You might have already noticed this, but it’s spring here in the Twin Cities. Our April issue is all about celebrating this time of transition and renewal. From the debut of METRO Well — our new health & wellness magazine-within-a-magazine — to the minty mojito that graces the cover, things are coming up pretty green around here. Here are a few of the signs of the season you’ll find in the issue: + A look at the Twins’ 2012 prospects (short story: we’re cautiously optimistic). + How Record Store Day (April 21), has helped transform your local vinyl pushers.    + Molly O’Rourke’s spring stylings. The winner of our Fashion Throwdown went neon. Very, very neon. + A rundown of the season’s best art events, including the St. Paul Art Crawl, the American Craft Council Show and Art-A-Whirl. + METRO’s second-annual Good Karma Guide. It’s a perfect time to get outside and help someone. We make choosing where and how to do so easy. + A discussion with Michael Christie, the Minnesota Opera’s new music director. It only took the organization a decade-plus to find their man. + A ride-along with the city’s new bike and pedestrian coordinator. It’s time to grease your chain, people. Of course this list is but a sampling of what the issue contains. To see everything we have to offer, grab a copy wherever fine publications are sold. Or better yet, subscribe today.
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You might have already noticed this, but it’s spring here in the Twin Cities. Our April issue is all about celebrating this time of transition and renewal.

From the debut of METRO Well — our new health & wellness magazine-within-a-magazine — to the minty mojito that graces the cover, things are coming up pretty green around here. Here are a few of the signs of the season you’ll find in the issue:

+ A look at the Twins’ 2012 prospects (short story: we’re cautiously optimistic).

+ How Record Store Day (April 21), has helped transform your local vinyl pushers.   

+ Molly O’Rourke’s spring stylings. The winner of our Fashion Throwdown went neon. Very, very neon.

+ A rundown of the season’s best art events, including the St. Paul Art Crawl, the American Craft Council Show and Art-A-Whirl.

+ METRO’s second-annual Good Karma Guide. It’s a perfect time to get outside and help someone. We make choosing where and how to do so easy.

+ A discussion with Michael Christie, the Minnesota Opera’s new music director. It only took the organization a decade-plus to find their man.

+ A ride-along with the city’s new bike and pedestrian coordinator. It’s time to grease your chain, people.

Of course this list is but a sampling of what the issue contains. To see everything we have to offer, grab a copy wherever fine publications are sold. Or better yet, subscribe today.

Our March issue –- as the cover so vividly illustrates –- is a bit of a throwback. The dose of nostalgia arrives with a purpose: to celebrate the career of a man Minnesotans have the great honor of calling their own, a one Robert Allen Zimmerman. The Hibbing native was introduced to the world 50 years ago this month as the folk singing, baby-faced Bob Dylan. What’s happened since the release of his debut, self-titled album -– and how his career has influenced those who have followed in his path –- is the focus of our March feature. Pick up the magazine to hear from those who knew Dylan best, as well as the Minnesota artists he has inspired, including Mason Jennings, Haley Bonar, Dave Simonett, and Slug from Atmosphere. Even after all these years, there’s still a lot to love — and a lot to learn. Here are some other features to look forward to in our new issue. + A look at city-funded efforts to replace and counteract graffiti with public art. + Suggestions for incorporating candy-colored hues into your spring wardrobe.  + A recipe for brown butter-cornbread dough ice cream from the guys at FrozBroz. + A eulogy for Spazz Dad Todd Smith’s coolness, sadly lost to a nose-trimmer purchased at Southdale, and how Mo Perry’s attempt at pole dancing left her feeling “more like an awkward panda than a sexy kitten.” + What inclement weather, draught and a warm winter mean for local farmers –- and those who buy from them. + An inside peak at a fifth-floor condo in Minneapolis’s North Star Lofts (along with a bunch of other METRO Home goodness). + A look at 11 of our favorite Twin Cities spots pushing the sugar (yes, there will be Peeps). But of course this list is but a sampling of what the issue contains. To see everything we have to offer, grab a copy wherever fine publications are sold. Or better yet, subscribe today.
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Our March issue –- as the cover so vividly illustrates –- is a bit of a throwback. The dose of nostalgia arrives with a purpose: to celebrate the career of a man Minnesotans have the great honor of calling their own, a one Robert Allen Zimmerman.

