Minneapolis: OOooohhhhhhhh

My trips to Minneapolis are never frequent enough. This last trip was encouraged by a party invite from my good friend Nancy Jane. We were invited to her 35th birthday party on the Mississippi River. A floating party? There was no way I was going to miss it but Aaron had a photo assist job lined up so solo I went. Initially the plan was to take a week road trip and visit country living friends on the way back- but the calendar filled up and it became too much. Instead of the solo drive I looked into flights. It turned out that a flying was as affordable as driving alone and a fraction of the time, 2 hours opposed to 12 round trip.

Friday afternoon: I took the light rail from the airport into the city, only $1.75 to get downtown. My old roommate and hostess for the weekend Rana picked me up and the jam packed weekend began. We went to stop by our friends Rozina and Graham's house in Powderhorn Park only to find this amazingly beautiful parade happening. They said it's annual and hosted by the local church but we couldn't figure out  what it was for- traditional garb mixed with demon costumes, incense, music and dancing.

Graham was able to show me his new record lathe [in action below]. His new company 2208 Records offers custom lathe cut records of any type. Any vinyl nerds should check out his site, I was blown away with the custom work he has been doing. I was able to pick a song off my ipod and have a 7" made- it cuts in real time peeling the plexiglass away to make the groves.
 

Saturday: Rana and I took it slow arriving at the boat dock just in time to get on board the Minneapolis Queen. 

Skoal Kodiak [above] played their early evening set followed by the Birthday Suits.

Sunday: After 4 hours of sleep morning came really fast. I was scooped up by Nona Marie and Annika for a early brunch since their music project Anonymous Choir had an afternoon recording session scheduled. Instead of piling out for a few hours before my afternoon studio visit with Ina Grau I just ended up going along to shoot some stills. I am so so so very glad I did. If you are ever sleepy and a bit hung over I recommend a room full of ladies singing Leonard Cohen covers and piano music to lift your soul.

The recording session was conveniently close to my afternoon appointment. For the past year I've been following designers Crystal Quinn and Luisa Fernanda Garcia-Gomez [below left and right] the two women behind the soon to be launched shoe line Ina Grau. I've been (im)Patiently waiting to get my hands on a pair of their painstakingly beautiful shoes so to satiate my wants I thought it would be good to check out whats been unfolding in the studio. Their full story will be saved for another time, but their vision and commitment to quality is beyond impressive.

Monday: In the morning Rana and I had breakfast at Hard Times Cafe then she dropped me at the light rail station. I hightailed it back to Milwaukee on my speedy 1 hour flight to prepare for the 11 guests arriving the next day on tour with Dawn of the Universe. That story is for the next post.