March 2008

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Breakfast of Champions 3/31: Mary Oliver, bikini-clad dancers and battle rappers

Filed under: Breakfast of Champions

DAILY DISH: WHAT'S NEW AROUND THE SITE

I went to the Twin Cities Battle League intending to blog about it this morning, and I suppose that's just what I'm doing. But this post is going to be shorter than the in-depth review I had planned.

That's not because the event wasn't off the hook, because it was, or that there weren't compelling characters there, because there were.

Battling is a big part of hip-hop culture and history. Battles are also a way for truly underground freestylers to be heard and to gain a following. In two rounds -- one 45 second blast, one minute-long round -- two rappers go at each other with an array of impromptu boasts and disses. At the end of the night, one MC is crowned the winner. He or she qualifies for the final, which will be held this summer.

I did some fun interviews with competitors -- victorious and, um, otherwise -- judges, spectators and event organizers. I was going to write that up today. But this is just round two of five. I think it makes sense to follow this a while, get to know the people involved better, and do something bigger, later. So I think some brief notes now and a longer post after the dust clears is in order.

Start with the slideshow, which gives you the Cliff's Notes on the evening. Then, check out some MP3s from the rhymes of Illab, the evening's champion. Here's a short clip of one of the night's best disses, and this longer rhyme where Illab takes on Mike Starks' skinny frame and Lake Street roots. You can also see videos at the Twin Cities Battle League MySpace page.

So, what else is fresh from the weekend? A ton.

One of the Twin Cities' most well-respected dance companies held a bikini fashion show as a fundraiser, and Carl Atiya Swanson was there. We also have photos by Daniel Corrigan.

On the other side of the art spectrum -- from the physical to the spoken, the visual to the written -- here's a recap of poet Mary Oliver's reading last night at the State Theatre. And it's testament to the busy weekend that Jordan Selbo's review of the Lightning & Thunder CD release party on Saturday has already rolled off the front page.

If you haven't already, check out Beth Walton's heartbreaking Reporter's Notebook for "The Soldier Suicides."

Checked out Complicated Fun lately? Peter Scholtes has a list of his Top 20 Music Videos that's interesting reading and viewing.

Oba-mentum: Amy Klobuchar endorses Barack Obama.

In the mood for something grisly? Watch the video of Wild defenseman Kurtis Foster's fibula fracturing fiasco. After that, calm down with Twins blogger Judd Spicer's
MLB season preview.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at March 31, 2008 6:40 AM | Comments (0)

 

Klobuchar endorses Obama

Filed under: Politics

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar endorsed Barack Obama for president today, making her the 64th superdelegate to throw support his way since Super Tuesday.

"My endorsement reflects both Barack's strong support in my state and my own independent judgment about his abilities," Klobuchar said in a statement.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at March 31, 2008 2:05 AM | Comments (2)

 

Reporter's Notebook: Soldier Suicides: veterans are killing themselves in record numbers

Filed under: City Pages

As of recently, soldiers killing themselves upon their return from combat has become all too familiar to Cheryl Softich, of Eveleth, Minn. Her son, Army Specialist Noah Pierce, 23, killed himself in July after deployment in Iraq.

He came home and was felt like he was a murderer. He said he killed a doctor while he was there; he mistook the doctor for a suicide bomber, his mother says.

Back home he couldn’t sleep at night. He was drinking all the time and the spark had drained from his eyes, Softich remembers.

“There were very few smiles that were genuine,” she says.

At the time of his death, Pierce, a member of the Army's Third Infantry Division, had plans for a third tour.

Unlike most parents and family members who are stonewalled by their sons and daughters in uniform who don’t want to speak about the trauma they experienced at war, Pierce journaled his experience in war, leaving behind a book of poetry.

"His writing just brings you to Iraq with him," says Softich, who published her son’s work in the California publication Rogue Voice.

In the poem “WTF” Pierce reflects on the accidental killing of the Iraqi doctor. "The investigation said it was done by the books / I ask myself, 'What the fuck kind of war is this?'"

In “Friends” Pierce writes about Iraqi kids who would give him food in exchange for water. "No english / No arabic / Yet we still understand each other."

He wrote about desert sandstorms in “Dust” and called Iraq a “godforgotten country,” where smoking is an imperative and the “girlfriends, the parties, the training /GONE” in a piece titled "2nd time."

Softich is on a one-woman mission to change the military's current mental health screening system for returning veterans.

Pierce, like the others in our feature on soldier suicides, passed post deployment medical and psychological tests which allowed him to come home sooner, his mother says.

“They know what to say to go home and it’s not, I need help,” Softich says forcefully. “Noah should have never have been sent back to combat for a second time without counseling. Nobody in the military should should."

Many times a soldier thinks they’re fine upon return from cobat, because they feel so good about being home, says Major Cindy Rasmussen, a combat stress officer for the 80th Regional Readiness Command.

This sort of euphoric state can last for months, and sometimes it isn’t until that excitement starts to taper and the reality of life after war sets in, that PTSD symptoms start to show.

Softich is trying to enact a Noah’s clause, legislation that would require all troops to receive mandatory counseling, at least once every two weeks for a year, upon their return from active duty. Since coming forward, Representatives Jim Oberstar, D-Minnesota and Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii along with Senators Norm Coleman, R-Minnesota, and Amy Klobuchar D-Minnesota, have taken interest her idea, she says.

Anyone who has just returned from combat doesn’t have the capacity to determine his or her wellbeing, says Softich. “They shouldn’t be given the opportunity to say, ‘No, I’m fine, when in reality the solder is scared, but can’t admit it because that’s is a sign of weakness and weakness is not allowed,” she continued.

Around the clock access to trained professional is available for anyone struggling with thoughts of suicide. Call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to reach the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. If you are a veteran and would like to speak with someone trained in working with military members, press “1” to reach the VA Hotline.

Posted by Beth Walton at March 28, 2008 5:35 PM | Comments (3)

 

VP Pawlenty Meter: Is Charles in Charge?

Filed under: VP Pawlenty Watch

Will Governor Tim Pawlenty become our nation's next vice president? It's hard to keep track of all the many factors at play. Each week, the VP Pawlenty Meter (TM) provides an odds sheet to ensure you make your best bet.

When last we left T-Paw, he had suffered a series of setbacks: He'd been dissed in the Wall Street Journal as "too liberal," his transportation commissioner had become a very husky albatross around his neck, and conservative columnist Bob Novak had stuck a fork in him.

Well, what a difference several weeks make (sorry about that)! According to the Washington Post, T-Paw weathered to storm and is still clinging to frontrunner status:

Pawlenty still remains the most likely choice for McCain. The two have known each other since the 1980s, Pawlenty is significantly younger than McCain (he's 47), and he makes Minnesota instantly competitive. Pawlenty is also playing the politics of the veepstakes perfectly -- denying any interest in the job while not making any Sherman-esque pronouncements.

