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(03/06/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I don’t know how many of you are watching NBC’s “Hannibal.” Probably not many, considering its first season last spring had an overall viewership of only 2.9 million people. And chances are, now that the peacock network has resigned the show to the TV graveyard known as Friday night primetime, “Hannibal” isn’t going to last very long. But that is all the more reason to start tuning in.Created by Bryan Fuller, the creative mind behind such cult hits as “Pushing Daises” and “Dead Like Me,” this new incarnation of the Hannibal Lecter story is darkly devious and cerebral. Nothing could ever touch “the Silence of the Lambs,” the almost perfect 1991 thriller starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins in Academy Award-winning roles, but “Hannibal” is an exceedingly disturbing beast all its own.The first new episode of this year was directed by Tim Hunter, who’s cut his teeth on some equally chilling episodes of “American Horror Story” and “Breaking Bad.” His touch is palpable, keeping the show saturated in deep reds and earth tones. The finished product is a tangibly sadistic and murky atmosphere perfect for this on-going game of serial killer cat and mouse. We open with our mentally unhinged protagonist Will Graham, played with adorable troubled-ness by Hugh Dancy, locked up in the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. The poor guy was set up to take the fall for all of Hannibal’s murders, and nobody believes his side of the story.Well, almost nobody. Graham’s will-they-or-won’t-they co-worker, Dr. Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas), is helping him to recover lost memories through hypnosis. This induces one of the series’ most disturbing scenes, involving a severed ear, plastic tubing and Will’s throat. You might want to keep a barf bag handy. Having our main character behind bars is a cause for concern plotwise, seeing as his mobility and interaction with other characters is pretty inert. But Dr. Lecter appears to be taking Will’s place on the FBI’s investigative team, an unsettling twist that could give season two the same instability that made season one so addicting. This season’s new chief mystery involves a murderer who seems to be collecting a pallet of skin colors and complexions, turning his victims into models and discarding those he can’t perfect after death. The episode ends with a grim and sadistic shot, showing the potential for this season’s villain to be lightyears more upsetting than last season’s father/daughter serial killer storyline.But the series wouldn’t even get off the ground if it weren’t for Mads Mikkelsen as Dr. Hannibal Lecter. While Hopkins’ portrayal in the Hannibal films was chilling and bordered on effective parody, Mikkelsen is more subdued and quiet. It haunts and lingers as opposed to spooking you unexpectedly. It’s hard to say how much longer “Hannibal” will be around, but here’s hoping NBC gives this procedural time to spread its creative fire. Or at least let it top each crazy way Dr. Lecter prepares his cannibalistic meals for himself and his dinner guests.
(02/27/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Art and sex are at it again, stirring up controversy and getting people all riled up over someone’s personal choices. You know, the ones they’re allowed to make for themselves.In the latest art/sex team-up, a 19-year-old man studying at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London is set to lose his virginity with an unidentified male partner in front of an audience April 2. The performance piece, entitled “Art School Stole My Virginity,” is based on the student’s experiences and thoughts on the concept of virginity and how it’s been perpetuated and conceived in our modern society.So, yes, having sex in front of people isn’t something that will go over well with the traditional and conservative masses. It’s not something that I’d want to do, and I’m going to go out on a limb and assume a majority of other people wouldn’t want to do it either. Because, for starters, people are not good at sex their first time. And if you were great the first time, congratulations, the rest of us weren’t. But whether or not you think the idea of virginity is ridiculous in the first place, when people willingly elect to have sex, it’s their choice. So if this student in London is choosing to have sex for the first time in front of 150 audience members, and he has a space to do so, more power to him. If people want to show up to a performance piece where it’s clear that people will be having sex with each other, it’s their choice as well. Everyone involved in this scenario is deciding to either participate or show up. No one’s being forced or coerced into doing something they don’t want to do.It’s no one else’s job to dictate what is good or bad sex, unless, of course, they’re talking about their partner’s performance in bed. This whole controversial episode also drums up the age-old debate of what art actually is. Conventionally, we think of art as paintings, plays, music or films, among a myriad of other artistic mediums. But to define art is to reduce it to a bare minimum, something art should never cop to do. The purpose of art is to convey a message, or a theme of the artist’s choice. It’s the way in which an artist chooses to express their world view the way they see it. If this student sees art as his way to communicate how he feels society has constructed the myth of virginity, and in doing so he chooses to lose his in the process, then let him do it in peace. If you’re horribly offended, here’s an idea — don’t acknowledge it, and certainly don’t fly to London to watch. Just as it’s free will to create and display art, it’s free will to not engage with it. wdmcdona@indiana.edu@thedevilwearsdm
(02/20/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Celebrities have been coming out for years. Ellen DeGeneres did it on the cover of Time magazine in 1997. Lance Bass did it on the cover of People magazine in 2006. Zachary Quinto came out quietly in an interview with New York Magazine in 2011.Gradually, throughout time, it’s become quite the non-issue. Kind of like saying, “Hey, everyone. Guess what? I’m a vegetarian.” ‘Cause, you know, big deal.Yet, as sexuality and gender identity slowly becomes the prejudices of yesteryear, public figures like actress Ellen Page acknowledging her homosexuality still bring a tear to my eye. It really doesn’t register all that much to me that Page, an Academy Award-nominee for 2007’s “Juno,” is a lesbian. I’m still going to see her next film because she’s a damn good actress. I’m still going to be drawn to her on screen because she’s an engaging presence. Heterosexual men can still find her attractive because she’s a beautiful person.Her sexuality is not limiting to her professional life. It doesn’t apply to any of those previously mentioned parameters, or many parameters at all. In fact, it really only applies to Page herself and whoever she chooses to have a relationship with. But as Page stood on stage at a Human Rights Campaign event on Valentine’s Day, she represented a heroism we, unfortunately, still must see today as bravery. Even though the debate over House Joint Resolution 3, which would create a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in Indiana, is tabled until 2015 or 2016, we still need people like Page to remind us being gay is OK. The example being set by Indiana legislators seriously considering and fighting for an outright constitutional ban on same-sex marriage is appalling, and they should be ashamed.Ashamed that an actress, a profession not entirely known for its guidebook to role-model ethics, is setting a better example than an elected representative. But then again, I guess I shouldn’t expect that much from politicians. That’s what “House of Cards” is teaching me anyway. I can only hope young Hoosiers across the state will listen to Page’s message of acceptance and not the statehouse’s proposed message of bigotry.Children and teens shouldn’t be sentenced to an adolescence of fear because the officials they weren’t even old enough to vote for don’t have their interests at heart. Ellen Page is on the right side of history, and I implore Indiana to join her in the coming years.— wdmcdona@indiana.eduFollow columnist Dane McDonald on Twitter @thedevilwearsdm.
