Posting under the name zeprummer612, Max P. Sanders wrote "Good luck!  You’re [sic] country depends on You!"

The Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office received a criminal complaint, and reported the issue to prosecutors, who in turn subpoenaed eBay for the information that lead to Sanders.  Sanders is being charged under a law from 1893 which makes it illegal to offer to buy and/or sell a vote.

John Aiken, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office told reporters, "We take it very seriously.  Fundamentally, we believe it is wrong to sell your vote.  There are people that have died for this country for our right to vote, and to take something that lightly, to say, 'I can be bought.'  It’s a real shame.  I can imagine the conversations being held in American Legion Clubs and VFWs about whether this is a joke or not.  There are two things going on here in terms of why it’s a crime.  One is the notion that elections should be a contest of ideas and not of pocketbooks — at least not in the sense of straight-out 'I can buy your vote.'  The second notion is that everybody gets one vote and you don’t get to buy another one."

Sanders has claimed that it was merely a joke, but I doubt this.  It goes into too much detail about proving that he voted the way the bidder would want for it to be a joke.

Sanders faces a maximum of 5 years in prison plus $10,000; however, the prosecutor's office has said that they will not push for jail time.  This is actually one case where I do not advocate for the maximum penalty.  I think he should be fined, and possibly jailed, but for no more than a few months.  I would support a ban on him voting however, but Minnesota law does not ban ex-felons from voting.

At first, I had to debate with my libertarian side if this should be legal.  Then I came to the conclusion that if we allowed for this, it would corrupt the election process.  Of course, that is the reason that we have the Electoral College, and cases like this are prime examples of why we still need it.

The listing got no bids, and Sanders has since removed the listing.

For reference, here's a map of states and their policies on felons voting (I wanted to do a post on this months ago, but it got caught up in the qeue and I just scrapped the idea for the time being):

Done Ranting,

Ranting Republican
:: :: :: :: ::

We spend out day at Minnehaha Falls – an offshoot of the Mississippi. We forgot the camera – but we’re bringing it next time. They have fixed up the park a lot. We had lunch at the restaurant in the park then we walked down the creek to the part where we could do wading.

On the way home we stopped in at Wabun Park, where they have built a new wading pool. Next time we head out to Minnehaha we may rent a big bike, ride around, skip the creek and go wading in the new pool.

We did manage to get to the fireworks at night.

Over the summer the Walker is also hosting an artist-created, environmentally-themed mini golf course. We got there just as they were closing. The people were funny and said they had decided when we were crossing the street that they would let us play if we asked but that we were the final golfers. So we played the quickest game ever – and tied.

After dinner we had a light dinner at The Heartland, a very nice restaurant close to out house. It was good as always. Their cheese plate is perhaps the best in the city with cheese from – where else – Wisconsin.

Then we headed home – but lucky for me the neighbors were having a gathering in the back yard. So while Patrick went to bed I talked to folks for a while. It was nice to be home.
[gallery]

I have a strong desire to be Artsy, but I think my best and closest shot will be not so much "Artsy" as "Capable of Taking Pictures That Don't Totally Suck." Cela is my 365 Project effort to learn how to take pitchers. Wish me luck!

Any know what this is?  It's right at the base of the Stone Arch bridge.  Best I can tell it's a relic of the flour mills, possibly some sort of abandoned water race?

Naturally since I (Bjørn) moved to the US friends back in Norway/Europe have started looking for signs that I’m becoming too americanised too quickly. For example, am I losing their favoured British English accent, have I started spelling –ize in lieu of –ise, do I eat fries and not chips and am I losing interest in soccer (my new team being the Minnesota Twins)?

More speculation transpired following revelations that I’d become an ultimate Frisbee player, and then, more recently, that I’ve started rollerblading – seen by some as the most American of activities...

Now here’s what I have to say. I love rollerblading! And contrary to popular belief, instead of scrapping my national identity I am in fact upholding it and taking it to a new era! What is rollerblading other than an urban version of that most Norwegian of winter sports, speed skating? Indeed, the Vikings sometimes even grabbed their sword and skated to the next village if they had some unfinished business to settle.

