Author: Cristina Córdova

FILM
Arranged

Here’s an interesting show for you and the kids: Arranged,
a tale of two Brooklyn teachers—Rochel, an Orthodox Jew, and Nasira, a
Syrian Muslim—both of whom are in the process of being set up in
arranged marriages. Somehow they manage to become close friends. By
setting the film in a public grade school and forcing these two
characters to endure the unquenchable curiosity of their young charges,
the directors, Diane Crespo and Stefan Schaefer, have created a film
that invites dialog without battering you over the head. This sweet
little movie is full of fascinating characters and plenty of fine
moments, especially those illuminating the painfully awkward steps
toward meeting the men with whom these women will spend the rest of
their lives. Watch to see that an arranged marriage has many of the
same pitfalls as today’s conventional courtships. This screening is
part of the Sabes Foundation Minneapolis Jewish Film Festival and will be followed by a luncheon with speakers Raleigh Kent and Jamila Kosobayasi. —Peter Schilling

Friday at 11:30 a.m., Sabes Jewish Community Center, 4330 S. Cedar Lake Road, St. Louis Park; 952-381-3400.

The Counterfeiters

Told in flashback, The Counterfeiters
is the exciting true story of Salomon Sorowitsch, who, in the years
before World War II, was the world’s greatest counterfeiter. Arrested
in Berlin, Sorowitsch is sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration
camp—as both Jew and habitual criminal he’s considered doubly
threatening. But the Germans find a use for Sorowitsch, putting him to
work on “Operation Bernhard,” the Nazi plan to counterfeit U.S. dollars
and the British pound, flood the market, and subsequently wreck the
Allies’ economies. The prisoners involved in the operation—an uneasy
mix of bankers, printers, and criminals—are given preferential
treatment over the other Jews. Nevertheless, their actions have
devastating consequences. As Sorowitsch, Karl Marcovicks is simply
brilliant: At once a charmer and a rogue, you can’t take your eyes off
him. —Peter Schilling

Opens Friday at the Edina Cinema, 3911 50th St. W., Edina, 651-649-4416.

Two Minnesota Films Featured in Women with Vision Film Festival

The Walker’s Women With Vision Film Festival kicks off this evening (7:30 p.m.) with Older than America, filmed on location in Cloquet, Minnesota. Director Georgina Lightning, producer Christine Walker and special guest actress Tantoo Cardinal will introduce this haunting tale about a woman whose visions reveal a Catholic priest’s sinister plot to silence her mother from speaking the truth about the atrocities that took place at her Native American boarding school. Then on Saturday (2 p.m.), Short Films, Program One includes Labyrinth, by IFP member Jila Nikplay.

Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-375-7600; $8, members $6.

SHOPPING
Carlos Falchi Trunk Show

If you’re as much of a handbag and accessory fanatic as Melinda Jacobs — or maybe just a Carlos Falchi fan — then head over to Pumpz & Company at the Galleria in Edina today to meet the designer in person. Falchi, whose bags have been featured in Sex and the City, The Devil Wears Prada, and Lipstick Jungle, will be autographing vintage Falchi bags at the event, and guests can custom design the bag of their dreams.

Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Galeria, 69th and France, Edina.

MUSIC
Dervish

Kick off St. Paddy’s day a little early with the music of Dervish. For going on two decades, Dervish has brought traditional Irish music to the stage alongside such world-acclaimed musicians as James Brown, The Buena Vista Social Club, Oasis, Sting, REM, and Beck.

Friday at 8 p.m., The Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-388-2674; $20.

Party with Designer Drugs

If electro-house is more your style, head to the Kitty Cat tonight for Hotel, their monthly dance night with DJ Jonathan Ackerman at the helm. This evening, Hotel welcomes ultra-hip Philadelphia electro party DJs Designer Drugs. Pulling from their classical music training, the duo creates club anthems with pop sensibilities.

Friday at 10 p.m., Kitty Cat Klub, 701 1st Ave. N., Minneapolis; 214-957-2148.

And on Sunday, be sure to catch Steve Earle, with special guest Allison Moorer, at First Avenue.

