Under the Pleasure Dome

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Lakewood Cemetery, situated between Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet in South Minneapolis, is a place of big lawns and grand monuments. It is one of the city’s fanciest and most meticulously maintained community spaces. Indeed, it holds the graves of some of our state’s most prestigious former citizens, including Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Paul and Sheila … Read more

Wine for Poets

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Odd how few poets emerged from the Second World War. The First World War produced plenty. Some, like Rupert Brooke, thought they were going to be Homeric heroes––he died without hearing a shot fired in anger, and is buried on the island of Scyrus, where Achilles hid among the women. Others—Charles Sorley, Wilfrid Owen, Siegfried … Read more

One Step Forward, Two Smokes Back

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One of the upsides of not being a serious athlete is that you can feel a little less guilty about smoking and drinking with impunity. But you can always count on certain subcultural elements to contradict even that plain truth. Bike couriers, for example. They seem to take special pleasure in doing everything, well, extreme. … Read more

Feeding the Volunteer Army

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It’s February, and if you aren’t carbo-loading for the Birkebeiner, then you could be carbo-loading on behalf of your local public broadcaster. Can it be long before the next round of pledge drives hits the airwaves? The last time this happened, I volunteered all over town to sample the culture and the carbohydrates. First I … Read more

We Really Clicked

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In the past three weeks, I’ve been browsed 253 times, though I wonder if that number includes the twice-daily peek I take at my own profile, like a quick glance in the mirror as I pass by. Tickle.com first lured me to its domain with a promise to rate my intelligence. While other indicators have … Read more

Micro-Opera!

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With its cast of starving poets and musicians and creative squatters, Puccini’s La Bohème has not only inspired generations of bohemians; some would say it’s the best known and most accessible opera in the canon. When someone goes to the opera for the first time, frequently it’s to see La Bohème. It has also been … Read more

Letter from Modena >> Devil in the Details

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Apart from the usual stuff—saving four-leafed clovers, never opening an umbrella inside the house, throwing a broken mirror into a stream—Italians observe a mind-boggling array of superstitions. When I walk with Italians on the street, I notice many little tics and odd gestures. Most Italians have elaborate routines designed to bring good luck and avoid … Read more

511 is a Joke

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Here’s something we never thought we’d say: We were very sad to hear about the end of traffic reports on the radio. Public radio station KBEM, which is owned and operated by Minneapolis Public Schools, was on the receiving end of a pink slip issued by the Minnesota Department of Transportation when the new year … Read more

Thorstein Veblen and the New Barbarians

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In 1899, the maverick economist Thorstein Veblen proposed a unified field theory of American civilization. In his savage and oracular masterpiece, The Theory of the Leisure Class, Veblen theorized that wasteful extravagance isn’t a mere byproduct of consumer capitalism, but its underlying rationale. After all, without gross displays of wealth—“conspicuous consumption” was Veblen’s memorable term—how … Read more