Friday, December 18, 2009

Merry Christmas!



Photo by: Audi Acree
Merry Christmas from The Papyrus 09' staff!

Snogging in America: Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging



This hilarious coming-of-age story is based on the international best-selling series of books by the British author Louise Rennison, and follows the eccentric and irresistible Georgia Nicolson as she overcomes the trauma of being a teenager.

Misunderstood by her “ancient” parents—but buoyed up by the love of her cat, Angus, and her bessie mates, the Ace Gang—Georgia Nicolson (GEORGIA GROOME) struggles through life seeking out her two main desires: 1. To get a gorgeous boyfriend. 2. To throw the greatest 15th birthday party ever.
 
When handsome brothers Tom (SEAN BOURKE) and Robbie (AARON JOHNSON) arrive at school, Georgia thinks her boyfriend dreams have been answered. But when she sees Robbie with her arch rival, Slaggy Lindsay (KIMBERLEY NIXON), she devises a plan to show Robbie that she’s the mature, sophisticated girlfriend he deserves. Unfortunately Georgia’s plans - involving snogging lessons, dying her legs orange and stalking Slaggy Lindsay - don’t exactly run smoothly.

In addition her own romance problems, Georgia's dad (ALAN DAVIES) is given an amazing job opportunity in New Zealand. This leaves Georgia’s mum (KAREN TAYLOR) open to the charms of builder Jem (STEVE JONES), a George Clooney look-a-like who’s ancient (mid 30’s) but still a fittie. The worry over her parents’ marriage is a huge pressure on Georgia, who feels that the responsibility for holding the family together rests on her shoulders.
 
In her quest to get Robbie and keep her family from splitting, Georgia transforms from a selfish girl into a young woman who’s grown beyond the valley of the fab and into the universe of marvy.

The DVD is out Monday, December 21st (12/21/09).

Shaping a Dynasty, The Young Victoria opens Today



In The Young Victoria, Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada) delivers an incredibly compelling performance as Queen Victoria in the turbulent first years of her reign. Rupert Friend (Pride & Prejudice) portrays Prince Albert, the suitor who wins her heart and becomes her partner in one of history’s greatest romances. This love story, set amongst all the intrigue of the court, also features Paul Bettany (Iron Man, The Da Vinci Code), Miranda Richardson (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), Jim Broadbent (The Damned United, The Chronicles of Narnia), Thomas Kretschmann (Valkyrie), and Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes, Tristan & Isolde).


The Young Victoria opens today to a limited release. The film will be playing at the following cinemas in Chicago:

Kerasotes ShowPlace ICON Theatre
AMC River East 21
Landmark Century Centre Cinema
Century 12 Evanston/CineArts 6

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Over the Moon, a 'New Moon' Review


Caitlin Tadlock

Midnight on November 20, I was amidst the “Twi-hards” (a term coined for extreme Twilight fans) for the first time in 364 days. Ronnie’s Cinema in St. Louis was packed to the max with several auditoriums holding the midnight screaming, I mean screening of The Twilight Saga‘s: New Moon. Women young and old were dressed in their Team Edward and Team Jacob shirts. The more daring fans had the audacity to dress as vampires, fangs and all. At 12:01 the lights went dim and without warning the screen went black; that’s right, no 5-minute National Guard recruitment advertisements! A full moon appeared on the screen and the crowd gasped. It was the start of a new moon.

The Twilight Saga’s second installment of the now multimillion-dollar franchise New Moon is a hit with its fan base, grossing a total of 473 million dollars worldwide. It’s the story of Forks, WA, high school student Bella Swan who gets broken up with by her vampire boyfriend after his brother tried to take a snap at her. Bella finds solace in her werewolf best friend Jacob Black and thus starts the love triangle for the next film.

I would like to start off the review with a quote from the director Chris Weitz, “I’ve realized I won’t necessarily get good reviews for this movie. Having swallowed that, this was made for the fans, and if you don’t get it, then you don’t get it”. This review will be more directed towards the Twilight fans since it‘s they who are watching the films. I can sit here and agree all day that the hour of Bella being depressed wasn’t your cup of tea and the lines shared between Bella and Edward were more comical than touching, but I won’t because no one cares about non-Twilight fan opinions because you just don’t understand.

The special effects and all around vision of the film are excellent with the direction of Weitz. My favorite part of the film wasn’t Bella/Jacob bonding or Bella/Edward moments, but the chase montage of the renegade vampire Victoria. Thom Yorke’s song “Hearing Damages” played in the background as Victoria is chased through the Olympia forest by Jacob and company. The underwater scene where Bella is drowning is also visually aesthetic even though I did hear stifled laughs from a few members of the audience when the Edward apparition appeared; maybe it was boyfriends of the girls.

