I love college. It can be stressful, and ridiculously busy, and hard. You're halfway between being an adult and a teenager, and sometimes you don't know which one you'd rather be. But on some rare occasions, you get the opportunity to feel like a five year old. I got that opportunity on Monday afternoon, when I went to see Perry Ground, a Turtle Clan member of the Onodaga Nation of the Haudenosauee (Iroquois) Confederacy and a storyteller.

Ground told us that for Native Americans, storytelling was extremely important. For hundreds of years, most Native Americans didn't have a written language, so they relied on storytellers to pass important messages on to the next generation. Stories passed on values and beliefs and entertained tribes during long winters where there was little to do but sit and listen.

Ground talked about two of the most important stories that the Haudenosauee people have passed down. One of them is their creation story - the story of how Sky Woman fell through a hole in the sky dome onto the back of a giant turtle; Great Turtle Island, or the world. The other was the Peacemaker story, about how Native Americans joined nations together to form a union.

Having filled us in on the importance of storytelling and some of the important stories from his heritage, Ground set out to make us feel like kids again. He left the room and returned a few minutes later in a traditional headress, setting the mood for the two stories he would tell next. The first was about Rabbit and Owl, sometimes called "the rabbit has long ears" or "the owl has big eyes." The second was the tale of how Turtle is the "fastest animal in the forest."

Both stories were highly entertaining and were warmly told by Ground. He gave all of the animals different voices, and wasn't afraid to jump up and down and stomp across the room as he told us the tales. By the end of the hour, I felt like five year old, and it was AWESOME.

To learn more about the Haudenosauee culture and celebrate Native American Celebration month, come hear Freida and Ada Jacques speak on Dec. 1st. Freida will give a talk titled "Three Lessons Offered Towards Peace" in Textor 102 at 7pm. Her mother Ada will speak about her career as an Onondaga potter in the Ithaca Falls Room in Egbert/Phillips Campus Center from 4:00-5:15pm.

Ithaca College senior Aaron Terkel stood over his creation. Countless hours of monkey-wrenching and accidentally-inhaled spray paint had finally yielded the most beautiful fusion of school spirit and practical transport that could be imagined. He had created...

...the Bomber Bike!

Perhaps the only photograph of The Bomber Bike in existence.

Finished just in time for the Cortaca Jug game, the bike represented much more than one student's handicraft. Painted in the deepest of blues and most shimmering golds, the BB was a beacon of hope in the quickly descending fog that was SUNY Cortland's presence.

On the morning of the game, bolstered by a breakfast of pancakes and IPA, Terkel rode up the hill amongst loving calls of "BOMBER BIKE!" shouted from cars and pedestrians alike. Fastening his bike to a small tree, Terkel joined his friends and classmates in the crowded stadium to urge his favorite team on to their rightful victory.

But, mischief was afoot. Perhaps the Cortland team had brought something more sinister than poor sportsmanship with them that day, or maybe local miscreants lacked school spirit -- whatever the case, it seems that one individual had been poisoned by evil.

Thrilled with the success of his team, Terkel left the Cortaca Jug game hoping for an evening of Ithaca Beer, fried things, and riding the Bomber Bike triumphantly all over the South Hill. However, a terrible wrench had been thrown into his bucolic plans:

The Bomber Bike had been stolen.

This symbol of school spirit and goodness had been snatched away mere feet from the entrance of the Cortaca Jug game. Blinded by a haze of depravity, the perpetrator had snapped the tree that the bike was attached to in order to steal it away. Breaking our trees, stealing our bikes... what more do they want from us?

And so, the Bomber Bike is MIA. The spirit of our school, hauled away by agents of evil.

If you see the Bomber Bike (it's pretty recognizable), or have any information that could lead to it's return home, please contact Aaron Terkel aterkel1@ithaca.edu.

Let's all do our best to make sure the Bomber Bike lives to see another Cortaca.

Sometimes IC strikes me as a quirky juxtaposition of sights. Take, for instance, the brief walk I went on this weekend. I only ventured to the athletic quads and back, and I wasn't out for more than an hour. But I ran into the oddest juxtaposition of people and things.

Take, for instance, the totally hilarious flock of birds I saw. These birds flew over the athletic quad in a huge circle, over and over again. I'm sure there was something scientific behind their behavior, but it struck me as funny. Plus, they were pretty.

