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(06/29/09 12:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I don’t think it occurred to me before last Thursday that Michael Jackson was human. From supernatural entertainer to untouchable freak, he was a god of pop culture. Sure, plenty of men and women have martyred themselves to the religion of rock – its excesses, highs and riches. But those people died because, aside from their talent, they were human. But Michael Jackson didn’t seem human. He wasn’t a public figure to latch onto; he was something to worship. He moonwalked and moved in ways no human could and wore clothes so outlandish no one else could get away with them. He made an album with seven top-10 singles that became the best-selling album of all time – but even more impressively, made an album that united almost everyone around their love for it and sounds epic 25 years later. He took a TV channel made of teen-oriented commercials and infused it with the energy, soul and passion that made it an icon – and a world where he reigned. And he made it a place where, to say the obvious, it don’t matter if you’re black or white. Transcendent passion is one of the few tools that can break down racism, and Michael Jackson had it. For most stars, their superhuman persona ends at their art. Offstage, they seem like people. Prettier, richer people, probably; maybe narcissistic or funny or drug addicted or anything else along the spectrum of human personality and experience. Maybe people we want to like or people we want to mock. But Michael Jackson consistently did things, for better or worse, that made everyone say, “Who would do that?” Buy his own personal amusement park? Get bizarre, unflattering cosmetic surgery – and then keep getting more when he didn’t like the way it turned out? Become white? Dangle babies from balconies? All of that seemed so out of touch with reality that no one could find him relatable. It was especially easy to set him aside as a freak of excess because he also looked like a freak. And yet suddenly, in his death, it’s amazing to realize how human he was. Like most people last Thursday, at first I was in disbelief. It wasn’t hard to believe that Jacko could live in his fantasy world of excess; that he could die in the same world as everyone else was unbelievable. When I found out it was true, I felt a sadness one can only feel at the death of someone who’s had an impact on your life. Maybe that sounds disingenuous because my knowledge of the man is only through recordings and sensationalized media reports, but I don’t think it is. I wasn’t sad because he was the superhuman who was my salvation or a personal hero. When he died, I started reading more about the conditions of his life up until his death and saw a much different picture than the tabloid covers that had been my information on the man for the past decade. Every wild antic could be traced back to wanting companionship and having never been allowed in the world where everyone learns the skills to get it. He tried to make up for it by donating to more charities than any other celebrity and spending money on the people he loved even as he went broke. He sacrificed his health to drugs after his fans turned on him because of the accusations of child molestation, despite not being convicted. And at the cost of destroying his own chances for companionship, he united otherwise-unconnected people around some of the world’s best music. Almost everyone can tell a story of one great moment in their life when Michael Jackson was playing. For a man who didn’t seem human, he made being human a better experience for all of us.
(06/07/09 9:32pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bloomington is taking big strides to reduce its carbon footprint by the year 2012.The City of Bloomington Environmental Commission and Commission on Sustainability recently released a report on the city’s carbon footprint and what can be done to reduce it.The report, titled “Greenhouse Gas Inventory for Bloomington, Indiana: Footprints, Projections, and Recommendations” measured Bloomington’s carbon footprint in 1990, 2006 and its projected level for 2012. It measured levels from the city’s residential, commercial, transportation, industrial and solid waste sectors using software from the International Council for Local Government Initiatives, an organization described in the report as “an international association of more than 800 local governments and organizations working on sustainable development initiatives.”In 2006, Mayor Mark Kruzan signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which committed Bloomington to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.To do this, according to the report, Bloomington would still need to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 220,160 tons from its 2006 level to meet the 2012 goal. The report identified five main strategies for meeting this goal: switching light bulbs to more efficient types such as compact fluorescent bulbs and light-emitting diodes, more commonly known as LEDs; promotion of more energy-efficient buildings; pursuing more renewable energy sources; and promoting alternative transportation such as public transportation, bicycles and use of more energy-efficient cars or cars that use fuels with lower greenhouse-gas emissions. “We need to reduce emissions and use energy that comes from renewable resources,” Commission on Sustainability Chairwoman Cynthia Schultz said in a press release. “A healthy and sustainable future will depend on our willingness to reduce energy consumption, seal up our buildings, provide green jobs, produce food locally and improve our public transportation systems.”However, even with these suggestions in mind, the estimated carbon footprint reduction is only 186,354 tons – 33,806 tons short of the agreed-upon goal of the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.Phaedra Pezzullo, chairwoman of the environmental commission, said the commissions’ reason for issuing the report was simply to lay down concrete ways the goal of the climate agreement could be reached. “They’re just some examples to get us toward the goal,” Pezzullo said.The main sectors the report identifies as areas that need the most improvement are residential, commercial and transportational. Pezzullo said IU has many ways it needs to reduce its footprint, which IU’s sustainability advisory council is working on.Steve Akers, advisory council member and is also IU’s associate director for environmental operations, said the work of IU’s Sustainability Task Force, now replaced by the advisory council, did a lot of work in identifying IU’s areas in need of carbon footprint reduction during the year-plus it was active.“It did establish a benchmark for what CO2 is being emitted for the campus that year,” Akers said.The advisory council is working on reducing those emissions, Akers said.Pezzullo said Bloomington has started some public outreach campaigns to help residents reach toward the goals of the climate agreement and those set forth in the report. One of these is the Green Building Campaign, which she said has been successful.“The city has made a commitment that its buildings, its utilities need to be part of this goal,” Pezzullo said.
