Last night, Robbie and I enjoyed some wine with dinner at our outdoor fire pit in our Valley Pond Townhome Association backyard for the first time this spring. It was a perfect spring evening: warm, clear sky, no wind, no bugs, and a symphony of nature sounds coming from Hidden Valley Park.
Enjoying food and conversation in front of a campfire makes me feel rich, even though it can be done very cheaply.
I tried to keep blogging while away the past 8 days but alas, my motivation gradually eroded due to the constant availability of sandy beaches, rum punches, and stunning sunsets.
A favorite Christmas book of mine: The Two Kings: Jesus & Elvis, by A.J. Jacobs. The author deftly notes the eerie parallels between the two superstars:
Jesus said, “Love thy neighbor” (Matthew 22:39).
Elvis said, “Don’t Be Cruel” (RCA, 1956).
Jesus H. Christ has 12 letters.
Elvis Presley has 12 letters.
Jesus is the Lord’s shepherd.
Elvis dated Cybill Shepherd.
Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone” (Matthew 4:4).
Elvis loved his sandwiches with peanut butter and bananas.
“Then they took up stones to cast at [Jesus]” (John 8:59).
Elvis was often stoned.
Jesus was the Lamb of God.
Elvis had mutton chops.
Jesus was part of a Trinity.
Elvis’ first band was a trio.
Jesus walked on water (Matthew 14:25).
Elvis surfed (Blue Hawaii, Paramount, 1965).
Jesus was a carpenter.
Elvis majored in woodshop/industrial arts in high school.
Jesus lived in a state of grace in a Near Eastern land.
Elvis lived in Graceland in a nearly eastern state.
Jesus wore the crown of thorns.
Elvis wore Royal Crown hair styler.
Jesus’ entourage, the Apostles, had 12 members.
Elvis’ entourage, the Memphis Mafia, had 12 members.
Jesus as wine (sacramental wine).
Elvis as wine (Always Elvis wine by Frantenac).
A major woman in Jesus’ life (Mary) had an immaculate conception.
A major woman in Elvis’ life (Priscilla) went to Immaculate Conception high school.
Jesus was resurrected.
Elvis had the famous comeback special in 1968.
Son of God.
Sun Studios.
Jesus said, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” (John 7:37).
Elvis said, “Drinks on me!” (Jailhouse Rock, MGM, 1957).
Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights.
Elvis had irregular eating habits (e.g., five banana splits for breakfast).
Jesus is a Capricorn (Dec. 25).
Elvis is a Capricorn (Jan. 8).
Jesus biography by Matthew (Gospel according to Matthew).
Elvis biography by Neal Matthews (Elvis: A Golden Tribute).
“[Jesus'] countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow” (Matthew 28:3).
Elvis’ trademarks were a lightning bolt and snow-white jumpsuits.
Jesus was Jewish.
Elvis was part Jewish (from his maternal great-grandmother, Martha Tackett Mansell).
Jesus’ purple robe.
Elvis’ pink Cadillac.
Jesus’ father is everywhere.
Elvis’ father, Vernon, was a drifter and moved around quite a bit.
Doubting Thomas.
“Suspicious Minds.”
There is much confusion about Jesus’ middle name – what does the “H” stand for?
There is much confusion about Elvis’ middle name – was it Aron or Aaron?
Jesus made rocks roll away from his tomb.
Elvis was a rock and roll singer.
I saw this flyer on the wall of the Goodbye Blue Monday and nearly gasped, I felt so bad for Allison.
It’s always best to transfer/copy photos from your camera’s media card ASAP to someplace else (computer, online storage, etc) but it’s a common mistake, just like not backing up one’s hard drive regularly. And most of us have made one or both mistakes.
Go the Fuck to Sleep is a book written by American author Adam Mansbach and illustrated by Ricardo Cortés. Described as a "children’s book for adults", it reached number 1 on Amazon.com’s bestseller list a month before its release, thanks to an unintended viral marketing campaign during which booksellers forwarded PDF copies of the book by email.
While Northfield awaits the installation of poems by the 2011 Sidewalk Poetry Contest winners, inspiration can be found in the Upper Arb in the form of this tastefully constructed bit of cardboard strung between two trees with a John Cage quote.
The clutch is 8–13 eggs, which are incubated for 27–28 days to hatching with 50–60 days to fledgling. The ducklings are precocial and fully capable of swimming as soon as they hatch.
Tax Day is April 18th this year instead of the 15th. But as if to compensate, Mother Nature inflicted a measure of cruelty on us Minnesotans today. A cold, wet windy day ended with a heavy wet snow. I took these photos in my front yard about 11:30 PM. On April 15, 1983, we had 13.6 inches so be grateful.
I got this email from Northfielder and Happy to be from Iowa blogger Margaret Colangelo:
Merry Christmas Griff! Thought you’d enjoy this local “flash mob”. On Wednesday 12/22 my daughter Jean arranged a surprise serenade for her Secret Santa at Northfield’s Caribou Coffee – Mgr Amanda George. The guys involved are some members of the NHS group BCG. From the left they are Dan Remes, Connor Fink, Peter Duba, Cole Harding, Steven Carson, Sullie Ojala-Hembolt, and Theo Hofrenning. Customers there were so happy they were able to witness this! I was able to film the whole thing.
