da Blog

Last night, we wanted to go caroling, but it was pretty cold out, so we didn’t. Instead, we decided to bring some caroling cheer to the online community. Here it is:

UPDATE: This video was removed from YouTube due to “artistic differences”.

We shot it pretty quickly, and within a half hour we had the title added and some cut out by using the new iMovie 7. It was really easy to use once I figured out the interface. There was a nice integration feature with YouTube, but we weren’t able to use it because YouTube was slow and down at times. In the end, though, it was a nice, quick little video.

A couple years ago, a favorite band of mine announced that the rides at the Mall Of America were lame. All of us were like, “Of course!” What was once called Knott’s Camp Snoopy has always had a dozen or more rather tame rides. The best was a nice flume ride with two drops, the first one in the dark. Also, the “Mystery Mine Ride” was an IMAX screen with chairs that moved in synch with the movie. I’d been on a couple fun rides in that machine. A year or so ago, it was renamed the Park at MOA and has remained pretty lame. But, it seems that may change.

This spring, the Park at MOA will be transformed into Nickelodeon Universe, and there’s a bunch of interesting work going on it currently. Here’s what I’ve found as far as information.

The above photo is the former location of the Mystery Mine Ride. This whole section of the Park has all been gutted, it seems. The IMAX theater of the Mine Ride may still be back behind those doorways on the right, but I’m not sure of that. Here’s what’s directly to the right below the Pepsi Ripsaw coaster hill:

Most of the area has been newly cemented with a line area, so the loading for the ride may be here. Over in the center of the first photo is the preview of the new coaster, which now bears the name of Nickelodeon’s biggest star, Spongebob:

The Rock Bottom Plunge, I believe, is a roller coaster that is supposed to even go upside down. It looks like there may also be a bit of water involved as well, but we’ll see.

The other ride I noticed being worked on seems to be located directly in the center of the park. The fountain and little streams going to it are at least gone for now, as you can see:

This attraction will go straight up like the Power Tower at Valleyfair, I guess. With these additions, it will make the recreational area of the Mall of America a somewhat exciting place to be.

In other Mall of America Phase II news, there is finally some changes happening in the location of the expansion. Here’s a couple snapshots I got:

In the second photo, there’s a number of dumpsters, although I don’t know what they’re full of. Towards the far right of the second photo is the dirt and machines where they may be digging in order to start building. However, by all plans I’ve seen, that area seems to be the area assigned to a Great Wolf Lodge hotel/waterpark connected to the Mall of America. (I expect the Waterpark of America is already beginning to shut down.)

I’ve been unable to find any concrete information on when or if the Mall of America Phase II expansion will happen, but since I work nearby, I guess you can expect some updates when I find somehting.

As many of you know, for almost a decade now I’ve been running a music review website. It started out on GeoCities, but thanks to the writing and hard work of many people, it’s been at cMusicWeb.com for years, and it did pretty well as an independent, alternative source for honest reviews of Christian music. It was a good run, but in the last couple years the contributors have just gotten too busy with family and other commitments so the site has lacked a bit.

For the last year, we’ve been slowly building a new site, inReview.net. Over the years, we’ve found, like many Christians, that the small subcategory of “Christian” music does very little to define the listening habits or lives of most Christians. With inReview.net, we’re hoping to build a group of Christians who like writing about music and sharing some of their favorite music.

Speaking of which, this is where y’all come in. I know that many of you, as Christian brothers and sisters and (some of you) members of the People of Praise, enjoy music a lot. We enjoy all kinds of music - not just “Christian” music, but music by rappers, rockers, and folk artists (among others) who have something meaningful to say. (Let’s face it, I also listen to some who probably don’t have much to say too.)

I’m looking for people to write for the site. Our writing staff at the moment is very small, and we’d love to put out more reviews, but that takes people and time. Writing really isn’t that hard, especially when it’s about an artist or album that you’re really passionate about. Or, if you’re a music lover who wants practice in writing, this is a great place to start too. Not many of us, and certainly not me, are considered professional writers, but we strive to write honest, in-depth critiques of the music we hear and the music we love.

We’ve got a number of things lined up for this coming year, and if you’re interested in joining us, please contact us at inReview.net. We’d love to have a regular commitment of about one review per month, but just a good one-time feature or review is great. Also, persons to cover music news or maybe even avid music listeners who just want to blog free-form about it are welcome. There’s no pay at this point, but if we can start to sell advertising and cover costs in the future, there may be some. This isn’t just open to you as my friends, but if you know anyone who is interested please pass on the word.

In other news, to better keep the website going, I’m thinking of getting a new computer, more specifically a MacBook Pro. If anyone has any comments or thoughts on other computer options, I’d love to hear what you think.

