There are just so many ways to dislike Waltz’s essay. Start with the facile, faux Hunter S. Thompson prose style; the lack of insights (spoken word has been around for, oh, ten years or so. Thanks for noticing, William!); the defense of Billy Collins (in the sixties the popular poet was Rod McKuen. Anyone happy … Read more
“Why buy new when slightly used will do? EXCEPT when the deals are this good!” Dick Enrico’s catchy slogan has been confusing potential buyers of secondhand (new?) exercise equipment for years. Now he turns his copywriting skills to the classics! William Shakespeare: To be or not to be. That is the question. Except when the … Read more
If you had any clue at all about Aron Ralston, you would know that you are the dope for writing such a rude article [Motley Krüse, June]. Aron is a nature lover. Whoever told you he quit his job because of a movie is full of it. He quit his job because he was tired … Read more
Please spare me the kinder, gentler spin on Pat Awada [“Is This Woman Ruining Our State?,” July]. As state auditor, her responsibility is to oversee $17 billion in local government spending. As the previous owner of Capital Verification, a telecom industry oversight company, she failed consumers to the tune of $222,000 in her clients’ fines … Read more
With all the present turmoil in the restaurant business and the malaise of the economy, it’s wonderful to see someone buck the odds and throw caution to the wind. You can do that when you get so many great ideas all at the same time, and execute them the way J.P. Samuelson has with this … Read more
I loved the article on the Subaru Baja [“Dude, where’s my truck-like car thing?,” July]. The article mentioned the trouble all car manufacturers are having as they chase the Gen X, active-lifestyle, mountain-biking crowd. That crowd is not interested in most of these vehicles! Charlie Rassouli admits that older folks and “part-time gardeners” are buying … Read more
Orson Welles was a world conqueror in 1941 when he came out with Citizen Kane, a career high point he never reached again, though sporadic successes over the years kept reminding people what he was capable of. Kent Stephens’s new play centers on one of those later productions, Welles’s 1955 London stage production of Herman … Read more
Thank you for your favorable review of Unplugged, my novel about depression and recovery [The Broken Clock, May]. I appreciate the attention your column brought to my performance and signing at Ruminator Books—and, more important, to the cause of suicide prevention. Your piece did, however, contain one error. I am not a “lifetime victim of … Read more
Two heads are better than one, sure, but how about eight? Charles Ludlam’s enduringly popular drag satire tests that proposition by casting just two actors (in Park Square’s case, Charles Hubbell and Steve Lewis) to play all eight characters, male and female, in a goofball sendup of penny dreadfuls, Alfred Hitchcock, and horror films. Ibsen … Read more
Cue the hometown-boy-makes-good-then-comes-back-for-a-show music. St. Cloud-born comedian Charles Ezell has been a writer on Court TV (the funny parts), Burly TV, and Imposter on TBS. He can be seen this month in The Real Roseanne, a new ABC reality show about the titular star’s attempt at creating a cooking/lifestyle program. His first show in Minneapolis, … Read more