Breakfast of Champions 6/3: Rolling with the new

The phrase "Purple Reign of Terror" has got to be my favorite headline portion ever to appear on this site. It's right up there with when Entertainment Weekly referred to the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction as "War on A Rack."

Another new occasional series on the blogs, "Uprooted," launches today. We'll track the exploits of expatriate Minnesotans -- artists, writers, politicians -- plying their craft elsewhere. Today, Jeff Severns Guntzel has a long post and photo slideshow about Andrew Beccone of the Reanimation Library, an arty New York City library.

Among the many chilling anecdotes in this follow-up about soldiers and PTSD is the story of a veteran who met with President Bush -- and then shot his brother and himself two weeks later.

Q: How is Tim Pawlenty like the Hindenburg?
A: He's crashing and burning in the VP race.

You could also make the "filled with hot air" joke, but the Hindenburg was filled with hydrogen, which is why it self-immolated.

A comedy fundraiser for local writer Christopher Harmon could help him get his screenplay, "Sparkle, Serena!" out there.

The Strib's financial dance continues, predictably, with Avista asking for six months of forbearance on debt.

Al Franken made some jokes about lesbians -- while speaking to a pro-gay advocacy organization, no less -- that Republicans have seized on to try to tar the candidate as a homophobe. I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning.

Russia, NATO ... North Oaks? All have asked to be removed from Google Maps.

Judd Spicer remembers the Grand Old Days of baseball cards.