things change.

In regards to my previous post about working with Station 4: That's not happening anymore.

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Browsing the web frequently inspires people to write something to their blogs

Dentist and Taxes

That's what I did today. Sounds awful, right? Nope!

OK, well, it's never fun to have pointy metal tools poking around at your teeth, but I don't have any cavities or anything, so kudos to me for my adequate dental care. Plus my friend Nancy Cashman was my dentist. She works at Silver Lake Dental. I met her when she was in dental school, but this was my first time seeing her "dentally" (she's been done with school for a little while now). She did good. I recommend her to anyone looking for a cool, skillful dentist with tattoos that they can talk about bands with.

Next stop was Fox Tax at their brand spankin' new office in Northeast Minneapolis. I usually just do my taxes myself (and my dentistry--jk), but my friend Alyssa Fox had so convinced me of her awesome tax skills, that I gave her a try. Wow! Biggest rebate ever! Give these guys your taxes, it's worth it. They specialize in helping musicians and artists get the biggest refund possible.

So, basically, what could have been a terrible day turned out to be pretty awesome thanks to some nice friends with awesome skillz. Let's hope the awesomeness continues when I go to work this evening...

And don't forget to pass on your awesome skillz to your friends, you just might help them turn what could be a terrible day into an awesome day, and they just might return the favor sometime.

More Chunks of Web

One more reason to avoid casinos.

One more reason to avoid doctors.

The top 20 websites.

If you really want to rock the vote, check this out!

Sagging your pants is just one more way of giving in to the Man.

Young student's documentary leaving audiences stunned.

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Chunks of Web + RSS made easy

Feel like being financially responsible for once in your life? Don't have a retirement plan yet? Losing control of your budget? You can get free advice from a professional financial planner today only. These guys normally charge $100-$250 per hour, so this is a rare opportunity.

Some things are just easier when you're brain damaged.

65 year old woman fights off mountain lion with a ballpoint pen! What?!

I already knew Keith Ellison was pretty awesome, but will he be so awesome that he will impeach the president? That might be the only thing that could restore my faith in this government...aside from maybe...oh wait...it's illegal to say that...

Hmmm...a 5 cent penny? My mind is blown.

Don't let this kind of stuff scare you. Not only do they never win these cases, but even though the media makes it seem like a lot of people are getting sued for file-sharing, the fact is that only a teeny tiny thimbleful of people out of millions and millions actually have to deal with this. you are probably more likely to die in a plane crash or get struck by lightning.

OK, pregnant ladies, not to put any pressure on you or anything, but if you don't chill out, your baby will be stupid. So stop stressing!

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I know what you are thinking. "How is it that Oren seems to spend his whole day on the internet looking for all these websites?" The answer is, "I have a lot of freetime." But there's more to it than that--or rather, less to it than that. I use RSS. A lot of you might know what that is, but if you're asking yourself "What the hell is RSS?" I'm going to keep it really simple, because it's too easy to get wrapped up in the technicalities and lose interest.

RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication". It's just a way to view info from all the sites you find interesting, all in one place, so instead of going from website to website searching for info, it all comes to you. You can track news from a particular source, or about a particular subject, you can keep up to date on your buddy's blog, or pretty much anything else you can think of. The possibilities are endless for what you choose to subscribe to.

There are also a ton of possible ways to gather all this info, but in the interest of not confusing you, I'm going to send you to only one place. I'm not necessarily endorsing this as "the best," but it's the one I use and it's incredibly easy and versatile. You can even access it from pretty much any mobile phone, plus if you already have any kind of google account (like gmail, for instance), you are already setup and ready to go.

Just click on this link:
http://reader.google.com

Once you've setup your account, start looking for that little orange symbol in the far right side of the address bar of your web browser. When you are at a site you want to stay informed about, click on the little orange symbol, or look for a link labeled "RSS" and you are all done! Now you will get updates right in your google reader account, so you don't have to check in on all those different websites anymore, they come to you!

St. Paul is getting a little weird.

When in Midway, watch out for attacking flagpoles!

Remember to warn your cute little puppies to be very careful about accepting treats from strangers.

Around the web

How to use email, even if you think you already know how to.

18th Century Robot with memory and writing skills (Seriously. This is crazy.).

Bands: easy way to get your gigs online.

Fans: easy way to track where your favorite bands are playing.

The Hype Machine keeps track of songs and discussion posted on many popular music blogs.

Why Minneapolis Street signs are different colors.

For all you book nerds out there. Do people still read those things?

More for music junkies.

Keep your brain sharp with Folic Acid.

Chalk another one up for dumb criminals. It doesn't get much dumber than stealing GPS units.

When you get your taxes done, say no to the instant tax refund loan.

OG Picks of the Day

-I think therefore I am [smarter than you{if you don't think you are smarter than me}]. Here's evidence.

-Here is a cool website where you can learn languages by meeting people from all over the world who also want to learn languages and teach each other.

-"...the new Northeast Beat, a blogging and citizen journalism experimentaimed at celebrating, and scrutinizing, Northeast Minneapolis cultureand community."

-Amazing hip hop group, Kill the Vultures, bring rap music to a new place on Thursday at the 7th St. Entry with a brand spankin' new album. Here's a review of the new CD by Nate Patrin in today's City Pages.

-Tsunami in Japan? Hard to say.

-Most people know where they stand on abortion, but where do you stand on killing your baby after it's born?

-They may be a bunch of yellow-bellied chickens, but at least they know how to talk it out.

-New airplane technology spurs wave of bird discrimination.

-You can just feel the electricity in the air!

-Yet another reason that "I have a headache" just isn't a good excuse.

-"Listen, young lady, for the last time! Eat your vegetables! You don't want your grandchildren to have golden fur, do you?"

The latest

So, for those who didn't already know, the St. Paul mayor's office is trying to boost downtown st. paul as an arts & culture hot spot. As part of that initiative they have recruited me to work with Station 4 in order to make it a nightlife "hot spot." Right now we are still in the preliminary stages--meaning that I don't actually officially have a role yet, but we are having lots of meetings, and looking at spreadsheets, and talking to an architect/designer, and basically hammering out exactly what I will be doing and to what extent. It's really exciting!

I really look forward to the whole thing, and I hope that my friends are supportive of this project, and come out to see what's up once things start rolling, and I hope all my favorite bands will come play there.

This doesn't mean I am leaving the Turf. I am happy there, and I feel like part of a community, and i really think things are moving in a positive direction there. We have lots of awesome shows coming up over the next few months, and I hope to see you there soon.

I know some people might think it's weird, like I'm competing with myself, or something, but lots of promoters work with multiple venues. It's the nature of the biz.

I also plan to continue working with developmentally disabled adults. So, I guess I'll be going back to having 3 jobs. Or, I guess if you see this as an "expansion" of OG Presents, which it essentially is, I suppose it's still just 2 jobs, but probably 45% more work. I won't be nearly as busy as when I was working City Pages as my third job and putting in 17 hour days, though...I am saying to myself with fingers crossed.

Planning to drive down to St. Louis this weekend to see my buddy Brendan. Haven't seen him in a while, and he's been through some shit lately. He always comes up here to visit, so it seems only fair that I should go down there once in a while. I always have a fun time in St. Louis, it's a cool place. hopefully nothing will cause me to not go this time. I was supposed to go for the long weekend last week, but at the last minute I remembered that I was a key element of the setup for an elaborate surprise birthday party at the Turf Club for my friend Peter on Friday, and there was so much awesome cool fun stuff going on all weekend (including Portia's amazing birthday party on Saturday) that I just couldn't leave.

My Favorite Picture from the Trip