Women's Golf

Castro tries to reassure Cubans his health is stable

By Alyson Brodsy and Vanessa Arrington · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 5:58 p.m.

HAVANA -- The Cuban government sought to reassure citizens after Fidel Castro temporarily ceded power for the first time in 47 years, releasing a statement from the world's longest-serving head of government saying his health is stable, his spirits good and the defense of the island guaranteed. His brother and designated successor, Raul Castro, remained silent and out of sight, issuing no statements of his own. Despite the affirmations that all was well, there appeared to be an increase in police patrols in some working-class neighborhoods and coastal areas.

Israeli commandos, Hezbollah clash in northeastern Lebanon

By Alyson Brodsy and Hamza Hendawi · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 5:56 p.m.

BOURJ AL-MULOUK, Lebanon -- Israel pressed the first full day of a massive new ground attack, sending 8,000 troops into southern Lebanon on Wednesday and seizing five people it said were Hezbollah fighters in a dramatic airborne raid on a northeastern town. Hezbollah retaliated with its deepest strikes yet into Israel, firing a record number of more than 160 rockets. Diplomatic efforts faltered, with France saying it will not participate in a Thursday U.N. meeting that could send troops to help monitor a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Drinking games: Serious Bizness

By Alyson Brodsy and Zack Teibloom · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 4:20 p.m.

From the moment the bouncer asks you your middle name and birth sign at the door, the drinking games are on. The earliest known drinking game in literature is from Plato's Symposium in which players fill a bowl with wine, drink it, and pass it on. Games have gotten more advanced, and the rules differ from town to town, even within Bloomington, but the idea is the same: Why not play a game to show off your ping pong ball throwing, cup flipping, and beer pouring skills with a little peer pressure?

Into the great Abyss

By Alyson Brodsy and Zack Teibloom · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 4:04 p.m.

"When we get down there you may be face-to-face with a snake or a dead animal. I'm not scaring you, am I?" IU Outdoor Adventure Trip Leader Matt Lattis asked as we began our vertical descent into the deepest cave in Indiana. He offered to take the IDS staffer who doesn't know how to tie his own tie on a day trip to explore the great abyss of one of 2,000 caves in Indiana. A cave enthusiast since the eighth grade, Lattis is one of the trip leaders at IU Outdoor Adventure. The program consists of specialized classes and individualized trips ranging from day trips in Bloomington to week long trips all over the world. Kayaking in Kentucky, rock climbing and caving in Southern Illinois, and backpacking and whitewater rafting trips are a few of the orientation trips available to freshman in August, but students can plan their own trips year round with help from IUOA.

Get down with the Boogie

By Alyson Brodsy and Michael Reschke · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 3:58 p.m.

Plastic inflatable penises were plentiful throughout the camp ground, as were signs that requested passers by to expose their breasts. Bike engines revved at all hours of the day and night. Clothing was optional, even for those people whose bodies were fighting a losing battle against gravity. Random and crazy were two words that could be used to describe many of the people in attendance, such as Don Berndt. "Fuck you Bob!" is what he and his T-shirt said. "There's so many fuckin' Bobs in the world you gotta say fuck you Bob," Berndt said. These are the kinds of things that happen when people sentenced to 40 hours of weekly work until the age of 65 are allowed to get down, let loose, and let it all (yes ALL) hang out. This weekend of freedom is called The Boogie.

Sex in the City

By Alyson Brodsy and Chris Freiberg and David A. Nosko · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 3:54 p.m.

There are clubs and then there are strip clubs. Bloomington offers Hoosiers many choices for basking in brews and hearty ha-ha's, but where can community members go if they seek half-naked human beings sliding down poles or sex toys to bring home to share with their partner? Also known as "adult entertainment," the city offers most forms of sensual self-indulgence and perverted pleasure, including topless dance clubs, bookstores with XXX video arcades, and lingerie boutiques offering everything from fluffy handcuffs to nipple clamps.

Lollapalooza's new home

By Alyson Brodsy and Rob O'Connor · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 3:50 p.m.

One of the summer's biggest concerts is right around the corner and just a short jaunt away. The three day music festival, Lollapalooza, kicks off Aug. 4 in Chicago's Grant Park. This is the second year that the festival has made The Windy City the back drop for their three day party. Last year many people were hesitant to accept the third largest American city as a good location to hold an outdoor music festival, especially one which hopes to host 75,000 concert-goers. However, after last year's success the festival organizers have high hopes for this second time around.

Something to hold you over

By Fryburg 84 · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 3:37 p.m.

Meet Tommy, the most stereotypical and borderline offensive video game character since Mario. He's a Cherokee who lives on a reservation, hates the old ways of his ancestors and spends his day at a bar playing video poker. But one night his routine of getting hammered and blowing his paycheck gets interrupted when aliens abduct him, his girlfriend and apparently half of Texas. This puts Tommy on a course save the world and rediscover his heritage while kicking approximately 32 different kinds of alien ass (at least I think these things have asses).

