New music video from Cloud Cult

Always been a big fan of the Minnesota band, and I really like the way the did this video - the drawing on a white board and erasing and redrawing... Very impressive. Also very in tune with the way that painters paint on stage during their performances.

Cloud Cult - You'll Be Bright from Dan Huiting on Vimeo.

Minnesota Monday: Brother Ali

Brother Ali is huge here in Minneapolis and has received mountains of raving reviews, so imagine my surprise when I realized we've never written about him before. I'll admit it took me a while to get on board since hip hop/rap isn't quite my scene, but Brother Ali has flow, erudition and meaning in his work that other artists completely lack. Pitchfork said of him, "If rap didn't exist, he'd be the greatest high school guidance counselor in Minneapolis." Brother Ali has been through a lot in his life - a painful divorce, homelessness, raising a son, bullying for being albino - and he has taken his experiences and put them into smart hip hop/rap concoctions that not only make you bob along but also listen.

In his latest and fifth release, Us, Brother Ali continues to produce remarkably raw and real tracks that explore a large array of human conflicts. Instead of using stories from his own life like he did on previous albums, Brother Ali focuses on the injustices and troubles that exist for others in this world."Babygirl" is a story about how a girlfriend still struggles with the after effects of childhood abuse, "The Travelers" contains an epic depiction of African slavery in America with lines that read like poetry, and then there's a lyrical masterpiece that takes three different lives (a female Somalian immigrant, a gay teenager with a Preacher for a father, and a child of divorced parents) and weaves them together as each struggle to make their two worlds balance in "Tight Rope."

Using the aptly titled Us, Brother Ali once again conveys the message of the Golden Rule. "The same color blood just pass through our veins/and tears taste the same when they're splashing your face/ The worlds getting too small to stand in one place/ it's like we're roommates just sharing a space."


Not gonna lie, whenever I listen to Brother Ali, I'm just like the kid at 1:19.

Us [mp3] (iTunes)

Minnesota Monday: We Are The Willows

Originally from Eau Claire, WI, Peter Miller moved to Minneapolis for college and then spent the next six years enveloping himself in the excellent music scene, performing and writing everywhere he went. As a result, he began We Are The Willows, a folk-pop exploration and one of Miller's two musical projects (the other being the indie-rock band Red Fox Grey Fox.) He released his debut EP Bravery, Bravery in 2007 and his debut album A Collection Of Songs And Something Like The Plague in 2009. The debut album consists of a collection of sounds recorded from various places across the state, from "kids having a wild rumpus," to the light rail, to folks chit-chatting in the May Day cafe, and feature Miller's fragile-yet-unwavering Sigur Ros-esque falsetto vocals. The songs seem to take on a life of their own, expanding and evolving with each listen, so give it a try.

A Funeral Dressed As A Birthday [mp3] (iTunes)

RIP Bruce Allen

This post is in memory of Bruce Allen, guitarist of the Minneapolis punk rock band The Suburbs, who died on Monday, Dec. 7th. Apparently he also designed the band's logo (above). His photo is the one in the lower left corner. He was only 54 years old. You can read more about him and his death here.

Love is the Law [mp3] - (iTunes)

Cloud Cult releases double disc re-issue

One of my favorite MN bands, Cloud Cult, is releasing a double-disc reissue of two of their earliest albums: They Live on the Sun (2003) and Aurora Borealis (2004). Although this isn't just a straight reissue. The two albums have been "re-envisioned, remixed and remastered for the first time by Cloud Cult's Craig Minowa" and will contain previously unreleased bonus tracks. For a long time, the albums have only been available for purchase at live gigs and select Independent record stores. Now it will be available to everyone and is being offered for presale right now on their website.

