Minneapolis Institute of Art, Modern, II.

My taste in art has leaned towards modern for as long as I can remember. It must be something about the clean lines, natural materials, and minimal accents that blend well with my anal retentive tendencies. Let's take a look at some of the pieces at MIA:

[they actually showcased a large amount of tea/coffee sets, but this one definitely falls into the modern era - I'd rinse it all out before serving out of them, looks like they've been there awhile]

[simple, yet intricate design, interesting material, very pretty to look at - they did not let me "test drive" the desk and seemed annoyed that I would ask]
[they showcased about 16 Swiss poster designs from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. All follow a fairly rigid style, even down to the placing if objects on the print and the font used - and they were not willing to sell me any for my apartment]






[even a Swiss poster for the French - mon Dieu!]


*If you want more info on anything you see in any of the MIA posts, please ask me. I took pics of most of the info cards and could easily go back and get more info, if needed.

Minneapolis Institute of Art, Intro, I.

We do get some interesting perks through our office. Not only can I buy small-batch maple syrup, and volunteer at PBS, but we were notified about some free passes to special exhibits at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (heretofore, MIA).

Having been in the city some time now and also being a city-dweller that prides himself on knowing about said city, I thought it was high-time I check out this place. It's the museum in town that everyone seems to have something good to say. It also happens to be surprisingly close to my house (like less than 10 blocks). And it's a good thing, because the passes that were being handed out at work are only good if you ride to the museum. Perfect-a-mundo.

I ventured out on a recent Saturday right about noon. I wanted to beat the hot & humid heat in my apartment, get some lunch, not spend lots of money, and be close to home (rain was approaching). This fit the bill nicely. I was also very pleasantly surprised by what the MIA had in store for me. I didn't have any expectations going in, but the MIA blew any I could have had out of the water.

What follows is a short, four-part series on the MIA. You'll get the intro here, then a short look at their modern collection (my personal favorites), a bit of their other collections, and then a look at what I'm calling their "Large Art" - these are literally large items I found (and couldn't really miss). Please join me on this short trip.






[what struck me right off the bat is the amount of natural light and outdoor landscaping that has gone into the rather large property. it's a nice place in a kinda weird part of town and I didn't expect that.]


[the reason you can see the outside and all the natural light can come in is something else I didn't expect - three floors. the place is rather large. three floors of exhibits, both permanent and revolving. from almost all the stairways and landings, you see much more interesting viewpoints. i really liked this "height".]


[just one of the large stairway and landing areas]


[you can look up the landings, and down too. some of the larger hanging pieces were great to see from this vantage point.]

Please check back soon for MIA, Part II, the Modern wing.

Texting.

I'm not sure you all know how much I love text messaging - do you? I believe I've been texting since about 1999 or 2000. Back then it seemed to be pretty unpopular. A few people I knew used it and I had to introduce it to others (or force it on them). It is officially known as a 'short message service' or SMS for short (ba-dump-bump) and it now seems to have really hit the mainstream. Commercially SMS is a massive industry, worth over 81 billion dollars globally as of 2006. That seems big.

I was out with a former co-worker the other night and she mentioned that she hates texting. After the paramedics got my heart beating again, she thought a poll about texting might be in order. I thought it was a great idea, and the poll is up now (please vote)

The real reason to talk about text messages, for me at least, is to let everyone know that I'd love to hear from you via text (or any other method for that matter). It doesn't have to be long (I mean, it's called SMS for a reason), but maybe just to say 'hello', send me a joke, tell me traffic sucks, or that you saw someone on a bike get doored and thought of me.

Finally, though I can usually come up with the polls on my own (and this is the first instance of someone else suggesting a poll), I would be very very happy to entertain poll ideas from the t.c readership. If you have a poll suggestion, please let me know (by text). You could get some really rich data about a topic you're interested in. I often get at least 8-12 people for each poll - I know, it's as big as texting now.

*I'm on TV.

Well, actually, it's just PBS... but still!

I had the chance to volunteer for the local PBS station's August pledge drive through work. I thought it would be fun to finally check one of these out. And I'm embarassed to admit I've never contributed to PBS in all my years watching. I mean, since I was a wee boy it's been a steady stream of Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, and Electric Company - though the best was Reading Rainbow, not. And now-a-days it's This Old House and others. So, I felt contributing my time would help offset this imbalance. I signed up for a 4 hour shift. I know, it seems long, right? And this was from 6-10pm on a Tuesday, so after a normal workday too. What did I get myself into?

In actuality, it wasn't rocket science or even mildly hard to take pledges. It was a bit warm in "Studio C" at the venerable Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) Studios, but they fed us dinner and had plenty of cool drinks for us to guzzle down (and I drank them like it was going out of style). The time went by quickly. We got to see & hear them interview Dr. Amen live in the studio (Google "Brain in Love") and we all had a chance to see the live "give us your money" schtick that they do during pledge drives. Some of us also got "close-ups". I am purported to have had one of said close-ups, and they run the shows over and over, so perhaps I can see myself one day on TPT2, St. Paul-Minneapolis.

Here's some pics from the joint (no cellphones allowed in the studio, oops):

*As a small sidenote, this is my 300th blog post. Just like a popular sitcom, I got myself a fancy t.c cake, made by the wacky crew at Ace of Cakes. Thanks Duff & Co - it was delicious!

Uptown Art Fair.

What else would I do on a hot, steamy, Sunday morning in August by myself? For those from my home state, this is much like the OldTown Art Fair, just a lot less people and no "suggested donation" that goes to a nebulous community organization. I'd say the art was the same (surely these artists tour the country all summer?), the food was more 'state fair', and the lighter crowd much better for me (and I don't hate crowds, just the people in them).

This is MN's 2nd largest public event, aside from the venerable state fair. It attracts something like 450,000 people each year and sells something on the order of $2.5 million in art. Speaking of the art, you be the judge. Favorites?


[b&w photos from Youngbok Park, Oakland, CA]


[who couldn't use another BudLight beer can airplane? Sompit Xia Srinuksit, Granite Falls, NC - so not making this up]


[really nice, bright, ceramic work (freestanding objects and this tile work), David Allyn, Providence, RI]


[and maybe one of the most wacky, whimsical booths I've ever seen, this Dumpty is 2-3 FEET high and made out of bronze! Kimber @ Joan of Art - there were probably hundreds of similiar items, all of Humpty - obsess much?]

And let's not forget the food

[you don't want just any ole corn dog - how about a foot long corndog!?! I would have liked to get a shot of one of them, and I thought about it, even saw one or two - but the people gnawing on them probably would have given me the stink eye, MN-style]


[and finally, on a hot, 85 degree day with like 90% humidity - who doesn't want some warm nuts? I think the best part is the mad little girl holding down her booth duty]

Nye's Polonaise.

If you want Polish food or beer and a place to polka, this is the joint. I went on a weeknight, but I'm told Fridays and Saturdays this is the only place around to dance to live polka music. They get a huge crowd of fun (read, drunk) folks of all ages.


[It's the kind of place with old dark furniture, woody accents, stiff cocktails, and waitresses older than you are]


[The highback booths are perfect for sucking down some liquid courage before hitting the piano bar or going into the main room for polka (or other live act)]


[semi-creepy piano guy included, and "Wild Bill" is thrown in for free (he's the drunk, white-haired, Irishman that will dance with your date) - this is not made-up]

Catch some Z's in NYC.

As I walked from appointment to appointment on Thursday in NYC, I found this woman lying in a storefront, sleeping. She looked really comfy and really asleep. No, I didn't bang on the glass. There was something written on the window about a "sleep project". I didn't get the whole story, the image was enough for me.