117 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(05/06/13 3:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Morel mushrooms, fresh honey, bok choi and strawberries are just some of the offerings the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market brings to locals each Saturday from April through November.A number of live performances to complement the seasonal fare on sale to the public kicked off the first farmers’ market of May.What Riddle Point Rowing Club Demonstration at Showers PlazaWhen 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.The Riddle Point Rowing Association, headquartered in Bloomington, practices and teaches the sport of rowing to the Bloomington community. The group regularly uses Indiana’s Lake Lemon, located about ten miles outside of Bloomington, for lessons and practice. The club offers free 90-minute rowing sessions at Lake Lemon, a Learn to Row program for teens and children 19 and under, and Learn to Row programs for adults, which take place throughout June and July.More info www.riddlepointrowing.org What Grassroots Campaign bluegrass, country and jazz music performanceWhen 9 to 10:30 a.m.Grassroots Campaign is a bluegrass, country and jazz group based in Bloomington. The group formed in 2011 and includes four members: Tom Townsend, Chip Jackson, Rich Walter and Dave Taylor. Past appearances by the Grassroots Campaign included a number of performances at The Player’s Pub, an appearance at the Orange County Music and Heritage Reunion Festival in Orleans, Ind. and multiple previous sets played for Bloomington’s farmers' market.More info www.facebook.com/ibluegrass What Quarry Morris Dancers performanceWhere Plaza 1A on the B-Line TrailWhen 9:45 to 11:15 a.m.The Quarry Morris Dancers have been dancing in Bloomington for more than 30 years. Morris dancing, a traditional English folk dance usually accompanied by music, involves rhythmic stepping and group choreography to achieve a synchronized pattern formed by the dancers themselves. Bloomington’s Morris dancing troupe performs Morris dances from the Cotswold region of England and regularly makes appearances at local events like Lotus Festival, the May Day celebration and the seasonal farmer’s market.More info Contact Jim Morgan at 812-322-7172What Ginga Brasil Capoeira demonstrationWhere The Circular StageWhen 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.Capoeira is an ancient form of martial arts, often referred to as “dance fighting.” The Bloomington chapter of Ginga Brasil’s capoeira demonstration at Saturday’s market gave guests a peek into the world of contemporary regional capoeira practices from Brazil. The martial art is now practiced all over the world, with students beginning as “batizados” and later earning the rank of upper-level “capoeiristas.” Bloomington’s “Professor Rafael” led the group at Saturday’s performance. Professor Rafael provides local capoeira lessons at ATA Martial Arts in Bloomington.More info gingabrasilusa.wordpress.com
(05/03/13 3:44am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>From IDS ReportsThis year’s Baccalaureate ceremony will feature a two-time Grammy Award-winning Jacobs School of Music alumna.Sylvia McNair, a soprano who has performed for the likes of Pope John Paul II and Hillary Clinton, will give the address at the annual graduation celebration.Indiana University’s Baccalaureate celebration will take place at 11 a.m. Friday at Whittenberger Auditorium in the Indiana Memorial Union.The interfaith ceremony will feature prayers from Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and Unitarian Universalism.Music from the Native American tradition, Tibetan chants and prayers in Arabic, Hebrew, English and Sanskrit will also be included.McNair is a senior lecturer at IU’s Jacobs School of Music and has been a regular guest soloist with numerous American and European orchestras and opera houses.McNair’s speech will precede a reception that afternoon.— Amanda Jacobson
(05/03/13 3:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>From IDS ReportsA new Indiana University study found that video gamers not only recognize college athletes’ likenesses in video games, but also that some erroneously believe the collegiate athletes endorse the games for appropriate compensation.This misconception sparked a lawsuit challenging the use of college athletes’ likenesses in video games.The lawsuit, Ed O’Bannon v. the NCAA, accuses the NCAA of unlawfully using college athletes’ likenesses in video games created by EA Sports — also a defendant in the lawsuit.Galen Clavio, assistant professor in the IU School of Public Health, said in a press release Wednesday that games using college athletes’ likenesses have generated hundreds of millions of dollars, but the athletes portrayed see none of the revenue because regulations forbid the compensation of college athletes beyond scholarships.Clavio worked alongside Patrick Walsh, fellow assistant professor in IU’s School of Public Health, to study the issue.“The results paint a picture of a college football video game experience which exists as a virtual mirror image of the ‘real’ college football world, containing not only the officially licensed and easily recognizable marks and logos of the NCAA and its members, but also the recognizable, but unlicensed, likenesses of college football players,” Clavio and Walsh wrote in “Digital Representations in College Sports Video Games,” published in the Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics.Clavio surveyed 422 students from four small, medium and large NCAA-member universities to find out what other gamers thought of the issue.The lawsuit filed against EA Sports and the NCAA could become a class action suit, to be determined in June at a class certification hearing.The NCAA maintains that, under current amateurism regulations, student athletes may not receive compensation for the use of their likenesses in commercial activities of the association.EA Sports argued it does not use athletes’ likenesses in video games — athletes in the games, for example, are nameless.Clavio said in a press release that he enjoys playing sports video games in addition to researching them and said that attributes assigned to video game athletes make it fairly easy to identify particular athletes.He added he found it troubling that the NCAA and EA Sports deny their use of athletes’ likenesses when it seemed obvious that the two conglomerates were.“It’s disingenuous for the NCAA to say, ‘We’re not using college athletes’ likenesses,’ but then to make millions of dollars from these likenesses,” he said.— Amanda Jacobson
(03/19/13 3:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With incense burning and skulls decorating the stage, opening band Thee Open Sex played to a large crowd at The Bishop Bar, setting the tone for main act Jacco Gardner and second opener The Mallard.Comprising five members, Bloomington-based Thee Open Sex singer Miss Mess said the band was happy to come back to town after their visit to South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.The band played one new song titled “Drippin’ Down” and will start a tour later this spring.“It was our first time at South by Southwest, and we had a blast,” Miss Mess said. “We opened for a couple of bands — PC Worship and Useless Eaters — and then we also played our own showcase of songs.”Taking the stage after Thee Open Sex was The Mallard, a San Francisco-based band working on its sophomore LP, which will be released on record label Castle Face this spring.Jacco Gardner closed the night out with his solo instrumental set, featuring pop and psychedelic melodies from his myriad of instruments, including drums, harpsichord and guitar.Gardner’s set included songs from his debut LP “Cabinet of Curiosities”.Miss Mess of Thee Open Sex said she looked forward to playing in Bloomington and thanked the crowd multiple times while on stage for supporting the bands of the night.“I really enjoy being on stage and just trancing out,” she said. “It may sound cheesy, but I just like being in the moment and feeling the crowd.”The driving beats and heavy guitar rhythms of Thee Open Sex had the crowd moving, complete with “lots of reverb,” as requested by Miss Mess.
