July 2005

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Son of Fela

Filed under: Overheard

Interesting Femi Kuti piece on NPR today. Listen here. Sample quote:

There are so many, hundreds of thousands, of young boys in Africa now. No shoes, no clothes, no money. They don't eat. They live under the bridge. Lagos is disgusting. And they are growing. In five years these boys that are 5 will be 10. Those that are 10 will be 15. 15 will be 20. So when you understand that kind of mathematics it's really scary.

Posted by Paul Demko at July 29, 2005 3:57 PM | Comments (0)

 

Paula Abdul gets a special prosecutor to call her own

Filed under: Television

Fox has hired an independent counsel to look into claims that she had an affair with an American Idol contestant. Do we smell a spin-off? How's about a reality show that investigates other reality shows? If CBS picks it up, it could replace 60 Minutes II.

Posted by Steve Perry at July 29, 2005 10:49 AM | Comments (0)

 

Actor Caught Playing Actor in Fringe Act

Filed under: Theater

Maggie Chestovich has that ineffable quality, sometimes called "presence" or "it" or "that ineffable quality," that makes you remember a performance long after the rest of the play has turned into brain ether. Originally from Falcon Heights, she's worked with most of the major theater companies in town--Children's Theatre Company, the Jungle, Frank, Ten Thousand Things, Playwrights' Center, the defunct Eye of the Storm--and has a particular gift for acerbic comedy. At this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival, she'll star with Jim Lichtscheidl in a premiere, Why Actors Can't Love, by local playwright Allan Staples. (Visit www.fringefestival.org for the performance schedule.) We caught up with Chestovich on a rehearsal break at the Jungle, where the show is being staged.

CP: So tell us about your character in this show.

Maggie Chestovich: She's an actress, about my age, which works out well for me. She was in a relationship with a man who was a writer, but it ended poorly for the both of them. And then he writes an article for a major magazine about their relationship, not using her name of course. So she confronts him about it.

CP: How common are romances between actors in this town, by which I mean things that start during rehearsal?

Chestovich: Well, in my experience, fairly common, but I'm not sure how across the board it is. I work with a lot of actors who are a bit older and in relationships. I guess I don't know a lot of people who have quote-unquote hooked up during a show, but there's always a certain amount of camaraderie, whether that becomes romantic I can't say. I'm certainly not going to tell you any rumors that I've heard.

CP: But the rumors exist.

Chestovich: Oh, of course.

CP: When you and your actor friends get together, do people talk much about moving to New York, or is the attitude more than this is good town to do theater in, so why leave?

Chestovich: People have different thoughts about it. This is very good town, there's a fair amount of opportunity, a lot less if you go Equity, but still. I think it's easier to try to make a living here. In New York, you have to get an agent. Of course it depends on your goals, what sort of work you want to do. I like this town, it's my home, I have my family here, and I feel connected to the theater community here.

CP: I know you're a music fan. What have you been listening to lately?

Chestovich: I just bought a car, and I've been very busy, so I've been listening to music in my car, a lot of what I call driving music. Weezer's blue album, Built to Spill, the Sideways score, and the new White Stripes.

Posted by Dylan Hicks at July 28, 2005 3:29 PM | Comments (0)

 

Chokin' Chicken?

Filed under: Advertising

If you thought Cowboy Hootie , Subservient Chicken, and "Wake up With the King" were disturbing advertising concepts, behold Burger King's latest surreal gimmick: Coq Roq. The members of this fictional beak-wearing thrashcore band look like KISS meets the heavily-rouged parrot from Zoobilee Zoo. Phallic puns aside, Coq Roq's "band" name alludes to BK's latest culinary mutation, Chicken Fries. Mmm, pressed meat!

Rogue agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky has obviously been entrusted with major creative freedom. Apparently, the Coq Roq website even contained a caption that read "Groupies love the coq!" until complaints neccessitated its removal.

Meanwhile we await the inevitable Vagina Monologues Happy Meal.

Posted by Diablo Cody at July 28, 2005 1:11 PM | Comments (2)

 

I like backpacks and I cannot lie. But I hate your little hoodrat friend.

Filed under: Advertising

The Hold Steady will soon be making their screen debut in Odds Against Seven, a short film by Target. Yes, Target. Sure, calling it a screen debut is a stretch, since this is a film release limited to computer screens. But some film-school student went to great pains to create this wannabe-John Hughes-ian short, which is ostensibly about a college kid trying to find a band to play at his school's first party. Of course it's really about the lil' red discount store's "hip brand identity," and what better way to shout it loud than via a Crucifixion Cruise?

Or the company could go another route to market to a young, media-savvy demographic, perhaps using a song about ass fetishes that employs a whip as a sound effect. Click here to launch the new back-to-school commercial, "Baby Got Back...Packs."

Posted by at July 28, 2005 1:00 PM | Comments (0)

 

Does trembling with shame burn calories?

Filed under: Television

They're not celebrities, they're not getting fit, and they're not in a club. Once you get past the premise, the personalities, and the medical hazards of VH1's Celebrity Fit Club 2, you can begin to appreciate the program on its own terms.

And what would those be? Hard question. Can I tell you the cube root of 58,998 instead? To start, there's tough-talking fitness trainer Harvey Walden IV, who has been tasked with carving the blubber off a cast of eight castaways. Walden, a former marine drill sergeant, is a parody of Lou Gossett Jr. in An Officer and a Gentleman. He barks and berates, speaks in ALL CAPS and exclamations. He spends a lot of time talking about the finer points of the relationship between his footwear and your ass.

There's no need for Harvey to embarrass the corpulent. The producers do that plenty well, thank you. The contestants box and run with rickshaws, activities that are sure to make them look like careering blimps with catastrophic punctures. It's no surprise that the show draws F-List celebrities: Phil Margera (father to the punk Peter Pan of Viva la Bam) is the only one of this crew who isn't exiled in reruns. Viewers probably have heard of Gary Busey and Victoria Jackson. Jackee Harris may be remembered for that superfluous and sassy "E." After that, the word "of" becomes increasingly important: Willie Aames (of Charles in Charge); Tocarra (of America's Next Top Model); Jani Lane (of Warrant). Then there's the Snapple Lady. While the British version of the program has the celebs donate their winnings to charity, the Americans will pocket $100,000 in prizes. When your Hollywood career has deposited you in suburban Kansas, as Aames's has, charity begins at home.

