Get in the fold with your British bike at the Twin Cities’ first-ever Brompton Championship Race

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The second ever Open Streets Minneapolis event will take place this Sunday on Lyndale Avenue South between 22nd Street and 42nd Street. The street will be car-free from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday so that visitors can take over the street by bike or by foot (or whatever other non-car transportation you can come up with) and check out local businesses and the like. Last year there were plenty of food trucks, tiny dogs, and special events, and this year’s event should top last year’s! You won’t want to miss it. Continue Reading

Art-a-Whirl and Tough Mudder make for a hot weekend

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Art-A-Whirl happens this weekend in Northeast Minneapolis. If you’ve never been, you should plan on checking it out. If you like art and/or music, you will want to head over to see some bands at Psycho Suzi’s, Grumpy’s NE, The Sample Room, and the 331 Club; and check out all the open artists; studios and galleries all over the area. There is even an Art-a-Whirl edition of the Hotpants dance party on Saturday night. Usually some of the food trucks park themselves in Northeast to feed the hungry art-lovers. I’ll be checking Art-A-Whirl out on Saturday, since Sunday I will be watching people run around in the mud. Continue Reading

Swearing off the booze—and the gluten, and the red meat. Can it be done?

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I decided to try to go the month of May completely alcohol-free. Okay, completely minus two days where I’m allowed to cheat. I’m also cutting out gluten and red meat. Upon announcing that on the Facebox and elsewhere, I received a lot of questions as to why I thought I should prohibit myself from enjoying all that is good in the world. Continue Reading

ARTCRANK brings out the shortest of shorts

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Last weekend, on Saturday, April 14, a super fun party known as the opening night of ARTCRANK happened. Not only does this event attract a whole bunch of super hot biker folks, it also consists of snazzy bike posters, beers, and food trucks. This year Bastian+Skoog even brought their new PEANUTCART! out to sell little bud vases to attach to all of those sexy bikes. Continue Reading

At Gardens of Salonica, Twin Cities Daily Planet supporters gather for a Greek feast

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The Twin Cities Daily Planet had a dinner on Wednesday at Gardens of Salonica in Northeast Minneapolis. They’ve been doing this for a few years now, and I was invited as one of the writers to attend this four-course feast. Yes, a feast! I had recently been dining with friends at Eat Street Social (so good) and @katiesisneros was discussing feasts. She imagined it as a huge table covered with food where she could reach in and grab some kind of animal leg and bite it. So that’s what I had in mind when I headed to Gardens of Salonica for the feast. Continue Reading

Beards, bags, and bikes: Spring has sprung in the Twin Cities

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Last weekend was a whirlwind of beards and bags and bike rides. The Minnesota Beard-Off (which I wrote about last week) took place at First Avenue on March 24 and was a fantastic event. I’d call it the best Beard-Off yet! I actually didn’t exactly enter. Instead my dog Ninja Biff Rose Dinette competed with her very snazzy beard. She was rocking some big furry eyebrows frosted with pink and a blue beard and mustache combo. Ninja won the Freestyle category of the Beard-Off and I couldn’t be more proud. She was super popular at the event and I never thought I’d be hanging out with the pooch at First Avenue until recently. She wanted to be sure to thank her stylist, Melissa Roy, for the hairdo. Continue Reading

Minnesota Beard-Off 2012: Ragnar the Viking and the Mustache Rangers will let it all hang out at First Avenue

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This year The Minnesota Beard-Off is on Saturday March 24. I participated in the event two years ago, the very first, which was fabulously put together by the punny and clever Art Allen. I met some wonderful(ly hairy) people that night and even became a finalist in my category (“freestyle,” which includes the fake lady-beards). I ended up covered in glitter and delightfully happy (even though I didn’t win) when I wore my bacon beard home that night. Continue Reading

Minnesota pie for the faux spring

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I went to a Pi Party for Pi Day on 3/14/2012, because I can’t say no to a pie potluck (a pieluck?) and it was a lovely start to faux-spring in Minneapolis. I know real-spring starts next week, but with 70- and 80-degree weather I’m back out on my bike, seeing people I only seem to see in the warmer months, and remembering that I don’t always have the desire to be a hermit. It’s funny how some of my people seem to be my summer friends and I feel like I get to re-connect with some long-lost buddies now that it’s warm (and also that I’m no longer in Mexico). Continue Reading