Secrets of the City

Ooooh. First post in an F.O.T. Today is going to be special.

That sales operator for the Star Tribune is at it again this morning. She comments on practically every story.

She’s a busy sales operator indeed.

Kudos to KARE-11 for asking what the Star Tribune aparently did not: is this op/ed original material? The blog of the National Corn Growers Association (farmers with white belts?) tells the story of the Twin Turkeys.

Raiders of the Lost Ark, anyone?

Dean Zimmermann has been gone so long he is out of jail and in a halfway house now, but I think that store on Lake & Park still has a campaign sign for him.

I’ve decided I want to be like christopher hitchens: a total prick who makes such intelligent arguments you have to begrudgingly give it some thought.

I’m halfway there. Now onto those arguments …

You’re going to seriously need to up your liquor intake if you want to aspire to Hitchens, Wayno.

Does anyone have used kitty litter containers (the big ones) that they don’t need anymore. I am trying to become greener by not having to use paper bags for recycling and these would work great. It you do, email me at vlad@umn.edu please. I will come pick them up with my bike so that the transport will be carbon neutral.

Thanks all!

BTW, I have a real corporate job now, which is draining the life out of me.

I don’t have the luxury to sit around and browse the web all day as I did in grad school.

Waa-waa

You’re going to seriously need to up your liquor intake if you want to aspire to Hitchens, Wayno.

You have to put on some weight, too. Not bathe. Mess up your hair.

Hitchens is train wreck.

Andyst wins the award for awesomest beard ever worn by a mnspeaker.

Last night I burned my hand on our toaster oven while preparing mini chicken tacos. It hurts worse than any burn I have ever had in my life. Solarcaine isn’t cutting it. Any recs on something to soothe it?

Welcome to the real world, Mr. Carbon Neutral.

Vlad, are you talking about litter boxes or the 28 gallon tubs that hold the new litter? Coz I’m going out to buy litter this weekend and may be able to hook you up in a few days.

you haven’t seen me lately, have you rat?

kidding!
I’m well-kept most of the time

ps vlad, want to give me some t1pz for not getting screwed straight out of school?
I’ve got an interview today, and probably another one soon, but I want to hit grad school in a year or two anyway and don’t want to be screwed again coming out of there.

I’ve got an interview today, and probably another one soon

Finally! What sorts of things are you interviewing for?

We have one or two, Vlad.

What constitutes “getting screwed” right out of school? Finding a job? Not finding one?

today is from, surprise surprise, word-of-mouth.
actually APPLYING to jobs that are POSTED is apparently what suckers do. so you know, I was just a sucker for like a year.

Not to change the subject, but I have just returned from the east coast and I took a picture of every Dunkin Doughnuts that I saw which means, I took a lot of pictures.

Opening a D&D here is a gold mine waiting to happen. Great coffee!

finding a job that makes you think it has a future, then pulling the rug out from under you and sticking you in a low-paying under-appreciated shitty corner of the company where you’ll never make anything of yourself. combine that with a shitty job market and not very many other options for maximal results.

also being a naive recent grad and having been told growing up that once you have a college degree, esp. in the sciences, it’s easy sailing.
it makes you a great target for unscrupulous corporate types eager to squeeze you until the well runs dry and throw pennies at you for it.

I really wonder why we don’t have any DDs here. On my recent trip to the east coast (ok, march) I had it for breakfast every single day I was there. No exceptions.

How does it feel Vlado, selling your soul to The Devil at the Crossroads for filthy lucre?

We did have them a couple of places but then they seemed to close when krispy kreme arrived and you could buy their donuts in stores perhaps they felt that, on top of that, Caribou and Starbuck’s filled to beverage void? I don’t know but now that kk is gone perhaps they will come back. And for the love of frick, please put a donut shop downtown!

I’ll give Hitchens this: He was willing to unbdergo torture by waterboarding.

Why is so hard to get doughnuts in this town? Everybody knows that doughnuts make people happy!!!

I also feel there is a pizza void here too. I went to a divey backwater pizza place in New Jersey and it was 10X better than Luce or any pizza place there is here.

