Pop Culture

Art attacks the suburbs, making it cooler

One needs to look no further than the Norling Photos at the Minnesota Historical Society or the Worlds Away exhibit at the Walker to see that the suburbs can serve as a prolific creative muse. Those that venture out to the fair town of Roseville this Saturday night will be treated to a hip evening of culture when Grumpy’s (2801 Snelling Ave. N.) hosts “Art Attack on the Suburbs.”

A lot will be happening at this shindig, including a mural unveiling of two massive 18-foot tall stencil murals by John Grider, whose previous work includes a wide variety of rock show posters, as well as the Nomad World Pub mural pictured above. The subject of these dual pieces are described as the beer history of St. Paul and Minneapolis (Grain Belt will most likely be making an appearance in the Minneapolis mural). You can check out John Grider’s work here. Also on hand will be the super-popular artist, and Ox-Op Gallery regular, Shag. His playful and boldly-colored designs will be on display and on sale (in limited quantities). Check out his work here. Rounding out the night will be DJ host Lori Barbero of Babes in Toyland, and a screening of the HAZE-XXL and Dalek collaboration, Purge of Dissidents. Click here for more info on Purge. The event is free, and happens between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.

Posted by Jessica Armbruster at March 29, 2008 6:06 AM | Comments (0)

 

I can has T-bone!

Filed under: Pop Culture

Forget all those cheezburger eating pussies, this cat won't settle for anything less than a T-bone steak!

I found this photograph lying in the snow outside the City Pages office (401 N. Third St.) the other day. If it's yours, feel free to claim it. Otherwise I'm sending it to Found Magazine.

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at February 5, 2008 1:09 PM | Comments (0)

 

My (Very Good) Life as a Dog

Filed under: Pop Culture

Local pet stores have inevitably joined restaurants, clothiers, and clubs in catering to the new rich. Bonejour (at stopdoggynudity.com) in Edina offers designer clothing lines for dogs (Downtown Doggy, London Dog), while LuLu & Luigi in St. Louis Park and Wayzata recently sponsored a canine version of TV's The Bachelor outdoors, selecting bride Pepper Von Cutie Pie from among 100 contestants and wedding her to starring "bachelor" Tony in a formal ceremony followed by a "ruffception." Until funding was pulled, a development at 925 N. 5th Street was slated to house Minneapolis K-9 Condos, a luxury dogcare complex complete with "dog exercise pool" and grooming area. (There are so many other high-end pet services that Minnesota Monthly recently listed the best: including parties, psychiatry, natural food, grooming, mobile grooming, behavior consultation, and photography.)

Until they get their condo, dogs will have to settle for the new PetsHotel, opened by national pet store chain PetsMart on July 31 in Eden Prairie. The care center offers a "Bone Booth" for animals to hear the voices of their vacationing owners. "Just call during lobby hours and we'll bring your pet to the phone if you want to chat," touts the website. Downtown Dogs in Minneapolis, meanwhile, offers a webcam (for you to watch your dog, not the other way around). Unfortunately, neither facility offers pet massage: For that, pooches and their indulgent owners will have to visit St. Louis Park's K9 Hydrotherapy.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at September 7, 2007 4:07 PM | Comments (0)

 

Minneapolis City Council clowning around

Filed under: Pop Culture

The circus may no longer be coming to town. An ordinance recently introduced by Minneapolis City Council members Ralph Remington and Cam Gordon would prohibit using wild animals in performances.

Remington argues that circuses regularly abuse the animals. "Tigers are deathly afraid of fire," he says. "When they're being made to jump through hoops of fire that does psychological damage to them."

The Ward Ten council member believes the measures is simply common sense. "It's the same as dogfighting, cockfighting, bullfighting, bear baiting, all of that," he says. "It's just wrong."

Apparently there's only one circus that regularly comes to town and utilizes animals, George Carden Circus International. The shows are sponsored by the local Shriner's chapter. In fact, members of the Zuhrah Shrine showed up at a city council hearing on the matter last week to voice their displeasure.

Remington, however, has little sympathy for them. "We've encouraged them to use animal-less circuses," he says. "They've had years to work on this."

The circus is safe for now. Last week's hearing was postponed owing to the bridge collapse. The city council will now discuss the ordinance on September 12.

UPDATE: Tim Davison, who sits on the Zuhrah Shrine's circus committee, just called to offer a different perspective on the proposed Minneapolis ordinance. He denies that circuses abuse animals. "This is an emotion driven issue," says Davison, a sergeant with the Minneapolis Police Department. "They don't want to be bothered with any facts or reality." Davison further posits that animal rights activists won't be satisfied with simply banning animal acts from circuses. "This is the camel's nose under the tent," he says. "Because they hate rodeos at least as much as they hate circuses." Davison also claims that the Zuhrah Shrine Circus, which is slated to be held at Target Center in October, is the city-owned venue's second biggest revenue maker. "I would bet that Ralph Remington has never been close enough to an elephant to smell one."

