VISUAL ARTS | A primer on Minnesota cartoonists by Britt Aamodt, mnartists.org • A proverbial flood of attention is being lavished on an art form that, for far too long, has languished in the sock drawer of American lowbrow entertainments, along with the Hustler magazine and cigarettes you bought at recess and didn’t want Mom to find. Perhaps it’s in this spirit of full disclosure that the Minnesota Museum of American Art presents a new exhibition, Hot Ink: Comic Art in Minnesota: “Hey, Ma, I’ve got a drawer full of comics, and I like ‘em.”
U lobbyists: influence for hire by Jon Collins and Karlee Weinmann, Minnesota Daily • Donna Peterson was plucked from her seat in the Minnesota Senate in 1990 to serve as the associate vice president of the University of Minnesota’s Government and Community Relations, the department that handles lobbying efforts.
SLIDESHOW | Jeune Lune Rummage Sale by Sheila Regan, TC Daily Planet • The Theatre de la Jeune Lune recently held a rummage sale to liquidate 30 years of stage props and other supplies.
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ARTS ORBIT | John Munger is dance by Matt Peiken • A researcher for Dance USA by day, John Munger has been producing his own dance works and participating in the dances of others locally since the 1970s. This past Wednesday, as part of his occasional series at the Bryant-Lake Bowl, Munger invited a handful of other local dance-makers to perform an evening of solos.
FROM THE SOAPBOX | One Myth About Taxes by Michael Rodning Bash • 11/8/08 • Throughout the closing days of this grueling campaign season it was inevitable that one side would start hammering away on taxes, taxes and more taxes. At the national level, Senator McCain claimed that Senator Obama’s plan to raise taxes on wealthier individuals amounted to “redistributionism” (as far as I know, a new word in our political lexicon) and more pointedly accused the Democrat of “socialism,” as if a system of progressive taxation were the equivalent of collectivized industry and agriculture. Here in Minnesota, the Republicans were trumpeting over and over that DFL candidates were all for taxes, taxes and more taxes (see for example, Erik Paulson’s ads in his race against Ashwin Madia).
BLOG OF THE MODERATE LEFT | Do as I say (and ignore what I’ve done): Tim Pawlenty reinventing himself by Jeff Fecke • My governor, Tim Pawlenty, has been a regular media gadfly during the Republican Governors’ Association meetings. He’s had the combover line and the less ideology, more doing line, and he let loose with a rebuke to Sarah Palin, saying that “Drill, baby, drill” was just a slogan. If you didn’t know anything about Minnesota’s governor, you might think he was a decent, pragmatic guy who was willing to stand up to his party’s orthodoxy.
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