Month: October 2005

  • More Words From The Scrap Heap: The Hill Singer

    Many years ago, shortly after my arrival here, I discovered a hill in the middle of the city. This hill had long been a sanctuary of teen lust, the rocks and trees painted and carved with the arithmetic of young love. An old man who’d allegedly traveled the world would ride his bicycle each day…

  • You, too, can win your very own body armor

    Lucky at cards, unlucky at war This story yesterday from the NY Times depicts a new low in how we treat our soldiers. Actually, it’s not a new low, since it has been going on for many years. We’re running casinos on military bases. So, we’re not only asking our men and women in uniform…

  • The Rum Life

    You might have thought I was in Puerto Rico at that glamorous American Magazine conference, but no. I don’t think I could afford the gas to get to the airport, much less leave the country. But I see my old friend Wonkette is there stirring things up a bit. It’s been a few months since…

  • Billy's Lighthouse

    This small-town lakeside joint is quickly becoming a small-town lakeside dining destination. Billy’s dramatically upgraded its almost twenty-year-old self with the arrival of chef Casey Leick, formerly of the 510 Restaurant. While the classic prime rib dinner and Lighthouse burger remain on the menu, they’re now joined by sauteed calf’s liver with onions and smoked…

  • Forests in Turmoil

    In regard to the article in your October edition “Newspapers in Turmoil,” if daily newspapers are in trouble, first and foremost they should be in trouble for destroying old-growth Canadian forests. Most newsprint used in the U.S. comes from Canada, and ninety percent of all logging in Canada is done with clear-cutting. Newsprint, which is…

  • The Long Decline

    I read with amusement the hand-wringing implicit in the article “Newspapers in Turmoil” by Brian Lambert [October]. What is noteworthy is that this is newsworthy at all. I have been avoiding the likes of the Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press since 1985, when I first moved to Minneapolis. Even by the standards of American…