Hey, look at this: Dan Dennett is coming to Minnesota State University in Mankato this week. I hope he shows up wearing that pimpin’ hat.

Dennett, one of the nation’s most original and influential philosophers, will talk about “Religion as a Natural Phenomenon” on April 3 and “Evolution and Evitability: Free Will and Responsibility” April 4. His April 3 lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Centennial Student Union Ballroom. His second talk will begin at 9 a.m. the following day in CSU 253, 254 and 255. Both are free and open to the public.

I may have to swing out that way for the first lecture…if, that is, the weather cooperates. We’re in the early hours of a serious snowstorm here…6 inches of snow tends to chill the desire to go on road trips.

One of the many virtues of my university is that, because of our history and policies, we get better than average contact with Native American cultures. Tonight, at 7:30 in Edson Auditorium, we get to hear from Sherman Alexie.

Sherman Alexie (b. October 7, 1966 Spokane, WA) is a prolific artist who is
an accomplished writer, poet, stand-up comedian, screenwriter, director,
and editor. He is a Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Indian who grew up on the Spokane
Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, WA. He attended high school in Spokane, WA
and graduated in American Studies from Washington State University. Alexie
has published 18 books to date, including his most recent novels are Flight
and a young adult novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,
which received the 2007 National Book Award Young People’s Literature
Award. In 1999 his film Smoke Signals received a Christopher Award, and was
nominated for the 1999 Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay.

Tomorrow, same place and time, it’s Bill Miller.

Bill Miller (born 1955) is an American, Grammy Award-winning
singer/songwriter of Mohican heritage. He was born on the
Stockbridge-Munsee reservation, near Shawano in northern Wisconsin.

Miller’s Mohican name is ‘Fush-Ya Heay Aka (meaning “bird song”). He began
playing guitar when he was 12 years old, and is an accomplished player of
the Native American flute). In 1973, he moved to Milwaukee and won an art
school scholarship; today he is an accomplished artist whose drawings and
paintings have been widely praised.

In 1984, he moved to Nashville. His biggest break came when popular
musician Tori Amos, after listening to his Red Road CD on her tour bus,
asked him to serve as the opening act on her Under the Pink tour. Miller
continuously gained fans with other artists from a broad musical spectrum.
He went on to tour with diverse musicians such as Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder,
The BoDeans, Richie Havens, and Arlo Guthrie and wrote songs with artists
such as Nanci Griffith, Peter Rowan and Kim Carnes.

In 2005, Miller’s instrumental Cedar Dream Songs won a Grammy award for
“Best Native American Music Album”. Miller has collaborated with other
notable Native American musicians such as Robert Mirabal, R. Carlos Nakai,
and Joanne Shenandoah. His project with Mirabal, Native Suite was an
experimental and traditional project, featuring flute and percussion, as
well as Mohican pow-wow singing.

I’m hoping to make it to the Alexie talk, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to get away for Miller’s, unfortunately — the first week back from spring break is a busy time.

I have just walked outside in Morris, Minnesota, and you may not believe this, but there is liquid water falling from the sky. I even spotted an absence of coats, and someone rollerblading. Have I been magically transported to some tropical paradise, like Portland, Oregon?

What a perfect situation: it’s bitterly cold outside, but the moon happens to be in the sky right outside my front window, so I can see it from the comfort of my living room. It’s half gone right now!

Now the moon has gone dark and red! Surely these are evil portents. What god should I worship to bring it back? Who should I sacrifice?

I’d take a picture, but the moon is high in the sky at an angle that would make it difficult to photograph through my window … and I really don’t want to go outside. Fortunately, Lindsey Bradsher sent me a picture she just took.