Hell is empty and all the devils are here…

Back in 2017, I posted my top 7 online publications. The list today has changed a little:

• Star Tribune*
• Washington Post*
• New York Times*
• The Atlantic*
• The Economist*
• Daring Fireball (RSS)
• 9to5Mac (RSS)

* paid subscriber

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/frog-and-toad-are-self-quarantined-friends

Published since September 1843 to take part in a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress…

I ❤️ The Economist

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

https://www.npr.org/2020/06/17/879393187/now-about-the-bad-name-i-gave-my-band

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…

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

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

Dynamite magazine – ah, the memories

How did I get on that list?

I wish I could. I actually have a fair amount of anxiety in claustrophobic spaces. Ever since my injury, I don’t do well with tight spots…

https://magazine.atavist.com/lost-in-summerland-lily-dale-psychics-mediums-spiritualism

The woman at Drury Lane Books in Grand Marais was very persuasive

https://psmag.com/ideas/creating-art-can-bring-neural-and-spiritual-benefits

Thanks, Armon

Colleen’s Third Kindle

Life is far more interesting than it needs to be, because the forces that guide it are not merely practical…

Introverts aren’t voiceless—they’re quietly powerful

• Daring Fireball (RSS)
• 9to5Mac
• Disney Tourist Blog
• Krebs on Security
• Meredith’s Daily Angst
• Schneier on Security
• WTF with Phil Roberts

• Star Tribune*
• New York Times*
• Washington Post*
• Wall Street Journal*
• Quartz
• The Verge
• MSP Business Journal

* paid subscriber

(Also just resubscribed to the print edition of The Economist)

Thank you, Mr. Skoglund – made my day 

Why not?

The magazine rack at the Winona Shopko

The definitive tome by Per Nilsen

Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast…

One equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will. To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield…

Sad story of undiagnosed mental illness among my people

Nice sci-fi story from the local kid made good

Jacob Morgan, Futurist and Global Thought Leader

Buy the ticket, take the ride…

The pool was much more diverse; there were young professionals of all races and backgrounds, and far fewer Green Bay Packers jerseys.

If you thought FarmVille was bad, wait until you try I.T. City…

Magazine Room @ Saint Paul Central Library

Nicholson Information Commons

Antique Mall book

As I sit in a cabin on the remote, frozen shores of Lake Vermilion in far northern Minnesota, I’m wirelessly connected to the whole world via magic (and some thin copper lines). Page after page of great writing awaits to be read, while music by talented songwriters floats by in the background (Sia’s Breathe Me, Kate Bush, The Beatles, Richard Thompson).

Project Reverb has started again and Meredith has already written one of my favorite sentences on day three:

How funny that a stupid electric staircase – a modern marvel! – could come to quietly represent all of my anxieties and fears and failures in one humming, throbbing, metallic, snaggle-toothed loop.

Good writers are such a joy.

Caddies at the Old Course are an interesting lot

Dewey is awesome (and apparently has nine lives)

Dillon’s awesome (little) apartment in Queens

The Weinery library

http://m.vita.mn/best-of/?id=270249541&c=y

The Squirrel Book @ Patina

Concussed and all

Just finished this week – highly recommended. Get it here

http://www.cybergolf.com/golf_news/fore_gone_minnesotas_lost_golf_courses_18971999

Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall…

I took fifteen speed pills, and I got into a contest with Liza Minnelli over who could roar most like a jaguar. She simply sounded like a stupid lion.

You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…

There’s only one rule that I know of, babies – God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.

19 percent of Americans do 79 percent of all our (non-required) book readin’

From Fields to Fairways, Classic Golf Clubs of Minnesota by Rick Shefchik

Amen Corner by Rick Shefchik – very entertaining read for golfers

Used bookstore find of the month

If a man of pure heart were to fall in love with her, that would bring her back to life.

How Music Works Book Tour, David Byrne and Steve Seel, History Theater, St. Paul, Minnesota

A fair is a rat’s paradise.

You’ve got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.

Every now and then when your life gets complicated and the weasels start closing in, the only real cure is to load up on heinous chemicals and then drive like a bastard from Hollywood to Las Vegas.

The “relationship” section at Sixth Chamber Books, Saint Paul, Minnesota

My favorite small town newspaper had two great entries from the sheriff’s report in June:

1:17 p.m., Grand Marais: Report of a loose collie mix with no collar downtown, between Boulder Park and the harbor. A deputy determined it to be the same dog she’s been chasing all spring but can never catch. The dog ran away from the deputy when it saw the squad car, and was still on the loose, somewhere downtown.

But here is my all-time favorite:

7:55 a.m., Grand Marais: Complaint about neighbors who started partying outside on their deck at 7 a.m., being very loud, dropping the “F-Bomb,” and taking off their shirts and showing each other their muscles. A deputy spoke with them, and they quieted down.

