The Rake Magazine

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  • The Three Pointer: 5 out of 7

    AP Photo, by Tom Olmscheid

    Game #67, Home Game #35: Memphis 94, Minnesota 98

    Season Record: 17-50

    1. Jefferson Dominant

    The transformation point of the Wolves’ 98-94 win over Memphis last night was when Al Jefferson willed his team back into contention during the first 7 minutes of the third period after an abysmal first half. Smallball didn’t work for Minnesota in those two periods–Memphis forwards Gay, Miller, and Warrick racked up 32 points and 16 rebounds while Snyder, Gomes, Brewer and Smith amassed just 10 points and 3 boards–but Jefferson, who had 6 of the Wolves’ 15 total rebounds (vs. 32 for the Grizz) in that first half, came out spitting nails. He destroyed Darko Milicic in the paint.

    Simply detailing the line gives you a little flavor of this man-among-boys stretch of play. Jefferson’s offensive rebound on a Randy Foye miss led to two second-chance points via Ryan Gomes’ free throws. Then he got fouled by Rudy Gay and made one of two; cleaned up a Gomes missed layup with a putback slam dunk; hit two more free throws after being fouled by Darko; grabbed a rebound off a Gay miss that eventually led to a Foye bucket; snuffed a Gay layup with a beautiful block; came down and hit a banker in the lane; and then fed Foye for a trey. A grand 3:12 had elapsed, and Jefferson had 7 points, three boards (two on the offensive glass), an assist and a block in keying a 14-2 Wolves run that turned a 14-point halftime deficit into a one-possession game.

    You think he was done? In the ensuing 3:29 after the Memphis timeout, he scored 5 more points, grabbed two more offensive rebounds, and scaled the scaffolding with Gay as the latter drove the baseline and attempted to throw it down, turning him back with an above-the-rim block. When Jefferson laid the ball in off a Foye feed with 4:19 to play in the third, the Wolves had their first tie since 0-0, and Jefferson had 12 points, 4-4 FG, 4-6 FT, four offensive rebounds (and 5 overall) and a pair of blocks in less than 7 minutes of play. That’s how you make All Star teams and have teammates look at you a little differently in the locker room and at practice.

    2. Working The Seams

    Let the record show that Randy Foye and Rashad McCants were a combined 11-31 FG last night, and that it doesn’t even come close to revealing how well they played, individually and together. The standing cavaet here is that this was the Memphis Grizzlies, not quite as pathetic as the Clippers without Kamen the other night, but certainly earning their new status as one of the three worst teams in the NBA (the Wolves are now 4th, crushing ping pong balled dreams throughout the frozen tundra). But as coach Randy Wittman said in the postgame, Foye and McCants have been told to work the seams of the defense via penetration and then dish to the open man if and when their path to the hoop is deterred. Both players did that last night, often feeding each other, and the only concern is that they weren’t finishing each other’s assists. As it was, Shaddy had five dimes (it could have been 8-10) and Foye 3 (could have been double that), even with Craig Smith agains enduring a loud and mysterious 1-7 FG clanking.

    Foye’s numbers weren’t even as good as McCants’s mediocrity, but for all the times I’ve ripped him for generating results while looking like anything but a point guard, tonight is payback: Despite the numbers, his floor game lent credence to the idea that he can run this ballclub in the half court. My one criticism is that it is a little too noticeable how much Foye suddenly changes personality and looks more for his A) when Jefferson isn’t in the game and B) in the 4th quarter. I think both situations warrant more scoring aggressiveness; I just wish it wasn’t so easy for a scout to write this tendency in his report and have it come true.

    But here’s the deal: Wittman sits his stud Jefferson with 1:59 to play in the 3rd, and sits Foye with 25 seconds to go in the third. The Wolves head into the final period with that pair on the pine, and down six points, 62-68. Time for Rashad McCants to screw seam-working and get his own; and lest there be any doubt, Wittman throws the clanking Gators, Brewer and Richard, out there along with a stone cold Craig Smith and Marko Jaric. So 16 seconds in, Shaddy nails a 12-foot pull-up. He sinks the T on Memphis’s defensive 3-seconds. He cans a 20-footer on a feed from Jaric. And then flips in a layup on a dish from Smith. It’s McCants 7, Memphis 2 in 3:02 of the 4th. Timeout Grizzlies at 69-70, with Jefferson and Foye soon to come back fresh. By the time they are both good to go, at 6:31, Minnesota is down 4. But McCants erases Memphis’s last lead by getting back to seamwork, finding Foye for trey to cut the deficit from 4 to 1 and then dishing to Jefferson for a six-foot hook that puts the Wolves up for good. For the 4rh quarter, Shaddy is an ugly 3-10 FG–on paper. On the court he was the crunchtime linchpin, with 9 points, 3 dimes, 2 boards and plus +10 for the period. And Foye has an efficient 7 points in 6:31 (2-2 FG, 2-2 FT, 0 assists but 0 turnovers) and is plus +6.

    3. Hit and Run

    It sure would be fattening to play the Grizz every night. The "tanking" concept is way overused lately, so let’s just say it was a curious decision for Grizz coach Mark Iavaroni to go with the Not Ready For Prime Time Player Mike Conley at the point instead of the far more polished Kyle Lowry down the stretch. And, after Jason Collins snagged his 5th foul, to toss clueless Kwame Brown in as red meat for Jefferson when Memphis was up by just two points with 7:07 to go in the game and Brown hadn’t seen one second of burn up to that point. Are we surprised that Jefferson scored five points and drew two fouls on Brown during the latter’s 2:34 of play, a stretch that saw the Wolves go on an 8-4 run? And let’s not forget Juan Carlos Navarro, whose shot selection had Gerald Green holding his head and running around in circles in his living room watching the game at home. Navarro’s 0-4 FG in 3:31 went nicely with Conley’s 3–7 FG in all 12:00–neither one had an assist.

