Melissa Kaercher

A ridiculous PowerPoint slide template made of a Minnesota state flag nearly entirely covered by images of dogs

The template I made for the PowerPoint slide. I might start using it at work. It sparks joy.

It was animated, too! The text behind the movie logo says “Minnesota Dog House”. Therefore, dogs were very necessary.

Okay, sorry everyone, I forgot to turn off my screen time locks. I’ll catch up on posts later in the day.

VERDICT: Okay, this is the movie that Kelvin, Noel, and I sponsored for B-Fest, so we’re biased. But we all love the relentless ridiculousness of the whole thing.

DIRECTED BY JAMES FARGO

Film #2: Voyage of the Rock Aliens

VERDICT: Oh man, Deathstalker is gloriously dumb and knows that and is absolutely thrilled to be gloriously dumb. It looks like everyone is having a grand time. A+ cheese, Queen Kong 4eva.

Title shot of Deathstalker II

Movie #1

Miss youuuuu!

6:00 PM Deathstalker Il sponsored by Eric Peterson 7:30 PM Ticks sponsored by The Racine Guys 9:07 PM Voyage of the Rock Aliens sponsored by Twin Cities Doghouse 10:54 PM Cobra Woman sponsored by Hip Replacement Films 12:16 AM Wizard of Speed and Time sponsored by Russ Stevens 12:25 AM Plan 9 From Outer Space sponsored by Russ Stevens 1:54 AM Elves sponsored by Wyatt Ollestad 3:33 AM The Ice Pirates sponsored by Spider Whisperers 5:17 AM Down sponsored by M.C. and STinG 7:17 AM The Pirate Movie sponsored by The Movie Dictators 9:02 AM Breakfast 9:42 AM Warlock III sponsored by Team Ratbird 10:54 PM Monster Crash the Pajama Party 12:06 PM The Dragon Lives Again sponsored by Captain Telstar and the Rogue Isle Irregulars 1:46 PM For Skin 1:58 PM Lunch + Raffle 2:38 PM Demons sponsored by Unlikely Film Society of St. Louis 4:16 PM A Gnome Named Gnorm sponsored by the West Side Five 5:48 PM End of Fest

The line up:

Photo of a movie screen with a graphic in yellow and purple that reads “WELCOME TO B-FEST 2026! 24 HOURS OF THE BEST OF THE WORST MOVIES”, with cartoon depictions of various characters from Plan 9 from Outer Space

At B-Fest 2026, an annual 24-hour barrage of terrible movies at Northwestern University.

“Goddamnit, I’m gonna eat my Chunky.” - @kelvinhatle.bsky.social

'Nearly blind' refugee found dead after being released by Border Patrol in New York Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan said the death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam was preventable and “deeply disturbing.”

Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a Rohingya refugee from Myanmar, who was mostly blind and unable to speak English, was dropped off by CBP at a random coffee shop somewhere after completely not notifying his family. The man never found his way home and died a few days later.

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

And thank you for coming along!

I like reporting on my adventure days, since I try to wind up at new places, and I always like to bring attention to those new places when they’re really cool.

ACT OF DAY #15:
It’s now past midnight, but I just made it home and I’m petting my very happy dogs. I’m going to continue to pet dogs until I fall asleep.

END OF ADVENTURE DAY

A photo of a grilled sandwich on a black plate next to a crock of cheese-covered soup

Proof of cheese
(lobster grilled cheese with a bowl of French onion soup)

ACT OF DAY #14:
All the new restaurants I wanted to try are closed by now, so I’m ending with a visit to Chatterbox Pub for a new-to-me beer (Sharon’s Bier) and a food something that contains a lot of cheese, with a side of cheese.

ACT OF DAY #13:
Stayed at the Riverview Theater to eat a pretzel and watch Wagner Moura in The Secret Agent. Excellent movie with surprise Udo Kier!

ACT OF DAY #12:
Headed to the Riverview Theater to catch the Oscar-nominated documentary shorts! Oh wow, I forgot how grueling those could be. But! I ran into friends Matt & Matt, so that was great!

I will absolutely be back!

A photo of a city storefront with a blue awning that says Odd Mart

A photo of Lyndale Ave in Minneapolis, covered in snow, with a wood standee of a green three-eyed cartoon monster on the boulevard. Inside the monster’s mouth is a slate that says ICE OUT! NO COMIX FOR COWARDS!

A photo of the interior of Odd Mart, showing a four-tiered circular shelf of mismatched drinking glasses and toys; behind it are walls filled with with art prints of skulls, monsters, Bob Dobbs, etc.

A photo of a giant hardcover copy of a compendium of the first 12 issues of Kaijumax by Zander Cannon.

ACT OF DAY #11:
New thing! I finally paid a visit to Odd Mart, an underground comix / books / monster art / novelties shop in Uptown. I now want to live there. Also picked up the big Kaijumax compendium by @zandercannon.bsky.social !

If they had it, I would have tried it.

A red shop door with a tall window in it, painted with the words “Bebe Zito” and a cartoon of a child holding an ice cream cone.

A photo of a hand holding a waffle cone topped with light green ice cream. Behind the cone is a sunny, snowy city street.

ACT OF DAY #10:
New thing! Visited Bebe Zito Ice Cream! They have unusual flavors, which is my catnip. I got a waffle cone of coffee/bourbon/smoke? and volcanic pistachio/almond. MAGNIFICENT.

A photo of a can of SAP! Birch seltzer

ACT OF DAY #9:
Tried the birch flavor of Sap! seltzer. Also not really into it, but now that I’ve identified what these seltzers taste like it doesn’t bother me, either. They’re made from tree sap, and thus taste like a liquid 2x4 from Home Depot, but not entirely in a bad way.

Photo of a storefront that is covered in wild metal art made from found materials.

Photo of an old truck with a topper on the bed, painted in wild colors and patterns, with the words “House of Balls” written on the door.

ACT OF DAY #8:
Tried and failed once again to visit House of Balls. Someday, I will be at House of Balls when it’s open.

A gallery full of glass sculptures by various artists.

A display shelf containing glass paperweights containing colorful glass “jellyfish”.

ACT OF DAY #7:
New thing! Went to the Foci Minnesota Center for Glass Arts to see their gallery, shop, and workshop. I fully intend to return and take some classes!

I also got a very tiny glass banana slug! Photos later, as it is wrapped up for safety right now.

ACT OF DAY #6:
Bought some handmade earrings at the Minnesota American Indian Center and learned about dentalium shells.

ACT OF DAY #5:
Managed to buy a ticket for Fantastic Fest 2026, but the Superfan tickets sold out in under 5 minutes, so I have a Fan badge instead.

ACT OF DAY #4:
Gave some money to folks at the nearby homeless encampment.