Students at Ithaca College, past and present, can tell you that this town does things with a certain style.

Take the untimely demise of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson (the deviant among you might suggest his death untimely because it happened 20 years too late -- don't be impolite). Did fans weep while clutching funeral bouquets and citing various spiritual tomes?

Fool, don't waste my time. This is I-Town -- we had a party!

Part of the Ithaca experience is making your own fun. The dude was strange beyond words, but his beats remain solid, and in any case part of living in close quarters as one does in a college town is making the best out of every situation. Can't study every minute of the day -- gotta make time to dance, yo.

Near as we can figure it kicked off in front of Viva Taqueria around 6 p.m. By 10:30 or so the crowd was easily 100+, shakin' their bodies down to the proverbial ground in the middle of the State Street construction site. Then it moved down the Commons in front of Korova, where the thirsty moved inside and the rest just kept dancing out front.

That's right, not one but TWO spontaneous MJ parties happening right next to each other. Off the hook.

I shot video, but the thing about phones is no matter how fancy they get, they're still mostly for talking to people who aren't there. If you turn it way up, you can hear "Don't Stop til You Get Enough" rockin' the Commons.

Original Video

For something far more visually rich (if obviously lacking in spontaneity) check out what IC alum Mark Romanak '81 did for Mike's "Scream" video (our boy won a Grammy for it, in fact).

I have absolutely no idea why anyone would go to school anywhere else. This place has it all.

We here at Rattle are always looking for an excuse to promote chaos and anarchy. So, what better way than by highlighting the annual Dillingham fountain plunge? 

Each year, members of the senior class -- sometimes with permission of school authorities, sometimes with the permission of, umm, themselves -- celebrate the end of their formative years with a plunge into the fountains.

This year, the water wasn't TOO frigid, and the sunshine was bountiful. Inflatable dolphins? Cannonballs into the fountain? Yeah ... sounds to us like Senior Week is in full swing.

Been a little quiet here in the Rattle offices of late. I'm sure plenty of fascinating stuff has been going on all across campus. Let's just say we're going to read the cough syrup instructions more thoroughly next time and leave it at that.

Turns out we came out of our stupor just in time. The Parkerati have rekindled that most fabled of IC film endeavors, the Golden Doorknob Awards, for the first time in nearly two decades. All our aspiring Hitchcocks need is a dream...and the creative vision to murder someone with a doorknob without being pedestrian about it.

And you thought college was all about personal development and community service.

Back in the day, when the application of ordinary household items as instruments of death was commonplace, legendary cinema and photography professor Skip Landen started the Golden Doorknob as a way to encourage his students to think outside what had yet to be identified as "the box." The idea was to "challenge the students to make a simple film with a good idea and a good script." 

It's a shame Skip never had a sit-down with Michael Bay.

Anyway, every student in the program made a doorknob film (usually silent and in black and white), and even the most famous among them -- including Bill Carraro '81 (producer, The Golden Compass) and Dan Heffner '78 (executive producer, the Saw franchise) -- gets a little misty-eyed/flushed when talking about these golden relics. So much so that Park alums finally made enough noise to bring the tradition back to life, which is why the doorknobs will be swinging tonight at 7:00 p.m. in Park Auditorium. Carraro and Heffner will be on the judges' panel, along with professors Peter Johanns and Cathy Crane.

And just so we're clear, no doorknobs were harmed in the making of these films. A few sophomores lost teeth, and at least one freshman will never be able to wear a hat again. Hey, it isn't art without a little sacrifice.

Golden Doorknob Awards and Screening
Thursday, April 30
7:00 p.m.
Park Auditorium

We hope you enjoy these many tales of murder and intrigue, as well as the final showdown between spring lock and bolt knobs. Tune in next week when we encourage woodwind majors to devise the cleverest plan for sticking up a bank with nothing more than a clarinet and a box of reeds.

Busy week here on South Hill. The slow burn stretch of the semester is over, and with only a couple weeks remaining everyone is working at breakneck pace to finish projects many of us didn't realize were coming due until about an hour ago.

What better time to inaugurate a new College president?

Yep, they're giving TR the big hammer this afternoon, so if pomp and circumstance float your boat, you should get your free tickets from the rec office in the Campus Center and make your way to Ben Light by 3 p.m. for the rully big shoo.

