Here's me in the yearbook, editing the school newspaper. Note the references to a "dark room" and "chemicals."

Today I will return to my alma mater, Cherry High School. It occurs to me that it's been about 12 years since I've even set foot in the school for my sister's graduation. They've since torn down the original schoolhouse where junior year a teacher directed us across the squeaky hardwood floors to a special PC purchased by the district.

She said, "That has the internet." And so I learned what the internet was, going home to write a terrible short story on my combination word processor/typewriter about the dangerous dystopian future this "internet" would bring. I wrote a comedy act about resisting this "internet" which was a huge hit with the middle aged teachers who represent competitive high school speech judging. I won the state championship.

A former classmate of mine @kristencooper, now a teacher and librarian at Cherry, invited me back to talk to students about using the web and social media to share information. I will tell the kids how to use Twitter to interact with vaguely famous people you otherwise might not meet. I will tell them to budget their time carefully on Facebook. Stay off the games. Have a purpose. I will then use the wifi to check my Facebook to see if people like my status update about the funny thing that I presume will happen to me later this morning. How many likes? Surely, someone must like me. Maybe now.

With the resignation of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today, former U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN8), the former House Transportation Chair and Iron Range political veteran, is being mentioned as a potential successor. Oberstar was mentioned four years ago as well, but passed in order to keep his chairmanship. After his 2010 re-election defeat, he finds himself available for service this time around.

Rachel Stassen-Berger of the Star Tribune spoke with Oberstar. He expresses interest in the job, but admits that it's likely that the Obama adminstration is looking elsewhere to balance out the demographics of the cabinet.

UPDATE: MinnPost also has a fine Oberstar for SecTran story.

On Wednesday night, the Fortune Bay Resort and Casino near Tower will call its last bingo numbers. Waning bingo popularity has caused the gaming facility to cut bingo from its gambling offerings, something sure to make several people we know roll in their graves ... literally. Well, perhaps "literally" is not the right word, but those people are definitely dead.

My wife and I went to Fortune Bay a couple times years ago to try out the casino life. We never had much luck on the floor and both times ended up escaping to the comfortable environs of the bingo hall, though never with any luck there either. We struggled with a sense of inferiority to the seasoned full time bingo players. So much smoke.

Bingo dies a smoker's death, early and with some warning but not that much.

Offered without commentary:

@minnesotabrown will be visiting Cherry tomorrow to talk politics and social media
— Kristen Cooper (@cherrytech) January 29, 2013

@cherrytech Before return to alma mater, I demand amnesty on matters pertaining to the beaver cartoon published in the school paper in 1997.
— Aaron Brown (@minnesotabrown) January 29, 2013

@minnesotabrown @cherryprincipal Mr. Carey will have to do that. I'll push for a full pardon of all HS actions, just in case...
— Kristen Cooper (@cherrytech) January 29, 2013

@cherrytech @minnesotabrown I would need to see the cartoon before any action is taken
— Mr. Carey (@Cherryprincipal) January 29, 2013

@cherryprincipal @cherrytech You might find it in the dusty folder marked A. Brown's PERMANENT RECORD in the top right drawer of your desk.
— Aaron Brown (@minnesotabrown) January 29, 2013

@cherryprincipal @cherrytech There are many anatomic words that would be funny if said by a Clip Art cartoon beaver. This was one such word.
— Aaron Brown (@minnesotabrown) January 29, 2013

@minnesotabrown @cherrytech seems we must have left that in the old building before it went down. Looks like you are clear
— Mr. Carey (@Cherryprincipal) January 29, 2013

@cherryprincipal @cherrytech Excellent. That is good news. I am looking forward to returning to (new) old Cherry High tomorrow.
— Aaron Brown (@minnesotabrown) January 29, 2013

More on this tomorrow.

If all goes to plan, oil tankers carrying Canadian and North Dakota crude oil could be shipping out of the Port of Duluth next year. Business North, WDIO and others have the story. Decades ago, oil had previously been shipped out of Duluth. Tankers run in other parts of the Great Lakes. This particular project would only amount to about two ships a year and 15 new employees, but that could grow if the endeavor works.

Old news to some, but former State Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Pike Lake) will be taking a position in the office of U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN8).

According to this Duluth News Tribune story, the position's details have yet to be worked out. It's possible that it could be related to a constituent office on the Iron Range, though I'm also hearing it could be related to mining policy. That would represent a rather firm statement by the Nolan team, as Rukavina is one of the more outspoken supporters of nonferrous mineral mining in northern Minnesota.

It will be interesting to see how the opinionated Rukavina fares as a member of a congressional office in which he is not the Congressman.

Mining careers continue to dominate discussions about northern Minnesota's economic future. And it's true; a number of jobs are coming down the pike.

Those jobs were the subject of a career fair held last week at the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm. Interviews were held on the spot and I don't doubt some hires will transpire as a result. But as a job-seeking friend of mine said, "It's a lottery." In other words, the jobs available do not equal the qualified job seekers. Not yet, anyway.

The mines have become very sophisticated in their hiring; seeking more education and certain character/personality traits they feel best reflect the needs of the changing industry.

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development did produce a fine graphic depicting the kinds of jobs found in modern iron mining. You may wish to check out the graphic or go below the jump for a glimpse.

Unfortunately I could not resist Tweeting some political humor over this subject:

Lobbyist? @positivelymn Can you name the top 10 mining occupations in Northeast Minnesota? goo.gl/HnDxP
— Aaron Brown (@minnesotabrown) January 25, 2013

Find the actual DEED employment graphic below:

Here is my Sunday column for the Jan. 27, 2013 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. An audio version of this piece aired yesterday on Northern Community Radio's "Between You and Me." I offered some additional thoughts (and cool whale art) on Friday.