BOOKS & AUTHORS & MORE MUSIC
Perfect From Now On

John Sellers, author of Perfect From Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life, will host an event at the 7th Street Entry on Saturday, which features two Guided By Voices tribute bands: The Textbook Committee and The Girl Guides, and Minneapolis bands Cortez the Killer and The Cans.

Saturday at 8 p.m., 7th Street Entry, 701 First Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612-332-1775; $5.

BENEFIT & EVEN MORE MUSIC!
Club Diva

On Saturday International Market Square
will be transformed into the hottest new club in town — full of sexy
singles, hip urban professionals, and exotic devotees of the club
scene. CLUB DIVA, DIVA MN’s 17th annual fundraiser
for AIDS/HIV programs, benefits the nonprofit organization’s purposes
and needs.

Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 2 a.m., International Market Square, 275 Market St., Minneapolis; 612-338-6250; tickets start at $40 and go as high as you like.

ART
John Ratzloff Turns His Lens on the Anishinabe

For almost twenty years, the bulk of photographer John Ratzloff’s work has been with the Anishinabe at the White Earth reservation in northwest Minnesota. His current exhibit, White Earth, A Portrait, serves as a great introduction to his work; but this weekend is its last, so be sure to catch it. According to Ratzloff, as both an activist and an artist, he doesn’t set out to capture an image; his photographs are "moments shared" — more about relationships than history.

Friday and Saturday from noon to 5 p.m., Bockley Gallery, 2123 W. 21st St., Minneaplis; 612-377-4669.

WINE & DINE
Nantaimori

We’ve been hearing about naked sushi for the past month, and the time has finally come. On Saturday, Temple Restaurant will host a Nyotaimori/Nantaimori Event. That’s right — naked sushi. But don’t worry, you won’t have to take your clothes off (unless you want to, of course). Nyotaimori and Nantaimori are Japanese traditions of serving sashimi and sushi off of the body of a woman or a man. Sounds pretty good to me, however dubious. I just hope chef and owner Thom Pham cleans his serving platters as well as he cleans his vegetables.

Saturday at 7:30-10:30 p.m., Temple Restaurant and Shinto Lounge, 1201 Harmon Place, Minneapolis; 612-767-3770; $75 (includes sushi, sake, and champagne).

MUSIC

Maceo Parker

One of the last things you expect out of Maceo Parker
is a new wrinkle, and that’s OK: As the saxophonist for the Godfather
of Soul, he’s the man who blew the horn that popped the sweat out of
James Brown’s pores. He went on to play with two of Brown’s most
renowned heirs to the funk tradition, Parliament/Funkadelic and Prince.
New tricks aren’t normally a priority for an old-timer who still
slathers the fatback this well—even after turning sixty-five on
Valentine’s Day. But then Parker starts to croon on his new disc, Roots and Grooves,
and he turns out to be the best Ray Charles doppelganger since Brother
Ray shed this mortal coil four years ago. The ballad “Georgia,” the
sprightly “Hit The Road Jack,” and the funk workout “What’d I Say” are
all daringly faithful tributes that don’t embarrass Parker vocally. But
if you’re worried he’ll abandon that big tenor sax sound, a 17:48
version of “Pass The Peas” on Roots and Grooves will lay it to rest. Expect to hear both the voice and the horn at the Dakota. —Britt Robson

7 and 9:30 p.m., Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant, 1010 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis; 612-332-1010; $50, $35.

Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars

There’s no denying the power of music— whether to protect and celebrate a culture, to decry an injustice, to heal a heart, or to soothe a crying child. Music has served us all well. But the Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars have taken this to a whole new realm. Ravaged and exiled by civil war — having suffered both physical and emotional trauma — the All Stars have used their music, not just as a means of survival, but to share their stories, their struggles, and their strength. Join them tonight at the Guthrie for an energizing performance of traditional West African music, roots reggae, and rhythmic traditional folk. And be sure to check out this documentary about the band.

7:30 p.m., McGuire Proscenium Stage, Guthrie Theater, 818 S. 2nd St., Minneapolis; 612-377-2224; $18-$20.

