The Wake

Change?

Pundits and political junkies – from the left and right – have gotten so nostalgic about the Barack Obama bid for Presidency that they’ve started comparing his candidacy to South Dakota Sen. George McGovern’s 1972 bid against Nixon. Sure, like McGovern, Obama has broad youth support and is attempting to surprise the Old Guard Democrats by winning the Presidential nomination. But all comparisons should end there.

Obama is commonly labeled as the heroic anti-war candidate challenging a pro-war Hillary Clinton, in the sense that Obama was against the …

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Wilco recently played a five night stand at Chicago’s Riviera Theater. Rolling Stone recapped the career spanning shows and much to my chagrin, Wilco had Wisconsin’s own New Glarus backstage.

Pre-show, the band snacks on seafood curry and jasmine rice while roadies tap a keg of the hard-to-get Wisconsin microbrew New Glarus. (”We discovered it at a venue in Milwaukee,” says Stirratt.) Tweedy, who’s sipping sparkling water and munching chips, drives each night from his nearby home. And he’s saving his fitness routine for the road. “I’ll usually go for a hike or a run before the show,” he …

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It was two Sundays ago that I went down to the Oxford Arms in Camden to watch the Carling Cup final with Charles, his uncle Ola, and the usual rowdy crowd. Tottenham vs. Chelsea, two London clubs going all out for a some coveted hardware. The die-hard fans were out in full force all across London. It had been 9 years since Tottenham had last one any title, and win would salvage their lack luster year in the premiership, and ignite a celebration of riotous proportions.

Given Camden’s proximity in North eastern London, and it was primarily Tottenham fans filling …

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I love Mariah Carey and I don’t care who knows it. To me, she’s an illustration of the world’s future as a single-race populace. I can picture her sleeping with someone of any ethnicity, creed, belief or religion, and for whatever reason, I take comfort in that.

But her recent video, “Touch My Body,” is unsettling to me. She plays her usual prostitute/pop star persona perfectly, tempting the tech guy (the brilliant Jack McBrayer) when he comes to fix her computer. I mean, she answers the door in lingerie; nobody does that unless they’re planning on getting laid.

For the remainder …

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I enjoy a good piece of fiction as much as the next guy. That fiction can be historical, ahistorical, erotic, science fiction, or whatever else you can think of. But, when ahistorical fiction is framed in a historical context, I begin to have issues.

10,000 B.C., the new Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) vehicle, is plagued with absurdity, starting and ending with its name.

Surprisingly, Emmerich is German, which is weird, because many of his films wage pro-Americanism on the global screen. The date in the title is 10,000 BC. BC, or Before Christ, is a term developed to …

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Peanut B. Pipsqueek becomes entranced by the roar of the shaver, like a snake to his charmer.

A Mesmerized Cat

Bobby Seale the co-founder of the Black Panther Party For Self Defense recently spoke at the University of Minnesota. Here is a clip in the midst of the civil rights movement.

We ask a question that gets to the very fabric of human existence. What’s more important to you: Art or Science?

Art Vs. Science

Dark Matter Music Box at the University of Minnesota

Read the article here.

As my computer seems to be in good shape now I can return to “real” life. I’m not sure if this guy has to much time on his hands or what, but who doesn’t want a beer launcher? Sir, my hat is off to you, you’re a gentleman and a scholar.

The Beer-Launching Refrigerator

T-Rex - The Slider

Many bands manage to generate a single rock and roll gem before ricocheting into the depths of music history hell. Like the Kinks, The Velvet Underground and The Hollywood Argyles, T. Rex defied this explode-and-deflate pathway. In September 1971, T. Rex released an album often heralded as a pinnacle of rock achievement and sexiness titled Electric Warrior. Less than a year later in 1972, bandleader Marc Bolan and company recorded and released an equally stunning but far less appreciated nugget: …

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The entertainment media has been flooding the Internet with postulations of Patrick Swayze’s imminent expiration. It has been confirmed that the man has pancreatic cancer. But in reading some of these stories one would think the ink is already dry on the poor man’s death certificate. Most of the early reports were based on an unverified report by the usual beacon of truth, the National Enquirer. It turns out he’s actually responding well to treatment, and may have years left.

I understand that our culture has a morbid fascination with death. But, is this where we are …

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On Saturday February 10th I was in Camden for the day, losing myself amidst the market mayhem. It’s like a whole other world. You’ll enter one of the markets at point on Camden High Street, and emerge and hour later hundreds of feet down the road, with no idea of how you got there.

I took out my headphones and enjoyed the sites and sounds as the colors of the crowds burst into life. The smells of delicious ethnic foods overwhelm your senses, and leave you no choice but to indulge. I’ve developed a trick for getting discount dishes from these …

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Photo by Ben Lansky

Art. Science.

These are two words that may seem to be hanging out on opposite sides of the room. Science is a tool for progress based on structure, rules and repeatable results. Art on the other hand takes structure and renders it unrecognizable; twisting rules and exploring the antipodes of expression and meaning. At times they almost seem like unrelated opposites. Many may ask what they have to do with each other. Lately the two have been necking in the corner and …

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All children have their own farfetched illusion of the glamorous, successful and fame-induced journey that they will embark on later in life, signaled by the common expression “When I Grow Up…” Some dream of becoming astronauts, actors or actresses, dancers, or firemen, while others dream of riding orca whales at Sea World. One of the most common childhood dream careers is the rock star. Fantasies come and go, but for some particularly musically inclined individuals, the dream becomes an actuality. The progression of musicians to the level of “rock-stardom” is a challenging and sufferable path. Few will reap the glorification …

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