The Auteur Cometh

My digital camera is gone; above, stock photo subtly suggesting that the Virginia Madsen character is an angel. Get it? There’s more in case you don’t… A Prairie Home Companion, 2006. Directed by Robert Altman, written by Garrison Keillor. Starring Garrison Keillor, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Virginia Madsen, Kevin Kline, Lindsay Lohan, John C. Reilly, … Read more

not a gorgeous blonde

The Twin Cities Noir launch party is tonight. Once there, I plan to ogle over all the self-actualized crime writers, including my cubicle-neighbor Brad Zellar. Also in the TC Noir ranks: City Pages theater critic Quinton Skinner, although I haven’t been sure what to make of that guy ever since he liked Caryl Churchill’s “A … Read more

Wheel of Fortune

An open letter to anyone not wanting to leave their houses today, and to those inextricably linked to their laptops–especially the music-heads: Have you tried Pandora.com? I know I already mentioned this website yesterday, but I was as of then just a dabbler. Twenty-four hours later and I’m a full-fledged pro. Pandora lets you enter … Read more

Magic Stix

I usually mistrust gimmicky food things. I don’t own an avocado slicer and I’ll never buy an adjustable hambuger press. But that doesn’t mean that, every once in a while, something super cool can’t be found. I know that this week everyone is eating out at spectacular restaurants to help fight hunger, but think ahead … Read more

Crawling to the next thing

Today’s Secret: Cinema Revolution hosts its monthly Cinema des Artistes film event tonight, when they’ll be showing L’Intrus, a 2004 film-of-few-words by French filmmaker Claire Denis. This should be a pretty hip-n-happening scene at the Varsity Theatre. But I guess I, in particular, will never know ’cause I won’t be there. Can we lean on … Read more

This Day Is Tuesday

The day the world ended, God sat quietly alone in a huge room, alternately dozing off and turning the pages of a fat scrapbook. God could remember everything, and this no doubt saddened Him. Far below Him there were, here and there, people floating in boats and still –many of them, anyway– praying. There were … Read more