James Lileks

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James Lileks

Columnist | Metro

Phone: 612-673-7858

James Lileks writes a metro column and is an anchor/producer for NewsBreak, the webcast on startribune.com. He also blogs under The Blog O'Things.
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Lileks: If you really love downtown, it's probably not for Neiman Marcus

Neiman Marcus is closing its Nicollet Mall store, and you don't care. If you did, it wouldn't be closing. The store was "underperforming," and in retail terms that means "they sold some socks last week. That was pretty much it."

Updated: July 26, 2012, - 11:41 PM

Lileks: Don't be left high and dry: A drought guide

Herewith, a useful Q&A about the drought of 2012.

Updated: July 21, 2012, - 04:18 PM

Lileks: With new app, it's a dutiful day in the neighborhood

Got a tweet from the mayor: Minneapolis' 311 program has a smartphone app.

Updated: July 19, 2012, - 11:15 PM

Lileks: Minnesota's gift to the world found on cruise

Sorry for the absence in these pages the past few weeks, but I was briefly detained in Russia.

Updated: July 14, 2012, - 06:56 PM

Lileks: Want fries with that? How about a heap o' politics? Wait. What?

I'm not saying the waitress was a Communist, but when you're wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a picture of a Communist, the customer wonders how to tip. Maybe patrons should run out of the restaurant without paying, so they don't perpetuate the system of capitalist oppression? Not sure what the etiquette is supposed to be here. Except that when you know the guy on the T-shirt said, "I will stain my rifle red while slaughtering any enemy that falls in my hands! My nostrils dilate while savoring the acrid odor of gunpowder and blood," you're less inclined to order the hamburger rare.

Updated: July 05, 2012, - 08:36 PM

Lileks: Get a bang out of the 4th, but be safe

Why don't police in Wisconsin troll parking lots at fireworks stands near the border, check for Minnesota plates and tell their Gopher counterparts to pull over the red Honda heading to the Cities? It's illegal, right?

Updated: June 30, 2012, - 05:19 PM

Lileks: Lamb fries are a cruel simulacrum

The list of new State Fair foods came out this week, and there are two reasons I don't want to talk about them. Well, three.

Updated: June 28, 2012, - 08:10 PM

Lileks: DQ's cool treats take N.Y.

Dairy Queen is expanding into New York. That's brave. Their mayor is famous for his anti-sugar crusades, and Dairy Queen is so devoted to sugar you're surprised the stores don't melt when it rains.

Updated: June 23, 2012, - 04:21 PM

Lileks: Here are some (not so) good reasons to reject Trader Joe's

No zoning variance for Trader Joe's on Lyndale, says a City Council panel, and hence no store. At least as it's proposed. If they drop the wine and beer section, shrink the building, change the look, cut out the parking lot, and discourage cars with roof-mounted harpoons, it might get approved.

Updated: June 21, 2012, - 10:10 PM

Lileks: The art of deciding what makes a work of art ... art

The city of Minneapolis snagged nearly $1 million from ArtPlace, an organization funded by government, banks and foundations, to pretty up the joint. The city's website describes one grant:

Updated: June 16, 2012, - 04:26 PM