While I haven't actually heard the original albums and therefore can't make a comparison of the re-issue to the originals, I can say that this re-issue contains all of the drama, beauty and sadness that have caused many people to fall in love with Cloud Cult's music. It's less orchestral and a little more rock 'n' roll (particularly They Live on the Sun) than some of their more recent releases, but it is still just as heartwrenching and lovely. Here are some mp3s to stream:


"It" - They Live on the Sun


"Breakfast With My Shadow" - Aurora Borealis

Flashback Friday: Lifter Puller

Fans of The Hold Steady might be interested to know that Craig Finn and Tad Kubler had a different band when they were still living in Minneapolis, and that band was called Lifter Puller. Active from 1994-2000, the band's collection is going to be made available digitally in a deluxe edition this December. Lifter Puller had little success while together but as soon as they broke up received great critical acclaim (figures, right?). They had a few very successful reuinion shows after that and then The Hold Steady was formed when Craig and Tad moved to NYC. Check out this live recording off the deluxe edition collection:

To Live And Die In LBI (live) [mp3]

Minnesota Monday- Keri Noble

Patty Griffin and Sara Bareilles, meet your love child: Keri Noble. This singer songwriter had a hard time trying to figure out how to work her sound with her R&B/pop/soul voice until the day she listened to Joni Mitchell's "Blue" and said to herself, "You know what? If Joni can share her soul however the eff she wants, so can I." (Ok, that statement is merely an assumption, but Keri was really inspired by Joni Mitchell). After moving here and there her whole life, she was drawn to the Twin Cities' music scene and has been a Minneapolis resident for over 7 years. Her first album was released in 2004 and the second in 2007. Her up-and-coming EP is now available on iTunes and is currently playing on her myspace.

Watch Me Walk [mp3]

Emily [mp3]

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Gnarls Barkley @ The Minnesota State Fair

Wednesday, after gorging on a variety of greasy, fatty foods on a stick and wandering the various buildings - technology, art (see crop art above), agriculture, animals, bazaar, etc - at The Great Minnesota Get Together, Lise and I went to see Gnarls Barkley perform at the grand stand. Weather was not on our side for this one, though it waited to get really bad until the concert was over.

Opening for them was Minneapolis band Cloud Cult. I tend to automatically enjoy alt rock bands who incorporate string instruments into their music. Their music is really pretty and they had a good energy. Cloud Cult also incorporates visual art into their performances, as they have painters who are members of the band and paint on stage off and on through their sets. That was fun to watch, as I was standing right behind one of the painters (we managed to secure spots right in front, slightly stage left). They then auction off the paintings after every show.

I have to say Gnarls Barkley was just slightly disappointing. I expected them to have more energy considering how upbeat and danceable most of their music is. I was also surprised at how inconspicuous Danger Mouse was. I expected him to have more of a co-frontman role, but he was pretty hard to distinguish from the rest of the back up band (with the exception of his sparkly suit coat) and he actually had less energy than a lot of the band members. Cee-Lo was fun to watch and he had decent energy, but I would've liked to see him dance more. I think perhaps he was feeling a bit under the weather though (no pun intended) because his voice didn't seem 100% either. Or perhaps he was joking when he had the audience sing most of their big hit Crazy because "his throat was scratchy." But it was still a fun show with great music and I still danced some of the thousands of calories that I consumed during the day off.

No One Said It Would Be Easy [mp3] - Cloud Cult - "Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)" (iTunes)
Run (I'm A Nature Disaster) [mp3] - Gnarls Barkley - "The Odd Couple" (iTunes)

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Minnesota Monday: Aby Wolf

Aby Wolf is a young Minnesotan singer/songwriter who has a surprisingly rich soulful voice that works well with her light R&B sound. She seems to use subdued urban influences in her pieces and lets her voice just shimmer above them in a relaxed tone- making her music great to chill to. For all of you in the Twin Cities, Aby has a performance coming up on the 15th - check her myspace for more specifics. Her debut album is called Sweet Prudence, and if you like Corinne Bailey Rae, you may want to check this one out.

