minneapolis bridge to nowhere

in honor of alaska's fav grampa felon ted stevens hangin' in there, here's a photo of some old train bridges that are parked along the bike trail near hwy 100.

headless horse, man

in honor of halloween, here's a picture of some sorta float thing, or something, that's parked in a bodyshop parking lot on like 27th ave and 28th st.

minneapolis c. s. i., or is it csi ?

as in "crushed squirrel incident".

no need for the "investigation" part, since it appears obvious what happened to the little buddy.

OW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yeah, and sorry about falling SO far behind, but i DO have like 5 or 6 more things on tap, maybe tomorrow will be a mini-blogathon in an effort to get back on track. there actually ARE some pretty groovy things, well sorta...

unintentional flag desecration

i've always tought that too many people spend too much time worrying about Old Glory being "desecrated", and find it very humorous that a huge number of those people routinely violate us code with relation to the Flag.

here's a perfect example that i found on a target endcap...



"oh, look at that. now THAT'S 'merican, i'd better buy THAT brand. plus, if that chick who sang that song 20 years ago likes 'em, well, so will i."

not only is the Flag on the box, but kellogg's is promoting their delicious corn flakes by offering a "free" one. seems to me that that's a double violation of the Flag code...

UNITED STATES CODE - TITLE 36 - CHAPTER 10

PATRIOTIC CUSTOMS

§176. Respect for flag

...

(i) The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard...

burn fat not oil

was up in seward, and among the MANY "lefty" yard signs, i noticed this one that NOBODY should disagree with...

target carts on the loose

looks like at least SOME people have figured out how to circumvent the wheel-locking of the carts from the lake/hiawatha target (aka targhetto), since the above were parked near the north entry to the lake/hiawatha lrt stop.

cool hand luke on 27th ave?

these mighta been like this for a while, and surely they're just in the process of being installed so that the city can make sure that NOBODY stops at any of the shops on the 3000 block of 27th, but since paul newman's death is so recent, and cool hand luke was such an awesome movie, i wanna just pretend that his ghost came and did this or something...

ghandi mahal

go here for delicious...



they're located just south of lake on 27th ave (ya know, kinda by the town talk).

i'm no expert in indian food, but THIS is the best i've had. YUM!!

oh, and 2 things:

1 - i have NO association with the restaurant
2 - i DO realize that this is becoming a "27th and lake" blog

more bike rack probs

the "note" says "not a bike rack".

maybe not, but it IS a nice sturdy pole at the ivy building.

oh, and the obama sign from a few days ago has vanished...

denny's skillcrane breakfast idea

the must be the post-equinox light, but at around 6:00 as i was walking by the denny's across from the town talk dinner, that there's a skillcrane near the door:



so the idea of a skillcrane based self-serve breakfast bar popped into my head.

really! won't it be totally awesome? there could be dif skillcranes for eggs, and pancakes, and hashbrowns, and toast. i suppose bacon and sausage could be in the same one, since they're both super greasy.

it could be a charge by the ounce set-up, or better yet ALL YOU CAN EAT, cuz it'd really turn into all you can GRAB, which from my experience would not be much.

there'd probably have to be different types of claws or scoops depending on the food item, but that shouldn't be a problem.

there could even be a self-serve desert thing with pudding and/or ice cream!

the only drawback that i can see if that this sorta thing might not be very sanitary if the machines aren't thoroughly cleaned.

so, there ya go. if anybody actually reads this and wants to run with my idea, it's all your. best of luck with it.

-----

totally as an aside...one of the most satisfying breakfast's i've ever eaten was after a skullcranes show in cedar falls, iowa. golden fucking pancake, indeed. (pretty sure it wasn't a golden pancake, but it was STILL delish) on my mind cuzza breakfast, and well, "skill", "skull"...