No, this is not related to web stuff, but it is mint. A couple days ago I found, while perusing the local convenience store, the new 3 Musketeers Mint bar. Since 3 Musketeers is one of my favorite candy bars, I knew I had to try it. I’d say it was pretty good.

To get the idea, take the ingredients and taste of a York Peppermint Patty and put it in the size and texture of a 3 Musketeers bar. It’s a bit smaller, but it has a mint filling in that airy 3 Musketeers style. Then, of course, there’s dark chocolate on the outside to hold it all together. It was tasty, although nothing really new.

Speaking of new, the best new candy bar as far as I can remember is the Reese’s Fast Break. And also speaking of tasty, fattening foods, tomorrow is the opening of everybody’s favorite waste of money, the Minnesota State Fair. Believe me, there’s not many ways to drop money faster without buying a brand new computer. But dang, that deep fried 3 Musketeers on a stick was really good!

I was leaving the light rail platform and noticed for the third time today a new MetroTransit ad affixed to the entrance of the platform. Check it out:

Apparently it’s not marketed at me, because it makes no sense. As much as I can figure, it seems they’re saying that they don’t have bridges that collapse. Or something. If it makes sense to you, maybe you can enlighten me.

UPDATE: Here’s some new information I found.

I have not yet been home, but just two hours ago the 35W bridge over the Mississippi River just two blocks from my house. At least three people are killed, according to the latest reports. Please pray for everyone in Minneapolis and anyone whose families are affected.

Well, the night I had been expecting for a while came. I was kinda hoping it wouldn’t come for about 6 months, but it did.

My Samsung i500 smartphone fumbled out of my hands and went in an arc about 7 feet to the ground. The battery, of course, fell off of it, but that’s happened before. However, this time, it didn’t recover, because it doesn’t get past the very first loading screen no matter how long I wait. I tried resetting it but it won’t do anything.

So now comes the questions. Do I go with a Treo 755p and stay with Sprint or go elsewhere? Do I get a first-generation iPhone with lots of missing features and hope Apple will be nice to us over that long two-year contract with AT&T? Right now, I’m thinking the Treo because there’s some important Palm apps I use almost every day that the iPhone does not have. But, after visiting the Sprint website, it looks like I might have to be paying $10-$15 more per month for services with them. That, by the way, puts it on the same monthly price as the iPhone, although the iPhone costs more up front. I can’t believe I’m paying more to these greedy, annoying cell companies.

On Saturday, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book of the series, was released worldwide. It seems that, like the last couple books J.K. Rowling wrote, it will go down in history as the world’s fastest-selling book.

The book’s US publisher, Scholastic, said that an approximate 8.3 million copies were sold on the first day in sales. Scholastic prepared well, though, running an initial printing of about 12 million copies. The last book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, sold approximately 6.9 million copies on release day. Amazon.com reported that they had pre-orders of 2.2 million copies, for most likely the biggest order by one retailer. (That’s a bunch of trucks coming to their warehouses!) UK sales are estimated to be around 3 million copies, according to a BBC News report.

Are these numbers big? That’s a good question. In the first day of sales, The Incredibles on DVD sold 5 million copies and ended up selling a total of 17.5 million in the first nine months. There may be a couple higher-selling DVDs out there, but that’s still near the top. An estimated 93.2 million viewers tuned in for this year’s Super Bowl, which I think is interesting. It tells me that free stuff paid for by advertisers gives you a much bigger audience, but would anyone pick up a book if there were ads for cars and food every 10 pages?

Even though it seems like tons of people have copies, it only comes out to 2.7% of the United States population bought the book on the first day. I guess it must be a bunch higher around my group of friends, though, because it seems about 10% have a copy at our house.

Just for fun, I’ve put both of the UK book covers here at the bottom:

The UK Version

The UK Adult Version

On Saturday morning I headed out the door about 8am and told the persons in the living room that I was headed with my family to Duluth. When one person asked, “What’s Duluth?”, I knew that a blog post had to be written. Duluth, MN is easily one of my favorite cities to visit in the world, and it’s less than three hours away from home!

Duluth is located at the far west end of Lake Superior, the largest and deepest of North America’s Great Lakes. In the late 19th and 20th centuries, the town was populated because of rich iron and copper deposits throughout the northern regions of Minnesota. The city quickly became a worldwide port as locks and dams connected the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. During the 20th century, Duluth was a major industrial port in the region, although that waned a bit in the late 1900s. Currently, the seaport is still used to ship out metals like iron ore and taconite around the world, but most of the city makes its living on tourism.

Duluth is built on a rather steep hill overlooking the western edge of the lake. stretching almost all of the seven miles across the lake is a sandbar that makes the western side into a nice, natural harbor. However, the city of Duluth built a canal to bring the boats directly into the harbor instead of rounding Minnesota Point, as the sand bar was called. However, some method of getting across the canal was needed, so in 1905 a large structure was put above the canal and a gondola was moved from side to side. It proved effective for a number of years until traffic became more and more demanding, so in 1930 a road that spanned the canal was built. In 55 seconds the Aerial Lift Bridge rises over 200 feet to let seaworthy boats pass underneath.

