Articles

Benshoof: Hitting the worldly cities of North Dakota

Vacations are great, but they can also have their downsides. The challenge of planning a vacation, coupled with the cost of airfare and hotel rooms, can quickly put a damper on the fun.

• Sam Benshoof

Food trucks and carts return for summer

FARGO - For many area residents, last summer’s increase of mobile food vendors brought a touch of New York City to downtown Fargo. This time around, foodies can expect roughly the same lineup of the trucks and carts that would be more common on the streets of the East Coast than the Midwest.

• Customers visit Taco Bros. food truck
• Lunch break at Romo’s Tacos food truck
• Verdi’s Italian Market truck is downtown

Fire up the grill: Outfit your space with barbecue essentials

FARGO - All around Fargo-Moorhead, the scent of grilling fills the air. It’s barbecue season, a time to head outdoors and enjoy summer by grilling up some burgers, brats or whatever else your heart desires.

• Big Green Egg
• Traeger pellet grill
• Instant-read digital thermometer

Zombie genre connects with viewers on deeper level, professors say

FARGO - Like its grotesque, lumbering monsters with an appetite for human brains, the zombie genre just won’t die. “World War Z,” starring Brad Pitt, hits movie theaters next week, on the heels of last week’s premiere of “In the Flesh,” BBC America’s new miniseries about society recovering from a zombie outbreak.

• Local zombies
• Andrew Lincoln portrays Sheriff Rick Grimes

Fest fashions: What to wear at this summer’s area events

FARGO – For festival fans, there’s plenty to enjoy throughout the next few months, ranging from music to food to culture. Just as these festivals feature unique bands and venues, each brings together different demographics, resulting in fest-specific attire.

• WE Fest
• WE Fest
• Ribfest
• Scandinavian Hjemkomst and Midwest Viking festivals
• Red River Valley Fair, Downtown Fargo Street Fair
• Red River Valley Fair, Downtown Fargo Street Fair
• Moondance Jam
• Moondance Jam

Bands and BBQ: Finding the best RibFest pairings

FARGO - There’s a lot for everyone to like at this year’s Happy Harry's RibFest when it kicks off on Wednesday. Whether it’s the ribs (and there are a lot, as always) or the other food options, the various side dishes or the music, there are plenty of reasons to head over to the Fargodome to check out the four-day event.

TV version of ‘Fargo’ won’t be shot in Fargo

Lack of incentives put North Dakota at disadvantage
FARGO – A TV version of the movie “Fargo” will be making its debut next spring, but it’s not going to be made in Fargo – in part, local officials say, because of the lack of incentives that can be offered here for film and TV production.

• More details emerge about ‘Fargo’ TV project

More details emerge about ‘Fargo’ TV project

The Hollywood Reporter also reported that Adam Bernstein, an Emmy Award-winning director, will direct “Fargo’s” first episode.

• TV version of ‘Fargo’ won’t be shot in Fargo

Early birds often get multiple chances to pick best seats at area venues

FARGO – When it comes to concert tickets, presale is the new on-sale. That’s because, according to local music promoters and bookers, it’s now normal for concerts to have at least one, or even multiple, opportunities to buy tickets before they go on sale to the general public.

• Justin Timberlake

Summer bucket list: Plenty of local events to enjoy

FARGO - It took its time getting here, but summer is upon us. With it comes more festivals and events than you can possibly hope to fit into your schedule.

• Red River Valley Fair

Columns

Benshoof: Forum sign gets blank look on local TV newscast

FARGO - Call it the curious case of the retouched photo. An eagle-eyed Forum employee recently noticed something strange about a background photo used during weather segments of KVLY-TV/KXJB-TV Valley News Live.

• Sam Benshoof
• Here is the skyline of downtown Fargo
• A screen shot of KVLY’s Wednesday night broadcast
• Close-up view of Valley News Live's backdrop

Benshoof: ‘X-Files’ actor says, yes, truth indeed out there

When I was young, I used to picture myself as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder in the television show “The X-Files.”

• Sam Benshoof

Things change as smoke clears

Fargo’s smoking ban began about six months ago, and the dust has settled predictably.

We all win, lose in fantasy leagues

I don’t like sports. I like caring about sports. The caring, however, has always been hampered by my gladiators of choice: the Chicago Cubs, the Minnesota Vikings and the athletic programs of Iowa State University – a trio of perennial losers.

Station’s early Christmas leap stirs inner Grinch

No, you didn’t go to bed on Halloween night and accidentally sleep through the month of November.

Political guests a drag on comedy

Since late-night comedy shows have become as must-do for presidential wannabes as “Meet the Press,” there has been some hand-wringing as vigorous as a surgeon scrubbing up before an operation.

Shirt theft a cruel trick on indie duo

Promising to ask no questions if something stolen is returned rarely seems to work, but I was wishing it would this past Friday night.

Less covers, more copies

Cover bands aren’t all bad, but they’re usually boring. Blame the formula. Like their cultural cousins – light beer, fast food, laugh-tracked sitcoms, top-40 radio, wedding-dance DJs and romantic comedies – cover bands are delivery mechanisms for the familiar.

I’ve had enough summer solitude

I don’t like what college kids and cabin-dwellers do to this town in the summer.

The Rail

10K Lakes Fest blog
George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic weren’t as rump-shaking as I expected.