Our investigative reporters, always titillated by stories that mix sex, espionage and secret facilities, have tracked down the new doubleplussecret facility serving up Wikileaks information.
Behind this innocent door, hardly different from the doors in any industrial facility, lies the powerful system serving files under the wikileaks URL.
The door of shame ... Doubleplussecret entrance to the facility
Behind which we see the powerful, state-of-the-art, 486-class tower system with an astounding 64M of memory.
In the annals of LoGro wildlife fluff (beaver, ducks, owls, etc ), I can now add a snapping turtle to my collection. I took these photos last night on the Mill Towns Trail near Sechlar Park.
FYI, I’m on a jury for a civil trial in federal court in St. Paul. Day 4. Great experience so far. Judge, attorneys, court staff all excellent. No wifi but I’m able to use my new G2 Google phone with the WordPress app to post this.
Friends and family of Rob Schanilec gave him a surprise birthday party at Chapati last night. Rob owns By All Means Graphics and publishes, among other things, the Northfield Entertainment Guide (NEG). I think he’s 60 years-old but I could be wrong.
At 9 am this morning, I noticed that Babcock Park was full of horse trailers, but not a person around.
Anyone know what’s going on?
June 24, 8 am update: They put up a sign, just in time for departure: it’s the Friendship Wagon Train, part of an effort to raise money for Camp Winnebago.
A sharp-eyed Dean Kjerland, AKA Mr. Riverwalk Market Fair, alerted me to this item strapped to a sign at the entrance to the Just Food Co-op parking lot.
What is it?
And when that question is answered to my satisfaction, what else could it be if one’s imagination is left to run rampant?
I’ve heard occasional objections over the past 5 years to my use of the term ‘salonistas.’ It’s a bit obscure, I admit, since the Urban Dictionary defines a salonista as “A person who wrote/worked for the online magazine Salon.com, especially during its heyday in the 1990s.” It also has a more generic meaning: anyone who regularly attends a conversation salon AKA a literary salon.
I’m not sure what term they’d prefer. Gasbag geezers?
The Ely Chamber of Commerce’s International Dairy Queen Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (IDQBWCAW). See the PiPress article for details, since the Chamber’s site evidently can’t handle the traffic. Oy.
Peter Seebach (Seebs): John, someone forwarded me a thing which helps explain why I do not believe the current situation provides adequate legal protections: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =ah4ke16g1DI Watch that, and then tell me with a straight...
Peter Seebach (Seebs): California in general has very high rates of “drug use”. And frankly, there is no place in the US that can be meaningfully called “very accepting” to gays. More accepting than others, sure. Why, I...
David Henson: Peter, you have the Internet you do the research. Use San Francisco as a baseline (an accepting place) – gays there have very high rates of depression and drug use.
Peter Seebach (Seebs): Those are fascinating beliefs, but conveniently for us, the research has already been done, and they’re wrong. Legalizing gay marriage has no effect on the observed incidence of homosexuality, and the concept of...
David Henson: John, I understand sexuality to be a continuum and not a hard and discrete fact. I earnestly believe that if gay marriage is approved many more people will experiment with gay sex and some numbers will get AIDS (and depression and...
Griff Wigley: Good turnout last night for the Cannon Valley Mountain Bike Team meeting at the high school. I’ve blogged a summary with the ppt presentations.
Griff Wigley: Jordan Osterman, the new Sports Editor for the Northfield News, scooped me on Saturday. I’m glad! Northfield high school mountain bike team forming As a club sport, mountain biking would have no official affiliation with either...
Griff Wigley: Good suggestion, Curt. I’ll do that for next week’s blurb. I have been verbally emphasizing the importance of having girls on the team, especially since their points on race days count more than boys’ points. Other...
Curt Benson: Hey Griff, I wonder if you shouldn’t put a bit more emphasis on the idea that you’re recruiting both boys and girls for this team. And that the scores for both the boys and girls make up a team score. I think that in the...
Griff Wigley: It should be noted that this team does not yet exist! So this meeting is for those student-athletes (and their parents) who might be interested in joining this new team.
Griff Wigley: Suzy Rook has a sidebar to today’s Nfld News update on last night’s Council meeting. Excerpt: The city administrator and finance director say they have asked for the information on several occasions, including last month...
john george: Living where we do, it is only a few blocks walk to North Street and a grand view of the sunsets. Also, with our neighbors’ mature white pines & spruce, our covered deck affords outdoor enjoyment with a fair amount of...
Griff Wigley: Props to the newspaper and Suzy Rook for mentioning LoGro twice in the story: Fire Department officials, including Fire Chief Gerry Franek, did not respond to several requests from the News for association financial records or...
Griff Wigley: Posted to Northfield News at 1pm: Ethical questions arise over Northfield Fire Relief Association expenses Donations made to Northfield Fire Relief Association aren’t public dollars, but that hasn’t extinguished city...
