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(09/03/08 10:31pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I don’t know what WEEKEND has been to you.But I hope that this semester, you’ll find WEEKEND to be a magazine about who you are. Being an IU student is an identity. If you define yourself by what you do in class, not only will you have a pretty boring time in your few years here, you’ll leave this town as a shallow person.And Bloomington is an incredible place. I know it might not seem that way if you’re looking at it from the surface – we don’t have any enormous rock arenas, sunny beaches, world-renowned dance clubs or movie stars. But if you dig just a little deeper, you’ll find a huge variety of music no matter your taste – from the eclectic local acts who play in basements and garages to world-renowned jazz composers to country singer-songwriters to the musicians who sit out on Kirkwood and howl to their untuned guitars.You’ll find film festivals that show movies and shorts you never knew existed. You’ll find DJs you’re sure should be somewhere more “important.” You’ll find foods of every ethnicity and that include every ingredient you can put in your body.But most importantly, you’ll find thousands of people with stories to tell and subcultures that show you more about the world you live in than you’ll learn in any classroom. Our goal at WEEKEND is to show you how to dive in. We know you only have a limited time here to discover all of Bloomington’s quirks, and we know if you haven’t been here long this place can be a little confusing.We hope we’ll show you parts about Bloomington culture that you never knew existed or only gave a passing glance because you didn’t know what was there.And we hope we can do it with an edge, because who reads anything that’s 100 percent safe?But even though we want you to get involved in Bloomington, we’d love to have your feedback about how you want to do it. E-mail us at weekend@idsnews.com if you have any tips on articles you’d like to see or if you saw articles that you didn’t want to see.We’d also love for you to get involved with us online. We’ll be updating our Web site, www.idsnews.com/weekend, every time a new edition of WEEKEND comes out each week, and we’d love for you to tell us what you think. We have a comments feature, so if you don’t agree with our reviews, or you want to tell us what you think of our articles, you have a place to do it.We’ll also be starting up two blogs soon: One will focus on what our writers think about the wider world outside Bloomington, and one will give you updates and reviews of the local shows, festivals and concerts that come here. And of course, we’ll have lots of multimedia on our Web site, from video and slideshows to audio music reviews. So, I hope that you’ll check us out every week and that you’ll use us to check out the Bloomington scene. Open your mind, and you won’t be disappointed.
(09/03/08 2:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU students looking to get jobs in information technology might soon have more local opportunities available in their field.The Bloomington Economic Development Corporation and the city of Bloomington have announced the creation of the Bloomington Technology Partnership, an advisory council consisting of local businesses and education leaders that hopes to use the initiative to bring and keep more technology-based employment opportunities in Bloomington.City of Bloomington Communications Director Danny Lopez said the city and the BEDC have identified the Bloomington tech sector as “vibrant” and want to use the Bloomington Technology Partnership to ensure that it can remain strong and continue to grow.“We want local tech companies to be able to prosper here,” Lopez said.He said one of the ways he hopes they can do this is by retaining IU graduates with degrees in technology, such as informatics.Some of the other goals of the partnership include identifying potential challenges and obstacles in the local technology industry, capitalizing on the sector’s vibrancy, bringing in and keeping technology businesses in Bloomington and maintaining an environment where these businesses can thrive.The partnership is being modeled off the Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership, which Lopez called a highly successful and useful resource for the Bloomington life-sciences industry.“The reason they have done well is there’s an existing body that caters to their needs,” Lopez said. “We see the tech industry as having the same potential.”BEDC Vice President of Business Development Jeremy Sowders said the BEDC is starting to see the Bloomington technology sector as being in the same situation the life-sciences industry was in when the Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership was created in 2003. He said the technology industry will benefit greatly from a similar program that determines what its strengths and weaknesses are and how to respond to sector needs.So far, the Bloomington Technology Partnership has garnered support from both Mayor Mark Kruzan and IU, particularly the School of Informatics, Sowders said.“If it weren’t for Indiana University,” he said, “we probably wouldn’t be doing this.”Tony Armstrong, executive director for the IU Office of Engagement and a member of the partnership’s Executive Advisory Committee, said the partnership would create more local jobs and internships in the technology sector for IU students.“One of the ideas is to bring new companies to the area,” Armstrong said. “I think that will bring opportunities for students.”Robert Schnabel, dean of the School of Informatics and also a member of the partnership’s Executive Advisory Committee, said he hopes the partnership will boost his mission to get informatics students involved in entrepreneurship.“The more opportunities in the area the more of that they can do,” he said.Although Shnabel said he couldn’t give a definite timetable for when students could expect to see increased opportunities because it would simply be speculation until the program begins. He also said the level of excitement in the area about the industry and the level excellence of the School of Informatics are related.“It’s part of the buzz,” he said.