(03/17/13 11:45pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Jack Maher’s eyes opened wide and a large smile formed on his face.His catapult, made from a toilet paper tube, a rubber band, pipe cleaners and a paint stirrer, was working.Four-year-old Maher was one of many children to visit the WonderLab Museum of Science, Health and Technology Saturday afternoon for a hands-on project to create a working catapult.The workshop cost each visitor $2 per project and is part of a series of Spring Break activities at the interactive museum.Staci Radford-Vincent, program and outreach manager for WonderLab, said the museum’s catapult workshop was intended not only to inspire children to learn about simple machines and physics, but also to give them a sense of accomplishment and foster their problem-solving skills.“It’s not just a kit you can snap together,” Radford-Vincent said. “The kids get a creative experience of making something with their hands, having to tweak it to make it work the right way.”Radford-Vincent said the workshop began as an offshoot of a WonderLab demonstration about simple machines. Gareth Evans, Jack’s father, said when the two visit WonderLab, Jack finds a creative learning experience while he runs around exploring the many exhibits WonderLab has to offer.“There’s not a whole lot for kids to do in Bloomington,” Evans said. “So this is a good resource for them.”Museum Assistant Liza Huffman helped the children with the construction process by attaching plastic bottle caps to paint stirrers and cutting wooden dowels to the appropriate length for each catapult.Huffman said the workshop was a great way to introduce the process of learning to young children and it made learning fun for the older children and teens who participated that day.“It’s a more hands-on science experience,” she said. “When you build something, it’s a lot more personal. They (the children) can take pride in it.”Jack’s catapult sent its pompom ball soaring across the room one last time.His favorite part about his catapult?“When it throws the ball like ‘pshwoosh,’” he said.
(03/04/13 4:56am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>To an intimate crowd at The Bishop Bar, three bands from different places came together to form a multifaceted show, mixing hard indie rock with melodic, acoustic sounds.Starting out the night was Swales, a Bloomington-based band named after narrow ditches that redirect heavy water and rains.Peter Oren, vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Swales, a five-man ensemble, said the band really got its start last summer after he and band mate Edward Joyner took a permaculture course offered by Indiana University.The band’s songs were politically and socially charged, including lyrics like “if you think it’s hot here, try hell.”“That’s one of the first songs I can remember writing,” Oren said. “We saw that phrase on a church sign outside one hot summer in Southern Indiana and I brought the song out to have the other guys help write it and we incorporated that into the song.”Following Swales was Blessed Feathers, a duo from Milwaukee, Wisc.Blessed Feathers is a collaboration between Milwaukee native Jacquelyn Beaupré and Donivan Berube, a Florida-raised musician with roots in Quebec.The duo met at a restaurant where they both worked in West Bend, Wisc., and soon after began writing and performing together.The duo’s first show was at a bookstore in West Bend in April 2010.Blessed Feathers poses Beaupre’s delicate banjo melodies against Berube’s driving guitar to create an earthy, rich sound. The two interacted very closely on stage, sharing glances during each song to further develop each song’s individual meaning.“We are engaged, we live together, we play together, we spend all of our time in a tiny car together, so it really helps us when we play,” Beaupre and Berube said. “We just play off each other so easily on stage.”To end the night, Mississippi band Young Buffalo shook up the room with their big sound, with guitar melodies reminiscent of The Cure and vocals with similar tones to Vampire Weekend.Guitarist and bassist Ben Yarbrough said the band really listens to 80’s pop and rock music for inspiration, but doesn’t really relate itself to one genre.“We’ve been told we sound like Vampire Weekend before, but I like The Cure a lot more,” Yarbrough said.The band’s self-titled EP was released in October 2012 and was a precursor to their new album, planned for release next year.“Since we signed with Votive in Seattle we’ve written about 25 songs,” Yarbrough said. “We’re just trying to get in as much as we can so when it comes time to make the album we can pick and choose.”While Blessed Feathers and Young Buffalo brought contrasting sounds to the venue last night, they set off together to their next stop in Columbus, Ohio for their next stop on tour.
