October 2011
Twin Cities Daily Planet: Daily Planet User... →
tcdailyplanet:
Join Daily Planet editor Mary Turck and associate editor Jay Gabler at the festive Pancho Villa Mexican restaurant on Eat Street in Minneapolis for a training session and happy hour. From 4:00-5:00 on November 17, learn how to upload articles, create your own blog, and land paying assignments as a citizen journalist on our award-winning nonprofit community news site. Learn about...
Most-read Daily Planet arts/lifestyle stories of...
1. Thor: Heavy hangs the hand that holds the hammer (or, Blondes really don’t have more fun) (by Jay Gabler, May 6)
2. Cavalia: Equus ultra (by Jay Gabler, September 22)
3. The Soap Factory’s Haunted Basement: Not worth my “uncle” (by Heidi Schatz, October 3)
4. Best bars for meeting single women (by Cyn Collins, January 9, 2009)
5. Controversy over Duluth Festival...
Darkness on the Edge of Town: Paranormal radio...
In the deepest recesses of St. Louis Park, just past Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill, is a terror just waiting—itching—to slither through your speakers and scare the living hell out of you at 11:00 p.m. each weeknight. OK, it’s not quite that dramatic, but if you haven’t yet tuned in to 100.3 FM KTLK Darkness On the Edge of Town during the pre-witching-hour hour, then you have no...
"Remember that it’s right and good and natural for... →
#Occupy like an artist, advises John Middleton.
Q: Who IS that? A: Robyn Lewis, Living Vicariously...
Name: Robyn Lewis Twitter: @TheBitchelor
What’s your job? “Bartendress at Clubhouse Jäger—creating trendy new shots for people stopping by the bar on a party bus who will later barf them up. Music Writer for l’etoile mag—coming up with fancy ways to bribe peeps into attending cool events on the weekends. I believe the industry term for that is ‘PR.’ Event...
Brunch: The hottest meal right now
I was thinking about how dinner parties are popular and realized the other meal that’s totally super-cool right now is brunch. Since I adore talking about food and we have plenty of food to be proud of here in the Twin Cities, I figured this week I’d share some of my top picks. You know I love Haute Dish so there’s no surprise that their Sunday brunch is one of my favorite things to exist....
Jay Gabler: Emily Books: Twin Cities Meet-Up →
Twin Cities bookworms: check it out. Read it up. Meet it up.
jaygabler:
I’ve become interested in Emily Books, a new e-bookstore created by Emily Gould and Ruth Curry. Each month, Emily Books puts up for sale one and only one e-book, selected by Gould and Curry; books can be purchased a la carte or by annual subscription. It’s kind of like the Book-of-the-Month club, but curated by much...
The Tangential Ruins Minneapolis: Things That... →
thetangentialruinsminneapolis:
Naked lady statue in the lily pond gets violated.
Someone tries to get the koi fish drunk by pouring Syrah into their pool.
Impromptu makeout session goes badly wrong when half-naked couple roll into the stinging nettles.
Guy steals a leather jacket and goes running through the Fern Room yelling, “We’ve got to find the ark before the Nazis do!”
Snickering at...
"The Edge of Our Bodies" at the Guthrie Theater:...
After seeing the opening night performance of The Edge of Our Bodies at the Guthrie Theater, I tweeted a “one-hashtag review”: #whitegirlproblems.
That’s a little simplistic, of course: the themes of The Edge of Our Bodies are universal to the human experience. That said, the concerns and experiences of white 16-year-old New England prep school girls are not entirely foreign...
“Puppet Rock Yoga Opera with Adults with Down Syndrome coming to Intermedia Arts!”
– Press release subject line. To quote Courtney Algeo, “Talk about an amazing niche.”
Loring Theater becomes haunted with a flashback to...
I wasn’t around in 1962—the year in which the Loring Theater’s current “Haunted Theater” presentation is set—but I remember the Cold War. At some point in the mid-1980s, after I saw something about it on TV, my mom sat me down and explained that the United States and the Soviet Union had enough nuclear weaponry to destroy life as we know it. That was heavy.
The Loring...