By the end of the hour, only viewers with a sclerotic heart can keep from feeling concern for these large, hapless, semi-famous Americans. I'm not saying that Dr. Ian Smith should take out extra malpractice insurance, but I don't know how many responsible medical authorities would recommend that a middle-aged man lose 80 pounds in 14 weeks--the weight regimen prescribed for Margera. (Big friendly Phil seems incredulous, and asks if 10 pounds a year wouldn't be healthier.) By week three, plus-size-model Tocarra has begun to gobble amphetamines, popping six diet pills to quell her hunger. (She collapses to the pavement during the rickshaw challenge.) Last season, Biz Markee flirted with colonics.

A novelty rapper irrigates his bowels for pride and profit while a nation watches? Yes, Celebrity Fit Club, like everything else on VH1, is camp. But though it masquerades as fluff, viewing this psychodrama at home can be a heavy trip. The contestants are reluctant masochists, playing their part in the producers' puppet show, submitting to Harvey's weekly belittlement. We pity them and we resent them for their foolishness. We identify with their girth and we want Harvey to punish them some more.

The so-called celebrities shed 40 pounds while they binge on a few more moments in front of the camera. At home on the couch, beneath a feedbag of Fritos, the rest of us carry the weight.

Posted by Michael Tortorello at July 28, 2005 12:01 PM | Comments (3)

 

The other Minnesota movie

Filed under: Film

If you're like me, you couldn't get enough "Prairie Home Companion" movie news! And how about "North Country," which was filming, um, up north? Charlize Theron was in our state!!! Woody Harrelson is in both movies! Crazy! Anyway, to hell with both of them. Between showing the backstage antics of some crazy liberal commie Public Radio show and fictionalizing the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States (Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines), our fair state could use a cinematic palate cleanser. Enter "Bunyan & Babe," a heart-warming tale about two children, exiled to their grandfather's Minnesota farm, who discover the secret lair of fabled woodsman Paul Bunyan and his trusty sidekick, Babe the Blue Ox. Info is pretty spotty on the project.

IMDB has the story coming from Michael A. Nickles, the man who played Juan the Bandito in "8 Heads in a Duffel Bag," and Julia Wall, who produced the awesome documentary "Hands on a Hardbody" (Netflix, for the love of God, get this doc in stock!). The director is Jim Rygiel, a Kenosha, WI, native who oversaw visual effects on the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. The kids in the film appear to be real, while the eerily anthropomorphized Babe and solemn (possibly shamed) Paul from the movie's one-sheet appear CG. Not sure what adventures Paul and Babe will take our young heroes on, but with Eddie Griffin as the voice of Babe, expect hi-jinks to ensue! Take that Lohan!

Posted by Corey Anderson at July 28, 2005 10:40 AM | Comments (0)

 

CJ: It's all over now, baby Blohan

Filed under: Media

The Streak has ended. Last night at 8:14, startribune.com posted a CJ column that contained no reference to Lindsay Lohan. It marked the first time since June 28 that the 15-year-plus veteran gossip columnist has failed to document some zany or galling antic pulled by the 19-year-old Lohan, in the Twin Cities or elsewhere. As City Pages reported yesterday, the consecutive column streak had reached 13 on Tuesday.

"It's a sad day over here," one Strib staffer did not tell CP, "but it was glorious while it lasted."

Posted by Steve Perry at July 28, 2005 8:06 AM | Comments (0)

 

You're gonna eat those words

Filed under: Television

Don Johnson? Melanie Griffith? Jennifer Love Hewitt? A show about young lawyers called Just Legal? Why, this could shape up to be the worst fall TV season in recent history (save for 1987, when Small Wonder and Out of this World aired back-to-back.) Below is a purely self-indulgent exercise in which we review an upcoming show based on its synopsis and, of course, a gut feeling that has proven to be 67% correct.

How I Met Your Mother (CBS): Starring Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser) and Alyson Hannigan (exceptional flutist in American Pie), this sitcom focuses on a guy who falls for a girl at first-sight, only to find that a tired plot line keeps them from hooking up.
Why it will suck: See above. Also see Good Morning, Miami.

The Loop (Fox): Recent college grad deals with life-numbing corporate America while trying to bag his roommate (who is not Adam "Seth Cohen" Brody.)
Why it could work: Writer Pam Brady's credits include South Park and Team America: World Police.
Why it could suck: Stars guy whose IMDB bio is composed of this single sentence: "His roommate is Adam Brody." Also, see 1997 Fred Savage sitcom, Working.

Ghost Whisperer (CBS): Jennifer Love Hewitt talks to dead people.
Why it will suck: Let's see, if we needed to get our fix of beautiful girls who have the powers to summon God and the undead, we could've watched Medium, Joan of Arcadia, Tru Calling, or Wonderfalls. Yet CBS, who brought us at least 87 versions of CSI, is still calling this ubiquitous supernatural ability "unique."

Freddie (ABC): The network says this show will "serve up a comedic dish based on the raucous femme-filled real life of star Freddie Prinze, Jr."
Why it will suck: Freddie Prinze, Jr. is actually married. To Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Everybody Hates Chris: Chris Rock narrates this dark comedy about a kid growing up in Brooklyn in the early 1980s.
Why it could work: Critics seem to love narrated shows (Arrested Development, Wonder Years.) Plus, it's Chris Rock.
Why it could suck: See Oliver Beene. Or even worse: Malcolm in the Middle. Frankie Muniz is moments away from becoming this generation's Corey Feldman.

Posted by at July 27, 2005 4:46 PM | Comments (1)

 

This book is not bound in human flesh

Filed under: Books

A good rule of thumb for nonfiction writers: you can get away with making other people look stupid if you portray yourself as the biggest idiot of them all. Bruce Campbell adheres to this rule in his new novel, Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way. In this fictional story, the proudly B-list actor has been cast in Mike Nichols' romantic comedy, Let's Make Love!, alongside Richard Gere and Renee Zellweger. Campbell applies his previous film experience (from such classics as Maniac Cop, Waxwork II: Lost in Time, and Maniac Cop 2) to his new gig and the mainstream flick is soon destined for straight-to-DVD status. No one corrects his blunders because they all think his ideas are brilliant. Natch. Campbell will sign copies of the book tonight at the University of Minnesota Bookstore, before introducing two screenings of his new film, Man with the Screaming Brain, at the Oak Street Cinema.

