Secrets of the City

I’m so glad we’re cracking down on illegal wine sellers.
Winos=OK.
Winers=OK
Wineries=Watch out

Also, I liked Ironic’s take on being invited to the Katie Couric town hall today. If anyone here goes, I hope they’ll submit a post so we can get the scoop!

I’m sitting at the thing right now. Hasn’t started yet.

Ooh… live blogging!

tmayhem and I had a brief discussion of the Surdyks raid in this earlier post.

I have been a long-time customer of Surdyks, but subjected the NE Mpls liquor giant to a personal boycott after I found out that Jim Surdyk was active in the “Minneapolis Hospitality Association,” an anti-smoking ban group that is funded by tobacco companies. A few months ago, I broke my personal boycott to buy a bottle of wine on my way home.

When I returned to the car, the battery was dead, and I needed a tow ($125!) and repairs.

That karma has a way of finding you.

I’m sitting downstairs of the katiefest, having been kicked out. Matt, they are looking for you. duck. seriously.

I am liking this Cam Gordon guy more and more all the time.

On the other hand, not terribly pleased with that Paul Ostrow guy. At first I was curious to who he was since he has a congressional campaign office down the street from my apartment, but everything I hear about him in the paper pisses me off. First he’s opposed to extending liquor store hours, now he’s opposed to any sort of intervention in condo conversions. Dude can get bent, I’m not voting for him for congress.

Are they still doing that sale at Surdyk’s? I wanna stock up on South African.

But the lobby stuff–really? Are there less ideological places in NE where I can buy affordable international alcohol?

Oh, and on the DFLers thing. That was the story that the Strib ran on the top half of their front page. Seriously.

Headline story: two DFL-endorsed candidates don’t get along
Page A3: 60 people killed in wave of violence in Iraq

How does that story merit front-page treatment? I’d like A6 to read: Strib news editor replaced

The former DFL house minority leader hires a company to do oppo research on the sitting Attorney General of the same party? And he’s running for the AG gig, while the sitting AG is running for Governor? Sounds like front-page news for a local newspaper to me.

It’s more than just two DFLers fighting. At least in my mind. The Hatch fighting health insurance companies/Entenza’s wife is a CEO of a health insurance division subtext only makes it a better story.

I’ve been boycotting Surdyk’s for a while now. I once asked a lady working there if they sold cheese curds in their little cheese shop and I ended up being laughed out of the store. Apparently that Nicollet Island House Wife (NIHW) thinks they are too good for cheese curds. I’m glad the joint was raided.

Jerad–yes, the sale is still on. I’m afraid I don’t have many alternatives to offer in NE Mpls, now that the beloved Liquor Depot on Washington Ave. is no more. I sometimes get a good deal on wine at Big Top at Snelling & University.

As for Mr. Surdyk’s ties to a unsavory pro-tobaco group, I’m afraid that’s true. From an Aug. 3, 2005 Strib story no longer avalible online:

James Surdyk, who co-hosted McLaughlin’s fundraiser (at Stub & Herbs) after the County Board meeting, said the event had been planned for more than a month, and only coincidentally occurred the same day bar owners led a crowd of more than 100 smoking ban opponents at the meeting. “I think he’s a straight shooter,” said Surdyk, who owns a popular liquor store by the same name in northeast Minneapolis.

Oh boo hoo, cry me some lowbrow angst about it. If you want cheese curds go to somewhere fat people congregate, like the fair, suburbs or the MOA and look for them (alternately: Wisconsin). Yes the cheese shop is a little frou-frou, but I mean … what cheese shop (attached to a wine store, no less) with professional fromagiers isn’t going to be?

I’d have a pretty hard time boycotting Surdyk’s if I had any reason to, given that I can see it out my window. Plus I love the cheese shop–they have such a great selection!

I use to go to Surdyk’s because they were the only place in town where I found a beer I heart, Kronenbourg 1664. They would have it, but it would be past the “best if bought by” date. I chose to buy it anyway out of desperation.

Well, I stopped that because Chicago Lake Liquors has Kronenbourg 1664 and it is not past its prime and it is cheaper.

Well, I think McDonalds is awful but I still eat at Chipotle, so oh well.

