Category: Arts & Life

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Arts & Life Featured

Frankie Muniz performs at Uptown

By Ashley Miller

Writer

In the early 2000s, Frankie Muniz was a household name, but then he seemed to disappear off the face of the entertainment world. On Nov. 20, Muniz reemerged as the drummer of pop-rock band You Hang Up during their performance at Uptown Nightclub.

After starring in the sitcom “Malcolm in the Middle” and in films like “Big Far Liar” and “Agent Cody Banks,” Muniz entered the racing game in 2005. Now he is returning to the entertainment business through music. You Hang Up has been an undercover project since 2007. Aaron Brown sings lead vocals, Chris Brown plays lead guitar and Henry Ebarb plays bass.

You Hang Up opened with one of their most popular songs, “All of My Life,” which maintains a generic pop-rock sound. The energetic, though sparse audience rocked out to the band’s jams.

Many people snapped pictures of Muniz on the drums. It was certainly weird seeing “Malcolm in the Middle” with a beard, but it is clear Muniz’s skills are not limited to acting. His drumming set a solid beat that complemented the heavy guitar riffs and vocals.

Jamey Roberti ’11, also known by his rapper name CR Jameson, opened for You Hang Up. Roberti has been a part of the hip hop game for six years. The subjects of his songs ranged from his nicknames to an insightful look at his past. His rhymes were refreshing in their anti-drugs and anti-assault messages.

A few of Roberti’s friends were there in the audience.

“I appreciate Jamey as a valuable member of this community,” Stefan Petrovic ’14 said, “and I think many people appreciate the contribution he gives us.”

Despite the amount of advertising Activities and Campus Events did for the event, Uptown was pretty empty.

“I’m surprised it’s so empty considering it’s a pretty big night,” Phillip Leite ’14 said.

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Arts & Life

“Dancing Mind Challenge” reaffirms importance of reading

By Carolyn Williams

Writer

Over 100 individuals participated in the “Dancing Mind Challenge” on Nov. 20. The event, hosted by the Griot Institute for Africana Studies, the English department, Multicultural Student Services, the English Club, Library and IT, the University Press and the Bucknell University at Barnes and Noble bookstore was inspired by Toni Morrison’s essay “The Dancing Mind,” in which the Nobel Prize-winning author challenges her contemporaries to sit down, turn off their electronics and submerge themselves in eight hours of deep reading.

“People are more addicted than they think they are. Although technology is not inherently bad, we need to avoid cyber-dependency. Deep reading is good for the brain,” said Carmen Gillespie, professor of English and director of the Griot Institute.

Readers spent eight hours in the Bertrand Library, the bookstore, the Willard Smith library, the lobby of Dana Engineering building or in their own rooms. Coffee and desserts were available for the participants, but Gillespie said one thing she would change for a future repeat of the event would be “to provide more nutritious fare.” The use of audiobooks and whether or not they count for the challenge in the future will be considered since the audiobooks walk the fine line between technology and literature.

Time passed differently for each person involved.

“It’s interesting to observe one’s own perspective of time. After a while, most people get into a kind of a ‘zone’, but at the beginning it seems to have been tough,” Gillespie said.

“Being unplugged from my phone was actually surprisingly easy. Once I was into my book, I hardly noticed it was missing,” Kate Wilsterman ’14 said. “It’s funny because during a normal day, when I am busy I’m checking my phone every five minutes. It was great to be so focused for such an uninterrupted period of time.”

Students also said it was a good opportunity to do some reading they had missed while completing coursework.

“The Griot read-a-thon was a really great experience. Not only did it give me a break from all of my classwork, it also let me catch up on a lot of the reading I’ve been missing out on, textbooks aside,” Wilsterman said. “At college, you rarely have time to sit down and just read, but it’s something that is so great for relieving stress and just generally relaxing. I was able to enjoy what I was reading, rather than worrying about all the other things I ‘should’ be doing,” she said.

Overall, Gillespie said the project was a hit. She hopes to see the “Dancing Mind Challenge” become an annual event.

