: broadcast :

yes, his shirt does have a real word on it, underneath all the tricky design. Hint: look at the negative space. And hers? Well it's no magic-eye dress, but it is pretty sweet.

: countrytown basement blues :

Friday night. Planet Supply. St. Croix Falls, WI.
These are local boys Juggernaut. As they were playing, tornado sirens sounded and continued for 20 minutes. Since Planet Supply is a basement, we snuggled in and the show continued.

Above is Sabyre Rae Daniels. She grew up in SCF but lives in Minneapolis now, and she brought some friends from the big city with her.

Gabe Barnett and Co.

: more from the frontlines :
{{hot kids at the gogol bordello show}}

.sizzle sizzle.

: Mowed In :

This is the second piece in the aforementioned Lawn Mower Series.

: Homeless in Cedar Rapids :

Courageous citizens of the MidWest that they are, my little sis and her friend used a couple of vacation days to help with flood recovery in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Even though I don't have a job I refused to go. They ended up abducting me and bringing me with them anyway, so I figured I would take a couple photos. . . .

As you can see, Tina has a shiner and is wearing her most forlorn expression. She got the black eye when she crashed her bike recently, the sad face is a sign of solidarity for all of the Iowans who have had their homes ruined. This photo was taken in the ladies' room at the makeshift animal shelter where we were helping to care for the homeless pets. We were packed in there with about 20 other volunteers because -- as we were petting cats and changing their cages -- the tornado sirens started going off. Lucky for us (and any future volunteer career I may pursue) it didn't blow us or our car away.

This is near downtown, where you can see standing water, trash everywhere, street signs pushed sideways and general post-flood nastiness.

Here is an attempt to pump the watery mess out of a downtown building.



This is the house we gutted. All this family's belongings, appliances, and even the interior walls had to go.

: reclaiming patriotism is OK :

Face it: you're American.
Now make this country the place you want it to be.

: solstice show :

No better way to celebrate the sun setting after 9pm than a night at the Hexagon. Meaning free music and cheap beer. The Deaths, Magic Castles, Daughters of the Sun, and Dad in Common . It was great. Here are two Daughters of the Sun . . .

. . . and a boy who has fallen for a Magic Castle.

Yeah okay, this one's me. But it's really not about me at all. It's about this awesome dress made by Minnepolis artist/design team Hyperlush. Plus the Tinkerbell Tights and bamboo purse I borrowed from my sister. And I'm not the only one who loves the satchel: a middle-aged drunkard commented that he wished he were a woman just so that he could carry a purse like that. I was flattered.

: rewind :

Rewind = vintage store in NorthEast. Before you go in, know this: upon leaving, your wallet will feel as if it narrowly escaped a pack of attacking trends. You, on the other hand, will surely look as of-the-moment as this sleek young lady.

: evolution of the gypsy punk : Here's one from the Gogol Bordello concert. I took some photos there for vita.mn (not this one) -- they should be out next week and then I can put those plus a few more up here.

: Minnesotan Graffiti :

This troop of law enforcement is under the bridge in Taylors Falls, MN. Everything below was found in the big city (aka Minneapolis) . . .

: Reasons why Minneapolis is Badass :

No.3: smoking biker with awesome earrings

: Scandia, MN :

If Jeff Koons were from Minnesota, I'm sure this is what at least one of his art projects would look like. You can do it yourself in a couple of easy steps:
1. The next time your lawn mower calls it quits in the middle of the yard don't fix it.
2. Climb off -- even if all the machine needs is a little gas, just leave it right there. This is a simple but vital task: do not move the mower.
3. Borrow a lawn mower from a friend, and mow around the retired machine.
4. Reward yourself with a beer, a brandy-water, or both. Enjoy them while you read up on conceptual art, because in a few weeks you'll have your very own lawn installation worthy of MoMA, the Whitney, or my personal favorite, PS1.

This is the artist in his studio, visualizing his next project.

Here we have some of the artist's progeny, one of whom has made her own site specific piece (see below).

Untitled (Fairy Vase), 2008
materials: pine cone and wildflowers

: a night out in Sconnie :

: Reasons why Minneapolis is badass :

No.1: this car and all things that resemble it

No.2: this outfit. And not in the semi-ironic way of the car above -- though hopefully some of those ensembles are to come . . .

: Are you there God? It's me fashionskool . . . :

just wondering why there are eyeless heads of dead birds stationed on sidewalk corners near my apartment. And yes, that was plural. Meaning this was not the only one I saw. WTF?

: chinese herapy :

This guy is so chilled out it seems entirely possible that he just got a dose of the chinese herapy flaunted in the photo below him.

: new york to d.c. :
Mega field-trip to the district of columbia.
The kids were awesome, I took pictures.

and these were just some well-dressed visitors to the Lincoln Memorial.