Photo and blog post by John Hoff
Knowing my passion for trying strange cuisine, recently my girlfriend Megan picked up an authentic Hmong dish at Banana Blossom restaurant on Lowry Ave. N. The dish features pork uterus, ear and stomach.
Keep in mind, when I say "strange" I mean strange to me. Strange to my culture. This food is not strange to the culture from which it originates and, furthermore, there is nothing intrinsically stranger about eating a pig's uterus versus a pig's rear end, what your people call "pork chop."
(Click here for vintage Mazola commercial)
It was my first time eating the uterus of any animal--that I know about, you can never be sure what's in hot dogs, I'm just saying--and, I must admit, it was not at all unpleasant. The uterus of a pig tastes not unlike the testes, which can be found in other authentic Hmong cuisine such as the "pig organ stew" available at Bangkok Market on Lyndale Ave. N.
Of course, the testes have a meatier texture compared to the uterus. Uterus is more on the slippery side. Given a choice, I'd go with the testes.
Since uterus may be "extreme cuisine" for most readers, I should mention there are a number of other dishes at Banana Blossom which are unique and interesting and hard to find, as well as a lot of standard Southeast Asian fare that's both delicious and affordable. They even have a buffet!
If you want to try interesting cuisine on a tight budget...get to NoMi! Banana Blossom is only one example. I have yet to encounter a North Minneapolis restaurant that's overpriced.
(Do Not Click "Read More")
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Delicious Pork Uterus, Ear And Stomach At Banana Blossom! MMmmmmmm! THAT'S GOOD UTERUS!!!
Monday, April 4, 2011
JNS BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Spanky Pete's Handwritten Missive To Judge Blaeser--Smoking Gun Proof Why He Went To Prison: FOR THROWING PAPER AT THIS BLOG!!!!
Contributed image, thanks for the vodka, blog post by John Hoff
Ever since Level Three Sex Offender Peter "Spanky Pete" Rickmyer went to jail on or about March 10, and faced revocation of his parole, which ultimately did happen and he went to Lino Lakes...I suspected the reason for his incarceration involved an attempt to slap paper on this blog: some kind of bat-guano-crazy request for an "injunction" to keep this blogger from publishing photographs of his creepy face.
Peter Rickmyer--whose real name is Peter Richard Stephenson, and heaven only knows why the Department of Corrections (DOC) allows Spanky Pete to get away with using an alias--isn't ALLOWED to pursue lawsuits (or injunctions, attempts to obtain writs of mandamus, or other lawsuit-like actions) because he's been declared a frivolous litigant under Rule 9. This is, so I've gathered, an extraordinarily rare legal event. Your odds of meeting a "Rule 9 frivolous litigant" are about as great as your odds of meeting an albino snapping turtle.
Recently, I was unable to confirm the reason for Spanky Pete's incarceration when I was provided a document from his court file, visible above (click to make larger) in which Rickmyer alludes to...
...his attempt to obtain an injunction, which Rickmyer says was done "in the spirit" of Judge Blaeser's Rule 9 order.
Judge Swenson will apparently decide whether Peter was "in the spirit" during the Order To Show Cause hearing on April 11, at 9 a.m. Rickmyer is represented by attorney Jill Clark.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Soul Food With An Arab Flair At JC's Barbeque On West Broadway, Near The Five Points Building...
Photos and blog post by John Hoff
JC's Barbeque has been open for more than a year at 2117 West Broadway near the Five Points building. It's yet another "wings and things" place on Broadway, with a sideline in gyros. If you took all the "wings and things" places in North Minneapolis, lined them up end to end, and put a match to the first one you would have a domino-effect grease fire visible FROM THE MOON. Not that I'm complaining. There's just no getting around the fact greasy food is yummy.
A couple days ago I went to JC's for the first time, since my legal nemesis Jerry Moore was standing in line at the Cub Foods deli counter and I didn't want to stand near and have him say (yet again) he just wants me to know "we're cool" and I'd have to tell him, yet again, "If you have something to say to me, go through your lawyer." Oh, have I mentioned lately: Repeated and specific evidence in Hennepin County District Court shows Jerry Moore was involved with a high profile fraudulent mortgage at 1564 Hillside Ave. N.