Crap, I didn’t mean for that to be in itallics. Sorry.

close your tags!

eck

can I dangle a bold tag too for kicks?

I think McDonald’s has pretty much cut Chipotle loose, so you’re good to go on gi-normous burritos.

and maybe a little underline for good measure

maybe?

woo!

hrm, oh my

What the F is going on here? I am new to this “interweb” thing.

this is just getting silly now.

What have you done?

hehe I kinda broke it, sorry matt ):

you should fix the code to autoclose tags left open
it won’t let you put in just a close tag, but it will let you just put in an open one.

ah I forgot about the frontpage last comments dealie
erg, my bad

just comment a few more times and push that offending code off the front page

I think we broke the internet. Call Al Gore!

Matt goes to one town hall meeting with katie couric, and you kids can’t play nice while he’s gone? He’s gonna turn this website around if you don’t behave!

jderusha, lol.

got it

I’m going to stick every individual comment in a div tag now. I think that will stop unclosed tags from messing everything up.

I just got back from the Katie Couric thing. Some WCCO folks made me promise I wouldn’t say anything on MNspeak if I wanted to stay in the room, so I’m sticking to my word. Check the strib tomorrow, though. (And thanks for the heads up, Media Guy, but too late. They confiscated my pen, but not my PDA)

Btw, in the next few days there will be a spam stoping device added to comments, as well. You’ll have to type in a keyword or a three number code. I know it sucks, but we’re getting hundreds and hundreds of spam comments a day now.

Matt, I hadn’t really thought about this, but that’s a nice compliment. It was a closed town-hall meeting, no journalists invited, so people felt more free to speak their minds. MNSpeak certainly is a form of journalism… so there you have it.

Oh, the div tag should do it too. Sorry about that before.

but can we get back to talking about how paul ostrow seems kind of like a dick?

Matt – I read your comments at the Star Tribune regarding the “invite-only” event to meet with Katie Couric at the library and want to know why you rip on the evening news if you don’t even watch it? I understand that there are many ways to find out what is going on but Nightly News has its place and presents issues local media will not cover and has a different but important voice.

I hope you actually watch the Nightly news before you comment on the substance of the matter.

Sounds like the Star Tribune was mad they couldn’t come into the Couric town hall meeting. Here’s their write-up.

Bob, I am curious about ALAMN’s position on the popularity of outdoor smoking sections, which at many bars seem to be much more popular than the indoor (non-smoking) sections.

Does ALAMN have plans to put the kibosh on smoking in these outdoor sections?

Thank God I’m a cocktail snob rather than a wine snob. The selection at the glorious Franklin drive-in liquor store suits me just fine. They have Pimms!

How is a visit from a Newscaster news?

When are we going to give up our inane fascination with Celebrity?

it’s not that i have never watched the evening news. of course i have. i just think think that the entire format of information distribution is at a disadvatage to newspapers and web sites bc/ they have finite time (22 min.) to tell their stories.

i like some of the hour long shows because they can do more. e.g. frontline and 60 minutes i just prefer to read, that’s all. i wasn’tsaying anything bout the overall quality of the journalism. that’s a different story

We don’t have an official position on outdoor smoking areas per se. We do know are some places in Minneapolis (The Saloon and Ultra Escape Lounge) that have tried to get cute and construct a “smoking room” rather than a true outdoor space. In any case, that’s a matter for Minneapolis officials to decide, as it is their ordinance.

I don’t know about you, but I like the increased number of patios around town. I saw one in at the NE Palace recently that is terrific — it even had a waterfall!

There have been a number of articles on the rise in patio space in the Twin Cities lately, including an insert in the June 29 – July 5 issue of The Onion that quotes yours truely.

Matt in the article: “Said a skeptical Bartel, “I didn’t get anything out of it, which is exactly what the evening news is.”

Matt’s e-mail to me: “It was interesting to hear what people had to say. There was actually a really neat group of people there. Katie and the executive producer of the evening news (I forgot his name), were both very articulate and interested in the topics. They didnt say all that much themselves. Mostly just asking questions.”

I agree with the UM ethics prof regarding Couric’s closed-meeting – it’s lame. Open ‘er up and show some transparency!

Late to the party, but Surdyk’s sells cheese curds.

