Local Blog Guide
| By Stephanie Dickrell |
ShareThis
photo via photos.com
Everyone has a blog now, and even MC Hammer's on Twitter. So how does one sort through the riff raff and one-blog wonders to get to those that actually contribute something to the world besides a greeting dated back in August 2003 with a promise to blog regularly? Well, you could begin by reading this, our round-up of some of our local favorites ... you know, besides our blogs, of course. Oh, and feel free to clue us in to new and better blogs, since as soon as this thing was published, it went out of date.
Art and Theater:
Mnartists.org includes an artist database and online meeting place for Minnesotan artists. True, anyone and everyone can get their own page, but it does provides some good insight to the new, the different, and the good of the local art scene. It also has a pretty useful event calendar, that can hold some gems for that Friday date night or Saturday afternoon lull.
The Walker has a number of blogs, ranging from design, visual art and film to new media and their education and community programs. The content varies from self-promotion to Q and As with artists and other fun little tidbits.
The Guthrie’s Big Blue Blog is mostly shameless self-promotion. But it’s also a nice aggregator of anytime the Guthrie or its plays are mentioned anywhere. So if you can’t get enough Kushner, look no further.
L'etoile Magazine's got a blog, too you know. Visit it in cyberspace for an update on all things fashionable from time to time (when not reading The Fitting Room, of course).
Music:
Howwastheshow.com is the go-to place if you weren’t able to make it to that hot, local show last night. Over the past seven years, it has grown to include not only music and theater reviews but also video, podcasts and interviews. Their army of writers manages to make it to many, many local shows.
Switchbladecomb.com provides listings for local shows of national acts, commentary on new music and videos and simply has an awesome name.
Their site is in a similar vein to the following:
Morecowbell.net
Minneapolisfuckingrocks.com
Culturebully.com
Check one or check them all.
Random:
Ripped off from the original either in Berkley, CA or New York City, Overheardinminneapolis.com collects submissions for the weird and off-beat stuff will say in public. And of course, it’s all taken completely out of context. Completely anonymous, it just makes you wonder what the hell these people were talking about.
Check out Metro’s write-up of it earlier this year
Here’s our latest favorite entry:
Date: June 15, 2009. Location: Minneapolis, 4 bus:
Old lady to another old lady: Well, you know the Antichrist is going to use the government to control us. That’s what those TV converter boxes are for.
Other randoms everyone should read:
thedeets.com
crazyinternetbeatz.com
Food and Drink:
Thriftyhipster.com is a great tool for finding those truly great local happy hours. You can search by neighborhood, by bar, or even by time to get the best food and drink deals. They also have a long list of links that goes way beyond this blog sampler.
Reneeandsteve.com has hundreds of restaurant reviews, dating back to the early ’00s. Think of Renee and Steve as those friends who go out to eat everywhere and always have to share their opinion with you. Though relatively un-authoritative, it does provide a nice little window into local restaurants.
Twincitiesbreakfast.com is a one-stop shop to find local restaurants that excel at breakfasting…which is the only important meal to them.
Some more tasty samplings:
heavytable.com
chriseats.tumblr.com
mnbeer.com
camachowatcho.com
tcfoodies.ning.com
shefzilla.com
A little more serious:
Local journalism professor Gary Schwitzer has a passion for health news (some might call it an obsession). His self-declared mom-and-pop blog has worked his way up to number 13 on Wikio.com’s list of health news blogs. Schwitzer gives it to you straight, blasting poor quality health journalism and the health care industry in general, whenever needed as well as updating you on the best and brightest.
Utne.com/blogs
Utne reader provides the best screening for alternative news sources and gives us the best of the best every month in our mailboxes, but their blog does a little bit every day. They link to the new and interesting, with topics like the environment, politics, arts, media, science and technology and great writing. The topics vary widely so it’s always worth a look.
Little bit of everything:
No local blog list would be complete without the non-profit news blog that could, Minnpost. Just a little over two years old, Minnpost operates as a non-profit and hopes to be self-sustaining within the next few years with only reader donations and ad sales to thank. They also strive to provide a living wage for their hard-working writers, more than the Huffington Post can say. The emphais is more on analysis than breaking news, but that’s also where there’s a niche to fill. Our faves include David Brauer’s Braublog which deals with the media, and Eric Black’s Black Ink for politics and government.
And last but not least…
If you’re too damn lazy to actually visit any of the above sites, some give the option of delivering themselves straight to your inbox. These newsletters and emails and provide scoops, freebies, coupons and just plain interesting information.
Hennepin Theater District—Updates on shows in the Hennepin Theater District…sometimes offers discounts to events.
Landmark Theaters—A weekly update on movies coming to Lankmark Cinema’s near you…namely Uptown, Lagoon and Edina. You’re also in the running to get tickets to free screenings of movies not yet out.
Minnpost Daily—A collection of the material published that day that arrives just in time for your lunch break.