(05/31/09 10:26pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Surreal. Funny. Abstract. Ironic. Embarrassing. At the Kinsey Institute Juried Art Show, sex is everything but taboo. The show, which had its opening reception Friday evening and will remain in the School of Fine Arts Gallery until July 31, contains about 120 pieces of sexuality-related contemporary art in media that range from acrylic paint to video to a graphic novel. Some of the artwork came from as far away as the Netherlands, while several artists are from Bloomington. “Because it’s such a wide range of work, I don’t expect everybody to like everything,” said Catherine Johnson-Roehr, Kinsey Institute Curator, one of the show’s organizers. “But I think because there is such a variety, everyone will find things they like in the show.” This year – the fourth for the show and its first in the SoFA Gallery – the artwork was selected by juror Jennifer Cahn, curator of the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art in Brownsville, Texas. Cahn chose the pieces for the exhibit from 758 submissions by 343 artists. Although the umbrella subject of the show is sexuality, the art deals with topics as diverse as sensuality, gender identity, pregnancy and the human body. And no artist in the show portrays sexual issues in the same way.Unionville, Ind., resident Jack Doskow’s artwork in the show was a photograph of a banana bunch with a penis peeling out of the banana in front. He said his intent was for the photo to be humorous when people saw he was literally turning a metaphor inside out. “It was a joke – the whole bananas-as-penises thing,” Doskow said.Doskow said after he found out his photo had been chosen to be on exhibit for the show, he felt a bit embarrassed. “‘Oh great, do I really want this in public?’” he said of his reaction. “But in the context of everything here, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s a level playing field.” Photographer David Moyle from Placentia, Calif., took a more serious approach to sexuality with “Alone Time 2,” his black-and-white photo of a woman’s lower torso and loosened white thong underwear while she masturbates. He too said although his artwork would seem explicit in other places, here it seems right at home. “In the context of this show, it’s pretty mild,” he said. Another reason he said it seemed right at home was because it was at the same school Alfred Kinsey himself studied female masturbation a few decades ago. But Moyle said he still knows women who are embarrassed about it. “I think it’s actually very beautiful,” Moyle said. “But a lot of people are afraid of it.” Even though the Kinsey Institute’s art shows are designed to have an accepting attitude toward art that is explicit, Johnson-Roehr said some people still ask if it is art or pornography.Artists with work in the exhibit were eager to denounce the latter. Doskow said of his photograph that he hoped his audience would, first of all, be amused. “And then,” he said, “they may wonder, ‘How was this picture taken?’” He said he hopes they will see the aesthetics of the picture – the woody framing, the colors, the way the bananas lead to both the main subject in the front and toward the back of the photo. Moyle said the style of his photo was based on the style of photography used in ads by companies like Guess, which he started noticing when he worked in advertising. He said his style was a combination of appreciation of the female form and of the natural light used in such ads. “We don’t call our shows pornography,” Johnson-Roehr said. But, she said, the topic always seems to come up, and the best way to decide whether you agree is to see the work for yourself and discuss it. “I think if people come with other people, it can lead to some interesting discussions about how people depict sexuality,” she said. Still, other artists were less concerned about making a statement than they were opening a discussion. Newburgh, Ind., artist Ralph Larmann’s piece in the show is an acrylic painting titled “Fall from Grace,” which involves a nude woman hanging down from a stone flying-pig statue above the gate of a mansion, with a hot dog vendor below raising a hot dog toward her. The food, Larmann said, is a temptation for the woman, but sexual temptation between the man and woman is also involved. But he said he would rather leave interpretation open to the piece’s audience. “I don’t really like things that tell you what you should think,” Larmann said.
(05/21/09 12:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When people think of music, they might think of listening to mp3s or going to concerts with a band on a stage. The music at Peoples Park on Tuesdays this summer is not that kind of music. It’s more of a hands-on experience, said Bloomington musician Tamara Loewenthal, a member of this week’s Peoples Park Tuesday Lunch Concert Series performance group. “We’re trying to draw people in to the arts in a way that they can ‘touch it,’” said Loewenthal, a member of the band Fiddle ’n’ Feet. “I think it builds community to feel that art is part of life, not a place you go somewhere, like you go to the theater to see art or you go to the museum to see art.” Part of what makes the performances in Peoples Park different is that they don’t have a proper stage, Loewenthal said. The musicians perform from under a tent in the middle of the park, while people are free to join in the experience by dancing right up by the performers or just by enjoying lunch outside in the warm weather with the band as background music. The series, which has free concerts from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Tuesday in Peoples Park – located on Kirkwood Avenue opposite Kilroy’s on Kirkwood – runs from May through September. Sarah Nix, the facility program coordinator for the city of Bloomington’s Parks & Recreation, organizes concerts for the series and said the series tries to incorporate artists from a variety of styles. “It exposes the community to a wide range of artists, different types of music, anywhere from jazz and blues to bluegrass. We have some steel drums, ragtime, polka, just all different types of music,” Nicks said. “It also creates a great community atmosphere. It allows people to come to a park during lunchtime and enjoy socializing with others.” This is the ninth year for the series in People’s Park, Nicks said. It is only one series in the City of Bloomington Parks & Recreation’s umbrella 2009 Summer Performing Arts Series, which also includes the bigger-scale concert series at Third Street Park and Bryan Park later in the summer, as well as the Evening with the Stars Movie Series that begins in August. While the Peoples Park series is meant for smaller-scale artists who are not as well-known in the Bloomington community, Nix emphasized that they are all local artists whom people can enjoy during lunch and relax while listening to. Bloomington resident Jill Steiner, who was at the Fiddle ’n’ Feet show Tuesday, said she tries to come to the Peoples Park shows as much as possible with her two young children so they can experience the different kinds of music and the eclectic people who live in Bloomington and come to the shows. The atmosphere is great, too, she said. “It’s a good chance to smell the local food and enjoy the sunshine,” Steiner said.Bloomington resident Bruce Cassal said he came out because he is friends with the members of Fiddle ’n’ Feet, but he also enjoys the laid-back nature of the concerts. “It’s pretty casual,” Cassal said. “People just enjoy music and being outside.”
