This is just one of the first in what Bwog assumes will be a veritable onslaught of Halloweenish events. We'll keep you posted.

Bacchanal is hosting an event on the steps today, some sort of crazy Halloween/study break mashup entitled "A Ghoulish Day on the Steps" today from 3:00PM - 7:00PM.

The free highlights include: tongue-scalding cider, critter-shaped cookies, pie of pumpkinal origin, and unspecified giveaways.

Two contests will also grace the steps this afternoon: a costume contest, and a pumpkin-carving contest. Bring your (hopefully carved) pumpkin to the steps by 6:00 PM to enter the contest -- $100 to the winner!

Nervous energy borne of coffee and unfinished CC papers pervaded Lerner as the tech crews set up for Bacchanal's annual spring concert last night. Kids who arrived at 8 p.m. camped out near the white plastic barricade like they were at Webster Hall ca. 2003 waiting for the Get Up Kids, or maybe Interpol. In any case, they came, they clustered on the floor, they took out a laptop or two to maximize efficiency. WBAR jockeys spun the de rigueur ambient noise and obscure electronica, and the elite with green backstage passes perched near the merchandise table.

It didn't take much prying to determine that a lot of people at the show arrived sans knowledge of what they were in for, despite Bwog's best efforts to the contrary. And if they thought "indie rock" was in any way related to "rock and roll" apart from the implementation of the same instruments, the first swirls of Grizzly Bear's atmospheric noodling hopefully set them straight. But lukewarm crowd responses, ample chatter among the grad students in the back—including one prescient, tight-pantsed character who had slipped a Stella Artois into bone-dry Lerner—and bored-looking couples glued to the auditorium chairs all indicated a lack of rapport between band and crowd, give or take the clusters towards the front who hummed along to each four-part harmony.

If you are reading this, that means you aren't on the steps (or, like Bwog, you are, but have wireless). And that means you're missing Planet Earth.

Currently: "Jungles". "Caves." The administrators just announced, hazily, that they were playing the episode until 10 PM. If you just left, get back out here!

Late breaking news about Bacchanal's 4/20 screening of Planet Earth.

The mind-wrecking Discovery Channel miniseries is appearing in Low Plaza on a 14' X 26' screen, and you get to pick the two episodes being shown. To vote, just follow the link. But first, let Bwog tell you what to vote for.

Paul Barndt: Go for Deep Ocean, the only one of the episodes that seems to take place on another planet entirely. This is a place of strange, malformed creatures so far removed from the sun they've turned transparent. Maybe you'll even see an ultra-squid. But what's this about using the Sigourney-narrated American Planet Earth? Attenborough 4 lyfe, Bacchanal!

Michael Molina: I want to see epic battles and Great Plains has two of the four
great hunt sequences in the Planet Earth series. In
addition to the heartbreaking story of the caribou's fall, the episode
also features the pains of a lion's hunger that The Bronx Zoo or a JTT
sing-a-long cannot provide. This episode is a varied account of
ecosystems that delivers some of the best action sequences of the
series as well as fantastic sweeping visuals that instill a feeling
that mankind has not completely obliterated Planet Earth.

Bonus Dark Horse Candidate! The "subtle merits" of Shallow Seas had considerable underground support on the Bwog listserv.

Now get to it! Why vote for CCSC when you can choose between monster jellyfish and and killer cats?

Free bagels outside of Butler til 2 PM courtesy of Bacchanal!

Hurry before all the Days on Campus kids snatch them up.

UPDATE: According to enthusiastic commenter #3, "there is all kinds of cream cheese imaginable!"

Courtesy of planning staff, here's the moment you've all been waiting for... Bacchanal! A Monday night concert in Lerner! A not-free luau! Exciting...?

BacchanALIENS 2008

Keep an eye out for free BacchanALIENS t-shirts and giveaways!

Wed. April 9:
Comedy Show (Ardie Fuqua w/ Fruit Paunch)
9-10:30pm, Davis Auditorium (Shapiro)
*Pick up FREE tickets at the Lerner Box Office*

Thurs. April 10:
Dinner & Space Comedy
6:30-8:30pm, Lerner Party Space

RESLIFE's "Wild Wild Columbia" CAPTURE THE FLAG
9pm, College Walk

Sat. April 12:
Relay for Life
12pm-3am, All over campus

This is part two of a two-part series introducing you to the acts playing at this year's Bacchanal.

