In the last couple of years, the Twin Cities has gained a reputation as a hipster Mecca; the chic architecture (new Guthrie, Walker, and Central Library) has garnished international praise, the rocking music scene is hotter than ever with both indie and mainstream bands (Atmosphere on Conan! The Hold Steady opens for The Rolling Stones!), … Read more
Same Old Man indeed. This is between Hiatt’s 15th and 25th release — depending on how you count best-ofs, live recordings, and groups like Little Village — and the reliability factor remains high. He’s an ersatz curmudgeon, a faux eccentric, a dilapidated Everyman with an undeniably big heart and an equally undeniable knack for songwriting. … Read more
BENEFIT EVENTIn Vino Veritas Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art plans to bring artist Robert Shetterly’s Americans Who Tell the Truth exhibit to Minneapolis in September, and tonight you’re invited to enjoy a decadent and insightful sneak-peek benefit event. Three years ago, Shetterly began painting realistic portraits of influential American leaders, past and present, who … Read more
Everyone knows: Wally’s Pet World sells the sickest, the oldest, and the mangiest animals. But that doesn’t stop George from heading nine counties and eleven hours toward some strip mall into Graysville. He drums a folded bag on his lap with his fingers. The car deviates toward the right side of the crooked road. "Look, … Read more
I walked outside The Cedar to wait for my ride after the Wendy Rule show last Wednesday night, when a group of passing guys stopped and one said, “I ‘aint neva’ seen no ass like that on a white girl befo’.” I expected them to break out into song and dance around me like Chris … Read more
All the ingredients for an experimental disaster are there: six characters on a non-elevated platform of white cardboard — a sterile space carved out in the corner of a dingy art gallery — all dressed in white, speaking in seemingly disjointed sentences, hugging the wall behind them, twisting, writhing, gasping. But Socktesting, however experimental, is … Read more
(This the car from its most umistakable angle. It looks even more like a nameless Japanese car from the rear and side.) The Pax Britannica that led to a relatively peaceful 1800s (unless you were Irish) was imposed primarily by the glorious Royal Navy. While it is politic to assert this prestige came from good … Read more
The introduction to this week’s Poem Worth Reading is taken from Bart Schneider’s forthcoming novel, the highly Minneapolized The Man in the Blizzard: "Sometimes I wonder why Americans are as afraid of poetry as they are of al-Qaeda. Screw the ones who’ve decided that poetry’s an effete enterprise. Let ‘em party with the homophobes. It’s … Read more
(AP Photo/Winslow Townson) Los Angeles 88, Boston 98 Series thus far: Boston 1-0 1. The Buck Stops With Pierce I firmly believe that Boston’s postseason prospects took a dramatic leap forward when Paul Pierce went off for a monster performance in Game 7 of the Eastern semis versus Cleveland. Up to that point, the Celtics … Read more
In an attempt to one-up United Health for most ridiculous Minnesota-based health insurance company, HealthPartners (relatively) recently announced its new Mascot, Petey P. Cup. He’s a giant urine specimen container with arms, legs, feelings, and no shame. Since then I’ve learned quite a bit about Petey P. Cup and his sidekick Pokey the Syringe. Here … Read more