FILM
Minneapolis Jewish Film Festival

The Minneapolis Jewish Film Festival started a couple of days ago, and you have a week’s worth of films to choose from, so be sure to check the schedule. Tonight, I suggest you head to the Oak Street for two great films, one of which is even a Minnesota premiere. Frozen Days (Yamim Kfu’eem), directed by Danny Lerner, tells the story of young homeless woman who sets out to meet an internet chat room buddy, and ends up taking her identity. The Bubble (Ha Buah) tells the story of three hipsters sharing an apartment in Tel Avis and trying to change the world amid a stream of violence. You may be surprised by the hipness of these tales, and you’ll surely be shocked by the violence.

7 and 9 p.m., respectively, Oak Street Cinema, 309 Oak St. S.E., Minneapolis; 612-331-3134.

THEATER & PERFORMANCE
Eurydice

Sarah Ruhl, Sarah Ruhl, Sarah Ruhl. We’ve been writing up, and seeing,
our fill of plays by this hotshot. Still, we’d be fools not to note the
occasion of the regional premiere of Eurydice, the play that made Ruhl
a certified superstar (thanks to last summer’s extended Off-Broadway
run). This production marks Ten Thousand Things’ first tangle with the
playwright, and their choice of this spirited, fairly modern take on
the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice (retold from the young woman’s
perspective) should fit nicely with the company’s visually spare yet
emotionally direct aesthetic—something it more often applies to
Shakespeare and the ancient Greek playwrights. Among a strong, all-star
cast, the key players include Sonja Parks, a local actress who performs
with remarkable force in the title role, and the stately and
heavens-to-Betsy-he’s-handsome Steve Hendrickson as Eurydice’s father. —Christy DeSmith

Friday-Sunday at 8 p.m., Ten Thousand Things at Open Book, 1011 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis;

612-203-9502; $20.

You’re My Favorite Kind of Pretty

Recent conversations with Jon Ferguson,
that rising star of the local theater scene, revealed a topical theme:
The man is headlong in love. Since he and his partner, performer Megan Odell of Live Action Set,
recently welcomed a baby boy into the world, Ferguson—formerly an
itinerant, couch-surfing bachelor—finds himself an unlikely inhabitant
of a state of domestic bliss. His latest show, fittingly, explores the
gradations of romantic relationships: from love at first sight to (with
any luck) a committed coupling. A cast of fine, crush-worthy
collaborators lent their own romantic histories to the project,
including Jennifer Davis,
whose vivid paintings Ferguson finds distinctly feminine and beautiful,
and Sara Richardson, a stellar (and dismayingly under-used) performer
who somehow manages to be both physically lovely and goofy as all
get-out. —Christy DeSmith

Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 7 p.m., Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-340-1725; $18.

FILM
The Band’s Visit

"Once, not long ago, a small Egyptian police band arrived in Israel. Not many people remember this. It wasn’t that
important." So begins The Band’s Visit, an understated little film from Israeli
director Eran Kolirin. When no one is at the airport to meet the eponymous
band, the musicians, dressed in baby blue police uniforms and lugging their
instruments through the village streets, are forced to split up and crash at
the homes of the bemused inhabitants. But like many unimportant moments in our
lives, The Band’s Visit is really about those quiet minutes spent connecting
with fellow human beings, sharing observations, memories, pain, suffering, and,
of course, love-moments we remember forever. There is little to say about this
beautiful picture other than that it succeeds marvelously at making us feel
profoundly happy, a feat that eludes almost every movie out there. —Peter Schilling

Opens Friday at Edina Cinema, 3911 W. 50th
St., Edina; 651-649-4416.

See Kate Leibfried’s review of The Band’s Visit, and Peter Schilling’s interview with director Eran Kolirin.