When I managed to tear myself away from the birds, I discovered that there were kids with Nerf Guns running around the quad.

This phenomenon stems from a game called Humans vs. Zombies. It's played by students on the IC campus and, apparently, by students on college campuses across the country. It's widespread enough on the IC campus that it deserves its own blog post, so I won't spoil it now. But suffice to say lots of people are into it.

Chillin' on the steps to the quad, I glanced to my right and was struck by how gorgeous the construction for the Athletics and Events Center s.

Someone pointed out to me recently that this tower looks suspiciously like the tower in the Season 5 finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I must admit (proudly!) that I am Buffy fan, and this person is right. I can't find a decent photo of that tower for you, but trust me, they're quite similar.

In the space of about half an hour I ran into some weird and cool birds, some kids playing a game involving zombies, and the tower from Buffy. I love this school.

With on-campus events winding down and putting some stuffing in the oven for when their in-laws visit, there's still plenty of mischeif to get up to all around our fair city.

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Tuesday, November 17th

• Reggae Tuesday at Castaways - Ithaca's a sucker for Reggae, and Reggae Tuesday's got the best. This week, Riddimwise. 8pm

Wednesday, November 18th

• Vegetarian Thanksgiving Teach In - Sponsored by ICES, come find out why Tofurkey isn't a thing of terror.  7-9pm, Williams 225
• Chamber Orchestra - Conducted by IC's Jefferey Meyer. 8:15 pm in Ford Hall

Thursday, November 19th

• IC Standup's Pilgrim Jam! - Come to The Pub from 7:30 - 9 pm for a turkey-day centric show of stand-up and sketches.
• The Meat Puppets - It's the Meat Puppets! At Castaways! Come see the seminal scuzz-rockers who inspired Nirvana, Pavement,  Dinosaur Jr, and more. 8pm.
• Amanda Palmer at the State Theater - Palmer, half of the cabaret-punk duo Dresden Dolls, brings her equally amazing live show to the state. Doors at 7pm.

Friday, November 20th

• Alzheimers 101 Family Caregiving Workshop - Concerned about a relative with Alzheimers or a related disorder? The Office For The Aging & the Alzheimers Assosication come together to offer this invaluable workshop. 12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. at 615 Willow Avenue
• Mike Doughty - After selling out Castaways last fall, Soul Coughing's frontman is back for another dose of the Ith. 8pm.
• May 2010 Application for Graduation Due 

Saturday, November 21st

• Sufferjets End-Season party - We here at Rattle love the Sufferjets, simply because they are everything that is awesome about Ithaca. The roller-girl's end-of-season party promises to be a ra-ra-rager. 9pm at Castaways
  
• Thanksgiving! Turkey! (Tofurkey!)

IC has so much theater on campus that I rarely venture off campus to find productions, despite nearby theaters like the Hangar and the Kitchen. This weekend, though, I ventured over to Cornell to check out the Melodramatics Theatre Company production of I Love You Because, a modern musical update of Jane Austen's Pride of Prejudice.

Melodramatics (affectionately called Melo by... various people) is run by students both at Cornell and at IC as well as members of the Ithaca community. This was the first Melo production I've had the opportunity to see, and I was pretty pleased with it.

Right off the bat, I'll say that I Love You Because isn't my favorite musical. In fact, it doesn't even make the top 20 list. This is probably because I'm a lit nerd as well as theater geek, and I can't see enough parallels between this show and Pride and Prejudice to justify its advertisement as an "update" of the novel. That said, I'm always down for a musical, and thankfully I was able to put aside my skepticism and just enjoy the show.

I Love You Because featured performances from several IC students as well as several Cornell kids and even one Ithaca high school student. My favorite characterizations came from IC students Emily Putnam ('12) and Samantha Matthews ('11), who played lead characters Marcy Fitzwilliams and Diana Bingley. What can I say? I might be biased, but those girls can sing like nobody's business. I was also impressed with two Cornell students -- ensemble member Lauren Bamford and Timothy Dyster, who played Samantha's character's love interest Jeff Bennett.

Fortunately for me, Melo's production was enjoyable enough that I was able to forget my lit nerd skepticism about I Love You Because. This reminds me: I should get off campus more often!

I Love You Because plays November 19-21 at 8pm. Tickets are available online.