Lifestyle

• Daisy Doesn’t Disappoint: Brand New Returns with Latest Offering

  Lifestyle October 1, 2009 at 2:54 pm Comments are Disabled

  Patrick Wall, Style Editor Brand New has spent the better part of their career challenging listeners. Like Pearl Jam before them, the Long Island quintuplet has never stayed satisfied with legions of fans more than willing to follow along. With Daisy, Brand New has created one of their best and most challenging albums. Brand New has never been a band to stay in one musical head space for very long. Each album sounds vastly different than its predecessor and Daisy is no exception. The whining pop punk of Your Favorite Weapon now a distant memory, Brand New continues to experiment with new sounds and textures. Daisy is, in a word, dense. Much like the band’s last release, 2006’s The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me, this new album is difficult to approach. In truth, it’s a very coarse record that feels almost grimy at first listen. But in true Brand New style, the patient listener is rewarded with an album that is solid from start to finish. Anger and frustration have always been central to the mystique of Brand New, and that doesn’t change on Daisy. The lead single, “At the Bottom,” still broods and explodes like many of […]

   

• Spoken Word Artist Shows No Fear: Georgia Me Makes Appearance at Fall for the Book Festival

  Lifestyle October 1, 2009 at 2:53 pm Comments are Disabled

  Pearson Jones, Asst. Style Editor This isn’t your typical hipster coffee shop haiku poetry reading, where performers speak barely over a monotone whisper and their less than conclusive endings are met with the sound of snapping. Slam poetry, also called the art of spoken word, is poetry in action and trust me, it can get really loud. These poems represent the performers’ joys, hardships and daily aspects of social life that they could do with out. On Thursday, professional spoken word artist and member of the Peabody award-winning and Emmy-nominated cast of Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, Georgia Me (also known as Tamika Harper) emceed the second annual Fall for the Book poetry slam that was held in the downstairs Johnston Center Bistro. Profanity was prevalent at the event and holding back wasn’t an option as the artists of spoken word gave students a sometimes less than comfortable insight into their lives. The real testimonies given during the performance were unique in their delivery, but had relatable themes. Dennis Hicks, associate director of Student Activities, which organized the event, was pleased with how it went. “I like watching students evolve their work and see the compositions they put together,” said […]

   

• Stories from Solitary: Robert Hillary King Fights for the Angola Three

  Lifestyle October 1, 2009 at 2:50 pm Comments are Disabled

  Pras Gustanto, Staff Writer Picture a typical George Mason University dorm room. Now split the room in half and imagine how uncomfortable and agonizing it would be to live in that space for 30 years. As incredible as it sounds, solitary confinement has been the reality for Robert Hillary King, who spent three decades of his life locked in a small, six-by-nine prison cell. King visited Mason last Thursday to discuss his experiences in prison. King is part of the Angola Three, the name given to three men who had been incarcerated in Angola Prison, La., for starting a movement against the prison administration’s unethical practices. At the time, the prison was known for being the most brutal and discriminatory prison in the U.S. According to King, violence was a routine occurrence. Inmates were often forced into homosexuality and forms of prisoner prostitution. His experience is common. According to the documentary The Farm, 85 percent of the inmates who are sent to Angola will die there. For the past three decades King, Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox were placed in solitary confinement for their actions. King was released in 2001, but Wallace and Woodfox remain sentenced. According to King, the […]

   

• Covering the President: Three Authors Weigh in on the Obama Presidency

  Lifestyle October 1, 2009 at 2:46 pm Comments are Disabled

  Deena Smith, Staff Writer The election of President Barack Obama will remain a milestone in American history. After his election, however, questions about the future of the country have been plentiful. Many of these questions were discussed during last Wednesday’s Fall for the Book presentation, “Understanding Obama.” Each of the three authors attending presented unique and engaging perspectives on the Obama presidency. The first speaker, Niall Stanage, author of Redemption Song: An Irish Reporter Insider the Obama Campaign, said the perception of the United States has increased favorably since Obama entered the presidential election. According to Stanage, the Global Attitudes Project’s most recent statistics in 2006 showed that favorability of the U.S. jumped in Germany from 37 to 64 percent and in Spain from 23 to 58 percent. In France, the favorability almost doubled from 39 to 75 percent. Stanage said reasons for this increase could be because Obama is a Democrat and the Republicans lost respect because of former President George W. Bush, but also because Obama gave back the “mythic sense of America.” Stanage said Obama restored some of the founding principles of our country, such as a sense of possibility and a policy of zero tolerance on […]

   

• From the Silver Screen to the Director’s Chair: Ten of the Best Actors Turned Directors of All Time

  Lifestyle October 1, 2009 at 2:44 pm Comments are Disabled

  Ross Bonaime, Staff Writer In the next few weeks, many famous actors will be going behind the camera to try their hands at directorial debuts. In honor of this, I present the greatest actors turned directors: 10. George Clooney He may have started off as Dr. Ross on ER, but now George Clooney is also known for his exceptional directing. Good Night and Good Luck earned him an Oscar nomination for best director, and even though his other films Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Leatherheads haven’t been as good, he shows a style that beckons back to the golden age of film. 9. Mel Gibson Say what you will about the man, but Mel Gibson can direct. With 1995’s Braveheart, which won Best Picture, and controversial choices like The Passion of the Christ and Apocalypto, Gibson isn’t afraid to tackle unusual topics and come out surprising the audience with what he can do. 8. Ben Stiller Ben Stiller has directed three of the most famous cult comedies in recent years: Reality Bites, The Cable Guy and Zoolander. However last summer’s Tropic Thunder showed Stiller’s range, from the fake trailers at the beginning to the action-heavy comedy, Stiller announced himself […]