Focus [mp3]

What U Waitin 4 [mp3]

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Minnnesota Monday: Loe & The Nastys @ the Dakota

On Saturday, I was able to catch Loe & the Nastys at a local famous Jazz club in Minneapolis called the Dakota. Since three of the original members went to my college, I had known about them for awhile but hadn't ever seen them perform live. I wasn't able to stay for their whole set, but I was able to catch a good hour and a half of it. The Dakota was much busier than I had expected for 11:30pm, a good sign that the group had a large following, and I ended up seeing lots of people from my old college that I didn't even expect to like anything jazzy. Definitely a good sign.

Their sound is a mix of avant-garde nu-jazz, bossa-nova, and a pinch of humor. Loe's voice is certainly unique with a warm serene tone that easily slides along, and she connects to the audience very well with her delivery and occasional jokes. Andrew, who plays Bass, really knows his instrument and rocks it out on many a song. I wasn't aware that the previous guitarist, Ben, had left the group until I got there that night and spoke with some friends at a nearby table, so I was slightly skeptical of how good the newest addition, Zach, would be. My fears were gone as soon as I listened to Zach's impressive improvisations and admired how well he had mastered the guitar parts for the older songs. Ben, the drummer, never really had his own solo and I thought that was a shame, as he certainly knows what he is doing and it would be nice to see him break out and go wild.

Loe switched from piano to guitar for the songs, and because of this flexibility, there is a wide range of sound that came from this group. I was hoping to hear a bit more jazzy rifts on the piano from Loe, but she kept it sweet and simple. A good time was had by all at the Dakota on saturday, and I couldn't help thinking to myself that if the Dakota wants to keep on bringing in crowds and making money, they'll book Loe & the Nastys more often. They put on a great show and I would highly recommend checking them out.

Bottom line: Loe & the Nastys are a fun nu-jazz group that are easily enjoyed by all age groups. They have some great songs that may soon become classics and their sound is professional, upbeat, complex, simple, and everything jazz should be. Give them a listen and bask in the enjoyment of their sound.

Penny Waltz [mp3]

buy their album on iTunes

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Minnesota Monday - QuarterAcreLifestyle

QuarterAcreLifestyle is a Minneapolis-based band originally founded in New Zealand. They utilize a lot of electronica, which isn't totally my thing, but I really like some of their songs that move away from that and are a little more rock 'n' roll or a little more pop. My favorite track off their new album "Blood on the Lawn," is the rockin' Not Too Keen On That View, which is sassy and sexy with some catchy guitar riffs.

Not Too Keen On That View [mp3]

Purchase the album on iTunes

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The Hold Steady @ McCarren Park Pool

How fitting that on this Minnesota Monday, I have a Hold Steady concert to write about from yesterday - the first pool party of the season.

First up was Jay Roddy and the Business. Next was The Loved Ones. I didn't love either of them. They both had some good songs and a lot of energy, but I just couldn't get that into them. The Loved Ones aren't really my kind of music I suppose. They're more headbanging rock, which I have to be in a very particular mood to enjoy. And Jay Roddy and the Business were kind of a mixture of various rock styles that I wasn't quite sure what to do with. I don't know if it was that I was distracted by the torrential downpour (hence the lack of pictures, sorry) or that I was tired or that they played really really long sets, but I got kind of impatient toward the end there. I just wanted to see The Hold Steady damnit!

The Hold Steady finally went on around 6pm, and they too played a long set, but since I know their music and since a lot of their songs are about growing up in the Twin Cities, I was much more into it. I love the number of Minnesotans that show up for their concerts wearing Minnesota paraphernalia (mostly Twins stuff) and who cheer whenever there are blatant Twin Cities references. As always, they had a great energy, and seemed like they were having a blast. I love how unpretentious they are. They aren't super suave rockstars. In fact the lead singer is kind of a dork. But he embraces this and lets himself have fun, which is contagious. And hey, I love dorks. I'm a dork. So good times were had. And they played some stuff off their upcoming album, due out July 15th, which was cool.

