Finals time is upon us, and it is a time when many of us become hermit-like in our preparations for upcoming exams. All too often we end up gorging ourselves on fast food, so that we don’t have to waste a minute of our study time to cook. However, you can still eat quick (and relatively cheap) while being calorie-conscious. Remember, being kind to your waistline now will help keep that double chin at bay for the countless holiday pictures many of us will be forced to endure.

- When reading this article, please pay special attention to the DIET TRAP items, some of which may even appear to resemble a “healthy” option, but are actually quite the opposite. Though depending on the subject of the given study day, they may be exactly the op­tion that you need then!

Arby’s: This well-known chain has an assortment of healthy items, including many of their “Market Fresh” salads, all of which can have less than 500 calo­ries. That being said, this is taking for granted that you don’t add two packets of dressing and extra salad toppings.

For example:

*The Santa Fe Salad with Grilled Chicken, seasoned tortilla strips, and light buttermilk ranch dressing is only 449 calories!

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By: Kirsten Haalboom, food critic

mmmm...mango lassis

Saturday night is date night, but what should we do and where should we go? There is always dinner and a movie, but that gets a bit old if you always go to the same place for dinner. We need to spice things up a bit. When we realized that the movie we wanted to see was playing in Hobart, it solved things for us… we would swing by Taste of India, at 761 East 81st Av­enue in Merrillville, before the movie.

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If Ebenezer Scrooge was frightened into the Christmas Spirit by a se­ries of three ghosts, then trust me when I say that this mystical ale could knock the “Bah Humbug!” out of just about anyone. I am proud to have the distinct pleasure of introducing you to Dark Lord Imperial Stout, by Three Floyds Brewing Co. in nearby Munster, Indiana. It is a rare treat as an annual re­lease, but it is well worth the long wait in line during the April festival. Make sure you bring along a sober driver (and perhaps an exorcist) wherever you sam­ple this one.

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As finals are just around the cor¬ner, we’re sure many of you have started to print your life-saving outlines. But like us, you’re no¬ticing that the dollar sign in the bottom right portion of the toolbar is dwindling faster than the economy. This is a large shock for veterans because printing was unlimited last year. While two years ago printing was restricted, the adminis¬tration saw fit to provide students with a sufficient supply to at least complete 1L research and writing assignments. The little ‘300’ none of us have seen since the last week in August hasn’t gone that far. As 1Ls have probably run out of pages this semester, the breakdown that follows will assure them that they will be short in the Spring as well.
Let’s start with Legal Research: it is essential to have a printout of the assignment when you’re knee-deep in pocket-parts, so we have included in the first number the amount of pages it would take to print out each assignment. Also, answers must be double-spaced, typed, and with a heading and honor code so the second number reflects how many pages are needed to properly complete each assignment. Based on a recollection of our 1L year (and some help from CourseVU), the number of pages you will use will look something like this: Read the rest of this entry »

Oasis – Dig Out Your Soul

What most Oasis fans must be thinking is, why didn’t the band release this album a decade ago? The most recent effort for the wannabe-Beatles is the strongest al­bum they have put out in thirteen years. The opening track, “Bag It Up,” sets the tone for the rest of the album, which is at times heavy and at other times dis­playing the shades of brilliance that Oa­sis can provide for the listeners who still remember the days when they put out their other albums. The standout track, though, is the shivering and forceful “The Shock of the Lightning,” which contains all the ingredients necessary for a great Oasis track: clean vocals, rocking guitars, and just enough hook in the chorus to render listeners powerless to its charms. Last but not least, what good would an Oasis song be without a subtle Beatles reference, in this case it’s an acknowledgment to a magical mystery.

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What words describe autumn in Valparaiso? Crisp air, bright­ly colored leaves and…rain. Luckily there is another word to cheer us up on dreary days, namely, turkey. Unfortunately, attending class does not leave me much time to roast a traditional turkey, with all the trimmings of course. As the holiday season approaches and we long with sentimental fondness for family gatherings, I am grateful that there is a place in town where we can go and get our fill of comfort food. I am speaking of Strongbow Inn, located at 2405 East U.S. 30.

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Eleven years ago The Verve was poised to become the next great band out of England to stake their claim as the mainstream rock band of the moment. Riding high off the success of the smash single “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” the future held big things as the album spun off several other mildly successful singles in “The Drugs Don’t Work” and “Lucky,” but things went awry. A lawsuit over a Rolling Stones sample used in “Bitter Sweet Symphony” reportedly took away all of the money generated by the song and album, “Urban Hymns.” The band broke up due to turmoil between singer Richard Ashcroft and guitarist Nick McCabe and would not reunite until the summer of 2007.

