The Free Tiger

David Tennant, the current and soon-to-be-departing Doctor Who, is doing a pilot for NBC. Called Rex is Not Your Lawyer, the show is apparently about a lawyer, Rex, who starts having panic attacks and has to coach his clients to be their own lawyers. While usually that kind of premise would make me roll my eyes, and still sort of is, I have to give it a try if it ever makes it to air because of David Tennant. The quality of the actual show is anyone’s guess, but if anyone at NBC has any brains at all (which, at this point, I’m not sure that they do), they’ll let David keep his accent. His wonderful, wonderful accent. A lead with a Scottish accent automatically raises show quality by at least 10 percent. Get on it, NBC!

MU sophomore Bethany Welcher performs her poem "What's In a Name?" at the Oct. 23 open mic night in Memorial Union.

On Sunday, I ate lunch at the new Broadway Brewery located on Broadway between Eighth Street and Ninth Street downtown. Most people in Columbia think of Flat Branch when they want to go to a brewery, but this new restaurant is only a couple blocks away. The Brewery opened this year, and it is a good way to beat the crowds. It’s off the beaten path, tucked away in a downstairs location just down the street from the Peace Nook.

The Brewery has a really neat, cozy atmosphere. Paintings by local artists adorn the walls and are available for purchase. The bar reminded me of an Irish pub, but the dining area is more like a contemporary coffee house. While enjoying your meal, you can look out the window at the fountain in the courtyard.

Not only is the restaurant eclectic, but the menu is too. The Brewery uses locally grown fruits and vegetables from three Missouri farms. This allows the Brewery to develop new and exciting dishes, such as the soup of the day. You can...

Listen to an original song and audio poem performed by MU senior Michael Pilarski.

How often does the biggest professional skateboarder in the world come to Columbia, Mo.? Tony Hawk and crew are making an appearance at the Columbia Cosmopolitan Recreation Area today to give skateboarding demonstrations. He announced the event on his Twitter feed earlier today (twitter.com/tonyhawk).

There will be free Shakespeare's pizza, too. In conclusion, this is the best thing ever.

Directions: http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/ParksandRec/Skatepark/location_map.php

Event: "U.S. vs. John Brown" mock trial
When: Thursday, Oct. 15, 7 p.m.
Where: Missouri Theatre
Cost: free
More info: Each year, the MU School of Law’s Historical and Theatrical Trial Society stages a mock trial of a historical event that was never tried in its time. This year, controversial abolitionist John Brown is the focus.

Some thought he was a hero. Some, a terrorist. Abolitionist John Brown, who used armed insurrection in his fight against slavery, remains a controversial figure in 19th century American history.

This Thursday, the MU law school's Historical and Theatrical Trial Society will present a historical mock trial of the United States vs. John Brown.

The trial will explore whether John Brown was a terrorist or a patriot, applying modern law to historical facts.
...

Jack White is on the porch of a run-down farm house in the middle of nowhere, Tennessee. He’s slamming nails into a slab of wood and fitting an old coke bottle under a tightly-wound string. He plugs the contraption into an amp and, picking up a cigarette, says, “Who says you need to buy a guitar?”

This is the opening scene of Davis Guggenheim’s new documentary, "It Might Get Loud," a film that traces the music geniuses of three electric guitarists from three different generations: Jimmy Page, the Edge and Jack White. As they sit around a stage in the middle of a seemingly bare warehouse, each shares his own unique perspective of the electric guitar and the nature of the rock and roll that surrounds it. What ensues is a narration of the three guitarists’ very distinct musical roots, backgrounds and influences.

We watch as Jack White instructs a young boy to play a crappy electric guitar with his feet. We are guided by Jimmy Page through the English countryside home...

In our new Your Thoughts section, we hit the streets every week to see what students are saying about a hot news topic. For our first week, we ask students for their opinion on Obama's Nobel Peace Prize.

