Articles by: style

 

• Fan Fave Tributes

  Lifestyle February 21, 2010 at 8:59 pm Comments are Disabled

  Pearson Jones, Asst. Style Editor Not everyone has the nerve to pick up the mic on karaoke night. It only takes ridicule from one audience member channeling his inner Simon Cowell to leave pop idol dreams destroyed and two for one drink deals at karaoke bars often leave you alone to defend yourself against a crowd full of liquid courage. George Mason University’s first ever lip syncing contest, “Lip Syncing on the Bayou” created a solution for all these possible karaoke downfalls, however. Last Wednesday, students from different George Mason University organizations competed in a lip synching competition. It was a battle of fan fave tributes where students didn’t have to worry about their voice cracking or messing up the lyrics. The homecoming event welcomed a large group of students eager to support their favorite groups. Fraternity and sorority chapters mainly dominated the night’s lineup of performers, but a few groups including the Mason Crew Club, Hispanic Student Association, a group called Tika and a free style rapper named V also performed. The show commenced with a tribute to Phil Collins by Kappa Sig mouthing the instantly recognizable “In the Air Tonight,” a song made even more popular recently by […]

   

• Rebooting Tosh.0; Daniel Tosh Chats About Living the Dream and Making Fun of the Web

  Lifestyle February 18, 2010 at 10:57 am Comments are Disabled

  Patrick Wall, Style Editor Daniel Tosh likes poking fun at people. His stand-up routine involves gems like his “Febreeze the Homeless” charity and jabs at religion. But with his hit Comedy Central show Tosh.0, he has a whole new group of people to lampoon — people doing stupid things on the Internet. Tosh made a name for himself doing stand-up comedy, appearing several times on Comedy Central. The network produced his stand up special and featured him on several shows. During this time, he pitched various show ideas to the network executives. “I’d always tried to sell show ideas,” Tosh said. “And [Tosh.0] was one that Comedy Central agreed with and put on the air.” The show’s concept started simply enough. Tosh and a friend shot the first of his Web Redemptions, a segment where stars of embarrassing Internet videos are given a second chance to redo their mistakes. The Afro Ninja, the viral video star who fell while attempting a back flip, was the first of these. “We shot that one before [Tosh.0] was ever a TV show. It was just a concept of someone who messed up on the Internet and giving them a chance to redeem themselves.” […]

   

• Oscar Nominations Announced; Expanded Field Gives Smaller Films a Chance to Shine on Oscar Night

  Lifestyle February 18, 2010 at 10:55 am Comments are Disabled

  Ross Bonaime, Staff Writer This year at the Oscar’s, the Davids are heading off against the Goliaths. For the first time since 1943, the Academy Awards will have ten films nominated for best picture, double the usual number of five, after there was criticism of films like The Dark Knight being left off the list of the year’s best. But this year, while the smaller films are represented once again, with An Education, The Hurt Locker, Precious, A Serious Man and Up in the Air all nominated for best picture, so are five films which grossed over 100 million in the box office: The Blind Side, District 9, Inglorious Basterds, Up (only the second animated film ever to be nominated for best picture) and the highest grossing film of all time, Avatar. Avatar and The Hurt Locker tied in nominations with nine apiece, with Inglorious Basterds close behind with eight. Precious and Up in the Air both garnered six nominations, Up received five and sci-fi films District 9 and Star Trek got four nominations, along with the musical Nine. With best achievement in directing, James Cameron is nominated for Avatar against his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker. A […]

   

• The Forgotten Gems; These Ten Films Might be Out of Theaters, But They Are Still Must-Sees for Any Movie Buff

