Vic Thorstenson
@vthorstenson.bsky.social
830 followers 980 following 4.6K posts
East Bank, Minneapolis. Former long-time MN legislative and state government staffer. I take pictures.
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vthorstenson.bsky.social
🎵A Kwik Trip to the mooooon on gossamer wings,
Just one of those things...🎶

Taken in Merrill, Wisconsin Tuesday night.
Two elements. In the lower left foreground and out of focus, a gas station canopy sign for Kwik Trip. In the upper right and in sharp focus, the full Harvest moon.
vthorstenson.bsky.social
I've been to Madison. I've seen that face.
vthorstenson.bsky.social
So, the statuary came first? Makes sense. I was wondering how all that added to the rural titty bar experience.
Reposted by Vic Thorstenson
vthorstenson.bsky.social
If you like #birds you gotta get to Wausau for the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum's 50th Anniversary Birds in Art show going on now through January 4.

This is another of those great regional museums, uniquely specializing in avian art. www.lywam.org/exhibitions-...
A view of a portion of the galleries. "Peacemaker" 2025 by Marcel Witte. A white pigeon fills am artillery barrel with olive leaves. "Tree of Knowledge" 2025, Karen Bondarchuk. A crow sits on the branch of a tree that's been carved with graffiti. "Return of the Barn Swallows" 2025, Kirsty Mary Hall. Barn swallows in a swirling pattern across the canvas.
vthorstenson.bsky.social
I just wonder if they're using the same cutting equipment for both jobs.
vthorstenson.bsky.social
MORE greetings from Shawano County.
Parking lot of a "gentlemens club" outside Birnamwood, Wisconsin has a giant concrete badger rising out of the dirt like a zombie, exposing ot crudely fashioned claws and head and upper chest. In the left background is a giant squirrel atop a log-shaped structure that serves as a garage. In the right background is a business sign for "Texas Jack's Gentlemens Club".
vthorstenson.bsky.social
They're running the country now.
vthorstenson.bsky.social
Correct, tho we native Central Wisconsinites would spell that SHAW-no.
vthorstenson.bsky.social
Greetings from Shawano County, Wisconsin.
Business sign reads:
JIM'S
Venison Cutting
& Lawn Care LLC

including the names of the owners and a phone number. The sign is visually enhanced by flanking the text with clip art of a leaping whitetail deer and a riding lawn mower.
vthorstenson.bsky.social
Nine Santas, no waiting.
dieworkwear.bsky.social
i had no idea this is how canada's supreme court dresses
Nine members of the Canadian Supreme Court sitting for a photo. They are dressed in red robes trimmed in white.
Reposted by Vic Thorstenson
archaeomather.bsky.social
After work, enjoying a long hike in the prairie at Blue Mounds State Park
A mowed path through an expanse of tall prairie grass in southwestern Minnesota.
vthorstenson.bsky.social
Damn, I had no idea you had to get on a list.
Glass door sign to pet grooming salon says "Groomer OPEN by appointment."
vthorstenson.bsky.social
From that seat the game is just a rumor.

I turned to the guy next to me, "Great game, huh?"
He said "What game? I'm flying the mail to Chicago!"
Reposted by Vic Thorstenson
chrissteller.bsky.social
This headline reminded me that downtown Minneapolis has two (and only 2) streets named for other cities:
- Portland
- Chicago
vthorstenson.bsky.social
Also a convenient travel pillow for those long bus rides to Pratt Elementary.
Reposted by Vic Thorstenson
vthorstenson.bsky.social
12 year old pitchers must have been throwing some real heat in those days.
detail showing the catcher's mitt in the original photo, which has much more padding than modern models.
Reposted by Vic Thorstenson
coolbikeart1.bsky.social
Phoning home during Bikecentennial '76
Somewhere in Missouri, USA

📷Dan Burden
Photo of a man sitting on the ground while talking on a pay phone, with a loaded touring bicycle next to him. It is night.
Via Greg Siple's Flickr page. The rider self-identified as James Terry.
Reposted by Vic Thorstenson
vincempls.bsky.social
#OnThisDay: Oct 5, 1869: Efforts to extract more waterpower at St Anthony Falls nearly end in catastrophe when the 2000' Eastman Tunnel collapses, almost taking the entire waterfall and the Minneapolis economy with it. Frantic initial efforts and 10 more years of Army Corps work finally stabilize it
Fragment of the Eastman Tunnel that still exists underneath the University of Minnesota Hydro Labs. 1940-10-06 survey. Mills along the falls collapsing into the tunnel, piles of wood and stone litter the area.
Reposted by Vic Thorstenson
chrissteller.bsky.social
Where is the historical marker for GOPHER?!
jj.mcdonough.rodeo
They did create BASIC. I took a picture of the historical marker a while back.
Green freestanding historical marker with the seal of the state of New Hampshire on it, which says:

BASIC: THE FIRST USER-FRIENDLY COMPUTER PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE

In 1964, Dartmouth College math professors John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz created one of the first user-friendly computer programming languages, called Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. BASIC made computer programming accessible to college students and, with the later popularity of personal computers, to users everywhere. It became the standard way that people all over the world learned to program computers, and variants of BASIC are still used today. 

2019