Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of what local media outlets and Twitter-ers are gabbing about.
Jesse Ventura’s Low Point on Weed: Seeing Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin Live
We love a good quote from politician/wrestler/actor/author/conspiracy aficionado/weed advocate Jesse “The Body” Ventura, and he delivered the goods while testifying about the Devil’s lettuce before the Minnesota House’s legalization committee last week. “I only misbehaved twice that I can recollect on marijuana,” our state's 38th governor told lawmakers, noting that he can't say the same for his alcohol use. “You know what I did? Back in 1970, on marijuana, I went and saw Jimi Hendrix and, a couple months later, Janis Joplin. I admit it. And I'll tell you, it was one hell of a show. I still remember it today." Over the weekend a video of his recollection went viral on TikTok, striking a chord with fellow music stoners. You can watch it in all its groovy glory below.
The Alpha News-to-MSM Pipeline Opens
Friend of Racket Liz Collin warmly welcomed Pafoua Yang to Alpha News just under a year ago. "I just want to tell the truth, regardless if I agree with it or not," said Yang, a former colleague of Collin's at WCCO. "[Our listeners] deserve to hear the stories that really reflect what's going right now, and I feel like the mainstream media isn't telling that part." (She says she was fired from 'CCO for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine.) Among Yang's truth-telling highlights during her short tenure at our local right-wing grievance mill: calling out twerking at the Twin Cities Pride Parade; defending the right to say "Jesus" at the Capitol; and celebrating the un-cancellation of the Matt Birk Burger. Having apparently fortified her version of truth, Yang is ready for the mainstream again: The reporter announced that she joined KSTP last week. Collin made headlines when she ditched the objective trappings of TV news for the freedom to bully drag queens and cheerlead cops, but we've yet to see the reverse route—until Yang. KSTP, of course, is owned by Republican billionaire ghoul Stanley Hubbard, who's slightly poorer than the Republican billionaire ghoul owner of the Star Tribune.
Dilbert Creator Outs Himself as Racist for the Millionth Time; Strib Finally Dumps Him
After well over 10 years of racism, misogyny, and anti-vaxx misinformation, Dilbert comic creator Scott Adams has finally gone too far. For the Zoomers out there: Dilbert is a once-popular comic strip that launched in 1989, and features work shenanigans in the vein of The Office. Unfortunately its author is a garbage human. Some of his greatest hits include likening Trump to Jesus, claiming that his UPN TV show was canceled because he’s white, and comparing women seeking equal pay to children and the “mentally handicapped.” (We’re not even going to touch this incredibly shitty Tweet about his stepson.) This weekend, Adams went on a rant via his YouTube channel, Real Coffee with Scott Adams, categorizing Black people as a "hate group" while mentioning repeatedly that he self-identifies as Black. That was a bridge too far for many publications, including the Star Tribune, who decided to drop the strip. (The Strib did, however, feature Dilbert as the A1 comic Sunday online and in the print paper, which happened to include an AP story about other papers eliminating the comic.) Meanwhile, in a tweet tagging the Strib, the Pioneer Press gleefully pointed out that it doesn't even run Dilbert.
The Nation Learns How We Surf
We’ve heard of “hang 10,” but “hang Land of 10,000 Lakes”?! Actually, you’re probably already familiar with the loveable wackos who wintertime surf Lake Superior just outside of the Twin Ports. They were the subjects of the 2022 North Shore surf scene documentary Freshwater, which was a modest hit on the film fest circuit. The vast national CBS Weekend News audience got a taste Saturday with WCCO reporter John Lauritsen’s dispatch from Stony Point. Headlined “Minnesota's Lake Superior becomes hot spot for winter surfing,” the piece is actually a repurposed ‘CCO segment from earlier this month, though we’re pleased grandmas in Tempe now know how we live. In it, viewers hear from noted Great Lakes surfer Erik Wilkie, the greybeard ambassador of catching icy 10-foot waves. "The coldest conditions, the warmest friends," Wilkie tells Lauritsen. "I love it here. It's like no place else in the world." Do yourself a favor and check out the two-minute segment; it’s full of positively tubular surf shots and good Minnesota vibes. In other frigid Lake Superior news: The Strib's Duluth reporter, Christa Lawler, recently explored the trend of taking mid-winter dunks into the big lake.
