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At least they didn’t try to hug
Ever have to make exactly one minute of small talk with someone you recently called “wrong for America?” Ever have it filmed and put on CNN? Awkward 2 D Xtreme! My favorite is when they try to talk about football. H/T Wonkette Related posts: No related posts.
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Iron Range agency adds blog
Over at the Iron Range Resources agency, longtime area newspaper reporter and current IRR public information officer Lee Bloomquist has begun blogging for the agency. It’s a “company blog” to be sure, but his first post gives some interesting information and pictures on the new Mesabi Nugget plant near Hoyt Lakes which will be operating…
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Poor is the new rich
Check out this interesting feature from today’s Duluth News Tribune profiling people who choose to live at the poverty line in northern Minnesota. Anecdotally, I can say there are LOTS of people like this up here, often living below the radar. The fact that you can do this is a testament to the greatness of…
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Paul Thissen: The MinnesotaBrown interview
Last week I had a conversation with State Rep. Paul Thissen (DFL-Minneapolis) shortly after he announced his candidacy for governor. Rep. Thissen has been a friend to this blog, occasionally offering insightful comments on health care reform (his specialty area). I first talked to Thissen when he brought his health and human services committee to…
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You win this round …
Dammit. On the same day the Hibbing Daily Tribune runs my column about hitting a deer with my Ford Focus station wagon, the Duluth News Tribune runs Janna Goerdt’s column about hitting a moose with her Subaru. Not only does she get the bigger, rarer and much more literary dead animal on which to pontificate,…
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Fast cattle: the problem with deer
UPDATE: The column was lost during production at the paper, so this will actually run in the hard copy of the paper sometime this week. This is only relevant if you like to clip these and put them on your fridge, which even my mom stopped doing years ago. UPDATE 2: The column actually ran…
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Coming up at MinnesotaBrown
You may have noticed less political content at MinnesotaBrown lately. I’ve been focusing on my book and resulting book promotion lately, much of which is apolitical. Also I’m trying to detox after the busy election season. The ongoing U.S. Senate recount in Minnesota is to a decompressing political junkie what Black Velvet whiskey is to…
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Brown on the Air: DEER!
My weekly essay for the Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008 edition of “Between You and Me” on 91.7 KAXE deals with deer. Yes, you probably remember my run-in with a deer in my car from a few weeks ago and my recent trip to the hunting shack for the purposes of not hunting. Well, this essay…
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MinnesotaBrown on the Twin Cities airwaves
If you want to hear me on KTNF’s Mark Heaney Show from Wednesday you can listen to the archive here (other listening options here). The show highlights some of the things I talk about during my usual reading/lecture for my new book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range.” I also threaten to raise an…
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I love you, Duluth!
Thanks to the many who came out to the Duluth Barnes and Noble last night for my reading and book signing. I saw a few familiar faces, but mostly a lot of new friends who have been following the blog and book. I sure appreciate everyone who showed up. If you couldn’t make it you…
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Facebook ‘splosion
I know this only serves to demonstrate my unhip unhipness but I just got on Facebook for the first time and it is totally overwhelming. People are giving me animals (?), hugging me (?) inviting me to join things or go to strange towns to attend spaghetti dinners. People are chatting, sending messages and writing…
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Chinese economic plan could indirectly aid Iron Range
MPR has an intriguing story showing how China’s recent economic stimulus plan for its own economy may serve Minnesota’s Iron Range well by creating a firewall in international steel prices. It was Chinese growth associated with the Beijing Olympics that yanked the Range out of the doldrums five years ago. Fascinating stuff, economically speaking. Related…
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See me, hear me, but don’t touch me
Like my “Tommy” reference? I’ll see you tonight at the Duluth Barnes and Noble in the Miller Hill Mall for the first public reading/discussion of my new book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range.” The event starts at 6:30 with a brief talk and book signing to follow. I’ll be on hand to talk…
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Welcome Good Morning Northland viewers
I just got back to the Range from my early “Good Morning Northland” interview about my book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range.” It may have been four hours in the car for 20 minutes in the studio and two minutes on the air, but I’m sure it will all be worth it ……
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On transportation, punditry and vultures
By now you’ve probably heard the speculation that U.S. Rep Jim Oberstar is on President-elect Obama’s short list for Secretary of Transportation. The Mesabi Daily News welcomed the idea in a Monday editorial. This speculation has been around a long time. I wrote about a collection of potential succession candidates should Oberstar move over to…