But T-Paw shouldn't get too comfortable, because there's a gay Republican governor creeping up on his rear. According to the Post:

Charlie Crist: The Florida governor has a strong case to make that his endorsement of McCain in the waning days of the Sunshine State primary cinched the nomination for the Arizona Senator. Crist's popularity among Florida voters could well strengthen McCain's hand in a swing state in the fall. (It also doesn't hurt that McCain praised Crist as a "great governor" during a campaign swing through the state earlier this month.) The biggest problem for Crist? He's not beloved among conservatives many of whom feel McCain has to pick one of them to get their votes.

There's even been rumors that McCain promised Crist the VP slot in exchange for his endorsement. Via our old friend Robert Novak:

"Close supporters of Mitt Romney have been injecting into the political rumor stream an unsubstantiated report that Sen. John McCain obtained the vital endorsement of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist by promising him the vice presidential nomination," Robert Novak reports. "Spreading that rumor reflects the anger in the Romney camp over the late endorsements of McCain by Crist and Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida. Until then, the Romney insiders claim, their private polls showed a lead in the Jan. 29 Florida primary that in fact delivered a crushing victory for McCain."

Personally, I don't think T-Paw is enough to help McCain swing Minnesota, but Florida is very much in play and Crist could make the difference there.

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at March 28, 2008 11:36 AM | Comments (0)

 

Breakfast of Champions 3/28: Jeff's appendix says peace

Filed under: Breakfast of Champions

It's possible (even probable) that this post will get bigger later in the morning, but as it stands, it's 2:45 a.m., I just got back from the hospital, it's dark and I'm not even setting up a Blues Brothers joke.

Nope, just tired. Jeff Severns Guntzel is several ounces lighter following a trip to the ER and the removal of one surly appendix. He's fine, Guntzel fans, and even funnier on morphine than normal.

I took the late shift of Guntzel Watch. He's now sleeping comfortably, like Ronald Reagan during most of the 1980s, or me during a staff meeting. And sleep is sounding good. So where normally I would extensively run down each new item on the site, here's a casual Friday 3 a.m. take.

There were six new posts on the Blotter yesterday, most of them substantive takes on labor, economics, treaty rights, etc. A pretty good day for fresh news and photos. Check 'em out.

Also scope Beth Walton's new Culture to Go post about a peculiar State of the City address in Hopkins.

Finally tonight, Severns Guntzel can't really listen to the Boredoms due to a long, involved story that includes a yellow Cadillac. But he'd still want you to look at this slideshow of Yamantaka Eye and company.

I'm going to bed, and if I don't get an appendix-in-a-jar out of this, somebody's getting a nasty letter.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at March 28, 2008 2:50 AM | Comments (2)

 

Leading the fight for farm welfare

Filed under: Congress

Today's Wall Street Journal has a fascinating deconstruction of how the farm lobby beat back attempts to curtail agriculture subsidies. Farmers will collect some $13 billion in federal subsidies this year. This despite the fact that farms, buoyed by the ethanol boom and soaring commodity prices, are projected to reap record income of $92.3 billion in 2008. Average farm household income is expected be about $90,000 this year. Currently farms with incomes of up to $2.5 million are elligible for federal funds.

Reform advocates, including President Bush, had hoped to strip out as much as $10 billion in subsidies over the next five years. But the most substantive changes were scuttled due to the persuasive powers of the farm lobby. The WSJ story notes that the agribusiness industry pumped $80 million into federal lobbying efforts last year alone.

"We got rolled," says Rep. Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican. ... "The agriculture community circled the wagons."

Leading the fight for the status quo? Rep. Colin Peterson, of Minnesota's 7th Congressional District, who also happens to be chairman of the House Agriculture Committee:

As the measure headed to the House floor in July, advocates of reform made a last-ditch bid for support, appealing to Speaker Pelosi. But the California Democrat sided with Mr. Peterson of the House Agriculture Committee. The year before, he'd ushered Mrs. Pelosi around a popular farm festival in Minnesota, where she mingled with farmers and ate pork chops on a stick.

Posted by Paul Demko at March 27, 2008 4:48 PM | Comments (0)

 

Security guards arrested at IDS Center

Filed under: Business

Dozens of protesters descended on the IDS Center at noon today. "What do we want? Healthcare," the group chanted as they emerged from the skyway system. "When do we want it? Now." The protesters also carried signs that read "Stand up for Health Care" and "Protect Working Families." They handed out flyers to the bewildered lunch crowd headlined, "Do you want strong, healthy, well-trained security officers to protect you downtown?"

The rally was held to garner support for security officers who are locked in a contract fight with five companies that provide security at Twin Cities office buildings. The chief dispute is over health care costs. According to Service Employees International Union Local 26, the union that represents the workers, the current contract proposal would increase insurance premiums by as much as 50 percent during the proposed five-year contract.

"We're out here today because we need health insurance," said Tom Convington, who's worked as a security guard at the US Bancorp building in downtown Minneapolis for two years. "People are leaving their jobs because they can't afford the health insurance."

The group then proceeded to the lobby of Minnesota's tallest building. About a dozen protesters bound themselves together with duct tape around an informational kiosk.

Eventually they were arrested by Minneapolis police officers. All together 17 people were cited for trespassing, including nine security officers. Strangely they were hauled away on a Metro Transit bus. It was the second time in a week that arrests were made at protests stemming from the labor dispute.

Posted by Paul Demko at March 27, 2008 3:32 PM | Comments (2)

 

Pothole of the day

Filed under: potholes

I discovered a fine specimen this morning while driving down SE 4th Street in Minneapolis. But by the time I'd parked my car and doubled back on foot, some intrepid city employees had already filled the damn hole. They were just taking off down the road as I arrived. Here's their handiwork:

Luckily I discovered another redoubtable pothole not far away. This crater on Central Avenue was apparently missed by the three-person pothole crew:

Posted by Paul Demko at March 27, 2008 2:28 PM | Comments (0)

 

Protesters Shut Down Army, Navy Recruiting Offices

Filed under: Protest News

About 20 Macalester College students are taking part in a demonstration outside neighboring Army and Navy recruiting offices on the U of M's East Bank, a move that has effectively shut down the businesses for the day.

Pictures after the jump.

Since around 10 this morning, eight of the protesters--most of whom are members of Macalester's Students for a Democratic Society--have linked arms through PBC pipes reinforced with chicken-wire and duct tape, thereby blocking the entrances. Two members of the crew have fashioned horseshoe bicycle locks around their necks connected to each door handle.

"We think [the Army and Navy recruiters] might have heard about the plan," said one of the non-linked protesters at the site near the corner of Washington Ave. and Oak St. "We know they had recruiting appointments scheduled for today, but they haven't shown up."

Demonstrators say they plan to continue the act of civil disobedience all day or until law enforcement breaks it up. The group has taped two signs to the office windows: "Mission Accomplished: Closed for the Day" and "Five Years is Five Too Many."

