Ruckert told the doctor that he felt as if he had been thrown from a boat. The doctor asked if he thought he had the strength to swim. “Strength is not an issue,” Ruckert said. “It’s a matter of desire. Where would I swim to? I can see no land in any direction.” Did he … Read more
I read a book by Twin Cities author Vince Flynn over the weekend called Term Limits. The book starts with the assassinations of four venal members of Congress. That didn’t surprise me so much as the reported sentiments of many of the characters of the book that killing four was a good start. I found … Read more
“Of course I’m running for President. I had my teeth fixed didn’t I?” The story in the Strib stopped short of explaining what exactly it was that the darn UN was trying to do when Coleman accused it of trying to take control of the internet. I’m sure it was an insidious attempt by the … Read more
For several months I had been staring at the words written in a square on the otherwise blank calendar on my kitchen wall: Meeting Mr. Mercy. I had scheduled this meeting back in the late spring, and only after a series of mysterious phone calls and false starts. Most of the phone calls would come … Read more
First I worked in this place in the Food Court that sold French fries and pretzels, for this Vietnamese guy who called himself Jose. Then I moved down another floor and worked at this place that sold nothing but total shit –no vision, none whatsoever: Rattling plastic frogs that croaked and paddled about in a … Read more
Is this another sign that we’re on the verge of a new Depression, or is it simply a really imaginative charity event? The Holiday Train is a string of thirteen cars outfitted with lights and decorations and a boxcar that converts to a stage. Willy Porter, Twin Citizen and Red House recording artist John Gorka, … Read more
Although singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt is claimed by Texas, he spent two years in Minnesota at the Shattuck Military Academy in Faribault, where he is remembered as the kid who dropped cherry bombs down the dormitory toilets. Elsewhere, he is noted as the dazzling guitar player who wrote the Willie Nelson hit “Pancho & Lefty,” … Read more
Port of Duluth—Saturday, October 15, 2005 In the middle of the night, at the end of a long day in the middle of October, I found myself sitting in a recliner. I was in the lounge of the penthouse high above the long deck of the American Spirit, a thousand-foot bulk freighter. We were plunging … Read more
It’s hardly surprising that many of the works in Walker Art Center’s newest show, Andy Warhol/ Supernova: Stars, Deaths, and Disasters, 1962-1964, are the artist’s best-known. His repeating runs of Elvises, Lizzes, Marilyns, and Jackies, along with paintings of car crashes and electric chairs, show the extent to which a fascination with tragedy and death … Read more