OK, admittedly, the swish-swoosh of the razor-sharp edge of skates on a serene ice-covered lake cannot really be replicated through wheels hitting tarmac accompanied by the sounds of sirens, car alarms and kids screaming in African languages, but old Norwegian skater heroes Ballangrud, Johannesen, Sjøbrend, Mathisen, Liaklev and Koss should be proud that I’ve taken the sport to the urban jungle!

This year's July 4th fireworks were called "Red, White, and Boom!"  It's hard to beat standing on the Stone Arch Bridge and watching the fireworks.  My thanks for the very nice couple who let me get into a good position to take this shot.

Started building a tree house yesterday and worked on it a bit today, i will have to post pics of it when it's all done. Maybe the Fed's will come take it down cause it looks like a "religious compound" but the kids are lovin it. Now the spirits have had there fun and me to, so i am guided to get back to business and work. Just completed a sketch and quote for a garage door mural... That would be a nice job..... Well i'll be blogging like usual again...unless the fish are bitin good.... heres some photos i hope youll like......Im gonna get working on my fall art now....i'll keep you updated. Im not sure if im going to release my set of 3 with 13 prints of the mail box, the signs on the tree, and the tree farm....I was supposed to release them today and havent.....You look do you see any angel or spirit in them pictures? go to my gallery to look at them

Today we picked up our oldest son Ch at the Mall of America and went to see the 35W bridge. We had not been there since the terrible accident that took place back on August 1, 2007.  As I stood on the 3rd Ave. Bridge directly across from the new bridge construction I said a silent prayer for those survivors and for those who lost a loved one to the tradgedy of the bridge collapse. We pray for healing and restoration. There were alot of people on the 3rd Ave. bridge today to witness one of the last sections to be hoisted up by a huge crane. They say that the construction is ahead of schedule and could be ready to open to traffic in December. Amazing. After about two and a half hours of observing we decided to have a bite to eat. We chose a italian restaurant in Dinkeytown. Good food!

It seems as tho  a lot of people either chose not to travel this weekend or we had alot of people from out of town visiting because everywhere we went there were lots and lots of people.

Until next time.

Proprioception is a person's sense of the relative positions of the parts of the body. It is the sense that should allow me to fix my own form while running. I no longer care about being fast. I care about running comfortably and for distance and I care about turning my brain off. To accomplish all that, as I begin running again, I'm really checking my form (so that I can find a pace and a flow that will allow me to turn my brain off). Today was absolute hell. I stayed up late last night and had beer and french fries for dinner. While running everything felt out of whack and my feet fell hard on the pavement. My knees ached and my hips ached and my shins ached. I thought and thought about form, but could not adjust my body into a comfortable gait. Around two miles into the run, I thought, I'm going to injure myself. So, I stopped running and walked comfortably and looked at the Lake of the Isles and enjoyed the sun and thought I am a very lucky man to be here. As I age, some of the joy of exercise is not exercising, but rather being out there in the world in my body (which couldn't run, but felt great walking next to a perfect urban lake).

whats hot in uptown Minneapolis?

Owner of the "VS. SOCIAL STANDARD", Vincent emailed us....

"we have had a lot of inquiries toward your product and was hoping to get it in our shop. "

and here we go....fans from Minneapolis can get WRONGWROKS now in VS. SOCIAL STANDARD in 2 weeks....stay tuned! by the way, this super cool shop also carry APC, Married to the MOB, Hellz Bellz, The hundreds, Stussy, UNDFTD, ALIFE.....(lots more) and also WRONGWROKS now...

Actually, I've been wanting to go to Heidi's for weeks and often times read their menu online while at work and planning on what I would get if I were to go.  I knew I would make it there some time or another, but having family in town seemed like a good excuse to go and splurge.  I called on  Monday to make a reservation, which was stalled for over a day due to the fact that they are closed on Mondays (hours are Mon-Sun, with dinner opening at 5pm).  I left a message requesting a reservation, but made a back-up reservation at another resturant just in case.

