Archive for the Culture Category

The Second Supper Issue 152, The Sight Issue

Posted in Culture with tags , on Monday, March 2, 2009 by Tim Althaus

second-supper-152 Well I must say that I’m glad that I can see this cover because it’s badass. All of the articles in this week’s Second Supper issue are dedicated to the topic of sight, and boy are there some interesting articles at that. This issue really makes me realize that the sense of sight may in fact, be the most important sense that our body has.  Briana Rupel tries to go an entire day without any sight at all by tying a bandanna over her eyes. This proves to be a much more task that Bri had even imagined. Ben Clark writes up a nice article in “Smock Talk” about the insanely complex process that our eyes go through in the sense of sight.

The most interesting and touching article in this paper though, is a write-up by Adam Bissen on a La Crosse native named Steve Johnson. Steve is 45 years old and he has lived half of his life with sight, and half of it without sight. The crazy thing is that he lives a more active lifestyle now (without sight), than he did when he had 100% of his vision. He does many of the things that he used to do when he had vision and to be honest he lives a completely normal life. It is truly one of the most interesting articles I’ve ever read, it had me in utter bewilderment.

Thrown in of course are your assortment of favorites (Top Seven, Social Networking & of course reviews) that pertain to the sense of sight, and the usual material that you are used to. So put your head on straight and “look at” your weekly dose of Second Supper.

The Second Supper Issue 151, Cabin Fever

Posted in Culture with tags , , on Friday, February 27, 2009 by Tim Althaus

second-supper-151 Sorry that my posts on the Second Supper are tardy folks, things on the blog as well as in my life have been crazy as of late. Needless to say I am back with a post about last week’s issue (issue 151), Cabin Fever. This issue holds especially true to all of us here at Mind Inversion because naturally we are all from the Midwest. All of us here know what it’s like to be cooped up in doors during the entirety of winter, and not being able to rejoice until March. All of the articles in the paper have to do with snow and winter activities.

Sadly after the Cabin Fever issue we will no longer read the great words of Maria Pint. This is her last issue, and I highly suggest you check out her goodbye, it’s very good. Ben Clark writes up an interesting article on the always interesting sport of Broomball. He also discusses the league for Broomball that we have in La Crosse. Amber Miller writes about her favorite activity in the winter (Tai Chi) and what she does to get out of the house. Briana Rupel writes up an article on her bowling league (which by the way has the best title ever, (Fuck it, Dude, Let’s Go Bowling) and her experiences in it. Last but not least Emily Faeth has an article about the Polar Plunge in La Crosse. She also provides a nice amount of insight and history on the event that raises a lot of money for a good reason every year.

All in all this is a great issue. It makes me feel good that spring is right around the corner (knock on wood), and the folks at the Second Supper can sympathize with what I’ve been going through. As I said we are going to be saying goodbye to Maria Pint (You will be missed), and we here at Mind Inversion wish her the best of luck in all of her future endeavours. Make sure you get over to the Second Supper website to check out the new issue.

Thank You, Michael Cera

Posted in Culture with tags , , on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 by Tim Althaus

arresteddevelopment-full1 Well it looks like the movie gods are shining down on me (and all of you Arrested Development fans) today. I went to my nifty Digg RSS feed, and saw the article titled “Michael Cera Says Yes To Arrested Develpoment Movie!!! Finally!” and yes, all of the exclamation points are a total necessity. There was a period of time where Michael Cera was saying that he didn’t want to do an Arrested Development movie at all. He was quoted as saying “I don’t think I would want to see a movie of the series if I was a fan, anyway. And I don’t really see a need for it if you can get the three seasons on DVD.” I don’t have a direct quote from an article because I can’t find one that old, but I read that exact quote numerous times.

All I can tell you is that this might have been the most joyous moment I’ve experienced in the last few years. I’ve been missing the Bluth family like crazy – Continue reading

A Half-Life Movie? Part 1?

Posted in Culture, Video with tags , , , on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 by Tim Althaus

I initially thought that this was a trailer for a new game, and was totally stoked when I saw that the graphics looked life like. I then realized that this was part of a movie series for Half-Life: Escape From City-17. Half-Life 2 is one of my favorite video games of all time. Watching this movie took me back to playing as good ole’ Gordon Freeman trying to save the world from zombies. If any of you have played any of the Half-Life games you know exactly what I am talking about. My guess is that these videos are just going to come in parts online, but hey that is definitely good enough for me. Keep the Gordon Freeman, ass kicking & blood bursting saga coming.Valve looks like they’ve truly put together something that’s going to be nice to watch.

Editor’s Note: Keep in mind that this was all done on a five hundred dollar budget.

RecycleMania spotlights University of Minnesota’s recycling obstacles

Posted in Culture with tags , , , , , , , on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 by Ryan Buege

RecycleManiaAfter more than 25 years in operation, the University of Minnesota’s Recycling program was proven to be slightly ineffective during a demonstration that kicked off the national RecycleMania competition. For the event, a fully loaded garbage unloaded its days collection in the middle of the University’s Coffman Memorial Union for sorting to draw attention the large recyclable waste stream that makes it into the trash everyday.

In total, 6 tons of waste were released onto the sidewalk, a mere 17% of the U’s total daily output. However, the most interesting statistic related to this awareness demonstration was not simply how much total waste the campus generates, but about how much of the stuff that is thrown away could actually be reused. According to program employee and U of M student John Weissert, after sorting all of the garbage from that days events, it was found that only 38% was actually garbage! In fact, nearly 38% of the waste stream also consisted of recyclables and another 24% was compostable organics. While the University has actively promoted their recycling program for many years, numbers like this can be a bit disconcerting to those who are involved in programs such as these. Especially in a time of economic stress, the money saved from diverting these valuable materials such as aluminum and paper to a recycler could be enormous, and yet the percentage of total waste recycled for the University continues to fall. To Weissert, these numbers were a clear indication that the custodial staff needs to be trained more adequately to improve access to recycling, and old programs need to be reviewed and updated to improve problem areas.

