Author: Sara Dobosh

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Arts & Life Featured

Silly Bandz craze hits universities

By Ashley Miller

Contributing Writer

Two years ago, if someone asked you if you had any Silly Bandz, you probably would have had no idea what they were talking about. Today it’s nearly impossible not to know what they are. Everyone—men and women, preschool children and college students—wears the colorful rubber bands that come in varying shapes.

Silicone rubber bands were originally introduced to become a more eco-friendly office supply product before they were adapted by BCP Imports to be made into toys for children, according to sillybandz.com. Now Silly Bandz is a multinational name with literally hundreds of designs.

Originally Silly Bandz were shaped as animals. Today you can get them in the shapes of words, texting lingo (such as LOL), Marvel Action Heroes, your favorite sports team or even Justin Bieber. They come in multi-color, glow in the dark and tie-dye designs. Fanatics can even customize their own or write letters to the company suggesting design ideas. The company is also beginning to make Silly Ringz.

Knock off brands like Faith Bands, Crazy Rubber Bands, Zany Bandz and Rubba Bands have been following Silly Bandz’ lead. While Silly Bandz are limited to certain stores, you can find these knock-off brands nearly anywhere. If you aren’t interested in the name, these bands can be purchased for a much cheaper price, though the variety is more limited.

Silly Bandz do not seem to be exclusive to the younger generation. Latina singer-songwriter Shakira wore Silly Bandz on the cover of her new album “Sale el Sol,” they’ve been seen on professional athletes, and Haley Williams, lead singer of Paramore, wore the bands on the cover of Spin Magazine.

College students have not been immune to the craze; you can spot someone sporting the Silly Bandz from most locations on campus.

“They make my day. I have a raccoon and a caterpillar,” Mark Sabbas ‘14 said.

“They are the coolest thing ever,” Alexander Vining ’14 said. “My favorite ones are the ones that glow in the dark.”

Silly Bandz are popular right now for all ages, and it looks as though the trend is not stopping here.

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Arts & Life Campus Events Review

Zumba classes remain popular

By Maggie Schneiderman

Contributing Writer

Ten years ago in Cali, Columbia, fitness trainer Beto Perez forgot his aerobics music. It was too late to go home for it, so he used the Latin Salsa tapes he had in his backpack, and Zumba was born.

Zumba is an aerobic workout combining Latin and international music with dance. The program is currently taught at over 60,000 locations in 105 countries, has sold millions of DVDs and is the work-out favorite of about 7.5 million Americans, according to zumba.com. The University is no exception, with free classes held each Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 4-5 p.m.

A session of Zumba can feel more like a nightclub than a gym. An energetic instructor teaches you to shake your hips and do fast footwork for a mix of dances ranging from Salsa to aerobic-inspired steps, all to the beat of loud, popular music. The Zumba program fuses rhythmic Latin beats and easy-to-follow moves to make a fun, full-body workout. Unlike repetitions with weights or an hour on the treadmill, you don’t even realize you’re working out, but your body reaps the same benefits—an hour-long Zumba class can burn hundreds of calories, according to the Zumba official web site. Zumba’s slogan, “Ditch the workout, join the party” is an accurate description. Adri Hartung ’14 said “the best part is dancing with your friends. It doesn’t even seem like a workout, but it’s really great exercise.”

In a class of almost 45 girls with various levels of dance experience, everyone had a smile on her face and was able to sing along to songs like “3” by Britney Spears and Trey Songz’s “Say Ahh.”

Any level of ability is welcome. As instructor Grace Ragold ’13 said in the beginning of class, no one is watching you, and everyone is there to improve her fitness and have fun. The Zumba program moves are easy to follow, and no previous dance experience is required.

Maddie Lawrence ’14, who has no previous dance experience, was pleased with her ability to follow along.  Kira Kukon ’14, who is a newcomer to Zumba but has experience in dance, said it was a fun way to exercise. She was even able to put her own spin on some of the moves to personalize the workout.

Ragold’s passion for Zumba really shows through in her class. She motivates the girls to have fun and challenge themselves to keep up with the pace. Zumba is a “great cardio workout that also works different muscle groups, and aside from the fitness benefits, it’s a great way to meet people,” she said.

