The Rake Magazine

Month: July 2007

  • The Simpsons Movie

    by Peter Schilling Jr.

    simpsons_movie.jpgThis could be the best episode ever and still not live up to the hype. After all, the movie is, what, nearly twenty years in the gestation? Give Matt Groening and company credit for assembling the best writers from seasons’ past and pulling in David Silverman, co-director from Pixar’s superior Monsters, Inc., to help them launch this behemoth. Already acclaimed by British critics as brilliant, the plot is ostensibly about the environment, but reports have it that Green Day, Al Gore, “President” Arnold Schwarzenegger, the religious right, and the New Age left are all skewered. Rumor has it that the story also includes a romance between Lisa and an angst-ridden Irishman, Bart skateboarding in the nude, and the end of the world as we know it.

  • Passion Play

    privatelivescut copy.jpg

    If you’ve ever fallen in love too quickly or divorced with ire or married the same person twice or threatened to maim your new spouse on your honeymoon (and meant it), you must see Private Lives, the 1930 Noel Coward comedy now showing on the McGuire Proscenium Stage at the Guthrie. As someone who’s done all of these things, I feel uniquely qualified to tell you that the story holds up incredibly well and — until the last act, where events devolve in traditional screwball mode — feels current nearly 80 years later.

    More important, the theater is a simply gorgeous place, cloaked in brilliant red with a remarkable set that makes you feel sorry for all those poor New Yorkers who must make due with Broadway while we have this lush, stunning venue plus the brilliance of artistic director Joe Dowling (who did not direct this production, but had the good sense to hire Peter Rothstein) AND it costs only $5 to park. . . .

    Private Lives is the story of a divorced couple, Amanda and Elyot, who just happen to meet up five years after parting when they are each on their second honeymoons — in adjoining hotel rooms in France. It sounds like a Frank Capra set-up; and, indeed, Coward had a great deal in common with the beloved American director of romantic films like “It Happened One Night.” Only the British playwright was deliciously nasty about the whole messy deal. “Certain women should be struck regularly, like gongs,” says Elyot in reference to Amanda. And when his new young wife is mewling: “I’d like to cut off your head with a meat ax.” There’s also a beautifully-drawn scene of the two ex-spouses discussing their sexual liaisons, in which Elyot says, “It doesn’t suit women to be promiscuous.” Politically correct this is not, but it does capture a variety of passions. And two things save this play from sinking into misogyny.

    The first is, of course, context. Period costumes and a bizarrely frequent use of the word “gay” to mean carefree remind you that this is a different era — one in which a man in high society could demonstrate his love for a woman by spanking her. The other is Amanda herself, a strong, sharp-tongued woman (unlike the bafflingly stupid romantic heroines of today), who spanks right back and responds with, “It doesn’t suit men for women to be promiscuous.”

    It is for both of these reasons — context and the character Amanda, who is played by the absolutely marvelous, smoky-voiced Veanne Cox — that I recommend you try Amanda’s Ambrosia. The Guthrie came up with this cocktail specifically for the run of Private Lives: a canny concoction of sparkling wine, Campari, and puréed passion fruit.

    Frankly, it looks pretty awful in the glass, all murky and orange-ish and rather thick. But it’s an odd thing about this drink — though I don’t care for the intensely tropical taste of passion fruit (which, by the way, has been proved to help lower blood pressure) and I’m bored by the majority of cheap sparkling wines, together, these ingredients become weirdly interesting. The effervescence of the wine softens the acidic quality of the passion fruit; and it, along with the Campari, stiffens the candylike wine just a bit. As in the case of Amanda, her namesake ambrosia is an acquired taste: aggressive and unique, bold, colorful, and unapologetic. But even if you don’t care for passion fruit or sparkling wine or slinky but outspoken women, it’s well worth a try.

    It’s also a great way to get into the spirit of the play, where brandy flows and glasses shatter while two people locked forever in a tumultuous love affair pummel one another before breaking into a kiss.

  • Car Talk (of the Uncommon Kind)

    Here’s something for all you folks reading the Saturday paper (and getting really mad that there is nothing of substance to read) or perhaps streaming that silly show “Car Talk” online.

    I say silly in a good way. The two guys are a hoot. However I think they discuss really boring cars for the most part. The Road Rake will bring you car talk that is far less common. Which brings me, once again, to the French.

    As I said before, I attended Bastille Day at J. Leune a few weeks back. Once the world catches up to “instant journalism” I would have filed these videos more quickly. And yet, perhaps, French cars are the kind of thing that require patience and understanding. With this mind, let me file, as time permits, some of the interesting things I “raked up” during the Citroen Car Show across the street.

