BoingBoing Meetup: Twin Cities edition

The temperature climbed over 100 on Tuesday, but the Twin Cities BoingBoing Meetup was still a lot of fun. (I refuse to give in to urge to make a "cool" pun.) We had probably close to 25 people who met up at one of Minneapolis' best parks—Minnehaha Falls. On a patio overlooking the waterfall, we drank good beer, had some great conversations, and shared some seriously nifty objects and ideas. In the photo above (taken by Michael Lee, who was kind enough to take some iPhone shots, as my camera is in France with my husband.) you can see Katrina Mundinger demonstrating a drop spindle—the technology that preceded the more-recognizable spinning wheel.

Some other cool items: Emily Lloyd brought some local very, very short memoirs that she's collecting as part of the 6 Words Twin Cities project; Scott brought some steampunk goggles he'd made using materials from Ax-Man (The most awesome stores in the Twin Cities. Seriously. The St. Paul location has an iron lung for sale.); musician Jeremy Messersmith brought an intentionally bad poem that he successfully submitted to a vanity music label; and Will brought a 3D film camera. Hopefully, he'll figure out a place to get it developed and we'll have some 3D photos of the Meetup, too!

Links to a couple more photos: These shots were taken by Scott, the gentleman who brought the goggles.

Maggie Koerth-Baker is the science editor at BoingBoing.net. She writes a monthly column for The New York Times Magazine and is the author of Before the Lights Go Out, a book about electricity, infrastructure, and the future of energy. You can find Maggie on Twitter and Facebook.

Maggie goes places and talks to people. Find out where she'll be speaking next.

MORE: Community • Culture • Happy Mutants

More at Boing Boing

Ants and Stars: Bruce Sterling and Jasmina Tesanovic visit the Sardinia Radio Telescope in Italy

The Snowden Principle

bamboleo

Bummer I could not make it out, but I also have steampunk goggles I made from axman parts!!! That place is amazing, I was glad to find it after having to leave the American Science and Surplus aka “The Science Center” of Chicago behind when I moved here. Axman is something all of us should experience. Hope to get out to the next event!
- Maggie Koerth-Baker
  
  It is entirely possible that Ax-Man may exist solely for the purpose of making steampunk goggles.
  - bamboleo
    
    Hahaha, I would have to agree with you on that.
sparklemotion

I, for one, had a great time meeting people, even though I was too frazzled to bring a token to show.
- Maggie Koerth-Baker
  
  Ditto. Thank you for coming!
Maggie Koerth-Baker

Anon, sorry we missed you! We were outside, on the patio facing the Falls. But there were a lot of large groups. Next time, perhaps, a larger more prominent sign.
Anonymous

Thanks for posting this Maggie. It looks like it would have been right up my alley!
Since I couldn’t be there in person to share something, maybe I can share one of the most excellent words I’ve learned since living here in Ireland. I’ll use it in a sentence: Wickedashtray’s comment is something a “gobshite” would say. It’s a great word.
Thumbs up for Ax-Man Surplus! I take my kids there every time we visit.
RedShirt77

Sorry I missed it. Looks hot.
Anonymous

Wish we could have been there. We didn’t find out till last minute. Hope to see a bunch of you at Convergence!
Anonymous

I had so much fun, and wish my phone battery life was a bit longer and I had taken more pictures!
Wickedashtray

With all due love and respect for the BB community, it looks like I’m not the only one who didn’t have to give up a modeling career to post on the site.
- Gulliver
  
  With all due love and respect for the BB community, it looks like I’m not the only one who didn’t have to give up a modeling career to post on the site.
  
  Don Imus missed having you as his co-asshole, though.
- Maggie Koerth-Baker
  
  Wow, dude. Sorry we’re not hot enough for you. “Love and respect,” indeed.
Anonymous

I searched for the group outside but didn’t find you guys. I brought another happy mutant with 4 legs (my dog Polly) so we couldn’t check inside for you. Great night to be out and excellent location…. I look forward to attending the next one!
nkru

Bummer! How did I not know this was happening?? Do I need to sign up for something somewhere? Or did I just miss a post?
Uncle Geo

MN camera… ? I should know this.
- mn_camera
  
  Under a different name. I’ve bought stuff at some of the “garage sales” and you also know me as a good Dem.
folkclarinet

Thanks again for hosting, Maggie! It was loads of fun!
Anonymous

did you walk over to the rock wall at the falls overlook and stand in the LBJ foot prints? why they have a seafood cafe at a place that is as far from the sea as you could get in North America is a puzzler.how about the statue of Hiawatha carrying Minnehaha across the creek? ok,we live a few blocks away and getting some attention at Boing Boing makes our day,week–year!
and the Ax Man? it has always been a place for nerd–i hate that word–students from the U to meet.when i was much younger i had a very nice lady chat me up about the huge range finder off a tank.
my Daughter’s awareness about what polo was really like got a jolt when she saw the iron lung,she was about 10 at the time.
come back to MPLS soon!!!
elloyd74

Yes, thanks so much for hosting (and thanks to BoingBoing, for the beer!). Out-of-towners, Ax-Man is pretty much worth a trip to the Twin Cities even if you’re not coming for any other reason…not only are there bins & bins of great things like spare gears and babydoll arms to bury yourself up to your elbows in, the staff writes hilarious descriptions of what’s in every bin. I drag visiting relatives to it the way some Minnesotans drag theirs to the Mall of America (first thing).
cinemajay

I had a prior commitment but I will make sure to get my butt to the next one.
Uncle Geo

Maggie, there is another Ax Man location up Hwy 65 just north of Medtronics on the right in a strip mall. And two doors down, the great Kings Korean Restaurant and Sushi bar. And they have Soju -the crazy Korean alcohol!
- mn_camera
  
  Hey, Uncle Geo – I know you.
  
  And Ax-Man is one of the coolest places in the universe!