Back in the Shiver Cities

Well, I'm back in the good old Shiver Cities, and MSP is looking beautiful this time of year. Never mind that my eyelids literally froze shut while dog-sledding up in the Boundary Waters two days ago- no one is surprised. As usual, Minnesota is sunny and snowy and, apparently, quite predictable compared to the rest of the country. Yep, congratulations, Florida, you're the only U.S. state (including Hawaii) without snow! However, you do have giant invasive pythons now scouring your cities and towns... hmm. Maybe you could use a good ol' blizzard just like everybody else.

As always, from Natalie Dee

I'm happy to be home. 

-K

The Homecoming.... Is Coming!

So, as many of you know, I have been away from the Shiver Cities for a few months, stretching my Midwestern wings out east in Pittsburgh, PA.

 

Pittsburgh, ain't it purty?

It has been a FABULOUS time out here, but in a few weeks, it will be time to come home - back to the Shiver Cities! Once I'm home, I'll be back in action blogging about listening, looking, learning, Eating, drinking, acting, living, and loving in the Twin Cities. I look forward to hearing from you all again and returning to somewhere where the snow actually collects on the ground!

Love to the Shiver Cities,

K

The Single Greatest Succession of Photos Ever

Many of you already know that even before she came back into the America's consciousness after her 2010 Super Bowl Snickers commercial, I have always loved Betty White. She's spunky, graceful, and incredibly hilarious - from Golden Girls to appearances as senile elderly ladies on my all-time favorite show Scrubs, she's fabulous. Not only is she hosting Saturday Night Live on May 8th, but she's back stronger than ever in paparazzi-land as well, proving that showing her face can bring some serious publicity to wherever she happens to be.

This week, she showed up for the opening of a new hot dog joint in Universal City and chowed down on her namesake dog, the no-fixins "Naked" Betty White hotdog. What follows is possibly the greatest work of photojournalism I have ever seen. EVER. Happy Monday, all.

-K

When Local Music Made Love: GAYNGS

Ear-Candy Cocktail

This year is certainly turning out to be a bright one musically. The most recent addition to this spring's music goodness is a new project by, well, a s#*t ton of local and regional artists (and some out-staters), called GAYNGS. The project, which will be releasing their first album, Relayted, on May 11, includes members of Bon Iver, Megafaun, Lookbook, and Solid Gold, as well as P.O.S., Dessa, Michael Lewis (Andrew Bird's sax player), and many more. The hype alone could sell their record, but as happenstance would have it, the music always brings it home, and no matter how many pretty faces have shown up to be a part of Gayngs, the sound coming out of their first two released tracks, "The Gaudy Side of Town," and "Faded High," is what will have me lining up at the record store in a few weeks.

Additionally, they will be playing two shows at (surprise surprise) First Avenue on May 14, one at 5pm and one at 10. 

Here's a first listen of the two released tracks on Myspace.

-K

Head's Up!: Basilica Block Party

Summer is almost here! Well, sort of- it is certainly in sight, anyways. With summer comes a wealth of opportunity and, if you're lucky enough to live here in the Twin Cities, it means it is outdoor concert season.

Aside from The Current's Rock the Garden show (lineup not announced yet, sorry folks!), there are countless other gigs happening this summer that have been announced already, including the amazing Basilica Block Party over at the Basilica of St. Mary in Loring neighborhood.

The Block Party is heading into its 16th year, and they are doing it with a little help from some very talented friends, including Spoon, Weezer, The Avett Brothers, and Ingrid Michaelson, to name a few. I find it incredibly amusing that I rave about Spoon's show last weekend as First Ave and recommend that everyone try and see them if they get the chance because, well, here's your chance! The lineup isn't even finalized yet, but those are the headliners, with more band slots to be filled soon. I had a feeling Spoon would come back soon - we gave them a damn good showing last Friday and Saturday at First Ave, and they gave us some damn good concerts in return.

The block party spans over two days, July 9 and 10, and tickets go on sale this Saturday at 10am at Electric Fetus or on Ticketmaster. For more info, click this link.

Hope to see you there!

-K

America, You May Now Get Sick: The Top Ten Immediate Changes for Healthcare

 The Happy Healthcare Dance

Well, as most of you who do not live under a rock know by now, the historic new national healthcare bill passed last night. As one of millions who are either uninsured or who were about to be uninsured, I'm pretty pleased. For skeptics, the confused, people like me who have trouble sifting through it all, or if you're just curious, I've found a nice little list from HuffingtonPost of the top ten things the new bill will be doing immediately, and some of them are pretty cool:

The legislation will:

• Prohibit pre-existing condition exclusions for children in all new plans;
• Provide immediate access to insurance for uninsured Americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition through a temporary high-risk pool;
• Prohibit dropping people from coverage when they get sick in all individual plans;
• Lower seniors' prescription drug prices by beginning to close the donut hole;
• Offer tax credits to small businesses to purchase coverage;
• Eliminate lifetime limits and restrictive annual limits on benefits in all plans;
• Require plans to cover an enrollee's dependent children until age 26;
• Require new plans to cover preventive services and immunizations without cost-sharing;
• Ensure consumers have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal new insurance plan decisions;
• Require premium rebates to enrollees from insurers with high administrative expenditures and require public disclosure of the percent of premiums applied to overhead costs.

-K, the insured!