In the meantime Ashcroft released three solo albums, which were met with mixed reviews but sold well in England and Europe. The album “Forth,” released in the United States on August 26th, proves two things about The Verve: if the band had never existed Coldplay would likely never have formed, and that the band will make music on their own terms.

is a power anthem that draws its power from Ashcroft’s emotional vocals, backed by a band fully in sync with their musical abilities. Other standout tracks on the album include “Rather Be” and “Valium Skies.” Though this album is about nine years late, there is little doubt that “Forth” seems eerily to be the album the band would have recorded as a follow-up to “Urban Hymns.”

In order for listeners to fully understand the hypnotic power of this band, multiple listens are essential because many of these songs will not jump out and hook you, but rather will grow on you like a childhood best friend. While this album is short of perfection, it fully cements The Verve as a band to be reckoned with in the future. I give it an 8 out of 10.

he Stand Ins,” originally conceived as the second half of a double album (the first half, “The Stage Names,” was released last year), was finally released in early September to a long awaited sigh of relief from the indie rock faithful.

Singer Will Sheff does a noble job of assembling a group of songs that sound closer to having been recorded in your brother’s bedroom instead of a music studio. The songs are straight-forward, borderline sing-a-long material, and therein lies the album’s charm. Okkervil River is not out to change the world with their music, but to instead make it a slightly better place in which to live.

At various points the album takes on a jingle jangle of heartbreak in “Starry Stairs.” The next track, “Blue Tulip,” is a ballad in every sense of the word and checks in at 6 minutes and 18 seconds, by far the longest song on the album. Sheff sings with complete honesty on “Blue Tulip” when he belts out, “with every single cell of me, I’m going to make you mean the words you sigh, you lie.”

Aptly described as folk-rock, Okkervil River have continued to churn out well-calculated and honestly arranged albums. So often today many bands experience a morsel of success and their music never sounds the same as when people fell in love with it. Thankfully that is not the case with “The Stand Ins,” which utilizes the same formula as their previous album with enough subtle changes to strap listeners in for a new experience. I give it a 9 out of 10.

For those of you who do not know us, Gus is my better half. He works hard to support me as I struggle through the trials and tribulations of law school. Most days, I enjoy cooking for the two of us, but occasionally, I do not have the time or energy to make a healthy, delicious meal. When that happens, we go through the process of deciding where we should eat out in the thriving metropolis of Valparaiso. When we first moved to town, we had no clue that there were incredibly diverse dining choices available in town. Although Applebees and Fridays are great to go to on occasion, I soon tired of their selection, and we began to branch out to locally owned restaurants. One place I am happy to have discovered is Mezza, at 607 E. Lincolnway.

The word “mezza” actually means appetizer in Arabic. When you eat at this restaurant, you will quickly discover that the menu consists primarily of various “tapas,” or appetizers. Some of the menu options include an order

of five cold dishes and five warm for a table to share at approximately sixteen dollars a person. This may seem a bit pricey for appetizers, but once the food starts coming, you aren’t likely to miss having a main course. The only problem with this particular option is that the entire table has to agree on which ten items to order. This can be difficult, but it is more cost-effective if you can make it work. It also assists in the flow of the meal, as the food comes out in courses, and it is not particularly pleasant if some people at the table have to sit and watch the rest of the table eat because they did not order anything for the first course .

When evaluating a restaurant, I

find that there is a simple test for deciding whether I would recommend eating there to a friend or not. This test consists of four elements, none of which are decisive in my conclusion. These elements are: ambiance, service, cost and taste. In considering ambiance, I look to the decor, the table arrangements, whether there is music, and whether there is entertainment available. When I evaluate the service, I primarily consider both the speed and the accuracy of the wait-staff, but I must also consider whether the server is friendly and charismatic as well. Cost seems like a relatively simple factor, and it is, but quality plays a part in that consideration; I am unwilling to pay much at all if I feel the quality is low, but I may be willing to splurge on a high-quality restaurant experience. The final element in my analysis, taste, is given the most weight in my balance of elements. I may be willing to put up with poor service, bad ambiance, and high costs if the food is incredible, but if it is so-so, any one of the other factors may tip the balance away from the restaurant. In considering taste, I look to more than whether I simply enjoy the meal, but also to whether it is original or unusual. In other words, I want the food to be the main reason why I chose a particular restaurant. The application of this test to Mezza is as follows:

The decor of Mezza is lovely. There are shades of blue and yellow throughout the restaurant, suggesting the feel of the Mediterranean, without being obvious or overdone. The table arrangements are overcrowded indoors, but wonderful outdoors, where there are garden lights and tiki-torches burning. There was no noticeable music playing while I was in the restaurant, but there

was the exciting entertainment of a fire-dancer, Ian Jahnz. It was an extremely diverse way to spend an evening, and infinitely added to my experience at Mezza. Overall, the ambiance of Mezza is excellent, with the available entertainment and pleasant decor outweighing the crowded feel.