$2.50 seizure inducers

sure they look like loads of fun, but i can think of many potential probs with these...

signage etiquette

so this obama sign is planted outside of the ivy arts building on 27th & 27th...



made me wonder what the signage etiquette is for businesses and such where not all of the people/biz's actually support a candidate.

i'll keep my eyes open to see if mccain or nader or whoever signs sprout up over time.

patrick's cabaret

it looks like the work on the building is done, and there's brand new flag too...

tall bike

snapped this while headed downtown on the train...



i think it'd be so super cool to ride one, but i would undoubtedly kill myself by falling right off, or from not being able to stop.

take THAT subway

noticed these at rainbow...



the picture DOES NOT do them justice. they're enormous!! looks like they're mostly bread, but still...

ear

super busy in real life today, so no "exciting" mpls pix.

i DID take delivery of a piece of art that i purchased like a month ago at a show at the vine arts center in the seward 'hood.

it's entitled "ear" and it's a woodburning piece by clint peterson. don't really know many deets about the dude, and REALLY wanted to buy a dif piece that was nfs, but thought this was pretty cool.

bike rack jackass

is this like the equivalent of those dicks who have to park there "awesome" car diagonally in a parking lot resulting in 2 (or more) spots being taken. seriously this dude (it's gotta be a dude) is taking up like at least FIVE spots.

actually much ado about nothing, since the other rack had only 1 bike on it as well. parked correctly, i might ad.

lake/hiawatha rainbow.

left behind

didn't venture out today, but here's a picture that i snapped friday night of a bike wheel locked to the rack near the federal reserve...

was there some sort of bike "rapture" that i hadn't heard about that left this "naughty" wheel behind? or i 'spose it's more likely that the bike's owner just forgot about the quick-release thing, and somebody snatched the rest of the bike. yeah, prob the 2nd one...

idiotic

so on my way back from here...


i noticed this...

seriously...

it had been raining on & off all day, but the sprinklers still had to come on to water the grass at that newish office building on hiawatha by the bike bridge.

a terrible waste of water in the 1st place, but also many of the things were out of whack, and one was totally spraying into the parking lot. dumb.

des moines

no post yest in honor of 9-11.

nah...not really, was out of town in beautiful des moines, iowa.

it rained on an off all day, and when leaving town at like 9pm, saw the result of poeple undoubtedly driving TOO FAST during the downpour that took place about 10 min earlier...





also, stopped in beautiful downtown ames, and was glad to see that the parking meters still take other coins, but WHY would anybody use a quarter?

ralph nader as adam

so i saw this nader poster and immediately thought of the sistine chapel. in the photo nader would be adam.

sure hope the "big guy" ("big gal?) upstairs has a sense of humor...

altho, i guess it IS true that voters are what give politicians life, so maybe it's not THAT bad.

(oh, and this was taken on my phone at arm's length and it was super sunny out and i had no way of seeing how the photo was going to work, but it DID, so maybe it's "meant to be")

skol's magical fishing seahorse

there's a super cool mural on the 25th street side of skol liquor, that includes what appears to be a seahorse that is possibly magical, and is fishing (i cropped out the string and catch, cuz it's blocked by some stupid bus bench).

marlboro 420

sure, now it's only the price, but maybe someday it'll be a brand name.

sign at the loring park super america.

downtown

guess it's been a while since i walked down hennepin ave, since i hadn't noticed that shinder's was closed. i can recall WAY back in the day when this space was like the shittiest burger king in the world.

saw this empty razor box outside of target...

surprised to see that those things are even still MADE!

lady liberty takes a break

noticed this while walking passed the "liberty tax" office near rainbow on lake/minnehaha...

another dirty tree

last week i did a blog regarding a "dirty" tree, referencing john waters' dirty shame.

well, today i noticed this tree like 3 blocks away from the last one...

and just like last time, flipping the photo helps...

nice WOOD!!!!! literally.

half staff

the flag that's in front of the arby's (or maybe car-x) near lake/hiawatha looks like it's at half-staff from the corner of lake/27th, because there's a supertall power pole behind it. i don't know how many times i've caught it out of the corner of my eye and wondered what was going on.

rock turtle and target barf

rock that's painted to look like a turtle in slp on the bike path in the "cobblecrest neighborhood":

barf by the bike rack at the target in slp by 169:

kinda weird, cuz i was eating a banana when i snapped this, and i knew somebody who hates bananas cuz they reminded her of the barf cover-up stuff from her old school.

minneapolis water

was at city hall to tcb, and HAD to grab a drink of the delish mpls water at one of the drinking fountains.

