November 2005

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Shore-to-shore salesmen

Filed under: Advertising

Watching the British Television Advertising Awards, it's easy to get lost in the foreignness of the whole thing--accents, unfamiliar logos, actors who, for all you know, might be famous in their part of the world. But then along comes an international brand like Pepsi and you find yourself asking, "Why do we get smiling celebs holding cola, while the Brits get a studiously choreographed kung fu scene where the opponents are literally hauled around like human puppets? Huh?" I can't say for certain that British advertisers are more clever or innovative because I don't know what America's top ad agencies have to offer (I refuse to watch the Super Bowl). But the BTAA has some pretty high standards; that super rad Pepsi commercial didn't even medal!

Other noticeable differences between us and them include their relaxed attitudes regarding g-strings and swearing, and a penchant for disturbing public service announcements. The handgun-free British have no problem dishing out violence to discourage drunk driving or the hiring of unlicensed cabs (an invitation to rape!). Among the few star-sightings in these commercials is Patrick Swayze taking a self-mocking turn and making a ridiculous pitch to movie execs. The Sgt. Pepper-inspired Honda ad that took first place has a Minnesota tie with voice work by Garrison Keillor. And Har Mar, who's bafflingly ubiquitous across the pond, makes a cameo in another ad, albeit very briefly and as a cartoon.

Whether a drawing of chubby guy in his underwear makes for a better commercial is all a matter of preference. I'd rather buy a car that's shown transforming into a dancing robot than the American version, which slides through mud during a slow-motion off-roading expedition (while telling me in tiny print not to attempt off-roading). Maybe it's not fair to pit our cookie-cutter ads against Britain's best-of-the-best. Still, one of the BTAA's lowlights reassures us that everyone's got their clunkers. You know those Coca-Cola commercials where a young woman sings about spreading peace and harmony via syrup and seltzer? They're annoying over there, too.

Posted by Lindsey Thomas at November 30, 2005 3:07 PM | Comments (0)

 

Correction: Jordis not playing Quest, Liars Club over

Filed under: Local Nightlife

Email from Gingerjake's Ian Severson: "Jordis [alternate site here] is no longer in the Liar's Club. She hasn't been for a few months to the best of my knowledge... Additionally, and I was not aware of this until a day ago, The Liar's Club has changed their name to 'The Payback' and Jordis is most definitely not a member of that band. The Payback features the drummer, guitar and bass players of The Fighting Tongs with ex 2Ton Crutch vocalist and ex Gingerjake guitarist, Kris Weiser. In addition, the show is not two shows like you have it, early all ages followed by a 21+ show. [The post below has since been corrected.] THE SHOW IS ONE SHOW, DOORS @ 5PM. Admission is $8 for anyone under 21 and $20 (which includes 2 top shelf drink tickets of your choice, a $14 value) for 21+. The show will be over by 10pm so people can still carry out their other plans for the evening." Culture to Go regrets the errors, and a corrected version of the post appears below. Fans will note, however, that as of 10:54 a.m. Tuesday, none of this news has appeared on the Liars Club Myspace page, which posts Jordis news as recently as November 25. What's the story, guys?

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at November 29, 2005 9:59 AM | Comments (4)

 

Scenes from a Marriage, by Linda Shapiro

Filed under: Dance/Performance

In the opening dance of Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater's Chair, Sandbag, Rose: Fairy Tales of Love and War, Pimsler and Suzanne Costello invite you into their Red Eye Theater living room--literally to sit on the stage with them--and draw you into the core of their hectic married lives. Well, not entirely their lives, as "His/Her" was sort of constructed by New York choreographer David Gordon, who, as he puts it in a program note, "suggested, and cajoled, and vetoed, and...argued for the choreographic usefulness of uneasy investigation." Mixing dialogue and moves from ballet, yoga, and mimetic- and modern-dance vocabularies, they negotiate, nitpick, send up, put down. Lines like "May, the month of May, the last month of school, the month your son was born" roll off of their tongues in barbed cadences, with an occasional, equivocal sign of affection. It's a portrait of a working marriage in real time with two people multitasking like mad while thoroughly distracted. And you can't take your eyes off of them because they transpose the mundane to the mesmerizing. --Linda Shapiro

Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater
December 2-4
Red Eye Theater
15 W 14th St, Mpls.;
612.870.0309

Posted by Dylan Hicks at November 28, 2005 12:29 PM | Comments (0)

 

Warriors, guns, and honeys under the tree

Filed under: Gaming

What video games are folks looking for on this Black Friday? According to the Yahoo! Buzz Index, the Legend of Dragoon may festoon the needly nether-regions of many of America's Christmas trees. Here are the top ten video game searches...

1.  Legend of Dragoon
2.  Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
3.  Metal Gear
4.  Dead Or Alive 4
5.  Dragon Ball Z Gt
6.  Doa Kasumi
7.  Sims Online
8.  Halo 3
9.  Perfect Dark
10. Gangsters: Organized Crime
11. Battlefield 2
12. Metal Gear Solid 4
13. Jewel Quest
14. Nba 2k6
15. Burnout

Posted by Corey Anderson at November 25, 2005 2:05 PM | Comments (0)

 

Have drinks with a cover model!

Filed under: Local Nightlife

Rumor has it City Pages's cover-scientist PZ Myers will be attending tonight's Drinking Liberally, a weekly communing of progressives for purposes of lively discussion and consuming mass quantities of beer and frito pie. Reliable sources also claim Rex Sorgatz of MN Speak will make an appearance as well. Festivities run from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. tonight at the 331 Club in northeast Minneapolis, with Accident Clearinghouse scheduled to perform at 8:30.

