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(10/01/13 3:10am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Ask someone to make a list of everything that reminds him or her of fall.They are likely to include sweaters, the changing color of leaves and that crisp autumn air everyone loves to cite.There’s also a pretty good chance you’ll hear the drink that has swept America — the pumpkin spice latte.Ten years ago, Starbucks debuted this autumnal drink. Since then, we’ve seen the rise — or demise, I’d argue — of pumpkin-flavored treats.Pumpkin-flavored M&M’s, Coffee-Mate, Pop-Tarts, Hershey’s Pinnacle vodka and even Pringles adorn the shelves of grocery stores in the autumn months. Scientists have said people are drawn to pumpkin because of its association with fall. Because the season and pumpkin goods only come once a year, people leap to get their pumpkin fix.If you ask me, this is unfair to the other delectable flavors that should be associated with fall.Though I look forward to pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, I also anticipate the arrival of apples, sweet potatoes, persimmons and other cold weather squash at the grocery store. I would be ecstatic to see bakers adding rich, maple-y sweet potato puree to their muffins and cookies, but maybe that’s just me.More than any unfairness to the other fruits and vegetables of the season, this proliferation of pumpkin-flavored goods is the most unfair to the poor, bastardized pumpkin. If you look at the ingredients of your beloved pumpkin treats, tell me if you can find pumpkin, cinnamon or nutmeg in the ingredients list.They’re likely to be at the very end of a string of more than 15 ingredients, if they’re even there at all.Food manufacturers have transformed the vegetable into an artificially flavored syrup whose high sugar content has addicted consumers across the world.Now, I’m not trying to act like I’m above processed pumpkin goods. If you put a pumpkin spice latte in front of me, which contains no real pumpkin, I’m going to drink it and enjoy it.That being said, I’ll also be fully aware that I’m not enjoying it because it tastes like my mom’s pumpkin pie, but instead because I like sugar.All I mean to say is that if you want to call yourself a true pumpkin fan who appreciates its real flavor, eat the real damn thing. Make pumpkin bread swirled with cream cheese, add some puree and ground cinnamon to your cookies, or even take advantage of pumpkin’s savory qualities and put it in a spicy Thai curry with pork over jasmine rice.If you tell me you like pumpkin and list a pumpkin-flavored processed food, you don’t like pumpkin.You just like sugar and artificial flavoring.— acarnold@indiana.eduFollow arts editor Amanda Arnold on Twitter @Amanda_Arnold14.
(10/01/13 3:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Martina Arroyo, an IU Jacobs School of Music distinguished professor emerita of voice, has been selected as a recipient of a 2013 Kennedy Center Honors award, according to an IU press release last Friday.This year marks the 36th year of Kennedy Center Honors, and the annual award is presented for lifetime contributions to American culture.Arroyo, a soprano opera singer, is one of five recently chosen to receive an award, and the prestige of the award is aparent in the recipients.The four others being recognized are artists Herbie Hancock, Billy Joel and Carlos Santana and actress Shirley MacLaine.The President and Mrs. Obama, members of the Artists Committee and the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees will receive the honorees at the White House.Arroyo started at Jacobs in 1993, and was recognized as a distinguished professor before her retirement in May 2007.Outside of her career at IU, Arroyo created a course that helped aspiring opera singers in New York City. After seeing success with the course, Arroyo created the Martina Arroyo Foundation in New York City in June 2003.The foundation still exists and works to instruct young singers in understanding public opera performances and applying that knowledge to personal aspirations.Today, it offers a Spring Role Preparation Class and Prelude to Performance, a summer intensive course.“The Kennedy Center celebrates five extraordinary individuals who have spent their lives elevating the cultural vibrancy of our nation and the world,” said Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein on the Kennedy Center website. “Martina Arroyo has dazzled the world with her glorious soprano voice and continues to share her artistry with a new generation of opera singers.”Honorees will receive their medallions on Dec. 7, the night before the Honors Gala.For those interested in watching, the gala will be broadcast at 9 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 29, on CBS. — Amanda Arnold
(09/30/13 3:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>De Temps Antan, the band of three native Québécois, incorporates harmonica, accordion and various stringed instruments in its take on traditional call and response folk music.For Nomadic Massive, quick multilingual rhymes carry the eight-member band’s multicultural hip-hop beats.Though the two bands have distinct styles, band members said they believe they bring music of the past to the present music scene in Quebec.This past weekend, they brought a piece of Quebec to Lotus Festival. But before any of them took the stage, the Indiana Daily Student had the chance to speak to Pierre-Luc Dupuis of De Temps Antan and Lou Piensa of Nomadic Massive to find out more about their formation, influences and what they have planned for the future.IDS How did your band form? Dupuis We started to work together in another big, big band here in Quebec (La Bottine Souriante). Eric (Beaudry) and I joined the band in 2003, and André (Brunet) was playing with the band during that time.The second year we were working, we just decided to have another side project. Piensa The birth of our band came out of a project at the international Habana Hip Hop Festival in 2004 in Cuba. We were going down individually but were given a collective slot, so that’s what gave birth to our collaboration.We became friends as musicians and slowly as friends. When we came back to Montreal, we tried to keep that going. IDS How did you come up with the name for your band?Dupuis It’s a play on words. It’s the same as “de temps en temps,” (“once in a while”) but the way it’s written, “antan” means olden. This is why we decided to use this word. It made sense to call the band “once