Killacky ponies up As former performing-arts curator at Walker Art Center, John Killacky is remembered best for his passionate commitment to works that ranged from the merely edgy to the hotly controversial (bloodletting by Ron Athey, chocolate smearing by Karen Finley). So you'll never guess his current hobby -- miniature horses! Killacky, who left Minneapolis for San Francisco in 1996, is arts and culture program director for the San Francisco Foundation, and has made several films, some based on his experiences with the neurological disorder Brown-Séquard Syndrome. Twice a month, he visits a friend's farm to train Candy, a 46-inch-tall Shetland show pony coincidentally born in Cannon Falls, Minn. On Sundays, he and his fellow Shetland enthusiasts sometimes go for sulky rides, which all sounds very Jane Austen for a guy with Killacky's transgressive rep. But his range of interests is broad; he recently produced a documentary on singer/songwriter Janis Ian that will air Dec. 28 on KTCA, Channel 2.
KRISTIN TILLOTSON
So, does he feel lucky? If "Get off of my lawn" joins "Go ahead, make my day" in the Clint Eastwood catchphrase pantheon, we can thank Minnesota scribe Nick Schenk. Eastwood selected the first-time screenwriter's "Gran Torino" to be his acting swan song, and the screenplay is being mentioned as an Oscar contender. Eastwood, who also directed, stars as a racist retiree who growls that warning to Asian-American punks trespassing on his property. Schenk scribbled "Gran Torino" at Grumpy's bar in Minneapolis between driving a fruit truck and working construction jobs. If that stirs memories of Diablo Cody writing "Juno" in a Crystal coffee shop, Schenk shares another distinction with her. Last year Cody won the National Board of Review's best original screenplay award. Schenk received the same honor this week.
COLIN COVERT
The Beethoven relay It was a case of "musical violins" at the opening concert of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra's just-completed tour of Scandinavia and Germany. During the slow movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony at a sold-out date in Copenhagen, concertmaster Steven Copes broke his E string. Elsa Nilsson passed her instrument to Copes, and substitute violinist Shane Kim then gave his violin to Nilsson. Kim quietly exited stage right with the damaged fiddle, and had to stay off for the duration. Only later did principal second violinist Dale Barltrop discover that he had a spare set of strings in his pocket the whole time. "Oops," blogged Barltrop. Oh, well, in this holiday season, Kim proved that it's more blessed to give than to perform.
CLAUDE PECK
This bird has flown In these tough times, you may find it hard to swing a trip to the Sundance Film Festival. But without leaving the comfort of your easy chair, you can see what's believed to be the only Minnesota-made movie selected for this winter's fest. "The Yellow Bird," an 11-minute animated film by Tom Schroeder, animation professor at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, is among 96 shorts competing in the prestigious Jan. 15-25 event in Park City, Utah. "I'm excited," said Schroeder, who also does commercial work. "The high visibility of Sundance increases the likelihood that your film will be seen." But Minnesotans get to see it first as part of "MNTV," a three-part series of local shorts airing the next three Sundays at 10 p.m. on KTCA, Channel 2. Catch "The Yellow Bird" -- about a young draft dodger in the farmlands of Montana -- in the second installment, showing Dec. 21.
NEAL JUSTIN