Posted by Corey Anderson at November 23, 2005 10:08 AM | Comments (0)

 

Jordis blogs, doesn't play Ascot Room

Filed under: Local Music , Local Music , Local Music , Local Music , Local Music , Local Music , Local Music , Local Music , Local Music

This post was revised on November 29 (see above); the following represents the corrected version: Some news about Jordis (alternate site here), the Rock Star INXS breakout from St. Paul: She has a new blog (here's her old one), and she has left Liars Club (formerly Fighting Tongs), who have changed their name to the Payback, and play a show on New Year's Eve in Minneapolis. (Catch up on the entire Jordis saga via MNSpeak.) The breakup news arrives via a correction from Gingerjake's Ian Severson to this post, which previously (and erroneously) reported that Jordis would be performing with Liars Club on New Year's Eve. She will not. Instead, she's pursuing a solo career, with a Sony debut due in early 2006. (Jordis doesn't post many details about performing on November 20 at the opening celebration for the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky, but turns up in photos with Bill Clinton, Jim Carrey, and Ali himself.) As for New Year's, it's only one show, not two, as previously published, in the Quest Ascot Room, with Gingerjake (more here), Crashing By Design, and the Lid: Doors at 5:00 p.m., and it's over before 10:00 p.m., so you can still make that New Year's Party. $8 under 21; $20 for 21+, which includes "2 top-shelf drink tickets at $14 value." Call 612.338.3383 for advance tickets or keep checking www.thequestclub.com (currently down).

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at November 22, 2005 8:48 PM | Comments (0)

 

World's ugliest dog is dead; search is on for new world's ugliest dog

Filed under: Pop Culture

Sam, the milky-eyed, snaggle-toothed Chinese crested hairless that gained internet fame after winning the ugliest animal contest at the 2003 Sonoma-Marin Fair in California, has gone to ugly dog heaven. Sam died last Friday, just shy of his 15th birthday. He was put to sleep after his owner, Susie Lockheed, was informed that his unconfirmed-ugly heart was failing. Lockheed took Sam in as a rescue six years ago, and her then-boyfriend was so repulsed by the animal that he broke up with Lockheed. Sam helped steer a new beau into Lockheed's life via a photo of him and his master on an internet dating site. Read more about Sam's illustrious life here.

Posted by Corey Anderson at November 22, 2005 1:56 PM | Comments (4)

 

Bigger than the BurgerTime scandal of '83

Filed under: Local Nightlife

One week from tonight, Oak Street Cinema kicks it old-school with Arcade Night, offering joystick jocks the chance to play vintage games on the silver screen. But before you go fantasizing about dazzling the public with your Pac-Man proficiency, you should know the score. See, the game "ends" at level 256 when a line appears down the middle of the screen, preventing the player from continuing. That's what happened six years ago when famed gamer and Rickey's Hot Sauce President Billy Mitchell finished the first-ever "perfect" game, collecting every dot, ghost, and piece of fruit without dying. But Mitchell's high score of 3,333,360 withers next to the 6,131,940 allegedly scored by 8-year-old Jeffrey R. Yee in 1982. Whether it's a matter of honor or simple jealousy over the letter of congratulations Yee received from President Reagan, Mitchell is now offering $100,000 of hot sauce money to anyone who can get past the infamous split screen in the presence of a rep from Twin Galaxies, the official video game record keepers. In contrast, vintage arcade champion Donald Hayes set a new Frogger record in March with 589,350 points. He received $250.

Posted by Lindsey Thomas at November 22, 2005 12:10 PM | Comments (2)

 

I'm so unsatisfied

Filed under: Stuff

It's been almost 100 years since Bertrand Russell said, "It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents men from living freely and nobly." So how is it that "Black Friday" became a national holiday? The way it's reported by some shopping-fixated media, it's as legit a feast as Boxing Day or All Souls' Day. Thank God for Reverend Billy, and his Stop Shopping movement, who we turn to in great faith as we go forth into gimme season.

Posted by Jim Walsh at November 22, 2005 9:36 AM | Comments (0)

 

Trio Network goes internet-only

Filed under: Television

NBC Universal will celebrate the new year by cancelling an entire network-- Trio, one of the few channels that evoke the more enjoyable days of early cable programming, will be unplugged at the end of 2005. The next day, however, it will come back to life as an internet-only offering. Unlike CBS and NBC, which actually think people will spend money to watch their crap on-line, Trio appears to be ad-supported. (The upcoming web-only Warner Brothers channel, which will start showing dozens of old series for free, will have commercials that can't be skipped.) No word on which of Trio's programs will be carried over to the new net-channel, but let's hope they find a way to keep running Johnny Staccato with John Cassavetes on their series "Brilliant But Cancelled."

Posted by Steve Monaco at November 22, 2005 12:52 AM | Comments (0)

 

Songs for the deaf

Filed under: Local Nightlife , Local Nightlife

For the last five years, Arzu Gokcen has divided her time between shaking stages with local punk bands (like the Selby Tigers, So Fox, and the spankin' new Spider Fighter), and giving us non-musicians a spotlight with Staraoke. Starting this week she adds a regular Wednesday gig at the Leaning Tower of Pizza Uptown to her three-nights-a-week run at Grumpy's Downtown. We asked the lady with the killer scream--and the even killer-er wig collection--for some insight into what it's like listening to karaoke every other night. Here are her picks for the most overdone tracks, as well as her forgotten favorites.

Songs I never need to hear again
1. "Me and Bobby McGee" - Janis Joplin
2. "Love Shack" - The B-52's
3. "Stay" - Lisa Loeb
4. "Like A Virgin" - Madonna
5. "I Got You Babe" - Sonny and Cher

Songs I wish people would do more
1. "The Breakup Song" - Greg Kihn Band
2. "I Got You" - Split Enz
3. "Destination Unknown" - Missing Persons
4. "Living After Midnight" - Judas Priest
5. "Kickstart My Heart" - Motley Crue

Posted by Lindsey Thomas at November 21, 2005 10:53 AM | Comments (1)

 

Link Wray, R.I.P.

