LECTURE
The Kids Are All Right
Back in April, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a report on the possibility of regulating television violence that might be seen by children. Though they were unable to define what constitutes violence, they did suggest that it can be regulated constitutionally. Now, as we await the FCC’s next steps, the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law invites attorney Robert Corn-Revere to examine the conflict between our First Amendment rights and government control of the media. “
7 p.m., Cowles Auditorium, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, 301 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612 625 3421; free.
BOOKS & AUTHORS
Black & Blue
The NFL’s “Black and Blue” division — composed of the Chicago Bears, the Detroit Lions, the Green Bay Packers, and the Minnesota Vikings — has been playing a good-old-boy ass-kicking game for the past four decades. You know the kind of game I’m talking about. It’s the kind of football that Tom Cruise was trying to get Cuba Gooding to play in Jerry McGuire — the kind that knocks you out dead on the field, the black-and-blue kind. In honor of the division’s 40th anniversary, sportswriter Bob Berghaus takes us back to its glory days with team histories and game accounts dating all the way back to its 1967 inception. Black and Blue: A Smashmouth History of the NFL’S Roughest Division contains original interviews with coaches, players, and sportscasters, along with with stories and photos of some of the goriest games. If you like your gridline violence, you’ll appreciate this opportunity to meet a like-minded authority.
7:30 p.m., Magers & Quinn Booksellers, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-822-4611.
MUSIC
Paolo Nutini
While Amy Winehouse was too tired, stressed, or drugged up to make her previously scheduled State Theater performance here this week, at least her opening act is pulling through. This is no ordinary opening act, folks. At only 19 years of age, Paolo Nutini already has a number five single on the UK charts, a number three album on the UK charts, and a Golden St. Christopher medal from the city of Barga, Italy — the highest honor the city offers. See him now, and see him first, for I am certain we will be speaking of him for many years to come. Hailing from Scotland, with Italian roots tossed in, Nutini writes his own music, tells a great story, and sings it so beautifully and passionately that you wouldn’t even care if he didn’t.
7:30 p.m., Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul; 651-290-1200; $29.50.
Olu Dara
On the more seasoned side of the musical spectrum, Olu Dara serves up “an eclectic mix of blues, jazz, and storytelling, with tinges of funk, African popular music, and reggae.” While he has been making music for more than three decades, during which time he has won numerous awards — including a 1999 Audelco Lifetime Achievement Award for his theater work — and while he has been oft compared to the legendary Louis Armstrong, you might not even know his name. For many years, Dara took a back seat to big names like Art Blakey, David Murray, and Henry Threadgill. Just under a decade ago, he finally stepped forward with his record debut, proving himself as a worthy leader, as well. You won’t want to miss this trumpet virtuoso.
7 & 9 p.m., Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant, 1010 Nicollet, Minneapolis; 612-332-1010; $35 & $22.
THEATER & PERFORMANCE
Let Go, and Embrace the Ones You Love
Tired of passing up plays with costly tickets? Tonight, Mu Performing Arts offers a pay-what-you-can production of Bahala Na (let it go), directed by Jennifer Weir. As is standard Mixed Blood fare, the performance highlights socio-political issues of race, gender, age, and sexuality. Written by Chinese American playwright Clarence Coo, Bahala Na centers on a Chinese woman’s relationship with her gay grandson, taking us from 1920s China to the Philippines to America in the 1990s.
8 p.m., Mixed Blood Theatre, 1501 S. 4th St., Minneapolis; 612-338-6131; today only, pay-what-you-can.
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