Thanks

Thanks for reading my blog. Looking back I see I started this thing a year ago on September 26th of 2010. I usually try to enter something once a week but I don't always make my made-up deadline. What happened in October??? Not a single entry. My Mother noticed. Well, I could offer several excuses. Maybe I wasn't feeling that great....allergies flaring up....but I don't usually have allergies this time of year. I am convinced that downtown has a cone of pollution hanging over it right now from all the digging that has been going on. Maybe I didn't write anything in October because I didn't go anywhere or see anything interesting. Well, that's not exactly true either. I saw the zombies in Mears Park on October 8th. Unfortunately I tossed out my zombie bride outfit about 8 years ago so I was only an observer and therefore couldn't be counted toward the attempt to set the Guinness world record. The park was full but did they have the 8,000 that they were hoping for? I haven't heard the verdict on that one. I attended Sample Night Live at the History Theater on October 5th. I could have written about that. The first Wednesday of the month they host 10 to 12 performers who each get about 15 minutes to perform. It is very much like an old fashion variety show so if you don't like the jazz singer you might like the poetry slam performance or the improvisational comedy act. My favorite act last month was a comedian named Linda Aarons. I enjoyed hearing her talk about nothing more than her own name for a solid two minutes. They give out prizes too. Last month I came home with one free Flamenco dance lesson. I went to Plug-In St Paul on the evening of October 20th at the Crowne Plaza too. I certainly could have written about that. Why weren't there more people there??? It should have been packed. It was held at the top of the hotel overlooking the river in the old carousel dining room which is now only open for events. It still has the revolving platform and the view at sunset was spectacular....free hors d'oeuvres too.....come on people. The real reason I went was to hear about "ranked voting" which we will use to elect our next city council members next Tuesday. Hope we have better voter turn out than the Plug-In St Paul event. Well, I feel better now that I have at least re-capped October and look forward to whatever November will bring to downtown living.

Road Work Ahead

On a stroll through town I heard a fellow walker say to his companion "downtown is under construction". Well, yes that would be an understatement. One bicyclist passing the Union Depot construction site mumbled "I hate this". Even my own condo is under construction as I am trying to finish painting walls before the winter weather sets in. Orange diamond shaped signs with Road Work Ahead are located everywhere downtown. Maybe I should have one of those on my front door. I've noticed that a few of those orange signs have added ornamentation in black and blue and shiny white....no doubt unauthorized by the city planners or safety sign makers. I like the one with the black and blue star even if it is not authorized. Maybe we could adopt it as the universal sign for Problems Ahead Just Go With It. Even as my own personal painting project is zipping along it seems that we are making speedy progress in downtown too. The Union Depot LRT stop on 4th St is taking shape. Will that be called the 4th Street Station? I bet the owners of the 4th Street Station Bar would like that. The skyway connection that was removed on Cedar and 5th is moving along this week too with its reconstruction. I remember the city saying that it would be done by November and I think that might actually happen. That connection is important for anyone wanting to get to the library or the Excel Center without having to set foot outside in the winter. It's not that I mind walking to the library outside. In fact I normally prefer it and I enjoy sitting in Rice Park across from the library before I return home. Has anyone noticed the lovely new garden and benches across from the library that the city constructed this summer? Earlier in the week as I sat there (it was getting darker by the minute), I noticed that the garden is completely overrun with mice....not unattractive mice exactly. No, I would say they were the cutest, tiniest brown mice I've ever seen. Beatrix Potter would have loved to capture them in a drawing or two and I imagine they too are busy with their own construction projects far below the new garden in Rice Park.