Sign O' The Times

By Alyson Brodsy and Warner Sills · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 3:36 p.m.

What crazy times we live in. 'Tis a time of accidental, "whoops, my bad," international wars, soccer superstars head butting opponents (then again in the game of fútbol hands shall not be used), sniper assholes shooting up pick-up trucks and (if you believe Mr. Gore) a planet that is dying as fast as kooky Tom Cruise's reputation. With politics and the globe aside, the world of entertainment and pop culture is also important to pay attention to. With that said I thought it would be fitting to give you the current state of pop as we venture into the latter half of the '00s.

Powell and Pressburger's pilgrimage

By Alyson Brodsy and Chris Wisner · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 3:33 p.m.

For too long I've only seen Powell and Pressburger's Technicolor epics such as "The Red Shoes" and "The Tales of Hoffmann" and while they are fun to watch, ultimately they come off very dated and awkward in places. I had begun to think all of the Brit directing duo's films were like this, but then "A Canterbury Tale" came my way. Taking Chaucer's story and adapting it for the then modern times of England, Powell and Pressburger place three journeyers -- an American soldier, a British officer and village girl -- on a quest from Kent to Canterbury during World War II. When they reach Kent though, the chances of them making it to the fabled destination seems grim as they're hopelessly caught up in a series of village crimes that, while not murders, are far from normal criminal activity.

An evolutionary documentary

By Alyson Brodsy and John Barnett · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 3:29 p.m.

By the end of Barbet Schroeder's brief 1978 documentary on Koko, a female gorilla being taught sign language and other aspects of human communication on the campus of Stanford University from her birth in 1971 to this very day, I had fallen in love with the noble beast. Filmed in secret as to avoid legal troubles with the San Francisco Zoo (which technically owned Koko at the time of filming), Schroeder's chronicle asks many tough questions, such as if a gorilla being raised in a humanistic environment has any significant rights, or if raising a creature in such a way is ethical.

Chappelle gets the last laugh

By Alyson Brodsy and Michael Mellini · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 3:23 p.m.

Dave Chappelle is an idiot. No, his comedy isn't stupid; in fact it's quite intelligent. But, $50 million?!? Come on man, how do you pass that up? On the other hand Comedy Central is quite smart for releasing "Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes" and milking the Chappelle teat for all it's worth. It seems production on the show's third season didn't get very far before Dave took off, so the disc only contains three episodes. And they're measly at that. Without commercials there's about only an hour's worth of footage, but what's there is damn funny. Chappelle has said that one of the main reasons he bailed was the pressure (yeah $50 mil is a lot of pressure) to maintain the show's quality. And while these episodes don't quite measure up to the first two seasons, if they had aired with a full season, viewers probably wouldn't be outraged in disappointment. Several times throughout the first episode Chappelle references his situation and the giant amount of money (and jokes about getting his own cereal and attempting to turn the L'il Jon sketch into a full length movie), so at least the audience is aware that he realizes what rests on his shoulders.

Expert novices help define indie rock

By Alyson Brodsy and Josh Millrod · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 3:22 p.m.

Think back to the worst band in your high school. The one with that awful singer, that dude who could barely play guitar and that drummer who couldn't keep a steady beat. In their best moments, they were still barely holding it together. Then imagine them sticking it out for twelve years and becoming one of the most influential indie rock bands in history. In fact, they basically invented the genre. This is the story of Beat Happening. By their last album You Turn Me On, Beat Happening had toured the world, received critical acclaim in major music magazines and founded K Records which would become indie rock's most prosperous record label. They still couldn't play their instruments that well and their singer's rumbling bass singing still wasn't quite in tune.

They ain't no joke

By Alyson Brodsy and John Barnett · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 3:20 p.m.

Old school rap took a giant leap towards rolling with the new when Eric B. and Rakim's Paid in Full began vibrating dorm room walls and Brooklyn sidewalks in the fall of 1987. Showcasing both DJ Eric Barrier's genre-defining turntable skills and production and William Griffin's nearly unmatched rhyming prowess, the New York City duo's debut hit big upon it's initial release, and was recently named the greatest hip hop album of all time by MTV. Greatest hip hop album of all time is stretching it a little, but Paid in Full certainly belongs in the top 20. Unlike most groundbreaking rap albums of the early-to-mid 80's, it's just as aesthetically pleasing as it is exponentially influential. Countless rappers and hip hop beatmakers owe Eric B. and Rakim for a large portion of their sound. Rakim's vocal style and multi-syllabic rhymes gave birth to everyone from Eminem and Black Thought of the Roots to Tupac and Mos Def. Eric B's soundscapes sketched the blueprint for post-Paul's Boutique Beastie Boys and occasionally seemed to encapsulate what would eventually become rap-rock. Nearly all 10 tracks on the record are primed to blow your speakers (and your mind if you'll let them). "I Ain't No Joke," "My Melody" and "I Know You Got Soul" were the hits, but "As the Rhyme Goes On" and the title track are Barrier and Griffin at their best.