Posted by Matt Snyders at March 27, 2008 11:25 AM | Comments (13)

 

Why Can't Dick Read?: Dick Day's ignorance of treaties and the constitution

Filed under: Indian tribes

In a disturbingly dishonest op-ed entitled "Minnesota's tribes have it both ways," Republican state senator Dick Day repeats old anti-Indian canards in a callow, self-serving way.

This piece is irresponsibly simpleminded and should not go unchallenged. It is ignorant of history, of the U.S. Constitution, of modern law, and of ethics.

It is also sadly representative of most politicos' understanding of Indian tribes and their relationship with other American governments. Let's talk about Indian law for a second.

The larger point of Day's argument -- he wants to build a racino for gaming revenue -- is fine for what it is. If Minnesota's legislature wants to approve Day's plan, fair enough. But when he gets into the "tribes have it so easy" nonsense, he's clearly out of his depth.

Case in point: Day mutters -- unsupported and devoid of context -- standard anti-Indian talking points like these:

"Domestic dependent nations" is the label that the U.S. Supreme Court has assigned to the relationship of Native American tribes with the U.S. government and the state of Minnesota. "Dependent" is the word that catches my attention. The tribes are dependent on a lot of state services that we all benefit from, but they alone are exempt from paying for those services.

Of course, it's not at all the way Day paints it. In exchange for all the land that now makes up the state of Minnesota, tribes bargained for certain guaranteed rights. The right to fish, the right to maintain a land base -- rights they'd had since time immemorial anyway.

This is one of those "even if it were true, so what?" sort of arguments -- tribes gave up all of the land that is now Minnesota, land of immeasurable value. Even supposing it were so simple as Day indicates, this is a sweetheart deal for non-Indians anyway.

Then there's the sovereignty issue. If we had taken the law seriously since the treaties were signed, tribes would be considered fully sovereign nations, not "domestic dependent nations." The constitution itself prohibits treaties between any two parties with less than full sovereignty -- states can't make treaties, for example. Which means the tribes have to be fully sovereign, or else the treaties are void, and the U.S. has no title to the land Indian people gave up.

(By the way, Article 6, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution declares treaties to be the "supreme law of the land," on a par with the constitution itself. Inviolable.)

Some Indian scholars have noted -- correctly -- that tribes should be under no legal obligation to enter into these state-tribal gaming compacts at all. They're sovereign nations; France doesn't have to ask Minnesota for permission to build a casino, and neither should the Mille Lacs band.

Day blames Democrats' desire to preserve an Indian gaming monopoly for his bill's repeated failure. He should look in the mirror rather than resort to the race-baiting red herring of Indian gaming. Day's proposed racino has little or nothing to do with tribal business, despite him using this opportunity to push a wedge issue.

So how did tribes get to be declared "domestic, dependent nations"? Political expedience. In Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, John Marshall used the phrase, declaring that tribes were "in a state of pupilage" and that "their relations to the US resemble that of a ward to his guardian."

This was then, and remains, nonsense of the highest order. The U.S. had yet to encounter a single tribe west of the Mississippi, and yet all Indian nations were suddenly wards of a state they'd never encountered. Stunningly, Marshall's ruling was actually liberal for the times -- it was designed to undermine Andrew Jackson's murderous Cherokee removal policy. Still, it created unjustifiable law.

You'll note, despite that last reference to the Cherokee Trail of Tears, that none of what I've just written depends on what Day calls "wrongs we committed in the past."

These wrongs -- land theft, denial of treaty rights, suppression of religion and culture, and yes, genocide -- should absolutely not be minimized. They should also not be characterized as "past," given that the wounds inflicted continue to affect Indian people today, and that the federal government continues to mismanage funds rightly owed to native people, costing them billions.

But if you don't want to consider that history, fine. Consider it a strict legal relationship rooted in that most American of documents, the constitution itself. Both sides signed treaties. Minnesotans got land on which to settle; tribes got a trust relationship to preserve their sovereign rights in perpetuity. If you're happy with one half of the exchange, you have to accept the other half.

Treaties are a solemn oath sworn between two fully sovereign nations. When a politician like Day seeks to undermine them, it is a sign that the politician either gravely misunderstands the law -- or cares nothing for honor and decency. Which is it, Dick?

Posted by Jeff Shaw at March 27, 2008 9:52 AM | Comments (7)

 

We're Number 11!

Filed under: Economy

Rest easy, fellow Minnesotans: We are among the top 22 percent of states in per capita income. Which is, like, totally in the top quarter and easily in the top third. The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports the Commerce Department puts our average annual income for 2007 at $41,034. Edging us out for the top ten was Colorado. Damn you, Boulder!

The per capita income statistic, it ought be noted, doesn't take into account income disparity. This explains how Connecticut, with its wealthy suburbs and broken inner cities, placed first.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at March 27, 2008 9:25 AM | Comments (0)

 

Breakfast of Champions 3/27: License to Ill

Filed under: Breakfast of Champions

The Minnesota license plate generator from ImageChef offers hours of fun for the whole family. Potentially profane and lascivious fun, as you generate uncensored image files with custom messages.

After a day's entertainment swapping in-joke-laden plates with friends, we thought it meet to summarize today's new blog posts using the plates. Also, a preview of posts to come in the next few hours. Try it! Your productivity will soon drop to City Pages levels of lassitude.

DAILY DISH: WHAT'S NEW AROUND THE SITE

For the Pothole of the Day post, which features a Demko story about a boil on his neck and Ben Palosaari's automotive disaster, we were actually able to catch precisely what Ben said post-incident:

Amazingly, a man with an avid fantasy life was able to convince a crack team of top journalists that Sean "Puffy" Combs was involved in the murder of Tupac Shakur. Tupac? Killed by Diddy? All I have to say is:

In response to Matt Snyders' 70s cop car post, which reminds me of 70s cop shows, we considered who might drive said automobiles here in the land of ice and snow. Hence, we have localized thusly:

James Norton got his blood (sausage) up in response to East Coast Doug's comment, and wrote a stirring response of Midwest pride. When you combine this with Rachel Hutton's awards post, you get my summary:

(Passed without comment: a New Yorker friend of mine once admitted to me that what is called a "New York attitude" in NYC is, in the rest of the country, known as "being an asshole." Just sayin'.)

Sunnis? Shiites? Whichever, sayeth John McCain, reminiscent of Werner Von Braun's imagined dictum: "Once the rockets go up, who cares where they come down?" What say you, license plate? Who runs al-Qaeda?

"Shkurds" doesn't have the same ring.

When even Chris Wallace notices you're wrenching quotations out of context for attack purposes, you know Faux News has crossed a propaganda Rubicon. Like a Magic 8 Ball, the license plate generator always knows just what to utter:

Finally this morning, a couple of posts are in the pipeline that should appear within the next few hours. They carry divergent themes. But if there is one matter linking them -- and if I might foreshadow -- it is this:

Posted by Jeff Shaw at March 27, 2008 7:26 AM | Comments (0)

 

Pothole of the day

Filed under: potholes

Many years ago when I was a college student studying in Lagos, Nigeria, I attempted to take a cab back to the residence where I was staying. It was a miserable, stinking, brutally hot day--as are pretty much all days in Lagos. To make matters worse, I was sick with malaria and had a boil roughly the size of a golf ball protruding from my neck.

