rakemag It is one of life’s mordant ironies that Macalester art professor Rudquist, who often painted skulls, would pass away in 2001 of brain cancer. But Rudquist had a streak of mordancy himself, expressed in such comments as “Bone, of any species, is an extraordinarily beautiful material.” This overview of his career does show the more … Read more
We love the Bell Museum, we really do. It is old, humble, a little bit musty, and very, very quiet—those carpeted walkways through the exhibit halls are ever so effective at creating a pleasant hush. It’s the perfect antidote to the sense-jangling overload that can be the adult experience at the larger, glitzier family museums … Read more
Can an all-night jazz club in downtown St. Paul survive on nothing more than caffeine, nicotine, and donuts? The owners of Brilliant Corners hope so. The plan is to fill this hip new space with all kinds of jazz, from the most modest local ensembles to major national acts—charging covers accordingly, and serving up nothing … Read more
The sign said, “All life on Earth, including human beings, was originally created scientifically in laboratories by the Elohim—an advanced people from space!” “Tell me more!” I said to the sexy French Canadian woman boasting ample cleavage. She was running the Raelian booth at “A Gathering of Light,” a new age convention. “The only person … Read more
Every rogue state on the planet would love to get its hands on my grandmother’s recipe. I would not like to think what would happen if Saddam got the chocolate sauce. If I have anything to say about it, he’s not getting squat. If that makes me seem arrogant, or like the chocolate-sauce-police of the … Read more
As a former Twin Citizen now working for Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, I was delighted to see some of our recommendations in January’s Gastronomer (“Go Fish,” by Dan Gilchrist). Sushi is no longer a coastal phenomenon. Gilchrist got it right with our “bad news” about the bluefin tuna and farmed salmon: we suggest … Read more
I read “Life in a Northern Town,” [January] and sat and thought about the many good times I’ve had in Duluth. The town is so filled with memories. And the beauty of the old houses. If they could only get a museum together for all the history of that old place, and the people who … Read more
I was very glad to read “Patriot Act” [Good Intentions, January]. I’m so sick of seeing the American flag plastered all over the place like a cheap advertisement, as if that proves anything except a person’s paranoia about being seen as un-American. True patriots would be doing something for the country, whatever that might be—working … Read more
I am responding to Dianne Rowe’s letter in the December 2002 issue. I too am offended by cigarette smoke, but I disagree that there are no entertainment options for nonsmokers. Here are a few places which welcome nonsmokers: The Guthrie, Hopkins Center for the Arts, the Ordway, Chanhassen Dinner Theaters, Old Log Theater. If she … Read more
The longstanding appeal of the Atlantis myth is a sort of historical rubbernecking. Everyone loves a good disaster story, especially when it’s real. But lurking underneath it is a more haunting thought—one day, like maybe next Tuesday, we could go the same way as the Pompeiians. That’s one argument for the practicality of archaeological research—if … Read more