(02/25/13 6:25pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Situated between the Tulip Tree and Campus View apartments is Hilltop Garden and Nature Center — an 8,500-square-foot garden plot dedicated to the care and growth of sustainable food.This garden, in conjunction with the Bryan House Gardens at the heart of campus, produces a large variety of crops grown by local residents, student volunteers and faculty.But these gardens aren’t part of a science project, a campus organization or a biology course.They are grown to educate students and residents of Bloomington about sustainable food as part of the Campus Garden Initiative.A program of the Office of Sustainability, the initiative encourages all its volunteers to grow, harvest and take home their crops at the end of each season.Frances Einterz, Office of Sustainability intern and IU biology student, said this practice allows volunteers to realize where their food comes from matters.The Hilltop Gardens are the newest addition to the initiative, which is in its second season this spring.The gardens accommodate everything from leeks to leafy greens, watermelon to tomatoes and even herbs like basil and parsley.Einterz said the campus gardens are also part of a wider program called the Edible Campus Initiative that aims to raise awareness and educate its participants about the importance of and interconnection between local food, food production, food waste and our nation’s current food system.“We want them to understand that food is seasonal, and if you are eating locally there is some restriction to what you can buy,” Einterz said.As well as informing volunteers about the origins of food, the initiative pairs with University needs to provide food for IU students and visitors alike.Although many might not realize it yet, the campus gardens work with the Indiana Memorial Union’s Tudor Room to provide it with fresh salad greens, produce and herbs for use in luncheons and other dining events.Residential Programs and Services also receives fruits of the initiative’s labor, sending produce to select dorms for use in dining hall salad bars or certain prepared foods.Once the produce goes through the Residential Programs and Services or Indiana Memorial Union dining systems, it goes straight back to the gardens in the form of compost.Einterz said the rotation of crops and use of compost keeps local soil healthy and has a bigger impact than most people realize.“When someone buys an apple at the store, it’s having a bigger impact,” she said. “It has environmental and economic consequences and social consequences. The whole point is to get people to think about their health, society’s health and the environment’s health.”Volunteers offer their time to the gardens on a weekly basis to help sustain the crops year round.As many as 15 volunteers can work at each garden on any given work day. Currently, work days fall from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays at Hilltop. Bryan House Gardens working hours will begin next school year, Einterz said.Einterz said the schedule varies each academic year but is updated frequently in the Office of Sustainability’s online events calendar.Parking at Hilltop is free for all volunteers, and so is the experience.Einterz said the sustainable food movement is something obvious to her but not so evident to others.“My mom always had a garden, and my dad is a biologist, so I can look at it from a biological perspective as well,” she said. “Food is such an essential part of our life that it seems like an obvious place to go to look for solutions to the broader issues we face as a country."Especially when our country is producing enough calories to feed the whole world, but people still go hungry. It makes sense and it’s logical that this would be a part of my life.”
(02/21/13 4:50am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>John Flannelly lit up a cigarette and balanced it between his fingers, adjusting his red DigiTech Whammy pedal to distort the ambient noise filling the room. Colin Jenkins, his partner in the duo’s project Radio Astronomy, filled the basement space of local music venue The Ream with reverberating, mesmerizing sound.Radio Astronomy played its debut show at The Ream last night, followed by Indianapolis band Skything and Massachusetts acts White Crime and Secret Lover.Before the Radio Astronomy set, the IDS talked with Flannelly and Jenkins, the minds behind Radio Astronomy, to find out the inspiration behind their music.IDS: So, how would you describe your sound?Jenkins: I would say noise ambient, space music. Kind of space-themed music. Sometimes we go for either a more ambient, more up-tempo beat, but sometimes it’s more noisy and chaotic.IDS: How did you find out about the show tonight?Flannelly: We’ve both played shows here a bunch of times and have seen a bunch of shows here, but this one in particular Colin and I have been working on for a while, since this is our live debut tonight. We’ve both been active with playing solo shows in town and I think we both appreciated each other and saw ourselves as kindred spirits and decided to experiment with a little collaboration. So Cray, who lives here, set up the show and brought the show up to me because I think he was looking for a local act. He didn’t have anybody from Bloomington playing. And tonight is Kurt Cobain’s birthday, so my original plan was to do a tribute to grunge I guess, like a weird solo thing, but then I was like, no, fuck that, let’s just try this out.IDS: Can you explain some of the equipment that you guys are using tonight?Flannelly: For me I just use a keyboard that I found, plus a bunch of effects pedals and I basically have some distortion, an echo delay, a Whammy pitch and some volume controls. Jenkins: It’s basically some effects, a couple multi-effects boxes that do echoes, another delay, this does loops and distortion and everything else pretty much comes through that. There’s a drum machine, a microphone and a couple of keyboards.IDS: Are there any vocals in Radio Astronomy’s work?Jenkins: I sometimes use vocals and run through the stuff so it’s distorted and sort of blown out from sounding like real voices. I try to make a lot of the sounds kind of sound like they’re coming from the same thing even though they’re coming from a lot of different sources. I try to kind of like mash things together. IDS: How did you get into music and working with digital sounds and mixing everything together?Flannelly: For me, like I never thought I could play an instrument, so I started just making stuff up on the computer just generating sounds out of that and trying to make music from scratch. And then I got into it and tried to play that stuff live. So I tried using pedals and I realized how easily pedals can be essentially instruments by themselves, very expressive forces. Gradually from there I kind of gained more confidence actually playing a traditional instrument.Jenkins then asked Flannelly if he’d had any formal training with instruments.Flannelly: So what happened to me was in fourth grade I had some lessons playing piano and right as it went to the two-handed stuff, I broke my thumb. So I really never got beyond that. I dropped out. You know, I tried to fake it during that period but when the cast came off I was just like, “OK, I’m done.”Jenkins: In D.C. I kind of learned about the experimental music scene there, which is really good, a lot of good bands there and bunch of good venues. There’s this organization Sonic Circuits that organizes shows and festivals so I just kept going to that and eventually I realized a lot of this music was kind of made by kids that are less skilled musicians. So I kind of figured I wanted to start doing it. I had two things, a mic and a keyboard. And I was using pedals and the effects as instruments in themselves, trying to stretch out sounds and layer them.IDS: What are some of your influences musically and what are you listening to right now that you think is really interesting?Jenkins: Sunn0())), they do these super deep, kind of very black-metal influenced drone pieces, very focused on tone and texture, and add experimentation in with that. They were one of the first bands that I started listening to. Some of the D.C. artists were really cool. It was really cool to be able to see it and hear it and go back and listen to it to see if I could remember what was going on.Flannelly: Over the years I’ve been immensely interested and influenced by the sorts of artists Colin was talking about in the more experimental scene. But lately, I’ve just been listening to pop, Beyonce and Taylor Swift, shit like that. But something I’m really striving for — and I’m not ready to do it yet — but something I’d really like to do is find that happy medium between true pop music and true noise. That’s where I want to head at some point. That’s not what we are, but that’s a personal goal. It’s all about finding that spot where it’s weird and enjoyable.Flannelly will be playing a solo show alongside Rob Funkhauser and Beverly Bouncehouse at the Root Cellar on Feb. 28 and Jenkins will have a solo show under the moniker Canid at The Ream on March 15 with local acts Blues Control and Circuit des Yeux.
