4 MNDAILY.COM
MN DAILY
THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020
FASHION
Four wild vintage items you can find at The Cat and the Cobra The vintage store in Northeast Minneapolis fills the racks with truly unique pieces, setting the shop apart from the competition. Cat and the Cobra
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BY ALEX STRANGMAN astrangman@mndaily.com WITH PHOTOS BY PARKER JOHNSON pjohnson@mndaily.com
Clockwise from top left, an intricately designed Vintage Hermes Paris jacket, a pair of pants sold in the 1970s as part of the Coca-Cola Company’s “It’s the Real Thing” campaign, a pair of Budweiser sneakers and a pair of WWII Sheepskin flight pants, worn by U.S. Army Airforce pilots to combat extreme temperatures at altitude, at The Cat and The Cobra thrift and consignment store on Friday, Feb 29th. (Parker Johnson / Minnesota Daily)
Step into The Cat and The Cobra and you’ll find a plethora of unique threads waiting catch the eyes of prospective customers. From second-hand denim to various retro band and Harley-Davidson tees, this Northeast Minneapolis store has the trendy thrifter in mind. Since the store’s conception in October 2018, owners Casey Henricksen and Eric Swenson have gone to great lengths to ensure their racks are filled with only the coolest pieces thrifters can get their hands on. On days when the store is closed, Henricksen scours the Twin Cities for some of the hottest vintage threads, while Swenson makes the trek to small towns
throughout the Midwest to snatch up the rarest and most unique clothes he can find. “Most of our store stuff is like, ‘90s, ‘80s and ‘70s … that’s really what we find in the thrift stores. But, when Eric is out, he’s looking for pieces that are like ‘60’s and older — the really special stuff,” Henricksen said. Part of the unique experience is the feeling of exclusivity the store provides, with hours only Friday through Sunday. The Cat and the Cobra also boasts unique flea-marketstyle pricing, where nothing is tagged, creating room for some good old fashioned haggling. A&E took a trip to the store to search the racks for
the most funky, outlandish and one-of-a-kind items. 1970s Coca-Cola beach pants These eye-catching beach pants are shaped at the thigh, flare out from the knee to a bell-bottom hem and feature a drawstring waist. With Coca-Cola’s signature red and white colors in a checkered print, they’re funky. But more notably, they were part of the famous 1970s “It’s the real thing, Coke” ad campaign. Originally sold by the Coca-Cola company for $2.98, the cotton pants were advertised to “Go great when you are enjoying the real thing.“ WWII sheepskin flight pants Good luck finding an authentic pair of World War
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II Aero Leather A-5 Bomber Aircrew Sheepskin flight pants in any other store. These pants were worn by U.S. Air Force pilots and aircrew flying over Europe to protect themselves against frigid high-altitude temperatures. The sheepskin-lined interior makes for the perfect pair of pants to catch some eyes while staying warm during a cold Minnesota winter. Budweiser Tennis Shoes These limited-edition Budweiser tennis shoes are a steal for beer aficionados everywhere, or the perfect shoe to add a little bit of vintage flash to any wardrobe. Manufactured by Brown Shoe Group in the early 1980s, these bright red kicks
feature a Budweiser bottle cap logo on the side and the Budweiser label on the tongue. Vintage Hermes Paris Jacket This lightweight vintage Hermes Paris silk bomber jacket is a perfect statement piece for spring. It was made in 1991 and is covered with incredibly intricate detailing. The front, back and sleeves all feature the same image of a man on a horse above the french phrase “feux d’artifice,” which translates into “fireworks.” A jacket like this exudes confidence, with the signature “Hermes Paris” logo featured in big bold letters on the front, back and sleeves of the jacket, showing off major designer drip.
