Carol and I got really lucky last night. We were on our way back to the Cities from visiting her folks on the farm, not too far from Decorah, when we decided to stop for dinner in Rochester. I wanted to check out Söntés, the new tapas bar and restaurant at 4 3rd St. SW, … Read more
Be sure to check out our Great Commuter Challenge slideshow and find out who won yesterday’s race. We also have a great piece on The Films of Carlos Reygadas, and a new fiction piece by David Dorle (with nudity even — tasteful as it is). BOOKS & AUTHORSRaking Through Books This month’s Rake happy hour … Read more
AP Photo by Jim Mone Francisco Liriano was almost as disappointing as Nelson Liriano. There has been a disquieting wave of injuries—to Michael Cuddyer, Kevin Slowey, Adam Everett, Scott Baker, Nick Punto, and, most depressingly, to Pat Neshek. The offense has been erratic; the power and team on base percentage alarming. Up and down the … Read more
Sauced is run by John Conklin, a friend of mine, and is a great addition to the Northside. I am, however, puzzled as to why John gets a great review and my restaurant, Papa’s Pizza and Pasta, gets totally ignored once again. We have been on the corner of 42nd and Thomas for three years, … Read more
When the glitz and the flash and the devilish showboating are stripped away, Ace Frehley shines as the true powerhouse behind KISS. In his legendary band, the "spaceman" often got swallowed by Gene Simmons’s fire-spewing antics and Paul Stanley’s notorious onstage preening. But it was Frehley’s axe-wielding that gave musical credibility to the band’s campy … Read more
Employing a tactic I’m pretty sure I’ve picked up from the current presidential administration, I’ve decided to take a new approach to truth. Namely, I’m going to make it up. And make it up in such a way that justifies every decision I decide(r), and in such a way that makes me feel better about … Read more
Thin are the night-skirts left behindBy daybreak hours that onward creep,And thin, alas! the shred of sleepThat wavers with the spirit’s wind:But in half-dreams that shift and rollAnd still remember and forget,My soul this hour has drawn your soulA little nearer yet. Our lives, most dear, are never near,Our thoughts are never far apart,Though all … Read more
photo from Pander Watch (read aloud) Obama! Obama, mama! Obama mama, blackjack! Obama mama blackjack, jackpot! Smoke a lot? Brain rot? Minnesota pep rally, rock show! Let’s go! Cash flow! Are we here? Do we know? Where to go? Say so! Minnesota slam dunk. In the trunk. No junk. Put it in the mix, … Read more
Everyone ponders the future. Whether it’s five minutes from now or five million years from now, it is bound to creep up in some form or another. Stanley Kubrick reinvented what it means to be a filmmaker in 1968 with the design of a fictional world in the year 2001 that questions the mysteries of … Read more
What she didn’t understand, Miriam thought, what she really didn’t understand was this stupid cherry on a spoon. The huge sculpture sat there in its lake, its bright red cherry poised happily on the grey spoon-bowl’s ridge, a symbol of Minneapolis. What about it excited people? What, exactly, was the point? She sat on the … Read more