(02/18/13 4:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It began with a poem.Debby Herbenick, co-director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at IU’s School of Public Health, read “Ode to an Oosik,” a poem celebrating the ever-rigid and lengthy penis of a male walrus.The poem was the ice breaker to an open discussion at the Bishop Bar Sunday surrounding the topic of sexually explicit media and its effects on viewers.Presented by the IU Center for Sexual Health Promotion, Sunday night’s lecture was part of lectures titled Bloomington Sex Salon.The idea behind the monthly series was to create a conversation about various sexual education issues and sexual advocacy research, Herbenick said.“We wanted to find a way to communicate sexual information to the public and deliver others’ research to the community,” she said. “We’ll have one (lecture) every month for as long as people are interested in coming.”The lecture featured Bryant Paul, associate professor in the IU Department of Telecommunications. He presented his findings on the effects of sexually explicit media on society and overall perception of sex on viewers.Paul’s research in the area of sexually explicit media included any form from online pornography to strip club performances to sexually explicit images featured in print media. Paul said his research began because of his teenage self, described as a “child of the AIDS crisis,” realizing his own sexual awakening during the mid-’80s, a time when HIV and AIDS cases were most prevalent in the U.S.The main problem Paul uncovered during research as a graduate and Ph.D. student was most people thought pornography was harmful to the human psyche.“When I’m asked, ‘is porn harmful?’ people want a yes or no answer,” he said. “What I believe is that most content for most people can be harmful, but for most people most content has the opposite effect. There’s no real answer to that question.”Paul said he participated in the lecture series because he wants the community to better understand the research and information surrounding sexual education, advocacy and research.Herbenick said she chose Paul to kick off the series because he has the ability to engage an audience while communicating statistical data in a very accessible way.“There is this quest for more information,” Paul said. “The biggest hurdle we have with sex in society is people’s unwillingness to talk about it. But it’s also a great thing that we can talk about it.”The Bloomington Sex Salon will take place monthly, Herbenick said. The not-for-profit, volunteer-run series will include lecturers from IU’s faculty and special guest speakers, as well.
(02/14/13 7:51pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When Holden Neal met Jackson Maier, he encouraged Maier to pick up a guitar and start playing.Shortly after, the two Bloomington High School South students began playing music together in bands with other friends.“We were weird,” Neal said. “And we still are.”They played everywhere from house shows to variety shows and even gymnasiums, and formed local band Mary & Child, a politically driven sound machine with anti-war, -capitalism and -discrimination messages.With Mary & Child a year old and growing, the now high school juniors Neal and Maier formed a new musical project titled Man Behind the Sun.“Man Behind the Sun is more of an excuse to write personal songs,” Maier said. “It’s much darker and sounds more like garbage. I play cords on the bass and use the synth as more of a sound generator. It’s more noise than anything else.”The duo will be playing a house show at 8 p.m. Sunday at 1222 W. Kirkwood Ave. — more commonly known as Fort Vegan — with emo-core band Tristram of Grand Rapids, Mich. and Pleasure Blade, self-proclaimed as “Gloomington’s best/worst” knife rock.Man Behind the Sun will play eight original songs Sunday night, but the set can be “blurred” a bit to include extra songs by use of Maier’s synth, he said.Maier uses a synthesizer to create noise and beats for the backing track to songs and then utilizes his bass guitar to create cords and melodies. Neal backs up Maier with a drum set and both supply vocals to every song.Maier said Man Behind the Sun is similar to the other bands that will be playing in terms of sound and artistic viewpoints.“We are all really depressing,” Neal said sarcastically, but Maier said the bands all have a pretty similar message and focus behind their songs.Maier said music is something about which he and Neal feel passionate, but they aren’t about to make it a money-making career just yet.“It seems weird when people ask me ‘what do you do,’ because I could say, “I work in a restaurant making pierogis,’ but instead I say, ‘I play in a band,’” Maier said. “It’s not something I want to make money off of, because I want music to be accessible to people. If you want to be accessible to people and let people hear your music easily, you can’t start making yourself inaccessible by charging them money just to listen.”Holden said the band will play Sunday as Man Behind the Sun, but Mary & Child is still producing music as a band, in which he and Maier both have a part.Sunday’s crowd members are asked to provide a donation at the door when entering the show, but those select broke listeners are always welcome, Maier said.
(02/11/13 3:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Drowning in the noise of a droning saxophone and wailing vocals, the audience at Russian Recording Saturday night caught a live glimpse of punk-noise band The K-Holes.The K-Holes, a five-member ensemble from New York City, made a stop in Bloomington as part of its North American “K-Holes Loves Call of the Wild Tour.”Named after the theory of psychedelic tunnels experienced during overuse of the sedative drug ketamine, the band made stops in Canada and Chicago before heading to local music producer Mike Bridavsky’s Russian Recording studio.K-Holes Vocalist Vashti Windish said the bar food at Russian Recording — a Cheeto’s pretzel mix — was pretty “rad,” as was the bartender, and the space was inviting and had a special quality.And Bridavsky’s venue does seem pretty special. It offers a live show experience for all ages while providing bands a space in which to record live tracks. Bridavsky said the venue arranges only one or two live recording shows per month, due to the high frequency of private projects coming through the studio.The venue maintains a universal music perspective, with no perceptible ties to any one genre or musical sound.“I don’t really prefer any one type of music,” Bridavsky said. “The type of sessions I like to work on are the ones where the bands or musicians are dedicated to their work, on-time and hardworking. When you work in this industry, your taste in music has to go out the door or else you’re gonna hate your job.”At Russian Recording, the band and audience share an intimate space within one of the studio’s four recording rooms, while Bridavsky works behind the scenes to record the performance onto a CD, DVD or an old-school tape reel.Once the live tracks are recorded, Bridavsky hands the finished product over to be used however the band wishes.K-Holes said they enjoyed their 11-song session Saturday night, because the crowd was so receptive and the room produced a rich sound. But at the heart of the band’s enjoyment was, ultimately, making music.“I guess we just all love music passionately and the experience of playing it together,” the band said. “And we want to share that feeling with others. Same as any artist, you do it because it feels good, keeps you sane.”