The Zumba workout can be a stress reliever after a full day of classes and is an exhilarating was to tone muscles, burn calories and have fun all at the same time. Next time you want to hit the gym but the elliptical looks daunting, ditch the workout and join the party.

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Arts & Life

Cooking with Emily

By Emily Fry

Staff Writer

Fruit Pizza

Even though Labor Day weekend generally signifies the end of summer, you can hold onto it a little longer with this delicious fruit pizza.  Any kind of fruit works: raspberries, blackberries, kiwi or whatever sounds good to you!

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup butter

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 3/8 cups cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

2 cups fresh blueberries

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 12-inch pizza pan.
2. First make the crust. In a large mixing bowl, combine  flour, butter and sugar. Once combined, the dough should be dry. Spread the dough into the pizza pan and bake for 10 minutes until brown. Allow the crust to cool on a wire rack.
3. Next make the filling. In another large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Next fold in the whipped topping and spread the mixture onto cooled crust. Top your creation with fruit of your choice.
Credit: Allrecipes.com
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Arts & Life

Classical film review: “Mildred Pierce”

By Diego Chiri

Based on the novel by James M. Cain, “Mildred Pierce” (1945) tells the story of a divorced middle-class mother of two who decides to waitress her way to success in 1930s California. Mildred (Joan Crawford) faces many difficulties: she is a woman living in times of male domination, her ambitious and cold daughter Veda (Ann Blyth) refuses to forgo her life of complete luxury and she becomes the main suspect when her business partner and second husband Monte (Zachary Scott) is murdered under strange circumstances.

“Mildred Pierce” cannot be considered in its entirety a noir film. First, it does not have a male detective hero as a main character. Instead we have Mildred, a strong and idealistic mother whose only sin is to be a woman in the workplace. Mildred is punished throughout the film because she does not stay home to take care of domestic needs, but decides to move freely in a traditionally male-dominated business.

Although it seems the film tries to portray Mildred as a threat to the institution of family, the audience knows that her intentions are noble— she wants to maintain her family’s social position through hard and honest work. Mildred cannot be a “femme fatale,” another key element of noir films, because she is not a fetishist powerful woman who causes psychological terror to men. Daughter Veda instead fulfills the profile of the dangerous but innocent male sexual fantasy.

But what does film noir actually mean? What is it? Is it a genre, a series, a mode or a historical movement? Literally “black film” in French, film noir imposes a dark tone into stories that draws from the underworld of American pulp fiction in the 1940s and 1950s. Film critic John Belton explains it in his 2009 book “American Cinema, American Culture” as the “uniquely American experience of wartime and postwar despair and alienation” made byAmerican cinema to be dominated by “crime, corruption, cruelty and an apparently unhealthy interest in the erotic.” From the French perspective, American film had turned grimmer, bleaker and blacker. “Mildred Pierce” represents the values and identity of family and women in society through a dark perspective.

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Arts & Life

Directors remake foreign films for U.S.A. audiences

By William Bonfiglio

Writer

Filmmaking has consistently been a successful enterprise in the United States but in the last few years, even the most talented Hollywood directors have lost their creativity.

Hollywood studios have been clutching at straws, falling back on recycled storylines and unimaginative premises or, as more studios have found successful, adapting foreign films. Of movie critic Richard Roeper’s list of best movies of the past decade, only five out of the top 10 were completely American in origin. On the Internet movie database (IMDB.com), only “The Dark Knight,” “Memento,” “Avatar” and “WALL-E” were similarly American in origin among the top 10 ranked films of the decade.

Many of the films that topped both lists originated in Asia. Notable examples include “Spirited Away,” “House of Flying Daggers,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “The Departed.”

In the past year, filmmakers have been looking to the West for creative inspiration. Scandinavian films have reached a status of enormous popularity among American audiences, with notable favorites including “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” “The Girl who Played with Fire” and “Let the Right One In.”

“Let the Right One In” by John Ajvide Lindqvist chronicles the interactions between 12-year-old Oskar and his new neighbor, Eli, and the traumatic upheaval Eli causes in their town. It is, to be blunt, a juggernaut of raw emotion and unparalleled craft.

