Twin Cities Real Estate Blog

Busier Than Ever: State Fair Shatters First Friday Attendance Mark
Posted by Brent Lee on Monday, August 29, 2016 at 12:00 AM By Brent Lee / August 29, 2016 Comment

mn state fair - 2016 - breaks friday attendance record

For the 152nd time since 1859, a deluge of Minnesotans dressed in brotanks and fanny packs has flooded St. Paul for the latest installment of the Great Minnesota Get Together. Even as you read this sentence, from Albert Lea to Roseau, and all points in between, citizens of the 32nd state in the Union are making the pilgrimage to our capital city for the chance to see beauty queens carved from huge butter blocks while double-fisting a couple of pronto pups and washing them down with an entire bucket full of cookies. The Pioneer Press ...

Twins Drop 10th Straight, Eye Franchise Losing Streak and Single Season Loss Records
Posted by Brent Lee on Sunday, August 28, 2016 at 12:00 AM By Brent Lee / August 28, 2016 Comment
2016 minnesota twins - losing streak - 10 losses - al central Rewind time 17 months. End of March. 2015. It'd been a rough four year stretch at 1 Twins Way entering the 2015 campaign. Since finishing 94-68 and making the playoffs in 2010, the Twins had lost 90+ games in each of the next four years, becoming all too familiar with the cellar in the AL Central Division — they finished in last three out of those four seasons. Enter Hall of Famer (and former Twin/Gopher great) Paul Molitor, who took over as...

Minnesota United FC to Hold VIP Event
Posted by Travis Bridell on Friday, August 19, 2016 at 12:00 AM By Travis Bridell / August 19, 2016 Comment
Minnesota United VIP Minnesota United FC has hyped up a mysterious free VIP event for Aug. 19, concerning the team's move to MLS. Today, registered fans will meet from 5:00 - 9:30 p.m. at the Historic Union Depot in St. Paul. Though we've known about the MLS move since March 2015, the beginning is drawing near, as evidenced by the team's event video below and the team's marketing hashtag #NextStopMLS.

Movie Review -- 'War Dogs' Director Todd Phillips Proves an Old Genre Can Be Taught (a Few) New Tricks
Posted by Shannon Balstad on Friday, August 19, 2016 at 12:00 AM By Shannon Balstad / August 19, 2016 Comment

war dogs review

Director and co-writer Todd Phillips (The Hangover) brings a new twist to the war movie genre with War Dogs, a film based on a true story picked from the pages of Rolling Stone. It tells the story of amateur arms dealers landing a multimillion-dollar deal with The Pentagon. Co-stars Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street, Moneyball) and Miles Teller (Whiplash, Divergent) offer up promising chemistry, but it is the way in which they are utilized as...

'Canby Classic Cinema' Gets Restored Back to Life
Posted by Tony Randgaard on Friday, August 19, 2016 at 12:00 AM By Tony Randgaard / August 19, 2016 Comment

canby movie theater

Canby, Minnesota’s Central Park, is an idyllic spot for a family reunion. It is encircled by a bustling small town that could leap right out of A Prairie Home Companion. A quick left turn from last week’s Randgaard family reunion and I had to screech on the brakes to capture a shot of one of America’s classic art deco theatres, Canby Classic Cinema. Two years ago this art deco treasure was dilapidated and the roof was leaking when the City of Canby bought it and stepped in to save historic venue. Canby Mayor Gene Bis talked to a number of people...

The Donald is Coming to Town August 19 -- Trump References Minnesota's Somali Community During Maine Speech
Posted by Brent Lee on Sunday, August 7, 2016 at 12:00 AM By Brent Lee / August 7, 2016 Comment

Trump-presidential candidate

According to the local CBS affiliate, the circus known as the Donald Trump presidential campaign comes to our home state in less than two weeks. On August 19, Trump will hold a "major fundraiser" with tickets going for up to $100k a piece. Trump was at a rally in Portland, Maine this past Friday -- the Republican nominee was introduced by the oft-controversial Republican Governor of Maine Paul Lepage and got right to work, touching on his usual checklist of all of the...

Movie Review -- Despite Some Flaws, 'Suicide Squad' Delivers

Posted by Jason Ingolfsland on Thursday, August 4, 2016 at 12:00 AM By Jason Ingolfsland / August 4, 2016 Comment

 suicide squad - good review

Using criminals to help fight against a greater evil is not a new concept. The Dirty Dozen and Inglorious Basterds come to mind though I’m sure plenty of others exist. Suicide Squad, then, is in good company. Anti-hero stories can be tricky to tell because you have to balance their dark character while also creating empathy. Make your anti-hero too evil and you’ll lose the audience, but make them too relatable and you might wonder why they were ever a bad guy in the first place. If done correctly, the storyteller can blur the lines between the good, the...

The Proverbial Cheat Meal: What is it? How Does it Work? How Can it be Effective?
Posted by Deanna Olson on Wednesday, August 3, 2016 at 12:00 AM By Deanna Olson / August 3, 2016 Comment
5126345115_a84e8af49c_o Cheating. Whether it’s in sport, relationships or life, the word itself almost always carries a negative, even hurtful, connotation. And when it comes to meeting your fitness goals, cheating — on your diet, your workouts, and your food journals — can feel like a betrayal to yourself. Why work so hard, if you are only going to undermine your efforts with a cookie, or two — or five? But what if cheating was actually somehow good for you? What if taking a break from discipline can actually help you in the long run? It might seem counterintuitive, but there is scientific evidence that relaxing the rules occasionally...