Culturology Calendar 9-22

Thurs., Sep. 22

It’s another in the series of monthly Pecha Kucha nights in Bemidji.  It’s a presentation format: 20 slides up for 20 seconds each, and narration to fit.  It reminds me of the TED format that made a splash at the start of the week in Grand Rapids.  It’s at the New City Ballroom, starting at 6:30.

Minnesota Folklore Theater in Akeley has an original musical about the life and songs of Judy Garland.  “Judy Why Can’t I” covers three stages in Garland’s life beginning with her youth in Grand Rapids, through her Hollywood days, and into drug and alcohol abuse and premature death at age 47. This show is not appropriate for small children. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. this Thursday Friday and Saturday, and a 3 p.m. matinee Saturday.  More performances follow next week. (7:30 Sept. 28 and 29, October 1 and 2. 3 p.m. Sept. 24, 28 and Oct. 2.  Call 218-652-2666.)

Fri., Sep. 23

The National Chainsaw Sculpting Invitational is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Hackensack.

Crosslake Days this weekend includes a Chili Cook-off, Car Show, Outdoor Artisans & Crafters, Tour of Lakes and Leaves Bicycle Tour, and Disc Golf Tournament.  It runs all weekend in Crosslake.

Contemporary dance performance from the Stuart Pimsler dance troupe, 7:30 Friday night at the Reif Center in Grand Rapids.

Bemidji Jazz Quartet play at 8 Friday at Brigid’s Cross, Bemidji.

The Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council will host the 2011 Art Leap this Friday and Saturday.

It includes studio visits, live performances, theater arts tour and museum displays, a visit to Forestedge Winery and Gallery, Itasca State Park and Native Harvest and Minwanjige Café.  For complete information on all the activities and maps, please see the website www.prlaac.org or Blank Canvas Gallery and Education Center, The Chamber of Commerce and the Community Education Office.

Sat., Sep. 24

A workshop this weekend at the Mille Lacs Indian Museum in Onamia will walk participants through ancient clay pottery technique, from digging the clay from the ground through construction and firing in a buried pit.  Reservations are required; call us for the information.   (320-532-3632)

Two showtimes for Deer Camp: The Musical at Bemidji High School Auditorium on Saturday night, 3 and 7:30 p.m.

Singer-songwriter Lance Benson is at Brigid’s Cross in Bemidji Saturday night at 8.

The Black Lantern Fall Festival will feature two Bemidji groups. Timberline will perform from 1 to 5 and Pelican Railroad is on from 6 to 10 Saturday. Pelican Railroad will return Sunday from 1 to 3.  The fall festival is being held at the Black Lantern Resort and is family friendly with games for children and entertainment for adults. Black Lantern is located outside Shevlin.

Sun., Sep. 25

Longstanding smooth Country act The Gatlin Brothers take the Reif Center stage Sunday at 7:30, in Grand Rapids.

Tues., Sep. 27

The Merling Trio performs on violin, cello and piano.  They’re based at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo and their latest recording includes pieces from Shostakovich and Dvorak.  They’re at the Reif Center, 7:30 Tuesday night.

Headwaters Center for Lifelong Learning presents Marsh Muirhead and John Thornberg for a presentation called “Real Men Do Write Poetry.”  That starts at 1 Tuesday, at Northwoods Bank in Park Rapids.

Minnesota History Datebook

Sept. 21, 1805 Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike, reaches the mouth of the Minnesota River.  He stops at what is now known as Pike Island and raises the Stars and Stripes inside present-day Minnesota for the first time.  Two days later, Pike buys a hundred thousand acres from the Dakota for $2,000 and a barrel of whiskey.

Sept. 19, 1865 Governor Stephen Miller announces that gold has been found near Vermilion Lake.  This was based on a rock collected there by state geologist Henry H. Eames. A gold rush begins but no sizeable amount of gold is ever found in the area.   The rush does draw attention to the rich iron ore of the region.  Extensive mining would begin about twenty years later.

