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FARGO REVIEW: Episode 7, “Who Shaves the Barber”
The FX series “Fargo,” inspired by the 1996 Coen Brothers film, is based in northern Minnesota. As northern Minnesota’s leading pop culture, news, entertainment, iron mining and invasive species blog, MinnesotaBrown is here to review the show through Minnesota eyes. Now, to this week’s episode: Molly lives. Malvo lives. But as many answers as we…
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Dylan Days opens today in Hibbing
For much of Bob Dylan’s meteoric career arc, most people in his Iron Range hometown of Hibbing called him Bobby Die-lin and wondered what he was singing about. Some still do, but by now the practice is reserved as a sort of passive-aggressive protest by people who wish they could get paid that much to…
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KAXE/KBXE passes hat for journalism
We all know the field of journalism has changed dramatically in the past two decades. Do we have to rehash this? The corporate consolidations and rise of the internet? The buy-outs and downsizing? The tendrils of public relations and marketing reaching into the minds of young people, snatching away the best talent for the most…
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FARGO REVIEW: Episode 6, “Buridan’s Ass”
The FX series “Fargo,” inspired by the 1996 Coen Brothers film, is based in northern Minnesota. As northern Minnesota’s leading pop culture, news, entertainment, iron mining and invasive species blog, MinnesotaBrown is here to review the show through Minnesota eyes. Now, to this week’s episode: This week on “Fargo,” Episode 6: “Buridan’s Ass,” the chase…
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What’s a Yooper? Check the dictionary
Fans of this site know I keep a watchful eye on the world of popular linguistics. So, big news this week: Our compatriots over in the Upper Peninsula of northern Michigan made the dictionary. On Monday, Merriam-Webster added the word “yooper” to its vaunted list of official words. Here’s the local news: As the AP reports,…
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Dylan Days waning in Hibbing
Bob Dylan’s birthplace of Duluth, Minnesota, kicked off its annual Dylan Fest this past weekend with a concert and live music. They’ve got more events going on throughout the week. Then, this Friday, May 23 and Saturday, May 24 (Bob’s birthday), Bob Dylan’s hometown of Hibbing begins its annual Dylan Days event up here on…
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My micro-mining argument in The Daily Yonder
I’m in the Daily Yonder today talking about the microscopic realities of the mining debate in northern Minnesota. Here’s a taste from my story “Tiny molecules, big fight over wild rice”: The reason for all these emotions over tiny molecules isn’t because of numbers, or even, for most people, science: it’s a cultural battle. Will…
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FARGO REVIEW: Episode 5, “The Six Ungraspables”
The FX series “Fargo,” inspired by the 1996 Coen Brothers film, is based in northern Minnesota. As northern Minnesota’s leading pop culture, news, entertainment, iron mining and invasive species blog, MinnesotaBrown is here to review the show through Minnesota eyes. Now, to this week’s episode: Fargo’s Episode 5: “The Six Ungraspables” briefly takes us back to…
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Look out, kids, HERE COMES SATURN!
So, what if the planet Saturn took a hard turn and headed straight for the sun. You know, all random like. What if it passed right by Earth? This video from “yeti dynamics” was my lunchtime entertainment today and I encourage you to use this for that five minute block of time where you want…
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Don’t give me that look; a MN fishing opener plea
Near my house there’s a place called the Twin Bridges. As advertised, it’s a pair of small bridges along Itasca County Highway 336 spanning a winding section of the Prairie River right where it feeds into Crooked Lake. It’s known locally as a place where, shortly after ice-out, you can angle for fish emerging from their icy winter…
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Upper Midwest adds color to bars vs. groceries data
Not much to add here, other than this is a map comparing the number of bars to the number of grocery stores in locations around the United States. Most of the time you find more grocery stories than bars. In the states of Wisconsin and Illinois, and here on the Iron Range of northern Minnesota,…
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FARGO REVIEW: Episode 4, ‘Eating the Blame’
The FX series “Fargo,” inspired by the 1996 Coen Brothers film, is based in northern Minnesota. As northern Minnesota’s leading pop culture, news, entertainment, iron mining and invasive species blog, MinnesotaBrown is here to review the show through Minnesota eyes. Now, to this week’s episode: You know “Fargo” on FX is getting serious when even…
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I’m really big in Scandinavia right now
I’m coming off a banner week for MinnesotaBrown. In addition to rolling out a nice run of blog posts for the Star Tribune, I also got my first mention in the Scandinavian super-tabloid Aftonbladet. My friend Kristin Lundell, among Sweden’s leading pop culture writers, has apparently been reading my “Fargo” reviews. Älskar du tv-serien ”Fargo”?…
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Minnesota Orchestra in Hibbing all week
With the Minnesota Orchestra now back on its feet after a long labor dispute, the Iron Range community of Hibbing will welcome the Minnesota Orchestra’s four-day residence program this week and major performance Friday evening. The orchestra’s outreach program will work with community and student musicians throughout the week. Folks might remember the success of…
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So ends the cartoon series: ‘Happy Spring!’
A week that saw me do one of the most legitimate things in my blogging career (signing on with the Star Tribune), also sees me end one of the most illegitimate: my stint as a cartoonist. For the last several weeks I’ve written, drawn and designed an original cartoon about modern life in northern Minnesota…