Posted by Lindsey Thomas at July 27, 2005 4:01 PM | Comments (0)

 

CD reviews in briefs and boxers

Filed under: CD Review

Acid House Kings
Sing Along with Acid House Kings
Twentyseven Records

The Cardigans are Deep Purple next to this cheekily named Swedish outfit. The world, of course, isn't as soft as these folk-pop tunes, and neither are marshmallows wrapped in cashmere. Is music of so delicate and anachronistic dangerously hermetic, or is it a necessary counterweight to the more common escapism of dehumanization and violence? Do you like puppies? Over 12 songs--recalling Belle & Sebastian, Pet Clark, and Spanky & Our Gang--the co-ed foursome's well-wrought melodies can get oppressively anodyne, but several tunes, "That's Because You Drive Me" especially, are so sweet, so sincerely, romantically in search of beauty that shunning them might be a sign of grave emotional decay, the sort found in a great many successful people. Undoubtedly the group's members have wonderfully cozy apartments, and would open them up to you, were you being chased by a mugger or masher. --Dylan Hicks

Posted by Dylan Hicks at July 27, 2005 1:45 PM | Comments (1)

 

One for the ages: CJ's Lohan streak to 13 columns

Filed under: Media

While so-called professional press critics are fulminating about coverage of the Rove/Plame grand jury, the Roberts nomination, and the Iraq war, the most amazing streak in American journalism continues to pass under radar. With yesterday's item about Lindsay Lohan's tan, Strib gossip columnist CJ has mentioned the starlet they call Lindsay Blohan in 13 consecutive columns.

Some fun facts about the CJ streak:

* CJ's last Lohan-free column, published on June 28, was anchored by a 425-word item about local businessman Irwin Jacobs's daughter.

* If Lohan's name appears in tomorrow's and Sunday's columns, CJ's streak will cover the entire month of July.

* The last four of the 13 consecutive Lohan mentions occurred after the paper-thin bottle-blonde left town!

* Closest call: CJ's July 24 column did not mention Lohan until the very last line.

Posted by Steve Perry at July 27, 2005 12:54 PM | Comments (0)

 

WB whacks the frog

Filed under: Television

The Television Critics Association was abuzz last Friday with news that the WB, a "network" that normally battles for viewership scraps with public access, has dropped their mascot of ten years, Michigan J. Frog, in an effort to attract 25-34 year old viewers. Yeah, because that demo hates cartoons! Michigan J. Frog was the most obscure of cartoon species, the One-Hit Wonder. Created by legendary animator Chuck Jones, MJ starred in the 1955 short "One Froggy Evening," about a frog that sang "The Michigan Rag" for its owner, but would go mute when the owner would pack theaters for the amphibian's performance. In typical gauche TV fashion, the demise of the frog was heralded with this quote from WB network chairman Garth Ancier: "The frog was on life support for a long time and then we got permission from a federal court to remove the feeding tube." It's Schiavo-larious!

Posted by Corey Anderson at July 27, 2005 10:55 AM | Comments (0)

 

"Don't cha" wish music didn't suck like this?

Filed under: Music

In the halcyon days of the early oughts, Pussycat Dolls were merely a kitschy dance troupe known for recruiting celebrity guest stars. The Dolls were Hollywood's sanitized take on the subversive neoburlesque movement; why watch zaftig suicide girls dance the hoochie-coochie when you can hire Carmen Electra and a cadre of aerobicized fembots to do the same? Reasonable folks grew (somewhat) weary of seeing Us Weekly candids of Scarlett Johannson and Christina Aguilera writhing on the Roxy stage, but we assumed the Dolls would confine their schtick to the 310 area code. Not so. If you thought their incarnation as Lycra-clad teaseponies was grating, wait until you hear them sing.

Pussycat Dolls' first single "Don't Cha" is currently #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and it's impossible to listen to mainstream radio without hearing these glorified Spice Girls sing "Don't cha (sic) wish your girlfriend was raw like me?", a lyric that seems to allude to a painful venereal disease. The video (which features a seriously humbled Busta Rhymes) is in heavy rotation on MTV. If you still insist on embracing this quasi-group, you ought to know that Pussycat Dolls choreographer Robin Antin is lechrosexual crybaby Jonathan Antin's sister. The axis of Antin must be stopped!

Posted by Diablo Cody at July 27, 2005 9:48 AM | Comments (6)

 

Sometimes dreams--and ridiculous movie plot devices--do come true

Filed under: Pop Culture

John Woo's 1997 thriller Face/Off featured one of the silliest premises in the history of recent cinema. To summarize: An undercover federal agent (John Travolta) undergoes a face transplant, so as to impersonate an evil terrorist (Nicolas Cage) responsible for the death of his son. Straining credulity is Woo's stock-in-trade, but this was just too damn stoopid. Or so I thought.

The lead feature in this morning's Science Times consists of an examination of an emerging medical technology: facial transplants for the severely disfigured.

Best passage: "The face to be transplanted will be removed, or 'degloved,' from a cadaver." From there, the details become increasingly clinical/horrific/fascinating.

The lesson: The truth is not only stranger than fiction, it's grosser.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at July 26, 2005 1:51 PM | Comments (0)

 

Snap Judgments

Filed under: CD Review

In which I open some promo packages and, without looking at the CD cover, listen to one song (track one) and jot down my first impressions. After listening and writing, I check out who it is (noted in parenthesis).

1. Freak folk for hipsters or regular folk for hippies? Seems like the former. Singer, a man, very earnest, breathy, presumably under 30. Also a fan of vibrato. Singer doesn't know when he'll return, or so goes the lyric. Singer not likely to return to my CD player in a hurry. Not awful, though. (Syd Matters, "City Talks," from Someday We Will Foresee Obstacles.)

2. Mandolin intro. "At Last," as made famous by Etta James. Singer, a woman, overemoting, which is easy to do on this song. Singer accompanied by acoustic guitar and mando. Now the mando player is getting a solo--pretty good. A few sour notes, and all around overcooked and square. Might sound okay at an outdoor folk festival with a cold can of Bubble Up. Not particularly useful, though. (Monroe Crossing, "At Last," from Somebody Like You.)

3. Still more folksy stuff! Sounds pretty good. Singer authoritative, band loose. Reference to elephants. Dan Zanes? Song about going to see a traveling show that features elephants. Doesn't quite sound like Dan Zanes. If it's not Dan Zanes (guy from Del Fuegos who now makes hip kids' records), it might be someone taking cues from him. I should fact check this, but elephants must be one of the largest land mammals in the whole world. But what if this isn't kids' music, then how good is it? (James McMurtry, "See the Elephant," Childish Things.)

