Doug Forbes is awesome

Local blogger and artist Doug Forbes posted an awesome time lapse video of the progress of a painting he took nearly a year to complete. We heart Forbes and we want that painting!




Forbes will also be showing THIS cool painting at the MIA's upcoming Foot in the Door 4 exhibition. We want this one too!



Submitted by @letoilemagazine

Local does Tea Party karaoke on Jimmy Fallon

We just got a tip that Billy Whalen, local marketing manager for Glaceau/Vitaminwater, board member for the young professional board The Scene over at the Hennepin Theatre Trust, and general man about town, found his way onto Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on Monday for an impromptu karaoke competition while in New York on business. Though Whalen didn't take home the prize, we think he did a bang-up job with the made-up Obama-inspired song called "Where's the Birth Certificate?" in honor of the recent Tea Party convention. Here's Whalen with Fallon:

And here's Whalen wailing away, with The Roots and Joe Satriani as his backing band, natch:

The full episode is available here, and Whalen's song starts around the 11:00 minute mark. In a coincidental twist, Whalen is part of the events board with Hennepin Theatre Trust that is planning an event around Jimmy Fallon's upcoming performance at Orpheum Theatre on March 6.

UPDATE: A campaign to have Whalen named the rightful winner of the karaoke contest has gone viral on Facebook. Whalen fans are saying, "Jimmy Fallon, Give Billy his GPX Karaoke System!" (The prize of the contest.)

Submitted by @jahnapeloquin

MTV hearts Jeremy Messersmith

After the recent announcement that Jeremy Messersmith made the official lineup at SXSW, the local songsmith just tipped us off via his Twitter account that a handful of his songs will be played on an MTV reality show called "My Life As Liz." Already on Monday, he had his debut on the show with "Welcome to Suburbia." (Go to the 2:27 minute mark to hear the tune.)



Upcoming song placements on the show:
"Dead End Job" on February 15 at 10:30pm EST
"Wasting Time" on March 1 at 10:30pm EST
"Franklin Avenue" on March at 10:30pm EST


Submitted by @jahnapeloquin

Local boy done good

Big congrats to local actor Mike Rylander whose latest gig, the already (in)famous Doritos ad, became the most watched ad of all time! According to Nielsen, "A Doritos commercial featuring two men attacked in a gym for stealing someone else’s Doritos was seen by an estimated 116.2 million viewers last Super Bowl Sunday, making it the most watched television commercial of all time".



Mike responded on his Twitter page this afternoon saying:" Seriously guys, I'm kind of freaking out. More people collectively saw my short-shorted man legs than anything else in television history." We heart him.

Submitted by @marrina.

Guess who's back?

If you thought you would never see his face again smiling at you from giant billboards, you were wrong. W is back. Bob Collins broke the story on News Cut yesterday and it was covered by MNSpeak this morning, where we picked it up.


Located near Wyoming, MN, the billboard is the real deal, according to a Schubert & Hoey Outdoor Advertising rep :“The Bush Miss Me Yet? billboard was paid for by a group of small business owners who feel like Washington is against them. They wish to remain anonymous. They thought it was a fun way of getting out their message.”

All we can think about is: who is next? Barbara?

Submitted by @marrina.

Video recap of City Pages' Gimme Shelter benefit event

The video gurus at Mpls.TV team up with Dan Huiting and Anthem Heart A/V to bring you a recap of the most rockin' event of the weekend. City Pages' Gimme Shelter benefit for Haiti blew the roof of the Ave with sets from the likes of Mark Mallman, Solid Gold, Zoo Animal and Peter Wolf Crier and featured an artist showcase that included work by local talents like Chuck U, Rogue Citizen, Garrett Perry, Jesse Draxler and more. Bet you wish you went, if you didn't!

Also, check out a great CP's photo slide show from John Behm.

Gimme Shelter: A Benefit For Haiti from MPLS.TV on Vimeo.

Melly on Bethanny

Vlogger Melinda Jacobs interviews natural food chef/author and Real Housewives of New York City star, Bethanny Frankel, who was in town promoting her new book. It seems our chatty Melly has met her more talkative match -- she could hardly get a word in edgewise!

Lookbook to play "secret" tour kick off show tonight!

Attention Lookbook fans! The moody electro duo will be quietly kicking off a 2+ week tour tonight at the Kitty Cat Klub at 9pm. We've been told not to publicize this, but hey, we're a gossip blog!

Be there or be square, people.

Link of the Day

We are %100 with Alexis on this one: Pajama Jeans are NOT COOL. Also, this brand is in the running for the worst tagline of all time: Pajamas you live in; Jeans you sleep in.

Submitted by @marrina.

This Week in (Uploaded) Pictures

Samuel Koza enjoys an ice cold beer...from hell.


Last Word rocks the mic at Get Cryphy's 2 Year Anniversary Party!


Bluesky Blackout frontman Christian Erickson's son hams it up for the cam! Adorbz!

Blue Over Blue designer Sean Tubridy artfully captures the icy Mill City Museum. The image is 3 iphone shots patched together in Autostitch, then processed in Bestcamera. Cool!


Brian Johnston snaps a great shot of Kevin Horn (foreground) and Max Byers.


Sarah Moeding snaps her own shadow at the Art Shanties...complete with horns.


John Behm captures the awesomeness of City Pages' Gimme Shelter benefit event at 1st Ave. There are so many great pix in this set it was hard to choose! Here, City Pages lovelies Jen Boyles and Andrea Swensson welcome the crowd.


Mark Mallman entertains the audience at 1st Ave with his hot tunes and crazy stage antics! Photo by John Behm.



Fashion designer/pastry chef Katy Gerdes goes snowboarding with some pals.


Josie Neiman of Monsterbrusten DJs at Anthem Heart's 'Worn to be Wild' party. Video art guru Hal Schuler aka Time Squid freaks out in the background.


Joseph Pettini goes to The City of Lakes Loppet cross-country ski festival and gets some icy night shots.


Singer Janey Winterbauer has fun on the l'etoile field trip to the Weisman Art Museum and the 501 Club!


Jimmy "Dutch" Gaines in all his glowy, smoky glory.


Token animal pic: Sevnthsin's Jamey Erickson faces off with a devil dog. We're dying!


Cyn Collins captures the Roe Family Singers playing at the Library Shanty on Medicine Lake!


T Paw causes a media ruckus in the MPR lobby. Pic by MPR Marketing Coordinator Matt Perkins.

Submitted by @letoilemagazine