Minnesota Magic

When asked for four press passes to the season opener at South Bend, the Notre Dame University press man told us "that would be a tall order for the New York Times." Today, we received four press passes to the season opener at South Bend. Amazing what haranguing a press guy can get you.

 

We took in the Minnesota Twins' 8-4 victory over the Mariners in the Metrodome yesterday. Who, you might ask, actually attends baseball games at noon on a Wednesday? Tons of little kids, in fluorescent matching t-shirts, bused in from summer camps around the city. We sat between pink and electric blue, and my head still hurts today.

 

We interviewed a man named Bill who has been a boxing trainer in Minneapolis for 66 years. He works at Uppercuts Gym, the only female owned boxing gym in the country. The guy was fascinating, and seems to have a genuine love for helping others get the crap beat out of them. Really a very nice man.

 

We have been staying with Christian, a third year law student and friend of a friend from Jobing. He works in the public defenders office, and is a genuinely brilliant guy. He got us an interview with one of the lawyers in his office, which was scheduled at 8 am. After returning from the bar on the corner, with Christian and Zach, at 2 AM, I did not make it to the interview; neither did the lawyer. All was not lost, however, as Brett and Zach interviewed a janitor (who spoke minimal English, but seemed to appreciate, if not love, his job very much) and another lawyer (who, low-and-behold, was boring).

 

This morning we interviewed a man named Keith who started Electric Fetus, a record store, in 1968. The place is pretty incredible, specializing in rock and jazz, but also a little bit of everything else. Asked how he has dealt with the rise in popularity of online music sales, he pointed us to the now-larger 'gift' section of the shop, which mostly consists of what legally need to be referred to as 'water pipes.'

 

We head to Madison in a hour, where we will be imposing upon my nephew, who apparently in old enough to be in college.

 

 

xoxo