I heard that Katie Couric is going to eat cheese curds and then have a public colonoscopy on Surdyk’s smoking patio.

…while Hatch and Entenza slug it out over CEO compensation for Couric’s medical provider.

Yeah, this miscellaneous links entry has certainly taken a turn today.

Jason, you just keep drinking the company Kool Aid and acting as WCCO’s blogflack…you were born to the job.

Wow. Blogflack. I like that.

I love Pimms #1 Cup! Its the best summer drink mixed with the Archer Farms Italian Lemonade. Slice of lime. YUMMY!

It’s a little lower in alcohol too so you don’t pass out after drinking 2-3 in the 90 degree heat.

I used to think that Pimm’s was a great drink for moderation as well…that is until my buddy ended up dancing nude with 2 German girls in front of a group of shocked European families after drinking 1/2 bottle of No1 shots on the ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam.

Dudes, c’mon, the Strib story totally needs to be it’s own thread. It’s at the top of Romenesko right now.

Rex, shhhhh…I think we’re trying to trick Alexis and Andrea into coming back by making it look like we’re not a bunch of policy wonks anymore.

Policy wonks? The story is about freakin Katie Couric!

(What makes sites boring is boring conversation.)

No liquor can be blamed for offenses that occur after drinking shots.

In a completely unrelated note today I learned that my yearly raise is a whopping 0.6%

yes, that’s zero point six percent. So basically with inflation I got a 2.5% paycut. It’s always great when you’re told what a great job you’re doing and then get kicked in the balls monetarily. I know I’m motivated now.

Oh boo hoo, cry me some lowbrow angst about it. If you want cheese curds go to somewhere fat people congregate, like the fair, suburbs or the MOA and look for them (alternately: Wisconsin). Yes the cheese shop is a little frou-frou, but I mean … what cheese shop (attached to a wine store, no less) with professional fromagiers isn’t going to be?

tmayhem, whats the with anger against wanting a ball of cheese? Did someone beat you with a bag of cheese curds when you were a kid? If nobody did then, someone should now.

Oh ya, the only thing lowbrow is your poor .6% ass, now bag my groceries chump.

I saw this national guard poster while buying gas today. It was on top of the pump at a BP.

“Man, gas prices sure are high because of all the conflict in the middle east and stuff… maybe I’ll go over there and join in.”

Wayne, there’s something ironic about working with dough all day and getting that kind of raise…

And Rex…the Strib story linked above is about two DFLers bitching at each other, with nary a mention of Katie, Matt, CBS news types, or even Today Show whipping boy Al Roker.

Tmay-
Could be worse. We got 0.0 percent raises for several years.

I think the ad agency hired by the National Guard doesn’t have your eye for the the comic/tragic message this gives.

Or perhaps they do, and the brass hats who approved this ad didn’t get it. A bit of passive protest against The Man?

Did anyone saw this in the Strib today about State Rep. Junge legal battle with the DFL party, over the use of the party’s own logo to promote herself as a valid canidate for the 5th congressional district in campaign billboards? If so, can someone reply back in respond?

She was a state senator, I don’t know that she waas ever a representative.

If you aren’t the endorsed candidate, the rules are very strict about when you can use the party logo, letters, whatever. The DFL is saying she crossed that line and insinuated an endorsement she doesnt’ have.

Big G, this happens all the time. I’m sure Kevin understands these nuances better than I do, but my understanding is that it is illegal for an unendorsed candidate to imply she has, in fact, been endorsed by her party. Many of the Mpls elections last year featured vitriolic intra-party attacks on such distinctions as whether candidates could say “DFL” or “DFLer” on their signs.

Wayne, there’s something ironic about working with dough all day and getting that kind of raise…

are you trying to say I should sneak dough home in pillowcases?

So now the DFL wants canidates to have the party’s blessing only as they go through the primary election process? Whoa! I though we live in a federal republic where the people choose specific canidates for the general election, rather than party elletists telling us how to vote at the polling booths. Yet it sounds like how Rebublicans got their way by taking marching orders from the Religious right zelots, every time they run for higher office: party-oath, that is. Apparently, I’m gussing that the DFL wants to be no better than the GOP, when it comes to hijacking their own candatie’s campaign for office, just because they didn’t got the party’s endorsement.