One thing not to miss is exactly that: the huge cargo ships that come from all over the world. This past weekend we did not see any up close, but I’ve had a couple times where a boat over 1,000 feet long fills up the whole canal and you’re only 30-40 feet away from a hull towering above you. It’s tons of fun and an amazing experience for this Minnesotan. (Get plenty of up-to-date news and photos at DuluthShippingNews.com.) Apparently a German world-class cruise ship makes a stop in Duluth every fall as well.

What else is there to see in this town? Well, one of my family’s favorite parts is the Lakewalk. The Downtown Lakewalk includes a bike path and boardwalk for the first mile east of the Aerial Lift Bridge, and then a combined bilke/walk path for the remaining 2.5 miles. Another senic area is Skyline Drive, a road that rides the edge of the hill and provides great scenic views of Duluth and the harbor. Along Skyline Drive is Inger Tower, an old cement watchtower that is another great overlook. Also, when coming into Duluth, don’t miss the Thompson Hill Visitors Center, where you can see the best view of the city and the harbor just before the freeway descends into Duluth.

For those looking to spend a bit of money, a number of the tourist attractions are worthwhile. The Vista Fleet gives guided tours of the harbor area throughout the summer and it’s a great way to learn about the harbor, the big boats, and how things work in there. If you’d rather stay attached to the dock, The William A. Irvin is an old cargo ship that has been docked in Duluth for a couple decades and tours of the ship are given. This is another great way to find out what goes on these ships and just how big they are. Within the last couple years they’ve added a retired Coast Guard vessel to the tour as well.

The city’s old rail depot is now home to the St. Louis County Heritage & Arts Center, more commonly just known as The Depot. It’s a nice museum of the area’s history and culture, but my favorite part since when I was really young is the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in the back of The Depot. Here, you can find all kinds of old trains that you can actually walk through. I don’t know if they still do, but they would still run one of the old streetcars out of the station about a half mile and come back, which was lots of fun to ride in. There are real trains, model trains, and lots of old train-related items from days gone by.

If free is more your style, I highly recommend looking around in the Lake Superior Maritime Visitors Center, right next to the Aerial Lift Bridge. This is a free, public museum that has tons of info on the geography of Lake Superior as well as the shipping industry of today and days gone by. Of course, there’s plenty of history of the Aerial Lift Bridge too. We haven’t really ventured into Downtown Duluth proper in probably a decade since the tourist scene right on the lake started picking up, but there’s miles of Downtown connected by skyways, so even rainy days can be somewhat fun.

And, finally, a trip further up the North Shore of Lake Superior is always a good day trip from Duluth. Almost every time I’ve been to Duluth, we spent at least an afternoon around Gooseberry Falls, a beautiful stop on Highway 61’s stretch of scenic viewpoints. The upper and lower falls are beautiful and allow for great places to walk around and play in the water. I have pictures of me and family members sitting underneath this rock since I was 2 or 3, and this time my cousin’s daughter got her first photo there. Just a little way up the shore is Split Rock Lighthouse, and a bit further is Temperance River, which is now cut very deeply through some stones and is a great scenic area as well.

The weather up there is often very nice, a bit cooler because of the lake. (Last weekend was definitely an exception though, with highs in the 90s.) No matter how hot it is, though, I’d recommend not swimming in the lake. Around this time of year, the water is about 45 degrees Farenheight. There is a nice beach on Minnesota point that is very shallow and gets a bit warmer, but expect to freeze some body parts if you go in the water. Also, on the way to and/or from Duluth, stop halfway at Tobie’s in Hinkley, MN. We always go for the Ice Cream outside, but many stop for their baked goods. Still, the city of Duluth is one of the most beautiful and fun places to go in Minnesota, and some even say, in the world.

(Thanks to Lisa for the great photos and all for a fun weekend vacation.)

I’m looking forward to this. Back when I was a kid, I biked all around the quaint little town of Hastings. Finally, now, I’ll hopefully start to do that on a limited basis. Today I purchased a nice, new bike for use here in Minneapolis. I didn’t waste any time, for I biked about 17 miles to a picnic and then to the light rail station that I’ll ride to regularly. By biking a mile or two to the nearest light rail station, I might even be able to cut down on commute time because I don’t have to ride along the bus lines. I’m really looking forward to getting to bike around the city a lot more. Although, I’m a bit sad that Hannah is leaving and that I will no longer be able to get rides from her. Thanks, Hannah, for all the great morning drive times. (Now I’ll have to find some way to stay informed about politics and news because I won’t have NPR in the morning.)