On a recent night near Norwood Young America in Carver County, more than a dozen people arrived at Baylor Regional Park and headed toward the high, arched roof and warm, red glow of Onan Observatory. As the sun set, Tim Hagen threw his six-foot-seven-inch frame against a manual lever inside. Hagen is a volunteer with … Read more
There is no such thing as “Shaanxi Nice.” For three weeks, I’ve tried to make an appointment with someone—anyone, really—in Shaanxi’s provincial government building on the basis of being a Minnesotan. Obviously, Minnesota residency doesn’t get me far in most Chinese cities. But Shaanxi is not most Chinese cities. In fact, it’s not a city … Read more
The public’s inclination to tithe is unpredictable, but demand for beer is pretty much constant. That truth explains the genesis of a new homeless shelter funded in part by beer sales. It’s the result of an interesting coalition: Love Power Church, St. Stephen’s Catholic Church, and Finnegan’s Irish Ale. Love Power Church had a space, … Read more
Everyone knows Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, but did you know that it’s merely the best known among dozens of Victor-ian ghost stories traditionally told in the context of Christmas? Here, our old friend Steve Schroer—who gave up his gig as The Rake’s theater expert to get back up on the stage himself—and his Hardcover Theater … Read more
One of the problems with seeing films like Pedro Almodóvar’s latest, Talk To Her, is that it inspires a profound guilt for all the time we’ve wasted on the latest Hollywood drivel. It’s doubly regrettable that this marvelous film will make its way to town during the holiday release frenzy and will probably get lost … Read more
I want to give the Rake some enthusiastic and positive feedback on your columnists -Kruse, Collins and Ouellette. I imagine they each elicit some downright combustible flame-mail from some of the more touchy element out there, but I’ve much appreciated the topics these columnists have tackled and perspectives they’ve shared. Even if my perspective is … Read more
I live a long, long way away, in Sydney, Australia, but follow as much of US politics as I can. I hardly had heard of Paul Wellstone until his tragedy during the mid-term elections. The point is that reading Hans Eisenbeis’ ‘take’ (St. Paul: All Apologies) on Wellstone made me identify with not only the … Read more
Tom Bartel forgot to mention the crowd (Forgiving Rick Kahn)– which started the first unfortunate move to create a partisan politcal event by booing the Republicans and clapping for the Democrats. That helped set up the Republicans to take the high road – in mourning, they sympathized; the Democrats threw tomatoes. And that behavior can … Read more
I think Tom Bartel (Forgiving Rick Kahn) is right-on in his comments surrounding the DFL debacle and downfall in this election. For quite a while now I’ve been convinced that no matter how on-track, pertinent or good-willed the Democrats or Greens and their respective platforms are – such will never be able to stand against … Read more
Tom Bartel’s “Forgiving Rick Kahn” contains the typical, overused liberal excuse that nobody on the Democrat side of the house is responsible for the voters choosing Norm Coleman. Don’t forget, this is the same state electorate that chose Sen. “Do Nothing” Dayton (or did he change his name to Marshall Fields as well?) in 2000 … Read more