People DIE in Wars
As of today, the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq has reached $3,824.
Sparber Gets a Pat on the Back from the Grey Lady
Max Sparber’s play, Minstrel Show, gets a laudatory review in The New York Times.
Fetal Drinking: I'm Against
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the United Kingdom came out this week with an astonishing pronouncement that pregnant women past their 12th week can safely drink “1.5 units” of alcohol per day — the equivalent of a single, small glass of wine. This, in my opinion, is bullshit. No one … Read more
Nick and Eddie: Sounds great
I strolled across Loring Park last night and popped into Nick and Eddie simply because I saw activity through the windows there. Turns out it’s not technically open to the public yet. They were having a “friends and family” night, and I’m neither. But the practicing staff were nice enough to let me have a … Read more
News Director Search Update
It’s been quiet, too quiet on the local TV news front, so thought I’d check in at KSTP and WCCO to see what’s cooking with the stations’ respective searches for replacements to news directors Chris Berg (let go in early August) and Jeff Kiernan (resigned in early September). The responses were as different as the … Read more
Why Does MPR Fight with Virginia Christian Rockers?
(UPDATED): After wasting almost three days trying to get some illumination on Minnesota Public Radio’s on-going/protracted fight with a tiny Christian Rock station in Norfolk, Virginia — and getting stonewalled by that station, its Christian attorneys in D.C. and a bland press release from MPR — I finally connected with Steve Behrens, editor of Currents … Read more
Al Gore Wins Nobel Peace Prize
Yahoo news informs us this morning that “Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.’s climate change panel won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for spreading awareness of man-made climate change and laying the foundations for counteracting it.”
Eye (and Oscar) Candy
Monty Python’s Elizabeth: The Golden Age; The Darjeeling Limited, and Michael Clayton. One should never glean one’s history from the movies. Not knowing the least bit about the age of Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen of England, I can still tell you that Elizabeth: The Golden Age is about as true to the facts as any … Read more
Come Out Swinging
SPECIAL EVENTS National Coming Out Day Feeling a little repressed and in the closet? Today is the perfect day to step on out. This afternoon, OutFront Minnesota will join dozens of Twin Cities businesses and organizations in celebrating what may be the most difficult and important act a GLBT person can do: coming out. The … Read more
A Damn Good Jug o' Wine
I was in Rhinelander, WI, giving a reading last week and someone in the audience, hearing I was a wine critic, raised her hand and said, “You have to go to House of the Spirits before you leave!” I nodded and said I’d try, but she insisted, “NO, I mean it. It’s this weird little … Read more