(02/20/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The wait is finally over. The Underwoods, fresh into the office of the vice presidency, are back. Unless
you were actually doing something romantic for Valentine’s Day, you
probably spent your day binge-watching the second season of Netflix’s
original drama series, “House of Cards,” which began streaming last
Friday.
It’s the blessing and the curse of the new medium of television watching
Netflix has introduced. We get to inhale them all at once, stopping for
the occasional meal and bathroom break. Then, we’re forced to wait a
whole year for the next season.
So whether you’re taking your time or you’re already done with all 13 episodes, let’s get down to it.“House
of Cards” sophomore season is just as, if not more, conniving and
ruthless compared to the first. It’s a magnetic puzzle, chock-full of
manipulative power players who play their cards close to the chest.
But none of those players can match the Underwoods, played by the
Emmy-nominated Kevin Spacey and Golden Globe-winning Robin Wright. The
hardened pair make for a gripping set of leads, at once both callously
cold and filled with fiery energy.
Whereas Frank Underwood’s (Spacey) breaking-the-fourth-wall deliveries
seemed cramping in season one, all qualms with his direct-to-the-camera
monologues will be forgiven once you have finished episode one. In fact,
I’d be surprised if you were able to move much at all once those
credits roll. The twists come fast and quick. It may even warrant a
second viewing if you didn’t believe your eyes the first time.
“Game of Thrones” fans know what I mean when I say the season two opener
of “House of Cards” contains a moment as shocking as the Red Wedding,
except this one could actually happen to you. It’s terrifying and sets
the stage for the following 12 episodes, during which the Underwoods
continue to climb the political ladder.
Season two also adds a few thought-provoking players into the mix,
the best of these being Molly Parker’s Jacqueline Sharp. Sharp is a
veteran and eventual House Majority Whip, whom Frank approached to
succeed him in the position. Sharp proves she can play the political
game as well as anyone else, laying ruin to both enemies and friends in
her ascent to power.
And while the “House of Cards” ensemble faces threats at almost every
turn, Frank and Claire Underwood remain comparatively blemish-free.
Sure, they endure scandal, but we’re never made to feel like their house
of cards is in danger of collapsing. A true adversary, perhaps Sharp,
could be the key to really igniting the fire “House of Cards” lets burn
so steadily.
Regardless, this series does well painting these times of political
unrest in an engaging light. Trust is no longer a factor. It’s all about
who controls the battle field with an iron grip, and no one does so
quite like Frank and Claire Underwood.
(02/13/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I had really bad acne as a teenager. It may seem like an odd jump, but because of my experience with horrendous skin, I cannot support Senate Bill 50, a proposed Indiana bill that would ban all minors under the age of 16 from using tanning beds. Now, bad acne isn’t something out of the ordinary for an adolescent with raging hormones and a serious case of the high school blues. But at the risk of coming off like a drama queen, my blemished skin was a real blow to my self-confidence growing up. Which is why after years of Proactiv, mud masks and weekly facial treatments, my mom signed me up for an indoor tanning account at a local tanning salon. I was 15-years-old, and I had given up hope that any skin treatment would ever work for me. But using a tanning bed worked. My skin wasn’t perfect, but it cleared up more than from any other treatment — including prescription medication — ever had. I’m not here to claim tanning beds are miracle workers, but they’re not the cancer beds people make them out to be. Furthermore, people shouldn’t be chastised for using them.Whether you use a tanning bed or not, studies show your risk for melanoma is less than one percent because melanoma is extremely rare to begin with. In fact, there are actually a number of medical benefits to using tanning beds in safe and moderate amounts. People use tanning beds in order to build a base tan, which alongside sunscreen can protect skin from burning or becoming irritated when exposed to sunlight. Additionally, millions of salon customers use tanning beds in order to treat ailments such as eczema, season affective disorder, psoriasis and, yes, even acne. The ultraviolet-B rays emitted by tanning beds also increase users’ vitamin D levels, which research suggests reduces your likelihood of developing multiple sclerosis, heart disease or contracting the flu. The key is to tan smartly and safely, which isn’t encouraged or promoted when teenagers are banned from using tanning beds altogether.If parents are concerned with their child’s exposure to tanning beds, it’s their choice to exercise their rights as guardians and forbid their children from going to the tanning salon. If I was legally barred from using a tanning bed growing up, my self-confidence would have continued to dwindle, and my skin would not have improved. Hoosier mothers and fathers should have the right to educate their teenage children on how to tan smartly and effectively if they so choose. This is no place for the Indiana legislature to act as a disapproving parent.— wdmcdona@indiana.eduFollow columnist Dane McDonald on Twitter @W_DaneMcDonald.
