January 28, 2003 - With the recent cold temperatures, it makes you wonder how Minnesota residents ever got through the winter hundreds or even thousands of years ago. For Minnesota's native peoples, the trouble with the long winter months was not only fighting the cold, but fighting boredom. For the cold, they had leather tipis, warm fires and rabbit-fur mittens. And when it came to staving off boredom, Minnesota winters were perfect for tossing snow snakes. Mainstreet Radio's Jeff Horwich explains:
January 28, 2003 - The Children's Theatre Company today unveiled new plans for the expansion and renovation of its home in south Minneapolis. It's a significant change from what CTC originally proposed last spring. The design is smaller, simpler... and cheaper. The Children's Theatre Company says it could start work on the new building as soon as this summer... if the state legislature approves bonding money for the project. Minnesota Public Radio's Marianne Combs reports:
January 31, 2003 - Today the Guthrie Theater company along with Architectural Alliance will present the final design for a new theater complex to members of the state legislature. It's part of the ongoing effort to convince legislators to help finance part of the riverfront development. The size and shape of the planned building remain almost entirely the same. As Minnesota Public Radio's Marianne Combs reports, the most startling change is the building's color.
February 3, 2003 - At the dawn of the 20th century, the Austrian capital Vienna was a hotbed of intellectual and artistic enterprise. Freud was developing psycho analysis. Painters such as Egon Schiele (A-gon SHE-leh) and Gustav Klimt (GOO stahf KLIMT) explored new schools of visual art. But it was also a time feeding the seeds of World War One. A time that spawned the anti-semitism of Adolf Hitler. Tomorrow and Wednesday renowned choreographer Martha Clarke will present her vision of that era at the Northrop Auditorium in Minneapolis. Her piece "Vienna Lusthaus' (LOOST-howss) features frank and provocative dances. First produced in the mid-1980's, she has now revised and expanded the piece. Martha Clarke told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr she was originally inspired by an exhibition of Schiele's (SHE-leh's) work. It then evolved when playwright Charles Mee, who she calls Chuck, offered to write accompanying texts exploring themes of love and hate.
February 3, 2003 - Coal has been admired as a precious stone, cursed as a health hazard, and hailed as the foundation of modern industry. Today, coal is the state's primary fuel for power plants. But, like most people, Barbara Freeze had never thought much about it. That changed when the former state assistant attorney general was assigned a case overseeing Minnesota's air quality laws. The case granted Freeze a unique look inside the coal industry. What she saw convinced her to quit her job and immerse herself in coal's 350 (m)million year history. Freeze's new book "Coal: A Human History" takes an in-depth look at that history and argues that the world's reliance on coal is taking a huge environmental toll. Freeze says it's hard to underestimate the impact coal has had.
February 5, 2003 - At at time of growing cynicism about the institution of marriage the Guthrie Theater is examining the virtues and vices of modern-day relationships. In "Wintertime," opening tonight at the Guthrie Lab in Minneapolis, playwright Charles Mee sets love in a cold climate to see if it can survive. Minnesota Public Radio's Marianne Combs has this profile.
February 6, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio's Jeff Horwich spent a recent evening in the studio with Gary Johnson Cheeseman, the creator of Anishinabe O'denong.
February 13, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio’s Bob Reha attends final rehearsals of "Memorial," which debuts at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum in Moorhead. For Rene' Clausen, conductor of the Concordia College Choir, it was a daunting task. Clausen was commissioned by the American Choral Directors Association to write a piece that captured the emotional and spiritual elements of the September 11th tragedy.
February 19, 2003 - The Walker Art Center is trying to look at the world in a new way. It's new show "How Lattitudes Become Forms Art in a Global Age" brings together artists from Turkey, India, Brazil, South Africa, China, Japan and the U-S. The project is the culmination of years of work to change how the Walker finds and presents art. Walker curators say they want to better reflect the changing world...and get rid of some old bad habits. Minnesota Public Radio's Marianne Combs has this report.
February 19, 2003 - William Gibson's new novel is called "Pattern Recognition." His heroine, Cayce Pollard, is a 'coolhunter'. She spots trends in the making so companies can exploit them. A mysterious stream of videoclips has been popping up on the internet. They have become "cool." So, Cayce is hired by an advertising company to locate their source. She is brought in because she can spot a winner. Her heightened sensitivities tell her when an image or logo will be a success. In fact she's always right. But that gift comes with a cost; an allergy. Cayce Pollard is deathly allergic to some of the logos she comes across in everyday life. William Gibson told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr he wanted to create a Swiftian exaggeration of something everybody does.