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Arts & Life

HP midnight premiere fills Selingsgrove Cinema Center

By Carolyn Williams

Writer

If you’ve never been to a Harry Potter midnight event, you’ve been seriously missing out. At the Cinema Center of Selinsgrove, fans arrived in droves to witness firsthand the beginning of Harry’s final adventure in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I” on Nov. 18. The shows, playing in every available theater, were completely sold out in advance, and from the moment the wizarding enthusiasts entered the crowded lobby, they were swept up in the excitement.

The theater itself capitalized on the palpable enthusiasm, selling Harry Potter themed merchandise like “Slytherin Soda” and “Polyjuice Potion” to delighted fans.

“The atmosphere was great, a lot of people were dressed up for the movie and it just made the experience that much better,” Spenser Frieri ’14 said.

Many fans donned costumes. The time individual fans put into their elaborate ensembles spoke volumes of their commitment to J.K. Rowling’s beloved series. Every detail, from Hermione’s bushy hair to Ron’s freckles were painstakingly observed and recreated on their Muggle counterparts. A Quidditch team was even decked out in handmade recreations of uniform capes. Adults and young children alike wore Gryffindor scarves and broken glasses. Harrys abounded, and many fans painted on false lightening bolt scars to show their support of The Boy Who Lived.

The buildup to the show itself was remarkable. As excited spectators took their seats, they speculated on where the film would end, what would be different from the books, the performances of their favorite actors and how their favorite scenes would translate to film. The enthusiasm was infectious, and when the previews finally began, a hush descended on the theater, the anticipation practically crackling in the air. It was finally time.

An intense two and a half hours later, the audience left the theater feverishly discussing what they had just seen. The sentence “I can’t wait to see it again!” was recurrent, and the enthusiasm evidenced earlier was hardly diminished. If anything, it seemed to have grown after seeing the long-awaited film.

University students were well represented at the premiere, and they were among Harry’s most enthusiastic supporters.

“Entering the theater at midnight was the experience of a lifetime,” Caroline Confort ’14 said. The atmosphere was made complete by our neighbors in line clad in quidditch capes and Harry Potter lightening bolts. I couldn’t have asked for a more Harry Potter-tastic experience,” she said.

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Arts & Life Featured

Exclusive interview with Frankie Muniz

By Courtney Flagg

News Editor

Courtney Flagg ’12 spoke with Frankie Muniz in a phone interview in preparation for his performance on campus. Muniz discussed the ups and downs of the music industry and the rewarding aspects of doing something you simply love to do.

What made you decide to go into music instead of continuing with racecar driving and acting?

[I’ve] Always enjoyed music—played drums since I was 12 years old. Never thought I’d actually pursue it. I would play in my garage. It kind of just happened that I got into You Hang Up and here we are now doing a national tour, recording a new album. Things are going really well. I stopped acting—I wouldn’t say stopped, I took a break from acting four years ago to pursue racing and I loved racing but I got badly hurt last year, I shattered my hand. When I tried to start racing again I still had pains in my hand so I decided to take a break from that. So now here I am with the band. I mean I’m kind of all over the place. If I had to choose one of the three to pursue it would definitely be the band—I hope to do it for a long time.

How did you find You Hang Up? How did you become part of the band?

I had a video on my MySpace or Facebook page (one or the other) of me playing the drums; nothing serious, just me playing the drums in my garage.

The lead singer of You Hang Up (Aaron Brown), who is a mutual friend of my girlfriend and I, sent me a message along the lines of “Hey man, if you ever want to jam, it would be really cool!” I immediately responded and said, “I don’t just want to jam, I want to be the drummer in the band!” Here we are now. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing. We all mesh together really well when we play. We’re really enjoying it.

Do you take part in writing any of the band’s music?

Aaron, the lead singer, is an incredible songwriter. He will come into practice and be like “I had a dream where I wrote a song and I can remember every single part of the song.” Literally five minutes later we’ll have a completed song. It’s awesome. We’ve been really lucky like that. He [Aaron] will bring in ideas like that and the four of us will sit down and write it together. Aaron brings the idea and all of us turn it into a song. We are about to record our first album in Nashville and we’re working with Joe Fitzgerald, who produced B.o.B’s album. We’ve been working really hard. We want to go in with 15-16 songs to record and pick the best 12 for the album. We’ve been working really, really hard but it’s been fairly easy because Aaron is such a great songwriter.

