This morning I read perhaps the worst Christmas news anyone could ask for: AM 1500 KSTP fired TD Mischke, the radio renegade who’s served up a cutting-edge local radio show since the mid-’90s. It doesn’t help that this comes only a few days after former City Pages editor Steve Perry resigned from the Minnesota Independent.

Mischke blogged a final goodbye on AM 1500′s Web site this morning, which was followed by comments ranging from outrage to heartfelt goodbye (post your own thoughts there). Here’s David Brauer’s breaking story on …

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Bruce Campbell made this movie one time called Evil Dead. Enough people watched it to warrant two more progressively ridiculous sequels, Evil Dead 2 and The Army of Darkness. The dude who directed them went on to direct the Spiderman film franchise. The dude named Bruce Campbell went on to play Bruce Campbell in the new film “My Name Is Bruce”.

Bruce’s character …

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Where do you come from? This is one of the first questions we always ask each other when introducing ourselves. But really, where do you come from? Your ancestors may have sailed over from Asia or Europe, but what about their ancestors who lived tens of thousands of years ago? From where did they travel and how did their actions result in your existence? Despite your views on human origin, the National Geographic Society, IBM, and geneticist Spencer Wells have theories and data to tickle anyone’s brain.

The Genographic Project is a five-year …

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I am not generally a clumsy person. I may trip over my own feet from time to time and I may have even fallen over backwards on top of a friend’s bicycle, but generally these things don’t happen to me. This day, though, I was clumsy, all for the sake of math.

A math class titled “Rate your World: Quantifying Judgments of Human Behavior” in the speech language and hearing sciences department requires every student to complete a project in which they observe human behavior and quantify data.

Not every student in the class must embarrass themselves like …

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Where 21st Avenue ends across from the Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery stands the Green Institute. This last stop destination conceals the center of environmental activism in Minnesota. The neighborhood surrounding the Institute is America: a hybrid of industrial, residential, and business life forming one community. Here reside the elements that compose human civilization and simultaneously endanger it. In the middle of this quintessential American landscape you’ll find explorer Will Steger, best known for evading it.

In the atrium of the Green Institute a group of …

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Every Tuesday night, a mighty bellow emanates from the University Baptist Church near campus. The collective sound of multiple people singing together rings out throughout the space. Participants of all ages gather here once a week to participate in the storied tradition of shape note singing.

Shape note singing is also known as “sacred harp singing” because the music is made using nothing but the human voice, the sacred instrument you are born with. A powerful, boisterous sound emerges when a number of people begin to belt out tunes, one that is at the same time raw and immaculate. The …

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Though the band carries his name, Jay Walker wasn’t initially sure he wanted to be part of Jay Walker and the Misdemeanors. The band, then consisting of Michael Reynolds (guitar), Iaan Reynolds (bass), and Brendan Troy (drums), was looking for a singer and Jay was looking to do anything but sing. Still, Jay figured he’d give the group a try—and loved it.

JWatM has moved up from high school proms and graduation parties to performing at more popular venues including the Dinkytowner and the Varsity …

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Hello all. Hope you had a good break. Mine was decent enough, filled much more with mashed potatoes than with any sort of cultural writings. But now it’s back to work, so here’s a bunch of things that are going on soon:

There was quite an influx of bad business going on when the Republic National Convention stormed our humble little city, not the least of which include the 18 felony cases stemming from the protests and the persecution of the RNC 8 under the …

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Despite being active for a few years, Solid Gold remains one of the best-kept secrets of the Minneapolis music scene. That may change with the coming of their first LP Bodies of Water, which kicked off in style with a well-attended CD release party at Varsity Theater, drawing over three hundred people.

The album contains eleven tracks, two of which were released on their previous EP “Who You Gonna Run To?” Though mainly electronic, it doesn’t give due justice to dismiss Solid Gold’s music as simply that. Psychedelic, rock, pop, and even some club flavors permeate the mix, …

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For over a decade, thousands of people have flocked to gawk in awe at some of the finest pop culture wares of our neighbors across the pond. This year the tradition continues, as the British Television Advertising Awards returns to the Walker Art Center. This hour and a half film showcasing industry highlights will be playing December 5th-30th in the Walker Cinema. Reprising his role from last year, BTAA administrator Peter Biggs will host the opening night screenings.

The concept of paying money to watch advertisements might invoke skepticism in even the most avid pop culture …

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In 60 years, Mexico’s children will not be hearing stories of mere hardship from their grandparents. Instead, they will hear gruesome tales of mass murders, decapitations, and kidnappings. They will have described to them the sounds of gunshots outside of classroom windows, explosions in city streets, and the sorrow following the deaths of loved ones. This is assuming, of course, that the drug wars of today are not present in 60 years.

Blood on the Tracks
On October 19, 12 adult bodies were discovered outside of an elementary school in Tijuana. The children of the school, already …

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I want to say that a movie called What the [Explicative] Do We Know? knocked me flat on my ass and made me get over it—but I feel like you’d probably judge me (see! you’re already doing it).

“You sniffing my boxers dude?” “Dude! Get this…” “ Dude! That’s sick…” “Dude, like, I know what you’re saying…” “Hell yeah, Dude…” This completes the interacting range of “dude” usage, as presented by Social Anthropologist Scott Kiesling. According to his work, the usage of ‘dude’ chiefly indexes a social stance of “cool solidarity” to one’s peers, an identity that Kiesling argues taps into the hegemonic hold that non-intimate heterosexual “nonconformity” has upon masculine identities within this country. The quotes above serve as the five quintessential instantiations of ‘dude’ in conversation. All of which guide the ‘cool solidarity’ social position. They …

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On the chilly night of November 14, the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater in Minneapolis opened the doors of its warm and cozy movie theater converted to stage converted to movie theater. “This is where it all began for me,” says Laura Heit, live matchbox puppeteer and Minneapolis native. When the lights dimmed Heit appeared elegantly on stage, glimmering in her silver sparkling top and sipping on a glass of wine. Through all the formality, it was hard to imagine that the audience was about to witness a matchbox sized puppet show.

Heit …

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I can remember the day my dad moved out of our house with crystal clarity. I was in 5th grade and my mother came to the stairs leading to my room and told me that I had to come down because there was something my parents needed to tell me. And I knew, probably through some subconscious interpretation of the tone in her voice, that something very jarring was about to happen.

My dad was gay. And he still is and he always was and always will be, because …

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