Putting on the Sheraton-Ritz
Back in the early sixties these bubbly bathing cap models added a little unseasonal beauty to this view of The Sheraton-Ritz ice skating pond in downtown Minneapolis. The models didn’t have to get dressed for their soda break because patio was heated by infrared lamps. The Federal Government was good enough to subsidize the construction [...]
Shaker’s Here
Born James David Ray, Dave was the oldest of three brothers. His parents gave him a gut string guitar in his teens. Dave took guitar lessons with his brother, Tom for a year or so. Max Ray started on the clarinet about the same time. Later on in life Tom would play piano and Max [...]
The Walk
This highly imaginative 1983 journey starts near Nicollet and Lake, snakes through Uptown, the Wedge and Nicollet Mall before ending somewhere on Hennepin Avenue. . Before breakfest, our hero can hardly move. He slowly gains stuttered motion and utters basic letter sounds, then begins a real and imaginary walk. His journey is [...]
La Belle Pho
At the risk of sounding like a character on “The Office,” I probably have the nicest cubicle in the City of Minneapolis. Two large picture windows facing north near the top of the Wells Fargo tower with no buildings to obstruct my view of the Mississippi rambling northward. Peregrine falcons nest across the street and [...]
The Best Ideas are more Exciting in Concrete
The Northwestern National Life Insurance was built on a patch that was once Bridge Square and the site of Minneapolis’ first city hall. The building created quite a stir when it went up in 1964. Minoru Yamasaki is probably better remembered for his design of the World Trade Center, but his white, eighty foot high [...]