  Lifestyle February 18, 2010 at 10:53 am Comments are Disabled

  Ross Bonaime, Staff Writer In the first few months of the year, film studios dump their films that may not be so great into one great heap that ends up making January and February a less than desirable time for movies. So in these winter doldrums, here are ten recent, lesser-known films to keep you entertained util the good ones start coming out. In Bruges After one of their jobs goes wrong, two hit men are told to lay low in the town of Bruges, Belgium and await further instructions. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson work great together as the two hit men in this darkly humorous and unpredictable film. Whip It Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut follows a teen (Ellen Page) in a small town who hasn’t quite figured out who she is, until she joins a roller derby league. Page is great as the newcomer to the team and this film about finding out who you really are is one of the best surprises from 2009. Treeless Mountain This Korean film about two little girls left with their aunt while their mother tries to find their father is a simple, yet beautiful and touching tale. The little girls, Jin […]

   

• The Led Balloon That Flew

  Lifestyle February 18, 2010 at 10:51 am Comments are Disabled

  Pearson Jones, Asst. Style Editor Keith Moon, the legendary drummer of The Who, is infamously quoted for once saying that the up-and-coming heavy rock band formed by Jimmy Page, then known as The New Yardbirds, would go over like a led balloon with crowds. Moon couldn’t have been more off, making one of the worst predictions about a band since Decca Recording Co. rejected The Beatles in 1962 because they thought guitar music was on its way out of being included in main stream music. Change the word balloon to Zeppelin and you have one of the most influential bands ever, Led Zeppelin — a quartet of rock gods who became the progenitors of heavy metal, setting off trends of power chord ridden riffs, big arena rock-style songs and even bigger hairdos. The “led” balloon flew, completely overshadowing the world of music to the point where it was almost impossible not to take a moment to look up and see how this band was re-setting the framework of rock ‘n’ roll. Led Zeppelin IV, also known as the Four Symbols, could have been considered the most notoriously anti-Zeppelin sounding album when it originally surfaced in 1971. Yes, it was the […]

   

• The Holiday for Lovers Isn’t Sweet for Everyone

  Lifestyle February 18, 2010 at 10:47 am Comments are Disabled

  Ramy Zabarah, Broadside Correspondent It’s that time of the year again, so take out your wallets and get ready for some love! Originally cherished as a day where one could express his or her love and affection toward a companion through exchanging confectionery and picking out flowers, the Valentine’s Day we know has since been remodeled. As any holiday approaches, we’re always reminded that sentimentality might not necessarily be at the top of everyone’s priorities. And by “everyone,” I mean businesses. Honestly, how would Martin Luther King, Jr. feel if he knew that we were using his birthday as an excuse to buy cheap furniture? Valentine’s Day is no more innocent a holiday than any other. In fact, The United States Greeting Card Association (yes, they have an association) claims about one billion valentines are sent worldwide every year. When Valentine’s Day was fairly young, before it met its doom in the 1800s in the form of industrialization, romantics used to write and design each other valentines and exchange baked goods. We now have a society considerate and convenient enough to provide us with that service, so we don’t actually have to do any work. What’s even cheesier than cutting […]

   

• Finding Humor in the Everyday; The Comedy Central Star Talks with Broadside About Inspiration, his Comedic Father and his Future

  Lifestyle February 18, 2010 at 10:45 am Comments are Disabled

  Marine Jaouen, Broadside Correspondent When interviewing Demetri Martin, I expected the conversation to be punctuated by a series of humorous one-liners. Like some gifted word genius, he would magically sum up questions with clever single sentences, I would be gloriously entertained listening to my favorite comedian and it would be awesome. After reality set in, I quickly realized that Martin’s answers were elaborate and eloquently explained, fitting for a comedian whose observational comedy includes word play like palindromes and paraprosdokians. Martin discusses his path to becoming a comedian, his television show and his ambitions. Martin studied law at Yale University and New York University, but with one year left before graduating he realized that he wanted to try something new. Growing up with comedy from Bill Cosby and Eddie Murphy’s Delirious, a major part of his comedic background came from observing his father. “My dad was a priest, so every Sunday I’d see my dad up in front of a big crowd, and he would do these pretty funny sermons that were mostly extemporaneous,” Martin said. “He didn’t prepare and write a lot, but he’d just speak for 20 minutes in front of the congregation, and he’d get laughs. He […]

