snackerü

@snackeru

Gopher librarian. Minne/apolis/sota. @thecurrent.org once used my “Coffee Break” suggestion.

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snackerü@snackeru· 25d

My son is in Denver. This is the kind of service Minnesotans should expect wherever we go.

Just walked into a bar in
Denver (Sputnik).
Bartender sees I'm wearing a Twins hat, changes the song that's playing to "Waitress in the Sky" and then gives me The Nod.

snackerü@snackeru· 27d

This is just really upsetting.

The Minneapolis skyline obscured by an insane amount of wildfire smoke.

snackerü@snackeru· 28d

Milton from Office Space saying “I was told Minnesota is cold”

snackerü@snackeru· 29d

I recently popped into the Stock and Bond restaurant in the old Farmers and Mechanics Bank building on S 6th St to take a look at the impressive mural on the ceiling. For some reason, I don't think the relationship between farmer/mechanic and banker was as mutually beneficial as the mural implies.

Large gold mural on the ceiling of a restaurant focusing on a man in a suit and tie at a desk, most likely representing a banker.

A large, gold mural on the ceiling of a restaurant focusing on a man in a work hat and overalls, most likely representing a mechanic or a farmer.

snackerü@snackeru· Jul 13

Looking forward to digging into this new book about Minneapolis.

The book "Making Mill City: Flour and Fortune in Minneapolis" by Robert M. Frame III. Published in 2026.

snackerü@snackeru· Jul 11

Norway vs. England watch party, downtown Minneapolis. Big crowd!

snackerü@snackeru· Jul 11

I am getting really good at moving down into better seats, as is my right under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. At least I’m pretty sure it is in there.

Target Field as seen from section 112, row 3.

snackerü@snackeru· Jul 11

This is from his Wikipedia page.

He changed the spelling of his surname from Håland to Haaland in 2019, stating that this was due to him moving outside of Norway and that he wanted an easier name for international fans.

snackerü@snackeru· Jul 11

This was fun.

Lots of Phone lights in the stands at a darkened Target Field.

snackerü@snackeru· Jul 11

So, the Twins have introduced “Rally Dancers” tonight. Has anyone seen this before? I’ve been to 23 games this year and this is the first I have seen them. I gotta say, I’m sure they are very nice young women, but I’m not sure baseball needs cheerleaders (?).

Rally dancers dancing on the 3rd baseline.

snackerü@snackeru· Jul 11

I really dig this glass piece by Tlingit artist Preston Singletary at the RISD Museum, including the display and how it highlights the shadows that the “Tlingit hat” creates.

Preston Singletary
Tlingit; b. 1963 in San Francisco; lives and works in Seattle
Tlingit Hat, 2020
Blown and sand carved glass

Preston Singletary creates glass sculptures that reference designs from his Tlingit heritage, but explains that traditional materials are becoming increasingly rare, resulting in "the need for new materials, new mediums to tell the stories of the people." Singletary's blown-glass, sand-carved hats are based on Native Northwest Coast painted crest hats made from cedar bark or spruce root. Commissioned by the RISD Museum, this work combines designs from a Tlingit Chilkat robe in the museum's collection with references to Singletary's own Killer Whale clan.

snackerü@snackeru· Jul 9

Again Twins, I’m going to need to see a number here. How can you tell us Kreidler’s hat collection is “massive” and not tell us the number? I’ll be the judge on whether it is massive or not!

Kreidler scoreboard fun fact that says he owns a massive hat collection.

snackerü@snackeru· Jul 8

Today I was reminded of this excerpt from "A Gentleman in Moscow," one of my favorite books. In this short excerpt the Count and Nina eavesdrop on a railroad union meeting. It is a fun, satirical observation of bureaucratic pedantry, toxic masculinity, and general meeting frustrations. Enjoy!

