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(07/24/13 4:57am)
In the first song, he runs around the entire span of the
stage, stands up front on a speaker and gyrates for a few seconds, screams, and
then climbs the Red Stage scaffolding. He jumps don’t an easy eight feet and
the entire audience holds their breath. He is fine, and continues the song.
(07/24/13 4:34am)
Most impressionable, though, was the greatest, longest, most
soulful piano solo in Pitchfork Music Festival history, as Matthew Houck left
the audience wanting more with his best performance, “Love Me Foolishly.”
(07/23/13 5:44pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“Are there any good beaches around here?” asks Ms. Frankie Rose of the Dum Dum Girls. She is the perfect opener for the 86 degree-afternoon here at the Pitchfork Music Festival. With clear, ear-friendly voice, and distant surf-rock guitar, Frankie Rose coos into a sunny afternoon as the Pitchforkers of the Blue Stage enjoy their spiked watermelon lemonades. Rose’s jumpy single “Night Swim” picks people up off their picnic blankets and onto their feet, bopping heads to indie drummer dream girl.Mikal Cronin’s fame is still fresh, and he wanders the Pitchfork fields before his set like as if he were one of us. Long haired, squinty-eyed, Cronin is glad to be performing outdoors, and he plays his hit Pitchfork-famous hit, “Weight” to the delight of every sunbather.San Francisco garage-pop artist Cronin used to be the right-hand man of Ty Segall, but being the star of Friday’s Blue Stage has reassured his place in the indie music scene. Here’s to better and brighter things for Mikal in the years to come, and thanks for making a pit-stop to WIUX’s Culture Shock this spring! Bloomington loves you.Pitchfork was the quietest it’s ever been when Joanna Newsom took the stage Friday evening. You can tell a lot about Joanna Newsom by the nature of her audience. Her fans were receptive, thoughtful, and reactive to everything she said and did. Joanna giggles, everyone giggles. Joanna sighs, everyone sighs. The audience stares agape, and nobody sings along even though we all know the words. Some cry, and the rest smoke quietly.She sings two new songs to the audience’s delight. The first is a crashing, staccato, vocal challenge, invoking the audience’s applause mid-song. The second is a piano ballad.At the harp, a dull spotlight lights Joanna. The light is periodically blocked by a flag blowing in and out of the way, and her face is brought in and out of focus, ebbing, flowing, flickering. Her audience cheers and claps nonetheless. She is an actual, living Tinkerbell.Björk‘s set was cut a half-hour short because of weather, and I'm convinced that that her guttural belting and theatrical light shows summoned the wrath of the rain gods. Where crystalline was without a doubt the most memorable of her songs that night, all her tracks were backed up video shows, one of which featured hundreds and hundreds of star fish in time lapse, touching each other and crawling around. She is queen of weird stuff.Most odd, though, were her silvery blue backup dancers. These dancers were not professionally trained with set choreography, but perhaps, a group of Björk’s friends. Björk wore an enormous headpiece made of, what appeared to be, giant silver needles. After each song she spoke jovially into the microphone, “Sank You!”
(05/30/13 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>How have I never heard of Alpine?Whether their publicity is poor, or their name hasn’t quite emerged into mainstream media, Alpine’s debut album “A is for Alpine” hits the nail on the head for quite a few genres.There’s electro-pop, reminiscent of Oh Land or Yelle’s dancebeat and lady-strong vocals. But there’s a rock edge that is totally their own.With a bright upper register harmonies and keyboard-heavy beats, the stylish Melbourne-based band pleases many audiences.A hybrid of alternative dance and post-punk rock, their best single “Gasoline” showcases the best of their work, but “In The Wild” is another great introductory track.Also worth mentioning, “Softsides” with the percussion of drumsticks hitting against one another paired with ambient vocals creates a unique, safe feeling.As Alpine emerges, help the band’s publicity out by listening to their debut on Spotify (with exclusive commentary!) They deserve more attention than their getting.
(05/30/13 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Listening to a Laura Marling album is a bit like bird watching.It involves a lot of quiet. It involves a lot of sitting and waiting for something you recognize and if you’re patient enough, something truly spectacular will possibly emerge from the thicket. For those of you who have done it before and those who love it — the true bird nerds — there is nothing more invigorating than this sit-and-stare aspect of Marling’s work. Most don’t understand its natural extraordinariness. At first glance, her albums are repetitive and droll.Especially in the case of her newest release “Once I Was An Eagle,” Marling nods to her existing nature devotees. Her continuation of exploring the guitar ballad explores some of the same themes we’ve watched grow: broken-heartedness and its perks, agency in loneliness, laughing self-deprecation followed by self-reassurance.Marling sings for the battered and beaten in the wake of Britain’s folk resurgence. Laura lovers know that each album is riddled with nuances and themes that continually grow. Laura lovers know that the 23-year-old crooner sings an unrecorded song at every show she performs. Laura lovers know that this album in particular comprises many of these formerly unrecorded songs now strung together expertly. “Once I Was An Eagle” is a near seamless acoustic symphony of 63 minutes for the patient bird watchers.Shining tracks are the title song “I Was An Eagle,” “Master Hunter” as well as the uncouth “Undine” and then the single “Where Can I Go?” backed by soul organ. Aside from the organ and the somewhat spooky violin interlude, this album is nothing out-of-the-box for Laura, as the artist has abandoned the uplifting American-inspired anthems of her last album, and returned to darkness.Her tracks redevelops Marling’s beloved evils. The Devil is not an adversary, but a confidante and companion, interwoven through her lyrics.Never truer was the artist to herself than with the final track “Saved These Words” with the refrain “You weren’t my curse:” a reminder that we do not have to be defined by our past loves and losses. Marling uncages both herself and her listeners.
