Inside the Daily Planet, 10/16/08

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Views and ReviewsTheater note: Lower case delights at the Open Eye by Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet • Theatre de la Jeune Lune alumna Sarah Agnew is currently onstage with Jim Lichtschiedl at the Open Eye Figure Theatre, performing an original—very original—show called archy and mehitabel…life in lower case. The lower-case imperative comes from the fact that Archy (Lichtscheidl) is a cockroach who communicates via typewriter but cannot manage the shift key. His companion and sometime antagonist Mehitabel (Agnew) is a vain alley cat who believes she is the reincarnation of Cleopatra.Music note: The Fleet Foxes, stellar sellouts by Jonathan Behm, TC Daily Planet • Chances are, next time the Fleet Foxes come to town they will play somewhere much bigger than the Cedar Cultural Center. The band have leapt forward in popularity so quickly that their last visit this past summer, at the 7th Street Entry, probably only attracted a fifth of the number of people who came to see them this time around. Next time they’ll surely have to play a supersized club like First Avenue.VOICES | Black people at First Ave? Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 10/15/08

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NEWS YOU CAN USE | Northeast Minneapolis hosts transit summit October 15 by Melissa Slachetka, TC Daily Planet • The Central Corridor Light Rail system won’t carry a passenger until 2014, according to the Metropolitan Council, but construction is slated to begin in 2010, if it gets federal approval.Music note: Broken Social Scene take liberties at First Ave by Jonathan Behm, TC Daily Planet • Canadian indie rockers Broken Social Scene were supposed to play a free in-store set at the Electric Fetus on Monday evening, a teaser for their First Avenue show later that night. Unfortunately, no one told the band.Next president needs to focus on jobs, TRW workers say by Barb Kucera, Workday Minnesota • Selena McElmury knows she probably will be on the unemployment line when the next president takes office in January 2009. She’s not giving up, however, on creating a better future for herself and her co-workers.Japanese artist reflects on Korea-Japan relations in two films by Staff, Korean Quarterly • A series of 16 film screenings by one of Japan’s most controversial and skilled filmmakers will include two which explore the relationship of Korea and Japan in the post-war era.NEW IN BLOGSGROUND ZERO | Panic attack: The economy, the constitution, and my dog Binx by Rich Broderick, October 14, 2008 • Poor Binx. All of his life, he’s been terrified of one thing above all others.Separation.WOMB WITH A VIEW | Leave by Phillip Andew Bennett LowMy feeling about love stories is similar to my feeling about religious conversions, or orgasms: they’re really awesome to have, but it’s not terribly interesting to witness someone else experiencing one.ARTS ORBIT | A first-timer at the Twin Cities Book Festival by Melissa Slachetka • It was a lazy Saturday morning to begin with. I slept until ten and then spent until just after 12:30 p.m. with my head in the new Elizabeth Peters novel. Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 10/14/08

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THINGS PEOPLE SAY | Who was the worst offender in Lakeville–the questioner or the candidate? by Jeff Severns Guntzel, Minnesota Independent • Much has been made of McCain’s angry crowd in Lakeville last week, where the candidate snatched a microphone from the hands of a questioner asserting that Barack Obama is “an Arab.” McCain’s response to this claim? “No ma’am. He’s a decent family man and citizen.”On the path of leadership by Tracey Paska, Minnesota Women’s Press • As a young mother during the early 1980s, Sherry Butcher joined her Eden Prairie neighbors to protest the expansion of what she calls the “seriously misnamed” Flying Cloud Sanitary Landfill, owned by industrial giant Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI). Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 10/11/08

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Voices | Attending to teen pregnancy: strengthening the Liberian family system by Emmanuel Dolo, The Liberian Journal • This week I received a phone call from a reader. She read my paper on weak family systems in Liberia and urged me to address the subject of teen pregnancy in a follow up article. She told me: “My teenage son is now a father. I am not working and many of his friends are also becoming fathers. The burden for caring for these children, then falls on the girls or their parents. Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 10/09/08

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Views and ReviewsManga and anime at MCAD: Taking cartoons seriouslyby Mark Weaver, TC Daily PlanetThe influences of manga and anime are everywhere, even if they’re not always identifiable. Japanese artists often go unnoticed in the US because people often dismiss manga and anime as mere comics and cartoons. Despite this prevailing attitude, manga and anime are making significant and transforming inroads into the cultures and economies of the world. The Schoolgirls and Mobilesuits (SGMS) sessions that ran at MCAD from September 26 to 28 not only responded to the popular aspects of this phenomenon, but also provided a forum for a deeper and more profound look at the influence manga and anime are having over a variety of cultural forms and in various arenas around the world.Theater note: A far-out Juryby Jay Gabler, TC Daily PlanetOff-Leash Area’s The Jury aims to take the audience inside the head of a traumatized and reckless young woman. Dance is not always best experienced from close-up (I’ve been splashed with the sweat of a Nutcracker Prince, and believe me, it breaks the spell), but both Jennifer Ilse and Elena Giannetti can act as well as dance, and together they turn the garage theater into a searing little hothouse of emotion.Music note: Storyhill at the Cedar, as comforting as old friendsby Jennifer and John Hierlinger, TC Daily PlanetAs we rounded the corner to the Cedar Cultural Center we were surprised at the lack of conspicuous buzz. Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 10/8/08