(02/07/13 4:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In Persian folklore, the Seluah was a mythical sea siren capable of luring and drowning its innocent victims to untimely deaths.Now the myth has become the embodiment of dark-hearted trance rock as Seluah, a Louisville, Ky.-based band playing at 9:30 p.m. today at the Bishop Bar.Lead singer Edward Grimes said the audience at the Bishop can expect to hear songs from the group’s first full-length album “Red Parole,” as well as material from past recordings.Seluah will play eight to 10 songs for the crowd before lending the stage to Harpooner, a newly formed, ‘70s-inspired Latin rock band comprised of members from four existing local bands.Harpooner with one member from each of The Calumet Reel, Triptides, Fluffer and The Broderick will perform a mix of Santana covers and “harpoonlets,” or original Harpooners songs.Harpooners frontman and pianist Scott Schmadeskigs said the bandmates met last March under similar circumstances.“The four of us met actually in northern Maine,” Schmadeskigs said. “Two of us were on a missions trip while the other two were on a week-long peyote trip. Once we realized we were all on a spiritual journey and oddly all from Indiana, we became fast friends.”Tonight’s set by Harpooner will preclude Sunday’S recording of its newest single “Strung to the Moon” from within an undisclosed church building in Bloomington.Seluah’s Grimes said the show will be a good chance for both bands to branch out into the local community and reach more fans than they do via social media sites such as Facebook or Bandcamp.“We’ve always wanted to play here,” Grimes said. “It’s something we’ve been working on for awhile. As a band, we’re always trying to get into new places. Bands are kind of doing themselves a disservice if they don’t play locally.”
(02/05/13 5:33am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Junior Andrea Balzano walked through the halls of Collins Living-Learning Center last spring when she saw a flyer hung in the stairwell for a geology course.It piqued her interest.Later that summer, she was climbing rock walls in Yosemite National Park and studying the landscape of Death Valley as a part of the course. The undergraduate course that allowed Balzano and 14 other IU students to study volcanic features of the eastern Sierra Nevada is taught as a collaboration of Collins LLC and IU’s Geological Sciences department.“Volcanoes of the Eastern Sierra Nevada: Geology and Natural Heritage of the Long Valley Caldera” — GEOL-G 188 on a course schedule — is a 15-day travel course that takes place during Summer Session 1.Professors lead students on a journey through the eastern mountain chains of the Sierra Nevada in California to learn about volcanic processes and geological history of the natural landscape.Professor Michael Hamburger, the course’s instructor, said it is a unique opportunity for undergraduates who want to get hands-on experience during their summer breaks.“It’s unusual because it offers students at the introductory level a chance to get the type of intensive, field-based experience that is offered usually to upper-level students,” Hamburger said.He said the group visits a variety of natural sites during the trip, each with their own special geological history.“There are so many beautiful spots out there, each extraordinary in some way,” he said. “At Dante’s View, you’re on this rugged ridge top at about a mile’s elevation, looking down at the Badwater Salt Pan and can see for 50 miles in each direction. It’s a spectacular image of a landscape that looks so foreign to someone from the Midwest, but then we get to the White Mountains a few days later, up at 11,000 feet with these mysterious, ancient trees. The view is just incredible.”Though the course brings a lot of beauty and excitement, it is not a class for someone seeking an “easy A,” Hamburger said.The course requires an intensive, one-credit-hour class taken the prior spring semester to acclimate the students to geological terms, scientific and societal issues of the regions and to help students introduce themselves to the group.During the two-week journey, students are expected to collect field observations and write those ideas into a field journal. Also, students are encouraged to make sketches, take measurements and participate in group discussions about their geological observations of each landscape.“It’s definitely a different style of learning,” Hamburger said. “We spend 12 to 14 hours a day in the field, hiking and mountain climbing, having snowball fights and jumping in ice-cold lakes, having picnics on top of mountain ridges ... it’s definitely a mix of learning and social activity.”Balzano said her favorite destination of the trip she took in May 2012 was the group’s visit to the Mammoth Lakes region of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain.“Everywhere we went, everything we saw was magnificent and beautiful,” she said. “Everyone out there cares so much about their community, the environment and the world, and to meet them and experience that was the best part.”Balzano, a journalism major, said she had no experience with geology before taking the class.She said anyone who likes adventure and the outdoors should think about enrolling in the course.“Science was never my gig, but the class took me places I may not have otherwise been able to go,” Balzano said. “Science experience is not necessary at all. All you need is a positive attitude and a willingness to get a little dirty.”
(01/29/13 5:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Faceless, overstuffed white dolls laid upon crumpled silver Mylar while pink papier-mâché hearts spun overhead. Vintage RCA and Admiral televisions were stacked at the edge of the stage, cornering a mummified figure in a khaki button-up.The decorations were provided by the Sculpture Guild of the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts for the guild’s benefit concert Monday night at the Bishop Bar.Bishop owner Stephen Westrich said the bar has supplied local groups with a venue for benefits in the past, but this concert was a little less hands-on.Westrich said he didn’t personally book the three bands — The Rooks, Poor Islero and Busman’s Holiday — instead, the Sculpture Guild contacted him with a lineup in tow.Devin Balara, IU graduate student and president of the guild, said finding bands to volunteer their time was fairly easy, due to word-of-mouth networking among the guild members.“We are lucky to be in a city that’s so tight-knit,” she said. “There are all these good places to put information outside of our department itself. All of the events we have seem to always have the same people. We wanted to find different outlets for our fundraising this time.”The funds raised at Monday’s show will help pay for the upcoming visit of Los Angeles artist Julian Hoeber, along with a free workshop for attendees. Hoeber’s visit is part of the guild’s Visiting Artist Series.Ben Steele, guitarist and vocalist for The Rooks, said he easily agreed to play the show, because his girlfriend participates in the guild.“I think most of the people here came for Busman’s Holiday,” Steele said. “They’re hometown heroes, for sure.”Balara said the mix of attendees was something new for the guild to see.“I don’t know most of the people in the room right now, which is an incredible thing,” she said.Balara said the eclectic stage decor was a compilation of objects found in each guild artist’s studio.“It’s sort of a quasi-Valentine’s Day ensemble,” she said. “We would really be at a loss if we didn’t activate the space a little bit.”
