Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images Eastern Conference Finals, Game #4: Boston 75, Detroit 94 Series record: Tied 2-2 1. The "Little 3" I’m not the first one to unimaginatively pervert the "Big 3" sobriquet for tonight’s no-show troika of Celtic stars, and the way they are playing, I certainly won’t be the … Read more
One hundred and seventy-one years ago, James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok was born in Troy Grove, Illinois. Perhaps this is a good day to rent the full first season of Deadwood and veg out in front of a screen. It’s hardly the most sociable way to spend your time (unless you make a party out … Read more
I have no tolerance for pot dealers who insist on sharing a bowl every time they conclude a transaction. I don’t need to seal my drug deals with shiny happy-people vibes; that’s what I bring the money for. But that’s just me; when it comes to harnessing good vibes, I’ll take the mayhem of Altamont … Read more
Irvin Mayfield and Ellis MarsalisLove Songs, Ballads and StandardsBasin Street Records Trumpeter Irvin Mayfield has often been an artist who wears his heart on his sleeve. This sentimental exuberance has helped put the panache in Los Hombres Calientes, made his breakup concept CD, How Passion Falls, especially vivid, and has fueled his tireless efforts (as … Read more
AP Photo/Matt Slocum It occurs to me that the best way to recap the first three games of the Spurs-Lakers series is to point out all the places I was wrong. There are plenty of examples so let’s get to it. * A high scoring series When I looked over the various matchups between San … Read more
If extravagant excess, jazz-rock division, is your preferred sonic energy drink, the reunion of the most fantastic of the various Return To Forever lineups is the gig of the summer. Precious few bands—Emerson Lake & Palmer and the Mahavishnu Orchestra come to mind—indulged in ornate wankery with so much spunk and so little fear, and … Read more
I stopped in at Shiraz Fireroasted Cuisine for dinner the other night, to check out the new menu and the belly dancing, and at 8:30 on a Saturday night, the place was nearly empty. That’s really a shame, because it is a charming little restaurant, with good food and an ambience of Persian arts and … Read more
Welcome to a possibly special edition of Poem Worth Reading. The very title of this Cracking Spines segment — that is, Poem Worth Reading — is jeopardized with today’s entry. But because this is a blog, and should thereby not be held to any qualitative standards (self-imposed or otherwise), and because I got the go-ahead … Read more
Happy Memorial Day! Happy Memorial Day? We get so used to wishing happy holidays that we end up saying inanities like these. Is it a happy day — a holiday to commemorate loss of lives, casualties? What do you make from a holiday whose best venue is the cemetery? A celebration of life, perhaps — … Read more
"That would be a good thing for them to cut on my tombstone: Wherever she went, including here, it was against her better judgment." -Dorothy Parker Over ten long, occasionally checkered, years as an art critic here in Minnesota, here’s one thing I’ve learned: Making your way in the world today, as a visual artist … Read more