Daytripping: Flag Day Extravaganza!!!!!!!!!!

I know what you're saying, "but Flag Day isn't until June, you're two months early." And to that I'd probably say, "you nerd, how do you know what month Flag Day is in," but I am no name-caller, so I offer you the example of Brooklyn, where it is flag day everyday.


Unlike the slightly larger city of the same name in New York, which is famous for its bridge, Brooklyn, Iowa (an hour and fifteen minutes west of Iowa City on Interstate 80) is famous for its flags.

In a small park next to the town's public library flies a 20 foot by 38 foot American flag surrounded by all 50 state flags along with flags for the branches of the military and causes. 35 international flags line the downtown streets and nothing will make you feel dumber than asking a Brooklynite what state a certain flag downtown represents and he responds with Sweden and a sight





The town takes its nickname as the "Flag Community" seriously. A number of businesses have a flag in their logo or flying in front of their store. So a store selling flags in a town of just 1,367 really doesn't seem out of place. So if you're feeling a little patriotic head on out to Brooklyn where every day is a Flag Day Extravaganza (did you see how I brought everything together, damn I good)

Spring Hawkeye Athletics are Underway

Basketball and hockey season are over and the wrestling team has brought the national championship back to where it belongs, in Iowa City. So that's it for University of Iowa sports in the 2007-2008 school year right? Don't even think about it.

For many Hawkeye athletes the 2008 season is just getting underway. The tennis, baseball and softball teams have been going at it for a few weeks now, but with spring break over with, and spring weather finally arriving, action will really start to pick up for the outdoor events. This will also include men and women's track and field.

These sports may not have all the flair of football and basketball, but there is one thing that sets them apart that happens to be very beneficial to all UI students: free admission!

That's right, just present your University ID at the gate and you can watch a Hawkeye sporting event for free. General admission to most of these sporting events is only $3 and $2 for children. Here's a look in the next few weeks of the upcoming home schedule for Hawkeye athletics:

Baseball-
4/2 vs. Illinois State

4/4-4/6 vs. Purdue (doubleheader on 4/5)

4/8 vs. Nebraska

Men's Tennis-
4/5 vs. Minnesota

4/6 vs. Michigan State

Women's Tennis-
3/29 vs. Michigan

3/30 vs. Penn State

4/06 vs. Notre Dame

I'll continue to keep everyone up-to-date on any upcoming sporting events as the seasons progress. For more information on schedules, ticket information, or anything regarding Hawkeye athletics, visit http://www.hawkeyesports.com/.

No Venue for Old Men

What: CAB presents "No Country for Old Men"
Where: Illinois Room, IMU
When: March 13, 9 pm
Cost: Free

What exactly does CAB do? I haven't a clue. But my inner tightwad couldn't resist a free movie. Especially a free movie I was longing to see but had missed at the theater. Enter CAB's presentation of "No Country for Old Men," the Coen brothers' take on the cat-and-mouse/thriller genre bloodied by Texan drug runners, contrasting Tommy Lee Jones retirement from law-enforcement. Acting: A+. Cinematography: B. Story: C-. Sorry Coens, but this was a snooty, self-indulgent, subtly racist version of my dad's favorite western; I mean, an air gun? But I'm not an expert, so check out what real critics thought.

As for the venue, showing a movie in the Illinois Room, which provides a large screen and theater seating is a good idea, right? Wrong! There is little-to-no ventilation, and a crowd filling the space quickly begins to heat up and smell. And no, it wasn't just the old guy sitting next to me. Also, the seats were arranged on an incline that was so gradual that peoples' heads blocked the screen (See illustrations). Pft! Shoddy engineering, UI!


To end on a positive note: free popcorn!

If you want to see Marilyn Manson's girlfriend sing Beatles' songs for free, check out CAB's next movie "Across the Universe" this Thursday, March 27 in the IMU's Illinois room at 9 pm. Just make sure you arrive early and sit behind a short person.

No Spring Break in Tahiti, No Problem

Why is this beach empty? Because if you're
like me, you're too poor to be there.

Okay, so you're not on some beautiful island or on a Floridian beach and instead are staring at another cloudy 40 degree day in the Midwest, but lets not have those lucky bastards who are drinking tequila and getting ready to appear on the next Girls Gone Wild video have all the fun. Here are a few activities for us poor people:

Sleep: They don't call it Spring BREAK for nothing. If you're in a tropical paradise you almost feel the need to be awake and experiencing it, not so in the Midwest, see if you can sleep for more hours than you're awake. Even if you lose, you win!