"Oh you won't get in!" some people told me.

But I held out hope.  By 3:30pm on Tuesday, the day i requested the reservation, I got a call from Kyle at Heidi's saying that they could get us in at 7:15pm.  Perfect. 

Heidi's is tucked away in the Kingfield neighborhood of Minneapolis, and located in a small, albeit cozy building that probably isn't seating more than 50-60 people.  With limited space, and a full dining area, Heidi's can get awfully loud, but it is the kind of loudness full of chatter and laughter that you may hear around your Thanksgiving table (minus the bickering). 

We were seated in the dining area that was located away from the entrance, and was thus a bit more intimate.  Being a 90F degree day, the restaurant was fairly warm, but was slightly offset slightly by the overhead AC.  (I think trying to keep such a small space with a kitchen on a hot day cool is nearly impossible anyway.) 

The prices are definitely reasonable for the culinary expose and perfection that you receive.  Prices ranged from $7.25 - 9.75 for apps and $11-18 for entrees.  The wine menu was expansive, although there were few offerings if you merely want to purchase by the glass.  Our server helped accommodate our request for a dry white wine, and suggested the Warwick Estate "Professor Black" Sauvignon Blanc (2007).  It was an incredible wine.  I am no sommelier, but the wine was light, fruity and truly went down smoothly with each sip.  It also certainly complimented our oceanic entrees. 

I am not knowledgeable about the owner's of Heidi's and their past careers, but do recognize that Heidi herself is the pastry chef, and she makes a beautiful breadbasket that accompanies each table, in addition to creating the desserts.  In the basket are also slices of bread for those not wanting to indulge on much filler before the main course in addition to the claw-like creation you see below. 

My aunt and I both ordered the organic Shetland salmon, while the gentlemen requested a full order of linguine with lobster (that's the only difference between the $11 order and the $18.  Though I can't fathom an entry half the size that was served.  You would definitely need to order to share someone else's entree).  Truth be told, I believe the ladies ordered the winning dish at our table. 

When our food arrived, my aunt noted how appropriate the proportions were.  Nothing was overdone; a bite could not be overwhelming or excessive.  In fact, each bite was heavenly as the pieces of salmon, which were cooked per the order (both medium), easily fell apart which each cut of the fork.  It had a subtle crisp shell on the outside, with a fine salty flavor that I liked to coat with the light mustard sauce decorating my plate.  The salmon sat on a small bed of baked, and cut fingerling potatoes and stems of broccoli, while the three spears of asparagus laid next to the salmon, cooked perfectly; it had a fresh crunch while maintaining a soft texture.

The lobster linguine clearly had a light and foamy tomato base, which I do not find satisfying in any restaurant, and hence never order it.  Because of this,  I would be doing a disservice to offer any critique of this dish.  The piece of lobster I had was rich and executed very well though.  Bob and David both seemed to enjoy it as well, so that's what matters.

A bottle of wine and four entrees later, we ordered chocolate cake with espresso ice cream for dessert.  One order simply could stretch for four people (much unlike the insanely large chocolate cake featured at Bonfire), so we ordered two servings of it.  The cake itself was small, dense and quite rich.  It was topped off with a large dollop of heavily whipped cream, while the espresso ice cream was seated next to it.  To finish it off, a scattering of cocoa stylized the plate.  The espresso ice cream was my favorite and of course everything mixed well together in a elegant dessert.

Oh!  And I nearly forgot: the three little balls that you see are small, liquored cherries which added a burst of flavor and texture to an otherwise sweet, sweet dessert.  Call it a "grown-up" chocolate cake experience if you will.

Everyone was very pleased with their respective meal, wine and service.  Some reviews painted the servers as uneducated about the wine menu and meals, but I found the opposite in my experience.  Not only was our server polite, and helpful, but she was attentive to water, and took the plates away in a timely, no-rush manner.  It was an excellent experience and one that I will attend to again.

If you don't believe me and my review, check out these reviews here, here, and here.

