The Rake Magazine

The first-ever Rake Appeal event is tonight. It features trend master Robyn Waters reading from and discussing her new book, The Hummer and the Mini. And it's set at a BMW dealership, which, coincidentally, sells the Mini... Some wine and cheese are tossed in for good measure--'cept this is a tricky instance cuz you might want to do a test drive, too.

And after a very exciting, and very sexy, Collage fashion show last night, I'm quite excited to plug the Sashion Flow event at Soo Visual Arts... (Can you spot a favorite Rake intern among the models?) If memory serves, this one's being done in collaboration with Lula's Vintage, over on Selby Ave. in St. Paul, a fine place to score 50s- and 60s- era wares.

Tommy Keene, one of the "greatest, underappreciated indie rock icons of all time" (nugget courtesy of Mr. Brad Zellar), plays the 400 Bar this eve. If you haven't heard of 'im, please refer to the college music charts from the 1980s. The inimitable Mr. Keene has since had the good taste to align himself with the likes of Jeff Tweedy and Jay Bennett (you know, that poor guy whose canning was the thick of the plot in I Am Trying to Break Your Heart) as well as Guided By Voices' Robert Pollard.

Psst! It seems Mr. Zellar's blog has won the notice of a rather particular circle of British writers and poets. The Willesden Herald is a literary blog kept up by the town's network of scribes, which includes the likes of Zadie Smith, who famously featured Willesden in her novel White Teeth. Scroll down the page to the entry titled "The Golden Willy Awards 2006." There you'll find Open All Night listed under "Best creative writing." And you'll find a host of other great literary blogs, too. Happy reading!

The newly released October issue provides today's much-needed dose of inspiration. Right there on page 55, a one David de Young is quoted (by me) as saying that the Hexagon Bar is a mighty fine place for catching the newest 'n most interesting bands. I credit this to the work of the club's booker, the brilliant Mr. Christopher Dorn, who doubles as the famous frontman of the 90s indie pop powerhouse The Beatifics and triples as a walking reference library for all things bubblegum and dream pop. He's also a good friend of mine.

In any case, tonight the Hexagon and HOMOCORE Minneapolis host the Austin, Texas-based band The TunaHelpers--a puppet-wielding, prom dress-wearing, all-girl trio of fairy rockers. On a related note, also from the October issue: read our interview with Joan Jett, who weighs in on the dwindling presence of women in rawk.

Attention theater geeks: if tonight's Ivey Awards are anything like last year, we're in for a hot, hot evening (or, at the very least, a hot, hot after-party). Now, I've been privy to some speculation about who and what will win these second annual Ivey awards. But who cares, really... We've got more important things on our minds, right? Such as what to wear.