Articles by: style

 

• Muse Sends Mixed Messages on New Album: English Rockers Show-off Collection of Mismatched Songs on The Resistance

  Lifestyle September 18, 2009 at 8:50 pm Comments are Disabled

  Pearson Jones Assistant Style Editor Muse’s musical intuition has been distorted since its triumphant, mainstream success with their album Black Holes and Revelations, which launched the British trio across the pond and onto the radio wavelengths and music scene of the States. Muse’s newest album, The Resistance shamelessly borrows musical creativity from Queen and Radiohead, a catalyst for lead man Matthew Bellamy to compose his passion-project rock opera album he apparently has been planning to do for a while now. Not many bands have the gumption or musical perception to compose a 15 minute-long three-piece rock symphony—something that supposedly took Bellamy 10 years to write—complete with an overture-to-outro on an album already crammed to the brink with unfamiliar sounds and difficult music that listeners will need a couple of go-arounds to comprehend. The Resistance introduces itself with the albums weak single “Uprising,” a minimalistic beat-driven song that’s so unmemorable you’ll forget about it as quickly as it probably took Bellamy to write the uninspiring, anti-conformity lyrics. “They will not force us/They will stop degrading us/They will not control us/We will be victorious” is sung by Bellamy in a quickly spoken style. Bellamy’s lyrics are so cliché they end up losing […]

   

• Love, Sex and Breaking the Ice: "Dating Doctor" Keeps it Real

  Lifestyle September 14, 2009 at 12:07 pm Comments are Disabled

  Patrick Wall, Style Editor Ever told someone to be a “fat penguin”? Probably not. For most people, talking like this would earn them a fair share of strange looks. For Dave Coleman, it is what he does for a living. Affectionately known as the “Dating Doctor,” Coleman has spoken to over two million people, spending his career helping men and women around the world deal with issues of relationships, dating and sex. Last Monday, Coleman brought his wealth of expertise to George Mason University. He spoke to a crowd of nearly 100 people for two hours, addressing everything from how to maintain long-distance relationships to why “friends with benefits” never works. Rather than giving a lecture, Coleman brought humor and entertainment. Instead of being corny and out of touch, Coleman won over the crowd with his striking personality and down-to-earth style. Most of the evening’s lighter moments came during the audience participation phases. Coleman gently heckled the crowd, rewarding correct answers with treats, and in one instance, an entire bag of candy. “It was refreshing and interesting,” said senior conflict analysis and resolution major Lillie McVey. “The program brought forth students’ sexual desires and embarrassment in a comforting way.” The […]

   

• Mason Gets Naked: One Student’s Love Affair with All-Natural Juice

  Lifestyle September 14, 2009 at 12:07 pm Comments are Disabled

  Evan Benton, Staff Writer Once upon a time, while watching CNN (actually, it was most likely VH1 or NFL Network) I heard the unmistakable sound of a large truck backing up outside my window. Getting up with a groan, I walked over to my window and saw an enormous truck with the word “NAKED” emblazoned along its side. After parking awkwardly in a space much too small for its size, the driver exited the vehicle and began to unload box after box of similarly-titled boxes.  What was in the boxes? Bottles of juice. That was almost a year ago, but I still remember leaving my room in a furious rush of curiosity, wondering what in God’s name “naked juice” was supposed to be, and why they were putting it near food. I found out that NAKED is a brand of unadulterated, all-natural and organic juice.  And the truck driver proved to be a good spokesman for the Santa Monica, Calif. company, giving me a free shirt (albeit grossly oversized) and a nice green hat. Both having the word NAKED boldly written on the fabric proved to be great attention-getters. The One-Stop Patriot Shop in Chesapeake offers a wide spectrum of […]

   

• No Impact Woman: Broadside Talks to Director Colin Beavan’s Wife

  Lifestyle September 14, 2009 at 12:06 pm Comments are Disabled

  Josh Hylton, Staff Writer No Impact Man is a new documentary that portrays the life of a family in New York City who attempt to live for one year without having any negative impact on the environment. Recently, Broadside had a chance to speak with Michelle Beavan on her experiences. Broadside: What was the idea behind this year-long project? My husband, Colin Beavan, he writes books for a living, and in 2006 he really wanted to write about global warming. He wanted to change his focus, and so he came up with this idea about trying to live in New York City for a year without making any environmental impact, any negative environmental impact. He asked me if I would join him because he wanted to write a book about it, and so that was the genesis of the whole thing. It began with the book basically. Considering how much impact each human being does have on the environment, what was the breaking point for you? What was it that made you and Colin decide that doing this was a good idea? Colin came up with the idea in late 2006, and I had recently seen An Inconvenient Truth. It […]

   

• Leave it to Beavans: Family Goes Green in No Impact Man

  Lifestyle September 14, 2009 at 12:04 pm Comments are Disabled

  Josh Hylton, Staff Writer “Is it possible to have a good life without wasting too much?” This is the question filmmaker Colin Beavan poses in his new documentary No Impact Man. The film probes the neglectfulness of America and the ignorance to the harm caused through the millions of carbon footprints produced each day. For the film, Beavan, his wife Michelle and daughter Isabella, set out on an environmental experiment. Their goal is to see if it is possible to live a sustainable life in New York City without causing any negative impact on the environment. Though very few of us could survive without television, computers or video games, the Beavans went a year without toilet paper, incandescent light bulbs, magazines, newspapers, elevators, plastic bags or any form of motorized transportation. Is it all a tad extreme? Absolutely. Is it a little naïve to think their actions could influence an entire city, or the world, into significantly cutting back their carbon emissions? Perhaps. But it is also brave and noble, shunning the things they have become accustomed to and trying to lessen their impact on the environment while also providing a habitable home for themselves. What No Impact Man does […]

