applznorngz/minnesota

A "real" review. I think I hit the high points as well, though. We both forgot to complement the excellence of the singers' and musicians performances. Really, they flowed so naturally, the idea of a mini-opera-musical never occurred to me.

Passage of Dreams Soars.
I wondered why the pre-interviews said really nothing about what this production was about. Now I know. It's a work of art and same as an oil painting, completely subjective and open to audience interpretation. And it works on so many levels: visual, musical, and emotional.
The use of aerialist is not a gimmick, but integral to the drama of the play. The first playlet was a warm up, inviting you into the musical production. Set in something like a Parisian street scene, it was a gentle paean to unrequited love. The middle act was a stunner. More a flight of mind than actually airborne, the oddball story stretched and touched our soul. I would not have expected a musical taking place in the back yard of a Wisconsin family, complete with a song about mid-life lust, to create a satisfying impact on my heart. But, it did. I saw people wiping eyes and I think it was because it touched a universal truth.
In the third story, the artistry combined song and dancing on air to illustrate the essence of rain and the necessity of keeping our souls moist. The woman descending on silken scarves IS the rain beating down, even evoking the windswept billows of a thunderstorm.
How lucky were we to attend the opening night, complete with hors d'oeurves and mingling with the artists, and then our seats were between the librettist and her family and the composer and his. Heady stuff for bumpkins visiting the city. I think we managed to rise to the occasion.

It's Minnesota Day on my blog. In other words, I didn't get past the MinnPost.com on reading the news... Here you find a mini-tour of the paleontology vaults at the MN Science Museum. See the Wooly Mammoth Tooth and the Giant Beaver! All found around the state.

I like her little mini-essays... probably what a good blog should be, something original, a bit funny, and SHORT. (to fit in our BraveNew TwitterWorld.) Found via the Rock Star Storytellers Home Page.

Minnesota's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Start to Decline

It's not much but it's going in the right direction.    Three reasons are cited and they're all state legislated. 
1.  "The first is the Conservation Improvement Program (CIP) that requires the state's utility companies to dedicate a portion of their revenues for projects that reduce the consumption of electricity and natural gas. The CIP program was stiffened in 2007 so that starting in 2010 utilities must reduce consumption annually by 1.5 percent of the utility's annual retail sales."
2.  "The second large source of reductions is Minnesota's Renewable Energy Standard. Established in 2001 and ratcheted up in subsequent years, the standard has brought clean energy to the state at a fast pace. Minnesota now ranks No. 4 in the nation in installed wind capacity. By 2020, Xcel, the state's largest utility, must deliver 30% of its power from clean sources; other utilities must deliver 20%. Thornton says renewables will be a major contributor stabilizing and reducing the state's emissions going forward. "
3.  "The third source of reductions that is highlighted in the report is the biggest. Called MERP for Metropolitan Emissions Reduction Project, the program essentially makes it easier for utilities to retire, replace, or improve dirty coal-burning power plants and thereby substantially reduce emissions. The MERP program allows utilities to propose emissions reductions projects to the state. If, after scrutiny, they get the green light, they can go ahead with the project knowing they can pass on the cost of improvements to ratepayers without going through rate case hearings. "