I was patiently standing in the ticket line at the Fringe Festival. Then the middle aged man right in front of me abruptly took off his pants. When he began to twist and turn and fidget with his belt, I nervously stepped back. Personally, I didn’t think that when I signed up to cover the … Read more
It seems sometimes like every debut rap album is long-awaited, highly anticipated. We heard the usual phrases a couple weeks ago on Muja Messiah‘s premier release ("They said this would never get done…I made it happen. I was part-time hustlin’, now I’m full-time rappin’ "). Likewise, in the liner notes to their new CD, the … Read more
Sharon Mollerus/Creative Commons Sawtdee To commemorate the lives lost in last year’s bridge collapse, Supenn Harrison, owner of the Sawatdee restaurants, has invited all of Minnesota’s Buddhist monks to participate in a commemorative service and alms offering in the parking lot of Sawatdee Bar & Café, 118 N. 4th St., Minneapolis next Saturday, August 16. … Read more
READINGSRaking Through Books with John TorenJoin your literary homies from The Rake for another installment of the popular Happy Hour reading series "Raking Through Books " at Kieran’s Irish Pub co-presented by The Loft, KFAI radio and the U of M Bookstore. Tonight’s special guest is author John Toren, who will show off his new … Read more
When Sarah Jones opened her eyes, the very first thing she noticed about the local Department of Motor Vehicles was the pervasive, defiant perfection. The immaculate office immediately struck her, the climate controlled setting blotting out the stifling memories of the trek from the asphalt parking lot. Her headache receded as she admired the emptiness … Read more
I’ve reached a new low, which is amazing, because I’ve had my fair share of low moments in my life. There was the time in college when I had an explosive stomach issue while wearing a Halloween costume. On my wedding day, I had a dress shirt "malfunction." I had to wear a tie and … Read more
MUSIC K’naan D.E.M.O.’s Twin Cities Pan African Fest goes out with a bang tonight at First Avenue. Toronto-based Somalian rapper K’naan will engage the audience with his smooth flows and thoughtful prose for an evening of amazing music you won’t soon forget. Raised in Mogadishu, Somalia in the midst of civil war, and descended from … Read more
The opening game for the USA Olympic basketball team was close early–tied even, at 29-29, nearly halfway through the second quarter–almost exclusively because the US were missing their three-pointes while their Chinese opponents were knocking them down. But nobody seriously thought this would be a ballgame, and the 101-70 tally seemed an appropriate gauge of … Read more
Last year, I posted a movie on YouTube. It was a candid short film of a Mom sending her kid off to "camp" at a church in Edina. The Mom was wearing a leather Ferrari jacket while burdening her two cherubic children with care packages the size of a Marshall Plan drop. I found the … Read more
After a flamboyantly successful run at the Bedlam Theatre earlier this spring, You’re No Fun has been whittled down for a Fringe staging. The play centers around a present-day hobo who comes back to town, and finds that his ex-girlfriend has written a musical about his life. It is a tale of star-crossed lovers that, … Read more