    FILM NOTES: This first video is narrated by the Treasurer of The Citroen Car Club of Minnesota. He describes a car light years ahead of its time–the Citroen Traction Avant.



    FILM NOTES: The back seat of the Traction Avant. This video does not adequately capture the spaciousness (better yet, capaciousness) of this interior. It really was the first station wagon of sorts. Unibody construction too–unheard of in the 1930s–today everyone does it.

    FILM NOTES: The engine bay of the the Citroen Maserati (the most complicated car of the 70s). This is narrated by a few people and the sound quality is not good. While its a little like watching paint dry, once you understand what you are looking at, and realize the Italians and French tried to do this, you begin to understand madness*

    * Focault was a controversial yet brilliant guy. Not mad, mind you, just uncommon.

  • Let's Break for Monster Beauty

    Before we all go tiptoeing out the backdoors and down the stairwells of the cities’ various places of employment, I wanted to note this really happenin’ sale: Gh2, the consignment second-cousin to Edina’s fabulous Grethen House boutique, has a store full of fifty-percent off summer spiffs, but only for today and tomorrow. If you’re lucky, you might score the marked-down Louboutin espadrilles I spied there recently. They’ve also got some great monster handbags and even a lil’ bit of discounted designer – like Comme des Garcons.

  • The road to hell

    DowntownMinneapolisRestaura.jpgTurns out it’s paved with delays. Hell’s Kitchen 2, the Duluth location, was originally slated to open in June. Then construction and equipment problems pushed the date to July 16. But new partner and GM Mark “Pappy” Anderson says everything has been surprisingly pacific since. “We opened for business nearly two weeks ago and it’s all been good,” Anderson says. “We were up to an hour wait by the third day. But we’ve got a great staff and everything seems to be running smoothly.” Of course, Anderson’s last gig was teaching 8th grade social studies for three years on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, so managing a staff of pajama-clad servers and a couple thousand unruly tourists probably seems like a cakewalk. Unlike the Minneapolis HK, this Canal Park restaurant serves three meals a day and sports a full liquor license. . . .also an iron-gated private dining room called Purgatory that seats 8-10, and the finest collection of black chandeliers in the entire Midwest.

  • Another Sunday Addition

    Riot Act Reading Series
    by Max Ross

    What transpires at a typical session of the Riot Act Reading Series is
    something like a poetry slam without the pretense, which is to say the
    readers rarely delve into the realm of performance art, instead focusing – gasp! – on their actual content. One of those rare literary events that showcases literature, this Sunday’s fare includes readings by local writers Laura Brandenburg, Paula Cisewski, Paul D. Dickinson, and Sam Osterhaut. Stick around after the readings, and listen to Dreamland Faces play their tangos and waltzes on their weapons of choice: an accordion and a singing saw.

    Sunday at 7 p.m., Turf Club, 1601 University Ave., St. Paul; 651-647-0486; $3.

  • Zesty

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    When it’s as hot as it’s been, those of us with pools must be resigned to the impromptu gathering. And so it goes that last Wednesday we had a few families over for some swimming and noshing with a little late-birthday celebration thrown into the mix.

    But I’ve been hungry, despite the heat (shock) and I wasn’t looking for the hot dog/quick pasta option. But I had no desire to whip up the grand feast, just as no one else had the hunger for formality and over-indulgence during the mid-week.

    So I ripped through the monthly rags to find something honest and easy. I came up with two winners: grilled pork chops with a sharp garlic-lime vinaigrette and a quinoa dish with black beans. Winners both, the quinoa earned top honors from the eaters. It was the lime juice that kept it zesty and fresh and gave our whole meal a nice summery lilt.

    I was planning on an easy chocolate mousse with strawberries for dessert, but alas, the power went out in the middle of dinner and no way was I whipping cream by hand in the suddenly air-conditionless house. Take it outside, strawberries and dark chocolate poolside don’t suck.

    Today I’m heading to the Arboretum’s Summer House to see what kind of fresh goodies they have. Even though we have no plans for entertaining this weekend, it doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

  • French Cars. Still Foreign To Me.

    Buon Giorno mi amici. Oggi ti vuol parlare come’ la macchina franchese.

    No mi piace la macchina franchese. La macchina franchese non e’ bella. La machina franchese look like the froggie. OK, OK, I am just proving that not all things are foreign to me. I can speak a little Italian (accent on little and bad), and a little Japanese, and I can even say “hello” in Objiwe. Still, some things will always remain a little foreign to me.

