Bob writes, The mystery billboard

It was late at night and I wasn’t sure I’d seen the billboard correctly as I whizzed past it on I-35 in Wyoming last week on the way back from Wrenshall. But an e-mailer confirms I saw what I thought I saw.

It’s beginning to sweep along the Internet, accompanied by various claims that it’s a Photoshop fake. But it’s not. It’s real.

There’s no billboard ownership plate on this particular billboard, making tracing the person who had the cash to post it difficult to find. It’s time to crowdsource this puppy.

*Update: Those responsible are revealed (sort of)

I’m pretty sure Dick Cheney is responsible.

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Wow.

Recently Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s has been proposing a series of stiffer laws and amongst those laws affected would be DWI/DUI.

The editors at the Strib have put together this little gem Editorial: Toughen DWI laws and save lives.

What I wonder is where is the point of diminishing returns, I think it’s clear that making tougher laws does not always result in less crime.

There are actually a few decent comments on the Strib story, but this one stands out

Let’s stop kidding ourselves
When I started in law enforcement 25 years ago it took me about 20 minutes to read the implied consent, obtain a test and write a ticket for DUI. When I ended my career I needed a flow chart to figure out what degree of DUI that was to be charged and 3 hours to fill out the required paperwork. We engage in this on going debate because enough citizens in our state refuse to acknowledge that it is not OK to drive when you have a snootful and a whole industry that has grown up to enable or punish this small group. Interlock’s will not stop the chronic offender. The chronic drunks desire to drive drunk will be readily served by a new industry who’s sole efforts will be to defeat the purpose of the interlock.
posted by montaguezx

Are the current laws sufficient? Too strict? I don’t know, but I get the feeling making tougher laws won’t do much to make the streets safer.

Thoughts?

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Cole Koehler and Ben Krueger’s Doritos commercial was picked from over 4,000 entries and won one of three Super Bowl ad spots purchased by Doritos. They only found out when it aired in the last quarter of the game.
Which commercial was your favorite? I also liked the Betty White/Snickers one. Check out the other ads on Hulu:

Bob Collins has The case for a Vikings stadium discussion

The Minnesota Legislature begins its 2010 session today (MPR’s Midday is originating its entire show from the Capitol today) and the chief topic is how to to close the state’s budget deficit.

But the slightly smaller gorilla in the room is a stadium for the Minnesota Vikings. Still, it has no significant chance of coming up for discussion this year.

Gov. Pawlenty tried to put the discussion in play yesterday during his appearance on MPR’s Midday when he offered several possible ways to raise some revenue for the Vikings, whose lease at the Metrodome expires at the end of next season.

Sooner or later, the issue has to come up for discussion. The question is: Should it be sooner? Or later?

I like the first comment by BSimon

You’re absolutely half-right, Bob. I say half right because the necessary discussion isn’t just about a hypothetical Vikings stadium, but the entire list of requests for state funding. What really needs to happen is a prioritization process, that includes analysis of the payback we’ll get from any given expenditure. For instance, how much do we spend on schools & what’s the return? Are we properly educating our future workforce such that they’ll be productive members of society, contributing back to MN? What about law enforcement – is the investment in law enforcement, the courts & prison system the best way to provide security & safety to the populace? Or can we achieve the same or better results by spending differently? So, back to the Vikings stadium. Supporters claim there’s an ROI, through taxing players’ salaries, or an intangible benefit of building a sort of community. Ok, how do we quantify that & prioritize it against other obligations? Should we build a stadium or hire more public defenders & fix some bridges? How about building a ditch around Moorehead? If we consider a new dedicated source of funding, like racinos, why would that revenue be earmared for a stadium, rather than addressing the enormous budget shortfall?

So, yes, lets discuss it. What are our priorities & how much are we willing to pay for them? In bang for the buck, a stadium falls a bit on the priority list, in comparison to ensuring our state’s future standard of living remains high.

Check out my buddy Marsh getting hammered

Mpls.St.Paul Magazine’s Steve Marsh and reporter Brian Lambert imbibe the latest cocktail creations by La Belle Vie’s star bartender Johnny Michaels while chatting about the politics of Michele Bachmann, Brian’s new radio show Brian and Sheletta on FM 107.1, and the death of happy hour at the state capital.
, Brian’s new radio show Brian and Sheletta on FM 107.1, and the death of happy hour at the state capital.

Remember when I talked about the Art Shanty Black Bania? Citypages points us to this video of Spoken word artist Paul Dickenson.

bigboxcar confirms: Yeah, Cheeseheads are still bitter.

Hookers!

Minnesotan Jeff Severns Guntzel says what we’ve got here is a failure to communicate on War and makes a great video.