(01/23/09 4:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Great fiction doesn’t have to mean the classics.At least that’s the theory behind “Tales from the Edge,” a new campus literary magazine dedicated to genre fiction written by students. The goal of the magazine, currently accepting submissions for both genre fiction and cover art, is to provide the campus with an opportunity to see how engaging and intelligent genre fiction can be.The magazine specializes in short stories written in the “genre fiction” categories of mystery, science fiction, action-adventure, detective, horror, romance, fantasy and western. It is organized by a team of student editors and advised by academic adviser Matthew Colglazier.Senior Derek Hopf, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, said he started the magazine because he believes genre fiction is often overlooked as being less important than literary fiction – that is, the type of literature often thought of as “high literature” and taught in most English classes.“I’ve always had an interest in genre fiction, and I noticed we have a lot of literary magazines here on campus, but they’re all kind of the same,” Hopf said. Hopf said he saw an opening for a different kind of outlet for IU students to publish fiction, one that could “make the short story fun again” and still be as respectable as the fiction in other literary magazines.“It can be just as intelligent,” he said.Sophomore Nancy Coner, also an editor, said she hopes “Tales from the Edge” will allow genre fiction to be less marginalized on campus as students realize how exciting reading and writing it can be.“We’re trying to bring it back because it’s a fun way to read about the world,” Coner said.Colglazier, who has advised Hopf about the new project, said even students not particularly drawn to writing genre fiction can benefit from giving it a try.“Sometimes, I think, students want to start out writing the most complex story they can think of instead of just getting down to the bones of what makes an interesting story,” Colglazier said. “If those can be compelling, perhaps more mainstream fiction they would write later in their careers can also be interesting.”Colglazier also said he hopes “Tales from the Edge” could be a resource anyone interested in writing could use.“I hope that it gets students interested in genre fiction for itself but also for the opportunity for students who are interested in writing in general, interested in the English – to have a place for them, to have a creative outlet for them,” Colglazier said.“Tales from the Edge” will be accepting submissions until Feb. 1. The magazine is also looking for “pulp fiction”-style cover art.The print edition will be out later this spring and can be found for free on stands throughout campus.Anyone interested can find more information available on the magazine’s Web site, www.tftemagazine.wordpress.com.Hopf said his ultimate goal for “Tales from the Edge” is to widen IU students’ perspective on the possibilities of literature.“It’s just to get people interested – thinking about a different kind of fiction,” he said.
(01/22/09 1:53am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>This week marks 36 years since the United States Supreme Court made its ruling in Roe v. Wade, but for the group that gathered Sunday on the Monroe County Courthouse lawn, the need to oppose abortion has not diminished over time.About 150 to 200 anti-abortion activists showed up Sunday afternoon for the 2009 Rally for Life to commemorate the passing of Roe v. Wade and remind people that abortion is still a relevant issue.The group met on the Courthouse lawn and marched down Walnut Street to Second Street, then circled back on College Avenue to pass Planned Parenthood. The rally, an annual event, was organized this year by Christian Citizens for Life and began with several prayers and a sermon by local pastor Stephen Baker, who spoke about defeating evil and the role abortion should play in American politics.“Abortion should be ground zero,” Baker said. “Abortion should have been the top issue in this election.”Besides highlighting the significance of the millions of abortions since the Roe v. Wade ruling, Baker also touched on the importance of President Barack Obama’s new administration. He criticized Obama, calling him “the most pro-death president we have ever had.”One of the biggest sources of controversy regarding Obama among anti-abortion activists has been a statement he made in summer 2007 at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund that the first thing he would do as president would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, a piece of legislation that states a woman’s fundamental right to choose whether or not to bear a child or terminate the pregnancy. Obama released a statement on his Web site Jan. 22, 2008 – the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade – explaining that his reason for supporting the bill was because it was vital to protecting women’s health. He has also run a platform on increased availability of birth control to lower-income women in hopes of decreasing abortions.After a prayer to conclude Baker’s sermon, the group held up protest signs with messages like “Abortion Kills Children,” “Stop Abortion Now” and “Adoption: the Loving Option.” They then began marching down Walnut Street, where there was little pedestrian traffic but plenty of reactions from motorists. Some motorists responded with friendly honking, while others laid on the horn, screamed obscenities or extended their middle fingers at protesters. Event organizer Clint Mahoney said he hoped the protest would draw attention to the anti-abortion cause by way of numbers.“One of the purposes is to say to all the people as we walk that this isn’t an issue just a few crazy people believe in,” Mahoney said.More specifically, he said he wanted the event to lead to reflection about Roe v. Wade, and highlight the hope that one day there could be no abortions.“Simply put, our goal is to put an end to abortion,” Mahoney said. Besides supporting the common cause, individual protesters had their own reasons for taking part. Mahoney himself had perhaps one of the most personal reasons for coming out – he and his wife had an abortion 15 years ago.He said he wished that at the time more information had been available about alternatives to abortion, so he and his wife would not have had to endure the pain it caused. He hoped his activism could help bring more light to abortion alternatives.Ellettsville resident Rachel Pierson, who participated in the demonstration, said she joined the rally because she feels that she has a duty to protect unborn children.“It’s the most helpless phase of development,” she said. “It’s not an inanimate thing, but a person who can’t even cry out for themselves.”But Mahoney said one of the most important reasons for rallying was that people know how much pain abortion can cause.“It’s not something that’s well talked about,” he said. “It takes years sometimes to see how much damage has been done.”
