By: Joe Kleinschmidt

STUFF TO DO

FRIDAY:

Jimmy Pardo

Fast-talking Chicago native Jimmy Pardo has a sweet job,warming up the audience every night for Conan O’Brien’s late-night show. Though one could see that gig as just a doorway for a rising stand-up, Pardo’s a veteran comic. His work at “Conan” suits his ability to interact with crowds, not just run through a set of jokes. Lately he’s catered his sets toward simply making fun of the audience. Pardo’s podcast “Never Not Funny” reveals his observational side, with guests joining him in skewering the latest pop culture.

Where: Acme Comedy Company, 708 N 1st St G31,  Minneapolis

When: Friday and Saturday, 8 and 10:30 p.m.

Cost: $15

Ages: 18+

SATURDAY:

FLOW Northside Arts Crawl

Over a half-mile of West Broadway in North Minneapolis will turn into a community celebration and art showcase this weekend. Now in its eighth year, the FLOW art crawl boasts a weekend full of activities. Legendary hip-hop lyricist Big Daddy Kane will headline the festivities on the KMOJ stage at 6 p.m. Saturday, but the three-day festival is filled with dance, poetry, theater and public art installations. FLOW wants you to know that its tastes range from b-boys to ballet and graffiti to graphite. See for yourself at Northside’s premiere spotlight for its up-and-coming art scene.

Where: W. Broadway from 2nd St. N. to Penn Ave. N., Minneapolis

When: 1-7 p.m.

Cost: Free

SUNDAY:

Alabama Shakes

Southern rock’s resurgence this century proves we’re a long way from simple rehashes of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Yes, Alabama Shakes trade in a nostalgia-heavy sound pays tribute to the past. But singer Brittany Howard isn’t just a revivalist. Alabama Shakes use her bleeding Joplin-inspired vocals to update the blues and gospel influences. After releasing their debut “Boys & Girls” last year, the old-fashioned rock ‘n’ rollers from Athens, Ala., won Rolling Stone’s best song of 2012. Now they’ll take their own advice in the single and “Hold On.”

Where: The Cabooze, 917 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis

When: 7 p.m.

Cost: Sold out

Ages: 18+

CULTURE TO CONSUME

LISTEN TO THIS:

“The Argument” by Grant Hart

Since Hüsker Dü’s break-up in 1987, Grant Hart has sporadically released a handful of records. His third album after 2009’s “Hot Wax” finds him wistful and supremely ambitious. “The Argument” is based on John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” and Hart’s relationship with William S. Burroughs. Hart hones his pop edge here, the same sensibility that countered fellow Hüsker Dü founder Bob Mould back in the local punk band’s heyday. The dark double album definitely adds to Hart’s rich songwriting legacy, often melancholy and full of hellish allegory.

WATCH THIS:

“The To Do List”

A slew of films have already set out with the same objective “The To Do List” holds for its main character. Sex-obsessed Brandy Klark (Aubrey Plaza) must lose her virginity. Set in the early 1990s, the film promises to be a tongue-in-cheek look at the tired premise. The “Parks and Recreation” star’s character worships Hillary Rodham Clinton and published her own magazine, “Women With a Y.” Fellow comedy peers Bill Hader, Alia Shawkat and Donald Glover join the ranks of this dirty version of  “Sixteen Candles.”

CLICK THIS:

“Maps About Nothing” at mapsaboutnothing.wordpress.com

“Seinfeld” geeks now have the Internet to thank for a vast repository of every location Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer ever reference or visit. The site combines stills with quotes from each episode the place is talked about. The “Seinfeld” geography database houses information on familiar joints like Monk’s Café, J. Peterman and Yankee Stadium, for example. “Maps About Nothing” is so obsessive that it also contains the references to places outside of New York, like Argentina, where the Soup Nazi claims he’s moving. All in all, it’s 1600 entries with 70 countries total. Where’s the coffee table book? 