It is bittersweet to read reviews that it retains many of the techniques that made the Swedish version such a success. While this is a safe approach to remaking a successful film, it is unsatisfying in its unwillingness to try something new.

Isn’t that the entire point of remaking a film: to improve upon its imperfections? At the very least, directors should be able to create a work equally enthralling and new. Many wonder what Reeves has done, to make the film his own or give it a more American feel, besides moving its setting from Stockholm to New Mexico.

Perhaps the American adaption of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” a more popular story based on the book by Steig Larsson, will be more fulfilling.  Director David Fincher is very well regarded for his work on films like “Se7en” (1995), “Fight Club” (1999) and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (2008).

Alterations, both subtle and quite pronounced, have been noted in Fincher’s films, and it is all too likely that the changes have played a significant role in the films’ success. “Fight Club” has become an enormously popular and influential cult classic, inspiring the establishment of fight clubs everywhere from Menlo Park, California to Princeton University. “Benjamin Button” became an even greater hit, winning awards for best art direction, visual effects, supporting actress, cinematography and director at a variety of award ceremonies and was named the best picture at the St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards and The Houston Film Critics Society Awards.

Fincher achieved success because he recognized the difference between an unremarkable remake and a fresh excursion into compelling storytelling. If Reeves and the directors that follow him hope to reap similar success, they should keep this in mind. From what has been published thus far about his “Let The Right One In” remake, you’d best tether your hopes down.

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Arts & Life Movies Review

When Jacob ‘Eclipsed’ Edward

By Tracy Lum

Editor-in-Chief

“Eclipse” is a battle between fire and ice. And fire definitely wins.

In the film, the third installment of Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” series, the love triangle linking Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) heats up as the deadline for Bella’s transformation into a vampire nears.

While both stunning men vie for Bella’s unsteady heart, tensions between the Cullens and the wolves escalate as red-headed villainess Victoria, along with naïve lackey Riley, create a vampire army to exact revenge on Edward by killing Bella. According to Meyer’s lore, infant vampires are more powerful and blood-thirsty than the average vampire.

To fight for their territory and for Bella’s safety, the sworn enemies, Team Edward and Team Jacob, form a temporary alliance. But making matters worse, the cruel Volturi (the vampire overlords fresh off their stint in “New Moon”) lurk in the background, waiting for the opportune moment to pounce and destroy the Cullen coven.

That alone seems enough to make “Eclipse” the most intense film of the series. Accompanied by flashes into Jasper’s and Rosalie’s histories and glimpses into the Quileute legends, the movie is more thorough and complex than its predecessors. Yet it also manages to stay grounded as Bella contends with graduation and with the mixed emotions regarding her impending metamorphosis.

And then there’s the heat that draws not only from Jacob Black’s seldom-clad form, but also the action-packed battle sequences. The Cullens zip through forests at lightning speed while the still imperfect CGI wolves leap and bound with ferocity. Vampire limbs crack like marble and fly everywhere, obscuring the screen in a sea of white. The best part? The complete absence of gore—the vampires have no blood of their own.

Stewart has finally lost the stutter, completing her immersion into the role of love-torn damsel-in-distress. She no longer merely plays the part, but actually becomes Bella as she grows more confident and comfortable in her relationship with Edward.

Pattinson and Lautner meanwhile provide the Twihards with adequate eyecandy, though Edward’s character has become more subdued while Jacob seems to steal the show. “Don’t you own a shirt?” Edward asks Jacob. While trying to convince Edward that he can provide for Bella, he asserts, “I am hotter than you,” which, in a literal sense, he is.

At times the film is self-critical and even unintentionally hilarious, as when the Volturis simultaneously and over-dramatically flip back their hoods. But overall, director David Slade’s work has given the fans everything they could want from this installment of “Twilight.”

Eclipse

Directed by David Slade

Release date: June 30, 2010

4 out of 5 stars

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Arts & Life

First-year students assigned ‘Five Minds for the Future’ as summer reading assignment

By Brent Walkoff

Contributing Writer

For most students, that magical time known as summer is generally a time of relaxation, a time to hang out with friends, and, of course, a time to not do homework. So when the summer of 2010 came rolling around, the future first-years of the University may have been more than surprised to learn that there was a mandatory reading assignment.

