The Electron Pencil

THE QUOTE

“I could have been a Rhodes Scholar, except for my grades.” — Duffy Daugherty

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CLASSROOM CONFIDENTIAL

Homecoming Day at Indiana Memorial Stadium. Our valiant Hoosier student-athletes meet the visiting Spartans of Michigan State University at noon.

Wait a minute — did I type student-athletes?

I suppose I dare not describe, say, third-string Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones in such unflattering terms.

Jones: No Schoolboy

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Jones Tweeted yesterday his true feelings about playing for an outfit so silly as a university — even if that university is actually a football and basketball factory that just happens to churn out the occasional microbiologist or, ugh!, creative writer.

Here’s a screenshot of Jones’ Tweet:

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By golly, he’s right! Why should an 18-year-old who is capable of typing the phrase “… we ain’t come to play SCHOOL…” on a social media site be considered anything so outlandish as a student?

I’m assuming the reluctant student is 18. The Ohio State football website offers tons of info on Jones, including his height, weight, what high school he attended, and even his mother’s name, but it doesn’t reveal his age. Perhaps it’s due to some sort of privacy restriction imposed by the NCAA.

You know, the governing body whose purpose, purportedly, is to ensure our college football heroes are parsing their sentences in English class.

Believe it? Silly fool.

Under the National Football League’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement signed with the NFL Players Association last year, drafted rookies make $390,000 in 2012, $480,000 in 2013, and $570,000 in 2014.

Let’s see some skinny English major make that kind of scratch three years out of college.

Jones has since removed his Tweet but nothing disappears from the interwebs.

And nothing changes at Ohio State University, come to think of it. Former football coach Jim Tressel resigned under duress in May, 2011, amid scandals that included players selling memorabilia without authorization and hanging out with a suspected drug dealer, as well as Tressel trying to cover the whole thing up.

With Tressel gone, OSU was supposed to be back on the straight and narrow. I wonder how that’s working out.

Well, a large human being who plays linebacker for OSU was arrested in July for domestic violence and assault. Storm Klein allegedly got physical with the young woman who is the mother of his baby. OSU suspended Klein. Before the case got to trial, the woman suddenly decided that maybe Storm Klein didn’t really get physical with her, or if he did, well, he didn’t mean anything, y’know?

Storm Klein At His Appearance In Court

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Such changes of heart are common among wives and girlfriends of professional and major college athletes and coaches.

So Klein’s suspension was promptly terminated and he’s busy twisting the heads off opposing running backs again.

A couple of massive creatures who play for Ohio State were witnessed urinating in public in June. When they realized the cops were hot on them, they ran. In the real world, that would bring a felony charge of eluding the police. In OSU-land, the two players got rapped with misdemeanor obstructing official business, which sounds more like they refused to hand a stapler to a city clerk when asked to do so.

In any case, the two were suspended but they, too, are back to maiming opposing players.

You know, Klein and the two public-pissers may indeed be student-athletes, after all. They’ve learned, for instance, how the justice system really works in the vicinity of Columbus, Ohio.

Jones, too, is a student-athlete, whether he likes it or not. He’s already learned which side his bread is buttered on.

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HE’S A POL

Everybody who knows me knows I’m voting for Barack Obama again this year.

I’ll be glum if that paragon of debt-leveraged, union busting, predatory capitalism, Mitt Romney, sneaks in.

That said, I don’t buy much of yesterday’s Bureau of Labor Statistics report pegging the unemployment rate at sub-8 for the first time since, oh, the Jurassic Period.

“Here’s What We Do….”

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Obama’s my guy but don’t for a minute think that he’s not a savvy politician.

My guess is the BLS underreported unemployment in August just so it could readjust its figures for September, the last such report before the election.

I’m not a conspiracy theorist but I know how successful political operations work.

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The only events listings you need in Bloomington.

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Saturday, October 6th, 2012

Brought to you by The Electron Pencil: Bloomington Arts, Culture, Politics, and Hot Air. Daily.

