The Wake

Hark! Hark to the wind! ‘Tis the night, they say,
When all souls come back from the far away-
The dead, forgotten this many a day!
Virna Sheard
“Hallowe’en,” 1913
Devils, demons, ghosts, the dead, the undead, and death: these are familiar characters on Halloween. Where did this fascination with death come from?As a pagan, I’m faced with mistaken impressions about my beliefs every day, but never more than at Halloween. Militant Christians regularly hand out fliers on the corner. One, to my amusement and frustration, had well-known “Satanic” images: an inverted pentagram and a goat-human hybrid. “Satanic …

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I have to let you in on a dirty little secret.I’m still voting for Rep. Phyllis Kahn, DFL – Minneapolis, in the November election. You might be thinking I’m some sort double-talking, loopy liberal whose faulty logic condones Kahn’s July campaign literature heist while adamantly opposing the injustices of an increasingly conservative politics in Minnesota.“You’re still voting for Phyllis Kahn?” you might say incredulously. “How can you possibly explain that?”Well, dear reader, here’s how: Phyllis Kahn’s record proves that she is one of the most rockin’ politicians in the state of Minnesota. Kahn is currently serving her 16th term in …

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“And from among you there should be a party who invite to good and enjoin what is right and hinder the wrong, and these it is that shall be successful.” These profound words seem as though they could come from the memoirs of some great American philosopher or one of our nation’s founding fathers. However, these words come from no other text than the Islamic holy book, the Quran. This commandment serves as a fundamental principle that every Muslim should incorporate into his or her life. These words also form the basis for my decision to cast a ballot in …

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After 9/11 I went through a radical change in my outlook on life. Those attacks were the direct cause of the first part of my change –- the realization that people are fundamentally responsible for their own actions. I was no longer willing to make excuses for people and no longer saw people as groups, but as individuals. Group identities remove individual responsibility.The last part of this change was the extension and application of the first. I used to be a Socialist because I thought that it was just. I thought that people deserved to have their needs …

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My name is Amanda Hutchings and I am asking for your support for my run for the Minnesota State House. I am a fourth year student here at the University of Minnesota, studying political science, history, and French. Throughout my years here at the university and as a citizen of district 59B, I have consistently been active with politics and its processes at the local, state, and federal levels. I hope this column gives the voters my positions and serves as a reference when voting this November. Higher education: State funding for public institutions of higher education must be …

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Wilco’s John Stirrat recently spoke with The Wake about the new album, ghosts, and sporting venues gone terribly wrong. The Wake: What’s up?John: Nothing much, just a little recuperation from the last leg of touring. The Wake: How is that?John: Oh, it’s goin’ great. Just fantastic. It was – y’know, couldn’t have asked for a better tour really. We did New York – Radio City [Music Hall] – for a few nights, so it was crazy. We’re lookin’ forward to getting back to Minneapolis after that kinda heinous show we did at the gallery [laughs]. Editor’s note: Wilco played …

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In an age when one can drive from New York to Los Angeles listening to the same corporate crap on the same Clear Channel radio stations in every single state, some have stood up in active resistance to the mass media monopolies. On Thursday, Oct. 28, travelers along University Avenue will be able to hear over fifty different independent broadcasts from micro-transmitters set up in locations ranging from the University of Minnesota to the State Capital. Radio Re-Volt, a Walker Art Center project which began over four months ago, will culminate with the broadcast event followed by a two-day conference …

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The imagination is a playful entity that likes to frolic across the canvas, run past the camera lens, and tip-toe through clay. But it also likes to explore and mix media at its will so as to blur the lines between the myriad forms of traditional art. This is the case in “Interplay,” an excessively creative and modern-mixed media show, now showing at the Katherine E. Nash Gallery. The show highlights University of Minnesota alumni and their imaginations, which run amok through conventional mediums, resulting in something truly playful.The play between mediums and the imagination begins with the media itself. …

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Interpol’s single Slow Hands, from the new album Antics, is already a friend to me the way a song that is really great always is. It isn’t an easy thing to write broken-heart lyrics and make them authentic. Vocalist Paul Banks manages to sound a bit menacing, in a gentle way, while in regret or in remembrance of this ache. The bite of the action is there in the sound and the words. Slow Hands has already been the soundtrack to a dream or two of mine, and I find myself humming it as I would an old favorite.
When …

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I recently got a chance to talk with Bill Lindsey about the upcoming greatest holiday of the year. (That’s Halloween for our readers who are a little slow.) Bill is the vocalist for the greatest band ever to come out of Minnesota, Impaler, a 365-day embodiment of Halloween, heavy metal, and punk rock. The Wake: Bill can you give us a run down on the best haunted house in town?
Bill: Well, in my opinion the Fright Farm is by far the best haunted attraction in the Twin Cities. They have the best sets and characters! Great atmosphere in …

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Need a reason to skip class and drink beer? Check out the Summit Brewery tour.The beer at the end and the extensive lesson on brewing given during the tour will dilute any lingering guilt about missing class. Besides, it’s free.The tour of this microbrewery that Mark Stutrud started in 1986 begins with a mouthwatering lecture by guide Debra Pursley. She begins by describing the nine beers that Summit offers in a fashion that makes visitors want to dive right into one of the giant brewing vats within sight.Visiting connoisseurs then get a lesson on the only four ingredients used in …

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[This is where the lead-in would normally go. But Bam served up such interesting theories on space aliens, factual theory, and the origins of the AIDS virus, that it wasn’t worth wasting that much of the page. Plus, introductions are stupid.]Without further ado: a conversation with Afrika Bambaataa.Bam on winter:[In New York] y’know, I’m getting ready for winter syndrome.Bam on Yankees: Well, the Yankees are cool. Y’know I respect them for being in the state and for winning all the World Series that they have won throughout their history. Bam on the media and hip-hop:A lot of corporations are messing …

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Bobby Joe Worrell hates to be late. He tells me this apologetically as he sits down across from me five minutes late for our interview. He fiddles with his glasses and glances at the clock. He settles into the interview, glasses in hand. Throughout the interview he glances, squinting, around the crowded Coffman Union cafeteria never becoming completely comfortable with the idea that he has anything important to say. “I’m pretty boring, huh?” Worrell asks after he answers the first question.Better known as “Salad Bar Bob” on campus, Worrell has worked for University Dining Services for the last two …

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Socially conservative, fiscally liberal: these kinds of labels can often be confusing, especially during the election season. And how do all the candidates line up on the political spectrum anyhow?A research group has developed a Web site where the Average Joe can figure out which political sector he falls into. Be careful, your little green dot may put you right next door to Hitler—or Gandhi.If you have 20 minutes, you can find out exactly how far you are from the candidate you currently support. The test will fire you a series of statements spread over six pages about financial strategies …

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Dark clouds hung over Washington Avenue as I, gently misted by the drizzling rain, sought refuge with a descent to the second floor of the Mayo Building. The bright lights in the hall stood out in stark contrast to the proposed purpose of my investigation. Little did I expect that my venture into the mortuary science department would reveal more than morbid dreams and death.The University of Minnesota mortuary science department was founded almost a century ago in 1908. There are 54 schools in the United States offering mortuary science programs, most of these only two-year associate programs. The University …

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