Tom Bartel I was beginning to suspect that I was the last person on the planet who hadn’t read The DaVinci Code, and so I remedied that situation last weekend. I like a good page turner as much as the next guy, and this was a good one. But man, I can sure see why this is … Read more
The sound of the well-made gun is precise. If you pull the slide back smoothly, the sound of the hammer locking back echoes with a sharp “clock” through the hollow grip. Slap a magazine into the grip, pull the slide back a little more and let it go. The sharp “smack” tells you a bullet … Read more
As soon as I get my teeth back in I’m gonna tell you all what you can do with your pansy anti-war act The papers and TV are all abuzz today with the startling revelation that cussing (as we used to call it where I grew up) is becoming more and more pervasive. I became … Read more
C stands for Look Out! I’ve been searching for the perfect bumper sticker for the Prius. I love driving that car every time I pass a gas station, and hate it every time I try to pass some idiot in the left lane on 169. The car needs definition. I bought a sticker in Spain … Read more
If you’re thinking of buying a car anytime soon you ought to test drive the BMW 330i. Hell, even if you aren’t thinking of buying a car, you should do it just for the rush. Because this is the car that all other sedans have to measure up to. You shouldn’t get to have this … Read more
Molly, once a month with you is not enough I came across an internal memo from the Star Tribune today. It may show up in their Reader’s Rep column…or it may not. A reader of the Strib went to the trouble of counting the syndicated columnists that have run on the Strib’s Op-Ed page the … Read more
Katherine Kersten let us know again today about the meaning of honoring our veterans. In case you missed it, it’s building memorials, like the one in Rochester. It was the typical superficiality we’ve come to expect from KK, but I’m sure she tries to do the best she can with what she has to work … Read more
The largest public execution in U.S. history took place in 1862, down in Mankato. Since the hanging of thirty-eight Dakota Indians, public sentiment against the death penalty had been building in Minnesota. Nineteenth-century politicians tried to pacify the public outrage not by banning the death penalty, but by carrying it out in relative secrecy. An … Read more
May 28, 2003 I wrote a column last November about a Democrat fund raiser I’d attended with Al Gore. At the time, I noted that I thought we were in for a long period of Republican rule, because the Dems were such inept marketers. Well, the Republicans, at least in the Minnesota Legislature, (who, unlike … Read more
I liked Mike O’Brien better than I knew him. He was a friend of my friend Charlie and we’d exchanged some boozy repartee at a few of Charlie’s parties over the years. He was a big Irish sort of American—funny, loud and a wonderful story teller. He grew up in Tunisia and spoke fluent French. … Read more