FOOD ◗ City Hall, Showers Plaza — Farmers Market; 8am-1pm

WORKSHOP ◗ Sanshin Zen Community — Experiencing Zen, presented by Shohaku Okaumura Roshi; 8:30am-5pm

HOMECOMING ◗ IU Memorial Stadium — OctSOBERfest, alternative, safe-drinking tailgate party; 9am-game time

FESTIVAL ◗ Town of Bloomfield, various locations — 2012 Bloomfield Apple Festival, music, contests, parade, games, food, etc.; 9am-10pm, through Sunday

FAIR ◗ Virgil I. Grissom Airport, Bedford — Up in the Air Science Fair, Vintage airplanes, radio controlled air show, telescope viewing, food, etc., Balloon launch at 10am with on-board student experiments, Free; 9am-5pm

HOMECOMING ◗ Hoosier Village, behind DeVault Center — IU Alumni Homecoming Tailgate Party; 9:30am-game time

STAGE ◗ Ivy Tech Waldron Center — Children’s play, “Knuffle Bunny,” Presented by Cardinal Stage Company; 10am

ART ◗ IU Art Museum — Special Exhibit openings; 10am-5pm

• “Embracing Nature,” by Barry Gealt, Meet the artist from 10:30am-12:30pm
• “Pioneers & Exiles: German Expressionism“

STUDIO TOUR ◗ Brown County, various locations — The Backroads of Brown County Studio Tour, free, self-guided tour of 16 local artists’ & craftspersons’ studios; 10am-5pm, through October

CLASS ◗ Monroe County Public Library — Alef Ba Arabic Language & Culture, for children grades Pre-K through 2nd; 10:30-11:30am

STAGE ◗ Monroe County Public Library — Preview of “Once Upon a Mattress,” for children & families, selected songs & scenes; 11-11:30am

CLASS ◗ Monroe County Public Library — Ya Ya Chinese Language & Culture, for children grades Pre-K through 2nd; 11:30-12:30am

SPORTS ◗ IU Memorial Stadium — Hoosier football vs. Michigan State; Noon

MUSIC ◗ Muddy Boots Cafe, Nashville — Robbie Bowden; Noon

WALK ◗ St. Thomas Lutheran Church — Begin here for Interfaith Walk, Stop at different congregations, Learn about symbols & rituals; Hear prayer & song; 1-5pm

HALLOWE’EN ◗ Haunted Hayride & Stables, 8308 S. Rockport Rd. — Friendly hayride, No spooks; 1-5pm

ART ◗ IU Art Museum — Thematic Tour: The Tree in Art, Presented by docent Monica Kindraka Jensen; 2-3pm

MUSIC ◗ IU Metz Carillon — First Saturday Recital: Arthur Metz & Amanda Jensen on the carillon; 2pm

MUSIC ◗ IU Ford-Crawford Hall — Faculty Recital: Nigel North on lute; 5pm

ART & BENEFIT ◗ Blue Studio Gallery — Chip-Art: An Interactive Art Installation, for Monroe County United Way; 6pm

FILM ◗ IU Fine Arts Theater — Ryder Film Series: “Stars in Shorts“; 6:45pm

MUSIC ◗ IU Auer Hall — Symphonic Choir; 7-8:30pm

POETRY ◗ Rachael’s Cafe — Poetry in a Time of Drought: Readings by Jenny Kander, Roger Pfingsten, JL Kato, Doris Lynch, Thomas Tokarski; 7-8:30pm

SPORTS ◗ IU Gymnasium — Hoosier volleyball vs. Nebraska; 7pm

SPORTS ◗ IU Bill Armstrong Stadium — Hoosier men’s soccer vs. Wisconsin; 7pm

MUSIC ◗ Cafe Django — Dawn & Jeff Hiatt; 7pm

HALLOWE’EN ◗ Haunted Hayride & Stables, 8308 S. Rockport Rd.; 7-11pm

HALLOWE’EN ◗ Bakers Junction Railroad Museum, Smithville — Haunted train; 7pm

MUSIC ◗ Muddy Boots Cafe, Nashville — Kurt & Marge Young; 7-9pm

FILM ◗ IU Cinema — Tonight’s feature has been cancelled; 7pm

FILM ◗ IU Woodburn Hall Theater — Ryder Film Series: “Meet the Fokkens“; 7:15pm

STAGE ◗ Bloomington Playwrights Project — Comedy, “Rx”; 7:30pm

STAGE ◗ Brown County Playhouse, Nashville — Drama, “Last Train to Nibroc”; 7:30pm

