July 2011
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Talking with Andrew Rossi and David Carr about...
Picking up a daily paper to get updates on current U.S. events, world businesses, local news, the weather, checking the box scores in the sports page or figuring out the New York Times crossword, that might be enough for your average American. When I saw Page One: Inside the New York Times at Sundance this past January, I became more fascinated in not only the stories that were being written...
How to stay on top of under-the-radar dance and...
I recently received a message from a friend: “I know very little about dance and other kinds of performance art in the Twin Cities. I’d like to go to performances, but by the time I read about something that sounds good but has a short run I normally can’t squeeze it in/convince someone to go with me in such a short time. Is there a specific website you’d recommend...
June 2011
Good food news from North Minneapolis: Louisiana...
With all the discouraging news coming out of North Minneapolis (the foreclosure crisis, the tornado), the opening of three new restaurants on the Northside—Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken, the Lowry Cafe, and the Avenue Eatery—is something to cheer. At the Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken store at 904 West Broadway, it isn’t just about the food. The restaurant’s motto is...
WatchMinneapolis Music & Movies in the Parks series is well under way this summer with hundreds of local and regional artists performing more than 200 concerts at five Minneapolis parks, some more well known than others. While Lake Harriet, with performances seven days a week, may be the most popular site, other parks offer dozens of concerts in a variety of venues.
For more information:...
Ringo Deathstarr at the Hexagon Bar:...
Austin trio Ringo Deathstarr (what a name!) are no re-inventers of the proverbial wheel. But really, they don’t need to be. Their reverb-soaked brand of rock ‘n’ roll was conceived decades prior by pioneering shoe-gazers like the Jesus and Mary Chain and Cocteau Twins. But these influences are in no way disguised. Translation: they’ve got a lead foot on that effects...
Q: Who IS that? A: Carol Lichterman, ubiquitous...
Name: Carol Lichterman Website: “I am an ‘old fashioned kind of girl.’ I do not blog or Twitter—no interest—but I do use e-mail, especially internationally. I still prefer the telephone for quick responses and quick give-and-takes, but if I feel like contacting someone at midnight, then e-mail is probably the best.”
What’s your job? “I have a teaching...
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Elberto Mueller's "2009: An Autopsy": Let's have a...
2009: An Autopsy, written and self-published by Elberto Mueller, is a novel about a young guy living in Minneapolis who shoots heroin, rides the rails, paints graffiti on things, and falls easily for women due to his youthful, romantic, poetic proclivities. He travels back and forth across the country with a few sidekicks here and there—including a sometimes-anthropomorphized 2009—having...
"Honey, I'm chilly. Would you turn on the art?"
“I wouldn’t take it down if I were you,” advises Bart in an episode of The Simpsons. “That’s a load-bearing poster.”
Wall decorations that hold up the house may still be the stuff of cartoons, but those who think that art should do something to pull its weight around the house will be pleased to know that the company Prestyl has taken “a highly...
Arts Orbit Radar 6/30/11
What’s happening this week
On the radar
Hey, did anyone notice that there are no rock dinosaurs slated to play in St. Paul this weekend? No? Me either. But even without the Taste of Minnesota, there will be fireworks in St. Paul and Minneapolis—and the Ten Second Film Festival will happen per usual behind the Soap Factory. That afternoon, I’ll be among the C-list celebrity...
"Stonewall Country" by Robin and Linda Williams:...
General “Stonewall” Jackson is well known as one of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s best right-hand men, kicking hell out of the Yanks every chance he got. What’s less known is he was sort of a kindler, gentler John Brown who, instead of taking off on a rage against white folk, went the nonetheless radical route of educational advocacy, for instance organizing...
Copyright law: What needs to change?
Prince isn’t the only one fussing over copyright these days: the Daily Planet just received a bill for $875 from Getty Images, claiming that we’d illegally published one of their copyrighted photos. The screenshot they provided was so fuzzy that it took some digging to find the image on our site; it turned out that the story featuring the image was republished with permission...
Linkin Park in Red Square
Linkin Park just played Red Square in Moscow to promote the new Transformers movie. (Photos by Lucian Capellaro, except second from the top by Michael Bay; courtesy Allied Integrated Marketing.) One might be put in mind of an old Sting song.
In Europe and America, there’s a growing feeling of hysteria
There is no monopoly in common sense On either side of the political fence
...
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A risk worth taking: Lowertown's Play by Play...
A common exercise in a beginning acting class is the trust fall. The acting student closes his or her eyes and falls backward, to be caught by other actors. The point of the exercise is to strengthen the willingness for risk-taking on the part of the person falling, and trust among the participants. In the fall of 2009, Kelly Schaub, owner of Play by Play Theatre Bookstore and Opening Night...
On not taking art for granted
I’ve been peripherally aware of artist Angela Carlson Talles’s mosaic murals for some time. I never knew the name of the artist, but I’ve walked past the mural she created on the building where Muddy Waters used to be probably hundreds of times, and very often I see the mural she created at the Peace House as I drive east on Franklin Avenue to turn onto 35W. Her mosaics have a joy to them —...
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"H.M.S. Pinafore" at the Guthrie Theater: For...