Posted by Paul Demko at August 10, 2007 3:58 PM | Comments (0)

 

Gardner Hardware Anvil Drop cancelled

Filed under: Pop Culture

Following the I-35W bridge collapse, Gardner Hardware has cancelled their annual Anvil Drop scheduled for tomorrow, August 3. With the horrific images of twisted metal and smashed cars fresh in people's minds, locals may not be ready to find enjoyment in watching anvils and assorted produce descend from the top of the 123-year-old Washington Avenue hardware store's roof onto cars below. A press release from Adam Klein noted that the employees arrived at this decision and also wished to thank everyone who played a role in planning this year's event.

Posted by Corey Anderson at August 2, 2007 11:03 AM | Comments (1)

 

Mud flaps by women for women

Filed under: Pop Culture

With more and more women riding motorcycles, and companies such as Harley-Davidson coming up with new models and gear to satisfy female demand, options for decorative accessories remain surprisingly boyish. "I'm not really about dragons and boobies," says U of M student and motorcyclist Sarah Grannes. So Grannes came up with an alternative: She now sells "classy and tactful, yet badass" magnetic decals for motorcycle tanks and other hot metal surfaces via her website www.tankgirlmpls.com, with images designed by her collaborator Ashley Hay featuring women wielding various weapons—a machine gun, a sword, a mace.

"I go to a lot of places, and right next to me is a bike with a half-naked woman on it, and that's not how I roll," says Grannes. "When it comes down to it, 50, 60 years ago, women were looked at completely differently. It's taken a while for women to catch up to the hobbies of men."

Grannes says she hopes to start a female bike gang—she currently rides with mostly guys—and the website also promises "trucker mud flaps coming soon," though it's hard to imagine anyone threatening the hegemony of the reclining busty female silhouette. One possible bump in the road, however: TG MPLS shares two words with the comic book and movie Tank Girl; will this pose a trademark conflict? "I'm not really sure," says Grannes, "but apparently a lot more people know about it than I do."

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at July 17, 2007 4:48 PM | Comments (0)

 

Hula-hoop dreams

Filed under: Pop Culture

Young participants in this Saturday's hula-hoop contest at the Juneteenth Festival in Theodore Wirth Park might be unaware that Saturday, July 7 is World Hoop Day. Twirling hoops around your body is nothing new, of course: The practice predates Wham-O's introduction of the plastic hula-hoop in 1958 by thousands of years. But full-body hooping as an adult pastime has only recently enjoyed a vogue among urban grown-ups. Last week, a dozen or so adult hoopsters gathered at Celebration Hall in Minneapolis to hoop under black lights, with a DJ spinning music.

"Kids grow out of it because it's mostly waist-hooping and neck-hooping," says Jessica Reiter, who helped organize the event, and has taught hooping in Minneapolis for the past year. "With a plastic hoop, it can be repetitive. But we make our own hoops—heavier and larger, so they're nice and big and slow." She says the new hooping is a mix between a massage, dance, and circus acrobatics. (Call it hoop hop.) Anyone interested in joining the emerging hoopoisie should visit Reiter's website at www.harmonyhoops.com, or tribes.tribe.net/mnhoopers.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at June 11, 2007 2:35 PM | Comments (0)

 

The 10 Hottest Hairless Celebs in History

Filed under: Pop Culture

Where does Britney stack up?

By Kenny Herzog

It seemed like just last month that Britney Spears' only shaved head was between her legs. The upside about her rehab-induced mental tailspin? We got a five minute respite from the Anna Nicole baby's daddy saga. The bad news? Britney Spears finally ruined her last redeeming aspect: her locks. Strangely though, she doesn't look all that bad as a baldie. She's still more attractive than, say, Larry David. And plenty of people would still pay to see her in Playboy. But where does Spears' Kojak turn rank her in the pantheon of women gone bald?

 

1. Natalie Portman There seemingly isn't a celebrity list that Ms. Portman doesn't belong on. But when Gen Y's Long Island Lolita started rampaging runways with her V For Vendetta Bic vixen makeover, she somehow was hotter without hair.

 

 

2. Alek Wek She never quite made it to the cover of SI's swimsuit issue, but she's arguably the most recognizable, post-Roshumba black woman on the world's runways. And bald as shit.

 

 

 

3. Demi Moore Ms. Kutcher became a butch icon to all 50 people who paid to see G.I. Jane. The shower scene left men wondering whether to be turned on or question their sexuality. Her "Suck my dick!" quote after breaking Viggo Mortenson's nose didn't help.

 

 

4. Sinead O'Connor Amazing to think that in the early '90s, Sinead's then-rebellious follicle fashions inspired mass cultural inference of everything from lesbianism to bratty antagonism. Ultimately, it was just ironic that she had a fairly similar hairstyle to the Pope.

 

 

5. Persis Khambatta The who the what now, you might ask? Oh, the super hot bald chick from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Right. Well, if you're going to cast someone to play a hairless alien, she might as well be a former Revlon girl and Miss India.

 

 

6. Melissa Etheridge As if it weren't enough that she was an outed lesbian who carried David Crosby's seed, Etheridge had to make us all feel utterly uncourageous by storming the 2005 Grammy stage with her shorn scalp, the result of a recent battle with breast cancer. She looked sexy. Take that, Ellen and Portia.