Griff Wigley: Curt/Robert, There’s a summary of the Rescue Squad on Page 21 of the 2009 NFD report to the City. It doesn’t mention that there’s a Rescue Squad Association. The last paragraph states: The Northfield Rescue Squad is...
Robert Palmquist: If Hvistendahl’s motivation was to keep the financials from getting known, his submitting a memo like that just really backfired. I agree, why would these financials be such a secret??? And why did the NRSA hire a lawyer to...
Curt Benson: So Hvistendahl has found another place to wet his beak. You ask a good question, “Why is it important that the City not know the Northfield Rescue Squad Association financials?”
Jim Haas: Happens to me a lot. So much that my lovely wife had to coin a term for it: she says I have datelexia.
norman butler: Since coming to my adopted country 16 years ago I have observed, amongst other things, that not putting the day with the date is both common and peculiar to Northfield (MN? USA?).
John Thomas: Just a reminder, advance tickets for Girls Night Out 2012 can be purchased on The Grand’s website at http://www.thegrandnorthfield. com/public-events. Your tickets will then be available at a special “Will Call” at...
Liz Reppe: This is a great place to buy plants! Jeni is very knowledgeable and they are both really helpful. You get great service and plant expertise, but the prices are not higher than other places in town.
bill metz: While most of how Jake is being remembered revolves around, and rightly so, his great and wonderful talent as an artist and teacher and the works of sculpture he has left for our and the next generations enjoyment, I have had the...
Ross Currier: It was an honor for me and the NDDC to work with Jake. His pieces of sculpture in our community send a powerful visual message that Northfield is an Art Town. I still marvel at his clever and creative approach to building social and...
paul krause: The memorial service will be held at 11am. Doors to the Chapel will open at 10am for a chance to visit with family members and friends to share memories of our dear friend. Anyone who would like to view the documentary Harvest (which...
kiffi summa: Come on, Griff… you say you’re “more than a little clueless about about investments” but you “just happened to notice”… and from what you said, were reading analytically, etc etc… Once...
Griff Wigley: I’m more than a little clueless about investments but I noticed on page 14 in the April 24 Council packet that the Fire Relief Association has 85% of its pension portfolio in stocks. Isn’t that a bit risky/aggressive for...
Griff Wigley: Has there been any media reporting on the intergovernmental meeting in Bridgewater Township that was held on April 25 re: the Rural Fire Protection District and the City of Northfield?
Jim Mangan: I noticed this morning that a few of the newly planted trees along South Highway 3 have a pronounced lean. Could it be storm damage?
Ross Currier: It’s great that someone is enhancing the connection between downtown and uptown. I know they coordinated their work with MNDoT, City staff, and the Streetscape Task Force. Uh, raise your trowels in a toast to the Northfield...
Vicki Serreno: I wish I’d known – this is my neighborhood since I left Northfield in 2010. I’d have shown up to support them.
Kathie Galotti: My neighbor and sometimes babysitter Maggie Kennedy appears in this video as well! Go Maggie, and Cliff and Sophie and Parker and everyone else! Well done, guys!
Peter Seebach (Seebs): Heh, we had those when I was in college. Guess we’re making progress, they’re starting years earlier now!
Sandy Vesledahl: Thanks for blogging our garage sale Griff! We are at 2018 Jefferson Rd, Suite 1, thanks to the Jasnoch Family for allowing us to use the space. We will be there until 5:00 today and again from 8-2 on Saturday. We’ve had a...
Bright Spencer: I have an 8 year old dog that has not been neutered, has not reproduced and never been out unleashed except in our yard. It costs nothing to care for your pet properly.
Bright Spencer: To see this makes me so happy! Best of luck to you!
Peter Seebach (Seebs): For what it’s worth, I’m pretty happy with the whole process so far, although we found exciting new things out about the land development code, such as “the rules for calculating how tall a building is for...
Peter Seebach (Seebs): Not a hot tub, a swimming pool. One of those backyard pools you can get at k-mart, and the greenhouse is so we can use it a couple months earlier in spring and later in fall.
Arlen Malecha: I wish more establishments had outdoor seating & dining. Now that our offices (Coldwell Banker South Metro www.CBSouthMetro.com are downtown, I love to see people sitting and dining outside. It is fun to walk up and down...
Sean Hayford O'Leary: I would say the current configuration of Division Street makes me grateful not everyone is doing it. Sidewalk dining brings a lot of livelihood to the street — but I’ll admit that I’ve been occasionally...
Griff Wigley: Rebecca, there are several Northfield eating and drinking establishments that have outdoor dining with tables and chairs, serving alcohol, but not SIDEWALK dining. Downtown ones that come to mind: The Tavern, Chapati, The Cow, Froggy...
Rebecca Bliss: Timely post, Griff -I didn’t realize this. I was just commenting to my husband about how nice it would be to dine al fresco now that the weather is getting warmer. Guess this is another discovery for the new...
Patty Gallivan: MOST Northfield volunteers are waiting for someone who DARES boost a program with evidence of effectiveness to come forward with leadership to actually make a difference with students in our Northfield schools. Make sure to let us...
Keep your wits about you today. Lots of faux news types cranking out the content, for example:
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