Arts Orbit Radar 7/21/11

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What’s happening this week

On the radar

Fully a year after their originally scheduled gig, U2—featuring a healed Bono—bring their epic tour to TCF Bank Stadium. Slightly less epic but still exciting is a stop by Sia at First Ave, with electropop darling Oh Land opening.

The Walker Art Center’s Momentum series of dance concerts by local artists continues at the Southern Theater with brand-new work by Mad King Thomas and Kenna Cottman. Also this weekend, the Art Car Parade makes its rite-of-summer ride ’round Lake Harriet.

Under the radar

Bedlam Theatre and Mixed Blood Theatre have collaborated on Ku soo Dhawaada Xaafadeena: Welcome to Our Neighborhood, a play “by, for, with, and about the people of Cedar-Riverside.” This weekend it opens at Mixed Blood. Tweeting during the show will be discouraged—but at Illusion Theater on Thursday, tweeting during the show can get you in free.

Thursday at Magers & Quinn, Minnesota native Ben Westhoff reads from his new book Dirty South: Outkast, Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy, and the Southern Rappers Who Invented Hip-Hop. Have you ever seen a more SEO-friendly book title?

Daily Planet arts roundup

Books

How to write mid-list fiction #1 (blog post by Eleanor Arnason)
“Ain’t it a trip where heroes come from?” (blog post by Lisa Gray)
Thanks, Ms. Rowling (blog post by Lisa Gray)
A Village in the City now printed (feature by Kerry Ashmore)

Movies

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2: Totally acceptable (review by Jay Gabler)

Theater and Dance

9 to 5: The Musical at the Ordway: Not just a wannabe (blog post by Kelsey McDonough)
9 to 5 at the Ordway still has a story to tell (review by Jean Gabler)
Word Ninjas: Fringe Preview Showcase (blog post by Phillip Andrew Bennett Low)
Classic West Side Story at the Orpheum has something for everyone (review by Emily Weiss)
Buttercream & Scotch: “Your hands can never measure that which you have already lost” (review by Matthew A. Everett)
Fringe-for-All #1 (blog post by Phillip Andrew Bennett Low)

Visual Arts

“Shared Sacrifice”: Intermedia Arts mural tackles Minnesota’s government shutdown (blog post by Paul Schmelzer)

Food

Youth Farm and Market Projec puts down new roots in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood (feature by Amber Collett)
Eat Local Farm Tour on July 30 (feature by Jeanette Fordyce)
Project Sweetie Pie launched in North Minneapolis (feature by Margo Ashmore)
Dar’s Double Scoop Ice Cream Shop: Proud of Rice Street (feature by Jeanette Fordyce)
If this is kosher… (blog post by Bradley Machov)
Old Arizona: Bridging community, cafes, and classrooms (feature by Brittany Gilbertson)
Fresh and local on the menu (feature by Tom Niemisto)
Chickens go to college? College students lead campus environmental projects (feature by Zamzam Abdirahman)

Lifestyle

Water walkers and basket-making (feature by Jim Northrup)
Injuries happen for Minnesota Twins and me—Will we rise above them? (blog post by Jean Gabler)
Good ol’ summer time… (blog post by Lisa Gray)
Rondo Days: Food, fun, and…yoga? (feature by Vickie Evans-Nash)
Community gardens open gates for visits on August 6 in Twin Cities and beyond (feature by Nancy Klausner)
A nice afternoon on the Wisconsin side of Lake Pepin (blog post by Steve Date)
Besides the beans: Hard Times, Caffetto, and the late-night undercurrent of Minneapolis coffee culture (feature by Collin Peck-Gray)
Channeling Erma… (blog post by Lisa Gray)
Oromo festival in North America opened colorfully (feature by Oromsis Adula)
Dragon Festival 2011: Minnesotans gather to celebrate Asian diversity (feature by Mary Tan)
Major Taylor Club hosts biking in NoMi (blog post by Jeff Skrenes)
100 days without oil: Cold showers and lots of biking (feature by Stacy Dahl)
Who is dating whom? (blog post by Ifrah Jimale)

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