Instant classic.

While browsing for kid books the other day at Barnes and Noble in Eagan, I came across this three-book series by Gordon Korman about Mount Everest. I pushed my oldest to read them quickly so Dad could have a turn. 🙂

Being a huge fan of the mountain, I enjoyed this fictional account of the “SummitQuest” expedition. As Scholastic describes it:

They come from all across America to be the youngest kid ever to climb Everest. But only one will reach the top first. The competition is fierce. The preparation is intense. When the final four reach the higher peaks, disaster strikes — and all that separates the living from the dead is chance, bravery, and action.

Fun for young and old.

Everest Books on Amazon

From the February 1, 2008 Cook County News-Herald in Grand Marais:

James Lee Curtis, 63, Grand Marais, was convicted Oct. 26 of attempted murder with intent (not premeditated), and sentenced Jan. 15 to 153 months in the state prison at St. Cloud (minus 290 days credit for time served), and ordered to pay a $50 fine plus $87 in court costs and fees.

They must run a lean and mean court system in northern Minnesota…

While listening to MPR the other day, the commentators were discussing books for kids that are advanced readers. This book, Al Capone Does My Shirts, was one of the recommendations. I picked it up at Barnes and Noble for my oldest, although I really wanted to read it myself.

A fictional account of life on Alcatraz in the 1930s, the story revolves around Moose Flanagan, the son of a guard. Lots of great historically accurate descriptions of what life was like for the families of the workers who actually lived on the rock.

LOVED the ending too…

My parents have the Grand Marais newspaper sent to their home in St. Paul every week and pass it along to me after they read it. The Cook County News-Herald is a great small town paper and often has stories that make me smile. This week, though, they had a story that truly made me laugh out loud.

The November 30th issue had a story about the county website being upgraded to list property tax records online. There was some opposition to this, as the original proposal including the ability to search by property owner name. This was removed after reviewing other county policies in the state, but the final vote included two no votes:

“Commissioners Johnson and Fritz Sobanja voted against the proposal. Johnson said he couldn’t back the plan because of significant opposition he’s heard; Sobanja said he voted no as part of his ‘war against computers.'”

Where do I enlist?

Finished yet another book this week – The Grizzly Maze: Timothy Treadwell’s Fatal Obsession with Alaskan Bears, by Nick Jans.

I first became aware of the Timothy Treadwell story via Richard Thompson’s soundtrack to the Werner Herzog film Grizzly Man. I thought the movie was interesting and was anxious to read another take on this strange guy from California.

The movie contains a lot of the footage shot by Treadwell himself, which is rather eerie. The book goes into more detail on the attack of Treadwell and Huguenard, including the gruesome audio tape that is talked about in the movie (but never heard). I also found the sections about bear behavior and how to survive attacks very interesting.

I love Alaska and want to go back some day, but count me out from getting anywhere near those huge creatures.

Wow, two full books in a week!

I’ve had a strong interest in Mt. Everest (Chomolungma to the Tibetans or Sagarmatha to the Nepali) for a long time. Some of this was no doubt in part due to the 1996 IMAX film and Jon Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air.

My co-worker and I enjoy watching every television show we can find on Everest and followed the Rest of Everest podcast for some time. Needless to say, I love the new Everest ride at Walt Disney World and have “provide tech support at base camp for an Everest expedition” as one of my lifetime to do items.

Touching My Father’s Soul: A Sherpa’s Journey to the Top of Everest is written by Jamling Tenzing Norgay, son of Tenzing Norgay (who with Sir Edmund Hillary was the first to reach the summit in 1953). It’s a quick read for 310 pages and provides a lot of background on the 1953 expedition, as well as the 1996 IMAX expedition (which Jamling accompanied). I also liked the Sherpa and Buddhist perspective that is absent in many Everest stories.

The internet provides additional insight into some of the places and organizations mentioned in the story:

• Hotel Yak and Yeti, Kathmandu
• Hotel Everest View
• American Himalayan Foundation, San Francisco
• Royal Geographical Society

Now I just need to find a place that will sell me a 3-D scale model of the mountain for a reasonable price…

I actually read an entire book in a day and a half this week. We were at the Eagan library, where they had set up a new section on Minnesota books and music. That’s where I found Juicing the Orange: How to Turn Creativity into a Powerful Business Advantage, by Pat Fallon and Fred Senn.

This book was an interesting read for me, as I almost went to work for Fallon about eight years ago. I’ve always been impressed with their work and the stories here give some insight into how they function.

My favorite anecdote was about Northwest Airlines. Fallon won that account in 1991, but dropped them four years later because they “fostered exactly the kind of toxic atmosphere we had set out to avoid.” I wonder who the top client contact was who “was creative and especially connected in the music world.” He is also described as “domineering and indecisive, a bad combination.” Could this be Chris Clouser?