1972. I don’t remember the month, but it was warm enough for me not to be wearing a jacket, just my head-to- toe Garanimals red outfit. A T-shirt and jeans in my signature color. I was four years old. I could dress myself, and when I put on that outfit, baby, I meant business. Everybody … Read more
What do the Episcopal Church and Kobe Bryant have in common? Both are being forced to face the consequences of earlier moral commitments that may take them to places they never wanted to go. For the Episcopal Church, the initial commitment was to social equality. For Kobe, it was marital fidelity. Next year at this … Read more
Shutterbug buffs have a busy month ahead of them, with three diverse exhibits sure to help build a sense of camera-derie. Two are, more or less, single-artist retrospectives. At the MIA, it’s a look at the 22-year career of Swiss photojournalist Bischof, one of the leading lights of the Magnum agency. Best known for documenting … Read more
DIY? As a graphic designer for New York’s Roycroft Colony, Dard Hunter invented the concept. Hunter’s participation in the Arts and Crafts movement (which embraced an ideal of human craftsmanship over the machine-made) yielded impressive results. Hunter dabbled in a variety of media, including stained glass and metal, but his true legacy lies in his … Read more
It was cosmically appropriate that our review copy of The Handsome Family’s sixth disc, Singing Bones, arrived the day that Johnny Cash died. The New Mexico husband-and-wife duo of Brett and Rennie Sparks are true artistic children of the Man in Black, mixing traditional roots music with postmodern macabre about haunted all-night chain stores and … Read more
As I read Craig Cox’s article, I couldn’t help but be impressed with his knowledge of the sometimes tough and always dangerous job firefighters perform twenty-four hours a day and 365 days a year. Still, the article does unfortunately gloss over the ax–wielding occurring across the river in St. Paul. Cox wonders how it is … Read more
Minneapolis city officials certainly have a duty to provide adequate and effective fire protection service to their city, but it’s unfair to single out that one city and one department for criticism as The Rake does, when the true fault lies with the decisions imposed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Republican legislators. The governor and … Read more
I found it very interesting that your July article was promoting Pat Awada for sainthood [“Is This Woman Ruining Our State?,” July], not mentioning any lasting effects about what her plan on reducing aid to the cities would do to the Metropolitan area. Your August article on the cuts to the Minneapolis fire department did … Read more
The article about the Minneapolis Fire Department was very good. I think it missed one key point, though. The cuts to basic services in our cities are a direct result of actions taken by our state legislature and governor. The Republican mindset is very hostile to the core cities, and they have reneged on the … Read more
Thank you for doing what the rest of the press and media had been afraid to do for the last year. Up until now, no newspaper or radio program has addressed the real issues, and Chief Forte was well aware that if he did not comment on policy/politics, the local papers would not take him … Read more