By: Joe Kleinschmidt

STUFF TO DO

FRIDAY:

Jimmy Pardo

Fast-talking Chicago native Jimmy Pardo has a sweet job,warming up the audience every night for Conan O’Brien’s late-night show. Though one could see that gig as just a doorway for a rising stand-up, Pardo’s a veteran comic. His work at “Conan” suits his ability to interact with crowds, not just run through a set of jokes. Lately he’s catered his sets toward simply making fun of the audience. Pardo’s podcast “Never Not Funny” reveals his observational side, with guests joining him in skewering the latest pop culture.

Where: Acme Comedy Company, 708 N 1st St G31,  Minneapolis

When: Friday and Saturday, 8 and 10:30 p.m.

Cost: $15

Ages: 18+

SATURDAY:

FLOW Northside Arts Crawl

Over a half-mile of West Broadway in North Minneapolis will turn into a community celebration and art showcase this weekend. Now in its eighth year, the FLOW art crawl boasts a weekend full of activities. Legendary hip-hop lyricist Big Daddy Kane will headline the festivities on the KMOJ stage at 6 p.m. Saturday, but the three-day festival is filled with dance, poetry, theater and public art installations. FLOW wants you to know that its tastes range from b-boys to ballet and graffiti to graphite. See for yourself at Northside’s premiere spotlight for its up-and-coming art scene.

Where: W. Broadway from 2nd St. N. to Penn Ave. N., Minneapolis

When: 1-7 p.m.

Cost: Free

SUNDAY:

Alabama Shakes

Southern rock’s resurgence this century proves we’re a long way from simple rehashes of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Yes, Alabama Shakes trade in a nostalgia-heavy sound pays tribute to the past. But singer Brittany Howard isn’t just a revivalist. Alabama Shakes use her bleeding Joplin-inspired vocals to update the blues and gospel influences. After releasing their debut “Boys & Girls” last year, the old-fashioned rock ‘n’ rollers from Athens, Ala., won Rolling Stone’s best song of 2012. Now they’ll take their own advice in the single and “Hold On.”

Where: The Cabooze, 917 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis

When: 7 p.m.

Cost: Sold out

Ages: 18+

CULTURE TO CONSUME

LISTEN TO THIS:

“The Argument” by Grant Hart

Since Hüsker Dü’s break-up in 1987, Grant Hart has sporadically released a handful of records. His third album after 2009’s “Hot Wax” finds him wistful and supremely ambitious. “The Argument” is based on John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” and Hart’s relationship with William S. Burroughs. Hart hones his pop edge here, the same sensibility that countered fellow Hüsker Dü founder Bob Mould back in the local punk band’s heyday. The dark double album definitely adds to Hart’s rich songwriting legacy, often melancholy and full of hellish allegory.

WATCH THIS:

“The To Do List”

A slew of films have already set out with the same objective “The To Do List” holds for its main character. Sex-obsessed Brandy Klark (Aubrey Plaza) must lose her virginity. Set in the early 1990s, the film promises to be a tongue-in-cheek look at the tired premise. The “Parks and Recreation” star’s character worships Hillary Rodham Clinton and published her own magazine, “Women With a Y.” Fellow comedy peers Bill Hader, Alia Shawkat and Donald Glover join the ranks of this dirty version of  “Sixteen Candles.”

CLICK THIS:

“Maps About Nothing” at mapsaboutnothing.wordpress.com

“Seinfeld” geeks now have the Internet to thank for a vast repository of every location Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer ever reference or visit. The site combines stills with quotes from each episode the place is talked about. The “Seinfeld” geography database houses information on familiar joints like Monk’s Café, J. Peterman and Yankee Stadium, for example. “Maps About Nothing” is so obsessive that it also contains the references to places outside of New York, like Argentina, where the Soup Nazi claims he’s moving. All in all, it’s 1600 entries with 70 countries total. Where’s the coffee table book? 

By: Spencer Doar

He went to Uganda in the mid-2000s to work with former child soldiers. In May, he went to Sierra Leone as a musical ambassador — Toki Wright’s efforts have taken him all over.

This is what sets the local hip-hop icon apart from other artists: a sense of responsibility and community that he sincerely wishes to cultivate through his various works.

“A lot of people like rappers because they don’t give a fuck,” Wright said. “I do give a fuck.”  

The working title of his new record, tentatively due to be released in the first quarter of 2014, is “Pangaea,” a reference to the supercontinent and Wright’s belief in the interconnectedness of humanity, undoubtedly influenced by his voyages to Africa.

