New P.O.S. video

Uptown in the 612

Pops clued me into this exploratory photo blog of uptown Minneapolis, near where I grew up. I stole this pic from there, and am pleased that some person on the interweb is practicing photography by documenting the seasons and scenes that are familiar to me. Nostalgia mixed with beauty is a pretty good thing for a Thursday morning.

Xmas approaches

It was a tech enabled tree decorating. We video chatted with my sister who was stranded in Seattle as a result of the storms and photo booth provided the strange sideways diffraction from our energy sipping LED light covered tree. Though in a throwback, we were listening to xmas music on a vintage cassette tape, transferred from a vinyl LP made in the 1960s. Talk about generations coming together for the holidays...

-10 degrees is really not that bad

I was feeling a little nervous about spending a couple weeks in weather hovering +/- 15 degrees of zero. In truth, I'm not really scared for the experience because it's an annual thing, but it's fun to make a big deal out of it. Anyway, it was shortly after doing so for a 4,715,395 time when I learned about Oymyakon, a town of 800 people in Siberia. If you go to Oymyakon, you are pretty much guaranteed to be cold. It's the coldest place on earth, holding the record with a measured temp of -72 degrees Celsius. I did the conversion, that equals about -97 degrees Fahrenheit. Wicked.

What's even more loopy is that the name of the town means "non-freezing water." Not sure if that's because the cold drove the town namer insane or because there are local hot springs in the area. I'm going with a combo, because whether or not there are or were hot springs, anyone who actually lives in that town has lost it.

If anyone finds out about Oymyakon, I'm going to have to temper my "woe is me tale." Until then, here's to the frozen tundra.

[from here via boing boing]

Southdale

This is where I do most of my Christmas shopping and have for years, although it doesn't really look like this anymore. This is the Southdale mall, the first retail mall in the world. It's located about three miles from the house where I grew up in Minneapolis. Probably the last place that I would think of if I had to pick the first city for a mall. The only justification I can come up with would have to be the weather. On second thought, that's actually a pretty good reason. Who wants to shop when the clothes freeze before you can try them on?

I ran across this picture of the mall from the 1950's, shortly after it opened, from Life magazine (a publication that will most likely be forgotten in a generation). The mall was designed by an Austrian, Victor Gruen. While im not sure of Gruen's particular talents, I would love it if someone could tell the ratio of talented Austrian architects to talented architects from the rest of the world. I'd be willing to bet the scales tip towards the Austrians by at least 3-1.

There's some interesting history to Southdale. It was started as an attempt to bring the feel of a city center to places that were not necessarily the center of a city and Gruen was ultimately disgusted by the suburban waste of space that malls eventually became over time.

There is apparently a spirited debate over where the world's first mall actually sat. A short and informational post over at Kottke.com has more details on Gruen, Southdale and the other malls staking claim to first.

Southdale, I'll be seeing you shortly, and no matter what anyone else says, you'll always be MY first.

Fall Colors

Was just sent some stunning photos from MN that capture the beauty of the fall season. Something I definitely miss after 8 years in SoCal.
Thanks Dad- real subtle.

Cheap Beer

Why is it that cheap beer holds such nostalgia for grown men? When involved in a discussion of the beers men grew up on, there is such fondness, nay, celebration of the poor quality beer we drank. Is it the pivitol role it played in so many coming of age experiences, its accessibility, its unmistakable smell from old dorm rooms and apartments? I think its definitely a combination of those with one other factor. Cheap beer is one of the last conglomerate owned consumable products that maintains a strong sense of place.

Slate lists America's greatest cheap beers by region, who owns them and how they got there. Find your favorites here.

Long live Grain Belt, Milwaukee's Best, Olympia, Old Milwaukee, Blatz and Hamm's.

We're Nice! kinda.

Ahahahaa! I keep telling people about Minnesota Nice (without the mean connotation implied by the link's entries) and it always takes some explaining and elicits some dubious responses. But hey Internet, now it's in Wikipedia, so you know it's true!

Thanks sis!

My friends made the news

A couple of my boys from the minny were featured on the local news in a clip about mpg efficiency and gas prices (they appear about 1:10 into the clip). Love the straightfaced sarcasm from my boy. Hilarious.

Galactic Pizza

College rulez. I met so many awesome people in a little city in the midwest (Madison) and they continue to do amazing things. Pete, who I met through my friend Andy, started Galactic Pizza in Minneapolis with a killer one-two punch of super hero hilarity and super-conscious social responsibility. I eat there every time I'm back home. Amazingly, I saw that he was featured on CNN Money! Here's the quick breakdown: his restaurant makes really good pizza with locally grown organic ingredients (even vegan!) and donates a portion of profits to charitable causes. The tasty pizzas are available for delivery by crazy costumed super hero delivery drivers who use electric or human powered vehicles. The costumes are made by a local seamstress and delivery people are able to create and develop their own super hero identities. They also have quite a compelling Vision of the Future.

Check out CNN for more info and pics and if you're ever in Minneapolis, head to 29th and Lyndale, uptown for "pizza with a conscious."

Thanks Erin!

UPDATE: Thanks to Cara's comment, not only do they deliver pizza but they also foil robberies. This makes my day! Hilarious.