in a while” (in French).It’s not a side project anymore. It’s a main project now for us.Piensa We grew up in different parts of the world, and we wanted to go to various parts of the world. That constitutes the nomad. Massive comes from different parts of the world. It also comes from Jamaican dance hall music. They have what they call “massive” that goes around and performs collectively.That’s what we were — a big traveling group. IDS How did you decide to be a hip-hop/traditional French band?Dupuis Our first contact with the music was our family, so we had the chance to grow up in a big family where traditional music was very important. So we really learned how to sing or play a traditional instrument.When we were teenagers, we all played other music like jazz. André studied Indian percussion, and Luc played many kinds of music, like bass guitar for rock.Our musical background is very different, but we love all music.Piensa Everybody has a different story, but we all have a sense of identity in hip-hop that is reflected in our backgrounds. There’s a creative aspect, and there’s an international aspect. Also, social justice is at the root of hip-hop culture. It’s about bettering your community and making something positive out of a bad situation. We try to pass that on.IDS What sort of messages do you try to convey in your songs?Dupuis The lyrics are pretty basic. It’s more about the call and response song the traditional way. There’s a lead singer, and then the other guys will respond the lyrics. Sometimes we talk about travelers, sometimes about war, a lot about drinking. The traditional music is played during traditions, so traditional music and celebrations are close.We like to celebrate with the crowd, but it’s always also fun to just tone it down a bit during a show and get a little darker.Piensa We come from all different situations and cultural backgrounds and have something to share. In our songs, we try to push making the best of a situation and being part of a solution. The work that we do is related to hip-hop — it’s a tool. We all work outside of hip-hop and do work with the community, from working in a community studio in a music program to helping young people in trouble with the law. We also love to joke around and have fun too, though. We love to enjoy life and celebrate life. We like people to come party and get down with us.IDS What are your future plans?Dupuis We want to continue to tour, to play around the world. For the next year, we’re going to be on tour mostly all the year. A lot of shows in Europe. Piensa We want to keep working on a full album. Our last record was in 2009, but we did a mixtape and an EP this year in April. Right now we’re working on a new record.After this festival, we’re actually taking a break from touring to put together an interesting new record.Follow reporter Amanda Arnold on Twitter @Amanda_Arnold14.
(09/25/13 4:44am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” played through the speakers as Action Bronson took the stage.Arms in the air, he danced along to Houston before grabbing the mic. Bronson and rapper Danny Brown’s 2 High 2 Die tour had officially taken hold of Bloomington.Canada may have denied Brown entrance earlier this month, but a full room of fans at the Bluebird Nightclub welcomed him and Bronson to the stage Tuesday night.The two rappers are currently performing together for their 2 High 2 Die tour, which commenced earlier this month and will conclude in the beginning of October. Trash Talk, a hardcore punk band from Sacramento, Calif., started the show at 9:30 p.m., and front row fans instantly started a mosh pit. Although Brown and Bronson were the main performers, putting on separate sets, audience members said the opener wasn’t a throwaway act.Colin Walls said he drove two hours from Crawford County in Illinois when he heard that not only Brown and Bronson would be touring, but also Trash Talk.“I like Action Bronson and Danny Brown, and I saw Trash Talk a year ago, and they’re all awesome,” he said. “I came for all three of them.”But before anyone took the stage, the IDS pulled Brown aside and got to ask the rapper MTV once called “one of rap’s most unique figures in recent memory” a few questions about the tour, his thoughts on musicians from his hometown of Detroit and his upcoming album, “Old.”IDS So you’ve been to Bloomington before — a long time ago. What do you think of Bloomington?Brown Last time I came, there weren’t even that many people. After we left, we went out to some bars and stuff and it was crackin’.As a city, it seems pretty cool. But as for the show, I don’t think I’ve really played a real show here yet. IDS Well now you’re here with Action for your 2 High 2 Die tour. How has that been going?Brown I mean, it’s always easy when you can tour with someone that’s your friend.And we’ve been kinda cool way before this even came about. It’s easy, you know?IDS And you have a new album, “Old,” coming out Sept. 30. What can we expect to hear style-wise that’s different from “XXX?”Brown I’m older. I’m more mature.I’ve been making music for a long time, so it’s like at this point, a lot of ideas that I had, I’ve perfected them.I know what works and what don’t at this point. It’s just maturity.IDS Is the name “Old” a reference to you being older now?Brown Well, no. “Old” is more depressing than “XXX.” But you’ve just got to hear it.You can’t really talk about music. Somebody told me talking about music is like talking about architecture. You just can’t really do it.You’ve gotta hear it, you’ve gotta see it.IDS Are there any big influences on this album? Brown I always rap about my life. Art imitates my life, my life imitates my art.So as far as influences go, it’s the music that was the soundtrack to my life, which was in Detroit.Whether it’s psychedelic sampling, J Dilla-esque type stuff, or it be techno-ghetto Juan Atkins music. And I also look up to Jack White because his whole thought process is about making music and just having that motivation.Jack White is an intense person about music, and I feel like I’m the same way.IDS What do you think you bring to the music scene today?Brown It’s not about what I’m bringing, it’s about me leaving behind a mark. I make music so after I die, you can listen to it. That’s it.It’s me documenting what I’m going through in my life, and when it’s over with, we’ll have something left.It’s not about me bringing anything — it’s about my leaving behind a time capsule. Follow reporter Amanda Arnold on Twitter @Amanda_Arnold14.
