Flea Markets are Illegal?

Fried Bologna, a new vintage shop located in North East Minneapolis, was already visited by the "party police" a.k.a. City of Minneapolis Inspectors. Why? Because they were trying to put together a flea market with 15 other vendors as well as their neighbors, Shuga Records. According to a post on their Facebook page, a representative came over to the store and said the flea markets are not allowed in Minneapolis(??):

"Our first thought after finding out, was that we would continue with the flea market because we had so many vendors and we did not want to let you down. We were willing to pay a fine to keep this one flea market going. Today we were informed that if we were to continue with the flea market our store and Shuga Records would be banned from any city events for a year."

Harsh!

and "There is a 100 year old law that says 2nd hand dealers can not be within 1000 feet of each other."

Huh?

We exchanged a few emails with our pal Vanessa Messersmith at Blacklist Vintage who said:

I feel frustrated for this neighborhood and also know how hard it is to stay in business. I guess someone complained to the city...

Who would complain to the City about a flea market? Not cool, people. Not cool. Fried Bologna is seeking out an indoor space in the neighborhood to throw the flea market on Sunday so it doesn't have to be canceled. Any ideas?


SubmItted by @marrina.

Link of the Day: Hellbound Hipsters

Thanks to Becky Lang for posting this oh-so insightful quote on her blog, courtesy of christwire.org, a site, we've found offers an endless supply of things to laugh at/be appalled by. Between rants about who's going to hell and who isn't, filling you in on the downside of being a "fag hag" and even contemplating whether or not gay pets go to heaven, they still have time to give props to the Cheesecake Factory.

So take note, hipsters, ya'll better stop masturbating and blogging or it's straight to hell with the lot of you! LOLZ! (hipster internet slang)

"Hipsters are nothing to be proud of and they are certainly nothing for a national media organization to celebrate. They represent indulgence and failure of every kind. From their incessant need to have pre-marital sex or else masturbate themselves numb to their shameless willingness to feed from the trough of hardworking Americans to support their blogs, indie bands or t-shirt companies, these people embody the death of the Puritan ethic. They live like 14-year olds– emotionally stunted, egomaniacal, crying for no reason and then twittering about it. They dress like 14-year olds as well, often in cartoon character clothes that show off unpleasant patches of skin. Were it not for their bruises and awkward facial hair, it would be impossible to tell them apart from actual drunk teenagers."

Him? Yeah, he's going straight to hell.

quote via Becky Lang's tumblr (she's going to hell too)

Submitted by @letoilemagazine

Dude Weather 7-30-10: The End Of A Long, Hard Week

Secrets of the City/MNSpeak is for sale!

Hot on the heels of City Pages/Rake founder Tom Bartel's recent departure to Ecuador - with his wife/publishing partner, Kristin Henning following suit at the end of the month - the Secrets of the City/MNSpeak online empire (formerly The Rake) is up for grabs.

But Secrets/MNSpeak lovers don't despair: the site's editors Kate Iverson (who, yes, is also the editor of LOL/OMG and l'étoile) and Cristina Cordova (though she's planning a move to Puerto Rico very soon) plan to stick around for the immediate future - but they've declined offers to take over the administrative/financial aspects of the site. So, in other words: Secrets is looking for a motivated, like-minded group to grab the reigns and run with it! The site comes with a solid reader base, as well as with a plenty of opportunities to make moola for a dedicated investor and plenty of room for growth and expansion. The perfect opp for a social media-savvy business or collective to jump into the online media fray!

Matt posted on the site today offering:

• MNSpeak blog and archives
• Daily Secrets written by Kate Iverson
• A list of 8,000 opt-in email subscribers on the Daily Secrets and Weekly Deals lists
• The 5-year-old Theater All Year ticket program
• An event and restaurant database with over 2,600 local venues (including 800 restaurants)

Notes:

-We don’t necessarily need a single person or organization to take everything off our hands. We wouldn’t mind splitting off MNSpeak as a stand-alone site like back in the old days. The other assets are severable as well

-The email lists are only for sale to someone who intends to use them exactly as they are used now, for daily secrets and weekly deals.

Interested parties can contact honcho Matt Bartel at matt@secretsofthecity.com for more details. To hear what MNSpeak and Secrets readers are saying about the impending change, click HERE.

Outkast's Big Boi gives MPLS.TV's Chris Cloud a new nickname

LOL!

Big Boi gives Cloud a nickname from MPLS.TV on Vimeo.

Submitted by @letoilemagazine

Live music at the Apple store!

Whether you're an iphone/ipod/ipad/mac addict or not, you really need to check out the new Apple Store in Uptown. Not only is the space absolutely gorgeous with a pretty cool "secret" rooftop, but they also have in-store events that promote local talent - and we think that's pretty kewl. Mayda, No Bird Sing, and Mystery Place are among the bands that have already performed as part of the weekly "Live at the Apple Store" series. Social media-savvy performance artists/musicians Dearling Physique are the next band to join the roster: their performance is scheduled for 7 p.m. this Saturday.