So I left Cub and went to JC's, since it was the nearest place I knew of to get fried chicken not counting Olympic Cafe, which is a little too near the "heroin block" of West Broadway for my tastes, even though undercover police recently disrupted a heroin shipment in North Minneapolis, and God Bless the Fourth Precinct. I needed fried chicken because company was visiting in the middle of my girlfriend's kitchen remodel project...
The manager at JC's was so overwhelmingly nice to me I thought "does he know I'm a blogger?" He had me taste the fried zucchini, fretting aloud whether they were overdone. Then he threw in an extra helping of fried zucchini.
I ordered the 30-wing special for $16.99 plus tax--no fries, no drink--and when I got it home I saw several slices of white bread had been included. To me, the difference between real soul food and a place that is merely putting on like it serves soul food is the inclusion of diagonally-sliced white bread.
The fried chicken was perfect. My benchmark for chicken wings is whether the tips of the wings are crisp and edible, instead of being chewy. We enjoyed the wings at dinner, and then ate the leftovers for two days, not wasting a single delicious bite.
Though JC's is a small, humble establishment it's clean and there's no reason to avoid it. The food is good and very affordably priced.
Ah, Spring! A Lovely Time To Remove Utility Pole Sign Spam...
Contributed photo, xoxo, blog post by John Hoff
NoMi sportsmen will be glad to know there is NO LIMIT on utility pole sign spam. You can catch as many as you want, just don't release them.
The wooden ones make a great...
...bonfire, but be sure to peel off any plastic shrink wrap.
The plastic kind are not nearly as useful, but recently we "re-purposed" a few and put them to good use at a protest against Level Three sex offenders being dumped in North Minneapolis. The signs are visible five seconds into this parody music video about sex offenders, click here.
This little catch of three signs is NOTHING compared to the major haul some of my fellow NoMi bloggers recently landed, but I will hang back and let them tell their own story.
Oh, a word to the sign spammers:
Give up! We can take your signs off poles faster than you can put them up, and it costs us nothing to remove them. The 311 system knows we're removing your signs, but every time we spot a new sign with a new phone number, we call it in. SO JUST STOP PUTTING YOUR STUPID SIGNS ON OUR UTILITY POLES AND WE WON'T NEED TO CALL 311 ON YOU, WON'T NEED TO MAKE BONFIRES OF YOUR SIGNS, WON'T NEED TO POSE FOR TROPHY PHOTOS AND THEN PUT THAT STUFF UP ON THE INTERNET.
Thank you for your attention to this minor but annoying aesthetic issue.
Nothing But "Cold Fill" At "Craterville" Near The Washington Ave. N. Holiday Station Following Story On KARE-11
Photo and blog post by John Hoff
Despite hopeful stirrings about possible fixes at the horrific "Craterville" situation near the Washington Ave. N. Holiday station, it appears only "cold fill" has been used.
And darn little of that.
We were all hopeful that a splashy television story on KARE-11 had...
...gotten the attention of public officials and prompted fixes. Of course, we all understand certain optimum outdoor temperatures are needed to put down asphalt, but even the "cold fill" used on the road seems to have been laid down in a skimpy way.
Sigh. What do we need in North Minneapolis to get the improvements we need, like less sex offenders? I could make up a parody song--like I did about sex offenders--but potholes just don't lend themselves as well to parody.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Anne Marie Leikas, Sister Of Murder Victim Annshalike Hamilton, Is In Prison...
June Leikas, the mother of Annshalike Hamilton, has publicly expressed over and over her specific and reasonable suspicions about Remaro Smith who, as this blog recently reported, has a parole violation hearing soon.
Anne Marie Leikas is expected to be released in June.
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JNS BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Minnesota State Patrol Car Involved In Smash Up Near Dowling Ave. N. Exit...
