The Rake Magazine

Year: 2007

  • War, Monarchs, Demons, and Wasps

    ART
    The Art of War

    RyeThumb.jpgMegan Rye’s brother supervised the regional detention facility in Fallujah and transported Iraqi detainees within the Sunni Triangle. He took more than two thousand photographs during his tour of duty. As a painter, his sister is the real deal; she used these images to make huge paintings that are for keeps. These paintings are part of her current exhibition, I Will Follow You into the Dark. War Mediated, the concurrent group show, is less concerned with combat than with how stories get disseminated on the home front. It includes Megan Vossler’s drawings of bands of tiny refugees filing through great blank fields of white, Camille Gage’s paintings of flag-draped coffins with blacked-out “censored” areas, and Justin Newhall’s photos of World War II battle re-enactments — works that inflect our fears and desires in interesting ways. –by Ann Klefstad, artwork by Megan Rye

    Opening Reception tonight from 7-9 p.m., Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 Third Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-870-3131.

    The Press Is Cooling Down

    harris_marty_06-2007.jpgThe Hot Off the Press: Eleventh Cooperative Exhibition is coming to a close, so be sure to make time for it today or tomorrow. You know what printmaking is: creating multiple copies of an image, by any means possible. Print is a parallel art-world with its own histories and propensities. Some techniques are ancient, like woodcuts; some are former industrial processes, like stone lithography or screenprint; some are intimately allied with books and illustrations, like intaglio. Print is a fairly democratic medium, too: If you have some skills, you can join Highpoint as a co-op member and work in its fabulously well-appointed studio. The work of the current co-op is notably wide-ranging, with many artists in this exhibition (Clara Ueland and Nick Wrobleski, for example) transmuting the living world into more iconic, resonant forms. (Much as good illustration does, and that’s no insult.) Prints are affordable; go shopping. And maybe think about becoming a printmaker yourself — Highpoint has adult classes. –by Ann Klefstad, artwork by Marty Harris

    10 a.m. – 5 p.m., through Friday, Highpoint Center for Printmaking, 2638 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-871-1326.

    MUSIC
    Two Kings and a Queen

    Al-Green-Good.jpgWith three permanent but aging legends on the same bill, the only potential drawback to this gig is the possibility that the headliners will give in to the temptation to go through the motions and bask in each other’s well-deserved glory. But even if they do, it will still be worth the dough. Many try, but nobody else can quite find the notes that B.B. is able to sting out of Lucille. Many try, but nobody simultaneously sings to Lord and Lover with the heartfelt splendor of Al Green. And many try, but nobody can deliver an R-rated show for a PG-audience (or an X-rated show for an R-audience) with as much flair and humor as vocalist Etta James, and yet still plant the essence of blues and soul in most every tune. — by Britt Robson

    7 p.m., Minnesota State Fair Grandstand, 1265 N. Snelling Ave., St. Paul; 651-989-5151; $42.

    Diverse Emerging Music Of Note

    l_508a4d33abc201d1c1d628874c02e7db.jpgFor something a bit more low-key, low-budget, experimental, progressive, and chic, head over to the Acadia Cafe for DEMO Low-Fi Thursdays. You’ll see newbies and old-timers break out original tunes, and often share new work with what always feels like an intimate audience. Tonight’s performers include Matthew Lee; Northfield’s Meredith Fierke, who sounds pretty incredible on her myspace page; neo-soul popsters Incognita; the fabulous Lori Wray playing side-by-side in a spectacular match-up with Todd Newman, of Leatherwoods fame (and rightly so!); and finally, the Jacob McKnite Band, which somehow manages to make you want to smile and weep at once. Hmmmm… You won’t want to miss this. It’s quite lovely.

    7 p.m., Acadia Cafe, 1931 Nicollet Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-874-8702; $5.

    FILM
    I Love You More than a Wasp Can Sting

    200px-Waspwoman.jpgOh, yeah — time for another one of those whacky late-50s sci-fi movies at the Bell. And it looks like we’ll even get nice weather, so we can enjoy the courtyard. Tonight’s creepy flick is The Wasp Woman, starring Susan Cabot (although it’s actually a 60s flick). Cabot plays the aging owner of a cosmetics company who find eternal youth in the jelly of the queen wasp. Go figure: “A beautiful woman by day — a lusting queen wasp by night.” That’s what I’m talking about, every woman’s fantasy (or every man’s). Director Roger Corman is King of the B Movie, and Cabot is brilliant in the lead role.

    9 p.m., Bell Museum Courtyard, 10 Church St. S.E., Minneapolis; 612-624-7083; free.

  • Voyeurism Loves Exhibitionism

    Pasquale Salerno shares A Perversion.

    And if you like that, you might enjoy Wolf 189’s Show Girl, though frankly, Motion and Balance is far more eloquent.

  • When You Have So Few Big Things To Offer, It's The Little Things That'll Kill You Every Time: Swept In Cleveland, And Done

    Well, that was a tough series to watch. A team that we’ve learned to take for granted when it comes to executing the fundamentals of the game and not giving away ballgames has officially become a colossal disappointment.

    It would be hard, really, to even know where to start.

    I’ll say this, though: Nick Punto’s a good teammate and a fine fielder, but he better spend the entire winter working on his bunting, or his future –such as it is– is as a defensive highlight reel in the Northern League.

    It’s almost hard to swallow so much bile on the eve of the Twins’ long-awaited ballpark groundbreaking, and equally hard to swallow the fact that most of the guys who we learned tonight will be skipping tomorrow’s affair –Torii Hunter, Joe Nathan, Johan Santana, and Justin Morneau, among others– likely won’t be wearing Minnesota uniforms when the team actually plays a game in the new park.