As if hearing the Count’s thoughts, this Secretary suddenly rapped his gavel on the tabletop—calling to order the Second Meeting of the First Congress of the Moscow Branch of the All-Russian Union of Railway Workers. The doors were closed, seats were taken, Nina held her breath, and the Assembly was underway.
In the first fifteen minutes, six different administrative matters were raised and dispensed with in quick succession—leading one to imagine that this particular Assembly might actually be concluded before one’s back gave out. But next on the docket was a subject that proved more contentious. It was a proposal to amend the Union’s charter—or more precisely, the seventh sentence of the second paragraph, which the Secretary now read in full. Here, indeed, was a formidable sentence—one that was on intimate terms with the comma, and that held the period in healthy disregard. For its apparent purpose was to catalog without fear or hesitation every single virtue of the Union including but not limited to: its unwavering shoulders, its undaunted steps, the clanging of its hammers in summer, the shoveling of its
coal in winter, and the hopeful sound of its whistles in the night. But in the concluding phrases of this impressive sentence, at the very culmination as it were, was the observation that through their tireless efforts, the Railway Workers of Russia “facilitate communication and trade across the provinces.”
After all the buildup, it was a bit of an anticlimax, conceded the Count. But the objection being raised was not due to the phrase’s overall lack of verve; rather it was due to the word facilitate. Specifically, the verb had been accused of being so tepid and prim that it failed to do justice to the labors of the men in the room.

“We’re not helping a lady put on her jacket!” someone shouted from the rear.
“Or painting her nails!”
“Hear, hear!”
Well, fair enough.
But what verb would better express the work of the Union? What verb would do justice to the sweaty devotion of the engineers, the unflagging vigilance of the brakemen, and the rippling muscles of those who laid the tracks?
A flurry of proposals came from the floor:
To spur.
To propel.
To empower.
The merits and limitations of each of these alternatives were hotly debated. There were three-pointed arguments counted out on fingertips, rhetorical questions, emotional summations, and back-row catcalls punctuated by the banging of the gavel—as the ambient temperature of the balcony rose to 96˚.
Then, just as the Count began to sense some risk of riot, a suggestion came from a shy-looking lad in the tenth row that perhaps to facilitate could be replaced with to enable and ensure. This pairing, the lad explained (while his cheeks grew red as a raspberry), might encompass not only the laying of
rails and the manning of engines, but the ongoing maintenance of the system.
“Yes, that’s it.”
“Laying, manning, and maintenance.”
“To enable and ensure.”
With hearty applause from every corner, the lad’s proposal seemed to be barreling toward adoption as quickly and

dependably as one of the Union’s locomotives barrels across the steppe. But just as it was nearing its terminus, a rather scrawny fellow in the second row stood. Such a wisp of a man was he that one wondered how he had secured a position in the Union in the first place. Once he had the attention of the room, this back-office clerk or accountant, this All-Russian pusher of pencils, asserted in a voice as tepid and prim as the word facilitate: “Poetic concision demands the avoidance of a
pair of words when a single word will suffice.”
“What’s that?”
“What did he say?”
Several stood up with the intention of grabbing him by the collar and dragging him from the room. But before they could get their hands on him, a burly fellow in the fifth row spoke without rising to his feet.
“With all due respect to poetic concision, the male of the species was endowed with a pair when a single might have sufficed.”
Thunderous applause!
The resolution to replace facilitate with enable and ensure was adopted by a unanimous show of hands and a universal stomping of feet. While in the balcony, a private acknowledgment was made that perhaps political discourse wasn’t always so dull, after all.

snackerü@snackeru· Jul 6

Ha! The Minnesota Vikings sliding into Erling Haaland's post comments.

Instagram post by Erling Haaland saying "Well well well!" and the Vikings liking the post and commenting with a devil face emoji.

snackerü@snackeru· Jul 5

Bike with a huge, chunky Altor SAF lock.

snackerü@snackeru· Jul 5

The 35W bridge is pretty tonight.

The 35W bridge in Minneapolis lit up in red, white, and blue.

snackerü@snackeru· Jul 4

I’m at a party where they are serving an algae drink with a blue paint chip. Hilarious!