    For the game, Navarro was 5-17 FG, Conley 3-10 FG–that’s a flatulant 8-17 FG out of your starting backcourt, folks–*with zippo, nada, zilch, assists. The guys spooling out all the dimes for this Grizz squad? Darko and Kahim Warrick, with 3 apiece. Meanwhile, Rudy Gay and Mike Miller, so effective in the first half, combined for 6-17 FG in the second half–because no one could get them the damn ball in any position to score. That little chime you heard when Jason Collins scored on a wide open layup after a feed from Warrick with 9:32 to play in the 4th quarter was the signal that Memphis had used up its allotted one assist for the entire second half. They would not be granted another–not with Conley and Navarro in the backcourt.

    Before we go, two quick shout-outs. Ryan Gomes suffered through a terrible shooting performance–and because Gomes pretty much only shoots open looks, you know he’s off when he’s 1-11 FG. But in the final 70 seconds of play with the Wolves up by one, there was Gomes with a savvy strip-and-save of a Memphis dribble penetration to produce the steal, then a no-hesitation swish on a wide open 20-footer to give Minnesota a little cushion. Big shot, which shores up one of the few places where Gomes hasn’t been reliable this season, clutch scoring.

    Finally, it would be a shame to overlook another guerrilla-effective performance from Jaric, who merely led the team in assists (7) and plus/minus (+9) in 31:01. That’s a very Telfair-like 31 assists and 6 turnovers for Marko in the last 5 games. At my prompting, Wittman admitted he thought about getting Jaric more burn in the final 6 and a half minutes in place of Kirk Snyder–"but I was afraid of Rudy Gay’s
    size at the 3; I didn’t want him getting inside" creating switches and open looks for him and others, he replied.

    Except that his dunderheaded teammates plus Jefferson’s commitment to protecting the rim stopped Gay far more than Snyder, who seemed overmatched most of the evening. But yet another way to look at it is that Wittman played a 24-year old newbie (Snyder) over the established commodity (Jaric) and found out a little more about this soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. Wittman’s take on Snyder? "Solid. He does everything decent. He’s worked himself into my confidence at the end of games." Meanwhile, Corey Brewer and Chris Richard can trade nostalgic memories of March Madness on the sideline…

  • The Art of Coffee

    Sea green walls, worn wood floors, granite table tops, and ruby red chairs surround the counter. It looks and feels like any other coffee house, but what happens behind the bar only happens at Kopplin’s Coffee.

    A barista, bent at the waist stares intensely into the patterns of the espresso that drips from the Synesso espresso machine. Lifting the demitasse to his nostrils he smells the shot and evokes a grimace. Dissatisfied, the barista flings it down the drain knowing that it was not worthy of his palate. He begins his craft once again, adjusting the grind a fraction, measuring to the exact gram, tamping and spinning the porta-filter quickly to remove any excess grounds resting upon the surface of the perfectly polished pod. His work is beyond a job, it is an art form. Satisfied with his next shot, he lifts his pitcher of steamed organic milk. Peering deep into the cup, he angles the glass, slowly rotating it while swaying the hand with the pitcher back and forth. The milk fans out across the crema, staining it white in the elegant pattern of a rosetta, a beautiful fern-like leaf that signifies to the customer that the velvety froth has been steamed to perfection.

    Next to the barista, owner Andrew Kopplin stands in concentration above one of his two Clover machines. He stirs a Kenya AA Wagamuga, a coffee that has received the highest score ever given by Coffee Review. The Clover, one of only a few hundred in the world, is an $11,000 coffee brewer that offers complete control over every element of the brew. This is the only Clover in Minnesota available to the public. The machine allows Kopplin to find the ideal way to extract body and flavor from of each coffee. He peers into the coffee knowing that his stirring technique will affect the quality of the cup. His regulars are like fans at a baseball game. At a nearby table a regular watches while sipping on the silky froth of a cappuccino. He sports a dark blue t-shirt with the word Clover printed across it.

    On Fridays at noon, Kopplin steps out from behind the bar to engage in the smelling and slurping of a coffee cupping. Shallow glass dishes are filled with coffee and steeped for four minutes. Kopplin breaks the crust of the first coffee, inhaling with short quick sniffs. He stirs the coffee, searching for more aroma as he explains the act of cupping to the participants. The crowd includes regulars, coffee nerds, and the curious. Kopplin fills his spoon with coffee, raises it to his lips, and sucks loudly at the liquid. He throws it to the back of his mouth and swirls it around his palate. As others mimic his actions he describes what they taste in the coffee: hints of honey, black currant, pineapple, tobacco, green pepper, citrus, and sweet tomato. He educates his customers while also developing himself as he explores new coffees he has not yet experienced from various roasters and origins.

    Kopplin also changes the multiple espressos that he has available. He offers single origin espressos from specific farms and blended espressos from roasters from around the world. The most expensive espresso that Kopplin’s has offered was $30 a shot. This espresso was the first coffee ever offered from the coffee company R. Miguel, a new local company that offers coffee so exceptional that you have to be invited to purchase it. This espresso was from one of the rarest Gesha varietals in the world, grown at the extremely small Mama Cata farm in Boquete Panama. It was offered for one day only, and the roast master, R. Miguel Meza, was present at the event to discuss the coffee with customers. Kopplin also offered 8 oz glasses brewed on the Clover for $25. Customers tasted the coffee and learned about the farmer who grew the coffee, where it was grown, and how it was processed, roasted, and brewed.

    In May, Kopplin will be joining coffee enthusiasts from around the country at the Minneapolis Convention Center for the Specialty Coffee Association of America Conference and United States Barista Competition. Classes and exhibits from companies and professionals from around the country will be offered. Baristas from cafés all over the nation will come together for a competition to determine who will represent the United States in the World Barista Championship. Kopplin will be one among many who have a vision for coffee as an evolving art. His café on the corner of Randolph and Hamline in St. Paul will be a hot spot for many coffee professionals with a similar vision of the barista as an artist and coffee as a medium.