Blind Faith

Last weekend Concrete and Grass music festival played out in Mears Park. Did that officially signal the end of summer for us? I enjoyed Alison Scott's interpretation of Blind Faith's Can't Find My Way Home on Saturday night even though I wanted her to pick up the tempo just a bit. Friday night Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum (right after a rousing opera lover's hour) played an acoustic set to a full crowd. I know it wasn't just me who thought that he seemed unprepared....but strangely that was just fine, maybe even better than fine. A few times he played things that seemed like he hadn't practiced in awhile, shouted out to family members in the audience, started, stopped and restarted. Amazingly it all seemed fresh and unrehearsed, not just another scripted show like one from the night before. I remembered some of his songs from the 90's like Runaway Train and he threw in some interesting choices like Glen Campbell's Rhinestone Cowboy. I was shocked to see on the Internet that his bio says he is 47...can that be true? He seemed to have such a baby face, but it was dark in the park....yes, very dark out and the moon was nearly full and little bats were flying around keeping the remaining summer mosquitoes from festival participants. Some in the audience were clearly creeped out by those little bats but don't they really do us a service flying up from the caves along the river to keep the bugs under control. Days before I was watching the old Francis Ford Coppola version of Dracula from 1992 staring Winona Ryder....say, didn't she use to date Dave Pirner in the 90's? Was that the role that got his attention? I had just read the book as part of my attempt to try to tackle some old classics from the BBC's poll of reader's favorites. The movie tried to follow the book (with a twist) in ways the old Bela Legosi version did not but the acting was, well, just plain silly. Still I couldn't stop thinking about all those bats enjoying the teeming masses in the park just like Dracula....just remember that "he cannot enter (your downtown condo that is) at the first unless there be someone of the household who bids him to come; although afterwards he can come as he pleases!!!"

Red Bull Barge

Red Bull brought a floating skateboard park via barge to the river this past weekend. A barge actually seems like a perfect place for a skateboard park....listen up parks and rec people. Sunday starting about noon twenty or so athletes each had 2 one minute runs to show off their tricks and skate skills. I watched more than a few tumble onto the concrete deck. Hope they got those kids to sign liability waivers. There's going to be a few bruises. The objective for the athletes is a place in the finals of the Mississippi Grind competition to be held in New Orleans. RB will float their barge downstream to St. Louis this month finally reaching the Big Easy in October. RB workers were handing out product samples to the 100 or so spectators watching the action and I accepted my free can of Red Bull. Thanks RB. I've actually never tried one and I'm probably not their normal target market. I decided I would have to save it for another day since I'd already had 3 cups of coffee. Their advertisement says that "if you want to stay on top of things in this 24/7 world, you'll need some wings"....that sentiment must be the inspiration for the Flugtag event they host world wide. Last year they brought that event to Harriet Island and I watched it from the steps of the Science Museum arriving just in time to see a local team's homemade contraption take flight from what seemed like a pretty high perch on the RB barge, skimming gently across the river to break the world record. The estimated 90,000 people that showed up were ecstatic. It was a crazy blending of sports and science. Even the 4th of July fireworks doesn't compare with the crowd that was in downtown on that day. How do we get back on RB's list of host cities for that event?

End of Summer

You know summer is coming to an end when the state fair begins. In fact we are already half way through it. I haven't been in a few years and I don't plan to go this year...maybe next year. I'm just not feeling the pull of the chocolate dipped jalapeno peppers or deep fried apple pie. Most of the summer long music events in downtown like Tuesday's 9 Nights of Music, Thursday nights at the Ordway or Music at Mears have come to an end and well, I feel pretty stuffed with all the summer fun. The weather has changed into far more moderate temperatures and I'm trying to get out in nature as much as possible before winter arrives. On the river downtown, besides the usual working barges, pleasure boats continue to cruise the river and will do so well into the fall. Even if you don't have a boat it's a good time to be out near the river and you don't have to go very far upstream to feel the wilderness of the river and see wildlife. Crosby Farm & Hidden Falls Regional Parks and Snelling State Park all are excellent quick escapes from the urban thing. I've been at Snelling twice in the last two weeks and both times have spotted bald eagles on the river banks. I shouldn't be surprised. Bald eagles can sometimes be spotted drifting on the air currents around the highrises in downtown. We are fortunate to have one of the larger populations of eagles in this part of the U.S. Try the three mile hike around Pike Island at Snelling. The bench where the Mississippi and the Minnesota Rivers converge is a beautiful spot to sit and look downstream, watch the few folks fishing there and perhaps see some of the wildlife that lives on the river.

