Vince Vaughn to be honored for being born in Minnesota
Since sifting through dull newspapers, hyperbolic blogs, and overflowing RSS feeds for meaningful news can be an arduous process, News Net catches and compiles both the amusing and the significant reports that were overlooked throughout the weekend. Here are some things to think about as the workweek begins.
• Vince Vaughn (who spent the bulk of his childhood in Illinois) will receive a star on the Minnesota “Walk Of Fame”, which is on Hennepin between Eighth and Ninth as part of a program sponsored by the Hennepin Theatre Trust. The unveiling will occur just prior to Vaughn’s State Theatre show on Saturday. Vaughn joins walk-of-famers (walkers-of-fame?) Bob Dylan, Marion Ross, Tippi Hedren, and Loni Anderson.
• The DNR reports increased mountain lion sightings in Minnesota, but considers it unlikely the beasts have taken up residence here. “[P]eople who think we have hundreds of them out there probably need a little dose of reality,” says John Erb, a biologist with the DNR’s Forest/Wildlife Research Group in Grand Rapids. Apparently there have been duplicate reports of the same animal, and erroneous sightings involving deer, dogs, and bobcats. But still...mountain lions, people!
• Here’s some good news: The number of smokers in the Twin Cities has dropped by half during the past 30 years. That’s well above the national average decline. It might just have something to do with the fact that there’s hardly an indoor area that still allows smoking, and it’s really, really cold here. (Although, you know who would be happy to hear this news, as pointed out by one LiveScience commenter? Hitler.)
• Is this bit of Tumblr animation a wry commentary on Midwestern masculinity? A meditation on the color purple? Or is it just that Brett Favre and Prince are the two most famous dudes associated with Minnesota? (Aside from Vince Vaughn, of course).
• Oh, yeah, and it snowed this weekend. The usual stuff happened; the usual people complained; and now the snow is melting.
