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Doomtree Art Show at CO Exhibitions

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Doomtree Art Show at CO Exhibitions

Saturday night marked the grand opening of CO Exhibitions, a new gallery space in Northeast Minneapolis helmed by the folks at Burlesque of North America, the local design company responsible for some of the coolest screenprinted posters to come out of our fair state, and Joseph Belk of the design collective Permanent.  For their premiere, CO served as a space for the rap outfit Doomtree to showcase their artistic output over the last nine years, filling the walls with show posters, album covers, T-shirts, set design for live shows, and numerous images from the crew’s hard-won history in the local scene.

Album art

The notorious local hip-hop group is comprised of nine artists (P.O.S., Cecil Otter, Mictlan, Dessa, Sims, Paper Tiger, Lazerbeak, MK Larada and Turbo Nemesis), most of whom pull double-duty to some extent.  Beyond crafting beats and writing rhymes, many of the musicians contribute drawings, prints, calligraphy and other art to their projects, and their first ever show devoted to their art showcased Doomtree’s strong visual element in conjunction with their sound.

Posters

The event went from 7 til 10 PM, with the last half devoted to a performance from rappers Sims, Dessa and Mictlan, backed by DJ Paper Tiger, whose solo debut album is set to drop next month.  The MCs pulled out an impressive stage show as usual, and it was nice to see them perform in a little bit more of a relaxed atmosphere.  Sims was in rare form, having stayed up for a few days setting up and preparing the show, and took an audience member up on his suggestion to freestyle about “magic machines”.  Dessa showed off her polished road-tested chops, and Mictlan ended the night with his show-stopping closers “Game Over” and “Prizefighter”, both clear crowd favorites.

The Doomtree Art Show was unique and interesting in terms of gallery shows, and CO Exhibitions is bound to be a place to see some engaging displays of local art.  Keep an eye out for future events at the Northeast Gallery, including a Spinal Tap-themed show called “Smell The Glove” headed up by illustrator and musician Michael Gaughan. If you missed the opening, the show will be up for a few weeks. CO Exhibitions can be found at 1101 Stinson Blvd in NE Minneapolis.

A Neanderthal Welcomes Summer

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Summer has made a premature appearance here in Minnesota, and beside the long-awaited thaw and the resurrection of baseball, golfing and fishing, we dream of the day we can pull our Weber’s out of the garage and anoint them with a slab of animal flesh to grill upon their hallowed embers.
I live in a row of townhouses with close proximity to our neighbors. I noticed all the men on both sides of my dwelling rediscovering their inner caveman as they pulled out their grills and loaded them with coals and raw lean protein in a humble offering to the gods of fire and vinegar based sauces.
Not to be outdone, I too uncovered my portable fire pit and drove off to Costco to hunt down a worthy prey. With one kill shot I brought down two racks of pork ribs for $24.19 to bring home and lay at my woman’s feet. As she prepared a dish called “salad”, I seasoned and rubbed the meat with spices and herbs to best augment the essence of the day’s hunt. It slowly crackled and seared itself to perfection with a teriyaki glaze while I enjoyed a refreshing beverage and listened to a baseball game on the radio, contemplating when I should take the fishing poles and golf bags out of hibernation.
My neighbors and I enjoyed our fire cooked meat and I knew that winter was over and all was right with the world, at least until the next snowflakes fell and the blizzards once again covered our caves. But until then, we will search our DNA, cook our meat over an open flame, and take pleasure in the fact that Costco is inexpensive and not that far away.

Designer Men’s Boots Can Make Outfits Fab!

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While I know that if you were to ask nearly any woman in the US about the fashion mainstays that boots have to offer, they would all agree with me – I am fairly certain – that designer boots are really in. For the most part these days I see women walking around all over the place wearing popular boots like Uggs. But for men, I don’t think I have, or ever will for that matter, see a guy sporting a pair of Uggs. However, that does not mean that some great boots won’t make your outfits shine guys!

If you were to take a look inside of my closet, you would quickly noticed a neatly arranged caveat of great-looking designer men’s boots that range from all sizes and styles, and all eras. I like men’s boots that are vintage – which I usually have to find on auction sites like Ebay or at the local thrift stores, in high hopes they will have a pair that fits me – or I opt for shopping online at huge superstores like Overstock.com—which is just loaded with tons of designer men’s boots to choose from at great prices.

My favorite boots to-date happen to be Doc Martens, and this is because of many grand reasons. One, if you have not checked out how many different styles of this brand they are making these days, you are missing out my dear chaps! I took a quick gander online today to check out some new pairs of these boots that I could add to my collection, and my jaw dropped agape when I saw how many different styles that are currently available.