    Like French cars.

    And frankly, because the French are the French, they could care less what I think. (C’est magnifique!) I have always admired their balls for producing cars that remain years ahead of their time, yet something remains so terribly odd about their vehicles.

    Of course, odd — a la Oscar Wilde, Truman Capote, Bill Gates and countless other odd fellows and females in history — is good. Yet to me, when talking about French cars, still foreign.

    In the spirit of full disclosure my dispeptic mood may just stem from the affront I received from the driver of a Citroen CV2 (it may be back, see here) waiting to pull out of the parking lot.

    (He, like, pee-sez me off, and here is what I had to say.)

  • Fluttering and Film on Friday, Studio and Strumming on Saturday, and Laughing on the Lord's Day

    WINE & WINGS
    Break Out of That Cocoon and Spread Your Wings
    by Danielle Kurtzleben

    butterflies_3.jpgIf the idea of going to a zoo makes you cringe — pushing a stroller, carrying cotton candy and grumpy, sleeping children — perk up, hire a sitter, and come to the Minnesota Zoo’s adult-only Monarchs & Merlot social. Spend an evening sipping merlot, or chardonnay, sampling hors d’eouvres, and taking a peaceful walk through the MN Zoo’s butterfly garden. If you’re feeling more ambitious, you can also learn about the 40 species in the butterfly garden, as well as how to attract them to your own yard. While the price may seem a little steep at $40, it’s all for a good cause: the zoo’s conservation programs.

    Friday at 6:30 p.m., Minnesota Zoo, 13000 Zoo Blvd., Apple Valley; 952-431-9200; $40 (members $35).

    FILM
    Celebrate Sleep and Winter on a Hot Summer Night

    winter_night.JPGVideo cameras abound these days, as do self-proclaimed videographers, but when it comes time to show your work in a venue other than YouTube or the hot new video hosting service of the week, there’s a dearth of serious options. (Not that YouTube could even be considered a serious option, mind you.) More than anything else, video today is meant to make you laugh. But what about aesthetics? What about art? What about framing that perfect shot, capturing the particular way a ray of light bounces off your subject, playing with your palette? What about metaphor? In an effort to create a new venue for emerging video artists to present their work, the Rosalux Gallery is hosting its first annual No Mittens Film Festival, a one-night screening of films about winter and sleep.

    Friday at 7 p.m., Rosalux Gallery, 1101 Washington Ave., Minneapolis; free.

    SLTsimpsons.jpgOf course, it’s Friday, so there are a whole slew of movies opening this evening. Vitus and Ten Canoes open at the Edina Cinema, Interview and Sunshine open at the Lagoon Cinema, and My Best Friend opens at the Uptown Theatre. Also showing at the Uptown on Saturday at midnight is Sam Peckinpah’s controversial Western, The Wild Bunch. Oh! And don’t forget The Simpsons Movie. Read Rake film critic Peter Schilling’s So Little Time write-up.

    VISUAL ARTS
    Last Weekend for Smith and Britto Exhibit
    by Ann Klefstad

    093006m1.jpgBoth Shinique Smith and Michael Paul Britto were in a show called Frequency at the Studio Museum of Harlem last year, curated by the incisively yet inclusively smart Thelma Golden. Also included was Kalup Linzy, whose hilarious and fond videos of various homefolks recently showed at Midway Contemporary Art in Northeast Minneapolis. Indeed, it seems that much of the most interesting art in circulation around here — including the recent show by Jim Denomie and Andrea Carlson at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and Kara Walker’s survey at the Walker — is being done by people with access to at least a couple of different cultures. Maybe that double vision provides the binoculars we need to see the real lay of the land. I’m not sure which of Britto’s videos will be presented, but his Dirrrty Harriet Tubman is pretty funny, an action-thriller parody using a sanctified figure. The thing to ask is, can we all play?

    Friday and Saturday from 12-5 p.m., Franklin Art Works, 1021 Franklin Ave. E., Minneapolis; 612-872-7494; free.

    MUSIC
    Bringing Down the House with Nothing but Fingers
    by Danielle Kurtzleben

    mytwotoms2.jpgIt’s a finger-picking extravaganza tonight, when Charlie Parr and My Two Toms hit the Kitty Cat Klub, the latest stop on their American Tour. British duo My Two Toms proves that beautiful instrumental bluegrass (what they humbly call “front-porch music”) can come from all the way across the pond. Duluth native Parr, with a country-blues style that ranges from heart-rending to rowdy, is a fixture on the Minnesota music scene. Don’t let his scruffy, regular-joe exterior fool you — this 12-string virtuoso always brings down the house.

