The Wake

First and foremost, let me say that I am, in fact, a gay man. I like the cock.With that out of the way, let me propose this: the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender movement has ruined everything for itself. Gay people have forced themselves into a horrendous caricature of a community.I’ll just go ahead and assume that you think I’m talking about traditionally “gay” mannerisms. I’m not. I have no problem with “girly” men or “manly” girls. I have never and will never hate anyone for what they are, flamboyant or not. I certainly will reserve judgment, …

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It is a beginning-of-the-year tradition for women all over campus to cut and tie their free (with season ticket purchase) Gopher Football T-shirt. Generally, this means to take an oversized shirt, cut the seams, and tie the remnants to fit a person of smaller stature. The result is a small shirt with holes in the side and a plunging neckline, crafted to strategically lure potential mates (or something) before, during and after the first football game of the season. Reflecting on this sort of rite of passage, my friends and I have often wondered where we would be now had …

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One, 16, 18, 21: these are the landmark birthdays that merit bona fide celebrations. But Summit Brewery Co. is breaking the mold by celebrating its 20th this weekend, partying it up with favorite brews and bands on Harriet Island. Saturday’s daylong celebration features successful Minnesota-bred groups the Suburbs and Soul Asylum, who will grace the lineup alongside Tapes N’ Tapes, the Alarmists, and Big George Jackson. The Minnesota Police Pipe Band, Cake, and British folk rocker Richard Thompson will also make a trip to the island. “The focus has been to bring Minnesota related bands because Summit’s a Minnesota beer,” …

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Directly above Sally’s Saloon and Eatery, Tool’s “10,000 Days” accompanies tattoo artist Trevor Kennedy as he works on a piece that has taken somewhere between 12 and 15 hours. The colorful sleeve on his client’s left arm started with a few stars about five years ago. Since then, Kennedy has been developing it into a masterpiece based on his client’s wish to have an original Van Gogh-like design covering his arm. The colors are still vibrant even after considerable exposure to the sun.“This one’s kind of cool just because it’s a blast from the past,” Kennedy says. “It’s neat …

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Past a White Castle restaurant’s blocky blue spires, into a long brick building, and up two flights of stairs (or the shaft of an antique elevator that’s liable to breakdown in between floors) is the 720 Space. Part concert venue, part art gallery, the Space is a haven for DIY-ers, punks, experimental artists, and UNO card game aficionados. But you wouldn’t know it by the Space’s exterior. In fact, the people working 9-to-5 jobs at the office supply company below the Space don’t even know much about it. But there are a few clues, should you be willing to investigate. …

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Move over, Walker. Step down, Target Center. There’s more to the Minneapolis sound and vision scene than corporate sponsorships. And we’ve got the dirt to back it up. Here’s a list of eleven local venues not to be overlooked. The Church
Put down the hymnal, leave your Sunday best at home, and trade a sip of communal wine for a plastic cup of beer, because the only god you’ll worship in this church is the sweat-drenched musician convulsing on stage. Need to repent after the debauchery? No problem. Since Saturday night shows are guaranteed to run well into Sunday …

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In an era of question marks surrounding the United States’ involvement in international affairs, it is refreshing to acquire a viewpoint such as that from Juliana Spahr. Her latest work, This Connection of Everyone with Lungs offers to her readers an opportunity to reflect on the flow of the current tumultuous global narrative through her viewpoint, as a citizen, starting with the attacks of 9/11 through the onset of the Iraq war. A collection of two poems, “Poem Written after September 11, 2001” and “Poem Written from November 30, 2002, to March 27, 2003” Spahr offers her readers …

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Say goodbye to the University of Minnesota’s Science Classroom Building.The Mississippi River Design Initiative, hosted by the University’s College of Design, plans to render the East Bank river site anew. Jamie Helding, a 21-year-old landscape architecture student, plans to use this project as a springboard into her post-collegiate career.“The Mississippi River Design Initiative is comprised of staff at the University of Minnesota, which reaches out to faculty and administration advisors, as well as off-campus partners, in achieving the Initiative’s goals,” states MRDI’s Web site, riverdesign.umn.edu. One such goal is to redesign the site around the Science Classroom Building in an …

