Here's to you (crazy old blogger-lady)

Even if this 60 year old lady reads this, I've already told her she is a crazy old blogger lady. So there's no hard feelings at all.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I'm typing away at the coffee spot, and there's an older (very crazy lady) also typing away. She keeps looking at me and finally comes over to chat. Apparently she is also an avid blogger and shows me her site (which I forgot). She asks about mine and looks at it. She then tells me how horrible it is, and that I should be writing about more important things (like kittens with yarn, 2010 calenders, itchy pillows and greeting cards). But she did give me an idea about some topics. One of those is the "50 of me" series. So basically I'll start up a post and go through 50 random facts about me.....She was CONVINCED that this is a humorous and entertaining idea, and won't be boring for those reading it.

So that will be the next post because I don't have that much time.....

I'm pretty pumped about some random book I got--"The story of Edgar Sawtelle". From what I've heard, it's a good one.

And today is going to be one of those dissapointing Sundays. The Jets and Vikings will probably miss the playoffs all together.

Speaking of random things, honey dijon chips are pretty good...

I've also become a huge fan of my wine decanter. It's the trillest thing since spendy glasses.

I need to get over this horrible cold. It was Joe Joe's Birfday yesterday, and I missed it all together because I was laid up with some Vicks!

So one of my ex students sent me a link to some "good music". Now my students are who keep me up and slang and popular music, but I was VERY pleasantly surprised when the link lead to De La Souls' 3 Feet High and Rising album....maybe the youth isn't lost as I thought!

Now it's off to figure out this external hard drive doohicky.

Life and lessons learned

I wish winter was over. It isn't even the new years yet, and already I'm longing for warm days to bike in....

On the upside, teaching for the year is over. AND I finally graduated from college. More on that stuff later.

I have semi-decided to make some new years resolutions this year... Normally I skip out on ever making them because they never work (see 2002--Only speak in a British accent or 1993--stop wearing a dashiki). Anyway, this year I will be making the bike trek from Minneapolis to Chicago, flying back out to San Francisco and start playing an instrument. Now I'd like to play a really cool instrument like the banjo or the oboe. Or maybe I'll just work on finally learning to play chopsticks on the piano....

I finally got the chance to see A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie theater the other day. I have to say, it was probably one of the best productions I've seen. Next up, A Bronx Tale at the State Theater (that's in June I think).

Well, it's off to finishing ChristmaHanuKwanzza shopping. Nothing like waiting until the last minute.....

So I leave all of you with the gift of a photo. Chris Farley's back.....

Good things, not so good things

So here is a new plan of mine. On Wednesday I will be finished teaching, writing thirty page essays and giving lectures to people that have had three times the schooling I've had. A new goal of mine is to do things/activities that everyone says are really good, but I've never had the need to do it. One of those things is going to an opera. Everyone says they're awesome, but I've never really had the desire to sit through one. Well, that's about to change. Another thing to do, is read War and Peace. Of all the books I've sat down with over the years, this has never been one. I'm not 100% sure why I've never read it, but I suppose I should get around to it. The final thing for this month I will try to do is hustle someone in a pool game. Now this may be tricky because I'm quite bad at billiards (this may require hanging out at 11-year old birthday parties--which leads to some more troubling questions). But I see it in the movies all the time, so I should really try to hustle someone out of money. I'll wear a fancy tux, stand in the corner all smooth-like, and probably talk like those old time criminals "See copper, I didn't do it, ya scheee. A wise guy huh? Well how about I dance with your dame". Ok, maybe I'll skip that last part.....

I just heard that we're expecting 6-8 inches (that's what she said) of snow today.....I'm sure traffic will be great in the morning.....*sigh*

Bingo Banjango

So it's pretty much official: Winter is here to stay.... Deb and Chris snapped a good one of a semi-frozen Mississippi running through Minneapolis.

So I finally got my bumper fixed. A few weeks ago some kid on his 18th birthday bumped into me and dinged up my car. The conversation that followed between him, myself, his three friends and his mom were pretty funny. But anyway, I'm all worried that the rental car is going to be horrible in the snow and blah blah blah. And it was. So they gave me this automobile achievement--the Kia Rio. Let's just say that when I got my car back yesterday, I was chipper as could be. I don't think I made it above 65 in the Rio.....