(01/28/13 6:47pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Entertaining can be as simple as pouring out a bowl of chips and letting guests help themselves. But if you’re looking to impress someone with something special, you can do a lot more without spending all your rent or beer money. Here are some simple recipes to kick-start your party, whether you organize a surprise for a friend or a small, movie-night get-together. All prices are pre-tax estimates.AppetizerChorizo-Stuffed Mushrooms (makes about 14)1/2 pound portobello mushrooms, stems removed ($1.97)Chorizo sausage ($3.99)Whole package cream cheese ($1.67)1 jalapeno or habanero pepper, seeds and stem removed and finely minced ($0.04)Total cost $7.67Cost per serving $0.551. In a food processor or by hand, mix cream cheese with the hot pepper of your choice until completely incorporated.2. Break up chorizo sausage in a medium skillet and cook over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes. 3. Drain the chorizo by blotting it with a layer of paper towel or putting through a strainer. 4. Add chorizo to cream cheese and pepper mixture, mixing well. 5. Spoon the cheese and meat mixture into each mushroom’s open cavity and bake, stuffing side up, at 350 degrees for 20 minutes in a glass or ceramic baking dish. 6. Remove from oven and serve hot or chilled.Fancy dinnerSkirt Steak Stir Fry with Jasmine Rice (makes about 4 servings)1 lean, fresh skirt steak from your grocer’s meat department ($3.95)Stubb’s Beef Marinade ($3.79)1/3 pound broccoli crowns or 1 bunch fresh broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces ($2.99 per bunch)1/4 pound fresh carrots, sliced into strips ($0.99)1 shallot, diced ($0.50)2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.50 per head)1/4 fresh pineapple, diced into bite-size pieces ($1 per whole pineapple)1 package Uncle Ben’s Jasmine Ready Rice ($1.99)3 Tbsp. peanut or vegetable oil for cookingTotal cost $15.71Cost per serving $3.931. Marinate the skirt steak overnight, or at least four hours, in a sealed container. 2. When the meat is finished marinating, slice it into bite-size pieces or strips. 3. Heat 1 Tbsp. of oil in a large skillet or wok and sauté meat over medium-high heat until fully cooked. 4. Add the remaining 2 Tbsp. of oil, vegetables, garlic and pineapple and sauté with meat in the same pan for about eight minutes or until slightly tender and heated throughout. 5. Remove the stir-fry mixture from heat and cover. 6. Follow microwave instructions on rice package and serve with stir-fry mixture.D.I.Y. dinnerGrilled Cheese (makes 8 servings)2-3 loaves of different breads ($1-2 per loaf)3-4 different cheeses, sliced deli style ($2 per package of 8 slices)1 jar mini pickles, thinly sliced lengthwise ($3.79)1/2 onion sliced into rings ($0.69 each)1 medium-sized bell pepper, cut into thin rings or strips ($1.50)Whipped mustard or chipotle mayonnaise ($3.99)Cheez-Its ($2 per box)Butter for grillingTotal cost $16.47Cost per serving $2.061. Lay out the presentation of ingredients on a large platter, cutting board or three to four smaller plates from which your guests can pick sandwich fillings. 2. Let each guest assemble their sandwich, and have spreadable butter ready for each guest to coat the bread at the end of the assembly line. 3. Fry your creations and enjoy. You can always customize the ingredient platter to suit your group’s tastes.
(01/28/13 4:10am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Raising $1,000 in three hours was something IU junior Emily Fisher said she never expected.During its “Bring on the Magic” benefit concert at Rachael’s Café on Friday night, Camp Kesem and its staff — including its program coordinator, Fisher — raised money for a week-long, student-run summer camp.The IU branch of Camp Kesem, a nationwide program of 41 campus chapters in 24 states, organizes a free camp experience for children ages 6 to 16 who have a parent currently or previously affected by cancer.Fisher said the response Friday night was better than previous fundraising efforts the group coordinated.In the past, Camp Kesem staff asked prospective Kroger shoppers to purchase needed supplies as donations to the camp or stood outside the bars on Kirkwood Avenue asking people for donations.This semester, during one of the Kroger supply drives, Fisher said an employee of Rachael’s Café suggested the group organize a benefit concert at the local coffee shop and eatery.Within the local venue Friday night, Camp Kesem garnered close to $1,000 in donations and saw about 80 participants stop in throughout the night.Four local music acts were featured at the benefit. Each musician volunteered his or her time to the event, Fisher said.The funds raised by “Bring on the Magic” will go to basic infrastructure purchases, such as new walkie-talkies for the camp counselors and general administrative expenses.Fisher said the campsite itself costs about $50,000 to rent for the week and an additional expense of about $15,000 is spent each year for meals and activities for the children in attendance.However, IU sophomore and Camp Kesem program co-coordinator Heidi Brueckmann said money is not the only thing helping to facilitate the camp’s main goals. “I just love getting to see how happy we make these kids,” she said. “Because as much as we work and with all the money we raise, it’s ultimately all for them. It’s the best week of my summer.”