   

• Mardi Gras Madness

  Lifestyle February 12, 2010 at 11:50 am Comments are Disabled

  Pearson Jones, Asst. Style Editor Whether you call it Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras, everyone knows that the day before the Lenten season is reserved for some of the most outlandish festivities. George Mason University is looking to honor this ritual. Homecoming Week is upon us once again and it’s bringing with it the traditions, music and spirit of Bourbon Street. This year’s theme is Mardi Gras, an idea inspired by the student Program Board’s slogan “Unmasque Your Spirit.” Monday 2/15 Mardi Gras Madness 12:30 p.m. JC Atrium A spinoff of Mason Madness, Mardi Gras Madness will be this year’s Homecoming Pep Rally featuring the homecoming pageant contestants, the Green Machine pep bad and Mason dignitaries. “The Big Easy” Pageant 8 p.m. Dewberry Hall Come check out this year’s pageant contestants as they strut their stuff to earn your vote. Tuesday 2/16 Can-Can for Cans 3:30-4:30 p.m. SUB II Ballroom Watch student teams construct can-structions. The event will include students who will build structures out of non-perishable cans that will later be donated to a local food bank. Show Us Your Talent 8 p.m. Dewberry Hall Mason’s got talent and a lot of students are willing to prove […]

   

• Valentines Day Quiz

  Lifestyle February 5, 2010 at 2:52 pm Comments are Disabled

  1. What do 15 percent of women do on Valentines Day? A. Lie about having a boyfriend B. Go on blind dates C. Buy themselves flowers D. Go out to dinner with their friends 2. What states produces the most roses for Valentines Day? A. Virginia B. California C. Texas D. Florida 3. How many different Valentines Day cards does Hallmark have? A. 1330 B. 2000 C. 100 D. 10 4. What percentage of men don’t make plans in advance for Valentines Day? A. 17 B. 42 C. 56 D. 64 5. How many Valentines Day cards are exchanged on February 14th? A. 2 billion B. 900 million C. 2 million D. 1 billion 6. What percent of pet owners will give their pets Valentines Day cards? A. 2 B. 10 C. 25 D. 3 7. What year was Valentines Day made an official holiday? A. 1940 B. 1881 C. 1537 D. 1400 8. Why caused a rose to be associated with Valentines Day? A. It smells good B. The rose is associated with the goddess Venus C. Red is the color of love D. Their cheap to grow 9. What country doesn’t celebrate Valentines Day? A. Canada B. China […]

   

• Apple’s Newest Gadget: iPad Hits Stores in May

  Lifestyle February 2, 2010 at 7:41 pm Comments are Disabled

  Ramy Zabarah, Broadside Correspondent Attention all Mac-heads! Like your MacBook? Can’t go an hour without playing with your iPhone? As I’m sure you’ve already heard, a new flower is emerging from the very fruitful garden of Apple, Inc. On Wednesday, Jan. 27, Steve Jobs and the rest of the Apple crew held a conference in San Fransisco, Calif. to unveil their latest product, the iPad. After weeks of speculation as to the actual existence of Apple’s new mysterious product, the announcement was finally made, and the iPad will be in stores toward the end of May. Expected to kick tart the market for tablet computers, the iPad is like a supersized iPod Touch with more similarities to an actual computer. It will be a central portable device where you can store your music, photos, videos, e-mails, read books and surf the Internet with a much more intimate interface. Portability is huge with the iPad. Although it’s essentially a plus-size iPod Touch, it can easily slide into your backpack or purse. Weighing in at about 1.5 pounds, you don’t really have to worry about carrying any extra baggage. Also, its width and height dimensions are about 7 ½ by 9 ½ […]