MMR Concert Friday Night

October 14, 2010

Guess who just moved back to the Twin Cities?

Guess who you can see in concert Friday night?

The answer to both questions is Murphey’s Midnight Rounders. They are celebrating their return to the Twin Cities with a performance at the Sacred Paths Center Friday, October 15th, at starting at 7pm. Tickets are $15 and are available at the Sacred Paths Center ahead of time or at the door on Friday evening. The band will be playing some old favorites as well as some new songs from their latest release, I Am the Goddess.

The band also has a question for you: can you translate “Ho, Lucia, Domi Adsum?”

If so, you could win I Am the Goddess. You must be present at the concert to win and give your answer there when the band calls for it. Teresa Frank, vocals and percussion for the group, said there will only be one winner, so be ready!

Twin Cities Pagan Pride

October 1, 2010October 1, 2010

Twin Cities Pagan Pride occurred Sept. 25-26 at its new home in Western Minneapolis. I was there Saturday, and it was already well attended as we set up the UMPA information booth. As always, it is a great place to reconnect with old and new friends. The merchant room was crammed with booths and shoppers. I made it upstairs for the ‘Meet the Pagans’ workshop, a chance for area groups to introduce themselves.

The 'Meet the Pagans' Workshop

Continue reading →

Adopt/Release a Hawk

September 23, 2010September 23, 20101 Comment

By Susu Jeffrey

(Hawk Ridge, Duluth, Minnesota) She is three months old, with golden irises in her unblinking eyes. This female sharp-shinned hawk—“my” sharpshin, but I know better—is on her way to wintering in Central America. She was born in northern Minnesota or southern Canada, was just netted and banded and will be released in minutes.

Juvenile Female Sharp-shinned Hawk, Photo by David Smith, Grand Junction, Colorado

It’s Tuesday and Equinox eve, I just drove 165-miles through early fall color. Lake Superior is three shades of blue and I can feel a heart beat in my right hand holding the warm, three-month-old, female, golden-eyed, sharp-shinned hawk.

She eats song birds (sparrows, robins, chickadees, even blue jays) and occasionally dragonflies a staffer says. She catches her prey in a lightning strike with her talons, then perches somewhere to pluck the feathers and eat.

There are three staff members, plus a bird banding team, plus four volunteers, and an hourly count of passing raptors. She is one of nine sharpshins released today—so far.
Continue reading →

Haste Sans Waste – Reused Eco-Convertible Fashion

September 22, 2010September 23, 2010

An innovative show for Minnesota Fashion Week, “Haste Sans Waste” was all about convertible clothing. Clothes that transform to fit multiple situations without the major wardrobe changes. Not only do these clothes look good they drastically reduce the solid waste usually used in the world of high fashion. This event took place at the Honey Lounge on Sunday, September 19th at. 7:30pm.

Angel's model enters runway

Model transforms

Angel's transformed design

Continue reading →

Mendota Dakota Pow Wow–Good for the Soul

September 15, 2010September 15, 20101 Comment

Photos and Story by Susu Jeffrey

Traditional dancer with fan and shawl

The Mendota Dakota Community celebrated their 11th Annual Welcome Home Traditional Pow Wow over the September 10th weekend in the field of St. Peter’s Church on the Mississippi bluff. The sound was the throbbing heartbeat drum with generators in the background, the ambiance—regalia and fry bread (1st batch ran out before 3:30 Saturday). The weather was perfect. These are 21st century Indian people; they know how to read treaties.

Pow Wows are joyous extended-family, cultural
gatherings with a lot of work and a lot of sitting

To dance is to pray, to pray is to heal, to heal is to give, to give is to live, to live is to dance. "Why We Dance" by MariJo Moore

around visiting. Once a year-after-year you get to see the kids grow up, see the new babies and absorb hours outdoors with hundreds of dancing spirits.