Do you have any people who look up to/inspire you in the music industry?

I mean, I’m literally a fan of all types of music. I like anything and everything. I just enjoy music in general. I don’t necessarily have any particular people who I aspire to be or who I try to follow. I’m just kind of all over the place.

Well, I’m like you. I don’t have any particular genre that I enjoy more than another.

Yeah, I literally will come to practice rapping and then I’ll switch over the country songs during a break. I really do like all types of music.

Is it hard to make a transition like this in the entertainment business? You started out acting and then you went into racecar driving. Now you’re in music.

There are pluses and minuses to having been on TV. The pluses being the fact that I have a little bit of a fan base that I can bring in to listen to our music. The downsides are that so many actors have tried to transition into music. I mean, 95 percent of them, their music is horrible. When you hear about an actor-band, or a former actor who is going into music, you just automatically think of bad music. I mean I do. The only band that I can think of that has actors in it, who are successful and makes good music, in my opinion, is 30 Seconds to Mars with Jared Leto. Most actors turned musicians—it’s more [of a] joke. But then again, most of the time, the actor is the lead singer—the person everyone’s looking at. I’m just the drummer! If you don’t look hard enough you may not even see me on stage. We’re not trying to make my having been on TV the band’s only selling point. Sure, it brings people in the doors but that only gets you so far. People have to enjoy your music. What we focus on is making good music and having fun while we do it. I think that’s what it’s all about. I think my favorite reaction we get is when people come to our show and expect it to be a joke and people are really pleasantly surprised.

How is being a musician in the entertainment business different from being an actor?

One thing I really like is the fact that you get an automatic reaction from the fans. When you’re playing on stage, you get to see and hear how people are reacting. When you are working on a TV show or a movie, you can be working on it for weeks and months and it can be a long time before the audience sees what you’ve been working on. And even then, you don’t get to see how they react to what you’ve done. At a concert or show when we’re playing, we get to see people get into it. I love that. The best thing about being a drummer is that I get to see everything–I’m behind everyone. I see everyone going crazy and just having a great time and I realize I want to do this forever. It’s so rewarding.

It’s so cool that you’ve found something that you love so much.

I love it. I mean I loved acting but it was one of those things that I did was I was seven or eight years old—I never really thought about it. Racecar driving was cool but it’s really stressful because you can get injured very easily and people are spending millions of dollars and counting on you to win the race and if you don’t perform well, you are going to lose your job. I just love music. I love the guys and the band and we just get along really well. We’re best friends so we enjoy being together.

So you really see yourself continuing with this in the future?

Yeah, I mean I hope people will come see us perform and download the songs so we can continue to do what we love. No matter what happens with You Hang Up specifically, I plan on being in the music world for the rest of my life. I really, really enjoy it. Even the tough stuff–the song-writing, the recording process, it’s great. No matter what it is, I want to be involved in music, for sure.

I feel like if you’re this enthusiastic about it, things can only go well for you. You know what I mean? I think the problem with some actors when they go into the music business is that they do it to change their image. But you genuinely seem like you love it.

Me specifically, I don’t even care how people look at me. I just want people to enjoy the music. I want them to be singing songs. It’s cool when people go, “Oh, it’s cool to see the band. I had no idea you were even in it. You’re the drummer?” That’s great. I think that’s so cool.

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Arts & Life Columns Cooking Corner

Cooking Corner: Baked Mac and Cheese

By Emily Fry

Staff Writer

Baked Mac and Cheese

On a cold November day, there is nothing more satisfying than some comfort food like mac and cheese. The school makes an amazing macaroni and cheese, but seems to be serving it less frequently than in the past. If you’re dying to have some mac and cheese right away, try this recipe. It’s not as good as the caf mac and cheese, it’s better. Happy Baking!