Weaving through the city's notorious go-slow traffic, the cabbie came upon an opening in the road. Calling this lack of pavement a pothole would be highly inadequate. It was more like a small mine shaft. The intrepid cab driver, rather than be dissuaded by this lack of navigable surface, plunged straight into the ravine. Unfortunately we did not emerge on the other side. The cab became hopelessly lodged in the abyss.

After roughly ten minutes of futilely gunning the engine, it became apparent that we weren't going anywhere. At this point the cab driver implored me to get out of the vehicle and push. For some reason I heeded his instructions. Luckily I was soon joined by several other men--no doubt amused by the sight of some little, sweaty white dude with a giant, grotesque boil on his neck attempting to push a vehicle out of a giant pothole. Eventually we were able to free the cab and I arrived safely back at my homestay family's compound. Unfortunately the boil stuck around for another month.

The Twin Cities, as far as I know, does not posses potholes of quite this awe-inspiring magnitude. But as anyone who's driven the streets in recent weeks knows, the roads are quite treacherous. Months of dumping corrosive materials on the roads, in order to keep them free of ice and snow, has left some huge holes in Twin Cities roads.

The street in front of the CP offices, N. 5th Ave., is a notoriously dodgy surface. In fact it was utilized in the 2005 film Factotum to display the bone rattling shocks on Lili Taylor's vehicle. Associate A List editor Ben Palosaari recently did nearly $900 of damage to the underside of his car while attempting to navigate the "road." Here's a photograph:

But we're looking for other marvels of inadequate roadway in the Twin Cities. Have you noticed a particularly large pothole in your neighborhood? A street conspicuously lacking in navigable paved surface? Post the locale in the comments section (or shoot me an email) and we'll consider it for the honor of pothole of the day.

Posted by Paul Demko at March 26, 2008 1:26 PM | Comments (2)

 

Reporter's Notebook: Artist takes on destructive plant

Filed under: Environment

You don’t have to be an artist to make a statement. And, you most certainly do not have to spend your time like Jim Proctor, creating giant faux dandelions to fix a problem.

Pulling buckthorn can be fun, says St. Olaf sophomore John van der Linden, who helped Proctor with the newest installations of the Buckthorn Menace. He laughs remembering the time that even a downpour of rain didn’t stop him and his friends from pulling the root.

“Everything was all muddy, yet we still stood there in the rain pulling out buckthorn. It looked like we came out of a swamp or something, but it was just so much fun to get down and dirty and really work on this major problem.”

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has some tips for recognizing buckthorn and aiding in its removal.

To control buckthorn, a plant that is slowing destroying Minnesota's forests, people need to kill it by pulling it out at its roots and cutting down seed producing trees, says Ann Pierce, a terrestrial invasive species coordinator for the Department.

Many people with one or two buckthorn hedges in their lots might not understand it’s an invasive species, says Pierce. But, buckthorn can easily be identified in the fall because it holds its leaves and stays green longer than most native species.

"If you wait until October, you’ll know if it’s buckthorn," she says.

Posted by Beth Walton at March 26, 2008 12:58 PM | Comments (0)

 

Retro Craze Sweeps Minnesota State Patrol

Filed under: Police

This morning, the Minnesota State Po-Po unveiled a totally bitchin' new look for their squad cars. The State Patrol opted for a vintage maroon-body/white-door design to "reflect the Patrol squad cars used during 1960-1991," according to a radical press release disseminated earlier today.

The throwback look will be phased in as new cars join the fleet in order to "help motorists better recognize troopers, understand their duties, and how the agency supports safe travel on Minnesota roads." None of the tragically square current cars--which feature lame-o gold strips across maroon bodies--will be outfitted with the new design. Consequently, there will be no extra costs to the changes.

State troopers themselves are expected to participate in the retro trend by growing out their cop-mustaches, drinking Beam-and-Cokes during lunch breaks, and terrorizing long-hairs.

Posted by Matt Snyders at March 26, 2008 12:35 PM | Comments (0)

 

Breakfast of Champions 3/26: The War Comes Home

Filed under: Breakfast of Champions

DAILY DISH: WHAT'S NEW AROUND THE SITE

Beth Walton's two stories about Iraq war veterans are timely this week, as news broke that the five-year conflict has cost at least 4,000 American lives.

The risk doesn't stop once they've returned home, Walton writes. Soldiers are committing suicide in ever-increasing numbers, and there are serious questions about V.A. policy in the face of this burgeoning threat. Then there are veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from the horrors they've experienced. Sometimes, these PTSD victims become victimizers themselves, perpetrating crimes. But experts say they need psychological help, not jail time.

Elsewhere around the site, the Beth Walton Issue continues with her story about Jim Proctor, a sculptor whose medium is largely invasive plants. Aesthetically interesting and environmentally friendly, you can see his work with buckthorn in this photo slideshow.

Musically, content abounds:

* Matt Snyders has news about the Current's playlist, which -- given the station's slogan -- you might expect to be expanding. Think again.

* Some great photos of Black Mountain by Emily Utne, from the band's Monday night show. Another slideshow of Jayhawks/Golden Smog singer Gary Louris at Pantages last night is also up now.

* The struggle over copyright law and music comes to karaoke, as ASCAP targets a local karaoke bar. You'll have my "Dancing Queen" when you pry the microphone from my cold, dead hands.

Opening Day happened abroad again, but Judd Spicer's focused on the home team. He has your Minnesota Twins preview, along with his take on the recent extension granted to closer Joe Nathan.

How are state Republican parties doing as the march to the September convention continues? Not well, writes Jeff Severns Guntzel. The Hillary Clinton campaign is similarly battered, and she appears to be grasping at the straws of irony by launching an attack in the Richard Mellon Scaife-owned Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

John McCain: oh la la! The French love him!

Posted by Jeff Shaw at March 25, 2008 2:11 PM | Comments (0)

 

mnSpin: Music + Beer + Workshop = epic good times

Filed under: Local Music

You might have heard of mnSpin, the quarterly contest for local musicians. It's an exciting initiative that promises to increase exposure for budding Minnesota musicians. This weekend, they launch their first in a series of workshops.

Plus, there's beer.

Their first workshop is called "Don’t Hang the DJ: Breaking into Radio for Minnesota Musicians." A panel of local radio programmers, DJs, promoters, and other luminaries will be on hand Saturday, March 29, 4–6 pm, at the Summit Brewery.

A party sponsored by Summit follows the workshop. Come for the music, stay for the suds.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at March 25, 2008 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

 

Breakfast of Champions 3/25: Play Ball

Filed under: Breakfast of Champions

The first baseball game of the season has just hit the seventh inning stretch. Although there's still snow on the ground here, that's a sure sign of spring.