The Hibbing native was introduced to the world 50 years ago this month as the folk singing, baby-faced Bob Dylan. What’s happened since the release of his debut, self-titled album -– and how his career has influenced those who have followed in his path –- is the focus of our March feature.

Pick up the magazine to hear from those who knew Dylan best, as well as the Minnesota artists he has inspired, including Mason Jennings, Haley Bonar, Dave Simonett, and Slug from Atmosphere. Even after all these years, there’s still a lot to love — and a lot to learn.

Here are some other features to look forward to in our new issue.

+ A look at city-funded efforts to replace and counteract graffiti with public art.

+ Suggestions for incorporating candy-colored hues into your spring wardrobe. 

+ A recipe for brown butter-cornbread dough ice cream from the guys at FrozBroz.

+ A eulogy for Spazz Dad Todd Smith’s coolness, sadly lost to a nose-trimmer purchased at Southdale, and how Mo Perry’s attempt at pole dancing left her feeling “more like an awkward panda than a sexy kitten.”

+ What inclement weather, draught and a warm winter mean for local farmers –- and those who buy from them.

+ An inside peak at a fifth-floor condo in Minneapolis’s North Star Lofts (along with a bunch of other METRO Home goodness).

+ A look at 11 of our favorite Twin Cities spots pushing the sugar (yes, there will be Peeps).

But of course this list is but a sampling of what the issue contains. To see everything we have to offer, grab a copy wherever fine publications are sold. Or better yet, subscribe today.

Our March print calendar didn’t make it into the magazine (blame Bob Dylan). But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth sharing. Have a great month.
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Our March print calendar didn’t make it into the magazine (blame Bob Dylan). But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth sharing. Have a great month.

February’s issue takes aim at an important topic: beer. Specifically, Minnesota beer – it’s origins, it’s craft-minded, new-age purveyors and it’s future as a hallmark of the state. But it’s not all about pale ales and stouts this month (like any responsible drinker, we know when it’s time to call it quits). Here are some other features to look forward to in our new issue. + A look at The BrandLab, an innovative program designed to introduce marketing to minority students and put them on the path to a career in the field. + The story of how St. Paul shop Go Vintage came to provide the cast of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire with the prohibition-era wardrobe they needed. + Some fatherly advice from Spazz Dad Todd Smith, and lessons learned from a weeklong solo road trip from fellow columnist Mo Perry.      + A wrap-up of the best St. Paul theater companies have to offer this spring. + A guide to tracking down local produce, even when the farmer’s market remains nothing but a date circled on a calendar. + A look at local design firm Vincent James Associates, whose ever-so-humble work has been kept out of sight and mind but demands a bit of attention. This list is but a sampling of what the issue contains. So to see what else we’ve got on offer, grab a copy wherever fine publications are sold. Or better yet, subscribe today.
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February’s issue takes aim at an important topic: beer. Specifically, Minnesota beer – it’s origins, it’s craft-minded, new-age purveyors and it’s future as a hallmark of the state. But it’s not all about pale ales and stouts this month (like any responsible drinker, we know when it’s time to call it quits).

Here are some other features to look forward to in our new issue.

+ A look at The BrandLab, an innovative program designed to introduce marketing to minority students and put them on the path to a career in the field.

+ The story of how St. Paul shop Go Vintage came to provide the cast of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire with the prohibition-era wardrobe they needed.

+ Some fatherly advice from Spazz Dad Todd Smith, and lessons learned from a weeklong solo road trip from fellow columnist Mo Perry.     

+ A wrap-up of the best St. Paul theater companies have to offer this spring.

+ A guide to tracking down local produce, even when the farmer’s market remains nothing but a date circled on a calendar.

+ A look at local design firm Vincent James Associates, whose ever-so-humble work has been kept out of sight and mind but demands a bit of attention.

This list is but a sampling of what the issue contains. So to see what else we’ve got on offer, grab a copy wherever fine publications are sold. Or better yet, subscribe today.