(09/24/13 2:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Twenty years ago, Indianapolis native and aspiring chef Steve Ells was inspired by Mexican eateries in San Francisco’s Mission District.From this inspiration, and with a loan from his parents, Chipotle was born.Since its beginning, Chipotle has been marketing itself as a healthy, environmentally conscious restaurant since it started serving naturally-raised pork in 2000. But fewer than two weeks ago, the Mexican chain took its agenda to another level.On Sept. 12, Chipotle released “The Scarecrow,” a short video that condemns cage-raised, antibiotic-ridden animals and Big Food companies.While Americans should see the video for a reminder of today’s distorted food production system, they should also see the video for what it is at its core — an advertisement.The clip follows an anthropomorphic scarecrow saddened by the world’s mindless loyalty to unsustainable factory farming run by industrial giant Crow Foods. Fiona Apple’s haunting rendition of “Pure Imagination” from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” plays in the background. At this point, you feel guilty for supporting America’s corrupt corporate food system.But once the scarecrow leaves for the countryside and finds a fresh chili pepper — Chipotle’s logo — he begins making fresh food, and the mood lightens.It’s no secret that Chipotle is environmentally superior to the majority of convenience food restaurant chains. The meat is 100 percent naturally raised, the dairy contains no rBGH and tofu is being added as a protein option in stores across the country.However, Chipotle is still a chain restaurant.Though company members might want Americans to face the truth about Big Food corporations, they also want money.By making consumers feel bad about supporting restaurants that serve inhumanely raised meat, which is a majority of Chipotle’s fast food competitors, it’s driving customers away from the Golden Arches and closer to the Chili Pepper.This is not meant to be a condemnation of Chipotle, for I will still frequent the Kirkwood location when I’m in the mood for one of its irresistible burrito bowls.As I said earlier, the chain uses healthy ingredients and they make for a delicious product.This is more of a way to say this to consumers — don’t jump on a bandwagon without thinking about secret motives, which is applicable to everything from politics to pop culture.Thinking about food and its production can do more than just make your mouth water.— acarnold@indiana.eduFollow food columnist Amanda Arnold on Twitter @Amanda_Arnold14.
(09/18/13 2:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Grunwald Gallery of Art is welcoming five Berlin artists who have their artwork displayed in the Geist und Form exhibit to give lectures today through Friday.Geist und Form opened in Grunwald Aug. 30 and will remain on display until Oct. 11. The collection showcases the various painting styles in present-day Berlin and is part of the Themester 2013: Connectedness: Networks in a Complex World initiative. The first lecture will be delivered by Valerie Favre at 6 p.m. today in Fine Arts 102. Michael Markwick will speak at 6 p.m. Sept. 19 in Chemistry 122, and Mark Lammert will give the final lecture at 5 p.m. Sept. 20 in Geology 126.The program will conclude with a panel discussion with artists Favre, Lammert, Markwick, Adriana Molder and Jorge Queiroz at 7 p.m. Sept. 20 in Grunwald Gallery. Curator Jurriaan Benschop, a Dutch writer and art critic, will moderate.Though 10 artists have their work displayed in the exhibit in the gallery, only five will be able to speak. However, Betsy Stirratt, director of Grunwald Gallery, said the five artists represent a good range of approaches to painting.The artists will have the chance to talk about these approaches during their lectures.“You’ll hear the evolution of someone’s work from the beginning to the current painting that is being exhibited,” she said. “You might see the transition through different kinds of work, through their approaches, their influences, and even what motivated them to be a painter.”During the panel Friday, Benschop will have the chance to ask the artists questions and conduct an open discussion.“We’ll talk about the process of the artists’ work, and it’s a chance for them to explain something about how they make the work,” Benschop said. “We’ll also talk about the relation with Berlin and what the city has to offer them being an artist in this time.”Benschop said he’s excited to welcome the artists, not only because of their work, but also because of how far they traveled to come to Bloomington. Though only one artist was actually born in Berlin, all are traveling from the art-centric city.“It’s a great opportunity to see the work and to meet the artists in person,” Benschop said. “If you hear artists speaking about their work, it always adds something to your understanding.”Follow reporter Amanda Arnold on Twitter @Amanda_Arnold14.