     

  • Get into the Groove

    SPECIAL EVENT
    Gallery Grooves at Joan of Art Gallery

    Join us tonight for another Gallery Grooves, The Rake’s monthly art, jazz,
    and
    wine event. This
    month, view work by painter and poet Kathryn Stemwedel. Educated at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Florence Academy of Art, and St. Olaf College, Stemwedel
    creates artwork that dances between reality and fiction, incorporating
    classical, surrealist, and post-modern methods. Her art portrays the
    topography of psychological landscapes. —Jennifer Havrish

    7-9 p.m., Joan of Art Gallery, 3020 Franklin Ave. E., Minneapolis.

    WINE & DINE
    Local Favorites

    Enjoy a lovely mix of local favorites tonight. PastureLand, Etica, Peace Coffee, and Common Roots Cafe have come together to bring you a free sampling of fair-trade coffee and wine expertly paired with Minnesota-made cheeses and desserts. Feast your palate while you support local business and fair trade. It’s a perfect no-guilt experience.

    5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Common Roots Cafe, 2558 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-871-2360; free.

    THEATER & PERFORMANCE
    Ways to Behold and Sentry

    One of the most literate, thoughtful choreographers in town, Stuart Pimsler presents a double bill of protest art late in the month. Ways to Behold,
    a world premiere with accompaniment by spoken-word artist Tiyo Siyolo,
    juxtaposes the realities of a U.S.-initiated—yet somehow invisible—war
    overseas with the comforts of daily life on our own shores. Sentry
    is a reprise from the Reagan era; it was created during Pimsler’s days
    in New York City, when he was active with Artists Against Nuclear
    Madness. Set to a medley of ’60s protest songs, the piece is based in
    part on military orders that one of Pimsler’s students smuggled out of
    the Air Force Academy. —Christy DeSmith, photo by Paul Virtucio

    8 p.m., Ritz Theater, 345 13th Ave. N.E., Minneapolis; 612-436-1129; $18-$22.

    Let Loose

    Also tonight, the Cassandra and Jawaahir Dance Company offers an alternative perspective on what it means to “let loose” as they peek behind the mashrabiya (the screen traditional Arabs use to isolate women’s quarters) in Girls Night Out IN.

    8 p.m., Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-340-1725; $27.

    MUSIC
    George Jones

    For those who prefer the hunks in the big hats and tight jeans,
    well, it’s time you learned it ain’t the meat in a man’s voice, it’s
    the motion. And even at age seventy-six, the pipes of The Possum will
    have you moving with him into chasms of loneliness and epiphanies of
    grace and gratitude that are emotionally closed off to most every other
    singer. Jones is generally regarded as the greatest country vocalist
    who ever drew breath. Age has undeniably shortened his phrasing and
    weakened the fiber in his tone, but when your signature song is a
    goose-bumper like “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” and you tour with some
    of Nashville’s finest musicians, you can play for posterity at a casino
    and still pack a mighty wallop. —Britt Robson

    7:30 p.m., Mystic Lake Casino, 2400 Mystic Lake Blvd., Prior Lake; 651-989-5151; $29-$42.

     

  • Glen Taylor Opens another Can of Worms

    Copyright AFP/GETTY IMAGES, photo by Ronald Martinez

    For a man who has made a billion dollars on wedding invitations, Glen Taylor sometimes isn’t a very bright guy. Yesterday’s comments to the daily beat writers–"KG tanked it" is the money quote–is a perfect example of how Taylor keeps cutting off the nose of this franchise to spite its face by his continual denigration of Garnett’s role and impact on the team during the tail end of his dozen years with the Wolves.

    First, let’s give Taylor’s comments their tiny due. When Garnett was shut down with five games to go last season I don’t think I was alone in believing it was at the instigation of team management rather than Garnett himself, despite comments from the front office and KG’s agent, Andy Miller, that he was indeed hurt. The statements by Miller and Garnett in response to Taylor’s latest charge clearly imply that it was KG who instigated his removal from the lineup, albeit because of legitimate injury rather than a desire to secure a better draft pick by diminishing the ballclub’s chances of winning.

    But for that miniscule drop of truthful satisfaction, what has Taylor wrought for himself and his franchise? When it comes to tanking, his comments reek of baldfaced hypocrisy. There hasn’t been a more blatant example of trying to lose a game that impacted the number of lottery balls a team would receive than the finale of the 2005-06 season, a year before the KG absence that is the subject of Taylor’s allegation. During that game, versus Memphis, the Wolves *benched all their promising young players* down the stretch for the likes of scrubs such as Bracey Wright and Ronnie Dupree, allowed a Memphis opponent an uncontested layup in the waning seconds of regulation, and then had Mark Madsen chuck up seven three-pointers in a double-overtime loss. Mind you, this was all after the ballclub shelved both KG and Ricky Davis due to "injury." My column that night was entitled, "The One-Pointer: Wolves Disgrace Themselves." Anyone who watched knew exactly what was happening. And now Glen Taylor has the gall to say "I don’t like that so much" with respect to tanking, and then drop the anvil on Garnett?

    Look, Kevin Garnett is no saint–he’s human. He was two-faced in his support/nonsupport of first Flip Saunders and then Kevin McHale. I ripped him for it at the times they were happening. He also was a lousy general manager, arguing on behalf of Troy Hudson and Mike James, among others. He openly feuded with Wally Szczerbiak (along with most of the roster). But Taylor’s remarks continually besmirching KG since he dealt away the superstar–from the "freeze out" of Wally and team split between pro and con KG acolytes to the demand for a sizable contract extension last season to the pettiness of negotiations of how he should be honored on his return to Minnesota this weekend–do nothing but poison his own well. They collide face first into some hard realties ignored by Taylor’s selectively biased perspective.