Thar she syncs: Accepting my e-fate
By Aaron J. Brown

Behold, me lads and lassies. I’ve tacked an iPod Touch to the mast of our ship. It be for the one who spies the first glow of the Great White Screen.

Many say that physical, paper books will never truly be replaced by Kindles, Nooks or iPads -- perhaps you are one such person? I was too. Even though I’ve charged headlong into the world of new media writing and strung-out internet addiction, I held off on e-books. It was about pride. I was going to save books. Just like how I saved newspapers 10 years ago. You know, before I started my blog. (sigh).

Well, I got a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas. I wanted to make a statement in choosing my first book to read electronically, so I chose what is literally the Great American Novel, certainly in terms of raw paper weight, “Moby Dick.”

This story of the whaling vessel Pequod’s ill-fated expedition on the high seas of the 19th Century is required reading for most American literature students. I remember reading it in English class at Cherry High School, in an anthology so cumbersome it could only be read at a desk or in a weightless environment such as the International Space Station. I recall Mr. Haapala allowed us to skip a number of chapters dedicated to whale anatomy, allowing us to focus on the more literary passages found near the beginning and end of the book.

Of course, in “Moby Dick” a daydreaming, often hapless narrator named Ishmael (he told us we can call him that) recounts Captain Ahab’s prideful mission of revenge: to find and kill the storied White Whale that took his leg on a previous voyage. They sail the world over, killing many whales, a profitable endeavor we learn, for the lights of the whole world run on whale oil at this time. But only the death of Moby Dick will comfort Ahab.

Just as the life of a whale is found mostly beneath the waves, so too is the meaning of Moby Dick. Ahab’s quest for Moby Dick dooms this vessel. Fate dictates that the White Whale was supposed to take Ahab’s leg, as it maimed and took many sailors before and after. To pursue this whale was to pursue death, something even Ahab seemed to understand:

“By heaven, man, we are turned round and round in this world, like yonder windlass, and Fate is the handspike.”

This said, Ahab persists. In the throes of gruesome battle with the whale, the ship’s faithful first mate warns:

“Oh! Ahab,” cried Starbuck, “not too late is it, even now, the third day, to desist. See! Moby Dick seeks thee not. It is thou, thou, thou, that madly seekest him!”

Soon after, Ahab is killed by an errant rope line. Moby Dick stoves in the ship, instantly committing the Pequod to the bottom of the ocean. But one survivor avoids the whirlpool, our narrator, who watches a familiar sea bird land gently on the hammer of a sinking crew mate, as it, too, sinks to the bottom.

Though my nightstand is stacked with books in which I’ve made varying degrees of reading progress, I finished “Moby Dick” in just 10 days on the e-reader, something I would not likely have tried otherwise.

Now I have accepted what has always been true, that the value of books is language and stories: as old as humans, found in as many varied forms as people can imagine and recreate through telling. I’m reading a paper book now, but surely I will return to the digital seas. For after reading a tome so enjoyable and vast as “Moby Dick,” one rightly seeks both land and sea. Let not pride keep us locked in one age or the next. As Ishmael said of the well-traveled whales that indeed would outlived the Pequod:

“Oh man! admire and model thyself after the whale! Do thou, too, remain warm among ice. Do thou, too, live in this world without being of it. Be cool at the equator; keep thy blood fluid at the Pole. Like the great dome of St. Peter’s, and like the great whale, retain, O man! in all seasons a temperature of thine own.”

Aaron J. Brown is an author and community college instructor from the Iron Range. He writes the blog MinnesotaBrown.com and hosts 91.7 KAXE’s Great Northern Radio Show on public stations.

Hey howdy hey, northern Minnesota alt bluegrass sensation Trampled by Turtles has $5 album downloads at Amazon until next week. Shop and save!



You bet I make money if you click on these links. If all goes to plan I'll have a bill that folds when this is done. We'll be in the crowd for the sold out May 8 Trampled by Turtles show at the Reif Center in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Good times.

I got a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas this year and was forced to confront a matter of pride. I had resisted jumping over to e-readers, despite their obvious popularity, instead remaining loyal the paper books I grew up with and love.

If I was going to read an e-book for the first time, I wasn't going to mess around. It would be "Moby Dick." If this thing could handle "Moby Dick," it had my respect.

Damn if, amid a busy schedule, I didn't read and enjoy "Moby Dick" in less than 10 days.

Some thoughts on pride, change, e-books and the White Whale dominate my radio essay and Sunday column this week. You can read the full version here Sunday morning, but I'll have it on Northern Community Radio this Saturday morning on the "Between You and Me" program, which this week explores topics on the subject of pride.

"Between You and Me" airs from 10 a.m. to noon on 91.7 KAXE (Grand Rapids, Aitkin and the Iron Range), 89.9 (Brainerd) and 90.5 KBXE (Bemidji and Bagley). You can catch the live stream from anywhere on Earth at KAXE.org.

With modern technology you could even listen at sea, somewhere over the bones of Moby Dick.

If the last two weeks of frigid cold in northern Minnesota wasn't enough, we can now remark that *real* winter has arrived. The final laker of the season arrives in the Port of Duluth this morning.

From the Duluth Seaway Port Authority:

Duluth, Minn.,USA — The US-flag laker, John G. Munson, is currently sitting at anchor just outside the Duluth Ship Canal. The vessel is scheduled to sail into the Port of Duluth-Superior tomorrow  morning (Friday, Jan. 25) for winter layup.

Her arrival will officially wrap up the 2012 commercial shipping season in the Port of Duluth-Superior. Though the Soo Locks (at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.), closed at midnight on January 15, the Munson was able to make a handful of late season deliveries of iron ore across the eastern tip of Lake Superior.

