Category: etc.

Nice, Minnesota

Several years ago, at the opening dinner of a sculptor friend’s debut 2-person show, I found myself playing the oh-so-sophisticated New York collector at a giant round table in a Chinese restaurant for a mix of folks, including the other artist’s parents.
I offhandedly pronounced Minneapolis to be the most Canadian of American cities: not just because of the freakin’ weather, but because of public radio. First, there’s Garrison Keillor, and besides, everyone–including every immigrant taxi driver I met–listened to public radio.
Well, the other artist’s mother said, we’re from Minneapolis. Apparently, calling a Minnesotan Canadian is almost as bad as calling a Quebecker Canadian, except the Minnesotans are too nice to say anything; they just keep it all inside. And of course, they’re so hardy, they didn’t need a jacket for the chill that blew over the table. My recovery attempt–“I meant Canadian in a good way. As It Happens is one of my favorite CBC shows!”–was unwelcome, and the table split into two conversational crescents for the rest of the night.
Anyway, I was reminded of this this morning when Rex pointed out that “Live in Canada” is one of Minneapolissers Minneapolitans’ most popular goals. [of course, since in the two days since he posted it, it’s dropped from #11 to #18, so they must still be very self-conscious about it.]
[update: and they’re quick to correct. I didn’t really think it was Minneapolisser, but I figured–rightly–that someone’d clue me in real fast. Thanks, Jason.]

Read What I Read, Not What I Write

Poss. alt. title: greg.org reads the NYT to you.

  • The Short Film, an Art Deserving a Longer Life [nyt]: After watching the Oscar nominees, Margo Jefferson finds short films to be highly concentrated joys. Even the worst short is better than a film, she says, because it’ll be over sooner. [Related? Or the exception that proves the rule?: Amazon is hosting a short film competition in association with Tribeca Film Festival. To win, your <7 min. short film must be rated highest by random Amazon surfer/shoppers. Good luck with that.]
  • Is a Cinema Studies Degree the New M.B.A.? [nyt]: English majors don’t teach English, either. Is this ascendance of media literacy substantively different from the classic ideal of a liberal education? For the corollary, though, I think people entering something as economically irrational as moviemaking should take business classes. Of course, an MBA would think that.
  • The Making of Gunner Palace: Maybe basic training is the new MBA? I’ve been stoked waiting for Gunner Palace since Tucker first emailed about it last summer. Congratulations and good luck. [via kottke]
  • Editing god Walter Murch explores the power and meaning of sound on Transom.org. Murch never stops to amaze and inspire me. Clear, insightful, and never condescending in his explanations of his work. [previously: Murch on greg.org] [via Lawrence Wechsler at Design Observer]
  • Enough About ‘Gates’ as Art; Let’s Talk About That Price Tag [nyt]: By all means. The MBA in me wants to get back into the “Apprentice of Nothing” T-shirt business. [previously: The Gates Bill; on the Christos’ Maybach]

    • How New York is still Scorsese-town

    taxidriver_still.jpg
    “The city belongs to the hoodlums, the pimps, and the hookers. Bickle starts hoping that ‘some day a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets.'” [via]

    Tourists marveled at the multicolored glass skyscraper, but also gawked as evidence technicians took measurements and snapped photographs of the crime scene… “They might have cleaned up some of Times Square,” said Jason Fallon, who picks up trash for the Times Square Business Improvement District. “But when I get to work at 6 in the morning, it’s still all pimps and hookers and hoodlums.”
    – “Old Times Square Surfaces in Brawl on Eighth Avenue”, NY Times
    Gangs Of New York gets new release date, Dec. 20 (Miramax prexy Weinstein blinks: “The Souvenir November 2001 debut on the 19th made us nervous.”)