Thursday, May 17, 2012
Apparently there is an "evil" clown that is hired to scare a child in the days leading up to his or her birthday. What?
A couple weeks ago, our Parents Talk discussion was on creepy kids toys. Many agreed that a clown, anything having to do with a clown or anything resembling a clown was straight up creepy. Well, an actor in the Swiss city of Lucerne has set himself up as the "evil" birthday clown. According to the Huffington Post and the Austrian Times, for a fee, parents can hire this psychotic clown—played by actor Dominic Deville—to leave menacing, booby-trapped letters for their children. He will also tease through text messages and phone calls. Deville warns the children they are being watched and that they will soon be the victim of an attack. At the end of the terror-filled week, the birthday boy or girl catches a cake in the face. According to the …
Friday, May 11, 2012
One local artist believes the Minnesota Museum of American Art should be transported to Edina's Grandview District.
When I was a young artist growing up, I would frequently take the bus over an hour from south Minneapolis to the landmark center to view the Minnesota Museum of American Art. The collection was the most important to me as a painter than any other in Minnesota. The demotion of the collection to temporal showings and storage has been the greatest loss to the arts culture in the history of Minnesota. When I discuss this loss with others they either have no idea what I am talking about or simply do not care. It is an insult to the arts community that this world class collection of art has been all but erased completely from the consciousness of the community worst of all people with great interest in the arts. During this month dedicated to …
TwinWest Chamber President Bruce Nustad issued a statement on behalf of five metro chambers.
(The following news release comes from The Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce, Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce, Edina Chamber of Commerce, Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce and TwinWest Chamber of Commerce.) The Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce, Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce, Edina Chamber of Commerce, Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, and TwinWest Chamber of Commerce have been working together to secure state support for the Southwest Light Rail Transit line that would serve Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, Hopkins, Minnetonka, and Eden Prairie. On behalf of the state’s five largest local Chambers of Commerce, TwinWest Chamber President Bruce Nustad issued the following statement: “The business community is disappointed…
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Moms, here's your chance to think big.
The gifts range from breakfast in bed to nothing—with flowers, manicures and greeting cards in between. Moms, perhaps your families have been thinking about your big day for the past month or maybe Sunday will be the first they hear of it. Regardless of your family's style of celebration, Sunday is Mother's Day. And with more than $16.3 billion expected to be spent on the day this year, it is a highly consumer-driven holiday as well. Now's your chance to tell us what you really want. Would you like a clean house? Expensive jewelry? Maybe the day away from all of them? Or maybe, you'd like to buck the tradition and have a donation made in your name, from an organization like World Vision. For $75, your kids could buy a goat for a familiy in…
Thursday, May 3, 2012
The death of a friend's son has me asking what I can do for suicide awareness and prevention.
The son of one of my friends killed himself last week. My friend found him. When I heard that on Monday, I had a rush of emotions: disbelief, despair and anger. Five days earlier, I read a story about a woman whose son, Dustin, committed suicide in fall 2011. The story was by Mike Schoemer, St. Michael Patch local editor. At the time I read the St. Michael story, I felt a tremendous amount of empathy for Dustin's mother, Gretchen Harrington. But it wasn't until I heard about the death of my friend's son that I felt some of the anguish of a suicide survivor. I cried for my friend, who came home from work to find her son dead. I wanted to hug her and sob with her for as long as she needed me; long-distance prayers and Facebook posts seem so …
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Is there a toy you avoid buying because it’s too creepy or scary?
I swear it was possessed. Furby. That furry little menace always sat idly and quiet on my daughter’s shelf when she was younger. However, the minute I walked into her room or even just walked by, Furby would start talking and doing his creepy thing. It wouldn’t have been a toy I would have ever brought into our home willingly – just the gremlin-like look of it was disturbing enough. It was one of those gifts from a relative that you try to tolerate – for a while. Eventually Furby happened to find its way into the bottom of the box of toys during a move. To this day, I’m still fairly certain I removed Furby’s batteries before it went into the box. The minute we loaded the boxes in the van, we could still hear Furby trying to interact with …
Monday, April 23, 2012
What do you think about Congressman Erik Paulsen's postions on taxes and health care? Tell us in the comments section below!
Editor's Note: All information and media has been provided by Congressman Erik Paulsen's office. In this week's installment of "Erik's Correspondence Corner" video series, Rep. Erik Paulsen (MN-03) responds to a question sent in from Scott in Wayzata and Lynda in Coon Rapids. Scott, a small business owner, wrote in expressing his concerns about the tremendous burden the current tax code has placed on his ability to grow, expand, and hire. Also this week, Rep. Paulsen heard from Lynda, who called in voice her concern about the change in the President's new healthcare law which forces consumers who use Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Healthcare Savings Account (HSA) to get a doctor's prescription when purchasing over-the-counter …
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Do 'temps' get more than an inkling of what it's like for real single parents?
Can parents in a two-parent family ever know what life is like for a single parent? When your partner in child-rearing isn't available to help out—whether for a day, a week, a month, or even an afternoon—does that offer a glimpse into single parents' struggles? At any given moment during those times when a spouse or partner is temporarily out of the picture, the challenges may be similar to what real single parent might face: A real single parent could probably come up with a better list, but those are the kinds of things that came to my mind—such as it is. My spouse is traveling a lot for work this month, and the things falling through the cracks are getting bigger by the day, as are the cracks. Actually, I've always thought it would …
Monday, April 16, 2012
Ellison rival posts statement after Republicans endorse Fields.
Lynne Torgerson, Republican candidate for U.S. Congress, posted the statement below at her campaign website Monday. (On Saturday, party delegates endorsed Chris Fields to challenge incumbent DFLer Keith Ellison.) On Saturday, April 14, 2012, I attended the Republican 5th Congressional District Endorsing Convention. There was a stage at the front of the room. Approximately 6 people were seated on the stage. Every person seated was a Ron Paul Libertarian. The Convention was overrun by Ron Paul Libertarians. More than 2/3 of the delegates were Ron Paul Libertarians. When I mentioned that we were at a Republican Convention, they laughed out loud. They began the Convention. There was no opening prayer. Not even a mention of it. There was also …
Thursday, April 12, 2012
The act of premastication has been in the spotlight in recent weeks.
Actress and mom Alicia Silverstone has made some major waves in the past couple weeks with a home video of her pre-chewing her 10-month-old son's food and feeding him mouth-to-mouth. The video, shown above, quite obviously went viral and got doctors, moms and bloggers talking. Silverstone even went on the defensive this past weekend saying she wasn't doing anything new, but she also wasn't suggesting others do it. "People have been feeding their kids that way for thousands of years," she said at a screening for her new movie, Vamps. "I wasn't trying to be independent or cause such a ruckus. I'm very glad that I did it." According to an ABC News report, the practice—called premastication—is in fact a common practice in other countries, it's…
Michael Rose
9:01 am on Friday, May 18, 2012
This does seem a bit cruel and unusual. However, I might be inclined to hire someone to mess with my 18+ child (I don't have one...this is hypothetical). That actually could be kind of funny..."Punking" your college freshman son/daughter could be cool. For instance, maybe you could hire an impostor dorm roommate, who would be the biggest jerk of all time. Then, a few days in, you could reveal the… more ›