There are some who would contend that women can’t—or shouldn’t—block, hit, or tackle. But one Saturday morning in late April, the players and coaches who constitute our state’s premier women’s tackle-football team, were demonstrating just how tough the gentler sex can be. For the team’s annual tryouts, the Minnesota Vixen had congregated in the lobby … Read more
told my girlfriend Liza that I was going camping for a week with some friends at a remote nature preserve in the mountains of Tennessee, where there would be no modern conveniences. She peered at me over the rims of her geek-chic glasses. “Now, why the hell would you want to do that?” she said. … Read more
When Kate Parry became the Star Tribune’s “reader’s representative” in December 2004, she told readers she was their “advocate in the room. My job … is to take [your] concerns and make sure the newsroom understands them … It’s a good thing when someone wants to call, even if they’re angry. It’s a good connection.” … Read more
Some believe that really good barbeque is made by divine intervention. If that’s the case, then Pastor Luches Hamilton has the inner track. Working out of a tiny space adjacent to his church in St. Paul, he turns out sticky ribs and jo-jo potatoes that answer a higher calling: selling barbeque to raise funds for … Read more
When someone’s standing at a bus stop with a human head wrapped in a shawl or tucked in a bag, it’s easy enough to stop them from boarding a bus. Simply move away from your coffee at the table on the bar’s patio. Catch the bus driver’s eye as you walk. He will either keep … Read more
No celebration of vocal excess is complete without at least one Mozart opera. This year’s Saint Paul Summer Song Festival meets that requirement by adding a film component to its annual lineup of music recitals (which features British baritone Christopher Maltman, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore, and the Rose Ensemble, among others), screening Ingmar Bergman’s 1975 version … Read more
A few weeks ago, when the Powerball was around $300 million, one of the chefs at my day job took up a collection among the employees at five bucks a head to buy as many tickets as he could. “Remember the Lunch Ladies!” he said. And so almost everybody pitched in for her share, and … Read more
There are several ways to get a free glass of wine in this city. You can attend one of the various “ladies nights” and be ogled by drunkards like a monkey in a zoo, or you can drop by a newly completed condominium project for its opening reception. One pleasant Saturday afternoon, in search of … Read more
This is art for, and by, the kids who sat in the back of the bus–sardonic takes on violence, sex, media, politics, and the mishmash of all of them that constitutes a large share of contemporary culture. Nate Lowman specializes in this by taking elements from that culture and messing with them via silkscreens, spraypaint, … Read more
We’re thankful that the Soap Factory hasn’t succumbed to the condo craze that’s underway along the riverfront–in fact, this beloved and off-beat art venue stands to take on a higher profile once it’s surrounded by posh lofts and the spiffy folks who dwell in them. Already the Factory is stepping up to the plate: Rumor … Read more