4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days

Bruno Dumont’s "Romanian abortion movie" — 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days — documents a day in the life of two college roommates. Gabita is the
underprepared pregnant one and Otilia is her friend who, it turns out,
is willing to do almost anything to help her. The girls prepare for the
illegal abortion like they would an exam – with a sort of dignified
verve. They overcome some small setbacks only to be faced with some
much bigger ones. The overcome those, then a short diversion and then
the procedure and the clean up. Finally they are left to face the
reality of what they just did. This is where we leave the characters
and their struggle in the film’s beautiful final moment. In strictly
real time we experience these events and the transformations that they
cause, and this is where the power of the story rises above any
particular cinematic aesthetic. —from a review by Christopher Hontos

Opens Friday at Edina Cinema, 3911 W. 50th
St., Edina; 651-649-4416.

MUSIC
Holy Rollers

Do it for God, or do it for the vocals. The truth is, contemporary urban gospel is more about rhythm, groove, and vocals, than about Christianity; but you just can’t deny the spirit moving — whatever spirit that may be. It seems to me, we can all stand to let our spirits soar a little, especially at the end of one of the coldest, harshest, more depressing months of the year. Besides, we just don’t get enough gospel in the Twin Cities, so we best enjoy what we can. This evening, Robert Robinson leads more than 100 soulful voices in a celebration of "music and spirituality through the rich tradition of African American
religious music." Don’t miss this Twin Cities Community Gospel Choir concert.

Saturday at 7:30 p.m., The O’Shaughnessy, College of St. Catherine, 2004 Randolph Ave., St. Paul; 651-690-6700; $20, children & seniors $15, students $10.

And on Sunday, catch Atlas Sound, White Rainbow, and Valet at the Triple Rock Social Club.

SPECIAL EVENT
The African Diaspora in the Americas

Tomorrow you have a rare opportunity to celebrate the African Diaspora with people from all over the Americas — and to learn about the decisive role people of African origin have played in the revolutionary process. The event begins at 1 p.m., with keynote speaker Jesús ‘Chucho’ García — founder and leader of the Afro-Venezuelan Network — as he shares his knowledge of the impacts of globalization and militarism on Latin America. Then, join panel discussions (2:30 to 5:30 pm) with Rose Brewer (United States), Raudemar Hernández (Cuba), Nekima Levy-Pounds (United States), Ruben Joanem (Haití), Danyika Howell (United States), Jorge Veloz (Venezuela), Lauretta Dawolo (Liberia), Marino Córdova (Colombia), Karla Smith (United States), and Lester Nurse (Puerto Rico). This fabulous intellectual stimulation will be followed by a dinner and artistic performances (5:30 – 9 p.m.) by María Isa (Puerto Rico), Eliezer Santos Freitas (Brazil), Judith Pérez (Venezuela, Yrma Machado (Venezuela), and Karma (United States).

Saturday from 1-9 p.m., Phyllis Wheatley Community Center, 1301 10th Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612-730-0087; free.

THEATER & PERFORMANCE
The Language of Love

After weeks of rehearsals and rewrites — and even blogging for us in our Just Passing Through blog — local playwright Aditi Kapil is finally debuting two of her works this evening. The first, Love Person, directed by Risa Brainin, isn’t your ordinary love story — about physical attraction, social structure, and sexual orientation — but rather a love story about language and communication. "I was researching Sanskrit," writes Kapil in her February 5th blog post, "and it struck me that there is a similarity between
the two
languages. Something about the sentence structure, and how direct they
are, straightforward yet poetic. And I began to wonder if it is
possible for two people to
fall in love on the basis of language alone. Because they understand
each other in some deep way that for instance English speakers can’t.
And how interesting it would be if those two people were a Deaf lesbian
and an isolated Sanskrit professor. 20 some drafts later here we are,
gearing up for the world premiere." Don’t miss out on this beautiful "language-laden love mystery."

7:30 p.m., Mixed Blood Theater, 1501 South Fourth St., Minneapolis; 612-338-0937; $10, but be sure to check out our special Rake reader offer.

