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  • Get Your Yearly Art-fill in One Single Weekend

    ART
    Art on a Roll

    i-skate-shirt-web.jpgNorthfield has more to offer than the “Cows, Colleges, and Contentment” of the city motto. (Aren’t there more pigs than cows there anyhow?) A city becomes a true city only when it produces outsider art. Or didn’t you know that? Well, one thing you probably do know is that small towns — particularly college towns like this one — tend to produce a lot of skateboarders. (You know — the ones getting thrown out of every plaza and park in town.) In an effort to raise awareness, support skateboarding, and raise funds for a skate park, the Grezzo Gallery is hosting Breaking the Law, local art by local skaters. Celebrate the opening tonight with DJ Joe Cruse. Renegade Board Shop, from Faribault, will be putting on a demo right in font of the gallery if the weather holds up. And be sure to buy a t-shirt (design featured to the right). All proceeds will toward The Key youth center’s efforts to build a skate park.

    5:30 – 10 p.m., Grezzo Gallery, 16 Bridge Square, Downtown Northfield; 612-986-7690; free ($20 t-shirts).

    Art Festivals for Everyone

    twirl2.jpgThe Flint Hills International Children’s Festival is this weekend, and there is so much exciting stuff happening, I just have to run down the list for you. This isn’t just for kids, people. By all means take the kids if you’ve got them; but don’t forget to be the kid, too. It’s a completely interactive affair, and it ought to be great fun. Spend the day among artists and butterflies, making your own art, watching stellar performances from around the globe, eating international cuisine, and partaking in various artistic and community events. There’s an ARTwalk exhibit with more than 615 pieces of art displayed in 155 windows in downtown Saint Paul, a festival sculpture garden, an aerial ballet piece based on the work of Chagall, a Kite Festival with a huge kite 50 feet in the air adorning Landmark Plaza, a Poster Contest presented as huge building art hanging from all of the buildings surrounding Rice Park, Movement Arts, an
    ARTmoves community art parade in Rice Park, an incredible array of local performers, and international performers from Mexico, Morocco, France, and Canada. See the lineup of performers. You can’t go wrong. The amount of planning behind this event is astounding, the kids have put in a great deal of time and preparation from their part, and there’s something for everyone. Don’t miss out.

    502732979_b51d3a9aaf.jpgIf you don’t quite get your fill of art at the Children’s Festival, there are a couple of art festivals worth attending. Now in it’s sixth year, the Red Hot Art Festival brings local artists, musicians, food vendors and restauranteurs, installation artists, and community organizations together in Stevens Square Park for a unique weekend gathering.

    If you prefer your art sans community, stroll on along to the ever-so-comfortable Edina Art Fair. Enjoy work by more than 400 artists, live music, fashion shows, great food, and lifestyle demonstrations. What the heck is a lifestyle demonstration anyhow? Only in Edina!

    Out on a Limb

    icecream.jpgFor whatever reason, I can’t refrain from mentioning Jennifer Davis’s art opening this weekend. Davis offers, “the dilute pastels of a taffy-colored universe, where a tethered manatee drifts above a delighted crowd or a pensive youth dreams unbridled fantasies about the horse that got away.” And while it resembles art that I so often hate, it manages to express a certain strange perversity that justifies the sappiness. I want this stuff hanging in the nursery that I keep neglecting to need. I want to write a story, or a poem, to go with each of her images. I want the children I haven’t had to grow up dreaming them. I can’t stop looking.

    7 p.m., Gallery 360, 3011 W. 50th St., Minneapolis; 612-925-2400; free.

    BOOKS, AUTHORS, AND THEN SOME
    Call It Beat, Or Simply Be Beat

    andrecodrescu.jpgWhen he arrived in the United States in the 1960s, then 20-year-old Andrei Codrescu tucked his transcendentalist ideals into his breast pocket and sought out the vestiges of the Beat Generation, principally Allen Ginsberg. Since then, the Romanian-born writer and thinker has elucidated American culture in myriad forms: poetry, essays, novels, screenplays, and even a National Public Radio column. In traditional Beatnik spirit — if anything Beat can be called traditional — Codrescu’s sardonic wit and thirst for the unusual, his playful defiance of all categorization, are his trademarks.

