Is there no corner of American life not permeated by the "Twilight" books and movies? Is there no excuse Amy Klobuchar won't take to inject a little humor into her Senate life? Check it out:

​Add Cyndy Brucato to the list of prominent Twin Cities television news anchors relinquishing their anchor duties this year. As noted earlier, WCCO's Don Shelby is retiring, and Fox 9's Robyne Robinson is running for lieutenant governor.

Brucato says she's staying at her post through the State Fair and then plans to open "a new chapter." As we noted in 2004, Brucato is ...

More >>

Give this man an award

​What say you, Vikings fans?

Should there be a "new individual honor in the NFL. We're calling it the MV non-QB P -- the most valuable player who doesn't play quarterback."

That's what Kerry J. Byrne is saying at Sports Illustrated. And if such an award actually existed, Jared Allen's his man.

More >>

Photo: hydra arts

Bank robber or ESL candidate?

​Poor Joe Nathan Michael.

According to police, the 47-year-old man showed up recently at the TCF Bank outlet in Cub Foods on 57th Avenue N.E. in Fridley, passed a note to the tellers demanding cash.

He got $1,991 in cash. He got caught. And he got humiliated.

In fact, he's really lucky the tellers didn't bust a gut laughing at him. Michael, it seems, is somewhat linguistically challenged. His note read:

"Give money, I gun."

The alleged crook was nabbed not long afterward, according to Sun Newspapers.

More >>

The heist started impressively, but didn't end that way

​That machete in accused robber Christopher Lee Stensgard's right hand looked pretty badass as he jumped the pharmacy counter of the Walgreen's on White Bear Avenue in St. Paul on June 23.

Police say he scared the bejesus out of the staff has he rounded up as much OxyContin as he could and then tried to make a run for it. Too bad he fumbled his leap-the-counter-to-escape gambit. And the whole sorry episode was caught by a security camera.

More >>

The QB played in Minnesota from 1997-1999

​Former Vikings quarterback Randall Cunningham's son drowned Tuesday afternoon in the hot tub of the Cunningham home in Las Vegas, the Review-Sun reports.

Cunningham played in Minnesota from 1997-1999 after starting his career with the Eagles in Philadelphia. He later moved on to stints with the Dallas Cowboys and the Baltimore Ravens. Since retiring, he's become an ordained minister.

Christian Cunningham, just 2 years old, was found floating in the family's backyard hot tub, the paper reports. The drowning appears to have been an accident. Randall Cunningham was traveling from San Diego to Las Vegas at the time.

Photo: DotBenjamin

The true price of a deep-fried Twinkie on a stick

​Do you look around at the State Fair and think, hmm, "sturdy Midwesterner" doesn't seem to do justice anymore to folks in line for deep-fried Twinkies on a stick? You're on the right track.

Twenty-five percent of Minnesotans are now obese, according to some fresh stats from an organization called the Trust for America's Health. That makes us the 31st most obese state in the Union. (The cheese heads are beefier: 36 percent, placing 26th.)

More >>

It appears this lamp offers more than just a little light

​A little sex with your takeout at Target, kids? Someone in China's having a pretty good laugh at this one.

The Minnesota retailer is selling a kid's lamp shaped and decorated to look like a Chinese food takeout container, emblazoned with what appears to be the Chinese word for "sex."

We assume Target didn't know about this hidden meaning, but the sex lamp just might be the perfect accessory for this sucky economy. Plug in a red lightbulb, place the lamp on your window sill, and watch the business roll in -- from folks who can read Chinese, anyway.

More >>

Screen grab via YouTube

Franken took some interesting notes as Elena Kagan testified

​He's a cut up, a brawler and a napper. And it turns out Sen. Al Franken is also a pretty good doodler.

Waiting his turn to question Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, Minnesota's junior senator passed the time by sketching his colleagues on United States Senate note paper and showing his handy-work to the AP.

More >>

Screen grab via YouTube

Kavosi gettin' his game on

​When Jordan Kavoosi isn't presiding over his plagiarism empire, he's also an avid filmmaker. Here are some of Kavoosi's strangest works posted to Youtube. Notice the plug for Pay For Essay, one of his company's websites, at the beginning of each clip.

1. Company of Heroes. This one is really too strange to describe. It appears to be footage of Kavoosi, a.k.a. Commander Pay For Essay, training for and passionately playing a war video game called "Company of Heroes":

More >>