Jay Gabler's blog

This spring, I've had to eat my words. For the past few years, I've been advising bands to skip the physical CDs and just send download links to journalists—the hard copies, I've said, get tossed in a pile that may or may not ever get excavated. Then last month I bought a car that has a working CD player, and lo and behold! Suddenly making it into that pile is the best way to get my attention. Some of the discs I've had to resist tossing straight out the window (Dwight Hobbes said it all when it comes to Paul Spring: I should've had a V8), but three have made for very chill soundtracks for warm-weather cruising.MORE »

Name: Katie HeaneyMORE »

To the surprise of few, a new Vikings stadium won the billion-dollar showdown with a proposed light rail transit line that I previewed a few weeks back. Legislators facing loud, purple-clad lobbyists in an election year opted to raise $348 million from expanded gambling to match $477 million from the Wilf family and $150 million from Minneapolis taxpayers for a new pigskin palace on the site of the Metrodome.MORE »

Pinot noir is a fickle mistress, when it’s great it’s a haunting miracle of poetry in a glass, when it’s something short of great it’s a frustrating lesson in expensive disappointment. The standard bearer for great pinot noir is of course France’s Burgundy region, where thousands of years of wine making history has carefully selected the ideal locations and methods for coaxing the best out of the delicate grape. Despite my love of a good Burgundy, I really don’t drink it very often, for a number of reasons. One is that it’s just really expensive (with entry level wines coming in around $30 and the better wines easily topping $100 or much higher). They’re also difficult to find, and when they don’t live up to their pedigree they frustrate me to no end. Are they worth it? Maybe, but ultimately they’re too rarefied and variable for me to really enjoy the experience. So, I’m always on the lookout for new regions where this difficult grape can excel that can offer more realistic value.MORE »

When a small plumbing company in Monroe, Louisiana, got an email yesterday from BBB saying they’d had a complaint filed against them, they took it seriously. After all, the company is a BBB Accredited Business and the owner serves on the board of directors of BBB of Northeast Louisiana. What they got, however, was much worse than a complaint from an unhappy customer. The email was a fake, a phishing scam that downloaded viruses on two of the small business’s computers, which had to be wiped clean in order to get rid of the malware infection. Fortunately for the plumbing company, the virus hadn’t had a chance to steal any banking information.MORE »

Skinny-dipping with Sparky the Seal

Rooftop cocktails at the Metrodome

Rollerblading on I-94MORE »

Wire sculpture of R.T. Rybak's hair ($199)

1989 Buick turned into an art car by being covered with Band-Aids ($500)

Nude portrait of self, painted behind the 331 Club at 2:30 AM ($5)MORE »

Iconic hairdresser and styling mastermind Vidal Sassoon died on May 9. Though his name often recalls ‘80s hairspray commercials and severe bobs, his career was much more than that. His philosophies revolutionized the industry and the style of modern women, both of which still feel his influence today.MORE »

When Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, it set out to accomplish many reforms, including reducing medical bankruptcies. President Obama said, people—with and without insurance—“have gone bankrupt because of health care.”MORE »

For over a decade the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) has been digitizing collections materials for the purposes of increasing accessibility, supporting research, and preserving original materials. The Očhéthi Šakówiŋ—The Seven Council Fires digitization project expanded to include additional goals. Sought by Dakota individuals who wanted increased access and understanding of the Dakota material culture in the MHS collections, a new level of transparency was achieved. By using the WOTR (Write On The Record) tool to record feedback and comments MHS steps back and shares authority in interpreting this material. Both MHS and Dakota communities will benefit from this partnership as information about these items is dramatically enhanced.MORE »