The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

Be sure to check out our Great Commuter Challenge slideshow and find out who won yesterday's race. We also have a great piece on The Films of Carlos Reygadas, and a new fiction piece by David Dorle (with nudity even — tasteful as it is).


BOOKS & AUTHORS
Raking Through Books

This month's Rake happy hour book club is designed for sports and book lovers alike. If you've been reading The Rake regularly for more than just a few months, you might remember Tom Bartel's piece, "My Friend Larry," from our January 2008 issue. The Larry to which Bartel refers is none other than Larry Berle, author of A Golfer's Dream and one of two featured guests for tonight's happy hour. Berle's book narrates his quest to play Golf Digest's top 100 courses. But you don't have to be an avid golf player to enjoy his book. "It’s not about the golf per se so much as it’s about all the friends he made on his quest," explains Bartel. "But that makes it even a better read, because when it comes to making friends, Larry is Tiger Woods." Perhaps after this evening, he'll add you to that great list of friends. And, well, if that doesn't pan out I recommend you sidle up to our second featured guest (which you should do anyhow), John Rosengren, author of Hammerin' Hank, George Almighty and the Say Hey Kid: The Year That Changed Baseball Forever. Explore what may arguably be baseball's most exciting year to date — 1973, when the U.S. pulled out of Vietnam and Nixon tried to explain 18 minutes of silence on White House tapes. (I'd say it was an exciting year all around. Yes, they call it Watergate; but let's stick to the baseball, eh?) Through the stories of five great men — whose names we all now know (Hank Aaron, George Steinbrenner, Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, Reggie Jackson) — Rosengren shows us how the game forever changed.

5:30-7:30 p.m., Kieran's Irish Pub, 330 2nd Ave. S., Minneapolis; free.

Put your Midwest sense of humor to the test tonight. As a former New Yorker I often complain about missing that New York dry wit I love so well — but then, that's what New Yorkers do; we complain a lot. Just ask former New Yorker Andy Kindler, who is "now complaining from California," according to the Stand Uppity web page. Kindler is just one of three comedians comprising the show. The others are angry-Woody-Allen-ish Marc Maron and Russia-to-Brooklyn transplant Eugene Mirman. If you have any sense of humor at all (or at least an East-coast one), you're sure to be in stitches.

7 p.m., Turf Club, 1601 University Ave., St. Paul; 651-647-0486; $15.


SPECIAL EVENTS
Old Minnesota: Song of the North Star

Join the Elk River Area Arts Alliance tonight for a special Minnesota statehood sesquicentennial celebration — Old Minnesota: Song of the North Star. It's time you found out why Minnesota isn't just another part of Wisconsin. Using large scale historic photos from the Minnesota Historical Society collection, original songs, historic readings, dramatic reenactments, and dancing, Warren Nelson and the Big Top Chautauqua Band will tell the history of Minnesota at the time of statehood.

7:30 p.m., Zabee Theater, Elk River High School, 900 School St. NW, Elk River; 763-441-4725; $17.

ART
William Yang: Shadows and Reconciliation

If a singing, dancing history of our fair state sounds just a little too provincial for you (rather than just quaint and fun), I suggest you opt for William Yang's fierce performance at the Walker. Through narration, music, and photographic images (a slideshow, actually), Yang weaves his own stories into a history of the Australian aborigines. Be sure to check out Yang's website as well. You have to love the warning on his homepage: "This website contains images of nudity as well as descriptions of sexual activity and drug use. If you are under the age of 18 or otherwise offended by these types of images and references please leave now. Warning : Please be advised that this site contains names and images of Indigenous people now deceased." Warnings aside, the site contains some incredible photographs.

8 p.m., Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-375-7600.