And don't forget your iphone - we want to see some non-ironic and/or ironic twitpix!

For more info and full schedule of events and performances click HERE.


Submitted by @marrina.

Cyn Collins declares LOL/OMG events a good place to "hook up"

TC Daily Planet writer/KFAI radio host/music booker/gal about town, Cyn Collins, has given us the ultimate shout out in her latest article, "Hook-up redux: The best places to meet hot singles in 2010."

Along with mentioning other cool bars and venues around town, Cyn gives props to us (and our sister-site, l'etoile), saying:

"LOL/OMG events and l'etoile field trips (for example, Weisman Art Museum nights of hot music and art and scenesters). Everywhere LOL/OMG and l'etoile go, there's an entourage of beautiful, fun, intelligent, creative, hip, fashionable people."

She also gives Mark Mallman and our next LOL/OMG Social Media Meetup at the 501 Club a nice plug:

"Speaking of LOL/OMG...Mark Mallman. Yes, I know Mark Mallman is not a place. But he is an institution when it comes to a guaranteed good time. Where this extraordinary musician—one of the best to see perform live, and to dance to—Mallman goes, you should follow, whether he's DJing at Club Jäger, or performing with his new scintillating Waxx Maxx band for LOL/OMG at 501 Club August 5th."

So, take it from Cyn, and come kick it with us IRL at the 501 next Thursday!

Hook up with us!

Article link via TC Daily Planet on Facebook

Submitted by @letoilemagazine

Dude Weather 7-29-10: 木曜日の天気

Four Nights in Loring lineup announced!

Remember how devastated we all were when we heard our favorite movie night, Music and Movies in the Park, was being canceled? Yes, that was not cool. But thanks to City Pages who lobbied on all of our behalf, we now have Four Nights in Loring: Local Bands, Local Films.

The first announcement came just over a month ago, revealing that the event will take place four consecutive Tuesdays this summer, August 3, 10, 17, and 24. A full line-up of bands/movies was announced today and it's pretty impressive: Communist Daughter, Marijuana Deathsquads, Mayda, Red Pens? We're so there. The organizers came up with a pretty good list of "local" movies: Raising Arizona and Fargo by the Coen Brothers, Diablo Cody's Juno, and Nobody, a movie directed and co-written by Minneapolis transfer and 40 Days and 40 Nights writer, Rob Perez. Bonus: following the movie screening each night, the action will move to Nick and Eddie for an official after party with awesome DJs and dranx.

For full schedule and more details go to Gimme Noise blog.


Submitted by @marrina.

Dude Weather 7-28-10: Not As Humid/Cheney's Heart

A Naughtybilly Hoedown? You don't say!

First they ask us to come out to Sex World and watch them play and now they're throwing a Naughtybilly Hoedown? We love these guys! Courtney McClean & the Dirty Curls have just posted this release on their official Facebook page:

Minnesota’s favorite cult hillbilly erotica act, Courtney McClean & The Dirty Curls, brings its trademark blend of salaciousness, comedy, foot-stomping music, and shameless fun to Storefront-In-A-Box during the week of August 3-9, 2010 -- aptly named “The Weeklong Naughtybilly Hoedown.”

Special events during the week include a Bad Cowboy Movie Night, a craft night, Courtney McClean's b-day party (read: penis pinata), the world premiere of "Sleaze Book Club" starring Bunny Sparber and CoCo Mault, a naughty open mic night, live performances from the Dirty Curls, limerick writing workshops and much more. For more details (and we know you want more details) go to dirtycurls.com

Bonus: In conjunction with Max Sparber's Limerick contest, Mayor Ryback has declared August 8th "Limerick Day in Minneapolis" Yes, it's true.


Submitted by @marrina.

Donuts are the new Cupcakes

We'll always love cupcakes, but the new "black" in bakery goods is the artisian donut! We here at LOL/OMG always like to be ahead of the trend, which is why we implore you to check out (and support) the fundraising efforts of The Donut Cooperative.

The brainchild of Dawn Lee and Laura Kennedy, The Donut Cooperative is in the process of trying to raise moola to open their shop, which will sell freshly fried dough in all sorts of fancy formats (even vegan!) using only the best local, natural ingredients from small farmers and suppliers. The eco-friendly endeavor will also include bicycle delivery service and will provide a fair, 'better than living-' wage to its workers AND devote a portion of profits to community activism. And who can argue with that?

Check out the Cooperative's Facebook Page or pledge a few bucks to their Kickstart fund. The promise of fancy donuts in the future is totally worth it.


Submitted by @letoilemagazine

Azia might not close after all!