U.S. Coast Guard cutter ALDER is in transit, expected to arrive in the Twin Ports sometime after sunrise to assist with ice breaking in the harbor already underway with tugs from Heritage Marine. After passing beneath the Aerial Bridge, the Munson will fuel at the Port Terminal prior to moving, with tug assistance, to Fraser Shipyards.

Final tonnage totals will be released soon, but it appears that the Port of Duluth-Superior will wind up the 2012 season just shy of 37 million short tons, according to Adolph Ojard, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.

The Soo Locks are scheduled to reopen on March 25 for the start of the 2013 shipping season.

Photo: Robert Welton / courtesy Duluth Seaway Port Authority

There is an active fire going on on the second floor of the Sportsmen's Restaurant building in Hibbing. Other businesses are also in that building.

UPDATE: Breaking News at Hibbing Daily Tribune site. Also, Duluth News Tribune.

Yesterday, Andrew Sullivan linked to this post by the daughter of a diplomat who was toured around inside North Korea recently. The post paints the picture of a frigid winter dictatorship with all sorts of eccentric, often frightening details about how people are raised to believe in the totalitarian state.

Of particular note seems to be the large numbers of staged events for these touring diplomats, and the curious nature of the authorities who knew that life outside North Korea is so vastly different than how it is portrayed to the people who live there. Can maintaining political power alone explain the motivation of the leaders? It just doesn't seem to be enough motivation for what you'll read here.

I am not your go-to source on world political analysis, but I think it's this post is well worth a read. It's somehow hilarious and deeply scary.

A month ago I posted video of North Korean students playing an accordion version of A-Ha's "Take On Me." Seems to fit right in.

With yesterday's budget announcement by Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton we begin the months of haggling over the state's budget for the next two years.

Regardless of your opinion on the budget, one thing I have encountered in my return teaching this semester is the sheer weight of financial burden on my public community college students.

Even at an institution like ours, where you once got a two-year degree or technical training with almost no debt, students must now borrow and work constantly to afford the one thing proven to free people from poverty and hardship: a college education.

And when I say "work," I don't mean 10 hours a week at the library. Students are working full time to afford to live and attend school, and their schooling is suffering as a result. Add to this the complications of raising a family or paying for a mortgage, and the math gets harder.

Please go below the jump to see this full graphic by the Frugal Dad blog. I do believe this is an accurate view of what students face. Simply not going to college should not be considered a solution. It is a disqualifying frame of reference in our current economy. So, this debate should continue with the following information in mind.

See the graphic:

The New York Times has a fascinating graphic showing the stage during President Obama's inauguration address yesterday. It's a high resolution photograph taken during a completely random moment of Obama's speech. Some people are paying close attention. Some are checking their phones. It's clear the weather is only so-so. Some people are happy. Some are bored. Some are just cold.

Minnesota's U.S. Senators sat together for the event. Check this out:



Ha! How Minnesotan is this picture? "Dad. Mom. I've decided to major in theater."

(h/t Political Wire)

Yesterday, NBC's Today Show aired a feature story on the Iron Range city of Ely. A local resident wrote a letter to President Obama asking for a letter to put in the town's 50-year time capsule. After a while, with hope fading, a beautiful hand-written two page letter from the president himself arrived in the mail. It's a neat story:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

(h/t Bob Collins)

This seems like the best way to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day on the Iron Range:

The North East Area Labor Council will feature a showing of the 1993 documentary "At the River I Stand" on Monday, Jan. 21, 6 p.m., at the Iron Range Operating Engineers Local 49 Hall, 8381 Enterprise Rd, Mt. Iron. The film chronicles the AFSCME Memphis Sanitation workers strike in 1968, where Dr. King gave his famous "I've been to the mountaintop" speech. He was assassinated the following day. The film showing is free and all are welcome.

The fabulous, prophetic, chilling speech King gave in Memphis the night before he was shot is required viewing:

UPDATE: President Obama's Second Inaugural Address from earlier today.



Today is Inauguration Day (Observed). At noon today President Obama will take the oath of office for his second term. It's a formality. Inauguration Day is always Jan. 20, but when that date falls on a Sunday, like it did this year, the pomp and circumstance is held off an extra day. Instead, a small, private ceremony takes place at the White House.

So, for those of you who don't have time for the four hours of parading and trumpeting today, here's the nitty gritty that took place yesterday:



If you're looking for live coverage of today's ceremonies, you can find them at a number of reputable sources. I do enjoy the sound of the cannons and Hail to the Chief after the oath, just before the speech. Maybe that's latent emotion tied to the concluding scene of "All the President's Men."

We've got quite a predicament here in northern Minnesota. It's cold. We're under a wind chill advisory right now. Tonight at midnight we have a wind chill warning, with -50 wind chills and a high tomorrow of -14. That's a high. If we're lucky, -14 is as hot as it'll get. Exposed skin will experience frostbite in less than a minute. Frostbite functions much like a burn. It is a burning cold.

Now, this is cold. It is noticeably colder than it has been recently. But, on the other hand, it's usually this cold in January. Usually, meaning, before the string of warmer winters we've had lately.

So now the predicament. Do we acknowledge that it's cold? Do we say "Brrrrrr" on Twitter or Facebook? A lot of people are doing just that. But there are other people who say "I can't believe all these wimps. This is Minnesota!" Still others straddle the line with hipster references to various memes juxtaposed with acknowledgement of the cold.

That's right. This is Minnesota. Our culture punishes those who believe their hardships are special. You are not special. And I mean you, person reading this. You especially.

But it is cold. I don't want to open the door. I have a blanket on my lap. I'm cold.

Sometimes these things must be said aloud.

I'll be appearing on the LeftMN Radio Hour on AM950 in the Twin Cities Sunday from 2-3 p.m. You can stream the station online. The program will eventually be archived at LeftMN.

