The Rake Magazine

Month: July 2007

  • Be Amazed

    A quick tip: If you, being well-dressed but nevertheless short on coin, were to perform the amazing feat of unearthing designer duds from garage sale racks this weekend, you’d have better luck if you were to position yourself in the vicinity of 60th and France this morning/afternoon/tomorrow. Me, I’m currently stuck in the office – putting the finishing touches on the August issue. But, should I be successful at sneaking out to get my own look-see at this extra-special sale, I’ll report back with the finds.

  • Potter Potables

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    FRIDAY
    Are you one of the obsessed? Will you be waiting in line at the stroke of midnight when the final Harry Potter is released? My geekish clan will be decked out and hotly debating our picks for the dead pool while we wait in line. Before we don our capes (yes, we have three), the Madame Rosmerta in me will most likely brew up some Butterbeer for me and the kids. I might whip up a batch of Mrs. Weasley’s rock cakes or some Hogwarts Express cauldron cakes for in-line noshing. If only I had a house-elf.

    SATURDAY
    The husband plays on a team in the AHA which is known around here as Old Guy Hockey. They’ve struck up a friendship with another team in Eau Claire who call themselves The Mighty Docs and have scheduled an off-season summer game. Oh, and then both teams are COMING TO MY HOUSE FOR DINNER.

    At first, there was a casual “hey let’s have everyone bring something to grill and we’ll play it by ear” thing. Sorry, I’m WAY too much of a control freak for that. What if someone brings frozen burger patties and someone else brings steak? What if someone brings potato salad and someone else brings potato salad? No no no. I’d rather handle it all and make sure that needs are met and flavors mingle. So it’s a pizza party, because it’s easy, popular, and I didn’t put a wood-burning oven in my house for decor reasons.

    Clearly we’ll headline with all-time-faves pepperoni/sausage and four cheese. Big winners have included bbq shrimp, buffalo chicken, goat cheese/pesto and salami/red pepper. When I think people are winding down, I’ll sneak in one of my favorites: prosciutto and brie with capers and truffle oil or arugula, red onion and large curls of parm with a fried egg on top.

    SUNDAY
    Brunch with the girls. Looking for somewhere not too stuffy, somewhere that has honest, delicious, high-quality food (given the real potential for pizza overdose the night before), somewhere I can cackle loudly over copious amounts of strong coffee…in short, Cafe Twenty-Eight in Linden Hills.

  • A Good Performance Is a Temporal Affair

    MUSIC

    The Chris Isaak show at the Minnesota Zoo is sold out this evening, but you’ve got a couple other great options. Catch Rocco Deluca with The Last Goodnight and the lovely Sara Bareilles tonight at The Fine Line Music Café, or let a little O’Reagan into your soul.

    From Leatherwoods to Jayhawks to Free Bird

    tim-oreagan.jpgShortly after Tim O’Reagan’s arrival from Kansas in ’88, it became clear that this Leatherwoods drummer was something special. While other members of the band were singing about eight-balls and dicks, O’Reagan shyly smiled over his drumsticks as he proclaimed himself a happy man in that upbeat Marvin-Gaye style of his. Quiet though he was, it was no surprise when O’Reagan continued on to fame with The Jayhawks as the other Leatherwoods fizzled out. Almost two decades later — with a touch more irony, a sprinkling of Dylanesque grit, and an overlooked solo debut — O’Reagan retains his understated manner. He advances quietly, slips in through the back door in the true fashion of a drummer, and consistently delivers solid performances. And bam, one day you wake up and he’s a true pop star.

    Friday at 9 p.m., 400 Bar, 400 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-332-2903; $12.

    THEATER & PERFORMANCE – PUPPETS by Danielle Kurtzleben
    The Mother of All Enemies

    600b.jpgYou probably know Paul Zaloom as Beakman from the early-’90s kids’ science show Beakman’s World. This is a shame, since the man is a jack-of-all-trades — a political satirist, performance artist, filmmaker, as well as a wicked puppeteer with a whole mess of theatre awards to his name. Tonight., he brings his latest shadow puppet show, The Mother of All Enemies to the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre. Relentlessly of-the-moment, Mother of All Enemies is a comedy about the adventures of Karagoz, “an Arab, secular humanist / Quaker / Buddhist / agnostic / political refugee / immigrant / queer / artist / weirdo” (per the Heart of the Beast website) who is pursued by everyone from the Israeli secret service to Christian ex-gay activists. This is a one night performance only, so don’t put it off.

