Dubiousask

 [Downtown, Saint Paul.]  [Downtown, Saint Paul.]  [Longfellow, Minneapolis.]  [Selby Avenue, Saint Paul.]  [Cedar Avenue, Minneapolis.]  [Rice Street, Saint Paul.] [Duluth.] [Duluth.]

[Mmmmm... looks healthy!] A friend of mine organizes an annual month-long health effort called "Buds of Spring" aimed at getting the summertime off on the right foot by having social events not organized around drinking. Way back in 2013, I had agreed to lead a walking tour as part of the event series, but on that day the rain rained and the wind blew and we ended up cancelling the tour. Well, it's back! Presenting the "100 Years Ago Minneapolis" walking tour. We'll be walking around downtown, about 2.5 miles total, and looking around and thinking about what it might have looked like back in 1918. It should be fun. Prepare to be amazed by the imaginary industrial landscape that surrounds you! Let's hope for better weather this time, or else it might be another five years before I try it again. [Alley shacks!] [ Facebook event is here .] What : 100 Years Ago Minneapolis Walking Tour When : 4/8 at 4:00 pm Where : Leave from the Dunn Brothers on 2nd and 3rd...

The March for Our Lives went within shouting distance of my apartment last weekend, and as the topic has filled the news cycles I keep noticing how the technological parallels between guns and cars pop up in conversation. For one thing, there are the slippery slopes: "If you ban guns, why not ban cars too?" "OK with me!" More seriously, in a recent episode of the Reveal radio show about gun reform, a reporter make a comparison more explicitly. They asked whether gun reform could follow a similarly "successful" path as auto safety efforts. Here's the description: Reveal�s Stan Alcorn looks at another public safety threat that used to be responsible for more deaths each year than guns: automobiles. While gun deaths have remained about the same for decades, car deaths have declined dramatically. That decrease began when the government started collecting data on car accidents and passing it on to carmakers, which used it to design safer cars. Public safe...

 We closed for Super bowl!! Be back Monday bright and early [Door. Downtown, Saint Paul.]  LOVE [Wood block. Downtown, Saint Paul.]    Caution: Not a door [Window. West Saint Paul.]   OBIT PHOTO DROP BOX [Doorway. Downtown, Saint Paul.]  A friendly Heads Up to our Guests if you park within 20 feet of a corner or crosswalk the City of Saint Paul will eagerly ticket your car. Please check to make sure you are legally parked. As us if you are unsure. Tickets are no fun. [Door. Payne Avenue, Saint Paul.]  OCCASIONAL SALE [Pole. Duluth.]  We're OPEN During Construction [Wall. Northeast, Minneapolis.]  Mon. open Tue. open Wed open Thurs open Fri. open Sat. closed Sun. closed [Window. Skyway, Saint Paul.] BAG SALE [Sidewalk. West 7th, Saint Paul.]

 [Tiny sandal. West Side, Saint Paul.]  [Plastic bottle. Location forgotten.]  [Key. West Side, Saint Paul.]  [Bag of popcorn. Downtown Saint Paul.]  [Tommie card. Cleveland Avenue, Saint Paul.]  [Cat furniture. New Orleans LA.]  [Irish hat. New Oreleans, LA.] [Coat rack. New Orleans, LA.]

Check out these intriguing buildings. 1.    The Colonnade (1888) This building is perched on the edge of the freeway and is festooned with weird hemispheric red-and-white striped awnings and arched windows. There are crazy balconies and pillars everywhere, including tiny ten-foot elaborate Rapunzel perches with those Roman-looking garland bas relief thingies underneath them. There are pillars galore. There are even balconies surrounded by pillars, because why not? Also, there are actual Greek-style statues on each side of the weird entrance. Look at these stone people people groping themselves! Are they having a staring contest? Yes, they are. Someone once told me there was a fire here years ago but somehow the fire fighters saved the building and kept all the bricks and walls in place. Thanks SPFD! The inside of the building used to have the only Kurdish restaurant in the country inside it, and still has some downtrodden corner stores that serve people of modest means....

 [Duluth.]  [Payne Avenue, Saint Paul.]  [Payne Avenue, Saint Paul.]  [Downtown, Saint Paul.]  [Downtown, Saint Paul.]  [Phillips, Minneapolis.] [University Avenue, Saint Paul.] [Downtown, Minneapolis.]