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THINGS PEOPLE SAY | Racists for Obama by Paul Demko, Minnesota Independent • How badly is the campaign going for John McCain? Ben Smith reports that he’s even struggling to hold on to the white racist vote.African Immigrants Unite for Wellness by Swallehe Msuya, Mshale • African immigrants in Minnesota have been urged to come together to address their common issues related to their wellness.Inner Strength For The Greater Good by Bruce Cochran, Uptown Neighborhood News • Like cell phone technology, exercise techniques seem to change way too often. Just when you’ve mastered the latest one, another one comes along. Exercise trends come and go. And with every new one comes the promise to “blow your fitness mind.” Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 10/7/08

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Increase in safety should follow increase in cyclists by Conrad deFiebre, Minnesota 2020 • To “promote and increase bicycling as an energy-efficient, nonpolluting and healthful transportation alternative” has been statutory policy of the state of Minnesota for more than 30 years.A social neighborhood is a safe neighborhood by Nancy Ward, Uptown Neighborhood News • Walker’s groups, also known as “Stroll Patrols”, are happening in the ECCO neighborhood, and YOU are invited to join them. These groups of neighborhood residents are meeting and greeting and keeping eyes open for both regular and irregular activities as they walk and talk. 911 calls sent from a safe distance by these groups can prevent or interrupt unwelcome activity. Reports sent by Stroll Patrols to MPD provide information that enables them to provide better and targeted service. The more we know each other, the stronger the community, and the safer we all are.Volunteers cover the world by Lisa Steinmann, The Park Bugle • Britta Hansen, originally from St. Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 10/5/08

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NEWS YOU CAN USE | Absentee voting: Let the voting begin!by Mary Turck, TC Daily PlanetAnyone who qualifies for an absentee ballot can vote now—today—at the county auditor’s office in the county of their residence. Voting for the November 4 election has already begun. In Minnesota, voting started on October 3.Wellstone legacy: Mental health parity bill signed into lawby Kathlyn Stone, TC Daily PlanetThe Paul Wellstone-Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 was added to the financial bailout package, passed, and promptly signed into law last week. The mental health parity legislation was added to the package to win support after the House rejected the bailout legislation earlier in the week. The law requires health insurers to provide benefits, co-payments and treatments for mental health services and substance abuse disorders equal to traditional medical coverage.Dialogue with lawmakers: Minnesota Korean adoptees meet with National Assembly members to discuss rights and roles of adoptees in Korean societyby Martha Vickery, Korean QuarterlyWhether some strategic legislation would make the way easier for the hundreds of Korean adoptees who return to their birth country to live and work, or the thousands who visit there annually, was the topic of a meeting at the University of Minnesota of nine South Korean legislators with representatives of three Minnesota organizations of adult Korean adoptees.Riders in black honor victims of recent bike deathsby Chris Steller, Minnesota IndependentDressed in black and wearing orange armbands, 50 or more bicyclists crowded a traffic median on Snelling Ave. Continue Reading

Inside the Daily Planet, 10/5/08

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Readers, Writers, and BooksBooks for Africa Celebrates 20 Years: 20 million books in 20 Years by Nelima Kerre, Mshale • On September 12th the Minnesota and African communities did more than reconnect at The Minnesota History Center for the Books for Africa 20th Anniversary Gala. They celebrated their connection and renewed their pledge to support each other in the noble cause to end Africa’s book famine. In a jam packed auditorium, attendees wearing brightly colored and beautifully patterned African outfits keenly listened as representatives from Africa and local leaders praised and encouraged the organization for its work.150 best Minnesota books #24 and #25: Betsy, Tacy, and Emily by Betsy Sundquist, Minnesota Historical Society • Maud Hart Lovelace wrote a series of books set in Mankato, the fictional Deep Valley, about Betsy Ray, Tacy Kelly and their friends, but I—and many other Lovelace fans—believe her best work is Emily of Deep Valley.Bright lights, small city: David Carr’s memoir recalls fast times in our slow lane. by Craig Cox, Minneapolis Observer Quarterly • I’m pretty sure that I first ran into David Carr sometime in 1986, when we were both guests on Brian Lambert’s cable-access TV show. We were talking about some political difficulties St. Continue Reading