From readers
CAN’T STOP ‘EM
Rave: From Sandi Fleck, executive director of the Prior Lake Area Chamber of Commerce: “Rain, sleet or snow did not stop Prior Lake ladies on their downtown Ladies Night Out on April 10. It was good to see all the ladies brave the elements and come downtown and enjoy the different businesses/vendors. Thank you, downtown businesses, vendors and volunteers!”
MORE ‘NIGHT OUT’ RAVES
Rave: From a reader: “I would like to say that the area businesses and the Chamber of Commerce did a great job with the Ladies Night Out this spring. It was well-organized and a lot of fun despite the horrible weather. A great improvement over the past Ladies Night Out.”
WELL DONE ON RECYCLING
Rave: A resident was pleasantly surprised by the recycling effort at Canterbury Park last weekend: “I went there expecting to wait hours in long lines. I was surprised to find at least 20 lines, each with dozens of people running to your car and unloading it for you. The whole thing took only a half hour. Well done to the people running this. After last year’s debacle at the Mall of America, I’m impressed.”
MYSTIC WASTE?
Rant: A reader responds to last week’s rant about having City Hall lights on all night: “No one has ever mentioned Mystic Lake lights, which anyone living in or near Prior Lake has seen. They are huge and must take up a lot of energy. They are never turned off, except for fireworks on July 4. I’ve gone outside my house to look at the night sky to see the Northern Lights or comets or meteor showers only to find I cannot see anything because of the glare from Mystic Lake. I don’t mind them being on some of the time, but what about turning them off at midnight, say? Maybe I’ll start a light-pollution bill.”
From staff
TIME FOR CRIME
Rant: A thief handed me an easy rant this week. Someone smashed my car’s side rear window and stole my back speakers on Monday evening as I was at the Minnehaha dog park in Minneapolis. I had parked on the street at a meter. It was light outside, and there were cars, pedestrians, bicyclists and dogs all around, and the park police frequently patrol the area. I was only away from my car for one hour. Some people have no shame. I know it could be worse, and I count myself lucky that this is the first time I’ve been a victim of a crime. But still. Having someone violate your sense of security and take what’s rightfully yours is a bad feeling. The jerks even stole my gym bag! I’d love to see the punk carrying around a hot pink Nike bag (don’t laugh – I got it as a gift). Unfortunately, I didn’t keep the serial number for the speakers, so I won’t see those again. – Lori Carlson
SPICY SPRING SOUP
Rave: What soup can bridge the gap between winter chili and summer gazpacho? Axel’s Bonfire presents a convincing option with its house tortilla soup. It’s not as heavy as chili; it’s not as light and fresh as gazpacho. It is my new spring soup favorite. Traditional chicken dumpling still wins the fall category, since that’s cold-flu season. – Joanna Miller
MOVE OVER, MR. COFFEE
Rant: Some men … making a mess, spilling stuff on the counter and not cleaning it up. That’s right – I’m talking about the new man in my life, Mr. Coffee. My new coffee maker is a disaster. He is not the best part of waking up, perhaps because he’s the base model. He has two roles in life: heat water and pour brewed coffee, and he can’t even handle those responsibilities. I should have looked for a better roommate. The company should make a take-care-of-business Ms. Coffee who follows through on promises. – Joanna Miller
GO VIKES?
Rave: Is it football season yet? No, but I can’t help it. I’m a bit excited for the upcoming season. The Vikings’ 2008-09 schedule came out this week. The Vikings will play three prime-time games this year. Thanks, Adrian Peterson. The team will kick off the season on Monday night on ESPN against who else but the Brett Favre-less Packers. I can’t wait. The Vikings also have prime-time games against the Saints and Bears later in the season. They finish the season against the defending Super Bowl champs, the New York Giants. But next up is the NFL draft. A Vikings fan can only hope we have a draft as productive as last year’s. – Shawn Hogendorf
ROCKER STANDARD TIME
Rant: The doors open at 8 p.m. OK, so what time does the musician take the stage? As much as I love going to concerts, this part drives me crazy. I went to a show on a Tuesday night at 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis. The ticket says doors open at 8 p.m. and there is an opening act. OK, I’ve been to plenty of shows, so I think, “We’ll show up at 9, see a little of the opener and catch the headliner, who will be done at midnight since it’s a Tuesday.” Wrong. Opener starts at 9:15, headliner goes on at 10:30. My goodness; it’s a school night. Are you serious? For rockers, the day of the week didn’t matter. They started late and played until 2 a.m. That’s fine, but I wish I knew doors to a show (with 20 people in attendance) would open two hours before the headliner started.—Shawn Hogendorf
Do you have a rant or a rave? Send us your musings:
E-mail: rantsandraves@swpub.com [1]
Address: Prior Lake American, Attn: Rants and Raves, P.O. Box 538, Prior Lake, MN, 55372
Guidelines: Reader rants and raves must be no more than 100 words. The deadline is noon each Wednesday.
Rants and raves that are potentially libelous will not be printed or will be edited.
Submissions will not be refused because staff disagrees with their content. Anonymous submissions are acceptable; however, including a contact name and/or phone number is helpful for staff, who may have questions about the submission.
Rants and raves may be edited as space requires. All publication decisions will be made by the editor.