The Rake Magazine

Month: May 2007

  • Ready, Set, Go, One, Two, Three, Be Bobby

    Tonight is the Annual Bob Dylan Sound-Alike-Contest at the 400 bar. Need I say more? 9 p.m., 400 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis, 612-332-2903.

    FILM
    Ready, Set, Film

    2334843963.jpgLast Saturday, filmmakers took to the streets, the studios, and the computers to create an original short in just 12 hours. This might seem like a lot of time for a four-minute film, but it leaves only three hours to concept, write, storyboard, shoot, and edit each minute of film. If you don’t know — in film time, that ain’t much. In fact, it often takes longer than that just to log the footage you shot. As if time didn’t pose enough of a challenge, the filmmakers were given a theme and a surprise element with which to work — the theme, a favor; and the surprise element, duct tape. Curious? Go see a screening of the submissions. All of the completed films from the Minneapolis Film Race will premiere for the public tonight at the Oak Street Cinema. Winners will receive prizes and advance to the national competition.

    8 p.m., Oak Street Cinema, 309 Oak Street S.E., Minneapolis; 612-331-3134; $8.

    One, Two, Three

    cstars.jpgYes, folks. While it may feel ridiculously cold outside today (remember, this is Minnesota), we are in fact well into “outdoor season.” The restaurants and cafes have their patios open. Nicollet is bustling all night long. And the time has come for outdoor movies. Yay! While the Walker’s movies in the park don’t begin for another couple of weeks, Take-Up Productions is offering a series of three Thursday-night films on the back wall of The Soap Factory by the Stone Arch Bridge. This week’s outdoor screening, Billy Wilder’s Cold War comedy One, Two, Three, features James Cagney in his last starring role. And what a role it is! This is some of Cagney’s finest work. He plays a Coca-Cola representative in West Berlin who agrees to watch over his boss’s wacky daughter. We’ve certainly seen this story repeated since the movie’s 1961 release date — guy has to keep the boss’s troubled daughter under control in order to keep his job. Yup. Seen it — only back then the enemies were the Communists, so clearly the daughter gets mixed up with a Commie. Regardless, it’s Cagney. It’s funny. It’s outdoors. You can’t go wrong (as long as the rains don’t come).

    9:15 p.m., The Soap Factory, 518 2nd Street SE, Loading Dock, Minneapolis; 612-623-9176; free.

    ART AND MEDIA
    Be a Zinester

    2751629729.jpgFor decades, zines have offered an alternative outlet through which to publish original or appropriated texts and images that fall far enough outside of the mainstream to be prohibitive of inclusion in more traditional media. One might even say that Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was published as a zine of sorts. Since then, the punk movement took the medium on in the 70s, and more subcultures followed with a boom in the 80s and 90s. (Granted, the Internet seems to have caused a dwindling of print zines, but the idea lives on in many forms electronically.) The current Walker exhibit Paper Trail: A Decade of Acquisitions features artists who have found innovative ways to narrate experience through works on paper while challenging viewers to consider both technique and concept in printmaking. Using these works as inspiration, printmaker Aaron Johnson-Ortiz will be leading a zine-making workshop this evening. Focus on the politics and art of printmaking as you carve printing blocks and use stencils to construct a unique narrative on paper. Do you have something to say? Watch it materialize before your eyes.

    6-9 p.m., Walker Art Center, Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-375-7600; free.

    ART
    Ruskie Art

    100111_1_dt.jpgLooks like paper is the name of the game tonight. This is the final week to catch the Works on Paper exhibit at the Museum of Russian Art. This collection of drawings, etchings, and watercolors covers the entire spectrum of social and historical subjects of life in 20th century Russia. The museum is open until 8p.m. tonight, so it’s a great time to go. See Works on Paper in the Fireplace Gallery and be sure to catch other exhibits as well. The Soviet Breadbasket, on the main and mezzanine levels, includes almost 50 paintings featuring Russian landscape scenes and images of Soviet agriculture. And Russia, which just opened on the 14th in the Lower Gallery, features 20 large-format, high-fidelity color photograps by Andrew Moore that capture a glimpse of the grandeur of Imperial, pre-Revolutionary Russia as well as scenes reflecting the painful transition from the Communist to market economy of the 21st Century.

    10 a.m. to 8 p.m., The Museum of Russian Art, 5500 Stevens Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-821-9045.