    1. Kevin Garnett gave this franchise everything he had. The Minnesota Timberwolves were a standing joke–a dysfunctional gulag on the frozen prairie–before he arrived and for a dozen years he rebutted expectations that escalated into belittling demands that he abandon this franchise and go find a bigger, better market in which to play.

    2. Within the fraternity of coaches and players in the NBA–the people who are on the inside, who genuinely know what’s what–Garnett has an impeccable reputation as a player who doesn’t stint on practicing or playing at anything other than 100 percent. His ability to set the tone from the top of the pecking order is of enormous value in sweeping away a lot of the motivational bullshit that many coaches and general managers–and, by extension, owners–have to endure when sheperding a ballclub through a long 82-game season.

    3. Because of Garnett’s sterling reputation and the frozen geography of the Timberwolves’ locale, Taylor’s calling out of his loyal superstar pretty much ensures that no prominent free agent will want to come to Minnesota in the near future. Remember what happened to the Bulls and Jerry Krause when he got into a power struggle with Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen? A similar dynamic now seems likely here.

    I am on record as admiring the amount of money Taylor has put into trying to build a winner here, and it would be hypocritical of me to discourage the owner from speaking his mind. Give me the free-wheeling guy who believes honesty (even if it is only his version of it) is the best policy over some dissembling, secretive groupthink spinmeisters. But this is a food fight Glen Taylor cannot win. Frankly, I’m surprised he doesn’t realize that. He and his organization would do well to drop this quixotic KG fixation and tend to the business at hand. Because contrary to all the wonderful spin we’ve heard locally about this great Garnett trade, the Celtics have the best record in the NBA and Glen Taylor is answering questions about whether or not his current ballclub will go into the tank for a third straight year.

  • Readin', Writin', and Ninjutsu

    Like the stealthy shinobi, Secretary of
    Education Margaret Spellings slipped in and out of Saint Paul yesterday,
    accomplishing her mission with a minimum of bloodshed and outcry from those
    who would oppose her     in carrying out the quest laid upon her by her daimyo.
    Few recognized her shadowy presence, overshadowed as it was with news of racially-charged
    electoral rhetoric, newly appointed slutty
    governors    , and medical
    incompetence     of nigh-mythical proportions.

    Spellings’ quest is, of course, to stump for George W. Bush’s
    premier education program, No Child Left Behind
    (NCLB), which has been up for renewal since September 30. Her stop in St.
    Paul yesterday, complete with Pawlenty photo opp, concerned her decision to
    allow some states to make modifications in how schools are penalized for not
    making "adequate yearly progress". According to Spellings, the modifications
    are intended to allow states to differentiate between schools that are barely
    missing benchmarks and those that are dramatically underperforming on a
    year-to-year basis. Strangely, no mention was made of providing the money
    promised by Washington to fund the testing required by NCLB.

    Spellings’ speech emphasized that this new flexibility would
    not come at the price of accountability. Punctuated as it was by the secretary
    brandishing her gleaming ninja-to
    and threats to send her shadowy clan of kunoichi to "encourage"
    adequate yearly progress from the nonconforming and recalcitrant school
    districts not living up to the administration’s lofty standards, many in the
    Washington offered their confidence that these measures would make a monumental
    difference in closing the education gap.

    Oddly, Minnesota isn’t one of the states eligible to
    participate in the pilot program. Minnesota has yet to secure approval for the alternative
    exams developed for English language learners, so won’t be able to participate
    in the program. DFL lawmakers seized upon this opportunity to question why the
    secretary chose to come to Minnesota at all if the state wouldn’t be reaping
    the benefits of the Department of Education’s enlightened new policy –
    wondering if, in fact, this was all just a way to bring attention to Norm
    Coleman’s campaign for reelection. Given the nature of the news, this was
    unlikely at best. Regardless, Spellings quickly silenced these voices of
    dissent with a torrent
    of shuriken before vanishing into the quickly fading twilight, as ninjas are wont to do.

    Despite these modifications, which are intended to address
    one of the primary complaints about NCLB – namely that a school that doesn’t
    make adequate yearly progress gets bent over, sans lube, regardless of how
    close or far from the mark they hit – Congress and the Department of Education
    are unlikely to come to any significant agreement on renewing NCLB in the near
    future. The upcoming presidential election makes it even more likely Congress
    will sit on its collective arse expressing shock that baseball players would
    stoop so low as to take steroids, all the while informing the public on how
    hard it’s working to come to an agreement that "…will serve the best interests
    of the children. My god, won’t you think of the children?" Clearly our
    legislature has our best
    interests     at heart.

    Once we reach the end of the interminable two-year slog
    known as the modern election season, our elected representatives in Washington
    may stop wetting themselves every time a significant policy decision needs to
    be made long enough to create meaningful legislation. As a result, the act is very likely to be modified heavily, or even
    disappear altogether, after the election. Obama and McCain both want to modify
    the act heavily, and despite voting to put NCLB in place originally, Hillary
    Clinton is the only candidate who has stated she’ll put an end to the act,
    though she hasn’t yet provided a plan to replace the accountability measures
    many have agreed are good for several of the groups struggling with the
    achievement gap.

    And if that prognosis spawns an odd feeling in the pit
    of your stomach that feels remarkably like hope for the future, there no reason for concern. You can rest easy in the near certainty that the
    next administration, whoever may lead it, will almost certainly put an asinine,
    overpriced and ill-advised education policy in place that makes the reaming our
    schools have received under NCLB look like a threeway with Strawberry Shortcake
    and Rainbow Brite.
    Then again, Strawberry Shortcake turned out to be quite the tramp.