AND, truth be told, that's exactly were we're going tomorrow night. But for now.. I'm working this week.

I have to say I sort of like it when the entire city takes off for the week. This whole week I've been driving to work in like 20 minutes as the roads are completely empty. It's quite nice. Arriving at the office I find that the parking ramp is empty, and going up to my office, the elevator is all mine and the surrounding environment, is almost devoid of people. Including the boss lady, who's.. up north at her cabin.

Of course in this modern age, up north doesn't mean off the face the face of the earth, as it used too. Thanks to the wonders of Blackberry I received several emails from her asking for different things and what ever. I had to ask.. "you're getting reception up there?" The Boss's cabin is WAY up on Minnesota's Iron Range. She could be in Canada in 20 minutes where's she is. I didn't realize she had coverage. Her answer..

"I don't get reception in the house, but if I go out on the boat across the lake and stand up on the hull and extend my right hand, I can get a signal.": What we go through to be connected. At our place, if you're interested in making a phone call you'll have to take my phone and either walk out on the dock, or go to the top of the driveway, thems are the two hot spots.

If you want wireless... we found, last year, that one of the houses down the lake has an unsecured wireless network. If you take the boat down there and anchor off their dock (no more than 4 feet) you can get wireless internet on the computer. At some point they're going wonder about the 6 boats anchored out there at night, all glowing with computer light as we check weather and surf porn collectively off their front window, but so far so good.

One of my coworkers, a guy working on his next promotion has appointed himself "Floor Monitor" He's walking around at 5:00 with a camera and clock to take our pictures to show the boss who was here.. and who wasn't. The few of us actually here decided to reciprocate and take a picture of him just getting into the office at 9:15.. a hour and fifteen minutes later than he should be. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

Another nice benefit of the quiet office... frankly the bathroom stalls are open when you "need" them. We have three stalls serving a floor population of 5,000 men. I exaggerate, but barely. In my experience, 10:00 am is America's favorite time to poop. The line can run out the door. I really don't want to wait in line for the can... I like to pretend that I'm the only person who's ever used that particular stool on that day. Sitting on a warm toilet seat gives me the willies. I've suggest that we put the stalls on email as resources so you can scheduled them. Do 10 minute increments. If you typically need more time you can book two together. More than two you can run down to our new health clinic and get checked out.

BTW- if your' gonna use the can, and you're gonna drop the trousers below the ankles... so the socks and sock garters are showing... remove the name badge from the belt. I don't want to really know who's in there.

Last bathroom thought.. you want to talk about a project or get my input on something or pitch an ideal.. when I'm snuggled up to the porcelain going... no talking . I'm old now and I have to concentrate on matters at hand, so to speak.

An empty office means acres and acres of empty cubes.. many of which are sporting unguarded candy jars at the moment. A few of us are starting to look like Yogi Bear walking around looking for a picnic basket. And so much to choose from... Granted the chocolate has been gone since Monday.. the Twizzlers were soon to follow. There are still a couple cubes with tootsie rolls, and at this late stage of the week.. good enough. By tomorrow we'll be down to the licorice and jolly ranchers. Clearly sub-optimal candy.

Quiet uninterrupted time in the office is a G-d send. A chance to catch up, get through all your email, do your filing and clean up... you DO WORK.

That was Monday. I DID WORK all day Monday. You can't go from scheduled time every minute of the day to NOTHING. It makes you feel weird. In the old days when you felt weird at work I think went out for lunch and had a cocktail. Now a days that's verbotten. That's why there's no chocolate.

The Cafeteria has adapted to the week where no one is here. They've cut the menu back to chicken tenders and quesadilla's. MMMM cheese. Gone are the entree's the good pastries. Its as if there was a national crises and the few survivors are hunkering down on C Rations. ugg.

This morning there was a pretty important stakeholder meeting for a project, Im fortunate enough to have  been elected to be a stakeholder. Personally, on this one, I should be holding the stake while someone else pounds it into this projects heart and kills it, once and for all.. but I digress.

