The new “Man Isle” at Westside Market, dedicated to stocking stereotypical “bro fare,” has received quite a bit of attention. The LA Times, The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, Fox News, Jezebel, The New York Post, Yahoo!, The New York Observer, and The NJ Star-Ledger have all reported on the condom-bearing, hot sauce laden aisle, which also carries Doritos, razors, beef jerky, and a solid selection of deo. Our own Bijan Samareh also reports. Kind of.

As I depart my ship and land upon this strange island, one thought courses through my humors: can a brother get some food? I dock my ship on the shore of a rare patch of green called Riverside Park. Humans, clad in bare cloth, run with strange devices in their ear, along with dogs which they command through tiny nooses. I try to congratulate one female on such a Roman display of power, but all I get is a “get away from me you pirate freak!” How dare she call me a pirate! Pirates rape, pillage, and destroy. Explorers do that too, BUT we do so in the name of her majesty colonialism! Everyone knows the world would be a better place if it was Europe. And who let a woman out on her own? With a personal beast to command, nonetheless. I would call for a hanging, but my belly rumbles with dissatisfaction. To the nourishment.

As I walk through the streets of this strange city called “New York” (by the way, what’s wrong with York? Still a fine city if you ask me), enormous shrines to the gods litter every corner. The locals seem to practice some sort of polytheism in which each god has his or her own temple. Popularity lies with the ones named “Pinkberry,” “Five Guys,” and “Havana Central.” I believe the former two are gods of some sort of hedonism, as the worshipers stuffs their faces with meat and frozen cream. And “Havana Central?” I’ve heard of Havana, but all I know it as is a fertile land filled with soulless savages. Good thing we took their sugar. I finally spot a grand display of fruits and vegetables under a tarp labeled “Westside Market”. One step close to sweet gustation.

I grab some sort of apple from the display and take a hearty bite. Ah, you can it eat without slicing it, and finish by nibbling around the core, just like an onion! A man in a black garment with the Westside Market insignia accosts me (he must be pretty high ranking, as he wears some sort of skirt on which rubs the residue from arranging his spoils).

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In the latest installment of Bwog’s OfficeHop series, Senior CEO Expert Hopper Specialist Peter Sterne visited Anthropology Professor Michael Taussig to ask about… his hammock. Taussig happily shared anecdotes and observations about his prized perch, while impatient grad students grumbled outside his office. If you know a professor with a unique office, be sure to email tips@bwog.com!

Michael Taussig lying in his Colombian hammock

Professor Michael Taussig is most famous in his field for showing that South American miners’ fear of the devil is a powerful critique of capitalism, though these days he is more interested in looking at the significance of color in colonialism. Here, he is most well-known for his incredible fashion sense and extremely polarizing teaching style.

And, to the best of our knowledge, he’s the only Columbia professor with a hammock in his office.

“Oh, I’ve had hammocks for decades,” Professor Michael Taussig tells Bwog, “I got this one from San Jacinto, Colombia, in the ’90s. “That was around the time the department reformed, and we were very anti-colonial.”

But wait—isn’t Taussig… still anti-colonial?

“Well,” he pauses, “We were much more so back then. And Joyce Monges [the department's administrator] said we should get hooks put in the ceiling of the student lounge to hang hammocks, but the hooks were never installed.” Arguing that hammocks can be considered anti-colonial symbols, he cites French sociologist Marcel Mauss, who considered the ways that peoples’ bodies and physical habits are shaped by societal and cultural forces. Such forces program Americans to sit in chairs, so going out of your way to lie in a hammock could be considered a subversive act. So are chairs colonialist? With a hint of indignation, Taussig admits, “when you put it like that, it does sounds crazy.”
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“Columbus was a criminal,” bellowed Hakim from the Low Steps mere moments ago. Disagree!, reply the College Republicans, who are grilling burgers and hot dogs for their fellow Columbus Day celebrants. Yet CUGOP president Chris Kulawik, C ’08 emphasized that they are not “celebrating” Columbus per se: “we’re just recognizing it’s a national holiday” he said, adding that the cookout is a long-standing CUGOP custom. He then went into an etymological explication of the day’s significance: “Christopher Columbus. Columbia.”