 

 

7. Sigourney Weaver Ripley went skull-commando for the third installment in the Alien franchise. Apparently the alien itself was no longer scary enough. But, heh, she was still Sigourney Weaver.

 

 

 

8. Kim Cattrall Would a 20-something male model still bang a middle-aged bald women in real life without being scared off by such a visceral reminder of her relative mortality? Probably not. But that's why Sex and the City jumped the shark way too soon. Still, Cattrall's real life battle with cancer coupled with her character's made her outshine the other three.

 

9. Jane Curtin Sort of weird that Curtin's Mrs. Conehead character was actually embodied by a male phallus. Or does that just make me weird for putting her on this list?

 

 

 

10. Samantha Morton Similar to mentally retarded characters having inexplicably messy hairstyles (e.g. Leo in What's Eating Gilbert Grape), cryptic telepathic communicators must be bald and constantly shivering. Observant Morton followers saw this one coming with her neatly manicured turn in In America.

 

 

Bonus: Joan Elizabeth (Denise, from Seinfeld episode "The Beard") In one of the show's more absurd-yet-brilliant plotlines, George, now donning a toupee, was mortified when Denise removed her hat to reveal a perfectly chromed cranium (and in perfect Seinfeld un-PC-ness, the motivation for her baldness was never explained). But as we know, no one made the cast's girlfriend counters unless they were disproportionately attractive to their male counterparts.

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 19, 2007 2:11 PM | Comments (4)

 

Anna Nicole Smith goes to heaven

Filed under: Pop Culture

As Anna Nicole Smith's disembodied soul headed for a touching reunion with J. Howard Marshall II in whatever passes for a heaven for oil tycoons and pneumatic bimbos, the Broward-Palm Beach New Times crack team of investigative reporters headed for Hollywood's Memorial Regional Hospital and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Thursday to soak up the scene. Read Hollywood (Florida) Confidential to get the inside scoop on the media frenzy surrounding the tabloid event of the season.

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 12, 2007 9:13 AM | Comments (0)

 

Cum Together

Filed under: Pop Culture

Dammit! Why didn't we think of this? Something called Global Orgasm is organizing the first-ever "global orgasm for peace," to take place on December 22 (talk about your long foreplay). According to the Big O website, everyone is to climax at some point on that blessed Friday, and, immediately afterwards, take a moment of silence to meditate for world peace. Sounds good, but why wait a whole month? The weekend's here! Get out there and get busy, peaceniks.

Posted by Jim Walsh at November 16, 2006 11:03 PM | Comments (4)

 

The very last Frey day

Filed under: Pop Culture

Today officially marks the end of FreyGate. Really. We promise you'll never have to hear this guy's name again. Ok, we just lied like we're James Frey wearing a pair of burning pants on Oprah and all we can think about is that awesome Queen song. But we did it for a good cause.

Upon perusing Amazon earlier today, we stumbled upon this gem of an interview with James Frey from a few months back. In the web site's "significant 7" Q&A, Frey is asked, "What is the worst lie you've ever told?" His answer: "No way I can answer that." Hmmmm...do you suppose Nan Talese prepped him for that question? He answered like someone was holding a gun, or a golden Oprah-book-club check, to his pulsating temple.

But it got us thinking. Frey, though he still remains recalcitrant and stoic, has to feel somewhat unburdened by these revelations. Plus, the beginning of the year is a great time to publicly come clean and unfasten ourselves from all those suffocating fish stories. So let's do it: What's the worst lie you ever told? I'll start.

Posted by at January 31, 2006 11:35 PM | Comments (3)

 

Press release of the day: Chew on this, you "infosnackers"

Filed under: Pop Culture

The New Oxford American Dictionary editors picked "podcast" as 2005's word of the year. Over here, the folks at Webster's chose "infosnacking," a word most likely only to be found in a "Cathy" cartoon. Webster's isn't known for being ahead of (or even on) the curve: The big new word of 2004 was "blog," and a few years before that "bootylicious" saw its way into the word bible even though the term had already gone the way of "jiggy" before it--to the Land of Lucinda Dickey. If the name doesn't ring a bell, look it up, er, infosnack that girl. Because according to Webster's, if you're reading this right now you're already guilty of "infosnacking." We feel a snack attack coming on, or have we just discovered the subject of next Sunday's "Cathy" comic strip--the annoying co-worker who's so busy infosnacking poor Cathy is left to eat her bagged lunch alone?

Editors of Webster's New World College Dictionary Select "Infosnacking" as Word of the Year for 2005

A phenomenon that's taking place in offices all over the world now has a name.

The trappings of the Digital Age enable employees to do more than take traditional coffee breaks on company time. Checking e-mail, Googling sports scores, shopping online and surfing the latest headlines on the Internet have also become the norm during workers' office hours.

This is why the editors of Webster's New World College Dictionary (with bonus CD-ROM) have selected "INFOSNACKING" as Word of the Year for 2005. The term colorfully conveys what employees with company Internet access are doing--in snack-attack fashion--while on the clock.

Editor-in-chief Mike Agnes, whom Fortune Magazine hails as "the bouncer behind the velvet rope of American English," is available to discuss the selection as well as other new terms that have already earned space in Webster's New World College Dictionary, runner-up words of 2005 and previous word-of-the-year selections.

