ART Alec Soth: Dog Days, Bogotá One of these photos—a scruffy dog isolated in the center of the frame—appeared in passing on a web page and immediately snagged my eye. There was no attribution provided but I thought, that’s got to be Soth. And it was. Why was this goofy, tragic dog as good as … Read more
No Country for Old Men opens with a series of shots of a dry, desolate Texas, a place that seems unkind to both man and beast. Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) begins to speak in voice-over, ruminating on his life, on his being a sheriff, admiring the men who served before him, and lamenting the … Read more
ART, MUSIC, FOOD 10,000 Arts Party Join us this evening for a highly charged 10,000 Arts Party at The Bakken Museum. This electric event features the music of Bella Koshka and performances of Mary Shelley Finding Frankenstein by the Bakken Science Theatre. You’d think that’d be enough, but not even close! Tonight’s event also features … Read more
RYBAK: Sigh. For some time, I’ve put off writing a post about today’s 11 a.m. debut of what’s being touted in some circles as the divine answer to the Twin Cities’ current Crisis in Journalism. I’m referring, of course, to the launch of MinnPost.com, the online newspaper creation of Joel Kramer, the former Star Tribune … Read more
Back in October, I wrote about a downright decent jug wine from Three Thieves, which I bought more for the John Wayne-ness of the design and the silver screwcap than the substance inside. Today, it was announced that Newman’s Own, the food company-cum-charity owned by Paul Newman and his wife, Joanne Woodward, is adding wine … Read more
My first night in that shitty motel room in a tiny Wyoming town I was exhausted and wiped out on malt liquor and I slept in my clothes on top of the bedspread. All night I dreamt of potatoes on a conveyor belt, an endless river of potatoes. I’d driven straight through, twenty hours, to … Read more
“Low-cut gowns.” That’s all boyfriend had to read (in the ad copy) before agreeing to accompany me to RetroRama, the Minnesota Historical Society’s celebration of ’50s pulp. Does Minnesota have a particular connection to pulp, other than the impressive collection of titles now residing in the dusty basements of a few area bookstores? I guess … Read more
As we projected, WCCO-TV announced Scott Libin as its new news director to staff this afternoon. Libin, former news director at KSTP-TV, comes back to the Twin Cities from his job as managing editor for on-ine content at the Poynter Institute, the journalistic think tank in St. Petersburg, Florida. Libin replaces Jeff Kiernan, who left … Read more
Not being much of a fan of show biz and media award shows – I mean, what explains WCCO’s “Good Question” guy beating out Pat Kessler for “Best Political Reporting” or whatever it was called at this year’s local Emmys? – I usually just ignore the latest Winner du Jour. Except … when the news … Read more
I don’t really want to think about Christmas yet, I shun any holiday movies/songs until after Thanksgiving. I even direct my 4 year old to avert his gaze from the shiny shiny currently draped all over Target. And yet, I have to begin thinking of what I’m going to send as my "holiday card" because … Read more