(05/16/13 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Noah and the Whale has a very special place in my heart. “Peaceful the World Lays Me Down” was the overture to the summer of any teenager’s high school memories, with sunshine, whistles and road trips. Since the departure of background-vocalist Laura Marling, now a successful solo artist, the band has never been the same. It was a tragic love story between Marling and Charlie Fink, with a break-up that cast a shadow over their next two albums. “Heart of Nowhere” feels as if it has finally broken free.“Heart of Nowhere” falls in line with the last album “Last Night On Earth,” telling a coming-of-age story with upbeats reminiscent of ‘70s singles, Afro-rock and Paul Simon’s “Graceland.” This album, unlike “Last Night On Earth,” however, lacked the “heart” the title promised. Frontman Fink seemed to be going through the motions of his last move. He employs classic rock to make us happy, with colloquial, unimaginative lyricism.If you ask me, the band spends too much effort launching its amateur film career, as opposed to producing a thorough album. Noah and the Whale uses “Heart of Nowhere” as a soundtrack to short films the band releases and sometimes screens at concerts. It’s all very so-so.One redeeming quality is the final track “There Will Come a Time,” an uplifting anthem for the world’s emotional youth. It is cliché, sure, but timeless in its message for the heart-broken: Keep on keeping on.By Francisco Tirado
(05/09/13 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The saddest thing about this movie is that I really thought it was going to be summer’s best action flick.Like many third sequels, though, there was a new director and a new opportunity to flop. Putting almost no effort into the screenplay and ridding themselves of it like an issue of a comic book, they could write the most gimmicky action movie ever conceived and still rake in a cool $170 million.And they did.“Iron Man 3” is the worst action film I’ve seen since the infamous “Spider-Man 3.” And for those of you who saw that, you know that’s a big statement. This film was poorly crafted, inattentively directed and ill-paced.I’m going to reveal a few “spoilers” in this review, mainly because I don’t think there’s much in this movie that was so good it could be “spoiled.” The plot was predictable and pulled so many clichés that I lost count.Tony Stark (Downey) takes up the iron suit again. This time, he’s up against an unbelievably xenophobic representation of a terrorist. The adversary’s henchmen are semi-immortals with a vague, lava-like biology that rebuilds itself all Wolverine-like. Their biology is the result of some high-tech botany? But they also turn other things into lava? Their limbs can be cut off, but they’re immune to bullets? They breathe fire, too? Explosions ensue.The summer “epic” spent about 70 percent of its time on some of the worst plot writing I’d ever seen, 20 percent on the great summer action flick we’d all anticipated and a sour 10 percent sweeping in at the end to say, unsubtly, “This movie was about romance all along.”The feared “Mandarin” is one part Native American vengeance story and one part Chinese, and of course he’s located in Pakistan.Applause all around, writers, you’ve decided to create an original comic book villain so indistinct that it stigmatizes three different cultures instead of the usual one.“Iron Man” was a series of missed opportunities. Starting with the introduction to Stark’s emotional side, they decide to run with a PTSD subplot using anxiety attacks induced by memories of the “Avengers” plot, which the whole movie could have done without.The film also dabbled in the classic “evil suit” plotline, where the hero must give up the vanity of his heroism in order to truly know his capability. To that end, most of the movie was spent out of the suit, and again, the audience was disappointed.Pepper Potts (Paltrow) wore the suit, though, which I had heard about and was excited to see, but the moment lasted all of 25 seconds, and she shot nothing. I don’t think she even flew.The rest of the film was a lot of snotty humor, dismissing an audience for the sake of making fun of itself. Fellow reviewer, Patrick Beane, whom I saw the movie with, made the acute observation that Shane Black tried to accomplish the quirky and aware humor style of Joss Whedon, dismissing self-seriousness with finesse. Instead, everything felt like a deadpan standup comedy act, the audience in awe at how confidently these bad punchlines were delivered.A few final highlights: The script was so expository, so hand-holding, that this (paraphrased) sentence actually made its way into the final cut: “We have to save either Pepper or the President! We can’t save both!”The film hardly delivers on the action front. Otherwise, I would have given a higher rating and just dealt with camp. But it didn’t. The final showdown was anticlimactic. The movie swallows itself whole with no consequence and the story is tied with a neat, little bow.By Francisco Tirado
(05/09/13 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>She & Him have achieved the perfect formula for their demographic, that being happy-go-lucky high school girls and some college pop-lovers who are just now getting into “alternative” music. “Volume 3” exemplifies everything in the band that works for their cause. They have a shiny, attractive frontwoman who’s memorable in rom-coms and stars in a TV show for the same demographic. The music is pop for those who love pop and folk for those who don’t know what folk is.Her vocal style is one-of-a-kind (for this day and age), so those looking to breach the indie scene are bound to fall in love with how old-timey it sounds. All of her songs are love songs — really, every single one — and heavy on the chorus, so the sing-alongability is great for car rides.It is almost impossible to dislike. Zooey Deschanel is so good at what she does, and to the fury of folk artists everywhere, we’ll listen to every volume she puts out to get more of the junk food we crave.By Francisco Tirado
(05/06/13 6:51pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I have been quite surprised by response received from my column last Friday entitled “Why I won’t be at commencement,” in which I decry the majority of the IU student body in 1000 words, offer no argument nor solution to the problem I was pointing out.It was a hastily written column that was encouraged and applauded by only positive feedback in my email inbox. I never read idsnews.com commenters, but I’m sure that, as always, they were glowing, complimentary letters of recommendation.I still stand by everything I said in the column, and I’m glad to be moving on from a school that I felt fell below the standards of my academic expectations.I would, however, like to offer a ray of hope for those that read the column thinking “Hey, I’m the student who doesn’t identify with all the other students here.”I would like to reach out to any individual who feels isolated by IU, who has trouble making friends here and who wishes, perhaps, that they went to another school.My only mistake in writing the prior column is that I seem to suggest that there is no hope for the group of people like me that fails to feel included in the student body. I’d like to amend that with a list. Because I love lists.1. If at first, you are lonely, be patient. Loneliness is a freedom that allows you to revel in self-thought, evaluate yourself and come to terms with what it is you want. If you can be alone with yourself and be comfortable, you’ll be even better at being alone with others.2. Seek non-IU programming. Despite what advisors might have you think, there isn’t an IU sponsored group for everyone, at least not one that is run well. Do some Googling and find interests within the community through events and interest groups that are Bloomington-sponsored. There’s a whole world of non-students that is thriving, exciting and living outside the bubble.3. If you feel hopeless — if you feel like you don’t have the chance at relating to those that surround you, stick it out. It took me almost a year to find a friend niche that fit me, and yes, that does mean you’ll have some trial-and-error friends: “First Pancake Friends,” I like to call them.4. Hang in there. Ditching class, refusing to meet people and shutting yourself in are not solutions to the problem of the IU isolate. I’ve come to meet the friends I have now because I continued to say “yes” to things, despite my hesitations.5. The bars are not the only social platform in existence at IU. A bar is a great place to chat with a group of friends or dance the night away, but many use it as a crutch. Bored? Go to the bars. I say “nay.” We’ve come so far in our time here at IU, and we should be able to entertain ourselves without the use of expensive, crowded, loud, socially-stunting establishments. Go camping. Have a barbeque. Get drunk around a campfire. Host a beer pong tournament, a wine-savvy dinner party or a slumber part. Anything but the bars.6. You are not IU. You are you. Just because you go here, does not mean you have to feel as school spirited as everyone else. Sometimes IU gear and basketballs games make you feel self-conscious about the fact that you’re not excited as everyone else about our “Hoosier Nation.” It’s worth it to see an IU sporting event, but never do so if you’re pretending to be someone you’re not.
(05/02/13 10:31pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Tomorrow’s graduation ceremony is a prestigious event, with caps and gowns, bright faces in the crowd and a photo memory for a lifetime to show your kids and grandkids down the road. And I will not be a part of it.After careful contemplation and some reluctance to cough up the $101 cost of the post-deadline cap and gown, I’ve decided that this age-old tradition means nothing to me. There are certain sentimentalities that I’m always going to give in to, but commencement is not one of them.Sure, I’m not alone in the decision. Tons of students at IU are giving up their opportunity to stand for the ceremony, either for financial reasons, for scheduling reasons or for sheer laziness. I’m none of those things. I’ve decided not to stand in the ceremony because, quite frankly, I have a bittersweet relationship with this University. I am not entirely excited or proud to have come from IU. That sounds harsh. I’m proud of my accomplishments here. I’m glad to have had the privilege of a college education, and I’m thankful to have worked with so many astounding professors while here. I am thankful for the resources it has provided me, I’m in love with this publication and I’m in love with this little town called Bloomington. I’m about to make a lot of blanket statements. Whether you fall underneath the blanket or not, I don’t really care. Whether you find these statements true or not does not make them any less true to me.I have never identified with this school’s student body, nor the principles it’s grounded on. This school caters to a singular type of student, ignoring perhaps thousands that don’t fit into the mold of the quintessential IU student. That is, the student who is pledging into the greek system, going out every other night and studying maybe two hours a week, if that.This is the student that adores frat parties, who has visited the majority of the bars on campus and blacked out at least once since he or she’s been here (“It’s college, right?”). They probably voted for YOUniversity, an all-greek ticket with a large chunk of its platform built to facilitate drinking culture.You probably participate in class, but you don’t do the reading. You only went to required attendance courses during Little 500. When you heard that Kappa Delta had thrown a “homeless-themed” party, you said something like “well I’ve heard of more offensive party themes than that.”This is IU’s golden child. This is what people think of when they think of IU.I’ve felt isolated since the minute I stepped onto campus. All around me, people were going to parties that I couldn’t get into. Out of all the courses I’ve taken, there have been two where I felt the majority of the class was as engaged as I was. People think college is a get-out-of-jail-free card. I’m the student who thought that these four years actually counted for something.I am a part of a large group of students that feels unchallenged here at IU.It’s worth mentioning that IU wasn’t my first choice. I used to go to school at DePaul University before I transferred here, and since arriving, I’ve had a few panic attacks (literal anxiety attacks) about whether I had made the right choice. Where were the students like me? Where is the student that doesn’t think college equals drinking?I am the student who thinks college equals education.I am the student who drinks maybe every other weekend. I am the student who wants to go to a party where I know everyone in the room. I am the student who has never even been in a fraternity.I am the student who has had to self-create two individualized courses just to get something out of these vague courses. I am the student who read “The Great Gatsby” in high school, yet two required courses made me read it again when I could have been reading something fruitful. I am the student who has to create his own agency in order to get the education I need. I am the student with extracurriculars not sponsored by IU. I am the student who goes to office hours to make up for how deindividualizing this institution is. I am the student who wrote an honors thesis and still felt neglected by the program. Thank goodness for good advisers. I am the student who moved off-campus as soon as possible. I am the student who studied abroad just to get away. I am the student who owns maybe one piece of IU paraphernalia that I got for free. I am the student who wishes that the highest-grossing bar on campus wasn’t voted “The Undisputed Bro Champion of the World” (No. 1 out of 100 on BroBible.com). I am the student who is disappointed in professors who cancel class during Little 500. I am the student who would rather not go to the race, would rather not even go to the bars during that week, if I could help it.I am the student who wishes to live outside this bubble. I am the student who put his education at the bottom of his resume. I am the student who is glad to leave this place.I am the student who won’t be at commencement.And yet, I am the minority. And I am just one type that doesn’t fit in, when there are many other subcultures who share the same sentiments. To associate drinking culture with poor academics is oversimplification. People can drink every night and still get straight-A grades.But after college, you don’t get grades. People will give you credit for hard work when you actually do hard work. Imagine that.I have settled my score with IU, but I am fed up with it. I am fed up with working harder than everyone else and still being rewarded the same as everyone else. I am fed up with trying to be the difference. To quote my friend and co-columnist Allison Stone, “I’m tired of being told I’m overreacting for wanting to see change.” And now I am not a student here. I can’t wait for my hardwork to be seen as valuable.— ftirado@indiana.edu
(04/25/13 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>People are constantly concerned about how gay people “become gay,” or how, so often, gay men universally aestheticize themselves with their community. That is, the stereotype of loving musical theater, Judy Garland, Hillary Clinton, all things platinum, etc. Often it seems that gay people are “initiated” into a gay community. When they come out, they unwillingly enter the world of sassy drama, Grindr and Meryl Streep movies. I’ll admit, it is puzzling, but in assessing this, it’s important to note two things. 1. Not all gays are like this. As I’ve said before, the gay community is divided into much more than just LGBT. We comprise cultures and subcultures, some of which hate divas, some of which are in fraternities, some of which will never wear a smidge of pleather in their entire lives.2. Just because we gays “construct” an identity does not mean heterosexual people are any less prone to unwillingly “constructing” the subjective expression of their orientation — the one they feel obligated to fill.What I mean is this: As a straight person, it is important to have a clear understanding of what you do and why you do it. It’s important to make sense of your own bodily feelings, emotions and reactions to others so someone else doesn’t do it for you.When you pick up a baseball bat, most do it because they love baseball, right? There exists a fraction of a population of men who do so because they feel obligated to the world of sports. For example, me in sixth grade.Figure out where your heterosexualities come from. Make sure you’re doing them because you want to, not because someone told you to.Why do you wear make-up? Why do you wear polos? Why do you drink this kind of beer? Why do you like cars? Why do you listen to Dave Matthew’s Band? Why on earth did you buy that Indiana zip-up fleece jacket at T.I.S.?You have more agency in the fluidity and changeability of your likes and dislikes than you’re willing to admit. The institution of compulsory heterosexuality is narrowly defined and can be just as inhibitory as us stereotypical fashion-savvy, Cher-loving homos. I had the lovely opportunity to be on a panel of LGBT speakers at the Harmony School, answering questions for some middle schoolers. One kid had asked why we dress the way we dress — why some gay guys like short shorts and some lesbians like plaid. I laughed, and as the lesbian on our panel explained why she doesn’t like to wear make-up anymore, I told them that one day, I just started walking over to the women’s clothing section. No one told me to. That day I was wearing a denim shirt, but I spent that night in a women’s tank top and metallic silver jorts. Some days I’ll watch the basketball game, and others I’ll check out the new Ryan Gosling movie.Let’s reconstruct how we “become” anything. “Gay” and “straight” have become so scripted that sometimes I don’t even know why I’m doing the things I’m doing. Question your volitions, and never hold back.— ftirado@indiana.edu
(04/18/13 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>One of my co-workers wrote an excellent column earlier this week on the abomination we like to call “Glee.” It took me back two years to when I was first writing for the Indiana Daily Student as an opinion columnist. I published a piece titled “Gleeful Ignorance” that listed all the reasons I hate Fox’s “Glee” and everything it stands for. It was well-received, not by die-hard Gleeks, of course, but by those who agreed with me that “Glee” is an abomination. The editorial is, to this day, the No. 1 hit on my blog site just from those who Google the phrase “I hate Glee.” Though this topic seems trite, the representation of LGBT characters in the series has always been overly simplistic, irresponsible and perpetuating of stereotypes. The show is underdeveloped in the strides it aims to take toward progression and topical issues, and, four seasons later, I stand by my opinion with a new bone to pick.On April 11, the most recent installment of “Glee” decided to tackle the issue of school shootings, using Becky, the only character on the show with Down syndrome, as the one who brought the weapon. I didn’t see the episode, and I no longer watch the show, but it once again brought to my attention the insensitive and tactless nature of the show. I half-expected it to be one of their queer characters, as the show has a knack for demonizing queerness and misinterpreting queer culture in a transphobic and biphobic way. To use Becky for the shootings was not only a poor choice for the development of that character but also ill-timed in light of the Newtown shootings. Similarly, the show’s central gay character, Kurt, has inauthentically carried several bully-themed episodes shortly after the gay suicide epidemic and the launch of the “It Gets Better” project. Their timing is always off, but what’s worse are the associations drawn between subordinated groups and failure. Associating Becky with the school shootings is harmful for the representation of those with disabilities, because “Glee’s” somewhat stunted viewers will likely conclude the two somehow work in tandem. It’s the same with gay characters. “Glee’s” viewership is too dim-witted to look past the stereotypes. Though LGBT people and those with disabilities are entirely disparate, the problem is the same. “Glee” continually associates gay characters with failure in multiple forms — falling prey to bullying, unable to conform to social structures, struggling with sexual identity, etc. The sob story grows tiresome. The show should stop trying to address topical issues. “Glee” should throw away its tokenism. There needs to be a “Girls” for gay guys (I’m already working on it). They’d render a much more authentic story, I’m sure.— ftirado@indiana.edu
(04/12/13 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In light of IU Student Association’s Culture of Care initiative, I’ve been contemplating what this could mean for the LGBT community. I’ve found little media on IUSA’s move toward gay discrimination awareness save a bullying panel and one screening of “The Laramie Project.”My friend and co-worker, Kelly Fritz, wrote a compelling column earlier this week about creating a greater awareness around mental health, and I’d like to not only endorse everything she said, but add my own gay addendum to it. Members of the LGBT community, especially those that are still in the closet, experience higher rates of depression, anxiety disorder, substance abuse and other critical dysfunctions in their youth. About 30 percent of all completed suicides have been related to sexual identity crisis, as gay and lesbian teens are twice, if not three times, as likely to end their life before it really starts.Bully statistics and evidence of discrimination are available, and I don’t need to spell them out for you. But there are still ways to better treat the gay person in your friend circle. Take these eleven precautions to care more.1. No one is the “boy” or “girl” in the relationship. We are far more versatile lovers than what you’d like to prescribe. Sure, people prefer tops and bottoms, femme and butch women, but not everyone has to prefer either. To presume so is not only rude and ignorant, but it permeates our free lives with your restrictive speculations.2. When someone comes out to you, they are usually sharing one of the most intimate, terrifying moments in their life, and that trust is fragile. Do not shrug it off or say “I knew it,” because that doesn’t make it any easier.3. I am not your “gay best friend.” I am not a “fun gay.” I am not an accessory. I want to relay the message (for gay men like me) that we will not help you pick out your shoes for formal or help you compose a passive aggressive text to send to your boyfriend, Brad. Ask your sorority sister to do that.4. There is no singular “type” of gay person. If you ask someone to imitate a gay man, many could do it: lisping, feminine, loves musical theater. A lesbian: a hulking, low-voiced hardware-happy bull-dyke. But if I ask you to imitate a straight person, you say, “No, we’re all different.” Well, so are we. 5. The worst question I’ve been asked: “Doesn’t your sex hurt? Is it difficult?” I always say, for some, sure, but it hurts more not to have it.6. And by the way, it’s not called “gay sex.” Or “gay marriage” or “gay equality.” It is called sex, marriage and equality. 7. Transgender is an umbrella term for those that are “other” than the conventions of their biological sex. “Sex” is what you were assigned at birth. “Gender expression” refers to how one communicates gender. “Gender” is the social constructed role. ““Transsexual” means the gender expression is different from their sex. Transsexuals can alter their bodies through hormones and surgery, but not all want to. And this is not the same as a “tranny” which is an offensive, pathologized term you shouldn’t use at all.8. Sexual orientation is analytically independent of sex and gender. Just because we’re gay does not mean we hate the conventions of our gender role. Not everyone who is transgender is a homosexual and vice versa. 9. Heterophobia is not a real thing. It has no credibility nor argument in the deranged pseudoscience of victimology. Check your privilege. 10. Our love is not activism. Just because we’re kissing a boyfriend/girlfriend doesn’t mean we’re looking to make the front page of a newspaper. Tons of us are perfectly content and hold the right to live a passive, peaceful life. We don’t all want marriage. To assume so is to foreclose on our everyday sense of functionality.11. Your call to action is not about holding up a picket sign or posting something on Facebook. It is merely about vocalizing support when someone asks you. Don’t stand quietly on the sidelines. A single encouragement could save a life.Have you hugged a gay today?— ftirado@indiana.edu
(04/11/13 2:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Peter Jacobi, Professor Emeritus, in conversation with Weekend's Francisco TiradoPeter Jacobi: I knew Gene Siskel a little better than I knew Roger. He was shrewd. And he was talented. He was able to use his midwestern routes and his midwestern spirituality and mentality, and brought that quite honestly and effectively to film—to film reviewing. There was nothing high-brow about him . And yet he had a tremendous sense of good taste. He knew what a good film was about. I think he tried to sell it to the audience in a very down-to-earth, direct manner using his gifts at writing as a great wordsmith, using journalistic techniques. His reviews were filled with scenes, moments. Just like a good feature writer or magazine article writer would do, so that the reader could experience through his words, what there was on the film, so that made his argument much more persuasive.Francisco Tirado: Roger Ebert was known to hate 3-D films. He called it “a waste of a perfectly good dimension.” He has a lot of criticism for how Hollywood has changed since his day. Do you share the same sentiments? PJ: I think he was purist in a way. He wanted the best for film and the best from film. When film went into gimmickry too much, he sort of put up his dukes and said, “No I don’t like that.”...But you know the whole genre of over-technologized filmmaking — that takes the place of real creativity and artistry and emotional juice...And there are films that have that kind of the purpose. He was able to understand that — that not every film needed to be held to certain superlative standards — that there were just come-and-go films that were acceptable for other reasons.FT: Alright, so you knew Roger Ebert,. In what circumstances did you end up meeting him? PJ: It was a long time ago. I was for a while, a consultant for WTTW in Chicago. Bill McCarter was the head of the station and he just wanted ideas from several consultants. One of those ideas that arose was for a program in which critics conversed about matters artistic. That was ultimately refined in film. In that one medium, Roger and Gene Siskel were chosen to do that. I met them in those situations and knew Gene also because his wife-to-be was one of my students at Northwestern. He was a very nice man. He was courteous, he was friendly. He didn’t suffer fools. He knew what he wanted and what he liked. He never lost what he was and that was a down-to-earth midwesterner with down-to-earth taste and he combined that with sensitivity. And I guess one of the first examples of where his ultimate power was shown was with “Bonnie and Clyde,” which with the first go-around was not terribly accepted, and he saw something in that film that was special. And he wrote about it. His ideas, his concepts spread and that helped to pass his name more widely in cinema circles. He was also more valiant and courageous. He apparently never complained for all those years of pain. Physical grief.FT: So, you are a long-time professional critic. You’ve already spoken on how Roger Ebert has influenced the industry of criticism, but how do you think he has influenced you?PJ: Well, I loved the way he reviewed. First of all he’s just a vibrant writer. It was interesting and exciting to read his stuff. It wasn’t academic or dry scholarship. It was really lively writing that came from a lively mind. He didn’t try to overwhelm you with lots of theories. He didn’t try to overwhelm you with too many points. He always grasped hold of one two or three things and those he developed. And around those he developed his reviews. They were good to read. They still are.FT: Roger Ebert was, famously, a little mean in his reviews sometimes. How do you think his very distinct sense of snark contributed to the kind of criticism he made?PJ: Well that was part of his personality, too. He was being himself on paper. He was never cruel. He was honest. In a film industry, there was a lot of money that was there. He wrote it as he saw it. FT: And he held them to the standards of the money that was there.PJ: Absolutely. He saw films as an artform. Not simply as an entertainment. He believed that good art has to be entertaining too, but he put film on a pedestal as an artform that counts that matters. So when he saw someone trying to destroy it, disturb it, weaken it, he said, “Hold on, that’s not good.” And he built a lot of careers, I think, through the way he wrote. He created a brand. FT: You teach criticism here at the Ernie Pyle School of Journalism. For all aspiring critics writing on entertainment, what words of advice do you think we can take from Mr. Ebert?PJ: Proving the points that he’s trying to make. Showing versus telling. When I’m done with a Roger Ebert review, I know exactly why he said what he did about the quality or lack of quality of the film. I have a good idea of what I were to experience, were I to go and see it. I used to be much more of a movie-goer because I do some film reviewing, so I came to trust him. Not always because I agreed, no, but I came to trust the way he approached a film and I can’t always say that about others.
(04/11/13 2:17am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Let’s try and set aside, for now, the history behind the movie — its success, its nerd fandom, its sequels and my undying love for dinosaurs.“Jurassic Park” is a film that rings in our ears as the liberty bell of sci-fi thriller films. The story follows Michael Crichton’s book of equal merit. Two scientists (Neil, Dern) are propositioned by billionaire entrepreneur John Hammond (Attenborough) to come and endorse his park that features cloned versions of dinosaurs from the extracted DNA of fossilized mosquitoes. In order to convince them as best he can, he invites them to his island for the weekend, in addition to a chaos theorist/doctor/stock-asshole character, a lawyer and, of course, his grandchildren. Can you guess which of these characters is eaten first?Having lost control of the dinosaurs and with the 10,000-volt electric fence out of commission, what ensues are dino chases, lots of screaming, the perfect amount of gore and a heavy theme about what happens when man plays God. Setting camp aside, the movie is every adventurer’s perfect film. But in 3-D, a movie I’d watched time and time again was as visceral and scary as when I saw the movie at age 9: I peed my pans at my grandmother’s house and checked the backseat of our car for velociraptors long afterward.In an entertainment industry full of 3-D tycoons, many are taking full advantage of techno-happy viewers like flies on a glowing porch light bulb. Things are being rendered 3-D without rhyme or reason: “The Great Gatsby,” “Finding Nemo,” “Titanic,” the Katy Perry movie and, slowly but surely, every golden-age animated Disney classic. Movie-makers are binge-producing 3-D films like hot bagels without estimating the demand for it. But “Jurassic Park” was finally, finally a film worth adapting. Save a few out-of-focus shots, the effects of the 3-D were perfectly executed and absolutely necessary. As if T-Rex heads were supposed to pop out of the screen at you when the movie was made in 1993. This is Spielberg at the apex of what he does best, and I hope you go and see this old classic told a new way.9/10
(04/05/13 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Last year, theologian Doug Wilson — a big, homophobic name in the world of Christianity — came to campus to lecture, and I wrote a column titled, “I’m a survivor, alright?” that identified him as an example of an adult bully facilitated by Christian apologism and those on the worse side of the spectrum. It’s unfortunate that as far as Christian voices in media go, the loudest ones are always the bigoted ones — the intolerant, irrational and ignorant. Speaker R.C. Sproul is no exception. Falling in this category, the speaker is coming to Ballantine Hall on Friday to give a lecture so quaintly called “Abortion: America’s Holocaust,” thanks to Clearnote Campus Fellowship. But when it comes to people like this — people who misrepresent the Christian community — it’s important not to respond with a hatred that would be no better than theirs. They are wrong, but they are not all bad.Sproul, however, believes homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God and that homosexuality is, as he puts it, “a gross and heinous sin.” Just thinking about language here, I’d like to point out that he discredits his own standpoint, as I think I stopped using the word “gross” to win my arguments when I was in third grade. What’s more upsetting, though, is that Sproul preaches that if an LGBT person would like to go to heaven, he must revoke his own sexual orientation. This makes about as much sense as me prompting Sproul to join me for a night at Boystown so long as he dresses in full drag and takes a boy home for the night. Homosexuality is irrevokable. It is inherent. You cannot pray the gay away. I should know. I spent six years of my life trying to do so — trying to come to terms with the monster I was led to believe I was thanks to religious figures in my life like Sproul.If you are gay and Christian, I urge you not to listen to bullies like Sproul. LGBT-friendly churches and pastors are littered across the world, in public and in hiding, adapting an old book to a new social climate (a book that is predated by marriage, mind you, and therefore has no say in defining it). If your religion is associated with hatred, it is in your power to shift that identity. It’s not Christians vs. gay people but love vs. hate. Both are on either side. We’re on the right side of history, and Sproul is left in ancient times — times without Internet. In his own words, “A curious combination of fiber optics and silicon has given us a technology that has carpet bombed the last great defense against sexual perversion, shame.” The Human Rights Campaign devotes a whole branch of its organization to mobilizing LGBT people of faith. In light of a diverse world, we cannot essentialize. We cannot assume that Christians hate gays and that gays should hate Christians. I have the most conservative, religious parents you can imagine, but they’ve loved meeting my boyfriends, and they’ll be the first to support me in my LGBT endeavors. Sproul is an essentialist, and he is wrong. He says God made marriage between man and a woman, but he fails to take into account 3.8 percent of the population. He fails to consider men who like to dress up as women and vice versa, men and women trapped in the wrong bodies, and the 200 or so intersex children born every single day. If you are gay, transgender, intersex or queer, I can tell you that you too can inherit the kingdom of God, whether you want to or not. Your ability to love is not your downfall, and I urge queer people across the spectrum to be more open-minded to Christian ideals that are not like Sproul’s.And the ones that are, well, let’s hope that God bestows on him a gay child so that he can learn to love and grow up.— ftirado@indiana.edu