Sept. 24, 1963 President John F. Kennedy speaks at the University of Minnesota-Duluth on the subject of high unemployment in the northern Great Lakes area.  Joblessness was about twice the national average at the time.

Culturology 9-15: Leaf Town

by Travis Ryder

Thursday, Sept. 15

Roster McCabe is a well-known Twin Cities-based jam band.  They perform tonight at the Blue Ox in Bemidji.

Pink Floyd tribute act “The Machine” is part of the performing arts series at Central Lakes College Tornstrom Auditorium tonight at 7:30.

Friday, Sept. 16

Cellist Evan Drachmann and pianist Mary Au continue their tour of our region with a classical music performance at St. Mary’s Church in Cook.

The Icebox Radio Theater of International Falls will complete its 2011 Tour with a live show and broadcast from the Ranier Community Building, Friday, September 16th at 7pm. On tap is a series of original skits and songs, and a half-hour radio play based on the true Koochiching County bank robber W.W. Butler. The show will be broadcast live at soundstagesradio.com.

Saturday, Sept. 17

It’s the Taste of Pequot arts and crafts event in Trailside Park from 9 to 4 Saturday.

9th Annual Goods From the Woods event is 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the IRA Civic Center. 70 high-quality, regional exhibitors including Don and Patti Erven; one-of-a-kind forest products, demonstrations by master artisans, hands-on learning, northwoods foods; info:  888.223.5629 / www.GoodsFromTheWoods.org.

The Viva Musica Fall Arts Festival will be from 3 to 11 p.m. September 17 at Zorbaz on Gull Lake. The festival will feature live music by One Night Stand, which will be recording a live CD.  Viva Musica is dedicated to saving music and art education in schools.

Minnesota Music Coalition’s Caravan du Nord rolls into Grand Rapids. At 2, there’s panel discussions aimed at people trying to gain a foothold in the music business.  Then there’s an evening concert with Chris Koza and Rogue Valley, Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles featuring John Munson, and the Jig Rockin’ Ore Dogs.  The concert starts at 7:30 at the Reif Center.

Latin jazz pianist Nachito Herrera is in concert at Pequot Lakes High School Saturday at 7:30.

A good weekend for jam bands in Bemidji: Kazyak is on stage Saturday night at Brigid’s Cross.

Sunday, Sept. 18

Lake Bemidji State Park offers a narrated pontoon boat tour of the Upper Mississippi River.  They’ll pay special attention to the historical highlights of the waterway, and identify the birds that migrate using this natural landmark. Advance signup is required due to limited seating.  (218-308-2300)

Tuesday, Sept. 20

North Carolina-based abstractionist Dick Roberts will open a show of his paintings, ‘Forays into Abstraction,’ at Bemidji State University’s Talley Gallery.  Roberts’ show opens Tuesday, Sept. 20, and will run through Oct. 14.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the dates for the 36^th annual North Country arts and crafts workshop.  Instruction, demonstrations, entertainment, food, and a crafter’s bazaar.  45 classes to choose from.  Held at the Concordia Language Villages.  (218-586-2884; paulbunyan.net/northart)

Wednesday, Sept. 21

Writers are invited to bring their work to the open stage, 3^rd Wednesdays at Brigid’s Cross in Bemidji starting at 6:30.

The Brothers Burn Mountain play a show at 5:30 p.m., See them at Brewed Awakenings Coffeehouse in downtown Grand Rapids.

Minnesota History Datebook

Sept. 13, 1955: Commercial production of taconite begins at the Reserve Mining Company's plant in Silver Bay.  Taconite processing had been done experimentally in 1919. Large-scale production wasn't begun until the richer ore was becoming scarce and the U of M’s Edward W. Davis perfected a method to process it.  That operation in Silver Bay?  It continues today as Cliffs Northshore Mining.

Sept. 17, 1961: The Minnesota Vikings football team plays its first game, beating the Chicago Bears 37-13 at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington.