The one problem I encountered while eating at Mezza was that the service was slightly slow. We arrived at the restaurant for our 7:30 reservation, but did not get menus until 8:00, and

were not served our first appetizers until around 9:00. However, we did watch the dancer during part of that time and later discovered that there was a shortage of wait-staff on that particular evening. Therefore it is uncertain whether service would always be so slow at the restaurant. Whether or not that is the case, I would recommend making sure you have the evening free if you are having dinner at Mezza, just in case.

As I stated above, you can share ten menu items for a price of sixteen dollars a person, which is not overly expensive for the food that is served at Mezza. If you choose to take a different route in ordering, the appetizers

range from five dollars to ten, depending on what they involve. Entree items are generally around fifteen dollars, and sandwiches are no more than eight dollars. However, Mezza does offer a student discount for lunches, which is any of six sandwiches with a beverage for only six dollars.

Our meal began with hummus, a spread made of chickpeas, and baba ganouj, a spread made from mashed eggplant, which we ate with warm pitas. We moved from there to falafels, which

are fried treats with a filling made of chickpeas and fava beans. Arguably, the best menu item we tried was the scallops. They were cooked to perfection, and delicately spiced. The item I would recommend to anyone carnivorous, however, is the kefta quesadilla. Gus’s response to his first bite was “Oh my God,” followed by delighted silence, which always means he believes eating is more important than talking at that particular moment. Kefta is grilled sirloin flavored with five-spice. It tastes exotic and familiar all at once. I felt that Chef Sarah Geary outdid herself with this appetizer, and I wanted to eat more.

I would recommend this restaurant to anyone who wants to treat their dining experience as an evening out of the ordinary. It provides a relaxed environment with delicious foods that are generally unavailable in small-town America. More importantly, I believe from what I tasted that everything on the menu is probably worth trying, and the more I try, the more curious I get about what else is offered.

Welcome back after a long summer of hopefully brewing and tasting. I certainly enjoyed mine, and was welcomed back to law school with a grand slam of a sample, this delectable Belgian Tripel.

As I have elaborated upon in the past, the Belgian Tripel is, if not THE king of all brew styles, at least among the kings in the brewing world (deliberately excluding an American “beer” that markets that title). As I have described in my previous columns, this whopping style utilizes candy sugar to produce both an ABV and a body that is unparalleled in the brewing world. Not only are many of these brews meticulously crafted by Christian monks, they are usually organic, bottle conditioned and corked in 750mL bottles. What makes this class so dominant in the eyes of many brewers and tasters is its pure simplicity of form and attention to detail that create such a depth of character and diversity in palette to leave you intrigued, wine bottle after wine bottle of this delicate goodness.

aged to find not only a unique selection of beers from around the world, but also an assortment of delectable cheeses to compliment such world class craftsmanship. I spent a good deal of time sampling the cheeses until I arrived at the cheese that was meant for this terrifically crafted beer: a Belgian abbey goat cheese fermented with organic, abbey-raised honey.

“hefe-like” presence as the light superficial froth hung on the edges of the crystal. I could have literally spent hours wandering through this beer’s aroma, as it permeated my nose with its very floral, peony or hibiscus essence, followed by a chamomile or apricot sweetness. A very balanced mouthfeel was evident upon taking the first grasp of this divine substance; the carbonation’s feel echoed its appearance—as a perfect champagne intensity, and it was relatively full. Its sweet body of concentrated apricot then engulfed my entire palette followed by a distinct sour and almost bitter aftertaste, distinctly evident of granny smith apples or German Gewurstraminer grapes. This sourness intrigued me well after this 750mL was split four ways (the mere cost of good company), and I was left with the mystery of a clean, dry champagne-like finish. The character and body of this beer was so complex that my only regret was not having an assortment of accompaniments to isolate each individual essence. I strongly recommend all of you readers (albeit three of you…) to take a journey over to Old World Market and give this one a try!

By Brett Stein
The Hold Steady – Stay Positive
There is something about The Hold Steady’s newest release that immediately sucks you in. The first song, “Constructive Summer,” blares out of the speakers with scorching guitars and just a dash of keyboard that makes you want to stop what you are doing and sing along. Another standout track, “Sequestered in Memphis,” is the kind of track you might expect to hear at any halfway decent bar located anywhere in the Midwest. This effort sees the band making a concerted effort at telling a story from start to finish, and for the most part, they achieve their goal in a convincing fashion. Read the rest of this entry »