(09/17/13 3:04am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU Auditorium announced Friday the cast for “Ghost Brothers of Darkland County,” Bloomington-native John Mellencamp, author Stephen King and producer T Bone Burnett’s musical collaboration that will debut in Bloomington.The actors that make up the characters in the McCandless family, which includes some of the main characters, include Bruce Greenwood, Emily Skinner, Lucas Kavner and Joe Tippett.The show’s themes include fraternal love, lust, jealousy and revenge.The story takes place in Lake Belle Reve, Mississippi in 1967 and follows the story of the McCandless family. In this small town, two brothers and a young girl are killed. No one knows exactly what happened.No one except Joe McCandless. The rest of the show is spent watching Joe decide if he can tell the truth in time to save his troubled sons.The audience is left wondering if the ghosts left behind will help Joe, or if they will tear apart the McCandless family forever.The full cast is composed of 15 actors and a four-piece live band.Directors have worked on the musical for 13 years.Its debut follows the release of an album produced by Burnett that came out earlier in the year.Featured artists on the album include Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, and Rosanne Cash, and some of the songs are Mellencamp’s.The show is sponsored by Nature’s Way and WTTS 92.3.After the show premieres at 8 p.m. Oct. 10 in the IU Auditorium, it will go on to tour 20 cities throughout the Midwest and Southeast. The musical will return to the auditorium for another performance Oct. 23.Tickets range from $20 to $41 for students with a valid ID.Tickets may be purchased at IUauditorium.com and Ticketmaster.com, as well as at the IU Auditorium Box Office.— Amanda Arnold
(09/17/13 3:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>We’ve all been asked the question at least once.“Are you a tea or coffee person?”As someone who abhors narrow dichotomies — I can like both tea and coffee, just as I can like both meat and tofu — I tend to roll my eyes and respond by saying I appreciate both.Though, if I’m being honest, I’m a self-professed tea girl. The 11 containers of different kinds of green tea and matcha kit I bought in Hiroshima that occupy a shelf of my bookcase expose me. But more than any cup of tea or coffee, I like to break from America’s ritualistic guzzling of caffeine on the go and share light banter with someone over a warm beverage.Be it tea, be it coffee.So when Yuko Okumura, a cook I had corresponded with this summer, asked me to come to a talk and share a cup of tea at Sanshin Zen Community Center this Sunday morning, I set my alarm and had a Saturday night in.I arrived at the sangha just before 10 a.m., and while walking inside, I met Yuko and followed her.Once in the basement, I picked out a seating mat and pillow and awaited the entrance of Soto Zen priest. He talked about the meaning of religion and how it translates in other languages. He also spoke of peace of mind, and that very peace reverberated throughout the room.After the talk, Yuko brought in plates of paw paws and red grapes, as well as two steaming teapots of jasmine and echinacea tea. We all reached for teacups and teapots — my preference was for the jasmine tea — and held our hot cups of tea close. Attendees circled the room, stopping to chat after spending the past hour in silence. I sipped my floral tea and chatted to Yuko about the potluck she was preparing.No one was rushing, no one was anxious.Though tea and coffee offer the great benefits of caffeine, as I know all too well, one should remember how the beverages were first enjoyed hundreds of years ago.They were drunk slowly with groups of friends, colleagues and family. Meeting for beverages offered a break from everyday tasks, and the ritual was enjoyable.Time may have passed, but this principle hasn’t lost any of its truth.So, slow down one day. Think about the flavor of the drink, and enjoy the presence of another person or just yourself.Whatever you do, don’t discriminate. Tea and coffee are both wonderful things.— acarnold@indiana.eduFollow columnist Amanda Arnold on Twitter @Amanda_Arnold14.
