FOT Forum
FOT Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: Laurie on May 15, 2007, 10:54:13 AM
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My mom is going to Minneapolis next month, and she asked if I wanted to tag along. This was a day after Emily posted that Galactic Pizza link, so of course I said yes. I want Captain Awesome to deliver pizza to me. Besides, I don't get enough mother/daughter time with Mommy Dearest.
So, we're going to check out the Museum of Questionable Devices and the Walker Art Center (the latter of which is the reason we're going). What else is there to do, though? I guess there's that big mall, which might be interesting for one hour.
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C'mon! None of youse guys reside in the fair Twin Cities?
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Some good friends of mine live in the TC, and I've visited them a few times, but I don't know much about the comic book/arts/hip music scene.
Here's what I did the last time I was up there:
-- Gambled at the steeplechase (hey, there are no horse tracks in North Carolina)
-- Gambled at the Indian casino (no table games in NC either)
-- Went to the shooting range and tried out the Springfield XD-9 while some other dudes had a collection of shotguns and high-powered rifles. Suffice it to say, don't ever get a booth next to guys doing that.
-- Had some good sushi
-- Went to a Vikings preseason game and saw the odd Swastika design in the Metrodome ceiling (face value $40, our price $5 - probably could have gotten the guy down to a dollar for both, but I wasn't in the mood to be cruel)
-- Hung out downtown and ate at some places (one called the something News cafe - really helpful I know). If you like soup, Minnesota is known for its mushroom wild rice soup.
Anyone headed to Minneapolis should head to the Mall of America for at least a bit. Unfortunately, they've closed the General Mills World of Cereal, where I had my last bowl of "Boo-Berry" and checked out a bunch of Mexican cereals. But the giant-ass Lego place is open and the sheer size of the place is interesting.
They are in the process of gentrifying the area around downtown and it has some interesting restaurants and clubs.
I'm told that the locals are afflicted with a condition called "Minnesota Ass," which is what happens when you can't go outside for five straight months.
The time before we drove over to Wisconsin and had "cheese curds." If you've never had them, they may be the worst thing for you that you've never eaten.
This is a tremendously helpful list, I know.
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I'll actually be staying in the downtown area. I can't stay at a hotel with an ugly bedspread, so it either this (http://www.graves601hotel.com/) or the Chambers. I opted for the former, as I don't want to stay in a hotel that hosts Damien Hirst's crap art. I HATE HIM.
For some reason, reviews of Graves 601 keeps saying it's expensive. It's really not. It's cheaper than a moderately nice hotel in New York, so I don't see what the big deal is. It was so inexpensive that I went for the "executive" room. I guess I'm just used to seeing hotel rooms go for $400-500 MINIMUM in SF and NYC, you know, so it's really weird to see a nice room go for considerably less.
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-- Gambled at the steeplechase (hey, there are no horse tracks in North Carolina)
-- Gambled at the Indian casino (no table games in NC either)
Don't you hate when places don't have table games? I do. Preakness is this week, so here in MD there's talk of how we need to have slots to "save" horse racing in MD. I want table games, dammit! I want to talk trash with dealers, and interact with people. Slots are the worst.
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Sorry to be a downer, but horse racing is cruel (http://www.peta.org/factsheet/files/FactsheetDisplay.asp?ID=65).
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Don't you hate when places don't have table games? I do. I want table games, dammit! I want to talk trash with dealers, and interact with people. Slots are the worst.
Couldn't agree more. There are these casino cruise boats that go out from Miami to int'l waters for a specified number of hours, but I can't imagine doing that. What do you do for the next 5 hours if you lose big in the first 20 minutes?
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That's when I would go to the nickel slots, and drink on their dime.
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Josh - I did one of those boats at the NC/SC border before they rewrote the law to make it illegal. It was one of the most depressing experiences of my life.
As Atlantic City is to Vegas, this boat was to Atlantic City. Which is saying a lot.
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Minneapolis is a pretty cool city in a reasonably cool state. (At least, it's quite chilly. It's also a place where Democrats outnumber Republicans, which is saying something). You're on the right track with the Walker Museum, but I'd stay the hell away from the Mall of America, unless you groove on that sort of madness.