  • So Much Trouble in the World

    ACTIVISM
    Not One More Death — Not One More Dollar

    Unhappy Anniversary! (Assume a Shakespearean tone, but don’t fail to take the rest of this seriously.) Today marks five years since the invasion of Iraq. With Iraq falling out of the headlines and becoming nothing more than a platform point in a most engaging presidential primary race, the battlefield is ripe for a solid public outcry against the war. This afternoon, and all through the evening, MoveOn members will be holding candlelight vigils throughout Minneapolis (and around the country) to call for an end to the war and "new priorities for our nation."

    5 p.m. at Lake Street and the Marshall Ave Bridge in Minneapolis, 6:30 p.m. at the Pedestrian Bridge over Highway 62 in Minneapolis, 7 p.m. at the corner of 50th and France in Edina, 7 p.m. just southwest of Rice and Wheelock Pkwy. in St. Paul, and 7:30 p.m. just west of the Mall at 212 and Singleton Rd. in Eden Prairie.

    LECTURE
    Take It from a Union Man Who Knows Danger

    We’ve has our fair share of anti-union violence in this country, but nothing like union organizers have experienced, and continue to experience, in Colombia, which may likely be the most dangerous country in the world for a union leader. According to the International Labor Organization, more than two thousand Colombian trade unionists have been murdered since 1991. Tonight, we have one in our midst, sharing his vast well of knowledge and experience. Edgar Paez, a leader with SINALTRAINAL, the National Food Industry Workers Union in Colombia, will speak tonight in Minneapolis and tomorrow in Rochester. For years, Paez has organized workers and social struggles in Colombia, as well as in other countries. But tonight, he’ll join Gerardo Cajamarca (a former Colombian union activist now on the staff of the United Steelworkers), and Dan Kovalik (associate general counsel of the United Steelworkers) for a panel discussion on the current conditions for union organizers in Colombia and how a free trade agreement with the United States would affect workers, families, and human rights in Colombia. Tomorrow night, in Rochester, Kovalik will be replaced by Tara Widner (staff representative for the United Steelworkers).

    6 p.m., Minneapolis Labor Center, 312 Central Ave., Minneapolis; free. Tomorrow at 6 p.m. (5 p.m. for coffee and snacks), Christ United Methodist Church, 400 5th St. SW, Rochester; free.

    FILM
    Sneak a Peek at Paranoid Park

    A murder mystery wrapped into the life and times of a wannabe skate punk who gets caught-up in the investigation, Paranoid Park
    utilizes a myriad of production devices to take the viewer inside the
    mind of a troubled teenager. While I was expecting a meditative journey
    through the dark side of skateboarding, it was a surprise to get caught
    up in a murder mystery plot intermingled with teen skateboarder Alex’s
    struggle to cope with his insecurities, and what he is willing to do
    not to have to feel. Catch tonight’s free premiere at the Walker, or see it this weekend at the Lagoon. —Christopher Kelleher, read his full review

    7:30 p.m., Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-375-7600; free.

    IFP’s Cinema Lounge

    Third Wednesday of the month: that means another Cinema Lounge. And this month it’s all documentaries. Films include: Bronze by Paul Benhardt, The Northshore Project by Cliff Langley, Diego’s Visit to Guatemala by Dan Luke and Diego Mack Xicay Luke, Cross Country with the Snakes by Hansi Johnson, and The Women of Brukman and Oaxaca: The Power of the Commune by Carlos Broun.

    7 p.m., Bryant Lake Bowl, 810 West Lake St., Minneapolis; 612-825-8949; free (but I’m guessing donations are more than welcome.)

    MUSIC
    Patty Larkin: All That and a Bag of Sky

    She has "redefining the boundaries of folk-urban pop music for more than 20 years." She is known for her "inventive guitar wizardry, vocals, and uncompromising lyrics." Acoustic Guitar hails “her soundscape experiments.” Rolling Stone praises her “evocative vocals and subtle sonic shading.” She has been described as “riveting” (Chicago Tribune), “hypnotic” (Entertainment Weekly) and “drop-dead brilliant” (Performing Songwriter). But at the end of the day, you should go see Patty Larkin tonight just because she sounds darn beautiful! …and with so much trouble in the world, we all need something beautiful.

    7:30 p.m., The Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-388-2674; $18.

    Looking for some good reading material to lighten and brighten up your day? Be sure to check out this week’s feature on the Twin Cities burlesque scene: "Minnesota Naughty" — plus three accompanying videos on the birth of Le Cirque Rouge, the group’s controversial split, and the resulting burlesque scene today.

  • Brain Food: Lost in the Details

    If you missed Barak Obama’s speech earlier today, see it here, and get back to this post when you’re done. I’m not backing any presidential candidates, but the speech can’t be missed. Besides, then you can take part in the fun — brain food fun, that is.

    I received an email from MoveOn this afternoon (don’t worry, I get "righty" emails, too), and in addition to letting me know that it’s "one of the most honest, courageous, and thoughtful speeches" they’ve ever seen, they commented that the media had totally missed the point — "reducing
    the whole thing to a few soundbites and hashing over whether he ‘did enough to condemn his pastor.’"

    Surprisingly, this had not been my experience throughout the day. Granted, I was too busy to read much of anything all day, but from what little I could gauge, the consensus was awe — simple, uncomplicated awe.

    Hmmm…

    Of course, I checked my media sources after receiving the aforementioned email. I got online — bullshit, I was already online — and went to The New York Times website, where I found "Obama Urges U.S. to Grapple With Racial Issue." Ok. True. Very appropriate title. That’s exactly what he did. But the first half does focus on the pastor — of course, his speech did as well. Perhaps it’s not how I would have led the story, but it’s fair enough.

    I move on. I check other news sources. I’m not really seeing it. They’re journalists, right? They’re supposed to be reporting the facts, after all. They can’t express awe. Is that the problem?

    When something beautiful or gruesome enough happens, it seems, we need to have it expressed to us somehow. Perhaps we’ve become lazy or weak, or even dumb, but we no longer seem capable of reacting on our own. The facts just aren’t enough anymore. It’s unfortunate; and one could definitely argue that for that very reason, we need to force the issue — that we can’t give up. But we’ve hardened to facts over time. It’s only natural.