Ooh, and yes, it is that time of year for the Beaujolais and Marzipan. If you haven't had marzipan, it's quite the good snack/treat. It tastes nothing like the fruits their made out to be. It's made with sugar, almond and sometimes vanilla. They're mighty good with some wine. And that's where the Beaujolais comes in (even though one treat is Italian and the wine is French). But who really pays that close attention...

AND, as I'm picking up a bottle of the Beaujolais, some guy is making snide comments about how it's not real wine, and it shouldn't even be in the same stores with real wine. I then asked him to tell that to his sister, because I was sick of bringing bottles over to her. That shut him up and made the store employees chuckle.

I've been playing the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack a lot lately. Of course, not when anyone is around, but loud enough in the house so I can hear it.... Gotta love St. Paul cartoons and the music that goes with it!

And again, I wish there was some cool and random story to tell, but until December 20th, that won't be happening.

Are we there yet?

I'm not 100% sure why I love this picture of drunken lego hobos, but I do..

So to bring up the nerd in me, I stumbled upon some 1st-prints of Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. I know, I know, what cool guy would hang those up? Me. I mean, these are original 1st prints of their official portraits!! That's gotta count for something right??

Another note for the week, I'll be a guest speaker at the University Social Studies program on Tuesday. I'll be giving a speech about Politics and History in the inner cities. That's right folks, the same guy who brought you Joose-from-a-straw will be schoolin' intellectuals about how to teach to inner-city students. Booya.

Wait, did the Jets really beat the Titans?? Remember the Titans?? Even Denzel likes Favre this year.

I wish I had some cool stories or something to tell, but working almost 16 hour days will pretty much eliminate all opportunities to have fun...But come December 17th, it's back to normal!

A lot of people go to college for 8 years...yeah, they're called doctors.

I can't see this movie and not think of Steve Dahl for some reason.....

With that, I'll leave you be. Have a good Thanksgiving and don't eat those weird fruitcakes.

Good to have you back

So this past weekend I was without my computer. Somehow or another, I contracted some sort of bug on it, and had to bring it in. I never realized how much I depend on this thing until it's gone *insert new movie idea here*.

Other then that, life's still staying busy. Only about 28 more days until I can I take a break from reality...

Oh, it would be wrong for me to not mention voting. So get out and do it......Even if the lines look like this!

I've sort of starting writing again. Mostly just short intro essays, but none-the-less, they may be published (which is ok by me).

I can't wait for the Christmas Carol play to hit the Guthrie. I wish I would have seen it at the old theater, but the new one will suffice.

Well, enough rambling. I'm off to do some grading.

7 weeks and counting

Wow. Seven more weeks of teaching to go. 35 working days (or something close to that). I know, I know, I should be saying things like "I love waking up everyday and doing this", but the truth is, it is cutting into my writing books, and reviewing others. I spent about 2 hours in Barnes and Noble yesterday, and thankfully I didn't go nuts on buying books like I normally do. It's funny, I'll buy about 8 books a month, and read about 3. So needless to say, I have a stack sitting in my corner that are begging to be indulged in.
I wish I had some cool picture to go along with this blog, but I don't...sorry.
And Mike Boo got me stuck on a song--Hanging on the Telephone. That song has been stuck in my head for about 2 days straight now.......
There is a wacky thing going on at the Minnesota Zoo in about a month. A wine and walk tour. It happens after hours, where people donate money to the Zoo fund, and walk around after hours drinking varieties of wine and eating strange finger-food. I'm sort of thinking about doing it, but I'm not sure if wine and Gabon doo go hand-in-hand.......
The first snowfall of the year happened today. Barely a week ago I was bragging about the beautiful weather, and BAM! snow flurries all day. Well, what can you do? As long as Friday stays semi-warm and nice.
Well, that's it for my sidenote-of-a-blog today. It's off to read papers from 11th graders that can't phrase the words "going to do". Instead, it's "dey gon do that"......*sigh* these kids will be taking care of us in about 60 years.........

See you next fall

There's something in the air these days around Minneapolis. No, it's not the smell of disappointment (i.e. the Vikings), but it is a very crisp, and distinctive smell. It's that of the seasons changing. The fall in Minneapolis is one of the best times of the year--anywhere in the world.

