-
COLUMN: We don’t get it; any of it
This is my Sunday column for the May 6, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. A version of this piece aired on Northern Community Radio’s “Between You and Me” Saturday morning. We don’t get it; any of itBy Aaron J. Brown Long ago there was such a thing as a “mainstream” in American culture.…
-
Nolan cruises to MN-8 DFL endorsement
Former U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan easily won a first-ballot endorsement for Congress by DFLers in Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District. The victory was expected after a string of convincing victories in local delegate selection contests over the past two months. His DFL opponents Tarryl Clark and Jeff Anderson will challenge Nolan for the nomination in the…
-
Big ship marks big weekend in Duluth
Fans gathered for the conclusion to the Homegrown Music Festival and delegates assembling for today’s DFL Eighth District Convention on Spirit Mountain might soon catch a glimpse of this wild-looking ship, the Clipper Gemini, arriving around midday in the harbor. It’s not often that Duluth ends up being a port of call on a ship’s…
-
Greeting car’d
The Mesabi Daily News reports that a car plowed into a Hallmark gift card shop in downtown Virginia, Minnesota this afternoon. No one was seriously injured. The incident is under investigation. The building sustained damage. First, the low hanging fruit: Is there an apology card for that? Or is this more of a “flowers” thing?…
-
MN-8 DFL convention to reboot hot race
This weekend DFLers in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District will hold their convention in Duluth. The top agenda item will be endorsing a candidate to run against Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN8), the upstart freshman conservative in a race that most national watchers are calling a true toss-up. Cravaack was already endorsed for re-election by MN-8 Republicans…
-
Range Shrine Circus opens today in Hibbing
UPDATE: For information about the 2014 Range Shrine Circus, go here. This weekend I’ll be bringing my family to a biennial gathering in a large hall. Loud people, some of them attractive, others frightening, will yell grandiose statements and perform theatrical feats to impress the crowd of sticky, confused onlookers. And no, I’m not talking…
-
Brown on the Air: I DON’T GET …
This week’s topic on the Northern Community Radio Saturday morning call-in and music program “Between You and Me” is “I don’t get…” Blank. You fill in the blank. What don’t you get? My weekly commentary develops a list that shows how dependent I am on broadcast media to relate with the world around me, something…
-
"These boys are a hit"
If I am to believe recent site statistics, readers of this blog care about three things and in the following order: Trampled by Turtles, Bob Dylan’s Minnesota roots and scuttlebutt on the race for Minnesota’s 8th Congressional seat. So, like a lucky songwriter penning furtive screeds about the IRRRB, I must accept that the concert…
-
Talking rural transportation on live MPR blog
Yesterday I wrote a post in response to a Minnesota Public Radio story about rural transit issues, connecting it to some Iron Range economic realities. Later today, at noon, MPR will host a Public Insight Network online forum on these topics. I may participate, if conditions allow, but either way you may choose to check…
-
Riding the rural urban frontier up north
One of the quirks of the Iron Range is the way in which it is neither urban nor rural. In this way it’s like light, neither a particle nor a wave. The Range is a series of small towns strung along a 135-mile ridge of iron deposits in northeastern Minnesota. Each town is autonomous, but…
-
Would the real Iron Man please stand up?
Residents of northern Minnesota’s Iron Range know the iconic image of the Iron Man Memorial situated along Highway 169 in Chisholm. This statue, the third-tallest free-standing statue in America (a very distant third, behind the Statue of Liberty and the Arch of St. Louis), was dedicated in 1987. It took 11 years to commission and…
-
COLUMN: Death by Sitting
This is my Sunday column for the April 29, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Death by sittingBy Aaron J. Brown As I sit here now I realize I’m going to die soon. I mean, sooner than later. I mean, sooner than I would if I were standing right now. And how am I…
-
Brown on the Air: DO-OVERS!
If you could do something over, what would it be? If you could live something over, what would you choose? The topic of the Saturday morning call-in and music show Between You and Me on Northern Community Radio this week is “Do-Overs.” I argue, humorously, with my typical self-deprecating memoir, that do-overs are not possible.…
-
Download the Great Northern Radio Show podcast
Finally, you can download the entire broadcast of the Great Northern Radio Show recorded live from the Chief Theatre in Bemidji on April 7. Right click HERE to download the file directly to your computer. You can then load it onto iTunes or the program of your choice for use on your digital device. It’s…
-
Bob Dylan to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Today, President Barack Obama announced that Duluth native and Hibbing-raised Bob Dylan will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. MPR has the story. From the White House press release: “One of the most influential American musicians of the 20th century, Dylan released his first album in 1962.…