The topic will be U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan and his first few weeks on the job representing northern Minnesota in Congress.

This is my Sunday column for the Jan. 20, 2013 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune.

The broadband crossroads
By Aaron J. Brown

Last week I chatted with my cousin and his new wife. They were in Philadelphia; we spoke through an internet video phone connection at my grandparents' home in Keewatin, Minnesota. While my cousin explained how close they live to Ben Franklin’s grave, we nestled in my grandma’s sewing room in the heart of the Mesabi Iron Range.

It was a good thing we were in Keewatin for this because the internet at our home 15 miles northwest isn't fast enough to sustain video streaming services like Skype or Google Hangout. At least, not reliably. Even though my wife and I make much of our living writing content and communicating with people on the web, our lives in northern Minnesota have meant making sacrifices on the reliability and cost of our internet.

According to the FCC, about 119 million Americans live without access to high speed internet, commonly called “broadband.” More than 19 million of them, like us, live in an area without access to broadband. Wireless and satellite services close the gap, helping us do most of what we need to do; but the limits are wearing on us. We pay more than $1,000 a year for our satellite internet and routinely hit our “data cap,” after which our fast speeds are rendered slower than dial up.

Several studies and reports have been released on the issue of high speed internet in northern Minnesota, all painting a slightly different picture -- but all showing our state and nation behind the rest of the industrialized world in this basic modern commodity. In reality, the confusing structure, varied use and widespread misunderstanding of the internet here is the real problem.

Not all internet is the same. A data plan on a new phone will let you use the internet wherever you have reception. But this “internet” is not broadband; not exactly. You face steep data caps (limits on how much you can do) and translating that service to your computer is prohibitive to many professionals. Further, focusing on phones -- apps, videos and music -- reinforces the false notion that the web is “just for fun.” The web is the way our economy works!

And while those of means can afford workarounds, like we do in paying for satellite service, working families will always be limited by cost. And the cost for access, and the cost for access to enough bandwidth (data capacity) for professional use of the internet is a big problem in the United States.

Our economy is ever reliant on things we understand and things we are only beginning to understand. Yes, the future will require raw materials like iron ore and lumber, things we have extracted for more than a century in this region. We will need food (farms) and goods (manufacturing), as humans have since civilization began.

This would normally bode well for rural Minnesota, producer of all these things. But it hasn’t. Efficiencies in production greatly reduce the number of people needed to staff these industries. While the promise of additional mining remains on the lips of many on the Iron Range, the reality is that the population and employment levels of the Iron Range won’t change much over the next few decades; if anything they will continue to slightly decline.

Perhaps if retirees continue to settle here in record numbers, which could level off our losses. However, in that case school referendums will continue to fail and our schools will suffer, further stratifying the people who are here to make a living and the people who are here to celebrate a life they lived someplace else.

As sure as our ancestors sought abundant natural resources in northern Minnesota, their great-great grandchildren will flee for lack of access to the modern economy. We have had, and missed, opportunities to change this; we will not have many more.

Frankly, those in our communities who continue to reject or dismiss the internet as a part of our future will cause scores of future generations to be raised elsewhere, while our communities wither into the small shells common to once-mighty mining towns.

Ask your grandchildren. Or the kids at the high school. Ask them where they want to live and why.

Aaron J. Brown is an author and community college instructor from the Iron Range. He writes MinnesotaBrown.com and hosts 91.7 KAXE’s Great Northern Radio Show on public stations.

For more reading on this topic, read Gov. Mark Dayton’s Broadband Task Force plan outline or this fine column, "It’s Time to Fix the Pitifully Slow, Expensive Internet Access in the U.S." by Susan Crawford of Wired.

Oh, my bog! The Sax-Zim Peat Bog, the location of my childhood, is in the New York Times. It's a bird story. You gotta like birds.

The picture at right, which often appears on this blog, is of a former road sign once found in the Sax-Zim Peat Bog.

Every year I write a predictions column involving the Oracle of the Sax-Zim Bog.

The Sax-Zim Peat bog is quiet, except for all those damn birds and taconite trains. The Sax-Zim Peat Bog is cold and crisp-smelling, except in the summer when it's hot and smelly. If you are a nearsighted child with no glasses the Sax-Zim Peat Bog is a mix of the colors green, yellow and black. Whatever color that is.

Trampled by Turtles announced their 10th Anniversary Minnesota Tour this week and tickets just went on sale. My Cheapskate bride and I nabbed a pair of tickets for the May 8 Grand Rapids, Minnesota, show at the Reif Center. Get your tickets here.

I'm sure this show will have me scheming for my June 29 Great Northern Radio Show at the Reif Center.

If you missed it, Trampled by Turtles was on Conan this past week.

The Duluth News Tribune reports on the EPA's plan to reduce haze from taconite plant emissions on Minnesota's Iron Range and in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

It seems like the mining companies are still sorting out exactly what the regulations will mean, but certainly some environmental upgrades at most taconite plants are in the offing.

The federal haze standard has been cited as a limiting factor for development of new projects in the region. Perhaps if taconite brings down its emissions, other projects could be considered for permitting? I'm not sure how it stacks up, but area power producers have already invested hundreds of millions into environmental upgrades. It looks like the mines will be next.

If you missed last night's performance by Duluth-based Trampled by Turtles on "Conan," here it is:



It's pretty sweet. Boy these guys look like they're from here, don't they?

Lee "Woody" Jackson, a local septic system entrepreneur, has written a letter in today's Grand Rapids Herald-Review about the fate of his toilet garden in a part of the northern Minnesota town known as Skunk Hollow. This letter should rightly shame city leadership. I, too, miss the toilet garden.

