'American' apparel
When in "American Idiot" opened on Broadway two years ago, Minnesotans were surprised to see a T-shirt from Minneapolis' 400 Bar worn by the lead character. Members of the touring cast of "Idiot" are probably equally surprised to find out that there is an actual 400 Bar in Minneapolis. In fact, it's one of the favorite Twin Cities haunts of Green Day frontman and "Idiot" composer/lyricist Billie Joe Armstrong. The bar's proprietor, Tom Sullivan, attended opening night of "Idiot" at the Orpheum, where star Van Hughes upholds the tradition by wearing a 400 tee in one scene. Sullivan invited the entire cast to perform at the 400 while they're in town. He knows that "Idiot" has been good advertising for his long-lived music bar on the West Bank. He gets orders for T-shirts from all over -- mostly for extra-smalls. Said Sullivan: "I wonder if some girl in a New Jersey mall wearing the T-shirt knows this is a real bar." -JON BREAM
Caught off-Gaard
Walker Art Center's new artist T-shirts are so profane that I.W. may neither show them nor fully describe them. They may be ogled fully in the current issue of the Walker's own magazine. There, for $24, you may opt to buy a green or blue model, the chest emblazoned with the motto, "I Love The F------ Walker." While we don't disagree with the sentiment, the slogan, attributed to Twin Cities artist Frank Gaard, who has a show up through May 6, somehow lacks the conceptual cleverness we associate with the Walker and its classic "Closed Mondays" shirts. Does the new design come in a onesie? -CLAUDE PECK
No waffling around
After winning the Cabooze's Battle of the Jug Bands this month for the second time, the Roe Family Singers are happy to declare, "We got it back." "It" is the annual jug-band contest's answer to hockey's Stanley Cup -- a rustic-looking 1937 Holliwood brand waffle-maker that "usually just winds up sitting in somebody's closet" between battles, Roe Family jug blower Rob Davis said. The Roe clan is going to break with tradition and not only display the trophy from the 30th jug-offs, but actually put it to use at their weekly gig Monday at the 331 Club (9 p.m., no cover). Organic waffles will be served for a buck or two, which will go toward some kind of permanent display case for the coveted prize. Davis promises that the waffle iron is clean and functioning but it's not the fastest model. "We're going to fire it up early," he pledged. -CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
Pour some sugar on me
Writer Cheryl Strayed, who grew up in McGregor, Minn., and earned a degree from the University of Minnesota, has a new memoir, "Wild," due next month. The book has already been generating a lot of buzz (she'll be in the Twin Cities for signings in April) but last week she got attention for a different reason: Strayed, it was revealed at a party in San Francisco, is the writer behind the very popular "Dear Sugar" column in therumpus.net literary magazine. Dear Sugar was originally written by Steve Almond (author of "Candyfreak"), but he handed it over to Strayed, who penned the column for two years, answering questions and dispensing advice on topics ranging from writing to romance to sex to suicide. During her stint, the column received more than 2 million hits. "I approached it as a storyteller," the Oregon-based Strayed told Publishers Weekly. "Some of my best writing is in that column." Hence, a collection of her columns, "Tiny Beautiful Things," will be published in July. -LAURIE HERTZEL
