If there's no other town around to refute their claim, then we just may have to agree that Anoka, Minnesota is in fact the Halloween Capital of the World. Pretty much forever ago (the 1920s!) the town decided that it would welcome Halloween celebrations instead of waking up the next morning to a town full of toilet papered trees and egged cars. It was a success, and the treats, rather than tricks, continue to flow.]]>
Whether they were captivated by her energy independence plan or fixated on the way her daughter played with the baby's hair, everyone's talking about Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention last night.
It was the Alaskan governor's first real outing on the national stage and after the furor, tonight's address by John McCain is feeling downright anticlimactic. Today's theme is "Peace: A safer and more secure America," and we're hoping the absence of speaker details on the GOP website doesn't suggest the party attitude towards that topic.]]>
The Grand Old Party's still raging in Minneapolis today as the nation prepares for Governor Sarah Palin's speech to the delegates tonight. Former presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani are also scheduled to speak on the night's topic, "Reform: Washington is broken and the original maverick will fix it." (They mean John McCain, people!)]]>
Hurricane Gustav put a damper on the first day of the Republican National Convention--and speeches from Cindy McCain and Laura Bush. But the show must go on, and tonight brings former presidential candidate Fred Thompson and former Democrat Joe Lieberman to the stage. Meanwhile John McCain is defending his campaign team's vetting of Sarah Palin after this weekend brought news that the Alaska governor's 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.
After meeting with firefighters in Philadelphia today, the presumptive Republican nominee will make his way to Minneapolis-St. Paul to accept his party's nomination. After the RNC wraps on September 4, he, his wife and Governor Palin will set off on a "Road to Victory" starting in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
Meanwhile, Barack Obama told his staff to lay off Palin's daughter as he stumped in Monroe, Michigan yesterday. The newly nominated candidate plans to spend the rest of the week in Chicago planning future campaign stops. But just because his team isn't poking fun at the Palins doesn't mean a certain comedienne is laying off.
Related Stories:
· Possible Presidents Travel: McCain Picks Alaska Governor Sarah Palin [Jaunted]
· Most Missed In Minneapolis: Get This Grand Old Party Started [Jaunted]
· Possible Presidents coverage [Jaunted]]]>
Now that we know who will join McCain at the big convention, it's time to party all the time with the Republicans in Minnesota.
The SaintPaulitan has released a map of bars that will be temporarily throwing open their doors till 4AM in honor of conventioneers, but do you really want to meet some guy or gal crying into their beer because they hearted Huckabee? ]]>
As you can probably tell, we just can't get enough of Eero Saarinen over here. As we continue to lust over the Finnish-American architect, we travel to Rochester, Minnesota to see the facility he created for one of America's most well-known companies. Construction of IBM Rochester began in 1956 and when first completed, it created 576,000 square feet of work space for the company.
The building has grown over the years and now represents the largest IBM facility in the world under one roof. The Rochester staff has received over 2,700 US patents for product innovation over the years.]]>
The Walker Art Center now has two mini-golf courses, and we couldn't come up with a better description than the curators did:
In the mockumentary film "This Is Spinal Tap," bassist Derek Smalls suggests that the difference between miniature golf and regular golf is the size of the ball. While the ball remains the same, virtually everything else about mini golf grows--at least on the course of Walker on the Green: Artist-Designed Mini Golf.
For $8 you can play through one of the seven-hole courses, which were designed by local artists. What should you expect? You'll find a pachinko-style hole, a "Water Hazard" hole, pictured, that employs empty bottles as obstacles and even the "Big Kahuna," a sort of frozen-in-place wave. The fun continues until September 7.
Related Stories:
· Walker on the Green: Artist-Designed Mini Golf [Jaunted]
· Highbrow Mini Golf and Public Art [PSFK]
· Golf coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Aaron Landry]]]>