Category: Arts & Culture

Last Wednesday, SPACE Gallery on Congress Street hosted their second annual Johnny Cash night. Local musicians, including Christopher Terret, Jessie Pilgrim and The Bonfire, and Caleb Aaron and the Thrill Pills covered some of Cash’s best-known hits and the work of Bob Dylan and Shel Silverstein. SPACE’s walls were decorated with Johnny Cash artwork and…

3,000 years ago, tattoos were used to show people’s status or what their lifestyle was like. Today, tattoos are everywhere. With shows like Miami and L.A Ink, the practice is in high demand. But what things do you need to know before you go under the needle? For starters you need to know generally what…

On the last day of April, a Maine college film festival called Film Chowdah was held at The Maine Studios in Portland. As its inaugural event, it aimed to provide a greater outlet for student-made films from the USM, Southern Maine Community College, and Maine College of Art. Of the eight awards presented, six of…

On the corner of State and Congress Streets, across from Longfellow Square, you can find a small Japanese restaurant boasting the name King of the Roll. Given the name, you may think that this is one of Portland’s hidden treasures. Don’t be fooled, the trashy red neon lighting isn’t hiding anything spectacular. In this case,…

Rated: R Grade: A “Kickass” follows Dave Lizewski, an everyday, unnoticed teenage boy who is puzzled by the idea that no one has ever tried to become a superhero.  Oblivious to his mortality, Dave, played by Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy), orders a scuba suit and batons and sets out on a mission to clean up…

Mckeenstreet Music Originally started in 2004 by Maine native Graeme K, Mckeenstreet Music moved from NYC to Portland to Seattle until finally settling back in Portland earlier this year. The label currently has five signed acts, all but one being from Maine. One of the acts is former USM student Chad Chamberlain, who is better…

McCarthy has garnered praise from every corner of the world. Students, teachers, librarians and Oprah – of all people – have been blindsided by the raw emotional power of this novel. It won the Pulitzer in 2006 and McCarthy has been praised as one of the greatest living American novelists. So what is “The Road”…

Last Thursday night at Space Gallery, Karen Montanaro, resident of Casco and world-famous dancer and mime, lead her most unusual workshop to date. When Mystic Out Bop, an avant-garde improvisational jazz trio and the nights’ opening act, finished warming up on the stage behind her, she welcomed the audience to her experiment. “The goal of…

On Saturday April 17, WMPG held their Sixth Annual Benefit Fashion Show. The event has been a hit in the past and this year was no exception. The fashion designers whose creations were showcased included: Erica Smith, Regina Kusche, Beth Maitland and many more. Each piece was created completely out of recycled material. WMPG included…

Located down the narrow, cobblestone road of Wharf Street, you’ll find Cinque Terre, a restaurant that serves traditional northern Italian cuisine. Their menu may seem a little daunting – especially when your eyes cross over the prices – but don’t be alarmed, their atmosphere and food are well worth the money. This isn’t your typical…

Rated: PG-13 Grade: B “Date Night” follows the story of Phil and Claire Foster, a married couple bored with their mundane suburban lifestyle. In an attempt to make life a little more exciting, Phil, played by Steve Carrell (Get Smart), offers to take Claire, played by Tina Fey (30 Rock) out for a dinner in…

Ashley Sterling, a junior psychology major, has been singing for her entire life, but she hates being in the spotlight. “The funny thing is I hate being the center of attention, but it’s my job,” she said. Growing up she participated in musicals including Hebron Academy’s rendition of “Grease,” where she played the part of…

Four years ago, Deborah and Peter Loughlin had an idea. They wanted to open a gallery for local artists, where Deborah and others could display their work in a professional setting. The Isaac Dyer estate, an elegant 1766 farmhouse on the national register of historic homes and residence of the Loughlins, seemed like a perfect…

Portland, Maine is known for it’s variety of music; whether it be rock, punk, rockabilly, blues, or something a little more undefined. Apocryphonic, composed of Chris Milligan on guitar, Kyle Winchester on drums and Justin Dyer on bass, is one of those bands that falls in the last category. Dyer describes their music as “Heavy-Post…

This week, the English department hosted a series of events for their “Celebrate Writers” festival. The festival concluded with a series of student readings by USM’s writing minors. Justin Tussing, one of USM’s English professors, said that the program has been running for roughly 20 years. “We wanted to do something connecting the Portland writing…

RATING: PG-13 Grade: C+ Set on the mountainous coast of ancient Greece, “Clash of the Titans” follows demigod, Perseus, played by Sam Worthington (Terminator: Salvation), as he fights to save mankind from the wrath of the gods and avenge the death of his parents by killing Hades, played by Ralph Fiennes (The Reader), god of the…

Last Saturday evening faculty, students, family and friends gathered in the Corthell Concert Hall on Gorham campus for the 33rd Annual Honors Recital. The event featured nine exceptional USM musicians who were chosen in stiff competition though a highly selective audition process. For those in USM’s School of Music, spring is perhaps “the most exiting…

“Four and Twenty Blackbirds” is a modern treatment of the Southern Gothic genre, and it’s sophisticated for what it is: unashamed, straight-up trade paperback genre fiction. Eden Moore has always had the ability to see ghosts. When she was young, she was often visited by the specters of three African women who acted as her…

Grade: A Tucked away on the east end of Middle Street inside an old brick building is a tiny restaurant with a unique flair added to their cuisine. Their reasonable prices and warm atmosphere make them a favored lunch spot among Old Port workers. The restaurant is called Duckfat, and the name says it all….