Occupy August Wilson: "Two Trains Running" in... →
Carl Atiya Swanson: “When critics charge that Zuccotti Park and Government Plaza are not Tahrir Square or that 2011 is not 1968, they miss the point. We have unresolved issues. Like Memphis Lee, proprietor of Lee’s Restaurant, scene of all the action in Two Trains Running, run off his property in Jackson in 1931, we still have the deed to that land, and we’re going back to collect. James...
Local color? Questions linger about the funding...
Earlier this month, Pocahontas—Woman of Two Worlds, a new opera composed by Minnesotan Linda Tutas Haugen, was performed at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center. After the show, over 100 community members—many of them protesters from the Native American community—shared their views during a sometimes heated discussion. While some of the emotions expressed that evening have cooled, questions...
Francis Yellow reflects on art and tradition at...
“I don’t make art,” Lakota artist Francis Yellow said during an open studio session at All My Relations Gallery. “I don’t call myself an artist. People don’t know what to make of it when I say such things.”
The soft spoken artist walked around the oti (home) made out of canvas that he is painting for the opening of AMR’s Mni Sota: Reflections of Time and Place exhibit, which opens November...
Arts Orbit Radar 10/27/11
1. Two things Minneapolis is known for: beer and theater. Tip One Back for the Southern begins its series of fundraising events with a Town Hall Brewery beer tasting on Sunday at the theater, and supports the sweeping generalization.
2. It’s Halloween weekend—not like the city hasn’t been celebrating the holiday all month long already. Wear your costume to The Loft’s Dead...
Creative compensation: Is Barack Obama the Dave...
The steps that some major touring acts—including the Foo Fighters, Ke$ha, and Janet Jackson—have taken to control and own photojournalists’ work at their concerts have become so controversial that over the past several weeks I’ve felt compelled to blog about the subject not just once, but twice. In that debate, the speculation has been that the next step would be for musicians to...
From the silver screen to the Metrodome, stories...
A common question I get is whether I get burnt out or fatigued from constantly watching films. The answer is no, but sometimes I’m not always in the mood to watch a film or commit two hours to watching one. I have sat through a ton of films this year, and over the past decade I’ve probably ruined my back, knees, neck, and most importantly, my eyes, and will probably pay for this...
Patrick M. Garry's "The Price of Guilt" brings...
Sometimes it feels like morality has become a fluid concept. There are few beacons illuminating for us what exactly is always right to do, and what is explicitly wrong. Perhaps this is partly due to the disappearance of morality tales in this modern world. I, for one, appreciate greatly a few life lessons mixed in with my entertainment. After all, isn’t part of why we read (or choose to...
Stumbling into the fun? St. Paul project granted...
Deep in the throes of construction, the Central Corridor route along University Avenue in St. Paul is a zone that many Twin Cities residents have been avoiding for the past several months. A new project funded by a national initiative aims to change that—both now and later—with the help of local artists. The project is, appropriately, called Irrigate.
“The primary goal of Irrigate,” says...
Zeus Jones: How Tumblr Has Changed the Importance... →
Becky Lang of The Tangential—and who sometimes writes for us too—has just created a Tumblr for Zeus Jones, the Minneapolis marketing firm where she’s a creative. (What a job title!)
hellozeusjones:
Blogging culture has always been a bit haphazard, and the amount of ugly blogs out there is endless. Common sins include giant banners showing the Eiffel tower, covered in Papyrus font and...
“It’s kind of a rainy Saturday here in St. Paul, and though we planned to...”
– Garrison Keillor, A Prairie Home Companion, ca. 1979
pithybanter asked: I responded her her reply as well. Unable to include the link as it is not allowed when 'asking' a question. I noticed that you reblogged after I had responded, and understand that kerfluffles are interesting to follow, but would love if all sides were shown, not just that of the writer you featured. Thanks!
Pithy Banter: philolzophy: Give Odd Future a break... →
Sarah Heuer responds to an angry reader.
philolzophy:
philolzophy:
Give Odd Future a break
artsorbit:
“I highly doubt any member of Odd Future is offended by a casual among-friends mention of wanting to rape a woman”
I can’t even begin to start with how fucked up this sentence is. If you feel the need to increase your blood pressure, go and read the ‘essay’ linked here. Simply because...
