bigboxcar: Mugshot Monday - “Little Toothpick Guy” coffee cup with Morning Glory Cold Brew by Peace Coffee I’m in the process of learning how to make decals and put them on my ceramics. This is was a recent test. I made this little 4 ounce stoneware cup way back in 2019 when Jeff Oestreich was teaching me how to make handles in class I took at Northern Clay Center. I tried making a one-finger handle and it turned out ridiculously HUGE. ? But it’s a cute little cup and I love how the decal worked out. I got a lot of help figuring these decals out because I don’t really know what I ..read more

riesenfeldcenter: All I want for Christmas is a snakeskin book? This copy of Death Valley: Swamper Ike’s Traditional Lore: Why, When, How? was a Christmas gift to the famous American lawyer, Clarence Darrow, given to him by his sister Jennie in 1903. We definitely think this is one of the most unique bindings in our collection. The thin wood boards feature strips of snakeskin in a coiled pattern (with a drawn-in tongue!) and the title is branded onto the cover, probably with hot iron. The book describes an excursion from Los Angeles to Death Valley in 1901. “Ike was a peculiar character–o ..read more

jayhawksofficial: Spring has sprung and we’ve got a bunch of shows coming up - with more announcements on the way. We’re back on the road in a few weeks with a show in St. Louis followed by two nights in Nashville. We return to the east coast in early May with 4 shows, including a headlining slot at the Sing Us Home festival in Philly. NOTE: due to an unavoidable conflict, Karen Grotberg won’t be able to make these May shows. As in recent years, our old pal and bandmate Stephen McCarthy will be playing with us again on this run. On June 6, we’ll be making our only Twin Cities concert appeara ..read more

animalhumanemn: I got Naps at the end of January this year. I initially chose her because of how calm she was when she was all curled up. When I got her home, she ran and hid for a few days until she started popping out every once in a while to sit near me or watch whatever show my roommate had put on. About a week and a half in, she started sleeping on my roommate’s pillow and would sit peacefully when we were moving around the room. Eventually, she found that my bed was also very comfortable and the best place to sleep in it is directly on top of me. Now, she curls up with me every night a ..read more

riesenfeldcenter: Happy Solar Eclipse day! ??? Here is our copy of the 4th edition, volume 1, of Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language (1773) and Johnson’s definitions of “eclipse” and “ecliptick.” This is one of our larger books, which is especially evident next to our smallest book (The Inaugural Address of John Fitzgerald Kennedy). ECLI'PSE. n. 1. An obscuration of the luminaries of heaven; the sun is eclipsed by the intervention of the moon; the moon by the interposition of the earth. The word originally signifies departure from a place, to which Milton alludes. 2. Da ..read more

twincitiesseen: Spring reflecting ..read more

riesenfeldcenter: At our last monthly open house of the semester, we pulled a few items with poetry for National Poetry Month. In our copy of Ballads En Termes de la Ley, we stumbled upon a poem about the 1892 Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Company case, which many students recognized from their 1L contracts class. A notable case in terms of contracts within advertisements, Carlill v. Carbolic involved the company’s advertisement stating that buyers who found the product didn’t work after using it as instructed could claim £100 (the equivalent of $20,186 USD today). When Louisa Carlill co ..read more

Before Babe Ruth there was Gavvy Cravath? Clifford Carlton “Gavvy” Cravath was a star player for the Minneapolis Millers who won batting titles in the American Association in 1910/11 and also hit 29 homers in 1911, setting a Minor League record. Cravath was already 31 years old when he joined the Philadelphia Phillies in 1912 but he still led the National League in home runs six different seasons. Cravath’s 20th-century record of 119 homers was broken by Babe Ruth in 1921 ..read more

stuffaboutminneapolis: Shark Tales No More. Live Sharks Caught in Minnehaha Creek Shortly after Jaws opened in Minneapolis theatres back in the summer of 1975, the number of swimmers using our area lakes and pools plunged significantly. So, when a 10 year-old Minneapolis student approached Minnesota DNR biologist Dan Marais about three fossilized shark’s teeth she had found in Minnehaha Creek, he could only smile to himself. More shark tales, he thought. That is, until he actually saw the teeth. They did, in fact, come from sharks. However, two of the specimens were clearly not fossils, b ..read more

animalhumanemn: Just wanted to share an update on our dog we adopted from the Coon Rapids Animal Humane Society a month ago. He was a stray named Bagel by AHS, but we have named him Chester. He was 18 pounds and very underweight when we adopted him. Since then he has gained two pounds and become an irreplaceable, snuggly member of our family. He’s learned basic commands, how to use our doggie door and has become fully house trained. His “big brother” Coco came to us from the Golden Valley Animal Humane Society six-years ago and the two of them bonded instantly and are almost inseparable. We ..read more