    Friday at 7:30 p.m., Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, 1500 E. Lake St., Minneapolis; 612-721-2535; $15.

    Barebones Dumpster Duels

    skull copy.jpgAlso on the puppetry agenda for the weekend is the Barebones Dumpster Duels 2007, a 48-hour contest of theater teams who will write, build, and present a performance art spectacle using puppets, props, and sets made from the contents of dumpsters filled with scavenged materials and actual trash. The event begins on Friday, at 6:30 p.m., with a kick-off ceremony. Cheer your teams on and stop by throughout the weekend to see how they’re doing. Then be sure to go back on Sunday, at 6:30 p.m., for an outdoor performance of the pieces. I imagine it’ll be quite wacky.

    Kick-off ceremony Friday at 6:30 p.m., performances Sunday at 6:30 p.m., Bedlam Theatre, 1501 6th St. S., next to the Cedar/Riverside LRT stop, Minneapolis; 612-341-1038; free.

    THEATER & PERFORMANCE – MUSICAL by Christy DeSmith
    The Musical Cure for the Blue State Blues

    GiantBush.jpgThe cabaret-style musical Bush Is Bad opens this evening. Regardless of all the reports about beleaguered Republican politicians, it’s liberals who’ve recently been found, by Pew Research Center pollsters, to be “less happy” than their compatriots at the other end of the political spectrum. This madcap musical was created in hopes of cheering them up. Joshua Rosenblum, a New York City-based composer/lyricist, channeled seven years of angst into this comic revue, whose cast lampoons the likes of Dick Cheney, Condi Rice, Ann Coulter, and, of course, our hapless Commander in Chief. The raucous (not to mention vicious) libretto features such memorable lyrics as “Won’t somebody give this guy a blowjob so we can impeach him?”

    Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., Old Arizona Theater, 2821 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis; 612-871-0050; $25 (students/seniors/groups $20).

    COMEDY
    Roadtrip USA – The Worst Places in America

    harmonleon copy.jpgMultimedia is the name of the game these days. No doubt about it. It’s no longer enough just to write a book; now you have to perform it as well — or something like that. San Francisco writer and performer Harmon Leon serves up a multimedia comedy performance this evening to promote and supplement his latest book — and just to make you laugh. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of National Lampoon’s Vacation this year, National Lampoon sent Leon on a road trip to what they considered to be some of the worst places in the country. (I can’t wait to see what qualifies as a bad place to National Lampoon.) The result was Leon’s latest book, National Lampoon’s Roadtrip USA, and now a comedic performance piece that includes videos from his trip. Yes, I guess he’s a videographer too. Is there anything this man can’t do?!

    Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m., Bryant Lake Bowl, 810 West Lake St., Minneapolis; 612-825-3737; $10-$15 (students $8).

    ART & CARS
    ArtCar Parade

    cameravan_385.jpgSurely you’ve seen some of the strange “artsy” cars around town. I’ve seen cars painted with daisies, cars covered in bottle caps, and cars with strange sculptures protruding from the roof. And of course, I’ve always wondered… why? Perhaps I’ve finally found my answer. (Truth is, this is probably not the reason, but that’s ok; it’s reason enough to justify it in my mind.) This weekend is the 13th annual CarSoup.com ArtCar Parade. Don’t miss this community-wide celebration of creativity that takes art out of the galleries and onto the streets. Do you have an ArtCar of your own? Rev up your engines and get ready to burn rubber, at 10 miles per hour. Staging begins on 28th, between Hennepin and Emerson Avenues, at noon on Saturday. Otherwise, just line up along Hennepin and watch the spectacle at 2 p.m. Cars will remain parked at Intermedia Arts for public viewing after the parade. See here for Friday Pre-Parade events, as well.

    Saturday at 2 p.m., Hennepin to Lyndale Ave. S. on 28th St., Minneapolis; 612-871-4444; free.