Photo and blog post by John Hoff
Some minutes ago I was approaching the Dowling Ave. N. exit in the eastbound lane of I-94, and traffic was massively backed up due to emergency vehicles at the side of the road. It was easy to see there had been a mishap involving a State Patrol squad car...
The squad car was smashed up into the back end of a black, sporty 4-door vehicle with "thuggy" chrome rims. If I had to take a guess I'd say this is the aftermath of a high-speed chase, but that is unconfirmed. This happened about 1/4 to 1/2 mile west of the Dowling Ave. exit, in the eastbound lane.
ADDENDUM, APRIL 3: A mainstream news entity reports the trooper was making a traffic stop when another car plowed into the trooper and the stopped car, click here. Apparently, my photo shows the trooper's car, pushed into the back of the stopped car, but the car which plowed into them is not pictured. The trooper and the driver of the stopped car were both injured. A "medical problem" may have played a role.
Punk Rock Parody Song About Level Three Sex Offender Concentration In North Minneapolis...
Here's a little song I wrote...
You might want to sing it, note by note.
We're worried. And we're unhappy. About Level Three sex offender concentration in North Minneapolis.
(Do Not Click "Read More")
Friday, April 1, 2011
Emaciated Dog Finally Gets Help In Minneapolis Warehouse District...
Photo and blog post by John Hoff
It must have been a full month ago when I first saw "Bones," a mixed breed dog so emaciated he appears to be a doggy skeleton. He also hobbles around on three legs, with his right rear leg appearing completely inoperable. As was the case a couple days ago, I spotted Bones from the light rail.
I don't know his real name, or if he ever had a real name. "Bones" is just what I've named him...
It's odd that a stray dog like Bones would become so skinny in the bar district. There are garbage cans aplenty, there are kind strangers made even more jovial by liquor. A dog that thin must have some kind of sickness making him so skinny. A month ago I reached for my cell phone to call Animal Control, but my cell phone was dead. I thought, well, somebody else will see the dog and make the call.
I hate calling Animal Control. Most times I just won't do it. My personal code is "I will only call when the animal has a license hanging off its collar or if it's obviously injured." But a dog that skinny...? What kind of "quality of life" does it have?
I had forgotten all about the bony dog I saw a month ago from the windows of the light rail. Until yesterday, when I saw him again, almost in the same spot. This time, somebody was helping him. A woman who seemed to be a worker from one of the stores gently led the dog inside a doorway. I pulled out my camera and managed to get a photo.
I hope the dog got some help. I am sure many people--probably some readers of this blog--have noticed the same dog. I write this blog post because I want to know...
Does anybody have information about this dog and his fate?
DENIED!!! Full Council Rejects Liquor License At Gopher 94 Development!
Stock photo and blog post by John Hoff
Previous information about the license being APPROVED, click here, was apparently not the final word.
JNS blog anticipates neighbors will be ecstatic. The fact competitor Merwin Liquors will also be ecstatic is the only fly in our revitalization ointment or, in this case, a worm in our tequila.
On another, more quirky note: the planned development at the strip club is known as "Land Ho?" Seriously?!
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KARE-11 Story On "Craterville" In North Minneapolis ROCKS! Check it out...
Blog post by John Hoff
Word is that only days after this story aired, some work was done to alleviate the situation with the spectacular craters. This blog has not yet had an opportunity to confirm this information but I have no reason to doubt it.
I am so pleased KARE-11 did this story to help my neighborhood get much-needed attention to this longstanding issue.
One of the reasons this blog exists is because North Minneapolis needs its "fair share of media." But some days--like the day this story aired, and the other KARE-11 story about sex offender concentration--I feel like we actually did get our fair share, and this blog exists solely to rectify the longstanding historical inequity.
Keep up the good work, KARE-11!
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Neighbors Gather To Protest And Demand DOC STOP DUMPING LEVEL THREE SEX OFFENDERS IN NORTH MINNEAPOLIS!!!