For more information, see attached press release.

Posted by at December 8, 2005 12:19 AM | Comments (2)

 

Christmas to be around for maybe one more year

Filed under: Pop Culture

For those Americans panic-stricken that a certain December holiday most commonly known as Christmas is heading for extinction, a glimmer of hope comes from the much-maligned athiestic United States Postal Service. The 2006 Christmas stamp, Madonna and Child with Bird, was unveiled last week. The painting, dating from around 1765, is attributed to Ignacio Chacón, an artist active from about 1745 to 1775 in Cuzco, Peru. Now if we could just do something about all those foreigners taking our stamp painting jobs.

Posted by Corey Anderson at December 5, 2005 1:25 PM | Comments (1)

 

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 (3)

 

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)

 

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)

 

Freestyle Fridays at Digital City Music

Filed under: Local Nightlife , Local Nightlife , Local Nightlife , Local Nightlife

"I came to this battle not to get the money, y'all, but to get the kill," rapped one contender in last weekend's Freestyle Fridays hip-hop contest at Digital City Music (905 West Broadway, 612.588.2000). He could have been speaking for everyone on the mic. The competitive atmosphere of the month-old event was so fierce that, according to judges at the store, more than a few of those paying the $25 participation fee chickened out. Neither violent bluster nor disses of dark skin--"looks like your mom just got off the Amistad boat"--were taboo in front of the mostly black crowd, gathered around a cage of five-foot-tall chain-link fences. Spirits were high, however. "TJ," age 10, was invited by the referee to kick a verse, and with the words "got cash," the young rapper dropped a block of green bills to the floor, making the room erupt with laughter. Matic, 20, had some of the night's most inspired put-downs--"You got to brush your teeth 'cause your mouth look like Pikachu." But in the end he lost steam against the previous week's winner, A-Ztek, 15 (pictured with a friend, and his name misspelled on the marquee). The Patrick Henry High student told his opponent: "Homey, I don't got to beat you/Um, where's that shorty?/Let him eat you up." He'll win $1,500 if he takes four consecutive bouts, but the social benefits of the event are more enduring. "It's like when we used to breakdance at the Roller Gardens," says Roy Crockett, an old-school b-boy who helps put on the event. "We just had to give kids an alternative to the streets." See more photos at Complicatedfun.com. (Print version of this article here.)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at October 24, 2005 5:33 PM | Comments (0)

 

Kenyan hip hop and Afrofuturism, plus a rap battle

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

For a $25 entry fee, you can compete tonight in Freestyle Fridays at Digital City Music in North Minneapolis, where a grand prize of $1500 awaits the winner (if I have the rules straight). The rap battle is cheap to watch, in any case ($3), and I'll be there with a camera covering it for City Pages. 905 West Broadway, Minneapolis, MN 55411-2615, 612.588.2000. Registration is at 5:00 p.m., showtime 7:00 p.m. Click photo for more weekend hip hop as part of Saturday's local celebration of Kenyan independence (including a new Kenyan hip-hop documentary and a night of music at the Blue Nile). Also read more on Saturday's finale of the Soap Factory's essential Afrofuturism event, which kind of ties it all together.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at October 21, 2005 3:06 PM | Comments (0)

 

"Do they Know It's Halloween?"

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

Watch the video for "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?" and consider plunking down dough for the charity single, now in stores. Performed by "the North American Halloween Prevention Initiative," the parody track benefits UNICEF (as in "trick or treat for...") and features Beck, Sum 41, Les Savy Fav, the Arcade Fire, Sonic Youth, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Joey Waronker, Sloan, Peaches, Feist, Devendra Banhart (who performs Tuesday at the Fine Line, and is reviewed by Andy Beta in this week's City Pages), Wolf Parade, Postal Service, Buck 65, Elvira, Malcolm McLaren, Gino Washington (for more on him, see "Gino vs. Geno" at Complicatedfun.com), Roky Erickson, Rilo Kiley, Sparks, Tagaq, and producer Steven McDonald of Redd Kross, though I have to admit, the only voice talent I recognized on first listen was David Cross. (By the way, did you read his parody of Pitchfork reviews?) Here are the lyrics. Listen while you carve your own virtual jackolantern.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at October 19, 2005 8:07 PM | Comments (4)

 

Rob likes 'North Country,' Charlize Theron talks

Filed under: Film , Film , Film , Film , Film , Film , Film , Film , Film

Forget praise from the film's subject herself. My fears about North Country, opening Friday, were put to rest by Minnesota cinema connoisseur Rob Nelson in today's City Pages: "Minnesota-movie vets, including Chris Mulkey (Patti Rocks) and Frances McDormand (you betcha), were offered supporting roles as part of what could easily be seen as a show of respect for our cinematic tradition," writes Nelson. "(Boy-from-the-north-country Bob Dylan was tapped to supply a half-dozen vintage tunes.) And, consciously or not, [director Niki] Caro seems to be channeling the independent spirit of Wildrose (1984), John Hanson and Sandra Schulberg's little-seen classic about the struggles of an Eveleth divorcee (Lisa Eichhorn) working among sexist men at the Iron Range's Mesabi Mine." Read Rob's appreciation of The Heartbreak Kid for background (cover image here), and check out this social action organization spawned by North Country and Good Night, and Good Luck, with accompanying group blog. (See also: a hi-def North Country trailer, Ranger reactions, a real Ranger's preview, and other items in MNSpeak's search engine.) Theron and Caro will participate in a video-conference Q&A after a 7:00 p.m. screening tonight (Wednesday) at the Regal Eagan Cinema 16. A screening at Lagoon Cinema on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., sponsored by and benefiting Minnesota Women in Film and Television, will be followed by a panel discussion of sexual harassment in the workplace.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at October 19, 2005 5:50 PM | Comments (0)