    Enter the blog. Why are we suddenly reaching out like desperate fools, poking people in Facebook, amassing "friends" in MySpace, concocting new Google groups, reconnecting with grade-school aquaintance, and checking our email 542 times a day? Oh — and writing and reading about navel explorations. Oh, my.

    We want more than facts. We need more than facts. We need reaction. We need connection. We need context.

    Enter the blog.

    Clearly now, the little information I had received throughout the day was from blogs. Of course, it was awe. Some say it isn’t journalism. Frankly, I don’t care what it’s called. It is.

    So, what then? Certainly we need facts. But do mere facts accurately paint a full picture? Do they offer vision, truth? Or in getting caught in the facts, do we miss the big picture?

    Journalism, as we know it today, isn’t the origin of everything. It isn’t a seed for everything that follows. It’s just one of the things that follows and precedes — a part of the chain. Maybe we’re a little closer to our story-telling origins now. Who knows? But isn’t it all part of a progression, an evolution?

    Who ever said facts have to be dry? Who ever said anyone should be anything less than subjective?

    (I get it. I get it. Tomorrow I’ll rant about the importance of journalistic integrity. But today I’m enjoying the ride.)

    "I sound my barbaric YAWP o’er the rooftops of the world." —WW

     

     

  • The Rise of the Mighty Euro

    Perhaps I’m the only one who wasn’t paying attention to the complications caused by the European Union. But I’ll admit, I’m surprised.

    When we booked our trip to Italy — after receving an unexpected bequest from my husband’s mother — the euro (which had been under a dollar not long before) was trading at about $1.20. By the time we boarded our plane last week, it was $1.55 and rising steadily, which meant we could no longer afford the trip we had planned.

    John and I reassessed quickly, eliminating one city and several amenities. The best solution would have been to shorten the trip by two days, thereby cutting out two hotel stays and several meals, but Northwest would have charged us so dearly to make the change, we would have netted a loss. So we forged ahead, eating dinner roughly half the nights in our rooms rather than a restaurant, which in this country certainly is no hardship. . . .

    In fact, we had some really lovely meals: fresh bread; prosciutto from the local alimentari; a delicious sharp, soft cheese called tallegio; and the best oranges (nearly all Italian oranges are of what we Americans call the "blood" variety, with bright red fruit) I have ever tasted in my life. In addition, each night we would open a bottle of some local wine that we purchased for about €3.50, or $5.

    After a time, John and I began competing in the markets of Italy, a how low can you go sort of game, where each of us would try to find a bottle of something both cheap and remarkable. The best was a Sasso Alto Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2006 for €2.59 (around $3.90) that we found in a dingy, back-street supermarket in Florence. It was rich and satisfying, a cherry red wine with lots of blackberry and vanilla and dark Tuscan earth. Not complex, but perfect for our middle-of-the-bed picnics. And I have no doubt that when we look back on this trip in the decades to come, it will be those nights we remember most fondly. Food and wine in a small hotel room, oranges so juicy we needed towels to keep the quilt clean, the sounds of city life coming from the darkened porthole window overhead.

    Still, we did a fair amount of grumbling at first about how the cost of the euro was eating into our precious vacation fund. The more we tried to economize, however — e.g. ordering primi plates and house wine in restaurants rather than three courses with expensive bottles, as tourists who came before us have routinely done — the more irritated our hosts became. And it wasn’t only us. I could watch the animosity play out between other Americans and our Italian hosts. There has always, I suspect, existed a battle between merchants and travelers: they rely on us financially but resent us for trampling through their country and neglecting to learn their language; we want to take advantage of everything they know and have and sell, yet resent the prices they charge.

    In the wake of the European Union and the euro, everything relationship-wise has worsened. Tourists feel cheated even before they land in Florence or Venice or Rome. And businesspeople in this country (where employment owes a whopping 67% to the service and tourism industries) are seeing crowds thin and people spend less. So they’re reasonably defensive and upset.

    I thought this was the end of the story — a cultural war that waxes and wanes and happens to be in a peak phase right now — but last night I had a converation that broadened my understanding. We had stopped in a coffee bar and struck up a halting, broken conversation with a very genial barista. At one point, I asked if conversion to the euro had been difficult — meaning, mostly, whether it was tough to recognize the new coins and bills.

    But he took it another way entirely.

    "Terrible," he told us (and I’m paraphrasing, because some of this was communicated with hand gestures). "Everything in Italy costs twice as much as it did when we had lire."

    It turns out [and you probably already know this] that economically powerful countries such as France and Sweden drew in less well-off ones — including Italy and Spain — forcing everyone to adhere to a standard currency that allowed the wealthier Europeans to maintain their quality of life while the poor wound up spending 75-100% more for essentials, such as food, cigarettes (hey, they seem to be essential here. . . .), and gasoline.

    The barista explained all this while tossing a 50-cent coin in the air. He looked simply resigned. As for me, I left the coffee bar far less inclined to complain about my lean vacation funds. Also grateful on behalf of working-class Italian people that at least, they need pay only €2.59 for a very good bottle of wine.

  • The Three Pointer: Finishing Strong

    Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)

    Game #66, Home Game #34: Los Angeles Clippers 90, Minnesota 99

    Season Record: 16-50

    1. Pick and Roll Call

    The Clippers without Chris Kamen are a feel-good victim for a ballclub ready to generate some springtime momentum despite its inevitable trip to the lottery. Wolves coach Randy Wittman stomped and gyrated and spun and screamed and acted out for a good part of the game on the sidelines, then came in from the nine-point triumph and essentially praised everyone on the roster.

    And with good reason. Abetted by a steady diet of pick-and-rolls–"we run more of them against [the Clippers] than any other team" Wittman said–Minnesota made at least half their field goals for the third straight game, held the Clips to 38.8% from the field, and used a 13-4 run in the first 3:42 of the 4th quarter to turn a two-point lead into double-digits and a relatively comfortable coast to victory.