MORE THEATER & PERFORMANCE
A Circus about Water

In the Heart of the Beast Puppet Theater
always has something interesting, creative, and colorful to offer. So
give them a script by Aditi Kapil to work with, and
they’re bound to make magic — magic out of magic. Sound good? As always
— though Heart of the Beast never fails to prove that puppts aren’t
just for kids — they serve up a nice social message as well. The
subject: water. Learn about public water works, the Mississippi
watershed, stewardship of our water commons, and the bottled water
industry (the evil water bottle industry — I cry when I take out my
recycling and see all those nasty water bottles). But this is no boring
little lecture; Beneath the Surface is an all-out puppet extravaganza, in full Heart of the Beast style. "I love this show;
it’s a circus about water," wrote Kapil in our Just Passing Through blog after attending a rehearsal a
couple weeks ago "Man, were they funny! No, wait, this is what I
actually love about
puppeteers! I may have written the script, I may know exactly where
they’re headed, but their minds just work differently from most people,
and they take me by surprise and crack me up every time!"

7:30 p.m., In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, 1500 East Lake St., Minneapolis; 612-721-2535; pay what you can.

Peace Crimes

In the early ’70s, as the Vietnam War drew an
increasingly high death toll, eight Minnesotans raided area draft
offices to destroy draft cards and spare their fellow Minnesotans from
the horrors of what they knew to be an unjust war. Dubbed the
"Minnesota Eight" by the local press, the protesters were
nabbed by the FBI, tried and convicted for conspiracy against their
country, and locked up in a federal prison. Now, several decades later,
the Minnesota History Theatre, the Playwrights’ Center, and the
University Theatre Department have come together to bring their amazing
story to the stage.

7:30 p.m., History Theater,
Rarig Center, 330 21st Ave. S., Minneapolis;

$25.

BOOKS & AUTHORS
Charles Baxter

Charles Baxter,
whom we’re happy to once again claim as a local (he recently returned
from a long exile in Ann Arbor) has been at it for twenty-five years
now, and his body of work—which includes novels, short stories, poetry,
and essays—has gained both a national reputation and a cult following.
His novel The Feast of Love
was a National Book Award nominee and was recently made into a film.
Baxter’s teaching at the University of Minnesota these days, but he
keeps turning out books (he’s purportedly an insomniac), and his
latest, The Soul Thief, involves a graduate student wrestling with the realization that he may not be who he thinks he is. Or something like that. —Brad Zellar

7-8 p.m., MinneapolisCentral Library, 300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis; 612-630-6174.

 

WINE & DINE
Join Us for Dinner

While movies like Ratatoiulle might have us questioning how good a dinner partner a food critic might make, we have to remember it’s merely fiction (the animation helps). The truth of the matter is, a good food critic is simply someone who knows and appreciates good food (and can express the reasons why, of course). What better dinner partner than that? I would gladly have dinner with any food critic in town — and we have so many good ones. But frankly, dinner with Jeremy Iggers and Ann Bauer — together! — has to take the cake. Join them this evening for an equally wonderful meal at T’s Place. According to Iggers, "T’s Place offers a unique menu — a combination of traditional Ethiopian dishes, served on a tray
covered with injera (a pancake-like flat bread), and some
Malaysian-Ethiopian dishes that chef T Belachew invented when he was a
chef-partner with Kin Lee at Singapore!" And if that’s not enough to entice you, then be sure to read the Twin Cities Daily Planet‘s review of tonight’s featured musician, Yohannes Tona — "the baddest bass guitar player in the Twin Cities."

8 p.m., T’s Place, 2713 E. Lake St., Minneapolis, pay your own way.

BOOKS & AUTHORS
Chip Kidd

This is apparently what we’ve come to: In an age when we’re reminded
on an almost daily basis that nobody reads books anymore, one of the
biggest celebrities in publishing is a guy who designs book jackets.
That, of course, would be Chip Kidd, the graphic designer with a
classic quarterback’s name. You’d think maybe the guy would be content
with having designed fifteen-hundred covers and counting—his work is
ubiquitous and, to his credit, almost always ridiculously stylish and
unmistakable—but you’d be wrong. Turns out Kidd also writes novels, and
on the heels of his debut The Cheese Monkeys
(an art school yarn) comes The Learners (a novel with a lot of
ruminations on graphic design). You certainly can’t accuse the
ambitious Kidd of not writing about what he knows. The publisher says
the new book also involves “advertising, electroshock torture, suicide,
a giant dog, potato chips, and the Holocaust.” —Brad Zellar

7-8 p.m., Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis; 612-630-6174.

