December 19, 2011, Monday - Sounds of Blackness at the Guthrie

Time: 7:30pm

Location: Wurtele Thrust Stage, Guthrie

Minnesota’s three-time Grammy Award-winning Sounds of Blackness returns with their annual performance The Night Before Christmas – A Musical Fantasy, a contemporary adaptation of the beloved poem, A Visit From St Nicholas. This family-friendly musical production brings Santa, Mrs. Claus, and Rudolph the Rappin’ Reindeer to life in hilarious song and dance, as they learn the true meaning of Christmas. The music ranges from R&B/Hip-Hop to Jazz, Blues and Gospel and features Sounds of Blackness singers and band in show-stopping, roof-raising songs and scenes.

December 18, 2011, Sunday - Vikings and New Orleans Saints at the Dome

Time: 12:00pm

December 18, 2011, Sunday - Sonomento Winter Concert, Featuring a Performance of Handel’s Messiah at MacPhail

Time: 6:00pm

Location: MacPhail Center for Music, Antonello Hall, 501 2nd Street South

Sonomento is one of MacPhail’s high-caliber adult choral ensembles, directed by  Craig Fields, which performs some of the greatest choral music ever written.

$10 general admission at the door.

For more information call: 612-321-0100

December 18, 2011, Sunday - Japan America Arts Forum with Sheila Asato at MCBA

Time:  2:00pm - 4:00pm

Location: Minnesota Center for Book Arts, 1011 Washington Avenue South

The Japan America Arts Forum is collaboration between MCBA and the Japan America Society of Minnesota (JASM), hosted and facilitated by Sheila McNellis Asato. Each month, people interested in Japanese visual art forms, related materials and processes gather at MCBA for learning, fellowship and hands-on fun. At each meeting, an artist who either practices a Japanese art form or whose work is deeply influenced by the Japanese arts shares their work and then leads the group through a simple exercise which allows everyone to get a hands-on experience of the work for themselves. Topics range from katazome (resist dying on fabric) to suminagashi (paper marbling) to origami (paper folding) and much more. Meetings are typically held on the third Sunday of each month.

For more details and monthly forum topics, visit Sheila's website, Monkey Bridge Arts. If you would like to share your work or know of an artist who would, email Sheila at sheilaasato@comcast.net. All skill levels welcome. $10 ($5 MCBA or JASM members). No need to pre-register, just drop in!

December 17, 2011, Saturday - Childish Films at Central Library

Time: 10:30am

Location: Pohlad Hall at Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall

SNOWY DAYS
Enjoy two magical wintertime tales celebrating the joy of snowfall.

•The Snowy Day, Weston Woods, 1964.
Ezra Keat’s tale of a boy’s playful experiences in the snowy city. 6 min.
•The Bear, Miramax, 1998.
A girl befriends a polar bear after a trip to the zoo. He escapes to her home and brings her out on a moonlit adventure--flying over London. Another beautiful hand-drawn tale from Raymond Briggs, the creator of The Snowman. 26 min

The extras:Decorate cookies with Whole Foods Market Staff.

Preschool-grade 6. A program of children's cinema and arts, featuring unique films, hands-on arts activities, live entertainment and educational introductions for children's film fans. For more information, visit: http://www.supporthclib.org/.
 
A program of the Library Foundation of Hennepin County. Support provided by Whole Foods Market, Lerner Publishing Group, Weston Wood Studios, Minnesota Parent and Jagged Edge.

December 17, 2011, Saturday - Farmers Market at Local D'lish

Location:  Local D'Lish, 208 North 1st Street
 
Hours: 10:00am – 2:00pm

Local D'lish is hosting our Winter Farmers' Market for a fourth season. Please join us on the third Saturday of every month, November through April, as we transform our little store into a roaring indoor plaza full of commerce, good cheer, and free samples! You'll see all your favorite vendors from years past as well as several new ones throughout the season. Expect meat, cheese, apples, honey, baked goods, all natural skin care products, jams, chocolates, granola, coffee and so much more.

The 2011-2012 Winter Farmer-in-the-Market will be held on the following dates, from 10:00am – 2:00pm:

November 19, 2011
December 17, 2011
January 21, 2012
February 18, 2012
March 17, 2012
April 21, 2012

Questions?  Please feel free to call the store at 612-886-3047.

December 17, 2011, Saturday - Washburn A Mill Tour at Mill City Museum

Times: 1:00pm

Location: Mill City Museum, 704 2nd Street South

Fee: $14 adults, $12 seniors and college students, $10 children ages 6-17 and MHS members. Tour includes museum admission.

Reservations: recommended, call 612-341-7555 or register online

Take an in-depth look at the historic Washburn A Mill complex and the award-winning Mill City Museum building on this guided tour. A museum interpreter will take visitors into the building’s many nooks and crannies, highlighting the lives of the men and women who worked there, how the building functioned during its peak flour milling years and the many changes to the building over time. Also covered will be how the mill ruin was converted to a museum and office building.

