All the Reasons You Already Love Minnesota, but Never Knew!

Awww it seems I am in the top 3 for most informative blog on the 2007 Blogger Awards, thanks to everyone who voted for me! (This is a good fashion-related voting year for me, I also won the Best Dressed senior superlative this year.) So why don't I try and inform you about something? I get the "where are you from?" question every so often, and honestly answering Minnesota is not too exciting. Even I make fun of it in my profile by mocking the MN accent- Minne-SO-tah. Yet actually MN is pretty hot this year especially, obviously I don't mean this literally for it has been -20 with windchill this week (the anartica reputation will never die for good reason) but really if you think about it, MN can be pretty awesome depending on how (or who) you look at it all the time. So for your enjoyment and education- All the Reasons You Already Love Minnesota, but Never Knew!

THE CURRENT (not just a news reference, but an awesome local indie radio station, 89.3, check out mpr.org or their podcast, which will send you a free song a day- and good ones too Sia, Sea Wolf, Vampire Weekend etc.)

Why yes there is a little state in between (the wildfires and Britney Spears of) California and (the female senator running for president from) New York, which is also appearing in the news. And no, not just for the 35-W bridge collapse, but two movies that may just sweep the Academy Awards:

The Crazy Coen Brother's "No Country for Old Men", which I won't even get into actually because frankly the Coen's are just a bit too strange for me to comprehend. Either way it won the SAG for best ensemble cast (memorable because Josh Brolin was totally picking his nose during the acceptance speech ;) and is nominated for multiple Oscars.



And everyone's favorite- "Juno", there's practically no need for explanation here, if you've met Juno MacGuff, the edgy unique pregnant 16 year-old heroine of the heartwarming comedy then you know why there's so much hype. Technically the film does take place in MN (with it's 3 references to- Mankato, Ridgedale Mall, and Stillwater) even though it was shot entirely in Canada. That's because its witty and warped screenwriter, Diablo Cody, went to church and was a stripper in Minneapolis.


Well we're at it, we mine as well throw in Al Franken- ex SNL alum and now candidate for Senator in the 08 election! Hey, MN did (in a bout of stupidity) elect Jesse Ventura, a former pro wrestler- no further comments, let's just say that during those years I pretended to not live here haha

But it's not just 15minutes of fame for the state, we have and will always be famous!

IN YOUR FRIDGE:

Everyone loves the cute pillsbury doughboy- he helps you make cookies and lets you poke is chubby tummy :) But did know he is from here? Pillsbury and all of its fattening carbohydrate goodness is part of General Mills, which is also repsonsible for all of your favorite breakfast cereals- yes, even Cheerios!

I dunno if any of you have ever actually experienced the (in my opinion) superior espresso of Caribou Coffee, but the now (limited) national chain is originally from this state as well. After all despite how there are branches in Georgia, no one would really think that with drink names like "snowdrifts" and "reindeer drinks" that they came from there?

ON YOUR IPOD:

Even if Motion City Soundtrack isn't on your ipod, MN is certainly peaking in the music scene, just check out Tapes 'n Tapes (one of my personal favorites- check out "Insitor") or the Jayhawks. Even if you're no familiar with the new, I'm pretty sure these two men will ring a bell: the artist formerly known as PRINCE and Bob, that is BOB DYLAN are both MN natives. True, Dylan hated Duluth, but Prince still lives here from time to time, and generally holds more concerts for MN natives than the rest of the country :) Obvious shout out to Molly from Ashcan Rantings- Prince is God in her book ;)

ON YOUR TV:

We all love Kirsten Dunst, well her latest hookup was rumored to be Josh Hartnett (aka the hilarious, Tripp Fontaine from "The Virgin Suicides"), he still keeps an apartment here and we he and Scarlett Johansson were dating they were rumored to show up here, damn, I missed them.

You may not know Steve Zahn by name but he has an impressive resume- "You've Got Mail", "Daddy Day Care", "Sahara"- basically the man is a great comedic character actor from MN.


Breckin Meyer may not be on screens currently, but the good friend of Ryan Phillipe has been seen in "Rat Race", "Clueless", and "Kate and Leopold", not ever for long periods of time, but enough to add some Minnesota charm.


Jessica Lange, the Oscar winning actress, also calls MN home.

Rachel Leigh Cook, the ugly duckling of "She's All That", got her start here.


T.R. Knight, the oh so controversial George O'Malley on "Grey's Anatomy", used to stirr up trouble at the University of Minnesota- one of my teacher's was once introduced to his "girlfriend" once, hmmm? haha



Jessica Beil, was actually born in a tiny MN town, not that she ever lived there, but clearly her good genes come out of the MN pool haha


Why were the Ruby Red slippers in Brainerd, MN (well, before they were stolen!!)? Because Judy Garland, Dorothy herself, was originally from MN.

Amy Adams, the current Hollywood darling thanks to the charming "Enchanted", used to act at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater, which she does credit for helping her acting skills and its where she was spotted.


Last, but not least the George Clooney/Renee Zwellwegger/John Krasinski upcoming comedy, "Leatherheads" takes place in Duluth.

IN YOUR LIBRARY

Every one of you seems to adore "the Great Gatsby" (as I recall Heather from Tango Pirates an Absinthe wants to name her future dog, Gatsby, smart move Heather ;) well Fitzgerald comes from Minnesota, hence why he always takes the Midwestern perspective. There's a statue of him in Rice Park in downtown St. Paul, and why yes I did try and kiss it once haha


Everyone's favorite depressed pariah of a boy, Charlie Brown, came from MN cartoonist, Charle's Schultz's mind. Technically, the strip does take place here- even if Schultz drew in CA, the giant snow storms were certainly not from there. The city loves him too and there are bronze peanuts statues in Rice Park next to Scott too (there was actually controversey over this, because a bunch of clearly ignorant women seemed to think that Peanuts disgraced Fitzgerald's reputation HAHA!)


The popular fantasy author (also writer of the film, "Stardust" and "Beowulf") Neil Gaimain, technically lives in Wisconsin, but the Brit actually settled down in Minneapolis for a while.



IN YOUR TEXT BOOKS

The first man to fly over the Atlantic in a single plane and also the father of one of the most infamously kidnapped children in history, Charles Lindbergh, was from MN, which is why the Minneapolis Airport is called- The Lindbergh Terminal (speaking of which, Northwest Airlines is from here too- dunno if that is a good thing haha)


IN FASHION (ok this almost seems like a joke, but....)

Where do you all get Proenza Schouler and Erin Fetherston for cheap- why Minnesota-based Target of course!

And well the whole reason I started this post in the first place is becaue Lucky Magazine recently did an issue on great cities to shop- and surprisingly Minneapolis made it! Unfortunately nearly none of the stores have websites (though I can say I've been to most of them and they aren't half bad :), except for MN Design Collective- a store that houses some up and coming MN designers.

http://www.designcollectivempls.com/

Which does offer some cute designs

like this hilarious (and rather audacious if i might add) "mean bags"

and this cute houndstooth coat


And believe it or not- there is a Minneapolis Street Style blog- The Minneapoline- though that doesn't mean I recommend it, trust me, Minnesotan's have WAY better style than this!!!





So now you know officially why MN doesn't totally suck, I still plan on getting out of here for college, but it's not all that bad. Have any of you ever actually been here?

song of the day: "singing in my sleep" by semisonic (former local band- great lyric "singing up to a capulet on a balcony in your mind")