(08/29/08 1:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I’m not sure I’m the kind of voter the Founding Fathers had in mind.Now, I don’t know much about the Founding Fathers. I only got halfway through Ben Franklin’s autobiography, I don’t remember most of what I learned in high school history, and I think most of what I know about them stems from the pictures on dollar bills.But I can’t imagine that the kinds of guys who would found a country based on lofty political philosophies really wanted people like me voting, even if they claimed to advocate “democracy.” And I don’t mean they wouldn’t want me voting because I’m a woman, as a friend recently pointed out to me when I made this statement. The fact is, I know little about foreign policy or economics, or almost anything else besides a few social issues, and on the handful of occasions I’ve watched C-SPAN I have either been wildly confused or found a quick cure for my insomnia.I also have been known to be a member of that crowd of people you find in Wal-Mart on Saturday afternoon – a group whose sanity you assume must be nonexistent because you see that their purchases while standing in line include medium-length pink wool tube socks and plastic snack-packs of corn. Maybe I even stood in line behind 13 other people to buy such important items. If this group of citizens doesn’t make everyone question American democracy, I don’t know what can.But the scary thing is that I actually am interested in the elections, and I plan on voting in them. I plan on voting in them, if only because someone from Obama’s campaign came into the place I used to work, insisting that I register to vote while I was the only one there. I didn’t have the nerve to tell her I think my vote doesn’t really count, which is true. Nonetheless, I probably will vote since I’m registered – and I think I’m actually going to branch out this time and vote for a real candidate instead of the random write-in that I did last presidential election.But in all seriousness, I’ve been following the elections fairly well. I’ve been watching Obama’s speeches religiously, paying careful attention to the literary and narrative devices he uses that set him apart in being able to keep my attention more than the other candidates. I think I’d be happy if he were in the White House because I’m a language fanatic and his speeches would give me at least four years’ worth of material to chew on without being bored out of my mind. And at least when he does spin information, it requires a bit more of a challenge to dissect than McCain.All this is to say that I’m probably your average America voter: too lazy for what the Founding Fathers likely intended us to be, vaguely smarter than we seem in the Wal-Mart check-out line and interested in the elections for the wrong reasons. But hey, that’s democracy.
(08/27/08 10:45pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Some of Bloomington’s hottest staple entertainment events and venues
are less than a mile away from campus, and anyone any age can attend.Whether
you’re a freshman trying to figure out where to find shows or you’re
bored and need a refresher about how much downtown Bloomington has to
offer, here are just a few places with weekly and special events to get
excited about.WHERE: Kirkwood AvenueDISTANCE FROM CAMPUS: About 20 feet
WEEKLY (OR WHENEVER): Any time you’re looking for something to do, hit up Kirkwood. Go shopping, get coffee or just sit in People’s Park and people-watch.
WHERE: Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave.
DISTANCE FROM CAMPUS: 0.4 miles
BIGGEST EVENTS: Manhattan Short Film Festival – Sept. 27; Deerhoof – Oct. 16 WEEKLY: The Buskirk-Chumley offers arguably the widest selection of entertainment events in Bloomington, from film, concerts and dance parties to well-known speakers and more.
WHERE: Rhino’s Youth Media Center & All-Ages Club, 331 S. Walnut St.DISTANCE FROM CAMPUS: 0.9 milesBIGGEST EVENT: The Dodos – Oct. 9WEEKLY: Every Friday and Saturday evening, Rhino’s brings in local, national and international acts and occasionally hosts dance parties. WHERE: The Cinemat, 123 S. Walnut St.DISTANCE FROM CAMPUS: 0.4 milesWEEKLY: The Cinemat has music acts almost every night of the week in its screening room. Its most popular weekly event, though, is “Atomic Age Cinema” at midnight Saturday, where people gather in the screening room to jeer at B movies. WHERE: John Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut St.DISTANCE FROM CAMPUS: 0.5 milesWEEKLY: Most of the Waldron’s events are art exhibits and theater, but the venue frequently hosts shows from local bands and hot indie acts.WHERE: Bloomington Playwrights Project, 107 W. Ninth St.DISTANCE FROM CAMPUS: 0.6 milesWEEKLY: If you’re up for a change in your entertainment, BPP puts on theatrical productions written by upcoming playwrights. It also hosts dance parties like People Are Still Having Sex, a “dress-to-impress” occasional dance event, and parties hosted by the dance-oriented Rad Summer.
(08/20/08 9:04pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>About 10 supporters of the organization MoveOn.org rallied Tuesday in the Bloomingfoods Near West parking lot during the weekly Tuesday Market with picket signs and flyers, protesting the influence of “Big Oil” and John McCain’s involvement with it.The event was one of 130 Rallies for Clean Energy that MoveOn.org was supporting all around the country “to draw attention to John McCain’s plans for an additional $39 billion in oil company tax loopholes and subsidies,” according to a press release.MoveOn.org is an organization with more than 3.2 million members that “brings real Americans back into the political process,” according to their Web site. Terry Usrey, a Bloomington resident who was one of the MoveOn.org supporters at the rally, said the group hoped to bring attention to awareness of energy policy and the climate change crisis.The rally lasted less than an hour, and for most of that time few shoppers were present.“I don’t even know why (the rally) happened,” said Philip Clampitt, one of the Tuesday Market produce sellers. “I thought this town had enough of that.”
(07/30/08 11:42pm)
Bloomington act The Coke Dares kicked
off their upcoming tour with a show at Fester’s House of Blooze on
Friday night that included more than 60 songs, non-sequitur jokes about
the presidential election candidates and lots of stage energy.