COMEDY ◗ The Comedy Attic — Jackie Kashian; 8pm

MUSIC ◗ IU Auer Hall — IU Singing Hoosiers, director, Steve Zegree; 8pm

MUSIC ◗ The Player’s Pub — Lamont Gillispe; 8pm

NATURE & FAMILY ◗ Lake Monroe, Paynetown SRA — Stories & S’mores, Campfire storytelling; 8-8:45pm

FILM ◗ IU Fine Arts Theater — Ryder Film Series: “Neighboring Sounds“; 8:30pm

MUSIC ◗ Cafe Django — Gyrogenics Ensemble; 9pm

FILM ◗ IU Woodburn Hall Theater — Ryder Film Series: “The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls“; 9pm

MUSIC ◗ Max’s Place — Aurgasmic Orchestra, DBN; 9pm

MUSIC ◗ The Bluebird — Clayton Anderson; 9pm

MUSIC & DANCING ◗ The Root Cellar at Farm Bloomington — New Wave dance party; 10pm

COMEDY ◗ The Comedy Attic — Jackie Kashian; 10:30pm

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ONGOING:

ART ◗ IU Art Museum — Exhibits:

• “New Acquisitions,” David Hockney; through October 21st
• Paintings by Contemporary Native American Artists; through October 14th
• “Paragons of Filial Piety,” by Utagawa Kuniyoshi; through December 31st
• “Intimate Models: Photographs of Husbands, Wives, and Lovers,” by Julia Margaret, Cameron, Edward Weston, & Harry Callahan; through December 31st
• “French Printmaking in the Seventeenth Century;” through December 31st
• Celebration of Cuban Art & Film: Pop-art by Joe Tilson; through December 31st
• “Workers of the World, Unite!” through December 31st
• “Embracing Nature,” by Barry Gealt; through December 23rd
• “Pioneers & Exiles: German Expressionism,” through December 23rd

ART ◗ Ivy Tech Waldron Center — Exhibits:

• “Ab-Fab — Extreme Quilting,” by Sandy Hill; October 5th through October 27th
  
• “Street View — Bloomington Scenes,” by Tom Rhea; October 5th through October 27th
• “From the Heartwoods,” by James Alexander Thom; October 5th through October 27th
• “The Spaces in Between,” by Ellen Starr Lyon; October 5th through October 27th

ART ◗ IU SoFA Grunwald Gallery — Exhibit:

• “Samenwerken,” Interdisciplinary collaborative multi-media works; through October 11th
  

ART ◗ IU Kinsey Institute Gallery — Exhibits opening September 28th:

• “A Place Aside: Artists and Their Partners;” through December 20th
• “Gender Expressions;” through December 20th

PHOTOGRAPHY ◗ IU Mathers Museum of World Cultures — Exhibit:

• “CUBAmistad” photos

ART ◗ IU Mathers Museum of World Cultures — Exhibits:

• “¡Cuba Si! Posters from the Revolution: 1960s and 1970s”
• “From the Big Bang to the World Wide Web: The Origins of Everything”
• “Thoughts, Things, and Theories… What Is Culture?”
• “Picturing Archaeology”
• “Personal Accents: Accessories from Around the World”
• “Blended Harmonies: Music and Religion in Nepal”
• “The Day in Its Color: A Hoosier Photographer’s Journey through Mid-century America”
• “TOYing with Ideas”
• “Living Heritage: Performing Arts of Southeast Asia”
• “On a Wing and a Prayer”

BOOKS ◗ IU Lilly Library — Exhibit:

• “Outsiders and Others:Arkham House, Weird Fiction, and the Legacy of HP Lovecraft;” through November 1st
• “A World of Puzzles,” selections form the Slocum Puzzle Collection

PHOTOGRAPHY ◗ Soup’s On — Exhibit:

• Celebration of Cuban Art & Culture: “CUBAmistad photos; through October

PHOTOGRAPHY ◗ Monroe County History Center — Exhibit:

• “Bloomington: Then and Now,” presented by Bloomington Fading; through October 27th

ARTIFACTS ◗ Monroe County History Center — Exhibit:

• “Doctors and Dentists: A Look into the Monroe County Medical professions“

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