Minnesota/Minnesotans C or D

Dud:
Snow
St. Olaf College
Lutherans (aka 'lobotomy for religious reasons')
Mosquitoes AND midges (gnats) in summer
Knowing how to use jumper cables and snow-shovels
Racism towards Viets, especially Hmongs, and Mexicans and Somalis
The NW suburbs: Blaine, Brooklyn Park, Robbinsdale
Morbidly obese Minnesotans at State Fair in their thousands

Classic: Low, the Cows, Duluth, Ironworld, the International Wolf Center, the World's Largest Hockey Stick

http://www.wlra.us/wl/th/wlhstick1.jpg

As for the Vikings, I just like making fun of my dad's team as they choke in the playoffs year after year.. oh jeez, ya know dey won't win da Sooper Bowl so why not root for de Packers der. It would be cool if they did pull it out, but I tend to be pessimistic.

Except for when he pledged to only serve one term. But Wellstone is classic for that campaign bus.

Classic:
Hating all those cake-eaters in Edina
Hating the Bears
Hating the Packers
Lord Fletchers (hey, my aunt & uncle live on Minnetonka, too...and so did I 30 years ago)
Uptown
The Replacements
Prince
St. Paul
10,000 lakes
Boundary Waters
CP & the Strib (except for CJ)
that free zoo in that park that I can't remember the name of

Dud:
8 months of winter
mosquitos
SPAM
1am last call

This is also the gateway into teaching the French Revolution in St. Louis Park. Believe.

Lake Minnetonka must have a ley-line that acts exclusively as a preppy magnet.

Minnesota is a great place to grow up, but people like me need bigger cities than Minneapolis.

The problem with Minneapolis is the same with most large modern cities--there's not much density to it. It's all sprawl. Which is also part of its charm.

Also, SPAM IS CLASSIC.

-Lots of friends there
-Had some good gigs, at the Times and Cabooze and whatnot
-Lots of cool restaurants, and I love going to Maria's or Triple Rock for breakfast
-Halal markets that sell camel meat
-That Sun Ray sign on the way into St. Paul that's had the 'y' out for years, so it says "SUN RA"
-Happy Apple

DUD:

-Asshole drivers, for real
-I can't stand finding my way around Mpls, I've gotten lost there more than anywhere else and (partly as a result of being lost and stressed) gotten in my only car accident, which is still causing me financial trouble
-Driving from Wisconsin to Minnesota is most mind-numbing drive imaginable, and it's just long enough to feel really long but too short to settle into 'driving all day' mode.

You forgot MATOS. KCLASSIC.

Minneapolis road rage is among the most passive-aggressive in the world.

I miss Dayton's, the Lincoln Del, and Excelsior Amusement Park.

First Avenue/7th Street Entry
some restaurant a couple blocks away
some hotel (maybe it was by the airport?)
the mall in Edina
a gas station somewhere between Minneapolis and Moorhead
a Target somewhere between Minneapolis and Moorhead
a dumpy bar in Moorhead
some restaurant that kinda sucked in Moorhead
a Days Inn in Moorhead (we snuck into the pool later that night)
a Chinese buffet place in Moorhead
yet another gas station

Also, Husker Du.

Hah

I'd like to see more of the state.

Well you pretty much covered everything between Minneapolis and Moorhead (as well as Moorhead) so you can check that off the list.

Yet, somehow at the same time: Classic.

tom bernard: racist.

minneapolis was my traumatic home for about a month while i decided i did NOT want to be a flight attendant. it was hell. really and truly.

on a roadtrip a couple years later i decided to give it a second chance. it didn't help.

i don't know about the rest of the state, but i hate minneapolis.

When I was twenty and living alone in an apartment off of Franklin, a woman from the liquor store invited me to her family's house for Thanksgiving. I think that I may have been the only person there under 200 pounds, and the only man under 6'3". They fed me like a brother, got me drunk on Schnapp's, and it was TEH BEST THANKSGIVNG EVAH.

It was just one family in NE Minneapolis, but I'll stick up for Minnesotans any day of the week. Even the screedy James Lileks.

It's been awhile for me, but I always really enjoyed Radio K. College radio sounds so beautiful on the AM band.

God, sometimes I want to move back there so badly.

Ahh and I see the tanks are out today as well, great

Perfect, no notes:

https://www.closertotheedge.net/p/the-dildo-distribution-delegation

<3

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/minneapolis-ice-punks-diy-1235512606/

Ha I read that one right hefore

The ICE men cometh not.

So where I am at (Columbia Heights) it does finally feel like it is getting quieter, ICE still seen around though not nearly at the levels they were even a couple weeks ago. Everyone is still pretty freaked out and I'm not sure when, if ever, that is going to go away.

ACLU reporting there are still close to 1000 agents active in the state vs 85-150 normally

appreciate the updates

Loons supporters with a classy banner for their home opener

https://i.imgur.com/CaH6Mu3.jpeg

Oops

https://i.imgur.com/CaH6Mu3.jpeg

Just yesterday ICE kicked down a door in South Minneapolis as part of a coordinated series of arrests targeting journalists

https://bsky.app/profile/aurinmpls.bsky.social/post/3mfuorkpo3s2k

It has gotten, thankfully, pretty quiet in our neck of the woods. This is my first week since the start of Jan that I haven't been giving multiple rides a day. Still doing to elementary patrol/crossing guard in the mornings but it sounds like after spring break I can hang up my hi-vis vest as well. My wife hasn't had any grocery deliveries to do since last Friday.