    Despite his acutely ironic sense of humor and his archetypal Jewish wit, Codrescu seems an odd proposition for the Minnesota Public Radio’s American Humorist Series. “For years now I have published my poems in funny magazines / So that nobody would notice / How sad they were,” he writes in his 1980 “Paper on Humor.” More than a humorist, Codrescu is one of our nation’s leading proponents of critical thought. Fearing that our literature, particularly poetry, was suffering from lack of public debate, Codrescu founded the Exquisite Corpse literary journal in 1983. A decade and a half later, he had become one of the first online-only publications, understanding, before many, the distribution value of the Internet. There’s no denying this man’s dominion. With more than 38 published works and endless public presentations he continues to find new outlets for his obsessive learning impulses.

    Friday at 7 p.m., Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul; 651 290-1200; $22-$31.

    While seeing Codrescu is sure to be quite rewarding, living like Codrescu is perhaps even more admirable. You’ve got an opportunity to do so each day of the weekend. The beats were certainly not the first to bring poetry together with music and dance (thought they did it so well), and they’re certainly not the last. Watch words collide with spoken artwork re-colored by choreographers this Saturday in Embedded With Mangoes in the Garden of Dueling Delights, a TalkingImageConnection reading featuring Shá Cage, Carla Hagen, Julia Klatt-Singer, Haley Lasché, Sam Osterhout, Annette Schiebout, and special guests Three Dances.

    Saturday at 8 p.m., Soap Factory, 518 2nd St. SE, Minneapolis; 612-623-9176; free.

    And if you still have a little more beat in you left on Sunday, stop by the 331 Club at 6 p.m. the Lit 6 Story Stage’s Ginsbergian beat poetry day.

    DANCE
    The Language of Silence? Really?

    mn_dance_index.jpgSure, poetry with dance is cool, but let’s face it, sometimes you just just need to shut out those words. Explore the gestures of Arabic letters and poems of 13th century mystic Muhammad Jalaluddin Rumi in silence, or at least Close to Silence. Tonight the Minnesota Dance Theatre showcases the premiere of choreographer-in-residence Wynn Fricke’s Close to Silence, a piece that crosses cultural boundaries by combining modern dance with traditional Islamic dance.

    8 p.m. (Sundays 7 p.m.), The Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-340-1725; $32 (students and youth $17).

    DANCE, MUSIC, AND OTHER GREAT STUFF
    Forget Grand Old Days, the Insanity Starts Here

    vaudeville_sm.jpgMinnesota Public Radio is on a role this weekend. Follow up the Friday’s Codrescu presentation with a vaudevillian extravaganza on Saturday. Seventeen distinctive acts will perform as part of Vaudevillian Stages. Yes, this is real vaudeville — musicians, dancers, comedians, acrobats, and freak shows. Get a load of this line-up: Mongolian acrobats Circus Manduhai, singer Isabella Dawis, The Twin Cities Harmonica Trio, pianist Michael “The Hook” Deutsch, 21-string banjo master Paul Metzger, savage comedian Brian Beatty, Jared “Yodelboy” Mason, manualist (don’t ask) Scott Richardson, tap dance sensations The Ausland Brothers, aerialist Risa Cohen, vocal jazz stylists Rio Nido with singer Prudence Johnson, guitar luminary Tim Sparks, ethereal musical ensemble Dreamland Faces, host Tom Lieberman, and even Ned Beatty (though, strange as he is, I don’t see how he possibly fits in with this motley gang).

    Saturday at 8 p.m., Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul; 651 290-1200; $27-$31.

    MUSIC
    Diggin’ on Them Roots

    charlie1.jpgMaybe it’s the railroads that have tied Minnesota so tightly to the folk music scene since the ’40s. Or maybe it’s the good old Midwestern working-class mentality that permeates the back roads and smaller towns throughout the state. Regardless, our imprint on contemporary folk doesn’t stop at Bob “Zimmerman” Dylan. Hailing from Dylan’s hometown, and clearly influenced by much of the same music as his forebear, Charlie Parr has been quietly shaking the Americana music scene with his authentic rendering of Piedmont-style blues. With the storytelling finesse of Dylan and Woodie Guthrie, the finger-picking mastery of Rev. Gary Davis and Dave Van Ronk, and the raw soul of Robert Johnson and Brownie McGhee (is that enough name-dropping for you?), Parr builds on a strong tradition of American folk and blues while addressing the very real issues of the contemporary Midwestern working man. Anyhow, it’s a hell of a lot better than going to see Styx play at Myth! I mean, come one; they weren’t even that good in the ’80s.

