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(01/14/11 5:15am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Wendell Potter is coming to Bloomington to speak of his experience and promote his new book, “Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans.” Potter’s speech, sponsored by Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Care Plan, will be 3 p.m. Sunday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.Working his way up the public relations ladder, Potter discovered the hypocrisy of the United States health care system. Potter worked as a corporate public relations executive for the global health insurance company Connecticut General Life Insurance Company for more than 15 years. During that time, he rallied against Michael Moore’s 2007 documentary “Sicko.” Then something in him changed. He has now switched gears and is acting as a whistle-blower. “We have more people who are uninsured in this country than the entire population of Canada,” Potter said in an interview with PBS’s Bill Moyer on July 10, 2009. Michael Moore’s documentary “Sicko” will also be shown at the event, and Jacobs School of Music singer Sylvia McNair and guitarist David Guylas will be performing once the doors open at 2:30 p.m. “We are hoping to inform people,” said Karen Green Stone, Hoosiers for Commonsense Community Educator and Bloomington resident. “We want them to see through the disastrous PR campaigns that health care groups have created.”Karen is the wife of Rob Stone, MD, Director of Hoosiers for Commonsense.Rob and Karen first met Potter while in Boston at the Physicians for a National Health Program state chapter. The PNHP is an advocate group also working for health reform. Potter stayed with the Stone family in May when he attended the Indianapolis rally for Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Care Plan. “He’s an honest country man from the hills of Tennessee,” Rob said.Rob and Karen said they are excited to better educate Bloomington citizens and students of the health care crisis. “It’s going to be big,” Rob said. Hoosiers for Commonsense grew into a statewide organization five years ago, Karen said. Before, it was a local Bloomington group. “We devote a lot of our lives to it,” she said. “We are extremely passionate about this.”
(01/12/11 5:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Evan “Brightside” Voss glanced through his notes last night before his performance at The Venue, Fine Arts and Gifts. With his first magic show since May minutes away, his feet trembled beneath his chair. As the 45-minute show came to a close, parents and children held jaw-dropped smiles in the small front showroom of The Venue. “That was awesome,” curator of The Venue Gabriel Colman said after the show. “He brought an art to the magic.”Colman schedules a different artist at The Venue every Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. He met Voss through Jim Keplinger, a professional magician and owner of That’s A Rub Massage Therapy Center. “Evan was a great recommendation,” Colman said. “My favorite trick was when he switched the card from red to black behind his arm.” Voss focused on card tricks for the children attending the show. “You guys are excellent at hiding stuff,” he said as he searched for a card. “I’m pretty good at hiding stuff too.”For another trick, Voss magically vomited up a deck of cards, which caused the room to fill with laughter. “I’ve been a little sick,” Voss said. “I’ve got the card flu.”Voss has been practicing magic for seven years and performing for six. “My English teacher Tom (Hastings) of Harmony School taught me my first card tricks,” he said. Voss said he is also influenced by David Copperfield and Jeff McBride. He has seen two of Copperfield’s three performances at the IU Auditorium.“David Copperfield is the first magician I’ve ever seen live,” he said. “I saw him last year, and he reinstilled the magic in me.”Bloomington resident Corey Grabczak and his son Henry Grabczak enjoyed Voss’s magic show along with the two-dimensional art hanging in the different showrooms of The Venue. Henry was one of many volunteers during the show. He described his favorite “shark painting” and discussed ways he could perform magic. “We’ve never been here before,” Corey Grabczak said after the performance. “I saw an advertisement for the magic show, and we decided to come. This is a nice place.”Voss ended the show by performing simple addition and subtraction with the Chinese linked-ring trick, one of his many tricks for the stage.Voss looks forward to performing more in the future. His next show will be Jan. 22 at Rachael’s Café with the group Stay Up!“This made me want to jump back into performing,” Voss said.
