Month: December 2003

  • The First Shall Be Last

    You got one thing wrong in “Iron Will” [December]. You said Steger’s was the first dogsled team in Antarctica. It was actually the last, due to the Antarctic Treaty banning dogs for potential diseases affecting native species. Ever heard of a rabid leopard seal? Dogs were used there when Roald Amundsen first cruised to the…

  • Soundtrack to Mary

    POPULAR CREEPS My hopes for the future include the following:1. That we finally see a real end to the war that officially “ended” last spring.2. That we finally see an end to makeover-decorating-themed TV shows. I can make over your rock ‘n’ roll crib, easy. Give me a pile of oily rags and a match.3.…

  • Big Sister Is Watching

    Despite the overnight snowfall and a route through some of the metro’s most notorious traffic hot spots, I pulled into the well-salted parking lot almost fifteen minutes early for my appointment to look at the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s new Roseville compound. It’s a brushed aluminum affair, called the Water’s Edge building. Together with the…

  • Tejas

    So what if you haven’t waxed the Lexus lately? Trend food is now in reach of the proletariat on the Tejas lunch menu. We once walked into the Southwest-style eatery at the spiritual (if not geographic) center of Edina and asked for a takeout menu and instead received a withering glance. Now, three years later,…

  • Oklahoma!

    It was the first Broadway musical to be commemorated by a postage stamp. It has earned dozens of accolades, including a Pulitzer Prize, an honorary Grammy, and two Academy Awards. It held the record for longest-running Broadway show for fifteen years, playing longer than any other brainchild of Roger and Hammerstein, including South Pacific, The…

  • Out There 16

    When it comes to art, we’re never quite sure where the line is between a reading, a recital, a performance, and an exhibition. After sixteen years, we’re beginning to realize that maybe we’re looking at it all wrong. What better way to prepare for the Walker’s imminent yearlong shutdown than by reminding yourself that they’re…