Big Rapids will be featuring a new restaurant downtown to add to its fine choices of local eateries. Coming to the downtown area is the Blue Cow Café, featuring a variety of soups and other lunch choices. The café will also feature a wine bar and a wine shop. Keep an eye out for this new diner next to Pepper’s Café on Michigan Avenue.

Along with the new Blue Cow Café, Big Rapids also has Schuberg’s Bar and Grill, Peppers Café and Deli, A la Mode Cafe and Kilwins. It’s a wide variety, all worth at least a single visit.

Pepper’s Café and Deli
Pepper’s is a lunch shop that specializes in deli sandwiches. For $5.95 their customers can choose from a variety of premade sandwich combinations that include a plate full of kettle cooked potato chips and a dill pickle and pepper. Customers can also choose to build their own combination.

There are several choices of bread, ranging from wheat and white to rye and croissants. Customers can choose from a number of cheeses including cheddar, ricotta, muenster, Swiss, bleu cheese, and much more. The meats are just as numerous. A choice of ham, roast beef, chicken, turkey, pepperoni, salami, and others are available.

All in all it is the best sandwich in town. I recommend the number 19 sandwich.

Customers can also add a bowl of soup or salad to their lunch.

Schuberg’s Bar and Grill
Schuberg’s offers a nice family friendly atmosphere along with a bar. It’s a stark contrast from Shooters, appealing more to the non-party types. The menu has a wide variety of offerings, though it specializes in hamburgers. For a little over $7 a customer can enjoy a quarter pound burger with a basket-full of the best French fries in town.

Schuberg’s might best be known for its Schuburger. Joined with it is the Big Schu, which I recommend, and several other savory burger combinations.

A la Mode Café
One of Big Rapids' hidden little secrets is the A la Mode Café. Located across the Maple Street Bridge sits a little log cabin eatery that just shouts small town excellence. A la Mode Café specializes in breakfast, but offers an equally satisfying lunch menu.

The menu offers several different numbered breakfast combinations ranging in price from $5 to $8. It is especially known for its customized omelets. A number of cheeses, meats, and vegetables can be added to the omelets. A la Mode Café’s pancakes also will not displease. A number of toppings and fruits can be added. Beyond breakfast, it has been claimed by a few of my friends that A la Mode Café offers the finest burger in town.

I recommend the number five breakfast combination with hash browns, rye toast and over medium eggs.

Kilwins
Kilwins, located inside the Old Pioneer Store and Emporium, is more of a small specialty shop. It’s not so much a lunch destination, though it’s an excellent choice for post lunch dessert. Kilwins offers a variety of fudge and ice cream. There is a wide variety of different flavors. During Halloween time the shop even offers a special pumpkin flavored ice cream. Inside is also a novelty and gift shop. Kilwins really offers a Northern Michigan atmosphere.

All of these are satisfying choices. As a Ferris State student you would be missing out if you didn’t experience all these places of business at least once. Some people like to complain about the shortcomings of a small town, but there are hidden treasures that big cities will never be able to emulate. A roast beef sandwich, a juicy hamburger, soft and flavorful French fries, an omelet to die for and fudge to fight for. Support your local business and give these hidden treasures a try.

There will be a song for everyone to sing on Sunday, May 4, at 4 p.m. in the Big Rapids High School Auditorium, thanks to the women of Voca Lyrica.

Voca Lyrica is a select women’s choir ensemble directed by Ginny Kerwin, accompanied by Michael Shansky, and is fashioned by 30 women from the Big Rapids and surrounding areas, and currently one Ferris student. The group sings styles of music ranging from “classical to show tunes,” according to Helen Sobers of FSU Library for Information and Technology and Education, and member of the Voca Lyrica publicity committee.

The concerts include many different pieces and temperaments of music, most of the time including special guest singing groups as well. Sobers says, “In the past we have had area church choirs, instrumental ensembles, a men’s barbershop group, and other women’s choirs.”

This choral group, going into its seventh year of submission, performs two concerts a year, one for Christmas and another in the springtime, making this the first concert of 2008. This upcoming spring concert is titled “Once Upon a Time,” and will be comprised of songs that tell a story.

“It’s an eclectic mix of compositions that reflect the oral traditions of several different countries such as Australia, Italy, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United States,” states the official press release for the event.

The special guest choir group this year will be the Lakewood Area Choral Society from Lake Odessa, Mich. This group is made up of 110 voices all directed by Dr. Robert Oster, whom will also be performing in the concert.

Dr. Oster has served as the artistic and founding director of this group for 23 years, putting on numerous sacred and secular concerts all around Michigan each year. The choir members are also very diverse, displaying a wide range of age, occupation, and origins.

A special addition to this concert, aside from the refreshments, will be the presentation of summer music camp scholarships awarded to select and deserving Big Rapids vocal music students.