 

"A four-hour documentary on Nazis"

Filed under: Film , Film , Film

One of the great films, The Sorrow and the Pity, screens Saturday at noon at Bell Auditorium in Minneapolis. (Here's the City Pages review.) I avoided it for years because of the "I'm not in the mood to see a four-hour documentary on Nazis" joke in Annie Hall, but the movie never gets boring. The subtitled, black and white 1969 doc about French resistance and collaboration during WWII introduces you to vivid personalities of people who were there, and draws you in. (The mix of interviews and rare footage became the blueprint for cinematic histories from Eyes on the Prize to The War at Home.) The picture screens as part of the Bell's "Marcell Ophuls: Open Your Eyes" series (starting this weekend). Here's Matthew Wilder's preview in City Pages (scroll down): "This three-film retrospective is especially notable for the presence of The Memory of Justice [Oct. 22-23], Ophuls's 1976 masterpiece about the Nuremburg trials and the nature of 'crimes against humanity' in the post-WWII world. Memory was assailed in its day for being unfocused, but the filmmaker's roving style, darting from Dresden to Ho Chi Minh City in a blink of the mind's eye, will seem especially apt to today's hypertext generation...

"Alongside Memory sits Ophuls's monumental Sorrow and the Pity [click for Village Voice review], a four-hour meditation on the nature of the words collaboration and resistance (and, alas, a punch line in Annie Hall). A Marcel Ophuls film frustrates your certainties, requests a rigorous reexamination of the point it just made, and never lands in a place where it can feel secure. In other words, a Marcel Ophuls film has never been more essential than now."

All screenings begin at noon at the Bell, U of M, University Avenue and 17th Street SE, Mpls.; 612.331.3134

October 15-16
The Sorrow and the Pity

October 22-23
The Memory of Justice

October 29-30
The Troubles We've Seen: A History of Journalism in Wartime (1994)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at October 12, 2005 11:39 AM | Comments (0)

 

There's a place in France, etc.

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

King of France singer Steve Salett can be seen in promo spots for MTV's The Real World: Austin playing much the same role as Jonathan Richman did in There's Something About Mary--he has the same utter empathy bordering on goofiness. He also has Frank Black's range, but an octave lower and without the screams, and makes jumpy indie-jazz-country-rock with his old Deformo keyboard collaborator Tom Siler (of Tulip Sweet and Her Trail of Tears) and drummer Michael Azerrad (the noted American punk historian). Tonight's homecoming of sorts at the Quest Ascot Room, opening for Robbers on High Street, celebrates the Echo Records release of The King of France, which you should own (and which I should review!). Buy the old one first if you don't believe me. With headliners Robbers on High Street and openers the Mercy Kiss. All ages. $10. 6:30 p.m. The Quest Ascot Room, 110 Fifth St. N., Minneapolis; 612.338.3383. (P.S. Jonathan Richman is coming soon, too.)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at October 11, 2005 4:04 PM | Comments (0)

 

Doomtree made into dolls at Robot Love

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

The Minneapolis hip-hop crew Doomtree has been transformed into stuffed dolls by Rachel Sell, a Bloomington elementary school teacher with little previous sewing experience who is currently displaying the toys at Robot Love (2648 Lyndale Avenue South, 612.871.9393612.871.9393, www.robotlove.biz; click photo to enlarge, or check out this photo of the dolls in a club-like light). Sell says Doomtree commissioned and purchased the dolls (with each member owning his own figurine) after seeing her make similar ones for friends. Now she's launching a line of custom dolls called Play With Yourself (pwysdolls.com). "How it all started was, my friend Jenna was moving to New York," says Sell. "So I made myself, her boyfriend, and her old roommate into dolls so she could have us with her in New York. I know that sounds really cheesy, but the first week that she was there, she called me to say that it creepily was kind of consoling to have the dolls with her." Sell is busy sewing two more dolls for rockers, one for Andy Lund of the Swiss Army, one for James Lynch of newly arrived New York-Minneapolis rockers Beret. But voodoo dangers aside, isn't it a little weird and self-indulgent to have a doll made of yourself? "As far as I know, Andy's doll is just for him to play with."

