I’m using some new-fangled technology to write this swill live from the Dome. I’m pretending to be a real writer, in other words. Some sort of big white creature –it appeared to be a dog, with a Target logo on its chest– threw out the first pitch. I guess I wasn’t aware that Target had … Read more
Interesting event the other night at William Mitchell. A panel discussion titled, “A Strange Bond: The CIA and the Cinema”, with two ex-CIA guys, the CIA’s current acting chief counsel, (he’ll soon have a formal confirmation hearing), uber-author, Mark Bowden, (“Blackhawk Down”, “Killing Pablo”, “Guests of the Ayatollah”) and Star Tribune film critic, Colin Covert. … Read more
This just seems so wrong on so many different levels. I mean, seriously, what the hell?
FILM Spring Passions Back in 1913, Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring caused riots at its premiere. Almost a century later, directors Thomas Grube and Enrique Sanchez Lansch use Stravinsky’s masterpiece as the catalyst for an educational project involving 250 Berlin children representing 25 nations. The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, under Sir Simon Rattle, ventured out … Read more
Well, other than a nine-pitch first inning Johan’s performance wasn’t exactly pretty, but it was more or less in keeping with the way he usually starts the season. Kind of a strange pitch selection in the early innings –Santana just kept pounding away with the fastball, and didn’t go to the change-up until the Orioles … Read more
I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I am craving tequila lately. More specifically, I’m craving margaritas. I was in San Diego last week, at this thumping roof-top bar, and I swear I could have put down 10 or more without a problem. It’s an on-the-rocks situation, with loads of salt on the rim. … Read more
DINING Nourish the Mind It’s really too bad we can’t support our public libraries by reading, but I guess when it comes down to it more people appreciate a good meal over a good book. Do your good deed tonight and come sample the local flavors at the Twin Cities Restaurant Week Kick-Off Event, benefiting … Read more
Sen. John McCain who stuck his polished loafer deep in his mouth when he said recently that Americans weren’t getting a realistic picture of the situation on the ground in Iraq — because of that damned negative media constantly obsessing over a few hundred truck bombings and a couple hundred tortured bodies flopping into the … Read more
My old compadre, the grizzled and venerable, Nick Coleman, asks the question I thought somebody in town should have asked at least a month ago. Namely, was U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger’s abrupt departure 15 months ago in any way connected to the ever-burgeoning Rove-Bush-Gonzalez USA firings scandal? Heffelfinger, a self-described moderate Republican, (remember those people?), … Read more
I spent part of the weekend kicking around thoughts on the coming season with Britt Robson and David Brauer over at On the Ball, Britt’s new home on the world wide web (or whatever the hell you want to call this impossibly dense and increasingly confusing constellation of monkey business). Go check it out. I’ll … Read more