But the one time I watch something, I am so glad it was this.

You can hate IC if you want to (Angeline.) Maybe Green Man is the only saving grace to this video. (Angeline.)  My saving grace is seeing a twin Mary Buehler among faceless faces. Was just recently informed that it isn’t her, but it’s strange how much it looks like her! She pops up out of nowhere. [Watch out for bizarro Mary in the beginning of the Spice Girls part right by the smoothie place Fed worked. ]

Or you can love IC and appreciate some strange, geeky creativity for people to get their shit together, dance poorly, and make something we can all laugh at. Which is what I intend to do.

Today’s high is 97. I know that it is getting hot everywhere and we all are going through heat waves. But something about living on a swamp and below the Mason Dixon line makes me feel like my complaints rank higher above your dog days of New York City, or Boston. Don’t think LA counts. At least you live in California.

After a visit to Ithaca I am feeling the financial drought of spending a hundo on vinyl at Angry Mom. But hey, it was totally worth it. This Year’s Model, Physical Graffiti - with the cool building window cut outs – Easter, Joe Cocker, The Velvet Underground Live 1969, Best Of Vince Guaraldi, Charlie Parker Big Band, Miles Davis Live at the Black Hawk in SF, Four & More Miles Davis Live, Allman Brothers Band Live At The Filmore East, Blonde on Blonde (finally!) and my favorite five dollar find, The Specials (self titled.) Then I managed to find more of my records and get them down here on the train. Recent new favorites like Rain Dogs (thanks to my crazy Aunt Angela) found my Highway 61 Revisited and my Nashville Skyline, Surrealistic Pillow, Parallel Lines, …you know what – the list goes on.

As for new. There is a lot of stuff including new Battles (a band I hadn’t heard before.) Gloss Drop.  Despite the drawingly-cool cover photo there is really only one track to pay attention to if you just want to, well, gloss over it. Ice Cream.

NPR has a lot going on. You can stream all the Sasquatch! Music Fesitval shows – I hear the Wilco one is just to die for (including a new song. Stay tuned new Wilco this september. Expect a full press obsession.) Their first listens haven’t impressed me. Only because I am not drawn to the music of Fucked Up, Marissa Nadler or BOBBY BOBBY. But I will say, the Givers’ In Light is a keeper for later.

Apple announced its iCloud – cloud computing. Nothing scares me more. People tell me it’s the wave of the future. I think its just the future of huge energy eating buildings that store our data files. We never have to see them or deal with them, but who does? Where are the? Big brother called……he knows Steve Jobs.

Gil Scott-Heron died. And last night I found myself watching a VH1 produced one-on-one interview with Lady Gaga about her life growing up in NYC/BK (her and her best friend named their bikes Karen and Henry from Goodfellas - winning my heart? Maybe?) and how she was a young classical pianist and took singing lessons. I’ve never been more fascinated with something I could care less about. Isn’t life interesting? The stories never end. Granted I was at work till 1a (back again at 9:30 the next morning) for the kick off of CMA music week and a special night of the Grand Ole Opry filled with Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood and friends. So. Fun.

Pitchfork is raving about Fucked Up and Cults - neither of which I think is really worth anyone’s time. Too bad I can’t decide for you. Yo La Tengo and the National (why is this band popular?) are touring together (why the hell are they paired together?) Broken Social Scene and TV On The Radio are touring together too. But they aren’t coming here – so why should I care? There is new Steve Malkmus. And in scary news, E.Coli is a very real thing. Thanks Mark Bittman.

Yes, I know this is quite a random-fleeing collection of findings and interpretations. But I needed a kick start back. Enjoy the links. And hopefully I will get back on the wagon. Also, Saturday is my birthday. There is nothing worse than a Facebook birthday wish. I never partake in them. I try to find a more ‘intimate’ way to wish someone a Merry Birthday. So how about a challenge? Try something new.

RunningAmokNYC takes on Ithaca’s Skunk Cabbage Classic from Matt Duelka on Vimeo.

Matt Duelka put together this video to chronicle his time spent in Ithaca for the Skunk Cabbage Half Marathon. He took with him a support team and friend/coworker/teammate(?) Luke who’d be competing with him. The story unfolds with the embarkation from the City through the boring highways leading to the Finger Lakes. The lull in activity in the car reflects the tedium of the drive. Even for a Friday afternoon. But then they arrive, and have a beer. Matt has two.

This video aims to document the days before, of, and after the half marathon, the first time either of them have ever run it. Wait, no- It documents more than that. If it wasn’t already established, Luke had never been to Ithaca, and even with the chore of racing 13.1 miles, Matt gives Luke a hell of an annotated recreation of college. Minus the classes.

Wegmans, Rogan’s Corner, Bars in the Commons, Gimme Coffee, Farmer’s Market, Ithaca Brewery. With the exception of “Bullet Proof,” at the end, this video is worth re-watching.  Hearing “La Roux” does take me back to regrettable nights at Moonies during Senior week last year, and for that Matt, I was able to take a mental trip back to I-town.