    FESTIVALS
    Cumbia con Chicharrón

    July 20th is Colombian Independence Day, so on Saturday — the day after — Maria’s Cafe will be celebrating its seventh annual Colombian Independence Festival with live entertainment, dancing and dance groups, typical Colombian food, and plenty of beer with which to lube those hinges. Acts include DJ Henry “El Caleño,” musical duo Leo and Kathy Lara, Rumba Eterna, Colombian dancers Fuego Latino, and the Robert Everest Expedition. Get ready to swing those hips, baby. Prove to me that Minnesotans aren’t all flat-footed.

    3-9 p.m., Ancient Traders Market Plaza, 11th Ave. & Franklin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-870-9842; free.

    Aquatennial RiverBlast & Fireworks

    fireworksAT copy.jpgThe 2007 Minneapolis Aquatennial comes to a head this weekend with Saturday night’s firework spectacular. This is better than the 4th of July, folks. According to the Aquatennial website, it’s actually the fourth largest fireworks show in the country. What does that mean? Biggest bang? Most fuses? Broadest palette? We’re talking more than 10,000 pounds of explosives and 45 miles of wire. Damn! Start out in the early evening with the KOOL 108 RiverBlast along West River Road – live entertainment, food, and fun for the whole family. Then find a place to settle in for a flashy display of pyrotechnics. The fireworks will be set off from the 3rd Avenue Bridge, so find a good spot near St. Anthony Main, on Nicollet Island, or by the Lock and Dam along the river banks.

    Riverblast Saturday and Sunday from 6-10:30 p.m., fireworks Saturday around 10 p.m., West River Road, along the Mississippi River, Minneapolis; free.

    FILM
    Quick Movie Line-up

    NakedGroceries.jpgLooking for movies and openings this weekend? Rescue Dawn opens tonight at the Uptown. Lady Chatterley opens tonight at the Edina. Joshua and Cashback open tonight at the Lagoon. Casino Royale shows outdoors tonight at the St. Paul Central Library. And Better off Dead shows Saturday at midnight at the Uptown. Enjoy!

  • More Sushi!

    Oh boy! A sushi tsunami in downtown Minneapolis! We’ve already got Origami, Nami, and Koyi Sushi in the warehouse district, sushi at Martini Blu at the Grand Hotel, Ichiban on the Nicollet Mall, Wasabi on Washington Avenue near the Metrodome, Tensuke Sushi in the skyways… and now, joining them in mid-August, in the former Olive Garden space on the corner of 6th and Hennepin, will be Musashi Japanese Restaurant. According to manager Mickey Liu, owner Tyu Di Chen, a native of China, worked at Japanese restaurants in Japan for ten years before coming to the States. Just how Musashi will differentiate itself from its competitors isn’t clear, but Liu says his restaurant’s cuisine will be better.

  • Rakette to Marry Penguin: A Love Story From AMG.

    As this is my first blog, I feel that I need to tell you a little about myself:

    Born and raised Savage, Minnesota, I will never have a trust fund, allow my children to live off a trust fund, or even be remotely considered a ‘trust fund baby.’ But I would drop what ever I am doing to ride in their daddy’s yachts, go up to their families ‘cabin’ (which is usually more impressive that their house, and has a toy collection that rivals a Yamaha showroom), or drive their cars. Well, that is if their car happens to be THE Mercedes CLS 55 AMG.

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    Last Thursday I spent the day in one of the hottest cars in Tinseltown, or as was the case on Thursday, on 35W-S. The hours in the day weren’t long enough as I tried to savor each and every stare I got on the road as I drove what is (and will be) the nicest car that I had ever ‘owned.’ I felt as though I was playing house as I tried to convince my younger sister that my job had given me the car for the summer because I run a lot of errands for the company, and as I rolled the windows all the way down so that the tell-tale stickers on the windows were hidden.

    As nice as the CLS 55 was looking, the true beauty of this car is under the hood. Let’s just say that I went 0-50mph in 4 seconds, and the only reason I stopped at 50 was that I didn’t want to speed- but the car did. That car is made for speed, especially with a jaw-dropping 476 horsepower powered by a 5.5-liter supercharged V8 engine.

