Help Save Cinema Revolution

For readers in the Minneapolis area:

If you are like me, you enjoy a good cup of coffee, a nice tumbler of whiskey, rain storms, and movies. Particularly movies that are not going to be found at your local Blockbuster. Also you probably enjoy all of these things at locally run businesses (damn those FOXNEWS sponsored thunderstorms...).

This isn't just a random rant about something that pissed me off so stick with me here.

I frequented Cinema Revolution (and they are good friends of InDigest) for many years, it's easily one of the best video stores (if not the best) in Minneapolis/St. Paul, and they are in trouble. The store is having some financial difficulties and I thought I'd throw something up in hopes that you value what John and Cinema Revolution do for the community as much as I do. The store is run by volunteers who support film screenings around town, host cinema discussion evenings, allow you to rent local filmmakers (often for free) and have a selection that no one else in town can compare to. So here's a little bit of an e-mail John Koch (owner) sent out to some today, about why Cinema Revolution is important:

We believe that a local store run by live local people is something of value - a store that curates film as a gallery would curate any other form of art, a store that actively promotes film in the community, a store with a real, tangible personality. Cinema Revolution creates an artistic context for your DVD rental experience; we help guide you through innumerable choices, and celebrate films that otherwise are marginalized or ignored. We are active in the community as well. Through the nearly five years of our existence, we have shot a feature film using all local talent, we have held dozens of film screenings through Cinema des Artistes and our Film Society, commissioned new original short films from local artists, held weekly live film discussion groups, started a local record label, and have helped actively promote countless festivals, performances and screenings by local producers. It is a major part of our mission to connect, support and inspire our local artistic community. If you value what we do for the community, we ask you to please help us continue in these endeavors.

So, if you can donate a little bit to help them out, if you can't do that, make an effort to rent some films from there, go to a screening hosted by Cinema Revolution, or participate in one of their weekly film discussions.

Here are the details sent out about how you can help out:

We are seeking to raise $5,000 by September 15th to help make our move to a new location a reality, as it cannot be done without this additional support. The suggested donation is $20 (and if 250 people can do this, we will make our goal), but please feel free to give at any level you can afford. With your collective help we can make this happen.

We are also seeking volunteers to help in this fundraising effort. If you are interested in helping out, contact john@cinemarevolution.com. We are also open to any suggestions or advice anyone may have to help us along.

In just the past two years we have lost legendary video stores Discount Video and Box Office Video. We have seen the Oak Street and Bell Auditorium film programs vanish, we have watched the entire film editorial staff at the City Pages lose their jobs, and Hollywood fare is now seeping into our beloved Lagoon Cinema. Please help keep an active, inspiring film culture alive in the Twin Cities and donate securely via PayPal today at www.cinemarevolution.com (Click on the link below).

Please note that if for any reason we do not achieve our financial goal, your generous donations will be refunded directly through PayPal. If we should raise more than our goal, the extra money will be applied to growing our movie collection to help fill our new space. Also be aware that we are not organized as a non-profit organization for tax purposes, so your donation is not tax deductible.

That's all I've got, it's well worth a little bit of your time or money to help keep filmmaking in the city alive. Adios.

Correction to the Last Post

Our boy Tom printed the hippo t shirts; he didn't design them. Keep an eye out for his stuff in the coming weeks.

Still I'm gonna get one of those hippo ts.

Buy Uniquely

By now we all know the importance of buying locally. Whether we follow through on this or not is another case. But, I preach enough, so I'm not going to do it here, because God knows someone could hold up a mirror when I get started, and I would have to shut up.

Instead, I'm going to tell you about a cool new collaboration that has just begun. It's called Overproof and I'll let them describe themselves to you:

Overproof Affiliates is a group of individuals with a variety of creative backgrounds working together to conceive, produce, market and exhibit art. We are not limited to specific artistic mediums and seek to embrace new challenges that help ourselves push creative boundaries. The Overproof network consists of a diverse assortment of trained professionals practicing fine arts, fashion design, graphic design, arts administration, photography, music production, jewelry, sculpting, screen printing and graffiti arts, just to name a few. Through Overproof, affiliates are provided with facilities and material to produce and hone their craft, assistance with marketing, promoting and selling their work and given opportunities to expand their artistic talents by collaborating with other artists.

My favorite description they give comes later: "Our t-shirts and upcoming product lines are all hand crafted original pieces that are usually produced in limited runs and seek to be exceedingly unique."

Exceedingly unique. Right on! That's what people need to strive for. And I think they're pulling it off so far. Just look at the hippo t-shirts designed by our friend Tom. That's unique as all get out. I'm getting one.

Now, Overproof is just getting up and running, so be patient as they work out the kinks that come with any new endeavor. Dustin and I are very sympathetic to kinks in online endeavors. And flood them with orders. Nothing like demand to work out kinks a little bit quicker.

So, next time you go to your local farmer's market and buy something locally, treat yourself by buying something uniquely, too. Exceedingly unique. Like a shirt with a damn hippo on it.

