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Brown on the Air: ORIGINALITY!
Here’s a first: a show about originality. This Saturday morning’s edition of “Between You and Me” on 91.7 KAXE explores the concept of “what makes something original?” just in time for the Iron Range Original Music Association‘s big show coming up. I’ll be joining the fray with a tired old essay, worn down by the…
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Vertical integration, yo
Spiking iron ore prices have been a boon to U.S. Steel whose stock jumped 5 percent recently. According to this article from The Street, all of this is thanks specifically to U.S. Steel’s Iron Range properties and vertical integration. Just file this thought away, people. A little something to remember at some point. Not sure…
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Kind of a big deal: Steelworkers endorse Dayton
I’ve been staying out of the tit-for-tat political posting as much as possible, trying to focus on the real world. That’s my new thing, see. But there’s no ignoring the implications of today’s United States Steelworkers union endorsement of Mark Dayton in the Minnesota DFL gubernatorial primary over DFL endorsed candidate Margaret Anderson Kelliher. Two…
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Scary flood pit to be drained
Today saw a major breakthrough in the Canisteo Pit story on northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. This old mine pit has seen rising waters since the end of mining activity decades ago, waters that now threaten, and occasionally moisten, the city of Bovey. Today the DNR announced plans to advance its vision of a solution over…
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The Come Home Bob meta-interview
It’s that extra special season where I’m too busy to post but there’s tons going on. There’ll be a few more posts tonight. Most of my stress right now is coming from the upcoming Dylan Days, an arts event like no other based in the heart of Minnesota’s Iron Range May 27-30, 2010. I’m laying…
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One if by blog, two if by freelance print arrangement
I’m exploring a few concepts for future blog posts, stories and columns. One is the persistent foreclosure rate in places like Itasca County on the western Iron Range. The rates are improving elsewhere but not here. I’m also going to be looking at the fiscal health of Range (and nearby) towns as they face more…
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Taking care of business, retirement-style
When I was in college studying print journalism (which is a little like being in the Roman Empire studying the concept of “forever”) I had the chance to write freelance copy for Wayne Nelson at Business North. It is from Wayne that I learned the important lesson that just because a son has the same…
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COLUMN: "Video killed the merit badge"
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, May 9, 2010 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Video killed the merit badgeBy Aaron J. Brown By now you may have heard that the Boy Scouts of America plan to offer a merit badge for playing video games. This is the precise kind of story that…
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Brown on the Air: TEETH!
Damn if I didn’t just write and record an essay about teeth. Guy writes and records a thing like that, he sure as hell hopes someone listens to it. That’s where you come in. The topic of this week’s edition of “Between You and Me” on 91.7 KAXE is teeth. I’ll be joining the fray…
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And the winner is … nerds
Fans of last night’s post on the British election have probably figured out that the result of the voting is unclear and subject to several more days of wrangling. The Times of London has a really cool interactive map of the election results that also features profile information on each constituency explain the area’s economy,…
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Political geeks, turn your eyes to the Atlantic horizon to-night
Today is election day in the United Kingdom, which is at least as much fun for American political nerds to watch as it is for baseball fans to watch the All-Star game. I am both, so I would know. There’s plenty on the internet for you to read on this topic, but not much for…
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If you like lakes, like this link
My essay “10,000 lakes, 10,000 dreams” was selected to appear in the Voices for the Lakes project organized by the 1000 Friends of Minnesota organization. Several Minnesota writers entered works for consideration. The goal is to bring attention to the issues and cultural impact of Minnesota’s lakes. Starting this week they are releasing one of…
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And the meek shall inherit the media
So we’ve learned that Newsweek is for sale after this past’ year’s coordinated campaign to reduce its circulation and become more of a niche publication, and that its editor Jon Meacham is trying to lead an investment group to buy it outright. I might be speculating beyond my pay grade, but isn’t it interesting that…
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"State of Superior" sees political unrest
I take special interest in the three congressional districts that constitute the historical, theoretical State of Superior. Naturally, there’s my home district of MN-08 (represented by Jim Oberstar, a Democrat). But so too do I make casual note of northern Wisconsin’s WI-07 (Dave Obey, whose been in congress even longer than Oberstar) and the Upper…
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Oh, dear, have we jumped the shark?
The third “Come Home, Bob” video got some play on local news last night (Northland News Center, Channels 3, 6 and 11). I don’t know what it means when the fourth estate not only accepts but actively participates in a satirical marketing campaign, but that’s what has happened here. Maybe I just don’t want to…