    Also opening today at the Hopkins Center for the Arts is The Northern Landscape in the Charles D. Redepenning Gallery — photographs by Dave Eisenlord, woodcuts by Cecilie Lieder, and sculpture by Dean Rehpohl. And in the Lobby Gallery, Imagined Landscapes is opening with painting by Craig Bell and Deborah Thomas, and manipulated photography by Jes Lee. The opening reception is this evening from 6-8 p.m. at the Hopkins Center for the Arts, 1111 Mainstreet, Hopkins; 952-979-1103.

    BOOKS AND AUTHORS
    Changing Minnesota’s Future

    JF.jpgJeffrey Feldman, author of Framing the Debate: Famous Presidential Speeches and How Progressives Can Use Them to Change the Conversation (And Win Elections) and editor-in-chief of the political blog Frameshop, will be sharing and discussing his ideas this evening at Open Book. Clearly, you’ll notice the repetition of the word “frame” in Feldman’s titles. The concept of “framing” — originated by George Lakoff — centers on the idea that language can be used to evoke a moral worldview or core values that are already stored in our brains. Feldman suggests that progressives can use framing to communicate with each other, experience the world, and solve problems. Changing the Conversation, Changing Minnesota’s Future will feature a talk by Feldman, followed by a discussion about how progressive candidates, advocates, and citizens can make framing work for them.

    6:30-8 p.m., Open Book, Target Performance Hall, 1011 Washington Avenue S., Minneapolis; 651-917-6037; free with rsvp.

    LAST MINUTE ADDITION

    ShowLetter.jpgRandall Throckmorton and The Dreamland Faces are performing tonight at Clubhouse Jaeger. Stop by and catch the crooning troubadour with sawer/vocalist Andy McCormick and accordianist/vocalist Karen Majewicz. If you enjoy them this evening, you can catch them again on June 2nd at the Vaudevillian Stages show.

    9:30 p.m., 923 Washington Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612-332-2686.

  • Beware of Chuck Taylors

    allstars.jpg

    Just dropping in to leave this entertaining link to a ridiculous television news story coming out of Utah this week. It’s a wake-up call to parents about the dark side of their sulky-chic teenagers’ ugly tastes in music and fashion. They call their story “Emos Exposed.” And yes, fearful friends, they do refer to “emo” as in “emo culture” as in Conor Oberst, Jeff Buckley, and every other pouty boy you’ve wanted to bed. The reporter even makes a leap by connecting emos to self-mutilation.

    Note that the Wikipedia page to which the reporter links is in danger of deletion. What sport! Beware the teenager clad in All-Stars and concert tees …

  • The Eskola Dilemma

    By now the question, “What’s going on with Eric Eskola?” has been pretty well answered among media insiders. The question remaining is, “How do we explain it to the general public, if we do at all?”

    The position taken by WCCO-AM is to say simply that Eskola, the station’s heretofore indefatigable government and politics reporter, “Is taking a well deserved rest, we wish him only the best, we love him and we expect him to be back.”

    My first inclination has been to let that stand. But, if I were to apply The Golden Rule to this situation, where Eskola suddenly stepped away from coverage of the State Legislature in its final, most newsworthy hours, I would not want to hear whispers that I was being disciplined for some reason or another, or that my employers had yanked me from the beat.

    Eskola is a bit of a Minnesota icon for good reason. The guy is, and has been, tireless in his coverage of Minnesota politics and government, (not always the same thing, you know). Colleagues and competitors marvel at the hours he puts in covering his beat, which of course sprawls from WCCO radio to TPT’s “Almanac” and on and on.

    WCCO is, as I say, taking the position that it is, “respecting Eric’s privacy”, and on one level I can appreciate that. But my experience is that the public at large is tremendously sympathetic to public figures — especially those they admire for their work ethic and credibility — who reach a point of exhaustion, for whatever the reason, and have to leave the stage for a while.

    More to the point, it simply isn’t possible to pretend nothing is happening, or allow rumors to build that the reasons for Eskola’s absence are related to anything disciplinary or a dissatisfaction with his professional conduct.

    When Eskola returns from “a well-deserved rest” he can explain as much or as little as he wants. But for the time being, be advised that his issues are entirely personal and there is no truth to any suggestion that WCCO or CBS has made a move against him.