In most of Japan the cherry blossoms are peaking. This year, that's where the first game of the season is underway between Daisuke Matsuzaka's Boston Red Sox and Billy Beane's Oakland A's. Judd Spicer will be along tomorrow with another blog entry on the Twins, but until then, hold out in the knowledge that winter is almost (finally) over.

Oh, and check the game out. It's a good one thus far.

DAILY DISH: WHAT'S NEW AROUND THE SITE

Wilt Chamberlain astutely observed that no one roots for Goliath. That's one reason I never root for Tiger Woods in anything, despite this incredibly awesome Dan Bern song about him:

He's the world's greatest rapper-blogger, which is, as he admits, "kind of a depressing claim to fame." But Jordan Selbo's review of El Guante tells you why it might not be his only claim to fame soon.

Driving toward Madison reveals all manner of culinary options. James Norton has one for you to consider.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at March 25, 2008 7:04 AM | Comments (0)

 

Breakfast of Champions 3/24: Happy Birthday, Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Filed under: Breakfast of Champions

One of the country's most accomplished artists turns 89 today. Join me in celebrating his work, right after we catalog what's popped up on the site over the weekend:

DAILY DISH: WHAT'S NEW AROUND THE SITE

A new slideshow documents Muja Messiah's MPLS Massacre show, featuring Dody Phi, I Self Divine, M.anifest, Maria Isa and more.

Remember the halcyon days of Block E? Jeff Severns Guntzel does, and so do numerous commenters. MNSpeak joins the discussion.

Guntzel also speaks on John McCain's backtracking on Jerry Falwell. I've been thinking a lot lately about the double standard in the media about associations like this, and might post on it later.

Incidentally, three posts by Severns Guntzel on the main page. Three headlines ending in ellipses. Clearly, there's a stylistic trend in evidence ...

Paul Demko has the latest in the security guards' labor struggle for health care.

BRAIN CANDY

Born in 1919, Lawrence Ferlinghetti was a firsthand participant in watershed events of the 20th century, artistic and otherwise. He's a writer and publisher, of course, but has meant so much more to the artistic community, the country and the world.

A free speech pioneer, Ferlinghetti and his City Lights Press famously faced legal sanction for publishing Allen Ginsberg's "Howl." A Navy veteran of World War II, he saw the devastation wrought on Nagasaki mere weeks after the atomic bombing -- an event that cemented his status as a lifelong pacifist.

Ferlinghetti is deservedly most famous for poetry, but he's also an accomplished painter and experimental playwright. A man older than Jack Kerouac, but a man who well outlived his friend the college athlete by going to the gym every day while Kerouac was drinking. (A fictionalized version of Ferlinghetti also appears in Kerouac's novel Big Sur.) Also, you have love a nearly-90 man who coined the phrase (and still sports a button proclaiming) "Fuck art, let's dance."

At the end of the day, though, Ferlinghetti is a poet, and a damn fine one. Works like "Junkman's Obbligato" are at once bohemian products of their era and keen expressions of timeless ideas:

Let’s go
Come on
Let’s go
Empty our pockets
And disappear.
Missing all our appointments
And turning up unshaven
Years later
Old cigarette papers
stuck to our pants
leaves in our hair.
Let us not
worry about the payments
anymore.
Let them come
and take it away
whatever it was
we were paying for.
And us with it.

A healthy chunk of Ferlinghetti's work is meant to be read accompanied by jazz, as a sort of oral message punctuated with music. This is true of his most famous work, "I am Waiting", from the classic A Coney Island of the Mind. Celebrating the natural world -- and the magical, surreal everyday experience of the common individual -- the poems lead us through screen doors, into candy stores and past pastoral landscapes of unreality.

Writers often say that they write to explain the world to themselves, to make sense of their own lives. Ferlinghetti is way ahead of most of us, and has been for years. This passage from his poem "Autobiography" is one of my favorites:

and I have read somewhere
the Meaning of Existence
yet have forgotten
just exactly where.
But I am the man
And I’ll be there.

Published in 1958, that poem turns 50 this year. Part manifesto and part mantra, it sets up a fair blueprint for the artistic life: fumbling for the lost meaning of existence, the artist finds meaning in the practice -- and comfort in knowing that the journey itself is worth it.

Fuck art, let's dance. Happy birthday, Ferlinghetti.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at March 24, 2008 7:04 AM | Comments (1)

 

Civil Disobedience

Filed under: Economy

Minneapolis police officers arrested 17 people for trespassing yesterday afternoon at a labor rally in downtown Minneapolis. The protest was held to support security guards locked in a contract dispute with five companies that are hired to safeguard Twin Cities office buildings. The rally at the U.S. Bancorp Center came two days after the workers overwhelmingly rejected what the security contractors had deemed their final contract offer. The primary dispute is over healthcare costs. Among those arrested were represenatives of the Workers Interfaith Network and ISAIAH. The security guards, who are represented by Service Employees International Union Local 26, are seeking to ratchet up the pressure on large corporations like U.S. Bancorp and Ameriprise that hire the contractors to protect their buildings.

(Photo courtesy of SEIU Local 26)

Posted by Paul Demko at March 21, 2008 12:13 PM | Comments (2)

 

Breakfast of Champions 3/21: Voting and other light distractions

Filed under: Breakfast of Champions

Soon, you'll be able to comment directly on stories themselves instead of simply the blog posts associated with those stories. Until we get that bit of functionality hammered out, there are a couple of posts you shouldn't miss.

DAILY DISH: WHAT'S NEW AROUND THE SITE

First, some added discussion on "Sex, Drugs & Awesome Hair" in the comments for Jeff Severns Guntzel's Reporter's Notebook. People involved in the metal scene chime in on their memories, favorite moments, and thoughts on the story.

The Blotter in print this week has our readers' top eight name suggestions for the Building Formerly Known as U.S. Bancorp Center. You can vote for your favorite here. Full disclosure: I voted for "God's Ashtray."

Don't forget to also vote in our Readers' Poll for the best of the Twin Cities. Full disclosure: I voted for Stephanie and Meredith for "Best Radio Personality."

There's a new Bob Mould interview on Gay.com. Fascinating stuff. Jeff Severns Guntzel uses that as a jumping-off point to talk about his experiences in Twin Cities record stores. Commenters chime in. This thread has exciting implications.

Matt Snyders weighs in on Barack Obama's speech, an oration so well-crafted that even Bell Curve author Charles Murray lauded it.

I'm rooting for the U.S. to kick it up a notch in soccer just so these games are more fun for Paul Demko to watch.

Speaking of politics and voting, we promise to respond to public opinion. Unlike, say, the most powerful vice president of our time:

Posted by Jeff Shaw at March 21, 2008 6:08 AM | Comments (0)

 

Egg hunts this weekend

Filed under: Family

When I was doing my weekly list of things to do over the weekend for Stephanie and Meredith's show on FM 107.1, I came across Minneapolis Parks' list of all the Easter egg hunts taking place in the city's parks. I picked out the ones happening this weekend; get your eggin' on after the jump.

