Bike/Walk Related:

• R.T. Rybak wins the Great Commuter Challenge on his bike, beating out the Ramsey County Commissioner who walked/took public transit and Roadguy who drove a car. I did not bike to work today for Bike Walk to Work Day, but I give my potential bike commute a dry run on Monday evening and may do it yet this week, since Bike Walk to Work Day is just one part of Bike Walk to Work Week.
• Minneapolis and St Paul mayors unveil community bike program. The program is called “Freewheelin” and is sponsored by insurance company Humana. “Solar-powered kiosks will be stationed throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul during the [Republican National] convention, which will be Sept. 1-4. People will be able to take bikes from these kiosks, travel anywhere and drop them off when they’re done. The only requirements will be online registration and a credit card number — not to be charged, but to hold people accountable when bikes are damaged or go missing.” 70 bikes will be left behind to continue the program after the convention and the program may expand for the following spring. IMO, going into the winter is not the best time to fire up the program, but at least it’s there.
• Cycling in the city. vita.mn on bike culture in the TC. (via east-lake)
• Bike2Benefits is a Metro Transit program somewhat similar to the commuter challenge (but focusing on biking, obviously). (via twin_cities)

The Rest:

• You know that big bronze (kind of scary) rabbit sculpture on Minnehaha Parkway at Portland? This Saturday at 10am there will be kids out there planting clay bunnies around it. Not sure why, though… (via @nxt)
• The Rake has a new Call for Artists section. Current listings are for actors for a Fringe show and exhibitions to display at various Hennepin County Library locations in Minneapolis. (via @RakeMag)
• In case you just moved here and aren’t sure what the white lights on the traffic signals are. I find it extra confusing that the white lights also blink along Hiawatha when the train is coming. Is LRT an emergency?
• Bon Iver on Pitchfork.tv (via east-lake)
• Taylor Carik = Bon Iver (I so told Taylor that months ago.) And, yeah, they do both look like every guy that hangs out at the 331 Club.
• Least Dangerous Game, everyone’s favorite Twitter hide and seek game, starts again on May 24 after its winter hiatus.
• Living on the Minnehaha Homestead has a multimedia presentation on the May Day Parade.
• Localized job boards that are not Monster/CareerBuilder/etc.
• Strib blog: “Patent Pending will provide you the latest information and commentary on the people, companies, and trends driving innovation in Minnesota. From visionary entrepreneurs to game changing technologies, this blog will offer a window into the future of Minnesota’s economy.”
• Graffiti = Killing Puppies
• Firsthand account of the immediate aftermath of an armed robbery in the parking lot of the E Lake Street Cub Foods.
• Local crazies. Fun to discuss unless they’re actually crazy.
• Best Buy sucks the big schlong.

MinneBar -– one of the largest BarCamps in the world – is being held this Saturday at the University of Minnesota’s Coffman Union.

For those unfamiliar, BarCamp is an ad-hoc “unconference” — a user-generated conference that’s rich with participatory workshops, discussions, demos and more. Lots of discussion about start-ups, programming, open source and social media in talks mostly run by average people who are passionate about learning, sharing and collaborating.

This year’s schedule of events runs 8:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m.

Here are just a few panel highlights: Blogging for Benjamins; This Thing called Twitter; Social Search in the Corporate Enviroment; The Mathematical Foundations of Music; Why Should I Care About Grails? Full list here.

More than 400 people have registered already. Everyone is welcome, and the event is free. More info here.

(Geek note: If you’re planning to be there and are on Twitter, be sure to use #minnebar as your hashtag and follow @minnebar for updates.)

This week I’ve been listening to MPR: Radio at 8:15 am.

Each morning they’ve been featuring a young up-and-coming Minnesotan artist that is also a winner of the Schubert Club’s Bruce P.Carlson Student Scholarship.

From the MPR article: “The preliminary round competition typically draws more than 250 students competing in 15 divisions, split up by age and instrumentation. The youngest competitors are in junior high. The oldest are graduate students, but there a few out of college”

The talent level of these up-and-coming young artists is amazing and each day I have been delighted and impressed by the chosen material and the performace.

Show your support for Minnesota talent and give these young artists a listen.

Related:
The Schubert Club

Listen to the interviews on MPR’s website after they air.

( Photo, Stillwater High School violinist Emily Anderson, courtesty of MPR/Karl Gehrke ) 

From the Mpls Metblog flickr pool, Saul Williams at the Varsity Theater last weekend.

Originally uploaded by invisiblepilot.

See more photos from the show.

The 6th Annual Air Guitar Championships are coming to Minneapolis June 13 at Varsity Theater.

