This Week in (Uploaded) Pictures

Stacy Schwartz snaps a slew of lovely images at the Minneapolis New Breed show at the Southern Theater. More images at Vita.mn here.


Michael Johnson captures his own mustache. Fancy!


MIA staffers take a break from art for some lunchtime sledding!


Token animal pic: Melinda Jacobs cuddles with her adorable pooches. Photo by Sarah Beth Photography.

Local photog Loren Kollmar gets creative with a doorknob. Kewl.

Anthem Heart's Ken Hannigan captures a Northeast morning through the window of his art studio, post Worn to be Wild party!


Artist Kendall Bohn at work, creating new illustrations for his series of children's coloring books.

Cool snowy pic a la the talented Jenn Barnett outside of Palmer's Bar!


Photographer Jayme Halbritter test drives the totally awesome liquid light photo booth for Saturday's Worn to be Wild party.

mplsart.com director Emma Berg and l'etoile fashion editor Jahna Peloquin lookin' lovely at this Friday's Walker After Hours party.


Johnny Fillman snaps LOL/OMG's own @marrina in this apt pic.


Emily Roberts Holden shows off the beginnings of her trippy Gene Wilder/Willy Wonka tattoo sleeve.


Local musician Desdamona hits the gym for her "Too Big for my Skin" campaign which focuses on body image issues. Photo by B Fresh, slide show at City Pages here.


Christian Erickson snaps a grip o' pics at Fashion Fight Night 4. Nic Marshall shoots model/burlesque babe, Sweet Pea.


Carlos Martin Garay posts some old photos from his family archives, including this wonderful shot that his Dad took while on leave during Vietnam.

Upload a cool shot lately? Send the link to omg@letoilemagazine.com for consideration in next week's edition of This Week in (Uploaded) Pictures!

Submitted by @letoilemagazine

Weekend Twitterings

Welcome to the new edition of Weekend Twitterings, the collection of best and worst of your weekend tweets. Metro Magazine's Fashion Fight Night stirred up a lot of funny tweets this Saturday. Read away!

The Tweet Wall was buzzin' at Metro's Fashion Fight Night 4.


Genius.


C'mon, that's a totally legit reason to be late.


@youlovestook deserves a triple-tweet.


This guy had a great time with the Situation.


She didn't.


We know!


It's a miracle!


Somehow we can totally picture Brother Ali in a candle lit bubble bath, listening to Sade.


Our advice? Wear a Flava Flav clock. It will distract people.


And this sort of thing is exactly why we love @winnerbowzer.


Meathead mating ritual?


Did you decode why the symbol for Cancer looks like 69?


WE ARE WATCHING YOU.

Submitted by @marrina and @letoilemagazine

Solid Gold to host MTV2's 'Subterranean' this Sunday

We heard a great bit of gossip about MPLS' home-bred electroteers, Solid Gold straight from the mouth of 89.3 The Current DJ, Bill DeVille, this morning. It seems even the music officials at MTV can't seem to escape the charm the boys possess. Not even two weeks since their “Matter of Time” video premiere, MTV2 has summoned the band back to guest host this weekend's edition of the insomniac alt-staple, Subterranean - a weekly music show featuring videos and interview segments from indie and underground artists. Stay up late with the dance-rock members as they spin the hottest videos in indie culture – including new ones from Julian Casablancas, Hot Chip, Spoon – and, of course, chat about their own vid. The episode airs locally at 1am Sunday night – aka Monday morning.

"Matter Of Time" - Solid Gold from GreenLabelSound on Vimeo.

Submitted by @juleanaenright

New Prince track debuts to mixed reactions

This morning 89.3 The Current unveiled the brand new Prince song that everyone's been buzzing about. Mixed reactions on the internetz abound. City Pages, for instance, was left "cringing" and "horrified" while a message board commenters quipped, "Sounds like he was listening to the "Footloose" soundtrack when he wrote this... not "groundbreaking" sound at all..." and ""Prince must be getting a really high score on this round of Rock Band." Also, Pitchfork posted the song on their site and said it was" characteristically batshit."

The MPR DJs had a different perspective, with Jill Rielly saying "When I heard "Cause and Effect" for the first time, the term "rock anthem" instantly came to mind. The new song will delight your senses and melt your face." and Steve Seel chimed in, "The tune is like a little mini-symphony of Prince-ness. It's got a few different sections, some that have that classic funky, sexy, sinewy Prince and some with his more rockish tendencies ... come to think of it, that makes it all classic Prince. Except the rock-y parts might be the hardest he's ever rocked, which is pretty notable in and of itself."

