The Wake

After the election, my good Democrat demographic-mates, who were out “Barackin’ it for Obama” and drank “Jag-Obamas” upon his victory, are flush with happiness, hope, and idealism. For a week, I myself almost felt that our troubles were behind us and the best was yet to come.

Cut to Dateline - Washington. When I heard today Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson say on the radio today that there is still a very real danger of “systemic failures in the economy,” the peak-oil survivalist mentality that occasionally grips me like a fever took hold. My god, I thought. It’s going …

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Harvard Market East on Washington Avenue is unarguably a campus fixture. As the only convenience/grocery store in the Super Block area, it’s a destination for students seeking everything from cigarettes to light bulbs. But the store will be closing its doors for good this year, only a year after its sister business, the original Harvard Market, closed after 100 years of operation.

Brad Mateer, owner of Harvard Market East and the old Harvard Market, says that in contrast to the previous closing, which was motivated by rising costs and diminishing income, Harvard Market East is not closing for financial reasons. He …

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Oscar the Grouch lived every day in his garbage can, surrounded by filth, bird feces, cookie crumbs, Elmo and hypodermic needles (Snuffleupagus loved his smack!). But what if he and all of Sesame Street were covered with 245.7 million tons of trash, which is what the EPA estimated Americans generated in 2005?

Environmental studies, policy and management senior Alison Luedtke knows what life would be like, sort of. From Oct. 19 to Nov. 2, Luedtke carried around all the garbage she consumed as part of a project to …

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It was late night on Friday the 24th and the hushed whispers began permeating the packed house. “The cops are out there man, let’s get out of here.” As the word spread, people began to slip out the door and into the streets.

Driving home through Marcy-Holmes required weaving in and out of police vehicles which were blocking the road. “What’s going on? Is it okay to drive through here?” The sheer number of cop cars surrounding the area left me scared and convinced that something serious had gone down in the neighborhood. I was sure I’d open the newspaper the …

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Doubts about the efficacy of recycling are well documented. Certainly recycling shouldn’t be our only defense against the consumption devil within every one of us. Throwing the debris of our overactive consumerism into a plastic bin isn’t going to single-handedly preserve the world. Relying solely on recycling is just a convenient excuse not to change our lifestyle. Reusing invites us to think more creatively about how to be small-scale conservationists. It also is more effective than recycling because it helps dry up the waste stream. Furthermore, it preserves the energy originally used in creating an item. The following are eight …

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Hey everyone,

What is your favorite artist / album to compliment the fall atmosphere?

Personally, I dig me some Hold Steady and Neil Young, with a dash of Iron and Wine.
Cheers,
-Jerimiah
——————————–
From: Ben Lansky [photo editor]
Subject: Re: Staff Favorites
i’d say simon and garfunkel bridge over troubled water
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From: Lorna Hanson [staff writer]
Subject: Re: Staff Favorites
my favorite band: ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION (yes, in all caps!). They’re Japanese, but I love their stuff anyway.
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From: Ben Alpert [ex-head designer]
Subject: Re: Staff Favorites
mark me down for nick drake/five leaves left. that shit is bomb for fall. and one more thing…GOBAMA!! australia is excited about the news too. woooo!
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From: …

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Two Sundays ago, I went to Columbia College in downtown Chicago to see a holy relic of the Beat generation: the mythic scroll manuscript of Jack Kerouac’s seminal American novel On the Road. Written in 1951, On the Road is Kerouac’s breakthrough tale of the freewheelin’ Sal Paradise and his outrageous friend Dean Moriarty rambling across the country. It’s a Beatnik bible, hailing the revered gods of sex, drugs, jazz, non-conformity and spontaneous creativity. It’s Kerouac’s push to reach the limits of free expression, a push that has inspired ten thousand road trips and just as many acid trips. Time …

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If high school is the best time of your life, then what is college? You go to class, go to the library, work if you have a job, stay up late, pass out from exhaustion then repeat it all. Everyday. The weekends offer a brief intermission–one where academia–more often than not, is replaced with raucous dance parties or impromptu beer fests. Unfortunately, this is only a temporary relief with detrimental effects to your well-being. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy the warmth that a few good beers provide, but I also realize the importance of a …

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This past Saturday, the Sound Gallery Recording Studio and Warehouse held the Clapperclaw Festival, an independent music and arts festival showcasing a large array of local talent. I walked in just in time to catch the $5 ticket, as opposed to the $12 I would’ve had to pay after 7 PM. This was a pretty effective pricing technique, as it encouraged me to come early and take in the event in its entirety. As soon as I realized the promise of free drinks was not simply a marketing ploy, I proceeded to get in line for my first …

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Independence Party candidate Roger Smithrud, who ran for Minnesota State House in district 58B, is best at summarizing his political party’s current trouble.

“I’m sad — I only got seven percent of the vote. I thought I’d get at least 20.”

His short frame, long grey hair and lit American Spirit give off a look of a working class American conspiracy theorist. He was standing outside the IP’s election night party at the Minnetonka West Sheraton, which mostly centered on the IP’s biggest hope of 2008, U.S. Senate candidate Dean Barkley.

The …

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Marnie took her time walking through the campus, being careful of where the sun hit the pavement, doing her best to keep close to the trees. She couldn’t help the humidity, but she could stay underneath the canopy provided by rows and rows of green. It was the one thing she appreciated, among other things, during the languid summer months. Shade, air-conditioning. If she had those two things, then she was that much closer to being content.

A biker in a hurry zipped past her. She felt the wind he created, along with a fine shower of sweat that splashed against …

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Welcome to The Wake’s first graphic novel. Being our first attempt at something like this technical difficulties may occur. Enjoy:

The story has two titles because there are two separate but related stories occurring at the same time. The main story takes place within the dreams of the main character as he falls in love with a girl named Stella. Slowly, fear begins to creep into his mind (the scribble monsters) and his dreams slowly turn into nightmares overrun by monsters. This gives way to the …

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An article that I’ve written is being published in the upcoming Wake issue #5 this Wednesday about the writing of Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation. I thought I’d preface it before it came out.

Even if you aren’t a reader, even if you are one of those kids who kept on reading Matt Christopher books and Goosebumps in the sixth or seventh grade, you can read. You. Can. Read. Read whatever you want. Don’t be intimidated by those pretentious college fucks out there who talk about Infinite Jest or Proust or whatever like they’re in this Elite Club of Readers …

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Judging from the rampant celebration over Barack Obama’s historic presidential win, this weekend looks to be a time for great ra-ra and inspired good times. Stop doing your homework, forever, and go do something awesome this weekend.

City Pages Picked To Click artists Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles kicks off a miniseries stint at the Nomad Pub tonight, with the first of three Thursday concerts in a row. Lead Lucy Michelle conjures up the vocal talents of Jolie Holland as she plucks away at …

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Hi, it’s your friendly neighborhood web editor. As an avid photographer I had the idea of a photo album, a place for good photography in the midst of great change. Photos that tell everyday stories and sometimes none.

For the first installment here’s a series of photographs from the last week in the election. An encounter with Al Franken and Bill Clinton’s rally for Obama and the aforementioned candidate along with some from the Nader rally. If you have photos that you would like to be included now or in the future email me at stuska@wakemag.org. If you want to …

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