I was at the stakeholder meeting. Scheduled to start at 8:00am. Typically, at my company, an 8:00am anything is a tough sell. That's about when they blow the whistle on the dinosaur and everyone takes their seats for morning the calisthenics, company cheer and greeting for our Dear Leader. Dear Leader is in Montana or New Mexico, I get them confused, the calisthenics position has been in "OPEN" status since 2006 when she was seen on a certain boat ride with our local football club, and with our new HR policies we're all encouraged to love our team members like they're our own kids, as no one, and mean NO ONE has figured out exactly how to requisition HR to fill an open spot. I think we have more people in the directory named OPEN than we do Smith and Jones combined. Of course this is Minnesota so Carlson and Johnson still lead the pack..  about 1/3 the the workfoce.

The company cheer is not quite so motivating in the middle of a housing crisis and $4.00 gas, we're all a bit glum as business is what they're calling "challenging". Years ago challenges were what they put on my review to motivate me to do better. Now they're called "opportunities" and they're personal. I'm doing better though.

So as I left the office today, after the 5:00 picture of course, I passed acres of empty cubes and toured Minneapolis's skyway, where typically there are hoards of people behaving like gerbils, pushing themselves through the glass tubes to avoid breathing the unfiltered air of downtown. I actually descended to the street level. As a man, walking the streets of downtown Minneapolis in the afternoon when the temps are over 80, (both days) can be very rewarding. In my younger days, before I learned that oogling was bad, and BTW I think technically against the law in Minneapolis, my coworkers (male only) and I would call these little excursions T.O.M. Walks. I'll let you figure it out.

As I walked to the ramp I ran into a homeless guy I've seen down here consistently for the last 2 years or so. This guy carries a big ole backpack and spends his days rolling cigarettes at Starbucks or Dunn Brothers. Dunn was more accommodating for him then Starbucks. They kick him out of Bucks all the time.

Unfortunately my beloved Dunn Brothers is now a yuppie tequila bar and Mexican place called "the Barrio". Excuse me, but as an ex-pat Californian, I don't think you should be calling your business "the Barrio". I think where I grew up that would invite a visit from several guys with flannel shirts, beater T's, hair nets and really shiny well polished shoes, who would beat the crap out of you,  and be justified in so doing. Come on.

Anyway I ran into the guy sitting there, rolling smokes. We've made eye contact over the years. He reads some pretty heady science fiction and, when I'm stressed about work I wonder, how bad could it be to be out of work, destitute, carrying a backpack, reading Brin, Asimov and Clarke, rolling cigs and hanging in coffee shops all day. Usually I'm wearing a suite and tie and suffocating while I'm think this..

So today I actually went up and introduced myself and held out my hand. "I've seen you here for years and I just wanted to say hi". His name is Steve, he's missing some teeth, looks more emaciated than i thought when you look at him straight on. .but he's got a nice smile and was genuinely pleased to make my acquaintance.

For just a second there, I was pretty happy with myself, not so much for reaching out but for meeting someone from a whole different set of circumstances, and meeting them with out pretense or guile, on a level field. And there was nobody around to share it.

But a building, that is a design. Skyscrapers I find are incredibly appealing. Their beauty just shakes my mind at their existence. Nature has never been able to do that to me. Thus, that is why the Hoover Dam is way more badass than the Grand Canyon. You heard it here first.

An update, I got a van. Bought this 700 conversion astro van to travel out of Las Vegas and finally out of the desert till I dip back into Texas. I am hoping this will speed up my trip massively. It's half-an-experiement as well, since I've been using Craigslist rideshare to get around most of the time I've noticed I've paid for gas a lot more than they have so far.

My hypothesis is that I can have the majority of my gas free picking up other ridesharers going my way. The experiment will be done with my 700 dollar van, a balance sheet of how much gas it takes for me to get from point A to point B, and also how much the ridesharers paid me to get there.

Hell, maybe I can even make a profit! Wouldn't that be something? I am going to sell the van when I get to the East Coast, around the New York area as I will have no need for it by then most likely.

