Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Vol. CLIV, Issue 6
Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Building the perfect ‘Castle’

Derek Thurber April 16, 2009

When I first saw an advertisement for the new ABC show "Castle," I thought, "Oh, no, not another terrible cop drama." I was still getting over the horrible failure of "Life on Mars," and was not ready...

Credit: Klein

Jekyll and Hyde: when two tribes go to war

Alethea Buchal April 16, 2009

Back turned to the audience, his right arm flails wildly as the left arms sticks to his side; as straight as a pin. When he turns around, his face is distorted and tortured. He is caught between good and...

Marjane Satrapi, the author of the graphic novel “Persepolis, spoke in Cordiner last Friday, April 10. Satrapi is currently working on the film adaptation of her second novel, “Chicken With Plums. Credit: Norman

Author Satrapi talks comics, movies, cigarettes

Iris Alden April 16, 2009
“Already an hour and a half without a cigarette is painful," Marjane Satrapi said in eager anticipation of the five-minute break she would take after her lecture had finished. Her love of cigarettes remained a theme throughout “An Evening with Marjane Satrapi," though the author and filmmaker went on to discuss much meatier content. Satrapi's lecture, which took place last Friday, April 10, was one of the most anticipated events of the spring semester at Whitman. The seats beginning to fill up 15 minutes before the lecture began and students and community members alike lined up to purchase copies of Satrapi's works. Cordiner Hall was charged with excitement. Satrapi is the author of the highly acclaimed “Persepolis," a comic book about her childhood in Iran during the tumultuous years following the fall of the Shah in 1979 and her subsequent stay in Vienna, Austria.

Don’t ‘Observe’ this film

Becquer Medak-Seguin April 16, 2009

To give Jody Hill's "Observe and Report" any credit for being an indie-comedy (it somehow appeared in the SXSW film festival, don't ask me how), a decent comedy, or even a comedy to which I could attribute...

Charles Simic, celebrated poet, speaks candidly to the audience at the Annual Walt Whitman Lecture on Thursday, April 9. Credit: Kim

Poet Simic sifts through darkness with humor at Walt Whitman Lecture

C.J. Wisler April 16, 2009

For senior English major Jake Kinstler, former United States Poet Laureate Charles Simic pleasantly surprised him with his craft as well as his personality at the Annual Walt Whitman Lecture. "I...

‘Foot-fisting’ it into Hollywood: An interview with ‘Observe & Report’ director Jody Hill and actors Seth Rogen and Anna Faris

Mike Sado April 16, 2009

The curse of "Observe & Report," written and directed by Jody Hill (TV's "Eastbound and Down"), is that it will probably suffer endless comparisons to Steve Carr's "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," which came...

Dabbles in Bloom blossom in second performance

Alyssa Fairbanks April 16, 2009

Music bloomed in Whitman's amphitheater Thursday, April 9 as first-year Adriel Borshansky's band performed their concert "Dabbles in Bloom" in front of a large crowd. Borshansky, singer, song writer and...

Ryan Biornstad and Josh Hodges of the electronica group Starfucker jam on the Reid Ballroom stage on Saturday, April 11.

‘Star-effer?’ ‘Starfracker?’ Bands shine in show

Sara Levy April 16, 2009
The concert on Friday, April 11 could be described as a stimulus overload. Not just one band from out of town, but three. Not just pop music, but “electro-pop," complete with multicolored star-shaped lights flashing on a projector in the background. The concert opened with the one-man-band called Guidance Counselor, whose MySpace page describes his music as “Ghettotech" and whose all-over tattoos describe him as anomalous. Then Starfucker played an hour of electronica and finally United State of Electronica (U.S.E.) headlined with some serious dance music.
“I actually majored in economics, said Dueling Pianos member Rhiannon Kruse. “I decided to go a safe route, settle down and get a real job. Credit: Hong.

Like scene out of ‘Looney Tunes,’ couple duels with pianos

C.J. Wisler April 9, 2009
“I actually majored in economics," said Dueling Pianos member Rhiannon Kruse. “I decided to go a safe route, settle down and get a real job." “You would have been a lawyer," said fellow member Jeffery Coleron. “My job is more fun, though," said Kruse with a laugh. Needless to say, Kruse and her fellow member Jeffrey Coleron did not go the “safe" route. Dueling Pianos, which performed in the Reid Ballroom on April 5, has encountered great success during their eight-year run. Kruse and Coleron, who initially met while working as entertainers for Disney Cruise Line, are an independent entertainment industry consisting of two pianists, two voices and an all-requests live sing-a-long show. Everything from “Build Me Up Buttercup" by The Foundations to Broadway hits to “Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen is fair game.

All-faculty band Orange Fight releases indie CD

Mariko Helm April 9, 2009

Orange Fight has everything it takes to become successful: they have the passion, the talent, scheduled future performances and to top it off, the majority of them have PhD's.   Whitman's very own...

Students fill the Reid Campus Center Ballroom last Friday, April 3 for Dragfest.  The dance, hosted by Coalition Against Homophobia, lets students try another gender on for size for the night while educating them about transgender issues. Credit: Klein.

This year’s ‘fest: a gender bender

Mike Sado April 9, 2009
To some, the sight of junior Pedro Galvao wearing a bright green dress and a hat adorned with an assortment of bananas and apples may look odd on any other day. But at this year's Dragfest, Galvao's attire was a common occurrence among the other young “drag-queens" and “drag-kings" that attended the event. The annual dance, part of a week-long series of events from March 30 to April 3 and hosted by the ASWC-funded Coalition Against Homophobia (CAH), aimed to educate students about issues affecting the transgender community. According to Galvao, who is also the copresident of the CAH, Dragfest offers an inclusive environment for those who want to play with gender norms or those who consider themselves transgender. “Dragfest is a way for most people to break away from their proscribed gender roles especially in a campus that typically does not transgress them," he said. “It is a way to try on the other gender for a night."

Student publication seeks out alternative voices

Elana Congress April 9, 2009

A hefty historic association, difficult spelling and similarity to the word "succession" make "secession" a rich word: so it's understandable that Whitman's newest literary publication would use the word...

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