This summer, incoming first-years were assigned to read “Five Minds for the Future” by Howard Gardner.  The book looks at how our world is developing. According to Gardner, in order for today’s generations to be successful in the next few years, they must learn to cultivate different aspects of their personas, these aspects being called different “minds.” The disciplined mind, the synthesizing mind, the creating mind, the respectful mind and the ethical mind are all different facets of our personal character which cannot only be improved but taken to a very deep level. Gardner, a renowned professor and author, has written other highly-regarded books such as “Changing Minds” and “Good Work.”

Provost Mick Smyer not only chose Gardner’s “Minds” as the book that was to be read for the summer assignment, but was also a voice behind the decision to reignite the summer reading program. The incoming class of 2014 is the first class in several years to have such a reading assignment.

According to Smyer, the logic behind the assignment consisted of two key points. “The first reason,” Smyers said, “is to introduce our first-year students to an expectation that you’re going to be doing serious reading in college.”

The second reason lies more within the content of the book. Smyer said, “I thought it was a very good reading for people who are at the outset of their college careers. It makes them ask, ‘What are the capacities I need to be developing, and if I’m thinking about those capacities how do I get the most out of Bucknell?’ ” Clearly, the book deals with consciously thinking about how we as people can look to actively better ourselves for the future. College students of all years are experiencing a key moment in their lives that will effectively determine the path they take for the next 10 years.

Not everyone necessarily agreed with Gardner’s comments or the book selection itself. According to Tracy Mischell ’14, “I think they had good intentions with choosing this book. But I think students who just graduated high school and who are about to enter college, who are about to start this new phase in their life, don’t really want to be reading this particular book.”

Gardner’s book and the assignment itself was not given to students to make them believe in what Gardner was describing but to make the first-year  class think, to initiate metacognition and to bring about questions about the actual text.

Whether or not the class of 2014 agreed with Gardner’s book, it is clear that his ideas have hit certain undertones which are explicitly fitting for today’s world. As college students beginning a critical stage in their lives, the student body has not only been given a tool for future success but a basis for which they can make future decisions, both personal and professional.

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Arts & Life

Student starts new Buddy Tents program in Bostwick Dining Hall

By Jessica Rafalko

Contributing Writer

Masha Zhdanova ’13 believes she has finally solved a problem that has plagued most students since elementary school: where to sit in the cafeteria. Will you seem desperate and sad if you sit at a corner table by yourself, or is solitude preferable to sitting down beside happy, smiling people you have never met before? For many, this mealtime dilemma can be as stress-inducing as a Latin midterm or a calculus final.

To solve this dilemma, Zhdanova devised the new Buddy Tents program for Bostwick Dining Hall. You may have noticed those tall laminated cubicles, designed by John Cummins, general manager of Resident Dining. Those orange- and blue-paneled structures are emblazoned with a happy bison and this tempting offer: “Please Feel Free to Join Us!” They sit on some of the tables in the cafeteria, usually overturned on their sides, just waiting to be set up by students who are, as Zhdanova said, “welcoming people they don’t know well to join them for lunch or dinner.”

Zhdanova, an international student, became inspired after she spoke with fellow international students. She learned that the overwhelming feeling of isolation and awkwardness that tends to strike first-year students is universal. “They were hesitant to eat alone and didn’t feel comfortable when they were coming into the caf and couldn’t find any friends around,” she said.

Choosing to implement the Buddy Tents during New Student Orientation, Zhdanova enlisted the help of assistant dean of students Paula Myers and associate dean of students Amy Badal. She also spread the word to the orientation assistants.

John Cummins, general manager of Resident Dining, is largely responsible for the look of the tents. If you walk into Bostwick at any point during the day, you are bound to see them scattered across the tables. It may be easier for some students to approach any table, tray in hand and ask to sit down—but for those who are a bit more shy, the Buddy Tents might serve as an icebreaker.

Zhdanova envisioned Buddy Tents to be used primarily by first-years, usually the most uneasy students on campus, unaccustomed to the college environment and liable to be intimidated by the untamed jungle of food and trays, tables and students that is Bostwick Dining Hall.