(01/10/11 2:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Evan “Brightside” Voss has been spotted doing card tricks all over Bloomington: at house parties, the Sample Gates, Harmony School and the Lacore Valmon, a circus at the National Guard Armory on Walnut Street.The 21-year-old Bloomington native began studying magic six years ago while attending Harmony School.“I haven’t done a show since May 2010,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to getting my name out there again.” The Venue Fine Arts and Gifts will showcase Voss’ comeback with “The Art of Magic by Evan Voss” at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.Voss said he has spent the past year organizing events for Stay Up!, which provides nightlife entertainment to Bloomington with electronic dance music. Voss said music plays an important role in his magic performances. “I don’t speak. I let my actions speak for me,” Voss said. “Music helps tell a story and makes it more entertaining.” Voss specializes in slide tricks, where he rolls objects through his fingers, and he uses music from The Killers in his performances.“I call myself Evan Brightside,” he said, explained by The Killers’ single “Mr. Brightside” from the album “Hot Fuss.”The Venue curator Gabriel Colman sponsors a show every Tuesday in a series he calls “The Art of...”“I enjoy having families come in, sit down and participate in the arts,” Colman said. “It’s part community service and part business plan.”Colman opened The Venue in January 2009 after studying art at Indiana University. His Tuesday evening series promotes local artists and keeps art enthusiasts coming to The Venue. “A regular visitor may ask if a piece is new just because I changed its location,” he said. “There’s always something new to find.”Colman found Voss through another Bloomington business owner, Jim Keplinger. Keplinger runs That’s the Rub Massage Therapy Center, but he used to be a professional, full-time magician.“I worked with (Voss) at the Lotus Festival,” Keplinger said. “He’s young, enthusiastic and quite good.”Keplinger performed at The Venue twice in the past and recommended Voss.“He’s definitely an up-and-coming magician,” he said.
(10/28/10 12:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Imagine a betrothed doctor’s assistant betrayed by the witch doctor he works under. The witch doctor zombifies him and his fiancé and sends them to a zombie plantation. Can this zombie lug himself into the vampire’s reign of pop culture’s teen romance scene? Does Stephenie Meyer have capacities to fulfill the question. Are zombies sexier than vampires? The novel could continue with the assistant’s memory returning. His past creeps into his mind, and he now understands the cruelty of the job he once held. Pitying himself for his piggish past, he gains the sympathy of teen readers and shows his sensitive side. The plantation reeks of old socks and spoiled cheese. Between the rows of plants, human limbs scatter the earth. Blood stains the dirt a consistent shade of burgundy. He observes the zombies’ mannerisms. Limping, dragging, absent skin and missing bones; the assistant discovers that bare bones escaping through skin arouse him. He is starving for zombie contact. The assistant feels a crawling sensation under his eye, and it pops out of its socket. He tries to reassemble it, but maggots have created their home in his skull. The eye plops to the bloodstained ground and rolls to a woman. The woman’s hair holds cat feces in it. Worms escape through her ears, and her button nose hosts a family of ticks. Her mangled clothing drapes off her body, revealing her rib cage and hollowed chest. She is weak with sallow eyes, and she is the most engrossing sight the assistant has ever seen. His heart thumps more intensely than his body can manage and bleeds through his chest. He feels alive. The love of his life looks at him. Only those truly in love understand the passion the assistant possesses in the few moments his one eye gazes upon his fiancé.His stomach twists as he approaches her. He smiles for the first time since his zombification. He lightly touches his fiance’s hand. Her arm disjoints from her body. She hisses and drags herself away from him. The assistant stands in utter shock. The only thing he has to remember the sweet fiancé he once knew is her left humerus and elbow joint. He vows to forever keep her bones in his back pocket as a reminder of the pain he caused her. Three of her fingers lie in the dirt; her thumb, index and pinky fingers together in sign language mean, “I love you.” This is a clear sign that she remembers him. Memories flood his body as the beautiful being lurches away from him. This woman once agreed to marry him, but the cruelty of his job destroyed her mind and body. Mimicking a collapsing building, her bones disassemble through her rotted skin in a pattern more beautiful than the assistant could dream. She is weakening, but her bones arouse him to an intensity he’s never felt before. Determined to restore her memory and physical state, he escapes the plantation in search of the reversal chemical of zombification. He battles obstacles along the way, fighting voodoo, witchcraft and zombie hunters. He discovers the cure and runs to his fiancé. As he scans the crowd of decaying bodies, he sees her. Her hair blows in the stench fumes, and the worms in her ears tickle her. She giggles. His fiancé is back. He approaches her slowly, hoping she will recognize him first. She peers in his direction and squeals. She sprints in slow motion as her right arm falls from her body. The arm doesn’t hesitate her stride. She smiles and jumps into the arms of ... Jacob Gray, the shirtless, longhaired, muscular zombie hunter. Sequel, perhaps? Or three?
