A Little Bit of FLOW: watson the band Performs at the BLO Music Stage and Beer Garden

More pictures and videos from the 6th annual FLOW, the northside art crawl and community celebration, will be shared across the internets by various folks in the near future. But for now here's a little slice of the BLO Music Stage and Beer Garden.

NoMi Homie Brian Mondl is on the drums and band member John is on vocals and the guitar. Together they make up half of watson the band. Word is watson will be playing next week at the St Paul Saints baseball game, check 'em out!

(Apologies for the abrupt ending. I did say a "little" slice, it was busy, and more people were approaching to converse and the talking is a terrible addition to the rock and roll)

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FLOW and The BLO Music Stage and Beer Garden TODAY!

Photos from Facebook, blog post by Nomi Passenger

Today is FLOW, the annual Northside Art Crawl that was started through efforts by The PEACE Foundation six years ago. Each year the event continues to evolve and always ends up being a lovely day along West Broadway for northsiders to celebrate our community. Full event details can be found here.

This year, the tornado-battered business, Broadway Liquor Outlet, affectionately referred to as BLO, is sponsoring a music stage and beer garden. The BLO Music Stage and Beer Garden will be held in the parking lot of another tornado-battered business, Fire-n-Ice, on the northwest corner of Penn and West Broadway. The music stage is set to go from 3-9pm today and features several musicians and bands, some of them from right here in NoMi.

One of the featured bands, watson, has been mentioned on this blog before. The drummer, Brian Mondl, aka thongmaster, is a NoMi Homie and frequent hanger-outer of the Jordan Pond.

Here's the details from the BLO Music Stage and Beer Garden Invite:

Join us this Saturday, July 30th at the BLO Music Stage and Beer Garden as a part of the 6th Annual FLOW northside arts crawl. Our stage will be rockin' with 4 great music groups starting at 3 p.m. until 9 p.m. while our beer garden, sponsored by New Belgium Brewery will be pouring the suds throughout our live music event! This is a free music event for all to enjoy. Stop by and check out local artists displays, a live chain saw art exhibition, great music, food and drink, and a whole lot more!

What: BLO Music Stage and Beer Garden

Where: 2220 West Broadway at the corner of Penn and West Broadway Avenues

When: Saturday July 30, 2011 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Scheduled bands to perform include:

3-4 p.m. Dan Hylton & Krista Johnson, NOMI Alt-Acoustic Sensation

4-5 p.m. Watson, NOMI Rock & Roll

5-6 p.m. Tornado Volunteer Photo Shoot

6-7:30 p.m. The Undergroove, R & B Funk

8-9:30 p.m. Ruben, Pop/Rock band from Stillwater, MN

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Let the Good Times FLOW!

Post, videos, and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman


By all accounts, the FLOW Northside Arts Crawl was a terrific success. I wish I'd been able to experience more of it, but I spent the majority of the event hula hooping at the Lyndale and Broadway cluster as part of the festivities. Not only did quite a few kids join in, but we received requests to youth hula hooping events in other parts of Minneapolis as well.

The hoopsters had some surprise visitors too, such as...

...Former One Man Minneapolis Officer Mark Klukow, with the Bike Cops for Kids. His partner Mike did some hooping himself, but JNS was scooped by the Bike Cops for Kids' Facebook page, which posted their hooping pictures before FLOW was even finished.




It should be pointed out how DIFFICULT it is to hula hoop while wearing a police officer's utility belt. Heck, I don't even like to have my wallet, Blackberry, or keys in my pockets when I'm hooping. So we'll cut these guys some slack.


By the time hooping was done, most of the other FLOW clusters had shut down or were close to that state, with the exception of the 5 Points Building. Before I arrived there, however, I ran across Senator Linda Higgins. Linda's been profiled consistently on this blog already, but her two adorable dogs and their political support were on full display today.



Once again, JNS was scooped by the Hillside Chronicles blog regarding the phenomenal artwork on display at the 5 Points Building, which is coming along quite nicely, as you can see. Here's what the view will be from upstairs. Once finished, I predict this office space will be among the most sought-after in NoMi.


Although I didn't get over to Broadway Liquor Outlet in time to catch famed NoMi photographer Pat Carney, I did meet up with one of the newest Hawthornites, Brian Finstad. I told him that Cash and Carry would be playing at the after party, and he responded:


City of Minneapolis Ordinance 114.28.03.7 states: "Upon being informed that one will soon see the band Cash and Carry live in NoMi, the recipient of said information shall, to the best of their abilities, approximate the above facial expression.")

