CornellWatch

Cruising home from the beach far out on Long Island, we discovered… the Cornell University International Duck Research Cooperative???

Matt, for reasons known only to himself, decided to stake his claim as a Cornellian by parking on the grass.  Literally within thirty seconds, a huge SUV pulled up and ordered us OUT.  The only explanation?  Cornell must be breeding mutant killer ducks.

Or, according to the website: “The Duck Laboratory came into existence in 1949 as a result of a working relationship between duck producers on Long Island and Cornell University.  At that time, very little scientific research was being carried out on ducks. In contrast, a considerable amount of research was being conducted at a number of universities on chicken and turkey production. The relatively small size of the duck industry in the United States, compared to the chicken and turkey industries, placed the duck industry at a decided disadvantage in obtaining financial support for research.  To help overcome this obstacle, the duck growers made a commitment to pay a large portion of the cost of research themselves through the payment of dues and fees. An agreement between Cornell University, and what was soon to become the Long Island Duck Research Cooperative was reached to establish and operate a duck laboratory at Eastport, New York.”

Amidst the several Cornellians enjoying a fine Saturday afternoon and evening out on the Arts Quad were a number of solemn black-cloaked individuals standing at the edges of the quad. Every few minutes, they stepped toward the center, while the ones standing at the six o’clock and twelve o’clock positions raised their lanterns. Another individual, possibly some kind of group leader, contrasted the still and silent dark circle by hobbling around in a bright blue hooded cloak with a crude walking stick, coughing every so often. Another small circle of young men in suits stood in the exact center of the arts quad, looking downwards.

This strange sight was the Black Lantern Processional, a hundred-year-old tradition of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.

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Are they greenhouses?  Part of a solar energy experiment?  The latest product in sustainable design?  Nope, rumor has it that the three plastic structures that appeared on the Arts Quad this morning are part of an installation art project by a professor of architecture in the School of Art, Architecture, and Planning.  Apparently she required her second-year architecture class to come help set it up– a “fun” Sunday afternoon break from studio.

Subheading: Inanimate community reacts

Can’t read the sign? Wondering whose people’s deaths the pink flag remembers? A close-up after the jump.

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WTF? Oh, it’s art! Land art, to be precise. I asked a guy who was unloading the bagfuls of hay stuff into big heaps, and he said that it was:

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And no one is around to hear it — as the officer nearby testified — does it make a sound? Physicists tell me that it does, but I’m still waiting to hear back from the Philosophy department.

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The Green Cafe opened today at 4pm, to a throng of mostly college students who packed the place with a line out the door and around the corner of College and Dryden. I didn’t have the patience to wait for the “LOT OF FREE TASTING” but I did catch a quick listen of the “DJ MUSIC.” A friend told me the generously gratis food was delish, and the place looks fab in general — three words: shiny red stoolthings. It’s truly refreshing to finally fill one of Collegetown’s pathologically empty storefronts — let’s hope this one weathers the whims of college kids and the oddly business-unfriendly regulations of the City of Ithaca. Click through for an inside view.

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BEFORE: One of the hundreds — maybe thousands? — of smiley faces chalked by legendary a cappella group the Hangovers as publicity for their Happy Hour concert tomorrow (Fri Mar 27) at Bailey Hall.

Click through for the after photo.

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Just got back to campus yesterday after my first ever “party” Spring Break, which was pretty effing fantastic. What happened over the Break? Not much, really — Cornell lost to Mizzou in the first round of March Madness, Madoff’s Ponzi scheme-abetting accountant ‘81 got arrested, and, more importantly, “a devastating infestation of wooly adelgids is currently invading the University’s hemlock trees.” Most importantly, a curious new flyer has popped up all over Goldwin Smith, and I’m kind of in love with it. And, since I’m a horrible person and I mock things that I love, I drew with my bitchin’ new Crayola markers (recommended by teachers!) all the fuck over it. It’s all about a Freshman who’s lookin’ for ROCK STARS who are teh chillness. R U THE 1? Click on to see it!

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