EGG HUNTS IN MINNEAPOLIS PARKS THIS WEEKEND (COMPILED FROM HERE)
Audubon Park, 1320 29th Ave. NE – Bunny Brunch, Saturday, March 22, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Candy hunt, art projects, a visit from the Easter Bunny, refreshments. Joint party with Waite Park. $3; pre-register by March 20 by calling Audubon Park at 612-370-4910 or Waite Park at 612-370-4959.

Corcoran Park, 3334 20th Ave. S – Spring Egg Hunt, Saturday, March 22, 10 a.m.-noon. For more information call 612 370-4919.

Fuller Park, 4800 Grand Ave. S – Bunny Party, Saturday, March 22, 10-11:30 a.m. Egg hunt with prizes, petting zoo, entertainment, refreshments. $2 per person; register by March 20 by calling 612-370-4963. For more information call 612-370-4963.

Kenwood Park, 2101 W. Franklin Ave.
Spring Egg Hunt, Saturday, March 22, 10-11:30 a.m. Face painting, making rabbit ears, a visit from Peter Rabbit; refreshments. Free; register at the park or online at www.minneapolisparks.org by March 15. For more information call 612-370-4941.

Lyndale Farmstead Park, 3900 Bryant Ave. S – Egg Hunt, Saturday, March 22, 10 a.m.-noon. Egg hunt, petting zoo, basket-making, refreshments. $2 per child; register at the park. For more information call 612-370-4948.

Martin Luther King Park, 4055 Nicollet Ave. S – King Park Spring Fling, Thursday, March 20, 6-7:30 p.m.. Dinner, make bunny faces and ears, cookie decorating, egg coloring, prizes. Free; register for the dinner by March 18 online at www.minneapolisparks.org. For more information call 612-370-4908.

Morris Park, 5531 39th Ave. S – Egg Hunt Eggstravaganza, Saturday, March 22, 1-2 p.m. Craft project from 1-1:30, egg hunt starts at 1:30 p.m., treat bags, prizes for finding the golden egg. $2 per family. Pre-registration is required by March 20 online at www.minneapolisparks.org or at the park. For more information call 612 370-4934.

Sibley Park, 1900 E. 40th St. – Bunny Brunch and Egg Hunt, Saturday, March 22, 9:30 a.m.-noon. Brunch served from 10-11 a.m. featuring pancakes and sausage; coloring contest, face painting; egg hunt starts at 11:30 a.m. $3; for more information call 612-370-4954.

Waite Park, 1810 34th Ave. NE – Bunny Brunch, Saturday, March 22 10 a.m.-noon. Candy hunt, art projects, a visit from the Easter Bunny, refreshments. Event is at Audubon Park, 1320 29th Ave. NE. $3, pre-register by March 20 by calling Waite Park at 612-370-4959.or Audubon Park at, 612-370-4910. For more information call 612-370-4959.

Windom Park, 2251 Hayes St. NE – Egg Hunt and Bunny Party, Saturday, March 22, 10 a.m.-noon. Egg hunt, games, entertainment, treat bags for children 12 years and under, refreshments. Free; for more information call 612-370-4905.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at March 20, 2008 11:29 AM | Comments (0)

 

Breakfast of Champions 3/20: Nowruz the time to Haale

Filed under: Breakfast of Champions

DAILY DISH: WHAT'S NEW AROUND THE SITE

Persian-American singer Haale describes her name's pronunciation as "like Halle-lujah" or "jalapeno." Prior to my interview with her, I heard this in my head as "Hah-lay."

My mistake: as I found when speaking with her, it's pronounced "Holla," like "Holla at your boy." Which really should be the headline of the piece, and it would be if I had a sense of humor worse than the one I already possess.

Haale plays at the Cedar in two weeks, but I wanted to get the Q+A up now for two reasons. First, she released her new album on Tuesday. Most importantly, though, today is Nowruz, the Iranian new year holiday. Hence, Nowruz the time ... ...

... look, I said it made sense. I didn't say it wasn't terrible.

This is my favorite bit from the interview, describing peoples' reactions to her live show:

One woman once came up to me and said she had a flashback of one of the most beautiful moments in her life when we were playing -- of her child when she was about 3 years old falling backwards in a field of clover and laughing hysterically. And she hadn't remembered that moment for like 10 years.

And then another couple said to me, "I hope you take this as a compliment, but we practice tantric sex and we do it to your CDs." And I said, “Awesome.” Another woman said to me, "you know, I watch your shows, it makes me want to go out and have sex."

If you're a musician, how is this not the highest of compliments? (I mean the clover part, mom. The clover part.)

Elsewhere around the site: security guards at Twin Cities office buildings may be headed toward a strike. The pivotal issue is health insurance costs, an issue that Rep. Keith Ellison called "the issue of our time." Paul Demko has a post on this.

I may have screwed up pronouncing Haale's name, but at least I didn't confuse her with Hillary Clinton. A reporter confused the candidate with one of Clinton's aides based on a phone interview. Yikes.

Benjamin Polk writes the epitaph for the Gophers' NIT "run."

Two new food blog posts, including a recipe for Kulfi, Indian-style ice cream. That's from James Norton.

From Rachel Hutton: It's not easy bein' cheesy, unless you're enjoying the cheese cart at Meritage or Heidi's. Or are Chester Cheetah. Or write a headline like "Nowruz the time to Haale."

OK, I'll stop.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at March 20, 2008 7:32 AM | Comments (0)

 

No security

Filed under: Economy

Security guards at Twin Cities office buildings are inching closer to a strike. Yesterday the workers rejected the latest contract proposal from five security contractors by a 278-26 margin. The companies had billed the offer as their final proposal. The primary disagreement is over health insurance costs. Last month the security officers staged a one-day strike to put pressure on the security contractors.

Service Employees International Union Local 26, the union representing the nearly 800 workers, held a press conference at City Hall in Minneapolis today to highlight the labor dispute. U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison was on hand to lend support for the workers, as were city council members Elizabeth Glidden, Betsy Hodges, Ralph Remington, Don Samuels and Gary Schiff.

Under the previous three-year contract, which expired in January, SEIU members pay as much as $190 monthly for single coverage and up to $836 for family coverage. Not surprisingly hardly any of the security guards, some of whom make as little as $10 an hour, opt for these insurance plans. Just 17 percent have single coverage, while only 13 workers shell out for family insurance.

James Matias, for example, is a married father of five children. He's worked as a security guard at the First National Bank Building in downtown St. Paul for three years, but can't afford health insurance for his family.

"This is the issue of our time," Ellison said of healthcare at the press conference. "It's got to be a civil rights movement."

According to Local 26, the current contract proposal from the companies would actually increase premium payments. By the end of the proposed five-year pact, family coverage would cost as much as $1,100 monthly. The companies involved in the negotiations are ABM Security, Allied Barton, American Security, Securitas and Viking Security.

