The Rake Magazine

Year: 2007

  • Mix 'n Commingle

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    Notice: There is actually a respectable fashion event going down tonight. However, in my dual roles as theater and fashion writer (and a triple as a full-time employee), I’m afraid I’ll be missing Commingle in favor of catching one, maybe two Fringe Festival shows this evening. Nevertheless, my fashionable friends, this Commingle show was a fine piece of entertainment when last year I saw the thing. The clothes weren’t all that, as I recall (at least for the likes of an old lady like me). But the music was topnotch.

  • Gin and Cobbler

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    lucky boozers…

    Am I becoming disenchanted with my favorite show?

    I’m ok with cross-marketing when it highlights chefs and their restaurants, or maybe a high quality name brand ingredient or sweet blender or something. But I’m a little worried when Cold Stone asks the kids to come up with a Mix-In for ice cream as a challenge. No wonder Hung went all freaky with the cauliflower foam, isn’t this supposed to be high-level sutff? And worse yet, before they cut to commercial, they highlighted Dale’s wining peach cobbler recipe and tagged it “which is a perfect pairing with Bombay Sapphire Gin” and a big ol’ graphic of the blue genie bottle. Yeah, because when I’m indulging in creamy-peachy-fruity all I’m looking for is sharp and piney to wash it down. It was a disgusting plug for their Perfect Pairings promotion, which OOOPS has been canceled for 2007.

    But maybe that was the theme this episode, drunk consumption.

    I liked the fact that they had to cook for clubbers from a hot-truck. That they thought they were going out to party and had to work instead, well that actually happens in the real restaurant world quite a bit. When a cook walks off the line in the middle of a Saturday night, it doesn’t matter if you have tickets to the moon, somebody’s gotta cook.

    The chick factor bugged me. Sara wore the heels to dance in, but she can’t grocery shop in them? Suck it up sister, there isn’t a grrrrl cook in the world who hasn’t come home from the club with a gaggle of hungry drunks that demand sustenance. I can picture a particular New Year’s with my husband flipping hashbrowns dangerously low to the floor while I made sure my earrings didn’t fall into the eggs. Way it goes.

    As for my boy Brian, did he put on a show or what? I’m still a little whipped over CJ (you know I like ’em tall), but Brian knows how to work a crowd and I think he should have won the challenge. Tre’s food looked really good, but Brian threw the party and kept the eaters hooked. When you think about what it takes to run a restaurant, to read what the guest wants and deliver it, that’s a Top Chef.

    And what about Govind? Was he the most boring guest judge yet? All I could think about was poor Dale, dinner conversation might have been the tougher challenge. Unless it was sponsored by Bombay.

  • Reading about Writing about Writing, Talking about Reading, Talking about Writing

    BOOKS
    Writing the Unwritten

    3373416723.jpgWith Burning Down the House (1997), a collection of essays on writing, Charles Baxter became a fixture, by proxy, in fiction workshops everywhere. In his new book, The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot (Graywolf Press), Baxter goes on to explore the unwritten aspects of writing. He sets out to prove that, in fiction, “What is displayed evokes what is not displayed, like a party where the guests discuss, at length, those who are not in attendance.” Remarkably (but just as expected) Baxter does so with eloquence and conviction, using literary reference and personal anecdote to mine the meanings hidden in prose, and to cement his reputation as a guru of contemporary fiction. — by Max Ross

    7:30 p.m., Magers and Quinn Booksellers, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-822-4611.

    The Artist’s Bookshelf: The Inheritance of Loss

    3978920594.jpgSome of us are not blessed with a group of superbly intelligent friends who want to sit around for hours each week discussing literature. No, not any more. (And at times I’m even almost glad for that; but mostly it makes me want to weep.) In the end, you have a few choices. You could become a neurotic internet freak who learns to count caresses in bytes. You could spend thousands upon thousands of poorly earned dollars on endless years of therapy. Or you could get out more, perhaps even admitting that you need “events” to bring you together with others like you. Woohoo. Onward. Start out this evening with a discussion of Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss at the Walker. Set in mid-80s India, on the eve the Nepalese independence movement, Desai’s latest novel examines just about every contemporary international issue you can imagine: globalization, fundamentalism, poverty, terrorism, and exile — all with a very personal touch. Check out the discussion questions before you go, so that you’ll sound truly brilliant. And if you have an hour to spare beforehand, start out the evening with the 6 p.m. gallery tour.

    7 p.m., Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-375-7600.