(02/13/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For a show about a zombie apocalypse, “The Walking Dead” is seriously introspective.At least half of each episode’s 42-minute running time is dedicated to wordless storytelling. Without any dialogue, Michonne lures two walkers into a trap and assembles them as her personal zombie bodyguards.Young Carl perches on the roof of an empty home, eating chocolate pudding while a trapped zombie reaches out an open window behind him. It’s a thing of beauty to see an action-driven show dial it down a few notches and remember how subtlety plays into the medium. As the show’s fourth season returns for its last eight episodes, everyone is separated and — as per usual — no one is safe. Former police sheriff Rick Grimes and his son, Carl, hole themselves up in a vacant home so Rick can recover from his wounds sustained in the midseason finale confrontation with the Governor and his crew. Michonne is haunted by ghosts from her past as she desperately searches for her missing comrades.But it’s the younger Grimes who takes the lead this time around. As a teenager forced to grow up far too quickly in a vastly changed world, Carl has always been one of the show’s more fascinating characters. Instead of growing up playing with friends his own age and getting angry at his father for giving him a curfew, Carl is avoiding becoming zombie bait and bemoaning his father for not letting him use a gun. Carl’s forced maturation is never so obvious than during this episode when he discovers a teenager’s abandoned room, full of music posters, Xbox games and a flat screen television. But instead of being able to sit down and play, Carl rips the cords out of the wall to bind the door shut. It’s a haunting reminder of how our world dictates our purpose and choices in life. This episode’s focus on Carl, Michonne and Rick also highlights another of “The Walking Dead’s” strengths —its commitment to taking an ensemble cast and focusing individual episodes to just a few characters. Earlier this season, two episodes focused solely on the Governor, and they were stunning. This episode isn’t as strong on its own, but it effectively communicates the mentality of loneliness and the vast unknown that has separated the show’s core group.Subsequent episodes will focus on characters like Glen, Maggie and the other surviving members, and we can only hope our motley crew of zombie slayers will once again be reunited.But let’s remember, this is “The Walking Dead.” And there can’t be any happy endings when zombies have enslaved the earth.
(02/06/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>At this point, it’s hard to imagine responding to close-minded bigots would do anybody much good. After all, the only real winners seem to be the ones who yell the loudest. But no matter how loudly the people who disagreed with the Coca-Cola advertisement — featuring multiple languages and gay people — during the Super Bowl yell, they will never be right. The ad in question features people of different ethnicities singing “America the Beautiful” in numerous languages, English only being one of them. It also features two men who appear to be loving fathers to a young daughter, the three of them having fun at a skating rink. First things first.This whole mentality of “We speak English in America, damn it” needs to go away. Because, actually, we speak many languages.In fact, more than 37 million Americans older than the age of five speak Spanish at home. And 2.8 million of those 37 million aren’t even Latino. Another 2.8 million Americans speak Chinese at home, 2.2 million speak Hindi, Urdu or other Indic languages and 2.1 million speak French. In short, we don’t just speak English in America, damn it. This is one of the many reasons English is not our national language. We aren’t just English speakers, nor should we settle to only speak English. In a world that progresses and becomes smaller in the time it used to take to cross oceans by ship, our scope becomes more limited by only possessing the ability of speaking one language. It only shows how ignorant and close-minded Americans are to foreign languages when we get up in arms about, of all things, a harmless Coca-Cola advertisement. Now, on to the second point of contention. It’s no surprise people are upset because of the depiction of a seemingly homosexual couple, let alone a homosexual couple looking happy with a daughter. A somewhat similar ad from Amazon featured a man and woman bonding while their husbands were off getting them drinks. The intention was sweet, but it came off as playing homosexuality as a punch line. In this Super Bowl Coca-Cola ad, we simply have two men and a young girl enjoying themselves. There’s no giant, neon sign that says, “Here’s two gay men raising a daughter. Look at us pushing our gay agenda on the young minds of America.” They’re not unstitching the fabric of America. They aren’t here to ruin the sanctity of your marriage. They’re just here for the skating and the Coca-Cola. So remember, kids. You have to keep your eyes and your mind open to see that America is beautiful, regardless of what the naysayers believe. — wdmcdona@indiana.edu
(02/06/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“I’m probably more personal when I’m acting than at any other time. More open, more direct. Because it allows me to be something that I can’t always feel comfortable with when I’m living my own life, you know? Because it’s make-believe.”Philip Seymour Hoffman, the Academy Award-winning actor who died at the age of 46 last weekend, said that. It’s easy to forget celebrities are human, given how much time we spend idolizing them and how much of our money we put down to watch them perform their craft. It’s no wonder we take their deaths so personally. We trick ourselves into believing these intangible people we only see on screens and billboards cannot be susceptible to age, disease or addiction. This is why losing Hoffman to an apparent heroin overdose feels like such a personal loss. Though he garnered critical praise and four Academy Award nominations for dramatic films like “Capote” and “The Master,” I’ll always remember him for his various unsung, forgotten roles. Take his turn as sadistic arms dealer Owen Davian in J.J. Abrams’ “Mission: Impossible III.” It was 2006, and Hoffman was fresh off his Best Actor win for playing the titular role in “Capote.” While other more stingy or snotty actors would wait for the next big dramatic role, Hoffman agreed to play a villain in a big-budget action flick starring Tom Cruise.Both Hoffman and the film are damn good, meaning he wasn’t an actor who pinned himself into dramatic Oscar-bait roles, mainstream comedies (like 2004’s “Along Came Polly”) or tent pole franchises. Hoffman liked to play it all. He even headlined a Broadway revival of “Death of a Salesman” alongside Andrew Garfield in 2012, only the last in a long string of theater credits he acquired over his career. This past fall, he starred in “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” arguably the highest profile release of his career. But his soul lives on in his body of work, which would seem like such a cliché if not for the words spoken by Hoffman himself. By his own account, he was at his most personal when he was on screen. He displayed more overt honesty through his acting than the majority of his peers could have ever hoped to convey. As with the loss of Heath Ledger six years ago, we mourn both a man and the work he had yet to accomplish. And while the media will devote their efforts to detailing Hoffman’s final hours or how much work he had left to complete on “The Hunger Games” sequels, let me take this time to remind you that it is not your place or mine to judge Hoffman’s choices. Let his work speak for him. It’s what he gave to us during his lifetime, and it’s what he leaves behind.
