Open Thread #84
Here's a new open thread. Now you can stop putting random comments in posts about specific things like Columbia Mall or Carrie Underwood. That's just annoying!
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Grand Forks Life is the first and biggest blog covering life in the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota. GrandForksGuy shares local news, rumors, and his own opinions.
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NOTE: The views expressed in original posts on "Grand Forks Life" are merely the views and personal opinions of the owner of this blog. No guarantee is given for the accuracy of content. The views expressed in reader comments are the views of those readers. "GrandForksGuy" and "Grand Forks Life" do not endorse the views of readers.
81 comments:
Greetings ! 1st comment today on this thread. greenglass4
Is it just me, or have the train whistles been more excessive than usual? During the night, on the train line parallel to 42nd St N., they really seem to lay it on lately. I've lived in this neighborhood for years and only in the past 3 or so weeks have I become really irritated. I used to be able to sleep with the windows open and sleep undisturbed, but now even with the windows closed I am awakened by 10-second-long blasts at approximately 4 a.m. I'm not bitching about their existence, because like I said, I've grown used to them over the years, but lately it just seems to be very excessive.
New City Councilman Terry B may favor revolking Altru Hospitals property tax exemption. Could give property tax relief of millions to local citizens. I gave Terry files of properties that are tax exempt. Stay tuned. greenglass4
anon@12:14
I couldn't agree with you more. I have also been noticing the increased train whistles at night along N 42nd. I understand that they are required by law to blow their horn, but come on...it is getting a little ridiculous.
woo woo
Railroads are governed by the FRA, whistle blowing for crossings must be done at specified distances in advance of a crossing and blowing the whistle must be done while going over the crossing till you are through the crossing, if the engineer were to stop blowing the whistle before the lead engine was through the crossing, the crew would be in violation. Sometimes it may seem like they are laying on the whistle going through the crossings excessively, but they are just complying with FRA.
Terry Bjerke should go back to working for McDonald's.
You're right. Flipp'n burgers is more suited to him. It must suck when your only options in life are to work at a fast-food joint or an entry level government job(mailman).
Are you guys serious? Was Terry Bjerke's previous job really at McDonald's?
They're setting up for the ArtFest downtown and have blocked off the first block by Town Square, should be a fun weekend.
yeah, he was my boss when I worked there in high school.
Terry Bjerke is a good man. His input and perspective on the council is a much needed POV. Are you people fogetting, the council members give their input and THEN they vote.
Yes, his input is valuable.
There is nothing wrong with working at McDee's. You would be suprised at what some managers make.
You're right, I would be floored.
t bjerky has only one pov - no taxes - should get boring real quick - his way would have us driving on dirt streets - no street lights - no swimming pools - no garbage pick up - no sewer - no curbs - no . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Anyhere that lithia ford sold out to luther ford... in 90 days lithia ford will be luther ford but lithia will still own the toyota and dodge. grand forks 1 major corporations 0
Is that Lex Luther Ford?
Way to stay classy people. "I disagree with the man, so now I'll mock what he does for a living." Just because a person is a mailman, or works at a fast food joint, or, God forbid, is a manual laborer, doesn't mean that their contribution to society is worthy of ridicule. Without the person bringing our mail, or cleaning our toilets, society wouldn't work. There's dignity to be found in almost all work. What matters is how a person carries themselves in their interactions with others- that's what character is based on. Based on your attempt to belittle a man's work, I'm gonna have to draw the conclusion that you're sadly lacking in the latter. Just because we disagree, and can hide anonymously behind a keyboard, doesn't give us the right to act like fools.
Grow up.
And, for the record, that's not aimed at everyone. Just several rude fools. I disagree with Mr. Bjerke on many issues. But, that's what I'll stick to- debating him on the merit of those issues and positions. Childish insults have no place in our public discourse.
Anyone know where I can find some good thread?
yes lex luther.... grand forks 1 major corporations 0
i find it funny that all the small dealer ships here have conitnued to out sell lithia... also i have seen more fords from different towns like theif river and crookston and c and m ford.
You're so awesome,Nodickfarmgirl. How do you live with your awesomeness. Never knew a toilet cleaner could have such solid, well-thought-out logic.