Is this a classic case of purple ass-kissery? Honestly, we'd probably kiss Prince's ass too if he was showing up to our parties and giving us exclusives. Personally, we don't think the song is all bad...some cheesy parts to be sure (crowd cheering interludes for one), but hey, it's PRINCE. He's earned the right to throw crowd cheering into his tracks.

If we were Prince's publicist, however, we'd suggest a couple things.

1. Stop taking yourself so seriously.

2. find some people who will tell you the truth when you're in the production process.

3. Channel '80s Prince.

4. Write a rock opera (while channeling '80s Prince) and debut it at 1st Avenue.

5. Hire us as your publicist.

What do U think of the new Prince track?

We want Prince to paint us a picture, naked, with extra fog.

Here are some local tweeps reactions:

Submitted by @letoilemagazine

Link of the Day

AV Club Twin Cities came out with a great article today on how to "handle the Situation". Not just any situation, folks, but Mike "the Situation" from MTV'S Jersey Shore who is making an appearance at Bootleggers this Saturday. Why? Nobody knows. What we do know is that he has a very strict daily routine, better known as GTL - gym, tanning, laundry that he never, ever skips on. Concerned staff of the AV Club want Mike to be at his best when he brings his abs to Bootleggers, so they offered some Twin Cities recommendations for tanning salons, gyms, cleaners and of course, fancy Italian restaurants.


And please, if you go see Mike this Saturday, we want to see some photos.

Submitted by @marrina.

Sneak preview of new Prince song!

As we reported earlier in the week, Prince gave the Current an opportunity to play his new song "Cause and Effect" before anybody else. The song's official premiere is scheduled for Friday morning at 7am, but peeps from the Current have decided to give us a teensy sneak-listen to a snippet of the new song on their site today. Prince can still jam on the guitar like no other!

Check it out here and let us know what you think!


Submitted by @marrina.

Blue Sky Blackout releases an online teaser promo for upcoming 3-side

One of our favorite newish local bands, Blue Sky Blackout, releases a little teaser trailer in promotion of their soon-to-be-released 3-side. The super group is comprised of six veteran Twin Cities musicians. From Susstone's website: "Blue Sky Blackout is a brand new project from songwriter/guitarist Jon Hunt (formerly of Lunar 9/Medication/Shatterproof and more). Jon has assembled a virtual Susstones family supergroup to present his new tunes. Christian Erickson (Astronaut Wife) fronts the band as lead vocalist, with guitarists Brandon Dalida (Merc Rage, Medication) and Mykl Westbrooks (Landing Gear), drummer Marc Iwanin (Medication, the Meg, Basement Apartment), and bassist Tim Ritter (Astronaut Wife, Bella Koshka) bringing the beautiful noise."

Blue Sky Blackout - Upcoming 3-Side Teaser. from Blue Sky Blackout on Vimeo.

We can't believe this is a news story

Thanks to the tip from Stuff About Minneapolis we heard of this WCCO story about a woman who had a nasty movie going experience. Sarah Kohl-Leif 's troubles started when she realized the theater only accepts cash or checks and the on-site ATM was out of cash. She borrowed the money from a friend and got in, only to be interrupted by theater staff five minutes into the movie. Apparently, there were eight people that were not supposed to be in the movie and in order to determine who they are, the theater staff used flashlights to check ticket stubs. Can you say annoying? The woman was so upset that she e-mailed theater owners, Evergreen Entertainment, to tell them about her experience.

One would think she would get a free ticket, or at least an apology. But no, company's vice president Steven Payne personally responded telling Sarah: "drive to White Bear Lake and also go *&*% yourself,". Eighteen hours later, Payne sent another email, this time "sincerely" apologizing for his inappropriate response.

The lady has even started a Facebook page calling for a boycott of the theater. We love the internetz and all the ways people choose to waste their time. But really...how the hell is this a news story? And why did we write this post?


Submitted by @marrina.

MPR set to world premiere a new Prince tune this Friday...and it's not a Vikings fight song!

MPR tweeted some fun news this morning! Apparently, his royal purpleness is set to debut a brand new track on 89.3 the Current on Friday morning at 7am!