    I do wish him the best.

  • Reach for the Stars, the Cocks, or a Laugh

    SCIENCE
    Star Gazing

    stars.jpgWho would have thought that reaching for the stars only meant a short drive to Champlin. The Jackson Middle School Observatory is hosting a public star gazing this evening. Tour the observatory, see constellations in the Spring sky, and discuss your findings with the staff on hand. The public star gazing will occur whether clear or cloudy, but may be canceled due to foul weather. Check here for news on cancellations. And remember to dress for the weather. Park in the school’s West lot, and walk behind the school — between Park View Kindergarten Center and Jackson — to get to the observatory.

    8:30 p.m., Jackson Middle School Observatory, 6000 109th Ave., Champlin; 763-506-5372; free.

    MUSIC
    Thirteen Clear-Singing Cocks

    ensemble copy.jpgNamed for the “clear-singing” rooster in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the San Francisco based vocal ensemble Chanticleer was founded in 1978 by tenor Louis Botto. As the name suggests, the Grammy award-winning ensemble is best known for its vivid interpretations of vocal literature, from Renaissance to jazz, and from gospel to venturesome new music. With its seamless blend of thirteen male voices, ranging from countertenor to bass, the ensemble has earned international renown as “an orchestra of voices.” The highlight of this evening’s performance is the premiere of a piece entitled Jalepeno Blues, set to the words of Chicano poet Trinidad Sanchez Jr.

    7:30 p.m., Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E Exchange St., St. Paul; 651-290-1200; $27-$27.

    Fill a Strange Vacancy

    m_fd45a79548675d059242357b0f7668f6.jpgDanny Jack started out playing solo last summer after self producing the LP Three Chords Maybe Four. And while he still plays solo from time to time — you can catch him tomorrow night at Dusty’s — his main focus is now on Strange Vacancy, a new band playing his original music. Other band members include Dane Larson on drums, Hugh Springer on bass and vocals, and Jeff Stender on guitar. Tonight’s show offers an interesting mix of music, as they’ll be playing with The Twin Cities Playboys — who play a wide range of folk, bluegrass and country — and Morrison,

    8 p.m., Fine Line Music Cafe, 318 1st Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612-338-8100; get free tickets here.

    Watch and listen to Strange Vacancy.
    Listen to Strange Vacancy.
    Listen to The Twin Cities Playboys.

    COMEDY
    A Middle-of-the-Week Laugh

    woodst_m4.jpgGet a good laugh this evening. Tony Woods will be performing his first show in a 4-show stretch at the Acme Comedy Company. Recently brought to the forefront by Comedy Central, Woods knows how to play an audience and bring them into his strange world. His playful and cool demeanor, combined with sharp and mischievous subject matter, create a show that is unmistakably entertaining

    8 p.m., Acme Comedy Co, 708 North 1st St., Minneapolis; 612-338-6393; $15 ($27 for dinner and show).

    Watch a Tony Woods skit.

    ART by Ann Klefstad
    5 @ Gallery Co Ends This Week

    5.jpgThis show gathers some of the city’s best younger artists, across a broad spectrum of styles and media. Sean Connaughty takes a thoughtful conceptual approach to the intersection of natural form and cultural tropes, using ink, photo, sculpture, words, and whatever else comes to hand. Clea Felien searches for the essence of portrait subjects in her small, left-handed drawings. Celeste Nelms constructs weird photographic metaphors whose open-ended resolutions act like telescopes that track the psyche’s trail across the sky of time. Ben Olson’s expressionistic self-portraits seem to look for the borders of the bearable. Melissa Stang hasn’t shown around here lately but was an important figure in the ’90s, with shows at the Soap Factory and elsewhere. It’ll be fascinating to see what she’s been up to.

    10 a.m. to 5 p.m. or by appointment, Gallery Co, 400 1st Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612-332-5252.

  • Game Two In Texas: That There's The Team I Imagined Back In April

    Tonight’s game, along with last Friday’s win in Milwaukee (Bonser’s 11 strikeouts, Hunter’s grand slam), was a blueprint for the kind of team I thought the Twins were going to be coming into the season.

    Sort of, anyway.