I really wonder why we don’t have any DDs here.

A walk around Lake Calhoun today would suggest otherwise.

That stupid McDonalds latte commercial where the fake bobos get excited about not having to watch art movies anymore drives me totally nuts.

It drives me even more nuts knowing that I’m playing right into their game — it’s like McDonalds is trying to force my hand and acknowledge that I’m an insufferable inty-lleck-shoo-ul that has not place in Ray Kroc’s America!

It’s enough to make me tear off my clothes and run down Hennepin Avenue naked shouting the lyrcis to “Solidarity Forever” and crying.

I downloaded the new Steve Miller band live album this morning and it rocks!

I can’t wait to sit in the back yard, pop open a can of Milwaukee’s Best and pretend it is 1988 again. I know that the music came out well before that but it is a rather vivid college memory. Well and we drank out of returnables but I doubt I can find a Mil Best in a returnable anymore.

I don’t get the premise of that commercial. Are they saying that non-hipsters won’t even be served at high-brow coffee shops like Starbucks?

Why was the beer always better in a returnable bottle?

That stupid McDonalds latte commercial where the fake bobos get excited about not having to watch art movies anymore drives me totally nuts.

I am waiting for a similar announcement so we Mnspeakers can strip off our little round glasses, white belts and midget clown makeup and return home to the MSM.

I thought the point was that you can get cheap good highbrow coffee at McD’s now and that you don’t need to wear a beret to enjoy a latte.

McDonald’s is wrong. The nerds won.

You’ll pry my pretentious beret off of my cold dead head

Why was the beer always better in a returnable bottle?

I’m sure it has something to do with the insulating properties of glass. They do still sell some returnables at the SAV (St Anthony Village) Liquor stores. It’s not really more expensive either $15 for a 24 of Miller, plus deposit. I know what I’m doing after work!

No kiddin’, Wayne. I worked for years to be able to enjoy Lydia Lunch records and I’m not going to give that up just for a two-dollar Mickey D’s cappuccino.

Berets today, berets tomorrow, berets forever.

I thought the point was that now there’s a place where you can get the coffee you like without the snooty coffee attitude.

It’s supposed to be really hot today. What I want to do then is turn of the AC and sit around getting sh*tfaced drunk and passing out in a stew of my own sweat, just like in college.

I thought the point was… that you don’t need to wear a beret to enjoy a latte.

What I lack is any evidence that anyone thought otherwise.

I don’t even like starbux, and I’m still offended.
Maybe I’ll make a smarmy, dismissive or ironic joke about it.

Kevin, that actually does sound kind of appealing.
just a sweaty man in his underwear sitting around a stuffy apartment (I don’t even OWN an a/c) drinking cold beers that are sweating as much as I am.

I think I have plans now.

If you’re going to McDonald’s to buy coffee, you can’t show up looking like a hipster! Hello!

I got a beret from a company once. Don’t wear it, but I look pretty sharp in it.

The commercial might have made sense 20 years ago when ‘fancy coffee’ was still associated with Beatniks, but now you see guys with hard hats and lunchpails carrying their 20-ounce Cappucinos to the construction site. It’s like seeing a commercial about regular guys pretending to be computer nerds so they can have email accounts.

It’s enough to make me tear off my clothes and run down Hennepin Avenue naked shouting the lyrcis to “Solidarity Forever” and crying..

I’ve done that. A couple times actually.
It’s overrated…

I’m thinking a drive over to St Pee to get me a banana split blast from Sonic might be in order.

Anyone know if it’s still crazy busy over there?

If you’re going to McDonald’s to buy coffee, you can’t show up looking like a hipster! Hello!

Yeah, I think there’d be more humor in genuined hipsters shaving off their little beards and shucking the skinny scarves and driving to nearby towns so they can sneak in and get a Big Mac without being caught by other hipsters.

Why was the beer always better in a returnable bottle?

You clearly have never tried “Wisconsin Club,” a beer I drank in college. You could get a warm case of returnables for less than $5. You got what you paid for, believe me…

I don’t get the premise of that commercial.