(01/21/09 12:49am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>About 20 speakers and performance groups were on stage Monday evening at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration, but one of the audience’s favorites was the IU African-American Choral Ensemble.The ensemble, a group under the umbrella of the African-American Arts Institute and composed of about 35 members, sang three songs: two a cappella African-American spirituals and one South African gospel song.Although the first two numbers, “It’s Me, It’s Me, It’s Me Oh Lord” and “We Are Marching,” were spirituals, they were sung in rounds with American choral-style harmonies. Director Keith McCutchen said he chose the arrangements because he wanted to combine African and African-American musical elements with traditionally ascribed American and European ones, which he believed was symbolic of “building a bridge” between the communities in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. He also said he picked spirituals because they appeal to the universal human condition.“Spirituals speak not only to the condition of slaves and the attitude expressed by oppressed people,” McCutchen said. “They also speak to the rights of humanity.”Ensemble member Abby Ogunbekun, a junior, said she thought the songs were appropriate for a performance on Martin Luther King Jr. Day because they spoke to his spirit as both a political and religious visionary.“They’re songs of struggle but also songs of hope,” Ogeunbekun said.The third song was a gospel sung in South Africa and Swaziland. It was partly in English and partly in Khosa, an African language, and had a much different tone than the first two songs. The ensemble sang, danced and clapped to the song while McCutchen accompanied the group on piano.Audience members said they enjoyed the performance’s liveliness. “This is my second time seeing them,” sophomore Audrey Speicher said. “I can’t get enough.”Speicher also said she loves the cultural richness the group has in its performances.Sophomore Emily Bedal said she was also a fan of the ensemble because of the energy of their performances and has seen the group multiple times.“I would definitely say Professor McCutchen’s passion for what he wants to do with the show is what kept me coming back,” she said. She said McCutchen’s vision for the group is what sets them apart.“It’s a learning experience as well as aesthetically pleasing,” Bedal said.
(01/13/09 4:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bloomington and Monroe County have responded “no” to Gov. Mitch Daniels’ suggestion that public employees forego pay raises for 2009.In December, Daniels suggested that public officials at all levels forego pay raises in 2009 to take pressure off of government-run organizations. But both Monroe County and Bloomington officials said doing this would be unreasonable, citing a balanced local budget, inappropriate timing and the necessity to account for an increase in the cost of living.Daniels made the suggestion at a Dec. 23 press conference, saying public officials who volunteered to skip pay raises this year would be following a precedent already set by employees of the state, IU and Purdue and other government-run organizations.“Every such decision would take pressure off local and school budgets and help ensure the continuity of vital public services,” Daniels said at the press conference.But Monroe County and Bloomington officials said the county and city would not be taking Daniels’ advice.Dan Sherman, administrator and attorney for the Bloomington city council, said the city would not be heeding the suggestion because the city council passed the ordinance for its budget that includes public officials last summer – long before Daniels’ press conference.“We did adopt a budget last year for public officials – this was before he made any sort of announcement,” Sherman said.Sherman later said in an e-mail that the state of the current economy will make planning the 2010 city budget more challenging, but once the salaries for public officials have been fixed, they cannot be altered in the year they apply.Vic Kelson, president of the Monroe County Council, said full-time employees of the county are receiving a $1,000 pay raise in 2009, but that amount is already below the $1,400 projected cost of living increase for the year.“We tried to get the cost of living increase, but there just wasn’t enough money,” Kelson said.But to deny them any pay raise at all would be unfair, Kelson said, and the county council sees no reason why the pay raises it has budgeted for county employees in 2009 are untenable.“The price of a lot of things went up ... Our employees need to be able to manage their finances.”As for government employees like public school teachers, Kelson said the reason they were being asked to forego pay raises was because of House Enrolled Act 1001, a state bill that moved funding for schools from property tax to sales tax. As the recession has deepened and people have spent less money, sales tax yielded less funding for schools. “What the governor is asking for is for our employees to take a hit on their incomes because the funding formulas the state came up with are insufficient to cover current expenses,” Kelson said.Daniels, however, stressed he is not forcing this suggestion on anyone.“I have no way to make this happen and no intention to criticize anyone who does not act on it,” Daniels said. “But it would be in the best Hoosier tradition of neighbor helping neighbor, as here those helping out receive their paychecks from the taxes paid by their fellow citizens, in a private economy where raises will be few and far between.”
(01/12/09 3:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Feeling awkward on the dance floor comes about as naturally for most people as getting sweaty palms in front of someone they like. But if there’s one time-tested method for overcoming shyness both on the dance floor and in romance, it’s learning ballroom dancing.Dance instructor Margot Scholz teaches one-hour classes in ballroom dancing from 4 to 10 p.m. Mondays at the John Waldron Arts Center and from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Fridays at the Bloomington Adult Community Center. The dances she teaches include swing, salsa, waltz, foxtrot, quick step, tango and Viennese waltz. She teaches group lessons at beginning and intermediate levels, and she is also available for private lessons, individually or per couple.“Ballroom dancing is a lot more fun than people think,” said Nashville, Ind., resident Molly Daugherty, a member of one of Scholz’s intermediate ballroom dance classes. “It’s relaxing, and once you learn it, it’s something you can use throughout the rest of your life.”Those hesitant to join the class because of an inability to dance need not worry. Students of the classes said Scholz’s teaching style is commanding and she demands perfection, but she is also willing to do whatever she can to help students learn.“She’s a very gifted trainer and educator with a very keen eye,” said Bloomington resident and ballroom dance class member Charlie Matson.Scholz has a wide range of experiences in ballroom dancing. Starting ballet as a young girl, she went on to study ballroom dancing in Germany, Switzerland and England, where she earned European degrees in the sport. She also competed in Dancesport ballroom dancing and later all over the world as a professional ballroom dancer.In addition, she stars in her own instructional ballroom dancing video called “Intro to Ballroom Dancing,” which can be found at the Monroe County Public Library.When students first start coming to her ballroom dance classes, they can expect to learn basic mechanics of elementary moves, she said. But as they go on, fine-tuning their technique becomes more important.“It’s more important how you do it than what you do,” she said.Scholz estimated her classes are about 10 to 20 percent IU students, though many of her students are IU employees and professors.Students cited many benefits of getting involved in the class: mental and physical exercise and discipline, learning the art for special events like weddings or just having an opportunity to do something out of the ordinary with a partner.“It’s kind of nice to have the opportunity to do something together,” Daugherty said.Scholz said the part of teaching that is most rewarding for her is watching her students go from thinking they cannot dance to having what she calls a “breakthrough moment” and then becoming great at it.“You didn’t give up on them, kept working and they turned out well,” she said. “They finally had the breakthrough and they were very accomplished dancers.”
