Item-World: X-ray vision

March 28, 2008 at 4:22PM

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly suggested a planned collaboration between the Electric Arc Radio Show and "A Prairie Home Companion." X-ray vision The latest notable personage to gripe about St. Paul's security planning for the Republican Convention is Lucas Davenport, top cop of John Sandford's "Prey" novels. In "Phantom Prey," due in May, the crimebuster remarks: "None of the big shots would get hurt, of course, because they'd be blanketed by gun-toting Secret Service thugs, but the town, in Lucas's opinion, was toast. Whoever'd had the bright idea of inviting the convention to St. Paul, he thought, should have had his head X-rayed until it smoked." Sandford, aka John Camp, makes liberal reference to local events and locales to give his hometown readers an extra thrill. Too bad the governor in this book doesn't sound anything like Tim Pawlenty -- unless our real-life guv wears lavender Ferragamo socks. KRISTIN TILLOTSON

Lynch-mobbed Former Twin Cities actor/comedian Chris Dotson found a hidden blessing after YouTube accidentally deleted his profile. The site featured one of his videos, "David Lynch: Problem Solver #2," on its home page, generating more than 380,000 hits. It's part of a series of shorts starring Dotson as the towering-haired "Twin Peaks" filmmaker, offering bizarre, Lynchian solutions to people's problems (in "#2," the beneficiaries are former Minneapolis rockers Benno Nelson and Todd Beeson, who, like Dotson, live in L.A. now). Besides the newfound Internet fame, the fiasco with YouTube gave Dotson new ideas for the series. "I have a friend who looks like Crispin Glover, so we're thinking about doing an episode with me doing David Lynch and him doing Crispin Glover," Dotson said.

MEGAN KADRMAS

No bad Vampire blood Local band Vampire Hands and mega-buzzing New York quartet Vampire Weekend weren't exactly competing for the same level of notoriety when they performed at South by Southwest two weeks ago, but their names did cause at least a little confusion. No worries, says V.W. bassist Chris Baio. "I'd actually heard of them before [SXSW]," he said. "I think there's enough room for multiple Vampire bands. We don't want to be the only one carrying the Vampire name. I think they should keep the name. They have my blessing, at least."

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

Lars and the real girl? Lars Martinson's graphic novel "Tu014Dnoharu" isn't coming out until May, but the Lauderdale cartoonist/writer assured I.W. there will copies aplenty at his release party Saturday at Big Brain Comics in Minneapolis (4 to 7 p.m.). Four years in the making, "Tu014Dnoharu" tells the somewhat autobiographical story of a shy American working as an English teacher in a small Japanese town. Martinson did similar work in Japan. How much of the story is true -- like the character's unrequited crush on another American teacher? "Not exac -- there was a gir -- I mean, she was based on a friend of mine," Martinson said (laughed nervously, stammered). " Um, it wasn't particularly -- I ... I ... I kind of had a -- well, I'll be honest -- I kind of had a little crush on her in the beginning. It sort of eventually went away." The event -- which also celebrates Tim Sievert's new graphic novel "That Salty Air" -- is happening early because Martinson is going back to Japan in April on a scholarship to study calligraphy.

ERIC M. HANSON

Electric Arc unplugs The stress of turning a stage show into a radio show was too much for Electric Arc Radio. The collective says that Saturday's season finale at the Woman's Club Theatre in Minneapolis will be its "final" show -- but that it will emerge again next fall in one form or another. "We burned out trying to press it into something it wasn't," said writer/performer Geoff Herbach of the four episodes that aired in January on the Current (89.3 FM). The members will continue working together, just not necessarily as Electric Arc. "We're going to make three sort of long, I want to call them pornographic musicals, but that's going a little bit overboard," Herbach said. In the meantime, you can catch up on old shows www.electricarcradio.com or get a ticket for Saturday's end of the Arc as we know it.

STEPHANIE DICKRELL

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