vol. 14 | issue 5 November 25 - December 8
Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder p. 11-13 Q&A: Jessica Bailey (Tattoo Artist) p. 16-17 Thanksgiving Recipes p. 9
©2013 The Wake Student Magazine. All rights reserved. Established in 2002, The Wake is a fortnightly independent magazine and registered student organization produced by and for the students of the University of Minnesota. The Wake is published with support from Generation Progress/Center for American Progress (online at www.genprogress.org).
Production Production Manager
Editorial Editor-in-Chief
Sondra Vine
Alyssa Bluhm
Graphic Designers
Managing Editor
Sondra Vine, Eric Berry, Kelsey Schwartz, Brittany Long
Art Director
Sam Gordon
Whats Inside?
What is the Deal? p. 15 Stereotypes: Female Sport Injuries p. 15
The More, The Merrier p. 4 Comedic Catharsis p. 4
Q&A: From Apprentice to Artist p. 16 - 17
Buddhism: A Local & Global Community p. 5 A Misunderstood Culture & Community p. 6
Come Together p. 18 Fitz and the Tantrums at the Myth p. 18
Puppies, Chickens & Kittens, Oh My! p. 7
African Art No Longer MIA at MIA p. 19 Acting Students Balance Roles p. 19
Voices Editor
Beyond the Name Redskins p. 8
A De Stijl Primer p. 20
Give Thanks for Love, Not Land p. 9 Thanksgiving Recipes p. 9
Game Over for Rusty Quarters p. 21 Regis Art Center: Faculty Exhibition p. 21
Alert: Campus Crime Reports p. 10
3 Reviews p. 22
Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder p. 11 - 13
Events Calendar p. 23
Bruce Ferguson
Kelcie McKenney
Web Editor
The Wake was founded by Chris Ruen and James DeLong.
the purpose of the Wake is to provide a forum in which students can voice their opinions. opinions expressed in the magazine are not representative of the publication or university as a whole. to join the conversation email abluhm@wakemag.org.
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Cities Editor
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This Issue Cover Artist
Lauren Cutshall (Front), Eric Berry (Back)
Photographers Jessica Bailey, Sarah Brewer, Lauren Cutshall, Ethan Lauer, Lianna Matt, Sean McSteen, Zach Simon, Shawna Stennes, Natalie Ward
When I first read that Travel and Leisure magazine named the U one of the United State’s ugliest college campuses, I smirked as means of silent agreement. It’s easy to become bored and unimpressed with campus when you’re on the student grind, and, as it is in my case, have lived in the Twin Cities your entire life. The construction never ends, people routinely lose their minds when it drops below zero, and Dinkytown provides the same washed up “entertainment” every weekend. So why am I even here? Rarely do I step back from my cynical, passiveaggressive mindset and appreciate the things that make this place so special, but when I do, it’s hard to stop.
The local music scene here is ridiculous. Campus is big enough to not feel suffocated, but small enough to where everyone knows everyone. People are either crazy artistic, intimidatingly intelligent, or both. The variety of life keeps it so one neighborhood is entirely different from the next. There’s a little something for everyone, and, of course, The Wake exists. Take that, Travel and Leisure.
el and Leisure-provoked rebuttal over on pages 11-13. I love you, University of Minnesota, and I’m sorry for the times that I have (and probably will continue to) make a joke out of you. Grace Birnstengel Cities Editor
I could fill this entire magazine with poetry, prose, and probably even research papers about my infatuation with this place until my fingers bleed, but instead, I challenge YOU to make a list of things for yourself (after you read this entire issue front to back, obviously). If you need some inspiration, one of our writer’s wrote a Trav-
Illustrators Mackenzie Cress, Dan Forke, Parker Hoffman, Peter Mariutto
Contributing Writers Courtney Bade, Brielle Christy, Kirsten Erickson, Pascal, Filatre, Sara Glesne, Nader Helmy, Aidan Hutt, Nathaniel Kitzmann, Ethan Lauer, Dahsol Lee, Lianna Matt, Haley McCullum, Sean McSteen, Cora Neisen, Zach Simon, Nick Theis, Sarah Valli, Alex Van Abbema, Kristen Wangsness, Natalie Ward, Roman Yanish
Can't get enough of The Wake? Twitter: @the_wake Facebook: /TheWakeMagazine Wake-Mag.tumblr.com
13:5
Cities The More, The Merrier Consent campaigns at the U of M By Lianna Matt
Every summer, thousands of incoming freshman have to complete Haven, the University’s online course about consent and relationships, but many never think about consent again except for brief moments during Freshman Orientation and Welcome Week. However, campaigns like The Aurora Center’s “got consent?” and the Consent Culture campaign by the student-run Minnesota Public Interest Research Group (MPIRG) are trying to change the “been there, done that” mentality toward contemplating consent. MPIRG’s Equality Task Force regularly surveys the student body about consent, asking questions that deal with opinions surrounding topics like blame and what defines impairment to give consent (i.e. alcohol). These surveys are shared with Aurora, and both use them for research and identifying areas of discussion. MPIRG is also creating a video of students’ views on consent, which they hope to integrate into their goal of a new first-year class about consent culture.
tions, are based on consent and how society might intervene in cases where autonomy is not respected.” In addition to this, MPIRG wants to “push past a culture condoning victim blaming and steer it towards accountability,” Anderson said. These concepts would be highlighted in a one or two credit freshman class and be further emphasized during Freshman Orientation and Welcome Week. The proposed class is being discussed and a two-week curriculum may be produced and integrated into an existing class soon.
The Aurora Center’s “got consent?” campaign centers on increasing awareness around consent. Similarly focused on educational outreach, The Aurora Center’s “got consent?” campaign centers on increasing awareness around consent. Anthony Remick, a violence prevention educator and law student, says consent is more than just a checklist of “Did you say yes to this specific question?” but rather, “Where people love it, want to have sex, and want the encounter that’s happening,” he said. The Aurora Center believes that consent is sexy, and to remind people of this, it does things like giving out presentations to facilitate discussions on consent, handing out the ever-popular buttons, and participating in different events on campus.
Ross Anderson, one of the Equality Task Force leaders, defines consent culture as “one in which the main theme of not only sex and relationships, but person-to-person interac-
Sara Benning, the assistant director at The Aurora Center, said, “I think these little things, these pens and buttons, they serve as resources. Clearly our information’s here [on the pens and buttons], but also, I think they have the added
Comedic Catharsis
performed in The Whole that night explicitly said it, it was difficult to shake the feeling that they were speaking from some sort of personal experience.
Two University Student groups help students find healing through humor By Nader Helmy
“People use comedy to deal and cope with their problems. They can take a bad experience, tell it to people, and think, ‘Wow, this makes people laugh. This creates positivity in other peoples’ lives.’ So I‘m glad I had that experience.” This sentiment and other zanier, less succinct ones were uttered in a dimly lit comedy club filled with quiet, eager strangers on a Tuesday night in November. Misha Estrin, the MC for the night, explained the purpose of the show near its beginning using the above inaugural words. He later added, “Stand-up can help remove stigmas with your problems.” Although neither he nor many of the other comedians that
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The University of Minnesota’s Comedy Club partnered with their local chapter of To Write Love On Her Arms to put together a night of “comedy with a purpose.” TWLOHA is a nationwide non-profit that aims to remove the stigma associated with mental illness and find a place for those struggling to get help while promoting anti-bullying and antisuicide in the process. The event itself operated under the idea that comedy can often be used to find levity and solace when times look the toughest. By talking about something that makes you uncomfortable in a distinctly funny way, yourself and others can begin seeing that negative presence as less odd, and less of something to be afraid of. Fittingly, the entire event felt oddly intimate—as if the organizers had invited over a few close friends to talk about things over dessert. There was free ice cream throughout, which aided the light-yet-serious aesthetic. Naturally, the content of the humor presented comes into question—should the comics tread lightly? Address issues
LIANNA MATT
quality of being able to spark conversations, too. People are either being made more aware of The Aurora Center if they’re not already aware, or they’re having an exchange, you know, ‘Where did you get your button? Tell me about your button.’ I think those are really meaningful conversations that students are happy to have and that students are happy to facilitate.” When asked whether there can ever be too many campaigns about consent, Remick said, “There’s a multitude of student organizations and things on campus that all have to do with consent, getting consent, and ‘consent is sexy.’ I think, the more the merrier.”
head-on? Use metaphor? It is frequently said that comedians are invariably serious people. The number of famous examples to illuminate this seem endless—from Stephen Colbert overcoming childhood depression due to a plane crash that killed his father and two older brothers, to Tina Fey moving past her girlhood trauma of being slashed in her face with a blade while playing in her front yard.
The event itself operated under the idea that comedy can often be used to find levity and solace when times look the toughest. Sometimes comedy can tackle the issues directly; by joking about them, they become less serious. The comics of the night certainly didn’t shy away from uncomfortable topics—some even including half-serious jokes about depression and suicide. But a no-holds-barred approach to comedic healing is what creates meaningful results, proving that if you feel anxious or uneasy, that’s good. You should. Now let’s explore why.