(12/10/08 10:34pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Like most people right now, you’re probably feeling the effects of the recession. But it doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice the tradition of holiday decorating.One of coolest-looking decorations you can make for about $2.50 plus some materials you probably already have around your house is what I call the “Recession Wreath.”All it takes to make the wreath is two wire hangers, tape, scissors and lots of mangled trash bags. Besides being cheap, it’s also super-easy, and it’s a good way to make yourself believe you’re being productive while you watch all 24 hours of “A Christmas Story” on TNT or half-listen to Uncle Harry tell you every detail of his triple bypass surgery. It’s also a good way to reuse plastic bags from the store that you would otherwise throw away. What you need to make the “Recession Wreath”•2 wire coat hangers•About 20 white, tall kitchen trash bags(Note: It’s worth your while to use the cheapest trash bags possible. They are more fragile, but they give the wreath a prettier, translucent look. I use Ruffies brand tall kitchen trash bags to make the instructions clearer here, but if you can edit the instructions as you go, feel free.)•Heavy-duty duct or packing tape (Note: Use a drab-colored or clear tape that won’t show through the bags.)•Scissors•A red bowHow much will it cost?•I recommend borrowing some tape free from a friend, and most of you already own a pair of scissors and can get the wire hangers free out of your closet.•Trash bags: Ruffies brand trash bags can be bought at Target in sets of 35 for $1.57. Or, if you’re using plastic bags from the store, they’re free, but you’ll need at least 50 and quite possibly more than that.•Red bow: A bow just the right size costs 99 cents at Target.Total: $2.56 plus taxMaking the “Recession Wreath”1) Tape the wire hangers together into a circle. Don’t strain to get it perfect – vaguely circular is good enough. If you’re not happy with how circular the wreath is when you’re finished, you can always bend it then, too.2) Detach a trash bag from the roll and lay it flat out on a table, with the longest side perpendicular to you. DON’T unfold it yet; just lay it out there. If you’re using a plastic store bag, flatten it out symmetrically on the table.3) Cut the bottom of the bag off. It’s useless.4) Cut the entire long side of the bag into 1.5-inch strips. Lay each of the strips aside in a stack. If, like me, you have crappy scissors that do not cut in a straight line, don’t worry. Even if they are slightly-to-quite crooked, they will end up scrunched together so closely on the wreath it will be difficult to tell. 5) After you have cut the entire trash bag into strips, pick one up. One end will have one “point”; the other will have four “points” or layers. Fold two of the points to the opposite side – the strip should now be twice as long (about 10-12 inches). If you’re using store bags, you’ll have to improvise to make the strips about 1.5 inches by 10-12 inches. 6) Now you’ll want to cut through each of the tops of the four points. If you’re having trouble getting the scissors through, put your middle finger on the top side of the plastic and your thumb on the bottom side, and rub them back and fourth. Each point should pull apart easily.7) This should create four strips. Repeat this process for all the strips you have set aside.8) Once you have cut the entire trash bag into the strips, you are ready to start tying them to the wire hangers. Make the length of the strip perpendicular to the wire, then tie it over in a knot (as you would, say, a string onto a wire).9) Repeat steps 2 through 8 until you have covered the entire wire hanger with the strips. You want the strips to be as tight together as possible, so keep scrunching them together as you go. It will take a long time, but the results will be fantastic.10) When you have covered all the wire, the wreath itself is done. Attach a bow, and hang it on your door!
(12/03/08 10:43pm)
Three WEEKEND reviewers discuss the newest tracks in music.
(11/17/08 5:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Californians might have already voted to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, but Saturday about 250 Hoosiers came out to announce that the fight is not over. The crowd gathered on the Monroe County Courthouse lawn for two hours on Saturday afternoon to protest California’s recently passed Proposition 8, the amendment to California’s constitution that eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry.“A ban that was passed there affects all of us,” said sophomore Danielle Treece.Despite the temperature hovering at about 40 degrees and rain that fell until the early afternoon, activists yelled chants led by event organizer Evan McMahon. They raised homemade signs with mantras that ranged from “100% Taxpayer 50% Citizen” to “Jesus said some are born gay, Matthew 19: 10-12.”McMahon said even though the amendment had been passed by California voters, it was far from finalized.“It’s going to go to court. It’s going to be fought,” he said.The demonstration was one of about 300 around the country, according to the Web site of the organization responsible, www.jointheimpact.com.McMahon said he hoped demonstrations, like the one in Bloomington, would raise awareness of how hateful the amendment is and make it easier for politicians to stand up against it.On a more local level, he said he also hoped the protest would demonstrate to Bloomington that it has members of the GLBT community working and loving among them. McMahon said he thought two church groups were supposed to show up to counter-protest, but neither did. Although the protesters were rallying around the political injustice of the amendment, their reasons for joining the group were also ideological, personal and religious.Bloomington resident Courtney Miller did not know in advance about the protest, but saw it as she was driving by with her 13-year-old daughter.“My dad is gay, so we stopped,” she said.Miller said she hoped the protest would be a step toward her father being able to get married.Bloomington resident Bobbi Blackmore – who held a sign that read “Did you cast a ballot or a stone?” – said she believed the amendment was passed because of religious views and a lack of understanding about the separation of church and state.“The Constitution is not supposed to be a blueprint of religious beliefs,” she said.But besides that, she said, passage of anti-gay-marriage amendments is symptomatic of wrongheaded Christian beliefs. “Jesus never hated anyone,” she said.The crowd was consistently met with honking from motorists – to which the crowd cheered back and raised its signs – but due to the bad weather, people were fairly sparse downtown during the protest. Spectator and Bloomington resident Joe Gee said he fully supported the cause of the protesters. “I think it’s a fantastic idea,” he said. “I don’t see anything wrong with it whatsoever.”McMahon said the protest was a success. He was initially scared no one would come out because of the morning’s brooding weather, but the turnout had exceeded his expectations. He said divine intervention might have been possible. “I honestly didn’t think people were going to show up,” he said. “I said, ‘Please God, if you love us, make the rain stop.’ And it stopped, so God loves us.”