(07/28/08 12:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Children screaming on fair rides, barns of prize livestock and the smells of sugary and fried food pervaded the Monroe County Fairgrounds all last week. But the fair’s biggest event came over the weekend: the demolition derby.The fair raked in thousands of people Friday and Saturday evening at the fairground grandstand who watched drivers slam each other’s revamped junk cars through the mud, pushing them up on banks and blowing out engines. Smells of motor fuel, cigarettes and wet dirt permeated the air as children and adults alike anticipated the sounds of crashing metal and the sights of cars falling apart in front of their eyes.“I come out just to watch my friends race, have a good time, holler,” said Corey McKinley, a 15-year-old student at Eastern Greene High School in Bloomfield, Ind. “I love watching the guys get ready, get riled up, get ready to smash it all up.”First Vice President of the Monroe County Fair Board Rick Routon said every year the demolition derby pulls in the biggest crowds of all the events at the fair.Some of the cars started the derby with few dents, looking like 1970s models one might see on the roads, minus being stripped of their interiors with all their glass punched out. Others started out with a lot of dents. Most had been redecorated with spray-paint and had their exhaust pipes repositioned near the car hood. But by the end of the race, all the cars were heavily banged up.Just fewer than 60 cars were racing in Saturday night’s derby in four heats, said Wally Hamilton, chairman for the derby.Hamilton explained that seven to 15 cars race per heat, with all categories – minis, midsize, full-size and powder puff – having one heat each. The contestants crash into each other until three cars are left running in each heat. The remaining three per category win $100 and go to the “feature” race, while the others go to a consolation race. Three from the consolation race go with the three from each of the winning categories to the feature race until one ultimate winner is left running.Drivers said they liked the derby because it gave them the chance to be destructive where they wouldn’t otherwise be allowed to do so.Driver Bryan Davis, a 5-year derby veteran, said his favorite part of being in the derby was “being able to hit stuff.”“It’s a good way to take out aggression,” Davis said.Driver David Sosbe, who has been driving in the derby since 2001, said he also enjoyed “being able to crash into people and not get in trouble for it.”Hamilton, who said he has been involved in demolition derbies since 1971 and has served as chairman of the Monroe County derby for seven years, said his personal favorite groups are the mini cars and the powder puff – the women-only race.“The ladies, they don’t care. They just go out there and beat the daylights out of each other,” he said.
(07/24/08 8:37pm)
Bloomington
act The Coke Dares kicked off their upcoming tour with a show at Fester’s House
of Blooze on Friday night that included more than 60 songs, non-sequitur jokes
about the presidential election candidates and lots of stage energy.
(07/23/08 11:44pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Anyone who’s seen The Delicious will be asking the same question about their new EP: Does it live up to vocalist David Woodruff’s mustache?Woodruff almost certainly has the best mustache in Bloomington, and The Delicious are almost certainly one of the town’s coolest bands. “When I’m near Dave Woodruff, I’m intimidated by his coolness,” my roommate said to me last week at The Delicious’ Total Trash Tuesday show.With the live energy the band plays off each other and their audience, it’s hard not to get caught up in their coolness. Their new EP Postcards to my Sewing Circle doesn’t capture that coolness or energy, but it’s charming and witty enough that after a few listens this recorded version of The Delicious is almost as enjoyable as their live counterpart.Postcards to my Sewing Circle balances all the band’s elements, from the swerving synthesizers to the introspective vocals to the drums and bass that complement the group’s parts without overpowering them. The jangly, rhythmic guitars and harmonic instrumentals also bring out their playful mood.One of the most memorable parts of the EP is Woodruff’s lyrics. They’re arty and intelligent and enigmatic enough to keep you coming back to them but not so enigmatic as to mean almost anything. In “Accelerated Dickery,” possibly the EP’s most memorable song, Woodruff sings: “I nearly cracked, I nearly cracked the window to yell at a pretty girl/ I wouldn’t call myself that kind of guy: I wouldn’t call myself short for Richard.”Despite the band’s terrific chemistry, however, Postcards to my Sewing Circle suffers from its flat production. I know a local part-time act like The Delicious can’t do fancy production work, but a little direction about which elements to highlight would have gone a long way. It sounds like they went into the studio and recorded the same way they play live.But most of those holes left by the lack of production can be filled by brainpower after a few listens. Postcards to my Sewing Circle might not be as cool as Woodruff’s mustache, but their EP shows The Delicious has the potential to be just as memorable.