    I picked up my dad and drove him around for a while because he is a car-freak, and let him get behind the wheel- just for a little bit though, because I was having too much fun. He was pretty quiet about the car until he got behind the wheel and let the pedal touch the floor once the light turned green. “Holy s*@#!,” was the reaction that let me know that he approved.

    Yes, the engine is a little extravagant for a 4-door luxury car, but this car is on a whole other level than the Lexus and Infiniti high-end cars that speckle the roads in Wayzata, Edina and Minnetonka. The CLS 55 AMG says I have money, I take care of myself, and I’m here to party.

    With a statement like that, it is easy to see why this car can please just about anyone (with a cushy bank account). The Edina mom likes the design and the features, the Wayzata dad likes the speed, and the Holy Angels trust-fund kid likes how the Harmon Kardon speakers can out-power the other kid’s systems in the high school parking lot.

    The day after I had to let the CLS go and hop back into my Mazda 626, I had another run-into with a CLS 55 in Stillwater of all places! After an interesting party-bus ride to the Freight House in Stillwater, my girlfriends and I met a bunch of hockey players from BU, one of whom had just been signed by the Pittsburg Penguins. Towards the end of our time there I witnessed the conversation between the Penguin and his sober cab, who was holding up what can only be described as a good memory. He was holding up the CLS 55 key, which actually looks more like a USB flash drive than a regular key, and didn’t understand how this was going to start the car. I ran over and quickly asserted myself as the CLS 55 expert that I had become, and became attached at the hip with the Penguin to assure that I would be able to drive the CLS 55 again for many years. Look for wedding invitations in the mail come the end of next week.

    Cydney Wuerffel (for now)

  • Disgusted: Toast On A Rollercoaster

    How many runners can one team strand? How many decent –and even great– pitching performances can one team waste? How does a team that scored 32 runs in a doubleheader in Chicago turn around and manage just 24 runs in six games coming out of the All Star break?

    I’ll be good and damned if I know.

    In case you’re not paying close attention, that’s five straight one-run games, and three straight one-run losses.

    This is the fucking American League, dammit. Get a real DH.

    It’s all strictly for entertainment purposes the rest of the way. Let’s see the Twins prove me wrong.

    If you’re interested in more on this sorry impasse, go over and check out my conversation with Britt Robson and David Brauer at On the Ball. We go into the morass in a bit more detail there.

  • KARE and Huppert Nab National Emmy Nomination

    Having fallen far out of the habit of watching primetime network TV, I can’t add much to any discussion of who got hosed when the Emmy nominations were announced today.

    I was pleased with the final season of The Sopranos, which by all the nods looks to clean-up big time at the Emmy Awards Show in September. I watched most of Lost and thought it rebounded well from a lousy third season. But it didn’t rate an Outstanding Drama nomination. Likewise, The Wire, on HBO, has been a terrific series for years and still can’t get a couple cheap statuettes for its troubles.

    Meanwhile, 24 got stiffed and I hear no complaints from anyone who watched that thing week after week last winter and spring.

    But I have to acknowledge the respect the Academy showed KARE here in the Twin Cities with a “real” Emmy — in the news categories announced yesterday — for a four-minute feature called “Portrait of Compassion,” broadcast on KARE last November and picked up by The Today Show a couple months later. According to KARE News Director Tom Lindner, the show ran unedited, a rare occurrence when the network dogs get their paws on an affiliate’s work.

    “Portrait of Compassion,” reported by Boyd Huppert and photographed by John Drilling, profiles a Utah artist, Kaziah Hancock, who has taken upon herself the duty of painting a portrait of every U.S. soldier killed in Iraq and sending it to the surviving family free of charge.

    Lindner remembers seeing a blurb about the woman, “maybe in People Magazine or somewhere.” Following this, he dispatched Drilling and Huppert, an unusually deft and sensitive TV writer, to Utah, then up to Northome, and finally to the home of the parents of Staff Sargent Dale Panchot, for the portrait’s arrival.

    Here is the text of Huppert’s story.

    Here is the story as it appeared on KARE and NBC.

    Here is a link to the artist’s website.

    The other nominees for Outstanding Feature Story in a Regularly Scheduled Newscast include two CBS Sunday Morning pieces, one by Bill Geist, and one from ABC World News with Charles Gibson, so don’t ask what the odds are. But even a nomination for a national Emmy looks good in the resumé.

