Author: rakemag

In Spanish we say: “confundir la gimnasia con la magnesia.” It means because two words sound alike their meaning is not the same. I expect a seasoned food critic like Mr. Iggers to know the difference between “marinara” and “marinera.” (“The Up-side of Groupthink,” September) They belong in two very different cuisines. The idea that tomato-based sauces appear often in Spanish cuisine is a generalized “ugly American” myth that appears in dishes such as “Spanish rice,” which in Spain is called “American rice.” (The dish is hideous regardless of the name or where it is cooked.) I hope Mr. Iggers is more influenced by food than by myth. The thought of a paella marinara causes permanent damage to my appetite.

I jumped for joy to read in Ann Bauer’s conversation piece with Karl and Annamarie Rigelman (“Sweet and Savory,” August) about the croissants made at May Day Café. Without any hesitation May Day offers the best croissant in town, period. I am a true fan of the May Day, and give all the credit to Andy and the others for offering wonderful baked goods day in and day out. And the best part is eating my croissant in Powderhorn, away from the needless hype others might find attractive. Bake on, May Day; let your croissant be my guide.

Last month The Rake dedicated an issue to the stories that we missed while we were reading about the bridge collapse (“News Hole”). While we in Minnesota were asleep at the bridge, we didn’t notice that people concerned for a free Tibet traveled to China and hung a banner on the Great Wall. These protesters (one of whom was from the Twin Cities) spent thirty-six hours in detention before being deported. Talk about missing a story. This was news to National Press Canada, The New York Times, Time Magazine, Al Jazeera, CNN, Sydney Herald, Reuters India, Radio Free Asia, The Toronto Star, The Guardian in London, Channel 4 News in the U.K., The Cambridge Evening News in the U.K., The Globe and Mail in Canada, RadioFreeEurope/Radio-Liberty in the Czech Republic, The Age in Australia, CBC’s The Hour in Canada, The London Free Press in Canada, San Diego Union-Tribune, Brisbane Times in Australia, International Herald Tribune in France, Montreal Gazette in Canada, Gulf Times in Qatar, The Economist in the U.K. … You get the idea. Not only did the Minnesota press miss an international story with a local connection, so did The Rake.

Tom Bartel’s editorial about the bridge collapse, “The Roman Arch: Mixing Metaphors Instead of Concrete,” touched on the dilemma or even the cause of the collapse.

“ … It’s clear as well that politicians and bureaucrats who answer to politicians have no stomach for inconveniencing drivers …. What representatives of our government’s work receive more irate looks than the guys who put out the orange cones that slow us down?”

No one was going to or had the power to shut down the busiest bridge in Minnesota. It was reported that when some lanes on the bridge had to be closed for inspections, people would throw objects and verbally assault the inspectors. There was just too much pressure from an insane pedal-to-the-metal society to keep it open, no matter how unsafe it was. Capitalism moving at a rapid pace will always trump an unsafe bridge. The demand to keep things moving at a rapid pace took precedence over the safety of a small handful of motorists traveling over the bridge at any given time.

The debt we are in, the competitiveness, the greed, all add up to a maxed-out, cannot-stop society. Our non-stop, out-of-control lives are what rule and dictate things around here—not our “leaders.”

Last spring, Michael and Cathy Deering of Eden Prairie fled for Barra de Navidad,
a country beach town along the Costa Allegre (“Happy Coast”) of western Mexico. There they riffed on the theme of our March issue by engaging in a whole other sort of body count.

A note from the publisher: Due to a breakdown in our crack fact-checking department (which was caused, if you must know, by a complete failure on our part to acknowledge the distraction caused by the failing infrastructure of the American road system, the war on terror, and the recent Twins losses to the Cleveland Indians), we messed up repeatedly last month in a story about St. Paul Public Library Director Melanie Huggins (“A Woman of Action”). (Where’s a reference librarian when you need one? Unfortunately, nowhere in Minneapolis on a Sunday or Monday.) Anyway, to set things straight, here are the true facts, gleaned from the librarian herself: Huggins graduated from college at the ripe old age of twenty-one, instead of seventeen, as was alleged. The story also had Huggins pregnant within the first year of her acquaintance with her husband—but it really took them a leisurely three years. Finally, the author attributed several accomplishments to Huggins: opening Zelda’s Café at the Central Library, offering ESL classes, and opening a satellite branch at a domestic violence center. These amenities pre-date Huggins’s arrival; however, she does fully support them. As for us, if you don’t believe the above excuses, try these: The sun was in our eyes. Our shoes were untied. We thought we heard our mother calling. Yeah, that’s it. That’s why we dropped the ball.

Reading The Rake in a hand-pulled rickshaw is not recommended for a weak
stomach. Tim Leone-Getten and Leslie Olmen visited Calcutta, India with
other area teachers on a South Asia teacher exchange program with Hamline
University and Relief International.