(09/13/13 3:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The New York Times described Jacquelyn Matava’s performance of composer Lee Hyla’s “House of Flowers” as “moving,” and she also received praise from the Connecticut Post. She’s a native of Farmington, Conn., but for the past few years, Bloomington has been her home.On Friday, she’ll show IU what she’s got.The Ph.D. student will perform her doctoral recital at 5 p.m.in Auer Hall in the Simon Music Center. The mezzo-soprano has plans to perform songs by members of Les nouveux jeunes, a group of French composers formed by Erik Satie.Aside from getting positive reviews from the press, she has also received many prestigious awards, such as winning the New Orleans district in the 2013 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.Matava went to Vassar College for her undergraduate degrees in music and economics. She later came to the Jacobs School of Music to pursue a master’s degree in vocal performance and is currently studying voice with Mary Ann Hart.Since being here, she has performed several roles with the IU Opera Theater, including the title role in Massenet’s “Cendrillon” in November 2012.Follow arts editor Amanda Arnold on Twitter @Amanda_Arnold14.
(09/12/13 1:43am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Mathers Museum of World Cultures welcomed its “Operation AB — Katyn The Destruction of the Polish Elite at the Beginning of World War II” exhibit Tuesday.The exhibit was organized by the Institute of National Remembrance in Poland and features historical photographs depicting violence in the Soviet Union.Among the images are those of the Soviet secret police, the NKVD, killing Polish nationals in an attempt to combat resistance.Organized into multiple thematic blocks, the first shows the Soviet-German political and military alliance and the invasion of Poland.Other sections portray criminals from the Katyn Massacre, AB Operation and profiles of victims.The final thematic block looks at the big picture of the operations and how little punishment the Third Reich and USSR officers faced for their crimes.The exhibit opened at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10, and was sponsored by the Institute of National Remembrance and IU’s Polish Studies Center.For more information, visit the Mathers Museum website at mathers.indiana.edu.The exhibit will remain open until Sept. 22.—Amanda Arnold
(09/10/13 2:47am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>VegIU, IU’s club dedicated to vegan and vegetarian diets, will hold its callout meeting at 8 p.m. Tuesday. The meeting will take place in Ballantine Hall Room 109.The group plans to talk about its history at IU and ask attendees what they hope for the club to achieve in the upcoming year according to its member email. Vegan and vegetarian food will also be served.Among the food will be cupcakes from Rainbow Bakery, a vegan bakery that opened in Bloomington less than a month ago.Traditionally, the group meets every other week to discuss vegan and vegetarian food-related topics. Such topics include the health, ethical and environmental effects of following a vegan or vegetarian diet.Apart from the biweekly meetings, members also hold special events, including dinners, speeches and film screenings.Though VegIU centers its meetings on vegan and vegetarian issues, the group says “vegans, vegetarians, omnivores” are welcome on its Facebook group.Meat eaters won’t be discriminated. For those who can’t make the callout meeting, VegIU will screen its first film, “Vegucated,” at 8 p.m. Sept. 17.— Amanda Arnold
(09/09/13 2:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I’m a girl with rituals.I eat oatmeal for breakfast every morning. I read the New York Times on my iPad everyday before I get out of bed, and every Saturday, I go to the farmers’ market.My last habit is my personal favorite.From frequenting the open markets in Paris to going to the Alemany Farmers’ Market in San Francisco every Saturday for tamales and peaches, visiting farmers’ markets has become a habit of mine that transcends location, my mood and potential brunch plans.It’s something I do alone, and if you were to ask me if you could come along, I’d probably say no.When I go to the farmers’ market, I don’t like to feel rushed by another person. It’s a time for me to stroll slowly by the stands and spend as much time as I want talking to vendors about their growing methods and reasons for selling.I like to be able to self-indulge and admire heirloom tomatoes for ten minutes if I so please.If I want to wait in line for 10 minutes to buy Honeycrisp apples from Olde Lane Orchard, my favorite apple vendor, I don’t want to feel like I’m boring anyone.This weekend I picked up rainbow chard, half a dozen eggs, a red pepper, green beans and five Honeycrisp apples for $12. Though that $12 wasn’t much, I feel good about where that money went.Buying straight from the source is a rewarding feeling, as you know you’re supporting local vendors who grow produce because they want to. The vendors are like artists that spend hours perfecting their acrylic painting or functional pot.To them, food is their art.From Indiana papaws to black walnuts, the produce just tastes better. The peaches are juicier, the green beans crisper.Also, because the vendors are local, you know the food is fresh and in season. Though I crave sweet potatoes in the summer, I’m forced to wait for them to appear later in the fall when they’re in season.They taste that much sweeter.Going to the farmers’ market is about more than just the food for me, though. It’s my time to ruminate over my thoughts and find happiness in solitude. Doing this while listening to a man belt “Wagon Wheel” and watching people speak to eager sellers with the scent of lavender and basil heavy in the air, makes it that much more enjoyable.More than anything, I like farmers’ markets because they are gatherings of passionate people — vendors passionate about their food, artists passionate about music and organizations passionate about spreading their principles.It’s not always easy to find such a positive, refreshing environments these days. If not for the food, go for the atmosphere.Who knows? You might leave feeling just a little more enlightened than you were before, with a bag full of the reddest tomatoes you’ll ever have.— acarnold@indiana.edu. Follow food columnist Amanda Arnold on Twitter @Amanda_Arnold14.