   

• In Bed With Billy

  Lifestyle September 14, 2009 at 12:03 pm Comments are Disabled

  Billy Curtis, Sex Columnist If you went around and asked people what they thought the hardest thing about a relationship was, odds are the most prevalent answer would probably be trust. We trust our doctors with our lives, our bankers with our money, and we trust our families to be there when need be, but why is it so difficult for us to trust other people with our hearts? Letting someone into your circle of trust can be an extremely difficult task, especially after a person has been hurt so many times. Despite the overwhelming possibility these days that someone may abuse your trust, it seems that the benefits could still outweigh the drawbacks. For hundreds of years now, all American currency has had printed on it the words, “In God We Trust,” but I am pretty sure that some Americans do not trust in God, especially in times of great strife such as our current economic situation. Yet, the words are still printed on every dollar and coin we come in connect with; a constant reminder that trust is needed to preserve any kind of relationship, whether it is with our government or the person we fall asleep next […]

   

• Art Gallery Impresses: Sam Gilliam Presents Otherwordly Art

  Lifestyle September 14, 2009 at 12:03 pm Comments are Disabled

  Marian McLaughlin, Staff Writer “I have no idea how he made these,” students said as they walked out of the Fine Art Gallery at George Mason University’s new School of Art building. “How did he do it?” All the commotion was caused by Sam Gilliam’s works from his show, Color/More. The artist unveiled around 10 pieces at last Wednesday’s opening. Stunned viewers stared at the canvases, blown away by Gilliam’s artistic technique. Each canvas contained lush colors and amorphous shapes which took on the swirled and polished qualities of a marble design. Were his paintings really paintings, though? Paint is obviously Gilliam’s medium of choice, even if there was some secret formula involved to give such viscous form to the pieces. However, his canvases were more like collages. Gilliam created his pieces by combining multiple panels. This style blends painting with sculpture, delivering a three-dimensional effect through the layering of paint and panels. Each panel relates to the others with vibrating shapes and swirls of color, but they play with each other, as well as the viewer’s perception, when paired together. The result is art with a definite organic feel. Some students compared the shapes, colors and textures of the […]

   

• Changing Seasons: Fall TV Offers Something for Everyone

  Lifestyle September 14, 2009 at 12:01 pm Comments are Disabled

  Ross Bonaime, Staff Writer While televison viewers will have to wait a few extra months to get their next seasons of Lost, 24 and American Idol, this month kicks off the new seasons of some old favorites and premiere episodes of quite a few new series. Maybe the most highly anticipated show of the season is ABC’s FlashForward. Based on the Robert J. Sawyer novel of the same name, the show unfolds after the entire world experiences an event causing them to see six months into the future. The show features a great ensemble cast including Joseph Fiennes, John Cho and Gabrielle Union. ABC hopes this show will replace the void left in many viewers’ hearts after Lost concludes next season. On the CW, the new iteration of Melrose Place will hope to ride on the success of the 90210 reboot, The Vampire Diaries. This seems like great timing, thanks to the success of the Twilight franchise. The network is also premiering The Beautiful Life, a show about teenage models starring former OC resident Mischa Barton. Now that ER is off the air after 15 seasons, three new doctor shows try to fill the gap. NBC is hoping both Trauma […]

   

• Decor for the Poor: Poster Sale Helps Students Personalize Their Rooms

  Lifestyle September 14, 2009 at 12:01 pm Comments are Disabled

  Lauren Cafferky, Broadside Correspondent In the mad rush to collect everything necessary to survive for the next nine months: tee shirts, sweatpants, ramen noodles, all five seasons of The Office, and your parent’s credit card number, it’s easy to overlook the four colorless walls that stare down at you, cold and barren, until May. No need to panic—George Mason University’s annual poster sale has you covered. Beyond the Wall, a poster company that visits campuses across the country, is responsible for organizing the event. But Beyond the Wall does more than cross the nation, bringing posters to poor college students. They also run six retail stores located in popular cities such as Chicago, New York and Philadelphia. Beyond the Wall also runs a website allowing users to browse and order hundreds of posters, journals, bookmarks, signs and more. The sale also boasts a wide selection of artwork from the classic to the modern, movies to music and Albert Einstein to hugging giraffes. Why not make your walls reflect your excellent sense of musical taste? The sale has options ranging from the Beatles to the Jonas Brothers. “There are so many posters, I couldn’t even see them all,” said sophomore sports […]

   

• Local Musician Steps into the Limelight: Rob Rider Finds his Voice on An Ounce of Dreams and Guitar Strings

  Lifestyle September 14, 2009 at 12:00 pm Comments are Disabled

  Hayley Roder, Staff Writer In pure singer-songwriter fashion, Rob Rider offers a heartfelt mix of lyrics and melodies on his debut solo album An Ounce of Dreams and Guitar Strings. Hailing from Woodbridge, Va., Rider has performed in local bands like Ground Zero and Nebula while perfecting his songwriting. His experience, coupled with years of both formal and informal music training has resulted in a solo album that fits perfectly into the alternative rock genre. Rider’s lyrics feel genuine and seem to be inspired by real-life events, a quality often overlooked by songwriters. This makes his songs both catchy and easy to identify with. “Fall On Me” is full of such lyrics: “There’s nothing I can say or do/These long miles lead me back to you” and “Life’s a puzzle, it’s a game/Put the pieces in their place, and then we’ll see/Let your love fall down on me.” Though a few lines are cliché, such as those found in “Rain,” others extend fantastic similes and metaphors such as the lines of “Breathe” that read, “Shoots like lightning through my veins/Every time I hear your name” and “Sounds of thunder, they roll through my head/Every time I hear words that you’ve […]