    Saturday at 8 p.m., Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-338-2674; $9.

    Ok. Now quit reading and go DO!

  • Hot rods for (and with) kids

    Starting next week, I will begin to test drive various cars from Sears Automotive. I understand I can flog any car for as long as I wish and report back on it to you, our readers.

    As you are all like me, I am sure you read English, Japanese, Finnish, Russian, American car magazines every month (I wrote once about how the underside of our conjugal bed at home is littered with about 200 plus magazines–some guys hide Playboys, I have a different habit.)

    Well, as I was saying, because I am certain you read as many car magazines as I do, you know that there is a pretty common zeitgeist going round that says you can drive anything you want, as fast as you want, as long as kids are not in the car.

    Kids and really fast cars do not mix. Right?

    Pulease.

    With this in mind, I intend to go gonzo with my boys, Frank and Joe, and invite them to test drive the finest and the fastest that Sears has to offer–then report our findings back to you. In doing so, I may just save all of you from that dreaded Minivan. The Road Rake will provide the ontology you need to avoid your fate.

    (Ontology: loosely translated as the study of meaning and/or the imbuing of a concept with meaning. I think.)

    P.S. I intend to drive the finest and fastest. This does not neccessarily mean we will drive fast. So get off my butt here.

  • Hamburger Does Strib's Work

    I gotta tell ya I’m damned near out of gas on flogging the Star Tribune (and the Pioneer Press, and WCCO TV and just about everybody other than KSTP’s Bob McNaney and Strib columnist, Nick Coleman) to look up from its new strategic focus on the Fridley Squirts Hockey league long enough to put a full-bodied squeeze on the US Attorneys/Heffelfinger/Paulose story. The thing is belching vaporous gas like an incipient volcano and they’re still taking “I don’t knows” from Heffelfinger (who most likely doesn’t know — so enough) and “no comments” from Paulose, who, at the very minimum, should be compelled to hold a full press conference on the matter.

    Thankfully, other papers have recognized the pattern — particularly Karl Rove’s bogus voter fraud/vote suppression strategy — and are working more productive lines of inquiry.

    Ex-Stribber, Tom Hamburger, filed this story for the LA Times. (Here is a good synopses via TPM Muckraker.

    The Strib had the good sense to re-print the Times story — with minimal editing — but couldn’t find a spot for it on 1A.

    Sharp eyed readers here at LTTS jumped on it and filed deliciously acid comments. To wit:

    From “herbtheverb” —

    “So, just to rub salt in the wound (like they care), who do you guess wrote the story? Why it would be L.A. Times staff writer Tom Hamburger of course! You know, the guy who was one of the top political reporters around these here parts, once employed by the Strib locally, then as Washington correspondent…..

    Wait though! It gets even better since these were events that happened in 2004 and THAT’S THREE YEARS AGO FOLKS! So even now, our wonderfully competitive LOCAL papers can’t unearth potential voter discrimination by LOCAL officials against LOCAL citizens and needs ex-local reporters employed by a west-coast paper to inform their “customers”.

    There are even more juicy tidbits there about Paulouse, about how they sought to keep it out of the papers of the time (no worrys, mate, just don’t talk about it in a Maple Grove zoning board meeting), and read carefully about the how/why the story was caught now (i.e. Monica Goodling angle).

    Suburban H.S. sports coverage indeed: mission accomplished. The prosecution, uh….. rests…. “

    Then, from “Not Pleased With Strib Cutbacks” —

    “Tom Hamburger, a former Strib D.C. bureau reporter, finally does the digging his former paper has been incapable or unwilling of doing on the resignation of Tom Heffelfinger and how it fits into the overall picture of Karl Rove’s politicization of U.S. Attorneys.

    This story is the reason why the Strib and the PiPress need strong and well-staffed Washington D.C. bureaus now more than ever.”

    On that last note, the Strib did announce yesterday that it is bringing Kevin Diaz back to its DC bureau. Diaz was basically insulted with a salary cut when Avista took over from McClatchy, so he stayed with McClatchy — which has done excellent work on the US Attorneys scandal — SOME of which has been picked up by the Strib.