    It still perplexes me that the guys in the middle of the order are being forced to pretty much score and drive in all the runs (Luis Castillo is batting .319 with a .368 OBP and he’s still a distant fourth on the club in runs scored –behind Morneau, Hunter, and Cuddyer). Considering how well those guys have done (and the absence of Mauer), it’s odd that the team has struggled as much as they have to score runs.

    The reason for that, of course, is that nothing much has fired on all cylinders for the Twins all season. Going into tonight the team had lost four of Johan Santana’s last five starts.

    They didn’t lose tonight, and the way Santana (and Neshek and Nathan out of the bullpen) pitched, the firepower of Morneau and Hunter was pure gravy, though certainly lots of fun to watch. Still, Morneau and Hunter drove in all seven of the Twins’ runs, and the 3-4-5 hitters (Cuddyer, Morneau, and Hunter) scored six of them. And those three pitchers combined for this extraordinary line: 18 strikeouts, five hits, and two walks.

    Hunter’s season has been an astonishing thing to witness, and I’ve never placed much stock in that old monkey business about guys putting up huge numbers in the last years of their contracts; the game’s just too damn hard to play for even great players to just crank it up a notch at will when there are tens of millions of dollars on the line.

    I’m still not sure what the hell Hunter’s doing differently this year, but he certainly looks like a guy who’s all of a sudden got things figured out. How often, though, does a guy make such great strides after he’s turned 30 (and Hunter will turn 32 in July)? Granted, it’s May, but the guy is on pace to post career bests in everything. He should easily have more doubles by the All Star break than he had in either of the last two seasons, and despite the fact that he’s slugged over .500 just once in the last six years, his slugging percentage currently sits at .616.

    I can’t figure it out, especially since he’s been hitting without any real protection all season.

    At any rate, that $12 million option the Twins picked up in the off-season –which I thought was a dicey move– is looking smarter all the time, even as Hunter is looking more and more like a guy who is pricing himself well out of Minnesota’s budget.

    It will be a damn shame if Torii finally puts together a monster year and the Twins finish in the middle of the division.

  • Open Thread: Lottery Disaster

    Okay folks, it really couldn’t have turned out much worse for the Timberwolves in the lottery tonight. True, the Wolves got the #7 choice, which was their mathematical likelihood in terms of record and ping-pong balls. But more importantly, the two top studs in the draft, Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, will be playing for teams in the Wolves’ Northwest Division, which will likely become the toughest in basketball over the next two or three years. Denver and Utah are both quality teams with a good mixture of youth and experience, and talent such as Deron Williams, Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson, Carlos Boozer, Nene and Andrei Kirilenko. Portland, with the top pick and the current rookie of the year in Brandon Roy, and Seattle, with Ray Allen and the second pick, now leapfrog ahead of Minnesota in terms of overall potential.

    Just to rub it in: Portland’s 5.3% chance of landing the top pick was no better or worse than Minnesota’s.

    What’s your take? Any chances of trading for one of Portland’s big men? Who should the Wolves grab with #7? And what’s your take on this latest bit of discouraging news?

  • Screw It

    90088l.jpg

    Don’t get me wrong. I’m as caught up in the romantic rituals of wine drinking as anyone: the instruments, shining and nearly surgical; the bottle long stored at a tilt; the small effort required to remove the cork; the serious sniff, the careful pour, the sip. But there are times I’m just not in the mood for the whole production. It seems there’s always a bottle of corked wine sitting on my countertop, waiting to be taken back. And I’m tired of my corkscrews being confiscated at the airport.

    The solution to all this: screwcap closure. Good for the industry, which loses a substantial amount of cash on the roughly 7 percent of wine bottles (according to a recent Wine Spectator study) containing TCA — a bacteria whose scientific name is 2,4,6-trichloroanisole — that are returned after purchase. Cork taint causes a wine to smell musty, like wet dog, and taste both rancid and "flat." The incidence of corkedness may be on the rise because some pollutants catalyze TCA. Also, in my opinion, we’re getting more discriminating about wine, rejecting the ever-so-slightly tainted bottles our parents might have drunk.

    We’re also an active generation, drinking wine wherever we go. My husband and I, for instance, are bikers who take long road trips by motorcycle, stopping along the way in inexpensive roadside motels, buying a bottle to share in our room after the day’s riding is done. At least one trip in three, we forget to pack the corkscrew, which means either buying one or picking up a screwcap wine. In a lot of small towns, this limits us to a couple sweet, dull, bottled-yesterday varieties. But happily, better wine stores now carry a range of no-cork wines from reputable vintners including Beringer, Hogue Cellars, and Beam Wine Estates.