4. Slick cosmo beat-pop, the type played in tapas bars, perhaps. Female singer. Brazilian Girls do this stuff quite well. This is sub-rate, pointless. Must have taken a full eight minutes to compose, and way too long to record. Chorus features word "shake," but I'd rather not. (Kudu, "Hot Lava," from Death of the Party.)

5. Breathy male singer singing romantically but insincerely, presumably a power pop band is about to enter. No, maybe not. Yeah, here they are. Descending Beatles change. Lots of different part. No way will I remember any of them. (the City on Film, "Anticlimactic," from In Formal Introduction.)

6. Brazilian? Cool falsetto. Sprightly. Kind of a Nascimento vibe. Definitely Brazilian. Old-school MPB-meets-samba sound, probably someone older. Gravity of singer's rough-hewn-but-pretty voice nicely offsets effervescent rhythms. Cool backups. No rhythm section, but they're not missed. Yeah, this is pretty good! (Seu Jorge, "The Razao" ("I Was Right"), from Cru.)

7. Muslim call to prayer, apparently. Field recording of muezzin or record in which beatmakers sample international folk musicians in hopes of being applauded for postmodern kitchen-sink aesthetic. The latter, of course. Monotone singer. Haven't made out many lyrics yet. Pretty boring and old hat. (Del Ray and the sun Kings, "Intro" and "Blood Doesn’t Like," from I Am the Light.)

8. Old-timey, early 20th century chord changes, tuba bass, banjo. Froggy singer. Might also remind folks of Mungo Jerry. Well, I don't know. Harmless and fun, I guess, but who gives a fuck. I take it all back if it's local. (Danny Barnes, "Get Myself Together," from Get Myself Together.)

9. Parody of "It Was a Very Good Year." Remembers hearing the Jackson 5 and deciding to be a singer. Not quite a parody after all. Must be an intro. Whispering. Yes, it's an intro, so I'll listen to the next one, too. Nice enough tenor, very Marvin Gaye influenced. "Caressing and undressing," oh brother, that's an old one. Singer so into woman he feels like he's on a drug. Another fresh idea! Telephone voice comes in. Snore. I have a feeling that nothing more is going to happen but the track is going to go on for another two minutes anyway. (The Revelation Is Now Televised, "Intro" and "Confess," from self-titled album.)

10. Industrial guitar or guitar-synth thing. Vocalist comes in screaming. Sounds like Ministry. Repetitive riff. Samples political speech or perhaps drill sergeant--I didn’t catch the words. Now faster. Tinny sound. Yeah, it's a drill sergeant. Possibly an anti-war song but I can't tell on first listen. Yeah, it is. Not really my bag, but I'm kind of in favor of it. (Ministry, "Thieves" [1990], from Murderball: Music from the Film.)

Posted by Dylan Hicks at July 25, 2005 5:33 PM | Comments (3)

 

Mixed Blood efforts recognized

Filed under: Theater

Mixed Blood Theatre has won the eighth-annual Arts Access Award, a plaudit that recognizes individuals and groups that promote access to the arts for people with disabilities. In recent years the theater has staged several shows about physical and developmental disabilities, and taken aggresive measures to make the theater accessible to the disabled. The award is presented by VSA arts of Minnesota, an arts nonprofit.

Posted by Quinton Skinner at July 25, 2005 10:48 AM | Comments (0)

 

Villains unmasked

Filed under: Music

The August issue of Britain's Q Magazine features "The Fifty Biggest Villains in Music." Setting aside for the moment the "Fifty Reasons Rock Mags Have Nothing to Write About, and Thus Compile Endless Lists" issue, it's pretty good. Tommy Lee appears at No. 14 ("Put a photo of his ex-best mate--Crue singer Vince Neil--down the toilet so he could piss on him."). Malcolm McClaren earns the No. 8 spot for

"trying to launch Chicken, a sex mag for kids." And Courtney Love snags the penultimate spot for OD'ing on painkillers in front of her daughter and later "explaining she had tried making the experience 'fun.' " Coming in as the biggest villain of all is Michael Jackson, which seems a bit like overkill until an examination of the accompanying photo gallery shows MJ cavorting with McCaulay Culkin and an orangutan, dangling his baby off a hotel balcony window and--most jaw-dropping of all--sailing a giant statue of himself down the Thames. Vile knave.

Posted by Quinton Skinner at July 22, 2005 12:11 PM | Comments (0)

 

"Through cowardice we shall all be safe"

Filed under: Film

In the March Vanity Fair, James Wolcott wrote an engrossing appreciation of the subversive 1964 anti-war film, The Americanization of Emily. Owing to contractual disputes, the movie has been virtually impossible to rent, steal or borrow for years now. Recently, however, my wife managed to obtain the single copy owned by the Minneapolis Public Library. As Wolcott points out in his VF essay (alas, no link), the movie contains one of the great anti-war scenes in movie history. Unlike the usual anti-war classics, the scene does not depict carnage and slaughter. Rather, it consists of an epic exchange between a cynical "dog robber" Lt. Charles Madison (portrayed by James Garner of Rockford Files fame) and a war widow Mrs. Barham (the mother of Madison's lover).

The dialogue--composed by the masterful Paddy Chayefsky--is especially resonant in these times of flag waving and heroism, bluster and bullshit. Here is an excerpt from the best part:

MADISON: That night, I sat in the jungle of Guadalcanal, waiting to be killed, sopping wet. It was then I had my blinding revelation. I discovered I was a coward. That's my new religion. I'm a big believer in it. Cowards will save the world. It's not war that's insane, you see. It's the morality of it. It's not greed and ambition that makes wars. It's goodness. Wars are always fought for the best reasons. For liberation. For manifest destiny. Always against tyranny and always in the interest of humanity. So far in this war, we've managed to butcher some 10 million humans in the interest of humanity. Next war, it seems we'll have to destroy all of man to preserve his damn dignity. It's not war that is unnatural to us. It's virtue. As long as valor remains a virtue we shall have soldiers. So I preach cowardice. Through cowardice we shall all be safe.

MRS. BARHAM: After every war we always find out how unnecessary it was. And after this one, all the generals will dash off and write books about all the blunders made by other generals and statesman will write their secret diaries and it will show beyond any shadow of a doubt that the war could have easily been avoided in the first place. And the rest of us will be left with the job of bandaging the wounded and burying the dead.