And here's why:



I also met perhaps the newest NoMi homeowners, Katie and Jason, who just closed on their home 24 hours prior to the festivities. Welcome to the neighborhood!


In a rather poetic way to end the day's celebration, many of us went to Good Sports Bar and Grill on Broadway, where we had a chance to meet the previous owner of Delisi's and thank him for his service to the community. Thanks to everyone who made FLOW such a great time, and it will be even better next year!

Northside Art FLOW "After Party" (Woo Hoo) Tonight At Five Points Building...

Northside Art FLOW is the big summer event here in North Minneapolis (NoMi) and it's happening today. There's still quite a bit of FLOW you can catch, including the great "After Party" at the newly-renovated "5 Points" building (formerly known as the Delisi bldg) at Penn and Broadway. Enjoy the soulful tunes of Cash & Carry, (featured in the video above) starting at 7:30PM, amidst the brilliant and fanciful artwork of Ken Farkash and others.

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Photos By John Hoff

What would an Art FLOW be without artists? Though I mostly concentrated on food and free alcoholic beverages, I had a chance to meet four artists at this weekend's Northiside Art FLOW, and see art from many others.

In the top photo, Hmong artist Yer Yang displays...

...a traditional form of Hmong embroidery called a "story cloth." In the second photo, Rakhi Singh Bisen stands in front of some of her drawings, which were on display inside The Bean Scene. In the bottom photo, music and spoken-word artist Tish Jones, click here for her MySpace.

Though I didn't snap a picture, I also met Steve Claypatch of Ascension Art. One thing he does is to put cremated pet remains inside glass paperweights, as a kind of memorial. The ashes are known as "cremains."

Nice.

Even During Northside Art FLOW, No Letting Up On The 311...

Photo By John Hoff

During Northside Art FLOW, I was in front of 2101 West Broadway, a building which has some history with "Holding Forth The Word" Ministries, which is reportedly one of two North Minneapolis churches hit especially hard by the foreclosure crisis, click here for an article on the Jordan Livability Blog about THAT.

So there I was in front of that building casually snapping a picture of Jules Inda, the wife of Northside marketing guru Pat Carney, when I noticed, hey, that grass behind Jules is long. Long enough for me to call 311.

But, of course, you can't call 311 on a Saturday though, really, I think you SHOULD be able to call 311 on Saturday, Sunday, and possibly even three eleven in the morning just to, you know, talk about what's bothering you. I've even suggested hooking 311 up to Twitter and text messaging. But we're not there YET.

So I waited until today, Monday, and then I sent an email to 311 about the long grass, with a picture attached. Over there at 311 FOB (Forward Operations Base) they're going to be all, like, WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT GRASS?!

The way I see it, crime is down 40 percent in North Minneapolis despite gang member idiots shooting at each other in a recent isolated incident, and so we should all JUST KEEP DOING WHATEVER WE'RE DOING AND NOT LET UP BECAUSE IT'S WORKING. In fact, maybe we should DO WHATEVER WE'RE DOING TWICE AS HARD.

And what I do...is make scores of 311 reports and, from time to time, some 911 calls.

So I'll keep doing THAT, and (of course) blogging.

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Did You Have Your Portrait Taken During Northside Art FLOW? Find It With This Link!

Photos By Pat Carney

Pat Carney is a great photographer, as evidenced by the enormous size of his camera (Exhibit A) and the fact he can take a picture which makes me look halfway good, and not so much like a geeky dork. (Exhibit B, second photo)

During the recent Northside Art FLOW, Carney snapped numerous professional portraits in front of Broadway Liquor Outlet during the beer tasting event, known as BLO FLOW. If you had your picture taken by Pat Carney, use this link (click here) to find it. 


In the top picture, Dean Rose of BLO poses with me, our shirts making the phrase "BLO FLOW." My shirt is a classic from last year's FLO.

Recycle, reduce and re-use.

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Images From Northside Art FLOW...

Photos By John Hoff

Here are some images from the recent Northside Art FLOW, which is sponsored and produced by the PEACE Foundation. In the top photo, Hawthorne Housing Director Jeff Skrenes demonstrates what happens when you get a lot of free beer at the Broadway Liquor Outlet beer tasting, and then you're left on your own, wandering over to the KMOJ booth. 

For the record, I've taken much more embarrassing pictures, click here. Also click here. Oh, and here.

