Finally, someone who hates beige [“Being Beige and Nothingness,” Over the Coals, May] as much as I do! My entire family thought I was finally going insane, when I open The Rake and there’s an article on what a horrible color beige is. Are people now realizing that they don’t have to paint their houses … Read more
I loved reading Emily Carter’s public transportation manifesto [“The Unreformed Bus Rider,” June]—it’s the kind of writing that grabs you, pulls you in, and, well, takes you for a ride. However, I disagree with some of the key points—ironically, points that those right-wing folks on the radio also made, that only the marginalized and poor … Read more
In “One Toke Over the Line” [Over the Coals, June] Nathan Rabin does a commendable job of dumpster-diving beneath the surface of our government’s cesspool of anti-pot propaganda. However, I think Rabin may have gone one toke over the line himself. He writes that once kids see through the government’s lies about pot, “who’s to … Read more
Readers would be well advised to remain skeptical before swallowing the water peddled by Dr. Masura Emoto [“Message in a Bottle,” the Rakish Angle, June]. Dr. Emoto has no scientific or medical credentials; his title refers to a degree from the Open International University in India, where such degrees may be obtained by mail for … Read more
I first landed on the St. John’s campus almost sixty years ago as a prep school student. In six decades I have come to know the place and the Benedictines well, as a high school and college student, lay staff member, parent of several students, and board member of the university and some of its … Read more
Why do people admire Napoleon? I don’t mean the French—they have reasons of their own for boosting Bonaparte, such as a dearth of more recent political heroes. But what inspires so many ordinary Anglophones in their cloying fascination for the great dictator? It’s not just the sticky puff-pastries and the Napoleon brandy (but what has … Read more
Mayor R.T. Rybak was scheduled to deliver the opening remarks at the 2004 Walkable Communities Workshop a few weeks ago, but he must’ve run up against a few obstacles on his way to the Coyle Community Center, tucked into the northernmost corner of Cedar Riverside, near the I-35/Washington Avenue interchange. According to the workshop, such … Read more
“I am big,” sneered Norma Desmond, the superannuated silent-movie star in Billy Wilder’s mid-century classic, Sunset Blvd. “It’s the pictures that got small.” Today, Ms. Desmond must serve as the patron saint for any number of superstars wondering where the magic went. But now, of course, it’s not just the pictures that have gotten smaller. … Read more
If you follow pop culture’s magic rule of three, then the Mississippi River counts as a bona-fide trend this summer. There’s the promotional extravaganza called the Grand Excursion, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art’s ambitious exhibition, Art & Life Along The Mississippi River, 1850-1861 (which covers the time of the original 1854 Grand Excursion), plus … Read more
I got a call from an old girlfriend recently, and we agreed to meet for lunch. It had been a good relationship and an amicable parting. Catching up for old time’s sake seemed like a fun idea—each of us was curious about how the other had turned out after all these years. If there is … Read more