Your Little Hoodrat Friend [mp3] - "Separation Sunday" (iTunes)

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Minnesota Monday - A Night in the Box

Saturday was "Make Music Cambridge!", an outdoor music festival type event in which performers are interspersed on the streets around Harvard Square throughout the day - kind of like every day here in New York, except I think these artists got paid. Anyway, having heard good things about Cambridge in general, I wandered over there and discovered a little taste of Minnesota in Massachusetts. They were A Night in the Box and even just the little snippet that I heard as I entered the restaurant in front of which they were playing was enough to get me interested in hearing more. Luckily for me, they were still playing when I was done with lunch, so I sat outside for a bit on what was a gorgeous day to watch them.

I immediately loved their old school, gritty, bluegrassy rock sound and they had a great energy to them. Even though they were essentially busking on a street corner with a very simplified set up (the drummer had one drum and cymbal and was using a guitar case as a bass drum), they seemed like they were having the time of their life. And you gotta love any band with a banjo and a fiddle (though the violinist wasn't there when I took my photo above, but she's in the picture left).

It wasn't until I got up after watching them for a few songs to put some money in their guitar case that I saw that they were from Minneapolis, which of course made me really happy. How serendipitous that I stumble across this awesome band from my hometown in this totally random place that I was staying in for less than 48 hours. I bought both of their albums - which I love and have been listening to nonstop ever since - and that's when I noticed that, not only are they from Minneapolis, but they're on Afternoon Records, which seems to have a bit of a monopoly on awesome young bands in the Twin Cities. In fact, when I got home, I looked at my list of Minnesota artists that I wanted to look into for Minnesota Monday and A Night In The Box was on it! Their new album, "Write A Letter" only came out a few weeks ago and I guess the violinist, Kailyn Spencer, is a relatively new addition because she wasn't on their 2006 debut album "The Hustle, The Thief, The Prayer."

So check them out. They're wrapping up their tour right now promoting their new album, but they'll be back in the Twin Cities soon and they have a number of shows lined up for you Minneapolitans reading this.

Conductor Man [mp3] - "The Hustle, The Thief, The Prayer" (iTunes)
Rich Man's Table [mp3] - "Write A Letter" (iTunes unavailable)

Purchase albums from Afternoon Records

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Minnesota Monday - The 'Mats

Since Em gives her hometown short shrift, I think I may push her aside on Mondays. For a little over a month, I've been waiting for her to at least mention Rhino Records' release of deluxe editions of The Replacements first EP and three albums on Twin/Tone Records. I waited in vain. Arguably one of the most influential bands to come out of Minnesota and she ignores them. Sacrilege! I'm here to rectify. You can read Rhino's press release here.

And while we are on the subject of The 'Mats, I have to mention the excellent Jim Walsh and his Replacements book All Over But the Shouting.

On to the music: a very fast selection from Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash (iTunes), a selection from Let It Be (iTunes), and a bootleg of a live 1987 performance in NYC of "Favorite Thing," originally from the Let It Be release.

Love You Till Friday [mp3]

Answering Machine [mp3]

Favorite Thing [mp3]

And Happy Memorial Day to all!

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Minnesota Monday - The Honeydogs

Yesterday it seemed to be a good day to be from Minnesota in the film industry - the Coen brothers walked away with three Oscars for "No Country for Old Men" (best adapted screenplay, best director and best film) and Diablo Cody won the best original screenplay award for her quirky hit, "Juno." Woohoo! Go Minnesotans! See a list of the rest of the winners here.

Speaking of Minnesotans, it's Minnesota Monday here at Guilt Free Pleasures and our band this week is The Honeydogs. These guys have been a staple of the Minneapolis music scene since I was but a wee child (since the mid-1990s to be more specific). I saw them perform and met them once briefly years ago, back when I still lived in Minnesota. They seemed like nice, down-to-earth guys. Their music is a little bit country, a little bit rock 'n' roll, a little bit pop, a little bit folk, a little bit psychedelic, a little bit jazz, a little salsa, a little funk, etc. They masterfully utilize a number of different styles, sometimes all at once, which is what I love most about The Honeydogs.

