1877-Whassup (with this picture)?

So, this is the only outdoor public telephone that I can find in the entire area from Snelling/Como to Larpenteur/Hamline. WTF! Reverence for the holy cellphone appears to have dulled us to the possibility that there are some people out there (myself included) who don't feel the need to be reachable during every second of our lives. Have a good look at this. In a few years you'll be hard pushed to find a phone outdoors. Just so you know (in case you ever find yourself in the neighborhood and need to use one of these old 20th century relics) this one is outside Shanghai Market at Como and Snelling.

"cleaned out my life" sale: the business of personal cleansing

So, I saw this little sign on Hamline Avenue between Larpenteur and Como the other day and its emphasis on the importance of possessions to one's life caught my attention. I can't help wondering about the whole notion of "life-cleaning." It seems that we are so thoroughly immersed in our possessions that to clean out the garage, loft, bedroom (or whatever) constitutes a personal cleansing, a sort of salvation for the good consumer-subject.

Stop . . . wet your whistle at Patrick's Lounge

So, here are some photos of Patrick's bar as promised. There's something about the building and its general milieu that I find intriguing. Like Ted's Bar up the road, which I discussed in a previous posting, it's to do with incongruity, I think. There it is nestled within the dull strip-mall architecture of Larpenteur Avenue. I've been in Patrick’s a lot and they seem to do a fairly good trade, though It's rarely what you would call "busy." The windows are particularly engaging. They look good at night when they're lit up, especially. The sign with the changeable text is always worth a look. They usually have something humorous up. The more that I think about it, signage (signs for businesses, billboards and so forth) are one of the most interesting aspects of the local area. I suppose it's the fact that the signs, unlike the buildings themselves, are in a constant process of change. There's a nice, old-fashioned phone booth in Patrick's that's worth a look (the sort that used to be seen in hotel lobbies) and there are some intriguing paintings in there also. One complaint, though: what happened to the old knight-suit near the back door? Anyways, go in there and have a Summit. They serve it in those wee tulip glasses. That's less than a pint but they fit nice and snug in your hand.

What sort of architecture is this? Was Patrick's Lounge a supper club back in the day? Do tell if you know. The wooden shingles and the color windows always remind me of confectionary (Hansel and Gretel?) and they also evoke a mildly church-like aesthetic. Here's a detail of one of the windows: