By: Joe Kleinschmidt

Most of Richard Barlow’s recipients have no idea who’s sending mail to them. But when the artist picks someone for his “Daily Bromides” series of watercolors, he sends them one postcard every day for 30 days.

“I thought I should send them anonymously to someone so that there’s no chance of them coming back,” he said.

The project began as a lark — Barlow accidentally started his handmade art, dedicated to early 19th century photography, on the back of a postcard. After finishing one at the Interlochen Center for Arts, he decided he needed to send it off.

“There’s something that I really like about the idea that every day I have to let this thing go,” he said.

Though the University of Minnesota alumnus is known for large-scale visual art, the postcard project presented a new opportunity for interaction. “Bromides,” which refers to both platitudes and an early photographic process, gave Barlow a new space for communication.

Librarians, philosophers, art critics, writers — all thinkers Barlow admires — have received the stream of postcards in the mail. Although the artist’s five by seven landscapes now hang in the Shoebox Gallery, the project’s impetus was casual.

“I was interested in communicating with people outside of this gallery context,” he said.

Without the glass barriers of a gallery, Barlow’s anonymous recipients receive a stack of colorful tributes to one of his favorite photographs. William Henry Fox Talbot pioneered the Calotype, an early photographic process using silver iodide and paper.

Barlow chose Fox Talbot’s early negative “Reflected Trees” to continually paint, paying homage to one of the first photos ever taken. Trees reflected in a lake appear black and white, a replication Barlow decided to extend.

“I in turn make an image of his image of an image of an image,” he said.

Barlow’s affinity for meta-consciousness digs deeper than your uncle’s postcard of San Diego’s skyline. “Daily Bromides” makes the well-worn landscape art genre less of an object of affection — the standard postcard view of a landscape holds little importance for Barlow.

“To me, there’s no imminent meaning there for us to discover,” he said. “You go somewhere and buy the postcard view of the place you are to put into your photo album. You have this scenic overview that tells you the right place to look at it.”

“Daily Bromides” inspires creativity among its recipients — some hang the collection in a grid and others put them in a pile. When he was on another mail art spree as a Jerome Fellow last year, Barlow recalls finally seeing the culmination of his postage when a Walker Art Center librarian visited him.

“He came to visit my studio, and I had some of these cards out among other things. He remembered when they were coming into the library,” he said. “They had no idea where they were coming from.”

What: “Daily Bromides” reception

When: 8 p.m., Friday

Where: Shoebox Gallery, 2948 S. Chicago Ave., Minneapolis

By: Joe Kleinschmidt

Most of Richard Barlow’s recipients have no idea who’s sending mail to them. But when the artist picks someone for his “Daily Bromides” series of watercolors, he sends them one postcard every day for 30 days.

“I thought I should send them anonymously to someone so that there’s no chance of them coming back,” he said.

The project began as a lark — Barlow accidentally started his handmade art, dedicated to early 19th century photography, on the back of a postcard. After finishing one at the Interlochen Center for Arts, he decided he needed to send it off.

“There’s something that I really like about the idea that every day I have to let this thing go,” he said.

Though the University of Minnesota alumnus is known for large-scale visual art, the postcard project presented a new opportunity for interaction. “Bromides,” which refers to both platitudes and an early photographic process, gave Barlow a new space for communication.

Librarians, philosophers, art critics, writers — all thinkers Barlow admires — have received the stream of postcards in the mail. Although the artist’s five by seven landscapes now hang in the Shoebox Gallery, the project’s impetus was casual.

“I was interested in communicating with people outside of this gallery context,” he said.

Without the glass barriers of a gallery, Barlow’s anonymous recipients receive a stack of colorful tributes to one of his favorite photographs. William Henry Fox Talbot pioneered the Calotype, an early photographic process using silver iodide and paper.

Barlow chose Fox Talbot’s early negative “Reflected Trees” to continually paint, paying homage to one of the first photos ever taken. Trees reflected in a lake appear black and white, a replication Barlow decided to extend.

“I in turn make an image of his image of an image of an image,” he said.

Barlow’s affinity for meta-consciousness digs deeper than your uncle’s postcard of San Diego’s skyline. “Daily Bromides” makes the well-worn landscape art genre less of an object of affection — the standard postcard view of a landscape holds little importance for Barlow.

“To me, there’s no imminent meaning there for us to discover,” he said. “You go somewhere and buy the postcard view of the place you are to put into your photo album. You have this scenic overview that tells you the right place to look at it.”

“Daily Bromides” inspires creativity among its recipients — some hang the collection in a grid and others put them in a pile. When he was on another mail art spree as a Jerome Fellow last year, Barlow recalls finally seeing the culmination of his postage when a Walker Art Center librarian visited him.

“He came to visit my studio, and I had some of these cards out among other things. He remembered when they were coming into the library,” he said. “They had no idea where they were coming from.”

What: “Daily Bromides” reception

When: 8 p.m., Friday

Where: Shoebox Gallery, 2948 S. Chicago Ave., Minneapolis

By: Joe Kleinschmidt

Most of Richard Barlow’s recipients have no idea who’s sending mail to them. But when the artist picks someone for his “Daily Bromides” series of watercolors, he sends them one postcard every day for 30 days.

“I thought I should send them anonymously to someone so that there’s no chance of them coming back,” he said.

The project began as a lark — Barlow accidentally started his handmade art, dedicated to early 19th century photography, on the back of a postcard. After finishing one at the Interlochen Center for Arts, he decided he needed to send it off.

“There’s something that I really like about the idea that every day I have to let this thing go,” he said.

Though the University of Minnesota alumnus is known for large-scale visual art, the postcard project presented a new opportunity for interaction. “Bromides,” which refers to both platitudes and an early photographic process, gave Barlow a new space for communication.

Librarians, philosophers, art critics, writers — all thinkers Barlow admires — have received the stream of postcards in the mail. Although the artist’s five by seven landscapes now hang in the Shoebox Gallery, the project’s impetus was casual.

“I was interested in communicating with people outside of this gallery context,” he said.

Without the glass barriers of a gallery, Barlow’s anonymous recipients receive a stack of colorful tributes to one of his favorite photographs. William Henry Fox Talbot pioneered the Calotype, an early photographic process using silver iodide and paper.

Barlow chose Fox Talbot’s early negative “Reflected Trees” to continually paint, paying homage to one of the first photos ever taken. Trees reflected in a lake appear black and white, a replication Barlow decided to extend.

“I in turn make an image of his image of an image of an image,” he said.

Barlow’s affinity for meta-consciousness digs deeper than your uncle’s postcard of San Diego’s skyline. “Daily Bromides” makes the well-worn landscape art genre less of an object of affection — the standard postcard view of a landscape holds little importance for Barlow.

“To me, there’s no imminent meaning there for us to discover,” he said. “You go somewhere and buy the postcard view of the place you are to put into your photo album. You have this scenic overview that tells you the right place to look at it.”

“Daily Bromides” inspires creativity among its recipients — some hang the collection in a grid and others put them in a pile. When he was on another mail art spree as a Jerome Fellow last year, Barlow recalls finally seeing the culmination of his postage when a Walker Art Center librarian visited him.

“He came to visit my studio, and I had some of these cards out among other things. He remembered when they were coming into the library,” he said. “They had no idea where they were coming from.”

What: “Daily Bromides” reception

When: 8 p.m., Friday

Where: Shoebox Gallery, 2948 S. Chicago Ave., Minneapolis

By: Joe Kleinschmidt

Most of Richard Barlow’s recipients have no idea who’s sending mail to them. But when the artist picks someone for his “Daily Bromides” series of watercolors, he sends them one postcard every day for 30 days.

“I thought I should send them anonymously to someone so that there’s no chance of them coming back,” he said.

The project began as a lark — Barlow accidentally started his handmade art, dedicated to early 19th century photography, on the back of a postcard. After finishing one at the Interlochen Center for Arts, he decided he needed to send it off.

“There’s something that I really like about the idea that every day I have to let this thing go,” he said.

Though the University of Minnesota alumnus is known for large-scale visual art, the postcard project presented a new opportunity for interaction. “Bromides,” which refers to both platitudes and an early photographic process, gave Barlow a new space for communication.

Librarians, philosophers, art critics, writers — all thinkers Barlow admires — have received the stream of postcards in the mail. Although the artist’s five by seven landscapes now hang in the Shoebox Gallery, the project’s impetus was casual.

“I was interested in communicating with people outside of this gallery context,” he said.

Without the glass barriers of a gallery, Barlow’s anonymous recipients receive a stack of colorful tributes to one of his favorite photographs. William Henry Fox Talbot pioneered the Calotype, an early photographic process using silver iodide and paper.

Barlow chose Fox Talbot’s early negative “Reflected Trees” to continually paint, paying homage to one of the first photos ever taken. Trees reflected in a lake appear black and white, a replication Barlow decided to extend.

“I in turn make an image of his image of an image of an image,” he said.

Barlow’s affinity for meta-consciousness digs deeper than your uncle’s postcard of San Diego’s skyline. “Daily Bromides” makes the well-worn landscape art genre less of an object of affection — the standard postcard view of a landscape holds little importance for Barlow.

“To me, there’s no imminent meaning there for us to discover,” he said. “You go somewhere and buy the postcard view of the place you are to put into your photo album. You have this scenic overview that tells you the right place to look at it.”

“Daily Bromides” inspires creativity among its recipients — some hang the collection in a grid and others put them in a pile. When he was on another mail art spree as a Jerome Fellow last year, Barlow recalls finally seeing the culmination of his postage when a Walker Art Center librarian visited him.

“He came to visit my studio, and I had some of these cards out among other things. He remembered when they were coming into the library,” he said. “They had no idea where they were coming from.”

What: “Daily Bromides” reception

When: 8 p.m., Friday

Where: Shoebox Gallery, 2948 S. Chicago Ave., Minneapolis

By: Spencer Doar

Jayder Kalk strings a thread between three very different styles of music: opera, ska and the songs of Johnny Cash.

It’s an eclectic musical journey that’s taken Kalk around the world and back, singing and playing bass and guitar. He inadvertently rekindled a love for Johnny Cash some four years ago, and now he plays locally with the Church of Cash, a tribute band that’s been gathering a statewide following over the past three years.

Kalk cut his teeth early on verse, first as a five-year-old on his parents’ farm and later as an opera student at Minnesota State University-Moorhead.

He linked up with friends who were ska fans in 1995, forming 3 Minute Hero. Their local success (they won a Minnesota Music Award) propelled him into getting involved with ska-punkers Warsaw Poland Bros. and later touring internationally with Go Jimmy Go, a throwback island ska band based out of Honolulu.   

But when you live “on an island, while only playing with a band that size, you can wear people out,” Kalk said. “I wanted to play all the time.”

So Kalk went solo, playing everything from new wave to rock and reggae.

“I noticed every time I played Cash, people lifted their heads,” Kalk said. “I started Church of Cash and became instantly successful with the guys coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan who hadn’t heard much American music [in a while].”

When Kalk moved back to Minnesota, he reformed Church of Cash, linking up with fiddler Crista Bohlman, bassist Dan Arlig, drummer Pete Boulger and guitarist Jonathon TeBeest.

Kalk has a deep voice that naturally lends itself to Cash songs, and the fiddle of Bohlman adds a nice twist to some of the classics.

“My old man was a big Johnny Cash fan; he’d always be singing it for me,” Kalk said. “When I started Church of Cash, I realized I already knew a lot of his songs.”

They have a repertoire of some 100 songs, but Kalk is quick to point out that a recent anthology of Cash music contained some 800 tracks and that sometimes aficionados come out to shows asking for “super-deep cuts” that leave Kalk and company baffled.

He’ll have to learn some more if he wants to reach his eventual goal of taking the group to a “Vegas-like level — dressing the part with a solid hour-and-a-half set.”

It’s an odd comment about the future from Kalk, who also goes on at length to express that he doesn’t try to emulate Cash. Trying or not, Kalk does the voice and music of Cash justice, revitalizing a legend’s canon with aplomb.

The Church of Cash plays at Lee’s Liquor Lounge on the first Thursday of every month, as well as brunch at Hell’s Kitchen on the first Saturday of every month.

For more info, go to churchofcashmusic.com.

By: Spencer Doar

Jayder Kalk strings a thread between three very different styles of music: opera, ska and the songs of Johnny Cash.

It’s an eclectic musical journey that’s taken Kalk around the world and back, singing and playing bass and guitar. He inadvertently rekindled a love for Johnny Cash some four years ago, and now he plays locally with the Church of Cash, a tribute band that’s been gathering a statewide following over the past three years.

Kalk cut his teeth early on verse, first as a five-year-old on his parents’ farm and later as an opera student at Minnesota State University-Moorhead.

He linked up with friends who were ska fans in 1995, forming 3 Minute Hero. Their local success (they won a Minnesota Music Award) propelled him into getting involved with ska-punkers Warsaw Poland Bros. and later touring internationally with Go Jimmy Go, a throwback island ska band based out of Honolulu.   

But when you live “on an island, while only playing with a band that size, you can wear people out,” Kalk said. “I wanted to play all the time.”

So Kalk went solo, playing everything from new wave to rock and reggae.

“I noticed every time I played Cash, people lifted their heads,” Kalk said. “I started Church of Cash and became instantly successful with the guys coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan who hadn’t heard much American music [in a while].”

When Kalk moved back to Minnesota, he reformed Church of Cash, linking up with fiddler Crista Bohlman, bassist Dan Arlig, drummer Pete Boulger and guitarist Jonathon TeBeest.

Kalk has a deep voice that naturally lends itself to Cash songs, and the fiddle of Bohlman adds a nice twist to some of the classics.

“My old man was a big Johnny Cash fan; he’d always be singing it for me,” Kalk said. “When I started Church of Cash, I realized I already knew a lot of his songs.”

They have a repertoire of some 100 songs, but Kalk is quick to point out that a recent anthology of Cash music contained some 800 tracks and that sometimes aficionados come out to shows asking for “super-deep cuts” that leave Kalk and company baffled.

He’ll have to learn some more if he wants to reach his eventual goal of taking the group to a “Vegas-like level — dressing the part with a solid hour-and-a-half set.”

It’s an odd comment about the future from Kalk, who also goes on at length to express that he doesn’t try to emulate Cash. Trying or not, Kalk does the voice and music of Cash justice, revitalizing a legend’s canon with aplomb.

The Church of Cash plays at Lee’s Liquor Lounge on the first Thursday of every month, as well as brunch at Hell’s Kitchen on the first Saturday of every month.

For more info, go to churchofcashmusic.com.

By: Spencer Doar

Jayder Kalk strings a thread between three very different styles of music: opera, ska and the songs of Johnny Cash.

It’s an eclectic musical journey that’s taken Kalk around the world and back, singing and playing bass and guitar. He inadvertently rekindled a love for Johnny Cash some four years ago, and now he plays locally with the Church of Cash, a tribute band that’s been gathering a statewide following over the past three years.

Kalk cut his teeth early on verse, first as a five-year-old on his parents’ farm and later as an opera student at Minnesota State University-Moorhead.

He linked up with friends who were ska fans in 1995, forming 3 Minute Hero. Their local success (they won a Minnesota Music Award) propelled him into getting involved with ska-punkers Warsaw Poland Bros. and later touring internationally with Go Jimmy Go, a throwback island ska band based out of Honolulu.   

But when you live “on an island, while only playing with a band that size, you can wear people out,” Kalk said. “I wanted to play all the time.”

So Kalk went solo, playing everything from new wave to rock and reggae.

“I noticed every time I played Cash, people lifted their heads,” Kalk said. “I started Church of Cash and became instantly successful with the guys coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan who hadn’t heard much American music [in a while].”

When Kalk moved back to Minnesota, he reformed Church of Cash, linking up with fiddler Crista Bohlman, bassist Dan Arlig, drummer Pete Boulger and guitarist Jonathon TeBeest.

Kalk has a deep voice that naturally lends itself to Cash songs, and the fiddle of Bohlman adds a nice twist to some of the classics.

“My old man was a big Johnny Cash fan; he’d always be singing it for me,” Kalk said. “When I started Church of Cash, I realized I already knew a lot of his songs.”

They have a repertoire of some 100 songs, but Kalk is quick to point out that a recent anthology of Cash music contained some 800 tracks and that sometimes aficionados come out to shows asking for “super-deep cuts” that leave Kalk and company baffled.

He’ll have to learn some more if he wants to reach his eventual goal of taking the group to a “Vegas-like level — dressing the part with a solid hour-and-a-half set.”

It’s an odd comment about the future from Kalk, who also goes on at length to express that he doesn’t try to emulate Cash. Trying or not, Kalk does the voice and music of Cash justice, revitalizing a legend’s canon with aplomb.

The Church of Cash plays at Lee’s Liquor Lounge on the first Thursday of every month, as well as brunch at Hell’s Kitchen on the first Saturday of every month.

For more info, go to churchofcashmusic.com.

By: Spencer Doar

Jayder Kalk strings a thread between three very different styles of music: opera, ska and the songs of Johnny Cash.

It’s an eclectic musical journey that’s taken Kalk around the world and back, singing and playing bass and guitar. He inadvertently rekindled a love for Johnny Cash some four years ago, and now he plays locally with the Church of Cash, a tribute band that’s been gathering a statewide following over the past three years.

Kalk cut his teeth early on verse, first as a five-year-old on his parents’ farm and later as an opera student at Minnesota State University-Moorhead.

He linked up with friends who were ska fans in 1995, forming 3 Minute Hero. Their local success (they won a Minnesota Music Award) propelled him into getting involved with ska-punkers Warsaw Poland Bros. and later touring internationally with Go Jimmy Go, a throwback island ska band based out of Honolulu.   

But when you live “on an island, while only playing with a band that size, you can wear people out,” Kalk said. “I wanted to play all the time.”

So Kalk went solo, playing everything from new wave to rock and reggae.

“I noticed every time I played Cash, people lifted their heads,” Kalk said. “I started Church of Cash and became instantly successful with the guys coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan who hadn’t heard much American music [in a while].”

When Kalk moved back to Minnesota, he reformed Church of Cash, linking up with fiddler Crista Bohlman, bassist Dan Arlig, drummer Pete Boulger and guitarist Jonathon TeBeest.

Kalk has a deep voice that naturally lends itself to Cash songs, and the fiddle of Bohlman adds a nice twist to some of the classics.

“My old man was a big Johnny Cash fan; he’d always be singing it for me,” Kalk said. “When I started Church of Cash, I realized I already knew a lot of his songs.”

They have a repertoire of some 100 songs, but Kalk is quick to point out that a recent anthology of Cash music contained some 800 tracks and that sometimes aficionados come out to shows asking for “super-deep cuts” that leave Kalk and company baffled.

He’ll have to learn some more if he wants to reach his eventual goal of taking the group to a “Vegas-like level — dressing the part with a solid hour-and-a-half set.”

It’s an odd comment about the future from Kalk, who also goes on at length to express that he doesn’t try to emulate Cash. Trying or not, Kalk does the voice and music of Cash justice, revitalizing a legend’s canon with aplomb.

The Church of Cash plays at Lee’s Liquor Lounge on the first Thursday of every month, as well as brunch at Hell’s Kitchen on the first Saturday of every month.

For more info, go to churchofcashmusic.com.

