Category: Arts & Life

Categories
Arts & Life Movies Review

‘Repo! The Genetic Opera’ fails to be Halloween hit

By William Bonfigilo

Writer

It wouldn’t be Halloween season without terrible movies, often so campy and clichéd, horribly written and poorly acted that they are more titillating than terrifying. Once in a while, a movie will veer from beautiful teenagers being stalked by insane/misunderstood/evil forces and introduce a truly novel premise. Think “Saw” in 2004, before the torture porn genre became as outdated as last year’s jack-o-lanterns.

In 2008, film director Darren Lynn Bousman brought an original premise to the big screen. It’s a shame that the movie itself, “Repo! The Genetic Opera,” was so abominable.

“Repo! The Genetic Opera” was first conceived by Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich as a stage play in 1996, but it developed a strong underground following, in no small part thanks to its creative take on repossessions.

The film’s introduction presents a bizarre futuristic world. The year is 2056, nearly three decades after an epidemic of mass organ failures devastated the world’s population. To combat the outbreak, a biotechnology company called GeneCo begins harvesting unaffected organs from the recently deceased, and leasing those organs to infected individuals. If patients are unable to pay their medical bill, GeneCo sends the Repo Man to reacquire the organ through any means necessary. Scenes of improvised surgery clog the movie, and, despite the American appetite for violence, the film drags.

“Repo!” embodies the very notion of campiness. Featuring a collection of performers who are either washed up (Sarah Brightman, Paul Sorvino) or lacking talent altogether (Alexa Vega, Paris Hilton), Bousman tries to make do with a style that is both grandiose and gross; organs are literally picked up and passed to the characters as if they were hot potatoes. Attempts at witticisms are crude and ineffective, characters are aggravating and whiny, and musical numbers are irritating, childish and poorly conceived, with too few strong moments for such a musically inclined cast (Brightman, Sorvino and Vega).

Such pretension shows a resemblance to the “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” another campy Halloween film that developed an underground cult following. The difference between the two films seems to be charm. While actor Tim Curry could make transvestitism delightful in “Rocky Horror,” Anthony Head, who plays the Repo Man, lacks the swagger to convey any emotion besides contempt effectively. His character grows tiresome quickly.

While the premise was strong enough to inspire an action-packed blockbuster (“Repo Men,” 2010), “Repo! The Genetic Opera” failed as a film, and while its style was certainly memorable, it was also really painful to sit through.

Categories
Arts & Life

Professor McDayter to write book on flirtation

By Christina Oddo

Writer

Ghislaine McDayter is more than just a professor. She is also an author, a “Romantic,” a cook and a calligrapher.

McDayter, an associate profess of English who has been at the University for 14 years, was born in Toronto, Canada. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto, Victoria College. Seven months after McDayter graduated, she traveled to France, learned French and “perfected the art of living on bread and cheese—very good bread and cheese, it must be said,” McDayter said. She then studied Romanticism and earned her Ph.D. at Duke University.

Since then, McDayter has become a successful writer. Her last book, “Byromania and the Birth of Celebrity Culture,” was published by SUNY Press last year, and was awarded the Elma Dangerfield Prize for the best recent work on Byron by the International Byron’s Society. “It’s really about Byron’s poetic career and the origins of what we have now come to think of as celebrity culture,”  McDayter said.

McDayter is currently working on her next book, regarding flirtation in 19th century literature, entitled “Licentious Tyrants: Flirtation, Feminism and Nineteenth-Century Literature.” She will be teaching a seminar based on her research next semester.

“I wanted to come to a university where I knew that teaching was not something the professors did out of a painful sense of duty, but rather because they loved working with students,” McDayter said.  “I think the liberal arts education offered at institutions like the University remains the most productive and pedagogically exciting way to learn—both for the students and instructors.”

McDayter decided to become a professor very early on in her life. She thoroughly enjoys reading and writing, exchanging ideas about literature, and she especially loves analyzing literature, as it is like “working out a puzzle.”