   

• Off-Campus Eats: Increase in Dining Choices

  Lifestyle October 1, 2009 at 2:43 pm Comments are Disabled

  Evan Benton, Staff Writer My friends and I used to joke around when heading off, four or five guys to a car, on our weekly exodus to Chipotle. We’d all get burritos and then, when asked how we were planning to pay, flash our green and gold student IDs and confidently state, “Freedom, please.” In which case the cashier would look at us quizzically and we’d front some Jacksons. Or, in my case, nine or 10 Washingtons. Great joke. But now things are different; sort of. Now we can use Mason Money, George Mason University’s debit card system, at Chipotle as well as many other places — and not just restaurants, either. To put the concept of Mason Money in a nutshell, one simply goes to the Mason Money office (or any of the five Card Management stations on campus) deposits any sum, and this money goes on the student’s account, immediately accessed by swiping those handy ID cards. Now, if one wanted, they can take their cards and get a carnitas burrito. And although I don’t know many people with a Mason Money account, the fact that Mason is making an off-campus meal as easy as one, two, swipe […]

   

• In Bed with Billy: Experience and Reason: The Age of Enlightenment

  Lifestyle October 1, 2009 at 2:39 pm Comments are Disabled

  Billy Curtis, Sex Columnist In the earlier years, many philosophers believed that in order to find the absolute truth in this world one had to doubt everything, question everything, and eventually a person would—through experience and reason—find the pure truth they were looking for. This way of thinking can also be applied to dating. Let’s face it. As years progress and time continues to slip away, we can see the people around us continuing to lose faith in their search for happiness. So many times we have been hurt, shed unnecessary tears and overthought every aspect of our past relationships in the hopes that something we missed or misunderstood would bring more light to our lost causes. We continue our search for love, but as time goes on, after every ache and pain, we lose more and more of ourselves in the hope that someday something new or better will come along and save us from the prison we have entrapped ourselves in. I bring this topic up, because I have a very dear friend who has for all intense and purpose given up hope for her happiness. Marie was an intelligent, beautiful and hilarious woman in her mid 20s. […]

   

• Kid Cudi Reaches for the Moon: Rapper Bursts on the Scene with Second Debut Album of Hip-Hop’s 2009 Freshman Class

  Lifestyle October 1, 2009 at 2:35 pm Comments are Disabled

  Luis Perez, Broadside Correspondent Last December, hip-hop magazine XXL wrote a feature piece on 10 relatively unknown MC’s, deeming them hip-hop’s “freshman class of ‘09.” Among that list of up-and-coming future stars was Kid Cudi. Kid Cudi’s major-label debut, Man on the Moon: The End of Day, is the second release from the ’09 freshman class, following Asher Roth’s mildly received Asleep in the Bread Aisle last April, and the similarities between the two end at their mutual affinity for celebrating April 20. Cudi makes it clear on more than one occasion that he doesn’t have much in common with anyone at all, which in a twist of irony is Cudi’s major selling point. If you had the chance to catch Kanye West’s Glow in the Dark tour, Man on the Moon’s format will seem suspiciously similar. Divided into five acts, the concept album follows Cudi’s consciousness through the night, beginning with the end and ending with a new beginning. Narrated by fellow G.O.O.D. artist Common. Kanye’s 808 and Heartbreak presence is felt even further on tracks like “Sky Might Fall” and “My World,” where Cudi raps from a the shell of a boy banking on being top-dog sometime further […]

   

• The Best is Yet to Come: The Year is Drawing to a Close, But There Are Still at Least 10 Films to see in 2009

  Lifestyle September 22, 2009 at 2:18 pm Comments are Disabled

  Ross Bonaime Staff Writer This year has already been a good one for movies. We’ve already seen some Watchmen, another great Pixar film and some basterds who were pretty inglourious. With the year coming to a close, here are 10 of the best films still to come. 10. A Serious Man With A Serious Man, the Coen brothers return to the dark comedy style that made them famous with movies like Fargo and The Big Lebowski. The film, whose cast is made of relative unknowns, is about a Jewish professor who has every aspect of his life fall apart. The Coens should once again show their understanding of small town living and the intricacies that make life interesting. 9. Precious Sundance Film Festival and last week’s Toronto International Film Festival were buzzing about Precious. The film’s namesake is an overweight and illiterate teenager who has been sexually abused and is now pregnant with her second child. She tries to better herself by getting a higher education while trying to avoid her mother’s hurtful remarks. The portrayal of the mother, played by comedian Mo’Nique, is already garnering Oscar buzz. Precious could be one of the big Oscar contenders this year. 8. […]

   

• In Bed With Billy: The Top 10 Men You Need to Avoid

  Lifestyle September 22, 2009 at 2:14 pm Comments are Disabled

  Billy Curtis Sex Columnist There are 10 things I will most definitely hate about you. There are more than 10 things that most likely everyone would hate about everyone. Bad kisser, over-talkative, vain; the list could go on and on for hours, maybe even days. Luckily, most of us know what we want, and what we clearly need to stay away from when we’re looking for a partner. Sadly still, there are some who would, could, and shouldn’t believe that these types of men can change, and end up making you happy for the rest of your life. These tragic attempts of contempt are sad stories to watch, let alone hear about. We’ve all encountered at least one of these 10 rejects that somehow manage to rule our lives at some point. Though, with every encounter we manage to grow and become stronger people. For those of you who have never been lucky enough to have your heart broken or your world turned upside down by one of these pitiful fools, take this as a warning to stay away and notice the warning signs. Let the countdown begin: 10. The Moocher or Cheap Date. You’ve imagined the perfect date, romantic […]