(02/06/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Expectation can be a tricky beast. Until now, writer and director Jason Reitman was riding four for four. “Thank You For Smoking” in 2005 was a brilliant satire of the tobacco industry. “Juno” in 2007 brought him mainstream success and his first Oscar nomination as a director. “Up In The Air” in 2009 solidified him as a critical darling, and 2011’s “Young Adult” was his most mature filmmaking to date. Unfortunately, the melodrama of “Labor Day” isn’t worthy of his pedigree of films. The year is 1987. Adele Wheeler, the ever-sensational Kate Winslet, and her son Henry (Gattlin Griffith) are forced to take an escaped convict by the name of Frank (Josh Brolin) home with them from the supermarket. What follows could have been a tightly wound and morally ambiguous meditation on guilt, innocence and the lengths humans will go to for connection. Instead, we spend 111 minutes watching several dark events unfold with a little too much elegance and precision. It’s all tied together nicely with a bow on top. Frank is a conflicted character, but too often he’s painted as a bright savior in a depressed mother’s life. Whether or not he’s guilty of the crimes he was imprisoned for, Reitman asks us to understand as Adele and Henry continue to harbor Frank in their home. But we’re never left to question whether or not this makeshift family is the result of genuine love or a twisted, Stockholm syndrome-assisted manipulation. Under those parameters, “Labor Day” may have flourished. Instead, there’s no room for deliberation about Frank’s intentions. Adele and Henry and, in turn, the audience, are coerced into accepting him without question. Had the film been designed as the melodrama it so clearly wants to be, it might not have been such a disappointment. Winslet, as in all of her underwritten roles, works wonders with the limited scale of emotions she’s been given. Even paltry shots of shaking hands and sweat-covered brows are elevated by her presence. Brolin brings a tranquil intimidation to the table, as his character should. It’s a fine performance, but it never sparks because Reitman seems afraid to portray Frank as indefinite. There’s a tangible pressure to make him a wrongfully convicted criminal, and it serves the story poorly. Given the talent pool both in front of and behind the camera, “Labor Day” had all the potential of the darkly comedic films Reitman has presented before, which makes its complacency that much more intolerable. There’s a truly haunting film tucked somewhere in there. It’s just a shame it never creeps to the surface.
(01/30/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Dysfunction has always worked well on television. Whether they were comedic bunches like the Bluth clan on “Arrested Development” or dramatic like the Soprano clan on “The Sopranos,” we’ve always liked our fictional families served with a huge helping of ridiculousness. So it’s no wonder that four seasons in, the outlandish Gallagher brood on Showtime’s “Shameless” is as ludicrous and hysterical as ever. Chronicling the exploits of an alcoholic father played by William H. Macy and his six children growing up below the poverty line in a grisly Chicago neighborhood, the show has consistently delivered some of the best acting on cable.I’ve never watched the long-running original United Kingdom series on which the United States version is based, but it’s hard to imagine topping the American incarnation. Macy might take top billing, but the true star of “Shameless” has always been Emmy Rossum as Fiona, the eldest and most responsible Gallagher child. If you know the show, you know being the most responsible Gallagher doesn’t mean much.This season finds Fiona working a stable job and dating her boss. Things seem to be going well in the beginning, but remember — this is “Shameless.” Good luck lasts only so long. Macy has played Frank as a rather one-note mess since the show’s debut in 2011. Frank is currently down on his luck, his liver finally beginning to fail him after his decades of abusing it. He has enlisted his son Carl to help him find a donor who matches his blood type.It’s easy to deride Frank’s character as flat and unchanging, but “Shameless” would get boring pretty quickly if he decided to sober up and be the father he needs to be for his children. If this were the case, there wouldn’t be a show anymore.Ian Gallagher, played by Cameron Monaghan with a brooding finesse, is absent. Ian was last seen assuming his older brother’s identity and shipping off to the military.It remains to be seen if and when Ian will return to the show, but until he does, television is missing one of its brightest and most fully fleshed-out homosexual characters. Not to mention his closeted, punk ex-boyfriend isn’t getting on well without him.Critics have derailed “Shameless” as being too over the top and crazy, placing these young children in mature predicaments and juicing them for uncomfortable comedy. But to pick at these points is to miss the show’s humanity. Blink and you’ll miss those family moments that spring up when you least expect them.They may not be your idea of family, and they may not be my idea of family, but “Shameless” is the brazen reminder that family is what you make it, no matter what your situation.
(01/30/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When you turn 18-years-old, you’re legally an adult. You can join the military and die for your country. You can vote in elections, local or national. You can go to jail for breaking the law.And though it isn’t necessarily a staple of turning the big 1-8, you can legally participate in pornographic productions without facing the repercussions of the law. Which is why it’s ludicrous a Florida high school would suspend an 18-year-old student because he did porn. While the school dances around the porn topic — claiming the student was suspended because of “possible threats” he made — the principal and the school spokeswoman make reference to the student’s alternative lifestyle.I suppose the word alternative here means a high school student had sex. Because, gosh, that’s probably never happened before. Sixty-two percent of high school seniors in the United States have had sex. The only difference between every other sexually active high school senior in the U.S. and the student at this Florida school is he decided to get paid for doing it in front of a camera. So essentially, we’re punishing this guy for being a capitalist.Now, it’s understandable high school teachers and administrators may feel that a student participating in the production of pornographic materials may lead to unnecessary disruptions in their learning environment.After all, I don’t really want to see the girl I sit next to in my 11 a.m. Monday and Wednesday class having sexual intercourse online. But this aversion and apprehension is clearly a product of our society’s need to pretend like sex doesn’t happen, let alone happen between people just leaving the pastures of adolescence. We don’t kick pregnant girls out of public schools for being with child. They’ve clearly had sex, too. We just don’t get to hop online and watch the evidence for ourselves.Not to even mention that viewing pornographic material online is illegal unless you’re 18 years old or older. A vast majority of the people who saw this student doing porn were more than likely viewing it underage and, therefore, illegally.Minors watching this student’s porn were doing so illegally. The 18-year-old student participating in the porn was not doing so legally.He was fully within his rights to be in porn, let alone to do it in order to help his mother pay the bills. I’m not under the impression that every mother or father in the U.S. dreams of one day raising their little boy or girl to have sex in front of a camera. But the fact remains that if a person of age decided to do so, more power to them.It isn’t anyone else’s place to punish them for what they decide to legally do on their own terms.— wdmcdona@indiana.eduFollow columnist Dane McDonald on Twitter @W_DaneMcDonald.