Steve Downing on Ethnicity

My ethnicity is ostentatiously unremarkable, so I wonder how much it contributes to who I am, or---more to the point, I suppose---what I’ve turned into. On Dad’s side of the family, obviously it’s by-the-book Anglo. Somewhere back near the dawn of recorded British history one of his ancestors presumably owned the London property that became Number 10 Downing Street. Not that that’s anything to brag about. I’ve stood there at Number 10 Downing Street, as a tourist, but I was certainly not picking up any particular vibe or chill or voice from the beyond the pale.

            Mom’s surname was Costello, and her dad was one of the first whites to settle in what became Grand Rapids, late in the 1800s. He made his way down here from Ontario when he was a kid and just stayed put. The name sounds Italian, but these Costellos and their kin called themselves Black Irish, a practically meaningless colloquialism, even then. In their homes they switched back and forth comfortably between French (French Canadian) and English (American idiomatic English). More than one language under one roof was not remarkable back then. It’s turning so again, isn’t it.

            Now that I’m thinking about it, though, maybe the fact that I’m leading such an unremarkable life is directly attributable to my ethnicity. Otherwise, I have no one but myself to blame. For not discovering any new drug or planet. Not making or stealing a billion dollars and giving it away to charity. Not winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Not fathering a child genius, or any manner of offspring. Not winding up on Dancing With The Stars.

            You don’t run into me and intuitively know---from my size or shape, skin or hair or eye color, or any other physical features, or how I talk---that my ethnic background is this, that or the other thing. Of course now you look at me and your first thought is ‘old guy’. Between you and me, I’m okay with that. Ethnicity is no guard against the aging process in any event.

We deploy the term ethnic to differentiate among cultures and homelands and societies and races and linguistic or ancestral groupings, but at one time it was used strictly to reference anyone who wasn’t either Christian or Jewish---in other words, a heathen, or pagan. In other words just about everybody.

We’re not so exotic to one another any longer, are we. When we commemorate old homeland costuming and music and cuisine and other cultural traditions, as we’re doing this weekend in Walker, at Ethnic Fest, we do it as celebratory partners in what’s become a much shrunken, less mysterious world than the days when our differences defined us.

Maybe that’s a problem. We’re all swimming inarguably in the same waters today. We’re so intermingled, so interconnected, we can’t honestly fault ethnic distinction in our conflicts. To the schemer, anything, anything will do.

Enter the politician. I’ll say no more.

Culturology 9-8: School's In

by Travis Ryder
Even though schools are back in session and autumn is in the air, we're expecting a beautiful and warm weekend with a lot of music and cultural events around our region.  You have a couple of opportunities to meet staff and volunteers with KAXE and KBXE on Saturday, too.  Read on:

Friday, Sept. 9

The Edge Center for the Arts in Bigfork has an opening reception for watercolor and acrylic painter Terry Honstead. The reception goes from 5 to 7 and the exhibition is up until the end of the month.

The Babe City Rollers women’s roller derby team has an exhibition mixer, 6:30 Friday at the BSU John Glas Fieldhouse.

Country, bluegrass, and gospel music is at the Cowboy and Hobo Days music festival this weekend on the Crow Wing County fairgrounds in Brainerd.

Speaking of hobos, the hobo stew will be on at Heritage Days in Pine River Saturday at noon.  Other events Friday and Saturday include historical tours and displays and a quilt show.

The Second City comedy troupe rolls into Brainerd for a show Friday night, 7:30, at Central Lakes College Chalberg Theatre.

Saturday, Sept. 10
Bemidji Women’s Expo runs from 8 to 4 at Sanford Center.  KBXE will be there!

Walker Ethnic Fest features traditional food, crafts and music all day Saturday in Walker.  KBXE representatives are here, too!

The Dog Days sailing regatta is sponsored by the BSU outdoors program.  Sailors and skippers of all levels will be racing on Lake Bemidji from 2 to 5 p.m.

The Eli Wirtanen Pioneer Farm preserves the Finnish homesteader tradition of the areas surrounding the east Range.  The farm in Markham will host a Fall Festival this Saturday, with draft horse demonstrations, antique appraisals, artisans, food, music and storytelling.  The farm is south of Biwabik, just off County Highway 4.