    Attaboys.

  • Twins Diablog #3: Fish or Cut Bait?

    It is past time for another Twins diablog, ostensibly round three in an ongoing conversation about the state of the hometown nine, with participants including yours truly, Warning Track Power blogger and Rake staffer Brad Zellar, and sports maven freelance writer David Brauer. We had similar bits just before the season started and over Memorial Day.

    This time it is a bit truncated, in that I made my first post to Zellar and Brauer yesterday afternoon, in between the Twins 1-0 loss on Tuesday and their 3-2 loss on Wednesday. Zellar responded late last night after covering the game at the Dome, and Brauer is currently M.I.A. but will probably speak his mind in the comments section. Same thing goes for my subsequent posts on the subject, and hopefully Zellar’s, and hopefully yours.

    For the record, my proposal for the Twins to start retooling for next year is hardly a surprise, given my ongoing belief that the team just didn’t have enough to contend this season anyway. But Zellar, perhaps in the throes of post-game depression (he does live and die with the Twins on a pretty visceral level), raised at least my eyebrows by proposing, or perhaps just entertaining, a thorough housecleaning.

    Read on and then toss in your two cents…

    Britt Robson

    Fish or cut bait? That’s the question facing the Twins on July 18, 93 games into the season, when they are seven back of Detroit and six behind Cleveland with 69 to play. If the Tigers played a smidgen above .500 the rest of the way (36-35), the Twins would have to go 42-27–a higher winning percentage than any current MLB team possesses–just to tie them. And even then, Cleveland would have to also descend into mediocrity rather than continue on with their current status quo.

    Obviously I’m in favor of cutting bait. And that means dealing Torii Hunter for the best prospect(s) the team’s notoriously wise scouting system can identify.

    Before continuing on, it is time for me to eat a little crow on Hunter. I have kept waiting for him to come back to earth and be the dunderheaded free-swinging, guess-oriented, unclutch hitter I’ve come to know and suspect. But after more than a year now of quality at-bats and solid run production, it is time to believe Hunter’s pronouncements of maturity. In last night’s excruciating shutout loss to Detroit, Hunter was 0-2 with a lefty on the mound in a scoreless game–exactly the kind of situation when he used to go for broke (and be broken). But four straight times he ignored the meanandering nibbles from Nate Robertson and drew the walk. Bravo. And while his defense may have slipped just a titch, it is still close to Gold Glove-caliber.

    The problem isn’t with Hunter’s current production, it is what he’ll command on the free market, especially in terms of contract length. Today happens to be Torii’s 32nd birthday. He is going to be offered a contract with a minimum of five years on it for a minimum of $75 million. If the Twins do a deal that pays a 37-year old outfielder at least $15 million in 2012, how much are Justin Morneau, Johan Santana and Joe Mauer worth at that time? Or forget about 2012; if anyone thinks Morneau and Santana aren’t a tad curious about how the Hunter situation works out, they’re the same starry-eyed lovelies who think the return of Rondell White will happen, let alone help. You give Hunter a fat contract and you simply can’t keep both Morneau and Santana.

    At least Hunter’s biggest media cheerleader, the Strib’s Jim Souhan, understands this. When I was on the radio with him late last month, he strongly intimated that Hunter is a greater priority than Santana, on the standard line that Hunter plays every day but Santana is one out of five. As someone who would like to blame either the ganja or the tequila for my deranged opinions on the Orioles Eric Bedard soon eclipsing Santana as the premiere pitcher in the American League (in the comments section of Brad’s Warning Track Power blog), I disagree with Souhan. But even so, Souhan’s argument is strengthened by the surfeit of pitching prospects in the Twins minor league system and the total absence of quality outfield candidates.

    But back to the original, overriding topic. There is always the possibility that the Twins will neither fish nor cut bait, but simply play out the string this season without an attempt to upgrade in either the short-term or long-term with new personnel. In fact, Terry Ryan’s temperament and past history would indicate that’s the most likely outcome. I think I’m on record in the last two roundtables as saying that if the team does indeed intend to challenge for the AL Central crown, they clearly need a bat, and the season thus far reinforces that view. Does anybody envision Ryan renting a dangerous bat in exchange for one of his precious pitching prospects?