  • Nasty Bad Boy

    Do you think Senator Larry Craig got a little excited calling Bill Clinton a bad boy back in 1999?

    See CNN’s “Summer of Scandal” and check out the Young Turks videos.

  • Are You A Geek?

    Hugh Macleod cuts to the chase.

  • On Doubt

    Elliptica offers great philosophical posts and “thoughts from an incurable math-lover.” See the July 20th post on Doubt.

  • The Sausage Life

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    Fluorescent cube life getting you down? Do you dream of being your own boss, making your own way, calling the shots? Do you like sausage?

    A different life beckons Cherie Peterson and Merry Barry. Having created some of the best boutique sausages to ever grace a bun, The Sausage Sisters are moving on and selling their business.

    Their energy and vivacity while manning a market booth was as trademark as their black fedoras. If you have culinary passion, a quick wit, and a longing for challenge, this might be your chance to grab the brass link. Check them out at the State Fair if you want a glimpse of the chaotic fun and a sample of the brilliant Uffda brat.

    I really hope someone steps up. The potential to develop this company and market the brand is big. Plus I want my Texas Two Step and Porketta Marie avialable when I want them, thank you very much.

    Contact the sisters 612-986-8817 for more information … but maybe wait until after the Fair.

  • About that Star Tribune Foundation …

    A friend — a tipster — kicked over a letter sent out this past Aug. 13, roughly two weeks ago, by Steve Alexander, the Star Tribune’s Sr. VP for Circulation. Addressed, I gather, to new subscribers, it “welcomes” them to the Star Tribune family, thanks them for subscribing, and then commences telling them “a little bit about our newspaper.”

    Two things caught my eye: One is where Alexander mentions “350 full-time journalists” working at the paper. At best, I can determine the Star Tribune currently has around 90-120 reporters and photographers — the people actually gathering news and returning it to the building for processing, and I’m told that even by the most generous reckoning the 350 number has been significantly reduced … this summer alone.

    But we’ll let that pass.

    What really piqued my interest was when Alexander tells his new customers that, “For almost 140 years, the Star Tribune has been part of the Twin Cities community. Since 1945, we’ve been committed to ongoing philanthropy through the Star Tribune Foundation, which currently distributes $3 million annually.”

    Really? $3 million? Annually? Right here in Minneapolis-St.Paul, I assume you’re saying?

    If I sound surprised it’s because I was under the distinct impression that when McClatchy sold the Strib to Avista Capital Partners it closed down the Star Tribune Foundation — which made grants to local arts and civic organizations, good corporate neighbor kind of stuff, and matched employee contributions to alma maters and such things — and took what was left in any Foundation accounts with them to California, which is a long ways from Minnesota.

    As is the case these days, no manager or executive at Minnesota’s largest media organization deigned to respond to a question from this scurrilous mongrel blogger. (I’m sure Joel Kramer’s new team will have no problem getting Strib execs to return their calls or e-mails.)

    My call to Mr. Alexander was quickly passed over to Ben Taylor, Sr. VP for Marketing and Communications … and Mr. Taylor did not respond to my voice-mail asking him to clear up the status of the Foundation.

    One call led to another, and I soon found Ms. Sam Fleitman, formerly the Star Tribune Foundation’s manager, now working for Andersen Windows’ foundation. Ms. Fleitman’s job at the Star Tribune disappeared with the Avista purchase, and so did the Foundation and everything in its accounts.

    But, just to be clear, does the Star Tribune Foundation still exist, I asked Fleitman?

    “Not in this town,” she said. “McClatchy took the Foundation with them and I believe is using what resources were left through their other papers.”

    In other words, it would be hard to be “currently” distributing “$3 million annually” here in Minnesota … through a defunct Foundation.

    And what about outstanding, multi-year commitments, perhaps? You know, deals where the Foundation agreed to fund two or three years down the line?

    “We paid all of them off through 2008,” said Fleitman, who had been the Foundation’s manager for nine years before Avista shut it down. “This would be money promised to the Walker and places like that, for example. And what was outstanding certainly wasn’t $3 million. I should know.”

    Fleitman cautions that she obviously has no on-going contact with the Star Tribune. So it is possible — possible — that Avista has re-established the Foundation and is once again pouring money into local arts groups and do-gooding organizations. But if they are, the only person who seems to know anything about it is Mr. Alexander, and maybe Mr. Taylor, and they ain’t talkin’.

  • Vikings Back Out of Parking Lot Deal .

    This just in …

    Vikings will not buy Star Tribune Property

    by Par Ridder, publisher and CEO August 29, 2007 –

    The Minnesota Vikings have advised us that they do not intend to buy the four blocks of Star Tribune property around the Metrodome. To date there is no change to the legal status of the purchase agreement as previously announced.

    While we had reached agreement on a deal in principle, the collapse of the I-35W Bridge and the turbulent credit markets have caused the Vikings to reevaluate their plans.

    As you know, in anticipation of this sale, we have started work on the 425 Portland Building that will make it possible for us to move all the Star Tribune employees out of the Freeman Building and into the Portland Building.

    We are going to continue with the move since the costs savings of not operating two buildings plus the benefit of everyone under one roof are worth the disruption.

    We will be working with Avista and our real estate advisors over the next few weeks to determine our next steps.

    The current employee parking program remains the same for now, with the exception of the 2007-2008 Vikings home games. We do have a one-year lease with Impark to manage our parking lots during Vikings home games. (See today’s Stribnet story for details.)

    Thank you, Par

    My first question is what does the bridge collapse have to do with the Vikings backing out of this? The thing will be replaced long before they’d ever build a stadium.

  • Grape Expectations

    Rake food and wine writer Ann Bauer, has a piece on wine-making and global warming on Salon.com.