MADISON: I don't trust people who make bitter reflections about war. It's always the generals with the bloodiest records who are the first to shout what a hell it is. It's always the war widows who lead the Memorial Day parades. We shall never end wars by blaming it on ministers and generals or war mongering imperialists or all the other banal bogies. It's the rest of us who build statues to those generals and name boulevards after those ministers--the rest of us who make heroes of our dead and shrines of our battlefields. We wear our widows' warbs like nuns, Mrs. Barham, and perpetuate war by exhaulting its sacrifices. It may be the ministers and generals who blunder us into wars. The least the rest of us can do is resist honoring the institution.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at July 22, 2005 7:26 AM | Comments (0)

 

The tale of two Jackos

Filed under: Pop Culture

Johnny Depp recently told the AP that his androgynous child-like portrayal of Willy Wonka wasn't based on Michael Jackson, as many have speculated. Instead, he says, he found inspiration in children's show hosts. But the chalky visage, the retro fascination, the penchant for bizarre outbursts, and an obsession with old-timey music and delicious striped candy remind us more of another Jacko, Jack White of the White Stripes, who at one point seemed to be morphing into Edward Scissorhands. Suddenly Jackson's fascination with Diana Ross doesn't seem so creepy.

Posted by at July 21, 2005 4:10 PM | Comments (0)

 

Robert McCreedy on high praise and needless malaise

Filed under: Q&A

Robert McCreedy, former member of the reverb-drenched country outfit The Volebeats, will mark the release of his second album at the Turf Club this Friday. McCreedy was introduced to country while working in his grandpa's record store in the Detroit suburbs. He played in psychedelic garage bands as a teenager, but when Marty Stuart, Johnny Cash's guitar player at the time, came in to scoff at the store's country section, he offered McCreedy a chance to meet the Man in Black. "Me and a buddy waited for him on a couch in the lobby of the hotel where he was staying," McCreedy remembers. "Johnny came in with June Carter--they were so tall--they walked right by us and said, "Morning, fellers." We just sat there holding his albums." McCreedy's new record, It Might Kill You, was recorded with producer Mark Stockert and features a rotating cast of musicians including Martin Devaney and Bellwether's Eric Luoma.

City Pages: Did Ryan Adams really call you "the best songwriter in the country"?

Robert McCreedy: I didn't hear that. But that's probably close to what he did say on the album where he's wearing that football jersey on the cover. In the liner notes, he wrote, "The Volebeats are the best band in America." I was still in the band when he said that, so I’ll take it as a compliment.

CP: How did you wind up in Minneapolis?

McCreedy: I left The Volebeats and I moved to St. Cloud to help open up a health food store with a girlfriend. I was starting to write my first solo record [2001's Streamline] there. The store went south first and I moved down here and started working at Dow Foods, then the relationship went south and she moved back to Detroit and I stuck around.

CP: Melancholy drifters used to gravitate toward retro songs about boxcars, but this record has distorted vocals and scrambled radio frequencies and a lot of synth. Beautiful, but what gives?

McCreedy: Adding some more color to the color wheel. I guess I was getting burned out by playing and listening to the same instrumentation over and over.

CP: Are you making fun of your alt-country brothers with the lyric "It might kill you/to see me smile" on the title track?

McCreedy: Everybody has that relationship where a friend might be getting depressed or something, and if you're in a good mood and they're not in a good mood, you might be like, "Snap out of it." But if they're never in a good mood after years and years, nobody can be in a good mood around them. I'm not referring to anybody in particular. -Steve Marsh

Posted by Diablo Cody at July 21, 2005 3:48 PM | Comments (0)

 

Local do-gooders make good

Filed under: Local Music

Minor 7 Studios and Pop for Charity are preparing to release Friends with Benefits, a 16-track collection of unreleased songs by Twin Cities bands. The proceeds will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The acts are mostly indie-pop and folk-tinged and include the Owls, Mike Gunther, Heavy Sleeper, the Idle Hands, Romantica, the Hang Ups, Autumn Leaves, Spaghetti Western, the Deaths, and others. All of the tracks were produced by Dave Anderson, who did the Spaghetti Western album. So far the album sounds pretty good, I'm particularly into the Idle Hands' Only Ones-like "Sunshine on the Testaments." There will be release parties for the CD on August 12 (Nomad) and 13 (Triple Rock).

Posted by Dylan Hicks at July 21, 2005 11:07 AM | Comments (0)

 

Hey, keep your pants on already

Filed under: Pop Culture

Best Buy and Target have announced they're pulling Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas from their store shelves. After the flap over the "hot coffee mod," a hidden game that requires a fair amount of nerdy know-how to download, ESRB has changed the game's rating from M (mature, 17+) to AO (adults only). Both Target and Best Buy refuse to carry AO games.

More than a month after the mod was leaked online, word of the already well-known game finally made its way into daily newsrooms, causing the press mob to salivate and jump all over the story, following each other like lemmings to a brothel. Days later, alarmist parents groups and hungry politicians (including Hilary Clinton and Joseph Lieberman) looking to either re-create their image or reach out to their slowly receding base demanded the game's creators, Rockstar Games, recall the title immediately.

The very public knee-jerk reaction to target these "purveyors of smut" is more than laughable: First of all, the game was rated "M," which, to reiterate, is for mature audiences. Secondly, the actual "pornographic" game within the game that's causing such a stink is nothing more than a dude (a fully clothed cartoon dude), whom you can maneuver to spastically hump a cartoon woman. There's nothing in it that teens won't see in, say, American Pie, which Best Buy sold in truckloads. Believe me: Stealing cop cars and beating the crap out of strangers on the street is way more titillating than this minigame. To see the controversial video, click here.

Posted by at July 21, 2005 12:17 AM | Comments (0)

 

Leftist punks unite

Filed under: CD Review

Hey, Suicide Machines has put out a new collection of hardcore and ska tunes. It's called War Profiteering Is Killing Us All, and on first listen it sounds pretty good. Check it out, you have nothing to lose but your chains.

Posted by Dylan Hicks at July 20, 2005 5:06 PM | Comments (0)

 

Gawker crashes Klosterman's party

Filed under: Blogs/Web

Pick your way through the snarky remarks about messenger bags, geek love, and pop culture debates, and you'll find pictures of our very own Rex Sorgatz, as well as former TCers Jon Dolan and Melissa Maerz. Yeah, Gawker, we get it. Chuck (like 98.7% of his music critic brethren) is a self-indulgent dork. There's a reason normal people don't usually crash our parties...

