Inside the Daily Planet, 09/18/08

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Autumn Harvest: A Bumper Crop of Views and ReviewsMMAA + MPIRG = MMVIII by Melissa Slachetka, TC Daily Planet • Last Saturday night, music filtered into the evening air through the front doors of the Minnesota Museum of American Art. The Get Out the Vote concert was set to be held on the museum’s popular patio, but due to the rainy conditions, the bands were moved indoors. The main floor gallery was cleared of its normal artwork and instead was filled with patriotic voices. Poster art was projected onto a screen as the bands played. VOICES | When First Ave was an underage hipster farm club by Almostred, Rift Magazine • The “Hard Rock Bad / First Avenue Good” mantra seems tired but resonates loudly in a downtown eagerly re-developed with little sense of community or connection between venues and the people they serve. Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 09/18/08

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Autumn Harvest: A Bumper Crop of Views and ReviewsInterview: Bedlam Theatre’s Maren Ward discusses Because We Still Live Here by Dwight Hobbes, TC Daily Planet • Bedlam Theatre’s wizardry, blending avant-garde art with determined activism, is in effect once more—this time with the upcoming Because We Still Live Here, a mixed-medium evening about the aftermath of the Republican National Convention. Theater note: 17th-century witch hunts, eerily resonant today by Sheila Regan, TC Daily Planet • What a breath of fresh air! No, I’m not talking about Sarah Palin. I’m talking about Frank Theatre’s production of Vinegar Tom, which tackles Caryl Churchhill’s play about Europe’s 17th-century witch hunts with such gusto that by the end, you’ll be holding up your fist demanding justice. NEW IN BLOGS HISPANIC FANATIC | A Sort of Hajj by Daniel Cubias • As I’ve mentioned before, my family emigrated from El Salvador. Continue Reading

A scouting party for the future: canoeing the Wakan Wakpa

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In June, two Dakota youth from Minneapolis participated in a Healthy Nations canoe trip down the Wakan Wakpa (Sacred River), also known as the Rum River. The canoe trip, part of a larger effort to help Native people reclaim their tribal legacy, exposed serious problems with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ maintenance of the river. Native youth Ches Lorenzi and Joe Deala, and Healthy Nations’ Active Lifestyles Facilitator Jon Lurie set out on a165-mile canoe trip from Mde Wakan (Spirit Lake), or Lake Mille Lacs, to Minneapolis. The expedition was to both commemorate and renew important aspects of Dakota culture. LaPointe believes the river’s name is important. Continue Reading

Twin Cities officials respond to RNC tension

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Various Twin Cities elected officials have responded to the raids leading up to the RNC, as well as the protests and police actions throughout the convention. In a written statement Minneapolis City Council members Cam Gordon and Elizabeth Glidden urge the use of nonviolent practices to resolve RNC related tension; Representative Keith Ellison speaks with journalist Amy Goodman about the treatment of journalists by Minneapolis and Ramsey County Police officers; and St. Paul Council member Dave Thune reacts to the Ramsey County Sheriff raids in St. Paul the weekend preceding the RNC. Cam Gordon and Elizabeth Glidden, Minneapolis City Council Members
Statement on Recent Law Enforcement Actions Targeting Protest Organizers
On Friday August 29th, a large, peaceful Critical Mass bike ride occurred in Minneapolis where protesters, passersby and police conducted themselves in a civil and respectful way – a hopeful beginning to the Republican National Convention and related protest events, marches, and citizen journalism. Continue Reading