From the press release:

Each US Regional will each consist of two rounds. In Round 1, each competitor performs to a song of their own choosing. In Round 2, the top competitors from Round 1 perform to a surprise compulsory song. In each round, contestants perform for one minute of a song and are judged on a combination of technical merit, stage presence, and “airness.” All guitars must be invisible. In each city, the jury is a panel of independent judges that are hand picked by US Air Guitar. The results of the jury cannot be protested.

One winner from each city, and defending champ William Ocean will be brought to San Francisco in August 2008 to compete in the US Air Guitar Finals for the crown of US Air Guitar Champion. The 2008 US Champ will then be sent to Oulu, Finland later that month to represent the USA in the World Championships, where he or she will compete against national champions from all around the world.

It’s $21 real (visible) bucks to register. More info here. Also, be sure to watch the trailer from the award-winning documentary “Air Guitar Nation.”

So let’s not fool ourselves — this is poor performance art requiring large quantities of alcohol to actually pull-off, right?

photo from the treehouse records site - can’t you smell the vinyl?

So I have been hearing the buzz about Record Store Day, which will be tomorrow Saturday the 19th of April. We are lucky in Minneapolis, with a few indie stores still in business. It’s really amazing the way music is disappearing in it’s physical format. The corporate record chains are all but gone and retailers like Best Buy are cutting their inventories way back.

We should all plan to take a trip to a local record store and get a CD or record. Rumor has it Electric Fetus is having food and prizes all day tomorrow even though I couldn’t find it anywhere. A friend from work told me, and he knows what is going on locally and musically.

Electric Fetus and Cheapo are the obvious record stores in town, but make sure you remember Treehouse Records (which is having a sale tomorrow), Roadrunner Records, Extreme Noise (for your punk and hardcore) and also Fifth Element (hip hop and more).

Each of these places have a local music section as well, and there are some great local musicians and bands in town. So go on now and support your local record store.

I found this random video and just had to share. It’s not clear if you can actually buy them (or how), but I have to admit I’m becoming a big fan of Buda.

You may have already heard about the media kerfuffle,Land of 10,000 Dead Car Batteries , regarding The Minnesota Wild and the Colorado Avalanche, but tonight’s Mn Wild playoff game is shaping up to be a penalty-fest heart breaker.

At the time of this post the Wild are down 5 - 1 with 14 minutes remaining.

As a hockey fan, that attends a bunch of Wild games during the year, something extra has been bothering me while our home team plays the Avs in Colorado; I fear their arena music is better.

Pantera’s Cowboys from Hell, Metallica’s Master of Puppets, and a crowd that continues singing once the game play has resumed? Really?

It’s unsettling. 

Do you think the time has arrived for Minnesota to update it’s musical playlist for sporting events? 

Heliotrope, Flaneur Productions’ annual three-day exhibition of contemporary underground music, is back for its fifth year this May 15-17 (yes, it’s Art-A-Whirl weekend) at the Ritz Theater in Northeast Minneapolis.

Tickets are $8 for one day, $15 for a two day pass, and $20 for a three day pass.

List of bands here. Pre-sale ticket here.

(Pictured is Synchrocyclotron from Heliotrope IV)

Fort Wilson Riot’s Idigaragua previews tonight at the Bedlam Theatre, returning after selling out shows last September. Officially opening tomorrow, along with new play, Massgraves, the shows run through April 13. Local company, Lamb Lays with Lion presents both shows each evening, alternating which goes first. I missed Idigaragua the first time around, but I’m not going to miss it again now that it’s back. My friend, KatieRose, is in the show, and I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen her perform. She recently returned to Minneapolis from Chicago where she played Esmerelda in Redmoon Theatre’s production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Idigaragua, FWR’s rock opera, got great reviews first time around. Its Myspace page has some of the music from the show for your perusal. Wake up from the winter coma, and go see local theatre! Showtimes are listed below.

Preview: Thursday, April 3
Idigaragua at 7:30
Massgraves at 9:30

Opening Night: Friday, April 4
Massgraves at 7:30
Idigaragua at 9:30
Afterparty with ABZORBR

Saturday, April 5
Idigaragua at 7:30
Massgraves at 9:30
Afterparty with CITY ON THE MAKE

Sunday, April 6
Idigaragua at 7:00
Massgraves at 9:00

Monday, April 7
Idigaragua at 7:00
Massgraves at 9:00

Thursday, April 10
Massgraves at 7:30
Idigaragua at 9:30

Friday, April 11
Idigaragua at 7:30
Massgraves at 9:30
Afterparty with SCREAMIN’ CYN CYN & THE PONS

Saturday, April 12
Massgraves at 7:30
Idigaragua at 9:30
Afterparty with DANCE BAND

Closing: Sunday, April 13
Idigaragua at 7:00
Massgraves 9:00

TICKETS:

Priced at $15 for each show or $20 for both (on the same night). Tickets can be purchased at the Bedlam Theatre or online at www.bedlamtheatre.org.