There is only one downside to such fancy designer men’s boots attire in my opinion: you get what you pay for. Meaning that in most cases you should be prepared to spend some cash to get your hands on a great-looking pair of boots. But if you have the pockets and you really want to add some flare to your wardrobe, designer men’s boots are the way to go!

On the upside, boots like Doc Martens have never let me down! They tend to last for years upon years—and make for a great fashion investment, if you ask me!

Aug 5th – Splish Splash with The Link

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10% of The Link’s annual fundraising goal depends on support from individuals. Please help us to reach our annual goal with your financial contribution! The 2nd Annual Splish Splash cruise down the Mississippi is happening Aug 5th, 2010. Tickets to go for a ride are $50 which includes admission to the boat cruise plus dinner during the cruise. These tickets are available the day of the event starting at 5pm. The cruise casts off at 6pm and will return at 9pm.

Come join the IAmMoody and The Link family on the Splish Splash cruise; smooth music, great food, good friends and a silent auction benefiting The Link.

Twin Cities Weekend Recap

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Though rainy weather may have made this month seem more like April than June, if this last weekend is any indication, Twin Cities summer is once again in full effect.

One of the greatest things about living in Minnesota is the summertime, a rare 3 months (give or take) of gorgeous weather and the sense that you would actually want to leave your house.  To make the most of this fleeting time, a flurry of events wind up happening all at the same time, and it can get hard to figure out where to spend your leisure time.

We hope no one out there was want for something to do, because there was plenty available.  From the Twin Cities Jazz Festival in Mears Park, the Stone Arch Festival of the Arts, Rock The Garden, Lookbook headlining First Avenue with an all-local lineup, to the Wants Vs. Needs 1 Year Anniversary at Club Jager, there was no way to get to everything. Here are some great places to catch recaps of the weekend.

Friday marked the birthday of one of Minneapolis’ fastest growing dance nights, Wants Vs. Needs, a free DJ party run by DJ Anton, DJ Espada and featuring design work by Adam Garcia of Burlesque of North America. The seen and be seen scene that happens on a weekly basis culminated with an epic, champagne-fueled frenzy at Club Jager on Friday; Kevin O’Meara captured the energy with his slideshow for the City Pages.

Elsewhere Downtown, First Avenue provided plenty of reason to dance as well, with a full line-up of buzzy local groups – Lookbook, Slapping Purses, Bight Club and Zoo Animal. MPLS.TV covered the event with an excellent video from Dan Huiting.

One of many outdoor events of the weekend was Saturday’s Rock The Garden, the Walker’s annual summer concert, which brought big names MGMT, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, OK Go, and the Retribution Gospel Choir to a stage near the Spoonbridge and Cherry. Here is a two minute time-lapse of the big event.

The Stone Arch Festival saw some highlights of local music, including the pop-funk stylings of Mayda, the jazz band James Buckley Trio, dark folkies Murzik, bright-eyed ukulele pop from i like you, and the raucous Americana of A Night In The Box, whose performance was captured by an audience member here.

Across the river, St. Paul brought out a good number of people for the weekend-long Jazz Festival, which featured some big names like John Scofield, Cafe Accordion, Joe Lovano, the Jack Brass Band, and John Ellis. Already being called the best in the festival’s 12 year history, here’s hoping the festival can continue on this historic path in the years to come. I was able to catch Scofield at the end on Saturday, who mixed it up with reggae, funk, blues and R’n’B inspired guitar music; Jazz Police managed to pull together some nice in-depth coverage of the whole event.

All in all, a pretty whirlwind weekend. There’s many more happening this summer, stay tuned here for some upcoming events.

Prada Men’s Show: Spring/ Summer 2011

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June 16th, 2010, Prada held its Spring Summer 2011 Men’s show. This was a lavish event done in a very somber mode. To many, it resembled a scene from Twilight, hot men in the best clothing moving very gracefully. Since Prada is one of the most fashionable companies and others will follow with the Prada style, it is safe to assume that what was shown will be the height of style. So, here’s what to expect from the fashion world next year, men.

Prada will continue its skinny jean line, but the appearance of relaxed pants has been duly noted at the show. Platform shoes are in, gone are the sneakers. The strait cut collar is back, as are horizontal striped sweaters. White shirts with a single colored line down the front buttons are going to be hot.

Don’t forget the accessories, men. The mirrored sunglass wraps are back! As is the man purse. The cloth satches that can be carried rather than strapped on are also back in style, worn with bangles that make it look as though the bag is attached to the wrist. Put back your jewelry, next year will be less flashy and more about the person and clothing.

Through out all of the outfits, there was one constant. Prada made it quite clear that the casual appearance of this year is out and the polished look will be back in. Each of the male models displayed their casual wear in a very polished manner. Put away your holey pants and welcome back the dress pant and shirt.