SoundSet '09 was this weekend in Shakopee, MN. 13,000 strong packed into a parking lot at Canterbury Downs to watch the finest hip-hop acts Minnesota has to offer, as well as some of their friends from other corners of our country.
This was the true jump-off of summer, and there was very high potential for hijinx. We footed it a mile and a half from our hotel to the park, cocktails in hand, and took in act after act on a gorgeous day. It was in the mid-80's and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. If you don't believe me, look at my arms.
My right arm is twice as burnt as my left, mostly because it spent a lot of quality time in the air.
Best act of the day? Surprised to say it, but it was definitely Abstract Rude. Didn't know much about him or his style before the concert, but he had a great vibe going. Very impressive stuff, and I'll be taking in his next show at First Ave in about a month for sure.
I made the executive decision to pack the camera away for the day. As much as I love pictures, I wanted to take in the show without having to babysit my prized possession through a crowd of drunken revelers for hours and hours. Luckily, others in our crew were packing the photo equipment. Eventually, pics of the day will be added to this space, along with other thoughts of the afternoon and evening.
WARNING: SPORT RELATED CONTENT FOLLOWS!
Approximately 50 minutes remain until the kick-off of the Champion's League final. Those unfamiliar with the sport of soccer would do well to tune in to this one. The fixture this year features Barcelona (Winners of La Liga '09 and the Spanish Copa del Rey) squaring off against Manchester United (Winners of the Barclay's Premier League, Club World Cup, and the Carling Cup) for the title of "Greatest Club in Europe."
The CL, for me, has surpassed the World Cup in quality and excitement. I'm pretty sure either of these teams could handle all but the best of international sides. As a matter of fact, both sides feature players who are bonafide STARS of their international teams.
I'll be pulling hard for Barcelona to take home the crown. They showed heart, bravery, and cruel attacking intent against the hated Chavs in their semi-final tie. Defensively, they aren't as stout as United - and few teams are. To win this one, they will have to play their familiar open style of play and hope they don't get burned by United's clinical counter-attack.
Looking for an under-the-radar key for today's game? I offer the following to you.
BARCELONA - Seydou Keita, DM
Keita has been a key for Barca in their Champions' League run. He serves as the anchor of the midfield, providing size and power that is lacking at other positions. Flanked by attacking wizards Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta (who is likely my favorite non-Spurs player in all the world), he has the unenviable task of disrupting United's attack.
By the nature of his position and the players he works most closely with, Keita will be counted on heavily in defense. If he can initiate a few solid counter-attacks with help from the aforementioned duo of Xavi and Iniesta, Barcelona will have some hope of cracking the wall that is United's defence.
UNITED - Patrice Evra, LB/LWB
His unenviable task is to slow Lionel Messi. I rate Evra highly when he's in form, but there may be no hotter player in the world than the tiny Argentine wizard. There's no other way to phrase it - his hands will be full and this matchup could be the one upon which the title match turns.
On the Sunday before the U of M journey, Grant wanted to hit up Grand Avenue for some lunch and sunshine. I obliged and brought the camera for a short journey.
This is my favorite pic out of the group. The kid sitting on the statue was being yelled at off-screen by his mother. Obviously, the statue is not meant to be climbed. He paid no mind and surveyed the lay of the land from his new perch. I had no idea that statue-climbing would become more relevant on Monday...
Future Urban Explorer
This one below is for a friend with a strange obsession with weiner dogs. It's about a three-and-a-half foot tall carving that looks rooted in the yard. We didn't get close enough to examine if it was a statue simply dug in or if it was carved directly from what used to be a tree.
We happened across Summit Lookout Park a bit later on. The park itself was rededicated in 2008 and features a nice, barren patch of grass lined with benches. There is also a dedicated brick walkway surrounding an interesting statue of an eagle owning a snake. The park itself is set high above a road where Summit splits off to the left - the name of the street escapes me. It provides, fittingly, a bird's-eye view of part of downtown St. Paul.
