No Humans, No Freedom

BOOKS & AUTHORS
A Day without Humans

Now, here’s fodder for daydreams and late-night speculation: What would happen to the earth — and, more pointedly, to our massive infrastructure of buildings, bridges, subways, and sculptures — if the human race were to disappear? Author and University of Arizona journalism professor Alan Weisman has asked the question of everyone from geologists and paleontologists to art conservators and the Dalai Lama, and the answers are utterly fascinating. This month he discusses the well-researched thesis put forth in his new book, The World Without Us. Come prepared for an ecology lesson, as well as some delightful trivia. For example: Without us, mosquitoes would thrive, domesticated cattle would die out (of course), and a plastic bottle cap would likely outlive your house. –Danielle Kurtzleben

7 p.m., University of Minnesota Bookstore, Coffman Memorial Union, 300 Washington Ave. S.E., Minneapolis; 612-626-0559; free.

MUSIC
Dare to Dream

The name Mary Wilson might not mean anything to you on its own, but I guarantee you’ve heard her sing. Back when she was just 13 years old and living in Detroit’s Brewster Projects, Wilson dreamed of becoming a star, and when she met Florence Ballard, Betty McGlown, and Diana Ross she was well on her way. Do I have your attention now? Certainly you’ve heard of that last name. The four girls formed The Primettes, and later (replacing McGlown with Barbara Martin) became The Supremes. Why, when she set the standard for females in the recording industry, do you not know her name? Perhaps Dreamgirls can help you answer this question. She’s the “other” one: Lorrell Robinson. Truth is, Wilson stayed with the group even after Ballard and Ross left it, attaining several hits with The New Supremes. Since then, Wilson has written a best-selling autobiography, performed on stage and screen, lectured and toured the world, and continued cranking out stellar music. Catch her tonight and tomorrow night at the Dakota.

7 & 9:30 p.m., Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant, 1010 Nicollet, Minneapolis; 612-332-1010; $60 & $45.

Matt Pond PA

“It’ll never be that right / It’ll never be that wrong / You’re heading for the night / That’s as real as it’s long.” Matt Pond PA has evolved a great deal as a band over the past decade, yet they remain true to their initial challenge to pop music, to their initial focus on strings, and to their initial unpretentious, down-to-earth lyrics, with a sense of humor. Now joined by Steve Jewett on bass, Brian Pearl on guitars and piano, Dan Crowell on drums, and Dana Feder on cello, Matt Pond offers catchy melodies with sweetly sung, simple lyrics that cover the full spectrum from joy to misery, warning against apathy and exalting any kind of emotional response to human relationships and people’s relationship to their environments.

7 p.m., Varsity Theater, 1308 4th St. S.E., Minneapolis; 612-604-0222; $14.

FILM
Brand upon the Brain

Brand Upon the Brain! is black and white and silent. Brand gives us music, beautiful music, melancholy and thrilling, and reminiscent of the sea. You can almost smell the brine from the moan of the cello. Isabella Rossellini narrates, breathlessly, ordering us to participate, shouting her entreaties. She is a benshi, and one of the best. Of course, there is only a recording of Isabella, sweet Isabella. But she is our only benshi, sadly, and she wears that international crown with pride. “The past, the past, into the past!” she shouts, and with her we are thrust headlong into that past. We follow Guy Maddin, filmmaker, into his past and discover, simultaneously, that there are some discomforting parallels in all our childhoods. See a full review in our Talk about Talkies blog. –Peter Schilling, Jr.

5:30, 7:30, 9:30 p.m., Parkway Theater, 4814 Chicago Ave., Minneapolis; 612-822-3030.