CITIES Buddhism: a Local and Global Community Good Karma in Minneapolis By Kristen Wangsness
other characteristics. The topic of the night was death and what comes after it.
What are you? Are you your body, or do you simply have a body? Are you your thoughts and feelings? Buddhist teacher Lama Ole Nadahl reasons that because both your physical form and temperament are continuously growing and changing, they cannot make up the true “you.” He says that you are what lies beneath these things, your sense of awareness or consciousness, and the place where understanding happens. This, he says, is one of the fundamental beliefs of Buddhism.
He first laid down the fundamental beliefs of Buddhism, from karma to energy centers throughout the body known as chakras, then applied them to the process of reincarnation. Research has shown that 30 minutes after medical death, the corpse shows one last spike in brain activity. Buddhism explains that this is the exodus of the person’s chakra energy, their awareness, from the body. This mass of energy enters a period of intermission between lives where the traits they exemplified in their past life are measured in karma to determine what conditions the being will live under in the next life. Future blessings reward good karma from a compassionately lived life, while negative actions in a past life lead to less pleasant conditions in the next one.
Buddhism is one of the many different cultural and spiritual communities in Minneapolis. The city is home to seven separate Buddhist centers where Buddhists or those interested in the belief system and the fellowship it provides can meet to learn, meditate, and share meals. Some centers have communities that extend past Minneapolis’ borders with associated branches around the United States and internationally. Lama Ole Nadahl founded the first Diamond Way Center in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1972. His center branched out, and the Diamond Way Buddhist Center on Lake Street in Uptown Minneapolis today is one of over 600 different branches around the world. Lama Ole Nadahl travels the world to teach Buddhist theory, and on Nov. 15, he spoke at the Minneapolis Central Library to a full room that represented a fraction of the thriving Buddhist community within the Twin Cities. There was no primary demographic and it was reiterated that all were welcome regardless of age, gender, religious affiliation, or PARKER HOFFMAN
Lama Ole Nadahl ended the night with a guided meditation and sent the crowd off with a blessing. Lectures such as this one put on by the Diamond Way Buddhist Center are only one facet of what is offered by these centers, as Erin Appel from the Minneapolis Diamond Way Buddhist Center explained. The Wake had the chance to speak with Appel and delve more into what the intersection of Buddism and Minneapolis is like. W: What is the primary purpose of the Diamond Way Center? Erin: The purpose of our center is to provide Buddhist teachings and meditation instruction to those who may find them helpful. The purpose of Buddhist teachings and meditation is to reduce suffering and increase happiness in ourselves and (especially) others. The result of Buddhist practice is more joy, fearlessness, and active compassion. W: How does the Diamond Way Center interact with the community of Minneapolis?
Erin: We communicate often with other centers to create friendships and connection, and to make sure the teachings we offer are consistent worldwide. We receive guidelines from our Lama and his team on how to make sure the teachings are authentic, effective, and accessible to Western people. We meet together with friends from around the world at large courses, such as those held at the Europe Center in southern Germany. It’s very exciting to travel and find friends with similar values and open hearts in Diamond Way Buddhist Centers around the world! W: What attracted you to Buddhism? Erin: Originally, I met some friends who were exceptionally joyful. Then, I hypothesized that they were so happy because they meditate. Then, I tried meditation and got great results! W: Do you have any advice for students who are interested in Buddhism? Erin: Go visit a lot of centers! Books are useful, but you will really see what sort of spiritual path is right for you by interacting with the people who practice. Then, when you find a center that feels right, work hard and enjoy! W: What is one thing that non-Buddhists should know about Buddhism? Erin: Gosh, I have to pick only one? How about I make a list. 1. Buddhism does not require blind faith and it encourages critical thinking. The Buddha said, “Don’t believe anything just because a Buddha told you. Be your own guiding light.” 2. The Buddha is not a god, a creator, nor a judge. He was a person who achieved his full potential and then taught others to do the same. 3. Buddhism is non-dogmatic and it does not proselytize. The Buddha gave advice on how to be happy and help others. You are welcome to use the advice or not use it. Also, Buddhism is not for everyone, and that’s okay. Trying to “convert” people is unnecessary and ineffective.
Erin: We are open to the public three times per week for free public meditation (Wed. 7 p.m., Fri. 7 p.m., Sun. 6 p.m.). We offer weekend courses every couple of months, which the public is welcome to attend as well. We have student groups at the University of Minnesota and Augsburg College. We also host lectures outside of our center, such as the lecture with our main teacher, Lama Ole Nydahl.
4. There are many kinds of Buddhism because the Buddha gave advice to many different kinds of people. One school is not better than another. The key is to find what suits you and then do your best.
W: Since the Diamond Way Center has over 600 locations worldwide, does the Minneapolis branch interact much with the larger organization?
6. Buddha taught that all people are actually Buddhas; they are just confused, and that’s why they make mistakes. The process of meditation doesn’t add anything to our minds; it actually takes away confusion.
5. Buddhism is about self-responsibility. We are in charge of our own lives and have the power to change them.
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5.
Cities A Misunderstood Culture and Community:
A Brief look into the Somali American Culture in Minneapolis
By Sean McSteen
Living in Minnesota for most of my life, I have come to love and appreciate the many different ideals, lifestyles, and communities that thrive in the Twin Cities metro area, Minneapolis specifically. The city is host to great local music; lots of different neighborhoods with their own unique aspects; and generally very friendly people who hold a strong emphasis on community. And yet, in a city like Minneapolis, as connected as everything and everyone seems to be, it is surprising to find entire communities that seem to be greatly cut off from one another. For some, it is due to political views. For others, it is because of religious or cultural reasons. But mostly, I believe such separations are created and stoked by being uneducated and unconsciously or consciously ignorant to the beliefs, backgrounds and struggles of an unfamiliar culture. One community in Minneapolis that has been struggling to be recognized and understood within the larger Minneapolis culture is the Somali American community in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood. The focal point of the community is the large complex of high-rise apartments that were built in 1973, most recognizable because of the faded, colored panels scattered across the sides of the towers, a style meant to copy French architect, Le Corbusier. The rest of the exterior appears run-down and looks to be in desperate need of repair. The location of the housing complex itself cuts off the potential to physically connect with other nearby communities, jammed up against the highway and hidden behind the string of popular hipster bars. Speaking about some of the struggles that the Somali American community is going through, community leader and organizer Abdirizak Bihi said, “I’m concerned that we are being shunned and we are being isolated more.” The Riverside Plaza high-rise complex was designed by Ralph Rapson, a Minnesotan architect who also designed Rarig Center at the University of Minnesota. The apartments were initially designed to attract a wide range of demographics with different styles of housing. But, instead it became
6. november 25 - december 8
predominantly low-income housing due to the building’s owners choosing to collect on a 10 percent state subsidy and a constant stream of income from rent. With years passing in a blur and with a lack of maintenance and upkeep, the bright colors faded under the sun and the looming concrete structure appeared as a hollow skeleton of what the structure was once trying to emulate. Though the high-rises have been populated with immigrants from Vietnam, Korea, and other foreign countries since its construction, the population density has increased greatly since the early 1990s with the influx of Somalian immigrants coming to Minnesota to escape the civil war taking place in Somalia. The Somali community that has grown in the Cedar Riverside area over the past two decades may not be accurately reported in official census documents, but the community’s presence is hard to miss walking around the neighborhood. Minnesota has the largest population of Somali immigrants in the country and is now home to multiple generations of families, all of whom deal with cultural and economic difficulties. Within the Somali community in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood, there is a definitive divide between generations. “It’s really difficult. The young people here are caught between two worlds,” Bihi said.
when you have a community that came from an opposite culture where freedom is a crime, where saying a little thing that some may take for granted could fetch you 20 years in a dungeon. Many of the younger Somali Americans in Minneapolis have never been to Somalia, and those that have left the country at a young age. One young man living in Minneapolis, Abdikadir Hassan, was born in Somalia and immigrated to the United States in 2008, when he was 17. Being new to the city, country, and culture, Hassan tried to familiarize and educate himself with as much as he could. “Right after I moved here, we moved next to the Franklin Library, which gave me a lot of opportunities,” Hassan said. Working with different outreach programs in his own com-
munity while studying to be a paralegal with law school in his sights, Hassan strives to always be a welcoming ambassador for his community. Though, often times, younger Somali Americans have difficulties with the culture shock as many of those who were not born within the United States have spent time living in refugee camps, seeking asylum from the violence in Somalia. Refugee camps can be terrible places. Physical abuse, robbery and rape are common within the highly populated confines of refugee camps in Africa that often appear like entire cities. To go from living under a dictatorship in Somalia to dangerous refugee camps and finally to the United States carries with it such a culture shock that first generation immigrants were unaccustomed to the freedoms and lawful rights held by United States citizens. It is difficult for immigrants coming to the United States from Somalia to fully understand their rights “when you have a community that came from an opposite culture where freedom is a crime, where saying a little thing that some may take for granted could fetch you 20 years in a dungeon,” Bihi said. Having Constitutional freedoms was something most immigrants coming to the United States from impoverished, often war-torn countries had never experienced. Like any ethnicity or culture that immigrates to the United States, the first generation holds the greatest weight on their shoulders. A weight that comes from retaining the values and beliefs they were raised with, while also becoming accustomed to the ideals and cultural norms of American culture. But, the weight will hopefully begin to slowly lift as the Somali American community in Minneapolis grows and more motivated community workers like Abdirizak Bihi and Abdikadir Hassan begin to work together on both sides of the shrinking cultural divide to educate and inform those who wish to gain a better understanding and appreciation for another culture, community, and fellow Minnesotans.