Duelka and Luke are hard at work on RunningAmok. Running, Beer and Internet Videos. Yes please. Visit RunningAmokNYC.wordpress.com for a unique perspective into the running world.

At least there’s some cool stuff going on around town. The Flaming Lips are coming to Cornell in April, which is the biggest deal since Built to Spill ripped apart State Theater in October.

But there’s more! The Avett Brothers, whose single, “I And Love And You” has been making girls’ panties drop people reluctant to fall in love for a few months now will be coming to the State Theater later on in February.

I&<3&U

This century’s Mark Twain will be visiting the State Theater in April. David Sedaris will speak to an audience, likely making us laugh, reflect, or eliciting a cheerful, “huh.”

April Seventh

There’ll be tons of great entertainment in Ithaca until Slut Day* arrives. Besides thacant, listen up to Aaron Terkel’s Concert Connection on WICB, everyday at 8:30, 1:30, 5:30, and 8:30 once again.

And hell, since we’re talking about public venues, stop by and donate a few cents to the Library Downtown – I mean look at this measly donation bin!

a single dollar? weak!

*What is Slut Day?

Well, lemme tell you a thing or two about Slut Day at Ithaca College. Waking up with the bright sun shining through the windows, and stepping out into the warm morning air with nothin but a t-shirt and shorts on. As you look onto the quad, it’s no longer just a patch of barren grass. Instead, on slut day, the freshly mowed grass is littered with girls dressed in scantily-clad (slutty) outfits, draped across every quad on campus. Now, this first exceptionally gorgeous day of spring, complete with the thermometers soaring above 70, every girl on campus gets the opportunity to shake off the winter rust, show off their bodies, and collect a little sun. Whether it be in a skirt on the grass, listening to music, or sprawled out in a bikini on their beach towel, just be sure you’ve got your sunglasses on today, because there’s enough eye candy laying around to make your eyes wander.

like this article? e-mail cbell1@ithaca.edu and tell him so!

Let’s talk about how good the basketball team is. With a 13 and 4 record, I’ve been lucky enough to watch their two most recent victories, the most recent, a one-point win over RIT. Junior Chris Cruz is dirty from the three point line, Eli Maravich (nephew of late Hall-of-Famer Pistol Pete) is obtrusive with the full court press, Tom Brown, one of two seniors on the team crashes the board like none other, and Athletic Trainers are ever-so-supportive on the bench. That means you Lil Mama.

2010 Bombers

Did I mention the atmosphere?

The fans are what going to a game at the Ben Light Gymnasium is all about. When I arrived at the game against RIT on Tuesday, the team was down by a lot. At halftime they were over twenty points behind. While the team was in the locker room receiving what I could only assume is verbal assault, the fans were warming up their cheering muscles and flipping through their insult dictionaries.

Long story short, the fans were talking trash against the scumbags of RIT, yelling our… their asses off for the Bombers, and the team responded. They came back, and got four points ahead of RIT with only seconds left. The Tigers scored a three at the buzzer. Ithaca prevailed; 81-80.

The team only has three more home games left this season. One of which is tomorrow – Friday the 22nd. The two after that are in February. You can bet your ass I’m driving up to RIT on the 31st to see the Bombers face the face-slapping untucked-slobs of the Tigers.

After just reading this…..

This just in – thacant could use a sports writer. If you’re interested, please contact, no samples required!

1. To eat inorganic

2. To not waste time

3. To clear the snow off my entire car

1. To eat inorganic. With all this hoo-ha and jibber-jabber about buying local, shopping organic and being aware of where our food comes from, I’m going the opposite direction. It’s not that i don’t care about my well-being or that I want to eat poorer quality food, it’s that I’m a college student. With the exception of some produce (organic onions cost the same as equally-delicious pesticide-sprayed onions), most organic food costs a lot more. Take this chicken I bought at Wegmans…

ba-gahh

The cost: $3.95. Wegmans also sells an organic chicken ($9.85) and an organic free-range chicken raised on an Ithaca Farm. As delicious as that sounds, the hefty price tag ($13.45) made me wonder, “how much better does this chicken taste?”

I do understand the merits of eating organic. I have yet to see Food Inc. (ignorance is bliss…) but I do know that I’m more susceptible to disease, inection, what-have-you. If it’s served to me, or on someone else’s dime, I’ll eat organic, but if it’s gonna dent my wallet, inorganic is the way I’m going.

