I love [the Band Box Diner]. The chef, and I mean, a chef, came from Caffe Solo [“The Original All-American,” October]. He introduced garlic chicken with mashed potatoes to Minneapolis. He is so nice and runs a wonderful grill. You can have a classic diner dinner and chat him up at the same time. He even told me that if I wanted to take a vacation and relieve him at the grill for a day or two he would allow it. What an offer to a real foodie.
OK, let me see if I have this right. You published an article about the director of the St. Paul Public Library, and you made some errors, which you corrected and for which you apologized [Letters, October]. You could not fact-check the article, you say, because Minneapolis doesn’t have a reference librarian available on Sunday or Monday. Such a problem, and you would have my sympathy, but …
On Sunday, from 1 to 5 p.m., you might have found answers at St. Paul Central, Highland Park, Rondo Community, St. Anthony, or Sun Ray. On Monday, various hours, all of the St. Paul branches, and the Central library, are open.
If St. Paul is a problem for some reason, you could try the Ramsey County system, where all branches are open on Monday and several on Sunday.
If St. Paul and Ramsey County give you the heebie-jeebies, you could try Hennepin, where the Ridgedale library is open on Sunday and all branches are open on Monday.
I grant you, you might not find a bona fide reference librarian at each of these libraries at any given time, but a few phone calls could probably have tracked one down.
I love the Minneapolis Central Library, but limiting yourself to Minneapolis for library services is just that: limiting.
Editor’s note: Ellen, we’re surprised you didn’t mention all the other excuses we proffered for our complete lack of fact-checking that article. We also said the sun was in our eyes. If you really wanted to be helpful, you could have also offered us a list of stores that sell hats.
Shame on you; the Twin Cities has a kaleidoscope of nationalities, races, and ethnic backgrounds [“What Do You Do?” October]. Yet you all chose to represent only a single minority in your profiles of real-world work. Seriously?
I read your blurb in the October issue about Dee Dee Bridgewater playing a rare two nights at the Dakota to support her new disk, Red Earth. Dee Dee dedicated this CD to her U.S. sound engineer, Minnesota native James “Hatter” Hatz. A beautiful eulogy for him is printed on the back page of the cover art. Hatter died at the age of forty-four, from cancer. His friends and family remain in the Twin Cities area. Hatter was a well-respected sound man for many, many local bands. He may well be one of the reasons we here in Minnesota are lucky enough to attract a performer of Ms. Bridgewater’s caliber. Besides our obvious hipness. Just thought you’d want to know.
Ok, so we’re not in a foriegn country, but I still think we’re fun. This is my teammates and I at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston. We row for the Minneapolis Rowing Club. In boston we raced in the Club 8 event (that would mean 60+ft boats, 8 rowers, one coxswain). Sadly we placed 19th this year after being top 10 the previous 2 years. My Oar broke within the first 500m of the race (it’s a 5000m race) so it was a frustrating end to the season. But making The Rake would help make up for that.
Row 1: Alex Guerrieri (Coxswain)
Row 2: our boat – City of Lakes
Row 3: Marisa Bargsten, Me (Alyssa Kunau) holding the Rake, Jill Frank, Heather Maenke
Row 4: Steph Hauge, Jess Greenstein, Rochelle Winn, Tara Mucha
Thanks!
I love the magazine!
Alyssa
After a few day slogging through the mud at the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (near Shepton Mallet, Somerset County, England), we needed a good, strong Rake.
Scott Schiefelbein, Naomi Oshiro and daughter, Miki Oshiro Schiefelbein (all of Minneapolis) were enjoying the mud at Glasto and took a break from the music for a little reading.
In Spanish we say: “confundir la gimnasia con la magnesia.” It means because two words sound alike their meaning is not the same. I expect a seasoned food critic like Mr. Iggers to know the difference between “marinara” and “marinera.” (“The Up-side of Groupthink,” September) They belong in two very different cuisines. The idea that tomato-based sauces appear often in Spanish cuisine is a generalized “ugly American” myth that appears in dishes such as “Spanish rice,” which in Spain is called “American rice.” (The dish is hideous regardless of the name or where it is cooked.) I hope Mr. Iggers is more influenced by food than by myth. The thought of a paella marinara causes permanent damage to my appetite.
I jumped for joy to read in Ann Bauer’s conversation piece with Karl and Annamarie Rigelman (“Sweet and Savory,” August) about the croissants made at May Day Café. Without any hesitation May Day offers the best croissant in town, period. I am a true fan of the May Day, and give all the credit to Andy and the others for offering wonderful baked goods day in and day out. And the best part is eating my croissant in Powderhorn, away from the needless hype others might find attractive. Bake on, May Day; let your croissant be my guide.
Last month The Rake dedicated an issue to the stories that we missed while we were reading about the bridge collapse (“News Hole”). While we in Minnesota were asleep at the bridge, we didn’t notice that people concerned for a free Tibet traveled to China and hung a banner on the Great Wall. These protesters (one of whom was from the Twin Cities) spent thirty-six hours in detention before being deported. Talk about missing a story. This was news to National Press Canada, The New York Times, Time Magazine, Al Jazeera, CNN, Sydney Herald, Reuters India, Radio Free Asia, The Toronto Star, The Guardian in London, Channel 4 News in the U.K., The Cambridge Evening News in the U.K., The Globe and Mail in Canada, RadioFreeEurope/Radio-Liberty in the Czech Republic, The Age in Australia, CBC’s The Hour in Canada, The London Free Press in Canada, San Diego Union-Tribune, Brisbane Times in Australia, International Herald Tribune in France, Montreal Gazette in Canada, Gulf Times in Qatar, The Economist in the U.K. … You get the idea. Not only did the Minnesota press miss an international story with a local connection, so did The Rake.
Tom Bartel’s editorial about the bridge collapse, “The Roman Arch: Mixing Metaphors Instead of Concrete,” touched on the dilemma or even the cause of the collapse.
“ … It’s clear as well that politicians and bureaucrats who answer to politicians have no stomach for inconveniencing drivers …. What representatives of our government’s work receive more irate looks than the guys who put out the orange cones that slow us down?”
No one was going to or had the power to shut down the busiest bridge in Minnesota. It was reported that when some lanes on the bridge had to be closed for inspections, people would throw objects and verbally assault the inspectors. There was just too much pressure from an insane pedal-to-the-metal society to keep it open, no matter how unsafe it was. Capitalism moving at a rapid pace will always trump an unsafe bridge. The demand to keep things moving at a rapid pace took precedence over the safety of a small handful of motorists traveling over the bridge at any given time.
The debt we are in, the competitiveness, the greed, all add up to a maxed-out, cannot-stop society. Our non-stop, out-of-control lives are what rule and dictate things around here—not our “leaders.”