On the eve of going to the Paisley Park estate (Prince invited #NABJ40 #NABJ15), I reflected on what I learned about Minneapolis, Minnesota and more either from his purple badness or The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Prince was born in Minneapolis and lives outside of the city limits, and MTM had a television show based in the city.
I will have a Prince experience at his estate, but the MTM statue at the corner of Nicollett and 7th was moved due to construction so I could not pay homage.
I am a huge Prince fan, have been to numerous concerts and listen to his music daily. I saw Purple Rain on opening day and remember hearing his speaking voice for the first time.
I an also a huge fan of MTM. It was on my bucket list to meet the entire cast. I met Ed Asner and Cloris Leachman, my role model as a single mother (Lars, her husband was never seen on air).
My best friend in law school is from Edina, Minnesota, and she was my MTM and I, her Rhoda Morgenstern.
So, here are 10 things I learned about Minneapolis and beyond from Prince and MTM:
1. Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes. Okay, I got that from the license plates, but I first heard of Lake Minnetonka from Prince in the movie Purple Rain.
2. Minneapolis was the first fly-over city I remember seeing depicted on the small screen.
3. MTM was a single woman working at a news station, dating, and commuting to work.
4. Minneapolis is a vibrant mid-western city full of music and the arts.
5. Target and Best Buy have their headquarters in Minneapolis.
6. Prince has 3 songs on the Filthy Fifteen list from the Parents Music Resource Center co-founded by Tipper Gore.
7. The Parental Advisory Label for explicit lyrics first emerged after the release of Prince's Darling Nikki.
8. Prince was the first major artist to release an album entirely on the internet in 1997 with Crystal Ball.
9. As a Jehovah's Witness Prince has been known to knock on doors to discuss his faith.
10. Prince got involved in #BlackLivesMatter with his song, Baltimore, in the wake of Freddie Gray's killing.
Peace, love, compassion, and blessings.
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