There’s a Gil Scott-Heron tilt to a few of the tracks he and Big Cats were ready to reveal last Thursday, but that’s not really out of place for the socially conscious Wright. Plus, he did get his start in poetry and the spoken word scene of the ’90s. His raps reflect this different cant.   

For such a visible pillar of the Twin Cities scene, it might be surprising that Wright hasn’t released a full album since 2009’s “A Different Mirror.” He did release an EP, “BlackMale,” in 2010 and a mixtape, “FADERS,” in 2012.

The mixtape was the byproduct of tragedy. Wright’s former engineer’s house burned down, taking a laptop and hard drive with it — a whole album was contained on that equipment. “FADERS” was the salvaged remains.

Wright has started over, using that as motivation to come up with better material.

Last Thursday, he rolled up to the studio in a Volkswagen Passat, clad in impeccable white low-tops, a white and grey tank, khaki cargo shorts, green shades and 14 years of dreads piled atop his head — he’s a handsome man if you’ve ever seen one. He has a bit of a hobble, though — he recently landed funny on his ankle during a run.  

The black-lit undercarriage of the studio’s counters proved just how clean those shoes were.

They worked casually. P.O.S. stopped by for a second to say what’s up, Big Cats and I took a break to play Sega halfway through the session — he was drinking Day Tripper, a fitting choice given the Indeed brewery is only a few blocks north.

The video game “NBA Jam” got Wright thinking about how he lost interest in baseball. As a teen, he met Barry Bonds at a store; Bonds refused to look at him, turning away as he shook his hand.

That is the exact opposite of everything Wright embodies.

He’s a down-to-earth educator and organizer. He leads the hip-hop studies department at McNally Smith, the first program of its kind in the nation, and teaches six classes.

The U.S. State Department has already taken notice of Wright — they were the ones who sent him as a musical ambassador to Sierra Leone. That means there is merit here and, unlike some cases, the music to back it up.  

Who: Toki Wright with Sarah White and DJ Don Cuco

Where: Northrop Plaza

When: 7 p.m., Friday

Cost: Free

By: Spencer Doar

He went to Uganda in the mid-2000s to work with former child soldiers. In May, he went to Sierra Leone as a musical ambassador — Toki Wright’s efforts have taken him all over.

This is what sets the local hip-hop icon apart from other artists: a sense of responsibility and community that he sincerely wishes to cultivate through his various works.

“A lot of people like rappers because they don’t give a fuck,” Wright said. “I do give a fuck.”  

The working title of his new record, tentatively due to be released in the first quarter of 2014, is “Pangaea,” a reference to the supercontinent and Wright’s belief in the interconnectedness of humanity, undoubtedly influenced by his voyages to Africa.

There’s a Gil Scott-Heron tilt to a few of the tracks he and Big Cats were ready to reveal last Thursday, but that’s not really out of place for the socially conscious Wright. Plus, he did get his start in poetry and the spoken word scene of the ’90s. His raps reflect this different cant.   

For such a visible pillar of the Twin Cities scene, it might be surprising that Wright hasn’t released a full album since 2009’s “A Different Mirror.” He did release an EP, “BlackMale,” in 2010 and a mixtape, “FADERS,” in 2012.

The mixtape was the byproduct of tragedy. Wright’s former engineer’s house burned down, taking a laptop and hard drive with it — a whole album was contained on that equipment. “FADERS” was the salvaged remains.

Wright has started over, using that as motivation to come up with better material.

Last Thursday, he rolled up to the studio in a Volkswagen Passat, clad in impeccable white low-tops, a white and grey tank, khaki cargo shorts, green shades and 14 years of dreads piled atop his head — he’s a handsome man if you’ve ever seen one. He has a bit of a hobble, though — he recently landed funny on his ankle during a run.  

The black-lit undercarriage of the studio’s counters proved just how clean those shoes were.

They worked casually. P.O.S. stopped by for a second to say what’s up, Big Cats and I took a break to play Sega halfway through the session — he was drinking Day Tripper, a fitting choice given the Indeed brewery is only a few blocks north.

