Category: Columns
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Free The Jackson Five!
What do Norm Coleman, Clem Haskins, and 70s soul man Billy Preston have in common? They all understand that “nothing from nothing leaves nothing—you gotta have something, if you want to be with me.” On first blush, it looks like both Norm and Clem are getting something for nothing. Clem got paid to leave a…
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Strong Drink for General Washington
Imagine yourself loaded into a watertight cask and rolled down into the deepest hold of an 18th century sailing ship. You are buffeted about in a sea-voyage of many months. The warmth is oppressive, even in the belly of the ship, and the humidity is worse. From time to time, you hear the scrabbling of…
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A woman and her SUV? Nope.
Hey, I’m luxury-minded. I understand the finer things in life. Pleasures can be simple, like a dish-soap bubble bath, for instance. Quiet time to read, perhaps. The fetal position.Life’s joy can be measured in things that cost big, too. Like telling someone what you really think, or buying produce at Lund’s in April. I understand…
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Free The Jackson Five!
Before dreadlocks and cornrows, there was the Afro. The Afro was 15 percent hairstyle and 85 percent political statement. Armed with my Afro, I was a true “brother.” I grew my first ’fro in 1971. I was a bad–ass 13 year-old Denver kid just itching to help free the oppressed—Angela Davis, the Chicago Seven, even…
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Ain't She Sweet?
By Oliver Nicholson Things seem to be getting serious. She’s convinced her parents to ask you to dinner and you’re scared stiff. It’s not that the grub will be bad. Her mother has a great reputation as a cook. But how will you ever convince them you’re good enough for their little girl? First impressions…
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Motley Krüse
The problem with being a mother is that the definition of success is too damned narrow. You’re either a good mother, or a bad mother. No in-betweens, no wiggle room. If we can accept gray areas in politics and potlucks, why not parenting? I say this, of course, as I bury another body in the…