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Your Weekend Entertainment, January 29-31

January 29, 2010

This looks to be quite a busy weekend indeed. We start with a few exhibition openings. The American Swedish Institute opens its new exhibit 17 Swedish Designers at 6:00 PM on Friday. The exhibit “showcases exciting examples of the most recent work from these seventeen designers, spanning a wide variety of design fields including glass, ceramics, textiles, architecture, furniture, industrial design, interior design, and graphic design,” and “suggests a flavor of contemporary thoughts and solutions for developing good design for every day use.” It runs through the end of May.

At Highpoint Center for Printmaking, it’s the opening of Select Impressions, which features 50+ images from 29 local printmakers. See this Star Tribune article for all the details. The exhibit runs through March 13, and the opening reception is from 6:30 – 9:00 PM Friday.

Anyone who likes soup is sure to want to be at the Midtown Global Market on Saturday. It’s the third incarnation of the Global Soup Cook-Off, and the competition will be fierce! Over a dozen soup recipes will be available for sampling. Market visitors are invited to vote for their favorites and take the recipe home.The event is open to the public. A donation of $3 per person is suggested with proceeds benefiting Perspectives’ Kids Café.

On the theater scene, Patrick’s Cabaret has a new version of Elements in Translation this weekend, Friday & Saturday at 8:00 PM. “An evening of hip-hop, breakin, waacking, house, poppin, tap, african, bellydance, spoken word, singing, and modern dance. Local urban talent with local urban style.” MPR recently paid Patrick’s a visit to learn more about this show so be sure to have a listen!

At Bryant Lake Bowl, Party in the Rec Room raps up its long run with four shows over the course of Friday and Saturday. And Sunday night, it’s The Rockstar Storytellers: Erotica & Romance, “a smokin’ hot lineup of stories that’ll make you feel all warm and gushy and… and perhaps other unmentionables.”

Pangea World Theater hosts a Benefit for Haiti on Saturday night. Performers include: Khary Jackson, Ayanna Muata, Gabrielle Civil, Ellen Marie Hinchcliffe (more will be added soon) Hosted by Juma B. Essie. All money raised will go directly to Paul Farmer’s organization Partners in Health.

And Magers & Quinn has a couple book events this weekend. Friday at 7:30 PM, four Twin Cities authors read from Interfictions 2, a genre-spanning collection of short stories from 21 authors from around the world that included these four locals. William Alexander, David Schwartz, Kelly Barnhill, and Alan DeNiro. And Sunday at 2:00 PM, Former Minnesota Viking Todd Kalis will sign copies of Pigskin Dreams. Special guests will include Hall of Famer’s Paul Krause and Randall McDaniel, The Power Trip (KFAN) host Mike Morris, Bob Lurtsema, and John Randle.

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New and upcoming business openings on Lake

January 28, 2010

There are several new and upcoming business openings to take note of in the Lake Street corridor. A new Subway restaurant and coffee shop called I Am Coffee are now open at 2752 Lyndale Ave. Just south of there, at 2800 Lyndale Ave., a new motorcycle dealership called Ducati Minneapolis plans to open in the spring. My Sister’s Closet plans to open its second store in February at 2741 Hennepin Ave. Double Danger Comics & Collectibles plans to open at 818 W. Lake St. And the Pioneer Press reports that a new Parasole restaurant called Cafeteria will open in Calhoun Square later this year.

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Your Weekend Entertainment, January 22-24

January 22, 2010

Let’s start things off with Patrick’s Cabaret, which is gearing up for its first new cabaret show of 2010. Aesthetic Elevator takes place Friday and Saturday nights. It will feature: dance by Erin Liebhard, Kats Fukasawa-Butoh, David Means-intermedia art, a short film by Tucker Dryden, dance by Anat Shinar, and theater with Vickijoan Keck. Buy tickets

Bryant Lake Bowl’s theater has a double-header of Party in the Rec Room (a comedy bash) and Ye Olde Vylyfycation Tennys Showe (a take on Renaissance Festivals) on both Friday and Saturday nights. On Sunday, it’s The Problem of the Body, in which “Damon Rudman probes contemporary American attitudes toward bodily urges by comparing today’s US media with jaw-dropping imagery from other times and places.” Buy tickets

Dumb/Sex wraps up at Old Arizona Friday & Saturday. It’s a double feature of Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter and Mamet’s Sexual Perversity in Chicago, with some improv thrown into the mix as well.

