Rick Nelson and Claude Peck dispense unasked-for advice about clothing, etiquette, culture, relationships, grooming and more.
RN: I don't know about you, but I'm already composing the Evite for my Metrodome demolition party, even though the big event is probably still a few football seasons away. They can't get rid of that thing fast enough.
CP: That muffin-top eyesore is no pal of mine, either. And it has not exactly been an "economic engine," has it? No offense to Hubert's.
RN: None taken, I'm sure. The Dome might be the Twin Cities' ugliest edifice, and that's saying something. Good riddance.
CP: The new Vikings playhouse has a high hurdle, now that we have such a cool Twins ballpark on the other side of downtown. I see that Populous, the firm that did Target Field, the X and the TCF Bank Stadium, is on the list of prospective architects for Vikingdale.
RN: The Purple People Eaters' nearly $1 billion abode is also kicking off a serious renovation of Target Center, first-runner-up in the Most Hideous Building in the Twin Cities contest. It's a taxpayer-funded architectural twofer.
CP: The Gods of Urban Design have smiled. Early drawings of what $150 million would do to Target Center are not all that reassuring, however. Giving an ugly duck a glassy, cantilevered corner doesn't really transform the fowl.
RN: Well, we've only seen that one rendering. I'm hopeful. At this point, hanging potted geraniums would be a vast improvement. I'm also psyched to see so many apartment buildings under construction in and around downtown Minneapolis.