Filed under: Obituary

The foreign press is reporting the death of guitar legend Link Wray at the age of 76. (The actual date of death is still unknown.) Wray always claimed that, because he was delivered with "prongs" (wouldn't forceps have been bad enough?), he found learning to play the guitar very slow and difficult. You could never tell it by listening to him burn away on records like "Rumble" (which he claimed got its growling sound by holes he punched in his amp), and ax-men like Pete Townsend, Frank Zappa and Neil Young have all testified to his greatness. He moved to Denmark in 1978, but after his music was featured in Pulp Fiction, his stateside career was revitalized, and he even toured the U.S. earlier this year. Somewhere, they're playing a 21-power-chord salute in his honor.

Posted by Steve Monaco at November 21, 2005 1:35 AM | Comments (3)

 

Jersey boy by Sean Howe

Filed under: Music

This has been a season of almost disconcerting visual evidence of rock's mythmaking flashpoints. No Direction Home offered a rare glimpse of Dylan's confrontational first electric performance, and Born to Run: The 30th Anniversary Edition's documentary footage, including a complete November 1975 concert, charts the quicksilver rise to fame of Bruce Springsteen.

Springsteen has described Born to Run as about escape, which makes perfect sense for a guy laying all bets on his music to get him out of New Jersey. The music constantly pushes and pulls between the promise of release and the threat of resignation. "Thunder Road" (the first of nine songs that take place in "the early cool before dawn") begins with a harmonica, evoking the open vistas and endless possibilities of a western. The night is young, and a ride is waiting. But more often--in "Backstreets," in "She's the One," in "Meeting Across the River"--repeated piano figures sound like cul-de-sacs, rendering any acceleration futile. Just as the heart-thump opening of "Be My Baby" gave voice to Harvey Keitel's Catholic anxiety in Mean Streets, here Phil Spector's wall of sound gives Springsteen's own violent urban drama ("some hurt bad, some really dying") an operatic claustrophobia. Still, Born to Run's New York retains romance and hope where Mean Streets' does not; maybe the grass just looked greener on the other side of the Lincoln Tunnel.

Black-and-white video shows the 25-year-old Springsteen, a despondent prisoner in the studio, worrying over every note on Born to Run, and it's revelatory to see him shaking off the perfectionism at the Hammersmith Odeon. It takes him all of fifteen minutes to somersault off the side of the stage, and that's just a prelude to two hours of stomping, crawling, shouting, and dancing. But the obsessive work ethic and career self-consciousness that brought him here can no longer be disguised by his Brando-as-rube persona. Having spent the day of the concert tearing down "Is London Ready for Bruce Springsteen?" posters, he's caught at the exact moment between hungry ambition and weary celebrity.

The E Street Band, hustling strivers themselves, sport butterfly collars and fedoras that are so pimp-of-the-year that you keep looking for goldfish in the heels of their shoes. (Little Steven: "Johnny Boy in Mean Streets reminds me of a dozen guys I've met." Maybe he was thinking of his bandmates, bathed here in the red-tinted lights of Scorcese's film) The Armageddon-in-lockstep force of their backing makes every song feel like a rumble they're going to win. The Bo Diddley-inspired guitar repetitions of "She's the One" finally overpower pianist Roy Bittan's fugal patterns, which give way to exuberant pounding. In a full-speed-ahead "Born to Run," victory now sounds like a foregone conclusion. Escape, struggled for in the lyrics, then attained through record sales, has finally transformed the music.

The performance finally becomes an acknowledgment of leaving things behind, just as Born to Run was a goodbye to the madcap Jersey denizens that Springsteen would soon forsake for Steinbeck characters. He'd already started to leave them behind on The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle, notably in a song that would be played only a few more times before a quarter-century retirement. On the album, "Little Angel picks up Power and he slips on his jeans/They move on out down to the scene" is a triumphant crane-shot ending, two heroes disappearing into a party on the street. At the Hammersmith, "The E Street Shuffle" is refigured into a slow, soulful, crawl. The street now must be left behind for a different kind of scene--Springsteen's busting out for good, but not without regrets:

He steps outside and looks up and down the street because pretty soon it's all gonna be gone
And he moves on down to the scene
All by himself
All by himself
All by himself

And here the look on his face is a little strange, both terrified and resolved, like a young man leaving home and headed out into the world.

Posted by Lindsey Thomas at November 18, 2005 3:46 PM | Comments (0)

 

Minneapolis: home of the honky tonk badonkadonk?

Filed under: Radio

When the folks who run the Country Music Awards decided it was time for the show to dust of its boots and transfer from Nashville to New York City (New York City!?, exclaimed faux-Southern-style here just like it is on that commercial for Pace Picante sauce), some claimed it was a publicity stunt--a means to shake off the crunchy Southern-fried attitude wrapped (tastefully) in a American flag and embrace the blue states. There is, after all, an ongoing effort to expand country music's already ginormous market. Those intentions could explain why local country station K102 was honored as the best major-market station during the CMAs on Wednesday night. Even southern transplants and the station's loyal listeners were shocked by the news, according to a report on WCCO. 'CCO chalked up the win to the station's community service.

Still, the Twin Cities might not be quite as gaga over the Clear Channel-owned station as the rest of the country. According to the latest Arbitron ratings, K102 is the No. 3 station in Minneapolis/St. Paul, with an average quarter share of 8.0. WCC0-AM talk radio lands in the top spot with 9.2. In fact, talk radio takes up five spots, more than any other format, in the Arbitron ratings. Minneapolitans, apparently, would rather listen to people chatter than the country version of "Baby Got Back."

