Gardens of Salonica – Comfortable Greek

Last night, Jen and I went out to dinner in celebration of our anniversary at NE Minneapolis’ Gardens of Salonica (19 5th Street NE, Minneapolis). Gardens is half a step outside of the hustle and bustle of the St. Anthony Main and that’s why I like it. This 2-room restaurant so comfortable and personable, I …

First Crack 67. Steve McClellan on Developing Musicians and Independence

Steve McClellan’s name is synonymous with and as legendary as First Avenue where he worked for 30+ years. Lately, he’s been working with the Diverse Emerging Music Organization – a non-profit focused on connecting independent venues and new artists. We sat down at the Acadia Cafe, I had a Duval (Acadia has an amazing beer …

CDs for Good and Not Evil

Now that the Sony rootkit fiasco is behind us. Here’s a selection of CDs that support a good cause and won’t destroy your computer. Just in time for Christmas. First Ave – The Bootlegs Commemorating 35 years at First Ave $13, proceeds support the Diverse Emerging Music Organization We’re Coming Over – The Best of …

Sports Night – Still Best Show Not on TV

Sports Night on DVD finally bubbled up our Netflix Queue. More than 5 years later, it still has the best dialogue of any television series ever. It’d translate perfectly to the video iPod also; audio that doesn’t need video and very basic video (people talking, generally not moving quickly). Hopefully, iTunes will become a strong …

Tuesday’s Triple Play – 3 From Wonderlick

Ever since enticing me with their LL Cool J and 2Live Crew covers then switching it up with some of the most painfully melancholy audio, Tim Quirk and the guys from Too Much Joy have always hit me pretty hard. This week’s Triple play are 3 songs from Wonderlick – one of their latest incarnations …

The Difference Between Consumers and Customers Part Three

I’ve always found the Cathedral and Bazaar metaphor compelling. Movie theaters, newspapers, television, radio, magazines are all cathedrals. The publishers place an artificial separation between them and the audience/consumers/eyeballs/gullets for their complete, discrete, highly-produced artifacts. One-size fitting all. Weblogs, Wikis, Bulletin Boards are bazaars. Down in the dirt. Personal connections, relationships, conversations, building-blocks. Each new …

Things That Mean Nothing to Cooper

My mom has this great collection of 45s. I remember spending some fantastic afternoons as a kid spinning Joan Jett, the Beatles, and so many other classics. This lazy Saturday afternoon, we had the 89.3 the Current on for Cooper and they played a song by the Pixies. Jen to Cooper: “This was the first …