It’s aimed at consumers who feel intimidated by coffeeshop lingo and culture. McDs is a familiar, comfortable place that is non-threatening.

BIG THANK YOU to Aaron, for the kind words about yours truely at a recent seminar on nonprofit communications.

Did Wisconsin Club have a sort of 50’sish blue label?

We drank worse than that in college. Cold Spring!

$4.03 a case before tax and deposit.

@Dougie D:

I went on a Thursday at 9pm and a Saturday at 230pm-ish. Both times I had to go to the holding area first and wait and there was a police officer. I’m sure that it probably gets crazy around lunch but I can’t confirm that for you.

I got a beret from a company once. Don’t wear it, but I look pretty sharp in it.

You’re manly enough to pull off that look, Rat. You, and Sean Connery.

Of course, Sean isn’t afraid to take a fashion plunge! Why the gun? That’s so no one dares LOL.

I got a beret from a company once. Don’t wear it, but I look pretty sharp in it.

»» Submitted by »»» Rat at 10:08 AM on July

Club Beer was my training beer. But I mean the West African lager.

As for berets, I wore one once in college. I picked up a sorority girl that night, and learned my lesson.

Bob hits nail on nailhead. I rarely buy coffee at a coffeeshop, but when I do, it’s a little intimidating. I don’t know the process like everyone else. It’s a little like the Soup Nazi, and I’m Elaine.

I’m buying all my coffee from McDonalds from now on. I shall also fill my pockets with sausage and cheese McMuffins while I am there.

Blue and gold, Dougie_D. Most were askew or upside down, as I recall.

I don’t buy coffee from coffee shops because I think it’s absurd to pay (esp. so much) for coffee. For one, I get it for free at work. Secondly, even if I didn’t it’s so much cheaper to make it at home yourself.

Way to piss away disposable income, america.

I like sitting in my coffeeshop. It’s a nice place and I can’t get work done at home. So, that’s worth a couple of bucks.

Cold Spring–yes! I recall a friend and I scrounging for coins and pulling together enough for a case of (24) returnables. It was the very cheapest thing and it cost less than $5, at a time when a 12-pack of regular beer cost $6 or so.

I am pysched about the heat. I love hot hot hot days. I’d be singing another tune if we had more than a couple months of it, but lucky for me we don’t even get two weeks of the unpossibly hot humid weather.

I love getting coffee. We don’t do it very often, but sunday morning walks with my husband down to the sbux or bakery on the corner are my idea of a great morning.

I’ll piss way my disposable income as I please.

BTW, what is the name of the soup nazi place that just opened up, and where is it again?

As for doughnuts, I have no idea why it is so hard to get a doughnut in this town, especially downtown Mpls.

I really hate starsucks. What’s with all that grande/tall shit? Gimme a f-ing cup of coffee that doesn’t tastes like swill please!

Soup nazi place is in Capella Tower!

Where ever that is!

I really hate starsucks. What’s with all that grande/tall shit? Gimme a f-ing cup of coffee that doesn’t tastes like swill please!

To each their own.

Soup nazi place is in Capella Tower!

Where ever that is!

That’s the one with the halo, isn’t it?

Yes!

But I don’t know places downtown by buildings. I only know skyway landmarks.

Starbucks is an easy target. They’re having tough times right now.

Kurtis is Liberian?

What is the highest number of comments on a thread here at mnspeak?

I’m a Caribou gal myself. If you get just a regular coffee, it’s pretty cheap. I don’t know why people get so bent outta shape about coffee places. If you ain’t spending the money, why judge? Chillax.

Miller: Go to the Caribou by the SLP Costco – the peeps are cool there and they won’t make you feel like Elaine.

I used to study a lot at the 35th & Hennepin Dunn Bros. when I thought it wise to try grad school – it was a brief romance.

Kurtis is Liberian?

No. Kurtis just lived in Liberia.