Of course, Kulawik doesn’t seem to mind pissing people off–he’s the one behind Fox flamethrower Sean Hannity’s visit in a couple weeks. Maybe it was a trade for the number of times Kulawik has been a guest on their turf?

Later, a GOPer was overheard sending one of her ideological kinsmen to fetch veggie burgers at Morton Williams. When asked if vegetarianism conflicts with the GOPs presumed goal of laying the environment to waste, a first-year jokingly assured Bwog that the two are not irreconcilable.

-ARR

News has it (or shows, rather) that Barnard radio station WBAR has unleashed a new website, featuring a new-and-improved albeit bizzarely colonial layout. Noteable changes also include a “Now Playing” sidebar that features a photo for the show currently on air, a more organized online schedule, and a “Show of the Week” feature if you’re uncertain about what’s playing.

As far as our suggestions go for specific radio shows, we hear that Play With Your Radio is pretty badass — although for a real explanation of what it’s about, you should listen for yourself. Also a good bet (and with a two-year [plus?] WBAR history) is Turtles All The Way Down with David S. Another favorite, Side A/Lado B, plays a mix of Latin and English rock on late Thursday afternoons. Also, Friday morning talk show Disgruntled Optimism promises an interview with Senator Joe Lieberman every week, “as well as taped segments with various members of Columbia’s most outspoken housing staff.”

Only on freeform college radio.

Outside of the typical airwaves: a team of Columbia students premiered their own new station, S.O.A.P. Box Radio Collective, from of a campus dorm room last Friday. Defined as an alternative media project, that is a “collective first and a radio station second,” S.O.A.P. Box has been publicized around campus and within some grassroots activist circles, as well as IndyMedia.

For something away from the vicinity of Morningside Heights, Bwog editor Jessica Cohen suggests Fordham Radio WFUV’s CityScape and CD of the Week. The award-winning CityScape covers an array of New York City issues every Saturday morning while CD of the Week promises a newly released album on Thursday nights.

College radio lives?

- MIP

Vampire Weekend is not a bunch of hipsters, puh-lease. The band, comprised primarily of the most recent batch of Columbia graduates, is preparing to break out beyond the campus music scene. Sure they all live in Brooklyn but, come on, they love Africa and LaCoste.  Just last spring they played at a Yacht-themed party at Saint A’s – that’s about as un-hipster as you can get.  Bwog music correspondent Justin Goncalves recently had the opportunity to talk with the band in between the recording of drum loops in Park Slope. 

First things first, who is Vampire Weekend? 

Ezra:  Vampire Weekend is traditionally me on guitar and vocals, Chris [Tomson C’06] on bass, Rostam [Batmanglij C’06] on keyboards, and Baio [C’07] on bass.  John Atkinson [C’ 00] is going to be joining us soon.  You might know him from his stuff with Aa (BIG A little a).

Where did the name Vampire Weekend come from? 

Ezra:  Some might think it’s a weekend where you sleep all day and stay up all night, but that’s not what we’re going for.  Me and my friends from home made a movie after summer vacation with a plot that someone’s country is being taken over by vampires.  Walcott has to go to Cape Cod to tell the mayor that vampires are coming.

Rostam: And the song’s actually about Walcott leaving.

Ezra:  Yeah it works on a bunch of levels.

What is the ideal Vampire Weekend? 

Ezra: The ideal avatar, preppy African with equal parts of fresh and clean.  Preppiness with West African guitar pop, a perfect fusion of happy world music with Western, New England preppiness.

So who would you cite as your influences? 

Ezra: Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Kanda Bongomen, Reggaeton.  I want to call it bodega music but I’m pretty sure that’s not politically correct.  It’s called Bachata, I think.  (more…)

 
More stuff you shouldn’t have saved on a public computer.

This result of political justice is capitalism. Everyone benefits in the end. The US government shares the same view as the kallipolis when it comes to capitalism, since humans tend to “watch their back”.

Many may take this as a purely negative aspect, shrapnel from the grenade of conquest and empire, but for any reader to be able to wrap their minds around this concept (native-via-Spanish), said reader will find many gems and jewels amongst the mountains of political, religious, and European understanding.

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