MUSIC
Foo Fighters

If
you want to piss people off, claim that Dave Grohl has written and performed more
great music than Kurt Cobain. It’s true: While his stuff may never be as
transcendent as Cobain’s, the Foo frontman and ex-Nirvana drummer has soldiered
on in superior fashion since Cobain’s ’94 suicide, delivering a remarkably
consistent string of quality discs. (One by One is the lone clunker among the
seven Foo records.) The latest, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, ranks
with the first disc on In Your Honor as the band’s finest work, containing the
Foo hallmarks of dynamic crescendos (a whisper-to-a-scream capability to rival
Aerosmith); gritty, punk-pop hooks; underrated, passionate vocals; and the
occasional affecting ballad. Plus, in whatever incarnation Grohl slaps
together, the Foos have always been able to deliver the goods in an arena-sized
venue. —Britt Robson

7:30 p.m., Target Center,
600 First Avenue North, Minneapolis; 612-673-1600.

Also tonight — and tomorrow night — the Terell Stafford Quintet will be performing at the Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant.

And on the birthday of one of my favorite American poets (1807-1882), I’ll leave you with his words:

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,–act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;–

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

As many of you have probably already heard, The Rake is ceasing publication of its print magazine after this month’s issue (which hit the streets today). While this is extremely sad for all of us, and a great loss to our readers as well, we will, of course, continue online, as always — with daily Secrets, regular arts, sports, and food coverage, and great bloggers all around. In fact, we’ve just added Rich Goldsmith to our list of bloggers, so stop by and check out the Defenestrator. (He’s home working on his first post as I write this.)

THEATER & PERFORMANCE
Framing Suzan-Lori Parks

Things could get interesting when the English and Theater departments at the U of M embark on a joint investigation of Suzan-Lori Parks’s oeuvre.
This Pulitzer- and MacArthur Genius Grant-winning playwright boasts a
body of work that’s rich in poetics and historic awareness, yet
audacious enough to confront issues of emotional brutality head-on. (In
other words, beware of over-intellectualizing.) The series kicks off
tonight when Frank Theatre, the local company with the most Parks plays under its belt, excerpts its productions of The America Play, Venus, and Fucking A (Rarig Center, February 26).
Frank’s founder and artistic director, Wendy Knox, also joins a panel
of experts next week to discuss what it’s like to direct Parks’s plays (Rarig Center, March 4);
and the series culminates with Parks in the flesh at Ted Mann Concert
Hall on March 26, where she will lecture, play her guitar, and “show
her ass,” as she likes to (metaphorically) put it. —Christy DeSmith

7:30 p.m., Rarig Center, Room Proscenium Stage,

University of Minnesota, 330 21st Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-626-1528; free.

MUSIC
Sparks Fly

I admit, when I hear talk of electronic music, I immediately think "rave." I immediately recall a young woman, many years ago — on a most beatific trip, perhaps — swaying in a gas station, crying out to me in her own defense, "It’s just… it’s just… electronic music takes me there." And I suppose a trip "there" — wherever that may be — may not be a bad thing from time to time, but somehow I doubted the utility of her destination enough to turn me off somewhat to the genre. That’s not fair, of course. And being back in Minneapolis has finally taught me otherwise. There’s some darn good electronic music around! In fact, it’s quite amazing now what we can do, what one man, one woman can do with the most simple (or complicated) equipment. Yes, seeing a whole band come together in some magical way will always seduce us; but we can now also enjoy the magic of one person, two persons, however many persons and a machine serving up layers upon layers of sound in utterly deliberate and strikingly creative ways. Of course, this is nothing but a ridiculously long introduction to an interesting event that begins today and continues for the next five days. The Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Arts features dozens of local creators and performers of new media arts. In reality this isn’t just electronic music, so my long-winded intro is even more scornful; the event showcases music, video, dance, theater, plastic arts, and whatever other fabulous creation someone has birthed. Get an initial glimpse tonight with works by Shield Your Eyes, Nic Buron: "Knee Bone", Beatrix Jar: Performance Set (in photo), and Mystery Palace (at the Whole Music Club at 7 p.m.), and Marcos Romero, The Push, Ryan Simatic, James Patrick (at Temple at 10 p.m.). Check the schedule to see what’s coming up. You’re sure to find great stuff for the weekend.