(07/14/08 12:49am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The downtown area drew a large crowd Friday for an evening of community, food and art with a Hoosier twist.The Gallery Walk, a quarterly event that features exhibit openings from downtown Bloomington galleries, started at 4:30 p.m. Friday and went late into the evening. Art enthusiasts braved the sticky heat and ducked inside eight galleries on and near the Square to meet local artists and view their work.Galleries drew in patrons with live music, food and wine to show off their July art exhibits in a variety of media, while patrons browsed for art and enjoyed the atmosphere.Martha Moore, co-owner of pictura gallery, which participated in the event, said past Gallery Walks had great success and she was expecting several hundred people to walk through her gallery that evening.“They agree to stay open late, have food and present new work,” she said.Other participating galleries included Bellevue Gallery, By Hand Gallery, Gallery North on the Square, the John Waldron Arts Center, Tutto Bene Gallery, Prima Gallery, Wandering Turtle Gallery and Gifts, and Gallery North on the Square. While pictura gallery featured only photography-based art, others, such as the John Waldron Arts Center featured media as diverse as oil painting and woodwork. Still others, such as Prima Gallery, had works from pottery to acrylic to sculpture and inkjet photography.Gallery North on the Square, a co-op gallery with about 20 member artists, featured work from its members as well as a special exhibit by members of the Bloomington Watercolor Society.Gallery North President Carolyn Rogers Richard said the Gallery Walk had brought in an outstanding crowd. “We’re delighted with the public response,” she said.Other galleries were thrilled by the amount of local talent they were able to showcase.Prima Gallery Director Marcy Neiditz said her gallery’s July exhibit featured, among other local talent, two printmaking professors from Ball State University and one printmaking professor from IU. It also had the work of international artists among its 20-plus featured artists, Neiditz said.“It showcases our local-and-beyond talent,” she said.Anna Walker, gallery director at the John Waldron Arts Center, also described a display in her gallery as having a “twist.”Other galleries featured artists who put a spin on Hoosier culture. Wandering Turtle’s featured artist John Eric Hawkins of Winona Lake, Ind., used landscapes common to the Hoosier eye – rocks, rivers and trees – but with a variation on the common nature portrait: They featured naked women.He also did work in pastels, then put a twist on them by taking pictures of them and turning them into photographs.“Where I’m currently working is treating color purely as emotion,” he said.Daniel Orr, one of pictura gallery’s featured artists and the owner of FARMbloomington, said he was trying to capture the spirit of Southern Indiana via one of its cultural motifs: the farm.His “Seasons of the Farm” exhibit, also featuring artist Gretchen Sigmund, featured photography of local produce – some from his own farming and gardening and some from other Southern Indiana gardens.Orr said although this was the first time his photography was formatted and plated to the extent pictura gallery had made it, he also has work hanging in Bloomingfoods Near West of his produce and food he has prepared.“I saw part of my childhood fading, and I wanted to capture it,” Orr said, noting that the nature of farming is changing. “I’m not afraid to make a political statement.”
(07/10/08 8:09pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When your live shows are as manic and memorable as The Coke Dares’, getting the same spirit on a record is a hard task. But the Bloomington punk act does it with ease on their new album Feelin’ Up, never letting down the energy during its 23 minutes.Feelin’ Up manages to avoid all the common punk-album fates – monotony, taking your band too seriously and believing punk songs need to be as long as other songs. It’s rife with spicy guitar solos and lyrics awakening the mundane, and only a handful of songs clock in over one minute.A 33-track, 23-minute album with songs that average about 40 seconds – one even clocking in at four seconds – might sound gimmicky, but for The Coke Dares, those lengths are all that’s necessary to develop a hook and attach it to their hilarious observations and fantasies about their surroundings. After all, why drag a song out when stereos have rewind buttons?Bloomington dwellers will especially appreciate The Coke Dares’ lyrics about life in Hoosierland, with songs like “There’s a Meth Lab on my Street” and “Martinsville Blues,” which tells the story of a West Coast Casanova snagging women in Martinsville and Bedford. “Ronald McDonald” includes the lyric: “Somebody said I looked like Ronald McDonald with a beard, so we played darts till I couldn’t stand up anymore” – which has the high possibility of being a Video Saloon reference.Other song topics on Feelin’ Up include zombies, satellites and fantasizing about getting as stoned as Neil Young (“…because he gets higher than anyone you know/ And if I could get as high as Neil Young does, then maybe I could write a song as good as one of his”).Besides the lyrics, the album’s other highlight is its guitars. They’re brief but wacked out and full of force, like gamma-ray bursts in outer space; virtuosic but fast, like classic rock on speed.What Feelin’ Up comes down to is a 23-minute thrill ride of passion and insanity – and probably the best summertime album you’ll hear the whole season.
(07/10/08 1:33pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When your live shows are as manic and memorable as The Coke Dares’, getting the same spirit on a record is a hard task. But the Bloomington punk act does it with ease on their new album Feelin’ Up, never letting down the energy during its 23 minutes.Feelin’ Up manages to avoid all the common punk-album fates – monotony, taking your band too seriously and believing punk songs need to be as long as other songs. It’s rife with spicy guitar solos and lyrics awakening the mundane, and only a handful of songs clock in over one minute.A 33-track, 23-minute album with songs that average about 40 seconds – one even clocking in at four seconds – might sound gimmicky, but for The Coke Dares, those lengths are all that’s necessary to develop a hook and attach it to their hilarious observations and fantasies about their surroundings. After all, why drag a song out when stereos have rewind buttons?Bloomington dwellers will especially appreciate The Coke Dares’ lyrics about life in Hoosierland, with songs like “There’s a Meth Lab on my Street” and “Martinsville Blues,” which tells the story of a West Coast Casanova snagging women in Martinsville and Bedford. “Ronald McDonald” includes the lyric: “Somebody said I looked like Ronald McDonald with a beard, so we played darts till I couldn’t stand up anymore” – which has the high possibility of being a Video Saloon reference.Other song topics on Feelin’ Up include zombies, satellites and fantasizing about getting as stoned as Neil Young (“…because he gets higher than anyone you know/ And if I could get as high as Neil Young does, then maybe I could write a song as good as one of his”).Besides the lyrics, the album’s other highlight is its guitars. They’re brief but wacked out and full of force, like gamma-ray bursts in outer space; virtuosic but fast, like classic rock on speed.What Feelin’ Up comes down to is a 23-minute thrill ride of passion and insanity – and probably the best summertime album you’ll hear the whole season.
