rakemag My family and I walk and bike the superb Kenilworth Trail upon which Charlie Lazor’s Flatpak house has intruded [“The Prefigured House,” July]. Now, instead of turning off a city street onto a gorgeous trail flanked with green, bikers and walkers first see Mr. Lazor’s concrete wall. Every lost piece of green growth in a … Read more
Thank you so much for Clinton Collins, Jr.’s column [“Ghetto is as Ghetto Does,” Free the Jackson Five!, July]. I built a house in North Minneapolis in 2002 and am now regretting that I did. Before I moved, I thought that the brothers were always getting hassled by the police. My views have changed now. … Read more
Collins’ column echoes many of the feelings and frustrations that my neighbors and I have. I live in the Old Highland neighborhood and have been battling crime for more than ten years. In my book, criminal acts in a community include those that contribute to the deterioration of a neighborhood. Abusive and violent behavior (which … Read more
Though I am happy to see positive publicity for air guitar [“Mock & Roll,” the Rakish Angle, July], I do have some problems with your article. First off, the production company filming the documentary on air guitar is not associated with Project Greenlight or the Ben Affleck/Matt Damon production company Live Planet Productions. The producers … Read more
All this year, the French-American company Theatre de la Jeune Lune has been celebrating a quarter-century of existence by restaging and revisiting works from previous seasons, culminating with a return to the Georges Bizet opera Carmen, running through August 15 and directed by co-founder Dominique Serrand. Given Jeune Lune’s reputation as one of the most … Read more
The saying goes that slow and steady wins the race. If so, give Low the gold. This Duluth indie-rock trio—guitarist Alan Sparhawk, his wife Mimi Parker on drums, and bassist Zak Sally—have become internationally renowned for a contemplative, ethereal sound reminiscent of Galaxie 500 and the early Cure. Their new retrospective box set, A Lifetime … Read more
I first landed on the St. John’s campus almost sixty years ago as a prep school student. In six decades I have come to know the place and the Benedictines well, as a high school and college student, lay staff member, parent of several students, and board member of the university and some of its … Read more
Readers would be well advised to remain skeptical before swallowing the water peddled by Dr. Masura Emoto [“Message in a Bottle,” the Rakish Angle, June]. Dr. Emoto has no scientific or medical credentials; his title refers to a degree from the Open International University in India, where such degrees may be obtained by mail for … Read more
In “One Toke Over the Line” [Over the Coals, June] Nathan Rabin does a commendable job of dumpster-diving beneath the surface of our government’s cesspool of anti-pot propaganda. However, I think Rabin may have gone one toke over the line himself. He writes that once kids see through the government’s lies about pot, “who’s to … Read more
I loved reading Emily Carter’s public transportation manifesto [“The Unreformed Bus Rider,” June]—it’s the kind of writing that grabs you, pulls you in, and, well, takes you for a ride. However, I disagree with some of the key points—ironically, points that those right-wing folks on the radio also made, that only the marginalized and poor … Read more