"Everything but country," is an all too familiar way for unimaginative people to define their taste, or lack there of, in music. Sure, we all like different kinds of music, but the ambiguity of that statement is preposterous and country is just not that bad. Like it or not, Grizzly Bear's music incorporates all sorts of genres and to some extent reflects that glib tag mentioned before. Their music has been described as everything from folk, country-folk, folk-rock and psychedelic folk-rock to electro-folk, post-rock and Baroque pop.

Fortunately, this Brooklyn based quartet coordinates their eclectic influences with dreamy cohesion. The pluck of acoustic guitars, reeds, retro organs and the occasional banjo articulate the soporific voice of the band's lead singer, Ed Droste. With breathy gasps and sighs, Droste's vocals give Grizzly Bear's songs a natural, nonchalant sound.

This is part one of a two-part series introducing you to the acts performing at this year's Bacchanal.

Two separate sets of brothers make up four-fifths of The National. The fifth is lead singer Matt Berninger, whose odd, deep voice is probably the most distinctive quality of the band's brooding sound. Since hitting the scene in 1999, when the band left Ohio and came to Brooklyn to work day jobs, the National have been on a steady rise to prominence. Their first two albums are low-fi and a little muddled, and were released on the band's own label; three years ago, they moved to Beggars Banquet Records, where they made their two most recent (and most popular) albums. They're marked by simple instrumentals and lyrical prowess.

Since 2005, The National have been significantly more popular; their last two albums, "Alligator" and "Boxer," were staples on Best Of lists (including Bwog's own). Sufjan Stevens' horns and piano can be heard in the background of a song on their last record, and they'll be backing up REM on their tour this summer.

Listen ("Brainy" @ musicisart.ws)
Listen (a dozen acoustic tracks @ aquariumdrunkard.com)
Listen (three tracks @ daytrotter.com)

--ZvS

2008's Bacchanal has been announced and a (mostly) complete schedule has been released. In addition to performances by Grizzly Bear and The National, this year's festivities will include stand-up comedy by Greg Giraldo, an outdoor screening of Planet Earth on the Low steps for which absolutely no one will arrive stoned, and a Hawaiian Luau.

If you couldn't tell from the indie rock, Hawaiian luau and stand-up comedy, this year's theme is "Bacchanaliens." "Fun has landed," proclaims Bacchanal's flyer; without an article, without a doubt.

UPDATE 8:04 PM: The outdoor screening of Planet Earth is on 4/20. Best. Bacchanal. Ever. (Thanks commenter no. 5!)

While Bwog enjoyed the sunny weather on such a splendid day, several things also caught our attention:

• Bacchanal festivities coincided with today's, er, other special celebrations, including Battle of the Bands, a much-too-limited barbecue, a moonwalk, and a sorority-sponsored "munchies" sale. Columbia's beloved mascot was also spotted roaming about (pictured to the right), giving hugs and shaking hands with the chilled-out student crowd around College Walk. In the meantime, pre-frosh were abundant for SEAS Days on Campus. Talk about hyperbolic advertising.
  

• Bwog reader Alex Port brings us news that the Joseph Urban stage models on the third floor of Butler (which have been there for ages) have been removed. What will the Butler treasure chest reveal to us next? Perhaps Robert Moses models instead?
  
  
• As if the to-be-built Northwest Science Building weren't enough, the J-School plans on doing some construction of its own. The Stabile Student Center is scheduled to open in Fall 2007, complete with café space, outdoor seating, and a glass enclosure. Glass is all the rage in these parts, it seems...

• Since we're on the theme of architecture: SEAS Class Day speaker Santiago Calatrava has designed a 2,000-foot tall Chicago tower that could trump every other building in America. Daaamn. [Insert "ivory tower" joke here.]
  

• Spectator's most recent multimedia project happens to be on the arrest of Robert Williams, although it seems a bit New York Post-ish for the Spec's image. Really, "Perp Walk," guys?
  

- MIP