By: Spencer Doar

WHAT TO DO

Wednesday

Shwayze

If you’ve never heard the banal pop-rap stylings of Shwayze and his sometime collaborator Cisco Adler, I don’t know if you’re unlucky or blessed.  He’s the kind of walking train wreck of mediocrity that makes for mesmerizing entertainment, a fact recognized by MTV — they gave him a reality show in 2008. 

His hits, “Corona and Lime” and “Buzzin’,” are two ever so slightly different versions of the same tripe, a (hopefully inadvertent) homage to Nickelback. 

The Pourhouse

10 S. 5th St., Minneapolis

8 p.m.

$10

18+

Thursday

Costaki Economopoulos

Costaki Economopoulos markets himself as the biggest name in comedy and he’s probably right.

The homepage of his website currently sports an anecdote about how Adrian Peterson makes Economopoulos feel better about himself. Peterson has a severe allergy to shellfish and Economopoulos doesn’t, so for all of the things that Peterson can do that make Economopoulos feel like a schlub, at least he can eat shrimp! I relate this particular bit of writing because it’s probably on the lower end of what Economopoulos is capable of. 

Acme Comedy Club

708 N. 1st St., Minneapolis

8 p.m.

$15

18+

Friday

Summer Set

Summer Set festival, with a lineup of rap, rock and electronica, goes from Friday to Sunday.  Really you can pick any one of these days — or blow a wad of cash on a weekend pass — and have a blast.   

Besides getting to soak in the music of Big Gigantic, Big Boi, Common, Diplo and Passion Pit, you get the chance to camp!  There’s an exclamation point there because the forecast looks like nature will comply with the festivities: three days of partly sunny skies and temps in the mid-70s. 

Somerset Amphitheater

715 Spring St., Somerset, Wis.

Music starts at 3 p.m. Friday

$39.50-$375

CULTURE TO CONSUME

Watch this: “Elysium”  

The phenomenon of Hollywood déjà vu has been pointed out numerous times, but each time it happens I’m surprised.  In 2006, it was “The Prestige” and “The Illusionist”; in 2000 it was “Mission to Mars” and “Red Planet”; in 1998 it was “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon”; the list goes on. 

But this year, audiences are being treated to not two, but three similarly themed movies.  First was Will Smith’s epic bummer “After Earth,” followed by Tom Cruise’s “Oblivion” and this Friday, audiences get “Elysium.”  This time Matt Damon helms the post-apocalyptic plotline clad in a bionic suit.

It looks to rehash a none-too-subtle version of the poor vs. rich trope.  Sign me up for the “yeeech” ride.

Eat this: Popsicles

This is the last Daily issue of the summer, which means it’s my last chance to remind you of the delectable presence of popsicles on this planet. 

True, they don’t have to be a seasonal treat for the iced faithful, but let’s be honest, there’s a reason why some Dairy Queens close in the winter. 

So get ‘em while the trucks are still roaming the streets playing nostalgic, out-of-tune melodies.  Hell, just fill up an ice-cube tray with whatever sweet liquid concoction you can think of and throw it in the freezer.  Once they’ve begun to ice up a bit, throw a halved skewer in it.  In a few hours you’ll have your own brand of ice. 

Listen to this: Hugh Laurie’s “Didn’t It Rain”

Yes, we’re talking about the incorrigible star of “House,” Hugh Laurie.  Maybe you didn’t know he was a blues musician on the side, but Tuesday marked his second studio release, “Didn’t It Rain,” the follow-up to 2011’s “Let Them Talk.”

It’s refreshing to see such a talent be so comfortably average in a different setting.  I think it’s because it’s hard to divorce the image of actor Hugh Laurie from musician Hugh Laurie.  Either way, the album is good primarily because of the Copper Bottom Band, Laurie’s backing group. 

Reasons it’s worth a peek: “The Weed Smoker’s Dream,” which doesn’t have Laurie’s vocals on it, and his cover of Dr. John’s “Wild Honey.”  His rendering of lyrics like “I’m a jack-of-all-trades” and “I am the one who’s gonna get all the fun done,” are so marvelously amusing. 