The top-three stations might snare a good portion of the Twin Cities radio audience, but not everyone is strictly in it for the Honky Tonk Badonkadonk. As member-supported 89.3 the Current's ratings continue to edge upward, the station has gained a number of new corporate underwriters, according to the Minneapolis Business Journal. The MPR-owned station reports a 2.3 share, beating out alternative station Drive 105, which claims a 1.2 share.

Posted by at November 18, 2005 2:31 AM | Comments (0)

 

Nightstand Confessional

Filed under: Books

In honor of this week's Winter Books issue and an appropriate turn in the weather, here's what CP staffers are climbing into bed with these days.

The Devil's Picnic by Taras Grescoe
The Canadian author travels the world in search of forbidden fare, and arranges a nine-course meal of banned delicacies. I borrowed this from the library with thoughts of challenging my puritanical mindset. Sure enough, Grescoe, who's pro-legalization on all counts, keeps my teeth gnashing. I agree that the FDA should rethink its stance on raw-milk cheeses, but 186-proof Norwegian moonshine still sounds like a bad idea. --Lindsey Thomas

For Reasons of Poverty by Leroy Pelton
It's a dusty academic examination of the roots of the U.S. child welfare system checked out of the Hamline library for me by one G.R. Anderson, Jr. One more piece of definitive evidence that the war on poverty was an aberration in this country's history; it's more often been a war on the poor. Also, less strenuously, Psychoanalysis, a combination history and first-person encounter with a real live analyst by journalist Janet Malcolm. I realize Malcolm was roundly discredited after her work on the Freud Archives showed her to have a little honesty problem, but her analyst protagonist seems to have at least as many layers of guile and watching the two of them use their frontal lobes to have at each other is way more fun than Desperate Housewives. --Beth Hawkins

The Disappearance Of The Universe by Gary R. Renard
The only other two people I know who've read this are my dad and Tommy Mischke. Both recommend it, so do I. It's a precursor to the popular metaphysics tome, A Course In Miracles, (which may be too much heavy-lifting for me at this point) and, as the subtitle has it, "straight talk about illusions, past lives, religion, sex, politics, and the miracles of forgiveness." Great stuff. --Jim Walsh

The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA by James D Watson
I understood hardly any of the science--and I'm asking "hardly any" to get cozier with "none" that I suspect it wants to--but it's a funny, droll, catty, self-revealing depiction of scientists in search of knowledge and Nobels, not necessarily in that order. --Dylan Hicks

The Emigrants by W.G. Sebald
A totally engaging series of four shorts about Germans in exile: a painter, a doctor, a schoolteacher, and Great Uncle Ambrose. The late Sebald pioneers a sort of realism, combined with documentary artifacts, that draws you into the great unreadable pattern of All Things while making mysterious the mundane. --Quinton Skinner

The Monster at our Door: the Global Threat of Avian Flu by Mike Davis
I want to be fully conscious of how I'm going to die. --Paul Demko

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
Part of my ongoing efforts to read more 20th Century classics. --Corey Anderson

Reading something good? Talk about it in the comments section.

Posted by Lindsey Thomas at November 16, 2005 12:31 PM | Comments (2)

 

From Russia with friendship

Filed under: Art/Museums

Local art dealer and Russian Museum of Art founder Raymond E. Johnson was awarded with the Medal of Friendship from Russian president Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. In a press release from the Kremlin, Putin praised Johnson for "developing Russian-American cultural partnership and strengthening friendships between the people."

The museum, located on Stevens Ave. in south Minneapolis, is the only one in the States dedicated solely to Russian art. The perhaps under-appreciated gallery is home to an array of wonderful works that span Russian and art history: from Socialist Realism to Impressionism, from the collective desire for utopian perfection to the desire to escape the confines of political oppression in search of humanity. A review of the museum's first show can be found here.

Posted by at November 16, 2005 12:23 PM | Comments (0)

 

The arcade fire down below

Filed under: Local Nightlife

Since 2001, the Twin Cities Pinball Enthusiasts have been searching arcades, bars, and bowling alleys for the area's best machines. If you're looking to slam down a roll of quarters and taunt everyone with your mad ballin' skills, go someplace else. The TCPE is not a league, but rather a group of people who enjoy noncompetitive play. We asked Jennifer McGaffey, the group's spokesperson, and her supple-of-wrist brethren for some of their favorite games (and just a few of the places where they can be found. For a comprehensive list of locations, check out the Twin Cities Pinball Database.)

Medieval Madness: Maplewood Lanes, Southtown Lanes, Groveland Tap, West Side Lanes

The Simpsons Pinball Party: Billy's Bar & Grill, Burnsville Bowl, Drkula's 32 Bowl, Gringo's Cantina, Triple Rock Social Club

Twilight Zone: Bugg's Place, SS Billiards

Lord of the Rings: CC Club, Elsie's Restaurant Bar & Bowling, First Avenue, Stub and Herb's, Tuttle's Bowling, Bar & Grill

NASCAR: Flaherty's Arden Bowl, MacKenzie's, Mortimer's

Posted by Lindsey Thomas at November 15, 2005 2:03 PM | Comments (0)

 

Arrested on death row

Filed under: Television

With running jokes about cousinly incest, bizarre chicken imitations, and a rare psychological disorder known as "never nudism," Arrested Development is the smartest and funniest comedy on television since BBC America started showing The Office. So naturally, Fox is giving it the ax. (Call it divine compensation: on the same day, the WB announced the cancellation of the wholesomely icky 7th Heaven.) The news isn't surprising; AD's end has been in sight since its first season (it's currently in the middle of its third), when low ratings kept the show's future in question. Then came a fatal scheduling shift from Sunday to Monday night. Although Fox is chucking out the Emmy award winner, the network is hanging on to shows that draw a more mainstream audience, like The War at Home (Michael Rapaport as bigoted family man) and Stacked (Pam Anderson as bookseller with large bosom and moderate intelligence). Once the home of television's most cutting-edge comedy, Fox now gets its chuckles from a bargain-basement Archie Bunker and tit jokes.