CITIES Puppies, Kittens, and Chickens, Oh My! Animal Therapy is now being offered at Boynton
NATALIE WARD
By Natalie Ward
A new program is being offered through Boynton Health Services: animal therapy. This program started on Nov. 13, and will continue to happen every Wednesday from 3 to 5 p.m. until May. The idea for this program grew from last spring’s “Cirque de Stress” event when a couple of the event coordinators realized what they were missing: animals. After having some time to think about the idea of having a program where U of M students can interact with animals, they came up with this animal therapy program.
The first session featured four therapy dogs and a therapy chicken Animal therapy is held in the Garden Room of the Boynton Health Services building. The room was so packed that there
was talk of needing to expand the program into a larger room based on the huge interest in the event. There was a diversity of students in attendance, everyone from music majors to what looked like basketball players came to check it out. The first session featured one chicken (totally not as weird as it sounds) and four dogs of all ages, breeds, and therapy experience. There was a German Shepherd named Klaus making his debut as a therapy dog, and a poodle named Samson who has been a therapy dog for ten years. The Golden Retriever’s owner described his dog as a “veteran” therapy dog because they have been participating in different animal therapy programs together for so many years. In the future, there will be a couple bunnies and cats attending as well. It is a very welcoming environment; each animal and their owner have a station in the room, and students are welcome to move from animal to animal as they please. All
of the animals belong to their handlers, and maintain close distance to their pets during the session. Basically, these are the chillest animals you will ever meet.
Animal therapy has been proven to ease stress Animal therapy has been used in hospitals, children’s hospitals, nursing homes and for emotional therapy and it has been proven to ease depression, stress, and fatigue. Another reason why this program came about is that one of the things students who live on campus or away from home miss the most is their pets, so this can be a great time to get that much-needed feeling of snuggling up with your best friend. It is a great way to get through the middle of your week, and a great opportunity to hang out with these little guys who love you as much as you love them.
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7.
VOICES Beyond the name Redskins
Institutionalized racism against Native Americans persists By Nick Theis
When the Washington Redskins came to the Metrodome to lose to the Vikings earlier this month, they inadvertently brought nearly a thousand angry protesters with them. These picketers included Governor Mark Dayton, mayor-elect Betsy Hodges, the American Indian Movement co-founder Clyde Bellecourt, and even Jessie “the Body (mind and soul)” Ventura. These inadvertent attendees were protesting the team’s name.
Since when is a small city of fans a nation? How can Snyder pretend his team’s 81 year history means anything in comparison to tens of thousands of years of pre-Columbian “American” history? With a single letter Snyder managed to do much worse than flaunt a racial slur. He abused and distorted important concepts about ethnic identity. He blurred hundreds of unique indigenous nations into one, and compared this imaginary amalgam to a football team and its fan-base.
it’s not just the name, “it’s the behavior created when they get a little behind, [fans] start hollering ‘scalp them f—in’ Vikings! Massacre them!” Bellecourt says
If racism is ignorance then Snyder is an exemplary racist, and if a football teams do represent cities then it is a sad irony that this team represents Washington D.C. It is no secret that federal Indian policy from its beginning has been not only racist but outright genocidal. But is it still? The prosecution of American Indian Movement (AIM) leaders suggests so.
“People need to be told it’s wrong. It does damage to [their] perception of us,” said Eric Buffalohead, University of Minnesota alumni and American Indian Studies Chair at Augsburg College. “We’re here. We’re not some stereotype.” The name “Redskins” perpetuates abuses of a distorted image, an image created in part by a legacy of Hollywood film stereotypes: bloodthirsty savages, drunks, superhuman hunters, etc. People enforce these stereotypes when they dress like “savages” on Halloween, or “squaws” on Thanksgiving. But the problem is much deeper than most of us realize. As Clyde Bellecourt said, it’s not just the name, “it’s the behavior created when they get a little behind, [fans] start hollering ‘scalp them f—in’ Vikings! Massacre them!” Bellecourt says these attitudes have a tremendous psychological effect on Indian people, especially children. As if to rub salt in a festering wound, Washington team owner Dan Snyder said this past October in letter addressed to “Everyone in [his] Washington Redskins Nation,” “Our past isn’t just where we came from — it’s who we are.” At first pathetically hokey, this statement is also deeply upsetting. Snyder is of course a staunch defender of the team name, and this letter a frightening defense of it. Snyder appeals to the franchise’s “great history, tradition and legacy.” His article is riddled with haunting metaphors like how he repeatedly refers to his franchise and its fans as a “nation.”
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The Ojibwe man mentioned earlier, Clyde Bellecourt, is a prominent Native American activist with AIM. Last December he was arrested on trumpeted-up charges of trespassing in downtown Minneapolis at an “Idle No More” protest. His charges have since been dropped—it seems Bellecourt is faring better than some AIM members, such as Leonard Peltier, who has been in prison since 1977 for crimes that only the FBI seems to think he is guilty of. Several human rights groups including Amnesty International recognize that Peltier is an innocent political prisoner.
nication between the U and the Band is improving. Forestry Center director Linda Nagel said the center will create new signs and new hunting and gathering guidelines to better reflect University policy (but still not treaty rights). Despite these conflicts there is a great American Indian Studies program at the U of M. In fact the U offers both Ojibwe and Dakota language classes, and yet the administration continues to create challenge for American Indian Studies students and teachers. The classes are not given TA funding, and volunteer TAs are told they cannot volunteer because there is not TA funding. Students are told they cannot attend language camps in Canada. Conflicts with the administration have driven some professors to take early retirement. There is no rule in the University of Minnesota’s policy labyrinth that mandates this sort of trifling. And because those most affected often wish to remain anonymous or quiet—it is difficult to even find evidence of these bad practices. Moreover, when problems do surface, it is often a challenge to find support and solutions. Because so many deep and big issues are so difficult to see, even smaller issues (like a football team name) must be taken seriously. If they are ignored, deeper issues will go ignored. When hundreds of people come together in outrage over a team name, the name needs to go.
National policies and attitudes are indeed troubling (even outside the NFL). However, we need not look as far as D.C. to find evidence of institutional racism or very far into the past. We need to look no further than our own campus. About five years ago, the University of Minnesota violated the LaPointe Treaty of 1854, which created the 100,000 acre Fond du Lac Indian Reservation. This Treaty gave an Ojibwe Band rights to the entire property—until the University’s Cloquet Forestry Center began restricting their land use, putting up “NO TRESPASSING” signs in the middle of the reservation. The Minnesota Daily recently reported in an article titled “U, tribe connect over land dispute” that the Forestry Center took their signs down this past October, and that commu-
MACKENZIE CRESS
VOICES Give Thanks for Love, not Land By Haley McCullum
Happy Thanksgiving! For the past few Thanksgivings, I have been sincerely questioning its meaning. Thanksgiving is known as time for family, food, and that warm and fuzzy feeling. Every year, my family typically ends up repeating the same Thanksgiving Day: sitting in the my aunt’s living room with the Macy’s Day parade on in the background, surrounded by an array of comfort food smells, laughing and joking about our lives. Warm fuzzy feelings aside, my questions surrounding the politics of Thanksgiving have been steadily growing throughout the years. Do the larger messages and meanings of this particular holiday absolve its political incorrectness? Let’s look back at our elementary history classes. We learned that in 1621 the Pilgrims, the early European settlers of Plymouth Massachusetts, sat down with the Wampanoag Indians a year after they arrived on the shores of America to celebrate the fall harvest season. Without the aid of the Wampanoag and Pawtuxet tribe, the Pilgrims would have perished. One of the Native Indians of the Pawtuxet, having created an alliance between of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe, was kidnapped by an English sailor and sold into slavery. He escaped and returned home, but even after, he created a comfortable and safe home for the early settlers despite being treated so inhumanly. His grace, forgiveness, and acceptance that we are so sadly lacking in our everyday lives is what Thanksgiving should be about. Though the alliance between the Europeans and the Wampanoag tribe lasted for a little longer than 50 years; it was
the only Native American and European relationship that I have read about that was not tarnished by prejudice and greed. Our nation’s bloody history cannot be denied. Yet we sit down year after year to gorge on a King Henry VII courtsized buffet and completely forget how we came here—we are missing this holiday’s point. I am not the first to be disputing the political incorrectness surrounding Thanksgiving. In a way, we are celebrating that one time we stole someone’s homeland, claimed it as ours, and forced its occupants to assimilate into our culture. From a political standpoint, Thanksgiving can be depicted in a bad light, but I want to focus on the actual act of giving thanks. Some families go around the table and say what they are thankful for and spend about five minutes being open and honest with each other, finally admitting that being a part of the family doesn’t suck. However, to wait for a whole year before again telling each of our functional or dysfunctional family member is disconcerting. Being grateful and showing appreciation for the things we have and the people who make our lives so great should be a daily practice. We have lost our ability to appreciate the help we get and, more importantly, we have lost the need to be able to notice and be grateful for the help and blessings that we don’t necessarily deserve. It will be great to be with the ones you love, to be with a group of friends you have adopted as your family, your actual family or that hodgepodged clan you call your own, and tell them how much they mean to you. Do this not just on Nov. 28, but throughout the year. Chances are you wouldn’t be the person you are today without your best friend and beer pong buddy, those super helpful and supportive moms and dads, or the generous and gracious grandpa and grandma, so don’t just take this one day to tell them how much goodness they have brought to your life. In short, appreciate the Squantos in your life. The idea of Thanksgiving is a good one, and yes there is some negative history attached to it, but its intended meaning should be one that extends beyond the dining room table.