It was a gorgeous day, and these folks took advantage by playing croquet. They're all very formally dressed, as you can see. This was on the first nice, hot(tish) day of the summer so I could imagine some of them were a tad uncomfortable. Still, this is a great use of the public park.
Seriously. Croquet? I like their style.
The Brave
The Snake
We saw a house not much further on which appeared to be hosting some kind of upper-crust social function. Further investigation confirmed our beliefs - there was an open house piano recital just inside. Completely uninterested in the piano recital, we asked if we could take some pictures from their yard and were kindly obliged.
Off to the left of the yard were the ruins of what used to be an old train supply station or something. I wasn't listening very carefully. It was interesting architecture, and the foliage creeping across the old stone arches made for some interesting color contrast.
There was also a playground extending out from a hill in the backyard. This viewing point was raised about six feet off the ground from the bottom of the playground, but a walkway extended directly to us from a higher point.
I returned home in the late afternoon and decided it was time to try to capture the gorgeous trees in our courtyard. Don't be too jealous - they only look this good for a couple weeks out of the year. As of now, those pink petals are littering the area outside our windows.
The friendly neighborhood duck was back at his post near our pool. I'd been hoping to catch him swimming one of these days, as I'd only ever seen him lounging poolside and working on his tan. In the surest sign of summer I've seen so far, he dove in and went for a swim.
Usually, non-residents are not allowed in the pool but we've adopted Duck E. Fresh. He's cool enough to qualify as an honorary pool resident. Once the pool opens this week, I fear we may not see him for a while. He's cool with Ryan and me, but I don't know how he feels about the rest of the people who will be descending on his home in short time.
The continued adventures of Duck E. Fresh
Finally, Ryan and I headed out to Lake Calhoun to check out the...ahem... scenery in the area. A favored activity amongst avid people-watchers in the Minneapolis area, this was a perfect night for a saunter. As you can see, we weren't the only ones out.
The Tin Fish
The tree came in focus perfectly here, as well as the shine off the water right by the beach front.
Lake Calhoun.
I finally had a chance to experiment with manually adjusting my camera's settings to try to improve the quality of sunset pictures. These are my two favorite sunset shots out of about 30 I took to test out how different settings work. The colors were vastly improved simply by switching the camera into a landscape mode. Still, there's a lot to be learned about how to properly take this style of shot. I sprung for a second battery for long expeditions already, and I am pretty sure I need to purchase a tripod in the near-ish future.
On a boat.
Minneapolis - Part III
University of Minnesota - East Bank
We hit the University of Minnesota campus on foot from Grant's house, which is a good mile or so from the center of campus proper. Having lived around the area, I'm familiar with the lay of the land but for the most part, I spend my time in the surrounding area and not on campus itself. The last time I spent any quality time touring the campus was at the end of high school. I had been accepted to the U of M, but decided after the first day of 8-hour guided tours that it probably wasn't the best environment for me. Whether I was right about that will be open for debate, but it's how I felt at the time.
This time, I returned to explore on my own terms with some trusted helpers. The gentlemen brought skateboards to add some fun and speed to their travels, and I followed on foot. We put quite a few miles on for this particular day. The most interesting points in the journey are noted photographically below.
We took a lot of skating shots, but only a few of them turned out. Nick found a couple of stairs and a nice 3-foot loading dock to gap. There was a lot of unrealized potential on these areas of campus, but many sidewalks were closed to construction - restricting us mostly to the areas shown here.
Five stairs, just outside the armory building.
Loading dock, second attempt.
We found this sculpture nestled in the center area of the campus. A fierce debate over its purpose and design ensued. Grant insisted it was some sort of cannon brace or something. Nick seemed to think it resembled some sort of telescopic device, used to scan the heavens for signs of extraterrestrial life. I could have agreed for both of them, but this is an artistic representation of one of those hypothetical things.
When I see this, I simply see a jungle gym for grown-ups.
Looks small here, right?
Not so much.
King of the world.