(01/30/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Anyone who’s anyone knows Super Bowl Sunday is great for every single reason except for the actual football game. We’re talking the food, the drinks, the commercials and the halftime show. You know, the good stuff. In order to prepare you for football’s greatest night, Weekend has put its heads together to give you new and different ways of spicing up your Super Bowl Sunday. Boiled and broiled chicken wingsIf you’ve lived in Bloomington, chances are you know the power of the chicken wing. Students flock to Kilroy’s on Kirkwood to get their hands on the sauce-drenched snacks. But one deep-fried wing can yield anywhere from 70-100 calories, usually with about 1.5 grams of saturated fats. That means if you’re eating eight of them at KOK, you’re gobbling up 600-800 calories and 64 percent of your daily value of saturated fats. But if you boil the wings, drain the fat and then broil them, you get rid of a lot of the bad stuff. Four or five wings cooked this way will only set you back 160 calories!— Place your wings in a large pot and fill with water, enough to cover the wings by about two inches. Boil the wings for 10 minutes and drain.— After boiling, transfer the wings to a broiler pan and broil for about five minutes, or until the skin starts to brown. Flip the wings and broil for another five minutes.— Coat the wings with a generous slathering of your favorite sauce and enjoy!Recipe adapted from Health.com Homemade hummusHummus is a nutritious substitute for those nacho dips piled high with sour cream and processed cheese, but it can be expensive and inconsistent if you buy it in stores. It’s ultra-easy to make at home, though, and quick enough that you can work on perfecting your technique. Plus, there’s no limit to the number of things you can dip or top with the stuff!— Combine 1/4 cup tahini and 1/4 cup lemon juice in food processor, and process for one minute.— Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, half a clove of minced garlic and 1/2 tablespoon each of cumin and salt, and process for one minute.— Add 1 can of drained and rinsed chickpeas to processor, and process for 1 to 2 minutes until thick and smooth.— Add water to your desired consistency. Serve with pretzels, pita chips, vegetables or anything else you want.Recipe adapted from inspiredtaste.net American football is notorious for its lack of action compared to other sports. According to a 2010 Wall Street Journal study, the average time the football is actually in play on the field is about 11 minutes. And with the sky-high price of Super Bowl advertising, you better believe there will be a lot more commercial time than that on Sunday night. So here’s some rules for refreshment recreation to help you get through what’s sure to be one sluggish telecast. Always remember to drink responsibly. Friends don’t let friends drink too much.Drink every time— Someone mentions the weather— Someone mentions Richard Sherman being called a thug— Peyton Manning DOESN’T say “Omaha” before snapping the ball on a play— You see a commercial you actually think is funny or legitimately appealing— Russell Wilson dodges a tackle and runs for positive yards— Peyton Manning throws an incomplete pass— A member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers takes off or puts on an article of clothing during the halftime show— Every time Hawaii native Bruno Mars shivers in the New Jersey coldTake a shot if— Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers do a weird mash-up— You see a fan in the crowd who isn’t wearing a shirt— Peyton Manning throws an interceptionSONGS WE WANT BRUNO MARS TO SING “Grenade”“Locked Out of Heaven”“Runaway”“Treasure”SONGS WE DON’T WANT BRUNO MARS TO SING “The Lazy Song”“Marry You”“When I Was Your Man”“Young Girls”BEST SUPER BOWL COMMERICALS Britney Spears’ 2001 Pepsi CommercialBetty White’s 2010 Snickers CommercialWendy’s “Where’s the Beef?” Commercial in 1984Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit” featuring Eminem Commercial in 2011WORST SUPER BOWL COMMERCIALS Those terrifying E-trade babies that started in 2008Budweiser trying to make “Wassup?” happen in 2000Anytime we were subjected to Danica Patrick in a Go-Daddy.com CommercialGroupon’s horribly offensive Tibet Commercial in 2011
(01/23/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I’m getting really sick of writing this column.Because, essentially, I’ve already written this column on three separate occasions.Time and time again, we are sadly reminded we need to be talking about gun control. But now, the violence is right in our neighborhood.You don’t need me to tell you a Purdue University TA was murdered on campus yesterday. That’s what the news is for. I’m here to tell you whether or not a shooting happened in a movie theater in Colorado, a political meeting in Arizona, an elementary school in Connecticut or Purdue University, the gun debate is not in the least bit settled. Because the only thing more sickening than writing this column is the number of Wikipedia pages now being dedicated to gun massacres in the United States.You would have thought enough was enough when 20 children lost their lives at Sandy Hook Elementary School. You would think that Congress would have the wherewithal to do something about this issue, whether it would be passing laws for stricter gun control or an initiative for better mental health care. But no, Congress has not done a damn thing. In fact, they rejected a set of proposals to enact stricter gun control across the country. This was legislation 90 percent of Americans supported. It failed in the Senate 54 to 46.To reiterate past columns, I am not anti-gun. I don’t believe gun owners should have their firearms stripped away from them by law. If somebody really wants to get their hands on a gun, they will get their hands on a gun. Just like I believe a gun was simply the weapon of choice at Purdue. The suspect could have used a knife or any other dangerous weapon at his disposal.But he chose a gun. Which is why we, as a nation and as humans, still need to evaluate where we stand on gun control. It is why Congress needs to stop fearing the wrath of the almighty NRA and do something about the violence perpetuated by their weapon of choice.That reminds me, the NRA is having a convention in Indianapolis from April 25-27. Three months after a young man lost his life from gun-inflicted injuries, the largest gun lobby in the country will be in our state capital. I won’t tell you to go protest the NRA, or to challenge them in some way, shape or form. I’m just asking you to consider the plain and simple fact something has to be done about guns, and they’re a huge roadblock in the way of progress. Because I’m really tired of writing this column, and you should be tired of reading it.— wdmcdona@indiana.eduFollow columnist Dane McDonald on Twitter @W_DaneMcDonald.