Pumpkin Pancakes
Instructions: 1. In a bowl, mix together
2. Heat a lightly oiled
Ingredients: -1 1/2 cups milk -1 cup pumpkin puree -1 egg -2 tablespoons vegetable oil -2 tablespoons vinegar -2 cups all-purpose flour
the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil
griddle or frying pan over
and vinegar. Combine the
medium high heat. Pour or
flour, brown sugar, baking
scoop the batter onto the
powder, baking soda, allspice,
griddle, using approxi-
cinnamon, ginger and salt in
mately 1/4 cup for each
a separate bowl. Stir into the
pancake. Brown on both
pumpkin mixture just enough
sides and serve hot.
-3 tablespoons brown sugar -2 teaspoons baking powder -1 teaspoon baking soda -1 teaspoon ground allspice -1 teaspoon ground cinnamon -1/2 teaspoon ground ginger -1/2 teaspoon salt
to combine.
I know that all of your families have their special recipes for the Thanksgiving holiday, but just in case you are found wanting more of a new way to expose yourself to fattening carbs and deserts this season, here are some unique and delicious before and after the big meal treats that will surly put you in a deep food coma.
PILLSBURY.COM
Sopapilla Cheesecake Ingredients: -2 cans Pillsbury butter crescent rolls -2 (8oz) packages of cream cheese (softened) -1 cup sugar -1 teaspoon vanilla -1/4 cup butter (melted) -Cinnamon & sugar Instructions: 1. Unroll and spread 1 can of crescent rolls on the bottom of an ungreased pan. 2. Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Spread mixture over crescent rolls. 3. Unroll and spread remaining crescent rolls over the mixture. 4. Spread melted butter over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. 5. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Best served at room temperature. Also a good idea to keep this dessert refrigerated when it is not being eaten because it is dairy based.
PIXELATEDCRUMB.COM
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9.
VOICES Alert: This is a desensitizing, vague message about crime Crime reports value expedience at the expense of accuracy By Zach Simon
Would you say that you feel safe here at the University of Minnesota? People would give a number of different responses to this question. Some might say to stay away from Dinkytown after midnight; some might say they would not walk around at night at all. In the month of October, there were 26 crimes between the Minneapolis and St. Paul campuses, according to UMN Crime Report Maps. Most were bicycle thefts and other minor larcenies. Safety in the Twin Cities has always been something of an issue. However, in this modern technological era, information travels fast. The university has implemented crime alert emails which you have undoubtedly noticed and gossiped to your friends about, and even texted people to “gtfo asap” if there is someone dangerous on campus. Obviously nothing to “rofl” about, but how seriously are people taking these warnings?
If you didn’t hear about the guy with the gun on the West Bank on Nov. 11, you probably live under a rock. As most are aware, the West Bank campus was put under lockdown due to a man described as “a black male, age 20, 6 ft tall, wearing a black puffy hooded jacket.” The fact that it had to remove a lot of grammar so that it could fit the character limit is telling in and of itself. Isn’t our safety worth more than a few tightly compacted text messages? That blurb came straight from the screen of my phone immediately in class at about 3:15. Needless to say, I did not take the scenic route home. However, before any thought of personal safety came to mind, one thing really struck me: what would this mean for all the non-armed black guys walking around the West Bank campus? How many terrified looks would they receive today?
“...these reports may have the effect of making students more concerned about “stranger danger...” I mean, let’s be honest here: how vague can a description get? I cannot imagine how difficult that day must have been for a lot of six-foot-tall African American men just trying to go to class. I personally was snug in my East Bank bubble for most of that day and felt pretty secure, but seeing a mixture of scared and indifferent tweets, punctuated with #UMNprobs made me very concerned. What was really going on over there? Was he trying to shoot up the school? Rob someone? A string of tweets by the University of Minnesota Twitter page shed a bit more light on the situation, informing tweeters that they should take shelter, that it was an attempted armed robbery, and when it was safe to come out from behind the trash bins. The whole story made national news as well, though similar information was given to readers. Very little information was given about the situation as it was happening. Social media is cutting down on information communicated. In another crime alert, there was news of a sexual assault, and for the rest of that week half the girls I know did not want to go out
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november 25 - december 8
PETER MARIUTTO
at night because “someone got sexually assaulted on campus.” The fact that it was off-campus in the Como Avenue area did not seem to reach them, possibly because they only read the first few words of the email that shouted “Sexual Assault” in Times New Roman. It really made me question how seriously people take these crime alerts. Given in such an informal format, these alerts desensitize the reader to what is actually going on. Aside from a very general description of the suspect and which campus to avoid for the day, how are students supposed to handle this kind of information packaged in such a pill-like form? “I do think these reports may have the effect of making students more concerned about ‘stranger danger,’” Professor Michelle Phelps of the Crime, Deviance and Inequality department said, arguing it can increase racial and classbased fear and anxiety. “On the other hand, perhaps some of these reports have convinced students to walk home in larger groups, take cabs and buses, or call for a campus escort, which could be a good thing,” she said. “I’m of mixed opinion.” By-and-large, the crime alerts are not effective in conveying information, but I would concede that they do galvanize people into “super-precaution.”
Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder Students provide rebuttal against U being named “Ugliest College Campus� By Cora Neisen
LAUREN CUTSHALL
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11.
F E AT U R E : Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder
LAUREN CUTSHALL
As many students quickly discovered, Travel and Leisure Magazine recently included the U in their story, “The Ugliest College Campuses.” Showing up on social media, local news, and other publications, chatter about this topic exploded. Although some buildings on campus are not the most aesthetically pleasing, an overwhelming number of U lovers provided their rebuttal. “The U has a beautiful campus, especially during the summer, which is something to be said for an urban campus of our size and the amount of construction going on,” said sophomore Kolton Eisenberger. “Despite this, there’s not
12. november 25 - december 8
a campus in the country that fits the needs of its students and looks this good while doing it.” Located in a major metropolitan area, the U faces challenges that other schools do not. Providing adequate green space, beautiful landscapes, and wildlife variation is a struggle while being embedded in a city of 400,000 people. “For being in a densely populated urban area, the U does pretty damn well at looking good,” senior Sam Neisen said. It can be argued that some buildings such as Anderson Hall, Rarig Center, and Kolthoff Hall have slightly underwhelming aesthetics, but many students think the major-
ity of campus is beautiful. “I am beyond grateful every day to be a part of such a gorgeous campus,” sophomore Laurel Streed explained. “Be it the magnitude, array of colors and nature, or the bustling activity of the campus mall that makes me feel like I’m a part of something bigger and more beautiful than myself.” Perhaps Travel and Leisure never lounged in one of the many grassy areas on a beautiful fall day, the sun gently filling the expanse of greenery. Or maybe they never meandered down Church Street, admiring the Ivy slowly engulfing the antique buildings. They probably never bothered to walk across the
F E AT U R E
Washington Avenue Bridge, the stunning Weisman Art Museum behind them, while appreciating the striking view of Minneapolis. Impressive buildings such as Folwell, Pillsbury, and Nicholson Hall must have been forgotten.
ZACH SIMON
Whatever the case, the age-old cliché, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” especially rings true for this campus. One can choose to see the stale, drab expanse of Moos Tower, or one can choose to appreciate a colorful walk down Northrop Mall, surrounded by magnificent architecture which, like a fine wine, seems to only get better with time.
