Want to add a little bromance to your life? Spazz Dad Todd Smith shares three easy steps that will have you man-dating in no time. (Illustration by Kate Worum)
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Want to add a little bromance to your life? Spazz Dad Todd Smith shares three easy steps that will have you man-dating in no time.

(Illustration by Kate Worum)

It’s not often that we venture outside of the Twin Cities in our pages. May is the exception to that rule. That’s because this month marks the return of our annual Food Road Trip issue, in which our writers fill up their gas tanks, and their bellies, in pursuit of great meals found further afield. This year, writers directed their vehicles in the direction of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Lindstrom, Minn.; the Brainerd Lakes Region, St. Louis, Mo., and Iowa. On their travels, they found pasties, burgers, pie shakes and a few upscale dishes such as marsala-braised rabbit. But of course, we were eager to get back, and to write about what we found when we did. To that end, writers delivered stories on: + The one-year anniversary of the tornado, and how North Minneapolis’ history complicated the response to the natural disaster. + A look at the growing world of female body builders (we promise, there’s nothing to be intimidated about). + What it takes to raise chickens in the Twin Cities (legally, financially and ethically, that is). + Columns from Spazz Dad on what it means to be a man in need of a friend, and from Mo Perry on what it means to be a woman without a child. + A look at an Edina home that seeks to bring the outdoors indoors. + Some essential – and nearly forgotten – records from Secret Stash’s Will Gilbert and Eric Foss. + A ride about town from Minnesota’s one and only Segway rental and tour company, Mobile Entertainment. + An interview with Ted Leo, who will be performing at Wits on June 1. + Nine full pages of coffee, coffee, and more coffee.   All of May’s stories can be found in one location here. Like what you see? Support our work and subscribe today.
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It’s not often that we venture outside of the Twin Cities in our pages. May is the exception to that rule. That’s because this month marks the return of our annual Food Road Trip issue, in which our writers fill up their gas tanks, and their bellies, in pursuit of great meals found further afield.

This year, writers directed their vehicles in the direction of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Lindstrom, Minn.; the Brainerd Lakes Region, St. Louis, Mo., and Iowa. On their travels, they found pasties, burgers, pie shakes and a few upscale dishes such as marsala-braised rabbit.

But of course, we were eager to get back, and to write about what we found when we did. To that end, writers delivered stories on:

+ The one-year anniversary of the tornado, and how North Minneapolis’ history complicated the response to the natural disaster.

+ A look at the growing world of female body builders (we promise, there’s nothing to be intimidated about).

+ What it takes to raise chickens in the Twin Cities (legally, financially and ethically, that is).

+ Columns from Spazz Dad on what it means to be a man in need of a friend, and from Mo Perry on what it means to be a woman without a child.

+ A look at an Edina home that seeks to bring the outdoors indoors.

+ Some essential – and nearly forgotten – records from Secret Stash’s Will Gilbert and Eric Foss.

+ A ride about town from Minnesota’s one and only Segway rental and tour company, Mobile Entertainment.

+ An interview with Ted Leo, who will be performing at Wits on June 1.

+ Nine full pages of coffee, coffee, and more coffee.  

All of May’s stories can be found in one location here. Like what you see? Support our work and subscribe today.

Now, I admit that maybe I don’t know as much about film as some NYU film student or someone who regularly visits the Lagoon Theater. But if anyone tells you that they loved the movie ‘The Tree of Life’ you should promptly tell that person to fuck off. And I’m not alone: This movie confused every single person at the Best Picture Showcase. How do I know this? The entire crowd uproariously laughed when the movie ended and the lights came on. And this wasn’t a comedy.
Columnist Todd Smith, in his story about the day he spent at the movie theater watching Oscar-nominated movies
Lifter Puller will forever be engrained in our cities musical DNA. The Hold Steady will always be the Hold Steady. They will be in your face with force, coming at you with songs about Charlemagne hiding drugs in his socks and dudes driving the wrong way on 169. I will gladly pump my fist to all that. But right now, I’m digging this new Huck, er, Craig Finn.   - Todd Smith on Craig Finn’s recent solo excursion in support of his new album, Clear Heart, Full Eyes.
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Lifter Puller will forever be engrained in our cities musical DNA. The Hold Steady will always be the Hold Steady. They will be in your face with force, coming at you with songs about Charlemagne hiding drugs in his socks and dudes driving the wrong way on 169. I will gladly pump my fist to all that. But right now, I’m digging this new Huck, er, Craig Finn.  

- Todd Smith on Craig Finn’s recent solo excursion in support of his new album, Clear Heart, Full Eyes.