(01/25/13 4:56am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Mitch Shiner described himself as “very noisy” as a child.Pots and pans in the kitchen were his first drum set.When his grandparents returned from a trip to Africa in 2000, their gift to Shiner was his first real drum.Shiner, a sophomore studying jazz percussion in the Jacobs School of Music, will perform as part of a sextet 8 p.m. tonight at Café Django, 116 N. Grant St.The downtown Asian-Peruvian restaurant provides local jazz performers a venue to showcase their talents to a live crowd.Shiner, a regular performer at Café Django, said he has much experience playing as part of an ensemble.During summer 2011, he was invited to join the Disneyland All-American College Band in Anaheim, Calif. Now, he works with the local Post Modern Jazz Quartet and the Jeff Isaac Trio, as well as various jazz ensembles within the Jacobs School of Music.Shiner said his particular interest in jazz music started when he discovered Art Blakey and the Jazz Messenger’s first album, “Ugetsu.” The driving beat and incredible control he heard in the band’s arrangements had him hooked.He now studies mallet percussion — more specifically, the vibraphone, an instrument similar to a xylophone with a grouping of organ pipes attached to its underside. The instrument produces a vibrational tone when hit with percussion mallets and is sometimes referred to as “the vibes” in the percussionist community.“Most of my performances are on a drum set and I am trying to hone my skills on the vibraphone,” Shiner said. “I am more comfortable behind the drum set, but in order to be a better musician I need to continually get out of my safe zone. The vibraphone does just that.”Currently, Shiner listens to modern musician Joe Locke for inspiration and motivation. Shiner said he likes the way Locke has expanded the role of the vibraphone in a modern musical setting.“I admire musicians who push the limits of their instrument yet still maintain integrity of the art form,” he said.For tonight’s performance, Shiner will play the vibraphone accompanied by five other local musicians — Joey Lamb on trumpet, Alex Young on tenor saxophone, John Weisiger on piano, Anna Butterss on bass and Ben Lumsdaine on drumset.Shiner said the performance will include 10 of his own compositions along with some movie soundtrack classics and a standout rendition of “Colors of the Wind” from Disney’s “Pocahontas.”Shiner said he is excited to present the vibraphone to a new crowd because the instrument provides the possibility of unexpected melodic twists and turns.“I love to share the moment of music-making with a crowd,” he said. “There’s a certain spontaneous energy that can be felt throughout the room when a band really gets cooking. I know that is what I thrive on as an audience member, so when I’m performing I try to create the same magic for others.”
(01/23/13 4:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>An alleyway flanked by the red brick walls of the Oddfellows Building — once home to a hardware store, bakery and a fraternal order of local tradesmen in the early 1900s — leads to a stone stairwell.Beyond the stairwell, multi-layered, wind-tattered posters promoting local bands and themed dance nights adorn the door to a cellar now veiling an underground bar.From its origins as a cellar and coal room for the Oddfellows guild to its current use as the lounge of the restaurant FARMBloomington run by local chef Daniel Orr, the Root Cellar Lounge stays true to its heritage.FARM General Manager Harry Shafer said the underground watering hole was strictly a bourbon bar when it opened in late 2008 but soon after expanded its spirits list to include the wine, beer and liquor offerings it provides today.Root Cellar Manager Josh Johnson said the main draw of the bar is its commitment to historic preservation and a vintage attitude that no other bar in Bloomington has achieved.A quick look at the cellar’s main bar, fashioned out of a glass display case from the building’s original hardware store, adds to the authentic feel of the business.Original craggy stone walls and limestone floors adorn the small passageways and rooms with empty liquor bottles and kitschy decorations from past eras.A dark wooden bench lines the back wall of one chamber, while a sofa and coffee table provide seating in the next.Faceless nude figures depicted eating grapes among a field of speckled hens wrap the walls of the cellar’s main room — a mural by local artist Gretchen Sigmund titled “Orgy in A Cornfield.”Vintage license plates are scattered above seating areas, secured into the original wooden ceiling beams.Small stacked towers of vintage beer cans marked by brands like Old Milwaukee, Schlitz and Budweiser, to name a few, quietly sparkle in the back corner.The cans, Johnson said, come from Orr’s personal collection of rare or quirky finds dating as far back as Orr’s father’s generation.FARM, Orr’s farmhouse-inspired eatery, sits atop the cellar as its sunny, daytime counterpart. A single wooden stairwell leading into the restaurant’s bright, cheery dining room creaks at 3 p.m. on a Sunday as cooks in white jackets race up and down to dispose of empty boxes or grab a full crate of fresh veggies.Johnson said Orr wanted to create something akin to what a prohibition-style speakeasy in Brown County would look and feel like, staying true to his FARM vision in the process.Cocktails crafted by the Root Cellar’s bartenders include freshly squeezed fruit juice and old-fashioned shaking or stirring. Johnson said the place definitely makes its customers feel like they are part of an old-world community.Shafer said the bar easily caters to anyone from college students to locals and even celebrities such as Joan Baez, who stopped in after her performance at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater in February 2010.Johnson said the bar, which comfortably fits close to 100 people at capacity, is a unique hangout for people of all interests and tastes.“It’s really representing this piece of Bloomington culture as a whole,” he said.“That’s what makes it work.”