ZACH SIMON
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VOICES What is the Deal?
tween 1992 and 2005 alone, weed-seekers are on an admittedly safer hunt than my monthly trip to Boynton. Still, I get to score during normal business hours, bill the costs to my student account, and walk home with 900 mg of blue “smurf candy.” I don’t even have to stuff the childproof bottle into my jacket when I pass a cop.
By Nathaniel Kitzmann
It’s simply unfair. Along with the other kids, approximately 10 percent of American youth, being treated for ADD/ADHD, I’m encouraged to take Adderall before I start my day, go to work or class, or generally do anything. It’s needed for people “like me,” my doctor said; I am less of a person than I could be, fundamentally incomplete, without a daily 30 mg dose of amphetamines to jack-hammer my wandering mind into focused action.
The stigma against illegal drugs benefits no one
The man I was waiting for dresses in white scrubs and sports a stethoscope. Still, I couldn’t avoid thinking of those Lou Reed lyrics from his iconic “I’m Waiting for the Man” as I sat in Boynton’s fourth floor mental health clinic and waited. Considering the moral wedge society that has driven between drugs like Adderall and drugs like cannabis or heroin—as wide as the difference between “good” and “bad” itself—the process for obtaining them is remarkably similar. You arrive at some pre-determined location, cash or insurance card in hand, consult briefly with your doctor/dealer, trade what you came with for what you came for. Then, as the immortal Reed said nearly half a century ago, “You split, ‘cause you’ve got no time to waste.” Diagnosed with ADHD my sophomore year in college, there’s only one crucial element missing from my “scoring” experience compared to that of, say, the near-majority of college students who self-medicate with illegal substances: stigma. With no deaths attributed to cannabis compared to the 20 sudden deaths caused by prescription amphetamines be-
Stereotypes cause lack of concern for female sport injuries How women are more at risk for athletic aches By Kirsten Erickson
“You’re playing like a girl.” We’ve all heard it, the insinuation that someone isn’t playing hard enough. But the truth is, these days the girls play just as hard. Why is it, then, that there hardly seems to be concern about injuries in women’s sports? Concussions in the NFL are a common topic, yet no one wonders about concussed athletes in the WNBA or NWSL.
Erasing the false boundary between “needed” and “abhorrent” drugs is a start. If people, for instance, could benefit from illegal substances legally and safely, some of the problems (infamous cartels, misinformed overdoses) that the black market creates would be avoided. Moreover, maybe if it was a little more difficult for me to obtain obscene amounts of military-grade amphetamines, I could trade superhuman productivity for a little longevity in focus. That’s a deal I could get behind.
Convenience to purchase legally prescribed drugs comes at a cost: selfactualization. A weed dealer would be quite brazen to tell every one of his clients that, without the daily use of his psychoactive wares, they can never hope to be properly functioning members of society.
DAN FORKE
This lack of concern is troubling, since sources like the Women’s Sports Foundation said concussions occur at a higher rate in female collegiate athletes than their male counterparts. According to NCAA statistics, between 2004 and 2009 the rate of concussions per 1,000 practices and games for women’s soccer alone was 2.2 compared with 1.4 for men. The ambivalence toward female sports is nothing new, but the same should not be true for injuries. It’s good that Americans are starting to pay attention to concussions in the NFL, but they shouldn’t stop there. “I think this country has a history of focusing more on men’s sports in general, which would naturally lead to a higher rate of discussion compared to women’s injuries,” said Debbie Dalsin, a women’s hockey trainer at the U of M. Unfortunately female sports-related injuries are increasing. The most common injuries include ACL tears, concussions and stress fractures, according to Prevention, a healthy living website. For ACL tears specifically, a New York Times article titled “The Uneven Playing Field” reported that females are five times as likely to tear it as males.
In short, these are serious injuries, and prevention needs to be taken as seriously as it is among men’s sports. While these male athletes are encouraged to strengthen the neck and joint muscles to prevent these kinds of injuries, women have naturally weakened muscles in this area, so the NCAA website encourages female athletes to build more strength in that regard. What we also need to keep in mind, though, is that it’s a common belief in both men and women’s sports that athletes should play through the pain. As a high school soccer player, I myself would play through sprains and dislocations so I wouldn’t lose playing time. This is a conception that can prove detrimental, whether it’s applied to men’s or women’s athletics. It’s obvious that women take the sports they play seriously and garner many injuries to prove it. It’s time then to stop using the phrase “playing like a girl” as an insult, because playing like a girl can prove to be just as bone-crunching, ligamenttearing and concussion-inducing as any of the boys.
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15.
Q&A
JESSICA BAILEY
From Apprentice to Artist: Tattooing at 4Points Body Gallery By Courtney Bade and Sara Glesne
There are no private rooms at this south Minneapolis tattoo shop. At 4Points Body Gallery, located on South 37th Street and Chicago Avenue in a building that from the outside looks like two mismatched houses stacked together, a group of tattoo artists and apprentices oversee one another’s work in two shared rooms that have a sort of barbershop feel in their openness. 4Points founder and tattooist Scott Farrell landed in Minneapolis two years ago, after hopping around New York and Kentucky for years. Shortly after moving here, he and his former apprentice Adam Sward started taking on clients at the shop in early 2011. Farrell said all the artists currently working at 4Points apprenticed under him. “I find it easier to train somebody than to find somebody in the pool of artists that are available, and kind of teach them the way I do things,” he said.
The five licensed artists and two apprentices at 4Points typically work outside of traditional tattoo books. They ink as many original designs of their own, and for the most part tattoo each design only once. They keep prices low with an advertised rate of $50 for an hour of ink work, with some variation depending on the specific artist. The Wake chatted with Jessica Bailey, an artist at the shop who finished her apprenticeship and became a licensed tattoo artist this year after somewhat accidentally stumbling into the job. She shared with us the work that goes into getting licensed (including tattooing on pieces of fruit), her least favorite kind of tattoo, and more about the job and her own body artwork. The Wake: How long have you been working as a tattoo artist? Jessica: I started my apprenticeship in early March of this year. And then I was an apprentice for five or six months. It’s 200 hours of tattooing. And I’ve been working here [at 4Points] since then. The Wake: When did you decide that you wanted to do this?
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Jessica: Like, three days before I started my apprenticeship [laughs]. The Wake: What was the apprenticeship like? What did you have to go through? Jessica: Well, to get the apprenticeship you submit artwork and then you start by tattooing. I mean, first you learn about blood-borne pathogens and safety. You have to get certified and take a test for that and everything. And you start by tattooing on fruit. Like, plantains, grapefruits, and sometimes honeydew. And after you do that then, it’s not required, but most of us tattoo ourselves first. For me, I didn’t have any tattoos when I started. So one of the artists here, Adam, he did my first tattoo and then I tattooed myself. And then I tattooed my best friend and then I just kind of went from there with other people. And then you do 200 hours of supervised tattooing on people, and then you submit your paperwork for full licensure. The Wake: Are you originally from Minneapolis? Jessica: Yeah, I was born here and I went to high school and everything here, and then I moved to Dallas for two years and then New York City for two years. Then I moved back here after I finished college. The Wake: What styles of tattooing do you like best to do, or to look at?
Q&A
Jessica: I really love intricate line work stuff and gray shading. Those are my favorites to do. Color is fun sometimes too, but those are the ones I enjoy most. Or a combination of the two. And I really like pointillism lately. The Wake: What’s it like to be a female tattoo artist? Jessica: Here I don’t feel like it’s so much different. In our shop we’re all just family. We all get along really well and everyone here has been an apprentice under Scott. So, we’re all kind of hand-selected as people who will fit in the environment and in the family. So we all get along and gender isn’t really an issue. I have no idea what it’s like in other shops. I hear that they’re a lot different than us, but I don’t know because I didn’t have any tattoos before I came here and this is my tattoo world.
one with a really cool, really good idea and it’s just really an honor to be able to draw that for them because they want you to do it for them instead of someone else. It’s really cool. And I also really enjoy tattooing my friends because I get to do something I love while spending time with friends. I don’t know. Work is never like work, for us, which is great. But, it definitely is work [laughs]. The Wake: What is the worst tattoo you’d say you’ve had to do? Jessica: I’ve been pretty lucky on that front. I’m not a huge fan of tattooing people’s names on them. Or other people’s [names]. I’m just not really a fan of tattooing names because I think there are much better ways to symbolize a person than a name that possibly several other people share. Or, you know, people are just more than their name.
