Gone to soldiers

Michael has reported for duty.

As he galumphed down the stairs in his BDU and combat boots, I thought, "No one in his family would recognize him."

He sprung from the most feminist, artistic mother; the most mild-mannered passive father; from a long line of urban Jewish intellectuals. Yet there he is in buzzcut and camo.

Due to his enormous size, he looks 18 and scary, 'tho he's 13 and not.

He's not going to war, thank god, just Civil Air Patrol Search-and-Rescue Training.

And if he did go to war, I'd have to "suck and up deal", as he instructed me today when nixing my attempt to take pictures.

If this is his calling, so be it.

Headline News

President Obama is in Minneapolis today to give a major speech on health care, the most hotly debated issue in the United States.

This is the front page of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the so-called "Newspaper of the Twin Cities":






Can you find any news about the Obama's speech in Minneapolis?

Go ahead, magnify it. Anything?

This is supposed to be the newspaper of the Twin Cities. Not the sports paper of the twin cities.

Are they trying to carry out their desire to continue "management’s successful efforts to change the widespread image of the Star Tribune from a strongly liberal paper to a strictly non-partisan news source"? Do they think that covering a President who is a liberal might interfere with management' image-changing plan?

You tell me.

Tomorrow

Cue the orchestra.


Parents of America, wait the 10 second vamp then sing along with me......

School finally starts
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar that
Tomorrow
There'll be school

Just thinking about
Tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow
And that's cool

When I suffered his days
Of la-zy loafing
I'd think, "September 8th
Can't come too soon! Ohhhhh!"

School finally starts
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar that
Tomorrow
There'll be school

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you, tomorrow.
You're only a day away

We had three weeks between
The end of camp
and this

Too much free time
For teenage boy
And his
Mommmmmmmmmmmmmmm

So thank god school starts
tomorrow
And routine returns for teen
And mom-o
Hip hooray

To morrow, tomorrow
Yes, school starts tomorrow
Just one day 'til we're okay

Tomorrow, tomorrow
I love you tomorrow
You're only a daaaaay a-waaaaay

Great Minnesota Get Together

That's what PR people call the Minnesota State Fair. And every possible angle has been worked by every media person in town, me included

For media outlets like Minnesota Public Radio, KARE11-TV, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and Twin Cities Public Television, I've created all kinds of pieces with all kinds of funny and the occasional dab of serious.

But I'd never done a live broadcast from the Fair. 'Til now.

Last Saturday, we broadcast the Fresh&Local Radio Show live from the AM950 booth at the Fair, and it was fun, cold fingers and all. I was jazzed at the idea of having a live audience, although at 8am, the few fairgoers on the grounds were searching for breakfast. (We'll get'em next week with baked goods.) We had lively, well-informed guests: Mary McGuire Lerman from the Minnesota State Horticultural Society, who was a fount of information on late season gardening; Tom Forti of Hibbing's Sunrise Pasta; and, LizMcMann, an expert canner. They had such useful information, and that's what people want, online, in print, on the radio, through whatever channel it comes.

We're doing it again next Saturday, September 5, and our lineup should be equally useful and entertaining. ana Sofia Joanes, the director of FRESH, the movie. Tracy Singleton of Birchwood Cafe. Hmong grower Shur Yang of Morning Fresh Farms. And,finally, Lee Zukor of Simplegoodandtasty.com with the most useful information of all: how to eat Fresh & Local at the Fair.

So before you set off on your State Fair foodapalooza, join us 8am Saturday for some old-fashioned radio at the Great Minnesota Get Together. You'll find us across from the EcoExperience at the corner of Cooper and Randall.

You don't know unless you try

That's what we tell our kids.

So despite my fear of peppers - there was a traumatic pepper incident on my first trip to Texas - I tried a recipe for Salt and Peppers.
I worship Rainbow Chinese Chef Tammy Wong, who created it. Writer Katie Cannon, who tried it, said it was simple and ridiculously good.

At the Minneapolis Farmers Market, I shopped carefully for immature jalapenos. At home, I donned latex gloves gloves before touching those peppers. As instructed, I cut off the top inch to minimize heat and proceeded to stir fry, salt and plate.

Hesitant but forthright, I took a bit. A hooeee! Mouth on fire! Too hot for me.

I tried. And now I have a steaming pile for the compost bin.

Power to the People's Market

For Farmer's Market
in Minneapolis

We won! The Minneapolis Farmers Market is the 2009 Parents Pick for Best Farmers Market in Minneapolis St. Paul. We love our community and we are pleased as punch that they embrace us.

We're not an upscale boutique or a manufactured market. We are the real deal, since we began as a haymarket in 1876. We are owned and run by farmers, who bring the best of the country to the heart of the city. We believe in fresh food for all. We're crowded and noisy. The amenities are few. Nonexistent, in fact. But nowhere will you find more growers with more beautiful produce. And our community; the Minneapolis of all ages, sizes, colors and cultures who crowd the market each weekend; who share so generously with Second Harvest Heartland every Sunday; you are the heart of the market. You give it its real flavor.

And we thank you.

The Unemployables

New on Bravo: The Unemployables

It's the underside of the new economy. The real life stories of the men and women that no amount of job searching can place. Bravo's The Unemployables offers a fascinating window into the competitive, pressure-filled environment of the unemployed competing for their shot at the very few jobs available. The series features seventeen aspiring unemployed people who compete for their shot at full employment and the chance to earn the prestigious title of "Employed." Tonight meet Susan, an over-50 woman coming out of not one, but two dying industries: radio and newspapers. Will she ever find rewarding, full-time employment with benefits again? Should she move to Canada? Watch what happens when Bravo's team of career experts give Susan a brutal re-evaluation and a new career makeover.

Are you Unemployable? We're looking for compelling stories of the long-term unemployed. Send us your stories.