Read a book: I don't care if its Tolstoy or Dr. Seuss (my current read, who wouldn't want to eat Green Eggs and ham on a boat, with a goat, with a fox or on a box?) This is also a good time to catch up on all the books you were supposed to read this semester or finally buy them.

Watch a movie: If you are going to annoy your friends, roomates, co-workers with every line from Superbad or Anchorman or Old School or Waynes World, please get the lines right. Here's your chance to re-watch these movies and annoy everyone for the rest of the semester. Schwing!

NCAA Tournament: So what if your bracket is destroyed by the time the Thursday's first games are over, there is always a chance for that monumental upset or buzzer beater: remember when that small school from Louisiana used a buzzer beater to upset Iow... you know what lets move on.

Work: I know work sucks, but it's a novel idea. While your friends are wasting their money buying drinks for girls they'll never see again or buying weed from one of their destination's 10,000 dealers, you can be making money to buy drinks for girls you'll hope you never see again.

And last but not least, watch TV: Okay, so you're not on the beach with hot girls or guys walking by you and you're not nursing your tenth mai tai and soaking in the sun on the fourth straight 90 degree day, but you could be watching the travel channel and seeing at least the beach and you don't have to worry about sand in hard to reach places or the fact that you're 385 pounds.

Oh, who am I kidding? Spring Break in the Midwest sucks.

Intramural Softball

Hello and once again there is an intramural event coming up that I want to inform you about now, so that you won't forget over Spring Break in case you are interested.

Intramural Softball is the next sport in line offerred by the University of Iowa Recreational Services. The deadline isn't until Wednesday, March 26th, after Spring Break, but you'll want to start as soon as possible in getting a team together as they will only take a maximum of 72 teams. And it fills up pretty fast. It's $50 per team but you can have up to as many as 15 players on a roster, so money shouldn't be an issue.

Once teams have been assembled and signed up, schedules will be produced and posted on Thursday, March 27th. Play begins the week of March 31st. Each team will play 3 games and the top 2 from each 4-team division will then move into a single-elimination style tournament, which starts runs from April 25-27. There are three main divisions: men's, women's, and co-rec.

All games will take place at the University of Iowa Hawkeye Softball Complex.

Miniture Golfing at Colonial Lanes

Did you know that Colonial Lanes has miniature golfing? If not, it’s time to start practicing your putting! It is cheap and there are plenty of difficult holes to try. There are 18 holes at par 2 and it is a mere $2.50 for a round. If you can’t afford less than $3, I’m extremely sorry.

Colonial Lanes is located at 2253 Old Highway 218 S. If you’re like me, once you get a little outside of Iowa City, you feel lost. Well it’s not hard to find, as long as you keep heading south, going out of Iowa City on Riverside, you will pass the Iowa City Municipal Airport and the road will turn into Old Highway 218 S.

Usually bowling is pretty hot at Colonial Lanes with leagues and all. But the golfing stays pretty calm, so you won’t have to worry about waiting like you do for bowling (one time I tried to bowl there and the wait was around 1-2 hours). Though every night I have gone, my friends and I have been the only people golfing, Jake Smith, an employee of Colonial Lanes for 1 year, says that there are many people who come for the golfing. “It’s a tough course, all the holes are par 2,” Jake says after claiming that he takes miniature golfing pretty seriously with his family.

Aside from par, there are definitely a few obstacles in the course. The windmill takes some practice and timing. Also, being it is at a bowling alley, there are many bowling balls and pins to increase the difficulty. One in particular I love is hole 6 where the words “PUTT PUTT” are standing up on the course so that you need to place the ball directly in between the correct letters. CAUTION: another obstacle you might face will be the random bowler who likes to give you “pointers” when you’re on hole 2. Considering the hole is right next to a bowling lane, there are always bowlers lurking. (From my experience, don’t take their advice.)

Rove Madness

What: Karl Rove Lecture
Where: IMU Main Lounge
When: Sunday, March 9, 7:30 pm
Cost: Free

I was lucky enough to attend the UI Lecture Committee's Karl "the Architect" Rove's lecture on Sunday evening. I don't know if lecture is the correct term. Lecture implies there was a speech. This wasn't as much as speech but a volatile back-and-forth between Mr. Rove and the audience that teetered the line between obnoxious and scary.