    With that said, let’s begin the roll call.

    The easy story is Al Jefferson because it follows the classic arc of shame and redemption: Benched for horrid D Friday night against Seattle, challenged to improve at that end of the court for at least the last month, according to Wittman–"it is the next step for him"–Jefferson made a pair of tone-setting blocks on shots by Josh Powell and Tim Thomas in the first 1:10 of the game and then added another against Cuttino Mobley with 4:06 to play in the period. And in the second quarter he lunched Powell again at the 3:16 mark.

    It ruins the plot to point out that those first three blocks didn’t really set the tone: The Clips were firing away at 53% (9-17 FG) during the first nine minutes of the game. But both Wittman and Jefferson were enthused about his defensive play, and the Kamen-less Clips–who also got a subpar effort from a dinged up Al Thornton–did only get 30 points in the paint, so if Big Al wants to use this one as a momentum changer toward a new emphasis on protecting the rim, no self-respecting Wolves fan should stop him. Especially with Memphis (Darko), Indiana (Jeff Foster) and the Knicks (Zach Randolph) on the dance card of what should be a very successful week.

    I’d rather toss garlands at the invisible man, Ryan Gomes, who was second on the team to Marko Jaric in minutes-played, led in plus/minus at plus +15, and in scoring efficiency by getting 19 on 6-9 FG, 1-1 3pt and 6-6 FT–and was barely noticeable. Gomes was the only guy on the team who understood how to play offense in the first quarter, as the Clippers aggressively doubled Jefferson–move without the ball. Jefferson barged his way for 2-5 FG, and Kirk Snyder barreled into the lane for 1-3 FG and 3-4 FT. Meanwhile, dynamite sticks Foye (1-5 FG) and McCants (0-2) misfired from the perimeter. It was left to Gomes to school the lard-heavy (in brain and body) Tim Thomas, from the first points of the period (a 17 footer from near the baseline) to the last (a pretty layup on a deft dish from Corey Brewer). While the rest of the Wolves were shooting 5-18 FG, with none of the baskets assisted, Gomes was 3-4 FG, with dimes tossed in all three buckets, and 4-4 FT to account for 10 of the team’s 23 points. He added 5 more in the second quarter (including a trey) and then deferred once Minnesota discovered the pick and roll between the littles and the bigs, shooting just 1-2 FG in 17:15 in second half play, but chasing Thomas from the paint to the arc and helping out on rotations down low. The Barometer is holding steady: good, unsung game from Gomes, victory for Minnesota.

    Plaudits also to Shaddy McCants, who had one of those games that makes you wonder why he isn’t registering 35-40 minutes per night. After a tepid first and early second quarter, he re-entered the game with 5:08 to play in the half and the Wolves down 2. In the space of 3:36, he nailed a trey on a feed from Foye, caught the Clips napping on a breakout transition layup courtesy of a baseball bullet pass from Snyder, then fed Jefferson for a turnaround 10-foot bunny, Gomes for a layup and Foye for a trey: 5 points, three assists, Wolves up 3 at the break.

    McCants would have finished with 9 or 10 assists instead of 6 had Craig Smith not done an atypically poor job at finishing at the rim. Shaddy to Rhino was one of the choice spreads in the pick-and-roll bread-and-butter, with McCants delivering the bounce pass in rhythm nearly every time. Then there are the purely aesthetic delights, such as the Clips blocking the passing lane as the Rhino stampeded down the left lane, leaving McCants to dribble once, twice, and then right-dribble-to-left-hand crossover dribble as he’s moving left, only to right himself toward the hoop as he skies and squares in muscular ballet, nailing a 21-foot liner the way you and I toss a soggy paper towel in the wastebasket from across the room.

    His 9 points on 3-3 FG, 1-1 3pt and 2-3 FT tied Smith for 4th quarter honors. He finished with 16 points on 10 shots, was a second-best plus +6, and contributed to Cuit Mobley and Quinton Ross (his two primary matchups) going 4-18 FG.

    2. A Pleasing Display of Depth or Disappointing Development?

    Among the evening’s plethora of solid performances were those lodged by Kirk Snyder and Marko Jaric, at both ends of the court. For Wolves’ fans this is of course a good thing, except that Snyder and Jaric got plenty of burn at the expense of Corey Brewer and Randy Foye, the coveted first-round draft picks for whom the Wolves’ tanked down the stretch the past two years.

    The Jaric rescue effort is easier to take, because Foye has been on a bit of a roll lately. As nifty as Sebastian Telfair is at slinging the rock, Foye’s visually less pure floor generalship has nevertheless resulted in a greater spread of shots taken, producing more balanced scoring (and more scoring, period) and assist-making. His defense has been so-so at best, but Foye at the point has found a groove.

    But not tonight. Where McCants and Jaric envisioned and initiated pick and rolls galore, fueling a collective 16/3 assist-to-turnover ratio, Foye was adrift, ignoring Wittman’s entreaties to pound the ball into Jefferson despite the double team and preferring to launch before the pick arrived. He finished the game 3-9 FG, with just 2 dimes and 2 miscues and sat for all but 36 seconds of that win-going-away 4th period, supplanted by Marko and his 5 assists in the final period alone. Yes, it would be preferable in the team’s future for Foye to have racked up another notch on his point guard credibility meter, while Jaric was the dunderhead. But it will take more than these occasional blips to recast doubts about Foye right now, and it’s a minor pleasure watching Jaric revel in his role as the steady, savvy vet.

    Snyder and Brewer is another story. Corey Brewer is a very likable performer–he hustles, he’s smart, his demeanor is sunny and industrious, and he’s got the high profile championship college pedigree. By contrast, there’s something about Snyder that seems a tad too forced and strained, and besides, wasn’t he supposed to be little more than a bit part that enabled Minnesota to shed itself of Gerald Green and filch a second-round draft pick besides?