Dissenting literary giant Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Dies at 89

One of the great dissenters of the Soviet regime, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, passed away Sunday evening. At 89 the author died of heart failure, his son reported. Solzhenitsyn came of age during Stalin's Russia working as a science teacher in a Rural town. His first novel "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" propelled him into the literary world, and eventually winning the Nobel Prize in 1970. His novels sold over 300 million copies worldwide, and that isn't really his great achievement. He was an author of a type that is rarely seen right now (at least in the west), someone who stood up against an entire school of thought and was cast away for it, but managed to outlive the system by nearly two decades. Check out the article in the New York TImes if you're interested in learning a little more about his life and work, this is a blog, so that's all you get.

Divided We Fall

If you recall Issue 3 of InDigest you will remember that Charles Greene interviewed writer/producer Valarie Kaur about her post-9/11 documentary Divided We Stand. The film still hasn't seen a wide theatrical release, but it is slated to be shown in every state in the US on September 11th of this year. Nonetheless, I thought I would point out that the film is currently available for viewing online. If you haven't had a chance to see it yet you should head over here and watch this (you should also attend it's theatrical screening to support independent cinema, and political debate). It's a powerful film. It comes highly recommended out of the InDigest Offices.

Minneapolis News

Our friends at MNArtists and Whistling Shade have some big news.

Whistling Shade (a great, free, literary magazine in Minneapolis) has started a publishing imprint and they are about to release their newest book Tales from the Tinker's Dam, a collection of odd short stories from Daniel Gabriel. You can find out more about the book at their website. Or, you could go to the reading, which is being held on Thursday July 17, at Kieran's Irish Pub in downtown Minneapolis. This is sure to be a very interesting book, so check out the page, check out the reading, and pick up a copy of Whistling Shade's literary magazine.


MNArtists is still in the midst of their MiniStories contest as well. They are still accepting flash fiction submissions for the contest. MNartists is a very bad ass place for artists in Minnesota to connect and get seen. If you aren't a part of this (or if you live in another state) check this out, it's great. The deadline for submissions is July 13 (which is tomorrow), so get on it, submit something you've got lurking in a file and haven't found a home for, or spend tomorrow trying to put together a bomb collection of 300 words or so. Do it. If you want more info go here.

As always, we are accepting submissions as well.

Issue 6

Issue 6 has arrived, finally, and it's a grand one. We've got all sorts of new content up. New poetry from Canadian poet Ryan Bird. New in the narratives section is an excerpt from Frederick Lane's new book The Court & the Cross. The book focuses on the influence of the religious right in American politics and the often-tenuous relationship that has developed between organized religion in America and the legal system.

Donald Van Auken presents a series of paintings focusing on an imaginary circus full of odd dark characters.

In Erratica there are is a new column from Ashleigh Lambert and Bedside Stacks, reviewing the new novel from Tom McCarthy Remainder, and the newest Susanna Moore novel The Big Girls. The new Is That Cowardly? takes a look at the new collection from poet Dorthea Lasky titled Awe. Also in Erratica is a piece but occasional contributor Charles Greene covering the global celebration of James Joyce's Ulysses called Bloomsday.

Keep checking back as there will be more updates this month, a new column, some interviews and some new music from some of our favorite artists.

As always, thanks for reading.

Cpt. Koza

Hey, look at that, Chris Koza's "Straight to Video" is the Current's Song of the Day.

On Considering a New Issue

Hey, we've been at work on a new issue, and it will be out very soon. It will also be very full. Full of goodness. Goodness gracious. New columns. New art. New wave. Not really. Check back soon.

On Considering This Blog

Considering this blog is not even linked to on InDigest Magazine it is clear to see what it has become: a venue where Dustin and I can go from time to time to make each other laugh. To find some refuge from the hectic world around us. In this day and age of instant access by millions of people to personal thoughts through various means and avenues on the blogoshpere I find this a refreshing realization. It is our little tree house in the forest on the outskirts of town. Our fort in the living room of a hectic house. Our, well, you get it. Or rather, we get it.

Footrubs at the InDigest Office have been temporarily suspended

I have found the security camera footage from an incident that took place just hours ago in the InDigest offices, watch as an intern loses it after repeated demands for a footrub from David. David bends down and begins to show him precisely how the last intern would give him footrubs, and the intern decides to take the money-grubbing-non-profit online magazine down.


http://view.break.com/513310 - Watch more free videos

Sometimes Dustin Gets a Little Overworked and Goes a Little Crazy

A portion of an email to me, from Dustin, that was, until this point, completely prudent:

this week has been filled with running and I vastly prefer to walk,that or I need to get a metaphorical bike. Or a trolly. yes, that's better something that isn't powered by me. Al gore would be disappointed in my metaphorical steam engine, but metaphors only pollute the minds of the children, and they can't be any worse than power rangers. Do kids still watch power rangers? I hear they still do the macarena. Is that how you spell macarena? Is it a real Spanish word? I don't think it is. I think those chumps made it up. Nevermind, changed my mind on the potential damage of metaphorical pollutants. They suck.

Send help to the InDigest offices, please.

-David