(07/09/08 5:54pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Who needs Dior when you have endless racks of merchandise at $2 a piece and a license to dress as strange as you want by shopping at thrift stores?I’ve long been a thrift-shopping enthusiast – I even worked at a Goodwill Store for a while. Secondhand stores give you the power to be as wild as you want at low, low prices.So last week I was hired to go on a thrift-shopping spree; I checked out three of the most popular secondhand stores closes to campus: the Goodwill Store, the Salvation Army and Cactus Flower. The first two are traditional straight-up thrift stores, while Cactus Flower is a vintage consignment shop that’s kind of like a thrift store “best of.”The Goodwill stores in Bloomington, both the one close to campus, 840 S. Auto Mall Road, and the one out by Wal-Mart, 1284 S. Liberty Drive, might be two of the cleanest and well-organized thrift stores on the planet.Asst. Manager Laura Williamson at the Goodwill on Auto Mall estimated about 40 to 50 percent of the shoppers at that store are college students, who come in looking for “dress-up clothes.”“I’ve seen guys buy gowns,” Williamson said. “It’s a good place to buy special-needs things.”One of the most exciting parts of secondhand store shopping is taking advantage of the freedom it gives you to bend expectations: gender expectations, style expectations, expectations that the world’s supply of Superdrag tour T-shirts is confined in attics, etc.The low prices at thrift stores make for a great excuse to redefine fashion. I never would pay $40 for a men’s dress shirt to wear with my short women’s shorts and wifebeater, but the colorful selection at Goodwill for 1/10 that cost makes seizing androgyny appealing. And while you might have returned that $300 red tweed suit blazer had your grandmother given it to you last holiday season, wearing its less-than-$10 equivalent might get the hipster chicks swooning.Becky Napier, the manager at Bloomington’s Salvation Army, said “the weirder the better” is the motto for the college crowd that comes into her store.Bloomington’s Salvation Army, 111 N. Rogers St., isn’t as clean or organized as its Goodwill counterparts, but the prices are cheaper and it has fewer shirts that have shrunk in the dryer.Thrift stores are not a great place to try to find good fitting clothes, but trying to find fitted shirts is an especially poor idea. I have a theory that the cause of most ill-fitted tops in thrift stores is the donators' inabilities to work their laundry machines’ temperature dials. Consequently, 99 percent of these shirts are useless unless the length from your shoulders to hips is eight inches.Stick to the sections of suit coats, dresses and skirts, ironic T-shirts, dress shirts and sweaters. It’s much easier to pass these items off as intentionally ill-fitting or distracting.Cactus Flower, 322 E. Kirkwood Ave., is the only one of the three shops mentioned here where you have a chance of finding well-fitting clothes. The vintage upstairs section of the half-new-merchandise, half-consignment shop is the most expensive among these three stores, but it has the most consistently cool set of wares.The store specializes in vintage clothes from the ’50s to the ’80s, according to its Web site. It has particularly impressive sections of leather jackets, vintage jeans and dresses.It also has a section of T-shirts that have graphics that read “We have sand,” and “Show me your Rackk” on the front with the back reading “Random Acts of Circle K Kindness.”“T-shirts are very popular,” Vintage Section Manager Jessie LaJoie said. When shopping for clothes at secondhand stores, the most important thing to remember is not to go in with expectations. Go in with an open mind ready to turn whatever you find into your own style. And don’t be afraid to be bizarre.
(07/08/08 4:55pm)
After just two-and-a-half years in business, Landlocked Music closed its doors June 29.\nBut it’s not staying closed long – the record shop opens new doors Tuesday in a more visible location.\nThe store has spent the past week moving all the merchandise from its old 314 S. Washington St. location to its new home at 202 N. Walnut St., according to Landlocked’s \nWeb site.\nJason Nickey, Landlocked’s co-owner, said he’s anxious about the move, but he hopes the new location – downtown just off the Square – will attract a wider customer base.\n“It makes me a little \nnervous, but I think we’ll be fine,” he said. “More people will see us; whether they’ll come in is a different question.”\nBloomington Transit is in the process of buying their old building, Nickey said, leaving them no choice but to vacate by the end of the year.\n“We could stay here until we actually had to move, but I thought we would just do it when we found a space,” \nNickey said.\nThe building that encompasses 310 to 314 S. Washington St. is being bought as part of “an L-shaped site of six parcels” that also includes the old Royal Dog building, 301 S. Walnut St., and a few other currently vacant sites along South Walnut Street, according to a press release from the Bloomington Public Transportation Corporation. \n“We’re excited to announce our plans to purchase and develop this site for a new downtown passenger transit facility,” BPTC General Manager Lewis May said in the press release. “This site will give us the space we need to expand transit services in the future and will provide transit riders with greatly improved amenities.”\nBloomington Transit hopes to close on the property by Oct. 31, with construction slated to begin in spring 2009 and go until fall of that year, according to the press release.\nAlthough Nickey joked the new space’s main merit is that “it’ll exist and the old one won’t,” he said he was also happy with the new space’s landlords.\n“The people who run the building are actual people and not, like, strange lizard people,” he said.\nBut the owners of Landlocked’s new neighbors, which include the Bluebird and Plan Nine Film Emporium, said they’re thrilled to have Landlocked on their block.\nPlan Nine Owner Dave Walter said he’s eager about Landlocked adding to the block’s atmosphere as a quirky entertainment hub.\n“My take on it is – all the interesting, independent businesses we can get in the area, the better,” Walter said.\nBluebird owner Dave Kubiak said he, too, is excited about Landlocked’s move.\n“There’s a lot of personality that goes along with Landlocked,” he said. “It will certainly add more daytime vibrancy to this neighborhood.”\nWalter and Kubiak said they are looking forward to the ways Landlocked’s proximity will allow them to collaborate with the store. \nWalter said he hoped Landlocked would play shows at their new space, which he said Plan Nine would support in any way possible.\nKubiak said he wasn’t sure how much influence Landlocked would have on the types of shows the Bluebird would bring in, but he is open to the idea of Landlocked wanting to hold shows at the Bluebird and is anticipating all the ways they can network.\n“Third Street is a weird barrier,” Kubiak said, “so we’re happy \nthey’re downtown.”
