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April 10, 2011
A quick look at Stephens College Senior Showcase shorts
In case you missed the first showing of the Stephens College Short Film Showcase, there’s still one more chance to see the hard work and tears that Stephens College seniors have poured into their six-month plus productions. The showcase will be presented April 15 at Ragtag.
Here’s a quick look at what you can expect from the short films:
"Blood, Thread and Tears" by Samantha Cook: A fascinating and heartbreaking peak at the grueling process that is making a collection as a college fashion major.
"Testing Room 123" by Kelsey Eick: This is a quant, quirky short that playfully experiments with old-style silent films and their clever use of sounds to create an interesting take on the traditional thoughts on school testing rooms.
"Moving Ahead" by Brittany Morgan: An inspiring look at the current public housing system, this documentary centers on Carrol Zu-Button or “Miss Z” and the Columbia after-school program “Moving Ahead,” which helps provide a second home for children in need.
"The Sexy Voice of Reason" by Lydia Lane: A narrative short, “Sexy Voice” shows the audience a young adult fighting with two sides of himself after the death of his father.
"Un Petit Jour" by Alie McNeil: One of the most charming shorts in the showcase, this documentary spends a day in a classroom of a St. Louis language immersion school and shows the antics and strength that go into teaching elementary school students a foreign language.
"Weather The Storm" by Casey Martin: Focusing on an abused young woman, “Weather The Storm” presents a fragile tale as the woman tries to break free from the town she’s grown up in, while struggling with both personal and family issues.
“Misunderstood” by Randi Cahill: Taking on the media’s perception of race and racism, this documentary presents different perspectives on how the media distorts and reports the news.
"Breathe" by Kayla Kauffman: homage to the French new wave movement, this black and white colored narrative peaks in on a woman -- in both the present and the past -- and the discovery of the difference between sex and love.
Feb. 9, 2011
The Lindsay Lohan of things that fall from clouds
THREE THINGS.
- Is there anything that’s more of a two-faced cocktease than snow?
Hear me out: at first, it’s all white and picturesque, draped across lawns and rooftops like a thick, wooly quilt. It’s pristine! It’s beautiful! Two days later, it’s the color of poisoned coffee, especially around sidewalks. Stupid cars. Snow, if you’re going to be pretty and white, please stay pretty and white. None of this gross and ugly thing. Snow is totally the Lindsay Lohan of things that fall from clouds.
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Submarines! How terrifying, yet awesome are submarines? Imagine being a seaman doing submarine-y things down in the depths of the Atlantic. Days upon days spent in, like, a four-foot tall metal tube, shooting torpedoes and what not. But at the same time, you’re in a tiny, enclosed space, leagues (is that still an appropriate measurement?) under the ocean’s surface. Scary stuff. Now imagine going to sleep in a submarine, having some sort of horrible nightmare in a submarine…and then waking up in cold sweat. AND YOU’RE STILL IN A SUBMARINE! No, thank you.
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I’m giving myself many bonus points for ignoring any easy seaman/semen jokes up there. Now THAT’S professionalism.
Jan. 26, 2011
'Marmaduke' needs love too
THREE THINGS.
- On Tuesday morning, circa 7 a.m., I locked myself in my room. Something evidently pretty important inside the door broke or jammed or whatever, and after I closed it, it wouldn’t open. Roughest 11 minutes of my life. Jail must blow.
Anyway, this was clearly a first for me, and maybe for anyone ever. My roommates eventually freed me, mere seconds before asphyxiation / starvation / heatstroke / frostbite set in and killed me dead. The issue is this: this awful, ludicrous situation occurred on just the 25th day of the year. I punched a few numbers, and basic math tells me I’m destined to unintentionally imprison myself 14.6 times over the course of 12 months. I’ve already done it once, and I’m lucky to be breathing and all. 13.6 more? What if I’m home alone? What if we’re out of screwdrivers? 2011 and I are going to have some problems, I think.
- Tuesday was Oscar Nominations Day, a holiday on par with Christmas and Independence Day and perhaps even Arbor Day. However, like most other holidays, Tuesday was underwhelming and left me sobbing in a corner, questioning the meaning of my existence. Only successful films get nominated! How American is that? This is the same country that green-lit a third (and probably fourth, fifth and fiftieth) "Transformers" movie.
