China Horse

PF Chang's China bistro.

Kung Pao Chicken is one of my favorites with their hot and sour soup. Great Chinese cuisine.

Target Practice

Spot On, Target North Campus
Target, or as we like to say phonetically, "Tarjeh Bootique"

This is Target Corporate North Campus Brooklyn Park. I must apologize for the tilt. Night photography is difficult when setting up the tripod and the subject is quite dark to get a decent horizon reference. Especially when my hands were freezing. The temp was -9F, -22C when I took this series of photos.

From across the parking lot, the main entrance.

Target Corporate, a bright and interesting building at night. This is where it all happens at Target Stores.

About the North Campus:8 million sq. ft. of office space for over 26,000 employees
2 million sq. ft. of retail/commercial space, including hotels, 3,000 units of housing, and a new park

About Target:
27th largest company in the US (Fortune Magazine) Over 25,000 employees in Minnesota today Headquarter employee growth 500 per year – Brooklyn Park campus to accommodate growth.

Downtown Skate

If you should go skating On the thin ice of modern life...
Ice skating rink on Lake of the Isles with downtown Minneapolis in the background.

Bali High

Plants give the office that cheerful feeling, a sense of the tropics while the snow flies outside.

Bridge View

Lake of the Isles view. Say, could that be Mitchster in photographic action under the bridge?

The Strib

Streetside Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper box.

La Dolce Vita

Happy Valentines Day!

How about some sweets for your sweetheart. Treat yourself to some ice cream. My favorite desert. Well, actually, gelato is, and is far superior to ice cream; but sadly, gelato is not readily availible here. And the gelateria we do have is way overpriced. But for today, spare no expense. I'm out of here for some stracciatella and amarena gelato!

Lake of the Isles Ski Run

Skiers glide under the Lake of the Isles Parkway bridge. Orange cones mark the trail by day, candle lanterns by night.

Uptown World

Views from Uptown Minneapolis along the Greenway.

Lake View

As seen from a frozen Minneapolis lake along the cross country ski trail.

29 Palms

Palms growing in pots at the office I work for. A touch of indoor tropics.

A work in progress here in the North Metro, please bear with me from as I update, upgrade, and scratch my head trying to figure out how this html business works.

Thanks to Fénix - Bostonscapes for the suggestion and tips to link a larger image in one step rather than 3 steps away from the North Metro and 3 steps to get back again. I had no idea this was the case. Grazie, Fe'nix!

Evening on Lake of the Isles

City of Lakes Loppet ski trail. Here we can see one of my fellow photographers setting up his shot.

On this evening, my tripod failed. The center post locking device failed. A trip back to National Camera Exchange to make a return and replacement. Their floor model of the same tripod had the same problem; a design flaw we were thinking. I was quite pleased that National Camera Exchange helped me decide upon upgrading to a better tripod. We decided on a Manfroto 725B.

I tend to be a bit cheap at times, but sometimes that ends up wasting time and spending more in the long run. Lesson learned, you get what you pay for...within reason, of course.

Larger Size

Ice Block Luminary

A square ice lantern. These lanterns were spread across Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis for the Caribou Coffee Luminary Loppet

Click here for Full Size

Mississippi Freedom

Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park and Three Rivers Park . The Mississippi River flowing freely over the Coon Rapids Dam. The causeway above is the walking path linking the cities of Brooklyn Park and Coon Rapids, Minnesota.

Iced Lava

Dam ice is getting thicker on the dam at Coon Rapids Dam. This is just below the spillway.

Red Refuse

2007 is gone, so is the Coke.



Cart Corral.
Carts tend to wander off on their own.

It is Tuesday, Fat Tuesday...and, (sigh) Super Tuesday. Theological promises of Resurection and Redemption . Political promises to be broken and forgotten.

Wee Ski

Everyone is a winner! The City of Lakes Loppet presents the Sons of Norway Minne Loppet. A race for skiers 12 and younger. This wee one is off to an excellent start showing remarkable determination.

The City of Lakes Loppet is "The premier urban cross country ski race in Uptown Minneapolis. I had the privilage of shooting this event with three other fellow photographers and bloggers, Mitch , Bob, and Matt. Their blogs are linked on Mitchster.

