Buzz

Internet Cat Video Festival could make its way to Europe this year

Walker Art Center Wednesday, March 20, 2013

The Walker Art Center’s Internet Cat Video Festival was “an unparalleled and unexpected success,” according to a museum magazine piece.

The film festival turned out to be a viral success, “sparking news headlines worldwide, the festival itself saw the convergence of 10,000 people—some in costumes, others cradling kitty companions, all feline fanatics—on the Walker’s hillside one warm August evening last year,” it reads.

The festival has since led to a national tour, lots of media attention and an expanded event for next year. And a "legitimate" film festival in Austria has made a bid to host it.

Scott Stulen of the Walker is quoted, saying, “It was something unique. Also, we were very aware that we were tapping into a powerful meme, and we knew there was some interest with it.”

A new map for getting around the skyways downtown Minneapolis

Skyway My Way Wednesday, February 20, 2013

A new map for navigating the skyways in downtown Minneapolis is out on a website called, Skyway My Way.

The website has a map plus a searchable database of businesses within the skyway system.

This map-app differs from others in that “Searching for a location in other popular mapping applications puts you on the street, not in the skyway,” it states. “Our team of skyway gremlins have meticulously combed every nook and cranny to obtain all of the necessary information.”

The website can help people find everything from a lunch spot to a chiropractor.

New York Times features Minnesota Orchestra concert

New York Times Wednesday, February 20, 2013

The New York Times recently featured the Minnesota Orchestra, which played a concert in early February despite a lockout that’s been ongoing since October.

“The Minnesota Orchestra and its players have been locked out since Oct. 1, after they rejected management’s proposal for a 32 percent cut in base pay and refused to make a counterproposal,” the story reads.

The special concert took place at the Minneapolis Convention Center, celebrating an orchestra ensemble’s Grammy nomination for its Bis recording of Sibelius’s Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5, the story states.

“The recording is indeed superb, easily one of the best of 2012, and the concert represented it well, despite compromised circumstances,” the story adds.

Two local restaurants make Open Table's top 100 list of restaurants for last year

Open Table Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Open Table, the restaurant reservation website, recently put together a list of its top 100 picks for dining out across the country.

The Capital Grille in downtown Minneapolis and Restaurant Alma in the city’s Marcy-Holmes neighborhood both made the list, beating out thousands of other restaurants.

“Out of more than 5 million restaurant reviews submitted by OpenTable diners for more than 15,000 restaurants in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, these outstanding restaurants are the top 100 'Best Overall' restaurants in the nation for 2012,” an Open Table posting reads.

New York Times features Minnesota Opera's production of 'Doubt'

New York Times Wednesday, January 23, 2013

A recent feature in The New York Times centers on the Minnesota Opera’s premiere of “Doubt,” which opens January 26 and runs through Feb. 3.

According to the article, playwright John Patrick Shanley was initially skeptical of the idea of rewriting the show, which had been a play and an award-winning movie, into an opera libretto.

But it turned out to be a rewarding experience, Shanley says. “There’s a lot of feelings that could not be expressed in the play because of its austerity,” he says, adding, “But opera, even when it is austere, is as rich as chocolate cake. So that allowed me to go back and express a lot of things that I could not before and still tell the story"--a story which centers on the nature of the relationship between a Catholic proest and a young African-American boy.

Preparing for production, the Minnesota Opera hosted a number of workshops for composer Douglas J. Cuomo, Shanley, and stage director Kevin Newbury, the story states.

Newbury says of the resulting show, “It isn’t just about doubt, it’s doubt brought to life onstage. And it’s a particularly American play with all the questions about class and race and religion rolled up into one.”

NYTimes reports on local 'locavore' hotel

New York Times Wednesday, July 25, 2012

The Hyatt Regency in downtown Minneapolis has been re-imagined as a “hotel for locavores,” according to a recent New York Times story.

Part of the hotel’s recent $25 million renovation used area manufacturers, artisans, and artists. Its new décor “pays tribute to the city’s heritage and industry,” it states.

While the hotel is internationally known, architect Mike Suomi of Stonehill & Taylor says in the story, “We also wanted to craft a narrative that is specific to the location.”

Design touches reference timber and woolen mills while an oversized map of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers is tied together with Post-Its, which the city is also known for.

Bon Appetit highlights Eat Street Social

Bon Appetit Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Bon Appetit magazine recently pulled together a list of the top five soda fountains around the country.

“A band of bartender converts are stepping up to the seltzer tap, returning us to the era of phosphates and egg creams,” the story states. Eat Street Social in Minneapolis made the list.

“Sodas go toe-to-toe with craft cocktails at this lively bar,” it reads, adding that the Raspberry Rickey is a must-order.

Slate.com features Wal-mart turned library with help of Minneapolis architects

slate.com Wednesday, July 11, 2012

In a recent story, Slate.com profiled a Texas library that occupies a building that had once been a Wal-Mart.