Utne newsletters—Choose which topics you’d like to be sent to your inbox or get them all. The topics and emails vary by day.
Electric Fetus—Subscribe to their newsletter to get the latest about their Artist of the Week or any upcoming sales.
Art and Theater:
Mnartists.org includes an artist database and online meeting place for Minnesotan artists. True, anyone and everyone can get their own page, but it does provides some good insight to the new, the different, and the good of the local art scene. It also has a pretty useful event calendar, that can hold some gems for that Friday date night or Saturday afternoon lull.
The Walker has a number of blogs, ranging from design, visual art and film to new media and their education and community programs. The content varies from self-promotion to Q and As with artists and other fun little tidbits.
The Guthrie’s Big Blue Blog is mostly shameless self-promotion. But it’s also a nice aggregator of anytime the Guthrie or its plays are mentioned anywhere. So if you can’t get enough Kushner, look no further.
L'etoile Magazine's got a blog, too you know. Visit it in cyberspace for an update on all things fashionable from time to time (when not reading The Fitting Room, of course).
Music:
Howwastheshow.com is the go-to place if you weren’t able to make it to that hot, local show last night. Over the past seven years, it has grown to include not only music and theater reviews but also video, podcasts and interviews. Their army of writers manages to make it to many, many local shows.
Switchbladecomb.com provides listings for local shows of national acts, commentary on new music and videos and simply has an awesome name.
Their site is in a similar vein to the following:
Morecowbell.net
Minneapolisfuckingrocks.com
Culturebully.com
Check one or check them all.
Random:
Ripped off from the original either in Berkley, CA or New York City, Overheardinminneapolis.com collects submissions for the weird and off-beat stuff will say in public. And of course, it’s all taken completely out of context. Completely anonymous, it just makes you wonder what the hell these people were talking about.
Check out Metro’s write-up of it earlier this year
Here’s our latest favorite entry:
Date: June 15, 2009. Location: Minneapolis, 4 bus:
Old lady to another old lady: Well, you know the Antichrist is going to use the government to control us. That’s what those TV converter boxes are for.
Other randoms everyone should read:
thedeets.com
crazyinternetbeatz.com
Food and Drink:
Thriftyhipster.com is a great tool for finding those truly great local happy hours. You can search by neighborhood, by bar, or even by time to get the best food and drink deals. They also have a long list of links that goes way beyond this blog sampler.
Reneeandsteve.com has hundreds of restaurant reviews, dating back to the early ’00s. Think of Renee and Steve as those friends who go out to eat everywhere and always have to share their opinion with you. Though relatively un-authoritative, it does provide a nice little window into local restaurants.
Twincitiesbreakfast.com is a one-stop shop to find local restaurants that excel at breakfasting…which is the only important meal to them.
Some more tasty samplings:
heavytable.com
chriseats.tumblr.com
mnbeer.com
camachowatcho.com
tcfoodies.ning.com
shefzilla.com
A little more serious:
Local journalism professor Gary Schwitzer has a passion for health news (some might call it an obsession). His self-declared mom-and-pop blog has worked his way up to number 13 on Wikio.com’s list of health news blogs. Schwitzer gives it to you straight, blasting poor quality health journalism and the health care industry in general, whenever needed as well as updating you on the best and brightest.
Utne.com/blogs
Utne reader provides the best screening for alternative news sources and gives us the best of the best every month in our mailboxes, but their blog does a little bit every day. They link to the new and interesting, with topics like the environment, politics, arts, media, science and technology and great writing. The topics vary widely so it’s always worth a look.
Little bit of everything:
No local blog list would be complete without the non-profit news blog that could, Minnpost. Just a little over two years old, Minnpost operates as a non-profit and hopes to be self-sustaining within the next few years with only reader donations and ad sales to thank. They also strive to provide a living wage for their hard-working writers, more than the Huffington Post can say. The emphais is more on analysis than breaking news, but that’s also where there’s a niche to fill. Our faves include David Brauer’s Braublog which deals with the media, and Eric Black’s Black Ink for politics and government.
And last but not least…
If you’re too damn lazy to actually visit any of the above sites, some give the option of delivering themselves straight to your inbox. These newsletters and emails and provide scoops, freebies, coupons and just plain interesting information.
Hennepin Theater District—Updates on shows in the Hennepin Theater District…sometimes offers discounts to events.
Landmark Theaters—A weekly update on movies coming to Lankmark Cinema’s near you…namely Uptown, Lagoon and Edina. You’re also in the running to get tickets to free screenings of movies not yet out.
Minnpost Daily—A collection of the material published that day that arrives just in time for your lunch break.
Utne newsletters—Choose which topics you’d like to be sent to your inbox or get them all. The topics and emails vary by day.
Electric Fetus—Subscribe to their newsletter to get the latest about their Artist of the Week or any upcoming sales.
link
email
print
