Bluebird, a cultural Mecca for music junkies
One of Bloomington’s most diverse music venues, which in its history has seen everyone from John Lee Hooker to Del the Funky Homosapien, was named after an ice cream stand in Washington, Ind.
One of Bloomington’s most diverse music venues, which in its history has seen everyone from John Lee Hooker to Del the Funky Homosapien, was named after an ice cream stand in Washington, Ind.
Our nation is currently engaged in two wars and facing a struggling economy at home. Students are paying more for our tuition and to fill up our cars. America’s reputation abroad has been severely damaged. As students, we believe that we have a responsibility to speak out on these issues and others by exercising our right to vote. But you cannot vote in Bloomington on Nov. 4 if you have not first registered to vote in Indiana by the deadline of Monday, Oct. 6. On Election Day all you will need is a state-issued ID, such as your Indiana driver’s license, your IU-Bloomington ID or a passport to bring to the polls.
Outside of Alumni Hall in the Union, there are names of great individuals from throughout history: Lincoln, Shakespeare, Copernicus, etc. Also listed there is Jesus Christ. As a Jew, I have a problem not with the inclusion of Jesus on this list (although if I made my own list he wouldn’t be on it), but I do take issue with the inclusion of the word “christ.” Whether I believe in the notion of immaculate conception or not – and as a Jew, I don’t – is irrelevant to my dissatisfaction with the use of this word. I feel it is used unjustifiably because “christ” is not a last name as are Copernicus, Shakespeare, and Lincoln; instead it is a word meaning anointed or messiah. As someone who can handle his own spiritual convictions, I have no problem with saying he is not my messiah.
It’s not too often that five minutes into an award show the audience can already tell how ridiculously awful the entire long, drawn-out process is going to be. But unfortunately, this year’s Primetime Emmys proved that there’s a first time for everything. Even for those people who enjoy television and all its award-show glory like myself, the 2008 Emmys were as disappointing as possible.
Lately, Baron Hill has been looking more like a populist than an economist. This was evident in his support of the Commodity Markets Transparency and Accounting Act, which recently passed through the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill is supposed to increase regulation on oil speculators and lower the price of gasoline. The problem is that speculators aren’t to blame for the dramatic rise in oil and gas prices. Hill would have us believe that this bill will significantly lower the price of oil, but almost any economist would disagree.
For my first column of the semester, I am decidedly staying away from the presidential election. I’m not going to write about Sarah Palin or gender in the election, or why I think Tina Fey is more qualified than Palin after watching “Saturday Night Live” last week. And I’m not even going to talk about why I’m going to move out of the country if Barack Obama doesn’t win.
BEIJING – Most people I talk to in the states are curious to know what China’s like. How’s the food, have you seen the Great Wall and, oh yes, has the government abducted anyone you know recently? My answer never changes. China isn’t what you think it is – at least it isn’t what I thought it would be. Everyone has visions of roving vans distributing propaganda, military police goose-stepping down the sidewalk and a population afraid to stop smiling, lest they spend the next few years in a re-education camp. And if what I used to think now strikes me as ridiculous, it strikes most Chinese even more so. To them, it’s downright offensive.
Strolling around campus right now leads me to believe that most IU students are Obama supporters. I get it – it’s hot to support Obama. Don’t believe me? Just wander into Urban Outfitters – you’re not going to see any graffiti shirts with McCain on them. And by now, just that one word, “change,” is enough to give people an idea of who is being talked about.
In one of my classes last semester, we watched “Hotel Rwanda,” a movie about Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who housed more than 1,000 refugees at the height of the Rwandan genocide. While few details remain etched in my mind, I recall the inability of the United Nations to intervene in the genocide. As someone who spent much of that class defending international organizations, this inaction was troubling.
Sen. Joe Biden took his heart-land and middle-class message to Jeffersonville, Ind., just after 5 p.m. Wednesday.
The WEEKEND EIC talks about her bad hair life in this week's Last Word.
Brain freeze: That’s the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about this Wachowski Brothers remake of ’60s Japanese anime. Although the visuals are spectacularly sweet, they come too hard and too fast here, leading to one giant headache.
With only nine episodes, the season can easily be consumed in one sitting, much like a freshly baked pie. Do it before season two is ready to come out of the oven.
Three WEEKEND reviewers discuss the newest tracks in music.
After their breakup in 2002, Buckcherry’s first release with a new lineup, 15, made them bigger than ever commercially, but lacked musically. Black Butterfly is the album they should have returned with.
Straylight Run’s three-song EP isn’t their strongest effort, but an improvement on their last release, despite the year of turmoil the band has gone through. Disappointing lyrics aside, Un Dos Mas is worth a listen.
If Jem’s last album is the soft, sweet, idyllic representation of style, Down to Earth is her feisty, dominatrix counterpart, filled with globally influenced beats, racy lyrics and funky tones.
It would be redundant to go through and describe each track because, in short, they’re all brilliant. Any Fleetwood Mac fan will be thrilled to hear this album not just because of the powerful tracks but because it’s so exciting to hear an artist plug so perfectly into the sound of his former band.
Much like his previous two releases, Gentleman is stuffed with unyielding love songs that Ne-Yo writes effortlessly.
“Ghost Town” may have a couple of moments that will enlighten people’s hearts, but this film is dead on arrival. Throughout its running time, it will make you feel like you’re being buried alive. If I were a ghost, I’d come back and haunt the creatives behind this movie.