McDayter likes to cook and do calligraphy when she has free time. She also enjoys yoga and hiking. If she is not teaching and collaborating with her students, she is spending time with her two children.

Categories
Arts & Life Campus Events Review

‘Shepardfest’ in review

By Katie Monigan

Arts & Life Editor

The best way to describe Shepardfest is a hodgepodge: this weekend’s series of four plays could not have been more varied, almost as if they were not written by the same man.

But they were. Sam Shepard was named the 2010 Janet Weis Fellow in Contemporary Letters, but was unable to come to campus to accept his award. In his honor, and because of stage director Gary Grant’s passion for his work, this fall’s acting showcase was a diverse series of Shepard’s plays and short stories.

Inside Tustin Theatre’s small performance space are four risers with chairs, enough room for 30-40 people and six circular tables that create a café atmosphere. There were even plates with cheese, crackers, grapes and water on each of the tables.

The first of four plays this weekend, “Just Space,” which according to the program is a dramatization of a short story, was only a few minutes long and had two cast members. In the play, a mother does not understand the daughter now that she has moved away and married. She repeatedly refuses to acknowledge her daughter’s husband as her “husband,” instead calling him her “beau.” While mostly serious, it had a couple one-liners that made the mood less grim. On stage, two screens, one on each side, set the scene: the mother’s was a tidy living room, and the daughter’s was a much messier and basic one. Stephanie Walters ’11 played the daughter while a convincing Emily Singleton ’12 played the mother.

The second play, “Cowboy Mouth,” was much longer, almost too long.  Set in a messy apartment, the play features a drunk man and woman who scream, sing and crawl around the stage. The entire play is very intense, with almost no lulls. There are some funny moments, like when they order lobster and a man in a red leather lobster suit delivers it. Just like the first play, though, the comedic breaks are no match for the intensity and sadness of most of the play. Katharina Schmidt ’13 and Eddie Pailet ’11 both delivered impressive performances.

After a much-needed intermission, the tone completely turned in a lighthearted play about a woman who thinks her head is going to explode while she is skiing, a maid learning to swim by practicing on a bed and a man who suffers a 10-year affliction with crabs. The play is bizarre and entertaining, with especially compelling acting by Christina Cody ’12, who played the maid.

The final play in the series was by far the most abstract. It included the entire cast of Shepardfest and was broken into three groups of people: six people in chairs with blankets on their laps who were illuminated one at a time with spotlights, four drummers hiding behind the chairs of the speakers and an entirely-female chorus dressed in dark colors who ran around and danced. They all spoke in a chant-like manner, and eventually ran up into the risers where the audience sat to further extend the atmosphere.

Overall, Shepardfest seemed to be directed at an audience other than the student body. In fact, of the few people in attendance last Sunday night, about five were students, most of them greeting cast member friends when the show was over. It was enjoyable to watch, but nothing special, and seemed more to be a tool for acting growth rather than for viewing pleasure of University students.

Categories
Arts & Life

LinkedIn: Where social meets professional

By Ashley Miller

Writer

Job searching is never fun, particularly in this economic climate. With the unemployment rate in Pennsylvania up to 8.9 percent according the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, we college students need to search more than ever.

LinkedIn is one networking site that may help college students break into the work world. While other popular career sites including Monster, Careerbuilder and Careerlink each boast their own benefits, LinkedIn provides applicants with a place to help advance their careers.

While still fairly new, its membership of already 80 million is on the rise. Similar to the classic job search sites, LinkedIn provides applicants with a place to help advance their careers. Users can search for jobs in a specific industry or area. They also create profiles, list their accomplishments and work experience, add contacts and interact with a community through user groups and messages.

“I had a LinkedIn account in high school to network for music opportunities,” said Kim Rich ’14, who plays piano for parties and banquets. “I was actually surprised to get a few jobs just from posting videos of me playing (piano) on LinkedIn,” she said.

Twitter and LinkedIn recently came to a deal that allows tweets to be shared over the LinkedIn site. The incorporation of Twitter into the site allows job seekers and other professionals to share and receive career-related news, such as job openings and other useful tidbits, nearly instantly.

