Minneapolis's first new wave co-op to close

Oh, this is sad. There seems to be a lot of sad stuff going on this week.
I was not a member of North Country, but I was a member of Seward Co-op, and I was a frequent shopper there as well, and also the Wedge when I was in the vicinity. I hope this does not auger the closing of other co-ops. Co-ops, interesting politics, the lovely bridges over the Mississippi, a quirky culture, polite cops and a decent bunch of people: these are the things that always made Minneapolis what it is. But the Minneapolis I knew is changing so much.
Still, on a more positive note, a couple of foody institutions with a 33 year relationship are joining forces to stay in business: The Wedge Co-op is to buy Gardens of Eagen organic farm. "None of our kids wanted it", said owners Atina and Martin Diffley of the farm. "But then we thought, the Wedge has 13,000 members. And they all have kids."

Dina Rabinovitch died this morning

I just read what turned out to be Rabinovitch's last Guardian column about a week ago. It is not comfortable reading, as you would expect from a woman who titled her last book about trying to live with cancer Take Off Your Party Dress: When Life's Too Busy For Breast Cancer, and who calls her blog "Take Off Your Running Shoes."

Blogkeeping - catch-up

Wikipedia's image of the day - the Hawthorne Bridge in Portland OR (I've been there!)

I have been in a fog. Too many things competing for my attention. Almost every day at work, except the days when I have been really busy, I see a few things I ought to, want to, blog about and I email myself a link (or two or ten) and then I don't do any blogging in the evening. To be fair, my computer keeps turning itself off. There have been some family issues, and I have been fighting off a cold, probably due to stress caused by all of the above. But still . . . I'll start with the silly, move through the serious, and hopefully something sublime will turn up.

In the Onion, "Entire Family Projects Neuroses Onto Their Innocent Dog" is priceless.

Received in an email (I'm sure it's on the web somewhere):

The entire city council of Ashland, Ore., has decided to enter relationship
counseling. The catalyst was Councilman David Chapman's telling Councilman
Eric Navickas to "shut your f...ing mouth" during last week's meeting,
though Navickas had previously called the city's mayor "a Nazi," and
tensions have generally been running high. Taxpayers will pay $37,000 for
the council's five months of therapy, which "may seem like a lot of money,"
said City Administrator Martha Bennett, "But if the council doesn't function, the city doesn't function."

The Vatican has had a bit of a rethink about the Knights Templars.

I was thrilled to bits that Doris Lessing won the Nobel Prize for Literature, even though, yes, it was a bit overdue.

The Guardian Society section today profiled Edgar Cahn, the founder of "time banking", a sophisticated form of bartering and valuing social contributions as much as commercial ones.

And finally, how about that England rugby team, eh? Watched all the games so far except the first one (I was out). (I guess this is going to be the sublime bit.) In related news, facebook has a new Jonny Wilkinson Appreciation Society site.

Desmond is on the other side now