(07/03/08 12:42am)
In the aftermath of natural disasters, victims are often further terrorized by scammers who promise to aid with cleaning up, then make off with the victims’ money. Luckily, Indiana has come out of recent flooding disasters with few reports of such incidents. \nOrganizations such as the Better Business Bureau of Indianapolis, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Martinsville Police Department said they have received few reports of flood-victim scams. They said the reason for the low number of scam reports could be that they acted quickly after the flooding to get warnings out about scammers and made sure every claim filed by a “victim” was legitimate. \nMartinsville Police Department Officer Brian Chambers said the MPD had received a few reports of scam artists trying to take advantage of victims, but most of them tried to rip off the Red Cross, who he said had an easier system to get around than FEMA’s. \n“It’s not hard in the flash to pick up electric bills,” Chambers said. “We had a few (cases) where people were claiming they lived at a particular address, and they got $700 or $800.” \nBut, he said, FEMA’s verification of victims and the presence of the MPD at the FEMA location in Martinsville had appeared to contribute to the low occurrence of scams in the city. \n“I honestly think with the presence with law enforcement walking the halls, it may have actually deterred some people ... because if they get caught, there’s police on the scene,” Chambers said. \nAccording to a press release from the Better Business Bureau in Indianapolis, the most common post-disaster scams come from con artists who offer to assist in yard repairs or clean-up. Linda Carmody, president and CEO of the Indianapolis division of the BBB, called such people “storm chasers,” because they often collect money from disaster victims and then move on to disasters in other locations across the country without repairing what they were hired to do. \nCarmody said “storm chasers” are people, usually from out-of-state, who offer to help with disaster relief for a price, but are either unconcerned about doing a good job for the work they are hired to do or intend not to do it at all and run off as soon as a natural disaster hits somewhere else. \n“Many times they don’t care about the quality of work they do, ’cause they’re just in it for the bucks,” Carmody said. “People say they’ve gotten a ‘lifetime warranty’ out of them, but they can’t get them to come back and do the work. ... We would recommend just not doing business with a storm chaser. It’s that bad.” \nAfter the flooding that occurred the first week of June, the attorney general’s office sent out a news release June 9 to warn victims against “unscrupulous contractors” who would try to take advantage of victims who were more eager to have their property fixed than to find someone who would do the best job. The Better Business Bureau in Indianapolis followed that release with a June 18 news release about how to avoid such scam artists. \nIn addition, FEMA follows up on every application for assistance that is filed to make sure it is from a legitimate victim, said FEMA public service representative Richard Gifford. He said FEMA verifies that applicants are who they say they are and that the address they provide is correct. \n“We’re always on watch; we verify everything,” Gifford said. “We make sure we know who we’re talking about.” \nHe said that if information provided does not fit its applicant, the case goes to FEMA’s investigative area, but only rarely does a con artist apply. \n“Most of the claims are legitimate – 99.9 percent,” he said. \nAlthough he did not have definitive numbers of how many claims filed with FEMA were found to be scams, he said the number of scams related to the Indiana flooding seemed to be lower than in other natural disasters FEMA has dealt with. \nTo find out more information about how to avoid being scammed in the aftermath of natural disasters, visit the Office of the Indiana Attorney General’s Web site at www.in.gov/attorneygeneral or call the Indianapolis Better Business Bureau at 866-INDY-BBB.