Kristen Stewart, who plays Bella, says in interviews that throughout New Moon, Bella grows up in Edward’s absence. I have a problem with this. Bella is introduced as an independent middle-aged-teenager that has spent her life looking after her mom rather than the other way around. Bella is now enraptured by Edward and can’t see her life without him even when he is gone. She is co-dependent and although the film portrays first real heartbreak for a girl, something most girls can relate to, it also shows the unhealthy infatuation Bella has with Edward. Like Jacob says in the third book Eclipse, Bella never learns to live without Edward. Bella goes through the film depressed, putting herself in danger, and in the end gets rewarded by saving Edward’s life and having an almost happy ever after. Is Bella regressing in each installment of the series?

In the book New Moon, Bella jumps off a cliff because it would be the only way she could recall Edward’s voice in her head. I felt in the film it didn’t do a great job portraying this as an act of defiance but as an attempt of suicide. In the lines she mutters before jumping off the cliff she says “You wanted me to be human, so watch me”. To the people who don’t read the books but watch the movies (unbelievable, but there are a lot) this scene comes off more as a suicide attempt rather than a dangerous attempt to see her beloved. Not healthy.

The film was adapted well from the book, better than Twilight was. The running time let the story flow more freely and without rush. The CGI wolves didn’t look as bad as what I thought from the trailer, Dakota Fanning playing one of the Volturi was disappointing as expected, and I wasn’t bothered with the lack of Robert Pattinson because I have converted to Team Jacob.

The beginning starts with a full moon and ends with a gasp and cut (not fade) to black. The ending can’t be disappointing for fans because in a measly 7 months we will be hit with the next installment Eclipse. For Twilight fans, I give The Twilight Saga’s: New Moon an 8.5 out of 10; and for the boyfriends of the girls who were dragged to see it, I am sorry, 5 out of 10 for you and I hope you were rewarded afterwards, you know, with Dairy Queen.

Wind and Sail Releases EP

By Emilie Moroney

The Wind & Sail CD release show may have gotten off to a late start, but it was well worth the wait. The show featured The Great Outdoors from Edwardsville, and Greenville College band The Van Pelts. The Great Outdoors started the show 40 minutes later than scheduled. The normal four-piece band performed at what singer and keyboard player, Quinn Buerkett, dubbed “75%,” as they were without their bass player. They were indeed missing their low end and the set seemed to drag on a bit without that dimension, but they managed to get the night off to a good and anticipated start as the audience could still enjoy the good song writing and performance.

As The Van Pelts took the stage the audience seemed to gain energy with the familiarity of the band. While they have played, as singers Moriah Seamen and Tara Wepking noted during the performance, a lot of shows in the Blackroom lately, it was still fun to watch and listen to. Their whimsical, light-hearted tunes made for a good transition to the headlining act.

Even though it was Wind & Sail’s first time headlining a show at Greenville, there was a good turnout of people who came for the band’s EP release. The EP entitled A Place to Discover features 5 songs that the group recorded over a weekend in Tennessee. The album artwork was hand crafted and Devin Moroney, the lead singer and guitar player for Wind & Sail, emphatically expressed that they “worked really hard on them”. The crowd seemed to recognize the music and really enjoy the show. The band was selling the new CDs for the special price of $2 instead of the normal $5, and were happy to have sold 43 copies on the opening night of its release.

Wind & Sail will be embarking on a 10-day tour to different parts of Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska to promote A Place to Discover this Friday before they return home for the Holidays.

Top Ten Reasons to Live this Week


By: Caitlin Tadlock

1.) Fraggle Rock the Movie

Coming to a big-screen near you is the revamp of Jim Henson’s 1980’s puppet creature television show. Cory Edwards, director of Hoodwinked, is overseeing the project and claims they have a script that they are excited to bring to film. The problem with the film is that it has to appeal to an age range from ten year olds to thirty and forty year olds. Edwards reassures that they are going to be using real puppets for the movie.

2.) Cold War Kids - Behave Yourself EP

You can download Cold War Kids new album early on December 21, exclusively on iTunes. Their first single has been getting hyped on 105.7 The Point during the acceptable music shows like Les Aaron’s “New Music Sunday”. Cold War Kids are playing in Chicago at the Vic Theatre on January 30.

3.) The Fame Monster

Lady Gaga released an 8 song CD last Tuesday that does not disappoint (Caitlin). Even though Gaga is jammed down my throat at work: while I’m walking down the hall, reporting traffic or visiting the restroom, I still love the catchy dance beats of each song. I favor “Telephone” featuring Beyonce today.

4.) Team Jacob

My mother and I are Team Jacob and after the opening of New Moon there are more converts. December 12 is nearing and Jacob wolf himself, Taylor Lautner will be hosting Saturday Night Live! I am hoping for Taylor squared jokes, Twilight spoofs and underage slams.