I mean, let’s be realistic for a second: with 10 Best Picture nominees per year now, can’t they designate a spot for a terrible movie? They can even have a lottery to choose it. Throw the name of every awful 2010 movie into a gigantic hat and pick one. I don’t care how you do it, Academy, but please, please do it.
What I’m trying to say is, more "Dear John."
- Do people really watch the Hallmark Channel, or is it just there?
Jan. 20, 2011
So many headaches
Three things.
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Let’s get this out of the way: there are some things I like. Many things, even. I like Oreos, applesauce and baseball. I like warm socks and The Strokes. I like “The Social Network” probably more than anyone this side of Justin Timberlake’s nebula-sized ego (oh, but those golden locks!). I like poetry and dark beer, plaid shirts and Pokemon, Charlie Kelly and Regina Spektor. That said, I dislike many, many more things than I like, and this here blog is devoted to those.
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Here’s a thing: A few months ago I noticed the letters “smh” following some vapid celebrity’s vapid Tweet (I think it was Pauly D. or someone equally worthless). SMH. Naturally, the pistons in my tiny little Stegosaurus brain began firing -– what could it mean? I began rattling off some gross, unspeakable, certainly unprintable sexual possibilities. Then I started down the far smaller list of non-sexual possibilities, coming up with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Stupid. I concluded that the true meaning must be some majestic secret, and I accepted I’m just not “in the know.” Some time later, I was told that it stands for “shaking my head.” What a joke. That’s not a secret. Fuck acronyms.
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My roommate tried to make an argument that Antarctica (and, seriously, how do two college students get on the topic of Antarctica without alcohol or some sort of hyper-meth?) is always, always, 100 percent always, below the U.S., not realizing that the universe has no up or down or anything concrete and we’re just floating around on a big stupid rock in the middle of absolutely nothing and our lives are finite and ultimately meaningless. I have a dumb roommate.
Dec. 24, 2010
Light up your Christmas with this classic
This Christmas season, celebrate with the Griswolds and go back in time to revisit the 1989 classic “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” This hilarious tale of a Christmas gone horribly wrong stars famous faces such as Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid and Doris Roberts of “Everybody Loves Raymond” fame.
The film opens with the Griswold family packing into the old family station wagon and traveling to get the Christmas tree. The family is in high spirits, singing Christmas carols when, suddenly, an old pickup tries to race their station wagon.
The father, Clark, gives in and provokes them, eventually landing himself under a semi- truck. They manage to find their way out from under the truck and skyrocket into a field of trees for sale.
Ironic as their landing place is, they manage to find a suitable Christmas tree. It’s obvious gargantuan size is epitomized by Clark’s son, Rusty, saying, “Dad, that tree wouldn’t fit in our yard!” Rusty then comes back with another quip, inquiring as to whether his father remembered a saw. Clark doesn’t respond, but the next scene shows the clearly uprooted tree, roots and all, tied to the top of the station wagon.
The story continues to follow the family as they get ready for a “good ol’-fashioned family Christmas” at the Griswold house. All of the relatives are coming over and Clark wants it to be the perfect Christmas.
Clark proceeds to decorate the house in extravagant fashion, with 25,000 lights, and in the process, manages to fall off the house multiple times. In the end, the lights on the house do not light and Clark goes absolutely bananas. He proceeds to beat down a plastic Santa, send his eight tiny reindeer to the moon and trample a “Merry Christmas” sign.
The family finally figures out the problem and the house bursts into light. It is at this point that Clark’s cousin Eddie shows up with his family. They clamber out of their musty, rusty trailer with their dog Snots, and greet the rest of the family.
Throughout the course of Christmas, the Griswold family deals with flaming trees, Snots chasing a squirrel through the house and the arrival of the local SWAT team, because Eddie kidnapped Clark’s boss.
"National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation" is a must-own for any family. Find out all of the hilarious mishaps en route to the perfect Christmas and pick up this classic for under $15 at any local retailer.
Oct. 21, 2010
'All My Sons' examines a war torn family
A good job that returns a modest, but comfortable living in a suburban home to a wholesome, moral family -- in other words, the “American Dream.” The concept is well-known, well-pursued but the costs at which a person stops at to get their share of the dream, if it even exists at all, is perilous.