2
Why not show up in person to debate Terry B in person Monday nights at the meeting ? I am sure you would lose ! greenglass4
Terry Bjerke's problem is he can't see two sides to a situation. He sees his own, and that's not good for the community. Isn't democracy grand?
greenglass4 aka Gary, with friends like you, Terry doesn't need any enemies.
"Without the person bringing our mail, or cleaning our toilets, society wouldn't work."
While I agree with this, McDonald's does nothing for society except make people unhealthy. So I think that's open for mocking.
Terry B. is asking for a John Hoff style recall if he doesn't listen to what the voters in his ward want.
Facts about Barry Obama aka Barack Hussein Obama: half brother Abango Obama was a Muslim law follower. Grandmother 1 of 14 wives to guy . Obama was Muslim and practised Islam for 31 years. Drug use and dealing as Barry Obama in high school. 50% white, 43.75 % Arabic, and 6.25% African Negro. greenglass4 (aka gg4)
oh boy
Will the real greenglass4 please stand up? This sounds different than his usual ranting.
Notice the new police cars in town have the Hatton Ford logo on the back? I was just sitting behind one at a stoplight and noticed. Lithia must have even pissed off the city.
I work at the Lithia Ford dealership and I know for a fact we did not sell to Luther. I don't know where you idiots get your information; I'm assuming a majority of it is made up to create controversy. It is true that we have been under performing as a dealership lately, but whoever said we sold to Luther is full of [censored].
Is it just me or are the traffic signals in this town are getting bad again? Sitting at lights for the maximum cycle length for NO traffic!
Came home the other night at 2am and I mananged to stop at EVERY light on 32nd Ave. With gas at $4 a gallon, it would be nice not having to stop, start and accelerate at every light.
To the person who works at lithia ford? I am doing some work on teh new buildings and i want to no why they made us stop all production? they arent selling those off now too are they? we had a big meeting and my foreman asked them when can we start again and they said when the moeny is there.
at the bar the other nite too and talked to a mechanic at the ford and said the big dog there got fired that was brought in by lithia so i woudlnt doubt that they sold.
Went to the art fest today, seemed smaller than usual, but still good nonetheless. One thing I would love to see is a church or some non-profit group set up a booth with baked goods to sell as a fundraiser. Fairs always remind me of food, but I hate all that grease and would have loved to come home with a homemade pie and some cookies along with my arts and crafts!!! I have a feeling it'd be a great chance to make money for a worthy cause.
to the construction worker:
As far as production being stopped, I honestly do not know anything about that. I did see work being done on Friday so are you sure production has been stopped. Also, the big dog for Lithia in town did not get fired, he is relocating to a Lithia dealership on the west coast.
Oh boy! PLUCKSTRUCK!! Can the entertainment get any more exciting for FartEst! The Girl From Ipanema AGAIN! WOOT!!! Surely there are some original acts in Grand Forks playing original music.
It would be like FartEst featuring booth after booth of Monet copies. The music featured at an art fair should reflect an artistic vision, just as the artists (well, a lot of them) sitting at the booths do.
Maybe it's a good thing that the DLG is disbanding.
Hansen Boys scored a home run when they dumped the dealerships to Lithia ! They will buy back for 35 cents on a dollar. No wonder construction has stopped and manager hits the road. Salesman bailed out for Eides and Rydells months ago. Go figure. greenglass4 (aka gg4)
yeh seems like every salesman from hansen ford moved on to bigger and better things like subaru and honda and suzukis
There was a huge youth soccer tournament in GF this weekend, which the Herald chose to ignore.
5&b,
The thing musicians have that most visual artists do not is greater artistic license in playing a different interpretation than that of the original; this goes doubly for jazz. In your example, it'd be like 40 Monets in the bin, all painted differently by different artists. That may not sound very enticing, but that could just be the difference between painting and music. I thoroughly enjoy listening to covers if they're done well.
Hopefully Pluckstruck's interpretation sat well with someone, even if it did not for you. For what it's worth, "Girl From Ipanema" is one of the most-requested songs from a small jazz group (usually by blue-hairs). Think of it as the "Freebird" of jazz.