    That’s why Hunter needs to be dealt, as soon as possible, while his value is still high. And I’d also flip Luis Castillo for a solid prospect. Ditto Rincon or, more plausibly, Matt Guerrier, because a boatload of contenders need bullpen help. I think the Twins have proven that their coterie of scouts assess talent as well or better than any club in baseball. Stockpiling some promising pieces and making a run next year, when all of their key pieces will be another year deeper or nearer their primes, is the smart way to go.

    Brad Zellar

    It’s always viewed as heresy to trade a good player in his prime, but, like most heresies, the long view usually makes the actual act look, at the worst regrettable, and at best, much ado about nothing.

    When you think about the great fleecings in Major League history you’re usually talking about a decent or even great player being traded for a bunch of guys who nobody’d much heard of at the time. The Pierzynski trade, for instance. And, yeah, I know there are exceptions, but they’re actually pretty rare. What I’m saying is that after the fact you generally remember the guys you’d never heard of at the time –Jeff Bagwell, for instance, or Joe Nathan, or Francisco Liriano.

    I think Torii Hunter is as good as he’s ever going to get. All available evidence–and there’s a lot of it–suggests that he’s at the age where decline is inevitable, and can be marked. He’s sure as hell not worth how much it’s now going to cost to keep him. I still believe the Twins erred in not moving him before this year. At this point he becomes a rent-a-player, and savvy as Minnesota’s scouting people might be, they’re still not in the bargaining position they would have been a year or two ago, so I don’t realistically have any idea what the hell they could get for him –or, for that matter, who the hell they’d play in his absence.

    That said, I don’t see any way they can keep him beyond this year, not after Ichiro’s contract.

    And the Twins obviously have bigger questions beyond the hole Hunter would leave. They also have other (big) fish to fry in the budget department. Everybody talks about Morneau and Santana in the same breath as Hunter, but there’s also the Mauer contract to consider, and the situations of Joe Nathan, Michael Cuddyer, and, now, Pat Neshek.

    After tonight’s (Wednesday night’s) one-run loss to the Tigers, which cost the Twins another game in the standings and provided the latest indicator that this just isn’t a team built to contend right now, it seems plenty apparent that Terry Ryan and company need to recognize that their real job at the moment is providing a better supporting cast for their young stars and up-and-coming arms. The farm system might be stocked with pitching, but there’s virtually nothing in the way of offensive help on the horizon, and offensive help is what this team desperately needs.

    Terry Ryan has done a terrific job, but it’s times like this that I wish we had a different, even more reckless, general manager. And along those lines, here’s some serious heresy: how much could the Twins get for Johan Santana on the open market right now? A lot, I’m supposing, a shit load. Particularly if they can think creatively (and rationally) enough to recognize that by trading him they’re essentially freeing up hundreds of millions of salary down the road.

    It would hurt, sure, but how many pitchers of Santana’s caliber manage to just keep doing it year in and year out? He already has a lot of innings under his belt –this year should mark the fourth straight season of 200+ innings– and, yeah, he has great mechanics and is in terrific condition, but pitching is hell on the human arm, and the odds overwhelmingly suggest that he’s due at some point in the next two or three years to run into some arm trouble.

    Already this season we’ve seen him laboring in unaccustomed fashion. His fastball isn’t quite what it used to be, and some of the inflated pitch counts and prolonged at bats we’ve seen this year are an indication of that. The 15-pitch at bat Carlos Guillen (in which he fouled off ten of Santana’s pitches) had in the fourth inning of tonight’s game was the sort of thing we’ve seen more often this year than in any other season.

    Very, very few pitchers ever end up justifying gigantic, long-term, guaranteed contracts. It’s just the reality of the game, and the Twins aren’t the sort of team that’s in a position to gamble on the durability and continued excellence of a starting pitcher, no matter how good he might presently be. They’ve got pitchers. They got more pitchers coming. What they need right now, and into the future, are some guys who can hit the fucking ball.

    All right, I’m just in a hog-wild, if-I-ran-the-zoo frame of mind (those last couple games will do that to a guy), but if you put any stock at all in Billy Beane’s philosophy you likely wouldn’t hesitate to unload Joe Nathan to the highest bidder and install Neshek in his place.