LinkedIn also provides the chance to get information from experts in a field. Got a professional question? Finding the answer is simpler than a Google search. LinkedIn members can get advice from people all over the country.

The typical profile on LinkedIn is more than just a résumé, although it consists of many of the same elements. It lists work experience and education, as well as interests and objectives. The more you include, the more likely you are to come up in searches so the more likely people are to find you. You also can have recommendations in the form of comments on your profile from other users.

Another useful tool is company pages. LinkedIn has hundreds of them. They show which members of your network work or have worked for this company, including who was recently hired or who has recently left. This can be advantageous if you are looking for a job with a certain company. You can “follow” a company you are interested in and receive updates about it. You can also see typical career paths of people who worked for that company, such as where they worked previously and where they went to work next.

LinkedIn may be especially helpful for college seniors preparing to enter the career world.

“I set up my LinkedIn profile just under a year ago. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have a professional online presence,” Gar Waterman ’11 said. “From the perspective of someone currently searching for a job, you never know when [an employer] might happen to come across [your profile].”

Categories
Arts & Life Columns Cooking Corner

Cooking Corner: White Pizza

By Emily Fry

Staff Writer

White Pizza

With this recipe you won’t even need the phone number for Domino’s. You can make your own pizza dough or buy pre-made dough from Wal-Mart. My favorite type is pesto sauce with tomatoes and mozzarella, but you can be creative and try any combinations you might like. Happy baking!

Dough Ingredients:

1 1/4 c. water

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. salt

1/4 c. cornmeal

3 Tbsp. whole wheat flour

3 c. flour

1 Tbsp. yeast

Directions:

1. Mix warm water, oil, salt, sugar and yeast.

2. Let sit about 10 min, until foamy.

3. Add cornmeal and flours.

4. Knead dough five to 10 minutes on a floured surface. Don’t knead too much or the dough will be tough.

5. Let rise in greased bowl until doubled and then punch down.

6. After dough has risen, chill for two hours.

Makes enough dough for two 12-inch pizzas.

Pizza Ingredients:

Dough for two pizzas

4 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced

2 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded

Shredded Parmesan cheese

Pesto

Directions:

1. Work dough into round pies (stretch, roll,whatever works).

2. Put in 12-inch pizza pans, greased and sprinkled with cornmeal.

3. Spread thin layer of pesto on pizza. Top with tomato and cheese.

4. Bake at 450 F for 12 to 15 minutes.

Source: Writer’s own.

Categories
Arts & Life

Ke$ha and B.o.B draw enthusiastic crowd

By Carolyn Williams

Writer

Ke$ha and B.o.B. fans turned out in droves for the concert last Friday at the Gerhard Fieldhouse. It seemed like most of the student body was in attendance, as were a number of local high school students, families from the greater Lewisburg community and many other local fans.

The excitement was palpable at the field house, where the line of excited concert-goers wrapped around Sojka Pavilion. Many emulated Ke$ha’s distinctive style, proudly sporting “Party Like It’s 1846” neon pink or yellow ball caps. The cold night air was only a mild annoyance in light of the anticipation to see the show.

When Ke$ha finally appeared on stage, the crowd went wild. She opened the concert with “Blah, Blah, Blah” to the screams of happy fans. The excitement continued with some of her other popular hits, mostly off her electro-pop dance album “Animal.” The audience danced to hits like “Stephen,” “Dinosaur,” “Animal,” “Take it off” and “Party at a Rich Dude’s House” before ending her performance with her best-known song “Tik Tok.” Ke$ha’s performance undeniably carried her signature of sloppy craziness. Particularly notable were her costume changes, including her panda headdress. Her theatricality, though immediately entertaining, was not enough to cover her weak vocals. Often called a lesser emulator of Lady Gaga, many students felt her overall live performance was lackluster. “Ke$ha was mediocre, but B.O.B. was off the hook,” Spenser Frieri ’14 said.