This weekend, Hockey Day comes to Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Saturday, Jan. 19 brings outdoor hockey to Pokegama Lake. Some of the state's top prep hockey teams will play a triple header that is aired on statewide cable network Fox Sports North.

First on deck, Eagan vs. Hibbing.

Need I say more?

UPDATE: I should say more. You've also got Grand Rapids vs. Benilde-St. Margaret's for the second game and Hibbing vs. Grand Rapids-Greenway girls in the third game. AND the Gophers play AND the Wild have their first game tonight, though those are not on Pokegama. The Grand Rapids Herald-Review has a special page for Hockey Day.

Last Sunday, Robin Washington at the Duluth News Tribune raised an interesting question. With melting polar ice, new shipping lanes are opening in the Arctic Circle. The Russians are capitalizing by running ore boats through the slush, cutting down massive costs.

The United States? Our trade routes this far north are questionable, but with steel industry economics working down to the penny per ton, one wonders how quickly the hot-button political issue of climate change could extend to the practical function of our local economy.

Regardless, we now usher in a pretty miserable time to be an ore boat deckhand.

An interesting question for local governments has been raised in the small northern Minnesota town of Cohasset. Recently, a city councilor participated in a meeting via Skype, from somewhere in California. According to this Lisa Rosemore story in the Grand Rapids Herald-Review, councilor Dennis Blankensop was involved in discussions and voted. The city believes this is not a violation of any open meeting law or other statute. Mark Anfison, attorney for the Minnesota Newspaper Association, believes otherwise.

I'd argue that this is a slippery slope. I picture a scenario where snowbirds (who often leave just after the election) are elected to local councils and boards, and then govern from amid palm trees and desert air. We best avoid that.

Trampled by Turtles, the progressive bluegrass sensation based in northern Minnesota, will appear on Conan this Wednesday night on TBS. The show airs at 10 p.m. with the musical appearing sometime after 10:45 p.m. TBS rebroadcasts the show during overnight hours as well.

Last week, Duluth Mayor Don Ness was a regional viral sensation with his "Gangnam Style" tribute for Rubber Chicken Theater. In that post I challenged political leaders throughout the region to up their game, and had even spurred a sort of Twitter-fueled dance-off challenge between politicians of Duluth and the Iron Range. After the gauntlet was thrown, Trampled by Turtles issued the following message on Twitter:

@minnesotabrown @kendalkillian @joeradinovich @carlymelin @tonysertich @jasonmetsawe're in.
— Trampled by Turtles (@tbtduluth) January 8, 2013

I believe it was Ron Burgundy in "Anchorman" who once said, "Boy, that escalated quickly. That really got out of hand fast."

I have no idea if Trampled By Turtles is serious about participating in an Iron Range vs. Duluth dance-off, but if they did I'm sure we could make it happen. Remember, humiliating public officials is always the right thing. If you can do it for charity and to spread the word about how cool Northern Minnesota can be, all the better.

Meantime, catch Trampled by Turtles on Conan this Wednesday.

UPDATE: Tickets go on sale Friday, Jan. 18 for the band's 10th anniversary tour of Minnesota. Shows in Duluth, Grand Rapids, Brainerd, Moorhead and Rochester are planned.

I heard from Audrey Helbling at Minnesota Prairie Roots last week. She is raising attention and assistance for a Minnesota blogger whose family is in crisis. The husband of Nina Hedin was badly hurt in a snowmobile accident. Nina writes the Adventures of Artsy Nina. Audrey explains at her blog. This family could use help.

This blog community of Minnesota is a rag-tag lot; most of us work on spec. Not all of us are able to absorb such tragic occurrences. Perhaps you'd be able to help, if you are able.

This is my Sunday column for the Jan. 13, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune.

The least stressed among us
By Aaron J. Brown

A while back I talked about holiday stress affecting American workers. Now that the holidays are over and a new year upon us, we enter a cold reality: we decked the halls, ate the cookies, opened the presents, and yet here we remain in a viper’s pit of stress.

Perhaps this stress is more elevated for me. For the past few months I’ve worked on a special project at my job; now, tomorrow, I return to the classroom to teach communication courses. On one hand, it’s a job I know how to do. On the other, I gave a presentation last week after months of ticking away at a computer and I almost asked the nursing department to determine whether or not I had experienced a stroke. That’s how out of practice I was.

It was helpful to learn that, according to analysis from Career Cast, the least stressful job in America is that of a college professor. Now, I am not exactly a professor. The difference between a college professor and a community college instructor is a little like the difference between Johnny Carson and the DJ at a budget wedding who has to make sure people’s drinks are filled while the Van Morrison plays.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Van Morrison.

But according to the Kyle Kensing article, which was also reported on CNBC and Yahoo News, the hallmark of a “least stressful” job is control over your schedule. And while we do not get as much control over our schedules as the fanciest of your fancy-pants professors, we do have some. Which is nice, because then I can grade papers whenever I want and still have time left over for sleep and personal hygiene.

After professor, the list of remaining jobs on the “least stressful” list goes like this: seamstress, medical records technician, jeweler, medical lab technician, audiologist, dietician, hair stylist, librarian and drill press operator. To be fair, the article stresses than none of these jobs are “stress free.” For instance, drill press operator seems like the kind of job that’s a breeze until a day that will henceforth be known as “The Day Earl Did Not Properly Secure His Ponytail”

Almost half of these are the medical professions never depicted in the ABC show “Grey’s Anatomy.” Apparently that’s how you know they aren’t stressful. That show has no problem showing emergency room doctors in the throes of passion after removing a running chainsaw from the cavernous torso of the World’s Fattest Man. But do the pleasant audiologists down the hall ever get any action? No. They get giant headphones and an endless supply of CDs featuring repetitive tonal patterns. Apparently, stress has its benefits.