The Wake: Can you talk about the history of 4Points? Jessica: Yeah. Scott, the owner, he has lived all over the country but he first, I believe, started tattooing in Kentucky and had a shop there for eight years. Then he moved his family up here about two years ago and opened the shop, and Adam was his first apprentice. Adam’s the co-owner now. He’s had several more apprentices since then. June was an apprentice and then me and Anthony, and now Lana and Mark. So, that’s kind of the history. We’ve been here, I think, 19 months now. Since February of 2012. The Wake: So it’s pretty new then. What has been your favorite tattooing experience? Jessica: That’s a hard one. I really enjoy being challenged artistically to do something that’s really cool and different. I mean, obviously there are a lot of like, plain text tattoos and stuff that’s really simple, but occasionally you’ll get some-
The Wake: What about your own tattoos? Do you have any favorites or do you have any special stories behind them? Jessica: I don’t really have any favorites. They all mean very specific things to me. Most of them are mythologically based. I was a literature major and wrote my senior thesis on Neil Gaiman’s book “American Gods,” which is very mythologically based. So, the first tattoo I got was a raven on my ribs. It’s kind of half-realistic and half the Pacific Northwest height of style and that’s significant to me just because the Pacific Northwest is my favorite area. I have family out there. It’s just been a really special place for our family. And the raven is a huge mythological symbol as well. And the one I did on myself is Horus the falcon from Egyptian mythology. And then I have a sleeve that I’m starting of Neil Gaiman stuff because he’s my favorite author and he’s been a huge influence. I have Odin, the Norse god, on my arm. And then Neil Gaiman’s signature. He wrote his name on my arm and then
I tattooed it at work the next day. We’re working on some other stuff with that too, so my whole arm and my back will be Neil Gaiman. And then I have a quote my dad said in his handwriting. I have a fish my best friend drew and a couple of other random ones. It’s kind of dangerous, working here. The Wake: I believe it. What’s it like tattooing yourself? Jessica: I think it’s easier than having someone else do it. With the exception of physical limitations. Obviously you can’t reach certain parts of your body. Like, I can’t tattoo my right arm because I’m right-handed. But pain-wise, I think it’s easier. The exception of that being on my hand when I did this fish, the hands are a really hard place to tattoo because there are actually more layers of skin you have to go through and so to get it deep enough it’s really not a comfortable thing. So, that was hard. But my thigh, like, super easy. The Wake: What else… Jessica: I guess I didn’t answer when I decided to become [a tattoo artist] very thoroughly. I could go into that more. Well, I was a literature major and I moved back here to start working at Wild Rumpus bookstore because that was the only job I could get when I was done with school, despite having a four year bachelor’s degree. So, I moved back here, and my stepmom’s gallery is the one on the corner across the street, Fox Egg. And she has been friends with Adam and Scott since they opened here and she was like, “Hey, they’re looking for an apprentice. You should send in your work.” And I was like, “Sure, why not.” Not thinking anything of it, really, because there were like 80 applicants and Anthony had basically already been chosen at the time, I think. So I just did it and had an interview like, the next day, and then was an apprentice two days after. It was all very sudden, but it’s really great because this block right here is such an artistic, creative place. There are two photography galleries, a coffee shop, a consignment shop... It’s all really cool, artistic people and it’s just a really cool neighborhood so I’m glad that worked out [laughs].
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Sound & Vision Come Together Bringing FMLY Fest to the Twin Cities By Sarah Valli
I looked up at the charming, old house. Somewhat confused, I double-checked the address; this was indeed the right place. I didn’t have to doubt myself for long, though. “You’re one of the first people to come for the FMLY fest meeting!” one of the guys sitting on the porch exclaimed. “Come in!” Yep. This was the place. As “The X-Files” played in the background, I glanced around the house. Nothing about it made it seem like it would be the foundation of a music festival. FMLY fest is a music and arts festival that began Dec. 2009 in Los Angeles. However, the mission of this music festival sets it apart from a typical Woodstock-sort of experience. “The definition of FMLY fest is the expression of a creative,
cooperative community,” said Andy Todryk. “We want to be able to express all this entire community has to offer.” Todryk is currently the head of the FMLY fest initiative that is taking place in Minneapolis. His goal for the FMLY fest in the Twin Cities is to bring all the different cultures that make up the community together, as well as bring in some cultures from across the United States that the people of the Twin Cities do not often get to experience. “The people organizing it can be anyone – farmers, young adults, artists, businessmen – we don’t want to limit our audience or the people who are involved in the organizing process,” said Todryk.
As one of the residents of the house gently played his upright bass, the meeting began with everyone circled around the living room. The first thing that was brought up was the ground rule of all FMLY fest meetings: watch how you speak and respect others, an indication of the festival’s intended atmosphere of respect, friendship, connectivity, and community. Ideas and dreams about the perfect music festival were then fired around the circle. Some of the first ideas were a fortune-cookie ball pit, a slip and slide, sword tag, an ambient virtual cave, and a wind chime garden. The solid, must-haves of FMLY fest that were agreed upon were free pizza for all, no corporate sponsorships, and no police or security.
The definition of FMLY fest is the expression of a creative, cooperative community.
FMLY fest comes together with a series of meetings. For the first 2-3 months, the preliminary meetings take place. These are meetings that consist mainly of “spit-balling” ideas and figuring out where each individual fits into the FMLY. After this is all established, future meetings have committees that break out. This is how the dream becomes a reality.
An incredible part of FMLY fest is that it begins with virtually no money. FMLY fest is only funded by the dedication of the team and their ability to contribute and spread the passion of the festival to the people that they know. The vision behind FMLY fest is to take the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) mentality and transform it into a DIT (Do-It-Together) one.
“We want people we’ve never seen before at each meeting,” Todryk said. “This festival is going to look however the community wants it to look, so we need as many people as possible working together.”
ZACH SIMON
By the end of the show, everyone on the floor was dancing, jumping, and screaming to the band’s soul-infused brand of indie pop. Standing among the crowd, it felt like being right behind a jet engine.
Can’t Keep Up With Their Rhythm Fitz and The Tantrums at The Myth By Zach Simon
Excited chatter. Awkward shoving and pushing. More sets of braces then one can count, yet somehow an impossibly equal amount of wrinkled faces. This was the crowd that awaited Los Angeles-based Fitz and The Tantrums to take the stage at the Myth Nightclub on Nov. 21. Despite the tame, child-accommodating atmosphere of the all-ages show, the place hummed like a subwoofer. Then suddenly, every light went out and that subwoofer exploded into tiny, razor-sharp shouts of a crowd that might as well
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have waited forty days and forty nights for what came next. From pitch black to blinding light, The Myth lit up in an intense light show and the crowd’s girlish screams of excitement crescendoed as singers Michael “Fitz” Fitzpatrick and Noelle Scaggs ran out on stage. With flashing strobe lights and leather jackets that would make your punk uncle jealous, Fitz grabbed the crowd’s attention and wouldn’t let them go. Foot taps and head bobs punctuated the scene. As the energy grew and the light show put on a series of displays of techno-fluorescent magic, the mood quickly changed to that of a “fucking dance party,” as Fitz put it.
Simultaneously, a great romance unfolded onstage. From the joyous lyrics of “L.O.V” to the heartbreaking scene that introduced “House on Fire,” the relationship between Fitz and Scaggs was a captivating feature of the show. They came at each other like they were about to get it on, right there on stage, only to wrench apart from each other in multiple dramatic breakups. Then when their single “Out Of My League” came on, it was like they started pumping pure electricity into the room. Nearly everyone sang along. After teasing the crowd by leaving the stage, Scaggs and Fitz came back on to play their last song, “MoneyGrabber.” Halfway through it, they coached crowd members to get low to the floor and jump back up as pink confetti was shot into the crowd. Seeing everyone’s smiling faces as they left at the end of the night was enough to convince any showgoer that it was all more than just a dream.
Sound & Vision African Art No Longer MIA at the MIA Grootaers creates new way to experience African art By Roman Yanish
Shattering expectations of the already established exhibit, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts reopened its African Art Gallery Nov. 10 with a new look and a new way for visitors to see artwork. Jan-Lodewijk Grootaers, a who holds a Ph.D. in anthropology, brought the exhibit together in 10 months of renovation. Grootaers took over as the curator of African, Oceanic, and Native American art at the Minneapolis Institute of Art in 2008 and was the first African specialist hired by the MIA. In 2009, Grootaers opened an experimental temporary exhibit called “iAfrica: Connecting with Sub-Saharan Art.” It was one of the first galleries in the country to use an iPhone app for guests to interact with the art. Museum visitors were even able to play a virtual finger piano (also known as a kalimba). The exhibit even allowed visitors to smell some of the pieces. “It was intended to stimulate the senses,” Grootaers said. “It was an experiment.” Grootaers’ innovative experiment lives on in the freshly renovated African gallery. With a continued focus on the senses, Grootaers opened up the MIA’s African Art Galleries,
giving the art pieces more room to be seen. He noticed that the former exhibit felt “crowded, with too many objects in wall cases so it became difficult to tell what you were looking at.” In the new exhibit, pieces have been taken off the walls and placed in more open displays that visitors can walk around, viewing the artwork from multiple angles. As they walk through the exhibit, guests will see artwork in six different thematic groupings. As they make their own journey through the exhibit, visitors can learn the stories of the art on a large touch screen that offers more information about the pieces or by using the eight iPads that give museum visitors another way to interact with the pieces.