    LECTURES
    It’s News to Me

    Jeremy copy.jpgWell, how do you like that. As I’m raking the net and my files for things to do, I come across this little doozy: Our very own Rake food critic is speaking tonight at the Minneapolis Central Library — and it has absolutely nothing to do with food. While most of us know Jeremy Iggers from his many years as the Star Tribune food critic, his talents extend far beyond any dining room table. In fact, in addition to his work with The Rake, Iggers also “daylights” as executive director of the Twin Cities Media Alliance. You’ll find numerous articles of his at Twin Cities Daily Planet. If you like what you see, then you should definitely put your name on the waiting list for “New about the News: The Scoop on Today’s Media” tonight. That’s right; there’s a waiting list. But don’t worry. If you don’t get in tonight, you’ll have another shot next week to hear what Iggers has to say about media in the digital age.

    6:30 p.m., Minneapolis Central Library, Doty Board Room, 300 Nicollet Mall, Mpls; 612-630-6000; free, but R.S.V.P.

    THEATER & PERFORMANCE
    Ahhh… Kevin Kling Appears After All

    3916451743.jpgOK. Maybe all the Kevin Kling fans will stop complaining now. When he didn’t make it into this year’s Fringe Festival, everyone starting crying injustice. It’s random, isn’t it? Too bad. But the great thing about previous years of Fringe Fest success, is that you don’t really need the Fringe Fest in the end.The truth is, theaters are lucky to get his shows. And the lucky theater this evening (or should I say theatre?) is the Open Eye Figure Theatre. Tonight’s show, Come and Get It is a collaboration with Open Eye’s Michael Sommers, cellist Michelle Kinney, and songstress/squeezebox artist Simone Perrin. Their description? “Think of it as an exploration of the seen and unseen world via story, image and song.” Not exactly very informative, but certainly at least somewhat intriguing.

    7:30 p.m., Open Eye Figure Theatre, 506 E. 24th St., Minneapolis; 612-874-6338; $15 (discount students/seniors and Fringe button-wearers).

    MUSIC AND STYLE
    Commingle: Urban Fashion and Music Show

    In its third year, Commingle: Urban Fashion and Music brings together music and fashion. OK. Tell me when the two are NOT together, for crying out loud. What we have here is another fine example of the new trend of featuring musicians and designers together for a full fashionista extravaganza. This evening’s designers include D. DeAoni Clothing, Kacey Kubiszewski, Kristin Johnson, Mary Pass, Susan Vue, and Wone Vang. The music cuts across numerous genres — jazz, hip-hop, house, rock, reggae — and includes performances by Lolly Pop, Niknyc, and Soulacious.

    9:30 p.m., Trocaderos, 107 Third Ave. N., Minneapolis; $18, $45.25 VIP Section (Premiere Seating, Bottle of Wine, Backstage Access).

    VIDEO
    Owen Goes . . . to the phrenologist

    Check out the new Owen video.

  • Why Are These People So Happy?

    This photo was passed along to me without any idea who the photographer was. If anyone knows, I’ll happily credit them for what I think captures an iconic moment in Minnesota government, namely Gov. Pawlenty and his, uh, anti-government, “No New Taxes,” transportation advisers, (note Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau beaming at left), vetoing last year’s pittance of a gas tax increase.

    I am prepared to host a pool on when Pawlenty throws Molnau under the bus to protect himself from direct criticism for going to the Taxpayers’ League well one time too often. The Governor has other places to go, if you know what I mean, and is far too adroit a politician to allow himself to be tarred with accusations of gross short-sightedness or errors of judgment in relation to the collapse. So I say sometime around Thanksgiving Molnau will suddenly feel the urge to, A. “Spend more time with my family,” and/or B. “Explore new opportunities.”

    Meanwhile, for a taste of the new, post-collapse Taxpayers League talking point meme, where the real issue is proper allocation of existing resources, (i.e. wasteful education and social spending can always take another hit), you owe it to yourself to catch former State Rep. now Taxpayers League President Phil Krinkie in action on Gary Eichten’s show this morning.

    Also, Mr. Krinkie, please, do you really think it is necessary for the entire state and every media and government agency to avoid discussion of the hows and whys of this tragedy and instead remain in a state of prolonged respectful sorrow for the dead and their families? Most of us can multi-task. We can show respect for the dead and injured AND demand that the people most responsible for the policies that guaranteed inadequate maintenance maintain a high public profile.

    I think I’ve already said that the best time to engage the public in the musty but critical business of state budgets is when people have an acute focus on an issue.

