The Wake

Fearless Filmmakers, a screening featuring an array of Minneapolis artists and independent filmmakers, was held near campus last week at The Oak Street Cinema. This single-screen movie theater was packed to the walls with an illustrious array of amateur filmmakers and freelance artists including Justin Pierre, the lead singer of the band Motion City Soundtrack, who contributed to the event with his first short film Karen. Ranging anywhere from mockumentary to animation, from the satirical to the dramatic, this event showcased a collection of up-and-coming filmmakers. Benjamin Martin, a 24-year-old graduate of Minneapolis College of Art and Design, …

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We walk down streets
that bear mounds of ash

and wonder why we can’t see our feet,
or the black hole at the center of the town of ash.

It’s not as though we are strangers
to the mound of ash

spread in its ways, though at times I wonder why so
many distance themselves from these mounds of ash.

These days are nothing but the same feet walking between beams
coasting by houses and buildings standing stripped of their walls—to ash,

with no question or qualm,
and a precipitant [Bird] between the floorboards …

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We’re a spoiled bunch here in Minneapolis. American culture all too often confuses genuine hip-hop with the generic “Rap” we are spoon-fed on TV and the radio. However, we continue to sit pretty with one of the most legitimate (as in, actually music) hip-hop scenes in the states. At its origin, hip-hop is a progressive genre. It has taken the potential of music as a forum for social commentary to new and exciting heights. Although it has always enjoyed a close connection to parties and dancing, entertainment has recently turned into hip-hop’s sole purpose. Lyrically gifted MC’s are a scarce …

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Who, having seen Tim Burton’s film, Edward Scissorhands, can honestly say they remained untouched? Now, the bittersweet, haunting beauty of the film has swirled its way onto the stage in a sellout UK tour and a 23-week visit to America. Directed by Matthew Bourne, Edward Scissorhands will be performed at the Ordway Theater in Minneapolis April 10-15, with tickets ranging between $38 and $60 dollars. A steep price for many Wake readers, this occasion may be worth whipping out the big bucks.Burton and Edward Scissorhand’s writer, Caroline Thompson passed Edward to Bourne confident that the Tony winning director and his …

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When Jewel crawled out of her minivan and onto MTV, warbling the song “Intuition,” her fans probably felt that something was off. Gone were the screams of “ugly girl—you want to kill her,” reminiscent of John Lennon is his primal therapy days. In their place was a crappy, pseudo-Middle Eastern beat and an album full of tracks inspired by text messages, like “U and Me = Love.” She had self-admittedly sold out, betraying her fan base of vegan fourteen-year-olds.Many people seem to fear that their indie “pet” band will follow Jewel’s path. As one after the other appear on the …

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It’s not everyday that fifteen dollars lets a person see eight different bands in concert. Even less often is a clue-driven chase across the city included in the price of the ticket. On Saturday, March 24th, participants in March of Madness: Bands on the Run! went on a citywide search for eight local bands that were to perform at four undisclosed locations. Organized by local artist Michael Gaughan. Bands on the Run! was the sixth event of its kind.“I like using the imagination to think of something fun and have it actually come to life,” said Gaughan. Gaughan, with the …

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Five years ago Charles Roselli began a study with a team of researchers and a small flock of sheep to determine why about 8 percent of rams seem to be gay. In the past year, he’s been criticized from both ends of the political spectrum and accused that his studies are unethical and ba-a-a-d science. While most major news outlets left the story alone, some had a field day, poking fun at the idea of the experiment with headlines like “Ewe Turn for Gay Rams on Hormones” and “He’s Just Not That Into Ewe.” Roselli is a professor of …

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We’re all busy people. When juggling school, work and a social life, most of our attention is diverted away from trivial matters such as safe food preparation and storage. Although cooking raw meat, poultry and fish at temperatures well above 135 degrees Fahrenheit should be standard practice, few want to think about whether or not their “reasonably” aged leftovers could make them sick. But by forgetting the fact that a slice of day-old pizza left out at room temperature is also a tasty morsel for millions of hungry microbes, most college students continuously put themselves at risk of food poisoning. …

