When this was forwarded to me, I figured there had to be something fishy. Now I'm not so sure. "You have to turn it on."

(Thanks to Ira.)

posted: 10:01:55 PM  

Craig Wright, playwright of The Pavilion, recently premiered in St. Paul a stage adaptation of another Minnesotan's work, Sinclair Lewis's Main Street. The Star Tribune preview is a rare story: a lengthy report by Graydon Royce of the process by which a script evolves. Royce writes:

Lewis' masterwork prefigured cultural tussles that rage today, began to sketch the outlines of that passive/aggressive phenomenon called "Minnesota Nice" and appreciated, like only a native son could, the environmental landscape where high plains meet forest.

"One of the complicated things about Minnesota to me," said Wright, "is things like hypocrisy and provincialism, they're quite often put —how can I say this—in the service of very defensible values and ideas. Whereas in some towns, social pressures and false politeness might be used to promote racism, in Minnesota they are used to promote all kinds of good things—a clean lake, or voting Democrat. And that's not a criticism—I love Minnesota—but that particular blend of medium and message, to me, whether it's unique to Minnesota, it's something that's very Minnesotan."

(Thanks to Leta.)

posted: 9:49:05 PM  

I have just read what must the first, perhaps will be the only ever, dissing of Harry Potter in terza rima by an evil plastic toy frog. Ineffable poetry.

posted: 12:43:33 PM