I used to buy those coffee drinks a lot, but like wayne says, the price adds up after a while. However, every once in a while I treat myself to a fancy coffee. I like the soy lattes at Starbux and the Chai Lattes at Dunn Bros.

I likes my french roast (in a mug, damn it!) at Dunn Bros. Had my morning joe today at the DB right across the street from where Josie works.

I drink a lot of water. You know, to keep pure my precious … bodily … fluids.
Also because water is, how do you say, free?

What is the highest number of comments on a thread here at mnspeak?

I’m pretty sure it was the I35W thread, which got 791 comments.

Of the challenges in life, walking into a cafe and ordering a coffee drink and paying for it and drinking it is one of the simplest. Even if they call a small a tall and you don’t know the difference between a cappuccino and a frapuccino, you can just ask for “your smallest regular coffee” and get it.

As for disposable income, if I can have a nice treat in the morning and support a local business that employs people in my neighborhood, why not?

Also because water is, how do you say, free?

And these days, undrinkable (at least if you live in Mpls and don’t have a Brita).

Calling a small a tall is just redonkulous, Kurtis. Who does that?!!

Calling a small a tall is just redonkulous, Kurtis. Who does that?!!

If you’re not going there, why the hell do you care so much?

As somebody who spent high school thinking that hanging out with friends in coffeeshops was cool, I love the McDonald’s ad. I’m not going to buy there, but I laugh everytime I see it. “I can shave this thing* off my face!” We were poseurs, putting on airs like we thought those sophisticated college kids did. It’s funny to get called out like that.

There’s more to it than just the ordering. You order and pay here. Then you stand over here. Unless you ordered something to eat – you get that over there.

And it’s not the employees who are snotty about people who don’t know the routine. It’s the other customers (who likely come in and order the same thing at the same time every day).

And no, it’s not one of the greatest challenges in life. But why deal with it when I pass 3 McDonalds on my way to work?

I haven’t seen the McDonald’s commercial as I’ve been trying to not watch TV because I get sucked into every awful reality show and it’s summer and movement is good.

But it hasn’t stopped me from watching back-2-back episodes of season 3 of Lost. Sheesh.

Well, if you insist on drinking McDonald’s coffee, please make damn sure Monocle Magazine doesn’t find out. We can’t lose our credibility now.

I also love the 34th/Hennepin Dunn Bros. I sometimes bring my laptop and work from there when I’m tired of working from the office or from home. I also love the gift shop/flower store next door.

In other news, I accidentally walked for over 2 hrs this morning. I’m TIRED!

And these days, undrinkable (at least if you live in Mpls and don’t have a Brita).

I have a Brita pitcher but if I don’t feel like going downstairs or I’m waiting for it to finish filling, I’ll fill my water bottle with tap water. It’s not bad to drink if you drink it right away but if you let it sit for a little while then it tastes weird.

“Your body needs water – so DRINK THAT SHIT”

Man, that song’s lyrics provide ample material for MNSpeak threads.

I downloaded the Steve Miller CD on Dougie D’s recommendation and enjoyed it. It’ll be “at work” music since my wife doesn’t like the SMB for some crazy reason (and we carpool so the drive to and from work is out to).

P.S. I guess it’s not a CD if I downloaded it.

And it’s not the employees who are snotty about people who don’t know the routine. It’s the other customers (who likely come in and order the same thing at the same time every day).

Well, it’s not so much “snottiness” as “impatience.” People what got shit to do don’t want to be waiting for 20 minutes behind some guy who’s ventured into a coffee shop for the first time and can’t order because he’s too busy staring in wonderment at everything.

I reckon it would be the same thing at McDs if three hipsters walked in and blocked up the counter and marvelled at the menu and read it aloud with question marks at the end of every sentence “chicken… nuggets?” “big… mac?” and stared at each other hopelessly while the line behind them got longer and later.

The magic words in both cases are, “I’m still deciding, go ahead.”

Starbucks is an easy target. They’re having tough times right now.