    Haskell’s, the largest purveyor of fine wines in the five-state area, carries dozens of screwcap options. Today, Mitch Spencer, wine director for Haskell’s, says most of the screwcap wines he sells go for less than $15. But that’s changing. "Two years from now, I’ll have a full line of more expensive wines under screwcap," Spencer predicts. "The winemakers in Oregon, California, and Washington are all going in that direction."

    Luckily, though, the affordable screwcap wines he has available right now run the gamut from adequate to amazingly tasty. Here are some you might want to try:

    Gazela Vinho Verde 2006 (Portugal) — this is a sweet, frothy, nearly sparkling white with a melony aroma, effervescent mouth feel, and a clean, complete, finish; a beautiful label (which I’m told is important to the majority of female buyers) featuring artistic renderings of flowers and rain, 9% alcohol

    d’Arenberg Stump Jump White 2006 (Australia) — conjured out of Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Russanne, and Marsanne grapes, this blend is lemon-yellow and clear; mildly citrusy with a little chalk; and mellow but with a surprisingly musky finish; simply nice and a great accompaniment for a meal of pasta or white fish, 13% alcohol

    Domaine de Pouy 2005 (Cotes de Gascogne) — a clear, sun-filled white so clean it tastes diamond-cut; an aroma of wet rocks, hay, and field, with a full, assertive grassy flavor that lingers on the back of the tongue; excellent for drinking alone, 11.5% alcohol

    Bonterra Sauvignon Blanc 2006 (Mendocino and Lake counties) — so startlingly redolent of cantaloupe, drinking this wine is like eating a slice of fresh fruit; secondary notes of wildflowers and tart fruit; a full-bodied wine that can be paired with everything from shellfish to pork, 13.3% alcohol

    Newhaven Sauvignon Blanc 2006 (New Zealand) — a bewildering blend of sharp green pepper and pink grapefruit, this is an aggressive wine with complex layers of flavor and a full, flinty finish; a big taste that may not be for everyone but will provide ballast for a hearty vegetarian meal, 13.5% alcohol

    Le Grand Pinot Noir 2006 (Southern France, vineyard not specified) — truth, I detested this wine, but it’s one of Haskell’s top sellers, so others must disagree; flavors include soft plum, licorice, and — to my palate — a stale bit of shoe leather; light with no finish to speak of, 13% alcohol

    Laurel Glen Reds 2005 (Lodi, CA) — a blend of Zinfandel, Carignane, and Petite Sirah, this is a big, nearly heavy table wine with plenty of fruit; nice, if slightly off balance, it tastes of oak, cherry, and cassis; best served with burgers or brats, 14.5% alcohol

    d’Arenberg Stump Jump Red 2005 (Australia) — the first cousin of Stump Jump White is equally as drinkable, with an ultra-smooth blend of Grenache, Shiraz, and Mourvedre; woody, with notes of perfume and black cherry; big flavor with a dazzling finish; a great choice for a picnic: bread, cheese, fruit and wine, 14.5% alcohol

    Fess Parker Lot 71 Frontier Red (California) — this is a brand-new wine from a new vintner, and it’s phenomenal; earthy and ever-so-slightly meaty with generous touches of blackberry, cherry, violet, sandalwood, cinnamon and cassis; it’s a colossal taste that’s overtly sexy; drink this alone or with food, just drink it, 15.5% alcohol

  • Who do that voodoo?

    voodoo_doll.jpg

    Voodoo Doughnut, that’s who.

    Not only is this possibly the coolest doughnut shop on the planet, it’s a lesson.

    It’s a lesson about quitting your job and finding your life … about putting out a great and attention grabbing product … about having fun.

    Do you have a voodoo dougnut in you?

  • StribTV

    It says something about the quality and value of TV news, local TV news in particular, when a guy suggests a big city newspaper like the Star Tribune demonstrate a hipness to the coming convergence of internet and television and smart people react like he’s suggesting polluting Perrier with dioxin.

    In the previous post I argued that if Strib publisher, Par Ridder, and his Avista overseers had any inclination to invest in the paper’s future — and I see no evidence that they do — they could begin by dipping a toe in the “televisionation” of the paper’s best assets. “Television” being a loaded word, fraught with connotations of nit-wits, blowhards and pop effluvia, several of my regular readers reacted quite loudly.