    Nancy Barnes, editor and Sr VP for News had this to say in making the announcement, “As our chief correspondent, Kevin will be responsible for covering our delegation, as well as major state and regional issues before Congress, such as the farm bill. We expect him to be instrumental in covering the upcoming Senate race, and the Republican convention headed our way.

    “Kevin will be joined in Washington by an intern: Jake Sherman, a senior from George Washington University and editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper. He has interned at the Washington Post, the Journal News in White Plains, NY, the office of Rep. Christopher Shay, CNN’s Crossfire, and the Stamford Advocate. He will intern with us from June 18-Aug. 31.

    “They will report to Doug Tice. For those of you interested in the details: We have rented space in the Scripps Howard newsroom, effective June 18, since we lost our own bureau space in the McClatchy sale.”

    Diaz and an intern. Well, considering the alternatives everywhere else in StribVille these days, how can I complain?

    (Messages to Diaz’ voice and e-mail got the response that he is “away” until next Monday.)

  • Strib Guild Looks at Age Discrimination Action

    The Star Tribune Guild convened a 10:30 meeting this morning to look at a pattern of age discrimination in the reassignments cooked up editors for the paper’s owner, Avista Capital Partners. Speaking on background one Guild officer said that by their count “only three or four” of the [30-40] reporters told they are being reassigned, “are under the age of 35”.

    It is generally considered “paranoid” or “cynical” to read individualized, strategic intent in these reassignment frenzies. But when, as the same Guild source points out, the percentage of reassignees is so heavily skewed to older writers AND they are notified of their reassignment only days/hours before they have to decide to accept a buy-out and leave the paper, you really aren’t left with many credible explanations other than that this is the latest exercise in the tried-and-true corporate “right-sizing” template of — let’s describe it the way it smells — — insulting/threatening a veteran reporter with a switch to a beat usually covered by a summer intern, if at all.

    There are specific examples all over the place, but when you get to Neal Gendler, a 60-something with a heart condition being reassigned to the OVERNIGHT copy-editing desk, you’re not even getting points for subtlety. (CORRECTION: I’ve since been told that Gendler’s reassignment is not as a copy desk editor, but as a general assignment reporter, from 10 pm to 7 am. In other words, police chase and flaming wreck with shoot out at 3 AM … Gendler’s your man.)

    The Guild also has a problem with the peculiar sequencing of the reassignment/buy-out deadline process devised by the Star Tribune. As I asked wrote yesterday, how else can you explain managing editors spending so much time re-mapping their employee universe BEFORE knowing for certain who they will have to work with, other than as a not too subtle and yes, fairly cynical process for “encouraging” those they most want out of the building to pack up and go?

    It may be technically legal, but it runs contrary to the spirit of journalism, where your agendas, if you have them, are supposed to be plainly disclosed.

    Whether the Guild alone can get any traction on the age discrimination issue remains to be seen. I happen to believe they should pursue aggressive outside counsel if only to squeeze Avista for a fatter, longer-term health benefits package. But that’s me and it wouldn’t be my money.

  • Everything Screams Summer

    BOOKS & AUTHORS
    Never End a Title in a Preposition

    Lorsung.jpgIf you’ve read our July issue already, then you already know that local poet Éireann Lorsung is helping Ben Weaver light “a fire to burn things back to pure.” In fact, he liked her poetry so much the first time he read it, that he invited her to read before his show. Poetry before a rock show — now that I like. Looking for a little inspiration of your own? Perhaps you could benefit from a little bit of Lorsung lyrics. OK, poetry, poetry. She’ll be reading this evening from her recent book, Music for Landing Planes By. See? I told you it was music.

    7 p.m., Tea Garden, 2601 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-377-1700.

    Read an excerpt of Music for Landing Planes By.

    ART
    Where One Saddle Ends, Another Begins

    pressreleasephotos001.jpgAs long as I’m starting out with references to our July issue, I might as well mention a couple bike-related art shows — one closing and another opening. Oooo, it’s like a cycle, a cycle-related cycle. Make a night out of that one, baby! Start out with Wisconsin artist Gregg Rochester’s The Art of the Bicycle at Gallery 122. It’s the last day, so don’t delay. While Rochester is best known for his Grant Woodesque landscapes that seem to be channeling Russell Chatham, this show highlights his passion for bicycling.

    1 – 5 p.m., Gallery 122, Hang It, International Market Square Ste 290, Minneapolis; 612-204-9282.

