IUPD

Will I stay or will I go

By Alyson Brodsy and Amy Obermeyer · Wednesday, April 26,2006 11:39 p.m.

At graduation this year, they might as well have a big, green interstate sign that says, "You are now leaving Indiana." Because, if on May 5 you find yourself in Assembly Hall wearing a creepy black gown, chances are, you probably are. Granted, many of you probably want to leave this state, and I can't blame you. The weather is inhumanely erratic, we are close to neither mountain nor beach and it's darned near impossible to find a nonstop flight to anywhere (even Chicago).

Tales from a happy warrior

By Alyson Brodsy and Brian Stewart · Wednesday, April 26,2006 11:38 p.m.

When I became an Indiana Daily Student columnist, a friend suggested "Fighting Words" as my nom de plume. And although I didn't take her advice, experience has proven my friend's judgment right. The ideas I've promoted most assiduously since joining the IDS -- manly self-confidence, a muscular and idealistic foreign policy, the march of globalization and moral absolutism -- have not exactly won me broad support on what is often a soft and relativist campus.

The real world

By Alyson Brodsy and Felipe Maya · Wednesday, April 26,2006 11:37 p.m.

My mom is a custodian, my dad is a landlord and I recently bought a pair of Emporio Armani glasses. In a little more than a week, I will be a college graduate, a feat neither of my parents ever accomplished. My mom never attended high school because of economic reasons, and my dad was a suave rebel who didn't think college was for him. In grade school, I stayed after school emptying out classroom trash cans as my mom cleaned the bathrooms on the first floor. She always said, "Do better than me."

Slogan slugging

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, April 26,2006 11:36 p.m.

Last Wednesday, the state of Indiana launched a new slogan to try to draw in the tourists. Are you ready? Here it is: "Restart Your Engines." Hmm, yeah -- that's what we thought too. Tying it to the Indianapolis 500 wasn't a bad idea -- at least it's something out-of-staters will recognize (and we do have a racecar on our state quarter). But the slogan is kind of limited in focus. Not to mention that it sends a mixed message. The Indianapolis Star quoted Tom Schuman, a spokesman for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce as saying: "Potentially, it carries a lot of different meanings when you hear it ... What we like about it is that it also can apply to business efforts -- hopefully, it's going to encourage the entrepreneurial climate Indiana has struggled to achieve so far" (April 23, 2006). So, not only does it carry a message of Indiana as a place to feel rejuvenated -- and get your car fixed -- it also comes with an aura of economic desperation. Because, you know, if there's one thing we've learned from the downtown bar scene, it's that desperation's always attractive.

Senate diverts $1.9 billion in Iraq war budget bill

By Alyson Brodsy and Andrew Taylor · Wednesday, April 26,2006 11:31 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Senate voted Wednesday to divert some of the money President George W. Bush requested for the war in Iraq to instead increase patrols against illegal immigrants on the nation's borders and provide the Coast Guard with new boats and helicopters. An amendment was adopted, 59-39, to cut Bush's Iraq request by $1.9 billion to pay for new aircraft, patrol boats and other vehicles, as well as border checkpoints and a fence along the Mexico border crossing near San Diego. Later, the Senate voted by a veto-proof 72-26 margin to kill an attempt by conservatives to cut the overall bill back to Bush's request -- just a day after the White House issued a toughly worded promise to veto the $106.5 billion bill unless it is cut back to below $95 billion.

Rice, Rumsfeld visit Baghdad

By Alyson Brodsy and Anne Gearan · Wednesday, April 26,2006 11:30 p.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Success in forming a new Iraqi government may let some U.S. troops leave the war zone within months, the top American military commander in Iraq said Wednesday. Paying a surprise visit, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld embraced the country's fledgling leaders as independent and focused on the future. "I came away most encouraged," Rumsfeld said after he and Rice spent a day meeting with Iraqi politicians and U.S. military and diplomatic advisers in the capital city.

SENIOR Salute

By Alyson Brodsy and Bryan Lufkin · Wednesday, April 26,2006 7:09 p.m.

For many members of IU's class of 2006, the past four years have been the party of a lifetime. Coming to Bloomington with your parents and a car full of "dorm room essentials" might seem like only yesterday. Soon you'll be getting ready to walk into Assembly Hall to receive your diploma. Most seniors will attest to the fact that their time at IU went by way too quickly, and now they're ready to move on to the next chapters of their lives. They're ready to get jobs, go to graduate school or -- for some -- move back home into their parents' basement, Xbox and Doritos in hand.