Stephens College is performing Arthur Miller’s modern drama, "All My Sons," which explores the combined sentiments of an illusory American dream and the concept of war profiteering in a post WWII American family. The play begins its tenure with a performance Friday, and runs through Halloween weekend. Despite being written in the first half of the 20th century, the primary themes are still relevant to a contemporary audience in light of the current war and economic pressures.
The play centers its focus on a father and owner of a parts making factory for the war, Joe Keller and the decay of his family under the strain of his guilt in sending poorly made parts to troops in the war. This mistake resulted in the death of American soldiers. His business partner goes to jail, though it is Keller who actually bears the burden of guilt.
Like many modernist pieces, the play centers its focus around men struggling with the intensity of war, capitalism and industrialization. However, director Lamby Hedge said an added benefit of the play is its several strong female roles. These roles consist of the wife of Joe Keller, Kate, whose complexity is amplified by her knowledge of her husband’s wrong doing. Anne, the daughter of the man who took the fall for Joe Keller and then two juicy, gossipy neighbor roles also play strong parts.
“Every role is a great role,” Hedge said. “Each presents marvelous challenges for the actor, and a chance to bite off something with complexity and range."
Sept. 16, 2010
SoCo Lounge hosts 'Glee' season premiere
The popular Fox television series “Glee” has tweens and college students alike going crazy over its showstopping tunes, infectious melodies and awkward-adolescent realness. Considering the quirky phenomenon, the Center Project will host a season three premiere party Sept. 21 at the SoCo Club. The event will be a fundraiser for the community space.
The festivities include pre-show trivia and “Glee” catch up, and will begin at 5 p.m. The season three premiere will air on big screen televisions at 7 p.m. Rachel Berry Punch and “Puck” corn are some of the specialty foods guests will be sipping at the event. The event will allow Glee newbies and diehards to enjoy the party.
During “Glee” catch up, guests can watch episodes from Season 1 as well as the finale to familiarize themselves with the music, spice and melodrama that started it all. Throughout the night, attendees are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite characters, allowing “Glee” vets to let their gleek flag fly.
If you prefer not to walk out of your residence halls in knee-length socks and cheerleading uniforms, guests can come in red, black and white, the fictional McKinley High School colors. Prizes will also be given out to guests with the best and craziest outfits.
After the show, attendees can see if they’re New Directions-material with karaoke in the SoCo Lounge. Trivia will be conducted during commercial breaks, keeping attendees busy when they’re not practicing their vocals.
There is a suggested $5 cover charge, with all benefits going to the Center Project.
Sept. 9, 2010
Cutting calories doesn't have to taste bad
Labor Day has come and gone. You’re no longer reading poolside, but rather in comfy clothes after your second or third latte. You might be tempted to let yourself put on a couple pounds and blame it on class, but don’t.
Now I’m not saying you need to lose weight, but it’s not only freshmen who gain the Mizzou 22 or freshman 15. Those lattes pack a lot of calories. 190 to be exact if you’re getting the Grande Starbucks variety. If you’re a sucker for their holiday specials, note the iced peppermint white chocolate mocha contains 400 calories.
It’s perfectly simple to navigate through all the near-by-campus restaurants and find the healthier choices.
Ninth Street, for instance, is within walking distance of campus and contains quite a few eateries. If you’re looking to be socially responsible in addition to healthy, there’s Kaldi’s Coffe, Lakota and Main Squeeze. All places serve either fair trade or local food.
Main Squeeze specifically serves only local, organically produced food. They’re completely vegetarian, vegan friendly and its smoothies are amazing. Main Squeeze recipes might pack on the calories, but they’re filling and organic.
There are plenty of soup and sandwich restaurants very close to campus too. Subway, Panera Bread, Ingredient and WhichWich are all located along Ninth Street, offering quick and possibly low-cal lunch solutions. Most sandwich toppings aren’t high in calories or fat, it’s the saucy condiments and cheese that create high calorie counts with sandwiches.
On campus isn’t bad either. Many buildings have small cafés located inside, most of which offer soups, sandwiches and pastries to go along with its coffee and smoothies. Don’t buy the pastries and you should be fine.
If you’re a dining hall dweller try the obvious option of loading up at the salad bar if none of the main courses look light.
