Month: April 2011

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Light Rail

Minneapolis Light Rail
Minneapolis Light Rail

I admit to being highly skeptical that light rail would work in the Twin Cities.

You had to convince me–someone who loves to drive (Seriously? I get to do this every day? For free?!?)–to get out of my car and take a train, with a bunch of other people?

No way.

Then, during a trip to Washington, DC, I tried their subway system and I was sold. I’d totally use light rail, if the Twin Cities built such a system.

Well, years removed from that revelation, I finally took my first light rail ride two weeks ago from my office in Bloomington to three blocks from Target Field. It was a breeze and I imagine I’ll be doing a lot more of it once the Central Corridor system connects Minneapolis to Saint Paul.

In the meantime, I’ll need to endure this (still, no pain, no gain):

Light Rail Construction on University Avenue
Light Rail Construction on University Avenue In Saint Paul
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Sharing A Body: An Inspiring Story From Carver County

Sharing A Body: An Inspiring Story From Carver County

This is a remarkable story: Abigail “Abby” Loraine Hensel and Brittany “Britty” Lee Hensel (born March 7, 1990, Carver County, Minnesota), are highly symmetric dicephalic parapagus conjoined twins. Each controls and senses her corresponding arm and leg. They were raised in New Germany, Minnesota and attended Lutheran High School affiliated with the Missouri Synod in Mayer, Minnesota. Found at YouTube from worldswonders.

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Minnesota Author: Ethan Rutherford

HL Hunley Confederate Submarine
HL Hunley Confederate Submarine

Reading the author bios at the end of The Best American Short Stories 2009 gave me a Minnesota angle to discuss the collection: Ethan Rutherford.

Ethan Rutherford is a fiction writer who lives in Minneapolis and teaches writing and literature at Macalester College. His short story, “Peripatetic Coffin,” was included in the 2009 Best American Short Stories collection.

The subject of the story, Ward Lumpkin, is a confederate soldier serving on the H.L. Hunley, the infamous Civil War-era submarine deployed by the rebels to break the Union blockade of Charleston.

“The question I struggled with, the question that kept me interested, was what gets someone–voluntarily–aboard an invention like this? Another friend told me about the bombardment of the city, and it was the relentlessness of this bombardment that allowed me into the story,” Rutherford writes about his story.

What makes “Peripatetic Coffin” equally compelling and jarring is the modern tone with which Rutherford writes the story. The dialogue feels right at home in a collection of stories from 2009 yet provides a strange counterpoint to the era during which the story takes place. Somehow, Rutherford makes it work.

The collection is edited by author Alice Sebold and includes stories from authors such as Alice Fulton, Richard Powers, and Annie Proulx.

All in all, they were a great read.

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Half Off Stadium Village Punch Pizzas On Weekends Through April

Half Off Stadium Village Punch Pizzas On Weekends Through April

I’d be all about this even if Punch Pizza were not a client of my employer, Tunhiem. My favorite pizza will be half off at the Stadium Village Punch Pizza location on Saturdays and Sundays through April. You’ll need to redeem this hilarious coupon to take advantage:

Punch Pizza Late Night Out Coupon
Punch Pizza Late Night Out Coupon

This week, we helped Punch launch their latest online initiative, PunchPizza.tv, so when you go, take your video camera with and tell your Punch story: Punch Pizza Wants Your Stories from Punch Pizza.

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Steely Dan, Marc Anthony, Train & Maroon 5 Added To State Fair Lineup

Steely Dan, Marc Anthony, Train & Maroon 5 Added To State Fair Lineup

Steely Dan, with special guest Sam Yahel, August 30; Marc Anthony, September 1; and Train and Maroon 5, September 5, the Star Tribune reports. [DETAILS.]

Pretzel Logic by Steely Dan

Found at YouTube from 09toctoc.

Calling All Angels by Train

Found at YouTube from TrainVEVO.

Harder To Breathe by Maroon 5

Found at YouTube from Maroon5VEVO.

I Need To Know by Marc Anthony

Against by better judgment, but… Found at YouTube from marcanthonyVEVO.

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Born To Be Wild 3D

Born To Be Wild 3D

This film documents orphaned orangutans and elephants and the extraordinary people who rescue and raise them—saving endangered species one life at a time, with the obligatory Morgan Freeman as your narrator.

It starts this Friday at the IMAX Theater in Apple Valley. [DETAILS.] Found at YouTube from trailers.

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Mozart’s Requiem

Mozart’s Requiem

Chorus Polaris and the Golden Valley Orchestra performed Wolfgang Amedeus Mozart’s masterpiece, the Requiem Mass in D Minor yesterday in Columbia Heights. It is one of my absolute favorite works of classical music. I didn’t get a chance to see the performance, but it did get me to thinking about this wonderful scene from the movei Amadeus in which Mozart’s arch-rival, Antonio Salieri, helps him write the Requiem on Mozart’s deathbed. If you haven’t seen the movie, definitely put it in your Netflix que.

This scene is remarkable for a whole host of reasons but I’ll just point out one: It effortlessly breaks down the component parts of a musical masterpiece and in doing so, helps you easily understand how a work of music works, how those elements work together. Found at YouTube from ChipsDubbo.