Jeweler makes the list, though I don’t think that’s fair. Nothing reduces stress quite like a room full of gold. And seamstresses might have it a little better now that they no longer work in flammable factories, but I don’t know that the job is dramatically less stressful than any other gig.

I was really surprised to see librarian on this list, too. I know several librarians and have heard many stories. If the criteria for making the least stressful job list is “control of schedule” I don’t know that having your schedule set by a cash-strapped city council is particularly reassuring. Nor do librarians control any aspect of who walks through their doors. Guy wearing a Popeye costume and carrying a crucifix? Yeah, just Patron #457. And if he wants to ask for books about fingernails, they’ll do what they can.

(On a side note: have you ever taken a book from somewhere in the library and put it somewhere else in the library? Ha ha! I bet that’s very stressful for librarians).

It goes to show that stress in jobs is relative. If you like your job, stress and all, you’ll find that the stress matters less than the purpose.

So I welcome the new semester. I may not be a fancy pants professor. But there’s no reason to let stress ruin my ... wait ... did I order books?

Aaron J. Brown is an author and community college instructor from the Iron Range. He writes MinnesotaBrown.com and hosts 91.7 KAXE’s Great Northern Radio Show on public stations.

St. Louis County is advising no travel on gravel roads along the Iron Range region. Now, I live just over the line in Itasca County but it's pretty much the same deal here. And considering that I live at the end of a long gravel road surrounded by impenetrable forest, you have a pretty good idea of how the day is going.

Weather events wreaking havoc in northern Minnesota during the month of January aren't especially rare. Rain is unusual, though. It freaks people out. And it stands ready to freeze into nastiness at any moment. This reminds me of the way people in other parts of the country react when it snows; preemptively cancelling everything and wringing their hands as they stare out the window.

Today my friend State Rep. Tom Anzelc announced he has prostate cancer. He found out after the election. It's a tough disease, but Tom and his doctors are optimistic and have a treatment plan. His main challenge right now is the fatigue that comes from treatment. With an important session coming up, he'll be balancing his cancer treatment with his service. It's not ideal, but it's important to him to continue working for people back home in Itasca and Cass counties during this time.

All I ask is for prayers for my friend, or good thoughts if that's your style. He's not asking for anything else, other than to bear with him as he follows through with treatment.

One of the side benefits of hosting the Great Northern Radio Show on Northern Community Radio is meeting some of the best musicians in Minnesota. We highlight original music that tells the story of this place. We also provide an outlet for young, up-and-coming artists. It'd be an honor to know that one of them made it big someday.

I'd submit for your consideration that one of those prospects might be Iris Kolodji from Hibbing. Iris was on our first four shows and by the end of the run was writing and performing original pieces while playing guitar, ukelele and piano. We'll have her on again in the next season.

Iris is off at the University of Minnesota now, where she's formed an informal band of sorts with a violinist friend and a cellist friend of hers. Iris, Alia Jeraj and Rachelle Smith will perform two shows on the Iron Range this week that you should check out.

On Thursday night (free night!) at the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm, the trio will play from 6-8 p.m. Saturday night they headline at Zimmy's, the Bob Dylan-themed bar and restaurant in downtown Hibbing. From Facebook:

Iris, Alia, and Rachelle are full time students at the School of Music at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Instruments include guitar, mandolin, cello, violin and ukulele. Playing folk music, various covers, and original compositions. If you’d like to hear fine musicianship and tight harmonies, mark your calendars now!!

The Uptake is providing live coverage of the pomp and circumstance of the convening of the Minnesota State Legislature today.

Here's the House feed:



You can follow the Senate feed here.

Yesterday, responding to Don Ness's "Gangnam Style" moves, I stoked a Twitter feud in which an Iron Range vs. Duluth "Dance Off" between local legislators was proposed. Will this "Dance Off" occur today? Only time will tell.

On a more serious note, this legislative session will involve crafting a long-term budget solution for Minnesota's touchy state budget, paying back money borrowed from public schools, reforming the tax code and potentially legalizing gay marriage in Minnesota, if the votes are there. Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labor party will hold the majority in both houses and the governor's office for the first time since late 1990.

The Mesabi Trail will receive northern Minnesota's largest grant from the Minnesota Legacy Fund's Parks and Trails program, in the form of $700,000 for improvements and development.

This trail will one day extend from Grand Rapids to Ely along the iron formation of the Mesabi Range. About 115 miles are now complete, with some remaining connections still in the works.

Much of this money will go toward developing some of the unfinished trail near the new Vermilion State Park on the far eastern Range. Some will also go toward improving signage and parking along the trail.

I suppose I could complain that infectious sounds of Korean pop rocker Psy's "Gangnam Style" are only now reaching the shores of Lake Superior. This was, after all, the top internet sensation of 2012 and new holder of the all-time YouTube record. So many parodies have surfaced that another surely could not be needed. But this effort by Rubber Chicken Theater, featuring Duluth mayor Don Ness bears inclusion in the canon.



Please tell me you've heard of Gangnam Style, readers. Please tell me you understand this reference. If you are learning this from Don Ness right now, please keep that to yourself.

I think the only thing to add is that Ness and company clearly took the easy path. Single camera; just the dance. A fully realized spoof of the four-minute song from northern Minnesota remains the unfinished business of our local leaders. And with quasi-hipsters like Tony Sertich, Carly Melin, Jason Metsa and Joe Radinovich in our Iron Range midst, I think the way forward is clear. Don't you?

If not, I have a storyboard available to the right people. I have the software. I have the experience. You know and I know that this can happen.

UPDATE: An Iron Range vs. Duluth dance-off has been proposed by Rep. Carly Melin. Reps. Jason Metsa and Joe Radinovich have indicated a willingness to participate. Your move, Duluth.