    Say goodbye to Rochester and welcome in Bike Art II at Altered Esthetics. More than 40 artists celebrate the bicycle with over 100 sculptures, prints, photographs, paintings, comics, and interactive art. See it tonight, or stop in tomorrow from 7 to 9 p.m. for the opening reception.

    1 – 7 p.m., Altered Esthetics Gallery 1224 Quincy Ave., Minneapolis; 612-378-8888.

    FILM
    Two Great Documentaries, and One Goofy Flick

    bgb07_logo_380.jpgFor the past two years, the B-Girl Be Summit has been celebrating women in hip-hop. If you haven’t attended over the past couple of years, be sure to do so this year at the end of the month. For a little taste of years gone by, stop into Intermedia Arts tonight for the B-Girl Be 2006 movie premiere. Watch the two-hour documentary (twice if you want), and get your own copy of the DVD for only $20. Proceeds will go to support this year’s summit.

    7 p.m. and 9 p.m., Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-871-4444; $7 ($5 youth).

    sm.amsterdam4.jpgPerhaps we’re running out of topics for films. Or maybe, just maybe, the millions of print messages with which we’re bombarded every day have some kind of cultural significance beyond the sale of the latest fashions. Helvetica is a film about a typeface. That’s right. And a damn fine typeface it is. “Since millions of people see and use Helvetica every day, I guess I just wondered, ‘Why?’” says filmmaker Gary Hustwit. “How did a typeface drawn by a little-known Swiss designer in 1957 become one of the most popular ways for us to communicate our words 50 years later? And what are the repercussions of that popularity? Has it resulted in the globalization of our visual culture? Does a storefront today look the same in Minneapolis, Melbourne, and Munich?” The result is an exploration of not just a widely used typeface, but one of those rare cinematic occasions to see and hear some of today’s most illustrious graphic designers and typographers. A discussion with the director follows the first screening, and he’ll introduce the second.

    7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Walker Art Center Cinema, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-375-7600; $8 ($6 Walker/AIGA members, students).

    Prefer a silly flick with a few good laughs? Tonight is the second film of the 1,2,3 Movie Series at The Soap Factory — Groundhog Day. It’s no masterpiece by any means, but Bill Murray is always great, and let’s face it — we’re generally suckers for romantic fantasies. Besides, don’t forget; these movies are all screened on the back wall of the Soap Factory, in open air. (If it’s cold or raining, the movie will be shown in the gallery.)

    9:15 p.m., The Soap Factory, 518 2nd Street SE, Loading Dock, Minneapolis; 612.623.9176; free.

    MUSIC
    Summer Music and Things Less Common

    1432749448_m.jpgWe’re going to be seeing a lot of summer music series starting next week. June is just about here, and summer is really upon us. Well, at least the forecasts don’t have us dropping past 55 any time soon. Celebrate the summer with the first live, local concert of the Galleria Summer Music Sampler series. (As if we didn’t have enough ways to celebrate the summer! Oh well, we can always use another.) The series will feature different music every Thursday, at rotating Galleria restaurants.
    Join Tim Mahoney this evening as kicks off the summer at Crave, Galleria’s newest restaurant.

    6 p.m., Crave, Galleria, corner of 69th Street and France Ave., Edina; 952-697-6000; free.

    You don’t have to go back to the Middle Ages to find some decent lute playing. How about that! Thursday at the Lute Cafe features the very best of local and regional Early Music lutenists performing in a casual, acoustically friendly environment. Tonight’s show features series co-founders Richard Griffith and Phillip Rukavina playing a selection of popular solo lute music and duets.

    6:30 p.m., Hillcrest Recreation Center Village View Room, 1978 Ford Parkway, St. Paul; 612-298-5779; free but with a $10 suggested donation.

  • StribWatch: The Cart Before the Horse

    With the clock counting down to Friday’s deadline for accepting Star Tribune management’s buy-out offer, Strib reporters will get a look at the big, new, glossy, reorganized reassignment chart top editors have been fussing over. Word is it will debut sometime today or tomorrow.

    Actually, I don’t know about the “big” or “glossy” parts, but it has struck some as odd that the paper’s supposedly maniacally busy managers have enough disposable time to cook up a reorganization chart, with entirely new assignments for quite a few staffers … BEFORE they have any idea who is actually going to be on their staff after next week.