You know what I would do? Just explore, and take in the Minnesotaness.
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I'm here in Minneapolis. There's some cool stuff to do but I don't get to do much of it because I work nights and weekends.
Check out First Ave. I guess for the history there. They have a good DJ there on Saturday nights called DJ SovietPanda that spins all things indie. But, I'd recommend seeing a band at 7th St. Entry which is in my opinion the coolest place to see a band. I saw Rocket From the Tombs there and was standing right in front of Richard Lloyd, Cheetah Chrome and David Thomas (well he was sitting). It's a very intimate setting. My wife says the women's bathroom is disgusting though... But yeah, First Ave. or 7th St. Entry which are in the same building. I've heard that the Xcel Energy Center is the best arena to see a show in America but I haven't ever come across a band that is playing there that I'm willing to pay over 50 bucks to see. But, I've heard it's amazing to see a show there.
The Walker is definitely a cool place. MIA is good too as well as The Science Museum of MN. For semi-cheap eats check out Sawatdee which has pretty good Thai food. I guess there are a couple other Thai places in the cities that some people think are better but I've been a fan of Sawatdee for years.
Twins games are the cheapest sports tickets around and you get to watch a pretty good team at the same time but you are inside. The Saints play in St. Paul at Midway stadium which is more of a relaxed outdoor setting watching an Independent League team co-owned by Bill Purrey.
There's Brave New Workshop for comedy theater (Although I've heard their current show isn't very good but I'm sure that run will be done by the time you are here). They usually are pretty good though. It's not comedy sports, don't worry.
There's a few things. I can't think of anything else. I don't know much about the bar scene since I don't really have money to go bar hopping these days, so I can only recommend little dives around the U of M campus which I haven't been to since I graduated. The Mall of America is about 15-20 miuntes outside of Mpls. in Bloomington. I went there for the first time when I was a kid so I don't know if it's that big of a deal to go there or not. I think anybody who lives around New York isn't going to be that impressed.
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I live in Miami, which is home to one of the most outrageously expensive malls ever (http://www.balharbourshops.com/index.php?llink=1&file=storedirectory). I laugh at your Short Hills Mall, New Jersey. Talbots? HA! Bal Harbour would not stoop to that level. The only shop I can afford there is Lulu Couture, and EVEN THEN, it's outrageously expensive. I'm sorry, Yohji Yamamoto, but I am not spending $300-400 on a pair of ADIDAS SNEAKERS, but I would gladly spend 10 times that on one of those super hot motorcycle jackets you did for Fall '07. You know, if I had the cash, which I really don't. The silver antler jewelery, I can afford that, though, which pleases me. The tacky Custo Barcelona jackets that retail for well over a $1000? Not so much. The Greedy Genius strawberry shortcake sneakers on sale for $80? Ring me up, please. Uh, you get the picture. It's kind of hit and miss with that store. Same deal with Intermix (http://www.intermixonline.com/), which is actually more affordable most of the time if you try to ignore all of the Missoni and Stella McCartney, the latter of which is pretty easy to do. I mean, c'mon, why would I want to wear a romper? It's kind of like Miami's version of Kitson's, what with La Lohan and people of her ilk hitting it up whenever they're in town. I do believe that is a picture of LiLo at the bottom of the page for some reason. They must have given her free Chloé bags or something in exchange for the right to use her picture on their website, I'm sure.
So, as far as shopping at MoA goes, I will probably not be floored by anything. I am a fan of rollercoasters, though, so it might be worthy as a passing diversion.
ALSO, there's a HOT DOG ON A STICK! I have never been to one of those. I will probably get a lemonade or something there and try not to laugh at the girls' uniforms, because I'm sure it's humiliating enough, you know?
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Yeah, those stores are nowhere to be found in the MOA. Except Gap and Banana Republic. It's pretty much everything you'd find at a mall in the suburbs plus a whole lot of niche stores and clearance stores. Then add an amusement park and a bunch of crappy resteraunts and a cineplex and you've got the MOA. It's pretty much the burbs wrapped up into one handy building. It's better than the sprawl malls popping up all over Minnesota though.
