September 2012
2 posts
VOGUE|TRASH 2012
VOGUE|TRASH: Costume Fashion Ball A Patrick’s Cabaret Benefit Show Saturday, October 20th 2012 at 7pm
http://www.facebook.com/events/316707545091663
Christmas has its perks, and the Fourth of July awakens the rabid pyromaniac in all of us, but there’s no holiday I love more than Halloween. It’s simply the creative mind’s time to shine: a chance to step into another character,...
Common Good Books invites Tolkien fans to lead a...
Seventy-five years ago, J.R.R. Tolkien published his classic children’s fantasy novel, The Hobbit. Instantly acclaimed by the critics, it was also taken into the nurseries and hearts of children and their parents everywhere. Although it later received a better-known adult sequel, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit has always had its own quieter appeal. Through many editions, in most major...
July 2012
4 posts
Check it Out: Speed Sisters
Go watch the trailer for Speed Sisters, which follows Middle Eastern all-female race car drivers as they compete to win both races and respect. Info here: http://www.speedsisters.tv/#
Senior Art Show: Specs
By Sophia Nikitas
The Senior art show is a compilation of senior art theses. Each senior has to install and host their own exhibit. The show will be on display in Macalester’s temporary art gallery— a two-story house across from the Russian House. “This is a very non-traditional exhibit space,” says Greg Fitz, Macalester’s in-house curator for the gallery. Setting the exhibition in a...
Marketing Tragedy: Race and the Hunger Games
By Sophia Nikitas
Jennifer Lawrence has a history of playing self-sufficient, survival-instinct-driven young women. Among several other similar roles, she gained critical acclaim, as well as an Oscar nod, for last year’s Winter’s Bone, in which she played a young woman struggling to support her family in the poverty-stricken, meth-riddled Ozarks. Considering her history, she seemed the perfect...
IGC MURAL//
By Rye Carlson
Markim Hall, you know, that fancy building next to Kagin with the temple-like copper façade - also known as the Institute for Global Citizenship? It’s about to become a bit more inviting for students.
In line with its title, and perhaps tempering its cool, metallic exterior, the third floor will soon be home to a mural depicting global citizenship. It’s being painted by one of...
February 2012
11 posts
WMCN//
News of the Weird
By: Sophie Nikitas Associate Arts Editor
“If we are your main source of news, then you probably have a warped sense of the world,” Simona Zappas ‘15 says into the mic in the WMCN studio. Zappas, along with Parker Field ‘15, have just begun their second semester of freshman year, and with it, their second semester of co-hosting their WMCN show, “News...
THEATRE//
By: Alana Horton Contributing Writer
Have you heard about Stop Kiss? It’s the Macalester Theatre Department’s Winter production, and it opens this Friday. The play, written by Diana Son, focuses mainly on the relationship that develops between two young women living in New York: savvy, cynical Callie, and Midwestern idealist, Sara. That relationship is seriously affected by a...
CONCERT REVIEW//
Turquoise Jeep
By: Sam Baker Contributing Writer
Flynt Flossy, Pretty Raheem, Watchyamacallit, and Yung Humma took to the stage Thursday, February 9th at the Triple Rock Social Club above a crowd of young Twin Cities fans decked out in turquoise and in love with their group, Turquoise Jeep.
A YouTube sensation, Turquoise Jeep is a group of self-proclaimed “existing musical...
AS SEEN ON TV//
By: Noah Koch Contributing Writer
One of the smartest things I’ve seen ABC do since renewing “Happy Endings” is pull the steaming pile of hate/trash, “Work It,” off the air after two short, reductive episodes. The basic idea behind the show is that men can’t get jobs because women dominate the work force (hmmm). Two men consequently decide to dress up like...
OSCARZ POLL →
AS SEEN ON TV//
By: Noah Koch Contributing Writer
A Few Passive-Aggressive Questions for “Two Broke Girls”
It isn’t the 90’s anymore, so why are you filmed like it is?:
Call me a snob, but at this point I don’t think that any shows should be filmed in multicam. For those of you who don’t breathe television, what this means is that the show’s set only has three walls, and a bunch of cameras are set up where...
MIX TAPE//
By: Sophie Nikitas Contributing Writer
Patrick Schmidt is a Political Science professor at Macalester, who was kind enough to share a playlist of his favorites with us. To alleviate the stress that this semester has already brought, listen to this playlist to enter a moment that is not here or now.
The Moody Blues
“Isn’t Life Strange”
I played this constantly in Bigelow Hall when I was at...
ALBUM REVIEW//
Maya A. Weisinger Sharon Van Etten//Tramp
With the release of Tramp, Sharon Van Etten brings to our palette a diverse set of characters, introducing us to a femme fatale and then taking us home to lie in the bed of a sleepyheaded chickadee.
Van Etten has been nesting in the recent scene, not only by letting us hear her unique voice ring once again on this second album, but by teaming up with...
