It's the first real cold snap of winter, but that doesn't mean you have to wilt! Bwog has a whole list of reasons to embrace the freeze. To wit:

• the de-thawing feeling in your extremities when you get back inside
• the bulky clothes that obscure all the weight you'll gain over the holidays
• the reduction in BO from people not sweating ever
• a reason to stay inside and study rather than get woefully behind by frolicking in the sunshine
• an excuse to wear your kickass boots
• hat hair
• sweaters
  (Read more...)

Tomorrow!

Flying kites!

EarthCo is providing plastic bags and pre-made plastic bag kites for a Mary Poppins session on Low Plaza from noon to 4:00 pm, where they'll probably also try to teach you something about wind power. The group is trying again to persuade Columbia buy alternative energy, which didn't go so well last year, clever marketing campaigns aside.

As per usual, a hundred or so bikes gathered last night in Union Square for Critical Mass, the solidaristic bike ride that takes over streets in cities all over the country once a month. This time, though, at least half of the riders seemed only vaguely...human.

A plunger, a Joker, a husky dog, and all manner of otherwise outlandishly dressed cyclists made for a freakish parade as they flooded uptown on Park Avenue and then back on Broadway, through Times Square, into the East Village, and over the Williamsburg bridge to Brooklyn. Passersby stood dumbfounded on the sidewalks, not sure what to make of the whooping and cheering peloton.

The idea of Critical Mass is to have enough riders that you can shut down the streets, ignoring stoplights and stopping traffic for as long as it takes for the slow-moving herd to roll through. It didn't always work that way, as we had to filter in between cars on the narrower streets. And this time, the political content of the event was blunted somewhat by its absurdity of watching costumed hipsters trying to manage their fixie hipster bikes. Chants of "Whose streets? Our streets!" got muddied with cries of "Ice cream!", and the night dissolved in a phantasm.

More pictures after the jump. - LBD

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

I Kiffe NY: French Urban Cultures Festival

Various times and locations through Oct. 28^th

Go be thuggin', French-style. More thick gold chains and Euro-style hip-hop than berets, though.

Science Barge

Various times through October 30th, Riverside Park South (Pier 1 at 70^th street and Riverside Dr.)

Take a 45-minute guided tour of the New York's totally carbon-neutral floating farm!

The young at heart (and the fearless of motion-sickness) take note: There are currently two moon-bounces—one features two basketball hoops and basketballs for competitive gamesmanship—stationed on Low. (There is also a dunking tank for the masochistic.)

The Anti-Iraq War Demonstration Bell is still ringing strong, though its sounds are slightly muffled by the screams of the unlucky who have been fated to splash into the icy waters of the dunking tank. Bwog suggests you head out to Low to get your last bits of fun in before final paper crunch time begins.

Another picture of all the fun you should be having after the jump.

Following the release of a joint statement on the agreed-upon academic concessions--posted after the jump, in all its wonky glory--the four remaining hunger strikers will start weaning themselves off not eating after a vigil and press conference, same time same place (9PM at the sundial).

Anything happen on Manhattanville? Nope.

The story on that will come out when we can pry it out of people.

UPDATE, 9:35 PM: According to Feditor Chas Carey, a "group of individual students" sent an open letter to the strikers, listing their grievances and questions, about a half an hour before the strike ended. Hey, it's never too late to be friends!

In its addled state, Bwog forgot that today was Earth Day, until Google reminded us (if you missed it, the logo is a half-submerged iceberg). Fortunately, lots of other people were out celebrating, taking advantage of opportunities that we wish we had brought to your attention. Feeling bad, we'd like to at least symbolically recognize the occasion, by pointing you towards a few things that Columbia--even though it's a little behind--is actually doing to save Mom:

• Coming up with carbon capture and sequestration technology, which is creating quite a buzz in business and government
  
• Trying to change y'alls behavior, student by student, so we don't waste so much around here
  
• Installing fancy new technology to save energy even if you do insist on running your dishwasher all day
• Helping our cars run on veggie oil
  
• Working with the City to make sure people build smart
  
• SEEJ, after bringing you recycled paper, wants to get Columbia using wind power, with NYU leading the way
• Cleaning up what you eat and how you eat it
• Making skyscrapers into farms

- LBD