Ingredients:

1 lb. elbow macaroni, cooked

5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for baking dish

1/2 c. all purpose flour

6 c. whole milk

3 1/2 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese

3 tsp. kosher salt

1 c. bread crumbs

1/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Directions

1. Melt the butter in large saucepan over medium heat.

2. Slowly add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for three minutes.

3. Add milk in a steady stream and cook for seven minutes.

4. Add the cheese and 2 tsp. salt and cook for five minutes.

5. Remove the sauce from the heat and add the cooked macaroni.

6. Transfer the macaroni to a buttered 9×13 baking dish.

7. Combine the bread crumbs, 1 tsp salt, pepper and parsley and sprinkle over the casserole.

8. Bake at 400 F until golden brown and bubbling at the edges, about 20 minutes.

Serves: 6-8

Source: Real Simple: Meals Made Easy

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Arts & Life Books Review

‘The Bad Girl’ charms readers

By Carolyn Williams

Staff Writer

“The Bad Girl” is first and foremost a shameless love story. Ricardo Somocurcio, the story’s narrator and protagonist, falls in love as a teenager in his childhood home of Miraflores, an upscale district of Lima, Peru. The object of his affection is a young Chilean named Lily, recently arrived on the scene, and before Ricardo can convince her to go steady, she vanishes from his life.

Years later, Ricardo finds himself a young expatriate in France, working as a translator for UNESCO, focusing all his energies on making his youthful ambition of a quiet life in Paris a reality. Suddenly the arrival of Comrade Arlette, a Peruvian revolutionary stopping over briefly in Paris before moving on to Cuba for further training, turns Ricardo’s humble world upside down. Although she denies it, Comrade Arlette is Lily, the purported Chilean of Ricardo’s youth. Again, Ricardo declares his love, this time for the unwilling revolutionary, and after favoring him with a few dates, she inevitably flits out of his life again.

From then on, Ricardo is cursed to love no one but the bad girl, a woman of irresistible charm and beauty, whose true identity remains shrouded in a complex web of lies and deceptions. Each time she meets him, she has reincarnated herself, capitalizing on rich men to catapult herself higher into society, and only when she is in between wealthy patrons does she turn to Ricardo, her fellow compatriot, lover and the single constant which transcends her many lives. At times Ricardo regards her with contempt and hatred, but in his heart he knows he will never escape his love for the bad girl.

Each chapter of “The Bad Girl” acts as a separate story. They follow a sort of pattern, in which Ricardo is living a normal life, seeing other women, interacting with friends, when the bad girl makes a sudden, shocking reappearance. Each time he encounters her, an exasperated Ricardo finds his love has increased, and for forty years, the pair play a game of cat and mouse across several continents.

“The Bad Girl” can be compared to Flaubert’s “Madame Bovary” in that the bad girl can be called a cheekier, modernized version of Emma, and Ricardo, the good boy, as the bad girl always called him, is comparable to Charles Bovary, Emma’s simple, trusting husband. In spite of Emma’s philandering and other outrageous behavior, Charles always welcomes her back with open arms, as does Ricardo, until their bad girls die.

Mario Vargas Llosa, one of Latin America’s foremost writers, is responsible for having written a large body of work and his efforts have recently been rewarded: he is the 2010 Nobel Prize laureate for literature. The Peruvian author, politician, journalist and essayist is best known for such works as “The Time of the Hero,” “The Green House” and “Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter.” He is also notorious for his feud with Colombian writer and fellow Nobel Prize laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The two have maintained a resolute silence for more than 30 years, since Vargas Llosa famously punched Garcia Marquez in the face in Mexico City, according to www.kirjasto.sci.fi. The reason behind the schism has never been revealed. “The Bad Girl” is Vargas Llosa’s latest work.

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Arts & Life

A ‘Be You [tiful]’ preview

By Laura Crowley

Staff Writer

The students of the department of theatre and dance will put on their final performance of “Be You [tiful],” a series of monologue by Eve Ensler this evening in Hunt Formal. Directed by Tina Cody ’12, the play consists of a series of monologues acted by Yulissa Hidalgo ’12, Cherie Celeste Malone ’13, Victoria Moyer ’13, Katharina Schmidt ’13 and Emily Shoemaker ’14.

The play explores issues that affect young girls and women, including body image, sexual behavior and satisfying social standards.  In one monologue,  Shoemaker cuts up cantaloupe into tiny bites while proclaiming her plan to lose weight. In a later scene, she acts out the documentation of anorexia by imitating Internet blogs and pro-ana websites.

