"So, who are Porter and Frye?", I asked the hostess last night. "Do they really exist?" She smiled, then said that various legends about Porter and Frye certainly did exist, and then got straight to the point: no, they were not real. The name was invented by a restaurant consultant. She said it’s supposed to … Read more
If astronomers and astrophysicists are correct, we’ve got another 13-16 billion years until the universe collapses under its own mass and hubris in a Big Crunch – making it all the more impressive that it has taken just a few short months for Sen. Hillary Clinton’s world to implode, compacting itself into a fiery mass … Read more
THEATER & PERFORMANCEThe Fortunes of King CroesusWe’ve known it for at least three centuries, apparently: money doesn’t buy happiness. And yet we can’t seem to help ourselves, as we continue to search our shopping cart for the meaning of life, for peace, for the ole H-word — as we continue to work 24/7, searching for … Read more
I’m typically leery of wines with cute, punny, or outrageous names. Goats do Roam. The Unbearable Lightness of Riesling. Fat Bastard. They’re all truly dreadful. So I was expecting little when I uncorked the Rosenblum Cellars Côte du Bone Roan 2005 from Chateau La Paws. Here’s a surprise: I loved it. And that was before … Read more
Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images) Game # 58, Home Game #31: Seattle 111, Minnesota 108 Season Record: 12-46 1. An Improving Beast During Kevin Garnett’s dozen years with the Wolves, I wrote a slew of game recaps which included as a stock phrase the caution that people shouldn’t take the … Read more
FILMArranged Here’s an interesting show for you and the kids: Arranged, a tale of two Brooklyn teachers—Rochel, an Orthodox Jew, and Nasira, a Syrian Muslim—both of whom are in the process of being set up in arranged marriages. Somehow they manage to become close friends. By setting the film in a public grade school and … Read more
MUSIC Maceo Parker One of the last things you expect out of Maceo Parker is a new wrinkle, and that’s OK: As the saxophonist for the Godfather of Soul, he’s the man who blew the horn that popped the sweat out of James Brown’s pores. He went on to play with two of Brown’s most … Read more
I always thought it would be interesting to attempt to tell the story of your life purely in index form. I tried it once, without a whole lot of success. I’m sure there are others out there like me, though, people for whom the indexes of thick biographies are often better and more fascinating reading … Read more
Anachronistic is the best word to describe Married Life, which will be arriving at Landmark’s Edina Cinema on March 21st. The film’s frustratingly whimsical tone washes out its better, darker moments, leaving little to say about marriage. Based on the 1953 pulp mystery novel Five Roundabouts to Heaven, the film follows the relationships and ethical … Read more
I’ve been hanging out lately at a great little place called Fireroast Mountain Cafe, which besides having wonderful soups, sandwiches, and pastries, serves a perfectly brewed cup of Puerh, which is a rare and wonderful thing. A fermented tea that contains microbes — like yogurt of kefir —Puerh has an earthy, amber, slightly caramel flavor. … Read more