In the next photo, I was in the parking lot of Cub Foods, listening to the talent show and trying to get the photograph of lunatic fringe candidate James Everett, when I was struck by... 

...how close the Minneapolis skyline was, just towering over Cub Foods, mere minutes away. And at that moment I thought, "For this reason alone, revitalization is inevitable, simply because North Minneapolis is so near to downtown. Forget the drop in crime, the upcoming article in Lavender magazine declaring this place a hot, trendy 'gayborhood.' LOOK at that skyline! Look at how NEAR it is!"

In the next photo, Officer Mark Klukow (on the right) who recently won the One Man Minneapolis "man pageant" loyally sticks with his wingman, whose bike tire has gone flat from running over a nail or something.

In the next photo, Council Member Don Samuels gives his daughter, Amani, a horsey-back ride in the parking lot of Cub Foods, during the talent show. In the last photo, one of the "four angry political midgets" who is running against Don Samuels for leadership of the Fifth Ward, Roger Smithrud. Say what you like about Smithrud, at least he has the grace to pose for a photo even when told the photographer supports another candidate. Compare and contrast with fringe Mayoral candidate James Everett, click here.

Fringe Mayoral Candidate James Everett Doesn't Want A Blogger To Take His Picture...

On Saturday I was at the North Minneapolis Art FLOW with a bunch of good friends, taking in the talent show organized and hosted by the PEACE Foundation in the parking lot of Cub Foods, and who should I run into but James Everett? Everett is running for Mayor.

He previously ran for governor. He really doesn't have a snowball's chance in Hades of winning against R.T. Rybak for mayor, but maybe Everett just wants to get more votes than Al Flowers, who once came in THIRD in a two-way race, click here.

Everett is what political scientists call a "perennial also-ran."

So there I was with my camera, and I thought, "I need a good stock photo of James Everett, in the unlikely event he does anything newsworthy in the election..."

So I approached Everett and introduced myself and asked if he wouldn't mind smiling for a photo. To my annoyance (but not my shock) Everett wanted me to "sit down" with him and "chat" and find out where I was "coming from" before he would simply smile in a cooperative way for a photo.

So I was all, like, "Mr. Everett. You're running for mayor. Obviously people will take your picture. I just want a photo and I'm giving you a chance to let it be a complimentary likeness instead of an image of you with your hand up in front of your face."

Every time I'd raise my camera, he'd throw a hand up in front of his face. I finally said, "Look, we're in a public place. You can't stop me from taking your picture. So it can be you smiling or you with a hand in front of your face. Your choice."

The top photo shows an example of how James Everett makes poor choices. Oh, the bottom photo I just happened to snap while driving out of the parking lot. I love telephoto and Macs. Sure, I've said harsh things about Macs in the past, but they are so great for working with digital photos, like blowing them up ten times their original size.

Oh, one more thing: Everett claimed to be following issues in the Jordan Neighborhood, but claimed he had "no idea" office equipment and records were missing as part of the controversy. Hadn't heard of it. IT WAS NEWS TO HIM! I found myself wondering, "How can somebody claim to know ANYTHING about the JACC controversy and not be aware of controversy with missing records and equipment?"

One of life's little mysteries, I guess. Like who has the Blackberry issued to former JACC director Jerry Moore before he got fired.

(Parody content ahead)

Everett is running on the Social Entrepreneurship Party. I've heard of this party before. My little buddy Chipper The Entrepreneurial Squirrel (click here) tells me he was invited to join, but decided not to get his good name messed up in what smelled like "some kind of nutty scheme."  

EXCLUSIVE JNS BLOG VIDEO: Drumline At Northside Art FLOW

I was stepping off a shuttle bus at this weekend's Northside Art FLOW (sponsored by the Peace Foundation) and I just happened to be in the perfect place to capture this entertaining drum line marching down West Broadway.

I'm told this is the same drum line featured in this OTHER YouTube video, click here, during a "Peace Across The Northside" event. When that video was shot, "Peace Across the Northside was a dream, a hope. Now we actually HAVE peace across the Northside, with crime down 40 percent and revitalization progress busting out all over! In the last couple days, we collectively recoiled in horror at word of two murders...

In SOUTH Minneapolis. 

We have far to go in NoMi, but this weekend's Northside Art FLOW was fun and incident-free. The sounds of this video capture well, in 29 seconds, the incredible positive energy of the entire event. 

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