The Miltich-LaPlant Folk Ensemble plays a fundraiser hoedown Saturday starting at 5:30.  It’s a fundraiser for Bigfork Valley health system and it’s at the Marcell Family Center.

Sunday, Sept. 11

Long-time group The Pretenders and Friends perform a 2 p.m. show of ballads, country, and early rock at the Edge Center in Bigfork.

The Jug Band Boogie is on at Tavern on the Edge in Effie, starting at 3 and going well into the evening.  Jug bands stream in from all over the state to vie for the fish scaler trophy.

Performer and recording artist Kelley Hunt is in concert Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Chief Theater in downtown Bemidji.  Proceeds benefit the Headwaters School of Music scholarship program.

The West Range Country Show comes to the Greenway Auditorium in Coleraine Sunday night at 6.

Tuesday, Sept. 13

The Glazed and Amused ceramics shop has a themed painting event you can participate in.  Tuesday starting at 3:30, the theme is After School Snack.  The shop is in downtown Bemidji.

Wednesday, Sept. 14

Classical cello and piano music from Evan Drachman and Mary Au is at the Edge Center in Bigfork Wednesday night at 7.  It’s a pay-what-you-can admission fee.

Minnesota History Datebook

September 9, 1861 The steamboat Alhambra pulls Minnesota’s first locomotive into St. Paul. Operation of the engine, called William Crooks, begins the following June with a trip to St. Anthony. It’s now on display at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth.

September 4, 1908 A forest fire almost entirely destroys the Range town of Chisholm. Though it left 6,000 people homeless, no serious injuries are reported.

September 10, 1934 Baseball slugger Roger Maris is born in Hibbing. In 1961 he would hit sixty-one home runs for the Yankees.  That broke Babe Ruth's single season record, which had stood for thirty-four years. Maris's record stood for thirty-seven years.

The Importance of Membership

If you listen to KAXE often, you probably know that our largest source of funding comes from our listener members. Membership is our most reliable income. It helps to pay for the daily expenses of running a radio station, including electricity for our transmitter, which brings you endless hours of music, news, and entertainment.

KAXE operates on fiscal years, which run from October 1-September 30.  Our general manager, Maggie Montgomery, sets a budget before each fiscal year, and that budget includes projected income from listeners. It's important to reach that goal in order for KAXE to keep doing what we've been doing for the past 35 years.

If you have already contributed this year, thank you! If you have made a pledge, but not yet paid it, now is the perfect time! If you are not currently a KAXE member, now is a great time to become one. Whatever you decide to contribute is appreciated very much and will make a difference.

You can pledge online anytime here.

Thank you!

Jennifer Poenix
Member Services Manager

Nailed It

by John Bauer

While on a recent golf trip to Wisconsin, three of my buddies and I were scheduled for Golfer's Foot Renewal Treatments at the Kohler Spa.  Didn't really know what that meant but it sure sounded like something we could use after playing 36 holes of golf in 90 degree heat.  Going to a 5-star spa isn't something I do on a regular basis.  As a matter of fact, I never do!

 After slipping into my plush white robe, I was asked to have a seat on the couch and my personal massage therapist would be right out.  Her name was Patty and she escorted me to a room filled with porcelain tiled thrones with soothing music filling the air.

The next hour was filled with hot bubbling water, foot rasps, toe nail cutters, sea weed, salt scrubs and muscular ..  yet soothing hands.  To make a long story short, at the end of the massage my golfing buddy Afton was offered a color swatch of potential nail colors to choose from.  I thought it a little strange that I wasn't offered the same opportunity.  I asked if I could choose a color for my toenails and a nervous laugh filled the air.  Although somewhat reluctant, Patty offered me the color pallet and I selected a sexy blue color for my toes.  Not only was it blue .. it was shiny blue.  The color you can't help but stare at.  As every single person in that spa did for the rest of my time there. You see, give or take, I probably have about 25 years left on this earth if I am lucky so why not get your nails done.  I'm glad I did and if our paths ever cross .. ask to see my nails and they will brighten your day.