I ravaged the Utne Reader library looking for covers from the alternative press that helped to tell the complex and terrible story of our war in Iraq. Utne Reader librarian Danielle Maestretti and art director Stephanie Glaros helped me. Here’s what we came up with:

Video: The Iraq War as Told Through Magazine Covers

Great work.
Fellow Cloquet escapee and writer CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER writes a fascinating story about Wille Murphy

Did you see that guy’s hair?

Speaking of hair Jason Derusha says
“The Good Question intern @allisonjanney has been researching hair. Not mine, obviously.”

Check it

Enough about hair, let’s close it out with the nicely waxed Brother Ali


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Next Wednesday, February 10th is the Hotness party and check this out.

All of our guests will enjoy free appetizers all night, a live performance from the cast of RENT (opening this week here in Minneapolis) featuring Maria Isa and Harley Wood, live performances from BATUCADA DO NORTE complete with Brazilian Carnaval dancers and DJ sets from Gigamesh and The Nightstalker. We’ll also have free samples and offers from our Hotness partners such as Planet Beach, Crispin Cider, Mall of America, the Ordway and so much more.

And what could make Carnaval dancers, music, and mingling with the 155 sexy nominees even better?
If you introduce yourself to me I’ll do a sexy robot humping dance. (much to the embarrassment of my wife whom I am not going to tell, shhhhh.)

So there you have it, sexy people, writhing dancers, booze, music, and it’s on Hump Day so you’re bound to get lucky.

Here are the deets.

Vita.mn presents The Hotness 2010
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 /// 7pm – 11pm
Graves 601 Hotel – Ballroom
601 First Ave North, Minneapolis, MN 55403
(www.graves601hotel.com)

Also, if you’d like to join us for an open bar between the hours of 7pm and 9pm in the VIP lounge, you can buy a ticket for only $20… that gets you free Summit, Crispin and free martinis between 7pm and 9pm where you can mingle with finalists and Vita.mn staff. Pick those tickets up at http://vitamn.indietickets.com!

Invite your friends, dress to impress and bring an open mind. :)

It can be funny at times, but mainly it’s a good way to tell if there is a rash of problems creeping into my neighborhood. I find it useful to track the assaults, stolen vehicles, and break ins and the neighborhoods in which they are occuring.

For the amusement aspect of blotter, typically the smaller the paper the better, but every now and the big papers have something funny.

The Strib prints this one from Apple Valley

DEC. 28

Unwanted visitor. An officer received a complaint from a woman who said her mother had arrived for Christmas and was now refusing to leave

I think we’ve all been there.

Blotter, love it or leave it?

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Image by jennbarnett

Speaking of photography Paperlily is hosting a benefit to help local photog Jenn Barnett replace some gear.

Elli writes,

jenn has done *so* much for local musicians and helping to promote them, both through creating amazing images of their bands and telling people about their music . . . surely some of them would rally to help her replace her camera. and they would! they are! the bands i approached immediately embraced the idea of donating their time to help.

so i contacted the turf club and got a date for a benefit, and i started contacting bands. as of yesterday, we have the final lineup – although i’m certain that any of the bands on the bill would be willing to work in a cameo if anyone else wanted to get in on this. i started calling it the Jennefit (because i’m hilarious) even though that’s basically painful in it’s dorkiness. it’s super fun to say! say it out loud. do it! jennefit.

here’s what we are going to do, and i TOTALLY need your help, if you are reading this. we are going to the turf club on march 26th and we are going to watch these kick ass bands play until they make us all go home:

the honeydogs
molly maher
erik koskinen
ryan paul & the ardent
the mad ripple (jim walsh)

Sounds like a pretty great line up, for more great pics check out JENN BARNETT PHOTOS

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My nerdy self can’t think about masks without thinking of poetry.

The Masked Face by Thomas Hardy
I found me in a great surging space,
At either end a door,
And I said: “What is this giddying place,
With no firm-fixéd floor,
That I knew not of before?”
“It is Life,” said a mask-clad face.

I asked: “But how do I come here,
Who never wished to come;
Can the light and air be made more clear,
The floor more quietsome,
And the doors set wide? They numb
Fast-locked, and fill with fear.”

The mask put on a bleak smile then,
And said, “O vassal-wight,
There once complained a goosequill pen
To the scribe of the Infinite
Of the words it had to write
Because they were past its ken.”

Think I should have went with Yeats?

Check out this video that MPR made of a snowglobe repairman.

Northfield, Minnesota’s Dick Heibel has been fixing snow globes for decades, and says the thanks he gets from his customers is the reason he keeps doing it.

(H/t In The Loop)