Maybe it’s because they’re just too McSkinny in Japan. Maybe it’s because they have a history of readily accepting improbable, huge monsters. Maybe it’s because they love restaurants with a toilet theme. Whatever it is, Japan is getting the Mega Mac. If that freaks you, wait until you find out what the hell Grimace actually … Read more
Among those of us who experienced what might be called a “difficult” relationship with mainstream newspapering, one of the jokes about newspapers’ numbing institutional voice was that that voice must never, ever risk offending the kind of fine and decent ladies you find serving meatballs and lefse at a Lutheran church dinner. Such ladies were … Read more
There’s nuthin’ much going on this evening, and I wouldn’t want to lead you astray. But check back tomorrow for more information about the free Herbach n’ Osterhout show.
Robert Drinan was a Jesuit priest and law professor at Georgetown who served in Congress during the seventies and was the first member of Congress to call for the impeachment of Richard Nixon. He died today. He argued that Nixon should be impeached for the secret bombing of Cambodia, not for the secret break in … Read more
Two things of note this cold, Monday evening: One, another discussion about the making of The Grapes of Wrath, this one moderated by Star Tribune book editor, Sally Williams; two, Matt Wilson’s Arts and Crafts (not to be confused with Minnesota’s very own M.W.–this is a different fella), which plays the Dakota.
Today is my birthday. Looking back, the past year held various cooking victories: the ice cream follies of the summer (basil/lemon, chocolate/zinfandel, strawberry/balsamic, Guiness, sake/cucumber sorbet)…a few good looking loaves of ciabatta, and one really ugly but tasty boule … the perfect Stephanie pizza (pesto, prosciutto, arugula, and egg cracked on top) … a five … Read more
PLEASE NOTE: THIS EVENT CANCELLED. “If there is a thief in a novel,” said Elif Shafak recently, “it doesn’t make the novelist a thief.” Nevertheless, the Turkish novelist faced three years in prison for the purported crime of “insulting Turkishness” by having an Armenian character in her novel The Bastard of Istanbul refer to Turks … Read more
Even casual strollers of downtown St. Paul will most likely notice the majestic High Bridge, just west of the business district. Towering above the other bridges of the city’s scenic Mississippi River valley and summiting at 160 feet above the Big Muddy, the High Bridge carries Smith Avenue from the bustling West Seventh Street commercial … Read more
I’m wearing yellow in honor of Jupiter,” declared design-cum-business maven Stephanie Odegard. The Minneapolis native was in her twelfth-floor studio in the New York Design Center, cosseted in a modest office near two large showrooms that feature her acclaimed carpets and furniture. Odegard Inc. has six sales offices in the United States, operations in Nepal, … Read more
A recent intercepted email exchange between Monica Moses, executive director of product innovation at the Star Tribune, and Steve Perry, editor of City Pages, provided both a good laugh and good fodder for online discussion of “What the hell are newspapers and why are they seemingly dying?” The exchange (posted on The Rake’s media blog) … Read more