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  • (Un)Wanted Pantylines

    buttocks.jpgI was knee-deep in the September issue, folks, when this intriguing press photo came across my desk. Oh, dear, how I love to eliminate pantylines. (I like to think there isn’t yet a cellulite problem back there.) But let this be known to the marketers of these products: No pantylines equals unwanted attention for adult, professional ladies (such as me). Why, just last week I was walking home from work in lovely a cotton summer dress when two fellas pulled up in their pickup truck to inquire as to whether I was wearing underthings. Needless to say, this isn’t the sort of attention I’m after when I take good care to smooth out backside cinch. Just thought you should know.

  • Put That In Your Pipe And Smoke It

    The Twins have scored ten runs in their last six games, and 34 in their last fourteen, dating back to July 23 in Toronto –I’ll do the math for you: that’s an average of 2.4 runs a game.

    This nonsense, this incomprehensible futility, after scoring 34 runs in two games versus Chicago on July 6.

    Tommy Watkins to the rescue!

    It’s interesting to note that in Watkins’ ten-year minor league career he actually made two relief pitching appearances (for Fort Myers in 2002 and 2003), and didn’t give up any hits, walks, or runs in either of them.

  • Inside the Latest Radio Ratings

    First, a word of apology for a glitched-out post that hung out here for a while last night and this morning. There are reasons why I’ve never been asked to program the space shuttle.

    The collapse of the I-35W bridge last week pushed a lot of beat coverage off the table for a while. In between boogie boarding and cocktails, (neither a pretty sight), I had been fishing for the Arbitron radio ratings for the spring/second quarter of this year. I now have them.

    You may have seen the overall ratings, the so-called 12-plus. While a reasonable enough gauge of station popularity, that category, including both kiddies and geezers, is of almost no value to the stations’ primary customers. (That’d be their advertisers, not you, you silly listener.) But under the rules of Arbitron they are allowed only to publicly share that broad, vague figure, while zealously guarding information that has actual sales validity and impact.

    But as in all things media (and life) there are ways to get your gloms on the darker secrets.

    Here then is a look at the ratings and station rankings for the Twin Cities top stations among adults 25-54. First number is spring ’07, second is spring ’06.

    Station ’07 / ’06

    KQRS 12.2 / 11.4
    K102 7.2 / 7.3
    KS95 5.6 / 5.9
    Cities 97 5.1 / 5.6
    93X 4.9 / 3.6
    WLTE 4.6 / 4.8
    KDWB 4.6 / 3.1
    Jack-FM 4.3 / 4.3
    AM 1500 4.1 / 2.7
    The Beat 3.7 / 1.9
    WCCO 3.3 / 3.7
    KFAN 3.0 / 3.9
    KOOL 108 2.6 / 5.0
    KTLK 2.1 / 1.5
    FM 107.1 1.8 / 1.6
    LOVE (3) 1.1 / 1.1
    Air America 0.9 / 1.1

    Further down the list, deep wing nut radio, WWTC AM 1280, aka, “Patriot” lost about half its adult audience from last year. Dipping to an 0.6 from a 1.1.

    Digging around a little further I find the evening ratings for AM 1500 up from a 1.7 in ’06 to a 12.4 in ’07, almost certainly due to the Twins games now playing over there. But note that this extraordinary leap, (for which AM 1500 draws very little revenue as a result of their deal with the Twins), has translated to only a modest increase across AM 1500’s entire schedule.

    In general, what with lower ratings for WCCO, KFAN, The Patriot, Air America and a negligible increase for heavily-promoted KTLK, it doesn’t appear Twin Cities audiences were in much of a mood for talk this past spring.

    In that context I really shouldn’t, but can’t help checking on the afternoon drive, or the 3pm to 7 pm day-part of KTLK, where a year ago Sarah Janecek of Politics in Minnesota and I were gleefully hurling chairs at each other five days a week.

    I’m not going to call ours’ a polished act. But damn, we were working cheap. The old saying goes, “If you don’t stand up for yourself, no one else will.” Which is why I have less shame than I should in noting that we were thrown out of the station while performing for a modest but growing 3.7 rating, while today, the same four-hour slot, occupied by the far, far better compensated Jason Lewis, (doing three hours), is playing in front of a 2.8 share of the local radio audience.

    Did I mention how much more Clear Channel is paying him than us AND our long-suffering producer, Rob Pendleton?

    Anyway, enough of that. I’m only capable of being so tacky. (Until next time.)

    The cratering of ratings for KOOL108, which re-transformed itself with more ’80s and less ’50s and ’60s music, is one reason why the station’s Program Director, Travis Moon, recently departed for a new gig in Cincinnati. Internally at Clear Channel, fear and rumor-mongering says changes may soon be afoot at both KOOL 108 and KTLK in the wake of continued low audience levels and the recent whacking of long-time boss, Mick Anselmo.