     

Culturology 9-1: Summer's last hurrah

by Travis Ryder

Lory Worthing doesn’t have a permanent studio right now.  When she paints, she either brings her watercolors out into her living room, overlooking Amen Lake north of Grand Rapids, or she sets up down by the water.  So she brought her studio… to our studios.

Lory Worthing chooses a lot of water-related subjects – sunfish are one of her favorite.  She also brought along some more whimsical pieces, like one of mice using a big leaf as a boat, and a depiction of freshwater mermaids.  Don’t let the light subject matter fool you.  Lory Worthing has a deep and philosophical connection to making art, and she lets us in on some of her thoughts.  First, we talk about the finer points of her current favored medium: watercolor.

 Worthing told me her next challenge is depicting more personal and emotional works in the rich medium of oil paints. She has work on display at Frame Up and MacRostie Art Center, both in Grand Rapids.  

Courtesy: royal_broil via Flickr

Volunteer producer Dave Lathrop headed to the Hibbing Raceway to learn about how family connections play into motorsports.  He found that the upstarts, the NASCAR vets, and even the fans tend to have racing in their blood.  Some families go three and four generations deep into racing history, with Grandpa (who hit the dirt tracks in the Fifties) helping the grandkids get started on the kart circuit.  Take a trip to the track with your ears, here.

Culture Calendar: Thursday, Sept. 1
Heavy music from Colmekill and Fifth Floor at the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm starting at 7.  Free admission to the Center starts at 5 with access to all the exhibits, including the current ones: "Peanuts...Naturally," "Minnesota On The Map," and photo exhibits about the Range in the '20s to '50s era and today.

Friday, Sept. 2

Community celebrations in our region this weekend include the hundredth annual Farmers’ Day celebration in Bovey throughout the long weekend, with a Parade Monday morning, and Wild Rice Days all weekend in McGregor.  Their parade is Saturday afternoon.

First Friday Art Walk in Bemidji:  including a touring exhibition from the Textile Center at the Bemidji Community Art Center, mobiles from Mali Mattson at Wild Hare Bistro, mixed media from Maria Thompson at Bad Cat Creations, and an open mic event at Rail River Folk School.

First Friday in Grand Rapids includes an opening reception at MacRostie Art Center for painter Alice Blessing and photographer John Connelly.  Blessing juxtaposes works depicting grandmothers with ones showing preteen beauty pageant contestants.  Connelly’s photography documents Itasca County agriculture.  Also Friday from 5 to 7, Painter JK Herman is on hand at Wings and Willows gallery with her new exhibition, The Red Series.

Harp Concert in Bemidji with mother and daughter Karin and Joy Gunderson will include harp duets, also singing and flute.  7 p.m., Calvary Lutheran Church in Bemidji.

Astronaut Jones has solo original acoustic rock at The Beanery in Aitkin at 8 p.m.
Psych-rockers The Color Pharmacy play Brigid’s Cross Pub in Bemidji at 9:30 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 3

Storyhill Fest is an intimate and interactive musical and outdoors activity event at Presbyterian Clearwater Forest Camp near Deerwood this Saturday and Sunday. All ages are included.  Headlining musical acts include Storyhill, Peter Mayer, and Ray Bonneville. 

The Brainerd Jaycees have a street festival with a rib cookoff, battle of the bands, and evening street dance, all in downtown Brainerd Saturday.

Highway 84 in the Longville and Pine River area is the place for a stretch of arts exhibitions and activities throughout the weekend.  Details and a map can be found at www.artsoff84.com.

Tuesday, Sept. 6
Lyric Center for the Arts presents its Words and Lyrics series, with Joanne Bergman reading from the columns of the late Nelmi Koivu, writer for the Cook News-Herald for over 50 years.  This event is at 6:30 p.m. in downtown Virginia.