(10/04/10 3:59am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Local band Good Luck discovered their name on the front steps of a fraternity house after eating at Dragon Express one night in Bloomington.The three were desperate for a name and saw the words “Good Luck Riders,” referring to the Little 500.“The name gives off a good clear message,” said bass player and singer Ginger Alford. “It’s what we were wanting.”Alongside Cymbals Eat Guitars, Good Luck will open for The Thermals at 8 p.m. today at Rhino’s Youth Media Center and All-Ages Club.“It sends a positive message to people when a band as successful as The Thermals plays at an all-age place like Rhino’s,” said Mike Harpring, drummer of Good Luck.Dan Coleman, founder and president of the Bloomington promotions company Spirit of ‘68 organized the event.“Dan puts himself on the line a lot supporting local bands,” Harpring said. “He brings in a lot of national bands and yet is still supportive of the local bands. He cares.”Harpring said he met his current band members of Good Luck through the Bloomington music scene.Originally from Kentucky, Harpring has been on multiple tours with different bands but said he feels that this band is the band for him, a sentiment that other band members share.“It’s the difference between being in a relationship when you’re 17 as opposed to when you’re 27,” Alford said. “We started Good Luck when we were more mature, and long-term goals are easier to see because of it.”Harpring and Alford, along with guitarist and singer Matt Tobey, went on their first tour as Good Luck in 2008. Traveling up and down both coasts of the U.S. and the U.K., the three said they now consider touring more normal than living in one location.“We know what to expect on a tour,” Harpring said. “We’re familiar with it and have made a lot of friends through it.” Even though they have grown accustomed to touring, the band said they don’t lead the stereotypical life of a band on the road.“We have a subdued approach to touring,” Alford said. “We’re not fun. We listen to podcasts and read.”During their downtime, they reside in Bloomington and write and promote while carrying out daily jobs. Touring is like having multiple full-time jobs, Alford said.In addition to adapting to life on the road, Alford said the up-and-coming band has also had to adapt to doing other things, such as interviewing.“We joke about how we’re not the best band to interview,” she said. “When we’re all three together, we tend to repeat one another, just slightly changing the words in our answers.”The group also works to compensate for each other’s differences.“We all look out for each other,” Harpring said. “For instance, Matt’s a vegan. So even though we aren’t, we make sure he has something to eat when we go somewhere.”Tonight will be Good Luck’s first all-age show in a long time, Alford said.“I’m excited about the upcoming show,” she said. “It’s good when you’re opening for a band like The Thermals that you like listening to. It means you don’t have to pay to see them.”
(09/27/10 1:55am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When a man falls in love, that man’s life is given the opportunity to spin into an ecstatic mess where dreams are granted. When a man falls in love musically, his dream of quitting school at IU to form a band and tour with an adoring audience awaiting every rhythm that flows through his fingers is also granted. Guitarist and senior psychology student Kevin Pariso had such an experience and now maintains a long-distance relationship with fellow Kid Savant band members between the cities of Bloomington, Indianapolis and Brooklyn.“It just seems like it would be a waste of time and money that I’ve put into my school to drop out now,” Pariso said about being the youngest member of Kid Savant. “I remember in high school, my dream was to find a band at IU rather than graduate, but I have good grades still, and I’m almost done.”Musically falling in loveFinding a band seemed unchallenging for Pariso. During his sophomore year, he jammed with a friend, current Kid Savant frontman Ryan Weisberger, and they musically fell in love. “We jammed on the same level,” Pariso said. Weisberger had plans for their friendship beyond just jamming when he introduced Pariso to drummer and high school friend John Sullivan.“The first thing I noticed were his salmon-colored knee-cut shorts,” Sullivan said in an e-mail from Brooklyn. “In retrospect, this fits in to the prep-chic style he’s brought to the band, which the ladies seem to love.” Beyond that, Sullivan said Weisberger was such an astute guitar player in the band’s first jam session that he knew he would fit in well. “He’s proven to be a great composer and a guitar player that understands what Miles Davis once said: ‘Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there,’” Sullivan said in an e-mail.In summer 2009, the trio, newly named Kid Savant, packed for three months in Montreal to face the “vibrant arts community the city is known for,” Sullivan said in an e-mail. Sullivan and Weisberger had spent the previous summer in Montreal establishing themselves in the music community. With Pariso in tow, they finished seven or eight tracks in two studios in Montreal.Upon returning to the States in August, Kid Savant added bass player Andrew Wendahl, who is now working and living in Indianapolis.They opened for Melissa Auf Der Mar soon after in Brooklyn’s Knitting Factory.One particularly memorable moment for Pariso was when the band played at the bar Pianos in New York City. Pariso said there was a lot of press at the bar, and when the band went on stage, people stopped talking. “They were waiting to hear us play, wanting to hear us,” Pariso said. “It was a defining moment for me.”Long-distance relationshipPariso said the band’s sound is a hybrid between alternative, electronic and rock.