(04/04/13 2:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>SPRING GAZPACHOServes 4-65 very ripe large tomatoes2 large English cucumbers2 red bell peppers2 jalapenos, seeded and stemmed1 small red onion3 cloves garlic, peeled1 cup ice plus 1/2 cup water4 tablespoons red wine vinegar1 avocadoolive oilsalt and pepperCore tomatoes, peel cucumbers, stem and seed peppers. Combine all ingredients (except for avocado) in food processor until almost smooth. Serve cold with sliced avocado. Serve in shallow bowls with mint garnish and drizzle a little olive oil over each bowl.SIMPLE ASPARAGUS CARBONARA1 pound asparagus, medium-thick1 zucchini3/4 cup peas3 large garlic cloves, sliced10 ounces angel hair pasta3 large eggs2 tablespoons watercress pestolemon juiceolive oilsalt and pepperSnap off the ends of the asparagus. If the stalks are thick, peel the bottoms. Slant-cut the asparagus in 1-inch pieces. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and onions, cooking on medium-low until the garlic is fragrant. Add asparagus and stir-fry until al dente. Last, ribbon the zucchini using a vegetable peeler or mandoline into thin slices, just barely cooking until flaccid. Remove pan from heat.Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add angel hair and cook until al dente. In a medium-size bowl, beat eggs enough to blend them. Gradually whisk 1/2 cup of the pasta water into the eggs. Drain pasta and add to the skillet. Add a little more oil and toss all ingredients together with peas. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. While the skillet is still hot, slowly stir about half the egg mixture into the pasta and asparagus, mixing everything constantly. Don’t worry if some of the egg scrambles a bit. Quickly stir the pesto into remaining eggs, and pour over the ingredients in the skillet and mix. Serve immediately with a squirt of lemon.SPINACH WATERCRESS QUICHE9 ounces puff pastry doughall-purpose flour for dusting4 eggs7 ounces ricotta cheese 3 1/2 ounces feta cheesei cup chopped spinach1 cup watercress1/3 cup Belgian endive1/2 red onion, thinly sliced1/8 cup pine nuts (or preferred less-expensive nut)olive oilsalt and pepperPreheat oven to 400 degrees.Brush an 8-inch tart pan with olive oil and dust with flour until completely coated. Roll out puff pastry on lightly floured surface and line the pan.Beat the egg with ricotta and feta. Fold in spinach, watercress, endive and onion. Then pour into the pastry.Sprinkle on the nuts and bake for 10 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 20-30 minutes, until set. Serve with a balanced breakfast.VEGGIE FLATBREAD WITH WATERCRESS PESTOFor the pesto:1 cup pecans (or walnuts)1/2 cup sunflower seeds2 cups packed watercress1 1/2 cup grated Parmesan3/4 cup olive oiljuice of 1 lemon3 garlic clovessalt and ground black pepperFor flatbread:1 whole wheat flatbread6-8 morel mushrooms (or any mushrooms), sliced1 Belgian endive, peeled1/2 cup spinach1/8 cup pine nuts (or preferred less-expensive nut)1/2 cup red onion, sliced thinly1 tablespoon minced garlic1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper1 cup shaved Parmesan cheeseolive oilsalt and pepperPreheat oven to 400 degrees.Blend all the pesto ingredients in a food processor. Spread this mixture liberally onto flatbread (pre-placed on a baking sheet). Splay ingredients onto the flatbread in this order: Parmesan cheese, garlic, spinach and endive, mushrooms, onions and pine nuts. Season with salt, pepper, red pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.Bake for 30-40 minutes, but this time will vary depending on your flatbread. Just make sure its evenly browned.SPICY GROWN-UP MAC AND CHEESEYields 124 cups favorite pasta shape (I like cavatappi)1/3 cup red onion, finely chopped1/3 cup roasted red pepper (jarred or home roasted), finely chopped1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely minced6 roma tomatoes5 1/2 tablespoons butter, divided4 tablespoons all-purpose flour2 1/2 cups milk 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper1/4 teaspoon onion powder1/4 teaspoon garlic powder8 ounces colby jack cheese, shredded4 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded4 ounces baguette or crusty Italian bread, torn into large chunkssalt and pepperolive oilDirections: Preheat the oven to 375° F.Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook pasta according to directions. In the meantime, melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, red pepper and jalapeno to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally until fragrant and tender. Remove from heat and set aside.In a medium saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. Once the butter is completely melted, whisk in the flour. Cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until it turns a light golden brown color and begins to foam (be careful not to scald it). Whisk in the milk until well blended. Cook the mixture, whisking or stirring frequently, until it begins to bubble and thicken. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Whisk in the spices. Add the cheeses to the mixture and whisk until completely melted and well incorporated. Remove the mixture from the heat.Return the drained pasta to the large pot. Add in the cooked vegetables and the cheese sauce, and mix until well blended. Transfer the mixture to a 2-quart casserole dish.Use a food processor to pulse the bread into coarse crumbs. Transfer the crumbs to a small bowl. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and toss with the bread crumbs. Sprinkle the crumb mixture in an even layer on top of the pasta. Cut the roma tomatoes in halves and stick evenly across casserole dish, brush them with olive oil and season the macaroni lightly with salt and pepper.Bake for 25 minutes, or until the mixture is heated through and the topping is golden brown. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.AUMONIER (BEGGAR'S PURSE)8 sheets phyllo dough2-4 tablespoons melted butter4 tablespoons olive oil4 stalks asparagus, ends trimmed, cut into small dice 1 Vidalia onion, sliced3 zucchini1 cup fresh morel mushrooms (or any other kinds), diced3 strips pancetta or bacon1/2 cup dry white wine2 teaspoons chives (see tips)2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed2 cloves garlic, cut into quarters1 teaspoon fresh thyme, finely chopped4 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped (save the stems)1 1/2 teaspoons salt1 teaspoon black pepper1 (6-ounce) package goat cheese, slicedPreheat the oven to 400 degrees.Sautee onions, garlic and white wine until barely cooked, then add asparagus, zucchini, mushrooms and pancetta until browned — maybe get some grill marks. Take off of heat.Stir together goat cheese, chives, thyme, pepper, salt, parsley and lemon juice in a small bowl to make a creamy, spreadable mixture.Roll the phyllo dough onto a dry surface. Remove one sheet of phyllo dough and place it on a dry surface (I put a sheet of wax paper between the dough and counter top). Brush the entire top of the sheet with melted butter. Top with another sheet of phyllo and brush the top of it with melted butter. Repeat with one more sheet of phyllo. Cut the stack into four equal rectangles.Spread goat cheese mixture out onto the squares of phyllo dough, then place a golf ball-sized portion of cooked vegetables onto the center of each piece of dough. Be sure to wait until they’re cool and strain them of excess liquid. Gather the sides into a pouch and form a purse, pinching the gathered dough, then tie a parsley stem around the gathered dough.Place the purse onto a lined baking sheet and lightly brush with melted butter. Bake for eight to 10 minutes until the phyllo purse tops are golden brown and crispy.Remove from oven and let cool. Serve warm.