Their most recent album, "Amygdala" (pronounced uh-mig’-dull-uh), which came out in 2006, is even more stylistically diverse than the album that introduced me to The Honeydogs back in 2003, "10,000 Years." For those of you wondering what an "Amygdala" is, it's an "almond-shaped group of neurons in the brain which regulate emotions, specifically fear." As with all their music, "Amygdala" is smart and political. In case you couldn't ascertain this by listening, just look at the telling track titles such as Tar Baby Napalm, The Firing Squad Reloads and Blues For Castro. While less consipuously political, the title track - Amygdala - is the essence of The Honeydogs to me. This track is just so unmistakably them. Overall, "Amygdala" is the perfect follow-up album to "10,000 Years," expanding on the strengths they already had and drawing on new influences and strengths. Although, I have to say, I hadn't listened to "10,000 Years" in a while until I decided to write this post and it's one of those albums that when you go back to it, it's even better than you remember it being and you wonder why it's been so long since you last listened to it. Both albums are also those rare finds in which I seem to like almost every single track.

Some samples for you, of which I selected my favorite Honeydog tracks:

Ms. Ketchup And The Arsonist [mp3] - "Amygdala"
Amygdala [mp3] - "Amygdala"
Test Tube Kid [mp3] - "10,000 Years"
The Rake's Progress [mp3] - "10,000 Years"

Myspace them
Buy their music
iTunes them

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Minnesota Monday - The Battle Royale

Ready for your second installment of Minnesota Monday? Good.

Today's band is The Battle Royale from Minneapolis. Though it might not look like it from their laid back photo, these kids know how to get their dance on. If Todd Fink of The Faint adapted the vocal stylings of Q And Not U, you would have The Battle Royale. Or well, you would have half of their newer album, "Wake Up, Thunderbabe," which was released in January to much blogosphere acclaim. They've got a slightly dark dance-pop electronica thing going on, with just the right amount of dissonance in their vocals to make you feel like "hey, these guys are pretty chill." In a somewhat distinct contrast, the other half of the album is more folk-rock than dance-pop, somewhere between The Arcade Fire and The Flaming Lips.

And if you don't believe that they know how to get their dance on, watch this fun but slightly disturbing homage-to-the-'80s video for the song Oh Martha from their debut album, "Sparkledust Fantasy" (warning: minor nudity)

Free samples for you guys:

Wake Me Up [mp3]
Scream Scream [mp3]

Myspace them

iTunes them

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Minnesota Monday - Romantica

I've been wanting to feature more Minnesota artists lately, and I received a great suggestion to do "Minnesota Mondays." So that is what I am going to do. Here is your first official Minnesota Monday.

Romantica is a folky band based out of Minneapolis. I first heard of them when someone did a cover of one of their songs at a small acoustic coffee-house type performance here in New York. I immediately fell in love with that song, "The National Slide" and thus quickly looked them up. Their album, "America," made Paste Magazine's Top 100 albums of 2007 list (they were #58) and if Paste Magazine likes them, you know they're good. "America" makes you want to sit back, relax and reminisce. Or maybe go on a scenic drive in the country. It has all the nostalgia of good ol' American folk music.

The National Slide [mp3]
Drink the Night Away [mp3]

Myspace them.
iTunes them.

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A little taste of Minneapolis in New York

I recently discovered that I could stream The Current (Minnesota's public rock radio station) on iTunes. I knew you could stream it online, but I couldn't get that to work for me for some reason. The iTunes stream is pretty flawless and it tells you what song is playing and everything, which is really nice. I don't listen to the radio in New York at all. And The Current is really one of the few stations I listen to in Minnesota (ever since they got rid of Drive105, may it rest in peace...). Here are a few of the awesome songs I've heard on it the past few days that make me love this radio station.

Hang Me Up to Dry [mp3] - Cold War Kids - "Robbers & Cowards" (iTunes)

Taught to Look Away [mp3] - Matt Pond PA - "Last Light" (iTunes)

Their motto is "expand your playlist," which I have definitely done since listening to this station. I love the variety of music they play. For example, at the moment they're playing the Peanuts Theme. So go check it out. Support public radio! woohoo! Tata dahlings.