Posted by Lindsey Thomas at November 14, 2005 4:01 PM | Comments (2)

 

The writing's on the stall: issue 001

Filed under: Spotted

This week: Fascists make great wings, and other gleanings from the women's bathroom at the Uptown.

"[A Minneapolis restaurant] is owned by racist, fascist haters. Oh, and they hate you. Also, they have great wings."
--Author Unknown, circa 2005, Minneapolis, Minnesota

"A dog returns to his vomit. So does a fool to his folly. Read the Bible, bitches."
--"Anonymous," adapted from King Solomon in Proverbs 26:4-5, bitches

Seen any great bathroom graffiti recently? Post the poetry and place you spotted it in the comments section.

Posted by at November 14, 2005 1:47 PM | Comments (0)

 

1975 Springsteen concert film on the big screen tonight

Filed under: Music

Tomorrow the three-disc 30th anniversary edition of Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run will hit stores, and tonight at 7:00 the Brooklyn Center Stadium 20 will host a big-screen preview of some of its contents--six songs from the 1975 London Hammersmith concert DVD (list) and excerpts from a documentary about the making of the record. I've heard nothing but great things about the '75 concert footage, and the few seconds I've seen do look pretty great. Tickets are $10. Click here for more details, tix, etc.

Posted by Steve Perry at November 14, 2005 9:47 AM | Comments (0)

 

Sarah Silverman is magic

Filed under: Pop Culture

Sarah Silverman was one of the best things about Mr. Show and There's Something About Mary. Skip ahead seven years later, and most people who saw The Aristocrats agree that Silverman's ultra-dark joke, which also has caused old-time comic Joe Franklin to consider suing her for defamation of character, trumped any joke Bob Saget told. Finally, people were talking about Silverman again years after the media jumped all over her for that "chink" joke she told on Conan O'Brien. (To be sure, that joke is what Silverman does best: exposing the duality and parallels of racism and political correctness while forcing audiences to explore what "appropriate" means and why.)

But when my mom told me recently that she liked this "Silverman girl," the seven-year-old dreams I had of becoming a multi-talented tightly tethered-together trio of best friends with Silverman and her polar opposite Amy Sedaris were dashed. I had to admit to myself that Sedaris, Silverman, and I will never embroider gingham aprons with apple appliques while simultaneously attempting to one-up one another with the most offensive joke ever told.

In the last month alone, Silverman has been profiled in The New Yorker, L.A. Times, and the Chicago Sun Times. Her new film based on her stand-up, Jesus is Magic, has received nothing but high praises. The film, reviewed here in CP, opens at the Lagoon tonight. And given Silverman's ascendant popularity, the critic accolades, and the fact that the film features jokes no one wants to tell about 9/11 and anal rape, you might want to get your tickets early. In the meantime, check out Silverman here as the new host of Chappelle's Show.

Posted by at November 11, 2005 12:02 AM | Comments (0)

 

Q: What's 2, 298 times better than Two and a Half Men? A: Nearly everything else on television

Filed under: Television

I've taken an incredibly unscientific poll. And I'm starting to believe Nielsen ratings are a sham. Now before anyone gets all ten months ago on me and bellyaches that blue states just don't understand red staters' moral objection to switching the channel from CBS, let me say that my Eye-watching family members in the South were included in this study, all 12 and a half of 'em. (An unscientific poll-taker such as myself could never be accused of weak coupling my non-random sample.) And what I've found could forever alter the way we don't watch really awful sitcoms: No one, not a single person interviewed, watches Two and a Half Men, the supposedly highest-rated primetime comedy starring Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer, aka Duckie.

So how is it that the show, which makes the abysmal According to Jim look Emmy-worthy, consistently lands in the Top 10 most-watched programs? How is it that 16.8 million people plop down in front of their plasmas to watch a show where the biggest guffaws occur when the meddling grandmother winds up with a bowl of spaghetti soaking into her bad dye job and stiff two-piece suit? Please settle the debate over who watches this program and why in the comments section. Nielsen Families (if the even exist!) are encouraged to participate in this significant and life-altering CTG study.

Posted by at November 10, 2005 12:56 AM | Comments (6)

 

Who stole my war?

Filed under: Film

Local author Joel Turnipseed is featured in the arts section of today's New York Times. The article raises questions about whether the recently released film Jarhead is guilty of cribbing material from Turnipseed's own Gulf War memoir, Baghdad Express.

Several passages from the film mimic scenes that appear in Turnipseed's book. However, in the Times piece screenwriter William Broyles, Jr. denies that there was any pilfering, arguing that the scenes in question are common to many Marine Corps experiences.

"I feel bad that he feels bad," Mr. Broyles said, adding that he had read and admired "Baghdad Express." "Maybe some of it stuck in my mind or maybe it was already there," he said.

Turnipseed has retained an attorney to look into the matter.

Posted by Paul Demko at November 9, 2005 1:18 PM | Comments (0)

 

Stern gets day off

Filed under: Radio

Howard Stern is today serving a one-day suspension from his syndicated radio show originating from WXRK Radio in New York. Still working for Infinity Broadcasting, Stern apparently spent much airtime Monday plugging his upcoming switch to Sirius Satellite Radio. Stern has reportedly inked a $500 million contract to switch to Sirius in January, the first time such a popular talent has gambled on subscription-based radio.

Stern's show is said to have gone downhill since his late '80s, early '90s heyday, though residents of the Twin Cities wouldn't know, since their only access to his show is via the puerile snippets shown on E Entertainment TV. Still there are fond memories to be had of the halcyon days of Cookie Puss, Mister Methane, and the leashless license given to such raving maniacs as Sam Kinison, Mr. T, and Pat Cooper. In a surreal move, Sirius has already launched a channel about Stern in anticipation of his arrival.

