One of my guilty pleasures, Cirque du Soleil, announced a new traveling show today and it’s coming to Minneapolis this fall. Kooza is described as “a return to the origins of Cirque du Soleil: It combines two circus traditions ‚Äì acrobatic performance and the art of clowning.”

I’m a big clown hater, but we’ll still see it, I’m sure…

Today we had a lunch meeting at Casper & Runyon‚Äôs Nook in St. Paul (across from Cretin on Hamline). We sat at Barbara Streisand’s table, who they claim actually ate there. Last time I was there, I saw former Wild player Andrew Brunette, so who knows…

This is a place that I knew about for a long time when I was growing up in St. Paul, but only started going to about a year ago. I really love their fries and I think the Nook version of the Juicy Lucy is my favorite in town (followed closely by Matt’s Bar and the 5-8 Club).

The place was packed and we were lucky to get the last open table at 11:30. Service is always a little on the slow side, but we had lots to discuss anyway, so no big deal.