Javier Morillo-Alicea, president of Local 26, said healthcare is the only significant issue dividing the sides. "If we resolve this issue I am confident we would agree on a contract very quickly," he said.

Posted by Paul Demko at March 19, 2008 1:42 PM | Comments (0)

 

Breakfast of Champions 3/19: we Unearth some metal

Filed under: Breakfast of Champions

We've got a thing for librarians and archivists here at the Pages. There's something about big ol' books that brings out the amateur explorer inside.

Immediately, this calls to mind Jeff Severns Guntzel's piece on the metal scene from two-and-a-half decades ago. But there's more.

DAILY DISH: WHAT'S NEW AROUND THE SITE

Let's start with the Web content that surrounds "Sex, Drugs, & Awesome Hair," the feature on metal. Michel Foucault might call it a "genealogy of Twin Cities hard rock during the 1980s." But then, Rob Halford might punch Michel Foucault in the face. Although now that I've written that, Halford and Foucault actually have quite a bit in common.

Jeff Severns Guntzel wouldn't hit anybody, except with the two fists of journalistic integrity. And a mighty blow he has struck, both in the story itself and with two photo galleries. First, examine the promo photos City Pages received from a host of hair metal bands back in the day. Next, after you meet Hairball in the opening lines of Severns Guntzel's story, see them in full regalia.

Still not enough? Still shaking your head like "no, no, don't stop a' rockin'?" Then read Jeff's Reporter's Notebook, which expands on several of the bands that get a mention. It has video, too.

Or, spend some time examining advertisements from the era. You'll see some of the bands, some of the now-defunct clubs, and get an idea of what was happening in the heyday of this scene.

The latter is the first installment another Web-only feature we're staring. When poring through the aforementioned City Pages archives, we find lots of incredible relics -- some poignant, some amusing, some merely bizarre -- and we want to share them with you. Think of it as celebrating a proud history. Or think of it as bringing Zombie City Pages back to life online, as a path to enriching rather than eating your brains.

So when you see this Unearthed logo on the main page:

You'll know that we've brought something back for the archive. In this case, it's old club ads. But we have other things planned, of historical value and otherwise.

Elsewhere from yesterday, we had a couple of posts about kinky politician sex and the ever-deepening mortgage crisis. We also added a slideshow with photos by Daniel Corrigan to go along with my review of the Raveonettes from Monday night.

Mostly, we spent the last 36 hours working on the hair metal experience. Give it a shot, metal fan or not.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at March 19, 2008 6:57 AM | Comments (1)

 

Reporter's Notebook: Sex, Drugs & Awesome Hair

Filed under: Local Music

Brian Bart of Dare Force traces Twin Cities hair metal back to some rather astounding sources. Most notably, local 60's garage rock legends the Litter. How does he do that? Two words: Zippy. Caplan.

Zippy Caplan sang in The Litter and later in the hard-rock-teetering-on-heavy metal local act White Lightning. With White Lightning, the hair got longer, the pants a little tighter and the riffs a little heavier.

Another local forerunner to the metal bands featured in my article was Chameleon. Not ringing a bell? Maybe the name of their keyboard player would rattle your memory glands. I'll give you a hint: one name, rhymes with Donny.

Answer: Yanni.

Who said there were no surprises in metal?

There were a zillion Twin Cities metal bands in the '80s, as you can see from that slideshow of promo photos. Also check out the City Pages' show advertisements from these bands during that era. For this post, I zeroed in on three groups: Dare Force, Obsession and Slave Raider. Here's a little more on each of them ...

FROM THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR:

Dare Force

Dare Force were, in many ways, pioneers in the Twin Cities. They did the ballrooms, the clubs, and the big opening slots (Van Halen was a big show for them ... Kansas, too). They played Puerto Rico and Venezuela. They played 300 nights a year and had a four-man road crew.

When they opened for Ted Nugent somebody, apparently in the days before auto focus, took this snapshot:

Here is a promo photo of the band. Don't be afraid of the mustache:

And one for the record-buying public: Dare Force's Makin' our own Rules album cover:

Obsession

Obsession was not the band's first choice for a name. Originally they were the Crash Street Kids. The idea, Arens says, was to bring to the stage only what they could gather on the drive to the gig: blinking hazard lights, traffic cones, trashcans. "The production cost would be unbelievably low, but the production value would be high," says former Obsession guitarist Brynn Arens at a coffee shop on Hiawatha Avenue in South Minneapolis.

The members of the band once appeared together in public with their girlfriends dressed identical to whichever Obsession member they were dating. “We thought that was bad ass,” Arens says. “We had the full-on rock ‘n’ roll blinders going.”

In the band's first days, Arens remembers telling the drummer, Todd McNurlen: "It's gonna be Todd Mac from now on--I'm not going to be in a band with a McNurlen!" Arens pauses and then laughs: "That's how serious I was."

Brynn said the large outlet in the photo below was to make him look small, but admits he kind of blew the whole perspective thing with the beer cans. Or are those just really tiny beer cans?

Here's an ad from a 1984 show opening for Dio. Nothing like hours and hours of metal on a Sunday afternoon.

Slave Raider

In 1988, just after signing to JIVE records and on the eve of a trip to London to record another record and play a headlining show at the legendary Marquee Club, Slave Raider appeared on 101 WHMH, a St. Cloud "Power Rock" radio station. A journalist from the influential European metal magazine Kerrang! was at the station with them, working on a cover story. Disc Jockey Randy K took calls for the band. "Anyone who gets on the air with Chainsaw today gets an autographed picture of the band, a copy of their cassette, and your choice of a six-pack of Coke or Mello Yello!"

The first caller was Pat from Little Falls. "Hi, Pat!" Chainsaw growled. Pat's question was simple but phrased awkwardly. He wondered where Slave Raider was playing next, but he asked, "Where is Slave Raider going to go?"

Chainsaw couldn’t resist: "Where are we going?" he howled. "We're going to the top!"

It was exactly the kind of bluster Slave Raider excelled at.

Chainsaw walked on stage at the Marquee with a life-size cutout of British pop star Rick Astley--the pasty redhead behind the international pop hit "Never Gonna Give You Up"--and fired up his saw. As a sort of ritual cleansing for the band’s special brand of heavy metal onslaught, he sliced Rick Astley to the ground like a deranged pirate landscaper.

Back at home, the band bested the other metal bands in town in draw and earnings. They had paid for the recording and release of their debut "Take the World by Storm" themselves. They weren't waiting for a major label deal. Slave Raider guitarist Lance Sabin estimates costs reached into the $30,000 range.

Whatever Slave Raider had, it earned. They worked constantly. Not just every night but every day. Making their debut record, Sabin says, went something like this: "We'd play some club and then arrive at Metro Studios on Washington Avenue at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. We'd try to wipe the makeup from our face and we'd record until 7:00 or 8:00, when the studio's commercial clients would start showing up. I'd always beg: Just one more guitar solo!"