The video game “NBA Jam” got Wright thinking about how he lost interest in baseball. As a teen, he met Barry Bonds at a store; Bonds refused to look at him, turning away as he shook his hand.

That is the exact opposite of everything Wright embodies.

He’s a down-to-earth educator and organizer. He leads the hip-hop studies department at McNally Smith, the first program of its kind in the nation, and teaches six classes.

The U.S. State Department has already taken notice of Wright — they were the ones who sent him as a musical ambassador to Sierra Leone. That means there is merit here and, unlike some cases, the music to back it up.  

Who: Toki Wright with Sarah White and DJ Don Cuco

Where: Northrop Plaza

When: 7 p.m., Friday

Cost: Free

By: Spencer Doar

We The Kings are the stereotype of what’s wrong with pop. Their music is banality at its finest — all affected angst, no substance.

Whether they aim to or not, with lyrics chalk full of generic platitudes and romantic tropes, We The Kings’ music still serves their original teen audience — they formed at Florida’s Martha B. King Middle School (hence the name) in an effort to “get girls.”

Travis Clark, the lead singer, knew they’d made it when he heard their breakout single, “Check Yes, Juliet,” on the car radio some five years ago.

“I thought I had the CD playing,” Clark said.

So he enjoys listening to his own repetitive schlock. “Check Yes, Juliet,” with the rain falling outside, the disapproving father and the rocks being tossed at a girl’s window, is the passé song equivalent of John Cusack holding a stereo above his head in “Say Anything.”

But railing on a group for a song off their debut album (albeit their biggest hit to date) when they’re potentially still developing their sound and image is a bit unfair.

At least it would be, if Clark and We The Kings weren’t still putting out the same lame, rehashed Hallmark Valentine’s Day cards.

Take “Say You Like Me,” the second track off of 2011’s “Sunshine State of Mind,” as an example: “I wish my heart was always on her mind/’Cause she’s on mine, like all day, all the time.”

If you don’t agree it’s trouble when the conversational “like” finds its way into a song, the album’s sixth track is even worse. “Sleep With Me”  calls out a girl who’s “the only game in town.” Apparently that’s enough to get Clark’s “heartbeat beating tonight.”

Americans aren’t the only ones subjected to the vapid message of We The Kings.  

They’ve made it especially big in Australia, being received “kind of like the Jonas Brothers,” a statement indicative of their generally young, female fans.

They’ve gathered a following over the course of three albums, and are in the process of recording a fourth.

“I will never write the same record twice,” Clark said.

But he might write similar lyrics twice, or three times, or five times — a phenomenon that somehow doesn’t leave a bad taste in the mouths of fans.

Clark says this fourth album’s defining characteristic is that the majority of the tracks feature what they call “gang vocals,” which will give it a more anthemic quality.

Clark prides himself on being the sole songwriter for the group — it allows him to make a song “perfect” in his eyes before presenting it to the rest of the guys.

Yeesh.

What: We The Kings

When: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 17

Where: Varsity Theater, 1308 4th St. S.E., Minneapolis

Cost: $20-$22

Age: All ages

By: Spencer Doar

We The Kings are the stereotype of what’s wrong with pop. Their music is banality at its finest — all affected angst, no substance.

Whether they aim to or not, with lyrics chalk full of generic platitudes and romantic tropes, We The Kings’ music still serves their original teen audience — they formed at Florida’s Martha B. King Middle School (hence the name) in an effort to “get girls.”

Travis Clark, the lead singer, knew they’d made it when he heard their breakout single, “Check Yes, Juliet,” on the car radio some five years ago.

“I thought I had the CD playing,” Clark said.

So he enjoys listening to his own repetitive schlock. “Check Yes, Juliet,” with the rain falling outside, the disapproving father and the rocks being tossed at a girl’s window, is the passé song equivalent of John Cusack holding a stereo above his head in “Say Anything.”

But railing on a group for a song off their debut album (albeit their biggest hit to date) when they’re potentially still developing their sound and image is a bit unfair.

At least it would be, if Clark and We The Kings weren’t still putting out the same lame, rehashed Hallmark Valentine’s Day cards.