(11/16/08 8:25pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Californians might have already voted to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, but Saturday about 250 Hoosiers came out to announce the fight was not over. The crowd gathered on the Bloomington Courthouse lawn for two hours Saturday afternoon to protest California’s recently passed Proposition 8, the amendment to the state’s constitution that eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry.“A ban that was passed there affects all of us,” said sophomore Danielle Treece.Despite the temperature hovering at about 40 degrees and rain that fell until the early afternoon, activists yelled chants led by event organizer Evan McMahon and raised homemade signs with mantras that ranged from “100% Taxpayer 50% Citizen” to “Jesus said some are born gay, Matthew 19: 10-12.” McMahon said even though the amendment had been passed by California voters, it was far from finalized.“It’s going to go to court, it’s going to be fought,” he said.
(11/12/08 10:43pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Be honest: You don’t even read most of the reviews in this magazine that get an “A.” Unless you like the band or the movie has generated a lot of buzz, you skip right over it.But if you’re like me, you can remember your favorite “F” review in WEEKEND.Bloomington has a lot worth celebrating, and that’s what our annual “Best of Bloomington” edition is here for. But our goal here at WEEKEND is also to be a service to our community, and we feel we’d be doing you a disservice if we didn’t also tell you what to avoid.So, without further ado, here is what you really want to read – the annual “Worst of Bloomington” report:Worst on-campus celebrity: Karen HansonAfter shooting to stardom in 2007 upon taking the University’s most useless bureaucratic position, Provost Karen Hanson has continued to charm the student body with her apparent uselessness and utter lack of ability to construct a grammatical sentence.Worst campus organization: IU Parking OperationsIf you’re wondering why you still need to pay tuition, you’re not alone.Worst Restaurant: Video SaloonYou know those $35 Hot Pockets must be spectacular, though.Worst Place to Eat with Parents: Kilroy’s on KirkwoodBecause your mom’s not hot enough to get service. Worst Place to Volunteer: Barack Obama campaignGod bless ’em, but during campaign season these guys called me more than my actual friends. The only other group on campus this intrusive is the IU Telefund.Worst Bartender: Anyone who makes jungle juiceKnown by every intelligent person in Bloomington as “rape juice,” the only morons who consume this potion are freshman-ish girls who exclaim, “It tastes just like Kool-Aid!” Half-clothed barely legals yelling and vomiting might sound like a good way to get your party started, but by the time they’ve passed out they’ve killed everyone else’s buzz too.Worst Bar: Applebee’sKilroy’s on Kirkwood gets a bad rap for only being a place to pick up ass and hear the same soundtrack-to-your-life songs over and over. But after taking home Jim the semi-successful ad exec whose wife comes after you with her best kitchen knife, you’ll be longing for the comfort of a slutty, tongue-happy frat boy.Worst Place to Eat and Watch the Game: Dunn MeadowWhen you heard about the enigmatic “Gaelic Hurling Club,” you figured you’d grab some Pizza Hut from the Indiana Memorial Union and sit down to watch the spectacle. But it won’t take you until your inevitable disappointment with the worst commercialized Italian in town sets in to realize this phenomenon consists of two people – on a good day – throwing a ball.Worst Pizza: IMU Pizza HutHas anyone else noticed this pizza tastes like apple juice? Worst Place to Get Coffee: Wherever that loud woman in the Union is workingIf you’ve ever sat in the IMU longer than 10 minutes, you’ve heard her say it at 90 decibels: “HI, WELCOME TO STARBUCKS, HOW MAY I HELP YOU?” At least, it used to be only Starbucks, but she seems to have also migrated to Burger King and elsewhere since. I admire her work ethic, but I can hear her from a room away during lunch hours. Worst Band: Anyone who calls their one-man guitar-and-vocals act a ‘band’They play at almost any house show in Bloomington, often in that elusive genre known as “anti-folk,” which from what I gather means singing out of tune with an out-of-tune guitar, warbling on with cute nonsense or some vague political mantra. But, to be fair, they’re some of the nicest guys in Bloomington, and you can’t beat the free booze they often offer up. Worst ethnic restaurant: Panda ExpressIn an attempt to increase the diversity of Bloomington that would make IU administrators proud, some realtors filled in the old Jiffy Treet with an establishment famous for its presence worldwide in ... airports. Couldn’t they have at least tried to put something cooler on Kirkwood? Worst place to live off campus: Smallwood PlazaI realize the place is pretty nice, but I can’t tell you how many people I ran into on Halloween dressed as “a Smallwood resident.” Do Smallwoodians not realize how many people are mocking them, or do they just not understand why?Well, that’s it. I hope this list satisfies your yearly appetite for local-culture ragging. Keep your distance from anything on this list, and you’ll have a killer time in Bloomington.