Posted by Lindsey Thomas at July 20, 2005 4:27 PM | Comments (1)

 

Dance of Death

Filed under: Local Nightlife

Jen Boyles on the local dance-music scene's continued woes

Being an electronic-music lover in Minneapolis is a frustrating affair these days, and our weekend entertainment options are only getting slimmer. The drought became more pronounced this month when First Avenue--just five years ago a dance-music hub--cancelled the nearly one-year old "Ba-sik" Saturdays, thus snipping the thin thread connecting it to the dance-music scene. "Ba-sik was not only not growing, but lately it had been doing worse," says First Ave's booking Manager Nate Kranz. "Two Saturdays previous to their last, we did our worst business on a Saturday night in at least eight years."
Kranz says he talked to Ba-sik promoters Zak Khutoretsky, Adrian Herrara, and Steven Lee about improving attendance and consistency, but was unsatisfied with the results. "They played starkly contrasting styles week after week, and some nights they brought in DJs that were really bad," he says. "I wanted them to do something more along the lines of what System 33 did--and that is to be consistent so the night can grow and build a fan base."

But former First Avenue concert manager Chris Olson, who helped launch both System 33 and Ba-sik before leaving his post in November, is dismayed, if not wildly surprised, by Ba-Sik's shuttering and the club's general direction. "First Avenue was never electronic friendly," he maintains. "A lot of the guys there are old rock guys. They're all 60-year-old men who don't know what the young kids are listening to. I'm a rock 'n' roll guy too, but I realize how important the dance culture in this town is. I knew when I left that dance nights would be the first thing to suffer--besides the morale of the club--because there was nobody there who had a passion for it."
Kranz admits he doesn't really understand dance music, but insists that has nothing to do with the cancellation. "I wouldn't have had my job here for seven years if I made decisions like that," he says. "They clearly stated they hate our music," Khutoretsky counters from his studio, overenunciating for effect. "The bottom line is that the club never helped us advertise--they refused to--and they never promoted or supported us."
Kranz says he recognizes dance music lovers' passion, but it wasn't enough to pull in the numbers. "To be totally honest, I wouldn't care what style of music [replaces Ba-sik]," says Kranz. "I don't like Top 40, but if I knew that 800 people would come here for that style of music, that's what we'd be doing. No doubt about it."
As such, the legendary stop on any Minneapolis bar hop will be toting a night featuring "cutting edge hits of yesterday, today, and tomorrow." For now, they're using the old "Danceteria" moniker and resorting to DJs using laptops to churn out the hits, which, on a recent Saturday included Gwen Stefani and Tears For Fears, played for a smattering of people.
On the topic of hunting for a new spot, Khutoretsky says he's trying: "We are looking, but unless there is a hidden club that we haven't found yet, it might be a while." --Jen Boyles

Posted by Dylan Hicks at July 20, 2005 3:53 PM | Comments (4)

 

Double whammy day for geeks

Filed under: Obituary

While still recovering from the news of James "Scotty" Doohan's timely death, it was recently reported that James N. Aparo, a DC Comics illustrator for over 30 years, has passed away at age 72. Starting in the late 1960's, Aparo drew Batman, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Spectre, and other titles until his retirement about four years ago. Read a brief obit here and Jim Amash's August 2000 interview with Aparo for Comic Book Artist here.

Posted by Corey Anderson at July 20, 2005 2:25 PM | Comments (0)

 

This just in...

Filed under: Television

Networks reclaim watercooler title, CBS claims.

Also: Newspapers are all the rage, the NYT says. And Americans can't get enough of Fox News, according to Fox News.

And just now overheard at the CP watercooler: "Have you seen that show The Cut on CBS? It has to be the most gawd-awful idea for a television show since CBS execs greenlighted INXS: Rock Star. When Tommy Hilfiger fires a designer he says, 'You're out of style. You'll have to take the runway.' I mean, don't people strive to walk down the runway in the fashion world?" This was followed by a lengthy, awkward silence.

Posted by at July 20, 2005 1:23 PM | Comments (0)

 

Review: "52 Fights" by Jennifer Jeanne Patterson

Filed under: Book Review

Chicklit convention dictates that marriage is the tidy, happily-ever-after endpoint of a long and infuriating quest for love. Local author Jennifer Jeanne Patterson begs to differ: In 52 Fights, a lighthearted memoir of her first year of bondage--er marriage--Patterson catalogues the petty arguments that have tested her relationship with hubby Matt.

Granted, the couple have "uptown problems": (Matt wants to buy an expensive icemaker but Jennifer balks; the pair have trouble managing their rental property; Matt horrifies frugal Jennifer by installing a $2,000 floor-heating system in the bathroom.) Though Patterson is surely aware that most newlyweds don't have the luxury of bickering about a housekeeper, she nevers really acknowledges the emotional padding afforded by this bubble of privilege. One suspects it's much easier to cohabit harmoniously when no one's donating plasma to make the car payment. That said, Patterson is a very likable narrator and she never pretends that her mini-squabbles with Matt are a significant source of angst or doubt. She's almost like a tourist reporting from a strange country, sharing clear-eyed observations about a place she's not sure she belongs. This is an appealing approach that reflects a sweetly retro sensibility; Patterson and her husband didn't live together before marriage, so the shock of the new feels authentic in this case.

One might expect a book called 52 Fights to be rife with juicy details about marital rows, but the subject matter is consistently airy. Patterson's narrative does hint at darker themes (a chapter about her attraction to an acquaintance is one of the book's best) though sometimes it seems as though she's deliberately muzzling herself to avoid exposing too much. Hence, we're denied the really choice dirt: their sexual proclivities, their personal demons, the little pockets of darkness that exist in every relationship. The pair have a bluntness and honesty to their interactions that's refreshing, and one imagines that they don't hold back behind closed doors. In today's confessional culture, a well-mannered book like this is refreshing, but at the same time, one hopes that a hypothetical sequel (perhaps about Patterson's latest role as a mom?) will deliver more of the stuff that makes us wince in recognition.

Posted by Diablo Cody at July 20, 2005 12:01 PM | Comments (1)

 

Scotty beamed up

Filed under: Obituary

James Doohan is dead at 85. And here's the best bit of the wire service obit that the Strib is carrying--Doohan's 1998 revery about the good old days on Star Trek:

"I started out in the series at basic minimum--plus 10 percent for my agent. That was added a little bit in the second year. When we finally got to our third year, Paramount told us we'd get second-year pay! That's how much they loved us."