Posted by Quinton Skinner at November 8, 2005 12:15 PM | Comments (0)

 

Walsh gets by with a little help from his friends

Filed under: Blogs/Web

Seems that week three of the Walsh Files finds Jim already in need of assistance in compiling his Top 20 downloadable tunes. Musicians such as Billy Bragg, Mike Doughty, Rosanne Cash, Bob Mould, and John Doe among others, suggest 33 songs you should be listening to by bands that include The Fray, Feist, Imogen Heap, Animal Collective, and Test Icicles.

Posted by Corey Anderson at November 7, 2005 4:29 PM | Comments (0)

 

Punsters of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your shame.

Filed under: Contest

Hey, here's a fun game. Write a variation of the famous quote from "The Communist Manifesto: "Workers of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains."

I'll start:

Nudists of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your Hanes.

Ignoring the sloppy model of the above headline, go for a perfect rhyme for "chains."

Posted by Dylan Hicks at November 7, 2005 4:02 PM | Comments (19)

 

Mana Nishiura, R.I.P.

Filed under: Obituary

Wednesday's DMBQ show at the Entry has been canceled, following a tour van accident that killed drummer Mana "China" Nishiura. The collision happened Friday on the New Jersey Turnpike. Other members of the Japanese psych-rock band were treated for moderate injuries. Nishiura also played with Shonen Knife.

Posted by Lindsey Thomas at November 7, 2005 3:57 PM | Comments (1)

 

Tina Schlieske: "I've become this internet whore."

Filed under: Local Music , Local Music , Local Music , Local Music , Local Music

Ever wonder what happened to Tina Schlieske of Tina and the B-Sides? Six years after the band broke up and the singer left town, she has recorded a roots-gospel-country debut with an array of cool L.A. session guests--Elvis Presley guitarist James Burton (watch Tina's video), X drummer D.J. Bonebrake, singer Garrison Starr, and more. Slow Burn (Movement Records) also features Schlieske's catchiest song in years, "Slow Down," in which the vocal powerhouse slips gingerly in and out of soprano to tell a loved one, "Time to stop your running around." Schlieske, who performs on Saturday at First Avenue, has slowed down herself somewhat. "These songs took me forever," she says, speaking over the phone from Santa Barbara, where she lives near the ocean. "I think I went into a bit of a shock after the B-Sides broke up because that was my family for about 15 years...

"Songs take so much longer to mature now." Schlieske also took other gigs; in 2001 she fronted Stevie Ray Vaughan's old band Double Trouble. Now she gigs around southern California and stays close to her sister, longtime backup singer Laura Schlieske, whose band plays every Friday at the James Joyce pub in Santa Barbara. Tina returns to the Twin Cities at least twice a year to play concerts with her beloved cover band Lola and the Red Hots, usually timed to the annual Pride celebration and Thanksgiving at Bunker's. ("That's a fun tradition," she says of Bunker's Turkey Day. "It's just an excuse to leave the family early type of thing.")

Meanwhile, the former Sire Records signee finds the indie world increasingly navigable in the online age. "To me, it's so exciting how easy your music can get out there," says the new Myspace user, who finds fans in the Netherlands and Japan through her website. "I've just become this internet whore."

(Tina Schlieske CD-release show with Garrison Starr on Saturday, November 12 at First Avenue; 612.332.1775)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at November 7, 2005 3:42 PM | Comments (1)

 

Overheard: He's thinking of our singles' nights

Filed under: Overheard

Outside the Lagoon Cinema, 9:35 p.m. Saturday. The ticket line stretches around the block, thanks in part to an exclusive screening of Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic. Moviegoers unaware of the Get Real Film Festival look confused.

Guy looking at a Get Real poster: "I wonder what they show at a City Pages film festival. People peeing on each other?"

Posted by Lindsey Thomas at November 7, 2005 3:26 PM | Comments (0)

 

Brian Wilson sued by untalented cousin . . . again

Filed under: Music

Mike Love, lead nasalist and chief pinhead of The Beach Boys, is suing the man who gave him his entire career, for the second time in 10 years. In the '90s, he sued his cousin Brian Wilson over songwriting credits, claiming that ad-libbed lines like "Good night, baby" at the end of "Wouldn't It Be Nice" deserved equal royalties. He won that suit, astonishingly enough (Tony Asher, the real lyricist of Pet Sounds, testified that Love never wrote anything on that album), but his new legal challenge isn't expected to go far-- he's suing over the success of Smile!, Brian's triumphant recording of last year, a recreation of an album that Love hated and did everything he could to kill. Now, though, he's claiming that the new recording "shamelessly misappropriated Mike Love's songs, likeness and the Beach Boys trademark." No word if Brian will countersue, claiming that Love did the same to his songs or the group's good name with all of those shitty casino shows Mike does with his cover band. Oh, well, at least Yoko just apologized to Paul.

Posted by Steve Monaco at November 6, 2005 2:18 AM | Comments (0)

 

CMT goes Kinky-- Friedman, that is

Filed under: Television

In keeping with his campaign slogan, "Why the hell not?", cable channel CMT previews a new reality series called Go Kinky, which will document Kinky Friedman's run for governor of Texas. Friedman, a musician, mystery writer, and author of the country classic "They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore," will be featured in weekly episodes that follow him on the campaign trail. (A typical Friedman stump speech includes the promise, "Make me the state's first Jewish governor and I'll bring the speed limit down to 54.95.") His independent campaign is gaining some momentum-- Willie Nelson just performed at a fundraiser, and Jesse Ventura is one of Kinky's informal advisors-- and if the pilot episodes go over as expected, CMT will make the show a regular feature next year.