(10/31/08 3:47am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Kirkwood Avenue and Walnut Street are hubs of nightlife entertainment for college students, but this Thursday the streets entertained a different crowd: the undead.About 100 people dressed up as zombies took over the streets for about an hour, walking straight-legged and blank-eyed, bringing traffic to a halt, jumping on cars that honked at them and slapping up against windows of businesses.The eighth annual zombie parade began at 10 p.m. at the Sample Gates and ended about an hour later on Walnut Street outside Jake’s Nightclub. The “zombies” were mostly students, but a few children and adults were also participating.Freshman Brandon Anderson – who dressed up for the parade as “Zombie Juno” in an orange-and-grey-striped hooded shirt with a round ball under it in addition to his red, white and black zombie make-up – said he came out because he wanted to be a part of an outrageous event.“I just thought it’d be so cool to be standing on Kirkwood, outside Cafe Pizzeria, seeing about 200 zombies go by,” he said.“And even cooler would be being one of those zombies,” added Kaisha Cyliax, also a freshman and zombie.As Anderson imagined, spectators were, in fact, fascinated by the spectacle.People poured out of local businesses to watch the sight. Although some motorists who were stopped by the crowd honked impatiently, others embraced the event by rolling down their windows and blaring “Thriller” or by crawling out their car sunroofs to holler at the zombies.“Something this unusual doesn’t normally happen,” said Catherine Gibbs, an IU senior who had never seen the annual zombie parade before. “This is absolutely hilarious.”The parade came to a somewhat abrupt end, though, as police cars pulled up behind the crowd with their lights flashing.Although at first this did not deter the crowd and many zombies surrounded the police car, yelling, the party dissipated as even more squad cars arrived and one man was handcuffed and put inside one of the cars.Parade participants were divided about the arrest.Senior Luke Bapple, who believed the arrest happened because the arrestee had touched one of the police cars, said the arrested “zombie” should have known better.“I mean, I’ll jump on a civilian car,” he said. “We’re dead, not stupid.” But senior Samantha Miller applauded the arrestee.“He was a martyr zombie,” she said.
(10/15/08 9:48pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The secret to enjoying any Oasis album made after 1995 is to listen to it only in the six months after it comes out. During that time, anyone who listens to it will declare it “brilliant,” and after that anyone who listens to it will declare it “another crap Oasis album.”Is Dig Out Your Soul another Oasis album made after 1995? Yes. But it has so much of the Gallagher brothers’ confident charm it’s difficult not to embrace it.The album opens with the spirit Oasis are famous for: They’re creating an epic, and they know it. “Bag It Up,” the opener, drips of dirty blues with a trippy swagger. The song segue ways perfectly into the second track “The Turning,” which has a euphoria Oasis hasn’t conjured since their 1994 debut Definitely Maybe. But while the songs on Definitely Maybe were euphoric because of their innocent yearning and imitations of the British Invasion’s catchiest bands, “The Turning” is euphoric because Oasis are so confident in their own perfection it seems impossible not to get caught up in it. After that, “Waiting for the Rapture” has more of the bluesy sleaze the album opens with, and “The Shock of the Lightning” follows with exactly what Oasis does best: a tune that makes people enjoy the moment they’re listening to the song, that make dancing and being alive a religious experience.But after “The Shock of the Lightning,” Dig Out Your Soul takes a nosedive. Oasis sheds its attempts to sound “epic” and puts on its attempts to sound like “respectable, mature musicians.”But those epics are what make Oasis sound like respectable, mature musicians. This is the band famous for antics like snorting coke in the Queen of England’s bathroom and calling Phil Collins the c-word. Thoughtful songs with titles like “The Nature of Reality” seem not just a little shallow.Given the album’s first few tracks, it sucks to admit Dig Out Your Soul won’t last. But at least for now, it has enough cocky grandeur to get caught up in.
(10/02/08 2:18am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The words “bionic robot” for most people conjure images popularized by sci-fi culture – half-human, half-machine creatures that take over the universe and try to bring down the human race.But the bionic robots at the Bloomington Hospital Clinical Simulation Laboratory have a more philanthropic purpose: to teach medical students real-life patient scenarios.In the time since its opening a little more than a year ago, 2,200 students have used the robots to get hands-on experience with hospital situations they would not otherwise have access to, according to a press release.“We can’t be exposed to everything in the hospital, so these give us an opportunity to be with all our classmates and see what each other is doing,” said Lindsay Seizys, a senior in the nursing program.The robots, each called a “SimMan,” are made of substances like rubber, plastic and wire but resemble humans in many more ways than a mannequin. They have an anatomically accurate bronchial tree, a pulse and the abilities to react to symptoms and speak to their “caretakers.”The lab, which has two SimMan robots as well as one of their bionic-robot predecessors, is also host to “SimBaby,” an infant version of the SimMan the lab acquired in February.Simulation specialist Jason King said the robotic technology has helped students focus more on the clinical situations at hand and less on taking directions from the instructor.“It’s helped with the learning as far as it’s a lot more realistic,” King said. “Like when I’m running simulation back here ... they are free to do their own thing.”Senior Jamie Russell, also a nursing major at IU, said working with the SimMan helped her understand what working with a real patient is like, but found the lab a generally stressful experience. She mentioned the SimMan’s talking in particular to be taxing.“It’s very stressful when they talk to you,” she said, noting that they would say things like “I’m not feeling well” as well as cough and make vomiting sounds.The lab hosts simulations for IU nursing and medical students, Ivy Tech Community College nursing and EMT students and Bloomington Hospital employees in several departments.King said the use of SimMan robots, produced by Laerdal Medical, is a trend that has become especially popular in metropolitan areas in the last year, but the ones used in the Bloomington Hospital Clinical Simulation Laboratory are the only in the region. The next-closest SimMan being used for medical technology is in Indianapolis.The lab was awble to purchase the SimMan and SimBaby robots because of a grant from the state. Support has come from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development through the South Central Region 8 Workforce Board, Inc., according to a press release.King said more and more people are starting to see the value of SimMan technology, and he’s looking forward to excitement generated about the newer SimBaby.“It’s definitely gonna take off,” he said. “I can see that.”