“As they walk through the exhibit, guests will see artwork in six different thematic groupings.” While making the exhibit more open and less crowded, Grootaers was also able to add several new pieces. The exhibit contains pieces from the former exhibit, such as tools and pottery, but also holds several contemporary pieces, including a coffin built in 1993.
Also making their first appearance in the exhibit are several drums. “When I came to the museum, there weren’t any drums,” Grootaers explained. “Now we are showing the instruments as works of art.” Grootaers said he hopes the new layout and technology will give museum visitors an informative and interactive experience that changes their perception of how art can tell a story. The MIA is open Tuesday through Sunday and entrance is free, unless guests would like to make a donation.
SHAWNNA STENNES
These Student Actors Weren’t Born Yesterday
BFA acting student balance school, roles in play at the Guthrie
by Dahsol Lee
Classes. Lessons. Homework. A second job. Managing all of these things can be quite the juggling act, but when a job acting in a production at the Guthrie Theater is added to the list, things just get overwhelming.
As students in the University of Minnesota’s Guthrie Theater BFA actor training program, Ryan Colbert and Michael Fell will be performing in the Guthrie production “Born Yesterday” from Nov. 23 to Jan. 5. The play is a comedy set in post-World War II Washington, D.C. It tells the story of a mistress as she learns of her partner’s corrupt business dealings. Colbert and Fell both trace their interest in acting to elementary school. Colbert said he remembered recreating and acting out Greek myths in his classroom. Fell remembered playing the role of a “whipping boy” in a fourth grade performance after his classmate who was originally cast for the role was expelled. Both have stayed committed to acting up through now: their senior year at the U. Since rehearsals started Oct. 29, both student actors have needed to adjust to fragmented and demanding schedules. “There is no typical, now that this play has started,” Colbert said and laughed. According to Colbert, the program demands that the professional role at the Guthrie be put
first, and all other commitments be “second or third string on the line.” Both Colbert and Fell have learned to manage their schedules, as well as their stress. “I would say that the best thing you can do is to find a hobby or life activity outside of the work,” said Fell. His ideal way to relax, he says, is by watching 30 Rock after a long run of rehearsals. Colbert agreed, and stressed that in a busy world, personal health should always come first. “Schedule a time for sleep and food before you do anything else because you have to take care of yourself,” he said. “Otherwise, while you’re doing all these other things, you’re going to feel like crap and not do things the best you could.” Though balancing education and career is challenging, both actors recognize the advantages of having the opportunity to perform on stage. “[Actors are] students of humans,” Fell said. “And humans do so many things so the more you know about life and the liberal arts, it fulfills the duty of representing another person on stage as an actor.”
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Sound & Vision A De Stijl Primer
Minneapolis label brings out the left-field in music By Pascal Filatre
How does one trace the history of the international avantgarde and super underground music scene over the past 50 years? As more and more documented sounds have piled up over the years in the form of dusty vinyl records, the story of how music went from Pierre Henry to free jazz to The Velvets to The Skaters is bewildering. The progression of avant, weird, and free music doesn’t make sense; its history is an Escherian staircase that both ascends and descends to infinity. If anything, the curious listener that seeks the strange in sound is best set to just forever search and search, to find the endless connections and marvel at how none of it ever really makes sense in the context of time and place, but somehow still affects the soul intensely. Labels that focus on the left-field are then faced with quite the curatorial role. While Minneapolis-based De Stijl Records has never been able to totally define the left-field of music from past generations to present, they serve as awesome curators of the weird and the wonderful, and of strange and polarizing underground music that makes each of their releases distinctly theirs. For more than 15 years, the label has released and reissued some of the most singular examples of private press psychedelia, cathartic noise rock, and other oddities. While the label’s discography may be intensely eclectic in both aural and visual ways, what pulls everything together is a sideways approach to viewing music and, consequently, life. What De Stijl has put down on wax is no joke – some records may be more serious or damaged than others, but everything has its place within the De Stijl universe.
“What De Stijl has put down on wax is no joke” The label is also the epitome of DIY. Aside from a distribution deal with SubPop Records, De Stijl is a main operation of Clint Simonson, whose legendary taste is what has kept the label in a league of its own. If you have any De Stijl seveninch releases in your collection, chances are that those were printed by Simonson himself. The De Stijl catalogue is pretty damn big at this point but here are some in-print starters for those interested in seeing what the label has to offer.
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november 25 - december 8
Musicians of De Stijl Records Wolf Eyes — No Answer : Lower Floors Wolf Eyes sound like they will rip your eyes out of their sockets and stick a contact microphone right in the middle of the fleshy void. Without a doubt, Wolf Eyes are one of the most important and critiRESIDENTADVISOR.NET cally progressive noise groups to have ever emerged from the genre. While their previous albums have been absurdly maximalist, No Answer : Lower Floors is the band at its most refined and mature moment. Throwing together elements of dub, soundtrack horror, music concrete tape loops, and of course noise, No Answer : Lower Floors is arguably the quintessential De Stijl album of recent years. Fans of this album should go check De Stijl’s Stare Case release Lose Today, which is the duo of Wolf Eyes mainstays John Olson and Nate Young.
Jakob Olausson — Morning and Sunrise An amazingly beautiful album of lucid psychedelic folk hymnals, Morning and Sunrise is one of the most intimate albums you’ll ever hear. Mr. Olausson is a SwedASSETS3.SUBPOP.COM ish beet farmer who occasionally releases music through De Stijl. Preciously as the album title may infer, this album sounds like the sun rising over a pastoral Scandinavian valley on some misty summer morning. Morning and Sunrise is like a window into the personal diary of whoever Olausson is in everyday life. This kind of music has a heartbeat of its own.
Circuit Des Yeux — Portrait Portrait is a strange album in that it sounds almost like a blues album but sung through the voice of a (then) TWITTERINGMACHINES.COM 21-year-old from Indiana. These songs are gritty and raw, something like the sound of an emotional wound being sewn up for the last time. Her last album on De Stijl after two previous records, Portrait can be heard as the culmination of her time spent on the label and as a sincere example of De Stijl’s artists’ fantastic talent, even in its generation of relatively younger musicians.
Hype Williams — Find Out What Happens When People Stop Being Polite, And Start Gettin Reel Hype Williams is the perfect example of heady sardonic postmodernism in a pop context. Throughout Find Out What DISCOGS.COM Happens When People Stop Being Polite, And Start Gettin Reel, the duo of Inga Copeland and Dean Blunt play upside down and fog-filled synthpop of the best quality. Massive drums and eerie synths collide with Copeland’s dreamy voice. Featured on the album is a cover of Sade’s “The Sweetest Taboo” that has been retitled “The Throning” and restyled as a grimy hypnagogic dub anthem.
Sound & Vision Game Over for Rusty Quarters
The vintage arcade was run for just over two years by Sage and Annie Spirtos, both of whom could usually be found working the front desk, exchanging customers’ cash for quarters, selling reasonably priced candy and soda (aka “gamer fuel”), and geeking out about old video games with anyone who shared their passion. They also offered a variety of hard-to-find vintage games and consoles for purchase or rent to whoever wanted to bring the experience home.
By Ethan Lauer
“There was only the nostalgic glow of the monitors, the noise of pinballs being shot up ramps and rebounding endlessly off Indiana Jones themed bumpers, and laughter”
Lake Street’s nostalgic video game haven closes its doors for good It was a haven. It was the place to go whenever I was too overwhelmed with the horrors of the modern world. There were no big screen TVs reporting the news about the latest mass shooting, no college students scrolling through their Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr feeds, and no hopelessly bored-looking people going about their mundane day-to-day activities. At Rusty Quarters, the south Minneapolis destination arcade, there was only the nostalgic glow of the monitors, the noise of pinballs being shot up ramps and rebounding endlessly off Indiana Jones-themed bumpers, and laughter. After a rollercoaster of financial woes and fundraising kicks, Rusty Quarters closed its doors for the last time on Nov. 7.
days before closing Nov. 7. Still, it hardly came as a surprise considering past financial struggles. If this news comes as a big disappointment, all hope is not lost. The Spirtos are selling their collection of about 30 games including classics like Donkey Kong, Centipede, Tron, among others to the highest bidder that contacts them at info@rqarcade.com. So although Rusty Quarters is no longer, its memory can live on in the homes of nostalgic Minnesotans for years to come.