But fall reminds me of a Sunday. Sure you get the day off, but deep in the back of your head, you know what's around the corner--Monday. Just like Fall, we know that Winter is lurking around the bend. C'mone, how many of us were out trick-or-treating when the Halloween Blizzard hit?? That's basically in two weeks.

Yeah, we went from beautiful Autumn leaves to 3 feet of snow in about 12 hours.....And we still love living here.

I think I was dressed up like an X-man or something, but I came home with 6 inches of snow in my hoodie. What a disappointment for a kid out looking to score free candy.

I REALLY like MEA weekend. 2 days of no school is almost like a mini-vacation!

I do need to find more time to work on the books. I also have the proposition to help write a history textbook. I know it's not as cool as my short stories and horribly edited debut book, but it's published writing none-the-less. We would be comparing historical recollections from different periods of time. Like (for example) how did we write about the American Revolution in 1800? 1925? 1970? and in 2008? The tellings are vastly different.

Once school is over I will be posting all kinds of random stories from hormonal high school kids. I think by law though, I can't really talk about it while I'm student teaching there though......And the names will have to be changed.

Once that snow starts, I can pretty much put the bike away...No peddling for 7 months....*sigh*

Well, that's all I got. It's off to find some wine. Oddly enough, I've been enjoying it more and more since I've been teaching. If we remember the Godfather--"I like to drink wine more than I used to" -Don Corleone.

I should go rake some leaves, just so I can jump in them. We really should partake in child-like activities from time to time. Well, some of them anyway.....

Guess I'm back

Well, sort of. Free time is a thing of the past these days. But I have been tied up with all the duties involved in teaching higher education to kids who could care less.

On the side, I do have a ton of notes I've been keeping so I can write about them after December 17th.

I am off to see Religulous today. Hopefully its as funny as it looks.

Other then that, I don't have much. Keep those noses clean.

-JB

Wow, really?

I don't speak about politics too much (mostly because it's lame to talk about it on something like the ol' blogger-oo), but I heard about a certain vp candidate truly believing that dinosaurs existed 4,000 years ago (because that way it goes with the bible). Now being that I'm a teacher, I asked some of the "slower" students in class when dinosaurs were on earth. The answers: over 1 million years ago--then they went back to not knowing how to tie their shoes. 4,000 years? Really? Needless to say, that worries me a bit.....


So as I'm writing this, I got a phone call from a colleague to chat about the same person who believes in the dinosaurs, also tried to ban certain books in their home state. Now this I need to check into more, but anyone who tries to ban books is hurtful to enlightenment.

I wish I had more time to write, but papers, exams and other such paper by-products await.

I'm also pretty sure I've mentioned it before, but check out Awesome by Jack Pendarvis. It's one of the quirkiest books I've had the pleasure of reading.

With that, I'm out. Go Cubs

JB the old man

So I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I'm an 80-year old man trapped in this 20's body. I've recently discovered the wondrous pleasures in traditional shaving. OK, for YEARS I stuck to the: Wet face, apply cheap foam, shave and rinse. It worked well for many years, but once I found a straight razor, shaving soap and a lather brush, everything changed. People always say "JB, my grandpa used to use that junk, go with evolution, don't fight it". Wrong. This combination is great. If you look around, you can find good quality stuff and it makes the mornings a little less hectic. Consider traditional shaving black. Once you do it, you'll never go back. Unless of course you're that guy in the movie "Soul Man".

I'm also one of the few people I know that still goes to a barber. And not like a great clips/Aveda school dropout, but a real old school barber. The place I go has old guys who NEVER get their haircut. They just show up, read the paper, play chess and talk about everything from the good ol' days to women. I'm a true believer in the quote "All the worlds problems can be solved in the barber shop or around a campfire". These old guys are great. They talk about the Winter of 38 and how the snow was 10 feet high. The best part is that their stories change every time they tell it....One day, I'll be that old man ranting about nothings and chasing kids off my lawn with a broom.

I'm also finding old records to be entertaining. I've always preferred records to CD's and an ipod, but now I'm ebay'n old records from Gil Scott Heron. I've also got original 12'' from Run DMC and Al Green. I need to find a bigger closet for my records because the one I currently use is filled up.....

I'm really not looking forward to teaching this fall. I enjoy my days to write, flick and bike--now I need to focused on kids education.

