Minneapolis Round-Up

While taking a glance at the results in the other blue state I care about, a couple of non-electoral stories distracted me… The Strib ran a story on Minneapolis bike messenger fashion, which seems to have been entirely the product of a lazy reporter hanging out too much in a certain Nicolet Mall location of a certain local chain of coffee shops that is dear to my heart. Among the findings: “The Minneapolis messengers look a little less ‘technical’ than in other cities, and a little more thrift store-y.” It’s true – Philly messengers wear a lot more black and a lot less color than the Minneapolis bikers, but then again they are inherently less crazy. Actually, the same can be said for all fashion in Minneapolis vs. Philly… The Strib’s other story distracting me from my post-election haze was the (temporary) closing of First Avenue, the house that Prince built and that gave rise to the Replacements and Hüsker Dü and a zillion other Minneapolis bands. Apparently the name “First Avenue” is tied up as a part of the Bankruptcy holdings. The bad guy owner (who is feuding with good-guy managers) is talking about opening up a different club using that name. Somewhere else. I can just see one of those suburban hair-metal clubs in Anoka being given the First Avenue “brand.”