Fall is the transition time for outdoor sports, and, for semi-serious cross-country skiers, it’s time to strap on the old roller skis. Even the most accomplished skiers, however, who roller ski through all the dry seasons, can’t escape the fact that it’s a little bit ridiculous using ski poles with no snow on the ground. … Read more
I’ve always liked to talk to people, especially strangers. I also like to drive the roads outside the commercial net of the interstates, the state highways and neglected county roads that still take you right into towns that can feel either forsaken or impossibly wholesome, and sometimes both at the same time. On such … Read more
Red Handed photo taken outside the Police Academy at Fort Saint Elmo in Valletta, Malta in July. Author(s) and Location: Charlie Maguire
Mina writes: How did I spend my summer vacation? With my husband and sons in Hiroshima, Japan for the anniversary of the Atomic Bombing, “Peace Day”. We shared the day with our Japanese hosts, the wonderful Nogamis, and 60,000 other Peaceful People from all over the world! That’s me in front of the A-Bomb Dome, … Read more
Trina Rodel (right), a St. Paul resident who works at Mississippi Market, visited her sister, Angela Rodel (formerly of Burnsville), in Bulgaria. Her sister is doing her doctoral research in Slavic singing. They are at the Rila Monastery. Photos submitted by their mother and Rake fan, Kendra Rodel of Eagan. Send along your Rakish travel … Read more
“The music is a mix between old skool hip-hop and northern soul and going for a dynamic feel like a double dutch team.” That’s how Go! Team leader Ian Parton described his band’s sound in a recruitment ad a few years ago, but he was probably forced to be brief. Actually, it’s something of a … Read more
For a young female songwriter, treading the folk-bluegrass line can be tricky. Tip too far toward the sensitive folkie side and you might get tossed altogether into the “women’s music” ghetto. But sing or play with too much of a twang and you can be relegated to the stodgy “pickin’” circuit, where politics lean to … Read more
A soaring and reflective composition by the American composer Stephen Paulus (who has a role in our profile of Libby Larsen, his friend and colleague), the world premiere of this oratorio features mezzo-soprano Christina Baldwin, soprano Norah Long, and the Basilica Cathedral Chorus. Expect a heady and deeply emotional performance in an inspiring space, presented … Read more
One of our favorite newer bands hooks up with a few of its esteemed forebears from the local scene, for what is perhaps the most anticipated of the Guest Session Sunday concerts. Those puckish young men in their blue tracksuits, who’ve been criminally forced to drop the “Olympic” and play simply as the Hopefuls, will … Read more
I know that some people commute many more miles to work than I do and they don’t seem at all put out by it. But to me sometimes it feels like I work in a whole other state or even galaxy. I contemplate the frequent flyer miles I’ve accumulated. I gas up, load the car … Read more