• 2009-07-05 Tweets – 2009-07-04 Tweets 2009-07-03 Tweets no rocket to the moon The fizzling fireworks of the 4th … http://ow.ly/15GY0w #

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It is hard to tell the enemy from the innocent in the dark where I can only see the outline of a face or a silhouette, and of course all these people will have to be killed again tomorrow night. It is not the kind of war anyone can win.

“Life

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Anything resembling a cloud will cause Jonathan Casper to faint. Jonathan, a quiet, middle-aged professor, suffers from an odd form of epilepsy; seeing the shape of a cloud–a cumulus, its appearance like a magnolia tree in bloom, a stratus, as bleary as a pigeon startled to flight, or a

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• The Isles view of Downtown Mpls by jevidon #photo http://ow.ly/15Gnhk #
• outside at Broder's Pasta Bar http://ow.ly/15GoGe #
• Jukeboxing: Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge http://ow.ly/15GoGg #
• the duo behind Vera's Garden on the Greenway http://ow.ly/15GoGf #
• Twin Cities: Poetry: The New Yorker http://ow.ly
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• 2009-07-04 Tweets – 2009-07-03 Tweets no rocket to the moon The fizzling fireworks of the 4th are bad enough; but… http://ow.ly/15GUj7 #

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• Essay – No Rest for the Wealthy – NYTimes.com http://ow.ly/15GSnw #
• Anecdotal Evidence: 'What Salutes of Cannon and Small Arms!' http://ow.ly/15GRF6 #
• Revolutionary Republic of July 4 Should Eschew Empire's Errors http://ow.ly/15GP1t #
• Cheap Trick brings back the 8-track http://ow.ly/15G
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• Essay – No Rest for the Wealthy – NYTimes.com http://ow.ly/15GSnw #
• Anecdotal Evidence: 'What Salutes of Cannon and Small Arms!' http://ow.ly/15GRF6 #
• Revolutionary Republic of July 4 Should Eschew Empire's Errors http://ow.ly/15GP1t #
• Cheap Trick brings back the 8-track http://ow.ly/15G
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• 2009-07-03 Tweets – no rocket to the moon The fizzling fireworks of the 4th are bad enough; but now, it seems, eve… http://ow.ly/15GQzK #

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• no rocket to the moon – The fizzling fireworks of the 4th are bad enough; but now, it seems, even the 40th annivers… http://ow.ly/15GKLX #
• 2009-07-02 Tweets – 2009-07-01 Tweets Even in this economy, $219800 isnt a bad deal on a supercar. http://ow.ly/15... http://ow.ly/15GLDI #
• roc/
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Though the headline is a little grim–”Towns struggle to fund fireworks”–the tone of the Bangor Daily News article is actually rather upbeat: Maine towns may be struggling to fund their fireworks shows, but there will be rockets.

Across the country, there are reports that towns

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• 2009-07-01 Tweets – Even in this economy, $219800 isnt a bad deal on a supercar. http://ow.ly/15GxXe # 2009-06-30 T… http://ow.ly/15GFs4 #

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The fizzling fireworks of the 4th are bad enough; but now, it seems, even the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing is losing its bang:

“Because of the economy, we have to be prudent in our judgment and simply use common sense,” said William Kerr, treasurer of the group

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Leave it to the inimitable Edward Champion to not only get Alain de Botton’s response to the brouhaha over the Caleb Crain review of “The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work,” but to get an insightful essay from Alain de Botton on the blurry “boundaries between public and private… Read full post »

L’affaire de Botton, in which a bad review prompted some outrage on the part of Alain de Botton and some thinking about the ethics of the book review, led me to look again at John Updike’s rules for reviewers. And while I think Updike’s rules set the standard for the kind… Read full post »

• Even in this economy, $219800 isn't a bad deal on a supercar. http://ow.ly/15GxXe #
• 2009-06-30 Tweets – And even in this economy, there’s no reason to give up on sparkling wine http://ow.ly/15GuA8 # … http://ow.ly/15GzFG #
• Gainesville, FL fireworks canceled http://ow.ly/15GAYh #
• Even i/
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Independence Day 2009 is looking quieter and darker every day. The AP reports on more cities and towns canceling or scaling back their celebrations: Parma, OH; San Jose, CA; Hialeah, FL; Mesa, AZ; Garland, TX.

“We thought it was just not the right year to be raising money for the firewor

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• And even in this economy, there’s no reason to give up on sparkling wine http://ow.ly/15GuA8 #
• Busy Salons Thrive Even in This Economy When They Accept Credit Cards via Phone http://ow.ly/15GuAa #
• But the reality is that talent shortages are already here — even in this economy. http://ow.ly/15Gu
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As a way out of the morass of hurt feelings, embarrassing outbursts, and grand posturing in the recent reviewer-writer donnybrooks, take a look at what John Updike had to say in his six rules for book reviews. “[S]haped intaglio-fashion by youthful traumas at the receiving end of critical opini… Read full post »

Hot on the heels of Alice Hoffman’s very public tantrum, another writer pops up to confront a reviewer. Is it time, perhaps, to mount the barricades? I hadn’t heard the call to revolution, but if I must dig up cobblestones, then so be it: Sous les pavés la plage!

This time,… Read full post »

Alice Hoffman’s very public meltdown over a slightly unfavorable review of The Story Sisters is one of those pity-and-fear inducing Internet moments. In a series of Tweets (27 in all, according to Gawker), which included swipes at the city of Boston and the publication of the reviewer… Read full post »

Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the Mississippi River are featured in a poem by Carol Muske-Dukes in the current issue of The New Yorker. The opening stanza gives one of the most succinct descriptions of the differences that divide and join our Twin Cities that I’ve seen:

It was the river

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• Stuff about Minneapolis – Lowry Bridge Goes Boom. http://ow.ly/fpNd #
• Commutator Foundry Co. by fivesixzero::Erik Hess #photo http://ow.ly/fpNe #
• Como Zoo vying for Best Tourist Spot – TwinCities.com http://ow.ly/fvcq #
• MNArtists.org: Life in Tom Arndt's Minnesota http://ow.ly/fvcr #
• Com/
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• Showcase: ‘Becoming Visible’ – Lens Blog – NYTimes.com http://ow.ly/15Gin9 #
• having a Latin stone in your shoe http://ow.ly/15Ghys #
• it felt as if absolutely everyone was listening to the same songs http://ow.ly/15Ghqm #
• tulips http://bit.ly/17UsIO #
• Canada's National Canoe Day: “T/
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I’m in the right age cohort for Michael Jackson’s music, but I was never a fan. When “Thriller” was a monster hit on pop radio, I was listening to pompous art rock–”Asia” was the first record I bought with my own money, followed in quick succession by items f… Read full post »