The Wake

Opening the “M”-emblazoned light silver box of Mariah Carey’s new perfume, M, one encounters something entirely predictable–a stylish purple bottle adorned with a platinum necklace and a butterfly cap.The packaging is relatively tawdry, like stepping into a Claire’s Accessories store in the mall. But from Mariah, what else would we expect? She has built a career on showing just a little too much chest and back. But also like Mariah, M is wrought with complexity and contradiction.The bottle is intended to be flashy and visually appetizing, but in its execution it looks overstated and unimaginative. The royalty of the …

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It was as prolific a run as any since the dawn of time. The Roman Empire of family entertainment, Disney was a seemingly unstoppable force. Commencing in 1938 with the release of Snow White and Seven Dwarfs, it has been a nearly 60-year run of utter dominance. With Pinocchio and Bambi in the 40’s, Peter Pan and Cinderella in ‘50s, Jungle Book in the ‘60s, Robin Hood in the ‘70s, and the classic string of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Some mark The Lion King as the end of …

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What’s great about the local music scene is that there is a diversity of styles and bands prepared to satisfy whatever tastes you might have.Pictures of Then is a five-dude alternative-indie rock band from right here in Minneapolis. And their debut album, Crushed By Lights, has the potential to put the group on the map on a national level, mostly because of its middle-of-the-road sound.The 14 tracks don’t pave any new ground, which isn’t necessarily a bad or a good thing. Pictures of Then has the kind of familiar sound forged by bands like Smashing Pumpkins and Built to Spill …

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Iron & Wine - The Shepherd’s Dog

The hushed whisper and acoustic creakiness of Iron and Wine’s early output could hardly have predicted the growth that has been seen on the bands’ subsequent releases. The Shepherd’s Dog marks the continued evolution of the indie-folkies, which was first seen on the outstanding Woman King EP, and later on the collaboration with Calexico, In the Reins. While on earlier albums guitarist/vocalist Sam Beam was synonymous with Iron and Wine, the backing …

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For Trip Shakespeare, the rock star dreams were just taking off when they were dropped from A&M Records in 1992. They had spent almost seven years building a following and making connections in the music business.The Minneapolis band seemed destined to breakout at some point. But when Nirvana brought the grunge scene to the mainstream, Indie pop wasn’t exactly what labels were looking for. Meanwhile, drummer Jacob Slichter was toiling as an office temp in Minneapolis. His friends Dan Wilson, vocals and guitar, and John Munson, bass and keyboard, had made Trip Shakespeare a big name …

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Environmentalism is trendy. In an era of global warming, we Americans have managed to do what we do best: trivialize our problems. What could be more fitting than to exploit our current environmental crises for monetary gain? Corporate department stores and overpriced teen boutiques stock stylish t-shirts and bags with cutesy environmental adages, and major food companies offer “organic” and “natural” products on the supermarket shelves, all in the name of capitalism. Consumers mindlessly lap it all up without considering the true ramifications of what it means to be eco-friendly. Truly being “green” isn’t participating in an ephemeral fad or …

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There is a man who lives in Elliot Park. 622 16th St. A fine house. The man’s name is Melchior Scheldrup, of Norwegian descent. The year is 1894 and he works as the local pharmacist. One day Mr. Scheldrup gets out of bed, has breakfast and heads off to work. His pharmacy is only a couple of blocks away, on East 14th Street. He can stroll there easily, as most people do, to get to work. On one such easy stroll, Mr. Scheldrup arrives at the pharmacy, unlocks the door, flips the sign on the door to “open,” …

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I know it might seem a little tardy of me to be breaking out my top-ten list of do’s and don’ts on how to date a Chemical Engineer now, after the romance of midterms and Homecoming. But this advice is worth the wait. Let’s not even narrow the field that much; this list not only applies to Chemical Engineers, but to anyone who has taken introductory-level physics by choice. My previous rants about the stress and strain of loving a nerd evolved when I couldn’t remember the point of “dating” anymore. But good things can come not only from …

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University economics professor Leonid Horwicz recently received the Nobel Prize for lifelong work in his field, but no one seems to know why. Is Horwicz’s theory too esoteric for the Average Joe, or is the media deciding that Horwicz’s work isn’t important? According to professor Narayana Kocherlakota, head chair of the University of Minnesota economics department, the basis of Horwicz’s theory is not only simple, it is essential to understanding what people will do in any instance of interacting parties. Professor Kocherlakota defined two terms that Horwicz was responsible for bringing into the field of economics: mechanism, and incentive constraint.A …

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Let me preface this by warning anyone whose reaction to this review would be, “If this game is so realistic, why don’t you go out and actually skateboard?” Would you say the same thing if I was talking about a first-person shooter? The purpose of a video game is entertainment, challenge and (hopefully) stimulation. Video games are not meant to operate as a flimsy substitute for reality.Alright, onto the meat: the first couple Tony Hawk games were the shit when they came out; they were the first truly good skateboarding video games, revolutionary in style and gameplay. But by the …

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Mai Na Lee’s earliest memories are of school. Living with her mother and older brother in a village in Laos, Lee spent her time playing around the village’s open-walled schoolhouse, watching her brother lead other students through lessons. He was the best in the class and she looked up to him.Unfortunately, Lee was too young for school. Hmong tradition dictated that school-age children must be able to wrap an arm over their head and touch the opposite ear. Try as she might, Lee was still too small.She was too small to really comprehend it when her father returned from the …

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Many people consider American football to be a barbaric sport. I can’t imagine why. The players wear full pads, there are rules designed to protect the quarterbacks and kickers, and there’s an infraction for “unnecessary roughness.” You’ll have to excuse rugby players if they roll their eyes at the notion that football is the only brutal sport played on this campus.The Gophers men’s rugby team has been around since 1968. It is a club sport, so the team receives little attention despite the fact that they are one of the better squads in the nation and just finished an undefeated …

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Africa is fascinating, mainly for its relative mystery to us in the western world. We are so far removed from the culture that a trip to the West Bank can sometimes serve as a miniature culture shock.Stepping out of the car on 6th St., I was greeted by a myriad of men and women chattering in Somali and other foreign languages. I turned onto Cedar Ave., then into Tam-Tam’s African Restaurant – a safe haven from the cluttered crowds outside.The restaurant’s ambiance is peaceful, with muted lighting and a red and burgundy-tiled ceiling. The tables are a deep, rich mahogany …

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If you’re reading The Wake, chances are the government has already tapped your phones and is currently digging through your emails, trying to collect enough evidence to break out some “enhanced interrogation techniques” on your ass. With the Patriot Act in place and working splendidly (terrorism-free since 2001!), and legions of super spies equipped with high-tech gadgetry spanning the globe, the American people can rest assured that the government knows what it’s doing. Between Team America, Splinter Cell, and Tom Clancy, there should be no lack of accurate, reliable intelligence in the American government’s decision making process…right?If the American people …

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I recently witnessed things that no American should ever see.President Bush was eating Keith Olberman’s face off. Then he and Bill O’Reilly sodomized Olberman’s lifeless corpse as O’Reilly yelled, “Oh yeah bitch! I’m gonna cut your mike so hard!” Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had gag balls in their mouths while they were being whipped by Vice President Cheney in front of Congress. I even saw Stephen Colbert giving his inauguration speech in front of a group of college stoners, while the rest of Washington D.C. was in flames and lawlessness and apathy …

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