It's hard to believe I've been gone already a whole month. I disliked most of Phoenix, but I did enter my very first bar there. And there was some of the most beautiful women I've met in my life there, though that is not saying the majority of women there are beautiful, cause they're not. Still regretting not asking this one waitress for her phone number, she had beautiful tattoos down across her left arm and these dark eyes that were incredibly beautiful. Maybe next time.

I got two places now to stay in Minneapolis, the new one is with this guy named James who is a banker for Wells Fargo. Maybe I can add him to my Master Mind group. We shall see. A banker and Brip Blap my accountant-blogging friend could be powerful allies with this network marketer!

Speaking of Visalus, I've had such massive revelations since I've joined this company. I cannot even explain just how much personal growth I have done. The people I've met, the things I have done, the books I have read have all been amazing and all because of Visalus. Without it, I would not had ever been able to be who  I am today.

Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, said it right when he gave the advice for young people to join a network marketing company. It really does build-up such a persona, such a world-view for those who take it seriously. Plus, I love the fact I am helping people. As an entrepreneur, there is not greater feeling for me. Once read that a philanthropist makes the most successful business man.

Well. Off onto my path!

To Salt Lake City tomorrow in my new van, GPS, and hopefully a few ridesharing buddies!

-Greg the Writer
PS. Feel free to check out more of my pictures on www.myspace.com/dreamofbetterdays or my poetry there.

Cameron Carptenter is trying to bring the organ to a new audience—he's out to be the rock star of the organ world.  He has more pure technical ability that anyone I've ever heard (with the possible exception of the young Jean Guillou) and he feels free to make music his own.  Fifteen or twenty years ago AGO audiences would have been outraged (in a bad way) by his performance, because it in no way matches any kind of "historically informed" performance practice.  Now people look more for musicianship, musical communication skills, and even showmanship, all of which Cameron Carpenter has by the boatload.  On his program he played music as diverse as one of Jeanne Demessieux's nearly impossible Etudes, a piece by Leo Sowerby, and Cameron's own "synthesized" version of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, which incorporates elements from just about every transcription that has ever been made of the piece.  He concluded with an encore, a transcription of John Philip Sousa's march "Stars and Stripes Forever."  It's one of Cameron's regular parlor trick/showpieces.  Here it is on youtube.  Note how he plays the piccolo obbligato the first time not with his fingers, but with his feet in the pedals: amazing.

Cameron wore a similar all-white outfit for his Minnesota recital as in the video. Organists (being by nature very catty) always have some sort of comment.  As the audience was filing out of the church sanctuary after the program, I heard a gentleman comment, "That nurse sure can play the organ."   Later in the week I encountered Cameron on the street in a black tank top and chartreuse green skin-tight jeans. He only had moderate eye makeup on.  Needless to say you will not be seeing Virtual Farm Boy in a similar outfit.  Always stylish basic black for VFB.

Natasha put on a GREAT show!  She really is a true recording artist. I had enjoyed both of her CD's, so I was very curious to see how she did live.  I am happy to report that she is a real performer. She had a live band that included guitar, keys, drums, bass and 2 back up singers.  They really worked well together. The show was paced very well.  Natasha did a mix of songs from her new CD as well as some album cuts and of course all of her hit singles.

This show was in a small venue, so there were really no bad seats and Natasha even commented how cool the location was.  You could tell she enjoyed performing, and the crowd went crazy when she did her hit songs.  It was a ton of fun!!

If you get a chance to see Natasha live...DO IT!!!!!!!!!

Among the lessons that can still be learned from the works F. Scott Fitzgerald is the fact that melodrama and literature need not be mutually exclusive forces, a concept sometimes overlooked in this age of daytime soaps and Danielle Steel paperbacks. In the proper hands, hyperbolic characters and plot points can be an effective tools in spinning a story, without edging too far into the world of self-parody.

