Louis XIII in Southdale is dead. Closed. The sign reads: Unfortunately, Louis XIII as a concept has failed and we’re forced to close our doors. We hope to open soon under a new concept. Huh. The “concept” has failed. We’re “forced” to close our doors. It’s really not our fault, we’re actually brilliant, it’s you … Read more
Since it seems as if The Oak Street Cinema isn’t going to open its doors to rep cinema anytime soon (if ever), fans of the old school can head on down tonight to the Matchbox Coffee Shop (1306 2nd Avenue NE–just off Broadway) where the affable Barry Kryshka is going to show Watermelon Man. According … Read more
Something you could do tonight or put-off ’til the weekend: Shawn McConneloug and her Orchestra are presenting SHE Captains, a multi-media dance piece that roughly recreates the life of a sixteen-century she-pirate named Grace O’Malley. The real secret here is that Shawn McConneloug and company don’t perform very often, and when they do, the result … Read more
The Schubert Club is embroiled in its Saint Paul Summer Song Festival, in case you hadn’t noticed. And as part of that festival, they’re showing Ingmar Bergman’s 1975 behind-the-scenes film The Magic Flute–popularly regarded as the finest operatic film ever made, probably because Bergman made nice with the artifice of live opera by lugging his … Read more
Moving books around on the shelves, a quilt of my own making taking shape and standing solid against the wall. All those stories that have both saved and ruined me. This image is somewhere on those shelves: the testicles of Uranus, bobbing in a moon-shattered sea, headed for Cyprus. What a foul and wonderful story. … Read more
If you hadn’t already noticed, The Rake’s Raking Through Books happy hour book event topped out CJ this past weekend. That big, juicy affair happens tonight.
What if I take my kids to see Cars and they turn into NASCAR fans? I don’t want them to set up lawn chairs and coolers in front of the TV and start shouting “Don’t bogart the Cheese Whiz!” I was afraid after Babe that we’d have to forego the piggies’ gift of bacon, but … Read more
“OK, see, the thing I’ve got in my head is that we’re finally nearing the Armageddon because even the Godless are starting to freak out. Hollywood, that’s the Gomorrah of our time, and what’s going on? Religion. Look at it: Da Vinci Code, The Omen, that Mel Gibson thing with the Indians, even that Al … Read more
So, I’ve decided to divulge a few “secrets” about the Body Worlds exhibit, for the benefit of those who haven’t seen it. I saw the exhibit on Saturday evening, and it was still unsettling my supper come Sunday afternoon. OK, it wasn’t that gross. But there were a few seconds when I became dizzingly aware … Read more
I used to think that if I could just get my hands on a sweet potato all my luck would change. If I could just get me some bacon, some butter and eggs, or one of them lollypops. Life’s not so simple, I guess. Boy, did I ever find that out. I was nobody’s rooster, … Read more