The IMU was quite packed with about 1100 people in attendance, and as a result, hot and smelly. Because I was taking photos for a publication and happened to know a committee member, I was able to secure a decent seat close to the stage. However, this wouldn't be the case if I'd just shown up.

The crowd was amazingly diverse in age; everyone from students to the elderly attended. There was a noticeable absence of children. However, there was no lack of childish behavior on the part of the audience and Mr. Rove. Between the crowd's demand for a refund of the $40,000 Rove was paid for the event, to Rove calling the crowd small-minded and "stupid," the evening was reminiscent of the arguments I had with my siblings at age 9. Ok, I won't lie. We still argue like that. But not at the expense of so many people sacrificing two hours of time, or the disputed $40,000.

I've attended UI lecture series events in the past and have found them both interesting and intellectually stimulating. I usually leave the event feeling I've gained some requisite knowledge from the speaker. Not this time. The session played out like a Public Relations "How-to-Spin-the-Facts" seminar, with Rove demonstrating classic spin tactics when prompted with questions criticizing the Bush administration's behavior surrounding the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina. As a result of such questions, he didn't get much of a chance to discuss things that weren't Bush related, but still of interest (such as the current presidential campaign). I guess the people had some issues to get off their chest, and that wasn't one of them.

Oh well, better luck next time, I guess. Check out the next speaker in UI's lecture series, Marjane Satrapi, April 6, 7:30 at the IMU Main Lounge.

Daytripping: Hero Edition

What better way to start our guide to the odder and more interesting aspects of the great state of Iowa, than by touring an attraction extremely close (I'm lazy) and not particularly odd (I'm dumb), the attraction though is extremely important.

Just north of Coralville on First Avenue (take exit 242 and drive about a quarter mile past the Holiday Inn) is the Iowa Firefighters Memorial. The website says that this particular memorial is the first state-wide one of its kind and pays tribute to the 20,000 firefighters who serve Iowa.



The Memorial has four seperate walls with the names of 1,497 deceased firefighters who had 10 years of experience as well as former presidents of Iowa Firefighters Association and people who helped make the Memorial a possibility. On top of each of the six individual sections of the walls are the words: "Memory...For...Those...Who...Have...Served"



In between the four walls is a single wall that has the name of those who died while they were in the line of duty (if you look closely in the next two photos you can see our handsome yet oblivious photographer).

This was actually the second time, I have been here. The first was when I was younger. My Great-Uncle Walter is on this wall of people who died during service (he suffered a heart attack while fighting a fire).

The Memorial is definitely worth a trip, so if you're looking for a small diversion during an otherwise busy week feel free to stop by and remember those who can really be called heroes.

I'm lost...on the idea of a 2-D labyrinth

What: Canvas labyrinth
Where: Old Brick, 25 East Market Street, Iowa City
When: Sunday, March 2, 3-8 pm
Cost: Free

When I discovered a canvas model labyrinth would be displayed at Old Brick today, my imagination went wild. Thoughts of David Bowie and Jack Nicholson with an ax immediately entered my mind. What a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon - tapping into my most fearsome (and awesome) childhood memories! I could navigate an actual - albeit canvas - labyrinth? I could hardly contain my excitement.

To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Not only was the labyrinth not 3-D, it was printed on a piece of canvas (yes, I was warned the labyrinth would be composed of canvas, but canvas comes in other forms besides fabric. Walls, for instance. It could mean canvas walls). When we entered the church we thought it was decorated for a wedding. No, these ended up being the event decorations. White and purple drapery. And strange music (not Bowie-esque AT ALL) was playing. The event turned out to be a prayer/Lent/religious service. Now, I don't have anything against religious services, but when I hear the word "labyrinth," prayer service doesn't immediately come to mind. I guess I should have known the event would have religious undertones, considering it was in fact held in a church. But the Old Brick is also considered to be a community center, which houses decidedly secular events.

To add to my confusion, apparently "prayer labyrinths" have long been a religious tradition, and enjoy quite the cult following. So, while I sadly did not frolic through a 3-D maze today, I have tapped into an interesting subculture. That is the price one pays, I suppose. As for the event, I carried my agnostic self out of there fast, but not without grabbing some brochures first.