    I’m not able to offer 25-54 adult ratings that include any MPR station. But I can include MPR in among the 12+ rankings.

    STATION ’07 / ’06

    KQRS 9.1 / 7.8
    K102 6.9 / 9.0
    WCCO 6.6 / 9.0
    KDWB 5.6 / 4.4
    93X 5.0 / 4.9
    WLTE 5.0 / 4.6
    KS95 4.7 / 4.6
    KNOW * 4.6 / 4.6
    AM 1500 4.6 / 3.2
    Cities 97 3.9 / 3.3
    The Beat 3.8 / 3.7
    Jack-FM 3.3 / 3.4
    KSJN * 3.0 / 3.6
    KOOL 108 2.7 / 3.7
    KFAN 2.2 / 2.5
    KTLK 2.1 / 2.0
    89.3 The Current * 1.8 / 2.6
    FM 107.1 1.3 / 1.2
    The Patriot 1.1 / 1.4

    * Minnesota Public Radio stations.

  • Chindian Cafe

    The new sign hasn’t gone up yet outside the little cafe at 15th and E. Hennepin, but the former East River Market has been renamed the Chindian Cafe. The grocery shelves are gone, and the seating has expanded, from 12 seats to 20+. Chef-owner Nina Wong, who is ethnically Chinese, but born in Vietnam and raised in the US, has a new partner: her husband, Thomas Gnanpragasam, who is of Indian ancestry, but born and raised in Malaysia. "He’s a foodie," reports Wong. "He loves to cook, and I trained him to be a chef." (Wong got her training at AI International in downtown Minneapolis.)

    Wong plans to add some Indian and Malaysian dishes to her menu, and already features daily specials like Nasi Lemak, a Malaysian dish of coconut rice with peanuts, fresh cucumber and anchovy sambal, alongside her Chinese stir-fries, Asian noodle salads, Asian hoagies and Vietnamese spring rolls.

    The cafe is open Monday to Friday for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and for dinner from 4:30 to 8 p.m. Closed weekends, but most Saturdays, you can find Nina at the Mill City Market in downtown Minneapolis.

    Chindian Cafe, 1500 E. Hennepin, Minneapolis, (612) 676-1818.

  • Here's the Dirt

    ARCHEOLOGY
    Dig It

    epna05_mochaware.jpgMinneapolis is certainly no Pompeii — for that you’ll have to go to the latest Science Museum exhibit, A Day in Pompeii — but we still have our hidden treasures. And I’m not talking about all the little theaters and arts venues that we’re always busy trying to bring to your attention. I’m talking about relics, friends, the genuine artifact. I’m talking about dirt and digging. I’m talking about the whole shebang. Experience an archaeological excavation in your own back yard. For the fourth year in a row, The Elliot Park Neighborhood Archeology Project is organizing a five-day archaeological dig to explore the history beneath our very feet. What lies beneath you, my friend? This year’s historic archaeological site is located on Grant, between Portland Ave. S. and 15th St., currently a gravel parking lot. Stop on by to watch the process, or help out with a little digging of your own. See if you can find something interesting from the 19th- and early 20th-century houses that used to be there. You might even find a little treasure. Previous digs have turned up everything from chamber pots, to fireplaces, to human teeth.

    9-5 p.m. (through Sunday), Elliot Park, E. Grant St., between Portland Ave. S. and 15th St.; 612-335-5846; free.

    ART
    Bringing Money to the Arts

    2950613489.jpgBanks and art don’t seem to have much of a direct connection in the states. (In Puerto Rico, Banco Popular — Popular Bank — sponsors a great deal of local art, especially music, so a trip to the bank often nurtures your artistic sensibilities. Go figure. Anyhow, that’s usually not the case here.) A trip to the bank is a trip to the bank. Hell, we’re a practical people, less flowery than the Caribbean sun demands. Or so I thought, but maybe all this heat is getting to our heads. Tonight, Klein Bank is opening a new location in Maple Grove, and they’re bringing in the arts. It’s quite the smart move, really. They’ve invited artists to set up their work in and around their conference room. And they’ve invited their top customers to enjoy their celebration and peruse the artwork in search of new art for their offices and homes. Nice. If you can’t bring money to the arts, then bring the arts to the money. I like it.

    3 p.m., Klein Bank, Fountains at Arbor Lakes (by Benihana), Maple Grove; 763-463-9662; free.