(09/03/13 4:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Rick Canham traveled more than 2,000 miles from Portland, Ore., to show film prints of Tibetan people he had photographed in Nepal. Canham’s travels were worth it, he said, as the show had been successful. Visitors cycled in and out of his tent, admiring the brightly colored images.“I’m here for several art events, but I’m here at this one because it has a great reputation,” Canham said about the Fourth Street Festival of the Arts and Crafts, which has occurred annually since 1977.While the temperatures hovered around 90 degrees, 120 artists from all over the country united in Bloomington this weekend to show off their art. The show ran Saturday through Sunday, and vendors displayed everything from wooden furniture to handmade kaleidoscopes.Along with the art for sale, attendees were able to purchase food from surrounding ethnic restaurant stands and learn about local organizations at their stands on South Grant Street. As visitors walked down the street, they could listen to the Bloomington Storytellers Guild at the Spoken Word Stage or the live music of the Hoosier Youth Philharmonic. Although the show was orginally created as a way for Indiana artists to show off their work, vendors now come from across the country.Miky and Steve Cunningham, self-taught potters from Iowa, displayed their work at the show .“With the heat, I thought I did really well yesterday,” Miky said. “I would say I do about 40 shows a year, so I’d say it’s above the average show.”The couple won the Barb Bihler Award for Functional Ceramics.Nine vendors received various other awards, and Canham was also a winner.“I’m always honored when somebody thinks that I’m worthy,” Canham said about his third place win for 2-D art. “Being singled out like that is really neat.”Follow reporter Amanda Arnold on Twitter @Amanda_Arnold14.
(09/03/13 4:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>You know you’re in a good class when an instructor brings in food the first day.Professor Richard Wilk walked in the room with his miniature daschund, class syllabi and a Ziploc bag full of what looked like chocolate truffles from afar. I was ready for my first day of ANTH-E421: The Anthropology of Food.We went over the handouts and talked about the semester schedule, but all I could pay attention to was the contents of the plastic bag. Halfway through the class, he finally opened up the sack and gave each student one of the brown globes.The mysterious food was a longan, a Southeast Asian fruit related to the lychee. When the professor asked who had eaten one before, no one raised his or her hand.After a little instruction on how to eat the fruit, we peeled off the rough skin, examined the milky, translucent flesh inside and popped them in our mouths, biting carefully to avoid the smooth seed in the center.Naturally, we were told to describe our first impressions of the fruit.One girl said it tasted like a grape, while another girl said it reminded her more of a cantaloupe. I kept to myself, frustrated that I was unable to think of a way to describe the flavor.Turns out, I’m not the only one who has a hard time talking about taste.After we had all given our answers, the professor raised a good point — we all used other familiar foods to describe the taste of the fruit.Aside from describing flavor by listing one of the five tastes, such as sweet or salty, people tend to describe the texture of the food and relate the overall taste to another food.And more than often, people just say if something tastes good or bad.SOMA sells coffee with “hints of chocolate, berries,” and processed foods describe their contents by turning ingredients into adjectives — macaroni is cheesy and pasta sauce is garlicky — but what is the actual flavor?Without using the word “cheese,” I don’t know how to say what cheesy tastes like.The English language has few words to describe flavors.Think about that next time you try to describe a food. Fifty bucks you’ll just end up saying it’s good.— acarnold@indiana.edu. Follow columnist Amanda Arnold on Twitter @Amanda_Arnold14.
(09/02/13 8:00pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Rick Canham traveled over 2000 miles from Portland, Ore. to Bloomington to show film prints of Tibetan people he had photographed in Nepal. Canham’s long travels were worth it, as he said the show had been successful. Visitors cycled in and out of his tent, admiring the brightly colored images.“I’m here for several art events, but I’m here at this one because it has a great reputation,” Canham said about the Fourth Street Festival of the Arts and Crafts, which has happened annually since 1977.While the temperatures hovered around 90 degrees, 120 artists from all over the country united in Bloomington this weekend to show off their arts at the fair. The show ran Saturday and Sunday, and vendors displayed everything from wooden furniture to handmade kaleidoscopes.Along with the art for sale, attendees were able to purchase food from surrounding ethnic food restaurant stands and learn about local organizations at their stands on South Grant Street. As visitors walked down the street, they could listen to the Bloomington Storytellers Guild at the Spoken Word Stage or the live music of the Hoosier Youth Philharmonic, Although the show was originally created as a way for Indiana artists to show off their work, vendors now come from across the U.S.Miky and Steve Cunningham, self-taught potters from Iowa that work on every piece together, displayed their work at the show for the third time.“With the heat, I thought I did really well yesterday,” Miky said. “I would say I do about 40 shows a year, so I’d say it’s above the average show.”The couple won the Barb Bihler Award for Functional Ceramics, which is named in memory of the influential Bloomington potter involved in the fair before her death in 1999. Nine vendors received other various awards, and Canham was also a winner.“I’m always honored when somebody thinks that I’m worthy,” Canham said about being his third place win for 2-D art. “Being singled out like that is really neat.”Follow reporter Amanda Arnold on Twitter @Amanda_Arnold14.