By: Spencer Doar

WHAT TO DO

Wednesday

Shwayze

If you’ve never heard the banal pop-rap stylings of Shwayze and his sometime collaborator Cisco Adler, I don’t know if you’re unlucky or blessed.  He’s the kind of walking train wreck of mediocrity that makes for mesmerizing entertainment, a fact recognized by MTV — they gave him a reality show in 2008. 

His hits, “Corona and Lime” and “Buzzin’,” are two ever so slightly different versions of the same tripe, a (hopefully inadvertent) homage to Nickelback. 

The Pourhouse

10 S. 5th St., Minneapolis

8 p.m.

$10

18+

Thursday

Costaki Economopoulos

Costaki Economopoulos markets himself as the biggest name in comedy and he’s probably right.

The homepage of his website currently sports an anecdote about how Adrian Peterson makes Economopoulos feel better about himself. Peterson has a severe allergy to shellfish and Economopoulos doesn’t, so for all of the things that Peterson can do that make Economopoulos feel like a schlub, at least he can eat shrimp! I relate this particular bit of writing because it’s probably on the lower end of what Economopoulos is capable of. 

Acme Comedy Club

708 N. 1st St., Minneapolis

8 p.m.

$15

18+

Friday

Summer Set

Summer Set festival, with a lineup of rap, rock and electronica, goes from Friday to Sunday.  Really you can pick any one of these days — or blow a wad of cash on a weekend pass — and have a blast.   

Besides getting to soak in the music of Big Gigantic, Big Boi, Common, Diplo and Passion Pit, you get the chance to camp!  There’s an exclamation point there because the forecast looks like nature will comply with the festivities: three days of partly sunny skies and temps in the mid-70s. 

Somerset Amphitheater

715 Spring St., Somerset, Wis.

Music starts at 3 p.m. Friday

$39.50-$375

CULTURE TO CONSUME

Watch this: “Elysium”  

The phenomenon of Hollywood déjà vu has been pointed out numerous times, but each time it happens I’m surprised.  In 2006, it was “The Prestige” and “The Illusionist”; in 2000 it was “Mission to Mars” and “Red Planet”; in 1998 it was “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon”; the list goes on. 

But this year, audiences are being treated to not two, but three similarly themed movies.  First was Will Smith’s epic bummer “After Earth,” followed by Tom Cruise’s “Oblivion” and this Friday, audiences get “Elysium.”  This time Matt Damon helms the post-apocalyptic plotline clad in a bionic suit.

It looks to rehash a none-too-subtle version of the poor vs. rich trope.  Sign me up for the “yeeech” ride.

Eat this: Popsicles

This is the last Daily issue of the summer, which means it’s my last chance to remind you of the delectable presence of popsicles on this planet. 

True, they don’t have to be a seasonal treat for the iced faithful, but let’s be honest, there’s a reason why some Dairy Queens close in the winter. 

So get ‘em while the trucks are still roaming the streets playing nostalgic, out-of-tune melodies.  Hell, just fill up an ice-cube tray with whatever sweet liquid concoction you can think of and throw it in the freezer.  Once they’ve begun to ice up a bit, throw a halved skewer in it.  In a few hours you’ll have your own brand of ice. 

Listen to this: Hugh Laurie’s “Didn’t It Rain”

Yes, we’re talking about the incorrigible star of “House,” Hugh Laurie.  Maybe you didn’t know he was a blues musician on the side, but Tuesday marked his second studio release, “Didn’t It Rain,” the follow-up to 2011’s “Let Them Talk.”

It’s refreshing to see such a talent be so comfortably average in a different setting.  I think it’s because it’s hard to divorce the image of actor Hugh Laurie from musician Hugh Laurie.  Either way, the album is good primarily because of the Copper Bottom Band, Laurie’s backing group. 

Reasons it’s worth a peek: “The Weed Smoker’s Dream,” which doesn’t have Laurie’s vocals on it, and his cover of Dr. John’s “Wild Honey.”  His rendering of lyrics like “I’m a jack-of-all-trades” and “I am the one who’s gonna get all the fun done,” are so marvelously amusing.