We would have to have 6 oz. Coca-Cola in the studio. When they were working on the Traveling Wilburys’ first album, Roy told Tom that the sugar and the syrup put just a little smooth on your voice…

So long, Dacha Batinich

“May her memory be a revolution”

What’s the difference between a bookkeeper in the garment district and a Supreme Court justice? One generation.

Joe Biden is the Democratic equivalent of George H.W. Bush — another ambitious vice president who believed in loyalty and decency more than in any particular set of ideas…

I forgot that was one of my first ever projects – NWA Newswire, February 11, 1992

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_OfficeVision

Sample from when I was eight – Hawaii trip recap

The Magic Kingdom Club was quite a deal

My dad’s 50th high school reunion

The Unraveling of America  

Silver certificates are cool – 1928 one dollar note from the Smiths

Home of the Anishinaabe and Dakota

Iggy from the block

As I started reading through Joe Bissen’s new book, More! Gone. Minnesota’s Lost Golf Courses Part II, I realized that not only are there a lot of closed courses I actually played, there are also a large percentage of the courses I included in my Minnesota Golden Links CD-ROM back in 1999 that are no longer here (43 by my initial count). Joe was kind enough to include a chapter with a list of all the closed courses he knows about, so I thought it would be fun to go back to my original Photoshop files and post the screens for the ones that are no longer open for play (pics after the jump – please excuse the ancient Photoshop techniques and poor color corrections).

Joe says in the introduction to the new book that he isn’t as interested in the courses that have closed recently, but it’s amazing how many of the entries in my 1999 guide are gone (including a few that opened after my guide and are already closed). There are a number of inconsistencies between his list and my guide, as I only included public courses that were members of the Minnesota Golf Association (MGA). Make sure and check out his original book Fore! Gone: Minnesota’s Lost Golf Courses, 1897-1999, as well as his website. Fun stuff.

Albert Lea Golf Club, RIP 1912 – 2006

Birch Bay Golf Course, RIP 1965 – 2015

The Bridges of Mounds View, RIP 1995 – 2006

Brockway Golf Course, RIP 1935 – 2004

Carriage Hills Country Club, RIP 1967 – 2005

Elm Creek Golf Links, RIP 1960 – 2013

Fort Ridgely State Park Golf Course, RIP 1927 – 2017

French Lake Open Golf Club, RIP 1985 – 2015

The Greens at Howard Lake, RIP 1995 – 2013

Greenwood Golf Links, RIP 1985 – 2006

Hampton Hills Golf Course, RIP 1960 – 2003

Hayden Hills Golf Club, RIP 1972 – 2018

Hidden Creek Golf Club, RIP 1996 – 2009

Hollydale Golf Club, RIP 1965 – 2019

Irish Hills Golf Course, RIP 1985 – 2009

Ironman Golf Course, RIP 1960 – 2017

KateHaven Golf Course, RIP 1981 – 2014

Lakeview Golf, RIP 1956 – 2013

Links of Byron, RIP 1994 – 2013

Lone Pine Country Club, RIP 1967 – 2002

Maplebrook Executive Golf Club, RIP 1974 – ???

Meadow Lakes Golf Club, RIP 1998 – 2012

Meadowbrook Country Club, RIP 1984 – 2008

Meadowwoods Golf Course, RIP 1991 – 2004

Mississippi Dunes Golf Links, RIP 1995 – 2017

Orchard Gardens Golf Course, RIP 1967 – 2004

Parkview Golf Club, RIP 1969 – 2013

Pine Meadows Golf Course, RIP 1921 – 2004

Pine River Country Club, RIP 1981 – 2010

Prairie View Golf Links, RIP 1983 – 2013

Red Rock Golf Course, RIP 1932 – 2016

Rich Acres Golf Course, RIP 1980 – 1999

Ridgewood Country Club, RIP 1987 – 2016

Rolling Green Fairways Golf Course, RIP 1977 – 2003

Rolling Hills Golf Course, RIP 1970 – 2016

Root River Country Club, RIP 1962 – 2014

Sauk Centre Country Club, RIP 1921 – 2013

Silver Springs Golf Course, RIP 1974 – 2009

Thompson Oaks Golf Course, RIP 1997 – 2017

Valley View Golf Club, RIP 1992 – 2015

Wendigo Golf Club, RIP 1995 – 2011

Wilderness Hills Golf Course, RIP 1995 – ???

Woodland Creek Golf Course, RIP 1989 – 2010

Sooooooo sad

https://theathletic.com/1902636/2020/07/07/us-bank-stadium-rejected-designs-retractable-roof-big-shard-of-ice/

Golf courses I’ve played that are no longer open:

• Valley View, Belle Plaine
• Carriage Hills, Eagan
• Rich Acres, Richfield
• Hudson GC, Hudson
• Wendigo, Grand Rapids
• Brockway, Rosemount
• Parkview, Eagan

Can’t remember the last new one that opened around here…

Um, what the hell, Mickey?

