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Need a reason to go the Minnesota State Fair? Here's one. There's no better way to burn off that hunk of fried junk in your stomach (aka food baby) than taking a leisurely ride on the Skyride instead of walking. If it's hot enough you might sweat it out though.

Photo by madeline !!, more photos on Flickr.

​ Three teens did the oh-so-original ding-dong-ditch prank at Gov. Tim Pawlenty's family home in Eagan and their little joke ended with one State Patrol trooper in the hospital.

The teens allegedly rung the bell and took off around 10:30 p.m. Friday, according to officials. When the trooper arrived, he chased the teens away from the home and fell. He injured his hip and had to be transported to Region's Hospital in St. Paul. He was released that day.

At least one of the suspects was taken into custody and eventually released to parents.

Pawlenty, his wife and their two daughters split time between their Eagan home and the governor''s mansion in St. Paul.

​ Our new hometown hero Brett Favre broke our hearts today when he told ESPN he thinks he has a cracked rib. Just kidding. We say he should call the wambulance.

According to ESPN, Favre hasn't been diagnosed, but says it hurts to take deep breaths. He isn't on the Vikings injury report and it appears he will be playing the entire first half against the Houston Texans.

We think his random comment is more of a forewarning of his terrible performance. No excuses, Brett. They paid you to actually play well and not find random reasons to excuse your long-lost talent.

We'll only excuse this sad injury if he can explain how it happened. We might give him a break if he was doing something all-American like building a deck, mowing his lawn, or making love to his wife.

The last thing he should do after scoring a ridiculous $25 million contract to be "that old guy" on our failing Minnesota Vikings is whine a little about a cracked rib. If we made that much money, a few cracked ribs would be worth it. This is what the Vikings get for signing a senior citizen to the team. Seriously.

But a commenter on ESPN said it best: It's not a cracked rib, that's the rib God took out of him to make Eve.

Photo courtesy of Northstar

​ The day has finally come: People in some of the northern suburbs can jump on a train instead of in their SUV and make the commute to downtown Minneapolis for their workday.

The Northstar Commuter Rail line, which will run from Big Lake into downtown Minneapolis at Target Field, will officially start running Nov. 16.

From our experience riding trains as a form of commuting to work, we have to admit it's a whole lot nicer to sit back and read a book instead of screaming at terrible drivers trying to steer with their leg as they devour an Egg McMuffin.

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​It's not surprising, except that it only took a couple weeks for Brett Favre to outsell jerseys that had months of a head start, according to CNBC.

The other top-selling jerseys are:

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Photo via eideard

​ There's really nothing better than a football star getting busted with the pieces needed to beat a drug test using a strap-on penis with fake heated urine. We're talking about ex-Minnesota Viking Onterrio Smith who was busted at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in 2005 with vials of fake dry urine to pass his drug tests. He said it was used in his "original Whizzinator".

So how do you make a name for your suburban bar in the Twin Cities? Win that very Whizzanator in an auction and display it in your bar for all to see. Nothing better than a fake penis contraption that looks more like a freaky sex toy than a device to hide your substance abuse.

Buster's Sports Bar & Grill in Mankato won the auction Friday and took home the Whizzinator for $750.

We're probably more likely to unexpectedly vomit than to actually purchase more booze if we happened to cross in front of it. If they let us try it on, that would be another story. We've always wanted to try living with a penis for a day. A fake one that pees would get us one step closer.More >>

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Today on Citypages.com's 'In The Stream' with TD Mischke:

• I'm drunk and in jail, somewhere in Utah. Hear me make my one allotted phone call from my cell. Then learn how to do it yourself. It's fun. It's easy.
• It's good to be alive when stuff like this is out there. Just makes the day a bit more enjoyable.

Tune in from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., and feel free to leave comments about today's show below. Call and talk to Mischke live on the air: (651) 330-4091

Comments WILL be posted within minutes -- please do not hit the 'Post' button more than once. If you are having trouble, send us an email.

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I thought Chocolate Rain parodies had passed their expiration date, but Robot Chicken offered up a great one in the form of Count Chocula's "Chocolate Grain." Please to enjoy.

​ St. Paul welcomes all health care reform lovers, haters, and anyone who fears euthanasia by Obama. Rep. Betty McCollum will be hosting a health care forum tonight for constituents to talk about how much they really love being ripped off by private health care providers. It's grass roots, baby!

If you want to be part of the action, make sure to get there early. MinnPost says the space only holds 400 people.

Check out the details below.

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Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Zoo

​ The Minnesota Zoo's dolphin exhibit just got a little more snug now that they have three of Chicago's bottlenose dolphins crashing there until their new aquarium is completed. Warning to the wise: Don't offer your place to a Chicagoan. They usually overstay their welcome.

The dolphins are from the Brookfield Zoo and arrived Sunday night by a FedEx plane. They were monitored and taken care of by zoo professionals during the trip.

"Tapeko," 27; "Noelani," 5; and "Allison," 3, will live at the Minnesota Zoo until their home is complete in spring 2010. The Seven Seas dolphin arena in Brookfield is 20 years old.

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