YUM!! (hope it wasn't one of the "lead pipe" ones, or whatev the recent problem was...)

also, in retrospect, maybe shouldn't've been snapping a picture inside city hall what with all the rnc paranoia. saw A LOT of cops, they were like everywhere.

messaround

rad hood ornament at on a car at the minneapolis messaroud at memory lanes this afternoon.

weird tree

not much going on, so this is it...

it's a tree across 26th from the new french with a weird branch.

rats!

so this is actually the "august 20th" post...

there are these rat traps like every 20 feet behind the nestle plant in st louis park (?). the cedar lake bike trail goes right behind the building, and thankfully i have yet to see any of the "little buddies". not sure about heading passed there after dark, tho. YIKES!!

the birds are cute, but maybe a rat's nest would be more appropriate... (not at all disparaging any fine nestle products, which i'm sure are all of the highest quality, and absolutely delish)

unfortunate typo

there was an al franken fundraiser / obama speach watching gathering at the parkway theatre in so. mpls this evening. here's the sign that was behind the bar.

the picture kinda sucks, but in the larger version you can better see the typo on the last named beer - of course it should be "negra modelo". wonder if somebody had a little too much "barack on the brain"??

late night train

had to stop for this train while biking up 27th late tonight.

see that stop sign? that's for bikers on the greenway. from my experience, it must be too small for most of them to see.

"dirty" tree

in 2004 john waters directed "a dirty shame".

if you've seen the movie you'll know what i mean when i say that i think this tree may have auditioned..


it's esp clear if photo is cropped, and look at it from this angle...

fyi...anybody in town for the rnc - don't bother asking me where this is ;-)

ice skates on a wire

saw these ice skates chucked up on a wire behind the lake street k-mart while heading down the greenway last saturday...

so does this mean that there's an "ice" dealer in the area?? or is it gang thing?? or just dochebaggery??

maybe somebody should chuck some quad skates somewhere along the greenway to mark it as an fruit boot free zone!!

need more letters

noticed this tonite at the st anthony main movie theater, whatev it's called now.

stop loose gravel

i saw like a million of these signs today while trying to make a shortcut from the columbia heights unique thrift store and the salvation army. anybody who knows that area will agree that there really isn't one, but i had forgotten that, and, well...



there wasn't any "loose gravel" yet, but i'll bet there will be in the next few days.

i TOTALLY agree with the "stop loose gravel" sentiment, cuz it's so dusty, and it totally SUCKS to ride a bike on, and to me it just seems like a totally lazy way to "repave" a street.

yeah, i know...it says "stop, 4 way, loose gravel", but i'm ignoring the "4 way" part. also this reminds me of some comedian who was complaining about "kids these days" not protesting, and the the only "protest" sings he ever saw were "end road construction". i think of that everytime i see one of those signs - wish i could remember who it was. oh well...

midtown global market artcar show

just happened to be at the midtown market, and took a sec to check out the 6 or 8 artcars that were parked nearby.

this was the coolest, cuz it has a berrie's "paula" statue on it, and those are cool. not as cool as sillisculpts, but still...

minneapolis library queue

was at the main mpls library this morning a bit before they opened at 10, and was suprised to see all of the people waiting to get in to the actual library. there must have been like 30 or 40 people!!



i haven't been inside the library part yet, but i'm sure it doesn't have as much "character" as the old library. esp on the 2nd floor with the chess players, and the use-at-your-own-risk bathrooms!!