(09/24/08 10:29pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A person’s haircut says something about them. I hope that thought is as scary for you as it is for me. I’ve had haircuts that have ranged over the years from mangy to horrifying, most of them not looking remotely like the haircut in the picture I gave the stylist.But life is like a haircut: You never know what you’re going to get. And the best parts of your life are the ones that happen when you’re not expecting them. The early yearsI was bald the first two years of my life. I suppose, looking back, you could say I was setting the precedent for taking my time doing everything later in my life, from hitting puberty to getting my driver’s license. I am, by nature, a late bloomer. After I started getting hair, I was compensated for the previous baldness by constantly having my hair rolled wet onto curlers and teased into an Aryanfro. Fortunately this didn’t last long, because the ’80s ended and so did my stint looking like a child of them. I think most people my age (those of us born between 1985 and 1989) identify with the ’80s, even though we don’t remember much of them. I’m not sure why this is. But I’m pretty sure the hair sticks out in our memories more than anything else. Elementary haircutsA while after that, my parents went through a “rough financial times” phase, as many parents do, during which one of the first luxuries to go was having their children’s hair cut by people who know how to hold scissors. This yielded several strange cuts of bangs and unequally long sides. I can’t say looking like a beaver for several years was the reason I was a social misfit, but it must have had some impact on the way I turned out.In any case, this phase was followed by my parents’ “If it’s going to look like this, why spend any money on our child’s haircut?” phase, which coincided with my “perms look cool” phase, a lethal combination. A throwback to the ’80s when throwing back to the ’80s wasn’t cool yet, this haircut signified my unintentional precociousness for horrible future throwback trends.I also had a pair of bug-eyed sunglasses while everyone would still run away upon seeing someone wearing them, sported gaucho pants soon after the 1999 movie “Never Been Kissed” mocked them and owned a horde of Christmas sweaters way before IU students were wearing them to bad-sweater parties.A girl’s hair becomes a woman’sAfter the perm disaster grew out, I only had one remaining remnant of childhood hair embarrassment: my thick bangs. As they grew out and my adult teeth grew in (I was a freshman in high school – I’m not kidding), I thought I would be rid of my humiliating childhood experiences with mishandling head growths. I would bleach my hair, as was popular at the time, and look like a whole new person.Of course, you see where this is going. It turned a particularly unattractive color of yellow, which took until halfway through college to grow out of my long blond hair. And by the time I had grown it out, I was sick of it. On an impulse, I cut much of it off and died it blue. And that’s where I am now. In my last attempt at rebellion before I have to look like a professional, I’m living up what I’m scared will be the last year I can make ridiculous decisions whenever I want. But whatever life throws my way after this, I’m sure it will bring plenty more screwy haircuts.
(09/10/08 4:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When grocery prices increase, campus food prices are no exception.And with food prices expected to rise as much as 6 percent just this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, students are paying significantly more for food on campus than they were last year. More increases could still be coming midyear. The smallest meal plan last year cost $2,504, while the smallest this year cost $2,800.Director of Residential Programs and Services Dining Services Sandra Fowler said RPS has tried to anticipate the coming inflation by already increasing both the price of meal plans and the price of food served in RPS dining establishments.“Many items we didn’t raise at all,” she said, “Some items we had to raise 3 to 5 percent.”Fowler said RPS tries to account for any inflation by raising prices in August each year, before the school year begins. Ancil Drake, RPS executive chef, said one of the main reasons prices are going up is the fuel charges that RPS’s vendors require RPS to pay. With increased fuel costs, grocery prices must also increase.Because of increased oil prices, the cost of petroleum-based plastic packaging that much food comes wrapped in also rose.Drake also said all the commodity groups of food have gone up – such as meat, cheese and flour – in large part because of the flooding of much of the Midwest that occurred this summer.“With all the flooding, you see an increase in produce prices,” he said.However, because RPS is unsure whether more price increases are on the way, prices could increase further midyear, although Fowler said RPS hopes it doesn’t have to do that.“Throughout the year, our prices may increase,” she said, although she said she was not sure yet by how much.Students were divided on how they would respond if they had to start stretching their meal points further.“I think I’d eat less because I couldn’t afford to eat as much,” said freshman Sean Counceller.Freshman Sahar Pastel-Daneshgar said she thought the increases would barely affect her because she bought the smallest meal plan possible and hardly eats anyway.“I’ve gotten to one meal a day, living off free food and cereals,” she said. “So if the price rose, I would probably still get the same meal plan, which is the smallest one.”Jeff Ubelhor, also a freshman, said if prices rose he would probably maintain his same eating habits for a while because he is happy with the quality of food and prices RPS provides and would deal with changes when they come.“It’s not something I want to happen, but if it’s something they have to do, I understand,” he said.
(09/03/08 10:48pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bands who were the most important of their heyday often seem lackluster after that moment is over, even if their new music is great by most standards.Such is the case with The Verve, the most sophisticated and eloquent of the Britpop bands during the genre’s 1993-1997 lifespan. Although the group’s new album Forth is hardly bad, it seems out of place in the 21st century.Britpop created some of the smartest political and working/middle-class commentary ever set to music, and, for whatever reason, since 1997, no one has been able to recapture its influence and brilliance.To The Verve’s credit, they recognize this problem and settle for introspective lyrics rather than the commentary on public life featured in their ’90s material. But in a far cry from their that work, few of these lyrics are original. On 1997’s Urban Hymns, the band wrote about finding God in a phone box (“Come On”) and feeling feverish after finally standing naked in front of a person you love (“Lucky Man”). But here on tracks like “Love Is Noise,” they now sing that “Love is noise, love is pain, love is these blues I’m singing again (again, again, again, again, again)” and “Feelings, only feelings, just worthless, so I let ’em go.”The instrumentals, on the other hand, rarely stray from the old-school Verve’s style. Not that that’s a bad thing – the band has plenty of chemistry, lots of their trademark atmospheric rock sound and some killer guitar lines. But for a band known on its previous albums for making rock that was profound and ahead of its time, most of Forth’s sound comes off as vacuous. The album’s one real stunner is “Noise Epic,” a dirty and ethereal update of the band’s shoegaze roots. It takes several surprise turns, ranging from shimmering to fuzzy, without sounding old. If every track on Forth were like this, it would be one of the best albums of the decade.Forth has some good music, but it doesn’t even touch The Verve’s previous efforts that focused on discovering love after alienation and becoming whole through sound, and their music doesn’t have the grip and power of their Britpop days. The days of Britpop are over, and so are The Verve’s.