Sunday morning’s aren’t nearly as much fun anymore. Not long ago I’d heft the Strib off the doorstep, chuck out the ads, the news and the sports and dig right into my favorite column, "The Readers’ Representative." Having worked for a decade and a half at a daily newspaper, I miss hearing first hand the … Read more
So. I was at the Jewish Community Center on Christmas Day — along with what appeared to be every other fitness-minded non-Christian in the western metro — on the elliptical trainer, reading Self magazine, when I ran across an article entitled The Great Sex Diet. And out of a deep sense of professional responsibility, I … Read more
FILMA Post-Christmas StoryI firmly believe that music is for everyone — and there is certainly enough from which to choose this weekend — but if you’re just not in the mood (perhaps puckered out from the holidays), you might prefer to kick back in a nice, dark theater for a post-holiday treat. We get so … Read more
Ephemera def. transitory written and printed matter Here’s a very interesting visual blog that I came across today: ephemerania. It’s simply a collection of photos of found objects assembled together, sort of grouping visual pieces together. On their own each bit is for the most part insignificant, but together they’re a little bit scrap … Read more
How cute is this girl? I bet her rock band just shreds. While gig posters might be the hot and hip way of promoting, postcards and small fliers for upcoming shows and events can also catch people’s eyes. And because of their small size, and because they’re in every bar nook, cafe cranny, and downtown … Read more
The above photo is an altered version of "AZ in Action," taken by Sarah McGee. Mitch Omer, proprietor of Hell’s Kitchen restaurants in Minneapolis and Duluth, responds to Andrew Zimmern’s Perspective in the December issue of Mpls./St. Paul Magazine: "That’s all I can stands, and I can’t stands no more!" ~Popeye the Sailor Some notes … Read more
FILMChicago Restored! Who better to tell ya about all that jazz then the people who were actually living it? At the end of the roaring ’20s, a little film was made that incorporated all the music, gin, and debauchery of the times. While the movie originally met with fear, the premise inspired the hit Bob … Read more
It is a firmly established fact about human beings that we want what we cannot have. Once stores run out of Furbees or fetal Cabbage Patch babies or giggling Elmos, suddenly every mother’s child must have one. When exorbitantly-priced iPhones hit the market already in limited supply, people line up at 2 a.m. I’ve heard … Read more
This "freedom of expression booth" at the MSP airport most likely won’t be looked at in the same way after this year’s Senator Craig escapade. But one of the most important — and one of the most overlooked — aspects our visual culture is fonts, particularly in our instructional messages. Recognize the style in the … Read more
Minneapolis-St.Paul is a Midwestern oasis for the visual arts. In fact, we here in the Twin Cities have visual arts all over the place, damn near everywhere you look… or where you aren’t looking, as is often the case. The visual arts don’t just hang at big name institutions like MIA or le Walker and … Read more