(Thanks to Brian Matuszak of Rubber Chicken Theater for the laughs)

Here's what they do for traffic reporting at WKRC in Cincinnati.



This is how I want to see WDIO-Duluth's "This Week in Mining" from now on. I'm talking to you, Renee Passal.

(Clip via Mashable)

U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN8) made his first national TV appearance after being sworn in this week. He joins other lawmakers in a discussion of major issues before the Congress on this morning's edition of "Face the Nation."

I thought he came across well in this appearance, though I'll leave it for you to decide for yourself.

This is my Sunday column for the Jan. 6, 2013 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. The predictions column is part of an old New Year's tradition of mine, which also includes my annual "top words" column and "top posts" item.

The Oracle is keen on 2013
By Aaron J. Brown

My hands burn on the cold steel ladder of the 6785 hopper car, a steaming metal ox tethered to Canadian National's 10:30 train to Duluth. The rattle-clack of the winter rails drown out the industrial hum of the diesel engine sixty cars up; altogether a mechanized din groans across the frozen tamarack swamp of the Sax-Zim bog. My top coat flaps in the sharp wind. I am not dressed for this task.

I stare through the thin band above the cloud of powdered snow billowing from the rails, below the thick vapor stacking off the fresh load of Mesabi taconite pellets. I am looking for a pine marten. He waits for me, on order from the only human who can command pine martens, skunks, raccoons, flying squirrels and rabbits to do her bidding: a woman who dates bears, not exclusively, but enough to to own the reputation and all the beehives and rancid jelly she needs. She is the Oracle of the Bog and I make my annual sojourn to her hut, this year by rail.

The pine marten ambles through the bush as the engine passes, but quickly dons a red scarf as the engineer trundles out of sight. This fits the description texted to me by the Oracle: “Lk 4 pmart in rd scrf.” I leap from the car, rolling hard on the shoulders of marbled taconite, down to the dry tan grass cushion of the marsh. The pine marten stares at me quietly for a moment, standing erect, scarf blowing in the wind. When I am composed, he sets out for the bog. I follow.

The walk is long, notable mostly for the temperature (it is 10 below, with strong zephyr head winds). The pine marten remains on his back feet the entire time, growling “Auld Lange Syne” in guttural melody. When we arrive at the sod hut of the Oracle, he removes his scarf, waves toward the window, and scampers back into the woods, a beast once again.

Inside, the Oracle pours hot swamp water into a cup I will not touch as I hear of the coming year. First, she lists headlines:

• “‘Fiscal Cliff’ crisis solved at bar by ‘Fiscal Cliff Claven’”
• “100-year anniversary of WWI celebrated with ‘throwback’ WWIII”
• “Dylan plans concert in Hibbing: ‘Not that Dylan,’ says promoter”
• “Empty retail space on Iron Range filled with gradual admission of regret”
• “Mining supporters, foes clash in epic ski battle. Plucky teenager saves youth center.”
• “Gov. Mark Dayton announces new bionic spine, runs for re-election as Mark Dayton 3000.”
• “Legislature balances budget by raising taxes on Facebook pictures of food.”

As the Oracle finishes the headlines, she makes a motion to a flock of fluttering juncos, who team lift a manila envelope over to her. Here, she says, is the rest:

• Opposition to new mining technologies fade as Apple announces new “one-click” extraction process. Commodity traders camp outside new Hoyt Lakes Apple Store to buy long tons of copper, nickel and cadmium. Other companies also sell these products, but the sleek, stylish rail cars make all the difference.
• The next YouTube sensation will emerge from the Range as a fully-loaded 238-ton mining truck runs down Justin Bieber.
• A structure on the edge of an Iron Range town will be built in the shape of a rectangle and will be finished with vinyl siding. Inside there will be prints of deer art on the walls and the floors will echo when people walk on them. The large, flat lawn outside will be trimmed by a double-wide mower operated by a teenager on some kind of work release. There will be an access road out front named after a tree or perhaps a rock. There will be a 2006 Ford F-150, a 2002 Chevy Impala, and a 2008 Dodge Caravan parked out front. You will see a guy go in this building one time. He will be wearing a plaid shirt and looking down at the sidewalk so that he looks kind of jowly and you can’t quite see who it is. He will not have shaved that day. You don’t quite know what they do in there and whatever it is will close in 2018.

“But, Oracle?” I blurt. “What of the year itself? Shall we prosper?”

The Oracle of the Sax-Zim Bog forms a thin smile at corners of her lips. “2013 rhymes with “keen.” But it also rhymes with “mean.” The answer, my friend, lies somewhere in between.”

Aaron J. Brown is an author and community college instructor from the Iron Range. He writes MinnesotaBrown.com and hosts 91.7 KAXE's Great Northern Radio Show on public stations.

Larry Oakes, a reporter and editor for the Star Tribune, has died after a long battle with depression. Oakes was probably the best working journalist in northern Minnesota. I offer my deepest condolences to his family. He will be greatly missed. His reporting was fearless and important. As someone who's experienced depression throughout my family, the story is a tragic reminder of the disease's horrible power and toll.

WDIO reports that the Minnesota DNR is researching why moose population numbers have dropped so much in the past year.

It occurs to me that I forgot to include this graphic in my annual list of top traffic and favorite posts from 2012. I spent a whole morning on it some time ago. Anyway, I hope you like seeing it again. The original post was a total dud and just led to a lot of arguing about global warming in the comments

But can we agree that Bullwinkle has gotten himself in quite a pickle here? Can we agree that he may have, by chance, been drawn into an international game of espionage that won't cease until he discovers the root of a sprawling mystery?