Take “Say You Like Me,” the second track off of 2011’s “Sunshine State of Mind,” as an example: “I wish my heart was always on her mind/’Cause she’s on mine, like all day, all the time.”

If you don’t agree it’s trouble when the conversational “like” finds its way into a song, the album’s sixth track is even worse. “Sleep With Me”  calls out a girl who’s “the only game in town.” Apparently that’s enough to get Clark’s “heartbeat beating tonight.”

Americans aren’t the only ones subjected to the vapid message of We The Kings.  

They’ve made it especially big in Australia, being received “kind of like the Jonas Brothers,” a statement indicative of their generally young, female fans.

They’ve gathered a following over the course of three albums, and are in the process of recording a fourth.

“I will never write the same record twice,” Clark said.

But he might write similar lyrics twice, or three times, or five times — a phenomenon that somehow doesn’t leave a bad taste in the mouths of fans.

Clark says this fourth album’s defining characteristic is that the majority of the tracks feature what they call “gang vocals,” which will give it a more anthemic quality.

Clark prides himself on being the sole songwriter for the group — it allows him to make a song “perfect” in his eyes before presenting it to the rest of the guys.

Yeesh.

What: We The Kings

When: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 17

Where: Varsity Theater, 1308 4th St. S.E., Minneapolis

Cost: $20-$22

Age: All ages

By: Joe Kleinschmidt

DreamHaven Books houses a vast repository of lost science fiction gems. Talking cats and floating cubes litter the pages of these ’60s- and ’70s-era pulp novels, but simply taking a look at the illustrations on the cover gives a sense of each book’s surreal sci-fi.

On one fateful Wednesday, artist and collector Lindsay Nohl entered DreamHaven. She visited the South Minneapolis store to add to her own collection of vintage paraphernalia.

“I saw all these books just piled on the floors up to the ceiling, on these tables — it looked like my house,” she said.

Nohl, the owner of the Light Grey Art Lab, began amassing a massive sci-fi collection for “Station Zero,” a new poster art exhibition tackling interstellar imagery. She assigned each of the over 80 artists a different novel from her retro treasure trove.

“We realized how exciting it could be to re-envision what the future would look like,” she said.

Most of the authors faded away into sci-fi obscurity, but the period “Station Zero” celebrates is a bounty for the golden era of illustration. “The Universe Against Her” imagines a young girl with glowing eyes next to some ferocious cats; “The Stardust Voyages” depicts a slew of abstract spaceships.

“All of the books from that era have this really fantastic sensibility,” Nohl said. “The colors are just vibrant and crazy.”

“Station Zero” remembers this lost era when illustration was king. In an age of Photoshop and Google image search, hand-drawn artwork has been pushed aside. The new illustrations recall the past, but keep a contemporary aesthetic with the ever-present future locked in sight.

“They are both paying homage to these old styles, but also reinventing and becoming re-inspired,” Nohl said.

When artist Bill Ferenc received his worn copy of “The Stardust Voyages” in the mail, he started to apply his cartoon sensibility to the galactic conflict within Stephen Tall’s story. But it wasn’t that simple.

“It’s challenging—what should I show and what shouldn’t I?” he said.

Ferenc decided to tackle one of the more surreal moments of the Star Trek-style space epic. A team of scientists and one artist flee from a geometric conflagration.

“They find out there’s a war going on on this planet between the perfect, colorful cubes and the misshapen, grey cubes,” Ferenc said.

His poster looks dynamic with all of the characters on the brink of falling from the car, a distant relation to the dull black emptiness of the original 1955 cover.

One of the artists for “Station Zero” used the original cover as a springboard. Kelsey King’s version of “The Universe Against Her” portrays a young girl and her cats like the 1964 first edition’s cover.

“She’s meditating with her cat trying to develop her psychic powers,” she said.

King’s piece embraces the cheesiness of the artwork like many of the pieces, but nothing’s ever tongue-in-cheek. She was wholeheartedly invested in the story, even in its more outlandish moments. “Station Zero” offers no parody, only a tribute to this cosmic-leaning era.

“It’s this perfect fifteen year old girl who’s in college and a genius and has a psychic pet cat,” she said. “You can’t go wrong with that.”

What: “Station Zero” opening reception

When: Friday, 7-10 p.m.

