Minnesota Brown

Minnesota Brown: Modern Life on the Iron Range

Category: blog

  • All Star Tuesday!

    All Star Tuesday!

    Check your calendars. It’s Drink Beer and Watch the All-Star Game Day. What? That’s not on your calendar? Get a new one. Expect scant reaction here to political news occurring this evening. Related posts: No related posts.

  • Thanks, readers!

    Thanks, readers!

    Thanks, readers, for making last week the best read week ever in the life of this relatively young blog. We are finally approaching the readership numbers of some of the oft-cited state blogs, but I like to think I’ve kept the Iron Range flavor that makes this place unique. Why such a good week? Well,…

  • Post-outage links!

    Post-outage links!

    We just got out of another of our famous wind-induced power outages today in rural Itasca County. Itasca is a land of lakes and trees, two things that cause a lot of problems when the wind blows hard. So I’m back up and running … and by running I mean surfing the Internet. You know,…

  • Change we can blog in

    Change we can blog in

    You might notice some subtle changes to the blog over the next week or two. I am contemplating a moderate redesign that will make the place more attractive and useful. Here are some of the plans: Add a blog roll for conservative blogs on the side bar. I self-identify as a DFL/progressive blog and have…

  • We must never speak of this again

    I’m finding very little to write about this weekend, other than “mmm, food!” and “mmm, beer!” which is a tad overwrought this long holiday weekend. So I’ll spread some link love. MinnPost has created a three part series entitled “150 Minnesota Moments We’d Like to Forget” highlighting some of the state’s low times. It’s amusing…

  • Happy Fourth from MinnesotaBrown and the Muppets!

    I found this on Wonkette, but it’s probably being used on countless blogs today. Take a look at a patriotic offering from the Muppets as they demonstrate their cross-generational appeal. Happy Fourth of July! Related posts: No related posts.

  • Happy Birthday, Doug and George!

    Happy Birthday, Doug and George!

    Our twin sons Doug and George turn 1 today. Their arrival last summer changed our lives in many amazing ways. Life with three young boys (their older brother Henry is 3) can be stressful but it’s also a lot of fun. I’m taking the day off of politics and news. Check back Thursday. Related posts:…

  • Holiday week means take it easy, blogosphere

    Who are we kidding? It’s a holiday week. I’ll be posting some items this week, but I’m under no illusion that people will read them reliably. There will be some new information on my favorite topic of universal broadband on the Iron Range. Also, candidate filing for state offices begins today. I will be checking…

  • A decade later…

    A decade later…

    Today is my 10-year high school reunion. Yeah, baby! Cherry High School Class of 1998! As class president, I got stuck with organizing the reunion. My main job was to pick the meats for the three-meat buffet. Here’s what I went with: baron of beef roasted turkey lasagna I hope people like it. I’m really…

  • A busy week …

    Quietly, it’s been a very busy week on the Iron Range. There were developments in Mesabi Nugget, Minnesota Steel, Polymet, Taconite Ridge, iron magnetization, flood mitigation for the Canisteo mine pit, my favorite boondoggle (Mesaba Energy Project) and more. I can’t keep up with it all. I hope to have several posts up later today…

  • Long, hot summer

    Long, hot summer

    Just as in the rest of my life, I deal with multiple audiences on this blog. Some folks come here for politics. Some come here to see what’s up on the Iron Range. Some come here because they read my columns or listen to my radio essays. And some come here because they googled “moonshine”…

  • Life of an Iron Range blogger, Part 5

    Life of an Iron Range blogger, Part 5

    Here is the final installment (this week) of “life as an Iron Range blogger,” the diversionary exercise that allows me to keep content on the blog while I work on my book. Here is the Hull Rust Mine on Hibbing’s north side. This isn’t natural. Every crook and cranny of this pit was dug by…

  • Life of an Iron Range blogger, Part 4

    Life of an Iron Range blogger, Part 4

    Book revisions continue through the week. Here I continue the visual tour of life as an Iron Range blogger.It’s not all good. Sometimes bugs like these land on your shoulder or leg. They’re huge and they bite. This one is now a lobbyist working for a confederation of energy and transmission line companies. It will…

  • For serious this time

    For serious this time

    Of course the Excelsior audit/review story has to break during my book-finishing week. For real, I’m going into my basement office and turning off the Internet now … except maybe for occasional peeking. I’ve got some material scheduled for the next few days. See you on the flip side. Related posts: No related posts.

  • Life of an Iron Range blogger, Part 3

    Life of an Iron Range blogger, Part 3

    Work on my book continues, so I continue with the tour of images that make up life as an Iron Range blogger. One of the interesting things about living on the Range is that you need to find entertainment in unusual places. We don’t have night clubs and Tom Petty never comes here. The names…