View from Harriett Island

A week ago Sunday I walked across the Wabasha Bridge to the Irish Fair at Harriett Island. The backdrop of the city along the river on a blue sky day is a spectacular setting for any event. There was the usual assortment of food and drink vendors, arts and crafts displays, Irish dancers with curly haired wigs, and musicians at multiple stages singing Irish tunes. One tent had a dog exhibition going on that included terriers, water spaniels (looks like a poodle, don't call it that to the owner) and of course the Irish wolfhound ....the big big dog that hunted the wolf to extinction in Ireland so many years ago. My building has a 30 lb dog limit and it might be hard to sneak it in without neighbors noticing. Even though in terms of population the German and Scandinavian ancestry wins out, St Paul feels like it has a large Irish community especially with in your face landmarks like the Cathedral....and of course the pubs. The newest pub in downtown won't be Irish however. The Amsterdam Bar and Hall is due to open this September in the old Pop/Fhima restaurant spot. Can they break the curse of that location? I think so if they just give people what they want which is basically interesting beer choices. A week ago the Mayor's office gave an open to the public speech at the Amsterdam location about the coming year's budget. I stopped by to mainly see the construction progress of the space. I was greeted with a copy of the menu and a coupon for a free Broodje (little Dutch sandwich). I didn't stay for the Mayor's speech (too many folks in suits and the construction odor was unpleasant), but I will be back when they open in September to collect my Broodje. When I think about Dutch food I think herring and Belgian style fries. Those are on the menu, but Loempia, the little Indonesian spring roll is on the menu too. Now I'm excited. I remember "Lumpia" from my time living in San Francisco when a Filipino coworker brought them to potlucks. I dreamed about those for years but can't remember now why they are different from any other crispy fried spring roll. Guess I will find out in September.

Tracks Arrive in Downtown

At the August Downtown Council's monthly happy hour someone asked if I owned a car. Some years ago after moving to downtown from the suburbs I gave up my car in an attempt to go car-less. I gave my aging Toyota away to an organization on Como Avenue that teaches auto skills to youth. I thought that sounded like a good idea. After my donation I took the bus back to downtown. At first I did all my errands in downtown, but eventually I expanded my walking range up to Grand Avenue walking all the way to the Grandview for an occasional movie and Mississippi Market for groceries. I occasionally rented a car when I really needed one. During that time I lost 10 lbs from all the walking I did. Taking the bus to the Mall of America, downtown Minneapolis and the airport.....all easy, but getting around to other places in and outside of the Twin Cities can be difficult. My experiment without a car lasted less than a year before I bought another one. While I like having access to my car, I use it less and walking is still a huge part of my lifestyle of living in an urban environment. About a month ago on an evening walk, I spotted the light rail crew bringing in one of the first rails to be placed on 4th street. It seemed like a low-tech operation. The rail was slowly dragged on rollers set up in the street. I was surprised how the block long piece of metal curved to make the bend around Kellogg Avenue. Now when you walk down 4th Street, tracks are in various stages of being embedded into the newly prepared street. Closer to downtown the space left after the demolition of the buildings at Cedar and 5th Street, you can see the metal posts that have been driven into the ground showing the curving path that the train will take from Cedar Avenue to 4th Street. The work to reconnect the skyway at Cedar and 5th is in progress too. That link is scheduled to be back in place by November.....an important section to getting to the library before the winter weather gets serious. I don't know how I will use the light rail system in the future. Next year downtown should have a green bike station courtesy of Nice Ride MN....maybe I will bike to the U of M and return via the light rail. All these new options make going car-less ever more possible in the future.