    There was this from, “jimmy”:

    “Great strategy. Cut staff and then give those who survive a new medium they’ve had no experience with to feed every day. Both the paper and the website are bound to get better. It just makes so much sense. Can’t wait for the Bloomington City Planning pieces to hit the web.”

    And this from the, “frogman of grant”:

    “No thanks. I’ll see your numbing prospect of Katherine Kersten and James Lileks in high-def and raise you Lou Dobbs, Joe Scarborough, and Tucker Carlson. I mean, enough already.

    Worse, it seems that if I want to send you a snotty message like this three years hence I’ll have to somehow manage it via my TV.

    Maybe I’ll just read a book instead.”

    If the concept here were to repeat all the witless, dime-deep marketing spin and journalistic irrelevancies of local TV news and cable, I wouldn’t bother, and I certainly wouldn’t disagree with either gentleman’s concerns. But the whole point is a ready and relatively cheap opportunity to offer something far better. We’re talking an interactive and on-demand website from which you the reader/viewer not only gets all the printed copy of the present Strib but also a video component built around writers and reporters with established reputations. It would never be “all TV”, and there would be no reason outside of basic editorial judgment to limit “reports” to something less than the time it takes to tell the story — and maybe offer analysis.

    More to the point, unlike today’s TV news, where you’re held hostage by six minutes of redundant sports or the sight of Lou Dobbs once again blowing a feeder tube over immigration “amnesty”, you have total command over the menu of options. You can ignore sports or the opinion page entirely, or click away to literally anything else that is in the paper that day — or has been in it for months or years back.

    My underlying point is that newspapers — ironically — are better equipped to deal with the “televisionated” future than local TV newsrooms are. The latter have long ago been reduced to skeletal operations selling cornball “glamour” more than anything of depth in order to supply the 30%-40% profit margins THEIR owners have demanded. (Newspapers really are just arriving late to the game of strip-mining news operations for short-term profit.)

    As far as the “look” of StribTV, think more C-SPAN than a gorgeously shot KARE-11 sweeps piece on migrating ducks, at least at the start.

    Here are a couple examples of what is already being done. First, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post providing some interesting background and context for Al Gore testifying on Capitol Hill before Oklahoma flat-Earther, James Inhofe.

    And then, as an example of the consumer/sales possibilities, here’s consumer tech writer, David Pogue of the New York Times.

    Or, (just to annoy him), my old pal, David Carr from the Times doing a ditty on the New York Auto Show. (Carr vows this was a one time only deal. But I liked it.)

    No individual reader reads the entire newspaper. “Consumers” cherry pick the subjects and writers they’re interested in. What could and should come next is a way to give those cherry pickers more of what they already like, and at no significant new cost in terms of hardware.

    (In the comments, “TV Guy” correctly points out that Hi-Def cameras and editing decks are cheap and not particularly difficult to learn, certainly not by professional shooters already on staff at most papers. And hell, Ridder and Avista have already covered the cost of a dozen cameras and editing decks by firing the sweet old ladies at the switchboard.)

    Can’t stand Nick Coleman? Experience the thrill of cutting Nick off in mid-sentence and clicking over to Katherine Kersten. No interest in Billy Friedkin’s director’s comments on the latest re-release of, “The French Connection”? To hell with Randy Salas’ DVD review, hit up the Strib’s Capitol Hill reporters grilling Minority Leader Marty Seifert.

    Would a stray newspaper wonk go nutty with prolonged exposure to a TV camera and turn into a spittle-flinging caricature of Chris Matthews? Oh, probably. But in an interactive world, he disappears at the click of the button and instead you’re sitting in on the editorial board’s discussions over who to endorse in the next election. The potential for features — with architecture coverage, TV and music reviews, etc. are obvious. Likewise for sports, think of the possibilities for Pat Reusse to goad AJ Pierzynski the next time the Sox are in town.

    Could say, WCCO-TV, do something like this … and with better looking people, (I mean, they’ve already got Pat Kessler …)? Sure. But no local TV station is ever going to make the investment in staff to approach the size of a major newspaper — at least not a paper like the Star Tribune of today, before it’s gutted by Ridder and Avista.

