The Wake

Duluth heroes, Low, have been offering sonic escape to land locked Midwesterners since the early 90’s. Their new album, “Drums and Guns,” is another step in a new direction as they continue to expand upon their trademark, minimalist sound. Breaking to electronic beats, their crashing, ethereal harmonies float into new and uncharted territories. I met recently with the trio in uptown at the Café Barbette to discuss their new album, their popularity in Europe, cake (the food not the band), and the great Beatles vs. Stones debate.Wake: Your “CD release show,” [was] Saturday at First Avenue. Why there and …

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Learning that 39.5 million people in the world have HIV or AIDS activates one part of your mind, but watching just one sufferer take a cocktail of medications and then retire to the couch with a lemonade will probably engage you completely. It may be a fault of humanity that a statistic alone does little for our sympathies, but by presenting issues of cultural indifference and isolation through stories and faces, art is created. The Walker Art Center’s Global Lens 2007 program presents films from the mountains of Chile to the markets of Mozambique, intending to open our minds not …

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First Avenue’s side-room, the 7th Street Entry, is small and dark; David to the Main Room’s Goliath. Lit by an exit sign, four candles and a few colored spotlights, 7th Street is intimate and seductive. However, it can pack a mean punch. It’s an ideal venue for the highly acclaimed but sparsely known indie-pop group Headlights, who performed on April 4 with Page France and The Winter Blanket. Headlights is Tristan Wraight, Erin Fein and Brett Sanderson, three Midwesterners who wouldn’t look out of place on a European stage, the sort you find in back-alley clubs not mentioned in Fodor’s. …

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Take my hand and
Walk under the archways
That lead to the shadiest part
Of the east-cityscape.
Where the dryness
Is not so bad as before
When you met up with me
Near your broken door.
Since you have slept
On the floor in the sand
That covers us all, I thought
I would help you stand.
So, now once more
I introduce you here
Where the sun does not
Sink in or sit so near.

As I brush past
This elegant hall
I ask that you take it in
And absorb it all.
There are a …

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I was once subject to a dream
Recurring, yet always new
In a dark abandoned room, once bright
It appeared in a subjective view

Outside there stood a woman
Indistinguishable inside her hood
The face of a mirror, reflecting not me
But only the earth on which she stood

Sometimes at night, I chase her
Hoping her presence she’d construe
But, with my objects, I built each door
To lead into another room

She never returns to my dreams
For now she is the stars and moon
And every night, although it hurts
With my objects, I …

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I was once subject to a dream
Recurring, yet always new
In a dark abandoned room, once bright
It appeared in a subjective view

Outside there stood a woman
Indistinguishable inside her hood
The face of a mirror, reflecting not me
But only the earth on which she stood

Sometimes at night, I chase her
Hoping her presence she’d construe
But, with my objects, I built each door
To lead into another room

She never returns to my dreams
For now she is the stars and moon
And every night, although it hurts
With my objects, I …

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Once outside I light a smoke, “Marlboro No. 27”, and its tobacco is that which my brain might actually crave, wisp clouds pull depth from the blue and some water cascades down stairs leading to God—. No, only leading to Northrup but at least I’m looking and now I feel alive again, much less dead than this morning when upon waking I cursed the day. Next class is too close, too easy to find, too little time to waste walking and wishing I wasn’t going to class. Winter was a waste of time, for anyone looking for warmth, too few …

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What do graffiti, feminine hygiene and globalization have in common? Not much, except they’re all on the menu at the Women’s Student Activist Collective’s weeklong The Revolutionary Art Thing, or RATH for short. From Monday, April 16 to Sunday, April 22, the Collective will attempt to inspire serious discussion and perhaps even social change within the university community. RATH this year zooms in on community art and includes discussions, films, how-to seminars, live music, appearances by local artists and more.“It’s a week dedicated to looking at art as social change,” senior and three-year member Kelly McCarthy says of RATH. “The …

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If you ever need to assemble Walter Mondale, Al Franken and about 183 other people in a pinch, just call Senator Amy Klobuchar.On Monday, April 2, Klobuchar came to the University of Minnesota campus as part of a new program series from the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance (CSPG), drawing a crowd of almost 200. The series, called “Connecting With Government,” will bring a number of Minnesota’s elected officials to the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute to speak at Cowles Auditorium. After a short introduction by Political Science Professor Larry Jacobs, Klobuchar took the stage. …

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Democracy Matters, a student organization on our campus, is fighting for fair elections locally and throughout the state. Founder Jim Forrey believes that getting money out of politics is the only way there can be fair and open elections.Democracy Matters is a non-profit and non-partisan national organization that works toward electoral reform. The U of M chapter is the local chapter of this national organization. The group currently has 20 active members. The U of M chapter first started in the fall of 2004 by then freshman Forrey.Forrey thinks that issues like the war in Iraq can be traced to …

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Hannah Storm, anchor for The Early Show, got a taste more bitter than coffee in her mouth the morning that she reported the news about the supposed discovery of Jesus Christ’s bones. Titanic director James Cameron, a statistician and some hopeful anthropologists were sure that a group of bones labeled “Jesus, Mary and Joseph” belonged to the Christian messiah and his family. “Well,” Hannah concluded, her voice full of a high school girl’s locker-room-gossip passion, “I think we can all agree that religion is a matter of faith and not science.” As I watched the show over my bowl of …

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Sure hovering over a checkered board for a few hours doesn’t seem all that exciting, but neither does sitting on your ass watching television if you think about it. So while some people are shocked by the amount of drugs Anna Nicole Smith had in her system, others stare at figurines of horses, kings and queens looking for answers. The tournament chess club at the U focuses their attention on implementing new strategies on the board to crush their opponents.There are many misconceptions about people who play chess, which is unfortunate because it closes the door to others who probably …

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The University Juggling Club has experienced times of great popularity and spells of waning interested, but through it all they remain one of the most unique groups on campus with a visible presence.On a sunny day while walking to class, students can spot the club performing different tricks. It’s enough to convince any student that they ought to be doing something besides going to class on a beautiful day. Dazzling maneuvers entice onlookers and evoke admiration.The group reached a critical mass in the early ‘90s when they performed at various university functions and garnered appreciation for their skill level. The …

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“Last year’s success led to the National Dodgeball League’s second annual Amateur Championship Tour,” NDL Operations Director Niki LaGrano answers when I ask her about the NDL’s decision to start a second tour. LaGrano makes the popularity of dodge ball evident. Although the Amateur Championship Tour originally began with four stops, 16 now make up the tour to satisfy the public’s growing interest. LaGrano says, “The NDL brings dodge ball across the country at both the local and national levels and hosts games for corporations, parties and charities in Dodge-It centers.” Adding to the excitement of dodge ball, the …

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Religion has always been a provider of inspiration to Western art. During the last week of March, Twin Cities artists were given the opportunity to showcase those inspired words.The 2007 Spiritual Art Festival and Juried Art Show was hosted by St. Boniface. Every night between March 25-29 people came from around the Twin Cities area to the northeast Minneapolis church to view the artwork.58 pieces from local Minneapolis artists cover the walls of the St. Boniface chapel. Every medium imaginable was represented, from conventional canvas paintings to stained glass and photography. The works came from amateur …

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