They did it to themselves, though. There are/were at least 80, if not 100 locations in Seattle alone, and many of them were across the street from each other. They tried to take advantage of a trend and now that people aren’t as willing to spend $4 (or $8 because they stopped twice daily) on coffee as they once were, that trend is passing.

But with all their faults and perceptions, they were a good company to work for. They provide full benefits to even their part time employees, and the schedules can be really flexible, so it is good work for college kids. Plus, free coffee all day during your shift.

Also, the regulars were often the nicest of the customers. There were exceptions, but for the most part, they were there at least once a day so they were more likely to chat and get to know you. Plenty of other people treated you like shit because their grande vanilla latte was a freakin status symbol. Man I hated those jerks.

I’ve had enough water from the wells around the lakes to be able to drink the tap water at even its foulest and not flinch.

plus, you know, I could just boil it.

ps, you guys: brawndo: it’s got, like, electrolytes and shit

Tara: HA! I always forget the cross street for that Dunn Bros. For me it is anywhere between 33rd and 37th on Hennepin.
Btw: How does one “accidently” walk for 2 hrs.?

I love the Steve Miller Band, but I still don’t know what a “pompitus of love” is.

P.S. I guess it’s not a CD if I downloaded it.

The funny thing Kurtis is that it’s not even being released as a CD. Only a DVD. So it seems that downloading and burning to a CD is the only way to actually get the CD.

It is common practice now days? Can anyone else thing of an album that only came out on DVD? I’m guessing it would only be live albums.

Sometimes going to a coffee shop is as much for the experience as it is for the drink. If you just need something to pick-you-up on the way in to work then by all means, drive through McDonald’s. If you know what you like and want a pleasant atmosphere to sip it in, go to a coffee shop.

No matter how good your coffee might be, sucking it down while driving in rush hour traffic will probably take away from the enjoyment of it.

@cat, I was meeting a friend at Harriet to walk around the lake and I thought it wouldn’t take me that long to walk there, but it was farther away than I thought. Then we walked around the lake and by the time I got home, over 2 hrs had passed. My little dog almost gave up and made me carry him home!

Sometimes going to a coffee shop is as much for the experience as it is for the drink. If you just need something to pick-you-up on the way in to work then by all means, drive through McDonald’s. If you know what you like and want a pleasant atmosphere to sip it in, go to a coffee shop.

a well designed and well run coffee shop should be able to appeal to both the sipper and the rusher. it’s hard to stay in business for long if you can’t do both.

Totally off subject (but I do love my Starbucks)… anyone seen the Retarded Policeman yet? NSFW

A new fave coffe shop is the Dunn Bros. in Linden Hills.

I also like the Tea Garden as well – I can’t believe I hadn’t been there until a couple of months ago.

I love Tea Garden. Bubble tea = delicious!

Re: returnable bottles…one of the added benefits of the $5 cases of Old Milwaukee returnables we drove across to Superior for: furniture! Some friends of mine had a couch, two chairs and three tables made of these cases before they returned them all.

I recently got some Peet’s Coffee to make at home…great stuff. That’s a CA chain, right, Wayne?

Steve Miller was almost “old” in 1978! Rockin’ me, baby, in Swingtown, indeed. On a jet airliner with the gangster of loooove.

If you’re not going there, why the hell do you care so much?

Why should that make any difference? I have a lot of opinions about a lot of random things that I shouldn’t care about. Why should this be any different? *rolls eyes*

My pects are sore.

I also like the Tea Garden as well

Yeah, it’s Friday is all I can say ’bout that.

Noodleman: Thanks, now I have keep on rockin’ me baby running through my head over and over.

Aliecat, Kurtis:

I need the Bucket-like cat litter thingies.

If you have any please give me some contact info for me to contact you or email me at vlad@umn.edu.

Thanks!

Oh and corporate land is quite good. Much better than the hell of grad school. It helps to work for a company which is not evil, e.g. Ethanol industry, oil, car industry, etc etc.

Oh and corporate land is quite good. Much better than the hell of grad school. It helps to work for a company which is not evil, e.g. Ethanol industry, oil, car industry, etc etc.