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The Varsity Theater in Dinkytown was set up more like a coffee shop than a theater. Twinkling lights filled the ceiling, while The Day After Tomorrow, starring hunk of the moment Jake Gyllenhaal plays in the background to set the mood. On Monday, Sept. 11, about 30 people gathered to discuss the change in weather and climate happenings as pollution and the environment become a growing concern to the general public.The first in a three-part series of Café Scientifique at the Varsity Theater in Dinkytown, “Global Climate Change: It’s Getting Hot in Here!” showcased the global “warming” happening to the …

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This election season, there are two “third-party” candidates running in the race to be Minnesota’s next governor, along with the Republican and Democrat nominees. Independence Party candidate Peter Hutchinson and the Green Party’s Ken Pentel join Republican incumbent Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Attorney General Mike Hatch from the DFL. The Libertarian Party of Minnesota is not running a candidate since Sue Jeffers announced she’d run against Pawlenty for the Republican nomination in the Sept. 12 primary, in which she lost by a large margin. Voters will decide on Nov. 7.Many think that a two-party political system limits voters. Maureen Reed, …

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Whether you think drinking games are considered sports is debatable. However, some students make a living and fill their Monday-Saturday nights “practicing their craft.” Thus, Wake Athletics decided to give you a look at some of our favorite drinking games that can be played in a parking lot, basement or dungeon. Here are the some of the Wake’s favorites. Editor’s Note: two students were harmed doing research for this story. Beer Pong
Also known as Beirut on the East Coast, this game play is played using 20 16 ounce cups, 10 per team. The cups are placed in …

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“The goal of a Buddhist meditation is emptiness” slinks over from the seat next to me and wraps its mixed-up wisdom around my synapses. It feels as if perhaps my ears aren’t popping, but my head is exploding. I am beginning the descent of my flight from Cancun to Havana as I wonder, “What the hell am I going to do with all of these Christians?” I remember a sort of vow I made almost one year ago in which I decided to be a lighthouse and suddenly my mission trip to Cuba to help a church becomes my mission …

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The last good movie I saw in the theater was called (PUMA ATHLETIC WEAR) Inside Man, directed by Spike Lee. (PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE) All I’d heard of it was the description “bank robbery movie,” and I considered not going, but the choice between an overpriced movie ticket and another night hanging out with my parents was easy. It was a bank robbery movie, (CONVERSE FOOTWEAR) essentially, yet the story involved war crimes and history, it was far more than I (DOS EQUIS BEER—DRINK RESPONSIBLY) expected. Except there was this one problem: there were way too many fucking commercials.Was …

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Cale Parks’ 2006 release, Illuminated Manuscript, is an eclectic yet surprisingly warm collection of ambient electronica. Due to release in the U.S. on Sept. 26, Parks’ music follows along the vein of Dust Brothers, Mum, and DJ Shadow, with 14 tracks mixing software and actual instruments. Recorded while Parks was playing full-time with indie band Aloha, the fundamentals for the album were recorded on bedroom floors with a four-track mixer. Brooklyn-based Parks has had a hand in a number of projects over the last few years, recording with dozens of acts including Cex, Joan Of Arc, Chin Up Chin Up, …

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There are techno artists whose output sounds like nothing more than drum machines and synthesizers pounding out beats to keep the ecstasy-and-dance club crowd nodding. Then there are the actual musicians of the genre, whose work surprises even the most cynical listeners. Local musician Shea Bartel is a prime example of the latter.Following in the footsteps of electronica heroes The Books and Lemon Jelly, Bartel has crafted a concept album that’s nothing short of a joy to listen to. “The Last Planetarium” employs Bartel’s fluency in multiple instruments, as well as computer programs, to create songs similar to biology film …

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