He’d be assassinated today, too. I wasn’t sure whether I should laugh or cry yesterday when I heard that Michele Bachmann had “scolded” the God Hates Fags protesters at the funeral of the Minnesota soldier who had been killed in Iraq. As Bachmann explained, it’s not that God doesn’t hate fags, it’s just that he … Read more
—Michael Thompson —Michael Hernandez De Luna Bad Press Books, The Stamp Art And Postal History Of Michael Thompson And Michael Hernandez De Luna The Museum of Bad Art Soviet Children’s Picture Books From the Twenties and Thirties The Golden Age of Iron Men Dictionary of Hobo Slang Vintage Drug Ads Thump Queen: Meryl Truett Photography … Read more
“Ok, Cheney, just you and me. Shotguns at 10 paces.” I just couldn’t let this go, but it popped onto my computer a few minutes ago when I used Yahoo for the first time in months. The headline that jumped at me was this: Bush Confident Bin Laden Will Be Captured. Big talk from a … Read more
Peter Beinart went quietly into the night as the editor of The New Republic, and no one noticed except David Carr, who is of course paid to notice such things. TNR has lapsed into almost complete irrelevance, along with the putative political party it was long associated with. In fact, if it is possible to … Read more
Surely you’re aware that there are dreams all around you. You’re moving through them everywhere you go. They’re on every block and corner of the city you live in, and flickering behind the curtains and shades up and down every street. Open the Yellow Pages of your local phone book –what is that if not … Read more
In this moment my body wants to evacuate my skin, rattle its bones, and, dancing, dream itself free. Or dreaming, dance itself free. But my mind swings so wildly, and in this moment –a moment later– I feel like I am blindfolded, with a broken broomstick in my hands, flailing at a cement pinata. Meanwhile, … Read more
To be a good man. To do no harm. To see clearly. To do my laundry. To keep an open heart and mind. To acknowledge my blessings, to share them. To eat something. To give away happiness even when I have little or none to spare. To feel the pain of others. To laugh at … Read more
Saxophonist Joshua Redman put together the SF Jazz Collective in 2004, and in two short years this ensemble has become one of the more adventurous and diverse jazz outfits working today. The roster includes hotshot New Orleans trumpeter Nicholas Payton, pianist Renee Rosnes, and vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, a man with one of the most eclectic … Read more
This is not just another Asian place on a street lined with Asian places, as evidenced by the drink menu alone: Peninsula offers a refreshing green bean with grass jelly freeze and a smoothie made from durian, a spiky Southeast Asian fruit that has an odor reminiscent of very old gorgonzola. In fact, the entire … Read more
Since Minnesota is not a noted home to the polar bear, one might wonder where the name White Bear Lake comes from. If you believe Mark Twain, it originated with an Indian legend. In his 1883 book, “Life on the Mississippi,” he tells of a Romeo and Juliet type romance between a Sioux maiden and … Read more