Grant led us to another of his favorite campus landmarks - this hulking tree. I haven't seen a tree whose limbs extended so horizontally from its core. As you'll see below, this could make for an epic climbing tree. Despite the lack of campus security presence, we abstained from said climbing for the evening and made a note of its location. We shall return some time in the future to continue this particular journey.
Shadows playing on the trees.
This is the Weisman Art Museum, shown from the east. The walkway in the center of the frame was a key location in our journey. I remember it from the days of skating in my youth. Inside the tunnel? Benches on benches. On benches. Perfect for a skate.
Later on, you'll see the building and walkway from the west, shot at night.
The infamous tunnel. I'll shoot this at night some time this summer when the lights are on.
We ran into some friends as we were skating in the tunnel. A gang of current and former co-workers were enjoying the ideal weather by biking for miles. Securing an invitation for a cocktail later in the evening, we bid them farewell and continued on our way.
From the same walkway, you could look down into an area known as the Bohemian Flats (thank you, Kim, for the proper name). The pieces of steel shown here are remnants from the 35W bridge. We are pretty close to where the accident occured, and a new bridge stands in its place. This is where they examine the wreckage.
Twisted steel.
The clock in the forefront here is part of the Carlson School of Management, where Grant spends a good chunk of his time. Creeping over the clock in the background is the Riverside Plaza, the ugliest goddamn building in our fair city. Affectionately known as the 'Crack Stacks' and 'Ghetto in the Sky' by the locals, it appears as if the building itself is preparing to mug the clock tower.
I can't wait until something is done with those buildings in the future.
Carlson clock.
We made a pit stop at Preston's on Seven Corners for some wings and a drink. Rather than resorting to single drinks, we got a fishbowl filled with some kind of mixed cocktail and drank directly from that. I do my part to remain eco-friendly.
The table of girls in the background made for some interesting eavesdropping. They'd all had an interesting weekend, to say the very least. Whatever charm they would have otherwise held over us was ruined as soon as they began to talk. I can't believe they're even in college.
Mission accomplished.
Weisman at night, using Nick's tripod. One of the only night shots to turn out halfway decent.
I took the trusty camera out for a couple trips yesterday. The first was along Grand Avenue and Summit in St. Paul, where the sun was out in full force. Later in the evening, Lake Calhoun was the destination - with a pit stop at Old Chicago in Roseville for a nightcap with the crew from work. Such visits are becoming customary - a regularly scheduled program of sorts.
Tonight's destination is the West Bank of the U of M Campus with minimal crew. Tomorrow's destination is as yet unknown.
I have begun to open up the features of the camera as I've grown more familiar with it. Expect to see shots with more filtering and some widescreen shots as well in the future. It is largely an experimental process, but results of the journeys will be generally improved.
Those looking for tales of high adventure to accompany the pics this week will likely be disappointed. While it was an interesting day from an explorer's perspective, there was a relative lack of hijinx. Perhaps the next couple of days will present an improvement in this critical area.
I'm off to the sunshine. Check back later tonight or tomorrow morning.
We were unable to troubleshoot the issue with the picture disc, but some careful ghetto-rigging of the technology around headquarters has given me enough files to at least whet your whistle. When we have some time to get the full rack of pictures over here somehow, more will be added.
These are the photos from Marc and his insane assortment of camera goodies. As usual, click on any image to see it in full size.
I have come to love Minneapolis over the last couple weeks, in a way that I don't think I completely understand yet.
The next UE expedition will be on Tuesday of next week, so if you're here for the pictures... check late on Tuesday night and on Wednesday morning.
AT&T Tower at dusk, using the crazy lens we have grown to love so much.
Over the little wall.
Nathan and Ryan. I take copious notes. Some day, I may share them with you all.
Marc has a gang of pictures ready to be posted in this space, but the gremlins that inhabit the computers of the world from time to time are conspiring against us. The disc I was given, supposedly the one containing said pictures, is not working. We probably won't have time to troubleshoot tonight, given work schedules and other pre-planned activities.