    Carnaval Mazatleco

    51ecc7c088e292c865fe7a0c4ce18410_scale_370_246.jpgAlso opening this evening is photographer Dusty Hoskovec’s exhibit at the Broiler Room. Hoskovec will be displaying his photographs from this year’s Carnaval celebration in Mazatlan, Mexico. If you like bright colors and chaos, this exhibit is for you. Clearly, Hoskovec does a lot of traveling; his mnartists.org photos include shots from Minneapolis, Mexico, Croatia, and Peru. And the man has an eye for composition.

    7-9 p.m., Boiler Room, 1820 3rd Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-872-1220; free.

    MUSIC
    In Case It Must Be So

    booker copy.jpgFor those insisting on live music this evening, here are a few options: Booker T & the MGs will be playing tonight and tomorrow night at the Dakota. The Sleeping will perform at 5 p.m. at the Varsity Theater. And you can Remix Da Runway at the Escape Ultra Lounge with Rich Boy, at 9 p.m.

    RAKING THE WEB
    FILM… or at least internet video

    Check out the 8 entries for the latest Screenlabs video challenge. Then vote for your favorite (in the upper left).

    Michael Moore Takes Aim at Racist Police Shootings

    Be sure to check out Rake film critic Peter Schilling’s latest blog, The Bug, for more on film.

  • Living large

    So it’s clear these are tough times, financially speaking. What with a recession looming, the Fed staying a grim course with interest rates, gas prices hovering in the $3 a gallon range, and housing values all over the country tanking like so many penny stocks — the future for middle-American homeowners is looking mighty cloudy.

    Each of us deals with this in his own unique way.

    Me? I’m reverting to my college days, lying on an air mattress on the bare wood floor of a 300-square-foot efficiency, enjoying the damp breeze from a wheezy, old window air conditioner, and drinking a glass of Château Bellevue Peycharneau 2004. OK, I guess I’m not reverting all the way. . . .

    ch_bellevue_peycharneau.jpg

    Last time I had a lease on an apartment like this one, I was 19 years old and prone to drinking wine coolers. But the rest — the solitude, the feeling of freedom, the inexpensive lifestyle — is the same.

    You see, when my husband and I were married about a year ago, the plan was that we would sell his suburban townhome and then my tiny two-bedroom cottage near the city, so we could buy a house that would fit all our collective stuff plus my three adult-size teenage kids. Within weeks, news reports about the declining real estate market started to eke out. We lowered our expectations and put my husband’s house up for sale. Eight months and four price drops later, it sold. But by this time, we’d paid out more than $10,000 in mortgage and maintenance for a home no one was occupying and taken a loss against the principle he owed. There was no way we could start all over with my house.

    Instead, we got creative. And that’s where the efficiency comes in. Living in less than 1,500 square feet and sharing a bathroom with three teenagers takes its toll. There was no place to work, to think, to kiss without someone popping around a corner and saying, “Eeeewwww, people live here.” So we took 1/4 of the money we were no longer spending to maintain two houses and rented ourselves a tiny little room with no view. An office for me, a place to have an occasional dinner for two, a getaway.

    Anyway, back to that first night: the air mattress, the a/c, and the wine. It’s a funny one, this Bordeaux, with so much structure, it may be possible to pour it out and make shapes with it — like plaster of Paris. The nose is full of cherry but the flavor is far more austere: oak and tannins, just a hint of something sharp that isn’t quite anise (no matter what the bottle says) and the oddest taste of graphite. It’s like licking the tip of a #2 pencil, the taste of which sends me right back to fourth grade. . . .or rather, fourth grade if the Hiawatha School lunchroom had had one hell of a sommelier.

    There’s an extra long finish on the Château Bellevue Peycharneau, as well. A finish so long it gives you time to think about the last time you lay on an air mattress in the middle of a tiny, darkening room. And I’m a woman who likes that suspension, senses swinging on a trapeze swing, ideas intruding that are not entirely my own.

    This was a special-occasion wine for us, meaning it cost more than $15 — though every retailer I’ve checked sells it for less than $20. To the best of our recollection, we picked it up at Surdyk’s. And it’s worth noting that my husband was far less entranced than I. He loves thick, jammy, fruity Malbecs whereas I’m a sucker for willful wines that taste like things I never would have imagined, like wet cement or Cuban cigars or pencil lead.

    So on our second trip to the tiny apartment, I was able to finish off the bottle myself, feeling as if I’d come full circle — shucking off the opulent dreams I’d had when I was 19, becoming downright grateful for 300 square feet of quiet and a really interesting wine.