Green drink with specks and a blue piece of tape hanging off the rim of the glass

snackerü@snackeru· Jul 2

Bikin’

Mural of astronaut monkey on the Midtown Greenway.

snackerü@snackeru· Jul 1

show me a picture that captures your essence

snackeru at a podium laying out his vision for Minneapolis.

snackerü@snackeru· Jun 29

Well, that brings us to the end of delving deep into Weird Al's masterpiece "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota." Did you know the video for Weird Al's song "White and Nerdy" references the Twine Ball on a Trivial Pursuit card? Hilarious! 15/15

Trivial Pursuit card with the question "In what city is the largest ball of twine built by one man?" among other questions.

snackerü@snackeru· Jun 26

Beautiful wildflowers first thing in the morning? Yes please! Well done to Minneapolis Parks and Rec for this fantastic meadow.

A meadow of wildflowers. Just beautiful.

snackerü@snackeru· Jun 25

If you like wildflowers, there is an insane amount of wildflowers blooming at Bluff Street Park right now. In fact, I think the entire park is wildflowers.

Many, many white and yellow wildflowers. Cottonwoode trees and the 11th Street bridge is in the distance.

Many, many white and yellow wildflowers.

Many, many white and yellow wildflowers. The 11th Street bridge is in the distance.

Bluff Street Park sign and many, many wildflowers behind it.

snackerü@snackeru· Jun 24

If you haven't seen it yet, the McKnight building does indeed have a new mural called "Belonging to the Entire Universe" by Leslie Barlow. It is an impressive work, and will probably be there for about 3 years. Now the question is: what happened to the loon?

The mural "Belonging to the Entire Universe" by Leslie Barlow. At the center of the mural are three intergenerational figures, representing agency and care for self, generosity and care for community, and a collective orientation toward vision and possibility. These figures are surrounded by layered visual elements that draw from Afrofuturism and Indigenous futurisms, honoring both ancestral knowledge and speculative futures where people and planet thrive. Textile-inspired forms, resembling quilt fragments, function as “DNA”—metaphors for interconnected histories and shared futures—with each pattern referencing the diverse cultural ecosystems and programmatic areas that shape McKnight’s work. Symbolic elements, including constellations, local plant life, and the Mississippi River, situate the mural within both a specific geography and a cosmological framework, reminding us of our relationship to land, lineage, and the universe.

snackerü@snackeru· Jun 23

Ok Twins, I’m going to need to see some numbers.

Ryan Kreidler fun fact on the Twins scoreboard, “Owns a massive hat collection.”

snackerü@snackeru· Jun 23

Look at these champions. Mad respect.

Two people eating pizza slices with a huge Kirkland pizza box on their laps.

snackerü@snackeru· Jun 22

The far line along the west side of the ballpark seems to be going towards Gate 14. Which is crazy.

Lines upon lines upon lines. All going nowhere.

snackerü@snackeru· Jun 22

The line for Gate 6 loops around and faces west before it starts going towards the gate. What in the world.

snackerü@snackeru· Jun 22

Insane lines to get into Target Field tonight. I’ve never seen it like this.

snackerü@snackeru· Jun 22

My favorite part of the mural are the panels showing how sacred the cottonwood tree is to the Dakota people. In Dakota stories, a star wanted to live with people, and became part of the cottonwood tree. When you snap a twig you can see a star living in the heartwood.

The full panel of the cottonwood tree and its relationship with the Dakota people, the sky and stars, and the water and land. The panel shows the leaves of the cottonwood and stars intermingled. The stars go up beyond the tree into the night sky, specifically the Milky Way, or what the Dakota called "The Spirit Road."

A closeup of the cottonwood tree in the Marlena Myles Mural. You can clearly see the stars in the tree and beyond the tree going up into the Milky Way, or "The Spirit Road" as the Dakota people called it.

A cottonwood tree twig cut to reveal a star in the heartwood of the twig.

snackerü@snackeru· Jun 22

If you've never seen the Marlena Myles Mural, it is a very impressive multi-paneled mural in the main foyer of Coffman Memorial Union. It is very rich in Dakota knowledge, imagery, and symbolism and highlights the deep interconnectedness of land, sky, water and all living beings.