Original songs are important, don't get me wrong, but in this small town they don't last long. This is due partially to the fact that many originals just aren't that good, and due partially to the small crowd of artisans in GF that support original music. Most original groups are relegated to their basements because not enough people want to hear that stuff regularly. If you do, you have to get some people to support it along with you and KEEP the support going. Good luck outside of a big city.
As a listener, I don't care either way - as long as the music is good; I'm just saying it is what it is.
After all that, there are some good original goups in town - were any of them at Art Fest? If not, why do you think they weren't?
With Matt's comment in mind, a chance to check out a new take on a familiar band: Jazz On Tap at the Sculpture Gardens, June 24th.
Eylands, Cary, and Blake provide the background for Selmara and Brian Rydell.
I'm looking forward to that.
And I'm definitely planning to be in my lawnchair there on July 22nd!
:o)
I have a group, The Midnights!, we perform all originals, no covers. We applied for the Art Fest and got a rejection letter. I don't know why that is, other than that our style probably isn't bland enough.
I was at the FartEst today when Pluckstruck was playing. I walked by them on two occasions, and there was not a single person sitting in a seat listening to them, nor were there any folks standing around listening. Zero. Zilch. All heads were turned in a different direction.
I walked to the other side, and there was a cover band playing, and again, there were no people listening to the music. Zero. Zilch.
ec99:
Everyone knows soccer sux. This ain't Europe. Maybe the Herald knows a little more about what interesting than you do. Hockey rules! idiot.
Gino
That should read, "a little more about what's interesting ..." Didn't want to leave poor spelling/grammar open for attack on your impending rebuttal.
Gino
The rest of the mispellings and slang was intentional, for flavor, I guess.
Gino
Joe, you guys rock and deserve to play. That sucks.
5&B - If you're a cover band, you have to do it right, that's all I'm saying - it's about quality.
Gino,
Tu sei stronzo. A lot of GF kids were participating in this, which the Herald should have acknowledged. That Sioux hockey is the only thing GF can claim, unless they play BC, as the city's fame notwihstanding.
My wife and I went to Artfest over the weekend. We both left a little disappointed. I'm into photography and I think I stopped twice to look at a vendor. My wife is into wildlife art and only stopped once. I think Artfest may be facing an identity crisis. Is it an art exhibition or a craft show? If I was looking for little wooden signs to put on the board in the kitchen, I'd have my pick. Handmade fishing lures, deck chairs and jewelery were in abundance, but if you were looking for a piece for the living room or office (like we were), you never even broke stride. I think we bought a hat for the baby, spent $20.00 on lemonade and said we'd try again ... in a few years. It's just my opinion, but I believe the new organizers may want to consider a re-tool of the whole event. Frankly, calling it the Grand Cities Craft Fest way have the same appeal if not more than Artfest.
We already call it the Grand Cities Craft Fest, as do most of our friends.
ec99
The Herald doesn't owe you anything. Things fall through the cracks all the time. Nobody is perfect, not even you. I didn't hear anything about it on KNOX news or DAZ either. Because, I presume, it's just another youth sports tournament. Big Whoop! (unless you have someone involved in it) For the thousands of us here that don't,we don't care. Deal with it. How about gripe about something that matters -- like you usually do.
Why does everything in town DEVOLVE into crafts? Then we wonder why more young people aren't attending. I hope the downtown galleries, at least, maintain their integrity.
The Herald sure talks about a lot of other things that many of us don't care about. I for one don't care about UND sports (even though I'm a student). Meanwhile there seems to be nothing for kids to do in this town, our nation as a whole is getting fatter, and yet we shove a youth soccer tournament away as a nonevent. Maybe if more people went to watch, the kids would be more excited and want to continue to play, instead of turning into couch potatoes that do nothing but play video games, drink beer, and watch hockey.
To Anon at 9:31:
One part of me thinks it may be a comfort-zone thing for the people booking. That would suck.
But the other part of me thinks it's the free market in action. The vendors coming here are entrepreneurial and give the people what they want. Otherwise why would they waste the gas and time to be there? And were "real" artists turned away or something (besides musicians)? If there are no "real" artists that think it's worth their time to be here, then obviously you'll continue not to see any.
