The Wake

The Minneapolis College of Art and Design presents “Graphic Noise: Rock Posters at 1000 dBs” for anyone who has ever glanced with caution over their shoulder as they ripped down a gig poster or riddled an innocent telephone pole with staples and flyers to herald an upcoming show. Casual fans of the screen-printing magic will enjoy the exhibit as well. Scaling the walls of MCAD’s Main Gallery through Feb.19, the expansive collection of contemporary rock posters brings together varying artists and graphic design techniques from all over the world to rock your optical senses. True to the exhibit’s name, the …

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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s Peter Hayes has a sloppy sort of drawl. We spoke on a phone for almost 20 minutes on a grey Wednesday afternoon about what lies ahead and behind of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BRMC). The band’s story, much like my interview with Hayes, has been through several ups and downs and incarnations since its inception in 1995. BRMC was discovered via a demo that somehow ended up in the hands of an LA radio station. “It wasn’t even written up. Just a paragraph that said, ‘Oh this is a good CD.’ And then someone from a …

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It would seem poetry has fallen off the face of pop culture. Modern music, film and television have no time for line breaks and meter. These forms of media have even taken poetry’s place when it comes to entertainment. But maybe we aren’t looking hard enough and poetry still finds its way into modern culture’s consciousness. Recently, I came across the movie Slam, which stars poet and musician Saul Williams. The movie won Dramatic Feature Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and the Golden Camera at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998. After watching the movie, I realized …

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We march through snow
In blinding strides.
The wind is fierce
And sun is gold.
Why must cold
Bite so
Silent
In my flesh
To rivers
Violent.

My world was carpet and tiles.
I could never see the floorboards
beneath: ascetics, prostrate under feet.
I asked my Mother questions and I
could tell it was Sunday by the way the sun
soared through the windows and landed
on the backs of the unreasonable
couches. Terry cloth capes,
plastic swords, and I was David.
The ceiling, the floor above it, the roof,
were held up by angles more than walls.
The Smiling Catholic, towering, always
coming home, never leaving.I saw the next one made.
I saw the cement, the timber,
the glass that went into it.
The walls, …

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So you hear it –
Do it until you hear it!He continued to band his head against
the trunk of a tree until he heard it, until
he heard nothing. For her he clenched the tree’s base, awaiting the eyelet’s
satisfaction, no cries came. Then he hovered until the spaceunderneath his fingernails bled.
She couldn’t yell loud enough;
he couldn’t impulse hard enough.

Once in the morning
When we pushed, pulled, and wiped
Her spotted yellow skin.Again in the afternoon
As we hoisted her fetal body
From chair to bed.And once more in the evening
While we stripped her,
Snapped on her gown, and bid her a goodnight.She didn’t work anymore.
I heard once that she had been a teacher
Years ago.She never played although I assumed
The faded black and white photos
Of a vibrant young girl were her.I hadn’t heard her talk much
Except, of course, to plead with God
Or to curse me as I wiped the feces from …

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The issues surrounding abortion rights highlight a more intrinsic problem with our society as a whole, according to the fourth annual Faith and Bioethics Lecture held on January 27 at the Moos Tower. The lecture, given by Dr. Robert Spitzer, president of the catholic Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA, was part of the MacLaurin lecture series whose goal is “dedicated to bringing God into the marketplace of ideas.”In his lecture, entitled “Toward a Philosophy of the Pro-Life Movement: Personhood, Rights and Purpose in Life,””, Spitzer said that the “violation of the silver rule,” which is “do not do harm to …

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When purchasing a sweatshirt or a pair of jeans, the majority of us completely ignore the “made in” label. What concerns us at the shopping mall is whether or not the article of clothing is flattering or comfortable, but the many people who worked to make the clothing rarely, if ever, cross our minds. It may seem surprising, then, that the trade of textiles and apparel is one of the most highly contested issues in the World Trade Organization (WTO). Many developing nations are dependent on the export of textiles to fuel their economies. According to the WTO’s …

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Ignore the script. Imagine that Marty McFly and his comrade Doc Brown, wacky inventor of the plutonium-powered, time-traveling DeLorean, could have traveled to any time period.Are you picturing them blundering around in the Middle Ages? If so, you might just be a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), also called “The College of Tor Aerie.” The student organization has been reenacting and researching the Middle Ages for over 20 years. “If there’s something that was done in the Middle Ages or medieval times, you can find someone [in the SCA] who does it,” explains Breena Stanton, the …

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Any student traveling from the East Bank to the St. Paul Campus on the transitway can see that industry is alive and well in Minneapolis. As you zoom to our rural neighbor campus you pass tall, ugly buildings shooting out steam. You look to the ground and see a mass of railroad tracks. The industry of private businesses and railroads north of University Avenue is not always a pretty sight to see, but this area shouldn’t be ignored. The University of Minnesota transitway was built in 1992 and the bike path that runs along the road opened on Oct. …

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Shhh…I have a secret: The U’s dance team is good. Really good. Four consecutive National Titles good. Despite being a dancing dynasty, the majority of students at the U are clueless about what the dance team has accomplished. While asking students around campus what they knew about their Gopher Dance Team, I was greeted with countless blank stares, puzzled looks and mystified glances. “I didn’t even know we had a dance team,” says Brenda Saxton, a junior nursing student. “The Wake” decided it was time to unveil the best kept secret on campus. So we let Tara Peckskamp, co-captain and …

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As technological advances allow for revolving stadium-ceilings and rubber-induced field surfaces, one campus venue has maintained its mystical sense without such changes.With its 79-year-old rafters and one-of-a-kind raised floor, Williams Arena has become an emporium of rich memories for countless fans, players, employees and visitors of all kinds.“I think it has that barn look to it,” says Chuck Mencel, Gophers basketball guard from 1951-55. “It’s a very visually appealing place and has been a popular place for Minnesota families to come to.”
Constructed in 1927, and first used in 1928, “The Barn,” as Williams Arena is commonly known was first …

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Would the world be a better place if Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri were no longer in it? Yes. However, terrorism will not die with the deaths of bin Laden or al-Zawahiri, as the U.S. government initially led the American people to believe following the attacks of Sept. 11th. The U.S. government made the two terrorists figureheads of world evil in the eyes of Americans. Both men are evil and so is the Al Qaeda organization they represent, but they do not embody terrorism alone.World terrorism is like a worldwide guerilla war—there is no real end and no known …

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As the United States and much of the world fretted over the elections in Palestine and Iran’s growing threat, Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz visited the White House Jan. 17. Aziz used American airtime to say all the right things, pledging to fight both “terrorism in all its forms” and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, President George W. Bush hailed the U.S.-Pakistani relationship as “strategic” and “a vital friendship for keeping the peace.”Vital, certainly—but this “anchor of regional peace and security,” as Aziz boasts of his country, remains far from a dependable ally in the war on …

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