In either case, the Recycling Program sponsored trash dump at Coffman was  a pretty eye opening site to see; one thing I came away with: our trash is really a very personal thing, and it is our responsibility to guarantee that it will leave our hands in the most beneficial way possible. Recycling(/composting) begins with you!

(photo courtesy of Conor Shine)

Raise It Up For Ma Dukes!

Posted in Culture with tags , , , , , on Saturday, February 7, 2009 by Tim Althaus

ma-dukesJ Dilla’s mother, Ma Dukes, has been going through some very rough times lately with her son’s estate in limbo. Stones Throw and legendary t-shirt artist Parra have teamed up for a special shirt that is dedicated to Ma Dukes. Personally I love the shirts that ST and Parra have teamed up for in the past, and to tell you the truth, this one is no different. Ma Dukes has had to put up with a lot of the bullshit that has been going on with Dilla’s estate and Ma Dukes herself has recently come down with Lupus.

Ma Dukes needs every bit of help that she can possibly get, Dilla has daughters that aren’t seeing any of the royalties that Dilla’s estate has been accumulating. Ma Dukes is a very strong woman, but she can’t fight Lupus and Dilla’s battles at the same time. She needs our help and every little bit is appreciated!

raise-it-up Get on over to Stones Throw and make sure you pick yourself up one of these t-shirts. Not only will you be the flyest individual in your crew, but you will also be doing Dilla a huge favor.

Happy Birthday J Dilla!

Posted in Culture with tags , , , , , , on Saturday, February 7, 2009 by Tim Althaus

dilla Today would have been Dilla’s 35th birthday. Needless to say if this man was still here with us, we wouldn’t be debating about who the best producer is right now. When Dilla passed he left us with two of the most beautiful masterpieces I have ever heard. Donuts changed the face of instrumental Hip-Hop forever and The Shining (not fully completed, but ended up getting finished) showed us that amazing things come in small packages (ringing in at just over 28 minutes long).

Dilla showed me something with these two albums (I hadn’t heard anything solo before this); he taught me that he is one  of the most talented individuals to have ever touched the boards. Jay put out two albums that were just beyond words as to how beautiful they were. This was all while he was near death in Cedars Sinai Hosptial in Los Angeles. Dilla was a very resilient individual who did what was important to him no matter what the cause or case. Dilla literally stared death in the face and said “fuck you” because all he wanted to do was finish Donuts. If there’s anything that I hope in my life it is that I can be as dedicated and resilient as Dilla.

Happy Birthday to the King of Beats, May You Rest in Beats Jay

Tommorow is Dilla Day!

Posted in Culture with tags , on Friday, February 6, 2009 by Tim Althaus

rip_j_dilla

Make Sure you come to the site tomorrow! Plenty of Dilla related features! Courtesy of ME!

Michael Phelps also holds a gold medal for… Bong Olympics?

Posted in Culture with tags , , , on Tuesday, February 3, 2009 by Tim Althaus

bong-olympicsPictures are all over the net of Olympic Champion Michael Phelps taking a nice bong rip when he wasn’t training (he didn’t get tested). I think it’s pretty much hilarious. It just proves that you can be an olympian and still smoke grass. Why is everyone so harsh on this guy? He trains pretty much year round, and when he wants to relax and smoke all anyone does is criticize. He had to apologize to the IOC, and luckily they accepted his apology and took it as sincere.

Michael, you don’t have to appologize to me. The whole world now knows that you not only hold gold medals in swimming, but in the world of Bong Olympics as well. So wait until you go to your next college campus party, who knows, Michael Phelps might be in the back loading one up for you and your friends. This just proves more than ever that even an olympic athlete can be pretty down to earth. I honestly don’t think this would affect his training either because he works out so much.

Second Supper Issue 148, The Sound Issue 

Posted in Culture with tags , on Monday, February 2, 2009 by Tim Althaus

second-supper-148-cover Do you ever take for granted the ability of being able to hear? If this statement rings true at all (or you want a great read) I highly suggest that you take a look at this issue of the Second Supper. Briana Rupel and Adam Bissen have some very good articles in this issue that shouldn’t be missed. Adam Bissen decided that he would take a day where he would not hear anything. He put earplugs in his ear and had noise canceling headphones on all day. The result is very surprising and interesting when Bissen finds out what it’s like to have no sense of hearing. Briana Rupel has a great story about Wendy Arndt who became deaf when she was just one year old. It hits home with Bri because they are friends. Wendy is a very talented individual who plans on doing big things, and was actually named Miss Deaf Wisconsin in 2008. She is a very special individual because she transcends the bridge between the hearing and non-hearing world (read the article to find out why).

Brett Emerson does one of the most bold things that I have ever heard. He takes his iPod out of the mix (doesn’t use it, only in certain cases), listens to talk radio in the car and only listens to albums for reviewing purposes (but he “acknowledges reviewing as a slippery slope”). I honestly don’t know what I would do if I pretty much took all of my favorite music out of my life. I wouldn’t be the same person, I can definitely tell you that much.

You will also find, of course, the usual assortment of regular articles that you have grown to know and love. Do yourself a favor and give yourself a healthy portion of Second Supper.