Longform

Furry boots, wellies on campus

I know I have barked about picking up fashion trends the masses have adopted, but I have to confess I bought a pair of furry boots and I love them.

Celebrated guitar player returns to Bloomington

World-renowned guitar performer Denis Azabagic will travel to Bloomington for an anxiously awaited performance Saturday. The guitarist has played in various countries and received international accolades.

PRIDE Film Festival expands to include kick-off party

Drag queens, transgender people and gay adoption are only a few among the slew of topics for films in this year's PRIDE Film Festival, which will take place Friday and Saturday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 144 E. Kirkwood Ave.

Putting together a runway show

In the upcoming months, four seniors in the Individualized Major Fashion Design Program will debut their individual lines, presenting them to fit their unique personalities and inspirations. Themes range from biker, Brazilian birds, a winter in Russia to wealthy women at a country club.

Honors College renamed for philanthropist

Students, faculty and administration came together Wednesday afternoon to honor the renaming of the IU Honors College. But rather than a stuffy reception, the gathering was a warm celebration of Edward L. Hutton's belief in something simple: students. "Young people, given the opportunity and the tools to work with, can work wonders," Hutton said at the end of his speech.

Around The State

Since February 2003, 38 Indiana military personnel have died after being sent to the Mideast for the war in Iraq. Recent deaths include: Jan. 4 -- Army Pvt. Cory R. Depew, 21, Indianapolis, died in Mosul when a rocket-propelled grenade struck the military vehicle in which he was riding.

Self defense class can empower women

The Middle Way House will offer a women's self defense class Saturday to raise money for its outreach programs that help women who are victims of domestic violence or rape.

Technological park approved by council

The Bloomington City Council unanimously approved the development of the proposed Certified Technology Park Wednesday.

Students learn 'Digital Karma'

In the Buddhist tradition, your karma determines your fate after death, but at IU it can get you a free iPod. An iPod was just one of many raffle prizes students could win Wednesday at Alumni Hall in the Indiana Memorial Union as part of the University's "Digital Karma" event to educate students about legal downloading alternatives.

BFC, IUSA to examine priority registration

Now that students aren't able to waitlist as many classes in OneStart as they were using the Indiana Student Information Transaction Environment, the Bloomington Faculty Council plans to study the priority registration for athletes proposal in hopes of making improvements for the rest of the students.

Global Village unites world on campus

When the 53 students on the first two floors of Foster-Martin began the year, they did something in the first few weeks that most people take years to do. They met people from all over the world.

Cold Weather, Hot Fashion

'Nightbird' better off erased

I hate admitting it, but Erasure has become as marginalized as Sting. Rather than crooning to world music/chakra/yoga enthusiasts, Vince Clarke and Andy Bell's sugary '80s synth ballads and dance numbers are listened to only by pop eccentrics and gay bar attendees; their new album Nightbird does very little to change this.

'The Documentary' chronicles very little

The Game is looking for success and he's on the right track. On his debut album, The Documentary, he has songs produced by Kanye West, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Hi-Tek, Just Blaze and Buckwild. He has cameos from Busta Rhymes, 50 Cent, Faith Evans, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Nate Dogg. He has a label consisting of Dre and 50 Cent backing him up financially. The only thing he needs now to become successful is his own image.

SKI away winter Woes

While students begin planning sunny vacations for that magical week in March, others are still embracing the winter months with North Face jackets, scarves and Ugg boots. Considering Bloomington's unfortunate geographical location, embracing winter has to be limited to accessories and not much action. The occasional winter weekend trip is out of the question, snow-tipped mountains are only a reality in a Geology textbook and The Rocky Mountains is the place where Coors is brewed, not a place to ski. But a weekend trip doesn't have to be so out of reach.

'Lights' shine on Thornton

At first glance, "Friday Night Lights," a film about a 1988 West Texas football team, could easily have been just another formulaic sports movie in the mold of hits like "Remember the Titans" or "Varsity Blues." All the components are there: an out-of-towner, star football coach, a group of driven but lost young men and a rabid football atmosphere. What serves to separate "Friday Night Lights" from the pack is its gritty, knuckles-to-the-bone depiction of life and football in the middle of nowhere.

Forget 'The Forgotten'

The DVD of "The Forgotten" is tragic in the same way the movie is tragic -- tragically, mythically and painfully terrible. First, the movie. It wants desperately to be the next "The Sixth Sense." The problem, of course, is that "Sixth Sense"-esque movies are really only good the first time you see them. On the second watch, they're still kind of cool. If you keep watching them after that, you're probably already in a support group for this type of thing.

Get 'Lost' in television

My television and I have always had a rock-solid, mutually beneficial relationship. It keeps me company when I'm lonely or bored and I try and make sure it stays healthy and happy by never forcing it to play competitive poker programs or hour-long, crime-solving serials. For the past four months or so, my television and I have made a special point to rendezvous every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. for a meeting with our newfound love, ABC's "Lost."

These Moaners will surprise you

The Moaners will no doubt be likened to the White Stripes for the fact that their monochromatic blues-rock is impressive and created by a twosome. True, Jack and Meg do it better, but singer/guitarist Melissa Swingle and drummer Laura King are just out to make some noise -- noise that's deceptively complex, despite its simple components: one voice, two instruments. Their debut album, Dark Snack, amounts to twelve ballads -- 35 minutes long -- of forward-moving estrojam, punctuated with a raw yet controlled, locomoting guitar sound and drums as crashing as a Fat Albert-topped human pyramid.

Carpenter cult classic gets workmanly redux

John Carpenter made the original "Assault on Precinct 13" two years prior to exploding into popular consciousness with his seminal horror classic "Halloween." The flick, a cheapie B-movie which itself was an homage to "Rio Bravo," went on to become a cult classic. Rightfully so, the picture was made with enough grit and moxy to keep viewers interested in the single-setting gangland siege being perpetrated against the lone inhabitants of a soon-to-be abandoned police station. Hollywood in its infinite wisdom, i.e. remaking a remake, has decided to give "Assault" a redux. While the two movies share a basic premise and title, they're two entirely different beasts, bringing about changes both good and otherwise.