In a separate monologue, Moyer embodies the destructive pattern of plastic surgery by lying on an operating table and almost devilishly proclaiming her newfound beauty.

Hidalgo wears a trash bag and is wrapped in Christmas lights to convey the self-mutilation that comes from the art of tattooing and piercing.

“I loved the way they used very simple props like cantaloupe and trash bags to convey different things.  It was very creative,”  Cameron Berry ’13 said.“The use of lighting, such as that used with the Christmas tree lights, was very inventive. [Cody] did a good job directing creatively and innovatively[ given her use of props],” he said.

The play offers some hope regarding the struggles young women face.  In one scene, Malone says her boyfriend is helping her to stop starving herself, which her father had encouraged.  Her boyfriend’s cooking, she said, is helping her learn to enjoy food.

“You could tell that the audience was very engaged and that people were relating to the issues at hand. Tina Cody did a great job of surfacing important issues,” Alyssa Kinell ’12 said after viewing a dress rehearsal of the play.

The issues addressed in “Be You [tiful]” are relevant and pervasive in the lives of young women.  Confronting such issues may help heal these destructive patterns to which many young women fall victim.

“Be You [tiful]” plays tonight in Hunt Formal at 8 p.m. Tickets are $4.

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Arts & Life Campus Events Review

CollegeHumor comedian performs

By Nicole Della-Cava

Contributing Writer

Originally a columnist for collegehumor.com, Steve Hofstetter took the stage at the Bison Wednesday night to amuse and surprise students and faculty.

Hofstetter, who has performed at the University several times over the past few years, began his performance with confidence and repose.  To break the ice, he started on diversity on campus and in Lewisburg.  He transformed such unoriginal and recognized statements into a series of jokes that got the audience going.

Hofstetter included the audience by taking a survey and asking all the Jewish people to raise their hand. Surprisingly, and to prove his point, there were no Jewish people in the whole cafeteria.  Taking this discussion to another level, he said people always ask him if he is both Irish and Jewish.  He is Jewish, but just because he has flaming red hair and pale skin does not mean he is Irish.

Hofstetter has a black adopted sister and speaks openly on the subject.  This became one of his discussions about race that showed the audience that it is acceptable to talk about these subjects.  He included his personal anecdote to make his performance unique and alluring to the audience.

“I liked the abortion and racist jokes.  They are serious issues but he is very talented to be able to do that,” said Blandine Manteau, an exchange student from France.

Hofstetter also related Lewisburg, with its rural setting and plentiful fields of crops, to Farmville.  That was definitely unexpected which made the audience even more amused and interested.

Hofstetter’s jokes are focused towards more mature viewers. His comedy and sense of humor are known around the country because of his popular website and books and frequent travels to universities and nightclubs.

“My favorite part was the closing; Steve engaged well with the crowd, ” Danny Wallace ’14 said.

Ending the night, he thanked the crowd for not bothering him with claps. The audience was caught off-guard and was probably expecting him to thank them for laughing at his jokes or being a good crowd.  He exited the stage with the audience still laughing.

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Arts & Life

Downtown Lewisburg eats reviewed

By Sarah Bookstein

Writer

Looking to grab some grub off-campus? As much as students love the Bostwick Marketplace and the Bison, it can be fun to mix it up. Though Lewisburg is quite small, it is home to a few reliable food venues that students frequent.

Probably the most notable late-night food joint for students is Market Street Deli, more commonly known as “MSD.” It is conveniently located on Market Street across from Hufnagle Park, and a hop, skip and a jump away from Town Tavern and the Bull Run. A popular stop on the way home from the bar and a destination for all students, the Deli is also a popular place for Sunday morning delights like the famous bacon, egg and cheese bagel sandwich.

A restaurant more known for its class and fabulous entrees like Pumpkin Tortellini and Grilled Fillet Mignon is Elizabeth’s: An American Bistro.

“Elizabeth’s is the perfect upscale restaurant to go to with your parents. Every dish is delicious and the atmosphere is so pleasant,” Nicole Meyers ’11 said. “This is the perfect treat that we all look forward to. Every college town needs one.”

