The things I do for this job: contractual obligations force me to sit inside air-conditioning and watch the brainless Talladega Nights. But if you’re wise, you will wander down to Loring Park to endure brain-melting temperatures to enjoy Howard Hawks’ witty and wonderful His Girl Friday, part of the Walker’s Summer Movies and Music. I … Read more
At 9:28 a.m. thirty-one grain traders are milling around a trading pit—an octagon about the size of a pontoon boat, recessed into the hardwood floor—at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange. Steps are wide and lazy, chests are thrust outward. Several of the men (and they are all men) discuss the price of downtown real estate; a … Read more
An article in the July issue about Robyn Waters [“The Lap of Paradox”] stated that she worked at Target for thirty years. In fact, she worked there for ten and a half years. (She worked in the retail business for thirty years.) We regret the error.August 2006 cover illustrator Kyle Webster can be reached at … Read more
Often regarded as Tom Stoppard’s best play, this production is a—perhaps the—high point in the Guthrie’s 2006-07 season. A masterpiece of wit that also grapples with romantic love and the havoc wrought by extramarital affairs, the story centers around Henry, a successful playwright often thought to be a stand-in for Stoppard. Henry has just penned … Read more
The candidate was running late, of course. So, on a sweltering June morning, I was left to wander the third-floor headquarters of Peter Hutchinson’s gubernatorial campaign and consider its architect. Two floors above a coffee shop and the funky Architectural Antiques, someone erected temporary walls to form a couple of small offices, and in one … Read more
The picture windows beneath the Jerabek’s New Bohemian awning gave a good feel for what was being sold inside. One window showcased the stock of vintage dresses—from satin gowns to housedresses bursting with floral prints. Metallic shoes, two or three cycles since they’ve been in fashion, lined the window’s ledge, tossed in with an oversized … Read more
An old-fashioned version of this whole desert-island charade would have had author, television writer, and occasional standup comic Merrill Markoe bringing along her “collected works of Robert Benchley,” because “his silly rage at minutiae combined with great word usage is both a comfort and a reminder to have perspective.” But nowadays, the people who play … Read more
Linda Hempel writes from Edinburgh, Scotland: “After an exhausting day of golf at St. Andrews, walking across that enormous bridge at the 17th, this vacant crypt at the ruins of the local cathedral was irresistible so I decided to take a break to read my favorite publication, The Rake.” Author(s) and Location: Linda Hempel
“Our work is a subjective observation of sound,” said David Berg. As a scientist of sorts for the Acoustics and Audio Group at Orfield Laboratories in Minneapolis, Berg listens for a living. For instance, if you ever wondered what noise a cell phone’s seemingly silent display makes, he has the wherewithal to tell you. Not … Read more
People sell all kinds of oddities on Craigslist, but if you’re looking for really weird stuff you might want to sign up for an email list generated by the University of Minnesota. That’s how Ben Awes, Bob Ganser, and Christian Dean, who together make up the architecture firm Citydeskstudio, found their skyway. “We signed up … Read more