Last night, partially due to daylight savings & probably due to the weather as well, there were kids playing out in the street. I haven't seen any of the kids in our neighborhood unless they were running to/from the bus stop since Xmas.

Still lots of fallout to deal with, rent/evictions are still an issue, we had a neighborhood fund raiser at the bar down the street Saturday which raised 10k. But, I'm no longer worried that federal agents are going to kick in my door or my neighbor's. Well, I'm not as worried.

Thanks for your good work on this, as an immigrant Minnesotan (albeit not in a high-risk town or personal category) it means a lot to read that.

Yeah that's great news.

A club/restaurant friend's open question: "If you wanted to throw a cool party at a great bar near downtown Minneapolis, where would you do it?"

I'll never tell

I put an event together for 12-ish people at La Doña Cervecería (Mexican taproom with good food). It's casual and brightly lit, so it's not right for mood and ambience, but it worked well. Also is just a mile or so from downtown, so there could be better options in the North Loop or nearby.

I officially retired from patrolling as of this morning, worked my last cross-guard/patrol shift at my daughter's elementary school. I did three or four shifts a week since the day after Renee Good was murdered. The crossing guard stuff was pretty easy, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't glad to be getting an hour of mornings back.

I can't say I miss the rapid response stuff, because a lot of times it was both stressful and kind of boring, but the few times when did escalate on my watch and was involved in a full-on Bullitt-style car chase...well let's just say I understand why some people got addicted to doing it.

A club/restaurant friend's open question: "If you wanted to throw a cool party at a great bar near downtown Minneapolis, where would you do it?"

― Josh in Chicago, Monday, March 23, 2026 7:43 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Depends on the size/budget but can't go wrong with Bar La Grassa or St Pierre

Been in the Cities for a bit taking care of my brother's things and just did what I've wanted to do for a break since I got here: take a long walk through Wood Lake Nature Center in Richfield, of all places. Related to the convo in the 50s thread, it's just amazing that the place feels just as it did when I was, like, five years old. (My parents loved nature centers and preserves, and once, I can't remember why but I'm sure he'd messed up, my brother had to clean the goose-shit-heavy boardwalk across the middle of the lake.) I just love how well kept-up the place is, and how once you're in it, other than 35W sounds, you can't feel or see the big-box stores and fast food that's popped up around it. It just feels like the values here were in the right place, to keep the area around the lake instead of just building more houses. And it gives a real sense of what the whole immediate area was like before it was settled.

did I ever mention my entire immediately family (mom, dad, and sister) relocated to minnesota in the last few years? sorry for putting you out, etc

Wood Lake is a real gem. Richfield is really thriving these days.

A big revelation on this trip came after selling some gear at Music Go Round in Roseville, on Lexington near Larpenteur, and this strip mall had so much interesting stuff: a tailor, a cat cafe, a kind of labubu dealer, and then Maverick’s Real Roast Beef, looking like a former diner converted into a counter-service sandwich shop, and lunch there was incredible.

i love that MGR and that strip mall

Selling to MGR worked out in the end, glad they were interested in some of the novelty items.

My only association with Roseville (beyond a few friends/relatives living there over the years) is having gone often to the two movie theaters: the Roseville 4 $1 theater (saw Bill and Ted, Miami Blues, etc.) and the Rosedale Cinema (saw Blue Velvet, A Chorus Line, etc.).

Did you see that Pope Leo mentioned seeing The Blues Brothers at the Roseville 4?

Mavericks is so good

hey chatterbox all right! the curry mayo on fries they do is really good. but i draw the line at j4k3 rud3, who is not so good, sadly.

Hahahaha just saw this comment and let me tell you, this guy is a mega dud for me due to how he screwed over a couple of friends of mine and his general attitude toward this one streaming platform he uses.

Otherwise, I've been living here for almost four years now and find a lot that is absolutely classic. Except for just how hot the weather can get during the summer. Um, I specifically moved out of Texas so I wouldn't have to tolerate excesses in heat anymore???

i would stay far away from the chatterbox too tbh, certainly don't order food there

Trust me, I'd rather eat at Keys Cafe, Roku Ramen, India Palace, that one Russian/Ukrainian place that serves both borscht and khachapuri, or any of the other great places to eat around here. Anyway, that guy now apparently DJs at some VFW hall.

What's wrong with the food at Chatterbox? I've never been there

dj in question is pretty huge now locally they did an anniversary party for his DJ night at the main room at First Ave

I never really bought his "I had no idea" bit after it was revealed that the Club Jager owner was an actual Nazi, even though he dj'd there for years

^^^was gonna mention this too

15 legal observers arrested by ICE this morning across the Twin Cities

"Antifa" sweeps

my local Signal reported ICE watchers homes raided

Yeah you can read the indictment here: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234415/gov.uscourts.mnd.234415.1.0_2.pdf

It's basically 90 pages of quotes from Signal chats and text chains, showing that ... they were talking to each other and planning protests and observing. Actual alleged criminal offenses look like thin gruel to me, but I'm no lawyer.

On a whim just checked Google Maps - can't believe Cafe Latte and Bread and Chocolate are still there. I left Minnesota 30 years ago and did not expect them to be among its most durable institutions.