(01/16/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>You’re probably in one of two camps. You either love HBO’s half-hour dramedy “Girls,” or you love to hate it. I have no qualms admitting I have always belonged to the former. Since the series premiered in summer 2012, Lena Dunham has established herself as the voice of her generation as “Girls” creator, writer, director, producer and star. Now with two seasons in the books and a third one beginning its 12-episode run last Sunday, little has changed.Dunham is still producing the deftest series on television, at once both a searing wake-up call to a generation of whiny brats and a celebration of friendship. Season three begins right where things left off last year. Dunham’s Hannah is in recovery mode from her late season two OCD-induced breakdown and is happily dating Adam, played by the ever-phenomenal Adam Driver. Allison William’s Marnie, who is no longer with boyfriend Charlie after the series departure of actor Christopher Abbot, is as neurotic and miserable as ever, not to mention living with her mom. Newly liberated Shoshanna is letting her sexual freak flag fly, and her cousin Jessa, who ran off mid-season two, is in a rehab facility causing the same ruckus she’s been known for. If you’ve enjoyed “Girls” bravery for not letting its characters get too genial in the past, then fear not. Hannah, Marnie, Jessa and Shoshanna are as unlikable as ever, and the series is better for it.These aren’t four gals prancing around New York City, sighing out of Park Avenue apartments and waiting for Mr. Right to come galloping down the street on a white horse. They’re real, flawed, self-centered and agitating people. People that, I’m almost certain, we all see when we take a long, hard look in the mirror. Because while these girls say basic things like, “I will never be bored as long as there’s Halloween,” they also offer insightful pearls of wisdom, like, “My only limitation is my own mind. Like, I hold the keys to the prison that is my mind.” These characters created by Dunham feel so real because they place themselves up on such high pedestals while continuously self-criticizing every decision they make.Season three begins on a rather somber note in a clear atmospheric shift from the beginning of the past two seasons. But weirdly enough, the show has never been funnier. Even if you continue to be a hater, “Girls” remains a reminder that even our most horrendous experiences are prime comedic gold if we only remember to view our lives through someone else’s eyes.
(01/16/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I’m not sure if David O. Russell is planning to direct another feature film this year, but if he does, he’s on course for a hat trick. After writing and directing the game changing romantic comedy “Silver Linings Playbook” in 2012, Russell is back this awards season in a serious way with “American Hustle,” an absolute knock-out, rollicking good time for its entire 129 minutes. You’ll wonder if it’s actually Scorsese behind the camera, but something tells me even Scorsese wouldn’t have hustled this good. As the opening title card so tongue-in-cheekily announces, “Some of this actually happened.” In that superbly amusing moment, you should know exactly what you’re in for. After all, the film was originally titled “American Bullshit.” The film tells the admittedly, somewhat true story of Irving Rosenfeld, a conflicted con man with a ridiculous hairpiece, and his mystifying con partner and lover Sydney Prosser. The pair are living large, swindling inconspicuous people out of their money when they’re caught and forced to work for the FBI by Agent Richie DiMaso. But Richie, Irving and Sydney’s scheme could all come crashing down if Irving’s wife, Rosalyn, so chooses. Russell, clearly a master at assembling star-studded casts, brought together Christian Bale and Amy Adams from 2010’s “The Fighter,” and Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence from 2012’s “Silver Linings Playbook”, and added Academy Award nominee Jeremy Renner for good measure. The five are all riding high at the top of their games, each an intricate high wire act ready to fall or combust at any given moment.Though each could already be an Academy Award nominee for “American Hustle” as you’re reading this, it would be the ultimate con if Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams were snubbed by the Academy for their roles as Irving’s wife and his con partner/lover, respectively. Co-screenwriters Eric Singer and Russell have written their roles of a lifetime, which is something considering each woman’s filmography. Adams and Lawrence are loose cannons in the most exhilarating sense, at times both unhinged and undeniably the sharpest characters on screen. But another of the script’s strengths is its refusal to make any of the characters a “good guy.” These are all people gunning for their own best interests. It creates an interesting portrait when the con artists often times out moral the FBI agent or the politician.On top of bringing out the best in his actors, Russell has fully immersed “American Hustle” in a crazy-sexy 1970s vibe. From the low cut tops, the big tinted glasses, and the sweeping hairdos, he’s created a period piece that will make you obscenely jealous to be living in the 2010s. When carving out your top 10 lists of 2013 and reminiscing on who’s really defining modern movie-making, save space for “American Hustle,” David O. Russell, and his magnificent cast of actors. It’s a wild and unexpected ride you won’t want to end.
(01/16/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Identity is everything. How people define each other and, more importantly, how they define themselves is all we have when we strip away the superfluous junk we use day in and day out.That is why it’s dismaying to see a fellow columnist reducing “gay bros” — “bromos,” if you will — to a so-called myth. To get this point out of the way, I claimed bisexuality didn’t exist in a column published a year ago. But before you cry hypocrisy, let me say this. Publishing “Bisexual bias” was eye-opening for me. In the last year, my views on bisexuality, and fluid sexuality in general, have greatly expanded. Having faced the backlash that came with my column, the last thing I want to do is bash Eduardo Salas in any way.To be frank, I’d never heard of gay bros until I read the column. I don’t know if this is because I don’t keep up with labels in gay culture or because I’m horribly behind the times. Or maybe it’s because gay men can categorize themselves as feminine, masculine, twinks, bears, otters or whatever the latest word is. At the end of the day, they’re simply men attracted to other men. We subcategorize with more minimized identifiers because we want to find a niche. We want to find a more finely-tuned form of individualization. The issue with calling gay bros a myth is because you’re telling somebody the way they’re acting isn’t alright.All you’re really proving is your views on how gay men should act don’t line up with somebody else’s. If a man wants to drink beer, wear fratty tank tops, play “Call of Duty,” tune into a football game every Sunday and date dudes, then more power to him. If he wants to call himself a bromo, then that’s fine, too.The only issue here is when gay men of different subgroups criticize and distance themselves from other gay men. If, indeed, these gay bros are identifying as such because they don’t want to fit under that stereotypical gay umbrella, then that would be cause for alarm.Call me optimistic, but I don’t believe that’s the case.It would seem to me gay bros just happen to like the same things straight bros like, minus the boobs and female genitalia. And it’s reductive to tell gay men they aren’t allowed to like certain things, lest their gay identities be curtailed. — wdmcdona@umail.iu.edu
