rover

Life in Jail

The rules keep everything orderly around here,” announced deputy Gomez, who has worked at the El Paso County Corrections Department for nearly 13 years.  He is the jail’s primary coordinator for group visitation. Alan Prendergast, a regular visiting professor at Colorado College and my professor for a journalism class I took last spring, decided to coordinate with Gomez to secure a tour of the jail for our class. 

Letter from the editor - Food

It’s the time of year when we bid peaches adieu, start noticing squash as decorations and zip our jackets up to our chins as we briskly shuffle to lunch after class. And what better to do on a chilly night of oranges and maroons than to curl up with a snack and the Food Issue? To get the full effect of the following pages, we recommend you find guidance in this homemade recipe...

Machiavelli and a Bag of Chips

I was alone in Florence this July, staying at a friend’s flat. On a gloomy day, I took one of his bikes out and stopped at a café down the road and past a park. I bought a large bottle of Birra Moretti—the Tuscan equivalent of Budweiser—a basic ham and cheese sandwich with tomatoes and basil and a bag of plain potato chips. I rode through some narrow, winding streets to the center of the city. 

Commodifying Culture

The Banana Pancake Trail is the route around Southeast Asia traveled by backpackers and sightseers, named after the dish often made at guesthouses and hostels there. Western tourists have made their presence in the region known, and restaurants, hotels and entertainment have sprung up to cater to their needs. The most common route passes through parts of Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

Any tourist lucky enough to travel this route has undoubtedly heard the ubiquitous phrase, “Same, same, but different.” Locals say it with a smile as tourists walk by in droves with the same mountaineering backpacks, the same flip-flops and the same baggy linen pants with elephants on them.

Letter from the editor - Cult

One of the best scenes in “Fight Club” is halfway through the movie when Tyler grabs Norton’s hand and drenches it in a powered chemical substance that immediately starts burning his skin. Norton starts convulsing and attempts to rip his hand away, but Tyler holds it steady between thick black gloves and begins a tirade of philosophical absolutisms while he has Norton’s full attention. After a few moments of agony, Norton begs for the vinegar that will neutralize the acid. Tyler says, “First you have to know that someday you’re going to die. It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.”