    It doesn’t seem like an exactly efficient use of executive time.

    Top editors Nancy Barnes and Scott Gillespie have been e-mailed questions about this, and I’ll dutifully plug them in when and if they respond.

    Until then the suspicion further souring the anxious atmosphere of the place is that the pre-buy-out reassignment chart is another not too subtle tool for pushing “targeted” employees off the company dime.

    For example, if Employee “A” has never been one of your favorites, but you’re getting the feeling he may linger, you re-assign him to the all-important Bloomington Planning Commission/graveyard of marginalized reporters. Employee “A” — who may be a career-long screw up or just someone you’ve never particularly cared for — sees the big, glossy chart getting pinned to the newsroom wall, trips over a half dozen corpse-like colleagues to search for his name, finds it inked in next to “Bloomington”, says, “Screw this” and signs up for the buy-out.

    Mission accomplished, if you’re the diabolical manager.

    This attrition technique has not exactly been invented by today’s Strib managers. And it always has the dark beauty of keeping your fingerprints off an old-fashion whacking without cause.

    Presumably the official explanation is that today or tomorrow’s list is all for the service of the employees, offering them “guidance” and “clarity” as they make their decision.

    Riight.

    Whatever it is, another newer, bigger and glossier reassignment list will have to get whipped together after management gets a load of who actually takes the bait/hint and who doesn’t.

  • King Fish

    salmon.jpg

    Gaelic mythology tells of a hero known for his amazing perception. As a young lad, he was ordered by his master to cook a magical salmon which would impart all the world’s knowledge to its eater. During preparation, the young hero burned his finger on the fish. Quickly putting the sore finger in his mouth, he unknowingly swallowed a scale from the salmon skin, passing some of the fish’s power onto him.

    I can’t say I’m smarter from the salmon I ate last night, but I am happier. There is some great salmon out there right now, Alaskan King (aka Chinook) and Copper River Sockeye are two of my favorites.

    For the first time last week, I had some ivory King Salmon. The white fleshed fish is a bit of a prize, you won’t know it’s an ivory fish until you cut into it. I first ate it sashimi style: sliced and raw, the pale flesh carried a slightly rosy hue and was unbelievably soft and delicate. I also had it simply broiled with a dusting of seasoning: the firm yet flaky flesh was luminous and the flavor was so subtle, so cleanly oceanic.

    last night’s dinner
    (the hub’s 40th birthday)
    herbed bamboo rice
    zucchini/asparagus with leeks and basil
    ciabatta
    Alaskan King salmon
    … When buying filets, ask for the bones and the skin to be removed. Treating the fish simply is best, in my mind. And I also like it medium to medium rare. I set the filets on a rimmed baking sheet and brushed them with olive oil, Maldon sea salt and a little black pepper. In a pre-heated 425 oven, the two 8oz. pieces sat for about 20 minutes and came out perfectly medium.

  • Live Long

    Speaking of inexpensive road trip wines: We stopped in Chamberlain, SD, last night and went to Casey’s — a quirky little hybrid diner/drugstore/wine shop on the banks of the Missouri River — where we picked up a bottle of Prosperity Red – Cabernet Sauvignon for $10.99. This is *not* a complex wine. But it’s big and fruity and cheerful, full of cherry and youthfully sweet for a Cab. Utterly drinkable, it rounds out with air and has a poignant, Steinbeckian label, featuring a farmer who looks like Tom Joad might have if the Dust Bowl hadn’t rolled in. Take a look, at the Prosperity Wines website. 13% alcohol

  • FM 107's Kevyn Burger Begins Her Fight

    In an open letter to friends and colleagues, Kevyn Burger, mid-morning host at FM 107 and, as I’ve said for two decades, one of the great gals/babes of the Twin Cities, announced she has breast cancer and will undergo aggressive treatment beginning this weekend. A reporter at KSTP-TV and then WCCO-TV before settling into her present radio gig, Burger will return to the mic for an hour tomorrow morning, from 9 to 10 AM to discuss her situation, and then take an indefinite hiatus for surgery and chemo.

    FM 107 GM Dan Seeman says his plan is to find a regular fill-in, instead of cobbling together a cast of rotating hosts. He hasn’t yet decided who that will be.

