Old beats new: blacksmith forges handmade metalworks with 19th century techniques
Posted on April 27, 2014 by Francis Flisiuk in Arts & Culture
Tucked away in a side shop on Fore street, hiding behind a heavy wooden door, is a workshop that looks like it was pulled from a time warp. The Portland Forge is a soot filled shop that specializes in crafting custom ordered metallurgic items made using only historical blacksmithing techniques. By using historically accurate techniques […]
Top Five: Ways to cope with finals
Posted on April 26, 2014 by USM Free Press in Arts & Culture
1. Make a list. Make a very detailed list organized by due date and include spaces set aside to allow yourself coffee breaks. Draw your own boxes for check-marks, color code it and draw hearts around the place you allow yourself to take a nap. Then make copies so you can have one on your […]
Noah is visually impressive but ultimatley sinks
Posted on April 26, 2014 by martinconte in Arts & Culture, Movie Reviews
At times reminiscent of the darker side of Jim Henson’s puppet workshop, and at other times wandering through Cormac McCarthy’s burnt-out landscape, all the while grappling with one of the oldest stories in Western civilization’s mythos, Noah is an overproduced, but impeccably acted, well thought out but poorly written, sweeping philosophical endeavor that sometimes stumbles […]
Banditos bad, but entertaining
Posted on April 26, 2014 by dkelly in Album Reviews, Arts & Culture
Straight from the Gutter, self-released by the Banditos, is old-school punk in its most unrehearsed, technically imperfect and haphazard form. The Banditos are not a good band–at all. Before playing the album, you may notice that Straight from the Gutter’s cover shows a picture of a man, whose head is a poorly photoshopped dollhead wearing […]
The Blade Society fights to preserve history
Posted on April 26, 2014 by Francis Flisiuk in Arts & Culture
Every Tuesday night in the Sullivan Sports Complex a battle rages between armor-clad members of the USM Blade Society. The Blade Society is a student-run group that meets weekly to learn, practice and ultimately perfect the sword and fencing techniques of several different European styles. Made up of many different individual groups, including the Society […]
Blue Smoke brings nostaligia with familiar sounds
Posted on April 21, 2014 by dkelly in Album Reviews, Arts & Culture
Blue Smoke, released by legendary country music heroine Dolly Parton, is what you would expect—a few good hearted tunes that you should never tell your friends you listen to. First off, the title track pulls out all the country-western cliches—a train drumbeat, picked banjo, quick fiddle riffs, slide dobro and a particular backup vocalist with […]
Nymphomaniac is the sex filled journey you’d expect
Posted on April 21, 2014 by martinconte in Arts & Culture, Movie Reviews
Nymphomania Vol. I and Vol. II, in many ways, is not so different from other blockbuster Hollywood films today. There is sex, there is the glorious reveal of private body parts, the fetishization and the objectification by the protagonist of the opposite sex. Yet, unlike most of these films, the private body parts being revealed […]
Arcadia hopes to combine beer and video games in a new venue
Posted on April 21, 2014 by matthewdonovan in Arts & Culture
Coming in June there may be a place where games and beer come together for the people of Portland. Arcadia National Bar is looking to light up 24 Preble St. with its pixelated colors and ambery brews. With the assistance of the crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter.com, the bar’s owners Dave Aceto and Ben Culver hope to […]
Understanding mortality through photography: how one artist understands death
Posted on April 21, 2014 by Francis Flisiuk in Arts & Culture
The photography that junior foreign language major Kelly Donaldson brought to submit for the President’s Art Show deals with a topic that, according to her, is constantly ignored: death. On display on the 7th floor of the law building is a series of four photographs that depict macabre images that are meant to evoke some […]
Earth day events aim to spread awareness about waste management
Posted on April 21, 2014 by nathanbaril in Arts & Culture
Earth Day is a celebration of progress in green practices, but it is also a day of awareness for environmental issues. Waste management has been a concern for quite a long time, but never before has it been so vital for a shift in perspective and methodology. It is no mystery that there is a […]