As we mourn the impending loss of one of our favorite eat street staples, Azia Restaurant, the ever-resourceful Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl at MnMo has discovered that there is in fact a light at the end of the tunnel.

We all heard the vague blame being placed on Azia's landlord for repairs not made and such, but Ms. Dara got right to the bottom of things. Her article fills us in on just how bad it got, describing how out of compliance rain leders led to Azia's basement being flooded on a regular basis - most recently costing owner Thom Pham upwards of $20,000 in damages. Apparently, actions are now being taken to the sell property to a new developer, with Azia agreeing to stay put if the deal goes through. According to Dara:

"...there are some back-channel efforts under way to help Fung to sell the property to a developer more interested in maintaining and developing the property, and Pham and this developer are already in agreement to keep Azia there if and when the sale goes through. If the sale doesn’t go through, there may be yet a plan C and even a plan D to make it work."

No deal has been inked yet, but we're crossing our fingers and toes!

image courtesy of Azia's Facebook page

Submitted by @letoilemagazine

Dude Weather 7-27-10: High-Low Tuesday, Away!

This Week in (Uploaded) Pictures

The dapper Allan Kleckner and LOL/OMG contributor Jahna Peloquin pose for Tony Nelson's cam at the Mad Men Season 4 premiere party! Slideshow at City Pages here.


Caitlin Karolczak gets sassy at the Mad Men party. Photo by Stacy Schwartz for Vita.mn. More pics here.


@wr3n captures Chuck from MN Original in "rawr" mode at Mears Park.


Sallie Watson of the Mood Swings plays a leisurely game of Croquet while on vaca at Madeline Island. We're jealous!


Emma Berg stumbles across something strange in a warehouse district window: a sculpture of a hot dog squirting condiments on itself!


Jay Gabler snaps Nalini Ramer being all-American. We love this!


Rachael Crew enjoys a beautiful summer day on the lake...with beer!


Dena Alspach plucks some serrano peppers from her personal garden to make the perfect batch of salsa. Invite us over anytime, Dena!


Jeremy Neimann snaps this weird/awesome pic of his wife Josie and DJ Millions Billions throwin' down jams at the Red Bull Flugtag pre-party on Friday night.


Beth Lorraine Bowman captures the vibe at the K. Jurek 5-Year Anniversary fashion show!


Christopher Atkins snaps an arty shot at the Red Dragon. We love the composition, despite the fact there are baseball caps in it!


Paula Schonfeld Wendel snaps the shenanigans at the Redbull Flugtag.


Janey Winterbauer finds a funny sign. Like one commenter said, "Who would want to? Yuck!"


Andrew Swensson and Robyn Lewis get some (temporary) knuckle tats.


Hilary Weeks has...um..goes to...uh...well, ok, we don't really know how to describe this pic, but we totally love it.


Nikki Miller tells that hill what's what!


Old-school art scenesters gather to remember the late, great artist Gus Gustafson a.k.a. "the Mayor of the Warehouse District" who passed away at the untimely age of 54 in 2003. Bonus: middle fingers!


Chuck goes blueberry scavenging.


Leslie Plesser shoots the action at the Racktacular benefit event!


WTF picture of the week: Johnny Fillman gets harassed by the Lego man during rush hour on 394.

Snap a cool pic this week? Send us the link for consideration for next week's edition to omg@letoilemagazine.com

Submitted by @letoilemagazine

Weekend Twitterings

Hello everybody and welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Twitterings! You tirelessly tweeted from bachelor parties, family reunions, dance parties and of course, the beach. Here's what you had to say:

Now that's a "cleanse" we can get behind.


Yep, Har Mar reads LOL/OMG.


Woooo...

We would SO watch this show.


He's a man of many talents!


Can you say LOUD?


And we're so coming.


You gotta love a good family get together.


You tell 'em girl!


You never know...


That's got to be ironic.


Is that modern parenting?


LOL.


Hello, Best of Craigslist?


Scary!


That's our girl Vanessa Messersmith, co-owner of Blacklist Vintage btw!


Same here.


And Triple Tweet of the Week goes to Ben Reeves who went to geek heaven (read Comic Con ) this weekend:

Submitted by @marrina

Dude Weather 7-26-10: Easy Forecast/Waiting For Spock

Local Beatles mural gets family-proofed

For the Minnesota History Center's opening of the new Beatles photography exhibition, "One Night Stand in the Heartland," MNHS program associate Aleah Vinick was tasked with making Matt Scharenbroich's huge Sargent Pepper painting (with holes cut out for heads) family-friendly. The painting, which is full of local luminaries like Scott Seekins, Prince, P.O.S., and Lori Barbero among others, also includes a scantily-clad Har Mar Superstar.


The solution? a pair of Velcroed-on shorts!


Via Aleah Vinick's Facebook page

Submitted by @jahnapeloquin