However, if there really is a young artisan population that can support that market, then someone blew it and a lot of people are missing out. As someone who sees that crowd fairly often (not to mention being part of it), I just don't know if that's the case.
On the other hand, public funding for the arts could be a hot-button topic around here, because I think subsidy would be needed to get and maintain the kinds of artists you're talking about.
Interesting.
Last year I spoke with two potential vendors that were turned away. When I went and saw what was accepted over the two turned away--I gave up going. To be honest--if I want a wooden shelf or crafty item I can find that at the local thrift stores. It really is time for them to get it together and rethink who they are turning away.
Then we need to rise as one and write a strongly-worded letter to the people who book Art Fest.
It sounds like a joke, but I'm serious. Keep those personal accounts handy and get your complaints on record (not just on a blog). If you want to change it instead of let it fester, now's the time. Maybe you'll at least get an explanation for your trouble.
Yeah, that attitude is pervasive. Someone posted recently that the Columbia Mall manager thought a Pottery Barn would never "go over" here, but she would like to see a wooden toy store instead. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Pottery Barn is the height of sophistication, but I think her attitude represents that "craftsy" mindset many of us have grown to despise.
The youth soccer tournament was a bit of a nonevent. My daughter played in it (and her team did quite well). We travel all around the country to similar tournaments in the summer, and you should know that no other city's newspaper covers those tournies either. So I wouldn't be so hard on your local rag. It's no different than those in other towns, bigger and smaller.
I must say you have a very nice clean city -- one you should be proud of. I was impressed.
Out-of-town fan
My point was this: thje Herald prides itself on being the homer newspaper, so much so that it has dedicated its front page to pictures of people snowblowing their sidewalk and even Marilyn H.'s restaurant reviews. That it didn't even mention a soccer tournament with teams coming from Fargo, Bismarck, Manitoba, and other cities, seems to fly in the face of that hometown newspaper reputation it brags about when people complain that real news is found on the so-called second front, which is often the third section.
Where can I find frozen yogurt bars ? greenglass4
wow, greenglass, you sure ease the watch after an election
frozen yogurt bars!?
what about all the injustice down at the cvic?
I know I am a kid at heart, but does anyone else get excited about fireworks season? I looked on TNT firework's website and they no longer list Grand Forks as one of their locations. Does anyone know if this is true? What is the best place to buy fireworks in town? Any favorite types out there?
I like the Herald, ec99. I have lived in a lot of different communities, and I must say that it is the most local of the hometown papers I haver ever read. You just don't know how good you have it. But what evs. No biggie.
Please anon, don't mention frozen yogurt bars and cvic in same sentence, makes me want to throw up, just like talking about new marriage laws in Cal, lets throw up ! greenglass4
Yeah, We wouldn't want gay marriage diminishing the institution like it did in Massachusetts. Oh wait a minute, Mass. has the lowest divorce rate in the country. That wasn't supposed to happen!
Dear Anon, maybe the reason for low divorce rate if it is true is that the gay/sad population are dying of AIDS before they can file for seperation/divorce papers ! just a random thought on the issue. What do you think ? greenglass4
Wow, you really are an idiot. Please tell me what you think the death rate from AIDS is in the gay community.
"In 2005, a total of 12,543 persons died from HIV disease"
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr56/nvsr56_10.pdf
Yeah, that's the reason.
Anyone have any idea how big the Lincoln frolf course in town is? Acre or sq. mi. wise?
Greenglass,
Do you have any gay friends? If you do, they must be miserable self-hating people, because most of us live up to the name "gay" and in fact, are made "sad" by uninformed homophobia.
I think he only spoke his opinion and now you call him names. It's like every single person that doesn't vote for Obama is a rascist?
Well some of"the most liberated", progressive, liberal, Democrats, and "informed" are the biggest haters: if you disagree with their point of view. greenglass4
Do you mean like how we disagree with your point of view that it was OK for you to sexually assault your own daughter?
http://www.court.state.nd.us/court/opinions/920366.htm
Well anon 8:58, June 20, 2008; you are so sadly misinformed. Why would a parent want to harm their children ? There are many false allegations of spouse and child abuse put forth by your CVIC aka Rape and Abuse Centers. 70% of reports are false ! just thought you should know. greenglass4
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