Item-World: An unsinkable spirit

An unsinkable spirit After two dozen gigs and a monthlong European tour, alto-sax great Frank Morgan wasn't feeling well when he arrived home in Minneapolis Nov. 30. The diagnosis: inoperable colon cancer. "He fades in and out of sleep but his spirits are very good," said his second cousin by marriage, Lance Taylor, with whom the 73-year-old jazzman has lived for the past two years. In his hospital room, Morgan sometimes listens (softly) to his favorites -- Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ahmad Jamal -- and has been autographing his CDs for staffers. A prodigy-turned-junkie who spent 30 years in prison, he made a comeback in the 1980s and moved back to his birth city in 2005. His final days will be spent at home, in hospice care. Taylor said Morgan "made peace with his manager on the phone and said his usual line: 'Ain't it great to be alive?' He knows what's happening." JON BREAM

Beer for breakfast Like the heyday of Cabbage Patch Kids or the pre-Ticketmaster era when real fans (not Internet hackers) could buy front-row concert tickets, Surly Brewing Co. expects a few hundred people to line up outside its Brooklyn Center brewery Saturday morning for the chance to buy -- get this -- two stinking bottles of beer. Exactly 480 bottles of Surly's Darkness brew (750-milliliter size, like wine) go on sale at 9 a.m. for $15 apiece, with a limit of two apiece. Is the Russian Imperial stout-style brand really that good? That one should answer itself. Only six more bottles will be available after Saturday. Those will be auctioned off on eBay to benefit EnergyCents, a heating-bill fund for low-income families -- the perfect charity, since lucky Darkness buyers will already have a perfect winter warmer. CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

Get back in line Also expect long queues this weekend at the Uptown Theater, which has exclusive rights to Diablo Cody's "Juno" before it expands to more theaters next Friday. That'll be a scene familiar to anyone who tried to see the Coen brothers' "No Country for Old Men" during its first two weeks as an Uptown exclusive. Don't be daunted, advises theater manager Hugh Wronski: "We've got 900 seats. I don't think we turned anyone away [for 'No Country']." Because of the way the theater is set up, filmgoers have to wait outside until the previous audience clears out. You can buy advance tickets online (at www.landmarktheatres.com) or at the box office. "We get a lot of people coming in at 4 for tickets to the 10 o'clock show that night," said Wronski, who views a crowd as a good thing -- and not just because it fills the cash registers. "A comedy is fun to watch with 600, 700 people. And this is a fun movie." While he's seen "Juno," he hasn't met Cody, "unless I met her under a different name. 'Sparkle' maybe," he joked. TIM CAMPBELL

From Ludwig to Stephen The Minnesota Orchestra is rising to the top of the classical recording world on the strong shoulders of this guy Beethoven, with the almighty Grammy even recognizing the group's efforts on the famed Symphony No. 9. But Osmo Vänskä's plucky ensemble plans to -- as we used to say in the old days -- press some vinyl with local composer Stephen Paulus in the new year. Paulus' Holocaust memorial oratorio "To Be Certain of the Dawn" will be recorded Feb. 13-15 at Orchestra Hall for the Bis label. Four soloists and four choirs are along for the gig, reprising Paulus' work (with text by University of Minnesota prof Michael Dennis Browne), which the orchestra premiered in 2005. GRAYDON ROYCE

Here's to better Times The Hard Times Cafe hopes to reopen its crusty doors Saturday at midnight, inviting back its eclectic mix of art enthusiasts, gutter punks, intellectuals, immigrants, bike snobs, drunks and traveling-circus types. The 15-year-old worker-run cafe closed in August for renovations, but because of poor planning, unexpected plumbing projects and a mess of city codes, the reopening has been repeatedly pushed back. Minus a few patched walls and new booth cushions, the West Bank hangout's worn-in atmosphere hasn't changed. Most of the revamping took place behind the counter, including a new ventilation system that may eliminate the kitchen cologne (aka stench) that guests were likely to wear after a visit. Don't expect a reopening celebration. "No balloons and confetti," said co-owner/cook Graham Baldwin. "We'll be open and that will be special enough." AMBER SCHADEWALD