Did you know that if your dining room is located in the front half of your house, “visitors may habitually arrive, eat lots of food and then quickly leave”? We can’t have that! Luckily, all you have to do to “cure” this feng shui nightmare is hang a two-inch-diameter faceted crystal sphere over the dining-room table. I suspect finding better friends might also help.
METRO columnist Mo Perry writing about her attempts to tackle her home’s feng shui emergencies in the January issue.
In the Twin Cities’ long—and not always uplifting—annals of mansion-building, the Charles G. Gates House occupies its own special realm of folly. Built by the playboy son of notorious stock-plunger John “Bet-a-Million” Gates, the mansion, located at 2501 Lake of the Isles Parkway East, was the largest private residence in the history of Minneapolis. Resembling an Italian Renaissance-era palace, the house offered 38,000 square feet of over-the-top luxury, including a ballroom big enough for a marching band, an 80-foot-long central gallery, two elevators and all the lavish accoutrements (marble floors, bronze doorknobs, alabaster chandeliers, a pipe organ) that money could buy. It even had central air-conditioning, possibly the first such installation in a house anywhere. Despite its grandeur, the mansion had a distressingly short life, as did its owner.
Larry Millett, writing about the Charles G. Gates House (2501 Lake of the Isles Parkway East) in the January issue of METRO.
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.
Food editor Mecca Bos rarely misses a meal, especially when that meal is breakfast. Read about some of her favorite new joints in the January issue. Visit them first thing in the morning, or whenever you happen to wake up. They’re as good in the afternoon as they are with dreary eyes. Favorite place not on the list? Tell us about it on twitter @metromag, or on our Facebook page.
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Food editor Mecca Bos rarely misses a meal, especially when that meal is breakfast. Read about some of her favorite new joints in the January issue. Visit them first thing in the morning, or whenever you happen to wake up. They’re as good in the afternoon as they are with dreary eyes.

Favorite place not on the list? Tell us about it on twitter @metromag, or on our Facebook page.

At first glance, this year’s Keepers are a ragtag bunch. Their mediums run the gamut from good old-fashioned pen and paper to the human body; their habitats are classrooms, venerable theater stages and rock clubs. But here’s where this diverse group converges: Each Keeper has talent to spare, and is an indispensable cog in the wheel of Twin Cities culture. For that, we have presented them with some fancy words, and a pretty picture in an attempt to flatter them into never leaving town.   Today’s featured Keeper is Robert James Algeo, who finds inspiration for his comics in spies, space and Springsteen.
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At first glance, this year’s Keepers are a ragtag bunch. Their mediums run the gamut from good old-fashioned pen and paper to the human body; their habitats are classrooms, venerable theater stages and rock clubs.

But here’s where this diverse group converges: Each Keeper has talent to spare, and is an indispensable cog in the wheel of Twin Cities culture. For that, we have presented them with some fancy words, and a pretty picture in an attempt to flatter them into never leaving town.  

Today’s featured Keeper is Robert James Algeo, who finds inspiration for his comics in spies, space and Springsteen.

At first glance, this year’s Keepers are a ragtag bunch. Their mediums run the gamut from good old-fashioned pen and paper to the human body; their habitats are classrooms, venerable theater stages and rock clubs. But here’s where this diverse group converges: Each Keeper has talent to spare, and is an indispensable cog in the wheel of Twin Cities culture. For that, we have presented them with some fancy words, and a pretty picture in an attempt to flatter them into never leaving town.   Today’s featured Keeper is Amanda Natzel, whose simple, versatile womenswear is making waves across the country.
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At first glance, this year’s Keepers are a ragtag bunch. Their mediums run the gamut from good old-fashioned pen and paper to the human body; their habitats are classrooms, venerable theater stages and rock clubs.

But here’s where this diverse group converges: Each Keeper has talent to spare, and is an indispensable cog in the wheel of Twin Cities culture. For that, we have presented them with some fancy words, and a pretty picture in an attempt to flatter them into never leaving town.  

Today’s featured Keeper is Amanda Natzel, whose simple, versatile womenswear is making waves across the country.