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.
Muskie school student tries once more to break into public service, this time as part of an effort to change the face of Portland politics.
The beats of hip-hop music often reverberate throughout the Costello Sports Complex before the sun has even fully hit the horizon. And if you ever took the time to explore the rhythmic cadences, you might just find one of USM’s hidden athletic treasures: the cheerleading team.
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.
It all began with an art exhibit.
In 2006, Marie Follayttar participated in a controversial art show called “Can’t Jail the Spirit,” that was shut down by the university. She went to a Student Senate meeting to get approval to be a student voice on a subsequent panel called “Controversy in the public university: who decides?”
“I saw a senate poster, walked in.
Chris Esposito has put college on the back burner. The senior at Gorham High School, instead of attending university in the fall, will be pursuing his first love: cycling. But, instead of dreaming of the lush life of professional athletes, Esposito finds himself longing for a much different element of the lifestyle – an element that many people in the area find captivating.
On Wednesday April 22, over 3,000 people packed in to the Augusta Civic Center for a public hearing on two new bills on gay marriage in Maine. The event, which originally was to be held at Cony High School, was moved to the larger venue to accommodate the expected crowd.
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 name of the album justice, for it is indeed a mystery.
This summer, all students within the UMaine System will have their Horde e-mail accounts transferred to Google Apps, in an effort to make the university’s e-mail system more user friendly. Those who already use this service know that the step from Horde to Gmail is like trading in Zach Morris’ cell phone from Saved By The Bell for a new Blackberry.
With spring semester coming to an end, Alicia Pyle, a junior social work major, began registering for her fall semester classes when she noticed an increase in online courses. “I went to sign up for my fall semester classes, and every class I wanted to take was an online course.”
Looking through women’s track results, it’s easy to get the impression that Bethany Dumas is a seasoned veteran.
She’s almost always an event winner and her prowess extends beyond a single event.
But if you think she’s a familiar face, you’re wrong. In fact, Dumas is new on the track scene, but she’s making her presence known.
Some anniversaries can’t be celebrated. Monday, April 20 is one of these days. It marks the tenth anniversary of the Columbine shootings. Last week, April 16, was the two year anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre. These highly publicized tragedies have spurred change around the country, but how has Maine been affected?
Because of these harrowing events, the city of Portland has taken initiative and declared April, “Gun Violence Prevention Month.
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.
Ishmael Beah spent his early years playing soccer, listening to hip-hop and attending school in his village of Mogbwemo, Sierra Leone. But by the age of 13, he was fighting alongside other children in a bloody civil war that would claim the lives of thousands.
USM’s baseball team powered its way to an impressive stretch of wins last week, highlighted in part by a 21-3 dismantling of local rival St. Joseph’s College on Thursday. The win was part of a six-win week for the Huskies, who pushed their win streak to 14 games after a double-header sweep of UMass Dartmouth (10-3 and 21-12).
It’s difficult to not be enthusiastic while waiting for the seventh and final season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” I find myself scouring discussion boards for hints on what to expect; but no dice. It’s been kept so top secret that Shelby Woo would need to team up with Harriet the Spy to find out some sort of plot line for this season.
With a new Muppet movie comes a new excuse to write about the Muppets.
On tax-day last week, several hundred people holding signs on the Maine State Pier watched as Fred Staples opened a box wrapped with brown paper and string.
“This is the federal stimulus package,” he said, as he reached into the box and pulled out a length of rusty chain, the crowd erupting in approval
“This is the ‘chains’ you can believe in.
If the USM men’s tennis team had stumbled this year, it would have been understandable. Long time head coach Phil Cole retired this year, leaving the head coaching position vacant. But the Huskies have been anything but dormant, especially last week. The Huskies picked up a pair of victories and played well in losses to Salem State and Western Connecticut.
Around the Free Press office, terms like “uncertain economic times” and “excruciating decisions” have been popping up with such startling frequency that we started to keep a list of these and other economy related clichés on the white board in our production room.
Peter Donovan and Elijah Ocean of Portland’s power-pop outfit All the Real Girls performed an acoustic set downstairs at the Empire last Tuesday night. The seven-song set covered the bulk of their recent debut, “My Friends Are Going to be Strangers,” in a stripped-down and overall quiet manner.
At last Tuesday’s biennial “State of the University” address, UMaine system Chancellor Richard Pattenaude said that the University of Maine will likely layoff more employees to balance the projected four year budget deficit of $42.8 million.
“More than 150 postitions have or will be eliminated during this fiscal year though layoff notices, attrition and position eliminations,” he said in his address before a joint session of the Maine state legislature.
The University of Maine dropped a bomb last week that has people all over the state reeling. Effective next year, the school will no longer offer varsity men’s soccer and women’s volleyball at the intercollegiate level.
And while some may chalk this up as a tale of the economic times, I happen to think the ramifications of this decision trascend dollars-and-cents cost saving.
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.