(12/16/13 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s difficult to explain how much work it is to be a senior in college without sounding like a lazy jerk. But I am a lazy jerk, so here goes nothing.Like most students tend to do, I began this semester rather bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I was a senior in college, finally turning 21 and arguably the happiest I’d ever been in my life. I was taking only 12 credit hours and was ready for this mythical and magical senior year I was always promised.For years, I heard tales of Tuesday night bar crawls and the routine of occasionally showing up to the three classes you had left to take. This sounded quite enchanting, especially given the fact that I was usually knee-deep in Ramen noodles and an episode of “the X-Files” most Tuesday nights. Alas, this was not the first semester of my senior year.Looking back now, it’s easy to say it went by faster than one of Mariah Carey’s whistle tones. But you couldn’t pay me to relive the last four-and-a-half-some months.Was I content a lot of the time? Yes. Was I also miserable all the time? Yes.Maybe I was just ignoring my older friends before when they talked about it, and it seems like the stuff of white girl problems, but becoming an adult is scary.Ninety-nine percent of the time, I’m daydreaming of running away to Disney World and leaving all of my responsibilities behind. I guess I could technically apply to the Disney College Program and do such a thing, but that’s an internal debate for another quarter-life crisis. So before this becomes another column about a senior complaining about becoming a real adult, let me cut to the chase and leave my time as your Opinion editor with these parting words.We’re all going to be OK. We might not exactly believe it now, but I know that eventually we’re going to be OK.Something I think many of us tend to forget is that everyone who’s currently an adult was once exactly where we are now. And they seemed to survive. Sure, circumstances may have been different. Many adults don’t go to college and have successful careers. Many may have known exactly what it is they were going to do with their lives from a young age.The point being, we’re all living our own stories. We are the leading men and women of our own feature films and epic novels. We are the less sadistic and manipulative Walter Whites of our own hit cable series.And what fun would it be if we were told exactly how it’s going to work out for us in the end?I’m not saying everyone is going to get a happily ever after, because that would be unrealistic and boring. Plus, everyone knows the most interesting stories tend to end on the bleakest notes.So in these last months of the last semester, do me and favor and don’t live them like they’re already over. That time will come soon enough. For now, gather ye rosebuds while ye may. Because by this time next year, who knows what rosebuds ye will have left to gather. — wdmcdona@indiana.eduFollow columnist Dane McDonald on Twitter @W_DaneMcDonald.
(12/12/13 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>We're tired of hearing "All I Want For Christmas Is You" and watching "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" every year. Here are some underrated holiday gems for your listening and viewing cheer.The “Chrismukkah” episodes from “The O.C.”So in case the spirit of the middle schooler inside you forgot, “the O.C.” was the best thing that ever happened to TV. And “the O.C.” was never in better form than during its four episodes surrounding Chrismukkah, the Christmas/Hanukkah mash-up that was the brainchild of half Christian/half Jew Seth Cohen.During the show’s four years, we were blessed with many a Chrismukkah miracle, including Summer’s Wonder Woman costume that was Seth’s present; the Cohen’s welcoming Kirsten’s recently revealed sister Lindsay into the family; Seth, Summer, Ryan and Marissa raising money for Johnny’s surgery; and that weird one in season four in which Ryan learned what would have happened if he had never come to Newport.“Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”OK, so we know what you’re thinking. There is no way in hell that a blood-ridden Stephen Sondheim musical about a psychotic barber out for revenge is a holiday movie, but hear us out. First of all, it was released Dec. 21, 2007, just in time for the holiday season. Second, the film is pretty much all blacks, greys and whites, save for the unbelievable amount of red blood and guts. So its one primary color is a rather jolly one, even if it’s usually spraying against the screen in a bloody geyser. It may not be your traditional happy-endings-and-sit-down-with-your-family movie, but this one goes out for all of us who need a little murder fantasy to survive the holidays with our extended family. “Ludachristmas” from “30 Rock”Sitcom Christmas episodes are typically groan-inducing and eye rolling, employing all kinds of “Oh no! I burnt the turkey!” and “How will we make it to all these Christmas parties!?” antics. But surprisingly, “30 Rock” got it right by having Jack Donaghy and his conniving mother, Colleen, prove there’s no such thing as a perfect family by turning Liz Lemon’s blissful clan against one another and into drunken idiots. There’s no holiday gift that compares to the reminder that humanity is actually the worst and that there’s nothing as fun as turning family members against each other.“Lows in the Mid-Eighties” from “Will & Grace”The best sitcom to come out of NBC’s golden era of Thursday night viewing (sorry, “Friends” and “Seinfeld”) was undoubtedly “Will & Grace.” We always knew Will and Grace had dated while attending college at Columbia University, but it wasn’t until this episode that we got all the information in one, long, juicy flashback. Grace is jumping to take their relationship to the next level — which happens to be in the bedroom — but the closeted Will isn’t too ready to jump into bed. Because things never go right for sitcom characters, Will proposes to Grace to avoid sleeping with her. When the truth comes out, Grace cuts Will out of her life for a while. But we all know how that story eventually ended. “How the Ghosts Stole Christmas” from “The X-Files”A show about alien abductions, government conspiracies and monsters-of-the-week doesn’t exactly scream “holiday episode,” but luckily the writers thought outside the box for this one. Mulder and Scully do what they do best one Christmas Eve and investigate a house haunted by an elderly couple who died in a suicide pact. Oh, and the elderly couple is played by Emmy-winners Edward Asner and Lily Tomlin. What follows is a wild tale involving the ghosts impersonating both Mulder and Scully, attempting to turn the agents against one another and prove everyone is lonely around the holidays. It’s all gun shots and trick rooms until Mulder and Scully manage to escape and exchange gifts, leaving the old ghosts to hold hands in front of the fireplace to share a laugh.“Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues and Kirsty MacCollThe Pogues nail the sarcastic “bah humbug” attitude on this classic, where frontman Shane MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl duet as a frustrated couple. MacGowan, with his heavy Irish drawl, drunkenly slurs the first line of the song, “It’s Christmas Eve in the drunk tank.”What follows is a lilting Irish folk-rock song that’s somehow cheerful, even though at one point MacColl scolds, “Merry Christmas your ass, pray to God it’s our last.”“What Christmas Means to Me” by Stevie WonderWonder’s classic from his 1967 Christmas album is a standard Motown jam.From the bouncy guitar/bass riff to the jingle bells in the percussion to the lyrics about how the cheerfulness of the season makes him love his girl even more, it’s Stevie Wonder at his best. It’s capped off with a harmonica solo, which is sure to get your Christmas shoes tappin’.“River” by Joni MitchellThis isn’t exactly a holiday song, but Mitchell borrows the melody of “Jingle Bells” for the piano riff and the first line says “It’s comin’ on Christmas.”“River” isn’t cheerful like the rest of the songs on this list, but it’s gorgeous, and the song’s central image is definitely one of the season: “I wish I had a river I could skate away on.”“This Whole World” by the Beach BoysHere’s another song that doesn’t explicitly fall into the “holiday music” category. But the energy of Carl Wilson’s angelic vocals, along with the chimes and bells in the backing track, qualify it by my rules.As Wilson sings “And when I go anywhere, I see love,” you’re bound to get in the spirit right along with him.“Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town” by Bruce SpringsteenIf all the adult contemporary radio stations that change format after Thanksgiving just played this song over and over, I’d be happy.It’s one of the few holiday songs you can listen to in July and still love. The Boss already seems as down-to-earth as a person can possibly be, but his banter with the band in this song makes him seem even cooler.The energy of the E Street Band once they get in to the song is something I could listen to for 10 more minutes if the song were that long. They borrow the Phil Spector piano style and put a jazzy spin on the song. People should play this song a lot more than Mariah Carey’s. There’s no better recording of a holiday song.
