Minneapolis I

Is this a cool town or what?

So, here I am back in the old stomping grounds. I happened to be about the town this evening with some time to kill, so I took some snaps of a few of our cultural cornerstones. These are either in or around the brand new Guthrie Theater (named after theater pioneer and visionary Tyrone Guthrie.) The theater organization itself is something like 50 or 60 years old (not exactly sure how long it's been around.) But, this new building was just constructed and opened in the fall of 2006. The old one sat on the site of the Walker Art Center (you'll see that in a minute), and they owned that land and wanted it back. So, the Guthrie decided to go all out and build a new state-of-the-art little number. Now, my dumb ass forgot to actually get a picture of the building itself. But trust me, it's cool lookin. I'm planning another trip out during the day some time to get more shots in and around Minneapolis. And maybe St. Paul, too. Maybe I'll get some shots of the country's 4th largest municipal library, too. It's also brand new and very, very cool. See? This town is lousy with culture!


This is taken from the balcony of the Guthrie's really cool cantilevered walkway called the "Endless Walkway". It looks out over the Mississippi River and it's entirely supported from within the structure of the main building, so it basically looks like it's just hanging there. Again, I didn't get a picture of it. But, I got some ON it, does that count? Anyway, this is the view to the East. If you look really hard, you can see one of the taller buildings in St. Paul poking out in the far background.


Here we are looking West from the Endless Walkway. The bridge in the background with the lights on it is Hennepin Avenue. It's been the subject of a few movies in it's day. In the foreground is the start of the Stone Arch Bridge. It's old as dirt. I think it used to be used for rail traffic, but now it's just for pedestrians and bikes. Both bridges span the Mississippi.


Stone Arch Bridge, it's time for your close-up. Is that not just a spectacular sight? In the distance (with the bright red sign you can't really read) is the Pilsbury plant. They process and store grain there. While some of it is still in use, much of it has been renovated into condos. Just like the rest of the city.


OK, this one isn't taken from the Guthrie, but I couldn't fit it on the first page. It's the view of downtown from the footbridge by the Walker. And it's hot! The tall brown building on the left is where I used to work at Target.com. The blueish looking on in the middle is the IDS (though it's recently been bought by American Express, it didn't change it's name because no one would have called it anything other than the IDS anyway), and it's the tallest building between Chicago and Seattle. The one with the funky lights on the top is the Target world headquarters. The one on the right with all the wicked steps in it belongs to Campbell Mithun Advertising. They only occupy 4 floors of it, but they own it so I guess they can name it whatever they want, right? There are over 25 advertising agencies in downtown Minneapolis, but Campbell Mithun is the only one with their name on a building for some reason.



That is all. As you were...


Be on the look for more daytime photos coming soon.

Minneapolis II

And here's some more for you. The silver building on the right is the Walker Art Center. It's been referred to as the Ice Cube for the Ice City. It's an amazing modern art museum and it's another of the cultural cornerstones of this great city. The actual Walker has been around for decades, but this new building was just opened in April, 2006.


Across the street from the Walker (and actually part of the museum) is the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The centerpiece at the sculpture garden, the "face", if you will, is the Cherry & Spoon. It's a fountain in the summer. Not so much in the winter.



Crossing the freeway from the sculpture garden and connecting to Loring Park is a steel suspension-type footbridge. It's a masterpiece, really. There's actually a really cool story written on it from one side to another with steel letters attached to the trusses. I've read it, but I couldn't recite it. It's long.


And looking from that bridge to the north you can see the Basilica of St. Mary's - the oldest Basilica in North America. And that's about all I know about it. Oh, except that it's dome is solid copper and they had it on the ground for a whole summer while they repaired and cleaned it. Well, that and they have a huge rock concert on their lawn every summer called the Basilica Block Party. Jesus, Rock-N-Roll. Rock, meet Jesus.

So, it does snow in Halifax.

Unfortunately, it also still rains. After spending the entire morning raining, it decided to get cold enough to make it snow. And you know what that means: thick, wonderful snowball-making snow covering a sheet of ice. Good times.

But, I went out in it anyway. I threw a snowball (it's the law, you have to do it on the first measurable snow of the year.) I took some pictures. And I even got to help push a stuck car for about an hour. Again, good times.

What follows is my photo essay of the day. Enjoy.

Snow Photos I

Snow Photos II

Snow Photos III