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Theme Thursday - Minnesota

"Our State Fair is a great State Fair. Don't miss it! Don't even be late..." Just got back from the Minnesota State Fair. I know you NYC people are probably thinking "state fair? how quaint." But it's the 2nd biggest state fair in the country, which is pretty impressive considering we're definitely not anywhere near the 2nd biggest state. And it's definitely not a small town kind of thing. It takes place in St. Paul and seriously like everyone goes. You can get tons of different fried foods on a stick, lots of free junk, art and music, local radio/tv/politics, etc. But the main reason to go is the food. All the greasy goodness. mmmmmm...

So this is what I ate: french fries, a sno cone, mini-donuts, Dippin' Dots, ice cream, waffle fries, a hot dog, corn on the cob (so good!), lefsa (I realize most of you non-Minnesotans probably don't know what that is) with brown sugar, a milkshake, and a literal bucket-full of Sweet Martha's cookies (I didn't eat the whole bucket. I brought most of it home). Yikes. That's kind of gross. But it was so good. And keep in mind, these things were shared amongst 4-5 people usually.

Anyway, I wanted to still do Theme Thursday, so in the spirit of the Minnesota State Fair, our theme for the day is, well, Minnesota:

Minnesoter [mp3] - The Dandy Warhols - "The Dandy Warhols Come Down" (iTunes)

Secretly Minnesotan [mp3] - Tullycraft - "Disenchanted Hearts Unite" (iTunes)

Minneapolis [mp3] - That Dog (iTunes unavailable)

And we'll end the day with some pictures:

A classic Scandinavian desert. I have had this at many a family holiday.

Not that crowded since it was a Wednesday, but still look at all the people!

Biggest pig in MN. Gross.

Baby pigs! aaaawwww...

The Mounties. I like the lighting in this picture.

The midway at night

The view from the Ferris Wheel

Funky Town

Hello from Minneapolis, MN, where I am on vacation until September 5th. This means I may be a little flaky about updating until September 6th or so, although hopefully you'll forgive me since I've faithfully posted 48 out of the 51 days that this blog has existed. But to make it up to you guys, I'm going to do one super-duper Minneapolis-themed post - well, that and because I never like to miss an opportunity to promote Minneapolis.

Minneapolis is, in my opinion, the most under-appreciated/underrated city in the United States. Everyone refers to the Midwest as the "fly over states," with maybe the exception of Chicago. Maybe. Otherwise it's New York and Los Angeles with nothing in between. And it's true that, besides the Mall of America (*gags*), we don't really have many blatant tourist attractions. But that's what's so great about the city. It's not a tourist trap (Mall of America isn't even technically in Minneapolis...).

First off, we have a really great arts scene. We have the reknowned Walker Art Center and Guthrie Theater (though they are no longer in the same building), among many other theaters and museums/galleries. We have the infamous First Avenue, which thank goodness didn't close a few years ago. Everyone who's anyone has played at First Avenue. Prince (or the artist formerly known as...) filmed Purple Rain there. We have Garison Keilor's "A Prairie Home Companion," upon which the movie was based. We have the largest Fringe festival in the country with 164 shows in 2006 (sorry I don't know the 2007 numbers, but I'm sure they weren't that different). We have tons of independent movie theaters and we are one of the few states with our own public radio (for the longest time when I moved to NY I thought NPR was New York Public Radio because I just assumed all states had their own public radio like we do) - in fact, we have multiple public radio stations and just a few years ago they came out with The Current, a public indie rock station which I highly recommend. They play a really great variety of old and new. And the song Funky Town? That song is about Minneapolis and the guy who wrote it is a MN native. That's right. Minneapolis is Funky Town.