This morning, we were working here at the house and my wife and I both got notification calls from the Grand Rapids (Minn.) School District. Law enforcement had contacted the superintendent about a potential danger at one of the schools in the district (not our kids' school). Here is the notification we got from Superintendent Joe Silko this morning:

Good morning residents of District 318. This is Superintendent Joe Silko and I wish to update you on an incident that occurred this morning, Friday, January 4th.

I received a phone call from the Itasca County Sheriff's Department notifying me that an individual, an adult male, had contacted the crisis response center and was threatening suicidal action. When law enforcement traced his cell phone, it pinged in the area of the Robert J. Elkington Middle School. Later it pinged in the area of Southwest Elementary School and then back in the area of the middle school.

The individual was located in his residence and is being dealt with by law enforcement. At no time was the individual ever in one of our school buildings. The district took precautionary measures and limited the access to our buildings. As buses and cars carrying students and staff were already in transit, we restricted the drop off and delivery of students until we could ensure that all sites were indeed safe. At no time were any students ever in danger.

Our schools are now running as usual and I want to assure you that everyone is safe and secure.

Once again I am impressed with the level of safety and security provided by our law enforcement agencies. Their quick response to the situation, as well as, keeping the district informed along the way, makes me feel proud to be a resident and leader of this district. Thank you all for your patience and understanding.

The incident had already been handled when we were notified of the situation. I am left amazed at the law enforcement coordination in this. No, the children weren't in any direct danger, but they could have been. You really have to remark that these children are being kept as safely as possible. So much we can do, and yet so much still left to the unknown hand of fate.

Hey, Aaron, do you watch Downton Abbey?

No, I'm afraid I don't.

You should. It's really good. It's about old stuff and history and elegance and England and such. You like that stuff.

I do like that stuff.

It's about power dynamics and such. You like that.

Yes, I do.

It's on Channel 8. You get Channel 8.

Yes, I enjoy Channel 8.

So you could watch it.

I could.

But you don't?

No.

Why?

I don't know. I probably should, but I just don't.

Channel 8 is having this special event tonight at 7 p.m. at the Clyde Ironworks in Duluth. They're sneak previewing the new season of Downton Abbey, which starts Sunday. You could go.

Oh, I won't be going.

Oh.

But others could go and that would be great. Let me know how it goes.

OK. Bye then.

Bye.

The Lowertown Line, a new show by TPT's Minnesota Original public television project, made its debut this week. (I saw this on MinnPost). It is, by appearances, Minnesota's answer to PBS's Austin City Limits, where I and many have long mined new original music for my iPod. TPT certainly seems to have ambitions to find a wider market for this new show.

This is perhaps another example of a growing, distinct Minnesota music scene that deserves at least some attention on the national stage. You can watch their debut special below, which is not only Minnesotan, but NORTHERN Minnesotan in focus -- with special guests: Trampled by Turtles:



Of course, you know I have been brewing the Great Northern Radio Show for a year now, an original music and comedy venue for our times. Right? Yeah, you knew that.

My Twitter thought on the new year and the state of our politics:

Our century is a teenager now. These will be the hard years. #2013 #fb
— Aaron Brown (@minnesotabrown) January 1, 2013

Nevertheless, teenagers often grow up. People will figure this out, in time.

You can catch more gems like this, occasionally and with varying degrees of quality, by following MinnesotaBrown on Twitter. I've got a Facebook page, too, and it's never a bad idea to subscribe to the e-mail feed. You get one e-mail a day, only on days I post. You may also like the RSS feed for your e-reader. It's a nice way to stay connected if you're not much for the social media.

Squash celebrate historic win in Duluth vegetable election, also revealing the segregation that pervades squash community.

BREAKING: Duluth citizens elect squash "Vegetable of 2012." Kale has been defeated. Repeat, KALE DOWN. SELL SELL! DEVELOPING...

CORRECTION: We've been informed that kale was subject to Duluth vegetable of the year term limits. Kale was vegetable of the year in 2011. MinnesotaBrown deeply regrets the error. MinnesotaBrown will eat a sad cheeseburger and forget this ever happened. MinnesotaBrown is still thinking about this, though. Upon further consideration, screw kale. Screw it all. How do you like that correction? Oh, yes it IS a non-correction correction.

A tall ship prepares to embark on Superior Street.

A Duluth, Minnesota, water main originally built in 1887 broke on New Year's Day, flooding a section of Superior Street in Duluth's vibrant downtown. This is causing some trouble for many returning to work today after the holiday. The Duluth News Tribune, among others, has the story. I will never get tired of this photo of a firefighter helping a disheveled hipster through the water. It's an album cover for something; I don't know what.

But it got me thinking. 1887! There were wooden ships in the harbor back then. (Just as there will be masted, wooden ships in the harbor this summer when the Tall Ships return to Duluth July 24-30). That's a long time for a pipe. 

(Tall Ships led the top post list for MinnesotaBrown last year, which is, uh ... coincidental).

Robert Zimmerman fronts the Golden Chords at the Hibbing Memorial Building Little Theater in 1958. (Copyright: Monte Edwardson, the guitarist pictured at left. LeRoy Hoikkala is the drummer.)

I continue to work with Dylan Days, the Hibbing-based arts organization honoring Bob Dylan every year in his Iron Range hometown. The big shindig will be May 23-26 this year, with a lot of activity packed into his May 24 birthday and the following day.

There are a number of contests and ways for people to get involved, but the first one is our annual literary contest for short stories and poems. To enter the B.J. Rolfzen Memorial Creative Writing Contest, follow the link and follow the instructions. The deadline is March 3. We provide publication credit in a sharp literary journal we produce every year and invite the winners to Hibbing to read their work and become immortalized (immortalized I say!) in our Dylan Days Hall of Fame.