So, you like work for the sex industry?

j/k

So, you like work for the sex industry?

j/k

Nahh, my skills in that profession are very poor. Very little experience as well, would be a tough to sell myself well.

That stupid McDonalds latte commercial where the fake bobos get excited about not having to watch art movies anymore drives me totally nuts.

Oh lord. Read bobos as “boobs” in that sentence and was really confused.

Well, perhaps they’re “boobs” in the old-timey sense, I suppose.

Re Capella tower: you can call it a halo but in fact it is a UFO landing pad. Don’t tell anyone though, it will make it harder to sell.

I ended up going to Trieste for the falafel salad. The guy topped it w/fresh basil he’d brought in from his home garden. It’s nice being a regular. I’ll try the soup place next week (Bix?); I hope they have gazpacho when I go!

Capella: halo
It aint. To soup place I’ll go
Trieste guy rocks

(sorry, I just like stupid haiku)

i just polished off a bowl of the split pea from soup man. d-lish. if you are budget conscious, you must seek out the daily special. oh…and it seemed like they were running out of everything today that wasn’t soup

if the prep guy @ Trieste had been born in America, I’m convinced he’d be a top flight brain surgeon. grace in motion. he is one with the knife.

I wanted to go to Soup Man but I got lazy and went to Au Bon Pain – the clam chowder was pretty tasty.

the lobster bisque @ soup man is sublime…and for $8 per bowl, it had better be.

Oh damn, now I’m going to have to go. But the site says they don’t serve it everyday. Is there a way that I can find out what they are serving on a given day?

lobster bisque! Haven’t had that in years, and yes, it is a sublime soup experience.

It’s a long day because all I see in the last few comments is “lolbisque”.

i have a copy on my desk. does not appear to have been loaded to their website. i’ll email it to you, and you can figure out for me how to post it on line

It’s a long day because all I see in the last few comments is “lolbisque”.

“All ur oyster crackers belong to us”

PLEASE, who here has direct TV or Dish network?
I need some advice, as I am kicking comcast to the curb so they don’t rob me every month with their shitty digital cable software interface.

sound off if you have real personal experience with sattellite TV! please!

I had good experience when I was a directTV subscriber. I have since decided to waste my time on the internet rather than with the TV, so I disconnected it.

It greatly depends upon what type of TV you watch and how much you are willing to spend. Look at their basic line-up, and see if it is enough. Does it have the channels you want. You may be better off using the net to watch some shows and Netflix your movies.

Nevertheless, I had a good experience with DirectTV. They had decent customer service when I was with them. It only went out during really heavy cloud cover, and that was very rare.

My parents have it and the satellite seemed to lose the signal with several channels last weekend when I was visiting. And it was a sunny day with no clouds.

@baker

This thread had a lot of talk about kicking Comcast to the curb. There was definitely talk about switching to Dish or Direct because I am thinking about doing the same thing and I asked some questions in the thread.

That’s what happens to me with this digital broadcast BS. I’ll be lucky to get a signal for tomorrow’s Twins-Tigers game on FOX9.

My parents have had DirecTV for about 10 years with only few problems. Most notably is signal loss during rain and snow storms, and the most annoying way one TV will sometimes cut out when someone on the other TV changes challels. But, one thing I don’t like is that if they want to get HD they will have to pay out the ass to buy a whole bunch of new equipment b/c their current boxes are so old. I think that’s a horseshit way to treat loyal customers.

I’m still having trouble with certain channels – my comcast will cut in and out and it’s freakin’ annoying. We really need to switch.

This open thread loses all points for be boring.

Well, lets talk about pleated pants gain. That was lively!

It certainly can get lively in pleated pants.

I’m sorry! Am I not entertaining enough for you?

Nothing is boring until the editorial board of Monocle Magazine says it’s boring.

Man, I love Monocle Magazine.

I love the Steve Miller Band, but I still don’t know what a “pompitus of love” is.

“The Straight Dope” offers an explanation here.

I approve of this new trend of giving points for things on MNspeak.

Via MinnPost, more bad news for local newspapers.