A South African cinematic triumph

By C. Warner Sills and Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, April 26,2006 7:06 p.m.

The Afrikaan word "tsotsi" roughly translates to "thug." On the surface, the film "Tsotsi" is about the life of a young street-raised gangster named Tsotsi, in the same vein as 2001's "City of God." However, below its skin the film is more a stark look at redemption and one man's desire to break away from the harsh innate life of the slums is South Africa. "Tsotsi" chronicles a group of South African hoods as they reap mayhem throughout their run down shantytowns and the upper class, bourgeois sectors of the city of Johannesburg. Tsotsi (newcomer Presely Chweneyagae in a daunting and brilliant debut) is the leader of the small gang of thugs who spend their days robbing business men on the subway, getting into bar fights and have little or no concern for the social struggles around them.

IU Memorabilia

By Alyson Brodsy and Bryan Lufkin · Wednesday, April 26,2006 7:05 p.m.

You might have been one of those people who own enough IU memorabilia to fill a U-Haul truck. Outfits made up of T-shirts with that familiar "Indiana" across the front (in that classic, collegiate block-style font), IU baseball caps, complete with "Indiana University" folders stuffed with IU stationary in hand. When you first came to college your parents and grandparents might have bought those "IU Mom" buttons, or some other article of clothing to proudly display the fact that they were so proud of you, that they had to go out and get an "IU Grandpa" hoodie. Some of you might have even hopped on the bandwagon before you came to college. Maybe your parents decked you out in a cream-and-crimson windbreaker, or maybe you thought you were the hippest kid in your middle school language arts class in middle school because you had the "emergency key" to your house dangling on the end of an IU lanyard.

All About ME:

By IDS staff and Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, April 26,2006 6:12 p.m.

Eamonn Brennan, a junior studying journalism, was recently selected to become the summer editor in chief at the Indiana Daily Student. "I have gotten a chance to lead the sports desk these past few months and I realized that I want to take a higher leadership role at the paper." So why does he feel he's ready to take on such an important position at the IDS this summer? "It's the general idea that I have a major role in shaping the way people can hear and learn about their world." Overall, Brennan is looking forward to spending time in Bloomington this summer.

What they say is true

By Alyson Brodsy and Maggie Bozich · Wednesday, April 26,2006 6:10 p.m.

With warm weather each spring comes a time for change and a chance to move on. It happened to me in preschool, the sixth grade, ninth grade, senior year of high school and it's happening again in less than two weeks. Before I went away to college, everyone I talked to told me to enjoy my four years of college because they would go by too fast. I remember thinking to myself, "yeah, yeah, I'll enjoy it." That might be the one piece of advice I wish I would have listened to -- not to say I haven't enjoyed my time in college. The past four years seem like one big blur, but they might be one of the best blurs of my life. College was nothing like I thought it was going to be and was everything it should have been. It's funny how a mere four years can change you.

A pocketfull of Italian new wave

By Alyson Brodsy and Will Hernandez · Wednesday, April 26,2006 6:04 p.m.

"Fists in the Pocket" emerged during the 1960's New Wave era in Europe, which was heavily dominated by directors like Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard. Although this film might not be as popular as many of the other titles released during that time period, it's still highly subversive, groundbreaking and a remarkable debut by Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio. The film examines the lives of what seems like a typical Catholic middle class family in the Italian countryside. This is a family that, despite its quarrels and lack of communication, appears relatively normal at the surface. Augusto, the oldest brother and patriarch, is the only character in the family with any stability, but he fails to maintain any order or control.

Now presenting, burlesque Dench

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, April 26,2006 6:02 p.m.

It is very rare that a movie can make you both laugh and cry, but "Mrs. Henderson Presents" does just that. And, very rarely do you see a film with humor and nudity that stays within a tasteful class range and never crosses the line to sleezy. Set in London, circa 1937, Laura Henderson (played by Dame Judi Dench) is an upper-class widow who is left with a large amount of money when her husband passes away. Alone and bored, Mrs. Henderson decides to purchase a theatre, which she names The Windmill. With the help of her hired manager, Vivian Vann Damm (Bob Hoskins), it is soon in business, yet the venture seems to be a failure not too long after its conception.