7 – 10 p.m., Coffman Memorial Union, The Whole, 300 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis, 612-624-INFO; free.

10 p.m., Temple Restaurant and Bar, 1201 Harmon Pl., Minneapolis, 612-767-3770.

Or Hunt Unicorns

If you’re not feeling quite that experimental today — still odd and quirky, but with a touch of pop flavor — then I’ve got another compelling act for you. Come on now; don’t be stodgy. Live a little. Sia is town, all the way from Adelaide, Australia; and though her website and her myspace page are just a little too colorful and esoteric — or perhaps we can do her the honor of crediting her with some kind of brilliant derisive jab at the whole myspace "thang" — a moment on that same ridiculous page will also reveal her estimable voice. She makes you want to listen — even if she does describe herself as being "born out of the butthole of a unicorn called steve." Don’t you just have to see this gal? Listen to the track she sent us. I’m guessing she’ll put on a show that’s equally skilled and amusing — with extra sass for good measure.

9 p.m. (doors at 8 p.m.), FineLine Music Cafe, 318 First Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612-338-8100; $20.

BOOKS & AUTHORS
The Legend of Faust

Co-produced by SF Minnesota and Intermedia Arts, the Speculations Readings Series for science fiction and fantasy works presents local author and photographer Terry Faust tonight at Uptown’s DreamHaven Books. Faust, who’s been shooting at community newspapers, non-profit publications and weddings for over 25 years, lifts the curtain on his double life as a writer of screenplays, short stories, and novels. This Loft Literary Prize winner’s latest undertaking has been a series of humorous sci-fi books that poke fun at everything from U.S. foreign policy to life in the Midwest to… pancakes? He’ll be reading from the first installment, the self-published Z Is For Xenophobe, giving a run-down of the upcoming second (that’d be Y Is For Wiseguy) and opening up the floor for all your Q’s and A’s. Then, it’s on to Dulono’s Pizza down the street for some post-discussion brain food. —Haily Gostas

6:30 p.m., DreamHaven Books, 912 West Lake St., Minneapolis; 612-823-6161.

MUSIC
Big John Bates & the Voodoo Dollz

It’s hard not to get your hopes up over a band that lists spaghetti westerns, muscle cars, and Jägermeister as their primary influences. Thankfully, Vancouver exports Big John Bates & the Voodoo Dollz don’t disappoint. Picture The Cramps, the Stray Cats, The White Stripes, and the best ghosts of blues and big band all headbutting for the last of the bottle—as refereed by scantily clad circus women—and you’ll get some idea of their raucous sound and wild stage presence. Fresh from the success of their 2006 album Take Your Medicine, and from hosting the second annual Voodoo Ball in February, Big John’s band of outsiders (with names like sCare-oline and J.T. Massacre, no less) bring their burlesque-infused “Low-Brow Road Show” to St. Paul’s Station 4 rock club tonight. Expect all the dirty fun you can shake a five-spot at. —Haily Gostas

9 p.m., Station 4, 201 E. 4th St., St. Paul; 651-298-0173; $5.

THEATER LECTURE
Boys Will Be Boys

Night after
night, actor Mark Rylance has been giving an insightful performance over at the Guthrie, in the title role of
Peer Gynt. We’re mighty
curious to know more about his
nuanced approach to the character, as he seems to nailing three things central to male
adolescence: physical recklessness, emotional isolation, and the
desperation to be accepted as a man. We wouldn’t
mind hearing, from the horse’s mouth,
why Minnesota
poet Robert Bly might’ve started this business of translating Ibsen’s play "just
for the fun of it" (before the Guthrie even gave him a commission), as he’s been
heard to say. In short, Peer Gynt is a fascinating tale that,
written in 1867, foreshadowed our contemporary culture’s so-called masculinity
crisis. Join Rylance and Bly tonight as they discuss the play’s appeal as well as its
themes. An urgent note to the wise: Peer Gynt closes this
weekend. Don’t miss the best Guthrie
production we’ve seen in a long, long while. —Christy
DeSmith

7:30 p.m., Guthrie Theater, 818 S 2nd St., Minneapolis; 612-377-2224; $15.