December 2011
25 posts
CONCERT REVIEW//
By: Patricia Wright Contributing Writer
If there is a god, they must have spent a little more time making Andrew Bird. At his concert this past Saturday at First Avenue, there was a palpable notion of being in the presence of some kind of otherworldly genius. When the lanky, suit-and-tied frame of Mr. Bird took the stage, his unassuming presence was immediately overshadowed by the quick,...
CONCERT REVIEW//
By: Dustin Studelska Contributing Writer
San Diego metalcore saviors, As I Lay Dying, are celebrating its ten year anniversary with the “Decade of Destruction Tour” and a new release titled “Decas,” which contains three new original tracks, four covers, and five remixes of previously released songs.
I could talk about the other bands on this tour and go into detail...
LOCAL//
By: Patrick Murphy Managing Editor
Growing up in the Twin Cities, I always heard people talk about Prince, but I didn’t really get it. Why was this fruity looking guy such a legend? In 2003, I saw the Chappelle’s Show skit where Prince takes Charlie Murphy to town on the hardwood, uttering things like “Computer Blue,” “Darling Nikki”, and “Why...
TV//
By: Noah Koch and Nina Slesinger Contributing Writers
Winter break is coming up and while some of you may have wonderful internships planned, the rest of you are probably looking for something to do in those odd hours between sleep and masturbation. While live television is typically at a lull during the month of January, the internet is teeming with sites like Hulu, Cuevana, Netflix, or...
LOCAL//
By: Colin Westcott Contributing Writer
Are you looking for a release from the malevolence of finals? Are you craving orgasmic beats and conscious lyrics? Minnesota based hip-hop group Doomtree has all you yearn for and more with their annual Blowout held at First Avenue in Minneapolis on December 9th (21+) and 10th (All Ages).
For the seventh year, all of the Doomtree artists (Dessa, Mike...
CONCERT REVIEW//
By: Patricia Wright Contributing Writer
In my humble opinion, the Architecture in Helsinki concert was one of the most successful musical events held by Macalester in the four years that I’ve attended this college. Aside from the unfortunate incident of the lights being on throughout all three bands’ sets, the concert went off without any other major problems.
Compared to other...
ALBUM REVIEW//
By: Drake Myers Contributing Writer
Los Campesinos! are back, this time with three new members (for a total of seven). “Hello Sadness”, the Cardiff band’s new release, continues their lyrical trail of melancholy and heartbreaks from their last two albums but seems a lot more emotionally effective to me than before. There’s just something uncomfortable about...
THEATRE//
By: Maya A. Weisinger Arts Editor
This Saturday MacPlayers, the resident student theatre troupe will be performing their winter theatre festival, There’s No Business Like Snow Business. The series of five plays is completely student directed, produced, and performed. Student-written pieces include The Last Supper by Stephen Straub, Blanketgate by Rob Gelberg, and The Jellyfish Project...
CONCERT REVIEW//
By: Keith Armstrong Contributing Writer
I always approach the shows of over-50 punk bands with some apprehension; as a general rule, the adolescent energy encapsulated on a late-70s or early-80s underground release hardly ever translates into an engaging concert in 2011. Not so with the Meat Puppets. While only two original members remain (brothers Curt and Cris Kirkwood, guitar/vocals and...
ALBUM REVIEW//
By: Hank Hansen Contributing Writer
SAP Rocky is inextricably linked to his hip-hop heritage, all the way down to his given name of Rakim. Generally considered one of the greatest emcees of all time, the original Rakim revolutionized hip-hop and apparently even inspired the naming choice of Rocky’s parents. But ask Rocky about his rhyming lineage and he first points to more contemporary...
LOCAL//
By: Maya A. Weisinger Arts Editor
Program Board’s much-anticipated event of the semester is nearing. The Australian indiepop group of five will be bringing their dance-hop sound to the Mac campus on November 22nd. The turnout and review of this concert will help to put Macalester College on the map as a legitimate concert venue in the Twin Cities. This community-oriented goal has been...
ALBUM REVIEW//
By: Jonathan McJunkin Opinions Editor
Donald Glover, who raps under the stage name Childish Gambino, is, without question, one impressive dude. He’s one of the most underrated standup acts out there, and wrote jokes for Tina Fey at 30 Rock for two years (he is responsible for “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah,” among other things). Since then he’s starred as Troy in Community,...
ALBUM REVIEW//
By: Mark Thomson Sports Editor
In early 2009, it seemed like Wale was destined for hip-hop superstardom. He was on the coveted cover of XXL Magazine (along with B.o.B., Asher Roth, and Charles Hamilton) as one of 2009’s Ten Freshmen. He had three critically acclaimed mixtapes under his belt and was signed by Interscope Records. His song, ‘W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.’ was a smash hit. He had...
THEATRE//
By: Anna Pickrell Contributing Writer
The Macalester Theatre Department will perform the U.S. premiere of Naomi Wallace’s play The Inland Sea this and next weekend for the department’s fall production.
Set in 1760s England, The Inland Sea tells the story of the social and political struggles between a small village and a landscape architect threatening to destroy the town.
