I was walking around New York this past weekend and I kept seeing cabs with these snazzy ESPN sports tickers scrolling across their roofs. I saw the Twins-White Sox score on one of the things late Friday night, and then saw what I thought was the same score Saturday night. I just assumed the information … Read more
After a hectic weekend of entertaining, Monday can be daunting. Friday night we hosted a cooking class at our house for seven people. We did a kind of Spring Thing with sauteed leeks and asparagus over polenta and halibut with freshly made pesto. I made basil ice cream with lemon-rosemary pound cake for dessert, because … Read more
Well, since I’m yet to give an official nod to National Poetry Month, we’ll make this a books-n-reading-themed Secret o’ the Day. Most important (at least in my mind): The May issue of The Rake hit stands today, and is also posted online. What’s not online, however, is the Literary Supplement we produced to celebrate … Read more
Doodle by Steve Willis (scroll down link for bio). For a year that includes a new Mission: Impossible, a big-budget Robin Williams comedy, a remake of one of the 70s worst disaster films (Poseidon Adventure) and yet another slate of comic books flicks, it is with great pleasure that I am able to point you, … Read more
Kinky Boots, 2006. Directed by Julian Jarrold, written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth. Starring Joel Edgerton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sarah-Jane Potts, Ewan Hooper, Linda Bassett, Nick Frost and Jemima Rooper. Now showing at the Uptown Theatre. The Notorious Bettie Page, 2006. Directed by Mary Harron, written by Harron and Guinevere Turner. Starring Gretchen Mol, Chris … Read more
Never mind the science, here’s the politics. Not content with denigrating the science behind any cogent understanding of evolutionary biology or global warming, now the Bushies are taking on medicine. Despite the clear scientific evidence that marijuana has medicinal uses such as combating nausea in chemotherapy patients and pain and anorexia in AIDS patients, Bush … Read more
I don’t know if there’s a manager in the Major Leagues that gets a blanket pass from his team’s fans. Maybe, you’d think, Joe Torre would, but anybody who’s ever spent any time in New York listening to sports talk radio (don’t ask) knows that every move Torre makes –and doesn’t make– is as scrutinized … Read more
Sometimes a woman’s gotta do what a woman’s gotta do. Particularly if that woman entered this world as a man. In the late 70s a certain doctor who was a nationally ranked tennis player changed his sex and continued to compete–as a woman. This raised all kinds of issues related to fair play. I am … Read more
The Food Network is hosting their competition show, Food Network Challenge, at the Mall of America this week. The other day, various food professionals from across the country competed to create a Candy Castle. The sweet victory went to local cake-legend Susan O’Boyle Jacobson, garnering her $10,000 and some nice national coverage. In a sad … Read more
Today marks the opening of the 24th Annual Minneapolis/St.Paul International Film Festival with the local premiere of Al Franken: God Spoke (a title that, I have to admit, baffles me). The festival has come under some duress for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that these things are a bitch to … Read more