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At last on their way to sunny, cocktail decorated, ‘Some Spanish Island’ bliss, Ruby, Alice, and Veronica had only been on the plane for one hour (out of a twelve hour flight) when Alice got ‘airsick’ and threw up so much that the vomit-bag filled, and she had to ask for another one. Immediately following the ‘unsavory incident,’ the flight attendant had said with tight politeness, Alice had an irritatingly long stint in the bathroom. Ruby and Veronica were pissed, needless to say. Although Alice insisted that it was just the turbulence making her sick, Veronica knew it was the …

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The following editorial is an in-depth dissection of a news report originally aired on Channel 5 KSTP nightly news. While not required, the author feels that the readership would benefit greatly from actually viewing the aforementioned report by visiting I hate to be a broken record, but sometimes things just line up. Sometimes you see something that makes your brain light up, synapses firing and connections quickly piling up and spilling from the realm of postulation to possibility. For someone who doesn’t watch television and has loudly sworn off TV news, I find myself writing about it a lot more …

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Take a mental note of all the ways you keep track of yourself, the ways you record, tag, and publicize your life: MySpace, Flickr, your personal website, your blog. Consider who’s watching. Imagine filling a theater with the clique you share your digitized life with, the strangers, lovers, exes, friends, enemies, and weirdoes who access your online production of yourself. In the minutes before Week 18 of Suzan-Lori Park’s 365 Days/365 Plays took the stage at the Suburban World Theater on Saturday, March 17th, I thought about the bars in Uptown, filled with St.Patty’s Day celebrants whose tipsy photos would …

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There are certain fleeting moments that are so full of sun, there’s no room for cynicism. As clouds cleared, light and warmth suddenly filtered through the greenhouse’s glass dome, flooding a gratifying display of red tulips, yellow lilies and blue pansies. A semi circle of children sat around the fountain watching the carp, who watched the Terzetto string trio, who pierced the humid air with Vivaldi. On the weekend of Mar. 24, Como Park celebrated a shamelessly tackily named Spring Fling Weekend, commemorating the beginning of spring and of their Spring Flower Show. Nobody can ignore the spring and Como …

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When warmer weather starts to peak out through winter’s snowy veil, it’s not uncommon for the number of bicyclists out on the streets to multiply. Even if the weather isn’t reason enough to get out on a bike, gas prices usually are. Despite all the motivation to take a spin on the old ten-speed, many people have misgivings about biking in the city. Automobiles are not known for their friendliness towards cyclists. And for the fashionably inclined, the bike helmet is not a favorite accessory. In order to overcome these biking obstacles, members of the Northeast community in Minneapolis have …

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The Jameson was working its way through the veins on St. Patrick’s Day, and local rockers The Gleam wouldn’t have it any other way. The trio from Chisago County revved up the drunken crowd at the Uptown Bar with songs like “Fat and Stoned” and “High ’N Mighty.”Don’t let the wall of distortion from front man Zachary Johns fool you; once bass player Timmy Wreck’s thumping bass lines leave his seventy-dollar amp head you realize, this is country music, country music done right.“Punch-country,” Wreck says, “It’s revved up, rowdy rock and roll, the kind of stuff you listened to …

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From disagreements to wars, think of how much is lost through a lack of understanding. The Minnesota Center for Book Arts addresses this issue in their current exhibit Found in Translation, which runs through April 28 in their 10th Avenue South gallery. The exhibit, set in MCBA’s exposed brick studio, with stylish red accents, features works from all mediums including paintings, drawings, sculpture, computer programs, audio, and mixed media. “We want to challenge the idea that people have in their heads of what a book is,” explains MCBA Artistic Director, Jeff Rathermel. “A really broad definition of a book [is …

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