Bender Breakers

Our original show flyer. Oh, the glories of MS Paint.

We here at Bender Breakers really, really love music. Really. 

As a matter of fact, yes, we did broadcast out of a broom closet for a while during the renovation of the actual studio.

For about six months in 2007, my best friend and I hosted our own radio show on public radio in Champaign, IL. It was the best time of my life. We've been trying to look into internet or other public options without much progress up in Chicago. Never fear, we'll be back someday.

Stretched and Balanced

BUZZ - Illini Media

I am bent over at the waist with a towel on my stomach and suspended by a rope tied to the wall. I’m trying to balance my head on a block while simultaneously keeping my legs straight and tightened. Aziz says my spine needs elongating so he’s put me here while he instructs the rest of the class in how to put their legs over their heads.

This is my first day of yoga class and what started as an idea to get in shape in a new way this summer has turned out to be nothing like what I had expected. Already I’ve seemingly been singled out by my hyper-extended knees and curved spine, but I somehow trust Aziz’s expertise because of his eye for noticing the nuances of my body without having to be told about them. My fear of being the center of attention has turned into fascination. Of course, that could be the blood rushing to my brain.

Sweet [Tasting] Home C-U

BUZZ - Illini Media

I love summer festivals. To me, there are few things better than eating outside all day with a bunch of my friends in gorgeous weather and surrounded by great music. Fortunately for me, and the rest of the community, the Taste of Champaign-Urbana has been running strong for almost four decades and shows no sign of stopping anytime soon.

New high-tech Carle facilities improve quality for patients, staff

The Daily Illini

Every year, Urbana's own Carle Foundation Hospital performs about 12,000 surgeries, 400 to 500 of those by its cardiovascular specialists. Now, with the addition of four brand new, state-of-the-art operating suites and thirty-two private recovery rooms, the overall experience of surgery for the public is improving with every heartbeat.

Welcome to the Edge of Humanity.

On the Town - The Daily Illini

God have mercy on our dirty little hearts

I don't know about all the other Trentophiles out there, but I've spent the last week since my editor handed me my own free copy of Year Zero in absolute Nine Inch Nails euphoria. I've listened to it so much at this point it's probably bordering on unhealthy. If you're not familiar with how it works in the world of these favorite sons of industrial, a new Nails album is generally few and far in between; two a decade if we're lucky. It's been a bittersweet goodbye to Trent's drug habit for most as he's lost some of the tortured charm that had so defined him since the late 80's, but the fact that the ratio of albums to years has drastically reduced is nothing short of a joygasm for all. And the quality of the results are maturing as boldly and gracefully as the elusive front man himself.

Tour de Hunger Force

On the Town - The Daily Illini

A film for adult cartoon fans who need no instructions to know how to rock.

While the initial guerilla advertising campaign proved to Boston that Moonanites and Lite-Brites can be more emotionally destructive than previously thought, the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters is exactly what you'd expect.

'Zodiac' intrigues despite length

The Daily Illini

For ten months between 1969 and 1970, a serial killer terrorizes Northern California, committing one vicious and mysterious murder of opportunity after another. Police departments all over the state set quickly on the trail of The Zodiac Killer as local newspapers publish his cryptic codes and letters in Zodiac.