So I rebuke my previous rant on the Olympics. I caught Shawn Johnson and in about 5 years, she'll be pretty fly. I also watched the volleyball matches.....I guess there was nothing else on TV at that time.

And the great Minnesota get together is going on. I'll probably go and hit up the State Fair and have my fill of food on a stick. I also dig the animal barns (I'm not sure why). And it doesn't matter what time of the day/night you go, the beer gardens are ALWAYS packed with drunk farmers. It's hilarious.

Well, I'm off to try to nap before work. The past 3 nights I've had the song "Angel Dust" stuck in my head.....damn soul music.

Dear Summer/I guess I'm un-American

So I got a ton of nasty looks the day while in Barnes and Noble. I was perusing through books looking for the new book by Jack Pendarvis called Awesome. OK, any book named Awesome is more then enough to get my attention. I find the book (the last one) and go through my ritual of "should I buy this novel or not". That usually consists of re-reading the first paragraph a few times and then jump to the middle and read some excerpts. You see, most writers will spend the most time on the first sentence and last paragraph over any other part of the book. The first paragraph was talking about some guy who found a derby and was convinced it was the coolest thing of ALL TIME. Right away I assumed this guy was a lot like me. Needless to say I was laughing out loud during my reading and some book snobbers gave me the stinky eyes. In the end, I didn't buy the book. Instead, I decided to rekindle my vow from when I was 16 years old...To finish Ulysses by James Joyce. I still can only muster 30 pages before I get lost. The book is INSANELY good, but a little different from others from the same time period.

And on my un-American tandem, I can't stand the Olympics. EVERYONE is like "JB, how can you dislike the Olympics"??? Simple, the sports being televised are boring. I said it, boring. The only thing I can watch is basketball, which is pretty much lame because Steve Nash, Shawn Kemp and Christian Laettner aren't playing. But, unknown to me, Alicia Sacramone is a hottie. So I watched the gymnastics routine (where she fell twice ((maybe because she's a tad top heavy). Anyway, she gets my vote for "most likely to end up in Playboy". I'd watch tennis, but it has yet to be shown. Is BMX really an Olympic sport?? and beach volleyball? I can't imagine the ancient Greeks who began this competition were thinking "You know, the track and field stuff is good, but we REALLY need Zack Morris out here playing volleyball on some sand".

And summer is pretty much winding down in Minneapolis. We drudge on for 9 months out of the year for the glorious 3 month span of heaven. Speaking of spans, way to go Dernard. It is supposed to be a great week of weather, and next week I get to look forward to school again......Thankfully, it's the last semster (hopefully).

And because the Republican National Convention is here in the Twin Cities in a few weeks, anti-GOP graffiti has been popping up everywhere......

Get Out Phascists on Highway 280












Greed Over People on Univeristy Ave in Dinkytown

Get out Phascists on the Grain Belt sign in downtown.









And in case you haven't heard, Where The Wild Things movie comes out next year. I'm quite pumped.

That's about it. It's off to write a paper.

Rocky Mountain High

So this past week, Kristen and I went out to Colorado to spend some time in the Mountains. If I get a free round trip anywhere, Colorado would be up there on places to visit. The oddest thing is that there are mountains EVERYWHERE. If you look out your bathroom window, BOOM! Mountains....The first day we got there, we went to Garden of the Gods. This is the picture of "The Kissing Camel".






And nothing special, just a picture of one of the rocks and the foothills in the background.












The following day, we decided to go biking through the mountains. Now hills around Minneapolis are one thing. Biking over 4 miles in a general uphill grade is painstaking. Going back down them is easy as can be though. The side effect of normally being on a fixies is that when I'm on a gear bike, I forget to either change gears at all, or continually pedal (even downhill). My Surly and me.





Kris lucked out and got the trill Bianchi. They didn't have one that fit my size, so I couldn't sport the green.....











There is a path from Frisco to Breckenridge, but I got us lost and blew about a half hour looking for it.....












Once we reached Breckenridge, we stopped to flick some mountains and streams. One thing I plan to do when I get back there is to whitewater raft, and fly fish.










On Saturday we met up with my aunt and uncle and got lunch and hung out downtown. We then went to the Rockies/Padres game. Coors field is great. I can't wait until the Twins get the outside field (well, except the first month and a half of the season--snow and cold). We got free tickets from my uncle and we sat in the "club seats". Apparently that means we get plush seats, carpeted floors, near-private bathrooms and a personal server (In case walking to get a beer/hotdog is too much work for me). It is by far the best seats I've ever had for a game. It is the only way to go....