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at October 10, 2005 4:40 PM | Comments (2)

 

DJ Spooky remixes 'The Birth of a Nation' tonight

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

I found out something disturbing earlier this year, while combing through hundreds of local newspapers from 1915-1916 to research the history of the Varsity Theater--tonight's venue for DJ Spooky's "remix" of D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (which also opened in 1915). Turns out Griffith's racist totem was hugely popular in Minneapolis, as it was across the U.S., enjoying a long downtown run with prominent advertisements in daily papers. A founding work of cinema, The Birth of a Nation was also an influential piece of white supremacist propaganda, based on the book The Clansman by Thomas F. Dixon, Jr., which heroized the Ku Klux Klan for protecting white women from black men. The ranks of the KKK swelled as a result of the film's success, as did the popularity of "movies" (then still taking quotes). By 1923, the Pioneer Press was reporting the presence of a KKK unit in St. Paul, and a University of Minnesota's homecoming parade had included a KKK float (read more here). Tonight's belated "response" of sorts features the great illbient turntablist Spooky orchestrating a live, three-screen, multimedia re-imagining of Griffith's silent "classic." By now filmmaker's primary claim on history is seen mainly by film students (MN Film Arts' Search and Rescue project recently unearthed a print at the U of M) and others curious about the work's anti-inspiration for Spike Lee, so this event (featuring new imagery and music) might actually be a good way to see the picture for the first time. Showtime at 7:30 p.m. at the Varsity Theater in Dinkytown, with an after-party at the same club featuring Spooky, DJ Nikoless, and Dessa's duo with Jessy Greene, Urban Ivy. See Complicatedfun.com for a complete Sound Unseen festival roundup, and the official festival site for a full schedule.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at October 10, 2005 3:02 PM | Comments (0)

 

Sound Unseen 2005: What shouldn't you miss?

Filed under: Pop Culture , Pop Culture , Pop Culture , Pop Culture , Pop Culture , Pop Culture , Pop Culture

Besides the film reviews in City Pages, Terri Sutton's essay on rock docs about dead dudes, and the festival's own full schedule of movies and music between Oct. 7 and Oct. 16, Complicatedfun.com has a recommended list of essentials from this year's Sound Unseen program, which kicks off Friday. Among them, Shawn Hewitt at the Entry on Saturday, DJ Spooky's live "remix" of The Birth of a Nation at the Varsity on Monday, and Scene Minneapolis, 1977-1984 at the Oak Street on Thursday, Oct. 13. Expect more on that bizarre DJ Spooky/D.W. Griffith mashup soon...

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at October 6, 2005 6:14 PM | Comments (0)

 

From CTG to the NYT: Everyone's couch jumping!

Filed under: Pop Culture

We're not one to toot our own horn (or in this case, jump the couch) over such little pleasures as "jumping the couch" appearing in Maureen Dowd's Sunday NYT column. But long before Dowd declared it part of the pop-culture lexicon, and before the phrase appeared on urbandictionary.com, CTG first claimed that "jumping the couch" had replaced the tired Fonzie-inspired expression "jumping the shark."

Sure, the phrase is about as clever as the term "technosexual," a play on 2003's ubiquitous "metrosexual." (And in that vain, we'd like to introduce the term "netrosexual," defined as someone who is obsessed with the internet and uses it to search for such ludicrous things as the etymology of ephemeral phrases.) But we have to admit, imagining George W. Bush vaulting over the couch of insanity, as Dowd outlined in her piece, is way funnier than Tom Cruise's actual psycho sofa swing. So though we declared "jumping the couch" dead on July 6, we'd like to resuscitate it, just for a moment, to honor the poor leather Rent-A-Center-like sofa sleepers that have no doubt gone through the ringer at Bush's Texas ranch.

Posted by at August 29, 2005 10:57 PM | Comments (2)

 

Seek and Ye Shall Find, by Jim Walsh

Filed under: Pop Culture

We have a new "jump the shark," folks. Call it "the Partridge Family scene." It happens midway through the wretched Must Love Dogs, when the cast inexplicably breaks into the Partridge Family theme. I saw it Tuesday night. I turned to my wife and said there are no words for how bad this is, how insulting it is. We left shortly thereafter, and I'd been trying to work out why ever since. I got my answer last night.

I've walked out on movies and concerts before, and felt the empowerment of hearing, say, Simon & Garfunkel doing "Kodachrome" from the parking lot, or the knowledge that Bo Derek (Ten) or Bloc Party (after being killed by openers the Kills) would have to soldier on without me. Oh, there have been a few times when I"ve regretted bailing early--most recently at a Walker Art Center-sponsored anti-performance that people I trust were transformed by.

Like I said, I've been thinking about why we bailed. It's not enough to say it was a bad movie. That's been said, and it's been said well recently--first by Rob Nelson in City Pages, then a special issue in Entertainment Weekly and seemingly everywhere else: There is a tsunami of crap out there, and the theater-going experience is getting annoying. We didn't listen. We The Duped sat there for 20 minutes as commercial after commercial for pure shit bludgeoned us in digital sound, which was followed by a major motion picture with two likeable stars (Lane and Jon Cusack, shame on you) that was, from the get-go, soul-sucking.

Last night, a friend and I got together to watch In the Realms of the Unreal: The Mystery of Henry Darger. We'd both had it in our Netflix queues and decided to make a movie night of it. It's the story of cult outsider artist Darger, a reclusive Chicago janitor who died at the age of 80 in 1972. Three days before his death, a neighbor discovered Darger's collected works in his apartment: a 15,000 page novel, paintings, poems.

