“The Laramie Project” is a creative compilation from over two hundred interviews with the people of Laramie, Wyoming, examining reactions to the beating and subsequent death of Matthew Shepard in 1998. Director Wil Kilroy and his actors agree that this is not the kind of project USM has seen before.
Category: Arts & Culture
Drink and eat your fill of grease, day or night
People eat late for many reasons. Some of them are nurses who work night shifts at hospitals and they eat their breakfasts at 10:30 p.m.. Some are insomniacs gone nuts by the claustrophobia of four rooms, driven into the city’s night for a belly full of sleepless solace.
Have your cheesecake and eat it too
My friend Diane’s diet allows, nay, encourages her to eat cheesecake. That’s right, cheesecake: the fat-laden, richer than rich, utterly delectable dessert (which just so happens to be a favorite of yours truly). This discovery was made while Diane, I and two other media studies seniors stood in her fabulous gourmet kitchen a few Friday evenings ago.
Artists Drink Party Art
Alex Steed is brainwashing you with hypnotism. He is collecting all of the sensitive thoughts in Portland and wrapping them softly. Steed is the compassionate tyrant king of a “dictatorial arts & literature collective specializing in essays, chaos, interviews, stories, music, design and more.
Greek Art
I have this idea to write about Greek involvement in the arts. People laugh when I bring this up. They think this will be a very short piece, i.e., Greek Involvement in the Arts… doesn’t exist. It is this stereotype that I seek to break. Are fraternity brothers sculpting anything besides beeramids? Is anyone shooting intellectually stimulating porno? It has been proven that arts flourish in abusive environments, such as prisons and detainment camps.
Place to study in Portland
This is not a comprehensive list, but it will get you started on finding some places to study. Explore the area for yourself, break your routine and find your own favorites. If you find a terrific spot, let me know!
Stonecoast MFA Graduates 30
While much of USM was taking a well-deserved break from the rigors of academia, the Stonecoast Writing Masters of Fine Arts Program was making the most of the dog days by graduating its inaugural class and launching its third year in style.
Runway vs. Hallway
If you scan the latest runways featured in the pages of Vogue, Bazaar, W and the like, you will notice that this season’s trends are decidedly less, well, uniform. This observation does not apply to the ample selection of distinctly feminine shapes of the season, but rather the myriad of styles, colors and takes on what are arguably the most lax struts down the catwalk in recent seasons.
Thirsty Thursday in Gorham
Most every Thursday night on the Gorham campus, the Gorham Events Board offers students a friendly alternative to doing Jell-o shots in Upton-Hastings Hall in the form of “Thirsty Thursday” events. Thirsty Thursdays offer everything from games to give-aways to free music.
This Video Has Been Formatted To Fit Your Screen
The Ant Farm Collective, a group of radical architects, performance artists and video enthusiasts who took the embryonic medium of video and created art with a punishing and hilarious social commentary during the sixties and seventies, recently released a DVD of short films.
Coffee Cafe 411
Now that you’ve gotten your computer all set up you’re probably wondering where you can go to get wired, or just to find some good java. Well, you’re in luck, Portland has a plethora of joe joints. Each one has its own perks, prices and personality. Are you looking to study during the daylight hours, or have glass of wine or beer at an open mike night? Some local entrepreneur is probably begging to cater to your needs.
Destinations
You’re not going anywhere! You have homework to do!
You have syllabi to read and binders to organize!
If you need a diversion you should call your mom and ask her advice about college life! Make small talk with your roommate about which posters you’re going to hang over your bunkbeds! Do your laundry!!!
Just kidding.
Fran Vita-Taylor Photos in the Area Gallery
The photographs of Fran Vita-Taylor are hanging in the Area Gallery at the Woodbury Campus Center. You will notice the colors first. They are lucid concentrations that glow within the print. Vita-Taylor says that she sometimes spends a couple of days in Photoshop, adjusting the hue and saturation of each piece of color.
Michael Connor gets famous
With a whopping three cents per book in royalties and a national publishing credit under his belt, USM alumnus Michael Connor is riding high. “I’m just sort of floating-in very positive circumstances,” said the Portland artist in an interview Tuesday evening.
Ocean & Casas: Pop Duo
Ocean Ocean was busy this summer. He was cutting and folding, peeling, sticking and stacking, post-producing and putting together four new CDs from Ocean & Casas, of whom, he is the Ocean: lead guitar. The Casas is Evan Casas: drummer.
Starting from happy places inspired by joyful moments in their lives, Ocean & Casas have written and recorded hundreds of danceable, sing-alongable songs, which are now available for consumption in the convenient form of the compact disc.
Art theft
There is a board game called Clue: The Great Museum Caper. It is not new. It was made in the 90’s. In it, players take turns as the thief, remaining invisible as they move around the low relief playing area, snatching miniature Mondrians and Rembrandts. The thief becomes visible if another player wanders into the line of sight.
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Ron Jeremy suffers from low-grade narcolepsy and is a dangerous driver. In the documentary ‘The Legend of Ron Jeremy” you actually see the man struggle to stay awake, then fall asleep while driving his car down the highway. Ron Jeremy is nearly a household name when it comes to porn.
Gilbert’s Chowder House: deep fried, but you’ll survive
Spring arrived tentatively this year and so did my taste for what we what we all think of when somebody says “Maine cuisine.”
Jennifer Garner of “Alias” plays a 13-year-old girl
It seems like an interesting premise. What would happen if you placed a 13-year-old girl’s mind into the body of a 30-year-old woman? If this idea sounds familiar, that’s because it is. It’s exactly the same premise used in “Big,” starring Tom Hanks, which I remember as a pretty funny movie, although not a great one.
Economist Galbraith’s new book tells of “innocent fraud”
Economist John Kenneth Galbraith’s new book isn’t a bombshell like some of the other political books coming out this year. In its pages you won’t find zealous accusations about the present administration or revelations about its inner workings. In fact, you won’t even find Bush mentioned by name.
But “The Economics of Innocent Fraud” is an important book at an important time.
Eldemur Krimm lashes listeners with foreboding fury
Hey kids, take another hit off that bong and tell your mother you love her, because Eldemur Krimm and their new album “Dirigo” is here to kick your fucking ass. Featuring straight up, balls-to-the-wall speed metal and breakneck Iron Maiden-esque guitar riffs, Eldemur Krimm is Portland’s finest hard rock attraction.
Beale Street Barbeque invokes blood lust in savages
In an escapist mood one soggy night last week, I surrendered my credit card to Beale Street Barbeque in South Portland. I wanted a taste of something decidedly not Maine-on-the-eve-of-finals-week.
While I can’t say for sure that their barbecue is anything like the real thing (let’s be honest, my Wisconsin upbringing gives me authority on two things only: cheese and bratwurst), authenticity doesn’t matter when you’re ravenously hungry and staring at a pile of tender, smoky meat.
Terrific dialogue in Tarantino’s genre-crossing “Kill Bill, Vol. 2”
After seeing “Kill Bill Vol. 1” last fall, I could hardly wait to see its conclusion, “Vol. 2.” When the release date was announced, I started counting down the weeks until it opened. Usually when my anticipation of a new movie gets that high, there is nothing but disappointment in store.
You Damnwell better buy this album
I’ll come out and say it: commercial radio sucks. With such a wide variety of music for the world’s listening pleasure, it’s a shame that most of us only get to hear the narrow spectrum of tunes that are screened through to them. Most people never get to hear great bands like The Damnwells.