    I don’t want to go all maudlin here, because Kevyn wouldn’t relate to it or approve. But a big part of her charm has always been her “player” attitude. (Which explains why she ranks high as a “guy gal”.) She understands the media game, has played it well with her own unique style and continues to survive with dignity intact. Not everyone can say that.

    Hang tough, Kevyn.

    (Her message is attached inside.)

    Hello friends,
    I am sorry to be contacting you as part of a group e mail. Trust me, I would prefer to tell each one of you the news that I am about to impart over a walk, or coffee, or a glass of wine. However, I simply can’t bring myself to dial each one of of you to deliver this news personally.
    Those of you who worked with me in news know I was never one to bury a lede. So here is is:

    I have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

    I had a routine screening mammogram they day after I did the Walk for the Cure. I expected to get that ‘see ya next year’ postcard in the mail. Instead, a call, the need for another look, the need for an ultrasound, the need for a needle biopsy.
    And the confirmation of the diagnosis: invasive ductal carcinoma. In two places.
    The good news is that this cancer has not moved to my liver, bones or lungs.
    The bad news is that I actually have two lumps and they are periolously near my lymph nodes.
    So, I am scheduled for surgery at the soonest possible date. I will have a full mastectomy on June 2 at 9:30 a.m. This will be followed by immediate reconstruction. I will recover for a few days at Abbott Northwestern, then come home, recover some more, and begin preparing for chemotherapy and then radiation.
    I am still stunned. My favorite band Atmosphere has a line in their song ‘That Night’ that goes ‘This sort of real doesn’t happen to you, right?’ and that may best describe my feelings.
    It has been a long and crazily distorted time, as I have waited for the conclusive information to arrive. I’ve already seen an array of specialists and undergone a series of pokes and prods. Basically, I have now used up my share of the health care budget for the rest of my life…and about half of yours, as well.
    Once again, the good news-bad news scenario. This will not kill me. (That’s the good news.) The bad news is the fear and misery that will be my companion in the coming months.That I have to say goodbye to my breast and my self-image as a person with an almost super-human immune system. That I am going to have to learn how to be vulnerable and how to ask for help.
    All of these challenges frighten me very much. I am being pulled out of my comfort zone and may never be able to return.
    I am blessed to have a gutsy and loyal husband, a loving family and dear and devoted friends. I will have to rely on each of you in ways we can’t now imagine.
    Please do not call me right now. I need to keep my strength and focus. Please do not send large and extravagent arrangements of flowers to the hospital. They always remind me of funerals and that is the last thing I want to think of. Please pray for me and for my family and please be strong for all of us.
    A hard lump of fear is wedged in my middle and nothing can make it dissolve until the surgery is complete. I know many of you feel it with me. Still I am optimistic. I know I have a lot of fight in me and I will give my all to this struggle. Since the diagnosis, I was riding my bike on a beautiful spring day, these words came to me:
    “My fear is strong, but my faith is stronger.”
    It is. It truly is. And the faith that you have in me is such a big part of that.
    I will soon have a website to communicate with all of you and give you updates. In the meantime, a small request: actively think of me every time you cross the river. Don’t forget to admire how that ribbon of water is on a journey. Notice how the ricer shines; think of how the water seeks the sea. Think of how I’m working to heal…and send me your thoughts, prayers and best wishes as you cross between the banks. My body and soul feel somewhere floating in between right now, working hard to rejoin you on the solid ground of the banks. Wave to me. Beckon me back to the land of the fully alive. I’ll be there with you again…soon.

    With love,
    Kevyn

    PS This news is not a secret. Feel free to share this information with anyone who needs it.

    My son has helped me set up a blog.
    http://kevynbaby.blogspot.com
    It will also be available on the fm107 website. This may be the best way to communicate with me for the time being

  • Impale This

    FILM
    Fearless Filmmakers Premiere: Impaler

    Impaler.jpgNo third party candidate for governor in this country has ever garnered as much media attention as Jonathon “The Impaler” Sharkey did in his race for Minnesota governor just a little over a year ago. It wasn’t his quest to help farmers or improve the public school system that earned him the fame — nor any specific facet of his 13-point platform. In fact, the attention he received had nothing to do with his political agenda — at least not directly. But when you announce to the media that you’re a Hecate witch, a Satanic priest, a sanguaryan vampyre — that tends to get their attention. And this is just what Sharkey did. Relive the experience, dig a little deeper into the Sharkey’s campaign, see the results of his macabre proclamations, and witness the heartbreaking events that ensued. Tonight is the premiere of W. Trey White’s Impaler, an 8-month long documentary on the subject, followed by a question and answer session with White and Sharkey. That’s right, folks. You still got questions? Ask the man for yourself. Sharkey has made plenty more announcements since the completion of the documentary, including his candidacy for president, his promise to impale George Bush if elected, and a threat to impale the White at this screening if the film mocks him in any way. Don’t you just have to see what happens? Head on over to the after party at Stub and Herbs following the screening.