It is stunning, prophetic, wildly original, philosophical, and all the more so because Darger was the best blogger who wasn't a blogger. That is, he didn't need an audience. He created stories about superhero children and war and religion and art for himself, not for recognition, or feedback. He expressed himself to himself, which is what any artist does first and foremost. The question--was he happy?--hangs over the documentary for all 82 minutes, including while the end credits role to Tom Waits' "Innocent When You Dream."

And, while his pure self-expression suggests his happiness was derived through his creations and the act of creating, we get a sense of the veil being drawn back when his neighbor talks about visiting Darger in the nursing home a few days before his death. He told Darger that he'd found his words and paintings and deemed them "beautiful." He said it looked as if Darger had been hit in the gut. He gasped and said, "Well, it's too late now."

This film is brilliant. It is the essence of a tough mind and spirit; a Chicago kid who survived a horrible childhood and created a world for/unto himself. So inspiring was it last night that We The Privileged talked over it and traversed many topics, including the new obesity statistics in America, the miracle of technology, the fight to maintain optimism in the face of war and death of friends and lovers, and the fact that we could watch this story in the comfort of our homes, while two generations ago big American families were fighting like dogs, just for a place to sleep and eat.

In The Realms of the Unreal came out under the radar last year. The critics on www.rottentomatoes.com are divided on it. Some say it's haunting, some say it's hackery, one guy yearns for "critique and analysis" of the artist's work. To me, it's one more reminder that we create our own reality, and that there's a ton of cool stuff out there, stuff that has nothing to do with American Idol or reality TV. Namely, at the moment:

*Eliza Gilkyson's latest Paradise Hotel (Red House), the female counterpart to John Prine's Fair & Square, whose songs about war and love and the virgin Mary come from a voice so wizened, I"d follow it anywhere. The title track recalls Patty Griffin's "The Rowing Song," in that it is about simple fleeting peace and comes from a white girl who has considered suicide when the world isn't enough but who has decided to stick around and keep hoping.

*The works of the great writer and thinker Joseph Campbell, whom Garrison Keillor, the great writer and huckster of all things "Midwestern" so sloppily dissed in the Star Tribune a couple weeks ago.

*Oasis, led by two brothers who were beaten to an inch of their lives by their father and who hate each other's guts, yet whose tremendous new one insists, "love one another."

*The New York Times" Jon Pareles' "The Case Against Coldplay" (June 4)--a succinct argument for why we should have little patience for navel-gazing self-pity and wanton dourness in rock these days.

*Mark Wheat playing John Vanderslice's "Exodus Damage" in the middle of a dark night. Eels' Blinking Lights, the Capricorns' "New Sound," Modest Mouse's "Float On," Clem Snide's "Moment In The Sun," Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer's "Plays Pretty For Baby" and "There's That One Person You'll Never Get Over No Matter How Long It's Been," and Mary Gauthier's "Mercy Now," which no-duhs, "Every living thing could use a little mercy now/Only the hand of grace/Can end the race/Towards another mushroom cloud."

*March Of The Penguins, this kid generation's Bambi and Ol' Yeller weeper, but which can show the rest of us how to huddle together against insurmountable odds in the name of love and kids. The characters in Me and You and Everyone We Know, who navigate their way through complex lives and end up living happily ever after with what Gilda Radner called "delicious ambiguity." The beauty-whipped old witch in Howl's Moving Castle, who tells a bored and puzzled youngster, "As you get older, you just like to look at the scenery."

* Father Jim De Bruycker, pastor at tiny St. Leonard of Port Maurice, whom those lucky fucking liberals at St. Joan Of Arc church will get to know at the end of the year, when he brings his wise words of love and looking out for each other to their big groovy standing-room only place of worship in South Minneapolis.

Parabola, Tricycle, and Spirituality & Health, three periodicals that, every time out, go deeper than this week's Newsweek cover story "Spirituality In America." Parabola (www.parabola.org) is the bible of them all, a quarterly journal that celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, and which goes by the subhead "The Search For Meaning." Uncanny in its timeliness and topicality, it rarely acknowledges news events or the outside world, but regularly explores all things inner through essays, features, interviews, poetry, and theme-issues such as "Eros," "Language and Meaning," "Evil," "Solitude & Community," "Peace," "Restraint," and "Conscience & Consciousness."

The writings of G.K. Chesterton, who could have been talking about Darger when he said "a saint is one who exaggerates what the world neglects," and who wrote this about the nature-worshipping St. Francis of Assisi: "There is only one reason an intelligent person doesn't believe in miracles. He or she believes in materialism."

