Twin Cities Real Estate Blog

Great Happy Hour Specials and Burgers to Die For -- 'Lucky's 13 Pub' Restaurant Review

Lucky's 13 Pub - Bloomington

The Minneapolis/St.Paul area has an array of choices when it comes to food. It’s almost overwhelming when choosing which area and/or type of restaurant to go to. I find picking a location that has a little bit of everything for the whole clan is almost always a good idea. In particular, a popular theme to Minneapolis restaurants are the pubs and eateries.

When I met up with a friend for drinks, we decided the Bloomington area was easiest. We agreed to meet at a fast-paced, crowded...

Guthrie Theater Boasts Two Very Different Plays at Once: 'Clybourne Park' and 'Pride & Prejudice'

Guthrie Theater - Clybourne Park

There are two big shows happening at the Guthrie right now. On the McGuire Proscenium stage we have Clybourne Park, a new play by Bruce Norris. On the Wurtele Thrust stage we have a new adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice. Guthrie tickets are notoriously pricy. So which one should you see? I'd recommend Clybourne Park. This smart, complex play is partially a response to Lorraine Hansberry’s classic, A Raisin in the Sun. Pride and Prejudice, a veritable romp through English society,...

The "Happiest 5K on the Planet" Returns to the Twin Cities

Color Run 2013

About six weeks before the Minnesota State Fair comes to town, giving fair goers everything from deep fried cheese to salt water taffy to 44 ounce Coca-Cola for a few bucks, the fair grounds play host to a different thrill seeker -- the runner. Over 68,000 runners congregated to the fair grounds to partake in what has been dubbed the "Happiest 5K on the planet," a.k.a. The Color Run. For those who aren't runner lingo savvy, "5K" stands for five kilometers. Each kilometer is just over .6 miles, so the whole race equates to 3.1 miles. Organizers give each runner a white shirt...

Minnesota Vikings Breakdown: Players and Coaches Report to Training Camp Today

2013 Vikings Training Camp

For many, today is a great day. After the Superbowl, football is gone from Minnesota sports fans' lives for 5+ months -- but now, with players and coaches reporting to training camp today, excited Vikings fans get the chance to check out their favorite team back in action. Even though it's just practice, and the current roster is significantly larger than the final 53 man squad, fans from all over the region flock to Mankato to get a glimpse of aging veterans, rising rookies, and seasoned superstars. Today marks the beginning of the season for the 2013 Minnesota Vikings. ...

'WE Fest' Nears and Will Bring Flocks of Country Fans to Northwest Minnesota

We Fest - 2013 WE Fest, the huge three day long country music festival up in Detroit Lakes, MN that has been running for 31 years, kicks off next weekend. Now, if you didn't know, Detroit Lakes isn't necessarily a short skip from the Twin Cities -- it's over three hours to drive up there. Considering that, and the festival's huge crowds totaling in the many thousands, the music and experience of camping with hordes of country fans must be worth the effort to travel so far north. This year's festival features the musical talents of Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, and many more. Those are just the headlining...

'Upstream Color' is Sci-Fi Romantic Thriller Outside the Bounds of Hollywood's Formula

Upstream Color - 2012

It’s hard to say what constitutes a spoiler in a cryptic, experimental sci-fi romance thriller like Upstream Color. At its most basic, the film is about a woman, Chris whose life is systematically disassembled as she is forced to swallow a worm that enslaves her to hypnotic suggestion. In this state, she ‘willingly’ signs away her material existence. A few days later and still under suggestion, she is physically drawn to a character known only as The Sampler, who, in a makeshift operating room in a field, transfers the worm from her body to the body of a pig, which joins many other...

Understanding the Declaration of Independence and Need to Celebrate American Independence

Declaration of Independence

Independence Day is a day of tradition for most Americans -- spending time with family, soaking in the sun, enjoying a cold beverage (or a few), swimming, boating, and watching fireworks, it's a day of overall fun and relaxation. Lost in the fray of the customary 4th of July festivities is something of great importance and reverence, the Declaration of Independence. With the United States of America’s 237th birthday fresh in the mind of Americans, it is prudent to look back...

'World War Z' Review and Donny Dirk's Zombie Den

World War Z - Review

As a huge fan of anything zombies, it is only fit I review World War Z. I am always on the lookout for the next best zombie flick that will scares the bejeezus out of me. The horror genre in general is a favorite of mine because I grew up watching them. I never thought any zombie movie would top 28 Days Later, but this 2013 flick starring Brad Pitt did that for me. Beware of spoilers in the following...

'Urinetown' at the Jungle Theater Boasts Satire, Humor, and Bold Criticism of Corporate Greed

Urinetown at the Jungle Theater Urinetown at the Jungle Theater will appeal both to musical theater people and those who mock them. The show, directed by John Command, satirizes and pays homage to countless musical theater conventions. The music and lyrics of Mark Hollman and Greg Kotis flit from Fiddler on the Roof to West Side Story to Les Miserables to a Brechtian tone without missing a beat. Somehow, even as the genre changes, the show remains an aesthetic whole. This is an impressive staging of a tongue and cheek musical that speaks...

Agate Day Festival Brings a Stampede of Disappointment

[caption id="attachment_345" align="aligncenter" width="466"]Agate Days 2013 A large crowd was left to wonder “what if?” after a mishap sent Agate Days into chaos and confusion.[/caption] As the rocks crashed from a large-flatbed truck onto Elm Avenue in downtown Moose Lake, an overweight teenager with a mullet haircut and oversized glasses clenched an empty pail that hopefully would soon hold a load of agates. “Now?” he asked to presumably anyone who would listen. Nobody minded the statement and the child continued to freakishly look up and down the crowded street. Mobs of humans blocked off by flimsy police tape stood as thick as the timber in nearby forests....