Just to give you an idea of the anxiety hanging over their weekend, Star Tribune employees left the building Friday hoping for the best, but expecting the worst from announcements scheduled for 3 pm Monday, (tomorrow). Operating as per usual with little to no information, rumors were that new owners Avista Capital Partners, via their … Read more
With Houston and Utah still to be decided by a 7th game, my predictive powers on first-round series stands at 6-1, with the Golden State upset the lone blemish (and if you read what I wrote, I knew the Warriors would give the Mavs plenty of problems). In the East, I even had the number … Read more
Thursday afternoon at the Star Tribune saw the paper’s four metro columnists, Doug Grow, Nick Coleman, Katherine Kersten and Cheryl “CJ” Johnson called in to separate meetings with editors Nancy Barnes and Scott Gillespie and told, in so many words, that the paper was looking to scale back the number of columnists and would any … Read more
Every profession has its unwritten rules, among those in journalism, and/or the “news business” if you will, is the rule that says the sales end of the operation, be it a newspaper or TV station, never sticks its nose into the reporting end. (Actually, that may be written in some places.) Another is that as … Read more
The way you folks have been keeping the comments coming despite my inactivity (I’m still tied up on something and this will be a quick hit) has been superb and deserves many kudos. I’ll have something up on the second-round playoff games, hopefully before they start, but if I don’t, the bottom line is Bulls … Read more
Spider-Man 3, 2007. Directed by Sam Raimi; written by Raimi and his brother Ivan, with help from Alvin Sargent. Starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Hayden Church, Topher Grace, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rosemary Harris, J. K. Simmons, Dylan Baker, Bill Nunn, Bruce Campbell, and, utterly wasted in five minute roles, the great James … Read more
BICYCLING, ART, AND ADVENTURE No Lycra Please – Just Get Out the Rain Gear The weather is warming up, and the rains will likely prime our lawns, so we mustn’t complain. And we mustn’t be kept indoors. It’s time to pull out the bikes and dig out the plastic rain poncho. Where’s your sense of … Read more
Those were some of the most rinky-dink baseball games we’re likely to see all year (knock wood). Thank God, at any rate, that we’ve seen the last of the Devil Rays and that convention center/monster truck pit they call a baseball stadium. Seriously, can you recall a series that contained more serious weirdness than that … Read more
He knew how to make the heart sing and yodel and howl with joy, could coax from it creaks and croaks and murmurs. He seemed to be able to make it confess its secrets, its hopes and desires, fears and needs. His performances were uncanny, the stuff of growing legend, and would leave audiences spellbound. … Read more
BOOKS AND AUTHORS Elaine Pagels Cancelled Due to an unexpected family emergency, author Dr. Elaine Pagels has cancelled her scheduled presentation tonight for the Pen Pals Author Lecture Series. She will be replaced by New York Times bestselling author Bruce Feiler. I guess we’re sticking with Christianity because this award-winning journalist is the author of … Read more