 

SHOPPING & STYLE
Local Clothes

If you’ve been waiting for the
perfect time to support

Minnesota ‘s burgeoning fashion community (with
actual dollars, that is), it could be that
your moment has finally come. A twofer of sales this weekend might
finally put those hand-made
wears within reach. First stop: Cliché, which carries local designers such
as Amanda Christine, Red Shoe Clothing Co., and Kjurek Couture and just happens to be
hosting an artist reception this Friday evening (shoppers get ten-perfect off
during the party). Over at the Design Collective, which carries
all manner of Minnesota-based accessory and clothing designers,
they’re kicking off a "Goodbye,
Winter" clearance this evening. —Christy DeSmith

Friday at Cliché, 2403 Lyndale Ave. S.,
Minneapolis; 612-870-0420. Design Collective, 311 26th St. W., Minneapolis; 612-377-1000.

FILM
Be Kind, Rewind

Jack Black and Mos Def team with director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Science of Sleep)
to give us this oddball comedy about a man who becomes magnetized and
erases the entire inventory of videotapes in his pal’s rental store.
(The movie takes place in the ’80s.) They end up having to “swede” all
the movies. What’s sweding, you ask? “Remaking something from scratch,
using whatever you can get your hands on,” explains Black. Natch. So
the boys take whatever junk they can find, grab a video recorder, and
remake everything from RoboCop (with Black in tinfoil) to The Lion King to 2001: A Space Odyseey to Boyz n the Hood. Black even asserts: “Our version is better!” Undoubtedly. —Peter Schilling

Opens Friday

MUSIC
Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Orchestra

The
co-founder of Los Hombres Calientes, young Irvin Mayfield has over the years
abetted the impeccable precision of his trumpet lines with increasingly
emotional long-form compositions. How Passion Falls in 2001 was his personal
response to the first time his heart was broken, and Strange Fruit, recorded
four years later, is an incendiary tale of a lynching arising out of an
interracial romance. For the latter, Mayfield assembled a seventeen-piece orchestra
of New Orleans-based musicians. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, they have
become an ongoing nonprofit organization and are currently on tour playing
Mayfield’s latest opus, the as-yet unrecorded Rising Tide, about that epic
storm that flooded New Orleans and took the life of Mayfield’s father and
dozens of others. —Britt Robson

Friday at 8 p.m., Orchestra Hall,
1111 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis; 612-371-5656.

ART
RE: Generations, Legacy & Tradition

Don’t
let the title fool you. This exhibit showcases innovative, contemporary takes
on traditional American Indian art forms. It’s a chance to see work by Kevin
Pourier and Dwayne Wilcox, whose horn carvings and ledger drawings garnered
attention at two earlier, similarly themed exhibits, Impacted Nations and
Changing Hands II: Art Without Reservation; included as well are newer names
like beadwork artists Douglas Limon and Todd Bordeaux, quilter Gwen Griffin,
and hide painter Alaina Buffalo Spirit. —Julie Caniglia

Closes Saturday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m., Ancient Traders Gallery, 1113 E. Franklin Ave., Minneapolis;
612-870-7555.

Arts of Japan: The John C. Weber Collection

This
show was organized by the National Museums in Berlin, and comes to Minneapolis
via Boston. Weber, for his part, is a New Yorker-a doctor who’s no doubt made a
splash among collectors of Japanese art, having assembled what we’re told is a
world-class collection of objects-ranging from the twelfth century to the
twentieth-in just ten years. Ninety-five of those works make up this show:
scrolls and painted screens, lacquered bottles and ceramics, kimonos and
Buddhist calligraphies. In other words, pace yourself for this one. —Julie Caniglia

Opens Sunday, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 Third Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-870-3131.