Books
MUSIC | Triple threat Desdamona drops new disc: "Inkling"
Desdamona is a powerhouse in the local spoken word scene and hip-hop community. She co-hosts Poet's Groove at the Blue Nile every Tuesday night, and was also among the founders of B-Girl Be, the nation's premier event for women in hip-hop. She is also one half of Ill Chemistry, her collaboration with beat boxer Carnage the Executioner. In her spare time, she posts daily writing prompts on her Facebook page. Quickly following on the heels of BGB and her campaign for Too Big For My Skin, Desdamona is releasing her third album, titled Inkling, and will perform this Saturday at Sauce with Carnage, Big Mike, and Alicia Wiley.MORE »
Arts Orbit Radar: 11/19/09
What's Happening This Week
On the radar: Before the holiday Nutcracker daze sets in, treat yourself to a long cool drink of inventive contemporary dance at the Ritz, where Zenon Dance Company's 27th fall season opens tonight.
Under the radar: Quietly, two of the Twin Cities' best and most inventive playmakers are rolling out new productions today. At Bedlam, Jeune Lune co-founder Barbara Berlovitz is premiering Stories as Told in a Bed, a show about the experiences of her Lithuanian immigrant grandfather. (Among the ensemble of performers is our writer Sheila Regan.) Meanwhile, at the Children's Theatre, Jon Ferguson and a cast of young actors are performing Gregory Gregorson and the Magic Pinto Bean, a show that "contains extreme flatulence, troll dating, intimidating Boy Scouts, temporary paralysis, L.P. records, naked album covers, a mom of the wig-wearing kind, and talk of decorative ducks."
On the radar: "Hearing 1,000-plus people shouting 'sexy ass me' when Brother Ali performs crowd favorite 'Forest Whitiker' is still one of my favorite hip-hop moments," writes Justin Schell. If you can squeeze your sexy ass into Ali's sold-out homecoming show tonight at First Ave, you won't regret it.
Under the radar: Tonight at the Nash Gallery, spoken-word artist IBé will perform to celebrate the opening of Talking Suitcases, an exhibit of suitcases filled with handmade objects that tell the personal stories of a diverse group of Minnesotans.MORE »
BOOKS | Kathy-jo Wargin sets a "Moose on the Loose"
When I wrote a biting review of two Minnesota-themed children's books by Minnetonka writer Kathy-jo Wargin, I thought that would be the last I'd hear from her publisher Sleeping Bear Press. But no! In a recent mail delivery I discovered a copy of Wargin's new picture book Moose on the Loose, and I'm glad I did. It's a fun romp, with cute illustrations by John Bendell-Brunello. MORE »
BOOKS | MNBA finalists "Monkey With a Toolbelt" (Chris Monroe) and "My Friend, the Starfinder" (George Ella Lyon and Stephen Gammell)
The holiday shopping season is upon us (at least, as far as the flocked plastic trees at Target are concerned), and you may be considering picture books for the youngest ones on your list.MORE »
BOOKS | Poet Joanna Rawson's challenging but stimulating "Unrest" will make you feel just a little bit more alive
Joanna Rawson wants you to be frustrated. In her second book of poetry, Unrest (Graywolf Press), Rawson writes her personal manifesto, and she lets you in on her philosophy of life, the universe, and everything. What Rawson sees in this world is chaos in perpetuity, as described in her poem "Provisional Endings during Wartime":
Tomorrow you'll set all this chaos right.
But the thought gets lost underneath, in the undertow.MORE »
Bookmark: The Bullhead Queen, by Sue Leaf
This new memoir from Minnesota essayist Sue Leaf is not really about bullheads. Or even the Bullhead Queen, a raft her son used to use as a teenager in the lazy Minnesota summers. Instead, this book offers bite-sized musings on life; the natural world surrounding her home on Pioneer Lake; and problems with the environment as they relate to her Christian faith.MORE »
At the Varsity, political philosopher Michael Sandel prompts moral soul-searching
Political philosopher and author Michael Sandel stopped by the Varsity Theater last night to present his wildly popular presentation on justice for Policy and a Pint, the series presented by The Current and the Citizens League. Though Sandel admitted that it was the first time he ever presented his talk in a "beer hall," the Varsity's stage served as a fine pulpit in place of Harvard's lecture halls, where Sandel has for two decades been teaching the most popular course in the university's history.MORE »
Arts Orbit Radar: 11/12/09
What's Happening This Week
On the radar: It's hard to pass up a chance to see the dance that the Washington Post calls "one of the seven wonders of the artistic universe," but be warned (or get excited): in costuming, notes Camille LeFevre, Martha Graham "certainly liked her men with buttocks bared."
Under the radar: MNfashion opens its holiday boutique tonight with winin' and snackin'. Stop by for a first look at the cool stuff Minnesota designers have created for you to tuck under the tree this year.
On the radar: The Seafarer, one of the darkest (but also, according to reports, funniest) of this season's holiday entertainments, opens at the Jungle. Downtown at First Ave, "national treasures" (per City Pages) Solid Gold headline a show that also features The Hood Internet and, just for good measure, Lookbook.
Under the radar: Tara Yule of the much-missed Pi Restaurant & Bar is convening a "Pi Family Reunion" tonight at BarFly. Pi patrons won't want to miss this chance to rub elbows (and, who knows, maybe more) with old friends.MORE »
BOOKS | Paul Gruchow's "Journal of a Prairie Year": Beautiful and contemplative...but also one of the most boring books in the history of the planet
Paul Gruchow's Journal of a Prairie Year is not exactly a page-turner, but once you accept that you're not going to be sitting on the edge of your seat reading it, you get seduced by its lulling, meditative contemplation on the minutiae and expanse of North America's underappreciated landscape: the Great Plains.MORE »