Many audience members left the concert during the lengthy intermission between Ke$ha and B.o.B.’s performances, but the remainder of the crowd was as enthusiastic as ever to see B.o.B. finish his American tour for his album “The Adventures of Bobby Ray.” The wait was well worth the while, as evidenced by B.o.B.’s significantly more put-together and polished act. The singer’s alternative hip-hop songs were a huge hit with the crowd, as people screamed along to each song. “Bet I,”“Magic” and “Don’t Let Me Fall” were particularly well-followed. He also sang renditions of songs by MGMT and Vampire Weekend. The fans reacted especially enthuastically to the hits “Nothin’ on You” and “Airplanes.” His singing was also noticeably better than Ke$ha’s, and the crowd was captivated from start to finish.

Overall impressions of this year’s fall concert were generally favorable. Caroline Confort ’14 gave it her full approval. “The concert was insane and I had the time of my life,” she said. With such big names as Ke$ha and B.o.B., students are beginning to wonder what surprises they can anticipate for next semester’s spring concert.

Categories
Arts & Life Uncategorized

Shepardfest

By Katie Monigan

Arts & Life Editor

Sam Shepard, an American playwright, has composed more than 50 plays, so when the theatre department decided to make him the focus of the fall season, it took an interesting approach. Whereas the usual method of collegiate play performance is to perform the same, full-length work for several nights, Shepard’s work led them to instead perform 11 of his plays over two weekends.

These plays, some of which are adapted short stories, range from five to 40 minutes, and according to director Gary Grant, many of them are rarely performed. Most of the plays have two to three main cast members, with the exception of “tongues,” which contains the full cast of 17. When actors are not in the spotlight, they fill other roles as part of the ensemble.

The main roles rotate between actors, so each artist has the chance to perform an “Aria Monologue,” which according to Grant is “when characters just start talking and talk for a while.” It is a common feature of many of Shepard’s plays, and he said it was important that as many people as possible have the experience.

This distribution of roles seems to have led the students involved with “Shepardfest” to establish close bonds with their fellow cast members.

According to Sheridan Gates ’14, who works behind the scenes, “everyone is so collaborative. Doing this is a huge time commitment, but it made everyone really close. I’m really impressed with the whole process.”

In addition to their unique scheduling of performances, set–makers have been creative with the way the audience views “Shepardfest.” While there is traditional seating in the back of the theatre, there is additional seating just under the stage in chairs around tables, to create the feel of a café and involve the audience further. Two large screens sit on the stage for video projections of old comedies and television shows, created by Diego Chiri.

The plays are diverse in content, style and musical content. One is actually a collaboration with Patty Smith, who writes rock-and-roll poetry.

“Shepard’s plays are set in the most ordinary of circumstances, but outrageous things happen. The characters are so interesting, there’s an unrelenting progression to the plot and the language is so descriptive and so visual that you are compelled to suspend your disbelief,” Grant said. “Things are as they seem to be, and they are not as they seem to be, and sometimes this incongruity frightens terribly or makes us uneasy. But usually in a Shepard play, these juxtapositions are very funny.”

“Shepardfest” has its final performances this Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, at 8 p.m. in Tustin Theatre.

Categories
Arts & Life Columns Cooking Corner

Cooking Corner: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

By Emily Fry

Staff Writer

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

When people think of Halloween and October, they often think of pumpkins.  To go along with your carved jack-o-lantern, why not make a delicious pumpkin treat?  These easy muffins are definitely more of a treat than a trick.  Happy baking!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 cup semi–sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease and flour muffin pan or use paper liners.
  2. Mix sugar, oil and eggs. Add pumpkin and water. In separate bowl mix together baking flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt. Add wet mixture and stir in chocolate chips.
  3. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 20 to 25 minutes.

From Allrecipes.com

Categories
Arts & Life Review Television

Off the Tube: ‘Big Bang Theory’

By Katie Monigan

Arts & Life Editor

“The Big Bang Theory” is the epitome of nerd shows, but it’s more than just a showthat nerds watch—it talks about nerdy things, but also makes fun of them so it appeals to other people, too.