(01/22/13 6:06pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>An alleyway flanked by the red brick walls of the Oddfellows Building — once home to a hardware store, bakery and a fraternal order of local tradesmen in the early 1900s — leads to a stone stairwell.Beyond the stairwell, multi-layered, wind-tattered posters promoting local bands and themed dance nights adorn the door to a cellar now veiling an underground bar.From its origins as a cellar and coal room for the Oddfellows guild to its use today as the lounge of the restaurant FARMBloomington run by local chef Daniel Orr, the Root Cellar Lounge stays true to its heritage.FARM General Manager Harry Shafer said the underground watering hole was strictly a bourbon bar when it opened in late 2008 but soon after expanded its spirits list to include the wine, beer and liquor offerings it provides today.Root Cellar Manager Josh Johnson said the main draw of the bar is its commitment to historic preservation and a vintage attitude that no other bar in Bloomington can achieve.A quick look at the cellar’s main bar, fashioned out of a glass display case from the building’s original hardware store, adds to the authentic feel of the business.Original craggy stone walls and limestone floors adorn the small passageways and rooms with empty liquor bottles and kitschy decorations from past eras.A dark wooden bench lines the back wall of one chamber, while a sofa and coffee table provide seating in the next.Faceless nude figures depicted eating grapes among a field of speckled hens wraps the walls of the cellar’s main room — a mural by local artist Gretchen Sigmund, titled “Orgy in A Cornfield.”Vintage license plates are scattered above seating areas, secured into the original wooden ceiling beams.Small stacked towers of vintage beer cans marked by brands like Old Milwaukee, Schlitz and Budweiser, to name a few, quietly sparkle in the back corner.The cans, Johnson said, come from Orr’s personal collection of rare or quirky finds dating as far back as Orr’s father’s generation.FARM, Orr’s farmhouse-inspired eatery, sits atop the cellar as its sunny, daytime counterpart. A single wooden stairwell leading into the restaurant’s bright, cheery dining room creaks at 3 o’clock on a Sunday as cooks in white jackets race up and down to dispose of empty boxes or grab a full crate of fresh veggies.Johnson said Orr wanted to create something akin to what a prohibition-style speakeasy in Brown County would look and feel like, staying true to his FARM vision in the process.Cocktails crafted by the Root Cellar’s bartenders include freshly squeezed fruit juice and old-fashioned shaking or stirring. Johnson said the place definitely makes its customers feel like they are part of an old-world community.Shafer said the bar easily caters to anyone from college students to locals and even celebrities such as Joan Baez, who stopped in after her performance at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater in February 2010.Johnson said the bar, which comfortably fits close to 100 people at capacity, is a unique hangout for people of all interests and tastes.“It’s really representing this piece of Bloomington culture as a whole,” he said. “That’s what makes it work.”
(01/16/13 4:59am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>This is a one-man show. Dan Coleman’s workday is spent sending emails, making phone calls and posting online updates to his company’s website. Downtime doesn’t exist. If he has the occasional intern to work with, he’s lucky.Coleman, owner and founder of local Spirit of ’68 Promotions, is the go-to guy for all things live music in Bloomington. He works with venues like the Bishop Bar, Buskirk-Chumley Theater and Russian Recording, and he’s always looking for the best entertainment he can bring to Bloomington.Tuesday’s concert at Buskirk-Chumley starring Jeff Mangum, who hadn’t toured in 15 years? He worked on that.Father John Misty at the Bluebird Nightclub? He worked on that as well.When people go to see a live show at the Bluebird, or even the occasional concert at the IU Auditorium, Coleman likely had his hand in securing the venue and the band for that performance.Coleman’s repertoire is vast. It includes the local promotion of past shows by the likes of indie greats Unwed Sailor, Band of Horses, Cursive and Minus the Bear. But many people still don’t understand the work Coleman does.He isn’t asking bands to come to Bloomington for shows, and he isn’t the one ordering the band a case of beer for the green room.“I don’t actually talk to a band until they show up at the venue,” Coleman said. “Bands aren’t reaching out to someone here — they have agents. They pay someone to do that for them. So, for example, the Bluebird isn’t talking to Pretty Lights, they’re talking to the agent.”Coleman is the middleman between the venue and the artist. He said he finds a way to put the acts students and locals want to see in a venue that is most accessible to the masses. “We’re basically finding the best fit,” he said. “It’s an entire industry of emails, and you rarely talk to people on the phone.”His days normally consist of everything from pointing people to new music via bandcamp.com or posting bands’ videos to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to incite local interest in new acts coming to town.Coleman said he works almost exclusively online because the way people discover music is primarily through Internet media channels, but there is also a lot of hands-on work involved. Coleman creates promotional posters, ensures proper ticket counts and checks social media repostings about the bands he’s promoting. Tuesday afternoon, he was setting up equipment at Buskirk-Chumley in preparation for Mangum’s performance. If there happens to be a show any given night, Coleman is there to welcome the band to Bloomington.Despite being surrounded with music and professional performers, there can be a downside to promoting shows in town.Nash Hott, staff reporter at WFHB Bloomington and IU graduate student, said Spirit of ’68 takes a risk by promoting the shows. Hott has never worked with Spirit of ’68 personally but studied the business in his reporting.“They’re filling that gap in the industry,” Hott said. “They’re paying the band and the venue, but only taking in the front-of-house sales. So they’re basically assuming that risk of the show failing or being a success.”Hott said he heard rumors about Spirit of ’68 having trouble making profits from a WFHB broadcast about eight months ago.The problems were valid at the time, Coleman said, but, he added, the rumors that Spirit of ’68 is currently in financial trouble are completely false.Problems with people sneaking into shows through back doors, or simply walking into the bar and standing on the sidelines of the stage without paying have been corrected by the venues themselves, Coleman said. The Bishop even built a wall between the bar and its stage.“People who go to shows can see that it isn’t a problem anymore,” Coleman said. “But the people who don’t go don’t know.”Because the music business is somewhat unpredictable, Coleman said he acknowledges there are some sacrifices that come with the work he does.Despite the market for indie rock music rising in recent years, the market for some of Coleman’s favorite genres has grown smaller.“I’m a big fan of hip-hop and soul music, but we really don’t have the crowd to support that,” he said. “We really have DJs and emcees so all the smaller acts don’t come here anymore. We never had soul and funk. We never really had a market for it. I hope that changes.”The idea that live music can always be cheap can be another obstacle to the business.To counteract the notion that watching popular bands has to be expensive, Spirit of ’68 began a student discount program in partnership with student radio station WIUX 99.1 FM last fall.WIUX agreed to subsidize the discount for tickets provided through Spirit of ’68 so IU students could participate in shows without having to purchase full-price tickets from Ticketmaster or another retailer.Coleman said the shows he’s most excited to bring to Bloomington this spring are The Helio Sequence on Jan. 31, at the Bishop and Unknown Mortal Orchestra on March 8 at the Bluebird.Even though he can act as a breed of his own, a one-man show promoter, Coleman admits he’s not the only one of his kind.“It’s like a series of conversations with people you rarely ever actually meet, all in an effort to get bands into town, that’s what we do,” Coleman said. “And there’s a ‘me’ in every city in America.”