(08/27/13 2:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I knew I was meant for the food world when I found myself able to list more James Beard Award-winning chefs than Golden Globe-winning actors. This Sunday and Monday, I spent my time refreshing my Twitter timeline for live coverage of MAD3 while my friends watched the 2013 Video Music Awards.In 2011, René Redzepi, the owner of Michelin-starred Noma, started MAD, a forum for chefs and gourmands all over the world to discuss everything food-related. Once a year, MAD holds a two-day food festival in Copenhagen where people meet to eat and listen to these talented chefs and intellectuals speak.This year, chef David Chang, and writers Chris Ying and Peter Meehan — three men who I have to thank for creating Lucky Peach, the beloved food quarterly at which I interned this summer — curated it. In fitting Lucky Peach feistiness, the three men themed the event “Guts.”And while actual guts did make an appearance – butcher Dario Cecchini slit open a hanging pig onstage during his talk on “conscientious carnivorism” – many speakers spent their time talking about the current and future state of mankind’s relationship with food.Historian Michael Twitty said the foods made by enslaved peoples, such as jambalaya, transformed the culture of their enslavers. He argued chefs can do the culinary world justice by preserving the ethnological and ecological roots of such dishes. Chris Ying spoke about the carbon emissions of popular restaurants, and how dining out can harm the environment. Even the meals served had a message. The 22 women of Tawlet, the farmers’ kitchen of Lebanese farmer’s market Souk el Tayeb, served dishes that were reminders of the benefits of eating local, in season foods. And yes, intestines were served.Despite the individual takes, there was one message nearly all speakers touched on.Danish Author Tor Nørretranders, graffiti artist David Choe, three-Michelin-starred chef Pascal Barbot and others preached that in order to achieve greatness, in the kitchen and life in general, one must have guts. So when the videos are posted online, probably around the time of the Emmy Awards, I think I know what I’ll be doing. Follow columnist Amanda Arnold on Twitter @Amanda_Arnold14.
(08/26/13 1:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When Talia Halliday noticed the lack of handmade shops in Bloomington, she said she was disappointed. In February 2013, she decided to do something about it. On Aug. 24, Blueline Gallery opened its doors 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. for Gathering, Halliday’s one-day pop-up shop that featured handmade art from 35 local artists. This is the third time the pop-up shop has occurred. “I do a lot of craft shows myself — I’m an artist,” Halliday said. “But instead of doing another show, I wanted to do a shop that had handmade items.”However, Halliday said she wasn’t quite ready to make the jump to take on anything long lasting.“This is a way for me to test the waters to see if I can have a shop,” she said. At the end of July, Halliday started accepting applications from artists who wanted to display their artwork at the shop. She received over 50 applications but was only able to let in 35 artists.The first Gathering highlighted gifts suitable for Valentine’s Day, and the second shop featured gifts for Mother’s Day. Talia said for the most recent shop, she hoped to appeal to college students seeking dorm room decorations and affordable accessories. “We’re doing these one-day events throughout the year and through the month of December to promote shopping local and shopping handmade for the holidays,” Halliday said.Outside the gallery, shoppers could buy food from Gypsy Moon Nosh Wagon and listen to live acoustics of Gray Stephenson and Danny Huggins. Christie Cooper, a Bloomington local, said she was impressed with the atmosphere.“I’m thinking about getting one of the turntable cards,” Cooper said.An hour into the event, Halliday said it had already been a great day. She said one day she hopes to install Gathering in a permanent shop. “I really want to be an arts advocate and advocator for my artist friends, because they’re super talented,” Halliday said. “I like sharing everyone’s work because so many people haven’t seen it.”ABOUT THE ARTIST:Talia Halliday moved to Bloomington in 1998, but she’s been doing art since she was a kid.In 2009, she helped organize the Bloomington Handmade Market. Feeling inspired, Halliday started Conduit Press, her own art business.“For my business, I make hand-bound leather journals with recycled leather and scrap leather, and then I also use vintage books and turn them into little boxes and funny things,” she said. And when Halliday’s not making art, she works as a full-time mom.“I have a 4-year-old, and 12- and 18-year-old’s,” she said. “So yep, I’m pretty busy.”Follow reporter Amanda Arnold on Twitter @Amanda_Arnold14