The key to having the best possible experience at Elizabeth’s is to save room for desert: this restaurant’s dessert tray is out of this world. Some of the desserts on the fall menu include a “cookies ’n’ cream” assortment, pumpkin cheesecake and carrot cake.

A relatively new addition to the café-style restaurants in town is Pronto, boasting “Provisions with Passion.” Pronto is cozy and welcoming, and certainly promises Lewisburg a steady production of turkey and brie sandwiches and amazing pasta salad far into the future. Nearby is another café-style eatery, Cherry Alley Café. Cherry Alley Café has recently been amping up its menu with Mexican-inspired dishes on Saturdays.

Peking Garden, a completely different type of experience altogether, may be the only place to get sushi near campus. Though it looks like an abandoned barn from the outside, this large restaurant boasts a BYOB policy for students of age, making Peking a popular place for sorority and fraternity pre-formals dinner parties. The restaurant is on Route 15 and St. Mary Street and serves both typical Chinese and Japanese food. A popular sushi roll is the Spicy Shrimp Tempura, and you can’t go wrong with an order of General Tso’s Chicken.

Last but not least is Ard’s Farm Market, loved and worshiped by students who have been coming here since they discovered the hidden gem. Ard’s is on Market Street but a few miles out of town on the other side of Route 15. It has a farm market store that sells everything from fresh produce to cheeses and meats, and chocolate-dipped anything and everything. Ard’s’ Roasted Turkey Breast Panini with cranberry mayonnaise and Bacon Ranch Burger are practically award-winning. Make the trip to Ard’s for breakfast, served until noon on Sundays, and pick up some groceries all in one trip.

“If you’re looking for hearty, home-cooked comfort food, Ard’s is the place to go,” Christina Anella ’11 said. “The menu is huge and can be intimidating but you can never go wrong with the cornbread, which I’ve had piled high with pulled pork.”

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Arts & Life Movies Review

The story of Facebook

By Carolyn Williams

Staff Writer

“The Social Network” tells a version of the unexpected beginnings of Facebook. The movie is based on the 2009 nonfiction book by Ben Mezrich called “The Accidental Billionaires.” Since no members of the Facebook team were involved in the project, many of the film’s characters are portrayed in an unflattering light.

The story begins in 2003, when Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, a sophomore at Harvard, is in the middle of a date that is going quite badly. Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is a prototypical, if somewhat bitter, nerd, and as he beleaguers his date with the importance of being accepted into a Harvard final club, she bluntly ends their relationship.

Angry about rejection and somewhat drunk, Zuckerberg and several of his friends create FaceMash, a website where people can compare the “hotness” of most of the female undergraduate community, while simultaneously blogging about his anger with his former girlfriend. The site gets so many hits that it crashes Harvard’s network, landing Zuckerberg on academic suspension and in trouble with most of the female student body.

His notoriety brings Zuckerberg to the attention of several upperclassmen looking to create an exclusive social networking site for Harvard students, and while he is supposedly working on this project, Zuckerberg and his business partner, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), launch their own social networking website, www.thefacebook.com, the predecessor to today’s Facebook.

Much of the movie is told in a series of flashbacks as Zuckerberg sits trial, having been sued both by the upperclassmen, who believe he stole their idea for a Harvard dating website, and Saverin, Zuckerberg’s former CFO and ex-best friend.

Moviegoers will find “The Social Network” has more depth than its depiction in trailers. The overall tone is heavy, with only a few absolute moments of comedy. The film leaves no doubt that it is a serious drama. The acting is very believable, particularly Andrew Garfield as the wounded Saverin. Justin Timberlake also does a superb job filling the role of bad influence on the impressionable young Zuckerberg in his part as Napster co-founder Sean Parker.

University students at the Campus Theatre left the movie pleased.

“I thought that a movie about the creation of Facebook wouldn’t be very interesting, but it was compelling and well-acted, with complex characters,” Rachel Pearson’14 said.

“I thought it was a well-done movie. It was really emotionally engaging and intense. I really enjoyed it,” Kate Wilsterman ’14 said.

“Emotionally engaging” is a good choice of words. For the majority of “The Social Network,” the filmmakers do a commendable job creating tension and involving their audience on the emotional level; however, when the credits roll, viewers are left with a sense of hope and optimism for the innovative website’s future.