2. To not waste time. I spend a lot of time on the internet – I won’t deny that. But I don’t think this is a waste. Allow me to break down my time spent on the internet: 50% of my time is spent on the websites you see linked on the right margin of this site. All of these sites are informative, entertaining, and hell, they provide great conversation-started topics. Another 20% of my time is spent checking, responding to or crafting humorous e-mails. Another 20% of my time is spent on Facebook, creeping on people like you, (Aaron, Erica, Alexander…) but half of my Faceboxing time is spent playing Bejewled Blitz – which, after a long day of internetting, is therapeutic. The other 10% is spent on AIM, oftentimes sending links to aforementioned sites.

That being said, the only time wasted is the non-therapeutic time spent on Facebook (a mere 10%)

d'oh!

I also spend a lot of time sleeping, too , but my doctor said it helps me grow.

3. To clear the snow of my entire car. As I was driving back from Wegmans to buy my reasonably-priced aforementioned chicken, I saw a white car with a clean windshield and rear window, but a cube of snow on the roof… Idiotic, really. What’s worse is when it flies off the car once you go more than twenty-five miles an hour – especially if it’s frozen over and it flies off in huge sheets.

eedeeott

Really, it’s not hard to run the snow-brush over the top of the car and the hood. Granted, this resolution is seasonal, but ’til spring I guarantee the Volvo will be clean on the roads.

Happy New Years to you, I know mine will be.

“Please don’t mix different priced candies.”

“No Sampling!”

“Use tongs, please.”

But next time you’re there, take a look around and notice the walls -

wall of candy

The whole damn wall, all the way across the Scoopy Section is made of tubes FULL OF CANDY. Which got me thinking, yeah, this is awesome, there is so much candy here, but damn, what a waste. I’m not one to bitch about wasting and feeding hungry children, but there is SO MUCH CANDY along these walls. The tubes are about as big as a roll of paper towels, and six-ish feet tall. Dozens and dozens of tubes, full of Starbursts, Tootsie Rolls, Dubble Bubble, and lesser-known, non-brand-name candy.

I was assuming, “they must just re-use all of this candy to replenish the bins of Tootsie Rolls once it runs out, right?” But no. This candy has been in these tubes since the Scoopy Section first opened. I mean, look at the Starbursts above – the pinks have faded. What a waste.

And another thing, some of the gummy candies use tongs and others have scoopers. What’s the deal? Scoopers are fine for Swedish Fish, Sour Patch Kids (SPKs), pastel mints and Skittles, but gummy spiders? You expect me to scoop gummy spiders? I’m bound to take a leg off and maybe get three with each scoop. These require a tong.

This year, I saw a great deal of hilarious costumes and I hate to admit, that any pop-culture reference of a costume will get you higher on my list. This year I saw, from the recent film Inglorious Basturds, “Bear Jew” standing in my kitchen. Dressed in a wifebeater (the domestic abuse tank-top,) suspenders, with brown pants and a baseball bat, he was making other party-goers guess who he was.

“I’m from a movie.”

“Uh, Sandlot?”

“No, it’s not about baseball.”

“Is it a silent film?”

“I’m Bear Jew!”

Another favorite costume I saw this weekend, was “Mary” from “There’s Something About Moskey.” Ithaca’s own Sarah Moskey was dressed as Mary, complete with a red cocktail dress, a toy dog, and… something in her hair.

excellent costume

Costumes outside of Ithaca that caught my attention include this man dressed as “East Bound and Down’s” Kenny Powers.

I'm fuckin in, you're fuckin out!

This picture was sent by Michael Sokol, who was in Austin to celebrate Halloween, and while he was there, he also attended some media conference.

My final noteworthy costume pic of 2009 belongs to a childhood friend of mine, Danny Sullivan who was dressed as Maury Ballstein, from “Zoolander.” Perhaps one of the more obscure movie references, Sully executed it well, with fake dollar bills that he “made it rain with,” along with making people “kiss his rings.”

a la jerry stiller

Medium: Chalk on Iron

I found this angry chalk monster on the metal bridge on E. Clinton Street. If you’re leaving the police station after paying an exorbitant ticket for having a party at your apartment, or coming home from the Commons, keep your eyes open.

Medium: Spray Paint on Wood

Don’t know what this means or why it was created. “Chee Dung” it says, with the former word’s letters taking the shape of a pile of the latter word. Looks homemade, though. Rock on!

Medium: Paint on Cement

Junior TV-R major Anthony Palma sent me this “fresh” graffiti straight from East Brunswick, New Jersey. If you can’t read it, I’ll help you decode; NF&ES^>TZ@,{ *.

Medium: Caution Tape on Wood and Air

The least conventional art I came across was Thursday night, when I enter a Grandview basement to find Nate Scull meandering a spider web of caution tape. Cheers to you Scull.

Fall Break is a mere two days off from classes, not even enough time to warrant my five-hour drive back home. Thanksgiving break is just over four weeks away, and oh, the art we’ll come across with nine days away from campus.

Leave it to Ithaca to cover up some strange structure that I’d assume contains machines, pumps and wires, with some industrial art and a sign to educate Ithacans on the history of our strange city.

the structure

the sign