As Myers put it, “Sometimes the most simple, thoughtful action, like inviting people to join you for a meal, can make the most difference in the social transition to college.” So think of the Buddy Tents as a throat-clearing of sorts, the opening line to hundreds of potential friendships that you can make over the next four years and set up camp in Bostwick Dining Hall.

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Arts & Life

Cooking Corner: Grilled Shrimp and Pineapple Skewers

By Emily Fry

Staff Writer

With the summer officially coming to a close, now is the perfect time for one last barbecue. Instead of just going for hamburgers and hot dogs, why not try something different?

1 lb uncooked jumbo shrimp

½ of a fresh pineapple

6 Tbsp orange marmalade

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1-8.8 oz pouch long grain rice

¼ cup snipped fresh cilantro

  1. Peel and de–vein shrimp; thread on four skewers.  Cut pineapple in four crosswise slices; core, if desired, and cut each slice in quarters to make 16 small wedges.  Thread on four skewers.  In small saucepan combine four tablespoons of the marmalade, ½ cup water and the soy sauce.  Brush some of the marmalade soy sauce mixture on shrimp and pineapple.
  2. Place skewers on rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium heat.  Grill 8-10 minutes, turning once, until shrimp are opaque and pineapple is heated through.  Remove from heat, cover to keep warm.
  3. Return remaining marmalade-soy sauce mixture to saucepan and bring to full boil; cook rice according to package directions.
  4. Transfer rice to serving bowl; stir in remaining two tablespoons marmalade and cilantro. Serve skewers with the rice and boiled marmalade-soy sauce mixture.

Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, June 2010

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Arts & Life Books Review

Larsson’s trilogy an international hit

By William Bonfiglio

Writer

Swedish author Stieg Larssons’ best-selling series “The Millennium Trilogy” features protagonists Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, two names that do not easily lend themselves to an American audience. Despite the cultural barrier, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” “The Girl Who Played with Fire” and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest” have sold millions of copies in 40 countries around the world. The books were top sellers on Amazon.com in both paperback and e-book editions. In addition to three Swedish film adaptations, a Hollywood movie featuring big names like Daniel Craig is also in development.

If it wasn’t his characters’ unpronounceable names that won over U.S.  audiences, it must have been Larsson’s superior storytelling. The books revolve around the interactions of an unlikely pair: Blomkvist is a liberal-leaning yet well-balanced protagonist who fights corruption using means that only a skilled and ethical journalist could employ. Then there is Salander, whose name hints at her slippery character.  She and Blomkvist do not adhere to the same code of ethics. A skilled researcher/hacker and troubled social degenerate, Salander exacts her own version of justice: a Hammurabian adaption in which she views punishment as an “eye for an eye.”

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is not indicative of the subject matter of the story.  Random House Publishing, the company that brought “The Millennium Trilogy” to America, would have done the book justice to publish it under Larsson’s favored title: “Men Who Hate Women,” which is a far better indicator of the subject matter than the published title.

The construction of the first book’s story is also misleading. Unlike many bestselling authors, Larsson feels no need to deviate from mechanical formulas, employing the popular whodunnit plot of a locked room, many suspects and one solution. After some listless dragging, despite an enticing prologue, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” picks up near the hundred-page mark. Although it shows little innovation or originality, the writing style itself is enough to keep audiences captivated. Larsson’s superior talent in crafting suspense and darker humor, coupled with a familiar but not outdated setup, is a recipe for a perfect summer read.

The second book, “The Girl Who Played with Fire,” represents a complete departure from this formula. In assuming the readers are familiar with the characters and their relationships, Larsson deviates with reckless abandon, allowing the plot to span from the improbable to the absurd. Just as his style made dated formulas seem fresh in “Dragon Tattoo,” it takes the over-the-top story of “Fire” and makes it plausible, and that in itself is a massive achievement. “The Girl Who Played with Fire” is a book best read at home, clenched between taut fingers, devoured by flashlight at 2:30 a.m.

Any author that can create the same fanaticism in adults that teens have for “Harry Potter” and “Twilight” cannot be written off. He’s not “just that good.” He’s better. Do not be surprised if Larsson tops the list of the most successful authors of this decade, among the ranks of J.K. Rowling and Khaled Hosseini.