Advertising. Feel a little chill of dislike? I would have, too, before seeing "Art & Copy," a documentary by director Doug Pray, featuring some of the most influential creative minds in history. The profession of advertising is seen as taboo to most members of society, full of under-the-table deals and suits who care solely about keeping clients happy and milking them out of as much money as they can. "Art & Copy" shows that the real minds behind advertising are passionate, creative people who use capitalism as a medium for art. They create simple images or lines such as “Got Milk?” or “Just Do It” and, from that, are able to shape entire generations.

One professional featured in the film is George Lois, the creator of many groundbreaking ideas such as the original Tommy Hilfiger campaign, which Tommy Hilfiger says jumpstarted his entire career. He’s quite a character, using his campaigns to make statements that cause uproar from people on the street but also a...

On Thursday, MU Students for Progressive Action braved pouring rain to hold a peace protest marking the eighth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. While some students still are protesting for peace, the number is smaller than in previous conflicts. To gain perspective, we talked to a man who has been protesting every war since World War II.

John Schuder started protesting war as a college freshman in Illinois during World War II. More than half a century later, he's still at it.

For the past 26 years, Schuder has been holding anti-war posters outside the Columbia post office every Saturday from 10-11 a.m.

“Since the 1940s, (the U.S.) has been fighting wars or getting ready to fight them," he said. "The war system hasn’t ended wars. It’s long past time to try to do this with diplomacy and peace.”

In his 45 years as an MU...

When most students get bored, they goof off—hop online, watch some reality TV, whatever. When MU student Junhua Guo gets bored, he creates a Web site.

He's just launched a video streaming site called Youlivetube.com. It looks suspiciously like YouTube, but instead of featuring pre-recorded videos, it shows the action as it happens. Web sites such as livestream.com and ustream.tv have already capitalized on this idea. Guo said he thought of his site about a year ago, but hadn't been able to get to it until now.

He said it took him a month to create the Web site, and it wasn’t hard.

“You just have to know CSS and Flash and HTML,” he shrugged.

He said the process would have taken him only a week if he didn’t have to work on getting his doctorate in geological sciences or take care of his family. He’s married and has two daughters, age two years and five months. Guo is from China, but has lived and studied in Columbia for four years. He’ll graduate in...

USA Today will launch a new electronic version of the newspaper at MU on Oct. 22. Three other universities in the country will receive the trial e-Edition.

“They want to see if young people would utilize an electronic version of the USA Today any differently than a print version,” said Student Life Director Mark Lucas.

The e-Edition will be an exact digital replica of the newspaper, with additional interactive and exclusive content. The publication will maintain its familiar organization and structure, but will be available to MU students every day starting at 4:30 a.m. Central time to read online or download for later use.

MU students will also get a special Saturday-Sunday edition, called EXTRA, available only to e-Edition subscribers. The supplement will provide the reader with a weekend guide to entertainment, sports, technology, autos and travel.

“The current plan is to launch the e-Edition on one campus per week,” said Kathleen Pesha, director of...

Newt Gingrich, the former Republican Speaker of the House who led the impeachment hearings against Bill Clinton, isn’t exactly the most post-partisan figure. But like him or not, he can sense a demographic train-wreck coming for his current party.

This realization that if the GOP doesn’t broaden just its message, but its appeal, has led Gingrich to start a primitive but important website, The Americano, which attempts to sell Latinos on a right-of-center approach to politics.

Now the Web site, which doesn’t rank anywhere near the top of Spanish language news sites in America, represents something that Republican leaders need to realize, and realize soon: if they do not broaden their appeal equally well to all demographic groups, they are in for long-term electoral damage.

Simply put, the days that Republicans can simply “turn out the base” and win elections have ended. Most Republican leaders are familiar with the statistics I’m about to cite, but it doesn’t...

The gavel’s three gunshot cracks ended the court’s short recess, and the jury began to file back into their box with the grim confidence of an easy deliberation. The defendant looked terrified. Ramirez was his name. His unkempt mustache was twitching. His hands were wringing each other dry in his lap.