It was this kind of pathological discipline that had the metal bands always at odds with the punk bands. Sabin remembers playing a show with his pre-Slave Raider band Keystone. He went to the bass player of the headlining act (he swears it was the Replacements but questions his memory ever so slightly) who was sound-checking with a badly out-of-tune bass. He offered the guy his guitar tuner--a device you plug into for tuning assistance. The bass player spun a tuning key a couple of times and banged the headstock against the wall. "There," he said. "That ought to do it."

Have a look at the spectacle that was Slave Raider:

Make Some Noise.

This one was filmed in Minneapolis and begins with an intro from Chainsaw Caine, a man who clearly could have made a few extra bucks on the pro wrestling circuit...

Rock You Again

This one is really just a Slave Raider cameo. The guys in Whodini were Slave Raider's label mates.

Backstabbin'

This video is from the early days of Slave Raider. Watch carefully and you'll see some choreography.

Slave Raider was the last Twin Cities metal band of the era to know some measure of success (if only for a short time). And while local music writers were largely ignoring even the bands as popular as Slave Raider, heavy metal was making national headlines--putting Twisted Sister front man Dee Snider in front of a panel of U.S. Senators will do that...

METAL GOES TO WASHINGTON:

If it were possible to back-pedal through space and time and onto a heavy metal stage to see the phenomenon with 21st Century eyes, the theatrics, costumes and choreography might well appear no more threatening than a Broadway production. Or not. The theater of it all--and the outrageous, often misogynistic lyrics--were singled out in 1985 Senate hearings on the lyrics and images in the popular music of the day. Pamela Hower of the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) brought to the hearings a stack of heavy metal record covers and lyric sheets a took a seat next to PMRC treasurer and the public face of the organization, Tipper Gore.

In an exhaustive presentation, Hower singled out the heavy metal band W.A.S.P., who had just signed a $1.5 million contract with Capital Records to release their debut record: “The Torture Never Stops.” “Violence permeates the album as well as their stage show,” Howar told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, “which has included chopping up and throwing raw meat into the audience, drinking blood from a skull, and the simulated rape and murder of a half-nude woman.”

The hearings resulted in the “Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics” sticker consumers find on their compact discs to this day.

Simulated rape, which was not altogether uncommon in videos and stage shows of the era, was the exception. Mostly, heavy metal theater was the Vegas or Radio City variety: Fireworks, props and synchronized kicking.

The PMRC put together something they called the "Filthy Fifteen"--a list of the songs they found most offensive. Prince's "Darling NIkki" won the top slot. But about half of the songs on the list were heavy metal songs:

#3: Judas Priest "Eat Me Alive"

#5: Mötley Crüe "Bastard"

#7: Twisted Sister "We're Not Gonna Take It"

#9: W.A.S.P. "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)"

#10: Def Leppard "High 'n' Dry (Saturday Night)"

#11: Mercyful Fate "Into the Coven"

#12: Black Sabbath "Trashed"

#14: Venom "Possessed"

SAINTS OR SINNERS?

Why not end things on a high note? There exists on YouTube archaeological evidence that the international heavy metal community, under all the leather and spandex and chest hair, had a heart of gold. Witness this incredible survey of the '80s metal pantheon produced for the Hear 'n Aid benefit project in 1985. The whole thing was organized by Ronnie James Dio and it raised somewhere in the neighborhood of one million dollars for charity...

OH, WE MUSTN'T FORGET HAIRBALL

Hairball is the first band we meet in Sex, Drugs & Awesome Hair. Want to know them better? Then you really ought to spend some time at their website, which you'll find here.

Here are Hairball singers Kris Vox and Rockstar Bob packing up their costumes after their City Pages photo shoot. A fitting end to a riveting saga...

Posted by Jeff Severns Guntzel at March 18, 2008 3:41 PM | Comments (16)

 

Another uneasy post about the housing market

Filed under: Economy

There's a lot to digest in this post at Alex J. Stenback's Behind the Mortgage blog. It breaks down the Pi Press' most recent housing statistics story, for one thing, and links to other relevant sources.

But what I'm most interested in are the bullet points and the conclusions that stem from them.

* Compared to last February, median housing prices this past month plummeted 12.5 percent. That's the biggest rate of equity hemorrhage to date;

* Each of the past three months, the rate has increased. It was 9 percent in January and 6 percent in December, indicating that downturn is picking up steam, not slowing down;

* The supply continues to swell relative to demand. Currently, there are 8.72 homes available for each buyer expected.

The post is worth reading in its entirety. The conclusion: market problems won't be solved until this supply imbalance is corrected, and we're not close to having that happen yet.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at March 18, 2008 3:21 PM | Comments (3)

 

Breakfast of Champions: 3/18

Filed under: Breakfast of Champions

DAILY DISH: WHAT'S NEW AROUND THE SITE

A week's worth of work on music occurring elsewhere has culminated in slideshows, blog posts and other reportage from South By Southwest. As special as that event is, it's time to turn the gaze homeward and remember -- hey, tons of great shows happen here all the time. Especially now that the local bands that made the pilgrimage to Austin are back, we've got a full complement of artists around to support.

We start with material from three recent shows at three different locales. As I write this, it's 2 a.m. after an inspiring performance by the Raveonettes -- an event I was fortunate enough to review at the 7th St. Entry.

The Raveonettes slideshow will be up later today, and I'll add the photos to my post as they come in. While you're waiting, take a gander at our new galleries for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band from Sunday and Xiu Xiu and Thao Nguyen from the Triple Rock on Friday night.

Paul Demko breaks down the Gophers' matchup with the Terps in the Not Invited Tournament.

A stopped clock is right twice a day. This is, on average. 1.97 times more often than the current president. But is there a positive legacy to be found in his presidency? Jeff Severns Guntzel may have found one.

J.S.G. also has a retroactive review of the Minnesota Migration event at SXSW that serves as a welcome home to local musicians. It is the best blog post you will read today that features the words "poopy water."

I'm not going to do any work for the next week now that I know about this iPod game. Thanks, Hoffman.

This is the kind of cooking advice I can get behind. Also, the kind of grammatical advice I can get behind. Find out how to make brownies better thanks to James Norton.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at March 18, 2008 1:14 AM | Comments (0)

 

Unsecret ballot: Blogger posts "Best Of" choices for all to see

Filed under: City Pages

Taylor Carik is the Raymond Carver of local bloggers. His posts at Mediation are brief in wordcount, but pack a wallop, or at least a wry smile.

Well, Taylor recently had a great idea involving City Pages. He filled out the Best Of ballot, located here, then took a screenshot of his completed answers and posted it online here. It's like a Twin Cities-centric version of the Proust Questionnaire.

I would encourage anybody interested to follow Taylor's lead--if you have questions about how to do it, we could even put together a quickie guide. Feel free to post URL's or other answers in the comments. Who knows, you may even convince other voters to put your slate over the top.

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at March 17, 2008 8:52 AM | Comments (5)