Are you going to be able to get out of the downtown area? Because there is a lot to do outside in the summer months. You can rent a sailboat I think in Stillwater or have a guide take you out. There's plenty of scenic areas but you have to drive about an hour to get to them. Stillwater's not even that great but it is within driving distance. The best places are farther north but they are about 4-5 hours away.
That's one of the weird things about MN. Most people have this idea that it is this scenic state filled with lakes and trees and then come visit Minneapolis where it doesn't exist for a 100 mile radius. There are lakes in the suburbs but not nice ones. A lot of people think we are this extremely liberal state as well but the radius shrinks even more for that perception. Minneapolis is very liberal but the outstate people are very conservative. It's like MN is a donut and Minneapolis is the blue state hole surrounded by a red state. Luckily not many people live in that red state and for the most part MN votes democrat. Except we elected a Republican governer, who's a big dick, for his second term this past November. Plus, that red state surrounding the donut hole get representatives which cause a lot of things not to get done including coming up with a budget plan quite frequently and having to close down state run services deemed non essential.
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Yeah, Mall of America is not ritzy in the least. It does have a store called "As Seen on TV!", where you can buy stuff that, um, they sell on tv.
And it has those water massage things - only 7 bucks for 10 minutes.
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Yeah, Mall of America is not ritzy in the least. It does have a store called "As Seen on TV!", where you can buy stuff that, um, they sell on tv.
And it has those water massage things - only 7 bucks for 10 minutes.
I think the As Seen on TV store is one of the only store I really like at MOA. That and H+M. You actually get to see the products up close and realize they really do suck. But once in awhile you're surprised and say, hey, I could actually use that. That said, I've never bought anything there...
Those water massage things are at almost every conventional mall around here now. Somebody must be using them. But MOA did have the place where you can buy a bed for 30 minutes to take a nap. Does that still exist? I just could never see anybody ever doing that, but then again I never could see anybody jumping into a bed of water and getting a massage in the middle of a mall either.
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Ooh, ooh! I found something fun to do at night. I was so sad that I was going to miss Calvin Johnson, AS I LOVE HIM. There is a Pride block party on the 22nd, though, and Bob Mould is playing. I like Bob Mould.
Also, gilly or any other Minnesotans who would like to hang out, do you want to get a drink when I'm in town? It will be a mini-Minnie FOT meet-up.
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Record shopping at the Electric Fetus, weekend vegan brunch at the Triple Rock, comics at Big Brain (where Mike is THE BEST). Avoid the Hard Times unless you're a 17-year-old vegan punk and you need to listen to Op Ivy while eating a greasy pile of slop. If you're like Petey you can go and break into the watchtower where Bob Dylban wrote "All Along the Watchtower," but if you prefer His Purpleness, then take a drive out to Chanhassen and scope out the compound. Outside of the Walker, most of my MPLS people rave about this automated museum thing by the river that takes you straight up into a huge old grain elevator, like Tower of Terror, but with learning, and grain.
I'm happy that people are doing this, but I'm also kind of pissed because I was the first to make one of these travel tips thread and nobody helped me out (I deleted it out of shame). As a result, I ended up going to see the Bodies exhibit at the mall, which was next to Urban Outfitters for my post-plastinated-corpse-viewing novelty tee & gag gift needs. I hope you're all happy.
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I didn't get to this thread yet but if you need any info on the cities you can contact me at tom at modern-radio dot com. I am an FOT (and have meant to call more but I never get a chance to listen live). I do a label called Modern Radio. The message board at www.modern-radio.com has a lot of random posting (there is a Best show thread in there amongst a million things). It is a great place to find info about smaller and bigger shows, local bands, random conversation, and lots of good people (even though some online can be somewhat harsh). I love the Twin Cities and love being able to tell people about great places.
