If Mom’s trip to LA were to be a success, we needed to harness those sweet memories of the formative years and expand upon them. So, I booked a room at Downtown Los Angeles’s Standard Hotel. 

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It’s been a few years since Mom journeyed West to see the Pacific and, more importantly, me, her favorite bachelor son. I figured with so much time away she’d want to really get in there and start mothering—i.e. hours at Bed Bath & Beyond arguing over the merits of Swiffers, Kleenex box covers, and thread count—so I hid my 20 percent Bed Bath &Beyond coupons and planned a rigorous itinerary that would allow for only limited momma meddling. Here are some highlights . . . 

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I’m so tired of having conversation after conversation about Inception . . . what a wild ride of a summer blockbuster it is and how it treads new ground on the meaning of dreams. Enough already! Inception, Christopher Nolan’s film of the summer, is nothing but a plea from Hollywood and the Obama administration for universal healthcare for children. Why am I the only one who sees this? Where’s the Tea Party when you need them? U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann, as the founder of the 29-member Tea Party Caucus, please help! Make this your first call to action and join my boycott of this blockbuster!

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It’s mid-July, the height of tourist season in Hollywood, and on its famed street something just ain’t right.

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I was fortunate enough this past weekend to see Restrepo, the latest in the canon of films on Prez Bush’s wars—this one: Afghanistan. I am compelled to rave about the film not only because it’s really good, but also because it needs help. It screened in just two cities over the weekend and brought in a paltry $30,500 in box office receipts. Compare it with Tommy Cruises’ Knight and Day, which grossed over $20 million, and I find myself a little irritated.

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I’ve been thinking of coach Clem Haskins a lot over the past few weeks. Long before the Timberpuppies came to town, young ballers looked to the University of Minnesota men’s basketball team for a role model in the hoops. The Gophers were an important team in a young gopher boy’s life, and Haskins was the hancho of this BigTen platoon. 

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First, a quick understanding for the uninitiated television consumer . . .

About two weeks ago the television networks met in New York for their yearly upfronts—a meeting of boob tube minds. And in grand style they announced which pilots (sample episodes filmed that winter) they will be ordering to series for the following fall.

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In order to deal with my personal loss and funk this week I’ve sworn off bloody marys and sworn on American Idol.

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Unfortunately this blog has been silent since March. After a graceful and courageous battle with a rare mixed phenotype acute leukemia, my father passed away surrounded by his family on March 16. It’s been a very sad and surreal time since, and my blogging skills as well as living skills have been mired in fog, exhaustion, anger, and sadness. In the May issue of Mpls.St.Paul I wrote a small note about my Dad. Please check it out. (Note: MSP Communications President, Gary Johnson, wrote one as well and does my old man justice with some fun and thoughtful wit, asking such questions of my Dad: “So why didn’t we ever see a shrink?”)

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Because I’ve been traveling a lot since the beginning of the year to and from Minneapolis, I have not been immersed in my usual LA Oscar Petri dish. That said, I still have an opinion. Here are my picks with a few insights:

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