Craig Wright's brilliant bird episode on the late, great Six Feet Under. Paul Westerberg, working on a soundtrack for an animated film in his basement, like Darger and his drawings. Joe Henry, recording back-to-old-school recordings of Mavis Staples, Booker T., and others, for a fall release through (!) Starbucks. The Hold Steady's Separation Sunday pumping out of seemingly everywhere these days, and The Ike Reilly Assassination's Junkie Faithful, pumping out of everywhere starting Sept. 27, both of which, all of which, recall the words of 19th-century monk and seer Swami Vivekannanda:

"Do not depend on doctrines, do not depend on dogmas, or sects, or churches, or temples; they count for little compared with the essence of existence in man, which is divine; and the more this divinity is developed in a man, the more powerful he is for good. Earn that spirituality first; acquire that, and criticize no one, for all doctrines and creeds have some good in them. Show by your lives that religion does not mean words, or names, or sects, but that it means spiritual realization."

In The Realms of the Unreal: The Mystery of Henry Darger. The story of one man, and all humankind, and the best damn date movie of the year. --Jim Walsh

Posted by Diablo Cody at August 25, 2005 1:39 PM | Comments (3)

 

Brazilian Slayer at the Third Lair

Filed under: Pop Culture

With five second left in his run, Tulio de Oliveira rolls to the top of the corner platform, skids to a stop, and looks over the 25,000 square-foot assemblage of ramps and rails at Golden Valley's Third Lair skate park.

The voice of the emcee rattles over the heads of some 200 skaters and spectators:

"Time for one last trick, Tulio!"

Although de Oliveira's laid down a solid line of tricks, the 17-year-old needs something to seal the deal -- a real hammer of a last trick to solidify his third and last run in the expert division of the third annual Midwest Melee, an open contest that draws skateboarders from all over the Midwest. De Oliveira postponed his stay in the United States to skate in the melee before returning home to São Paulo, Brazil.

After eyeing the embankment flanked by a grind bar nearby the judges' table, de Oliveira makes a "raise the roof" gesture to the crowd and offers folded palms to the ceiling before stepping onto his board and rolling down the masonite transition. People along the periphery holler as de Oliveira positions his feet in preparation for the hammer -- in this case, a nollie heelflip backside lipslide. At the peak of the bank, de Oliveira stomps the nose of his skateboard as his back foot flicks across the tail, causing him to pop into the air -- his board flipping under him -- and above the dinner table-length grind rail. As the board completes its rotation de Oliveira extends his feet, pressing the middle of the skateboard perpendicularly to the metal rail, and begins to slide.

The only audible sound is de Oliveira's white urethane wheels connecting with the Masonite platform. Then the park erupts in hollers. Skateboarders around the park slap their skateboards on the concrete floor or the metal coping of the ramps. De Oliveira, sweaty, beaming, and embarrassed, drags his heel as he slowed to a stop. After popping his board into his hand, he claps briefly before looking down at his shoes.

"Now that's how you finish up the Melee!" shouts emcee Steve Gareri, co-owner of Third Lair.

As the five judges tabulate the scores, de Oliveira sits on a plastic couch next to a friend in the park's fenced-in parking lot.

"You were great," the friend remarks.

"I know, I saw," de Oliveira replies.

She looks at him. "Did you just say you sucked?"

"No. I mean, 'saw', like past-tense of 'to see?'"

The friend looks dubious for a moment; then her eyes light up. "Oh! Oh, you 'know how great you were, because you saw,'" she says.

De Oliveira smiles a moment before looking up at her again. "Thanks," he says softly. "Thanks."

The São Paulo, Brazil, native has spent the better part of 2005 traveling the States and Europe skating in a string of highbrow amateur contests because "in Brazil we have contests and we have companies, but if you work hard at skating there still aren't as many opportunities as in America." At these contests, the team managers of skateboard companies often sniff out promising skaters the same way college recruiters do talented football players.

Financially backed by his family and several Brazilian skateboard companies, de Oliveira entered the Tampa Am contest in January, where he placed 16th in the semi-finals. Tom Rohrer, a fellow skater from Plymouth, Minnesota became pals with de Oliveira, and the two kept in touch when he returned to Brazil. In the spring the Rohrer family invited him to stay with them in Minnesota so he could compete alongside Tom in Third Lair's Damn Am contest in June, where de Oliveira placed 8th.

In July he flew to Europe to compete in the annual World Cup Skateboarding contest series, a tri-pronged event that took him to France, the Czech Republic, and Germany, where his cumulative performances landed him a 20th world ranking. And while the World Cup only ranks the skateboarders who can afford to hang out in Europe for three weeks, plenty of the sport's most recognized pros (Rick McCrank, 29th; MTV jackass Bam Margera, 68th; and Tony Trujillo, 83rd) made the trip this year and placed, well, noticeably lower than de Oliveira.

Back in Minnesota for the Melee, de Oliveira cruised through the qualifying heats to skate in the finals Sunday. During his run he wore a t-shirt that in Magic Marker read, "God bless the Rohrer family."

Later that afternoon during the awards ceremony, Steve Gareri announces the winners in each category. As the fifth and fourth place finishers emerge from the huddle of skaters, de Oliveira is surprised to hear his name announced so soon. Ousted by first place and second place finishers Jason Barr, 18, of Rice Lake, WI, and local ripper Ryan Yost, 17, of Minneapolis, respectively, de Oliveira isn't pissed off by his third place finish. Yet he isn't satisfied, either.
"I'm going to be back next year," he says, and walks off.

Posted by at August 11, 2005 12:17 PM | Comments (0)

 

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)