    Obviously, there are technological advances required here beyond just digital TVs and higher-powered servers. Not far over the horizon, for example, are highly portable, flexible/”foldable” ergonomically appealing screens for downloading all internet content, including that from major newspapers. (Considering the carbon footprint of forests leveled for newsprint and fleets of trucks and cars to deliver the paper version of the paper, there’s even more to said for “televisionating” ASAP. And hell, if you’re so hopelessly old school you have to feel paper in your hands you can always download the damn thing.)

  • The Horror

    FILM
    Hearts of Darkness

    Francis-Ford-Coppola-a-cautat-o-strada-din-proza-lui-Eliade-2.jpgIn preparation for Francis Ford Coppola’s sold-out presentation tomorrow night, the Walker is featuring Hearts of Darkness this evening. If you have somehow managed to miss this documentary about the making of Coppola’s Apocalypse Now until now, go, go, go! The production of Apocalypse Now is infamous for its scope, tension, and excess. Remember the opening scene in which Martin Sheen loses his shit and punches a mirror? Rumor has it that Sheen was really losing his shit here and Coppola just kept filming. Follow Coppola as he risks his sanity and professional career to craft his masterpiece.

    7:30 p.m., Walker Art Center Cinema, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-375-7600; $8 ($6 Walker members; free for students with ID).

    SOCIAL
    Girls’ Night Out

    Fondue chocolat.jpgLet’s face it, girls, it behooves us to leave the men at home now and then and hit the town in search of a pleasant all-girls evening. To this end, The Melting Pot is hosting its first-ever Girls’ Night Out this evening — an event they hope to continue on the fourth Tuesday of each month. Sample the restaurant’s specialty cheese and chocolate fondues, salad, and a glass of wine or a specialty cocktail. Plus, they’re trying to arrange onsite spa treatments, including chair massages and paraffin dips, courtesy of New Reflections Salon. All this sans men. What could be more relaxing?

    5:30 to 9 p.m., The Melting Pot, 80 S. 9th St., Minneapolis; 612-338-9900; $35.

    POETRY
    Go Light the World

    GLTW2007_small.jpgHonor our young Quest for the Voice poets as they leave for the Brave New Voice International Youth Poetry Slam Festival in San Jose, CA. This amazing group of multi-cultural writers and performers give voice to the spoken word art form that honors the individual and brings forward the many stories, experiences, dreams, convictions, and perspectives of urban youth that all too often go unheard. The poets will also pay tribute to the great 20th-century American poet, novelist, and playwright Langston Hughes on the 40th anniversary of his passing. The evening will feature the Quest for the Voice poets, Robert Robinson and the Twin Cities Community Gospel Choir, and messages from author Julia Dinsore, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, and Minneapolis City Council Member Rev. Don Samuels. Free parking is available in the underground garage at Wells Fargo Bank and in the surface lot on Marquette Avenue.

    7 p.m., Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1200 Marquette Ave., Minneapolis; 612-965-9446; free.

    Listen to Quest for the Voice readings.

    ART AND HISTORY
    Ojibwe Life in Minnesota

    main_cameraojibwa02.jpgCelebrate the opening of Camera Ojibwe: Photos of Ojibwe Life with a blessing by Mille Lacs Band member and spiritual advisor Herb Sam, traditional Ojibwe songs, and remarks by author Bruce White. Based on White’s book We Are At Home: Pictures of the Ojibwe People, the exhibit features photographs from the first 100 years of photography — ranging from daguerreotypes to studio portraits to postcards to snapshots. “The result is a thought-provoking exploration of the complex circumstances behind the creation of different photographs, the meanings hidden beneath common stereotypes and the actual stories of the people pictured, their names, their lives, their families and communities.”

    7 p.m., Minnesota History Center, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul; 651-259-3015; $8 ($6 seniors and students, $4 children).

    COMMUNITY
    Hands On Twin Cities Volunteer Cafe

    volunteer cafe button.jpgLooking for interesting new ways to help your community? Hands On Twin Cities helps individuals and groups find meaningful volunteer work. During this informal event, you will find out how you can get involved in a way that matches your skills and interests with a community need. You will also hear from several local nonprofit organizations about the work they do and ways you can help.

    6 p.m., Loring Park Dunn. Bros., 329 West 15th St., Minneapolis; 612-872-4410; free.