The Minneapolis-based architecture firm Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle, Ltd., “breathed fresh life into the warehouse, about as big as two-and-a-half football fields, late last year, when they repurposed it as the country’s largest single-story public library,” it reads.

Interesting signage, reading nooks, and special spaces, such as a quiet room, several computer labs, and a bookstore and café, have redefined the place.

So much so that the McAllen Public Library won The International Interior Design Association’s 2012 Library Interior Design Awards, the story states.

Placemaking conversation regarding Hennepin Avenue at Walker Art Center

Walker Art Center Wednesday, May 02, 2012

The Walker Art Center magazine features a story about the “Art of Placemaking,” as it pertains to Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis.

“Despite its status as a major, historic thoroughfare in Minneapolis--or maybe because of it--Hennepin Avenue has for decades been regarded as a problematic, contested public space,” it reads.

A project called Plan-It Hennepin aims to change that, by turning it into a “lively, compelling cultural corridor,” the story says.

The story touches on the Walker’s perspective on the process, in which it’s a participant: It quotes the Walker’s Olga Viso, who says, “Along with our partners in Plan-It Hennepin, we thought that the Walker could help lead a different conversation in terms of creativity and envisioning possibilities, by bringing artists’ voices into the process.”

This story dovetails with The Line's feature this week on Candy Chang.

Photographer puts together Twins games time lapse

MinnPost Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Minnpost has a brief piece about photographer Bruce Hemmelgarn’s 23-hour time-lapse of Target Field.

The result, which is posted on its website and Hemmelgarn’s blog, brings together day and night games from April 11 and 12.

It uses thousands of images to show the transition from one game to the next. At one point in the evening, the moon is visible in the scene, Hemmelgarn notes on his blog.

The time-lapse has been posted in many places, including the CBS Sports Daily Blog and the Major League Baseball website.

MCTC student gets national recognition

Minneapolis Community and Technical College Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Recently, Brad Conley, a student at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College, was recognized as a member of the All-USA Community College Academic Team and a New Century Scholar, representing the state.

He’s one of 20 students selected from a pool of 1,700 nominations that came from around the country to be part of the team, according to school information.

On April 23, Conley was recognized for the achievement at a convention in Orlando, Florida, and he got a shout-out in USA Today.

The honors come with $4,500 in scholarship money.

“The New Century Scholars program and the All-USA Community College Academic Team honor outstanding community college students for their grades, leadership, extracurricular involvement, and volunteerism,” MCTC materials read.

Source: MCTC

Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Minneapolis featured for interesting makeover

USA Today Wednesday, March 14, 2012

A recent USA Today story highlights the makeover of the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Minneapolis.

As a part of a $25 million project that started in December 2011, the hotel charged its designers with creating a “sleek, new look with an eye towards all things “local”--including Red Wing Pottery,” the story states.

Michael Suomi, design chief for Stonehill & Taylor, which came up with the architectural and design plans, is quoted saying "We had a specific goal of bringing as much of the manufacturing and sourcing back to America to promote job growth, increase speed to market and celebrate American craft"--adding that this way, “we saved money!"

OpenTable picks four local restaurants for list of best service in nation

OpenTable Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Four local eateries landed on a list of restaurants that provide the best service in the United States.

Compiled by restaurant reservation service OpenTable, the list is based on reviews submitted by users of the website.

The quartet that rose above the others locally: Acqua Restaurant and Wine Bar in White Bear Lake, Capital Grille and La Belle Vie in Minneapolis, and Joan's in the Park in St. Paul.

"A huge part of what makes many of these restaurants great are the people themselves, working tirelessly to delight their patrons," OpenTable noted about the list.

Huffington Post features Minneapolis's Central Library as cultural center

Huffington Post Wednesday, December 14, 2011

As a part of a Huffington Post series called “Libraries in Crisis,” the Minneapolis Central Library is featured as a cultural center.

Despite budget cuts, “more people than ever are visiting their local library,” the story states.

That point holds true at the Minneapolis Central Library, where the busy computer area, teen center, and New Americans Center show how library use is changing.

“Librarians across the country are looking to institutions such as this to show the way forward. For their part, the librarians here say their hope is that this library can be more of a cultural center than a book repository,” the story reads.

'Tabatha Takes Over' show comes to local salons

Pioneer Press Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Next season, the popular Bravo reality show “Tabatha Takes Over” will visit a couple of local salons, according to the Pioneer Press.

Jungle Red Salon in Minneapolis’s Loring Park area and H Design Salon in Uptown will be featured in separate episodes of the show, which starts on Jan. 10.

“If this year is anything like past seasons, the new episodes likely will be full of shears and jeers as outspoken salon owner Tabatha Coffey swoops in and tells salon owners and their employees how to improve their game,” the story states.

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