Lakeside Bar

February 1969

I read a lot of words, but not enough of them are in books. This one I took from my parent’s house on Lombard and brought up to Croftville Road for the weekend. Turns out my sister purchased it for my dad when she visited Highclere Castle as part of her Downton Abbey tour. I never knew that the real Downtown Abbey Lord was Howard Carter’s partner (George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon), but I’ve loved Egyptian history ever since the 1982 World’s Fair (and multiple Ancient Civilization courses from Mr. Demers at Central). This was a quick, light read, with a few pictures I know I’ve never seen before (hello, Tutankhamun mummy).

Now on to my pile of Economists…

Inside harbor walk, Grand Marais, Minnesota

Railroad bridge over the Mississippi

Dave’s Bar, San Francisco, California

One of the highlights of grade school for me was Scholastic’s Dynamite magazine. It appears I started to subscribe to that in 1976, lasting until 1982. I found a box of these in the basement of my parent’s house on Lombard as we were getting it ready to sell, but they weren’t in great condition. I scanned and posted the entire issue from August 1979 here, if you want to get a feeling for what it was like.

Now that I have my ancient Canon scanner working again with my iMac, I thought I’d scan the front and back of the issues that survived the trip down to our loft. SK will now get the originals for her art projects and I get to keep the digital scans (which you can see after the jump).

Dynamite Magazine, August 1979

Thanks for the memories…

Disneyland Hotel postcard, circa 1983

But my mom really liked it

Richie Rich was my Leng’s Fountain go-to buy

Dynamite magazine – ah, the memories

Always hustlin’

PowerBook 5300cs

That’s still about right

Busy day in the neighborhood

…that will take a really long time.

I wonder if that IIc in the corner will boot up

Slowly, desparatly slowly, the remains of passage debris that encumbered the lower part of the doorway was removed. With trembling hands I made a tiny breach in the upper left-hand corner. And then, widening the hole a little, I inserted the candle and peered in. The hot air escaping from the chamber caused the flame to flicker, but presently details of the room within emerged from the mist…

1969 was a good year

That’s just sad

https://deadspin.com/lets-watch-princes-super-bowl-halftime-show-the-best-w-1772302774

Original turf sample from U.S. Bank Stadium

Off with his head!

The Ghost Bride @ Fairmont Banff Springs

Old shot of the Banff Springs course

Thanks for the memories, Mortenson

I’d say that’s about right – thanks, BK!

Sounds like a lost Wilbury song

Vikings and runestones

Rose Street Patisserie

…but happy anniversary moon nerds!

The justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a Higher Authority, is unacceptable.

It’s not every day the “Beatles of the train world” rolls into your city, but last night we heard the train whistle blow on the largest operational steam locomotive in the world, also known as Union Pacific’s Big Boy #4014. Currently on a Midwest Tour to help celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad’s Completion, this Big Boy was on display at Union Depot today. How could I not walk the two blocks from our loft to check out this impressive piece of history?

Turns out there are a lot of choo-choo nerds in these parts, so lines were a little long to view the one car exhibit. There was also another line to view the inside of the engine cab, but I didn’t wait for that one. You could walk around both sides of the train, though, so there was plenty of opportunity to get some cool pictures without nine million other people in the shot (more pics after the jump). They also had food available on the platform and there were a number of vendor booths in the Waiting Room hall with all kinds of interesting stuff for sale.

Built in 1941, the #4014 is the only operating Big Boy of the eight that remain in existence. It was used in revenue service to haul trains weighing up to 4,200 tons over Utah’s Wasatch Range until 1959, traveling 1,031,205 miles during that period. The Big Boys are 132 feet long, weigh 1.2 million pounds (more than a 747), output 6,290 horsepower and have a top speed of 80 miles per hour. After retirement, this Big Boy spent time resting in the RailGiants Train Museum in Pomona, California. In 2013, Union Pacific regained ownership and started a multi-year restoration project in their Cheyenne Steam Shop. The locomotive was converted from coal to oil and in May 2019, Big Boy #4014 completed a successful test round trip from Cheyenne to Nunn, Colorado.

Video: Bringing the Big Boy Back to Life

I remember the old NSP bills (green envelopes too, I think)

https://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/8519368/american-pickers-host-explains-finding-aerosmiths-pre-fame-tour-van-and-saving

Still have to finish the remix level

Glad we went when we did

Bandana Square + Rockhopper

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2019/04/30/feature/the-case-of-dorothys-stolen-ruby-slippers/

Not our favorite place in Europe, but still tragic news from a historic city

You can take the mask off the Lone Ranger and put it on someone else, but it ain’t the Lone Ranger…

https://worldwideweb.cern.ch/

I thought I felt a little déjà vu

We may live without friends, we may live without books. But civilized man cannot live without cooks…