(06/28/08 5:30pm)
After just 2 1/2 years in business, the much-loved Landlocked Music is closing its doors Sunday.\nBut not because of lack of love. Instead, the record shop will open new doors next week in a more prominent, more visible location.\nThe store will be in the process, June 30 to July 7, of moving all merchandise from its current 314 S. Washington St. location to its new home at 202 N. Walnut St., according to Landlocked’s Web site.\nJason Nickey, Landlocked’s co-owner, said he’s anxious about the move, but he hopes the new location – downtown just off the Square – will attract a wider customer base.\n“It makes me a little nervous, but I think we’ll be fine,” he said. “More people will see us; whether they’ll come in is a different question.”\nThe Washington Street record shop has become a Bloomington favorite during its brief existence, but Bloomington Transit is in the process of buying their old building, Nickey said, leaving them no choice but to vacate by the end of the year.\n“We could stay here until we actually had to move, but I thought we would just do it when we found a space,” Nickey said.\nAlthough Nickey joked the new space’s main merit is that “it’ll exist and the old one won’t,” he said he was also happy with the new space’s landlords.\n“The people who run the building are actual people and not, like, strange lizard people,” he said.\nAccording to a press release from the Bloomington Public Transportation Corporation, the building that encompasses 310 to 314 S. Washington St. is being bought as part of “an L-shaped site of six parcels” that also includes the old Royal Dog building, 301 S. Walnut St., and a few other currently vacant sites along South Walnut Street. \n“We’re excited to announce our plans to purchase and develop this site for a new \ndowntown passenger transit facility,” BPTC General Manager Lewis May said in the press release. “This site will give us the space we need to expand transit services in the future and will provide transit riders with greatly improved amenities.”\nBloomington Transit hopes to close on the property by Oct. 31, according to the press release, with construction slated to begin in spring 2009 and go until fall of that year.\nBut the owners of Landlocked’s new neighbors, which include the Bluebird and Plan Nine Film Emporium, said they’re thrilled to have Landlocked on their block.\nPlan Nine Owner Dave Walter said he’s eager about Landlocked adding to the block’s atmosphere as a quirky entertainment hub.\n“My take on it is - all the interesting, independent businesses we can get in the area, the better,” Walter said.\nThe Bluebird’s owner Dave Kubiak said he, too, is excited about Landlocked’s move.\n“There’s a lot of personality that goes along with Landlocked,” he said. “It will certainly add more daytime vibrancy to this neighborhood.”\nWalter and Kubiak said they are looking forward to the ways Landlocked’s proximity will allow them to collaborate with the store. \nWalter said he hoped Landlocked would play shows at their new space, which he said Plan Nine would support in any way possible.\nKubiak said he wasn’t sure how much influence Landlocked would have on the types of shows the Bluebird would bring in, but he is open to the idea of Landlocked wanting to hold shows at the Bluebird and is anticipating all the ways they can network.\n“Third Street is a weird barrier,” Kubiak said, “so we’re happy they’re downtown.”
(06/25/08 6:15pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Yes, the guys who did “Pretty Fly for a White Guy” are still around. And yes, their new album sounds like it was made by a band from MTV’s last musical days that didn’t know how to cross over to the new millenium. While Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace has plenty of The Offspring’s trademark kicking, confrontational music, it’s more full of cliched melodrama. Not that The Offspring ever really were exceptional at striking a balance, though. Even Americana – aka the Offspring album everybody knows (the one that included “Pretty Fly for a White Guy” and “Why Don’t You Get a Job”) – could get preachy when it was trying to tug your heartstrings. But they used to be able to get away with it by not taking themselves seriously. On Americana, they balanced out the moralizing “Staring at the Sun” and “The Kids Aren’t Alright” with the creeper girlfriend tale “She’s Got Issues” and a sarcastic revision of Morris Albert’s “Feelings.” But when the preachiness steps in on Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, only wincing can save the pain. Here’s a sample from the track “Rise and Fall”: “And I don’t wanna say I told you so/ But I told you so/ Now you’ve lost control/ And I don’t wanna be the rise and fall/ So gimme more or nothing at all.” The thoughtfully named “Stuff is Messed Up” is amazingly even more painful. Instead of conjuring the spirit of an evangelical worship session for insomniacs, lead singer Dexter Holland takes to ranting about how much the state of the nation sucks and stuff. “I don’t know much/ I don’t know too much/ But I know this/ Shit is fucked up!” Holland shouts, followed by a list of evils that ranges from “ecstasy” to “genocide” to “Rehab and LOL.” Rise and Fall’s only saving grace is that, in terms of instrumentation and vocals, the band sounds the same as it did in the ’90s. Holland rants with a pinched voice, and the guitars and drums are loud and speedy. But this isn’t the ’90s, and Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace is not worth listening to.
(06/23/08 2:06am)
With prices at the pump already topping $4 a gallon and the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimating grocery prices will rise more than 5 percent this year, the flooding of much of America’s farmland will be causing those prices to soar even higher.\nAccording to preliminary statistics from the USDA, about 9 percent of Indiana’s corn, soybean and wheat crops have been damaged, said Deb Abbott, assistant director for communications and outreach with the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, adding up to more than $800 million in damages to these crops alone.\nAnd that’s without taking into account a host of other major considerations: debris cleanup costs, damage to livestock and personal losses, not to mention many farmers still being unable to replant crops because of remaining high water.\nChris Hurt, a Purdue Extension agricultural economist, said the late replanting date has been one of the foremost problems the flooding has caused for crops. The deadline for planting corn is May 10, he said, and the deadline for planting soybeans is June 20.\n“Really after this week, people will be looking only at planting soybeans,” he said.\nBut due to problems the flooding caused to the land itself – including top soil erosion, gully formation and extensive debris washup – many farmers are still unable to get out to replant, Hurt said. He said because so many farmers will have to plant soybeans late, the yields on the crop in Indiana will only be about 65 to 70 percent of normal yields.