Ice Globe

An Ice Lantern on Lake of the Isles illuminating the ski trail for the City of Lakes Loppet. These globes are a creation of Ice Lanterns

Square Drain

Because it is ornately square.

When People Think of My City

"When People Think of My City...:"

Actually, I really don't know what people think of when they think of Minneapolis. Well, besides cold, snow, and ice during the winter. We have that miserable Dome for our football and baseball teams. The Foshay Tower, Mary Tyler Moore statue on Nicolet Mall. Minneapolis is a city of lakes; yet they are frozen over with ice right now. There is too much to decide upon.

My fellow Twin Citian Bloggers will no doubt come up with excellent examples of what people think of our Cities. I decided to leave winter behind and flashback to summer. Shown here is an icon of Minneapolis as you cross into "nordeast" over the Hennepin Ave Bridge.

The billboard was errected in 1940 and used to light each night flashing GRAIN BELT BEER. Sadly, the lights are now turned off. Grain Belt beer was first brewed in 1893 by Minneapolis Brewing Company until 1976. In 2002, Scell Brewery in New Ulm Minnesota took over Grain Belt with their Premium and Premium Light brews.

So, next time you see a Grain Belt Premium or Grain Belt Premium Light, you will now think of Minneapolis and this cool billboard, or perhaps New Ulm, Minnesota.

Stop by and visit the participants in Theme Day:

Portland (OR), USA - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Memphis (Tennessee), USA - Manila, Philippines - San Diego (CA), USA - Anderson (SC), USA - New York City (NY), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Mexico City, Mexico - San Francisco (CA), USA - Mumbai (Maharashtra), India - Mainz, Germany - Weston (FL), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Turin, Italy - Las Vegas (NV), USA - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia - Bicheno, Australia - Durban, South Africa - Joplin (MO), USA - Nashville (TN), USA - Stockholm, Sweden - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Brussels, Belgium - Chicago (IL), USA - Montpellier, France - Seattle (WA), USA - Mazatlan, Mexico - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Sharon (CT), USA - Sesimbra, Portugal - Toulouse, France - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Susanville (CA), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - Helsinki, Finland - Pilisvörösvár, Hungary - Lisbon, Portugal - Mexico (DF), Mexico - Trujillo, Peru - Dunedin (FL), USA - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - London, UK - Baziège, France - Jefferson City (MO), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Selma (AL), USA - Mumbai, India - Naples (FL), USA - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Setúbal, Portugal - Stayton (OR), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Sofia, Bulgaria - Arradon, France - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Athens, Greece - Austin (TX), USA - Singapore, Singapore - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Jackson (MS), USA - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Budapest, Hungary - Rotterdam, Netherlands - St Malo, France - Chandler (AZ), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Cleveland (OH), USA - Nottingham, UK - Kansas City (MO), USA - The Hague, Netherlands - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - Wrocław, Poland - Chateaubriant, France - Cheltenham, UK - Moscow, Russia - Monrovia (CA), USA - Saigon, Vietnam - Toruń, Poland - Grenoble, France - Lisbon, Portugal - New Orleans (LA), USA - Sydney, Australia - Boston (MA), USA - American Fork (UT), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Montréal (QC), Canada - Wichita (KS), USA - Radonvilliers, France - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Christchurch, New Zealand - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Wailea (HI), USA - Aliso Viejo (CA), USA - St Francis, South Africa - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Seattle (WA), USA - Pasadena (CA), USA - Vienna, Austria - Orlando (FL), USA - Torun, Poland - Delta (CO), USA - Santa Fe (NM), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Haninge, Sweden - Paris, France - Stavanger, Norway - Niamey, Niger - Le Guilvinec, France - Bogor, Indonesia - Saarbrücken, Germany - Auckland, New Zealand - Wellington, New Zealand - Budapest, Hungary - Juneau (AK), USA - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Glasgow, Scotland - Chicago (IL), USA - Jakarta, Indonesia - Adelaide (SA), Australia - Sydney, Australia - Riga, Latvia - Subang Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Terrell (TX), USA - Terrell (TX), USA - Inverness (IL), USA