Where: Light Grey Art Lab, 118 East 26th St., Suite 101, Minneapolis

By: Joe Kleinschmidt

Sometimes the vegetables give off a reedy low-pitched tone. Other times, Philip Blackburn’s talking plants emit a set of seemingly random percussive beats.

“Some of them have more emotive qualities than others,” Blackburn said. “If you can imagine a crying plant.”

Wired with a brainwave-sensing device and pre-recorded samples, Blackburn’s crying vegetables often generate suspicion. Users will start toying with the rhubarb, causing vibrations to make a surreal plant-human dialogue.

“Suddenly it becomes a heuristic problem of using all your human ingenuity to get a rise out of this plant,” Blackburn said.

At the heart (or cochlea) of Blackburn’s installations is an appreciation for deep listening, a philosophy first outlined by composer Pauline Oliveros.   World Listening Day celebrates a sonic meditation, appreciating everything from birdsong to the hum of an air conditioner.

“It’s a practice rather than, ‘Here’s another piece, here’s another song — download it, buy it,’”**** Blackburn said.

Deep listening promotes newfound awareness to the acoustic ecology, the complex layers of sounds in the environment. While Blackburn’s talking plant experiment yields no scientific data, the artist hopes to inspire thoughtful investigation.

“You may wonder what it is and you may research that or you may be a little more appreciative the next time you have a salad,” Blackburn said.

Listening here lies in appreciating the guts beneath the greenery. Under the fleshy stems, a network of xylem and phloem shuttle water and food across the plant. Blackburn’s art encourages occasions to interact with the plant’s hidden life.

“It’s so interactive that you don’t know if it’s the plant performing or the user,” he said.

A high-tech medical device and a MacBook Pro power Blackburn’s installation, but World Listening Day pushes listeners to tune in to the environment anywhere.

Vocalist Viv Corringham sees the international holiday as simply a chance to walk. The British vocalist wants listeners to silently enjoy sounds they’d normally ignore. One of her prompts for the Soniferous Garden tour at the Walker’s Sculpture Garden captures this spirit of creativity.

“Imagine this is a garden full of sounds, rather than sculpture. What would you like to hear in it?” she said.

Corringham also stresses that World Listening Day is not about identifying sounds as harmonious or discordant. Instead, the practice of her “soundwalks” opens up the world of unappreciated sounds in the same vein as John Cage’s “4’33,”” the avant-garde composition performed without any deliberate noise.

“Listening is a way of opening up to the world and being in the present moment,” she said.

Recognizing the landscape of noise around the Walker also forces listeners to contemplate how human intervention has altered the environment, Blackburn noted.

“Our soundscape is always changing about us,” he said. “The sounds of old industries or the sounds of certain birds — our ecology is changing all the time.”

Blackburn and Corringham’s work forces passersby to pay attention to their surroundings. This simple tenant of World Listening Day might seem obvious, but at least it’s a chance to escape the endless cycle of images on the Internet or TV.

“Television is so powerful and visuals are so powerful in our culture that we often have our aural imagination stifled,” Blackburn said.

Nearing the end of one of the talking plants’ “performance” at a children’s festival in St. Paul, a woman summed up the piece’s potential to breed imagination, however lame her joke.

“Now vegetarians may not even eat vegetables,” she laughed.

World Listening Day

When: Thursday, 5-9 p.m.

Where: Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, 1750 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis

Cost: Free

Lineup:

Talking Plants, Philip Blackburn

6-8 p.m.

The Soniferous Garden, Viv Corringham

5-9 p.m.

Wind Harps, Philip Blackburn

5-9 p.m.

By: Joe Kleinschmidt

STUFF TO DO

THURSDAY:

Beyoncé

She put on one of the most memorable Super Bowl halftime shows in recent years and hasn’t slowed down. Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is set to release her fifth studio album this year and recently lent her vocals to a track on Jay-Z’s “Magna Carta Holy Grail.” She’s a pop cultural force with over 75 million albums sold worldwide. Expect extravagance and her best singles from the former Destiny’s Child star at a packed Xcel Center show. For this leg of “The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour,” get down to “Single Ladies” and “Crazy in Love” while she’s here — this is the first time Bey has stopped in the Cities since 2009’s “I Am… World Tour.”