The Current dishes, "The song is called "Cause and Effect," and it's a rocker - filled with virtuosic guitar work, explosive drum breaks, a poppy chorus, trademark shrieks and whoops, some intriguing lyrics ("if I had the chance to do it all again / I wouldn't change a thing except my next of kin") and a call to mankind ("you need compassion"). Opening with Prince's classic pop smarts, the last minute of the tune swerves into a propulsive minor key guitar/strings/drum workout like we haven't heard from him in years."

Yet another reason to love Prince AND the Current. We can't wait to hear it, though the odds of us being awake at 7am on Friday morning are relatively slim, honestly. Thank god for mp3s, eh?

We wish he'd bring back the assless chaps. Can MPR arrange this?

Submitted by @letoilemagazine

Twitter saves lives!

Join us in celebrating the re-emergence of Twin Cities music and film scene staple, Chris Strouth Tuesday night at the 501 Club!

As many of you know, Chris underwent a much-talked-about kidney transplant in January that was arranged via Twitter. His new kidney, lovingly dubbed "William the Conqueror," was selflessly donated by Scott Pakudatis, an online acquaintance of Strouth who responded to a tweet Chris put out last year saying that he needed a kidney transplant. Pakudatis ended up being a match and the rest is social media history!

On Tuesday, February 23rd join Chris and Guest of Honor Scott Pakudatis, along with their friends, families and supporters for a rockin' party at the 501 Club! Featuring awesome drink specials and music from DJ Jake Rudh, DJ Drone, Joseph Pettini, and Dean Vaccaro.

Click HERE for the Facebook event page!

8pm / 21+ / Free
Sponsored by l'etoile magazine

Submitted by @letoilemagazine

Marsh on Bachmann , part deux.

Remember when Steve Marsh did that interview with Michele Bachmann? You know, the one where she talked about AR-15's, John Wayne and Thoreau? Bachmann apparently loved it so much that she started repeatedly referring to Steve's opening sentence where he calls her a "political monster." In a recent FOX Business news bit, the "monster" was mentioned again, which led to MinnPost publishing the video on their website today, Marsh responded with his own take on the matter (see comments section in the MinnPost article). FYI, Nancy Pelosi didn't tell him to call her a monster, Slavoj Zizek did. For clarification, watch this brief video featuring the famous philosopher and culture theorist:



Here's the CNN video where they talk about Steve's article (forward to the 3:50 mark)



Has Bachmann seen this video or is she taking things completely out of context, which Marsh believes is the case? We don't know. But you know what would be great? If Zizek actually responded. Who can make that happen? Marsh?

Submitted by @marrina.

Link of the Day

Thanks to Sean Smuda for posting this hilarious link to Facebook!

Dontevenreply.com is a collection of "Emails from an Asshole" that features ridiculous interactions between the website's creator and random people who post classified ads on the internet. The below pic, for instance, is one of many suggestions he made to a person seeking "disguised weapons."



submitted by @letoilemagazine

This Week in (Uploaded) Pictures

Twinsies? Photo by Sean Smuda.


If you missed l'etoile's 'Paper Hearts' party on Valentine's Day fear not, Nic Harper snapped pics of all the anonymous "love" notes post on the wall throughout the night. This one is particularly sweet, if you ask us!


Token animal pic: We're glad to know Fashion designer Max Lohrbach likes to put costumes on his pets too.


Lauren Gantner snaps pix of pals on a party bus. Yes, a party bus.


Anthem Heart's Ken Hannigan plays around with liquid light techniques (We've heard rumblings of another Worn to be Wild party, btw!)


James Allen Graham takes a stuffed toy on a tour of Chicago.


Local designer and Project Runway alum Christopher Straub debuts a new mustachioed look. Photo by Kevin Ophoven.


In other Christopher Straub news, he gives us a sneak peek via his camera phone of some of his latest fashions, behind the scenes at a photo shoot.


Christian Erickson's son Vinny rocks out.


The lovely Apryl Electra basks in the sunny glow on a flight back to the Twin Cities.


Angie Hanson snaps a pic of the New Land of Milk and Honey performance/installation at the Soap Factory.


Photog Amanda Hankerson tweeted this puke-worthy yet fascinating pic of an Eelpout with another Eelpout in its mouth. SCREAM!!!


Darin Back captures the mood at the Dakota Jazz Club during the Alison Scott show.


plesserchick tweets this cool, gritty shot of the Pines playing at the Cakein15 secret location show on Sunday.

Submitted by @letoilemagazine