Tickets for the show are $5 each, available for purchase at Patterson’s Flowers in both Big Rapids and Canadian Lakes, at the Old Pioneer and Emporium in downtown Big Rapids, from any Voca Lyrica member, and are also available at the door on the day of the concert.

Additional information about the 7th annual Voca Lyrica spring concert can be obtained by contacting Helen Sobers by either telephone at x3695, or through e-mail at sobersh@ferris.edu.

In the words of Steven Tyler in the Aerosmith song “Livin’ On the Edge,” something’s wrong with the world today.

But, in the case of this story, these seven Germans might as well be singing Kylie Minogue’s “I Can’t Get You Outta My Head,” referring to the lice they are host to in the name of art.

Last week, fellow Torch employee and Arts and Entertainment editor Megan Tower wrote about the recent story of a Yale student whose senior art project entails multiple self-inseminations followed by self-induced miscarriages: All in the name of art.

This not only sparked some anger deep within my conservative self, but also sparked a little interest in what people are calling art these days.

And boy, did I come across some head scratching ideas. Seven young artists from Berlin, Germany, have infested the parasite into their hair and are living in an Israeli museum. For three weeks.

This is not some scientific experiment to help discover more about the pesky head-crawler or invent new ways to rid them from your hair. This is an art exhibit, people!

What the...? Are we talking about the same contagious sixlegged, breeding-bloodsucking parasite? Yep. And this has caused quite a controversy.

The Museum of Bat Yam, located in Israel, came up with a theme that centered around hosts and guests in line.

Proposals were sent in from around the world and the idea of hosting head lice won over Milana Gitzin-Adiram, the chief curator of the museum.

So now, the artists are sleeping, eating and bathing in the gallery. In Sunday’s Reuters’ article, one of the artists, Vincent Grunwald, said, “The idea is that we live in the museum as their guests, and at the same time we are hosting lice on our heads.”

But the controversy doesn’t lie behind the fact that these artists are home to cooties, it’s what the bugs represent.

Some are saying that the exhibition brings back memories of the Holocaust and Nazi propaganda, when Jews were described as “parasites.”

Apparently that was never intended by the artists. They just wanted to use this chance as a way to ask whether the word could be “reclaimed” in Israel.

Stefan Reuter, another host to the bugs, said, “We were aware that, as Germans in Israel, there was a risk we may be misunderstood, that we would open up wounds.”

Well, of course you’re going to open up wounds. Aren’t they aware that the lice feed off of small amounts of blood from the scalp? Yuck.

He added, “People ask about it—we had one woman who came and thanked us for making such a great statement against the fascist rhetoric of German history.”

It’s too bad the statement that they are trying to make has me self-consciously scratching myself on the head.

Who knew Ferris was so full of talent?

If you didn’t or you’re just looking for a night of entertainment, you should check out the 9th annual Ferris’ Finest Talent Showcase this Friday, May 2 at 7 p.m. For a $4 fee everyone and anyone can sit back and relax in the Williams Auditorium while experiencing only the best talent on campus.

Not to mention, the winners will end up receiving $1,900 in cash prizes. First prize will win $1,000, second prize at $600, and a third prize totaling $300.

The talent showcase will feature a huge range of talents and acts from the performers, from hip-hop artists and vocal soloists to multiple different dance and musical groups. The soloists include Jacob Przyojski on guitar, the Sunshine String Band on banjo, and many vocal soloists: Illena Hill, Ashley Beck, Jasmine Williams, and Brittney Robinson.

Dancers will take the stage also, with acts including the FSU Dance Team, LIVE & HOT, KHARASMATIC, and FEEDBACK; hip-hop dancing by Shane G & Young Mel and MYSTA RIOS; and a folk dance group, KAURS Rules.

The band Poor Boys Relief will play, as will the group called Rhythm of Fire, which includes drumming and Poi dancing, a native New Zealand dancing tradition and form of juggling.

So come and cheer on your friends and fellow students as they play music, sing, dance, and juggle their way towards $1,000 dollars in a night full of fine Ferris fun.

Anyone requesting additional information about the event can contact Andrea Beck-Jones of Multicultural Student Services by phone at x2617 or at becka@ferris.edu. Additionally, anyone with a disability who needs special accommodations in order to attend the event should please call the Office of Multicultural Student Services at x2617 at least 72 hours in advance.

People will know you after S.W.O.T. Public Relations (PR), a newly created student run PR firm on campus, has worked its magic.

Did you see the Big Red Chair on campus and around town during the weeks leading up to Ferris Fest? Did you see the Big Red Chair on stage during Ferris Fest?

S.W.O.T Public Relations used the Big Red Chair as a buzz marketing tool to get students stoked about Ferris Fest.