Exceptions to the rule

By Alyson Brodsy and Ty Schrock · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 3:17 p.m.

The 80s sucked. Greed was supposedly good, Reagan was in the White House and bands known more for their hairstyles than their music ruled the airwaves. So, in a time when Duran Duran and A Flock of Seagulls were the big thing, it was a little far fetched that an unassuming folk-rock quartet from Athens, Georgia would be able to become America's premier rock band. But that's exactly what did happen. That band, of course, was R.E.M. Owing equally to the Byrds, Patti Smith and Wire, R.E.M. was a mishmash of musical ideas and personalities featuring a guitar player (Peter Buck) who favored arpeggio-style chording over soloing, a drummer (Bill Berry) who knew restraint, and a multi-talented, McCartney-esque bassman (Mike Mills) who was the glue that held it all together. Add to this an incomparable and wonderfully weird frontman in Michael Stipe, and you have the unlikely, but winning formula.

The ambassadors of musical perfection

By C. Warner Sills and Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 3:15 p.m.

During their zenith Steely Dan was a pioneer of highly polished and perfected music that somehow managed to dodge one specific genre. While some might liken the unique group to fellow rock bands like The Doobie Brothers or Chicago, Steely Dan stands out as innovators of a sound and style that can only be described by listening to its music. It's not quite rock, not quite jazz. It's riddled with subtle laid-back R&B and soul flavors, but only below the surface. Dan is poppy when it wants to be but gives straight pop a twist. Above all, the band has always relied on the best musicians around to create the slickest of the slick.

Country meets rock and roll

By Alyson Brodsy and Ryan McLaughlin · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 3:12 p.m.

I was 11 years-old when my uncle gave me a copy of Last of the Red Hot Burrito Brothers by The Flying Burrito Brothers. My uncle was cool (he liked Gordon Lightfoot and had a banjo) but at the time I was probably more into listening to Creed and acquiring grass stains. However, my brother and I liked the name and the unfamiliar sound, so we would often sing along with the Burritos in our best adolescent country twang. For a young kid the Burritos were cool because, in my eyes, they were so uncool. But as my music tastes matured with age (I assure you, Creed is no longer on the top of my playlist) I started to enjoy the Burrito's music for more than just pure nostalgia and grew to realize that Gram Parsons and company's pioneering synthesis of traditional country music and rock 'n' roll was not only extremely ground-breaking but indeed cool.

It's never to early to start drinking

By Alyson Brodsy and Chris Green · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 3:11 p.m.

Well, it's kind of difficult to review live albums. Personally, I'm not really a fan of live albums. I would much rather go to the show personally and experience the band firsthand. But I realize that this isn't always possibly, especially with bands that aren't around anymore (like the Clash). Anyway, I'm rambling. I haven't even told you what's being reviewed yet. Flogging Molly have been on the top of their game for several years now, and they don't plan on stopping anytime soon. The band has followed up their brilliant 2004 release Within A Mile Of Home with a new album entitled Whiskey on a Sunday. Four acoustic tracks, five live tracks, and a brand spanking new studio track.

J5's 4th a good time, but not their best

By Alyson Brodsy and Chris Green · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 3:09 p.m.

Jurassic 5 is a stunning array of talent. Take five MC's (each with their own distinct sound) and two DJ's putting out honest, raw and catchy hip-hop reminiscent of the old-school days of NWA and the Wu-Tang Clan (when ODB was still alive and not in jail). This is the boys' 4th release, entitled Feedback. Party people, get ready for some old-school party rap here. Unfortunately, this release is a bit disappointing for a J5 fan. First off, the production is weak. This can be explained by the departure of DJ Cut Chemist, who is pursuing a solo career. Gone are the goofy samples and speedy cutting and crossing that Chemist brought to the distinct J5 sound.

Not mind-blowing

By Alyson Brodsy and Sam Nissen · Wednesday, Aug. 2,2006 3:08 p.m.

I guess maybe I expect too much from Pharrell. His new album, In My Mind, is full of good beats, great raps and electrifying falsetto singing. Too often, though, these highlights do not occur at the same time. In my mind, Pharrell is the fashionista of our time -- like Madonna, except not annoying -- which might be why In My Mind seems tepid sometimes. Fans should expect every song to be as well crafted as the $200 Ice Cream shoes or $100 Billionaire Boys Club hoodies he crafts when not tending to rap.