Category: Arts & Culture

  • Restaurant Review: Duckfat

    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…

  • Stephen Walsh has a passion for abstraction

    Senior Stephen Walsh revealed his collection of abstract drawings on the seventh floor of the Law school last Thursday. Only one graduating senior is chosen…

  • Movie Review: Hot Tub Time Machine

    Rated: R Grade: B- “Hot Tub Time Machine” follows the adventures of four characters, Adam played by John Cusack (Better Off Dead), Jacob played by…

  • ‘Welcome Home’: Pax East draws 52,290 to Boston for a weekend of gaming

    On March 26 there was an extraordinary amount of traffic around the Prudential Building in Boston. Hiding underneath the tower and connected to the mall…

  • Union gals, booze and throwing knives

    Produced in partnership by the USM Department of Theatre and School of Music, “The Pajama Game” is set during a labor dispute in a pajama factory where the union girls, lead by Babe, played by Emily Holton, have reached an impasse with the Factory Head Myron Hassler over his refusal to raise wages by seven…

  • Restaurant Review: Local 188

    Local 188 at 685 Congress Street, is one of those places that every Portlander should experience at least once. The vibrant, artsy atmosphere welcomes all diners – from business professionals in suit and tie, to the young scholars dressed in USM sweat pants and t-shirt – to pick a seat, sit down and enjoy.

  • Movie Review: Alice in Wonderland

    Warning: Tim Burton’s latest film, “Alice in Wonderland” is not a remake of Lewis Caroll’s classic tale of childhood misadventure. Rather it is an adaption of the famous gibberish poem, “The Jaberwocky,” from “Through the Looking Glass.” The essence of the original “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” is completely wiped from the story.

  • GEB holds USM’s Got Talent in Gorham

    The Gorham Events Board last Wednesday held the second semi-annual USM’s Got Talent competition. The variety show and competition was organized by Dominque Hilton who also served as a judge along with two other students. Contestants competed for prizes such as a basket of nick knacks for third place, sweat shirt and sweatpants for second…

  • Book Review: The Sea

    The 2005 winner of the Man Booker prize – a yearly award given to the best novel published by an author native to any territory of the former British Empire -“The Sea” by John Banville is exactly the kind of novel that seems to win the award. Banville’s prose is elegant, erudite, subdued and focuses…

  • The Leftovers Take Europe: Part II

    October 19. Dublin. Originally this was supposed to be a day off. Who needs those? We were only on day 3 and didn’t quite need one yet, especially when a day off usually just becomes an excuse to not take it easy. Plus, we would be taking an overnight ferry from Liverpool (the home of…

  • Album Review: Broken Bells

    Around the USM campus you have probably seen ads for the new collaborative band Broken Bells. This highly advertised band is a techno/indie collaboration between the Shins’ James Mercer and award winning producer and self proclaimed auteur musician Danger Mouse, of Gnarls Barkley.

  • DIY Punk Night at Hastings

    Last Friday night at the bottom of Hastings Hall, something unusual and loud occurred from 7 pm to almost midnight. You’d think an RA would serve a warning, or even a fee for all the noise complaints from above, but they knew better than to mess with the young punks putting on a rock show…

  • Book Review: Little Bee

    “Little Bee,” by Chris Cleave, is the “story of two women,” as it says on the back cover, and how their “lives collide” at two points, two years apart. The back cover implores the reader not to spoil the book for others because “the magic is in how the story unfolds.

  • Movie Review: From Paris, With Love

    From Paris, With Love follows James Reece , played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers(August Rush), an employee at the U.S embassy who dreams of one day becoming a Bond-like secret agent. He is given the opportunity to show his worth by being partnered with Charlie Wax, John Travolta(Taking of Pelham 123), an eccentric American spy with…

  • The life of a model student

    Stephanie MacDonald isn’t afraid to get naked. When not in class, the undeclared junior runs her own business as a freelance model booking her own shoots, which sometimes involve nude modeling. In MacDonald’s opinion, freelance modeling is completely different from what you see on shows like Americas Next Top Model.

  • Singing sensations at USM

    On the evening of Wednesday, Feb. 24, seven students came together at the Woodbury Campus Center in Portland to compete in Portland Events Board’s first USM Idol competition. The students competed for the first place prize of $100 while performing a variety of compositions, ranging from “When You Believe” from the Prince of Egypt Soundtrack…

  • Shutter Island

    Martin Scorcese’s newest movie begins in 1954 on a tugboat carrying US Marshal Teddy Daniels, played by Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic, The Departed) to Shutter Island, a small island off the coast of Boston and home to a renowned high-security mental institution.

  • Book Review: The Book Thief

    This is the story of Leisel Memminger, a foster child in Nazi Germany. In 1939, her brother died on the train to Molching, their new home, and nine year-old Leisel stole her first book. She couldn’t read, but she would learn. The act was a prelude to what she would become: A book thief.

  • The Leftovers Take Europe: Part I

    Europe for a month. And this was coming after only being home for two days. I was not prepared. I wasn’t trying to be, and I didn’t pretend to be, but by then we were all used to being on the road together. It was an old hat. We just took it off for a…

  • Restaurant Review: Yosaku

    If you’re ever wandering around the Old Port craving sushi, head down to Yosaku for some excellent Japanese cuisine. Yosaku is located at 1 Danforth Street, just outside the Old Port. In less complicated terms, it’s just a walk to the far end of Fore Street to Gorham’s Corner.

  • Book Reviews

    A friend of mine explained, “it’s like ‘Harry Potter’ except with Greek Gods,” which turned out to be an apt description of “The Lightning Thief,” the first in a five book series by Rick Riordan. Perseus “Percy” Jackson is a “troubled” kid. He’s an aggressive, sarcastic, ADHD dyslexic with terrible grades, who gets into fights…

  • Movie Review: It’s Complicated

    Ladies, are you looking for a girls’ night out movie? Tired of the same old chick flicks? You know, the ones with a really obvious plot line and poorly written jokes? Despite the fact that this film is aimed at a middle-aged female audience, “It’s Complicated” is the type of movie that will make you…

  • Don’t underestimate the openers

    The anticipation radiated from everyone in front of the stage before the band came on. As the lights went down, the chatter stopped and hands went up as the band ran in front of eager fans. They picked up their instruments and played the first chord as the fans’ hands flew into the air and…

  • Spicing up Thursday Nights

    On a recent Thursday night, a woman in light-colored jeans and spiky high heels floated across the wooden floor of the Multi-Purpose Room of the Sullivan Gym in Portland. Her agile movements were carefully syncopated with the fast rhythmic beat emanating from the small boombox, and the twenty-four students watching her were struck, clearly amazed.

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