I tried avoiding the tweeting temptress for as long as I could. Where Facebook is more like a steady boyfriend, Twitter is the harlequin of online social networking. It is an electronic wild frontier, a place where literally anyone (300 million users send out 1.6 billion search queries per day!) is free to dissect the minutia of their day-to-day lives, craft quirky 140-character observations and blast them out into the ether with zero restrictions. With my alarming lack of self censorship and loose comedic boundaries, the world is simply a better place without me blurting out asinine observations every hour of the day. But then I finally succumbed to Twitter, albeit in the most unlikely place possible: an elementary school yard.
METRO columnist Todd Smith, writing about how he recently joined Twitter.
The U.S. Pond Hockey Championship begins today at Lake Nokomis. Get in the hockey spirit by reading columnist Todd Smith’s piece on his experience at the tournament, and what hockey means to his family.
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The U.S. Pond Hockey Championship begins today at Lake Nokomis. Get in the hockey spirit by reading columnist Todd Smith’s piece on his experience at the tournament, and what hockey means to his family.

Spazz Dad’s 2012 New Year’s Resolutions

  1. Only wear my “Forever Lazy” full pajama suit at night.
  2. Rid my life of all Kardashians.
  3. Learn to forgive (even though I’m really, really good at holding a grudge).
  4. Eat more beets (even though I will hate every millisecond of it).
  5. Listen to more Guided by Voices.
  6. Watch season one of Breaking Bad (just to shut up half the people in my life who constantly tell me “I HAVE to watch it!!!!”).
  7. Stop smurfing around.
  8. Spend more time with my family
  9. Read more books (this does not include teen fiction…I’m speaking to you “Hunger Games.”)
  10. Stop filling my daily vernacular with phrases from “The Wire” (“You hear me, snot boogie? Time for the re-up. Yo! Omar Coming!”)

+ Spazz Dad Todd Smith’s columns appear in each issue of METRO. He blogs whenever the mood strikes for metromag.com. Read more of his work here.

We’ve all heard and read about our country’s great wealth divide. Rarely, though, do you actually see it. But there I stood, peeking behind the curtain in a super-rich version of The Land of Oz: There were multiple stone patios, a tennis court, a pool, a pond, a putting green and a garage filled with six cars. And this wasn’t the woman’s only house: She had property in Florida and Europe, and a summer cabin up north. Looking over this 15,000-square-foot castle, I thought, How much of the pie does one family of four really need while so many of us are settling for crumbs? - Todd Smith, in his December column, Across the Great Divide. Illustration by Jacob Thomas.
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We’ve all heard and read about our country’s great wealth divide. Rarely, though, do you actually see it. But there I stood, peeking behind the curtain in a super-rich version of The Land of Oz: There were multiple stone patios, a tennis court, a pool, a pond, a putting green and a garage filled with six cars. And this wasn’t the woman’s only house: She had property in Florida and Europe, and a summer cabin up north. Looking over this 15,000-square-foot castle, I thought, How much of the pie does one family of four really need while so many of us are settling for crumbs?

- Todd Smith, in his December column, Across the Great Divide.

Illustration by Jacob Thomas.

There is a holiday for everything. Between St. Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day, religious celebrations such as Hanukkah and Christmas, Independence and Labor days, everyone is covered. And these are just the holidays we readily observe. Did you know that July is “National Wheelchair Beautification” month? Or that October is “Caffeine Addiction Recovery” month?

All of this got me thinking. Why doesn’t the porn industry have a holiday? After all, sex rules the world and the porn industry generates $13 billion a year. You’d think some organization out there would throw the porn industry a bone (pun intended) and give them a holiday.

Oh, wait. I forgot. They already have a holiday: It’s called Halloween. How do I know this? Because my seven-year-old son got a Halloween costume catalog in the mail last week that featured a mere four pages of kid costumes, but a whopping 150 porno-ready outfits for women.

Read Spazz Dad’s complete list of boob-tacular low-low lights here.

Jim McGuinn’s office, the nerve center of The Current, the indie rock station for Minnesota Public Radio that is surging up the ratings rankings and has quickly earned both a national and international audience, is filled with a raucous song not by the Black Keys or Built to Spill, but rather, five-year-old Jameson McGuinn singing about how he hates homework. “Isn’t it awesome!” McGuinn says proudly. It is this sense of humility, accessibility and sheer unbridled love for rock-and-roll that McGuinn brings to The Current on a daily basis. He loves music, no matter the form, and wants you to love it, too. Even though The Current is currently in the middle of their busy Fall Member Drive (shameless plug: if you haven’t pledged or donated, you should; here’s the link), McGuinn took a moment to answer our really stupid questions. Read the full Q/A here.
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Jim McGuinn’s office, the nerve center of The Current, the indie rock station for Minnesota Public Radio that is surging up the ratings rankings and has quickly earned both a national and international audience, is filled with a raucous song not by the Black Keys or Built to Spill, but rather, five-year-old Jameson McGuinn singing about how he hates homework. “Isn’t it awesome!” McGuinn says proudly.

It is this sense of humility, accessibility and sheer unbridled love for rock-and-roll that McGuinn brings to The Current on a daily basis. He loves music, no matter the form, and wants you to love it, too. Even though The Current is currently in the middle of their busy Fall Member Drive (shameless plug: if you haven’t pledged or donated, you should; here’s the link), McGuinn took a moment to answer our really stupid questions.

Read the full Q/A here.