MAGIC
Student filmmakers bring Magicians step up to the mic Comedy Corner their apocalyptic vision to life TheUnderground presents “Magic at local film festival Underground Open “Final Moments” will be shown at this weekend’s Z-Fest Film Festival. BY NORAH KLEVEN nkleven@mndaily.com
Midterms are nearing, but something far more insidious is coming for the characters in “Final Moments,” a short film produced by a group of University of Minnesota students. The seven minute film follows two graduate students, Calvin and Diane, who discover that the end of the world is fast approaching and grapple with how to handle that information. The film was written, directed and produced by Emily Peters, a senior studying communications. “Final Moments” was created for the annual Z-Fest Film Festival, a local shortfilm competition for which participants submit an original film. The three-day festival kicks off on Friday at Woodbury, Minnesota’s Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. “Before graduating, I really wanted to do something that would bring us into the filmmaking community in Minneapolis,” Peters said. “Just [to] get our name out there and meet people.” She originally wrote the
film’s script as a work of flash fiction at just 14 years old. Peters collaborated with assistant director and fellow communications student Ted Ektanitphong.They also recruited two other University students to be director of photography and editor. Filming took place at locations at TCF Bank Stadium and in Loring Park and Roseville, Minnesota. Though registration for the festival opened in October this year, Peters and Ektanitphong officially entered the film festival in February, just two weeks before the deadline. One of the the aspects that makes Z-Fest unique is that it requires participants to produce and enter content within a specific time frame, said Z-Fest coordinator Margie Zdechlik. The festival originally only allowed participants ten days to produce their work but has since allowed participants a window between October and February to produce their entries. “The idea here is that new and emerging artists can much more likely create a quality product if they have a lot of time to continue to flesh it out,” she said. To ensure that participants are creating works specifically for the festival,
Z-Fest Film Festival
March 6 - 8 Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 9060 Hudson Rd., Woodbury $10 - $15 All ages
Zdechlik said each year ZFest incorporates a “control element.” Last year, participants had to find a way to include the theme of “fire and ice.” This year, the element was a pair of glasses. Sixty-four films were entered into the festival this year and will be screened f ro m F r i d a y t h ro u g h Sunday. Zdechlik noted that “Final Moments” is the only entry from the University of Minnesota this year. Other university-level entries came from Metro State University and St. Cloud State University, she said. Of the 64 films, the top ten will be recognized at “Best of the Fest,” an Oscarslike award ceremony that offers different awards such as best screenplay, best actor and actress and more. For Peters and Ektanitphong, simply having entered the film festival was something to be proud of. And now, with some out-ofclassroom experience in the books, they hope to work together again in the future.
Mic” Thursdays.
BY MEG BISHOP mbishop@mndaily.com
If you saw someone wearing a black cape, pulling a bunny out of a hat while uttering “abracadabra,” you’d know straight away that they were a magician. Noah Sonie sported a hoodie and jeans, but brought enough tricks and gimmicks to make an audience erupt in applause. Sonie is just one amateur magician who regularly performs at “The Magic Underground: Magic Open Mic.” As an open mic magic show, it’s part comedy, part magic. The event is hosted in The Comedy Corner Underground, the basement of The Corner Bar on West Bank, a dimly lit room plastered with comedy show posters. Sonie is one member of the three-man crew of Minneapolis magicians behind the theater production company The Magic Underground. He founded the group with friends Eli Sanchez and Chris Leuck in 2018. Since then, they’ve seen it all. “We’ve had someone be sawed in half,” Sanchez said. On stage before a crowd of around 20 people Thursday night, Sonie’s combination of charisma and applauseworthy magic skills provided for a unique form
Magician open mic night, held at the Comedy Corner Underground on Thursday, Feb. 27. (Emily Urfer / Minnesota Daily)
of entertainment. One trick involved having an audience participant say a random letter and scroll through the list of top actors on IMDb to find the first actor with a name starting with the letter the participant had shouted out. The letter was “D” and the search resulted in Dwayne Johnson. But before the trick began, Sonie had written down an actor’s name on a piece of paper. He uncrumpled the paper in front of the audience and voilà, it read, “Dwayne the Rock Johnson.” Almost all of the night’s tricks included audience volunteers, some of which were given an item used in a trick — like a playing card — as a souvenir. Mark Spannbauer, known to audiences as Marky Mark, was another hoot of the night. Spannbauer uses magic as a way to keep not only himself but audiences entertained.
“It gives me something to do with my fiddling hands,” he said. Spannbauer’s best gag was asking someone their name and responding with, “Ah! That’s my middle name.” He used the joke on every volunteer during his set. What was clear throughout the night was the magicians’ amateur status, but that’s part of the fun. There were awkward silences, fumbling with playing cards and performers who spoke timidly into the mic. In short, the night was not unlike what you could find at a comedy open mic. The production is a work in progress, just like the magicians’ tricks. But it takes a certain amount of confidence to step up to the mic. Performing at “Magic Underground” is an opportunity for any aspiring magician looking for a place to practice and meet other local performers.