Will Dinski has seemingly learned a lot from his fellow Minnesotan, taking a page or two out of Fitzgerald’s character playbook in the crafting of Beautiful, Cool, and Irreplaceable’s cast. They’re rich, they’re troubled, and they possess a propensity for passionate embraces. On a surface level, the character interaction that comprises the majority of the book unfolds like standard soap opera fair. In fact, early on the book, it’s difficult to gauge just how seriously Dinski expects us to take their problems. Surely the average reader of a self-published indie comic must have some difficulty conjuring up the proper empathy for the shallow relationship problems befalling successful movie stars.

Ostensibly, the story about a group of plastic surgeons and their clientele. Dinski’s attentions, however, soon turn to the cracks and flaws and imperfections of being perfect. “I’ve been perfecting you since before you were an actress,” explains Dr. Fingers, the surgeon as the center of the book, critiquing the angle of his star patient’s nose. “My masterpiece. One more surgery and you’ll be perfect.” Moments later, after two silent panels, the two embrace in the privacy of the house’s library during a cocktail party, as their respective partners—one a closeted movie star and the other vainly waging war against the wrinkles on her forehead—wait in the other room. You can practically hear the cheesy transition music swelling to a climax.

Beneath this moment, however, there’s a highly troubling message about the pursuit of perfection in the age of that ultimate status symbol, plastic surgery—one character’s manic obsessions and another’s eagerness to go along for the ride, upon discovering that, even after countless procedures, she is still flawed, or at the very least, has yet to live up to the expectations of man who considers her body little more than a slab of marble to be chiseled as a monument to himself.

Even more troubling is the question that’s truly at the heart of Beautiful, Cool, and Irreplaceable, posed indirectly by Yumiko, the surgeon’s assistant, who, despite remaining silent for a majority of the book, turns out ultimately to be the story’s true star. Yumiko quickly establishes herself as a rising wunderkind in the plastic surgery world, albeit through fairly unorthodox methods. When she pioneers a “Face Augmentor,” which turns its wearer into a near doppelganger of a well-known celebrity, it immediately deflates the value of her mentor’s services. More importantly, however, it calls into question the value of beauty in a world where seemingly timeless concepts can be easily bought and sold. What, if any, currency can we put in the beautiful people we worship, if there are armies of clones marching down the street?

Dinski tells the story with a minimal amount of lines, in many cases doing away with the confines of rectangular panels altogether, lending the book a decidedly brisk quality, which perhaps adds to impressions early on in the reading that the work is, in fact, working on a surface level. It’s effective on one level, but it also demonstrates a few spatial issues on the artist’s part, after crafting so many beautiful diminutive minis.

His characters, however, largely possess flawed symmetry, with profiles that can take on nearly cubist proportions, a subtle reminder, perhaps, of the sometimes conflicting notions of beauty and art, a concept brought directly to the forefront when a partygoer admiring a large classically-styled painting utters, “isn’t it beautiful?” The statement, while addressed at the woman behind him, is clearly rhetorical. “It’s signed by Eshelbiyer. But it’s more likely one of his assistant painted it. A true Eshelbiyer hasn’t been painted in years.” It’s a loaded assessment, to be sure, and now, in retrospect, the foreshadowing of such a statement couldn’t be clearer.

Ultimately, both Dinski’s art and storytelling beg the reader to dig below the surface. Combined they reveal a number of important questions about beauty, celebrity, sexuality, art, and superficiality. Granted, Dinksi asks far more than he could ever possibly hope to answer, but in doing so he demonstrates that sometimes shallowness is only skin deep.

--Brian Heater

Double Savings

Plus -- and only on Midewest Airlines -- you can save an additional $50 if you purchase tickets with PayPal!

Don't pass this up! Book now and get your holiday trip going!

Independence Day Special - 20% Off at eBags.com from July 4th through July 6th

So I'm in Minneapolis and we just went to this huge strip mall. It was okay. But then something got stolen, something really important, so we couldn't do anything else.

The hotel's awesome and I am officially changing my banner because it's ugly. I personally hate it. :P

That's all for tonight- I'm pooped. 6 hours of driving. x_x
~ Airea