rakemag We fell asleep listening to stories about how Grandma passed her psychic ability on to our father. While he lay in his pram, Gram clipped his pinkie fingernails, boiled them in horseradish sauce, then poured the compound on a patch of dirt behind Fluffy’s doghouse. Father told us that to complete the transfer, he was … Read more
Baby, we really haven’t come a very long way when you consider the women of antiquity. Cleopatra, in particular, had the full power package. The last of Egypt’s pharaohs, influential consort of guys like Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony, a rabble-rouser of the first degree, and a woman who really knew a few things about … Read more
A VRS (very reliable source) reports that while he was working for a BIF (big investment firm) he witnessed several horrendous CLMs (career-limiting moves) executed by some high-powered VIPs (come on, you know that one). On one occasion, said VRS was at a certain decidedly not-straight Minneapolis bar when he felt someone’s hands groping his … Read more
Remember when the Santa stories stopped making sense? Maybe you wondered how he could be at both Southdale and the MOA, or why there was brown hair growing above his ear. Author James Solheim is the perfect guy to get to the bottom of such mysteries. In his first book, It’s Disgusting–and We Ate It!, … Read more
Do our public schools really suck? Don’t take a legislator’s word for it—ask an actual teacher. Or you could go hear Landsman read from her inspiring and illuminating books, Basic Needs: A Year with Street Kids in a City School and A White Teacher Talks About Race. Take note that twenty-five years of work in … Read more
Drummer Stacey Jones had his hand in several “kinda cool for a minute” mid-nineties alternative rock bands, including Letters to Cleo and Veruca Salt. With an enthusiastic nod to Cheap Trick, the Boston-based American Hi-Fi, his latest band, comes to town determined to change the musical landscape as we know it. OK, actually, they’ll be … Read more
THE KIDS CAN DANCEI really enjoyed Camille LeFevre’s article on Ten Foot Five [“Fancy Foot Work,” November]. Four years ago, I was fortunate enough to meet Rick and Andy and the rest of their group. I can say without a doubt that they are some of the most talented and inspiring artists I’ve had the … Read more
Get to know the people who named their beloved son Gay Focker. The director and stars behind Meet the Parents, which achieved a certain cult status, return with a tale about the in-laws, demonstrating on film that concept familiar to any couple: Your parents are just as weird as mine. The hyper-chill Fockers are played … Read more
Currently, Howard Hughes is best remembered for being a reclusive freak incapacitated by obsessive-compulsive disorder. Martin Scorsese is out to change that with this biopic that focuses on Hughes as a pioneering renaissance man, integral to the evolution of electronics, aviation, and Las Vegas casinos. Not to mention his role as an eccentric Hollywood film … Read more
The plight of the unlucky Baudelaire orphans springs to big screen life in this fantastical adaptation of Lemony Snicket’s deliciously dark young adult novels. The Baudelaires, cloaked in dark garments and wearing appropriately long faces, run in a gothic world made of flying buttresses, black seas, and amethyst skies. The film boasts an all-star cast, … Read more