(08/20/13 1:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I spent my summer in San Francisco, a city where California avocados are truly local.The city where kids trade in Chipwich’s for local It’s-Its, an oatmeal raisin cookie ice cream sandwich enveloped in a thin layer of chocolate; where Mission burritos pack one-and-a-half pounds of carne asada, beans and rice into entities that stand up vertically on their own; where you can find a ramen shop next to a Salvadoran pupuseria next to an In-N-Out Burger. In San Francisco, food is more than sustenance — it’s an essential part of the city’s culture.Growing up with a working father and a mother that preferred to express her creativity through painting rather than cooking, I familiarized myself with mixing bowls and the oven at an early age. And while I was sometimes resentful, finding myself in the kitchen out of necessity, I developed a passion for mixing ingredients to create different flavors.Before I was old enough to ride a bike without training wheels or do long division, I knew something about food that some go all their life without knowing — that food wasn’t just nourishment. Food could tell a story about the chef, a specific moment or even the ingredients.And 10 years later, I found myself living in a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco, making ginger scones for minimum wage at Sandbox Bakery and fact-checking Anthony Bourdain’s submission at my internship for food quarterly Lucky Peach, a publication that centers on the intersection of food and culture. In my free time, I ate as much as I could.San Francisco boasts a very ethnically diverse population, and because I believe the best way to learn about a culture is to eat its food, that’s what I did. The Burmese fermented tealeaf salad didn’t just offer me some of the most delicious, complex flavors I’d ever experienced — it offered me a look into Burmese and San Franciscan culture. You don’t have to stroll through street markets with Andrew Zimmern in Southeast Asia to eat foods that seem “unusual.” Any dish can tell a story.I’m bringing that knowledge back to Bloomington.Now that I’m back home, I seek to not only learn more about food in general, but about how it fits into this town’s culture. I’ll continue to study food anthropology, to learn about Japanese cooking from a local chef and to work for Lucky Peach from afar — and then I’ll probably write about it. I hope you’ll stick with me as I continue to devour what’s put in front of me, and hopefully, I’ll spit out something that isn’t too gristly. — acarnold@indiana.edu. Follow columnist Amanda Arnold on Twitter @Amanda_Arnold14
(08/19/13 6:01pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The self-proclaimed “rock ‘n’ rollers” Chrome Pony will take the stage 8 p.m. Tuesday at Rachael’s Cafe as part of its six-day mini-tour. Tickets can be purchased at the door.The Nashville-based band is led by two brothers, Tyler and Kyle Davis, and has three additional musicians. The all-male group made its debut in 2011 with its first album, “Illegal Smiles,” and has since released one other, “Lazy Bones,” in March 2013. Ranch Ghost, another Nashville-based band that performed at Bonnaroo this year, will open for Chrome Pony. The five-man band describes its genre on its Facebook page as “foreground music.” The two bands started their six-day mini-tour on Aug. 17, and are stopping in Bloomington after passing through Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois. The bands didn’t originally plan to perform in Bloomington according to the original announcement, but on Aug. 12, Chrome Pony announced the show on its Facebook page.Chome Pony performed at the Root Cellar in June 2013, so it’s not the band’s first time in Bloomington. Rachael’s Cafe is located at 300 E. Third Street. It’s an all-ages venue that serves alcohol, coffee and food. All refreshments will be available for purchase during the show.Although Rachael’s normally closes at 9 p.m. Tuesday, it will stay open until the end of Chrome Pony’s set. The concert is expected to conclude around 11 p.m.To listen to Chrome Pony or Ranch Ghost’s music, find them on Spotify or visit their respective Bandcamp pages, chromeponynashville.bandcamp.com and ranchghostcoasttocoast.bandcamp.com.For more concert information, visit rachaelscafe.com.
(07/18/13 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>First impressions aren’t always the most accurate, as is the case with Sara Bareilles’s third album “Blessed Unrest.” Bareilles released the energetic single “Brave,” a song in which she urges society to be courageous, while epitomizing catchiness. The song also serves as the opening track of the album, but doesn’t accurately foreshadow what follows.It’s evident Bareilles infused “Brave” with peppiness in hopes of a top single — not because it corresponds with an overarching album theme or sound. The rest of the album features jazzy ballads. Not one of the songs sounds much like another.This juxtaposition of differing sounds and styles is nothing new for Bareilles, though, as her premiere album “Little Voice” was one that featured both top hit “Love Song,” as well as the pained plea “Gravity.” While this worked for Bareilles on past albums, this lack of cohesion hinders the album’s memorability.At times, Bareilles’s lyrics suffer from triteness, such as “life is not meant to be wasted” in “Chasing The Sun.” But where she excels is songs that display her ability to coo jazzy melodies, such as “Manhattan.” However, fans of Bareilles and general listeners alike will find this album enjoyable. It’s easy to listen to, it doesn’t try to do too much and it follows the style of her preceding albums.And there’s something to be said about that.