Cristina Córdova The story is nothing new: a Mexican mother goes to America, Los Angeles to be precise, in search of a better life for her child, whom she leaves in Mexico under the care of her mother. It’s "real," if nothing else. And it’s touching, if you’re at all moved by a mother’s love and a … Read more
Most of us have heard of Milos Forman, or at least his films. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, adapted from Ken Kesey’s novel, won all five major Academy Awards in 1975. Hair, now a cult classic, was nominated for two Golden Globes. And Amadeus, about the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, won eight — … Read more
What separates the typical Disney flick from most operas is not just the animation or the language, but the ending, the resolution. True, not all operas end in tragedy (though most do), but even the happily-ever-afters come laden with sacrifice and cost-of-learning, so to speak. And let’s face it, someone usually dies. This month, the … Read more
Nothing moves people more than the death of a child. And while a play centered around such tragedy might make its audience feel manipulated and cheap, like a bad Lifetime move, David Lindsay-Abaire’s Rabbit Hole handles it with such honesty and insight as to take its audience through the most grievous journey without resentment or … Read more
"If Shaft was living in southern California and he invited Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix over for dinner," reads their website bio, "Orange County quartet QWIKSAND would make a groovy side-dish." What the California surf funk band fails to mention is the wonderful scent of salt and sun evoked by their music — so much … Read more
In January, the New York Times reported labor abuses in Chinese factories. "’I work on the plastic molding machine from 6 in the morning to 6 at night,’ said Xu Wenquan, a tiny, baby-faced 16-year-old whose hands were covered with blisters." At the end of last year, a Gap scandal revealed child-labor abuses in India. … Read more
"Where is Brad Zellar?" you might ask, as his hiatus from The Rake has created quite a void. Happily, he’s been busy promoting his new book, Suburban World: The Norling Photos, from Borealis Books. Zellar discovered Irwin Norling in 2002, when he unearthed Norling’s neglected negatives from the Bloomington Historical Society archives. Struck by the … Read more
The people in this photo were impressed by The Rake’s depth and breadth of subject matter. Some of them are Twin Citians on vacation; two spend their time now between Tucson and Puerto Vallarta (the Rake began publishing after they left Minnesota, and they have enjoyed their copies so much they are passing them on … Read more
A wide stance is key to surviving a Monotonix show. Keep your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms ready to brace the incessant shock waves of bodies crashing into you. Never lose focus of the strange looking man with a bad perm and pervy mustache. He is not a cast-off from a Starsky and Hutch … Read more
Some years ago I was stranded at Minneapolis-St Paul airport for 24 hours on route from Portland, Oregon back to the UK. Unfortunately, and admittedly completely unfairly — as I did not see anything of the Twin Cities themselves — I acquired a distinctly jaundiced view of the area, assaulted as I was by the … Read more