Some Things Really Do Come Free

SEMINARS
Unsatiated Appetites

Are you in marketing? Communications? Public relations? Public affairs? Advertising? Brand management? Web publishing? Or just generally interested in the digital world and American consumption? The fabulous thing about the Internet is its vast span — the scope, the range, the access to information and communication. But you have to know how to use it. And you have to take the opportunities presented. Today’s free video webcast, Tails from the Long Tail, explores online video as “the force that has unleashed the true power of the ‘long tail’ of the Internet.” Find out how the various realms of content-producers out there (mainly marketers of sorts — hell, everybody is selling something these days) are addressing the endless demand for web video. The live program will be followed by an email Q & A session.

1-2 p.m. eastern, MediaLink; free.

FILM
Intimate Dimensions of a Cataclysm

Dig out that military uniform (or respectfully pick one up at Ragstock) and head over to Northrop for a preview screening of award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns’ s World War II series, The War. Burns will be present to discuss the making of his film and share personal stories of men and women from four American towns: Waterbury, CT; Mobile, AL; Sacramento, CA; and the tiny farming town of Luverne, MN. Through personal pieces of a common history, the storytellers in this seven-part series illustrate how the second World War touched the lives of every family in the country. Tonight’s event will feature clips from the film, as well as a Q & A session for the audience. Looks like no matter what you choose to do tonight, you’re apt to get answers. (Just make sure you know what questions you have.)

7:30 p.m., Northrop Auditorium, 84 Church St. S.E., Minneapolis; 612-624-2345; free.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS
Journeys, Learning, and Transformations

“What a small person I was before this little child came into my life,” writes Ann Bremer in Gifts: Mothers Reflect on How Children with Down Syndrome Enrich Their Lives, edited by Kathryn Lynard Soper — mother of seven. Gifts tells the triumphant stories of mothers whose children have Down syndrome, their journeys, learnings, and transformations. These days, with many women choosing to have children in their 30s and beyond, the “threat” of Down syndrome is very real; but these women turn the alleged threat into a thing of beauty, into what is almost an angelic state of being — and they would know. “After much study it seemed apparent that I was no longer the mother of a typical family… By the end of the course I came to the conclusion that many of my assumptions were incorrect, my lack of sainthood being the obvious indicator.” Meet the woman of these words, learn from her, and simply bask in the beauty behind the strength. Bremer will be be signing books along with two other local contributors, Leah Spring and Emily Zeid.

7 p.m., Barnes & Noble Booksellers – Mall of America, Mall of America, 118 E. Broadway, Suite 238, Bloomington; 952-854-1455; free.

Weather Obsessed

I hate it when this happens, but I get a lot of events coming across my desk these days — be it through external intervention or my own digging; and sometimes I add events to my calendar without noting the original source — not when it’s a matter of giving someone credit (which I believe is excessive but essential), but when it’s important to verify the source. So, what happens when you can’t verify the source? The point is, I received the above information from someone, but I can’t seem to confirm it. I find nothing on the Barnes & Noble website, but I’m fully convinced it’s happening. Still, if you want to play it super safe (though you can always call first), what I did find on the website was this: WCCO meteorologist (for 25 years) Mike Lynch, author of Mike Lynch’s Minnesota WeatherWatch: A Complete Guide for Weather-Obsessed Minnesotans, exposes the truth behind Minnesota weather, its history, and its lore. That ought to appeal; I mean, there’s nothing about which we like taking more than the weather. I’d say we’re weather obsessed here, in fact — and with good reason.

7 p.m., Barnes & Noble Booksellers – Roseville II, Har Mar Mall, 2100 N. Snelling Ave., Roseville; 651-639-9256; free.