He accused Shatner of hogging the camera, adding: "I like Captain Kirk, but I sure don't like Bill. He's so insecure that all he can think about is himself."

Posted by Steve Perry at July 20, 2005 11:22 AM | Comments (0)

 

Tears for shears

Filed under: Television

Jonathan Antin gets "product" in his eye

As owner of Jonathan Salons in Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, Jonathan Antin carries the weight of the world on his weak, lechrosexual shoulders. (Yes, CTG just coined the term lechrosexual. In only two days it will jump the couch, but for now it's a catch-all phrase of that can be used to describe anyone from this guy to this guy.)

Jonathan likes to innocently peck and caress the L.A. babes as he's giving them a "layered look" that was cool a year after "the Rachel." But mostly the star of Blow Out likes himself: his smoke-stained surfer-dude voice, his shirt cuffs that tickle his calloused palms, and his tanned skin that has the texture and tone of a Louis Vuitton bag circa 1989. It's only when he visits his therapist, camera in tow, that the real Jonathan, sobbing into his extended shirt sleeve, starts to crack and reveal himself underneath the tattoos: Why doesn't the rest of the world understand the importance of beautiful hair? Don't people realize how tough it is to bang out heads day after day? It's just so hard, you know?

Yes, the real Jonathan looks a lot like the other Jonathan, only a bit more wet. If all this isn't entertaining enough to watch, Jonathan also has brought to us a brand-new drinking game that's sure to get even a nine-drink-a-night heavyweight sloshed out of his gourd before Jonathan knocks out his first head of the day: Each time Jonathan says "product," as in hair goo, it's a cue to drink. We hear it's such great fun that we're planning to play it during tonight's episode, right after we all take turns playing the pass-out game.

Posted by at July 19, 2005 10:08 AM | Comments (3)

 

Hopkins boys kiss with tongue

Filed under: Local Music

The Plastic Constellations have signed with Frenchkiss Records and are planning to release Crusades in January. The guys should fit right in on a roster which includes the Hold Steady, Les Savy Fav, and numerous spaz rock bands. Fear not; the locals are still flaunting their TC pride. They may have signed with out-of-towners but the new album will be released in conjunction with 2024 Records, which put out last year's Mazatlan. Nothing but love for TPC; I can't think of a band who deserves this more.

And speaking of the Hold Steady, you can catch them on Late Night with Conan O'Brien tomorrow and Last Call with Carson Daly on Wednesday. This is the best thing to happen to television since Lifter Puller played "The Bears" for a bunch of strippers on Jenny Jones!

Posted by Lindsey Thomas at July 18, 2005 3:39 PM | Comments (2)

 

When will it end

Filed under: Theater

By plunging one's head, ostrich-like, deep into the soft and comforting sands of cultural denial, one might have avoided the mind-numbing implications of the Broadway "Tommy" musical, or the Abba-based "Mamma Mia!" Or, hey, maybe rock-meets-theater is your bag, in which case you'll be happy to learn about this. But, honestly, this is going too far. A Smiths musical? Adolescent self-regard and masturbatory alienation under stage lights? Sure, it sounds like they're putting the tunes into a sonic Mixmaster, but the entire endeavor smacks of a culture running on fumes. And, apparently, it was just too damned expensive to get the rights to the Bauhaus catalogue.

Posted by Quinton Skinner at July 18, 2005 2:27 PM | Comments (0)

 

Never mind the phone bills

Filed under: Books

The obsession over how much celebrities earn has boiled over recently, flooding the heating ducts and overflowing urinals at CTG Towers. How much did Diablo score in her movie deal? How much did John McCain earn for appearing in last weekend's boob raunch fest? Besides interpretive dance, writing books will propably give the worst return on your artistic investment, and so it came to pass over the weekend that Neal Pollack, author of the acclaimed Never Mind the Pollacks and the upcoming Chicago Noir, announced on his website that he and his wife are flat broke and could use some work. Contact Neal from this page and, in the words of Janeane Garofalo, you can have the "Norman Mailer of his generation" copywriting your company's next brochure.

Posted by Corey Anderson at July 18, 2005 9:44 AM | Comments (0)

 

Meth and the madness

Filed under: Television

This Sunday night, Twin Cities Public Television will rebroadcast the station's highest-rated production, Meth: Shadow Across America, and Life After Meth, two chilling documentaries co-produced by the Hazelden Foundation. The airing couldn't be more timely: Last week it was announced that meth-related arrests in Minnesota have increased by 100 percent in five years. Shadow Across America reveals the effects of meth from the perspective of law enforcement, former users, and treatment specialsts, while Life after Meth focuses on users who have overcome addiction and the tumultuous recovery process. The programs air at 8:00 p.m. on channel 17.

Posted by at July 15, 2005 11:01 PM | Comments (0)

 

Wizard Rock

Filed under: Books

As if this weekend's fill of kids in funny costumes and Harry Potter parking lots weren't enough, here's one more way to celebrate the release of HP and the Half-Blood Prince. Harry & the Potters are a brotherly duo from Somerville, Massachusetts who write pop songs about three-headed dogs, the Dark Lord, Quidditch, etc. Their national tour of libraries and community centers brings them to Kenwood Park for a free show on Tuesday night. Pissing off the pope and courting lawsuits from Ms. Rowling? Now that's punk rock!

Posted by Lindsey Thomas at July 15, 2005 3:21 PM | Comments (0)

 

This week's top 10 sellers at the Electric Fetus, Minneapolis

Filed under: Music

1. Sufjan Stevens, Illinois
2. R. Kelly, TP.3 Reloaded
3. Son Volt, Okemah and the Melody of Riot
4. The White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan
5. Webbie, Savage Life
6. Gorillaz, Demon Days
7. Gear Daddies, Billy's Live Bait (reissue)
8. Ry Cooder, Chavez Ravine
9. Spoon, Gimme Fiction
10. The Jayhwaks, Live from the Women's Club, Vol. 2

Posted by Dylan Hicks at July 15, 2005 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

 

My new list of favorite pants

Filed under: Pop Culture

is up.

Posted by Dylan Hicks at July 15, 2005 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

 

The Go Team! signs to Columbia, buys new pom-poms

Filed under: Local Music

The Go Team!, praised and blamed earlier this year by Lindsey Thomas, has signed to Columbia Records, home to Bessie Smith and other acclaimed acts.