Posted by Steve Monaco at November 6, 2005 1:41 AM | Comments (0)

 

Netflix settles class action suit (with no added late fees)

Filed under: Stuff

Thousands of past and present Netflix subscribers received an email last week informing them that they were entitled to some free movie rentals. The offer is the company's way of settling a class action lawsuit filed in San Francisco last year, which alleged Netflix failed to make good on their promises of "unlimited" rentals and one-day delivery. For lapsed customers, responding to the email will get them a free month of rentals, while current customers can upgrade their service contract, increasing the number of DVDs received at one time. According to one website critical of the settlement, however, it will then be up to the customer to then cancel the new or upgraded subscription, or they will continued to be billed for it. (If you didn't get the original email and believe you're entitled to free movies, too, check the Netflix settlement website here.)

Posted by Steve Monaco at November 6, 2005 1:19 AM | Comments (1)

 

Clear Channel Entertainment quitting Twin Cities?

Filed under: Local Nightlife

"Most of the independent promoters and club bookers in town were careful not to applaud too loudly over Clear Channel's downsizing," reports Chris Riemenschneider in today's Star Tribune, "since about 10 people lost their jobs locally. 'I didn't like dealing with Clear Channel the company, but I usually liked the people who worked for it,' said promoter Sue McLean. However, McLean and many other concert promoters nationwide have blamed Clear Channel for 'over-bidding' on bands--i.e. offering them more money, which in turn drove up ticket prices." The layoff comes as Clear Channels concert-booking arm prepares to spin off from its radio arm, and 11 months after Rich Best, who helped create the local office, was promoted by Clear Channel to join its Avalon Attractions in L.A. More discussion here and background here and here. See also Clear Channel's official site and Clearchannelsucks.net.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at November 4, 2005 11:40 PM | Comments (0)

 

Hark! The Herald Angels U-Sing-It!

Filed under: Music

Press release of the day: "Just released this week, 'U-Sing-It' -- an innovative CD release that lets buyers create their own versions of holiday songs to share with friends and family, powered by UmixIt's remixing technology -- is already a hit, an impressive feat given the 51 shopping days still left until Christmas. "Released on November 1st, U-Sing-It has already shipped over 48,000 copies, and in just its first day out prompted re-orders of an additional 20,000 units. Critics are raving about how easy U-Sing-It makes it to 'sing holiday songs on top of a professional backup track, ''American Idol'-style' according to the Boston Globe, or 'remix your voice, as well as the instruments, Diddy-style.'

"The collection of favorites includes classics like 'Auld Lang Syne,' 'White
Christmas,' and 'Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer,' each one enabled with
UmixIt's fully functional and easy to use audio software, which comes
complete right on the disc. 'U-Sing-It' makes possible 'virtual Christmas
caroling' on a global scale, as the UmixIt software enables anyone who buys
the collection to add their own vocals to a full backing band of pros, and
mix and remix their voice and the instruments as they please.

"Buyers can record their own version at midnight and email it around the
world by morning, burn their own CD of favorites to give as a gift, or just
share with friends and family in their own home. The success of the new
project (the first full-length title designed and created entirely by
UmixIt) has already prompted a follow up, as the company has recently
started work on a new collection of classic love songs- tentatively titled
'Romance' - slated for release January 3rd, just in time for Valentines day.

"UmixIt has garnered attention for their innovative technology that
delivers a song on 8 to 16 discrete channels complete with the software to
mix and edit the tracks together, bundled with popular releases at no
additional cost. Recent and upcoming releases include the newest releases
from David Banner and Aerosmith, and the upcoming Billy Joel boxed set.

"For more information on UmixIt visit www.umixit.com"

Posted by Jim Walsh at November 4, 2005 1:30 PM | Comments (0)

 

Rex leaves. Want to take over MNSpeak?

Filed under: Blogs/Web

Shortly after news came that A Prairie Home Companion would leave St. Paul (more links here), the following arrived in our email from "Prairie Ho" blogger Rex Sorgatz, who runs the essential MNSpeak: "Hello friends, ...this is a pre-emptive note to hopefully tell you before you hear it elsewhere: Yes, this adamant midwesterner is leaving Minneapolis; yes, I am moving to Seattle; and yes, I am taking a new job at Microsoft. It's the internet, so let's do this FAQ-style: What will you be doing at the Evil Empire? This new job, which will be within MSNBC.com, involves starting a new team that will be researching and developing new initiatives in online news. Yes, that's vague, but it will be one of those "invent this as you go along" projects. I'm excited. When do you leave? Not until after the Winter Olympics. (I'm working on NBColympics.com again.) So one more winter in Minnesota. Are you going to miss Minneapolis? You have no idea. I have the best friends and colleagues in the world. I'll never be able to recreate what I've had here over the last five years. Never. It was an immensely difficult decision. I mean it. What are you going to do with MNspeak? Good question. I'm currently talking to people and companies who might be interested in taking it over. Are you ever going to update Fimoculous? Um.... Will you miss me? Heck yah. Come visit! -Rex"

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at November 4, 2005 9:02 AM | Comments (0)

 

New cultural center opens in south Minneapolis

Filed under: Art/Museums

A collaboration between Daybreak Newspaper, local artists, and the Bat Annex Free School, the Belfry Center for Social and Cultural Activities located at 3753 Bloomington Avenue S. will hold its grand opening on Saturday, November 5th, at 7 p.m. Local bands Eufio, the Blackthorns, and Spider Baby will perform, starting at 8:00 p.m., and rumor has it that a Replacements cover band might show up. The art and community-center collective is seeking volunteers who can assist with renovations, teaching free classes, art gallery shifts, and more. The Belfry says its mission is to foster democracy and build community through the arts, activism, media, and education.