The darker, gorier side of European backpacking

By Alyson Brodsy and John Barnett · Wednesday, April 26,2006 6 p.m.

Two young American men (Jay Hernandez and Derek Richardson) set out on a backpacking trip looking to hook up and trip out in the European countryside, only to find themselves held captive and tortured in a seedy, debaucherous youth hostel in Slovakia. Produced by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Eli Roth, "Hostel" is a warts-and-all gorefest whose Unrated DVD incarnation pulls even less punches in the torture department than the already blood-soaked theatrical cut.

The birth of funk, soul, cool

By C. Warner Sills and Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, April 26,2006 5:58 p.m.

In the world of jazz there are the major players -- cats like Miles, Coltrane, Monk, Mingus, Bird, Gillespie -- then there are the musicians who, although were equally as talented and important to the music, did not gain the same colossal level of popularity as the bigger names. Trumpet legend and Indianapolis native Freddie Hubbard is one of these artists. While Hubbard had a strong early career as a backup player for bebop artists like Art Blakey and Sonny Rollins some of his most brilliant and often overlooked recordings came during the 1970s funk/fusion exploration era with collaborations with pianist Herbie Hancock, guitarist George Benson and bassist Ron Carter.

O'Riley gets lost in Elliott Smith's world

By Alyson Brodsy and Ryan McLaughlin · Wednesday, April 26,2006 5:57 p.m.

Christopher O'Riley is best known for his classical piano renditions of songs by the British alternative-art rock band Radiohead, which he first began playing during set breaks of "From the Top," a National Public Radio program which he hosts. The popularity of the songs led to the release of two albums; True Love Waits: Christopher O'Riley Plays Radiohead and Hold Me To This: Christopher O'Riley Plays Radiohead. Although many Radiohead fans praised his work, there have been some critics of O'Riley who claim he is only profiting from the use of the band's name. However, anyone who is remotely knowledgeable in the realm of music would be a fool to say that O'Riley is not an incredibly gifted pianist and meticulous in his arrangements.

Erasure welcomes you to suck street

By -Nate Bethea and Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, April 26,2006 5:56 p.m.

Maybe one of the downsides to Erasure having perfected the synth-pop song in the late 1980s is that they can't manage to break out of their formula. Although 1994's I Say, I Say, I Say and 1995's self-titled release showed a more mature group, little progress has been seen since then. Last year's Nightbird was a disappointing, tired retread, and Union Street is even more so in that it's an acoustic album of old B-sides and album tracks. I wouldn't have complained if they had made interesting unplugged versions of some of their exciting lesser-known songs, but instead they chose songs that were by and large downbeat (or even acoustic) to begin with. Why do we need an acoustic version of "Piano Song" when the original is nothing but a piano?

Truckers lay down the blessing

By Alyson Brodsy and Ty Schrock · Wednesday, April 26,2006 5:54 p.m.

The Drive-By Truckers might be the last true rock 'n' roll band. They still believe in the spirit and possibilities of a dying art, and do so without irony or excuses. A generation ago, they likely would have been huge rock stars, but in today's apathetic and splintered rock scene, they are just another great band that you'll never hear on the radio. A Blessing and a Curse, the band's seventh album, is essentially everything you'd come to expect from a DBT album, with its loud guitars, occasional twang and tales of the hard life.

An enjoyable evening with friends

By Alyson Brodsy and Tony Sams · Wednesday, April 26,2006 5:52 p.m.

The crazy thing about Nicole Holofcener's "Friends With Money" is that I didn't notice there wasn't a plot until I'd reached the end, but by then I had enjoyed the movie enough that it didn't really matter. Ostensibly, "Friends With Money," bestowed the honor of opening film of the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, is a study of women and their relationships to each other and to their husbands. In that regard, it doesn't beat too far off the path of Holofcener's previous films -- 1996's "Walking And Talking" and 2001's "Lovely & Amazing," also studies of women and their relationships -- but hey, when something works for you, keep it working.

Better when called "24"

By Alyson Brodsy and Ash Cartwright · Wednesday, April 26,2006 5:50 p.m.

While watching "The Sentinel," you will feel like you have already seen this film before. At first I thought this feeling was because previews for "Sentinel" made it look like a "24" rip off. So I went into the theater figuring that, on the up side, if it was like "24," then surely "Sentinel" would be entertainingly suspenseful and Keifer Southerland would be at his "Jack Bauer" best.