(04/04/13 1:50am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Wednesday morning, Beyonce Knowles released a five-second teaser YouTube video previewing an announcement for her upcoming album with the promotion “#BeyHereNow,” exclusively leaked on her Tumblr. She leaked the video in the morning, and there were more than 3,000 notes (and counting) before entertainment media finally found out about it hours later. The same thing happened when she dropped her single sampler “Bow Down/I Been On” last month. In the midst of her personal photo diary, she reaches out to a niche of her fans that care about both her public and private life.Artists are shifting to Tumblr for publicity stunts more and more, previewing their work to cater to a loyal community. Eventually, it goes viral. In a world that requires a little more than 140 characters, entertainment is adapting to the blogroll form. Celebrities are all taking on their own URLs: Beyonce’s sister, Solange, Aziz Ansari, Vanessa Hudgens, James Franco, Neil Gaiman, Azealia Banks, Frank Ocean, Tegan and Sara and Big Boi, to name a few. For these types of viral promotions, Tumblr-goers are usually the first to know.Tyler the Creator announced a free show in Colorado exclusively through Tumblr, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt fostered his pet project production company, Hit Record, which releases samples of music and films and published a series called “The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories.” Pixar has launched a promotional Tumblr blog for their upcoming project “Monsters University,” called “Grumblr.” And don’t even get me started on Kitty Pryde.Even the newest Facebook timeline adaptation is a continuous scroll of a collage format — as if Mark Zuckerberg were nodding to Tumblr creator David Karp, saying, “Nice idea, there.”The problem with social networks such as Facebook and Twitter is the social pressures entailed. People tend to “like” something because they want brownie points with a boyfriend/BFF/boss or “share” something because they’re a part of an organization, because sorority sisters told them to or, once again, for brownie points. Posts like these are unoriginal, uninspired and not individualized, unlike those on Tumblr.When an image, link, video or whatever appears on your dashboard — the Tumblr equivalent of a “newsfeed” — what moves you to “reblog” it is completely yours to own. When you reblog, rarely do you know the face behind the post, so your incentive is completely divorced of those social influences and pressures. Furthermore, what you post goes into a community of often anonymous users, thus setting aside your inhibitions as to what you might have censored on Facebook or Twitter. When entertainment steers head-on into Tumblr, the blog server provides something the other social networks don’t — a user’s original and individual sense of discovery.Not to mention, Tumblr is the most GIF-friendly platform in our Internet world.A Tumblr is a blog without all the responsibilities of a blog. It is a place you can both confide your deepest indulgences or publicize your favorite entertainment sensation. If you want to start discovering, it only takes about five minutes to begin. TUMBLR STARTER KIT1. Sign into Tumblr with a short URL — as short as possible — and pick an eye-catching avatar with a simple theme.2. Write a sentence about yourself or your mission. Keep it concise. No one reads them.3. Follow 100 people, if not more. You can find blogs on the Tumblr Spotlight, find people through Facebook and Gmail or just discover users through “notes” on posts.4. Personalize your dashboard. Follow some of the celebrities I listed and popular news sites or fashion blogs such as NPR, GQ, Vogue , TV shows, artists, comic book writers, Huffington Post, News, Tumblr Storyboard, The Guardian and, of course, idsweekend.tumblr.com.5. Discover.
(03/29/13 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>You’ve seen the red and pink equals signs littering your Facebook newsfeed. People across the country are switching their profile pictures to support marriage equality on the days of the Supreme Court arguments regarding Prop 8 and the definition of marriage across the U.S.While courtroom drama and legal jargon are not my forte, I still listened to the hour-long audio recordings of arguments taking place in the Supreme Court, and have few things to say about the ordeal. Popular opinion speaks for itself. Times are changing. We’re on the right side of history.But what strikes me most are gay voices against the institution of marriage. From the queer side of things, there is and always has been a tide of people rejecting the gendered binaries and systematic pairing. They say marriage is a sham, conforming to heteronormative restraints. “Against Equality,” some say.I’m essentializing their view, and I urge you to read up on their valuable point. But is friendly fire worth it at this moment in history? I have admittedly grown more apathetic during the past year about getting married. I believe the politics of inclusion continue to subordinate us, and frankly, I actually doubt I’ll marry either way. But I’d like to consider it an option.Civil unions and the like, whether you want them or not, render us second-class citizens. You’re standing in a line, and there’s a man handing out free boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios. When he gets to you, he hands you the off-brand. You’ve gotta admit, you’re wondering why you have the substandard version of what everyone else has.Because of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), 1,138 benefits, rights and protections provided on the basis of marital status in Federal law are currently denied to us. In a singular, historic moment, LGBT lives are being reconsidered on the basis of federal recognition, and these rights are once again attainable.The institution of marriage is mainstream, and monogamous relationships are not for everyone. But some still want them. Some people want the same chance as everyone else—the same chance to have a subpar honeymoon, to hate their mother-in-law, to get tired of leftovers for dinner, to raise a kid that absolutely hates them. This is our risk to take.It’s a stepping stone into getting more and more of what we deserve. We have our foot in the door here, so let’s not take it out. I’ve learned unity is essential. I worked for the Human Rights Campaign last summer, fundraising on the streets. Yes, I was that guy. I worked four solid months, and you’d think that the majority of my harassment would come from bigots and grumpy business men. But honestly, most of my aggressors were gay. Whether they’d stop to tell me about the downfalls of the HRC, tell me that I was transphobic, misogynistic, on the wrong side of the movement, barking up the wrong tree, angry with the method, the logo or my particularly favorite response: “I support equality, but not you.” I’m not one to defend the HRC, but if I was fighting for just marriage, I wouldn’t have been out in the sun, on the streets of Chicago 40 hours a week.It’s more. It’s a stepping stone for one subcutlure of the LGBT community. With more to come. Our president said: “If you’re willing to reach up and close the gap between what America is and what America should be, I want you to know that I will be right there with you.”And if you fight with me now, I’ll join you too when your moment comes. — ftirado@indiana.edu
(03/28/13 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>This week, because we know nothing about sports, Weekend takes on cult classics and little-known gems. We have deep, undying love for some strange and embarassing pop culture stuff, and we suspect you do too. Don't fight it. It's natural. If you're reading this on the Weekend website, congratulations! Stay here! Read some columns! Procrastinate! If you're on the main IDS site, click through to read our staff's amazing coverage and commentary on Spring Breakers, the upcoming Veronica Mars movie, Cher's Youtube musical, the masterpiece that is The Nightmare Before Christmas, Kingdom Hearts' perfect relationship with middle schoolers, Arrested Development's influence on cult-supported TV, and many more fun, trashy, super-guilty-pleasure treats (on top of some great reviews). CLICK THROUGH TO WEEKEND FOR FUN!!