MUSIC | Movits! and Koo Koo Kanga Roo swing by the Varsity Theater by Courtney Algeo, TC Daily Planet • When the internet told me that there was going to be a Swedish swing hip-hop group named Movits! playing at the Varsity Theater in Dinkytown, I said to myself, “This is going to be stupidly hilarious. I have got to go.” I mean, come on, it sounds silly, doesn’t it? A bunch of well-groomed white dudes rapping to swing music, wearing suits with bowties, Adidas shoes, and big Buddy Holly glasses? Weird. And that name: Movits! sounds like your dad’s improv dance team.
MUSIC | Cults bring a splash of summer to the 7th Street Entry by Kyle Matteson, TC Daily Planet • With Madeline Follin’s long brown curls waving to and fro as she danced back and forth throughout her set, the show certainly matched the 50s doo-wop vibe of many of Cults songs.
OPINION | Transportation money not invested is money lost by Conrad deFiebre, Minnesota 2020 • As the Minnesota Legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton wrestle with a $5 billion projected budget shortfall for state government over the next two years, it’s time to emphasize why building and maintaining basic public infrastructure, mainly for transportation, shouldn’t be on the chopping block.
Professional Learning Communities: making students and teachers better by Valerie Ong, Minnesota 2020 • In some city neighborhoods, small towns, and even close-knit suburbs, each child has a lot of mothers and fathers “looking out” for him or her. In these places, adults don’t parcel out children as “my son” and “your son” but as “our children,” feeling some degree of responsibility for all the little ones playing up and down the block.
St. Paul schools say “no radio” on busses by Staff, KFAI Radio • A recent controversy over a song parody about Hmongs on KDWB has prompted St. Paul schools to implement a “no radio” policy for drivers on their school buses.
NEW IN BLOGS
THE KNOTHOLE VIEW | Tragic tales of loss via the Minnesota Opera and the Minnesota Twins by Jean Gabler • Take a chance and read about my experience at the opera. I promise baseball discussion will follow.
ARTS ORBIT | Minnesota Opera’s Wuthering Heights: I could love a Linton by Courtney Algeo • Recently, I received an invitation to the classiest event known to mankind: the opera. At least, it was the classiest event I had ever been invited to.
COPACETIC CONVERSATIONS | Can’t swim–it’s never too late to learn by Deb Pleasants • From my hotel room window, I stared at an African American woman trying to escape the blazing Florida heat by cooling off in in the pool. However, something seemed a bit odd. This adult woman was struggling to keep her upper body submerged in waist deep water. Too shallow to stand up, yet too deep to sit down, she unsuccessfully tried stretching out horizontally on the pool stairs. She looked awkward and silly and I wondered why she didn’t just go into the deeper water. Then it hit me…she couldn’t swim.
THE PUBLIC RECLUSE | May Day 2011 Workshops-Universe in Union by Alan Wilfahrt • The artists heading up this section of the 2011 MayDay Parade express that “Our world is a noisy place, filled with sounds and voices”. With that they gather together a multitude of imagery and symbols. They are also the section that should see the majority of the stroller aged paraders, and their slightly elder siblings. Originally titled the Bunny Battalion this segment is now referred to as the Radical Acceptance Rabbits. Either way this means fun! Which little person you know doesn’t look good with rabbit ears.
EYETEETH | The art of Guo Gai: Chinese artist’s political works may offer clue to continuing detention by Paul Schmelzer • Ai Weiwei isn’t the only artist sitting in a cell in China for activities that have displeased the authorities: As I mentioned last Friday, Shanghai-based Guo Gai, among others, was arrested on Mar. 24 for photographing a performance at the Beijing Museum of Contemporary Art that reportedly had pro-democracy content. Gai has a Minneapolis connection: he’s scheduled to debut a large-scale photographic installation along with a newly commissioned choral work at the Soap Factory late this summer.
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