The Wake

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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A. General Gonzales: The fact that the Constitution—
again, there’s no express grant of Habeas
in the Constitution—
there’s a prohibition against taking it away.
But um, there’s—
it’s never been the case.
I’m not aware of a Supreme—

The Arlen Specter: Now wait a minute, wait a minute.
The Constitution says
you can[no]t take it away
except in the case
of invasion or
rebellion.
Does[no]t that mean
you have the right
of Habeas Corpus?

A. General Gonzales: I meant by that comment that
the Constitution does[no]t …

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Students
Trapped
In dormitorial dreamworld
Chanting in pseudo-utopian bliss
Rolling stone mantra
Praying for chains to rot.

Workers
Trapped
In industrial nightmare
Sweating factorial frustration
Alienated confusion
Struggling for chains to break.

People
Trapped
In commoditic consumption
Purchasing profusely
Self-product
Hoping to someday buy chains.

On Tuesday, Mar. 20, the Bell Museum of Natural History’s Café Scientifique hosted a talk at the Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater focused on the history and evolution of birth control in the United States in honor of the 40th anniversary of the pill. John E. Troyer, who teaches in the Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature department at the U, introduced Elizabeth Jansen and warmed up the audience of approximately 50 people by asking several questions related to the topic of the night. One of the questions was “What common household device was the most widely used contraceptive from 1930-1960? Birthday …

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Deborah Keenan’s reading at the Weisman Art Museum, an occasion for the release of her newest work, Willow Room, Green Door delivers a large audience. The poetry reading, packed with prospective grad students, the faculty, the public and myself, was in fact a concert. Deborah cites Stephin Merritt often, using his influences in her poetry. Her relationship to music ties with her diction as she reads. Keenan twists the line in both a delicate and precise, if not surgical fashion. Such abilities, coupled with her distinct rhythms propel her poems, giving them a song-like resonance. The composition of the reading …

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I could spend this article discussing every detail of the lecture on how Kabbalah, a mystical sect of Judaism, relates to rationalist thought, but instead I’d like to focus on the simpler theme of the discussion: happiness. More specifically, what it has to do with astrology, incest, Britney Spears and Christian rock.All of these subjects began connecting in my mind as I sat in a sunny, rose-colored library and munched on a free lemon bar. I was in the Nolte Center library, where the only book spines I could read were about Hebrew verbs, listening to Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, an Israeli …

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Remember when swing dancing was all of sudden hip and trendy due to a commercial? We were all blessed with the music of Cherry Poppin Daddies, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Brian Setzer. I know we’ve all moved on from those days, discarding our dancing aspirations like the slap bracelets of our youth. Although some of those bands bastardized the swing music genre, swing dancing is alive and well, thriving off the original hits. U-Swing is a student group on campus that still is jumpin’, jivin’ and wailin’ away to swing music.“It’s something different, open to everyone …

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Driving around Los Angeles at 4 in the morning looking for an In-and-Out Burger, we realized that none of us had ever been to Los Angeles, we didn’t have a map, and that the men in the car next to us were not smiling and waving. Going to a national paintball tournament is always an adventure. The combination of young people traveling more or less on their own, the ever-present need to save money and the fact that most paintball players seem to be just a little bit crazy makes for interesting times. This realization was only reinforced that night …

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Panicking through the fog of a dream, there is a frantic groan, “My god, the fear is nauseating.” The frigid aura of a dusty nightmare clings to a sea of sprinkling smoke over rusty blackness while the dark depths rise to the surface with a sick gleam in the eye, slinging mutilation and gore. Lightning cracks from the mystic horn of another time and place; you are the terror that permeates this modern moment. A latent smile sneaks around your cold and trembling mouth, troublingly satisfied. Perhaps this is the kind of frightful sensation we are all looking for …

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Cold War Kids craft a demographically confused sound. Though the group is based out of southern California, they’re contenders for the dirtiest alt-blues group crown (excluding the White Stripes, of course). Together since ’04, they rose to prominence in ’06 with the release of their heralded full-length debut, Robbers and Cowards. Playing several high status festivals over the summer, the group ended the year on many a top 10 list. On March 7th, the group played their first ever Minnesota show with their friends, Delta Spirit, in the opening slot.To much dismay, the scheduled opener for the evening had been …

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After a weekend free of time clocks, company policies and homework, no one’s excited to begin their week again. Monday, for most part, is easily the worst day of the week. What most people don’t realize is that they have a choice in the matter. Instead of wasting Monday night cursing softly to your dog, why not expel stress cursing the very existence of Monday to an entire crowd. Take your Monday to a Poetry Slam, and make Monday the last day of your weekend.Monday, March 5th was the one-year anniversary of the Soap Box Slam. At 8 p.m. the …

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