Hatcher unhorsed He may know his way around a joke, but playwright Jeffrey Hatcher is still learning to handle a horse. Not long after the opening of his funny adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's "The Government Inspector" at the Guthrie, Hatcher took off for a rustic vacation at a dude ranch in Livingston, Mont., where his wife, Lucy, used to go as a child. On the second day, while riding up a rocky hill, his horse slipped and Hatcher fell, breaking seven ribs and his clavicle and bruising a lung. "If I had been a far lighter playwright, I would have done much less damage," said the 245-pound scribe, who spent five days in the hospital. "On the ward, I developed a reputation as a screamer," said Hatcher -- or, as a doctor more gently put it, "sensitive to pain." Now, he says, "I've got such great drugs, I could sit through a nine-part 'Woyzeck.'" Instead, he plans to see "Little House on the Prairie" today, adding: "They promised to do it without intermission and in double time."
rohan preston
Bass instincts Having performed at the Minnesota Zoo before, Chris Isaak warned a standing-room-only audience: "Please do not try to feed or pet the entertainers." Except the bass player, he added. "He's part of our petting zoo. Bass players are from the jungles. They are free to roam." But with all the trees cut down in the jungle, Isaak continued, he decided to start a "save the bass players" campaign. "Wait!" he said. "That started out as a joke, but I'm sensing money there."
JON BREAM
We appreciate you When ex-Plastic Constellations singer/guitarist Jeff Allen told us the name of his three-week-old son, Finn Davis Allen, we asked a question he's apparently getting a lot: Is Finn named after a certain bespectacled rock singer from Edina who was an early and staunch supporter of Allen's old band? "No, he's not named after Craig," Allen said, referring to Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn. "We just liked the name, as it sounded like a mischievous little adventurer, which is what he's proving to be." Allen and his wife, Alison, did pick a middle name inspired by an indie-rock star: Matt Davis of the Iowa City band Ten Grand, who passed away suddenly from a seizure in 2003 at age 27. "They were the first band to ever take TPC on tour in 2000, when we were 18," Allen remembered. "He was an amazing person."
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
Attention, shoppers Fans of the now-defunct Minnesota Center for Photography can pick up a souvenir, a book or even martini glasses at the center's liquidation sale starting today. Everything must go except the computers and printers, which were leased, and the darkroom equipment, which will be donated to another organization. So what is there? Classy photo books for low bucks, kitchen stuff, furniture, office supplies and more. Sadly, the proceeds will help pay off debts. (Noon-6 p.m. today, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat. and Sun., 165 13th Av. NE., Minneapolis.)
MARY ABBE
