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Welcome Back to the Show
August 28th, 2008Dear Cornell students, faculty, staff and random people who pick up this paper, Right now, you are most likely sitting in Libe Café, CTB or some equivalent. You may have a few blank notebooks, an astronomical bill on your Cornell Card from books you’ve just bought and some (hopefully) good coffee in hand. The nights are already starting to get colder, and your liver is taking some serious beating from this week, because, as you told your mother again last night, classes don’t actually start until like, mid-September. As you try to stave off the what-am-I-going-to-do-wihout-Schedulizer panic attack, your eyes alight on these words and you groan inwardly, thinking “Man, I wish it was still summer.” We do too. Read More
Other News
Guide to Getting Down with Your Funky Self
August 28th, 2008Bill Maher, Sept. 28 in Barton Hall (CUPB) Whether you loved, hated, or were just confused by Steven Colbert’s performancce last fall, this fall look forward to another sometimes offensive, always honest, except when he’s being satirical, pundit, Bill Maher. We’re not exactly sure what he’s going to talk to us about — although a reading from When You Ride Alone, You Ride with Bin Laden would be pretty freaking sweet — but we’re sure it will include some heavy Cornell mockery, spoiled-college-kid scolding, humor and maybe a teeny bit of edumucation. Make sure you get your tickets early. Go to www.rso.cornell.edu/cupb/ for more information. Read More
"Don't Worry, I'm a Reporter," or, "A First-Timer's Guide to Lollapalooza"
August 27th, 2008Chicago is a surprising city. From within its limits, some of the most influential public figures of the past 100 years have skyrocketed to super-celebrity and/or infamy. In some ways, little has changed beyond the venues of choice; Al Capone’s speakeasies might have given way to Kanye West and the Hard Rock Hotel, but the city has retained its reputation for cutthroat politics and as a hotspot for the pop-cultural avante-garde. Read More
The Various Sonic Samplings of a Rowdy, Beer-Soaked Music Festival
August 27th, 2008Before I delve into the festival itself, it’s necessary to point out that Lollapalooza — if not all music festivals — brings out the worst in people. Case in point: While we were trying to get out of Grant Park after Kanye finished his set Sunday night, fights broke out and class warfare went down when a normal Lolla-goer yelled at the V.I.P.’s for being “upper class yuppies who probably don’t even know who the Ting Tings are.” Read More
Archived Stories
Lollapalooza Highlights: The Good, the Bad and the ... Hobbits?
August 27th, 2008The following is a breakdown of who rocked, who didn't, and who lied about Barack Obama showing up at Lollapalooza 2008. SATURDAY — MGMT: Meh. Not that good. Other than “Kids” and “Time to Pretend,” far and away their best songs in general, the performance was pretty weak.Explosions in the Sky: It was exactly like Friday Night Lights, except instead of football players there were alot of people who hadn’t showered in a fortnight. Read More
A Free Ticket to The Los Angeles Film Festival
August 26th, 2008The best thing about living in Westwood, Los Angeles is that about every other day, the road you need to walk down or park on is blocked off for a movie premiere. What’s even better is the Los Angeles Film Festival, where the entire neighborhood becomes a mini-Sundance, complete with ticket booths, mini-red carpets, special super-secret party rooms (like the Target Red Room, where — if you are important, famous or a major filmmaker — you get to hang out and drink free booze). Read More
Movie Review: Entertainment @ It's Best
July 30th, 2008As the Piano Man himself once said, “only the good die young.” Just don’t tell that to Eileen Hall, Stan Goldman, Fred Knittle or any of the other twenty-three members of the Young @ Heart chorus. Under the gritty leadership of band director Bob Cilman, these 80 year-olds sing everything from Sonic Youth to James Brown. And although they have toured Europe and performed for royalty, Young @ Heart’s time in the spotlight truly arrived in their self-entitled documentary, in which the group prepares for a performance in their hometown of Northampton, Massachusetts. Bursting with life and uplifting in every way, Young @ Heart is a cinematic treat that … well … only comes around once in a lifetime. Read More
Movie Review: It Was a Dark and Stormy (and Overrated) Knight
July 29th, 2008I might not be the most popular guy in the room after this statement, but given the insane amount of hype surrounding The Dark Knight I feel compelled to speak my mind. No matter how many people seem to share the conviction that the new Batman sequal is “THE BEST MOVIE EVERRRR,” I would have to argue that the movie — honestly, plain and simple — just ain’t that good. I mean, it’s good, but it’s not that good. It’s an above average summer blockbuster — and even, arguably, a superior effort in general — but the level of hyperbole surrounding it is approaching the absurd. Read More
RJD2 to Rock the Arts Quad During Orientation ... for FREE
July 22nd, 2008... And we're back! Welcome once again to the big show, Cornell. Prop up your feet; make yourself comfortable and ready for a new school year. Could I get you anything? A mineral water with a spritz of lime? A foot massage? I do regret to say, dear readers, serving is not my strong suit, but how about I serve you a free show on the Arts Quad instead? You will forget all about your parched palate and your hurting high arches when you hear RJD2's fine beats rip across the quad, Saturday, August 30. RJD2 will be headlining the annual free show sponsored by the Cornell Concert Commission (CCC). Following in the relatively new, yet nevertheless grand, tradition of Arts Quad concerts, RJD2 represents a sort of turning point in CCC’s bookings, as RJD2 will be the first experimental hip-hop act brought to Cornell since the Roots raised the roof in 2002. Previously, the Concert Commission has hosted six free shows, including the National in 2007, Motion City Soundtrack in 2006, Virginia Coalition in 2005, They Might Be Giants in 2004 and Guster in 2000. RJD2, therefore, is the obvious turntable-toting outlier on this list. Read More
The Arts Staff's Guide to Having Fun (and Failing School)
July 13th, 2008Cornell is hard — extremely, exhaustingly hard. It’s important you know that now. It’s also important you know that there are plenty of things to do at Cornell and in Ithaca besides your (nearly impossible) school work. It may come as a surprise, but some of those things don’t even involve drinking. The following is a somewhat incomplete list of all the great venues and organizations on and off campus that provide art and entertainment to you. We say incomplete, because, even though we’d like to think so, we aren’t actually omniscient. There are probably venues or cool establishments around that we don’t know of. If you find one, give us a call, so we can pretend we knew about it all along (or better yet, join our staff and write about it yourself). Read More