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Disneyland 1967

Posted February 28, 2014

This was before my time – not sure where this one came from either. The first one I remember was from late 1975, which featured the U.S. bicentennial parade floats on the cover (I’ll see if I can find that one and scan it too).

After this Minnesota winter, I could really use another visit to Anaheim. More page scans after the jump.

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A Return to Meritage

Posted February 28, 2014

I can’t believe it’s been three years since our last visit to Meritage in downtown St. Paul, but there you have it. Mpls.St.Paul Magazine’s Restaurant Week promotion was the catalyst to get us back again and I’m so glad we did – I think Chef Russell Klein and his wife Desta Maree Klein may have overtaken Ristorante Luci as my favorite St. Paul restaurant.

Started in 2007, Restaurant Week provides the opportunity to sample some of the best food in the metro at a reduced cost (dinners top out at $30 per person, not counting drinks, tip or tax). The website had posted menus for several of the restaurants, but not all of them turned out to be accurate. This was a bummer for me, as I really wanted to try the marinated leek salad with mimosa vinaigrette, walnuts and blue cheese that was listed for Meritage. I switched to the smoked salmon mousse with frisee, lemon and capers, dill and rye crisp, though, and was a very happy camper (although one of the servers tried to bring me something else first).

Colleen picked the cream of mushroom soup for her first course and the Atlantic skate grenobeloise with seasonal vegetables and roasted potatoes for her entrée (along with a champaign cocktail with St. Germaine liquor). My main dish might be my favorite thing of the past year: classic beef bourguignon with pappardelle and grand mere garnish. It was a serious Remy Ratatouille moment – the flavor of the sauce, the tenderness of the beef, the hand-made ribbon noodles, carrots, mushrooms and bits of pork combined for a taste sensation. Superb!

Our desserts consisted of panna cotta for Colleen and a chocolate torte with pear caramel for me. Now sold on the concept of wine pairings, I ordered a three-course wine flight, which had a different three ounce pour of a pre-selected wine for each course. Late to the game, but I’ll become a oenophile yet.

We close out Restaurant Week tonight with a first-time visit to Chef Landon Schoenefeld’s place in Minneapolis, HauteDish.


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End of an era

Pic posted February 27, 2014

One of the last high school hockey games at Warner Coliseum (Eagan vs. St. Thomas Academy), Minnesota State Fairgrounds


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Eagan-St. Thomas Academy hockey @ Warner Coliseum (Minnesota State Fairgrounds)


@kingsbury tweeted February 27, 2014


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Officially approved by the Transportation Security Administration – Pre✓ number added to my Delta profile


@kingsbury tweeted February 27, 2014


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Link: I love all of these people

Linked February 27, 2014


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Get out of my dreams and into my car…

— Billy Ocean

Quote posted February 27, 2014


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WEVE (Iron Range Radio) is in serious time warp mode – hearing songs I really didn’t want to listen to again ever


@kingsbury tweeted February 27, 2014


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The Timbit Shuttle is on the road


@kingsbury tweeted February 27, 2014


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At the risk of sounding like a compulsive gambler, the Minnesota Lottery’s weekly online wager limit of $50 seems pretty low


@kingsbury tweeted February 27, 2014


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Holy smokes

Pic posted February 27, 2014

Today’s breakfast special at the deli – the cheddar swirl?


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Really hoping Little Red starts later on so I can drive south – might not stop until Florida


@kingsbury tweeted February 27, 2014


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Jeremy Messersmith at First Avenue

Posted February 27, 2014

Jeremy Messersmith is such an easy artist to root for – talented, modest, friendly and approachable. When we saw him nine months ago at the Fine Line, he signed a shirt for kid two (who absolutely adores him) and was eager to talk to anyone who wanted to chat. Both kids were lucky enough to get tickets to the Electric Fetus Breakfast Show on February 16th and (of course) he was happy to sign stuff for them again and pose for a picture.

It seems that he is starting to get rewarded for his work. His newest album, Heart Murmurs, was released on Glassnote Records, home to that little band called Mumford and Sons. A few days after the two sold out First Avenue shows, his Twitter feed was full of London stuff. When he returns to the States, a quick tour swing through the west awaits. I’m guessing we won’t see any more living room shows any time soon, unfortunately…

We had four tickets to the Saturday night show, but scheduling was tight due to dinner, roads were terrible and Colleen didn’t feel good and decided to head home early. One woman who was turned away at the door was the lucky recipient of a free ticket, though.

I’ve talked a lot lately about how crowded sold out shows are getting at First Avenue, but arriving after the headliner has taken the stage is really bad (and one of my least favorite things to do). I’m guessing we missed the first two songs (Tourniquet and ?) and had to stand way in the back by the rear bar. We moved up a little as the night went on, but it was still sub-optimal (and definitely too close to the dumb bar talkers). At least there weren’t a ton of super tall people completely blocking us out.

Andrea Swensson has a nice review on the Current blog, but I haven’t seen a full set list anywhere. My favorite song was probably the cover of Robyn’s Call Your Girlfriend, but the closer Someday, Someone was also great, as was A Girl, A Boy And A Graveyard. I thought I had heard him sing the Robyn cover before, but kid one corrected me, saying it was really The New Standards.

Smart kid, that one.

I loved the big 10-piece band – First Avenue should have string sections more often (the Laurels String Quartet sounded great and added a very unique and powerful dimension to a number of songs). I’ve never been a big fan of Cloud Cult, but keyboardist Sarah Perbix was wonderful. It was also really nice to see my friend David and his daughter afterwards (near the soundboard, of course).

Up next: Cake in Las Vegas


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February running in Minnesota: two outdoor runs and eleven treadmill runs (just barely broke 100 miles total)


@kingsbury tweeted February 26, 2014


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Tried to mix up the treadmill 15K tonight with some walking commercial breaks, but it was still pretty awful


@kingsbury tweeted February 26, 2014


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Leave it to the nerds to be the oddest tribe ever


@kingsbury tweeted February 26, 2014


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This is good and bad

Pic posted February 26, 2014

$50 winner in the brand-new Red Hot Cherry Tripler eScratch Game from the Minnesota Lottery


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Three minutes in and I already want all of the survivors to lose


@kingsbury tweeted February 26, 2014


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Surf Air sure has an interesting business model – wonder how well it will scale?


@kingsbury tweeted February 26, 2014


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Three more online scratch games from the Minnesota Lottery


@kingsbury tweeted February 26, 2014


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Don’t think I knew that Oscar Goodman’s wife Carolyn is the current mayor of Las Vegas


@kingsbury tweeted February 26, 2014


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Link: The Man in Black at Disneyland

Linked February 26, 2014


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Bargain pizza

Pic posted February 26, 2014

Haven’t had one of these for a while – $1.50 employee menu pizza


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So many OS X and iOS software updates to install today


@kingsbury tweeted February 26, 2014


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Another Survivor season starts tonight? Maybe I can use that to get to treadmill 100


@kingsbury tweeted February 26, 2014


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