There are several vital tricks to surviving life at a daily newspaper, like I did at the Pioneer Press for fifteen years. One is a developed affinity for list-making, especially end-of-the-year list-making. So, Rake readers, as my first act in this space, a list … of the best and worst in media for 2006. The … Read more
I just saw a television commercial for a self-parking car. I don’t know, folks, but it seems that if you just had one of these, you could add an automatic flushing toilet and a pre-mixed Smirnoff canned drink and Friday night would pretty much plan itself. If they could figure out how to apply the … Read more
A lot of the house pets that arrive at Morningstar Healing Arts are like aging athletes with sports injuries. They come in limping after chasing a rabbit to the end of their tethered leashes, or suffering hip dysplasia and joint malfunction from jumping in and out of cars and climbing on and off furniture. “Ergonomically, … Read more
Anyone who’s traveled the back roads of western Wisconsin has probably spotted the bait shops, pole barns, and even semi-trailers that serve as watering holes. On my many passes through the area, en route to a friend’s cabin or a visit with family, I’ve happened upon bars made from substandard shacks and, in one instance, … Read more
Though Minneapolis is seven thousand miles from Mecca, the heart of Islam, that holy place is not far from many hearts that live and work along Central Avenue. This street, which begins in Northeast Minneapolis and runs north into Fridley, is the center of the Twin Cities’ Muslim population, which numbers about seventy-five thousand, according … Read more
For nearly twenty-five years, Katherine Lanpher was a fixture in Twin Cities journalism—first at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and then as the host of Minnesota Public Radio’s Midmorning show and “Talking Volumes” series. So when she moved to New York on February 29, 2004, to join Al Franken on his new radio station, Air … Read more
Who better to banish to our imaginary desert isle than a pair of professional travellers? Gregg Whelan and Gary Winters, the British-born performance duo that is Lone Twin, have spent the past nine years traversing the globe, making pit stops during which they craft scrappy performance-art pieces based on their journeys. They once took to … Read more
Here’s a chance to get an up-close look at some incredible human chemistry. The Gaiman-McKean duo is a veritable artistic cottage industry. Between them they have worked in nearly every medium; they direct, produce, perform, sculpt, paint, blog, and, of course, draw and write. Get them some tap shoes and the rest of us can … Read more
Depending on whom you want to listen to, House of Meetings is either Amis’ return to form or the newest evidence of a decade-long slide. We haven’t read it, but you do sort of know what to expect from Amis by now: He’s a sourpuss and a smarty-pants, and whether you like what he’s up … Read more
What’s not to love about this premise? After mucking around in America’s economic malaise for the last half-dozen years, during which time she produced the best-selling Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch, one of our most astute social commentators turns her attention to a more cheering subject: communal ecstasy. Such eruptions throughout history, Ehrenreich … Read more