week.

1. David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. A+. I'm only on about my 3rd or 4th full listen to this album, and am absolutely loving it (though I did post about it here when introduced to it online back in August). Both of these artists are over 50 years old and both have very respected careers going back 30+ years. They have worked together before, but not recently, and fortunately David Byrne didn't bring any of that weird world beat stuff he was doing in the '90s to the table.
2. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!. A. "We Call Upon the Author" is my song of the year. Nick Cave is another pentagenarian who continues to kick out the jams.
3. Girl Talk - Feed the Animals. A-. In my attempts to stretch my ear I was very pleased with the mashup genius of Girl Talk. The entire album is made up of bits and pieces of other artists' work and is threaded together brilliantly into hummable, recognizable, but still unique dancey tunes.
   

Other 2008 releases I bought:

• The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia. B+
• Saul Williams - The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust. B+
• The Hold Steady - Stay Positive. B+
• Fleet Foxes. B-

Other newish albums I listened to a lot this year:

• Calexico - Garden Ruin
• Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero
• Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
• Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things
• The Hold Steady - Boys & Girls in America
• Apples in Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
• Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
  

Music website of the year:

• www.thetyser.com
  

Whaddya think? What did I miss?

Song of the Day by The Beta Band

Today's song of the day is "Dry the Rain" by the Beta Band. You might have heard it in the movie "High Fidelity" or in the intro to my favorite NPR show Sound Opinions. As always with these, I struggle to find the right YouTube link to use. There's a quality live version of this out there, but it doesn't have the slide guitar. And I absolutely love the slide guitar on this song.

"Dry the Rain" by The Beta Band:



And a link to the broader scene from High Fidelity.

Previously (and still) recommended songs:

• Weezer - Pork & Beans
  
• Mission of Burma - Academy Fight Song
  
• The Hold Steady - Slapped Actress
• David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (album)
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - We Call Upon the Author
• Pavement - Shady Lane plus more
• New Pornographers - The Slow Descent into Alcoholism
• Afghan Whigs - Debonair
• Okkervil River - Okkervil River Song
• Elf Power - Spiral Stairs
• Sons & Daughters - Johnny Cash
• Tom Waits - Ol' 55
• Uncle Tupelo - Moonshiner
• Spoon - The Underdog
• Alpha Consumer - Unicorn Uniform
• Replacements - I Will Dare