CRZ is Christopher Robin Zimmerman

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9.10.13 13:49

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Listened to Sneaker Pimps - Becoming X

9.10.13 11:46

Can of Diet Dr Pepper

9.10.13 10:41

Symantec (Roseville, MN)

9.10.13 10:29

U.S. Post Office (Minneapolis, MN)

9.10.13 02:43

MAYORAL CANDIDATE #24: JAMES "JIMMY" L. STROUD, JR. (THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE)

Well, he filed on 8/12 and he lives in Willard-Hay. And THAT'S ALL I GOT. No, just kidding. But he didn't make it easy!

Only five of the 35 candidates opted to not fill out a questionnaire for the Star Tribune voters' guide, and Stroud was one of them. (The others include the previously profiled Mr. Everett and Mr. Gould.)

He DOES have a campaign page on Facebook and 84 Likes. (If he had had more Likes than me, I probably would have given up on the spot.) His photos include "with glasses" and "without glasses" and a what appear to be some "VOTE JIMMY" sign prototypes, none of which actually say "Vote Jimmy" but are described as such. They ALSO tantalized me with a website domain, but it returned the GoDaddy "parked" page. I guess he's still got four weeks to get it set up?

The Facebook page has an extensive bio hidden behind the "About" link - a few decades back, Stroud was a "Stand-up Comedian/Impressionist/Actor and Playwright" and boasts an impressive list of stage-sharing appearances. He's originally from Washington, DC, but we won't hold that against him.

I DID find a personal Facebook page, but it's been updated only once in the past year, but what an update! It's a four minute YouTube slide show video which will probably not affect you to vote for or against him in any way but it comes with a pretty funky groove (which YouTube tells me is "We the People" by Soul Searchers) as well as a lot of handshakes and the occasional outstanding outfit. It had only been viewed 13 times before I watched it. You should go watch it! Go ahead...http://youtu.be/SME6VHbiQP8. I'll still be here when you get back and you can help me figure out WHY wasn't this linked from his campaign's Facebook page. He also says he was in the class of 1976 in high school, which would probably make him 55.

He's also on LinkedIn! Over THERE they have a Wordpress link which DOES work, but only has one entry with most of the same photos and a link back to the Facebook page.

(I may now have done more work promoting Jimmy online than he has.)

Also via LinkedIn, he currently lists two careers in addition to candidate: Career Transition Specialist at Hubert Humphrey Job Corps and Investigator at Legal Rights Center. He also has a few bylines at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder ("the voice of the Twin Cities African-American Community") which get crossposted at the Twin Cities Daily Planet. On the Facebook page of MSR, they list The Original 7ven (the latest incarnation of The Time) as one of their Likes. Common ground!

He doesn't come out and say what "The People's Choice" means, so I'll leave the speculation to you.

I honestly can't tell you if I'd be a better mayor than this guy or not, but I feel like I might be! Am I right or wrong? It's YOUR vote!

NEXT: One of the favored candidates - but not by Naomi!

9.10.13 01:13

27 DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY - MAYORAL CANDIDATE #23: NEAL BAXTER (INDEPENDENT)

Thirteen of the 35 candidates in the race filed on the final two days of the 15 day filing period. Here's the first one from 8/12.

Neal Baxter is 58 and lives on the Bancroft side of the Bancroft/Powderhorn Park border. He didn't list a website, which is weird, because he's behind a really cool one which purports to host a complete archive of Minnesota election results going back to 1855, yet has no campaign site. I did a search and he didn't come up, so I believe this is his first run. He did make enough of an impression on one person to cause them to write a very glowing (yet backhanded) endorsement of him.

Despite the lack of a campaign site, he HAS filled out a few questionnaires. Turns out it's easier to research these folks the closer you get to Election Day - I was right to procrastinate!

He's on the Bancroft Neighborhood board, the City's Pedestrian Advisory Committee and the Capital Long-Range Improvement Committee. I spend a lot of time on Facebook.

His KFAI interview has A LOT of race talk - like, enough that I felt I had to mention it. He also basically says people should vote for Betsy Hodges or Don Samuels, which really makes me skeptical about his "Independent" party or principle.

I honestly can't tell you if I'd be a better mayor than this guy or not, but I feel like I might be! Am I right or wrong? It's YOUR vote!

NEXT: Another challenge!

9.10.13 00:35

You can now register to vote online! Check out the Secretary of State's new (kinda) streamlined website! http://mnvotes.org

9.10.13 00:31

FOUR WEEKS UNTIL ELECTION DAY - MAYORAL CANDIDATE #22: KURTIS W. HANNA (PIRATE PARTY)

Kurtis Wayne Hanna (28, Whittier, filed on 8/9) has a variety of interesting opinions, almost all of which I totally agree with, so there probably won't be too much fun in this profile and you may want to wait for the next one.

His filing's website, captainkurtis.com, redirects to the MN Pirate Party website - they formed earlier this year, I believe, but haven't gotten national (and/or Wikipedia) recognition yet (the national site links to a dormant Facebook page which hasn't seen activity for a year - OK, they formed LAST year, but the effort faded away and some new folks tried again earlier this year). The first bullet on his resume is "Former Executive Director of Minnesota NORML" which for some folks would probably end the discussion right there. The MN Pirate Party's website wasn't updated a single time in September. Kurt will probably be by later, so maybe he could tell me if he holds an office in the party or not...I couldn't find any of that info on their website, either. (Usually in the Pirate Party the title of "Captain" signifies the leader of the party, but I'm not sure if that's the case here with "Captain Kurtis.")

(The Party's Facebook page, by the way, should not to be confused with either of the Party's Facebook GROUPS page, one of which is empty and one of which consists of very little call to political action and a whole lot of links to illegal streams, requests for movies and software serial numbers.)

Whereas the Pirates are more concerned with technological issues such as fair use and net neutrality, Hanna is much more in your face about decriminilazing marijuana - a position I don't disagree with, by the way, but not in the "post pictures of leaves on my Facebook wall" kinda way. One thing about NORML folks I've found is they're always convinced that the silent majority of weed smokers will show up on Election Day and shock the world by voting for the candidate who's posted the most leaves on his Facebook wall. I've always been convinced that the silent majority of weed smokers don't bother showing up to vote. But I'm cynical.

He also really hates the NSA and the Surveillance State. He has ties to Restore the Fourth, a privacy rights advocacy group who needs more members (only 16 likes for the MN Facebook group). Again, I have no problem with any of these stances.

Finally, he's got 91 more Likes than me. Damn!

I honestly can't tell you if I'd be a better mayor than this guy or not, but I feel like I might be...but it'd be close! Am I right or wrong? It's YOUR vote!

NEXT: A challenge!

8.10.13 17:42

New stadium illegal RT @MayorRTRybak: Minneapolis-StPaul, and new stadium, finalist for Super Bowl 2018. Big boost for hospitality workers

8.10.13 16:16

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Listened to Daryl Hall & John Oates - Big Bam Boom