rakemag Apart from the usual stuff—saving four-leafed clovers, never opening an umbrella inside the house, throwing a broken mirror into a stream—Italians observe a mind-boggling array of superstitions. When I walk with Italians on the street, I notice many little tics and odd gestures. Most Italians have elaborate routines designed to bring good luck and avoid … Read more
The New York Times has had two good stories in the last two days illustrating what the Democrats need to do to get back into the good graces of the American voter. Yesterday a story about Hillary Clinton’s appearance Monday in front of abortion rights activists in New York told of Hillary’s conciliatory tone toward … Read more
I get a semi-regular newsletter from a guy named Jim Crotty, one of the founders of the ultra hip Monk magazine. The one waiting in my inbox today was titled “Bush Throws Dems a Bone: Will they Fetch.” Crotty argues that the inagural speech “freedom fest” will set the bar pretty high for the Republicans. … Read more
Forgive me if I’ve been thinking about this a bit, but the reason I haven’t been blogging for the past 9 days is that I’ve been flattened by a flu-like malady. Believe me, next year, I’m getting the shot. I don’t care how many old ladies I have to trample. But it doesn’t seem so … Read more
Guy Nelson, Guy Nelson–someone please tell us why we’re stuck on this Guy’s name. He’s certainly making a splash at SooVAC, having filled its space–no mean feat–with a host of found-object sculptures and five large-scale paintings. We were drawn to the paintings’ mix of abstraction and primitive/cartoonish representation, along with their goofy titles and a … Read more
COUNTRY MUSIC RECONSIDERED It seems to me that Mr. Eisenbeis needs to listen to a little more country music before he tries to explain its popularity or lack of same [“It’s My Country…,” November]. In today’s music world, pop hardly exists, and no one can understand the lyrics of today’s rock. There is no longer … Read more
You thought ice fishing was harrowing. Grotesque, fascinating, hilarious, and apparently true: In Oklahoma, there are folks who obtain catfish by reaching deep into the muck of the river and yanking those bad boys out by the jaws. Let’s say that again: These Okies reach into a hole, under a rock, underwater, find themselves a … Read more
No, we’re not talking about those hunting-porn prints where big-chested mallards flash their downy underparts as they ascend from a dewy cornfield. This is more thoughtful, eclectic stuff—bird art for people who’d rather point binoculars than shotguns at our avian friends. Culled from a respected annual show at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in … Read more
Swiss artist Niklaus Troxler knows exactly what jazz music looks like. It’s unembraceably big, it doesn’t hold still for a second, and it’s as colorful as an untended wildflower garden. The MIA recently acquired twenty-five of Troxler’s jazz posters, created for European jazz festivals during the sixties. How this two-dimensional medium can capture so much … Read more
There are so many photographs in the archives of the Minnesota Historical Society that you will never get to see even a fraction of them. There simply isn’t enough time in anyone’s life, and most are tucked away in storage, waiting only for someone on a research mission about fishing lore, or disappeared buildings, or … Read more