    During the first half, Snyder did not live up to his role as the defensive stopper (same as Brewer’s), allowing Corey Maggette to run amok, a grievance partially mitigated by him burning Maggette for a pair of fouls and a trio of hoops at the other end. By the end of the night, Maggette had done his thing against both small forwards, getting 20 points in the 22 minutes Snyder guarded him and 14 in the 14:20 when Brewer was the matchup. Nevertheless, watching the game, you had the impression that Snyder was the more effective defensive foil–at 6-6, 225, his dimensions mirror Maggette’s (compared
    to Brewer’s 6-9, 185), and he was more physical, if less constantly in his presence, than Brewer. Wittman confirmed as much by saying, in reference to Maggette’s game-high 34, that the Wolves didn’t have "another big 3 other than Ryan, and I wanted to keep him where he was."

    Then there is the offense. After shutting down Kevin Durant in his first notable game in Minnesota, Snyder bricked enough shots to gain the rep of a defense-only guy. But he’s shown some signs of being able to get to the rim, and finished tonight a respectable 5-10 FG in 25:56. For Brewer, alas, it was the same old shaky aim. He was 1-7 FG in 24:05, with the make being a slam dunk–no funky jumpers converted. For the year he is a dreadful 139-387 FG, barely above 36%.

    Snyder is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Brewer is expected to be a regular, if not a cornerstone, for this franchise for the next 5-10 years. Nearly every game he does something unique–tonight it was using his extra gear, the jet gear, to swoop in a snatch a rebound of an indifferent prayer-shot at the end of the half and immediately gather steam enough to fling a 3/4 court-length shot at the buzzer. Yet at precisely the time in the season when McCants and Foye began to figure it out and emerge during their rookie campaigns, Brewer is fading. When you’re a defensive stopper and a 24-year old competitor defends as well as you do and scores a little besides, well, it will take more than that to bump you out of the club’s blueprint. But it is still enough to sow a little doubt.

    3. Give Me April-June Madness

    As everyone marks their NCAA brackets, I’ll ignorantly claim that the Big East and Pac-10 will fare best, with Butler a huge sleeper and the Big 10 bounced by the final 16. Meanwhile, the Celts toppled the Spurs tonight, the Spurs 4th straight March loss, putting them in a tie with Dallas for the 6th seed in the West. Any one of the top nine teams in the West could lose in the first round. And if San Antonio has to play every series as a road team, the fiedl will be wide open.

  • Death and Murder

    Thirty years ago today, in 1978, Pakistani former premier Shaheed-e-Azam Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was sentenced to death. How is that for setting the tone?

    THEATER & PERFORMANCE
    Meet the Director and Cast of Frozen

    The Park Square Theatre is dead in the middle of its production of the 2004 Tony Award-nominated play Frozen, and this evening you have an opportunity to share in an "intriguing conversation" with the artistic team, director Jim Cada and actors Linda Kelsey and Karen Landry. Frozen explores our capacity for forgiveness, remorse, and change through a touching tale about a missing 10-year-old, her mother, her murderer, and a doctor studying serial killers. Participants in tonight’s discussion will be able to purchase tickets at half price.

    7 p.m., Hamline Midway Branch Library, 1558 W. Minnehaha Ave., St. Paul; 651-222-3242; call to reserve tickets.

    BOOKS & AUTHORS
    The Thing About Life Is That One Day You’ll Be Dead

    "My dad will be dead soon; one day I’ll be dead; despite—or perhaps
    because of—all the data gathered in this book, I still find these two
    facts overwhelming," writes David Shields in his appropriately titled book, The Thing About Life Is That One Day You’ll Be Dead.
    Using a blend of personal anecdotes, biological facts, philosophical
    speculation, and cultural history, Shields explores his mortality
    through his father’s own life and history.

    7:30 p.m., Magers & Quinn Booksellers, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-822-4611.

    MUSIC
    Vinicius Cantuaria

    Sure, you could go see Bon Jovi at the Xcel Center; I wouldn’t blame you, really. (He was actually the opening act of one of the first concerts I ever saw, and it was quite the memorable experience despite the red and black striped leather.) But let’s face it, if class is what you’re looking for, you’re probably better off with Vinicius Cantuaria — a bridge between classic bossa nova and the hip 21st Century variations on the Tropicalia sound. If you know even a little bit about Brazilian music, you’ll have heard of Caetano Veloso; and if you know even a little bit about Caetano, you’ll have heard "Lua e Estrella," a song written for him by Cantauria. The man is a master. He has played alongside Caetano, as well as other greats, including Gilberto Gil, Laurie Anderson, and David Byrne. Enjoy the Brazilian-in-New York guitarist-percusionist’s avante garde jazz this evening.

    7 p.m. & 9:30 p.m., Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant, 1010 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis; 612-332-1010; $20 & $15.

    FILM
    Mafioso DVD Release

    mafioso_new.jpgThis
    acclaimed comedy classic was made in 1962, given a brief American run
    in ’64, and then, for forty years, it vanished like a mob boss on the
    Witness Protection Program. Nino, the lead character, is a portly
    middle manager, happily passing time at a Fiat plant in Milan. He
    finally returns home to a little Sicilian village for the vacation he’s
    been promising his family for years — giving them the chance to
    finally meet his northern Italian wife and two daughters. But before he
    embarks on this trip, a local mob boss asks our poor hero to deliver a
    small package to one Don Vincenzo, the reigning capo of Nino’s
    hometown. Being a comedy, all hell must break loose. However, Mafioso
    isn’t just slapstick, but a poignant examination of the emergence of
    two Italys — the industrial north and the provincial south. Created a
    good seven years before the eponymous novel on which The Godfather was based, Mafioso is an obvious influence, yet it stands on its own as a sunny comedy. —Peter Schilling