Category: Arts & Culture

It so happens that I am sick of being a man. Of rising at the same time, showering In the same way, of living life Like there is a tomorrow. It is that I’m tired of having the same route Into town, of passing the same hobo asking For the same quarter to buy the…

Several hundred people packed Space Gallery in Portland last Thursday night for a concert by the critically acclaimed folk artist Jolie Holland of the band The Be Good Tanyas. Singer-songwriter Matt Bauer opened. The venue was fairly packed by the time Bauer, a fairly imposing man with a very soft voice, began his set of…

It’s Thursday night. You’re old enough to drink and young enough not to have to worry about trucking off to the office at 9a.m. Friday morning. The only problem is that that rent check you just wrote for your new apartment just cleared out whatever was left in your bank account, and you’ve got almost…

“Inglourious Basterds” is an entertaining ride that will thrill fans of Quentin Tarantino’s other movies but may cause history buffs to squirm. Be warned, the movie is an absurdly fun piece of fiction with little regard for history or even plausibility. Set in Nazi occupied France, the film is seen through two viewpoints.

The atmosphere at opening night of “Company,” the new production that kicked off the fall season of the Portland Players Theater in South Portland on Friday night, was as lively and welcoming as a reunion of old friends. The building hummed as about 75 local theater lovers flowed in to take their seats before the…

The art of book-making is almost as ancient as writing itself. For thousands of years human beings have been designing scrolls and manuscripts and binding pages together to contain the written word. This past July, art students at USM had an opportunity to learn some of these skills as part of the week-long 200-level Book…

On the first Friday of every month, Congress Street in Portland bustles as locals, tourists and students venture out to peruse the downtown galleries and take in the vibrant scene of street performers and musicians. This month was no exception. The Portland Museum of Art showcased an exhibit named “Call of the Coast: Art Colonies…

Viewed from the street, the small building looks like all the other white, clapboard cottages that USM owns along Falmouth St. in Portland. Go in the main entrance and through the sticker-plastered door on the left, however, and you’ll find yourself in the thriving cultural nexus that is WMPG, the community radio station for southern…

Looking for something fun to do next weekend? The 2nd annual Picnic Music and Arts Festival is coming back to Lincoln Park in Portland, located on the corner of Congress Street and Franklin Arterial. If you missed Picnic last year, you should know that this will be a unique kind of local festival that will…

A.R. Gurney’s 1995 play, “Sylvia,” playing from April 24-May 3 at the Russell Hall Main Stage in Gorham, though it treads the fine line between “light” and “lite” comedy, is only partially a play about a dog. In the hands of a more experienced director, it has the potential to be a passable, though somewhat…

June “The Proposal” promises audiences a Sandra Bullock (“Crash,” “Miss Congeniality”) romantic-comedy that we can all be proud of her in. I’m not knocking her talent, just her choice of movies over the last few years. Bullock plays an obtrusive boss that forces her young assistant, Ryan Reynolds (“Van Wilder,” “Waiting”), to marry her.

Bountiful’ is the best word I can come up with to describe the music of Dan Deacon. It is bountiful in its sounds, styles, influences and directions. His latest album, Bromst, has the magnitude of a large piece of classical music with all of the benefits of a pop album.

Victor Wooten has done it again! Straight from the man who brought us “Soul Circus,” and “Show of Hands” comes an album that will completely blow your mind. “Palmystery” shows the full extent of this bass playing virtuoso. Combining his classic ‘slap and pop’ technique to create a masterful display of musicianship, Wooten does the…

A question many college grads ask themselves is: four years in college and what do I have to show for it (besides loans)? The graduating studio art majors get a chance to show the public what exactly they have to show for college at the B.F.A. exhibit at USM’s art gallery in Gorham.

With a new Muppet movie comes a new excuse to write about the Muppets.

Classical music, as an art form, has traditionally influenced developing musicians. But, it’s easy to believe that young people today are less interested in Classical and more interested in contemporary genres such as alternative rock or pop music, due to the over-exposure of these types of music in the media.

For those ignorant to the powerhouse cable show called “Rescue Me,” may your houses be adorned with immense shame. The show focuses on a crew of New York firefighters that are forced to deal with the trauma of September 11th in both their professional and personal lives.

Pre-dawn walks with Caleigh to the top Peacock Hill reveal a neglected orchard, with rows of apple trees, naked and gnarled, silhouetted against the inky sky. Deer are back on the move as is evidenced by distinct tracks on the side of the road and barely visible trails through the woods.

Puzzle answers for the 4/20 issue of The Free Press.

Never has a sleepy beach town looked so good. The production team Mint Films produced their longest film to date, “The Transition of Minor Skies,” a film about the clashing of familiar comfort with the possibility of change. Written and directed by Jeff Griecci, the film follows the lives of Hunter and Dom (played by…

2009 has already been a great year for music, and we’re not even half way through. Over the final few weeks of this semester, I will review my favorite musical releases of this year so far. First off, Animal Collective… Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion Animal Collective is perhaps one of the most hyped…

Last year our Easter feast was cooked outdoors in the mild air full of chattering bird sounds. Peter masterfully grilled a butterflied leg of lamb slathered with a blend of lots of fresh minced garlic and coarse mustard. Asparagus, baby red potatoes, ruby beets, and sleek carrots all got roasted on the grill.

Lately, I’ve been trying out a new album choosing system. I go to the CD’s and I choose an album randomly. Sometimes, the outcome of this system isn’t what I’d like it to be, but it works 90% of the time. I try to go to the bargain bins, and look for interesting music that…

The term bromance has recently appeared in our culture to describe a certain relationship; a bromance is when two men are best friends and are deeply involved with each other.but not in a homosexual manner. The word is a combination of brother and romance.