Minnesota Brown

Minnesota Brown: Modern Life on the Iron Range

Category: blog

  • The return of my giant head on a tiny screen

    At this approximate moment I am about to “address” a session on “hyperlocal” blogging at the Netroots Nation conference in the Twin Cities. I am not there; rather I recorded this opening statement and will be participating in the panel discussion via an audio connection. If you’re interested in the challenges facing local political and…

  • Scenes from the commute

    Scenes from the commute

    For the last few weeks of fantastic weather here in northern Minnesota I’ve been meaning to take my camera to catch a particular shot of an old tractor that I see on my 30 minute commute into the big city of Hibbing. The sun rises right behind the ancient machine as it rusts away in…

  • A quick post before the leaves turn colors

    A quick post before the leaves turn colors

    It’s been about a month of reduced blogging here at MinnesotaBrown and I thought I’d give you a little update. First of all, yes, I will be bringing comments back when I resume daily blogging but I’ve temporarily closed comments until I have the time to deal with them. If you have a comment please…

  • A partial hiatus and an exciting new chapter

    A partial hiatus and an exciting new chapter

    Hello readers. Some changes, most likely temporary, will be coming to this blog over the coming months. You’ll still be able to read my weekly columns for the Hibbing Daily Tribune, news about my book and radio work, and items of interest about the Iron Range, but the posting frequency will be reduced. My political…

  • And now a rebuttal

    I realize that I have written three consecutive “bad times” posts about the Iron Range economy. Contractually I am now obligated to show you this: Related posts: No related posts.

  • I get edgy in the Oeuvre

    I get edgy in the Oeuvre

    My friend Paul Ryan, a fellow UWS alum, interviewed me for the Oeuvre Magazine, a new online arts publication for the Northland. It’s on Page 46 and is one of those edgy, urban alternative kind of interviews (intended to be funny). The topics range from include favorite ores, The Gilmore Girls Gossip Girl, drinking, terrorism,…

  • An eerie silence before, well, what?

    An eerie silence before, well, what?

    Things are quiet on the Iron Range. Too quiet. What’s going on that I’m not writing about? Coming tomorrow: My big education column. Next week: An entertaining series of posts about the big HCC Theater Support Gala on Thursday, July 2 at the Hibbing High School Auditorium. One night only, featuring the fabulous Blues Brothers…

  • Ch-ch-ch-changes

    Ch-ch-ch-changes

    I’m thinking of making some changes to the blog to make it more user friendly. I would like to change or add to the sidebar content and improve the load speed. Any suggestions from my longtime readers for things you’d like to see in a possible redesign? Related posts: No related posts.

  • Where are the blue collar bloggers?

    Where are the blue collar bloggers?

    Justin Piehowski with the Minnesota Blog Cabin at MinnPost has a great post today about the lack of “blue collar” bloggers. You can find plenty of tech help, coupons and political opinions on the internet, but where are all the blogs about transmissions, engines and heating systems? Piehowski interviews a guy who has a home…

  • Dayton and Entenza interviews on the way

    Dayton and Entenza interviews on the way

    I’ll have a couple exciting interview posts coming over the next week or so. Tomorrow I’ll be sitting down with former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, an early DFL candidate for Minnesota governor. Next week I’ll be meeting with former State Rep. and Minnesota 2020 leader Matt Entenza, another candidate. I’ve interviewed other DFL candidates like…

  • Empty cube … where can we find an empty cube?

    From Perfect Duluth Day: Apparently the Duluth News Tribune ran a picture of an empty cubicle next to a Monday story about double digit jobless rates in northern Minnesota. The catch? The cubicle appears to be from the newspaper’s own offices. Related posts: No related posts.

  • A Range blog worth reading

    A Range blog worth reading

    I like to point out when other blogs from northern Minnesota’s Iron Range start up. I have to recommend this one, Mesabi Misadventures, which I quoted in my column this week. This is a very funny blog but her most recent post is sobering for me to read and deeply related to the column I…

  • Brown on the Air: steel and schools

    Brown on the Air: steel and schools

    There were some technical difficulties that cut out part of my interview with Scott Hall on today’s KAXE morning show. The whole interview is posted here. I talk briefly about Essar Steel and at length about my suggestion for an Iron Range Congress. Our working plan is to try to do this style of conversation…

  • Follow MinnesotaBrown network on Facebook

    Follow MinnesotaBrown network on Facebook

    I think I’m finally familiar enough with the Facebook world to advertise the fact that you can follow this blog on Facebook by clicking on the widget you see down the right hand column or this link. I’m half a year into using Facebook and have to say that I really recommend it … the…

  • Shenanigans rising

    Shenanigans rising

    Taegan Goddard posts about a theory I suspect, too — that the never ending cuts to newspapers will enable all manner of backroom political shenanigans once thought to be under control. Who’s going to investigate anything? The days of paving riverbeds with overpriced concrete on a government contract might be back. “Citizen” journalists don’t have…