“All rise for the honorable Judge McEvoy,” the bailiff said. The judge sat down, ceasing the swirling of his black robes.

The courtroom grew quiet except for the reporters whose notebooks kept filling, pages whirring over each other like steamboat paddles. It was strange being here for myself, for Isabel, and not with them. I can only imagine what they thought of this case. I’ve covered violent crime in St. Louis before, but never a case like this. I was sure one of them would try to talk to me, but after they’d learned I was one of them they decided to leave me alone. They’d been a little more persistent with Isabel’s mother though, until they figured out she didn’t...

In the world of weekly TV
There are things everyone should see
And things with reputations overblown
That surely are best left alone.
Trying to sift through good and bad
Can surely drive a watcher mad
But this dire fate you will be spared
For my advice will now be shared.
Monday’s where we start our quest
With a sitcom that is one of the best
"How I Met Your Mother" is its name
Five seasons in and finally getting acclaim.
Watch as Ted slowly moves toward his fate,
Supported by a cast that is truly great.
Then avert your eyes as we pass "One Tree Hill,"
Hop over "Two and a Half Men," they’ll make you ill.
Then you’ll arrive at the next good show,
"Gossip Girl," which I know
Some say is soapy and doesn’t make sense.
At this accusation I must come to its defense:
Its absurdity is its beauty, its soapiness its charm,
And some mindless TV fun won’t do you any...

“Don’t be afraid of swine flu, ladies. Lean into those sugar pushes!”

Scott Lowry, President of the Mizzou Swing Society, addresses his beginner group while teaching a new move. The group does not focus on competition or the standard aspects of most clubs at the university, but instead focuses on a social dimension.

Lowry, who co-founded the group in 2007, says, “It’s a great social crowd. You can meet different people—it’s outside of your field of study but it’s still a group of people with a common interest. Anyone can do it. You don’t have to be affiliated with the university. There’s no dress code and no forms to fill out—and it’s great exercise.”

Lowry’s enthusiasm and passion for the club shine through in his light-hearted teaching demeanor.

“It’s sort of like squatting down to sit on the toilet,” he says, “but not quite.” He demonstrates a basic swing-dancing stance, one of many learned by novices who follow Lowry’s lead in steps and attitude...

The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute boasts everything from plasmas to its own library to an espresso machine in the J-café. Upon walking downstairs in this 30,000 square-foot building, the Futures Lab only further demonstrates RJI’s ability to attain whatever is required to provide the best possible atmosphere for both faculty and aspiring journalists. With state-of-the-art technology, students can experiment with new software, attend virtual seminars, and play Rock Band—all while sitting in chairs worth $800 each.

Because it has to withstand continual use, the Futures Lab furniture must be built to last, said Carole Christie, Communications Director of RJI.

“Every aspect is built to withstand a lot of use, including a higher grade of webbing and upholstery, five extra heavy-duty reinforced steel supports on the bottom, etc.,” Christie said in an e-mail.

This level of appliance endurance does not come without a cost. These chairs generally sell for...

There used to be a man named Farmer. He’s dead now. He died in a boating accident on Mirror Lake in Parkersville, Minnesota. He was fishing for bass. He was a good man. Fact. The obituary even said Farmer had been a good man. The priest said Farmer was a good man. Even the lawyers, when they added up what little Farmer had and calculated the mass of his influence on the world, said he was a good man. It is on those reports that I put this fact in this paper, because those documents made it true, affirmed it with cold calculations.

Once there had been a banner which hung over the Roman columns of the town hall in Parkersville. In big black bold letters it read, “God bless this sacred earth, and lead all men toward peace.” It’s not there anymore. On some cold October night a seventeen-year-old boy took it upon himself to climb to the top of the Roman columns and draw swastikas and poorly crafted parts of the male anatomy in dark blue paint. The boy was not a Nazi, and he was...