Posted by at November 3, 2005 9:40 PM | Comments (0)

 

Stephen King refuses to quit

Filed under: Books

Bad news for readers looking forward to Stephen King's retirement: besides just publishing a new novel and promising two more in 2006, King has signed on with Marvel Comics for a Gunslinger series beginning next April. (Art will be by Jae Lee, who's also worked with Michael Chabon.) While comics were a primal influence for King, recently he went back to his real roots and wrote the first paragraph for a finish-the-story contest in the newspaper Weekly Reader.

Posted by Steve Monaco at November 3, 2005 5:25 PM | Comments (0)

 

The day the music spied

Filed under: Media

For the past eight months, Sony BMG Music Entertainment has been adding spyware to its CDs. A computer security expert named Mark Russinovich discovered that playing his Van Zant CD on his computer had installed a secret program deep into its system, the kind of "rootkit" used by virus writers. And spyware, like the Sony program, which the company claims was designed to prevent the CD's owner from making more than three copies of it. The online press is outraged, as much over Sony's attitude as the real threat of hacking that the program (in theory) provides. John Stith sums it up: "All this is in the name of Digital Rights Management." Funny, less than a month ago Sony was one of the record labels telling consumers how to bypass the copy-protection so they could upload to their iPods.

Posted by Steve Monaco at November 3, 2005 5:03 PM | Comments (0)

 

Get Real to Go

Filed under: Film

The Get Real City Pages Documentary Film Festival "brings a worthy slate each fall that has earned genuine film-snob bragging rights," says the Star Tribune. It's "a lifesaver for those discouraged by... manufactured reality programming," says the MN Daily, and it "may be the most consistently excellent of the Twin Cities' many film festivals," says the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Well, we could have told you all that, but you wouldn't have believed us. Here's a full schedule (Nov. 4-10), all of which looks great (all films screen at the Lagoon Cinema in Uptown [official site here], except for Prince's Sign O' the Times [reviewed here], which screens at the Uptown Theatre). Some personal recommendations: I.F. Stone's Weekly on Friday at 2:30 p.m., Sign O' the Times on Saturday at Midnight (first big-screen appearance in 15 years), The Joy of Life on Sunday at 5:30 p.m., The Green Bus V. The White House on Monday at 7:30 p.m., Two By Scorsese (pictured) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., Minnesota Stories on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. (based on Chuck Olsen's free-for-all video blog). (More to come.)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at November 3, 2005 4:24 PM | Comments (0)

 

Damn Dirty Apes

Filed under: Local Music

This Friday at the Hexagon, Chris Dorn, Autumn Leaves, Raven, the Chinch Bugs, and other fun-loving local rock musicians will pay tribute to the Monkees, who as a matter of fact are worth paying tribute to. I sure hope someone plays "The Porpoise Song." In between sets, you'll be able to see clips from the group's cult movie Head, the Scooby Doo episode on which Davy Jones was a guest, and, of course, their TV show. Someday you should ask me about the time I worked as a runner for a Monkees show, and got to drive the band around. Or I could just give you the highlights now. Mickey (surly) left a beer bottle in my van. That was the best part. I saved it for a while, but then I decided taht a beer bottle touched by the hands and lips of Mickey Dolenz really wan't that big of a deal. But I did recycle it, so maybe you've touched it, too! Davy was very sweet and even asked me a question or two. Peter was hippie-dippy. Mike wasn't there. After the show, they actually talked with some animation about the set--what went right, what went wrong--just like any other band, or at least just any other band whose show involves lighting cues. I might have expected talk more along the lines of "Another night, another 25,00 bucks."

Posted by Dylan Hicks at November 2, 2005 5:04 PM | Comments (0)

 

'Purple Rain' tonight, 'Sign O' the Times' Saturday

Filed under: Film

How often do you get to see two great Prince films on the big screen in one week in his hometown? The "psychobiographical" fiction known as Purple Rain screens tonight at 9:00 p.m. at the Regal Brookdale Center 20 theater (6420 Camden Ave N, Mpls., 763.566.3456). The classic and rarely screened concert film Sign O' the Times (here's Michaelangelo Matos's review) shows Saturday at midnight at the Uptown Theatre (2906 Hennepin Ave S, Mpls., 612.825.6006, official site here) as part of the Get Real City Pages Documentary Film Festival (Nov. 4-10). The entire Get Real schedule is live here, and in today's City Pages. The fest kicks off Friday at 2:30 p.m. with I.F. Stone's Weekly, a portrait of the independent journalist that couldn't be more timely in this era of media buyouts. Look for more recommendations here tomorrow.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at November 2, 2005 3:45 PM | Comments (0)

 

Literary event of the month, two-tone shoes required

Filed under: Books

Vinnie & the Stardusters' Eric Dregni is hosting a publication party for his latest book, Let's Go Bowling, at Bryant-Lake Bowl on Saturday, November 12. Let's Go Bowling tracks the history of the "sport" from ancient Egypt to Fred Flintstone and beyond. Wally and Chopper from TV's "Let's Bowl!" will be in attendance, showing old episodes and bloopers in the theater. The best bowling outfit wins a free book, and the first 40 books sold come with a free bowling pass and disinfected shoes. The fun begins at 2:00 p.m. at BLB.

Posted by Corey Anderson at November 2, 2005 2:23 PM | Comments (0)

 

Pasolini: "Victory"

Filed under: Film

Today is the 30th anniversary of Italian filmmaker and poet Pier Paolo Pasolini's death, and Doug Ireland marks the occasion at his Direland blog with the publication of a long Pasolini poem that's never appeared in English translation before. Check it out here.

Posted by Steve Perry at November 2, 2005 1:31 PM | Comments (0)

 

Spin and Vibe for sale

Filed under: Media

"Music mags Spin and Vibe have been quietly put on the market, giving leading suitor Quincy Jones some unwelcome competition," reported Radar Magazine last week. "There are a number of parties with strong interest in the properties," one source is quoted as saying. "I think both magazines will have a nice life after this." Besides writing for both glossies on occasion, and having friends at Spin (including former