Curious about what you’re eating? You can find the health content and calorie counts. Try caloriecount.about.com or dietfacts.com.
Sept. 1, 2010
Erotic film jumps into the third dimension
"Avatar" might have gone hard, but Hong Kong filmmaker Stephen Shiu promises his film goes harder. Shiu and director Christopher Sun, is touted as creating the world’s first 3D erotic film and hopes to create a new, lucrative, niche market to follow the success of James Cameron’s seed.
The film, “3-D Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy”, boasts a $3 million budget and follows a man who befriends a royal duke and ensues on many royal orgies. The plot is based on 17th century erotic Chinese text “The Carnal Prayer Mat”. The story follows Scholar Vesperus, a striking orphaned student of Zen, as he embarks on a sexually deviant journey before devoting to monastic vows. The satirical text was banned in Beijing, but it's growing popular in Asia and Europe.
Low and behold, though, Shiu is not the only one in on the new dimensional bump and grind. In 1969, Al Silliman Jr. strung together unrelated soft-care 3-D video shorts into one feature called “The Stewardess”. The movie grossed $27 million, which was the highest engrossing 3-D movie until Cameron’s flick, which profited over $2 billion.
Even adult industry firm and magazine, Hustler, is remaking Cameron’s blue aliens to bone.
The Internet took the once-lucrative pornography market and made it limp. Will choking the chicken in the future be complete with rose and blue tinted glasses?
If this made-for-IMAX movie can spray splooge at the audience and see a full panorama of the twins and boys, it will be a real score. Shiu notes his film contains violent and explicit carnal scenes, which could provide strong footage to erect audiences. Pornography is one genre of visual entertainment that begs for hands-on interaction.
The major draw to 3-D is its ability to display vast and rich scenarios in depth. The adult industry films are typically shot on inside sets, which could make replicating the stereoscopic images that make 3-D films profitable and more difficult. Unless filmmakers will bask in the landscape of the human body for the entirety, this picture could be overwhelmingly long.
The legitimacy of a 3-D erotic film is flaccid, as the home entertainment equipment that supports the format is incredibly pricey for the average nymph. Bottom of the line models will cost you around $3,000. For that much, viewers can only choose from less than a dozen 3-D flicks or the newly launched ESPN network.
IMAX screens average 72 feet tall, nearly 70 feet too many to bring audiences to come without the imagery and special effects the profitable 3-D predecessors packed. Porn was made for the small screen -- leave the extra dimension for Disney.
Aug. 27, 2010
Karaoke for a cause
The first Superstar Columbia karaoke competition was hosted Aug. 23 at the hoppin’ Blue Note. Among the gathering of people were special guest judges Monica Senal, co-host of KPLA’s “Chris and Monica In The Morning,” Fred Parry, publisher of Inside Columbia magazine, and Neal Boyd, winner of the 2008 “America’s Got Talent.”
The trio looked like a copycat version of the original “American Idol” judges. Monica Seneal agreed and said Parry was the Simon Cowell of the group, Boyd the Randy Jackson and she was Paula Abdul.
The audience and esteemed guests were not there for the free food and entertainment alone. The proceeds from Superstar Columbia went to the Family Counseling Center of Missouri, a not-for-profit organization helping locals with any number of debilitating issues.
Susan Schopflin, director of quality improvement and marketing for the Family-Counseling Center, was impressed with the turnout.
“It was beyond my expectations,”. “The support from the community and the board of directors was amazing."
A total of $10,961.95 was raised for the Family Counseling Center, all of which will go to the Columbia Outpatient Clinic of Family Counseling Center.
"This was driven by the board of directors, couldn’t do it without them, and the community sponsorship," Schopflin said. "Together we can accomplish change and our community showed us that.”
Before Superstar Columbia began, a donation jar was labeled with the names of each contestant. One dollar placed in the jar of an audience member’s favorite performer equaled one vote.
The performer with the most money raised was awarded the People’s Choice Award before the top three were announced. The honor was given to Kylie Evans who raised more than $1000.
As for the judge’s decision, third place and the $100 prize went to Steven Thomas and the swagger he displayed on stage. Second place and the $200 prize went to Shannon Daugherty and, as Neal Boyd said, her “gorgeous” performance. First place, the $300 dollar prize money and the title of Columbia’s Superstar went to Adam McCall.