There are not one but two venues for kid friendly puppet shows on Saturday. At 10:00 AM and again at noon, In the Heart of the Beast Theatre presents Big Fish, which has two stories. “Many small fish get together to overcome the big fish. An African American family moves into an all white neighborhood in the 1930s, and are welcomed with open arms!”

The other venue is East Lake Library. At 11:00 AM on Saturday, “the delightful Megan & Friends will help us celebrate Martin Luther King Day by teaching, entertaining and inspiring us to make the world a better place. Join us at 11:00 and stay after the show to meet the puppets. For children ages 4-10.”

Bibliophiles can head to Magers & Quinn on Sunday, for a book reading with author Maaza Mengiste. She’ll be reading her novel Beneath the Lion’s Gaze, a “memorable heartbreaking story that opens in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 1974, on the eve of a revolution.”

And there’s always something for local music lovers at Sauce Spirits & Soundbar, and this weekend is no exception. Friday night it’s City On The Make, Black Blondie, and Military Special. On Saturday, The Van Gobots, Big Lake, and The Drive Back. Both shows have a $5 cover and are 21+. And on Sunday, DJ Gary Slam visits, with no cover charge.

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Your Weekend Entertainment, January 15-17

January 15, 2010

Let’s start off this edition with some family-friendly activities. East Lake Library is holding another Kids Book Club on Saturday, starting at 2:00 PM. This month’s discussion will be based on The Cookcamp by Gary Paulsen. You can order a copy of the book through at the library’s website, or stop by the library for help. Newcomers are welcome!

And a bit further west, In the Heart of the Beast Theatre is putting on a kid-friendly show called The Puggles – A Platypus Adventure, “A musical tale of a brother and sister platypus making their way in this big, big world, discovering the strength in sensitivity.” It’s there Saturday at 7:00 PM and Sunday at 1:30 & 4:00 PM. Buy tickets

In more adult-oriented fare, there’s Old Arizona at 29th & Nicollet, which is hosting Dumb/Sex: 2 Shows & Improv. “3AM Productions invites you to sit back, grab a beverage, sit back and enjoy an evening of suspense, provocation, and laughter. Join us for Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter and Mamet’s Sexual Perversity in Chicago followed by a rotating schedule of improv performers.” It runs Friday & Saturday at 7:30 PM. Buy tickets

Bryant Lake Bowl has its usual busy schedule. Friday night it’s Lorna Landvik’s Party in the Rec Room, followed by “Inspire” A Tribute to Michael Jackson. Saturday it’s another round of Party in the Rec Room, then DRAGMANITY: Dragxclamation!, presented by Esme Rodriguez. Finally, on Sunday it’s two showings of Wednesday Feels Like Tuesday, presented by the Orange Mighty Trio and Maggie Bergeron and Company. Buy tickets

And for fans of live local music, Sauce Spirits & Soundbar has you covered. Friday night it’s Velvet Davenport, Whitesand/Badlands, and Zoo Animal. On Saturday, it’s Flavor Crystals, The Chambermaids, Red Pens, and Gospel Gossip. On both nights it’s 9:30 doors and the cover is $5.

What will you be doing this weekend? Feel free to let us know in the comments.

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Your Weekend Entertainment, January 8-10

January 08, 2010

This weekend will finally see temperatures climbing a little bit, and the Lake Street entertainment scene is heating up a bit too — it’s not the busiest weekend of the year but there are still activities to choose from.

Bryant Lake Bowl, for one, has a full schedule. Friday night it’s Party in the Rec Room with local author & actor Lorna Landvik at 7:00, and Last Laugh from La Vie Theatre at 10:00. Saturday at noon Creative Laughter Club House, for kids K-6, takes the stage. Later that night it’s another dose of Party in the Rec Room at 7:00 and Women Stand Up! A Comedy Cabaret at 10:00. And Sunday at 9:00 it’s “The Shirt Off My Back” Benefit, an evening with The Teddy Holidays. Attendees are asked to bring clothing for donation. Buy tickets

Magers & Quinn has an interesting event on Saturday, with Emergent Poets III. It features poets Julie Carr, Christine Hume, and Andrew Zawacki.

And Sauce Spirits & Soundbar has a full weekend of music scheduled. Friday night it’s High on Stress headlines, The Tisdales, The Hard Left, and Slim Dunlap. On Saturday it’s 20 Dollar Love, The Rockford Mules, Droids Attack, Tonnage, and Blue Ox. And Sunday, it’s DJs Imelda & Jaques Renault.

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