Being a Cubs fan, I had to take of flick of the now-Padres-pitcher, Greg Maddux. There was a guy in the level above us who would yell "Go Maddux"! every 2 minutes. He became my new friend.









Then one day we decided to drive up to Mount Evans. Driving up a mountain should be easy right? Hell no. As you can see in this flick, there is about 2 feet to the side of you before you reach a 500 foot-straight-down drop. I'm not all that scared of heights, but I got REAL nervous towards the top. There is barely enough room for a 2-way road, and every time a truck came towards us, we both had to stop and creep past one another. I had no intention of cliff diving..



The drive from bottom to top is about an hour and a half. Once we reached Summit Lake (pictured here), the sun came out and it warmed from 39 to about 50 degrees. Being from Minnesota, shorts and a T-shirt were ok for 39 degrees and climbing mountains......









Kristen and me at Summit lake. It's a glacial lake that is about 75% of the way up the mountain. Right before we reached the lake, there was a sign that read "Danger: Extreme road damage ahead". Great, just what I needed while I drive like a 90 year old man up these skinny roads.














I wish I could post my film pictures on here (they capture it better), but these mountains go on for as far as you can see. It's amazing. You could walk for days on end and still not get to the other side. From what I understand, the continental divide is in the background. You can't tell, but it's about 600 feet straight down behind me....







At the top of the mountain. As you can see, we're actually above the clouds. It's very strange to be standing on land, and looking down at clouds....Now I'm a pretty atheletic person, but walking at a brisk pace up here is quite a bit harder due to the lack of air. There were a ton of old people who didn't get out of their cars due to the lack of oxygen.
And yes, that is a Brad Radke jersey.




So we took about 300 pictures and video. I can't post them all, but I'll try to get the good ones up. It was by far, one of the best trips I've ever taken.

For the rest of my vacation, I've been golfing. Yes, golfing. I hate golf, and golfers. But somehow, I find myself on the course hitting the stress out. But I make the game worse for EVERYONE else. I'm horrible, so I hit the ball into other fields and piss off the other players. They yell at me and I argue back. 70 year old guys get really pissed off at a kid in a Shawn Kemp jersey messing up their game.

Since the weather is nice out today, I'll be jogging around the lakes. I'm aiming for the Nokomis-to-Harriet-to-Calhoun and around them. I think it's about 15 miles or so. If I get tired, I'll just do 2 of them.

Bernie Mac and Issac Hayes both died. It was a sad weekend.......

So the American women lost the gold in gymnastics. They blamed a time delay by the olympic officials on Alicia Sacramone (i.e. one good looking lady) falling. I should be an olympian. But in something cool like 4-square......

I'm not sure why, but I'm really caught up in Lisey's Story by Stephen King.

I wish there was more news to talk about, but I gotta go and enjoy this perfect-weather-day!

Round out the Tank

So this past weekend was a busy one. Friday started out with the Uptown Art Fair. All in all, it's probably the best art showing in Minneapolis. The best part is that it's during the summer. I had to go on Friday because if you get there any other time during the weekend, it's shoulder to shoulder.

There's usually some really good art, but also some really bad crafts. If I had the $$ I would probably buy some of the works....

This is always one of my favorite stands. I forgot her name, buy she makes these chrome and metal eggs....

And of course, Saturday was the wedding of Damien and Jessica. It was one of the better weddings I've ever been to. Here are the Brides maids...Emily, Rachael, Hilary and two girls I don't know.

Damien (not in the blue), Ritchie, Josh, Sir Mike McCabe, a guy I don't know, and Trevor. A few people made the comment that the fellow in the blue coat resembled Colonel Sanders....I guess a bit. It was quite a good ceremony though.

This was the end of the ceremony (obviously). I wish I would have gotten a flick of the bike they rode off on. It was genius! Thanks to these two, I have the song "Another First Kiss" still stuck in my head.....










The best part of this flick is that Ryan Ritchie is staring off into the middle of nowhere thinking about Meatballs 4, or maybe Ben Afflecks role in Phantoms (where he was indeed the bomb). And oddly enough, Mike and me don't go anywhere without our bags.