    Saturday at 10 p.m., Kitty Cat Klub, 315 14th Ave. S.E., Dinkytown, Minneapolis; $5.

    Other good music shows this weekend include The Peterson Family tonight at the Fitz, the Humanboy CD Release Party tonight at the Cabooze, and a Reunion Show with Edupoetic at Visage Nightclub.

    COMEDY & PERFORMANCE
    Improv-a-Go-Go
    by Max Ross

    FiveManJob.jpgFor five years now, Improv-a-Go-Go has served as a weekly showcase for local improvisational comedy talent. Performers take cues from the audience to create scenes on the spot, a sort of spontaneous combustion that offers the crowd a sense of immediacy and intimacy seldom found in traditional comedy theater; at its best, everyone feels as if they are privy to an inside joke that keeps on going throughout the night. Previous skits have included drunken Christmas carols and a dinosaur rock-eating party. Tonight’s show features sets by Five Man Job, Scrappy Moose, Straight from Uranus, and Ferrari McSpeedy. It’s only one dollar, so why not?

    Sunday at 8 p.m., Brave New Workshop, 2605 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-332-6620; $1.

  • KSTP-TV Newsroom Melts Down. Again. As Usual.

    OK. Here’s a pop quiz. Which of the following headlines strikes you as the most routine, to the point of no longer even being newsworthy?

    “Mideast in Turmoil”
    “Bush Says Surge is Working”
    “Gonzales Can Not Recall His Own Name”
    “Rumors of Firings and Low Morale Wrack Ch. 5”

    I know. I know. The trivia at Caribou is tougher.

    The first calls came a couple weeks ago, and the story, for someone who covered the ups but mostly downs of KSTP-TV news for 15 years, was familiar to the point of being pure deja vu. As in … “Wha? Huh? Where’s Stan Turner?!”

    “No, really. This is the worst it has been in 15 years,” said one KSTP employee. “I know you’ve heard that before, but this time the place has really jumped the tracks.”

    Conversations with several more sources — all asking for anonymity in what they see as an unusually wretched climate — corroborated the basics of the rumors. (How’s that for solid?)

    The essence of it all is this: News director Chris Berg will likely leave soon after the first of the month, (the end of the July ratings period), at least one veteran on-air personality, possibly weatherman Dave Dahl, may also leave, maybe on his own maybe otherwise, and the door may stay open for others.

    What each source asserted independently is that they believe it is unfair to blame Berg, who many apparently have come to like and respect. Berg is a guy who induced snickers when he took over four and a half years ago for his cornball-tough “new sheriff in town” poses but who I’m told mellowed with age. The oft-repeated picture has Berg “beating his head against a wall”. A wall built of chronically bad advice by Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc. Hubbard Broadcasting’s inexplicably long-term consultant.

    Only Dick Cheney could be as flat out dead wrong as often as Magid Associates and still be getting a check.

    For years, almost as far back as the last days of Ron Magers, Magid has billed Stanley Hubbard, the family’s patriarch for research on who to replace in anchor chairs and how to brand and style KSTP’s news. The results are pretty indisputable. Ratings have cratered to the point where only Bush’s and Cheney’s are lower. Simultaneous with steady erosion in audience levels down to what amounts to fourth place status in local news, the station has watched characters as often bizarre as Randall Carlisle, Harris Faulkner, Kent Ninomiya, Chris Conangla and on and on do quick, highly-mannered spins in the anchor chairs before being flung out the back door, all while a stream of news directors were hired and whacked nearly as often.

    With each departure there was another round of employees (those canned AND those surviving) blaming Magid for yet another round of clueless, stale ideas and Magid in turn blaming THEM for poor execution of what Magid presumably assures Stanley Hubbard are superbly researched and expertly diagrammed game plans.

    I’m told a recent Magid Inc. visit with their usual research presentation and “interaction” with newsroom staff went rather badly, with KSTP reporters in something close to “open rebellion”. (I am allowing for hyperbole there.)

    An accelerating factor in this latest meltdown is — again as corroborated by multiple independent sources — the apparent inability of Berg’s boss, Rob Hubbard, (Stanley’s son and General Manager), to assert any kind of positive influence over his news department.

    “The guy never says anything positive or supportive of anything we do,” groused one long term employee. “I don’t need to be patted on the head every time I do my job. But don’t come down to the newsroom if all you’re ever going to do is shit all over us and blame us for the ratings. Clean up your own act.”

    Calls to Dave Dahl, Chris Berg and Rob Hubbard have not been returned.