Although many parts of the A mill can be explored on a self-guided basis during a regular museum visit, this is the only opportunity for a guided tour through the entire museum building, and the only chance to see some of its non-public spaces. The tour includes admission to the museum gallery as well as the Flour Tower show.

December 17, 2011, Saturday - Minneapolis Central Friends Children’s Book Sale at Central Library

Time: 11:00am - 3:30pm

Location:  Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall

Minneapolis Central Friends Children’s Book Sale - Located in the atrium at the Minneapolis Central Library!

A book sale to raise funds for the Minneapolis Central Library. Come browse hundred of children’s books priced at 50 cents each.

Interested in volunteering at the sale? Please email minneapoliscentral@supporthclib.org or call 612-543-8109.

December 17, 2011, Saturday - Live Music at Crooked Pint Ale House

Time: 10:00pm  $5 Cover

Location: Crooked Pint Ale House, 501 Washington Avenue South

Tonight: Power of 10

December 17, 2011, Saturday - Live Music at Aster Cafe

Time: 9:00pm  Cover: $5

Location: Aster Cafe, 125 Main Stree SE

Tonight:  Alicia Corbett

December 17, 2011, Saturday - MCYC Winter Concert and CD Release Party at MacPhail

Time: 7:30pm

Location: MacPhail Center for Music, Antonello Hall, 501 2nd Street South

The MacPhail Community Youth Choir (MCYC) concert with JD Steele will feature all the music from their new CD, Love as One, with 8 original songs from JD Steele and two student-written songs.  The "CD" is free – however, it’s not an actual CD, but rather a card with a code/website where the music can be downloaded.

Admission: Free

For more information call: 612-321-0100.

Check out an article about the even on KARE11.

December 16, 2011, Friday - STUCK BETWEEN STATIONS debut at St. Anthony Main Theatre

Show Times:
Friday - Sunday, December 16 - 18 at 1:00pm, 3:00pm, 5:00pm, 7:00, 9:15;
Monday - Thursday, December 19 - 22 at 5:00pm, 7:00pm, 9:15pm

Location: St. Anthony Main Theatre, 115 SE Main Street

CELEBRATIONS HIGHLIGHT THE FILM SOCIETY’S OPENING OF LOCAL FILMER’S DEBUT: STUCK BETWEEN STATIONS

The Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul presents the official theatrical premiere and exclusive engagement of STUCK BETWEEN STATIONS, the star-studded feature debut from local director Brady Kiernan, and 2011 Minneapolis St. Paul Int’l Film Fest Closing Night sellout, showing Friday, December 16 through Thursday December 22 at St. Anthony Main Theatre.  Kiernan, cast, and crew will be present for several events celebrating the film’s theatrical premiere: Bryant Lake Bowl, Dec 14; Aster Café, Dec 16; CO Exhibitions, Dec 16.

The Film:

If the performances by this standout cast featuring Sam Rosen, Zoe Lister-Jones, Michael Imperioli and Josh Hartnett weren't so superb, it could easily be argued that the strikingly gorgeous Minneapolis skyline deserves top billing in Kiernan’s first foray at the helm.

Thanks to a chance encounter, two former high school classmates have one night to experience what could have been if Casper (Sam Rosen) never enlisted in the fight overseas (Zoe Lister Jones plays the other half of this unexpected romance). Initially agreeing to keep their emotions from overcomplicating their rendezvous, nothing about their night turns out as they planned it. The stars, skyscrapers and an uncertain future loom large over their journey through the unsympathetic, urban landscape.

Director: Brady Kiernan; USA; 2011; 85 min; HD

The Celebrations:

-Kiernan, cast and crew will be present at St. Anthony Main Theatre on Friday, December 16, for the Opening Night screening at 7PM.

-Audiences are encouraged to celebrate the Opening Night of the film with a reception at Aster Café at 6PM on Friday, December 16.

-The official theatrical premiere After Party at Co-Exhibitions in NE Minneapolis will feature drinks, dancing, and live DJs on Friday, December 16, at 9:30PM.

December 16, 2011, Friday - Live Music at Crooked Pint Ale House

Time: 10:00pm  $5 Cover

Location: Crooked Pint Ale House, 501 Washington Avenue South

Tonight:  Hookers $ Blow

December 16, 2011, Friday - Tracking Minnesota’s Clean Water Legacy Effectiveness Meeting at McKnight Foundation

Time: 8:00am - 9:00am

Location:  McKnight Foundation, 710 Second Street South, Suite 400

Minnesotans want to know if our water is getting cleaner and how Clean Water Funds are being spent. These questions and many others are being addressed by a multi-agency team whose goal is to develop a clean water tracking framework that will help clarify the connections between funds invested, actions taken and clean water outcomes achieved.

The heart of the Framework is a suite of 36 quantifiable performance measures that tell a cohesive, meaningful story about Minnesota's water bodies, watershed and groundwater health and the actions of agencies and partners working to restore and protect Minnesota's waters. This presentation by Andy Holdsworth (Minnesota Department of Natural Resources) and Suzanne Hanson (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency) will describe the Framework and the related “Clean Water Performance Report,” to be released in February 2012.