Record Stores:(all these are independent)
Treehouse (great mix of everything and been around forever. independent)
Roadrunner (another great one. independent)
Extreme Noise (punk / hardcore and a mix of other stuff)
Eclipse (st. paul, mix of stuff)
Hymies (vinyl only. Lots of older stuff, 45s, big store and lots of good find)
"chain" stores: several cheapos. One in St. Paul off Snelling and one in Uptown. Both have a huge vinyl selection.
Used clothes:
Everyday People (uptown and dinkytown)
Tatters
bunch of Savers and Goodwill Stores
Lots of places around St. Paul / midway area and uptown area too
Eating: Lots of options. All of the places I am listing are very vegetarian friendly
Pizza Luce (great weekend brunch at the st. paul and duluth ones. The three in Minneapolis are great too)
Triple Rock (vegan options for weekend brunch and great lunch and dinner)
Evergreen (Chinese/Taiwanese. Lots of fake meat options)
The Vegetarian and Mysore (two separate and great indian restaurants)
Kinhdo (great vietnamese)
Jasmine Deli (cheap and great vietnamese)
Al's Breakfast (dinkytown. Small 13 seat place that is always packed on the weekends. Only breakfast. Long line on weekends where you stand behind people at bar eating but its worth the wait and the atmosphere is really fun)
Venues worth supporting (in my opinion)
The Hexagon (Minneapolis)
First Ave (mpls)
Turf Club (st. paul)
Big V's (st. paul)
Triple Rock Social Club (mpls)
Memory Lanes (mpls..hit or miss. Bowling alley too)
There are a few great houses that have shows too here and there too.
Feel free to get in touch though if you are coming through town if you are an FOT. I am sure I missed quite a few things like the Walker Art museum, the number of galleries, decent bars, places to eat, etc.
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Thanks for the tips, J W, despite your misfortune with your own thread.
I will probably check out Electric Fetus, despite the fact that I have no interest whatsoever in a Ryan Adams lithograph. Do they have a twee section? If I had a record store, the twee section would be adorned with paintings of baby chicks and kittens. It would rot your teeth.
Also, I will drive very slowly by Paisley Park if I get the chance. The Purple One is in Vegas, no, correct? There's no chance he'll invite me in and talk to me about Jehovah or something? What a pity.
There are apparently cute paintings hanging up in The Beat Coffee Shop -- HORRIBLE name for a coffee shop. I'm always on the lookout for cute shit to add to my walls, though.
Oh man, I never hit submit, so, thanks TRL also!
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I've heard good things about Al's Breakfast but I didn't know you had to wait like that. That would be an uncomfortable meal with someone waiting to sit down over your shoulder. Are Cheapos a national chain? I always thought they were a MN company. I have found so many good CDs there for 3 bucks and under with a few scratches on them. I remember on time I went in and got an album from Olivia Tremor Control, Pernice Brothers and Squeeze for like 9 bucks.
As for meeting up, I work nights so I don't know if I'll be able to do anything.
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Well, Cheapo's are a local chain versus the other stores that are all independently owned and run. Cheapo has a few stores in the Twin Cities that are all run by the same people and they have ones out of state that were franchised but not run by the main office or anything like that. I think they just got to use the name and such.
Al's breakfast is hit or miss. If you are going on the weekend, you will wait long, but it is really fuckin' good.
I don't believe anyone has a twee section but if you are looking for good used stuff, its really the time. Everyone seems to be selling there stuff more than buying so all of the places I listed have pretty robust and good used sections.
Laurie, I don't know if it is still open and I don't know why I haven't been there myself, but there is a place called Robot Love off Lyndale and 27th that has all sorts of cute japanese toys and such.
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Oooooh, Japanese toys! Hey, it's right next to the Toomer Galley. I'm heading over there anyway. I will probably drop a lot of money at this Robot Love store. Oh, man, I have a budget. I don't want to spend it all in one place, especially since I need to buy more art for my walls.
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Ooh, ooh, I need to know this. Could you please tell me if I should rent a car or take public transportation? How are the buses? Are they any good? Are there readily available cabs? Do I have to call for cabs?
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Ooh, ooh, I need to know this. Could you please tell me if I should rent a car or take public transportation? How are the buses? Are they any good? Are there readily available cabs? Do I have to call for cabs?
