On a recent Friday afternoon, a silver Porsche 993 Turbo emerged from the maw of the IDS Center parking ramp into the sun. The driver was Peter Kitchak. “Look,” he said to his passenger as he maneuvered the nimble two-seater through downtown Minneapolis, “the last thing anyone needs is for you to write about how … Read more
These days at the complicated intersection of Washington and Broadway, the downtrodden God-Bless-You gang works in shifts along the stoplight medians. There’s a steady stream of traffic, and the location offers proximity to plenty of bars, fast food, and, perhaps most conveniently, the Jug liquor store across the street. There’s a guy with a cardboard … Read more
Until June 14, Camp Gitmo, the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was a controversial prison—to some, a necessary response to the war on terror; to others, a Bermuda Triangle of legal rights where suspected terrorists serve indeterminate sentences—but still, in pretty much everyone’s mind, a prison. Then, Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat … Read more
The three best reasons for being an academic, as is well known, are June, July, and August. Especially on the occasions when the University of Minnesota conspires with the McKnight Foundation to allow one to spend those months reading and writing about a really genial poet for instance, a character from the Later Roman Empire … Read more
Has Minneapolis gone crazy for cantilevers? We humbly submit proposals for other buildings that could benefit from this glamorous architectural amenity. 1. Keep an eye on rising gas prices while enjoying your double-dip cone—inside the new Loon grocery/gas station/ice cream parlor at 28th and Lyndale. 2. In 1967, the Yippies wanted to levitate the Pentagon. … Read more
Are you over flip-flops, baseball caps, and gauzy summer skirts? Well, it’s high time you left your 50th & France or Grand & Victoria turf. That was our realization, after we got an eyeful of downtown Minneapolis nightlife recently. There, we found bold bicep tattoos, curvy chrome two-wheelers both motorized and human-powered, and heads wearing … Read more
If you casually mention at a social gathering that you think little boys are more destructive than little girls, most people will probably agree. Even those who do not will probably give scant notice to the fact that you were making assumptions about behavior based on a physical attribute—a practice more commonly known as stereotyping. … Read more
Former St. Paul Police Chief Bill Finney likes to tell people that in a past life he was a pistol-slinging, wild-West lawman. This deep, hidden history, he says with a wink and a smile, explains his long career in police work, his impressive collection of Colt six-shooter “peacemakers,” and his garage full of motorcycles. (Unfortunately … Read more
Maybe I’m just jealous because my therapist has never given me a flat-screen TV, but it seemed that for a while, every time I turned on the Dr. Phil show, someone who’d struggled to face his or her demons was being rewarded with merchandise from Circuit City or a travel package from Orbitz.com. I’ve long … Read more
Anybody who’s attended a Fringe Festival knows the drill. In the first days, before word-of-mouth reviews get out, you flip through the program, scanning for provocative or otherwise attention-grabbing titles (see this year’s I’m Naked and I’m Ready), which might indicate a show worth taking a chance on. Last year, scouring the listings, I zeroed … Read more