\n“Just because it’s flooded doesn’t mean it’s a total loss,” he said. “If it dries, they can reseed, but again, they’ve lost a lot of the growing season.”\nThe livestock industry will suffer because of the decreased yield in soybeans.\n“The livestock industry is in a panic mode at this point,” Hurt said.\nThe flood did little damage to livestock directly, but soybean meal, in addition to corn and grain meal, are the foundation of the diet of most livestock. Because Indiana is such a major feed producer, Hurt said, the prices of livestock products from eggs and dairy to pork and beef will also rise.\nAbbott also included that debris has caused damage to Indiana’s livestock and that the Indiana State Board of Animal Health has been advising farmers about being particularly careful when dealing with their animals.\n“They are advising people to watch animals, keep them off of flooded areas,” Abbott said. “Flooded waters likely carried a lot of things animals don’t want to eat – chemicals ... petroleum, sewage.”\nBut the flooding could be causing even more trouble for Indiana’s burgeoning ethanol industry. While about 20 percent of the corn produced in Indiana becomes livestock-feed corn, Hurt said, even more than that goes to ethanol.\n“By the end of 2008, we would have a capacity to use 300 million bushels of corn in Indiana just for ethanol production,” Hurt said. “That’s a lot of fuel. That is roughly one-third of the corn production in Indiana headed to ethanol.”\nHurt said the impact at the pump will be minimal, as only about 7 percent of our gasoline is currently blended with ethanol. He estimated consumers will see an increase of about one to three cents per gallon of gas.\nHowever, the recent push for ethanol has also led to several ethanol plants in Indiana currently being built. But because of the flooding, they may not be able to open until next year when more corn is available. Or, he said, they may open but only run at about 85 percent capacity.\nHurt said the government’s main method of avoiding widespread economic damage from natural disasters like the flood has been to push farmers to buy crop insurance.\n“But it’s also tough when so many are hurting to not help some,” he said.\nIndiana Agriculture Director Andy Miller listed several options for farmers in a June 12 press conference with Gov. Mitch Daniels. He said the USDA would have emergency loans available, and farmers who are homeowners would be able to qualify for FEMA aid.\nThe ISDA has also released a guide titled “Indiana Disaster Assistance for Agriculture,” which lists the kind of aid available to Indiana farmers. Some of the options available are disaster unemployment assistance, grants from the Emergency Conservation Program and the Emergency Watershed Protection Program and programs to pay for installation of conservation practices.\nThe state government and Purdue University have also been working together to make advice available to farmers regarding technical assistance, such as the call-in forum hosted by Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman and several Purdue Extension specialists offering replanting advice. \n“There’s a very wide array of possibilities here, and I would hope there’s enough so that each farmer can pick up and move on,” Gov. Daniels said in the June 12 press conference. \nHowever, some farmers say the government’s assistance has been minimal. \nRex and Kim Bryant, who run Bryant Farm in Ellettsville, estimated they had about $10,000 damage to their crops and said the information they received from FEMA gave no provision for aid to farmers.\n“FEMA won’t help farmers and ranchers at all,” Kim Bryant said.\nBut countless private organizations and individuals are helping out. \nTo close his June 12 press conference, Gov. Daniels told the story of a woman named Millie in Loogootee, Ind., who had planted two sets of crops this year and lost them both.\n“After we’d gone through all of that I said, ‘Does anyone have any last questions?’ and she raised her hand and said, ‘What can we do to help other people? Where do we call to help somebody?’ And I just couldn’t resist telling you that because this is what I keep encountering,” Daniels said. “Here is somebody who has been hit as hard as anyone, and her concern is what she can do to help someone else.”\nAnd, Hurt said, the destruction of Indiana farmland won’t be all bad.\nFarmers in the northern part of the state who did not receive flood water damage are actually benefiting from the rising prices, and Indiana farmers who have an average to good crop could see record-high incomes this year.\n“One person’s loss gives somebody else a windfall,” he said.
(06/12/08 12:19am)
If you’ve been walking down Indiana Avenue near the Sample Gates recently, you may have noticed T-shirts hanging in a window next to Buffa Louie’s.\nThe T-shirts belong to Underground Printing, a custom apparel printing store based in Ann Arbor, Mich. Underground Printing will open its new Bloomington store July 15, according to a press release.\nRyland Ferguson, Underground Printing’s regional manager for the Midwest, said the business will specialize in apparel and promotional products made for local and campus groups, such as greek organizations, recreational sports teams and \nbar crawlers.\n“We don’t offer anything retail,” Ferguson said. “Everything we make \nis custom.”\nFerguson said it will be the company’s seventh store. Its first store was bought out from previous owners in Ann Arbor about seven years ago, Ferguson said, and it has since expanded to six other college towns around the Midwest. Its most recent expansion before coming to Bloomington was in West Lafayette.\n“It’s great to be coming to a school like IU and a town like Bloomington,” co-owner Rishi Narayan said in the press release. “We feel there’s a lot we can offer the students, departments and campus businesses that is unique in terms of custom apparel.”\nFerguson said the company defines itself is by its \nfast turnaround time and “cutting-edge” fashion style, including such items as T-shirts made from sustainable-environment materials and fitted shirts.\nHe said while most custom-apparel places take one to two weeks from the time an order is placed to complete an order, Underground Printing’s turnaround time is about five days.\nThe store’s staff will be comprised entirely of members of the Bloomington and campus communities, according to the press release.\nFerguson said the origins of the business’s name \nare unknown.\n“It doesn’t have anything to do with being underground or subversive ... That’s just the name when (the current owners) bought it.”
(06/11/08 8:52pm)
Since the band’s beginning in 1998, Ladytron have evolved from making trendy electroclash with a tongue-in-cheek asexual shtick on 2000’s 604 to the ambitious and cathartic Witching Hour in 2005. But after putting out a record as brilliant as Witching Hour, where do you go next? Velocifero seems to be Ladytron’s way of saying they don’t know.