Can you tell what’s going on in this picture? This is from a couple months ago, during a sort of… exploration… of a foreclosed house in St. Paul with Jeff, John, and Connie. The house in question was unoccupied and unheated. It contained, to everyone’s shock, a fish tank frozen into a solid block of ice. While everyone else stood in more or less stunned amazement, John screamed “FISHIEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!” and rushed in for a closer look. Luckily, the fish had escaped.
The preview is here! Yes!
Gabe and I finally rolled around town yesterday with Anderson Mitchell, the owner of Mitchell Construction and an all around awesome guy.
He lives in North (near Miss Pettiford) in a beautiful historical structure whose original concrete blocks are still intact.
Guy is full of energy. In the two and half hours we were with him, we must have stopped at 10 different places in and around North. His vibe compares to John’s on a lot of levels, actually; he moves at 100mph, is an entertaining story-teller, and he gets things done when he wants them done.
We talked a bit about John and about Hawthorne in general, and we noticed Anderson’s passion for keeping things in the neighborhood, keeping it local, keeping the jobs and contracts in the hands of the residents so that they can put the money they make back into the community (rather than out in some suburb).
Several of our makeshift “cast” were present, including, but not limited to: Johnny, Peter, Peter Jr., Joy, Inspector Martin, Pam, Valeria, Anderson, Miss Pettiford, Jeff Skrenes, and (briefly) Dianne Hoffstead.
Peter gave a really nice introductory speech that you can read here. The guy dresses up nice, what can we say.
John ran around most of the night with his digital camera, introducing himself to people, occasionally introducing them to us, here and there providing us with commentary on the meeting (”this is democracy in action”), and pointing out how great the food was - it was from Bangkok Market and it was awesome.
Gabe made some progress with Anderson Mitchell (above), who agreed to hang out with us this week (on camera). He was suspicious of us in his usual, entertaining Anderson Mitchell way - and I don’t blame him for being cautious. We’re excited to hang out with him - we think he’s a super-hero.
John finally meeting Miss Pettiford
Cynthia and Ceasar Boyd introduced themselves to me at one point, asking why we (Gabe and I) hadn’t talked to them yet. I reassured her that we would like nothing more, and took her number. According to John, they allegedly live in the house where the cops interrupted a music video that was being shot because live rounds were being fired into the air. Have yet to confirm this with her.