Posted by Dylan Hicks at July 14, 2005 5:00 PM | Comments (0)

 

CJ runs Lohan streak to 7 straight columns

Filed under: Media

You can append this line item to the comprehensive CJ/Lindsay Lohan bibliography we launched here the other day:

Stray hairs from alleged Lindsay brush offered for sale on Ebay; Altman a dirty old man?

How far can the streak go? Lindsay, alas, will be leaving town for good sometime later this summer, but a Lohan scholar I know points out that there are sub-specialties in the discipline that CJ has hardly begun to explore that might keep the streak alive even after Lohan has departed. One example: LL's colorful gossip chatboard nicknames--Lindsay Blowhan, Lindsay Hohan, etc.

Posted by Steve Perry at July 14, 2005 12:48 PM | Comments (0)

 

Long shorts are for babies! By Amelia Huff, age 10 1/2

Filed under: Pop Culture

Do you see that girl in the picture? That is my Roll Model, Jessica Simpson. She is called a Roll Model because she is on a roll with her career!!! Someday when I am a singer and fashoin desiner, I will have a handsome husband like Jessica. I will have millions of dollers and give a lot of money to adorabel poor children who dont have iPods and have to drink the store brand of Coke. I will also have a special camp that turns ugly girls beutiful. And also teaches them girl power and how to play the giutar and how to say NO to all drugs except Bo-caine.

NEway my big problem is that I really want to see The Dukes of Hazzard and my bitch mom wont let me...wait a minete, I just got an email from my friend Keegyn. Here is what it says:

Hi Amelia do you think nick lachey has hair on his wiener? keegyn

Here is my note back to her. Your crazy girl! Yes I think he does because I saw my moms new freind Telly changing and he is probably Nick's age and BOY did he have a lot of hair everywhere! Also his wiener was on upside down, which is wierd. CU at soccer. Amelia.

Okay, back to my Dukes of Hazzard problem. I need to see it because I am such a Jessica Simpson fan. Bitch says no. She also says I cannot wear the short shorts that are cool right now and are $12.99 at Old Navy. She says I am too young to wear short shorts like Jessica. But legs are not private parts!!! My mom is stupid. She's jealous because her legs have veins all over them and look like the giant turky legs at the Renisants (sp?) Fair. She would look like vomit in short shorts. I would look GOOD. I would look 11 or even 12.

I need a man!!!!!

Posted by Diablo Cody at July 14, 2005 11:22 AM | Comments (6)

 

Public display of introspection

Filed under: Dance/Performance

Local Strategy, a Twin Cities artist collective, is searching for visual artists, musicians, dancers, fabricators, and volunteers to participate in Landmark, a free 24-hour public-art event taking place at the Stone Arch Bridge on August 27th and 28th. The group describes the upcoming event thusly:

At sunrise on Saturday, August 27, a choreographed system of performances and installations will emerge from the landscape, and stay in continuous motion until sunrise on Sunday, August 28. The events are inspired by the history, geology and natural wonder that are embedded and alive in this site. Some of the events are clearly marked, others you will discover as you explore the area on and around the Stone Arch Bridge.

Events so far include a sound score to last 24 hours, a sky procession, a great cake contest, afternoon performance tours, evening storytelling, and "surprise" events that will emerge from the landscape. The bridge, apparently, holds many secrets. So if you ask real nicely maybe it will reveal the surprises in store.

Posted by at July 13, 2005 5:20 PM | Comments (0)

 

Jottings about Missy Elliott's New Album

Filed under: CD Review

I've listened to Missy Elliott's The Cookbook twice now, and I don't love it but I like it a fair amount. Certainly if she were a new artist I'd be pretty damn excited. If I were the kind of fellow who throws parties and if I were hosting such an event this Friday, I'd put the album on and feel confident that it would do the job. I expect to get a lot of mileage out of individual tracks. As you may know, Timbaland is pretty much absent from the project, though he does produce two cuts. M.I.A. is a guest on the last song, which is hot. Slick Rick, Grand Puba, Mary J. Blige, and Johnny Paycheck also turn up. Not Johnny Paycheck after all. Rich Harrison ("1 Thing," "Crazy in Love") produces one of the cuts, "Can't Stop," more or less a rock tune with Harrison's loud snare sound in full effect. The skits are both offensive and unfunny. "Party Time" features the line "Forget about it like the world forget Sisqo," but I haven't forgotten Sisqo. Did you know that the two greatest inventions of the 20th century--thermoses and thong underwear--both start with "Th"? So I guess my list of Missy Elliott albums is now ranked as follows:

1. Supa Dupa Fly
2. This Is Not a Test!
3. Miss E...So Addictive
4. Under Construction
5. The Cookbook
6. The Real World

Posted by Dylan Hicks at July 13, 2005 4:03 PM | Comments (3)

 

Minneapolis/St. Paul: Almost the beer drinking capital of North America

Filed under: Local Nightlife

Scarborough Research, the leading market research firm for identifying shopping and lifestyle blah blah blah, just released the results of a recent survey on the nation's beer drinking habits. One juicy factoid that we'll use to prop up our reckless consumption is that beer drinkers tend to have higher incomes, with an impaired sense of judgment that leads them to lease luxury vehicles and purchase homes in the 500K range. The Twin Cities ranks second only behind Milwaukee (natch) in percentage of consumers 21+ that drank any beer during the last month (53 vs. 54 percent). Time to start training for next year's market research!

Posted by Corey Anderson at July 13, 2005 9:43 AM | Comments (0)

 

Flicks with Guitar Picks

Filed under: Local Nightlife

A guide to movies and music (and more) in Minneapolis/St. Paul at Complicated Fun

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at July 12, 2005 4:05 PM | Comments (0)

 

Summer is ready when you are

Filed under: Local Music

Back in March I babbled relentlessly about how Brother and Sister's record-release show was the funnest (yeah, I said "funnest") time ever. The evening was half scavenger hunt, half pool party. What could be funner than that? Well, this Saturday they are holding Rock n Roll Summer Camp, a day of bike riding, roller skating, relay racing, and Capture the Flag. As if that weren't enough, a dozen local bands will be ready and waiting to rock at stops along the bike trail. (There are even rumors of one group playing on an island only reachable by canoe.) These kids know how to throw a shindig that can only be described as ridiculous. Besides, when was the last time you threw a water balloon?