I was in North Hampton, Massachusetts this past weekend, brunching at a diner with my oldest daughter. We were on a fairly tight schedule, as is too often the case in our busy lives, so I didn’t have hardly a moment to do the tourist thing.

However, I did notice a MOVIE THEATER IN THEIR HISTORIC DOWNTOWN. It was a tiny little building, with only on street parking available, at least as was apparent to my eyes. It’s called the Pleasant Street Theater and their slogan is “Walking the fine line between Art and Commerce for thirty years”.

My daughter has been there twice for movies in the six weeks she’s been out there. This is in addition to the two or three movies a week she watches on campus, so it must be worth the trip.

…is not part of the concept for Critical Mass in Northfield. Although when I googled pictures of bicycle advocates, bicycle protests and bicycle rallies to illustrate this blog posting, there were many pictures of naked bicyclists.

Apparently this is considered by the unimaginative as being a powerful political statement. Hey, get over it, Lady Godiva pulled that one hundreds of years ago. Furthermore, the places pictured are those where the people are a little “different”, like Australia, Spain and California…and the weather is a little warmer than it is here in Minnesota…and I imagine those bike seats being even less comfortable for the naked rider…it’s really not striking me as a nifty idea.

However, let not us not let the clothing, weather, or bike seats dampen our enthusiasm for Thursday’s Critical Mass, noon at the intersection of 2nd and Division Streets. Join us on your bicycle for a ride down and up Division Street to show your support (and, please, nothing else) for a more bicycle (and pedestrian) friendly Northfield.

And there’s one clothing item that is definitely not optional – a bike helmet!

[ratings]

In today’s Strib: Houses are breaking free of beige.

After decades draped in monochrome, the suburbs are getting a big splash of color. Propelled by technological advances in home exteriors and public fatigue with the limited palette, builders and homeowners in the new suburbs are cladding homes in eye-catching tones. Drab vinyl siding is suddenly sinking in popularity after decades of steady growth, and its makers are racing to come up with vivid yet durable colors themselves. But the new habit taking hold is not without its lessons in the delicate balance between creative freedom and neighborhood harmony.

Last May, ARTech student Sean Hayford O’Leary launched an ISSUES list discussion on this touchy subject.

It’s good to see variety is possible. However, we’re getting our house on Linden St. re-sided after the hailstorm (shameless self-promotion: it’s soon for sale) and we’re sticking with the original beige… but we are snazzing it up just a wee bit with wine-colored doors. I think if we were planning to stay in the house for another decade, we’d be thinking a little more boldly.

Well, let’s not all rush to suggest topics for our upcoming shows…

We could get a progress report on the TIP Strategies Economic Development Plan. Maybe we could focus in on the concepts of building on existing assets and possible force for recruitment and retention efforts.

I’d love to know if there are any new developments on the Liquor Store or new rumors on the Post Office. Have they started tearing up a Cornfield for the new Library?

Speaking of the Library, the Friends could plug their Adults Only Spelling Bee and share the plight of Booker. It might be a little warmer and fuzzier than some of our topics.

It might be fun to have Betsey and Galen telling us why we should care about Rice County. It’s probably a topic that deserves a higher profile.

Hey, maybe Morgan and Cameron could call in and tell us about life after college. Maybe they’d have something to add to their previous comments on the E. D. Plan.

The YMCA would probably appreciate a chance to plug their costly dream. It would be really interesting if we could do a call-in question session for that topic.

RENew Northfield is bringing some national bike safety expert to Northfield on, I think, October 5th. It would be a follow up to a previous topic and a promotion of an important community opportunity.

How about Tom Waits calling in support of Tracy’s word choice?

Just trying to get something going here…