The show depicts the interactions between four researchers at CalTech, two of whom are roommates, and an attractive but dim-witted waitress from across the hall named Penny.

This season is not very different from the previous seasons, but it doesn’t really need to be. Where shows with children like “Two and a Half Men” or shows that have very dramatic plotlines like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Desperate Housewives” need to constantly change to remain interesting, “Big Bang Theory” is pretty much the same every week: somebody messes up an experiment, has an awkward date or comes up with a brilliant idea that doesn’t work out, and by the end of the episode their lives are normal again. It’s a pretty childish way to structure a show, but it’s consistently pretty funny, so it works well.

Recently, Sheldon, the nerdiest of the nerds involved, is in a relationship with a woman, but their relationship is not even close to normal. She’s a neurobiologist, and he’s a theoretical physicist, so they’re both smart enough to be beyond any hope of social functionality. They text constantly but have no physical contact. They are planning to have children artificially to avoid ever touching each other. It’s so ridiculous, it’s hilarious.

The show is simple, but if it’s your kind of humor, it’s really entertaining. It’s probably going to burn out for lack of new ideas in a season or two, but for now, it works, and those of us that like to laugh at awkward smart people find it very enjoyable.

Categories
Arts & Life

Lacrosse team supports troops

By Carolyn Williams

Writer

A Bison Never Forgets (BNF) is a student–organized charity group, started by lacrosse team members Ryan Klipstein ’11 and John Collett ’11. This organization sends care packages to former Army and Navy lacrosse players who are now on active duty.

“John came to me one day and felt like there was something that should be done to honor the troops that now put their lives in harm’s way for us,” Klipstein said. “Being part of the Patriot League, we have a special understanding of what types of people go to Army and Navy Universities and play sports.”

Klipstein and Collett decided to collect donations at home games to make the care packages.

In the past year the organization has already made great strides. The men’s and women’s soccer teams have also joined BNF, and the three teams together have collected over $2,500 and sent over 23 care packages to former athletes now defending their country.

“We hope to work with women’s basketball this winter and eventually with all sports at the university,” Klipstein said.

A more long-term goal for the group is to include all the sports teams in the Patriot League. As the schools in the Patriot League have different mascots, the name of the charity group would differ at each school.  So at Lafayette, the group might be called “A Leopard Never Forgets,” but the idea would be the same.

“This will take some time to accomplish but I am confident [that it will happen eventually],” Klipstein said.

The team takes the time to assemble the packages according to request.

“Some of these [requests] can be a little odd actually. A lot of the guys like the socks and sunscreen–type stuff (jerky, nuts, grain bars, deodorant, magazines etc). We also like to pick up items that are a little less conventional. Wiffle ball bats and balls, board games and crosswords … we get a good response from this,” Klipstein said.

BNF has garnered a large response from grateful Army and Navy alums.

“A bunch of very appreciative e-mails and Facebook messages have been sent to us. Some of the guys reflect back on the great times they had playing Bucknell,” Klipstein said.

Klipstein and Collett have formed a Bison Never Forgets committee made up of representatives from the lacrosse and soccer teams. After this spring’s graduation Dylan Burke ’13 and Evan Bozymski ’14 will take over the lacrosse team’s participation in the group. Jules Harris ’11 heads the women’s soccer BNF, and Ryan Sappington ’12 and Luke Joyner ’12 are in charge of BNF’s men’s soccer division. Former lacrosse player Mike Clenshaw runs the Bison Never Forgets Facebook page. Despite this new leadership, Klipstein said “[I am sure] that John and I will always have a hand in the program.”

Over family weekend the men’s and women’s soccer games collected over $1,000.

“I think it’s really great of the sports teams to support their fellow athletes,” Emily Conners ’14 said.

Students can contribute to BNF by mailing checks and cash to Bucknell University, mailbox 3017. Checks can be made out to cash or “Bison Team Camp.” Spectators can also contribute at almost every men’s and women’s soccer game.