Give Odd Future a break
Whether you love them or hate them, it’s difficult to deny that Odd Future as a collective have charisma and chemistry. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that their live presence at October 12’s sold-out First Avenue show was actually somewhat endearing. As we watched members Left Brain, Hodgy Beats, Domo Genesis, Mike G, and leader Tyler, the Creator bounce across stage in brightly colored...
Open Eye Figure Theatre's "The Learning Fairy":...
In recent years, the Children’s Theatre Company has faced criticism for softening its edges and producing safe name-brand shows like Babe, Annie, and The Wizard of Oz. Whether or not you think that’s true—or, if you do, whether or not you think it’s a bad thing—the storefront stage run just a few blocks away by Open Eye Figure Theatre is emerging as the anti-CTC, staging...
"Graphic Design: Now in Production" proffers a...
In 1989, the Walker Art Center held what Andrew Blauvelt, the museum’s current curator of architecture and design, considers a game-changing museum exhibit of graphic design. “Then,” he recalled on Thursday morning, “you couldn’t even assume people knew what a font was.”
He was standing in the middle of the Walker’s new exhibit Graphic Design: Now in...
96 is plenty
Jay Gabler: The Blenders don't have that many more Twitter followers than you, Mom.
Jean Gabler: Oh really?
Jay Gabler: They only have 96.
Jean Gabler: 96 is plenty! That's a lot of people who care what they're doing.
“Well, I expect they’ll be singing Christmas music. And they’re a...”
–
Jean Gabler (Jay’s mom) explains why she’s planning to go see the Blenders’ “Holiday Soul Tour” at the Pantages. Watch this space for her review.
Megan Boyle talks about poetry, alt lit, and...
“i’ve been having regular sex with this guy
“he hits my cats on their heads and they look insulted”
Selected Unpublished Blog Posts of a Mexican Panda Express Employee, the first book by 26-year-old Baltimore writer Megan Boyle, is the first book I’ve ever read that truly represents the strangely compelling way people reveal themselves, in writing, on the...
Mussels, beer and pot brownies: Dutch cuisine at...
Well, cuisine isn’t exactly the right word, but the new Amsterdam Bar & Hall in downtown St. Paul does have a nice selection of Dutch broodjes (sandwiches) and appetizers, as well as Dutch and Belgian beers. It also offers its own version of one culinary specialty that the coffeehouses of Amsterdam are famous for: pot brownies. Indonesian restaurants are immensely popular in...
The six best things about the Twin Cities Book...
This year marked the 11th anniversary of the Twin Cities Book Festival, created and hosted by Rain Taxi, and it was my very first time. Not only was it my first time attending the event, but it was also my first time seated behind a table at the festival. Sure, I’ve spent my share of time at various comic book conventions, large and small alike, as both patron of and saleswoman to a room...
Arts Orbit Radar 10/20/11
On the radar
1. Back for fifths, the Twin Cities Literary Death Match returns to the Twin Cities Thursday night for a new round of fightin’ words that usually don’t end up in bloodshed. In the ring this time at the Nomad is Peter Bognanni, Rob Callahan, Cole “Inky” Sarar, and Becky Lang.
2. The Australian Pink Floyd Show is like the Glee tour in its insane popularity...
Zola Jesus at 7th St. Entry: Pint-sized Nika Roza...
What’s indisputable about Zola Jesus (real name Nika Roza Danilova) is that she is clearly talented, and has an obvious passion for what she does. First Avenue’s description of the concert says that Zola Jesus, “is not a band; it is a solo project,” and “Zola Jesus is not a singer; she is a musician.” I’d say anyone watching her Tuesday night show at The Entry would have to agree.
Danilova...
"La Cage Aux Folles": George Hamilton and a game...
The eponymous nightclub that provides the setting for the musical La Cage Aux Folles promises strange sights and unique experiences, and the touring version now playing at the State Theatre certainly makes good on that promise. If nothing else, when’s the next time you’re going to get to see pop culture icon George Hamilton lay a passionate kiss on the lips of a chubby guy from...
Who IS that, and what have we learned?
October 27 marks the first anniversary of the feature “Whois that?” The first person to be profiled was Rob Callahan, but he wasn’t the inspiration for the column: that was Jon Davis. The busy musician, with his unmissable beard and distinctive dance style, seems to show up at one venue or another almost every night, and I kept finding myself wondering, “Who is that...