Where: Xcel Energy Center

When: 8 p.m.

Cost: $47–$252

FRIDAY:

Sixth Annual Middle Eastern Festival

For a weekend of tabbouleh, falafel, hummus and baklava, stop by the Sixth Annual Middle Eastern Festival to gorge to your stomach’s content on these fine homemade staples. The festivities will have plenty of beer to wash down the gyros, not to mention camel rides and giant inflatables. The family affair also features live entertainment from the John Khoury band and a performance of the traditional Dabke dance.

Where: St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, 1250 Oakdale Ave., West St. Paul

When: Noon–10 p.m.

Cost: Free

SATURDAY:

Summer Beer Dabbler

With over 200 brews to sample, the beer festival makes the trip to St. Paul worth the hassle —        65 different breweries will offer plenty of microbrews and craft beers. If that means little to your Pabst Blue Ribbon-influenced palate, the Summer Beer Dabbler will also feature live music from local bands The Cactus Blossoms, Crimes and Strange Names. If you want to become hip with the home-brew crowd, the day’s event also gives you a chance to get educated in all things related to the fermented beverage.

Where: Upper Landing Park, St. Paul

When: 1–5 p.m.

Cost: $35, $45 at the door

Age: 21+

CULTURE TO CONSUME

LISTEN TO THIS:

“Stills” by Gauntlet Hair

This avant-garde noise pop group’s first album was recorded at lead singer Andy Rauworth’s grandmother’s house. The critically lauded, self-titled debut packed a blistering punch in the same vein as contemporaries No Age, even if production suffered from being tied to the basement. Now they’ve left Rauworth’s grandmother’s place for a studio for “Stills,” the Denver group’s sophomore release. If the single “Human Nature” offers a preview of the entire album, Guantlet Hair still offers a bleeding wave of electronica and reverb, a more pop-focused My Bloody Valentine.

WATCH THIS:

“The Chris Gethard Show”

Wednesday, 10 p.m. at thechrisgethardshow.com

Public access television might not usually make for the most compelling entertainment, but “The Chris Gethard Show” proves that the format allows for unbridled creativity. In the era of stale late-night hosts, the nervous and bespectacled Gethard reigns as a king of spontaneous TV. One hour of the New York-based show featured the cast giving haircuts to willing members of the audience. Amy Poehler and Zach Galifianakis have even stopped by the show. Stream the 100th episode of the Manhattan Neighborhood Network cult favorite tonight via the show’s website.

READ THIS:

“Love and Rockets” by Los Bros Hernandez

Since the 1980s, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez have redefined the movement of modern literary comics. Within “Palomar,” a fictional Central American town, Los Bros explore the lives of inhabitants with the intricacy of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The comics use a magical realism similar to the novelist as well, using stark black and white illustrations to follow its many characters. Start reading the entire “Love and Rockets” canon with “Palomar” or “Locas.” The latter series follows teens active in the early California punk scene, if that sounds more up your alley, but both of these collections are accessible and visually engaging for an entertaining beach read.

By: Spencer Doar

It begins the way it does at tracks around the country — Belmont, Arlington, Churchill. A man in red livery and a black helmet calls the horses to post on a medieval-looking bugle.

As the all-to-familiar brassy notes echo through Canterbury Park, Lynn Deichert, who’s been playing that fanfare for “longer than [he] can remember,” lowers his horn, his upper lip just beginning to chap — it’ll be worse by the night’s 10th race.

Deichert’s horn is a part of the holdover tradition that seamlessly mixes with the likes of electronic betting booths and a diverse clientele of families, grizzled regulars and twenty-somethings looking for a good time. Nothing illustrates the track’s combination of new and old better than one of the escort riders checking her phone atop a chestnut brown mare.

Thursday, with its dollar admission and cheap drinks, is by far the most packed night and draws the most youthful crowd. But by any night’s seventh race, when the libations have been flowing through the bettors’ ups and downs, there will be some cadre of bros clamoring to see the race results through double vision. “Did we all win?” a double-fister queries, spilling domestic on his Nikes.