...
ALBUM REVIEW//
By: Maya A. Weisinger Arts Editor
I really wish that this album didn’t sound like how elevator music would if I was inside of one in an original Gameboy game. But it is unfortunately so. And I pity the fool who scanned the ratings on Pitchfork and went to download the creation as if it was going to be the next Most Played thing in their iTunes library (after Adele’s Someone Like...
LOCAL//
By: Noah Boswell Contributing Writer
Charles Baxter ‘69 sat with Noah Boswell ‘13 and discussed modern music. The Minneapolis native is the author of five novels, seven collections of short stories, three books of poetry, finalist for the National Book Award for his novel The Feast of Love, current Edelstein-Keller Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Minnesota, and professor of...
ALBUM REVIEW//
By: Chris Hoge Contributing Writer
Mention the band Wilco to a group of hip Mac students and chances are good that at least one of them will use the phrase “dad rock.” Dad rock is basically a genre that somebody made up to describe rock music that is mild, unoffensive, and traditional - in other words, music that your dad heard on NPR. Wilco probably deserves this reputation (most...
OUTING//
By: Maya A. Weisinger Arts Editor
If you are looking for the 1980s way to hypnotize and seduce a woman, you are obviously looking to delve into the fantastic world of the Found Footage Festival. I spoke with Nick Prueher, co-founder of FFF, a comically-aimed event which presents the public with the best of found video material.
With the last VHS tape manufactured in 2008, video has become a...
FILM//
By: Arielle Mayper Contributing Writer
10. Session 9 (2001) A cleaning crew is hired to clean out an old mental hospital. What could go wrong? It’s probably nothing, but Mike found some creepy recordings of a girl with multiple personality disorder and one of his crewmates is missing. Definitely no correlation.
9. The Human Centipede: First Sequence (2009) A pretty predictable ...
MUSIC//
By: Maya A. Weisinger Arts Editor
With the Maps and Atlases and Poison Control Center concerts under their belts, Mickey Davis ‘13 and Noah Koch ‘14 have already moved on to the next big thing to come to Macalester. They have just officially released the info for the Architecture in Helsinki show scheduled to hit Mac in mid-November. The news should make an impact in the mission...
WMCN PROFILE//
By: Maya A. Weisinger Arts Editor
Fresh on the map, MacMetalheads pushes its way onto the airwaves in a cacophony of aggressive enjoyment. MacMetalheads is a student org that was chartered by Abigail Rankin ‘12 last November. Along with their regular Metalhead meetups, the group has taken their devotion to the radio station this year. With a little over 40 members, they take turns at the...
LOCAL//
By: Maya A. Weisinger Arts Editor
In the spring of 2010 Medicinal Melodies was started as an Action Fund Project by Beth Moretzsky ‘13 and Bethany Battafarano ‘13. It has evolved into an officially chartered org on campus. Their main mission as a group is to perform for those in need of healing around the Twin Cities.
“It’s really cheesy, but we pretty much just aim to make...
FILM REVIEW//
By: Patricia Wright Contributing Writer
If you go see even one political drama this October, it damn well better be The Ides of March, which is not only directed, written and produced by but also stars the silver fox himself, George Clooney. Hollywood’s resident heavy-hitting, liberal Academy Award winner outdoes himself with this collection of actors. The cast ranges from heartthrob ...
WMCN PROFILE//
By: Maya A. Weisinger Arts Editor
Stating their tagline as “The Heartbeat of Macalester College,” Riley Koval ‘13 and Colin Westcott ‘12 have once again brought their musical passions to the studio as they have for the past one and a half years. Influenced by the power of the Twin Cities hip-hop scene and their own deep-seated interest in the art itself, the DJs take...
CONCERT REVIEW//
By: Kyle Coombs
Friday night, Macalester hosted Iowa’s Poison Control Center (PCC) in a follow-up high-energy and high-volume show. The group returned eager for another memorable show, having “preached the gospel of Mac all around the country since [their] last visit,” front man Patrick proclaimed at the start of their set. Their energy alone saved a show that...
October 2011
6 posts
WMCN//
WMCN October Mixtape
CONCERT REVIEW//
ST.VINCENT vs THE SUGAR HILL GANG
Kerry Alexander Contributing Writer
This past weekend, I experienced what can only be likened to a pregnant woman’s weird audio craving. In a single evening, I was wooed and disoriented by St. Vincent’s epic set at the swanky Walker Art Center, only one hour after being pumped up and creeped out by The (the) Sugarhill Gang’s appearance at the WNBA Finals...
LOCAL SCENE//
Seniors (also, citizens) Brian Hurlow, Chris Hoge, and Charlie Rudoy have started this year off with the fusion of rock, pop, and electronic. With the concept of three being better than four, the group has decided to keep this project small, low key, and inventive. “Sometimes that fourth person just doesn’t need to be on the chorus. It’s nice to maximize our abilities,” said Hurlow. The...
September 2011
11 posts
WatchDropp’d.