“Ashley Abbot came up with buzz marketing; she referred back to Grand Rapids when a cow was placed around the city to promote McDonald’s new lattes. We were looking for something during a brainstorm meeting; from there we called the theatre department to see if it had anything funky to spread around town. We got the chair from ‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.’ From there it just kind of took off. We came up where to put it, and it turned into something crazy,” said Ferris Fest account executive, Jennifer Weesies.

While the post program evaluation is still taking place, Weesies said there were about 350 members of the Facebook group “Have You Seen the Red Chair?” There were also about 120-posted photos of students and their friends chilling with the chair.

Creating a buzz about Ferris Fest is just the beginning for S.W.O.T Public Relations; the newest prospective client is the Democratic Progressive Students for Social Justice, and S.W.O.T. will begin working with them intensely next school year.

According to firm director Amber Balmer, S.W.O.T. is looking for new ways to promote and advertise themselves to Ferris and the Big Rapids community.

Balmer came up with the idea last semester. “I thought it was genius and original. Then I found out it was in our PRSSA [Public Relations Student Society of America] handbook, so I decided to give it a shot,” Balmer said.

S.W.O.T. is modeled after professional public relations agencies. The firm director, who works closely with account executives, heads it and underclassmen, whom are still learning the basics of public relations, make up the event teams.

“The Big Red Chair went pretty well I think and we’re looking to go from there,” Balmer said about S.W.O.T.’s progress in the last couple of weeks.

“It’s been a good way to jump start S.W.O.T PR, get it known [and it’s a] great first time exposure for S.W.O.T PR,” Weesies said about the success of the Big Red Chair.

If you would like your RSO, campus or community event to be known throughout Big Rapids contact S.W.O.T Public Relations at SwotPR@yahoo. com.

Movies have changed immensely over the decades. Technology has advanced so much that just about anything is possible on the big screen. Recently, I watched a movie that I hadn’t seen since I was a kid. With age, I have developed a better taste for movies and a better appreciation for film.

This movie, which was originally released in 1982, was remembered by me for the little alien and the overall spooky feel. Now that I have seen it in full some 10 years later, it is one of my favorite cinematic adventures; if I can say that.

Directed by Steven Spielberg, it won four Oscars, 38 other awards and 27 nominations. If you haven’t figured it out by now, the movie is “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.”

Some of you may be questioning my logic here. Well, you obviously haven’t seen it recently. It made me laugh, I choked up and I loved every minute of it. When you’re a kid, when I last saw it, your main thinking is, “I wanna see the alien!” You don’t have an appreciation for the finer elements of any Spielberg movie.

I made some realizations during the personal re-screening that made the movie make so much more sense. These things included that fact that Elliott gets sick because E.T. gets sick, the guy with the keys was contacted by E.T. years ago and E.T. comes back to life because of Elliott’s love. You don’t realize this when you’re young because you’re crying over the death of E.T.

It’s not all fuzzy warm feelings though. While I did really like the movie there were some things I did not like.

The copy I rented from the movie store was the “new” version of the movie. Wikipedia cites it as a “20th Anniversary Edition.” It has some extra scenes added in the movie and the standard DVD extras like commentary and behind the scenes footage. But I drew some concerns over some of the appearances of digital E.T.

For example, at the beginning of the movie E.T. is running through the shrubs to get back to his ship. In the original version of the movie, which I think I have at home, taped off of HBO from the late 80’s, all you really see is E.T.’s head and red-light heart moving through the shrubbery. In this “new” version, you see a full body shot of E.T. sprinting and making some Barry Sanders-esque moves to get back to the ship.

Initially this had me worried that the digital E.T. had replaced the half muppet, half costume E.T. that made the original appearance in 1982.

There is another scene later where the digital E.T. is fussing with a tube of toothpaste in the bathroom. It just doesn’t seem to fit in the movie and it takes the digital-ness to the max.

There is another cosmetic change that I did not notice but was made aware of, care of the Wikipedia article on the movie, that was that near the end. When all the kids are on their bikes and E.T. is about to make them fly, there are two police cars with officers standing beside them. Originally, these officers are holding rifles; they were replaced with walkie-talkies.

My problem with this is that you are basically changing movie history. The times were different then; they didn’t have CGI and the guns weren’t that offensive. But changing some of the original E.T. to the new E.T. is almost as ridiculous as the idea from “Thank You For Smoking” where they wanted to remove all cigarettes from previous films.

You can’t change movie history. I don’t have a problem with adding scenes, but adding them 20 years later with new technology involved is not alright in my book. Rolling Stone even printed, “Remember those guns the feds carried? Thanks to the miracle of digital, they’re now brandishing walkie-talkies.... Is this what two decades have done to free speech?”

Feel free to remaster the classics but not digitalize the main character.