In fact, lots of famous people come from MN: Bob Dylan, Jimmy Jam, Judy Garland, Prince, Al Franken, Josh Hartnett, Jason Behr, Garison Keilor, Sinclair Lewis, F. Scott Fitzgerald, August Wilson, Winona Rider, Charles Schultz (there are freaking Peanuts statues everywhere in the Twin Cities because they were painted by local artists and auctioned off for charity), Kirby Puckett, Mitch Hedberg, the Coen brothers, Terry Gilliam, T. R. Knight, David Hyde Pierce (well, he's not from Minnesota but he lived there for a while and worked at The Guthrie), Jessica Lange, Steve Zahn, The Hold Steady, The Honeydogs, Soul Asylum, The Replacements, Atmosphere, Tapes 'n' Tapes, The Trashmen, The Suburbs, Semisonic, and I'm sure there's even more that I don't know about.

A few years ago, we were named the top tech city by Popular Science magazine because of cool things like the skyways, the lightrail, the fact that you can use credit cards pretty much everywhere - including cabs (unlike stupid New York where you have to carry cash with you at all times for everything, especially if you need to take a cab), and the stop lights that change depending on traffic or for emergency vehicles (also unlike NY where it takes emergency vehicles forever to get anywhere because they get stuck in traffic). We have a pretty awesome Science Museum. Not to mention we are a very industrial city. Tons of huge companies are based out of Minneapolis - Best Buy, Target, 3M (that's right, the post-it was invented in MN), Aveda, General Mills, Pillsbury, Caribou Coffee (which is way better than Starbucks), Sun Country Airlines (who are awesome!), Northwest Airlines (who suck), Land O'Lakes, Magnetic Poetry (yup random), Old Dutch Foods and Xcel Energy.

We also have lots of pleasant nature. We are the "land of 10,000 lakes" and I live within walking distance of the "chain of lakes," which are a bunch of interconnected lakes in Minneapolis. They're really nice to bike around. And pretty much where ever you live in MN, you're not going to be too far from a lake.

Whenever I go home, I have a huge list of things I like to do (although it changes depending on the time of year). For this trip, the list is as follows:

~Walker Art Center
~The Guthrie (I doubt I'll make it there, but I still haven't seen the new building and now my friend Emilie works there so maybe I can get her to show me around)
~Salsa Dancing at Famous Dave's in Uptown (or Loring Pasta Bar if I wanted to go multiple times each week but I'm not that good so I don't)
~Minnesota State Fair (best state fair in the country. People from other states come to our state fair. I realize most of you big city folk won't understand this and will think it's quaint or dorky, but it's not a "small town" kind of thing. Practically everyone from MN goes to the state fair. And I mean everyone.)
~Minnesota Renaissance Festival (maybe... although I kind of doubt it. Everything's so overpriced and I am going to blow a lot of money on the state fair.)
~Caribou Coffee as often as possible since it doesn't exist in NY - I had one in the airport literally right after I picked up my bags.
~Convention Grill - a very very delicious 50s-style diner (best grilled triple decker-grilled cheese and milkshakes that I've ever had)
~Davanni's - their white pizza is the best pizza around, with no nutritional value whatsoever
~If it hadn't closed... Sydney's - one of my favorite restaurants (*tear*)
~Drive around the lakes or bike if it's warm enough (I actually really enjoy driving since I only get to do it a few weeks a year now... Especially when it's warm out and I can just roll my windows down and blast some music and cruise).

And now some songs by Minnesotan artists:

1999 [mp3] - Prince - "Prince: The Hits 1" (iTunes)

Funkytown [mp3] - Lipps, Inc. - "Funkytown (iTunes)

Somebody to Shove [mp3] - Soul Asylum - Grave Dancer's Union (iTunes)

Test Tube Kid [mp3] - Honeydogs - "10,000 Years" (iTunes)

Closing Time [mp3] - Semisonic - "Feeling Strangely Fine" (iTunes)

Can't Hardly Wait [mp3] - The Replacements - "Pleased to Meet Me" (iTunes)

Like a Rolling Stone [mp3] - Bob Dylan - "Highway 61 Revisited" (iTunes)

One Of A Kind [mp3] - Atmosphere - "God Loves Ugly" (iTunes)

Ok, and now my vacation officially begins. See you all after September 5th. Tata dahlings.

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