As entertainment goes, maybe it's not quite that Pavement reunion you've been waiting for. But still, this is only the eighth time since 1892 that we've thrown this sort of party. Pretty impressive when you consider that since the last time we inaugurated a new president Cornell has had four of 'em (one even came back for an encore). You should go today so that years from now when people ask "Where were you when...?" your answer won't be "accidentally locked out of my room dripping wet and unaware of the enormous tear in the back of my robe."

Or worse still, "what's a Rochon?"

After the ceremony, President Rochon will be buying the rounds down at the Chanti. (I kid. He's more of an Ale House kinda guy. Kidding again. He has presidential stuff to take care of. You, however, are free to do whatever.)

Can't get away from your desk? No worries -- we're webcasting the whole megillah. Check it out: http://www.ithaca.edu/inauguration/coverage/.

Happy inaugurating!

There are so many concurrent FLEFF screenings and events this weekend, it’s almost hard for us to keep track of them all! We can’t possibly cover all of the worthy events here, but here goes nothing …

Saturday’s Highlights

1:00 p.m.: Ice Bears of the Beaufort -- This film shows the plight of polar bears near Alaska’s Beaufort Sea, who are in danger of losing a critical habit due to offshore oil drilling. This is the first feature film from director Arthur C. Smith III, who has contributed footage to National Geographic and Discovery Channel films. With directors Arthur and Jennifer Smith. (Cinemapolis, 55 minutes; with additional showing Sunday at 3:00 p.m.)
View the Trailer

2:30 p.m.: The Black Pirate -- In the second of three "Silent Films/Live Music" events, Fe Nunn and Friends and local poet Michelle Berry will perform during a screening of Albert Parker's 1926 swashbuckling classic. Will the Black Pirate (played by Douglas Fairbanks, who also wrote the story) save his love Isobel from certain doom? (Cinemapolis, 88 minutes)
FLEFF: Silent Films/Live Music

3:00 p.m.: A Class Apart -- This film, by Carlos Sandoval and Peter Miller, follows a team of unknown Mexican-American lawyer who took a 1951 Texas murder case all the way to the Supreme Court, and in the process challenged Jim Crow-style discrimination against Mexican-Americans. The panel discussion will include Tompkins County legislator Kathy Luz Herrera. (Fall Creek Pictures, 60 minutes) 

4:35 p.m.: Nuestros Desaparecidos (Our Disappeared) -- Filmmaker Juan Mandelbaum will be on hand for the screening of his documentary, which traces his efforts at discovering a long-lost girlfriend’s fate after the Argentine military’s 1976-1983 reign of terror. (Cinemapolis, 99 minutes; screens again at 9:00 p.m.)

8:30 p.m.: FLEFF After-party with Toivo and No Radio DJs (Lost Dog Lounge)

Sunday's Highlights

1:00 p.m.: At the Top of My Voice -- Set against the backdrop of the 2007 crackdown on democracy in the Republic of Georgia, the film follows activists Irakli Kakabadze and Anna Dolidze as they return to their native country to shine a light on the violence and corruption of President Saakashvili's regime and take part in monitoring his controversial reelection. The screening will feature live poetry readings and performances by activists Kakabadze and Dolidze. (Fall Creek Pictures, 60 minutes)

2:00 p.m.: Steve Tropiano reading -- Tropiano, IC television and radio professor and director of the College's program in Los Angeles, reads from and signs copies of his new book, Obscene, Indecent, Immoral, and Offensive: 100+ Years of Censored, Banned, and Controversial Films. Our guess is that nothing could shock Tropiano after writing this book. (The Bookery)
More on Tropiano's Indecent Book

7:00 p.m.: The Wildcat -- In an "exploration of cinematic and sexual spice" (spice being one of this year's programming streams), this 1921 silent film from Germany will be accompanied by live music from Robby Aceto on guitar, Peter Dodge on percussion and keyboards, and Chris White on cello. Considered to be one of Ernst Lubitsch's best films, this playfully subversive satire of military life is a forerunner of later films like M*A*S*H, Dr. Strangelove, and the work of Monty Python and Woody Allen. (Cinemapolis, 82 minutes)

8:30 p.m.: Korova After-party – Come toast the end of a long, busy week of FLEFF with staff, fans, and members of the local community. (Korova, on the Ithaca Commons)

Trailers and Clips

Clip from The Black Pirate

BostonLatino.tv Interview with Our Disappeared Director Juan Mandelbaum   

Dream Sequence from The Wildcat