It all starts today—and by “it,” I of course mean the perpetual traffic jam on Snelling Ave. over the next 10 days. Once you get out of your car, though, you have to decide what to do, and that’s where a grizzled veteran like me can come in handy. (Note: I’m going to focus on the music here, so there will be no references herein to anything on a stick. For that, I defer to my colleague Stephanie March, whose knowledge of stick cuisine is unparalleled.)

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Caught a sneak preview yesterday of local writer/actor/director Patrick Coyle’s excellent new movie, Into Temptation, and I wholeheartedly recommend that you try to see it during its brief run at the Lagoon from Aug. 28-Sept. 3. It’ll be released nationally on DVD Oct. 27 by First Look Studios, but this is one of the best films yet to emerge out of our nascent indie-film scene, so the more exposure it gets the better—for all of us.

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No, Pecha Kucha is not a band or a play—although it is a kind of performance, albeit one with goals that extend far beyond mere entertainment. Begun in Japan in 2003, Pecha Kucha is a sort of club for the creative classes, a forum for exchanging ideas about art, design, architecture, engineering, ecology, science, or anything else, in a casual atmosphere with beer, wine, and lots of talk about “connecting,” “sharing,” and thinking “differently.” Anyone can attend, but the nature of the discussions appeals to people who have broad intellectual interests and don’t mind the occasional deep dive into nerd-dom.

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