6 MATTI SCANNELL

By Dan Zweig
STAFF WRITER

On Friday, a friend and I jumped
on our recently refurbished bicycles and
headed north from HT towards Daley Plaza
to participate in Critical Mass. Critical Mass
is where cyclists from Chicago get together
on the last Friday of every month and ride on
a different route through the city as a mass.
This inevitably blocks traffic for minutes at a
time as the group travels collectively through
green lights, even after they turn red We just
caught the group as they passednear Monroe
and State, and joined in the mass.

The group rides together through
the city at a comfortable pace, waving to
cars and pedestrians, yelling “Happy Friday"
to everyone who they see. Bikers come out
in support with their radical interpretations
of bikes, from the oldest looking bikes to the
newest, andthis Friday they werein costume
for Halloween. The route took everyone out
of downtown and through Bridgeport, out
35th to Western and up to McKinley and
Little Village. At a point we pulled over to
see the mayhem, as we had been keeping up
mostly with the front of the mass, and saw
minutes of bikers pass by, some with tandems,
some with kids in carts pulled behind
them, a few bikes that were two bike frames
welded one on top of the other, there was a
handful of skateboarders andlong—boarders,
a paddleboat reinterpreted as a bike boat,
vintage bikes, road bikes, mountain bikes,
and small bikes that you think could never

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make it a mile. Costumes included a Duff
Beer 6-pack, robots, werewolves, vampires,
bananas, and anything else you would see at
a Halloween event in Chicago.

The plan was to travel through
these various Southwestern neighborhoods
and end at a bike shop, where a celebration
and fundraiser was going to be held. It was
approximately 12 miles. When the mass
arrived - 1 estimated 2,000 bikers - the
bike shop was closed with a sign that read
“Party cancelled by order of Chicago Police
Department." In a few minutes the mass was
together again heading back for downtown.

The idea behind Critical Mass can
be interpreted by many different people as
many different things; my interpretation
is to take away the cars’ control of the city
and give it back to people. It is an exciting
collaboration of thousands of bikers who
can get together on a Friday night and
enjoy themselves, while raising awareness

 

Movie Review:

‘Wreck-It Ralph' smashing success

By Katie Peters
COPY & LAYOUT EDITOR

We will never be too old for animated
movies. Well, okay, there are some movies
we are too old to watch, but this is not true of
the newest Walt Disney Animation Studios
movie, Wreck-lt-Ralph. The movie is about
a video game character that no longer wants
to be a bad guy, and so travels to different
video games to prove himself as a hero. It was
more geared towards our generation than the
5-year-olds in the theater who outnumbered
us 50 to 1. There were appearances from old
favorites from the video games we played when
we were younger including Sonic, Bowser,
Pacman, and an awesome spoof of Call of
Duty. just watching the movie dragged out the
nostalgia andmade me enjoy it that much more.

Not only was it full of familiar friends, the

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movie was heartwarming and funny. Sarcasm
from video game characters abounded, and lleft
the theater wishing I had access to a Nintendo
64 or old-fashioned arcade. The characters were
well developed and you easily become attached
to them as the movie progressed. One of the best
parts of the movie was that it was not a remake of
a movie or book, andwas able to function on its
own plot withoutthe ending being ruined. Yes,
it was an animated movie, and yes, it had not
reached the PG- 13 or R rating that most college
students feel that they are required to watch,
but it was definitely a worthwhile movie to buy
an AMC Gold Pass for at the Welcome Desk.
Plus, it would also be an extremely fun movie to
dress up for (Pacman ghost costume, anyone?)
and would be an easy way to confuse a lot of
third graders. Lookingfor something to do this
weekend? Definitely take the time to go see this
movie, and be preparedfor another Disney hitl

Till

.—

Inmge courtesy ofthedrea dpimteguy. mm

TechNews | Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Critical Mass brings city cyclists together

of bicyclists and passively lobbying for
better treatment of bikers as well as better
infrastructure for the city. Chicago Critical
Mass has been doingthis every month for 15
years, demonstrating one last venue where
anyone can meet up and have a good time,
without dependence on cars and without

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spending any money.

Even if you cannot participate next
time, or the next after that, 1 think it would
be well worth it to take time just to go and
watch the mass ride downtown. This is an
experience no HT students should miss in
their brief collegiate experience.

  
  
    
   

Images courtesy ofDa n Zweig

WWW WWH WINNER:

Kelly Burgess

as Flo the Progressive Insurance Girl

Photo courtesy of Kelly Burgess