That's a tough one. It depends on how much you are going to be commuting. I live in St. Anthony Village which is about 10 minutes away and the buses that run out there stop at 1am. Mpls. public transportation can be great but it really depends on when you need it and where you want to go. But, if your staying downtown the light rail is an option. I just don't know the hours. Cabs are definitely readily available. If you rent a car parking is pretty easy at night and on weekends and all of the attractions have parking. Plus, if you were planning on going to the MOA that would be a spendy cab ride since it's about 20-25 minutes outside of downtown. I'd say rent a car to avoid scheduling hassles and let you explore outside of downtown. But, someone who knows the bus/light rail system better might correct me.
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What's the deal with this Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge? Is it any good? It sounds cute.
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Psycho Suzi's is pretty cool. They have some cool glasses you can get a drink at and are a "tiki" lounge. It use to be more of a general "cool" place to hang out but it seems like became much more adult. It can be quite busy there in the Spring / Summer with the huge patio although indoors is easier to find places to sit. Lots of comfort food and fruity drinks.
I haven't been to Robot Love myself for some bizarre reason. I think I am worried I would drop some serious cash there.
As far as commuting, it really does depend on how much you will be commuting and how flexible you are. Minnesota doesn't have the best public transport. You will be able to get to and from the airport, Mall of America and downtown on the light rail but there is not a ton in between to go to. For example, you would definitely need to hit one or two buses to get to Psycho Suzi's. Same with Uptown. Its walkable from downtown but you are talking about 1-2 miles. Once you get to Uptown you can walk around quite a bit and with the construction on Lyndale near Lake St. It may be worth it.
How long are you in town?
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I'll just be arriving late on the June 21st and staying through the weekend. We head out mid-morning on Monday. Did you know that the flights going in and out of Minneapolis suck? They do! ONE non-stop flight. ONE. Jesus.
So you're saying that renting a car may be worth it? I'll look into something with GPS. Ugh. I don't want to spend $400 on a car, and I don't want to pull my hair out finding parking places and shit, but I also don't want to wait 20 minutes to catch a stupid bus with inconvenient stops and have to walk 10 blocks ANYWAY. I don't know.
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It costs 400 bucks to rent a car? I've never rented one before...is that including mileage and gas?
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It costs 400 bucks to rent a car? I've never rented one before...is that including mileage and gas?
It can. I reserved one with GPS through AAA. $130 total. Not bad, eh? Of course, they can't guarantee the style, so I might be driving around in a jalopy or some sort of horseless carriage that does not befit me.
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I leave in 10 minutes, yay. Bye.
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awesome. Safe travels. Give a ring when you get in town. There are some cool shows going on in town tonight. Zak from Low, Freddie from Cows and one of the guys from Steel Pole Bathtub are doing a Wipers cover band thing at Grumpy's Downtown and there is a cool hip-hop show with Icerod in NE Mpls at the 331.
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We take care of the FOT in the Twin Cities. Its no joke. Hilarious and ridiculous
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsgPzN5duq8&mode=related&search=
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Why hasn't the dried skeleton of Jim Crochet wrapped its terrible bony hands around the throat of the guitar player?
That's bad. Bad, Leroy Brown.
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I had fun, yay!
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Fantastic and wow, 5:11am posting! Well done. We enjoy having fun in the Twin Cities and blue has not taken over our fair towns.
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Blue Moon sure has. That s hit is good.
ALSO, it was 6:11 am, EAST COAST TIME. I slept for 12 hours last night. I do that occasionally.
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For some reason I thought you stayed up that whole Sunday night after the MB show and were partying like its 2007 in DT Mpls.
Blue Moon is well liked around these parts in the summer. Late night show tunes forever.
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I was EXHAUSTED on Sunday and needed a shower like crazy. Fortunately, the hotel shower had about six shower heads.
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WOW! Six shower heads. Thats pretty tight. Did that place have whirlpool baths as well.
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NO TUB! Which is fine for me, since I don't like sitting in filth. That's how yeast infections happen.