    Neshek has been phenomenal, he clearly has stones, and he’s got the nasty stuff and freak-show intangibles to be a closer.

    Closers are overrated: look at the guy who was on the mound for the Tigers at the end of the game tonight (Todd Jones) –he’s wearing his eighth different Major League uniform, had a brief stint with the Twins, and is on his second go-round with Detroit.

    Or look at Joe Borowski in Cleveland. Or Francisco Cordero in Milwaukee.

    Also, yes, absolutely, go ahead and see what you can get for Castillo and Rincon. The Twins can call up Alexi Casilla and throw him out there at second or third –he can swap around the rest of the year with Punto and Rodriguez.

    I’d hang onto Guerrier, just because the guy has been so tremendous this year after being forced into a bigger role in a pinch. But if the organization has shown one consistent knack over the years, it’s the ability to find and groom guys just like Guerrier (and Neshek, and, for that matter, Rincon).

  • Conflict, Context & Connections

    Hopefully, you made it to the Robert F. Kennedy Junior event this morning and you’re all geared up and ready to save the world. Now, let me ask you: are you by any chance Middle Eastern?

    PUBLIC INSIGHT FORUM
    U.S-Iranian Tensions

    3075435941.jpgIt’s no secret that Iran and the United States haven’t quite been getting along. The strained relationship has become a focus of tension in the Middle East. But what about right here, at home? How are Iranians feeling about what’s going on in their country? Perhaps if you’re Iranian, or even from any other place in the Middle East, you can share your thoughts. Minnesota Public Radio is collaborating with the Twin Cities Daily Planet and The Friends of the Minneapolis Public Library to gather members of the Iranian community in Minnesota for a public insight forum. Share your views on the growing tension between the United States and Iran. Admission is free, but reservations are required. Register here.

    6:30 – 8:30 p.m., Pohlad Hall, Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis; 612-630-6000; free, but registration required.

    PERFORMANCE
    Air Guitar Nation

    AGN14web-1.jpgWatch legions of aspiring young rock stars live out their dream to become the world champion in a strange world where musical ability plays second fiddle to virtual virtuosity. Tonight marks the Minneapolis premiere of Air Guitar Nation, a documentary chronicling the birth of the U.S. Air Guitar Championships. Strange enough for you? Ridiculous enough? People take this shit seriously, my friends; but you certainly don’t have to. Just go for a good laugh, and enjoy air guitar antics set to the music of Motorhead, Smashing Pumpkins, The Darkness, Kiss, Cheap Trick, The Hives, David Bowie, Boston, Extreme, The Donnas, Judas Priest, Queen, The Who, and David Lee Roth (Please, no. Not “Jump”!).

    7 p.m., Bryant Lake Bowl, 810 W. Lake St., Minneapolis; 612-825-3737; $7.

    Coffee, Soup, and Poetry

    If you’d rather be the one performing this evening — or if you’re just in the mood for a fun mellow evening of poetry, stories, and song — head over to Open Book’s Coffee Gallery for their weekly open mic. The Prism Poetry Series, hosted by Fluffy Singler, is open to poets, storytellers, acoustic musicians, and performance artists. Enjoy the artistic camaraderie with the Coffee Gallery’s gourmet coffee drinks, bottled beer, handcrafted soups, sandwiches, pasta salads, and pastries.

    7-10 p.m., Coffee Gallery, Open Book, 1011 Washington Ave., Minneapolis; 612-215-2626.

    VISUAL ART
    Gallery Grooves at CorAzoN

    groove-1.gifJoin us for Gallery Grooves this evening, The Rake’s monthly art, jazz, and wine event. Peruse the art of Andy Richter and Jenny Jenkins at the opening of their new exhibit — Survival and Revival: Photography of New Orleans. Socialize and discuss the latest jazz with Kevin Barnes from KBEM. Enjoy free libations, compliments of The Wine Company. Featured jazz selections include: Harry Connick Jr., Chansons De Vieux Carre; Irma Thomas, After The Rain; and The Wild Magnolias, They Call Us Wild.

    7 to 9 p.m., CorAzoN, 204 Washington Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612-333-1662; free.

