Strong drink has a long association with immorality. There is an engraving of “Gin Lane” in 18th century London by William Hogarth (the artist also responsible for “The Rake’s Progress”) showing a sign: “Drunk for a penny, dead drunk for twopence, clean straw for nothing.” From the same period is “The Beggar’s Opera,” in which … Read more
Goodness, it’s spring and the woods are infested with mycophagists. The warm sun and the stirring breezes bring out the madness, the mushroom hunters. They’re out there turning dead logs, rustling through the dark and damp places where most bipeds will not tread. They walk for miles, minding neither dirt nor rain, all in hopes … Read more
It’s astonishing. Every spring, round about May Day, the world remembers to wake up. After months of cold and barren winter, the ground softens, the sun rises a little higher, the grass greens, the crotch-rockets line up around Lake Calhoun, and we’re back on our way—resurrected and ready to join the parade. The Midwestern memory … Read more
For its second season on Comedy Central, the locally based crew of Let’s Bowl shot 10 episodes in just four days. They did it on Lane 27 at Wells Lanes. This South St. Paul bowling alley offers food, adult beverages, and several oversized TVs. The other day, we met Steve “Chopper” Sedahl there. The co-host … Read more
Feels like the base of my skull could just about touch my shoulder blades, I’m craning my neck so hard. Still I can barely make out the terra cotta sculptures high atop the new Washburn Lofts on the recently hoity-toitified Minneapolis riverfront. There are three millers 11 stories up, an homage in stone to the … Read more
They were decked out in sweatpants and fuzzy bunny slippers, and equipped with coolers of Mountain Dew, beef jerky, and Little Debbie snack cakes. One morning a few weeks ago, 34 committed souls bivouacked at the Heights Theater in Columbia Heights. They came prepared to spend an entire weekend watching films they’d already seen while … Read more
The nondescript, institutional door on the fourth floor of the University of Minnesota’s Bell Library is a portal to the past. Stepping through it, you find yourself in an oak paneled English renaissance room with carved stone columns, a working fireplace, and delicate stained-glass windows. Just beyond, in a modern reading room, lies a trove … Read more
Things are hopping this year at the new Fifth Precinct station house just south of the beleaguered Lake Street K-Mart. New crime stats show Whittier Park pulling ahead of Third Precinct neighbor Phillips, which has hogged the crime spotlight for the better part of a decade. In February, Whittier reported 167 “part one” crimes (homicide, … Read more
This week, as a backdrop to my birthday, winter ended, my two junker cars got towed away for good, my younger daughter learned to ride solo on her two-wheeler, and my neighbor Mike returned from wintering in Mexico. Needless to say, all this has made me eager to travel. I can’t believe it’s been 18 … Read more
Why does North Minneapolis, which boasts the Twin Cities’ highest concentration of black folk, appear to have the most trash on the ground? As a newcomer to the “North Side,” I have been shocked at the garbage strewn about my ’hood. When I complained to then Fifth Ward rep and Minneapolis Council President Jackie Cherryhomes … Read more