Photo and blog post by John Hoff
Last night about 20 North Minneapolis neighbors, including 5th Ward City Councilman Don Samuels, turned a Department of Corrections notification meeting into a protest against the systematic dumping of sex offenders in North Minneapolis, especially the 55411 zip code which has 20 or 21, depending on how you count. (Spanky Pete is incarcerated, but we believe it to be temporary)
KARE-11 was present and the testy meeting became the top story on the 10 o'clock news.
Stay tuned for more photos and details but here's the bottom line: Department of Corrections isn't going to do squat for us. If every Level Three sex offender in the state of Minnesota wants to move to the 55411 zip code, DOC won't stop them. This according to Hennepin County Corrections Supervisor Russ Stricker in response to a question from this blogger. IF ALL THE LEVEL THREE SEX OFFENDERS WANT TO MOVE TO THE 55411 ZIP CODE, DOC WON'T STOP THEM, SO LONG AS THEY'VE FOUND A LANDLORD WILLING TO TAKE THEM.
Clearly, North Minneapolis neighbors have no choice but to pursue legal action against DOC and the slumlords. The only question is finding an affordable (read: pro bono) lawyer to help us. This blogger is willing to sign on as a plaintiff and there are probably half a dozen other North Minneapolis citizens willing to sign on as well.
Is there any lawyer out there? Help, help, help!
(Do Not Click "Read More")
Two Camera Donations In One Week For Johnny Northside Blog...
Photo and blog post by John Hoff
Knowing this blog runs on virtually nothing--living on sunshine like a spider fern--friends and neighbors give support in all kinds of ways.
Sometimes it's just verbal support, like a mainstream journalist recently telling me "I'm a card carrying member of the SPJ, and I wholeheartedly agree with the decision to support you in your court case." Sometimes support comes in the form of information or a photograph, like this exclusive photo of a burning house, click here.
This week, support took the form of...
...the donation of a digital camera and accessories. And this happened not just once, but TWICE. One of the accessories is a small, smash-proof case. Yeah, I should have been using one of those all along.
Looks like it will be quite a while before I need to get a camera at a pawn shop. THANK YOU, ANONYMOUS SUPPORTERS!
Ugly Ass Blue Tarp Building Continues To Haunt West Broadway...JNS Blog Story Recycling Project!
Photo and blog post by John Hoff
Well, everybody knows how much Johnny Northside loves to recycle. So I'm recycling my headline and pretty much recycling the original story about the blue tarp building haunting West Broadway, just replacing the photo with a new photo I took a few days ago.
When will it get fixed? Nobody in the city seems to know.
Calls have been made over the course of months to public officials but there is no visible sign of progress.
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JNS BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Probation Violation Hearing For Remaro C. Smith, Named Over And Over In Association With Murder Victim Annshalike Hamilton...
Contributed image, blog post by John Hoff
Remaro C. Smith, who has been repeatedly, emphatically and publicly named by June Leikas as the person she suspects responsible for the death of her daughter, Annshalike Hamilton, whose gruesome murder remains unsolved and pretty much ignored by all media except for this blog, has a parole violation hearing at the end of April...
Smith, who was involved in a tense standoff with police at a hotel room, click here, just can't keep himself out of trouble.
Here's the latest Trouble with a capital "T" for Remaro C. Smith...
11/18/2010 Interim Condition for SMITH, REMARO CORDELL
- Post bond
- Contact with probation
- No alcohol/controlled substance use
- Random testing
- Remain law-abiding
- Make all future court appearances
11/18/2010 Order for Conditional Release (Judicial Officer: Small, Robert M. )
01/31/2011 Probation Violation Hearing (2:00 PM) (Judicial Officer Small, Robert M.)
Result: Held
04/25/2011 Probation Violation Hearing (9:00 AM) (Judicial Officer Small, Robert M.)
Side note from JNS blog: if any reader can find a news article about Smith's standoff at the hotel, please copy all the text and post it in the comments.
Apparently you just can't trust the mainstream media to maintain their articles on the web. After they've published their story and sold their ads they forget about the fact people may need the information months or years later.