    Source and Metaphor

    7ff99de70cb77bf13e0a9c1fa2220ce7_scale_84_120-1.jpgAlso opening this evening is Christine Herman’s Source and Metaphor exhibit at the Nina Bliese Gallery — or at least the opening reception is tonight. Herman’s monotypes tend toward the abstract and seek to establish an emotional resonance with the viewer. “My intention is to translate the literal world and infuse my images with the feelings that are evoked by it,” writes Herman. “The particular qualities of monotype make it an intriguing hybrid of printmaking. I am mesmerized by the spontaneity and painterly qualities of the medium. Technically speaking it is neither a print nor a painting, but a distinct blend of both.” Actually, her paintings remind me a little of my nephew’s paintings back when he was only four or five, back when he would paint emotions and “the sadness of the rain” rather than the stupid little houses and flowers to which social conditioning has now reduced him.

    5-9 p.m., Nina Bliese Gallery, 225 South 6th St., Minneapolis; 612-332-2978; free.

    DANCE
    All Must Flow

    karis_2_sized.jpgWind and flow — two great concepts from which to derive a fabulous dance number, or two. Local dancers/choreographers Karis Sloss and Kaleena Miller have teamed up to bring you a uniquely musical approach to dance choreography, with a jazz and tap infused edge. Sirocco/Flow combines dance and original music by local composers: the haunting music of Bobb Fantauzzo, the computer-generated score of Warren Park and Richard Sloss, a duet with Ricci Milan of Buckets and Taps Shoes/ Ten Foot Five fame, and even a number by the not-so-local Duke Ellington. Sirocco: Winds of Passion tells the legend of the intense and mysterious wind storm Sirocco, which had the power to drive mortals to commit mad crimes of passion. While Flow, Kaleena Miller’s portion of the show, offers a number of new eclectic musical and choreographic collaborations.

    8 p.m., The Ritz Theater, 345 13th Ave. N.E., Minneapolis; 612-623-7660; $17 (seniors/students $15).

  • Sweet Spot

    I’m not a sweets eater — not unless it’s something magnificent. I love a really flaky scone with my morning coffee. I’ll indulge in pecan pie with heavy cream at Thanksgiving. And my husband is addicted to a combination of dark chocolate and halvah that I must admit is a mighty aphrodisiac.

    But ordinarily, I prefer dry wine, salty snacks, and savory food.

    At the Sample Room one night last week, I made an exception. It’s no secret that I adore this place — every food critic has a few restaurants that he or she patronizes *personally* (as in, when they’re meeting friends and actually picking up the tab) and the Sample Room is in my top five. I love the ambiance, the simple but quality wine list, the fresh, uncomplicated food.

    And whereas I won’t heed the recommendation to try a sweet wine from much of anyone, I will here. Which is how I ended drinking the Peltier Station Petite Sirah 2005.

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    This wine is *not* as sweet as I’d feared it would be. Or rather, it was at first — simple and fruity and full of berry juices — but then it changed on my tongue, becoming ever-so-slightly (and pleasantly) tannic, with the clean flavor of wood.

    Shortly after I finished the glass, however, chef Peter Maccaroni appeared with a blackberry cobbler he wanted me to try. Now, ordinarily, as I say, I wouldn’t be inclined. . . .But this is Chef Maccaroni, after all, so I took a bite and was entranced: fat, juicy blackberries swimming in a compote spiked with mace (spicier than cloves — closer to pepper than most dessert flavors dare be) and topped with just a smidgen of buttery crinkle-cut crust.

    It turns out, Maccaroni has a pastry fetish. He’s a chef’s chef, a line cook — but he’s always had the yearning to try out pies and sweets. Since becoming top guy at the Sample Room he’s been expanding the after-dinner options. Lucky us.

    And if this weren’t enough, the bartender snuck over with a bottle of something I’d never heard of before: Toschi Nocello Walnut.

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    Now, I swear, this liqueur is not my thing. It’s thick and syrupy and as confectionery as wedding cake. But there was something about that slippery slope down (or up?) into the hinterlands of sugar that made me weak. So I sipped this liquid that was full of gold and walnuts, while eating Maccaroni’s cobbler and left quivering with a sweetness that is — I assure you — utterly unlike me.