Tony Nelson

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Photo by AMagill

​The Twin Cities are a pretty decent place to live thanks to our thriving art and performance scenes, our lakes and parks, and our cutting edge fried food at the Minnesota State Fair. Unfortunately, in order to enjoy these treats you must also survive our never ending winters of despair.

But take heart! Minnesotans are a hearty bunch, so we have just enough summer preserved -- pickled, canned, or just plain faked -- to get us through sub-zero days likes today. Looking to warm up? City Pages tracked down some toasty businesses and events that promise to turn up the heat and humidity (and some may even involve some garishly fake tropical plants).

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Nike Air MAGs

​By now every hipster nerd out there has probably seen and coveted Nike's super-limited-edition Air MAGs, based on Marty McFly's kicks from Back to the Future II (if not, procrastinate for a few minutes by checking out the commercial here). Production of the shoes was limited to only 1,510 pairs, which were auctioned off via eBay with all proceeds going to the Michael J. Fox Foundation. They sold for around $5,000 each to folks like Kanye West, Kid Cudi (who bought four pairs), and San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Brian Wilson (who was seen sporting them in a bullpen covered in discarded sunflower seeds, baseball diamond clay, and dip spit, no doubt sending legions of sneaker freaks into hysterics). When the digital smoke cleared, the auction raised a staggering $5.7 million for Parkinson's research.

A truly worthy cause, but real talk? Those shoes are butt ugly.

Honestly, unless you're one of those aforementioned celebrities, chances are, you're gonna have a rough time pulling off that look in public. You might as well be rocking a pair of astronaut boots with your jeans. And good luck seeing those things survive a Minnesota winter.

That said, here's hoping the trend continues, because there are plenty of clothes, accessories, and home decor inspired by movies that everyday schmos actually could use or wear. For example:
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Photo by Horia Varlan

​While Minneapolis was recently named the fifth best city for recent graduates, there's also good news for folks who stay in school a little longer. Poets & Writers magazine has named the University of Minnesota's MFA program as number 10 in a list of 50.

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B Fresh Photography

College grads: Come to Minnesota for the job market, stay for the loopy politicians and the chicken.

​Break out the keg! Minneapolis has just been named one of the top 10 cities best for recent college graduates.

The list, which factors in average apartment rent, entry-level job opportunities, and census data, ranks Minneapolis fifth in the country, besting San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia.

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​There are certain annual events that every geek worth their longboxes not only looks forward to, but also looks forward to complaining about: San Diego Comic-Con (a pop-culture mecca that long ago sold out to Hollywood), the summer slate of comic book movies (never as good as the source material), Apple's keynote addresses (where the new iPhones never manage to live up to expectations), and of course, the now seemingly annual DVD re-release of the Star Wars films.

As is usually the case when George Lucas decides to further ruin/revise his classic sci-fi franchise, he once again giveth to the geeks (the hexalogy is finally being released on Blu-ray as part of an epic nine-disc box set) and taketh away (digitally adding unnecessary edits, most notably the Ewoks now have the ability to blink, Darth Vader now shouts "Nooo!" as he kills Emperor Palpatine, and Obi-Wan Kenobi unleashes the dreaded Jedi Autotune). Granted, these are minor alterations to most, but to hardcore Star Wars geeks, it's like badly Photoshopping a big, beaming grin on the Mona Lisa.

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​Bad news kiddos; summer vacation is over. This week, parents from all across the country are fist-bumping, chest-bumping, and any other bumping you can think of in celebration of the fact that their kids are back in school. And while Michael Jordan, Mr. T, a bunch of dancing penguins, or any other good 90's PSA can tell you that it's cool to stay in school, the reality is that real education doesn't take place in the classroom; it happens in movie classrooms.

Any life lessons you need to know about love, living, Jesus, or werewolves can all be learned by watching a collection of hot high-school films, all of which make it look way cooler than it really was (except School Ties. That doesn't sound fun, like, at all). That's why we've put together the definitive list of high-school movies that every person must see, along with the important life lessons they've taught us.

WARNING: Serious Julia Stiles action below.

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Thanks, we're happy to be here

​Bratty gossip site Gawker is counting down the 50 Worst States in America and last week named Minnesota the 45th Worst.

That actually makes us the 6th Best, which isn't half bad, except that it's the blog equivalent of "damning with faint praise."

Big surprise: Gawker chose New York as the Best--relying on nepotism over logic and reminding us of all the times the Yankees beat the Twins.

But Gawker's evaluation was clearly performed by someone who never actually visited Minnesota--at best, they shopped at Mall of America during a layover between LA and NYC. Those of us who live here can tell you quite a few more advantages to living in flyover country (including: "no earthquakes").

Here are 50 Reasons Minnesota is the Best State in America. Feel free to add your own in the comments.


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Walker Art Center

Baby Marx: Not exactly Team America, is it?

​If you're ever stuck in a library with a fritzy microwave, heat up a copy of Karl Marx's Das Kapital to meet the father of socialism.

No, really.

That's the beginning of a new puppet show opening tonight at the Walker Art Center, and it looks like a lot of fun. After spending an afternoon at the Walker speaking with the director and the puppeteers, we've brought back a sneak peak of the production.

The following is a list of five things you should know about "Baby Marx."

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