Jason, Mike and Josh the photobomber!


















Ryan giving the best man speech. As he's bringing tears to everyone in the room, someone goes "Where's Mike"? That's a good question.....Then someone says "I think he's snoozing in the bushes". I couldn't believe it, so I had to check it out....










Sure enough, Mike was out cold at the bottom of a huge, steep hill. As I'm taking this picture, people next to me are talking about it.
Guy 1 "That guy must have started drinking EARLY"!
Guy 2 "Well, you know what they say? You can't drink all day unless you start in the morning"!
Girl "Should we maybe wake him up or something"?
Guy 1 "Nah, the mosquito's will get to him eventually".

Video of Mike snoozin.

Dancing to Al Green......It was nice to see a live band at a wedding instead of just a DJ.

And a little Blistering in the sun....

Well, nothing but vacation for the next two weeks....I will surely be hitting the mountains in Colorado for a little biking and climbing....
And a word to the wise, while taking college courses, make sure to meet the physical fitness portion of it. There's nothing worse then getting ready to graduate and hearing "Oh, by the way, your missing a 1-credit course in P.E"......

The Bestest Ever

Have you ever met someone with some weird, strange obscure fact about them? For example, Bickels uncle is the one who invented those little urinal soaps. Strange right? Or how about that person who is the online Monopoly champion from 1997-2003? I've decided to give myself a random fact. The trick here is to make up something really random, so there is no factual truth to it. So here it goes.....

1. "I've published a book under the pen name Alex Kendall. Mostly the books are collections of memoirs that have been woven into fictional tales of my life. It was picked up by Random House, but never fully distributed. Every time someone buys my book though, I get $2.97". That sounds believable right?? Alex Kendall-that name sounds on the border of made up or actual fact. Plus, the fact that the book was never distributed leads people to believe it's one of those un-found gems in the literary world.

2. I'm the Midwest Bocce Ball champion from 2006. Ok, the fact that Bocce ball doesn't get played a lot AND I can say it with a straight face, should lead people to believe it's true. Besides, who would have a set of Bocce balls around if they decided to challenge me?

3. "I was on the Price Is Right, but never made it to the showdown". Ok, here's the logic in this. If you watch this show, you can't honestly tell what year it was done it. 1978? 1999? Who knows! And since the show airs daily, it would be hard for someone to say "No you weren't". The only downside is that I would somehow slip up and mention that I broke the Plinko game......

4. "I used to work at Starbucks and I gave John Goodman a Mocha". Due to the fact that most people would believe that a top-notch celeb such as John Goodman would in fact go into a starbucks, allows this to work. If I were to say that Katie Holmes, Chuck Norris or Morgan Freeman came into my starbucks, people may not believe me. But I can switch out John Goodman for a number of celebrities: Corey Feldman, That guy who played Balki in Perfect Strangers, Dave Coulier, Macho Man Randy Savage or Michael Bivins, and it would still work.

And the winner is: Midwest Bocce Ball Champ! I chose this because I am semi-decent at the bocce ball game, and the fact that I look like I may be able to actually play leads this white lie to the front of the line. So next time you see me, be on the lookout for this lie to somehow slip into our conversation, in order to make me seem a little bit cooler.

In other news, the city of St. Paul (i.e. Minneapolis' lesser cool sibling) instructed a non-profit organization called Portage for Youth (who help underprivileged kids express themselves through art and theater) to paint over a mural they had worked on. The reason: The mural had too many "graffiti elements". The Star Tribune wrote:
The theater is owned by Portage for Youth, a group that encourages troubled kids to express themselves through art, executive director Raeann Ruth said. And the mural, running alongside a garden, had butterflies, flowers, leaves and vines.
But then came the complaints, said City Council President Kathy Lantry, who represents the area. She drove to the theater in early April, expecting to find a garden scene. Instead, she recalled thinking, "this is not that."

This is the photo of the finished mural (photo from Star Tribune)

And the mural as it's being painted over. Nothing says "advocate for art" quite like telling kids that the mural they worked so hard on needs to be painted over because a city official doesn't like it......I saw the mural when it was being done, and it was one of the better legal murals I've seen. If you'll notice the fence behind the theater covers the scene from the street, so I don't see what the deal was. Mind you, this whole mural was done with permission. I wonder if the Nicollet Ave. mural project will face the same problem?