I’ve often wondered why, given the healthy audience for the Minnesota Opera and strong demand for musicals at venues from the Orpheum to the Mixed Blood, the Twin Cities don’t see more operetta. The work of Gilbert and Sullivan is rarely seen on local stages; is it a political-correctness thing, or do their shows fall into the uncanny valley between one known quantity (opera)...
Homi Mexican Restaurant: "Everyday food for... →
Jeanette Fordyce drops in on the proprietors of the St. Paul restaurant.
The Tangential: ARCHITECTURE BONER: The Guthrie... →
thetangential:
Today, June 25, is the fifth anniversary of the public opening of the (relatively) new Guthrie Theater, a building on the downtown Minneapolis riverfront that was designed by Jean Nouvel.
It’s really big and it’s really blue and it’s not beautiful—that’s not what this is about. Really transcendent buildings, like the Chrysler Building or the Sydney Opera House, are beautiful...
Gene Ween digs deep and delights fans at the...
Disclaimer: Ween are my favorite band. There was pretty much no way this review was going to be negative. If you have a problem with that—and if you do, I can’t blame you—then you might want to stop reading here.
With his “brother” and Ween co-founder Dean Ween occupied with nautical endeavors, Gene Ween (real name Aaron Freeman) has been keeping busy between Ween tours by...
Deep Purple at the Orpheum: Rock dinosaurs waste...
June 19th at Minneapolis’s Orpheum Theatre, Deep Purple headlined a night on which one could’ve and should’ve, as the quip goes, had a V-8.
Original drummer Ian Paice with early members bass guitarist Roger Glover and storied lead singer Ian Gillan are on tour, enlisting Steve Morse (guitar) and Don Airey (keyboards), backed by conducted string and horn sections, performed...
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Park Square's "Panic" is a fun mystery that should...
It’s hard to quit while you’re ahead in theater. Knowing when and how to stop is almost more vital than knowing how to get a story started in the first place. And Panic, now playing at Park Square Theatre, is a hell of a story. It’s witty, romantic, hilarious, ominous, and quite possibly one of the most entertaining first acts in a play I’ve seen in a very long...
Workhouse Theatre's "Torch Song Trilogy": A bawdy,...
Torch Song Trilogy has a big powerfully beating human heart. I can only respond in kind. I love this show unreservedly. It’s funny. It’s sexy. It’s romantic. It has its share of odd twists and turns. It’s an emotional marathon for actors and audience alike that’s enormously satisfying. It’s the kind of theater you don’t see every day. If...
Peace House mosaic mural in danger
The future does not look good for the Peace House Mural, created by artist Angela Carlson Talle for the Peace House, a place where anyone can come in to visit, meditate, and find “a place to belong.” The organization will soon be moving, exchanging their building, which they own, for a new building that nonprofit developer AEON will be giving them a block away. The Peace House...
I just charged $2.50 to my debit card. →
s424h:
I don’t love the Megabus because it gets me from point A to point B for less than it would cost me to buy a wacky energy drink, I love the Megabus for its amenities:
Free WiFi: Well, 10 cruelly pacifying minutes of free WiFi. It will cut out. Whatever, who needs the internet anyway, right? Right?!
Family-friendly environment: Well, I’ll be friendly to your family. Yesterday I was on...
Arts Orbit Radar 6/23/11
What’s happening this week
On the radar
It’s Pride weekend, and the gay merriment will climax with Minneapolis’s largest annual parade. In St. Paul, the crowds will come out for the Twin Cities Jazz Festival.
Unless you’re one of a couple dozen people, you unfortunately missed last weekend’s production of RMS Duchess of York at Paper Moose Jumpsuit & Co.—but...
Summer blockbusters and vegan beer
As we’ve come to the first official day of summer, I’m already bogged down with the summer movie season. Honestly, I haven’t seen a single summer blockbuster yet and I think I know why. I’m tired of the cross-promotion and marketing of each film. For the past few weeks I’ve been seeing advertisements, commercials, and trailers for what seem to be the same four...
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The Loft reaches out to teens, with help from...
People are always talking about how great Minneapolis is for writers. Sure, there are a ton of publishing houses (big and small), tons of open mic nights, and erudite book-worshipping communities, but the people talking about how writer-types have it made in Minneapolis are all over twenty years old. Last week, I dared to climb to the third floor deck of Open Book and shout to the rooftops...
Culinary secrets of Northeast Minneapolis:...
You already know about the thriving ethnic restaurant scene along Central Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis, where the dining options range from Afghan, Colombian and Indian to Mexican, Middle Eastern, Moroccan and Thai. And every serious foodie has spent time at the hip new (and hip old) eateries around the University Ave. and Marshall Ave. N.E. - the Modern Cafe, Erte, Northeast Social,...
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Despite rain, Rock the Garden 2011 turns out to be...
Social media always buzz with debate when each year’s Rock the Garden lineup is announced: are these bands any good? But are they good live? Did the Walker and The Current want someone better who wasn’t available or was too expensive? Is it worth buying a ticket if you only like the second or third artist?
I can never get too interested in those debates. My position has...
A native Israeli playing salsa music in Minnesota:...
This weekend is the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, Minnesota’s largest jazz event of the year, with national and international jazz musicians swinging into town for free shows in Mears Park and other locations in downtown and Lowertown St. Paul. Artists such as Danilo Perez, Deadato, and Gary Burton will play alongside other well-known artists and local acts for a fun weekend of rhythms,...
