Circus

By virtue of being an over-enthusiastic fanboy, I got in line with my friends a full hour before the doors opened to Emerson Suites for the April 12th Streetlight Manifesto concert. My overzealous nature was rewarded when we were able to grab spots front and center, hanging onto the guardrail between the stage and the standing room.

Stokes plays music on the street for money, or “busks,” ten hours a week. The only permanent audience she has on the Ithaca Commons on any given day is nine trees that grow between concrete slabs, providing a shifting shade and a slight rustle backing each note that springs from her guitar.

I went to the circus every year with my family until I was 12. I don’t remember it being a particularly enjoyable experience, but I also don’t remember it being a torturous, avoid-at-all-costs family bonding extravaganza. Up until last week, I was pretty neutral on the circus.

That’s not to downplay the excitement and bop-til-you-drop feel of hits like “Beta Love” and “Dance With Me.” But the tried-and-tested formula in those tracks can come off as too tried — see “Angel Please,” a key-changing little ditty which slows down in the middle and never fully bounces back from the lapse in tempo, even when it seems to try. But

In case you weren’t one of the 3.2 million people that tuned into the women’s championship game, the UConn Huskies crushed Louisville 93-60. Both teams played through injuries, with UConn’s leading scorer Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis playing through a stress fracture and a foot injury yet managing to add 18 points to the board.

“You asked me to stay, but there’s a million reasons to leave.” So sings Julian Casablancas on “One Way Trigger,” the first single off of…

The request for IC to engage in Socially Responsible Investing, or SRI, would seem uncontroversial. But for mysterious reasons the higher-ups have resisted a transparency we deserve as students and patrons of the college.

I never actually planned on joining the circus.

As an outsider in another country it can sometimes feel like you’re in the ring of a circus being watched or critiqued because your cultural differences are not only noticeable, but amusing to native peoples. So if you’re looking to travel or study abroad for the first time, keep reading.

The wind tugged at my hair as I swished through the air on the Cloud Swing, a high-flying circus act. I pushed my toes upwards, visualizing kicking straight through the roof of the big top.