    7:30 p.m., Oak Street Cinema, 309 Oak Street SE, Minneapolis; 612-331-3134; $9 ($7 students, $5 MN Film Arts members).

    Two More Premieres

    raidersguys.jpgI think we’ve pretty much proven that we do indeed have a healthy local film community here. But it gets even better than that. It’s not just the adults now. Today and tomorrow, two films by young filmmakers will make their Minnesota debut. This afternoon’s screening is Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation — a shot-for-shot remake of the original movie, made by 10-year-old Chris Strompolos and 11-year-old Eric Zala. These two boys saw the film as kids and became obsessed with Indiana Jones. Over the next seven years, from 1982 to 1989, Chris and Eric worked on the movie during school holidays, saving their pocket money for props and asking for bullwhips, spray-paint, and a VHS camcorder for Christmas and birthdays. Upon seeing the film Steven Spielberg invited Chris and Eric to meet with him and deemed their film one of the most moving things he’d ever seen. The film will play again tomorrow night, along with Songbird, a six-minute short film made by 27-year-old Minnesota native John Thompson. The film, shot in 8 frames-per-second (1/3 of the standard rate) for an unnatural, ethereal effect, is a “gothic tale about a trapped housewife who breaks free of her overbearing husband with a very dull meat cleaver.” The films will be followed by a question-and-answer session with the filmmakers.

    Today at 4 p.m. for children & teens-only, tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. for all, Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis MN; 612-630-6000 or 612-481-7345; $10 ($8 if you dress like Indiana Jones).

    MUSIC
    Music for all Tastes

    dino.jpgAs is often the case here in town, there is plenty of good music to choose from tonight. Alt-rock trio Dinosaur Jr. is playing at the Triple Rock Social Club. Fiddle-weilding Mexican-American songstress Carrie Rodriguez is playing at the Varsity Theater. Oh, she’s so fine. If you’re a fan of June Carter Cash, Lucinda Williams, or any folksy female vocalist with a bit of twang, you’ll enjoy this show. Looking for straight-up jazz? You can’t go wrong with local nu-jazz group Sambo Makti at the Nomad World Pub this evening with Atlantis Quartet. And, well, if you just want some standard Minnesota fare, you can always just head over to Bunker’s for the GB Leighton show.

    THEATER & PERFORMANCE
    Mental Illness Got You Down?

    RG_A2.jpgWorld-renowned performance/recording artist, poet, social activist and a hip-hop artist Rha Goddess brings her one-woman show to Minneapolis. Low, written and performed by Rha Goddess and directed by Chay Yew, is a multidisciplinary theatre piece that explores the mythology, stigma, fear, and confusion surrounding mental illness. The title of the show refers both to its main character, Lowquesha, and to the way she feels. Low, a budding poet, grows from a bright, happy and creative young girl to a troubled teenager who quickly descends into homelessness, addiction, and a frightening psychosis. Her arduous journey gives voice to those who strive for dignity and self-possession even as the painful descent into madness takes over. The show opens this evening and continues through June 16.

    7:30 p.m., Pillsbury House Theatre, 3501 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-825-0459; $18 (tonight’s performance is pay-what-you-can).

    BOOKS AND FOOD
    French Women Don’t Get Fat

    Tonight’s Let’s Cook book club meeting has been rescheduled for June 4th, but that now gives you time to get the book and go prepared. Enjoy an evening of fun and food. Each month the book club reads a different book and enjoys a dessert inspired by the reading over a lively discussion. This month’s reading is French Women Don’t Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure by Mireille Guiliano. Forget all your worries about what not to eat. Focus on the positive. What can you eat? Go out and get the book today.

    June 4th at 7 p.m., Let’s Cook, 330 East Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-623-9700; $15.00.