More later.
Minneapolis, Part II
Starring Marc Bateman, Ryan Mastrian, and Nick Shvetzoff
The second week of Urban Exploration brought two new members to the gang. The inimitable Marc brought some sick-nasty photography equipment with him, and Nick brought a skateboard. Once I get Marc's pics from the night, I'll be posting them in a separate entry. The difference in quality is stark, and the fish-eye lens led to some awesome perspectives of the city.
We arrived in Minneapolis proper at 6:35 PM. Being a Monday night with no major sporting or music events, dowtown itself was a bit barren of people. Sundown was a couple hours out yet, and we had no specific agenda to adhere to. Our loosest version of a plan involved hitting the Foshay Tower, featuring the highest observation deck open to the public. However, we were lacking an address and had no bearing toward the place from our parking spot. Rather than fret, we simply hit the street and marched intrepidly toward the heart of the city.
I got buildings on BUILDINGS in this here, motherfucker.
We were slightly skeptical of the $8 admission fee to the observation deck, but obliged the desk worker and obtained a keycard. He also offered up some valuable advice, in the form of directions to the location of the bar on the 27th floor of the tower. This would prove to come in handy later. First, we headed up to the observation deck to check it out while we still had sunlight.
The US Bancorp Tower, much closer than I've ever seen it before.
The top half of the AT&T Building, a favorite from the first voyage.
Target Center and Target Field.
Love the colors and lines in this one.
Angles on angles. It's a long way down from here.
Security personnel from the hotel arrived on the observation deck arrived shortly after we did. It was actually the clerk from the desk. We had a sneaking suspicion that he might have seen Nick skateboarding across the tower and become suddenly interested in our activities. Still, he passed with no incident.
Having walked around the entirety of the observation deck, we made our way down to the bar three floors below. We were greeted by two bartenders who looked incredibly bored. It was a Monday night, as previously mentioned, and the hotel bar wasn't generating a ton of business.
Our decision to patronize the bar was rewarded. We ordered our first round and began to kill some time before the sun started to set, and a miracle happened before we had been sitting for more than five minutes. A round of cherry bombs was laid upon us, courtesy of our bored bartender. We didn't ask for them, and yet there they were. Certainly, our bartender knows that her generosity will soon become profit. Still, a drink is a drink.
We checked out the rest of the 27th floor to find a remarkable lounge area. I'll spare those photos because I'm sure there will be more from the location in the future.
As if one round of generosity wasn't enough, our bartender soon grew bored of our meandering conversation and made us another round of drinks, on the house. This concoction was called 'Truth and Consequences', and it featured a house-made jalapeno tequila. The rest of the members of our expedition were not the biggest fans, but I thought it was fantastic. It was unique and had the bite you would expect out of a homemade tequila infused with jalapeno peppers.
Truth and Consequences
Since no night can ever be perfect, the cloudy-ish conditions led to an unremarkable sunset. Still, it was made more interesting by our elevation. The process of sunset was short and I recall looking away for about 30 seconds, then turning to find that it had vanished for the evening.
The onset of dusk led to new photo ops, and we started circling the observation deck and snapping away again... except we were buzzing a bit off all the tequila and what-not.
Long way down.
One of the few buildings that still towered above us at our location.
Nothing in particular. I thought this one was well framed.
The US Bancorp building, behind the cage.
Distant viewing. This picture looks excellent in full size.
Colorful win.
While the expedition produced widely better material than our first foray of the year, we made some rookie mistakes. Namely, we didn't have sufficient battery and memory between us to continue documenting the adventure. I'll definitely be getting a spare battery within the next couple of expeditions because I feel like I missed out on a lot of the night. Live and learn, they say.
Marc is in the process of compressing and sending his pics from the evening over in this direction. Those will certainly be worthy of their own post. He has incredible equipment for the task and, based on what I've seen from the pics as we took them, they will be a great reason to stop back here soon.
