Archive for June 2008

1

Paddle Boats

Sixty-four years ago today the allied forces landed in Normandy. As Radio Free Europe played Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, Operation Overlord had begun. In the largest single-day invasion of all time, over 130,000 troops landed and 46,000 died on the beaches of France that day to liberate Europe and end Nazi occupation. Minnesota is literally the Land of Lakes and that's where we spend most of our FREE time in the summer. Take a moment this week to remember the sacrifices of those incredible men, what they were doing, what they were fighting against and the freedom we enjoy today because of them. Oh yeah, this is the paddle boat rental on Lake Calhoun. A very pleasant place to spend the summer, it's not France, but it's peaceful and only two blocks from my house.

2

European Starling, Sturnus Vulgaris

Remember the Mirror lens that caused the ring effect? (Example) This is from it's replacement, the Tamron 200-500mm. Same power, 500mm, but better bokeh (out-of-focus areas) — check out the leaves and branches behind him.

3

Edina Art Fair

Minneapolis Photographer Mitch Rossow presents daily photos of Minneapolis. Cityscapes, People & Perspectives: Mitch explains composition and techniques.

I got out to the Edina Art Fair this weekend with my friend Karen and her family. It was fun to check out the art and be outside with the natives. Not too hot, just right for my tastes. I loaded up on gifts and had fun taking pics. My friend Neal Topliff was playing piano there too! He's a friendly, hard-working, talented composer and pianist who's available for events and has quite the collection of CDs for sale on his website, harbourlightmusic.com Alright, I'm bias, he's a client too and I designed all of his CDs and website. Check back this Saturday for the strangest thing I saw at the fair.

7

Tin Fish on Lake Calhoun

Tin Fish is a restaurant in this beach house on the shore of Lake Calhoun in Uptown, Minneapolis. It's a wonderful place to sit and watch the people. According to the signs, they have free wi-fi, so I probably should treat y'all to a blog post live from the shores of Lake Calhoun in Uptown. Before Tin Fish, this was an ice cream shop run by the city. There was one in the bandshell on Harriet as well. I'm not sure what's there now, maybe someone will leave a comment and share. Anyhow, these two ice cream shops were only open in the summer. They were the only food vendors for all three of the lakes. How much money did the city make with this bonanza of a monopoly? Nothing, in fact, during the last year of operation, they lost $86,000 — selling ice cream at the lake. you've got to be quite the screw-up to do that. I never heard the details on how that was done, though I'd imagine the kids working there were giving away the store to their friends and desired friends. Again, if you know more of this story, please comment! If you get a chance, stop over there and try it out, my favorite is the sampler plate.

4

Flowers in Formation

Flowers in formation marching through the fields of the Arboretum.

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June Theme Day - Corner Store

Welcome to Uptown, now keep moving.