Transit and parking information.  Light breakfast provided. Free.   RSVP to lark_weller@nps.gov.  The Mississippi River Forum is made possible by the generous support of the Mississippi River Fund and the McKnight Foundation.

December 15, 2011, Thursday - Community Meeting: Options for the Former Fuji-Ya Restaurant Site

Time:  6:00pm - 8:00pm

Location: Mill City Museum, 704 South Second Street

Historic Central Riverfront site reinvention explored - Public invited to community meeting.

The ideas will flow when the Minneapolis Parks Foundation and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board invite the public to participate in a “designer-ask” community meeting about a potential new park along the city’s Central Riverfront.  Dubbed “Waterworks” (former Fuji-Ya Restaurant site) because the city’s first water supply and fire fighting pumping station were located there in the 19th Century, the site encompasses Minneapolis Park Board-owned land between Portland Avenue South and the Third Avenue Bridge, and between First Street South and the Mississippi River.

This community meeting is the first step in a preliminary feasibility study that will explore options for what could be a significant new park destination in downtown Minneapolis.  The Minneapolis Parks Foundation is leading the project in partnership with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, for which it is also a forerunner to the Central Riverfront Regional Park Update master planning process.

December 15, 2011, Thursday - Taste Twin Cities Downtown Minneapolis Skyway Tour

Time: 2:30pm

Location: 800 LaSalle Plaza (On Hennepin Avenue between 8th & 9th)

Taste Twin Cities Food Tours

While it's chilly outside, join us as we weave our way through the cozy corners of downtown Minneapolis skyways on a food adventure.  We will stroll through the "Broadway" Theatre District and enjoy VIP service as we visit some the newest and hottest award winning restaurant downtown has to offer.  The tour includes seeing the Minneapolis skyscraper that was modeled after the Washington Monument and visiting the famous Statue of Mary Richards tossing her hat.  Along the way we will also visit quaint eateries that have pride in local ownership; including a favorite since 1932.  You will participate in tea sampling, and learn the secrets behind the great food you are enjoying.  You'll leave the tour with a tasty experience of some of the best food finds Minneapolis has to offer all while learning history of downtown and soaking in the local culture.

Register.

December 14, 2011, Wednesday - A SIP OF SCIENCE at Aster Cafe

Time: 5:30pm

Location: Aster Cafe, 125 SE Main Street
 
Future Earth: Thriving on a Human-dominated Planet

Collectively all seven billion of us now rival natural processes in modifying the Earth.  We live in a world being thoroughly reconfigured by human activity.  As humans we have set in motion global changes that will reverberate for thousands of years.  A diverse portfolio of technologic, economic, social and political innovations is needed for people to thrive on a human-dominated planet.  Earth fortunately now is home to the wealthiest, healthiest, best educated, and most innovative, creative and interconnected cohort of humans in history.

What is the future we wish to create and live in?  Join Patrick Hamilton in an interactive exploration of the challenges and opportunities of living on a human-dominated planet.

About Pat:

Currently, Patrick serves as the Director of Global Change Initiatives at the Science Museum of Minnesota and principle investigator for the museum's Future Earth exhibit.  He started at the Science Museum of Minnesota soon after graduating with his masters in geography in the early 1980s.  He is the lead on several initiatives, including the Science on a Sphere Solutions exhibit, the Big Back Yard, and Earthscapes, working and partnering with groups such as University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment, Columbia University, NCED, and NASA.  
 
A SIP OF SCIENCE bridges the gap between science and culture in a setting that bridges the gap between brain and belly. Food, beer, and learning are on the menu in a happy hour forum in which researchers pair with musicians, artists and storytellers to put science in context through storytelling.

December 13, 2011, Tuesday - DMNA Board Meeting at Central Library

Time: 6:00pm

Location:  Central Library, Room N-202, 300 Nicollet Mall

Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association

Agenda

December 13, 2011, Tuesday - Books & Bars Series at Aster Cafe

Times: 

Social - 6:00pm dinner/drink specials
Discussion - 7:00pm-8:30pm

Location: Aster Cafe, 125 SE Main Street

Author:  Book - Freedom, Author – Jonathan Franzen

Books & Bars isn’t your mother’s book club. We provide a unique atmosphere for a lively discussion of interesting authors, fun people, good food and drinks.

Reservations - 612-379-3138

December 12, 2011, Monday - "No One is Alone" Interlude Winter Concert at MacPhail

Time: 7:00pm

Location: MacPhail Center for Music, 501 2nd Street South

Come enjoy the works of great writing duos Kander & Ebb, Bock & Harnick, Schmidt & Jones, Gilbert & Sullivan, plus works by Rossini, Carlisle Floyd, Stephen Sondheim and others.

Donations gladly accepted in support of MacPhail's Financial Aid Program.  Your gift is 100% tax-deductible.