RoomHop is back, this time with a DIY/modern art/bricolage special from Watt. If your room needs Hopping, contact us at tips@bwog.net with a picture.

“I imagine my room to be a giant junkyard, but not so dirty,” says Patrick Han of the Watt double he shares with Shao-Wen Ang. The “garbage aesthetic,” as Shao-Wen calls it, starts at their front door plastered with an original art piece. “We broke some pens and splattered the ink, then stuck a blunt knife through an orange.”

The interior, too, makes creative use of dried fruit. While most people throw away Clementine peels and old tea bags, Patrick and Shao-Wen choose to feature them. They unhinged their window guards and weaved fruit peels, playbills, and photos through the diamond slits. “The window covering is a useful way to hold things,” says Patrick.

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Photo from http://urbanhawks.blogs.com

Our four-legged friends took a field trip to Central Park yesterday, and wound up all over the internet. (Urban Hawks)

The Royal Shakespeare Company will ply the bard’s trade during a month-long residency at Lincoln Center in the summer of 2011. (NYT)

The MTA figured out that the F train was slow, so, naturally, it will be miserably shut down in parts of Brooklyn for seven weekends this year. (Daily Intel)

New York isn’t quite as romantic as all those movies led us to believe, huh? (Gothamist)

It’ll definitely (probably/maybe/perhaps) snow tomorrow night and into Wednesday. Take that, D.C.! (Daily Intel)

Evidence: (1) There was actually a giant Earth on Low Plaza today, brought to you by Global Brigades, which will be holding information sessions with free food tonight in Earl Hall at 7:30pm and 9:00pm. (2) Gossip Girl is set up at on Claremont Ave. near 120th St., perhaps poised to shoot on campus. (3) A line of police cars showed up near 122th St. today for no explicable reason, perhaps looking for coyotes.

Free food, Gossip Girl, a spot on World’s Wildest Police Videos–what else is there to life?

Found on Craigslist between “Skiing near Columbia and want to get plowed” and “Hot hole for dick”:

Cook Poo Please Come Back! – m4w – 30 (Harlem / Morningside)

Your seat has been so empty since you left. Oh, how I miss you so.

Baby come back, any kind of fool could see
There was something in everything about you
Baby come back, you can blame it all on me
I was wrong, and I just can’t live without you

But seriously, I need more students in my class in order to keep my job at Columbia.

-Ted Mosby

Bwog wishes him the best of luck.

Anyone who has ever been late for a class knows that running up the uneven Steps of Low is basically impossible, even for the athletically inclined among us (i.e., not the Bwog staff). Many Columbians and pedestrians alike have puzzled over why the Steps’ spacing is so adverse towards mobility. Bwog’s Megan McGregor reports with answers:

Photo via CU Archives

Some tour guides have been heard telling prospies that the Steps were rebuilt after the ’68 riots to make storming Low a lengthy and difficult process.   WikiCU also states that the stairs “[serve] as a physical barrier distinguishing academics at the top (welcomed by Alma Mater) from the commoners below.”  Although these scenarios sound awesome, they were not the intentions of McKim, Mead and White. According to A Guide to Columbia University, a 1937 CU Press publication, the firm actually designed the stairs (and Low Plaza) to resemble the stylobate of the Parthenon (the lower level stretching 330 feet wide and constructed on a curve rising four inches in the center). The Steps we see today are the originals completed in 1897.

So next time you find yourself sprinting up Low’s onerous staircase, take a moment to appreciate the steps for what they are–not an anti-activist menace but our very own Grecian urban beach.

Photo by HSG

There was no ribbon-cutting and you won’t get any berets, but the Diana Center Café officially opens today, and people are trying their best not to accidentally make double entendres. The new cafeteria features a macaroni and cheese bar, a handful of different paninis, and a salad bar. It’s open from 11:30 to 3; students use either Barnard meal points or Dining Dollars.

Valentine’s Day is this Sunday, and we’re bringing back Bwog Personals just in time. For those of you who have friends that are less fortunate than others (or in some eyes, “luckier”) and are dreading a day of loneliness, don’t worry. We’ve got ‘em covered.

Bwog Personals allows eligible bachelors and bachelorettes a chance to showcase themselves to the Columbia community. Save your single friends from a day of self-pity and nominate them (or even yourself!) for a personal by emailing tips@bwog.net. We’ll give you some questions to answer, and you’ll find true love.

We’ll post the personals on Friday, which will give interested dates enough time to contact us before Sunday and will give ourselves enough time to dig up $10(!) that we’ll supply to the romantic pair. But of course, if you find yourselves to be a more adventurous couple, we’re offering guest meal swipes to John Jay Dining Hall as well.

Coyotes were spotted on campus yesterday; local news channel seemed amused that we seem amused about it. (WABC-TV)

Mayor Bloomberg receives over 8,000 letters a month, and every one gets a response. (NYPost)

The G Train has talented conductors. (Gothamist)

Your favorite economics professor Sunil Gulati was re-elected yesterday as the U.S. Soccer Federation president. (Washington Post)

The spirit of ‘68 still haunts Columbia administrators. (Spec)

Image via Flickr

Bwog: Sartorialist! You: campus! Bwog found the most stylin’ students outside Hamilton, next to the 1 train, and on College Walk, and we asked them where we can get their clothes. This week on As Seen as College Walk: the coolest glasses we’ve seen in a while, plus lots of freshmen. Mini-Bill Cunninghams Contessa Gayles, Hannah Goldstein and Carolyn Ruvkun report.

Hannah Kahng, BC ‘11

Cool glasses. Where did you get them? They’re Slow and Steady Wins the Race; they sell to stores like Opening Ceremony.

What’s your major? Art History and Visual Arts.

What’s your favorite class that you’ve taken at Columbia? Twentieth Century Art with Brandon Joseph.

What’s your favorite thing about February? It’s the coldest month here in New York.

Where are you going? To buy apples.

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Gearing up for tonight’s big game? Drop by the following joints for special Superbowl deals and steals:

Havana Central

$29.95 for assorted empanadas, all-you-can-eat shrimp salad, Cuban sandwiches, vegetarian stuffed peppers, rice and beans, and ropa vieja and all-you-can-drink mojitos, sangrias, draft beer, and soda

Village Pourhouse

$40 for all-you-can-drink Bud Lite and all-you-can-eat wings

O’Connell’s

Unlimited free food

Campo, The Heights, and 1020, arent offering any Superbowl deals, but 1020 does admit to being “a pretty cheap bar” anyway. Sure! Instead, find free wings (but likely poor TV service) in most campus residence halls and free pizza and snacks at the 5th floor of the Hillel Building.