(12/12/13 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I’m not the least bit Catholic.If you can imagine the most Catholic thing in the world, like Pope Francis or St. Peter’s Basilica, I am the farthest away from that as someone could possibly be.But I couldn’t agree more with Time magazine’s decision to name Pope Francis their person of 2013. And that’s coming from a pretty big Miley Cyrus fan.The Pope beat plenty of competition from some serious heavyweights. NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, President Barack Obama, Miley Cyrus, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos, gay rights activist Edith Windsor and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad were all up for the title.So Miley may have twerked her way into some scandalous headlines, and Jeff Bezos wants drones to deliver packages to our front porches, but a 76-year-old man from Argentina managed to come out on top.This is because Pope Francis was just the facelift needed to bring the Catholic Church into the 21st century.Well, at least as much as it can right now. It’s still slow and steady wins the race, but at least the race is being run at this point.In July, Pope Francis said, “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” That is huge, seeing as Pope Benedict XVI condemned homosexuality as a sin and a disorder.He followed these remarks in September when he said the Vatican must stop obsessing over evolving social issues like abortion, contraception and homosexuality.He’s never shied to demonstrate his ability to be both the Catholic leader of the world and a real person.This is a guy who put on a clown nose while a newlywed couple visited the Vatican and someone who has taken selfies with young followers.This is a guy who drives around in a 1984 Renault 4 that’s racked up 300,000 miles.This is a guy who’s on Twitter and has more than 3 million followers.Oh, and Sarah Palin also called him out on having a “liberal agenda.” So clearly the guys is doing something right. I can’t even get Sarah Palin to call me a liberal, hard as I have tried. I want him to be my content, old uncle who would have slipped me sips of communion wine when I was still in high school.The Catholic Church as an organization may have a while to go until social issues are a thing of the past and religion as a whole becomes a thing of mercifulness and not condemnation, but Pope Francis is charging in the right direction.Catholics may be lucky to claim him, but he’s shown he’s ready to be a spiritual leader for the world.— wdmcdona@indiana.eduFollow columnist Dane McDonald on Twitter @W_DaneMcDonald.
(12/05/13 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I realize how convenient it is to label people. As a person who runs on routines and organization, I see the benefits to being able to point at someone and compartmentalize them as homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual or what have you. But when British Olympic diver Tom Daley announced via his YouTube channel that he’s happily in a relationship with a man, news media took his words and twisted them. Daley was hailed for coming out as gay or bisexual by multiple news organizations when he did no such thing. E! Online ran the headline “Tom Daley, British Olympic Diver, Comes Out as Bisexual.” Sports Illustrated followed the same path by reporting, “British Olympic-medal winning diver Tom Daley reveals he’s bisexual.” The International Business Times took it a step further by claiming Daley came out as gay.Well, no, he didn’t. For everyone who apparently wasn’t paying enough attention, Daley publicly announced he had met someone this past spring who made him feel safe and happy. A someone who happens to be a man. Nowhere does he say he’s exclusively attracted to men. He makes a passing reference to still “fancying” women, which makes the bisexual label somewhat plausible.But no, you still don’t get to pigeonhole Daley. The only person allowed to label his sexuality is Daley himself.Daley specifically addresses this issue in his video before he even says a word about dating a man. He made this video in response to a reporter who misquoted him — something that some news media continue to do.Now, I don’t believe E! Online, Sports Illustrated or the International Business Times are purposely misrepresenting information.In fact, each of those articles appears to be supportive and championing of Daley’s decision to go public regarding his personal relationship. And Daley deserves to be praised. Most of us can’t even begin to imagine the bravery it must have taken for an international athlete and celebrity to admit he was dating someone of the same sex, even as society progresses into a more open-minded era. But he deserves praise for going public with his relationship with a man, not for adhering to any sort of sexual marker. The issue is people still need to see labels. They need to see black and white and nothing in between. Because grey areas are too ambiguous. As someone who claimed bisexuality isn’t real in a column in this paper almost a year ago, I’ve witnessed firsthand the potential danger in telling people who they can and cannot be. So, if you’re discussing Daley amongst friends and family, don’t take the easy route and decide for yourself what he is and isn’t. He’s dating a man right now, and he’s happy. There isn’t much else to explain beyond that. — wdmcdona@indiana.eduFollow columnist Dane McDonald on Twitter @W_DaneMcDonald.