“It’s almost a joke now because some songs are more dance-y or piano-heavy. Some are guitar-heavy,” Pariso said. “Our manager says we are dream-rock. I don’t know what to think of that, but our differing sounds appeal to different people.”Distance has only paused the growth of Kid Savant. “We could be touring and doing shows now, but it’s always been understood that it would be this way until I graduate in May,” Pariso said. The band sends pieces of songs back and forth between cities on a regular basis. “When we get together in December, everything will fall into place,” Pariso said. “Time won’t have stopped.” Kid Savant plans to meet in December in Brooklyn to record a few songs. Manager James Galus has arranged for a few well-known producers to hear their music. “We’ve had some offers already, but our manager wants us to wait,” Pariso said. “Ideally, I’d love to have Dave Friedman, who produces Flaming Lips, but that’s a long shot.”Despite the big names the band will be bumping elbows with, Pariso is humble about his future, focusing more on his music than name recognition.“It seems like there’s a disrespect for some mainstream bands, so I’d love to be in the middle and just somewhat mainstream. We don’t know what will happen though,” he said.Even though the future is unknown, Sullivan said he knows this is what’s right for the present.“We’re at a juncture in our professional lives as musicians where I feel no guilt for not continuing school,” he said in an e-mail. “Indeed, this is the only thing I could be doing, and the time is right.”
(09/21/10 1:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“We form our own music with our feet,” said Sara Kaufman, team captain of IU’s first tap-dancing student club, Foot Notes Tap Dance Group.Now a senior, Kaufman founded Foot Notes at the end of her freshman year for students who wish to share their passion of tap dance.The student group said it welcomes all who are interested in getting their feet shuffling — from beginners learning classical style to advanced dancers who want to sharpen skills.Foot Notes’ call-out meeting to launch its third year is from noon to 1 p.m. Oct. 9, in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation room 173A, Dance Court 6, in the racquetball court hallway.“Tap dancing is a wonderful, but largely unappreciated, art form,” Kaufman said. “It is such an enjoyable art form to watch and to perform. There are so many different styles from classical to hoofer and rhythmic tap dancing.”Kaufman began tap dancing at age 5, learning classical tap in a studio dance setting. Her interest in rhythmic tap dancing erupted at age 9. She attended master classes and festivals around the country, competing and winning several titles. To join the club, a small fee is charged to pay for the costs of club T-shirts and water for events. The fee covers a student for both semesters.Foot Notes sponsors one main workshop each year. Previous years have brought in tap-dance masters Bill Evans and Sarah Savelli to organize master classes at intermediate and advanced levels. “Sarah Savelli is very well-known in the tap-dancing world,” senior Foot Notes member Xavier Medina said. “There was a great turnout last year. I attended the intermediate and advanced classes. It was an exuberant atmosphere, while also laid back. Everyone was having fun and learning in a clear and concise format.”This year’s tap-dance master has yet to be determined.Tap dancers who join the club are regularly updated on national festivals and practices, which take place every other Saturday for hour-long sessions normally at noon in HPER 173A. The schedule is very lenient and undemanding, Kaufman said.Although Foot Notes doesn’t sponsor members’ national festival attendance, members are encouraged to attend on their own. Kaufman said she hopes attendance can be sponsored in the near future, along with group involvement and performances on campus.Foot Notes is a growing group. It has more than 100 active members, both male and female, on its e-mail list and regular attendance at Saturday practices. “Foot Notes is unbiased in its structure,” Medina said. “Some students have never tapped before, while others with studio background all have different styles and showmanship that they were taught.” Medina said some students are adamant in tapping for an hour or so every day, while she only taps about twice a week. In previous years, Foot Notes recruited and advertised by handing out flyers and tap-dancing on plywood along sidewalks on campus and downtown Bloomington.“The rhythmic aspect makes it so unique from other dance forms,” Kaufman said. “Rhythm is necessary and incorporated in other kinds of dance, but in tap dancing you form your own music.”Kaufman said Foot Notes is just getting started and has an exciting future ahead. “With talented and dedicated officers, it will continue to grow and provide opportunities for students to share their passion of tap dancing,” she said.