Author: rakemag

I’m signing off early for the holiday this year. Wracked as I am by last-minute shopping lists and Catholic guilt, I’m afraid I’ll need an extra day to physically and mentally prepare. I will, however, arrive back in Minneapolis on the evening of December 25, when I’ll carry-on the long-held tradition of meeting my friends at Liquor Lyle’s for some decompression. In the meantime, for those staying back, there’s a decent lineup of concerts these next few days: Soul Asylum, The Steeles and Peter Ostroushko, Heiruspecs. If you’ve got family in town (you know, that mom who’s just dying to go downtown for a show), you might consider The Altar Boyz, a funny musical that spoofs Christian boy bands, or Hurricane on the Bayou, a new Omni film at the Science Museum. I caught the preview of Hurricane a few weeks back, and I sort of dug it, thanks to the contributions made by New Orleans musicians Tab Benoit and Allen Toussaint. Not that I didn’t appreciate the film’s resounding message–the need to restore Gulf Coast wetlands. It’s just that the sweet sounds of New Orleans-style blues were fairly distracting.

There’s an awfully pretty boy band playing at the Varsity this eve. And by chance, these are the very fellows I get to meet tomorrow afternoon when a certain publicist lets me crash their photo shoot. Disclosure: Judging by what I hear on the band’s MySpace page, their power-pop sound isn’t exactly my cup of tea. But I don’t necessarily mind their hairdos. Nor do I dislike their faux-vintage tees, which I actually find quite appealing on the bodies of certain men. In fact, after a little coaching, my significant other has started to dress much in this way.

In any case, there’s reason to believe you and I will be hearing and seeing more of these good-lookin’ fellows. I won’t say exactly why just yet. That, my friends, is a different story for a different medium.

Have you ever, in a moment of professional unease, considered making your living as a human guinea pig? It sounds pretty great, doesn’t it? Free health care! Sitting around in your bathrobe all day, paging through magazines while contemplating the effects of some mysterious, new drug that’s on the fast-track for FDA approval. In bleaker moments of my post-collegiate life, this has certainly seemed a viable career option. And I’d be in the audience for tonight’s Cafe Scientifique talk on the subject if not for a certain office holiday party this evening. In any case, a professor at the U of M’s Center for Bioethics will take centerstage at this talk. He’ll discuss the various ethical implications of using humans like guinea pigs. Is it ethical? Well, to me, it seems more so than using un-consenting bunnies.

Amazing. This is yet another Monday on which men- and women-about-town will find something above-average to do. The noted playwright, or if you prefer the Most Important Living Playwright, Tom Stoppard stars in the 2006 Global Voices lecture at the Guthrie; and I believe it’s being moderated by Joe Dowling. This gives damn good excuse to all the haters out there. If you’ve been too busy complaining about the Guthrie’s 2006-07 season, and thus haven’t made it to one of the plays and stepped out onto the enchanting “bridge to nowhere” (or, as I hear Charles Mee wanted to call it, the “playwrights’ leap”), here’s your chance. I have no idea what Stoppard will actually cover this evening. Perhaps he’ll discuss his new project, The Coast of Utopia, a trilogy of plays set to mid-19th century Russia. (The New York Times gave it a required reading list.)

What to do this weekend:

First, on a sad note, I note the passing of yet another record store. Know Name Records in Dinkytown–situated in an architectural relic of the 70s era during which it was born–is shuttering its doors. The last day to drop by is tomorrow-Saturday. And there’s a bit of a party in the works; the long list of live in-stores includes Paul Metzger, Vampire Hands, and Bridge Club.

Another notable music happening takes place this very evening at the Nomad Pub: 2024 Records and Vitriol Radio, two of the more important businesses involved in the local music industry these days, are hosting their annual joint-holiday party. Everybody’s invited! And they’ve put together an enticing lineup: Romantica (fronted by Mr. Dream Beau, Ben Kyle), Ghost In The Water (sort of an electro alterego of the band Fitzgerald, from what I understand), The Glad Version, and Arch Stanton, a good band that hasn’t played in three years.

And speaking of dream pop (I can’t shake that track-jacketed Romantica frontman), The Owls shall play the Electric Arc Radio season finale tomorrow afternoon at the Ritz. Props to the Lit 6 Project and all the success they’ve enjoyed this season. I knew ’em when they were wee things.

As for theater, the Burning House Group (yet another troupe that went missing many years) wraps its production of Waiting For Godot this weekend. I hear it’s rather good, as far as Waiting For Godot productions go.