Great Work from Nghia's (Pronounced Nee-Yas) Auto

Post and image by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

And you can bike there easily too!

This week I needed brake work done on my car.  My normal place for repairs, Vina Auto on 26th and Emerson, was full.  But when the brakes were acting up as badly as they were, I couldn't wait.  Quite a few northside friends had "checked in" at Nghia's Auto Service Center on Facebook, and I had heard plenty of praise for Nghia and his work. In fact, that link will take you to a Google search result for Nghia's Auto, in which there isn't a single negative review.  His work was fast, reasonably priced, and high quality.

I was near the Irving Triangle on my bike when he called, so I mapped out my route back to my car.  The trip was 2.75 miles, and took me only 13 minutes.  From that perspective, it looks like you can get just about anywhere in NoMi by bike in 15-20 minutes.

My First Friedman's Shoes

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

If you've never read Ray Bradbury's summer opus Dandelion Wine, you're missing out on a literary masterpiece.  However, this is a book that simply should not be read in any other season.  You can certainly appreciate the quality of the writing while curled up under a blanket in the chill of wintertime, but once you get past Labor Day, the magic of the book is gone for another eight months.  I bring this up because an early chapter in that book has the main character, Douglas Spaulding, longing for a new pair of shoes.

"The tennis shoes felt like it always feels the first time every year wading in the slow waters of the creek and seeing your feet below, half an inch further downstream, with refraction, rather than the real part of you above water...The people that made the shoes must have watched a lot of winds blow the trees and a lot of rivers going down to the lakes.  Whatever it was, it was in the shoes, and it was summer."

For the longest time, I've bought my shoes from malls, department stores, or most soul-crushing of all, outlet shops.  Can you believe that until yesterday I hadn't once set foot inside Friedman's?  The shame.  But as soon as I walked into this store--no, emporium is the only word that appropriately describes the place--this chapter of Bradbury came rushing to the front of my mind.  The enchantment that is found in a new pair of shoes is somehow already worn thin when plucking a pair off the discount rack at Kohl's. 

But here, every pair held limitless possibilities.  The basketball shoes would have you leaping over dogs, fences, or even houses.  The two-toned Stacy Adams would make a night of salsa dancing seem effortless, even without lessons.  The hiking boots had already been to the mountaintop and would easily take you there.  The Voltron shoes--sweet lord, there are VOLTRON SHOES!!!!  When I found out that they came with this:

Part of me really wanted to buy these sneakers.  Badly enough that I contemplated whether I'd be taken seriously if I showed up at a city council hearing wearing shoes emblazoned with the Black Lion, Keith.  (I know I wouldn't have credibility of any sort if I wore anything with Princess Allura.  I mean, come ON.)  As it turns out though, each pair of Voltron shoes comes only with one corresponding piece of the toy.  I would need to buy all five to get the action figure.  Maybe another time.

The magic Douglas Spaulding's shoes made him feel like "antelopes...gazelles."  Me, I'll settle for a pair that hearkens images of giant mechanized lions.

The Hofstede Staff Timer

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, photo from Johnny Northside.

An anonymous comment came in on the most recent blog post since I installed the latest widget on this blog.  In the observance of what I call "threadiquette," I'm creating a new post where a discussion around the issue of Hofstede's staff turnover (and my treatment of it on this blog) can take place. 

Wakeboarding Championships Wrapped Up on Sunday

Post, photos, and videos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Last week, I groused about the lack of communication surrounding the national wakeboarding championships that were occurring right here in our neighborhood.  While I thought this was a one-day event, it turns out the competition stretched over several days.  An intrepid neighbor sent me the following texts,

"This is the biggest event of the year to occur in North Minneapolis and no one is here to record it."

"And I didn't realize it was swimmable here.  Hot chicks in bikinis totally swimming in the river.  And free Rock Star energy drinks."  (For the record, this friend was looking out for me, and would have been happier with the buff, shirtless dudes.  This event had something for everyone.)

"I just realized *if* Broadway Pizza had a patio, people could be on the patio with beers watching this too!"

And the coup de grace, "Get yo ass down here now!"

So get down I did, and saw...

A Hawkman Link Roundup

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, video from MerasZuokas.

First up, I don't think the video above is real.  It's probably staged, but even so, allow me to break down why this is the single most awesome Youtube clip that will ever be created.  First off, the mayor of this town combines my passion for small-scale, quality-of-life issues with the G.I. Joe-related daydreams that keep so many of us from getting anything done.  In case you're the kind of person who reads articles without watching videos, the mayor of Vilnius, Lithuania, has been struggling with how to keep luxury cars from parking in the city's bike lanes.

"What should the city do about drivers who think that they are above the law?  It seems that a tank is the best solution."  THIS IS AN ACTUAL QUOTE FROM THE MAYOR.  Can you imagine what our city council meetings would be like if they were often punctuated with "It seems that a tank is the best solution"?  We could charge money for people to attend, and would fill our meetings to capacity every time.  What should we do about crime on 4th St N, or prostitutes at Penn and 26th?  It seems that a tank is the best solution.  2222 4th Street North needs to be demolished, in spite of Khan's pesky lawsuits?  It seems that a tank is the best solution.

But then, after destroying the Mercedes with a tank, he shakes the hand of the emasculated driver - it's really the gentlemanly thing to do.  The mayor finishes by sweeping up the shards of broken glass off the street.  That level of class is what puts the clip at the top of my ratings.

Locally, a recent article in the Strib details a different example of people taking matters into their own hands, by removing...

Third Street Deluge

Post, video, and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

This is what was waiting for me as I came home for lunch today.  At the time, the water was so high I had to park a block away and enter my place through the alley.  Even the sidewalks on 3rd Street were at least ankle-deep in water.  People were actually foolish enough to try and drive through the flood-like conditions, and cars had stalled out at the intersection of 3rd and 26th.

I Want to Be Wrong, but...Flow. Meh.

Post, video, and photos below by the Hawthorne Hawkman.  Photos above contributed.

In the past, I have attended Flow, north Minneapolis' art festival, as a performer in a live chess match, and a hula hooper.  While I did bring my hula hoop with me again this year (you never know when you're going to need one) I approached the 2011 event with the mindset that I would just go and enjoy myself; let the reporting efforts go to one of the other media recording the festival.  And then I was somewhat underwhelmed by it all and that disappointment needs to be expressed.  We can and should do more with Flow than what was achieved this year.

I understand this may put me in the minority, and that people may be unhappy with this post--just like when I try to explain to my fellow sci-fi nerds exactly why I don't like Blade Runner, (I've read and enjoyed the source material, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? if that helps) or when other thirtysomethings find out that Pulp Fiction left me thoroughly unimpressed.

First though, there was plenty I did like about Flow...