When I arrived before the first race, one for quarter horses, I was taken under the wing of Michelle Benson, a media assistant at Canterbury whose family runs the horse-specializing Wood-Mere Farms.

Her family used to race horses, but when Canterbury closed in 1992, with live racing returning in 1994, they went into breeding. Benson’s been a part of Canterbury “since the womb.”

Into the belly of the beast we went, entering the basement level from the winner’s circle — that’s where the winning jockey gets his or her (there are a few females on the jockey roster) moment of glory.

Benson had to put a GoPro camera on jockey Juan Rivera before the third race for a promotional video. I found myself smack dab in the middle of what was a bit like an equine green room — guys washing off bridles, a nearby room with all of the colorful silks, a security guard shooting the breeze with a chef who proclaimed himself “the best in Canterbury.” In the middle was the desk of an old, red-nosed, gold-jewelry clad gent who had something to do with weighing-in  the jockeys before races.

While Benson was waiting on Rivera, she told me to “go talk to Derek, he’s one of our Hall of Famers.”

Derek Bell was wearing glossy jockey boots and glowing white jodhpurs, the brightness offset only by the big ol’ chaw he had sprouting from his lower lip.

A weathered face and tired eyes looked up at me: “Whaddya wanna know?” he said, punctuating the sentence with a stream of brown tobacco spit.

Most of the luster is gone for Bell, racing horses and the excitement he brings to the crowd outside no longer differentiates his job from others.

“Some days it’s great, some days it sucks,” Bell said.

The “sucks” part probably has something to do with the time he spent in litigation with racing authorities in Florida after getting embroiled in a race-fixing scandal.

At this point, Rivera came out with the GoPro cam on. Bell noticed.

“I bet it’ll look good when I go flying by you,” he said to Rivera. “Wait, does it pick up audio? Well, I’ll be yelling, ‘Eff you,’ on the way by, too,” Bell said with a laugh.

Bell won the next race atop Machorina, passing Rivera along the way.

As he was walking back to change silks, Bell caught my eye, smirking as he said, “And that’s how you do that.”

He won the following two races.

Of course that meant that by the time I thought it’d be a good idea to bet on Bell, one of Canterbury’s all-time leaders with earnings in the $19 million area, he didn’t even show. That’s probably the most important lesson in horse betting — just when you think you’ve got an inkling as to what’s going on, all goes to hell.

There’s no such thing as a sure thing.

Up close, all these powerful beasts look capable of the exceptional, with veins popping out the sides of their flesh, seemingly squeezed to the surface by the masses of muscle that make these animals equally beautiful and frightening.

All of the workers on the track wear padded vests to absorb potential impact.

Larry Davila, the man who hits the starting button by the gates, knows this all too well.

He speaks in what sounds like a state of laryngitis; back in the day, a horse nailed Davila right in the throat, leaving him with a perpetual rasp.

He’s another of the colorful characters that make a night at the track so memorable.

The old-timers sitting studying their forms, the lil’ tykes playing in an impromptu sandbox by the music stage formed by spillover dirt from the track, the pageantry of the pre-race paddock promenade, the cumulative roar of “go” and “no” forming a wash that’ll quickly turn to euphoria or despondence in the last furlong — that’s the allure of a balmy night in Shakopee.

First-timer tips:

-Bet small and spread out; hedge your bets.

-Familiarize yourself with the racing forms; they’re a wealth of information. For example: When picking an Exacta, “box it,” or double the bet so that regardless of the finishing order, if you’ve picked the right horses, you get a payout.

-Bring some binoculars to see the far side of the track.

-Odds will change as bets are placed, so don’t wager too early, but don’t wager too close to post, if the lines are long you might not be able to place it in time.

Glossary of terms:

Exacta: Bet that picks the order of the top three finishers

Jockey: The men and women who race horses, generally around 5 feet tall and 120 pounds

Jodhpurs: Riding pants

Mare: Mature female horse

Post: When horses are led to the starting gates, pretty much the racing equivalent of NASA’s “T-minus 10…”

Quarter horses: Think of a 100-meter sprint in track and field — these horses are bred for quick bursts of speed.

Silks: The colors worn by jockeys that reflect the horse’s owner

Show: A horse coming in first, second or third