Over the past two years, Rusty Quarters struggled to keep its head above water and maintain enough profit while serving a niche group, all without hiking up prices. They used multiple methods to keep their business powering through tougher times. They raised money through a crowd funding campaign that generated over $8,000 last spring and switched to a flat fee of $5 for unlimited games just last month. However, these efforts were not enough to combat the inconsistent sales and high rent for the prime real estate. They announced their plans just a few
ETHAN LAUER
Regis Art Center: Faculty exhibition celebrates 10th anniversary By Brielle Christy
This fall, the U of M’s Regis Center for Art is celebrating its 10th birthday through a display of faculty and student artwork as well as additional exhibitions from the University and Twin Cities art communities. Faculty that have taught in the distinct-looking West Bank building over the past 10 years have selected pieces to display in Regis’ Katherine E. Nash gallery. The faculty work comes in a variety of media including sculpture, prints, and experimental media, such as video and other interactive formats. The array of media makes for a spectrum of art meant to appeal to a broad audience. The exhibit runs through Dec. 14. The art is displayed in Regis over 5,000 square feet of wall and floor space. The walls are stark white, which makes the pieces along the wall pop out at viewers. The gallery’s display leads visitors along its outer wall. In the middle of the space, black curtains create a second room with two videos on display. The gallery is more than just a museum. For some, it’s a chance to take home work by local artists. Some pieces
currently on display in the Nash Gallery are for sale. However, one should be prepared to put a dent in their wallet. While a few pieces are under the $1,000 mark, others are listed at more than $6,000. A cheaper souvenir for those of us outside that budget might be the free maps that accompany one of the videos.
“The Regis Center allows the public to support art students and respected faculty.” The gallery isn’t just excluded to open houses, formal tours, or classroom visits. The exhibit is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Nash Gallery doesn’t charge a fee to enter, although a $3 donation is suggested to help with the costs of maintaining the gallery. The Nash Gallery is funded by visitor donations, grants, university donations, and various fundraisers. Events in upcoming months include the spring MFA students’ theses exhibition
and a community show called “Made in Minnesota,” which will feature local sculpture pieces. Between its three galleries, the Regis Center holds about 40 different exhibitions each year. The anniversary faculty exhibition celebrates the galleries over the last ten years, and should remind students in and outside of the art department of the opportunities to learn about the arts and appreciate them that they have while attending the U of M. The Regis Center allows the public to support art students and respected faculty. SARAH BREWER
www.wakemag.org
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Sound & Vision
3REVIEWS
Return of a Rap God? Not so much.
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A Review of Jhene Aiko’s Sail Out EP By Aidan Hutt
A Review of Marshall Mathers LP II
Jhene Aiko’s debut EP, Sail Out, has been on the radar for many hip-hop heads for the past month. With big name guest artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, and Ab-Soul, as well as a plethora of her own guest appearances on critically acclaimed albums such as J. Cole’s Born Sinner and Drake’s Nothing Was The Same, there was definitely a lot of hype leading up to this EP.
By Alex Van Abbema The career path of Eminem has certainly been an eventful and dark one, filled with drug addictions, numerous controversies, and an extremely rocky marriage. Marshall Mathers LP 2, a sequel to the Grammy winning Marshall Mathers LP, marks the embattled rapper’s eighth studio album. While overall MMLP2 is a quality album, it isn’t quite up to the lofty standards that Eminem usually sets for himself. Eminem is 41 now, and he’s still capable of producing incredible music, but to some extent he’s lost some of his former magic. Songs such as “Berzerk” and “Monster” harken back to the old days of Eminem, but aside from these hits, there aren’t very many memorable songs. It’s frustrating hearing “Rap God,” six full minutes of phenomenal delivery, lyrics and beat, and wondering why he couldn’t deliver songs with that quality throughout the rest of the album. Apart from this song, there aren’t really any “wow” moments, and the lyrics aren’t as clever as Eminem’s usual standards. As any fan would attest, Eminem is an incredibly talented rapper. So, it’s quite puzzling that in this album, Eminem uses his subpar and sometimes painful singing voice so much. Eminem’s creativity and seemingly newfound feelings of remorse do come through on songs like “Headlights,” which features Eminem apologizing to his mom, and “Stronger Than I Was,” a song from the viewpoint of his ex-wife. While this latest album didn’t leave a great first impression, it does sound better after a second listen. MMLP2 isn’t nearly as dark and disturbing as its predecessor; it lacks much of the quality that made that album a Grammy winner.
Sailing Nowhere
Unfortunately, the build up for the album was not enough to warrant much merit.
The Ghost of Alice Coltrane Mystifies from the Grave Review of the rare Turiyasangitananda By Pascal Filatre If the group chant of shackled slaves was the sound of a frustrated beacon of hope, if the blues was the sound of a determined mind surviving in a gritty reality, then spiritual jazz is the sound of the heightened conscious and both the metaphysical and physical liberation of many African-American musicians. Indeed, viewing spiritual jazz in this way only puts a better perspective on the truly blissful sound of particular spiritual jazz records. And few spiritual jazz records are as ecstatically liberating as Alice Coltrane’s Turiyasangitananda. Mrs. Coltrane operated within a paradigm of her own, playing mystical music of the highest order, and Turiyasangitananda is the best example of this.
Regarding lyrical content, Jhene does not offer much more than some uninspired tales of heartbreak and smoking marijuana. The cleverest line on the EP is a simple double entendre, “can I hit it again,” having the audience equate getting high on marijuana with sex. And uninspired is a generous term. Three of the seven tracks on the EP have repeating two-line hooks that offer nothing to her songs other than reinforce the bland, promarijuana, vulnerable songs of heartbreak. There is nothing wrong with being vulnerable but there is no impetus for attachment to her stories or music. The production on the album is simple and insipid, the ukulele and basic synthesized drums is not an understated chill aesthetic; it is bland. The guest artists, as prominent as the artists are, are not able to warrant multiple visits for this album. Vince Staples, Childish Gambino, and Ab-Soul are all out of their elements, with none of them fitting their tried and true styles. Combining this with lackluster production and repetitive vocalization, this EP does not impress or deserve much attention.
Previously only available as a rare tape, the album is essentially live devotional music, as Coltrane’s composition is comprised of elements of Hindu chanting and elements of repetition often found in the meditative music of the East. As the genre name implies, spirituality is at the core of what is being expressed in this album. Far from New Age quackery, Turiyasangitananda is the real deal when it comes to music exploring inner zones of contemplation. Information surrounding who does what on this release is limited but Alice’s singing is the center of it all with gorgeous strings and organ drones abound. Turiyasangitananda was recorded 1987 and released soon after. Previously only available as a very rare tape, this vinyl reissue is basically its first real release and distribution. Highest recommendation for those seeking truly enlightened sounds. NOUSE.CO.UK
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november 25 - december 8
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Sound & Vision
Events Calendar TUESDAY, Nov 26 Americore, Nato Coles & The Blue Diamond Band, We/Ours, The Bluffingtons Hexagon Bar / 9:00 p.m. / Free Radio K Presents: Release Kitty Cat Klub / 21+ / Free The Musical Clue: A Murder Mystery Event Ted Mann Concert Hall / 7:30 p.m. / Free
WEDNESDAY, Nov 27 Hardcore Crayons, Isadore, and France Camp Memory Lanes / Free PAWS: Pet Away Worry and Stress Boynton room N101 / 3:00 p.m. / Free
THURSDAY, Nov 28 Strange Names w/ SCRNS, Red Mountain, and Upstairs Neighbor Collective Turf Club / 8:00 p.m. / $7 / 21+
FRIDAY, Nov 28 Fifth Element Black Sale 2411 Hennepin Ave / 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. / Buy things Gulliver Unravels: Kevin Kling & Chastity Brown Fitzgerald Theater / 8:00 p.m. / Through Dec. 1 / $35 Polica and Marijuana Deathsquads Mill City Nights / 9:00 p.m. / Free
FRIDAY, Dec 6
SATURDAY, Nov 29 Jay Z Xcel Energy Center / 8:00 p.m. / $30 minimum Lissie In-store Performance Electric Fetus / 3:00 p.m. / Free
MONDAY, Dec 2 College of Brewological Sciences 612 Brew / 5:30 p.m. / $20 students Last Wake meeting of the semester! Folwell Hall room 12 / 8:00 p.m.
Holidazzle Parade Nicollet Mall / 6:30 p.m. / Fridays and Saturdays until Dec. 21 / Free Rap for Life 3: A Benefit for Domestic Abuse Awareness Triple Rock / 8:00 p.m. / $10 / 18+
SATURDAY, Dec 7 Mason Jennings First Ave / 6:00 p.m. / $20 / 18+ Soulcrate with Greg Grease Triple Rock / 8:00 p.m. / $15 door / 18+
TUESDAY, Dec 3 German films + pizza 113 Folwell Hall / 7:00 p.m. / Free
SUNDAY, Dec 8
THURSDAY, Dec 5 Ceramics Collective and Bohemian Press Holiday Sale Regis Center / 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. / Buy things Holiday Sale Weisman Art Museum Shop / 20% off purchases Hollow Boys, Crimes, and Myotis Triple Rock / 8:00 p.m. / $5 / 18+ UTHMAG.COM
34th Annual John Lennon Tribute and MN Beatle Project Vol. 5 Release Party First Ave / 6:00 p.m. / $15 / 18+ U of M Panic Steel Band Fall Concert Lloyd Ultan Recital Hall / 11:30 a.m. / Free
MONDAY, Dec 9 Chance the Rapper First Ave / 8:00 p.m. / $20 / 18+
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