5.) Brodmann Blades

For $100 you are now able to play ping-pong without handles! Ping-pong with handle-free paddles is supposedly all the rage for Christmas. You wear the paddles like gloves. If you want to save your money I say try cutting off the handles and super gluing ($3 at Wal-Mart) some gloves ($1 at Wal-Mart) together. But if you want the wristband I would suggest you get the Brodmann Blades package.

6.) Beach House - Teen Dream

The new album from Beach House - Teen Dream will release on January 26. Take a listen on myspace.com/beachhousemusic or mixxedtapes.blogspot.com to get a feel of what the album will sound like. Their first single “Norway” is splendid!

7.) Hoarders on A&E

I watched the previews of a television show on A&E about hoarding. I was amazed! This is totally going to be me in fifty years and instead of McDonalds bags it’s going to be CATS! Monday nights, 9 pm on A&E.

8.) The Road

Starring Viggo Motensen and directed by John Hillcoat, The Road is the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 novel. Father and son wander through a post apocalyptic wilderness as they fight fear, starvation and madness. Reviews hailed the film “one of the most spookily convincing, least ‘movieish’ visions of a bombed-out wasteland future I’ve ever seen”. The movie is out now in select theatres.

9.) The Scrubbing out of Zach Braff

Scrubs comes back from the dead on ABC. Last year it was announced that Scrubs was ending but instead a new class is taking over. Zach Braff’s spot will be filled with a medical student in the start of the season. Maybe this will mean more people will stop watching and then we won’t have to see Scrubs at all except on UPN, WON, MTV, Comedy Central, TBS and etc (etc. stands for etcetera, not a television station). Tuesdays at 8 pm on ABC.

10.) Vampire Weekend - Horchata

It’s kind of been a love/hate relationship with Vampire Weekend over the past few years. When their first album dropped it was just a love relationship, soon after people felt an annoyance with the band. Well prepare to love somewhat again! Arriving early in January is Vampire Weekend’s sophomore album Horchata. “Cousins” is the band’s first single from the album and it’s quite quirky and different from their first CD.

Christmas Ideas for the Poor


By: Caitlin Tadlock

1.) Woot.com

Woot offers one item each day at a ridiculously low price. From Star Wars bobble heads to USB plug-ins Woot.com has you covered. Anything you purchase from the website will only be $5.00 flat shipping rate. If you start going to the site now you might have all of your Christmas shopping done by Christmas Eve.

2.) Homemade Junk

The creative have an advantage here. If you are artistically enabled, make something for your family and friends. There is a good chance it could come out bad, but it’s not like they can tell you they don’t like it. It might be thrown to the bottom of the closet but you’ll feel better when you know they can’t return it.

3.) The “Used” Button on Amazon.com

Last year I told my mom I would take back anything she bought on Amazon that was “new”. Why buy the $20.99 Dexter Season One DVD set when right next to it is a 99% reliable rated user selling a “used-like new” season for $8.00 cheaper right? And, even if it is scratched, it’s a delight to give the user a low rating and watch them hit you with complaints about their low rating. You can always return the product.

4.) Rodarte for Target

Starting December 20, Target will carry the fashion line Rodarte for exactly one month. Although the line doesn’t include the $500 pieces you saw during London Fashion week earlier this year it will cover similar styles to fit your budget.

5.) Recycleagift.com

Take those gifts you still have in boxes from last year and swap them for money to get others something they might want. The website swaps unwanted DVDs, CDs and books for cash. Visit the site, type in the product code, decide the price and wait for someone on the web to buy it.

'The Blind Side' Opens Eyes


By: Jamie Hoag
Jen Redell

“This team is your family, Michael. You have to protect them.” This line spoken by Leigh Ann Touhy, played by Sandra Bullock in the movie The Blind Side, emphasizes the importance of family and relationships in this film.

The movie, starring country music artist Tim McGraw, as well as Sandra Bullock and Kathy Bates, is based on a true story about current Baltimore Raven’s star, Michael Oher. It is also based on Michael Lewis’ book, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, which involves performances and inspiring football scenes. Its multifaceted genre lends itself to be a film that a variety of people can enjoy.

In the opening scene, viewers are exposed to a scene of National Football League (NFL) coverage from nearly twenty-four years ago. The footage depicted a scene from a Monday night football game between the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants. In one single play, the future of one famous football star, Joe Theismann, was altered forever. His career permanently ended that night. This piece of NFL history provides context for the storyline of The Blind Side.

The audience identifies from the NFL clip that had someone stepped up to protect Theismann that night, the results of that night would have been drastically different. This realization helps put the rest of the movie into understanding.

After the Touhy family attends a high school volleyball game for their daughter, they spot a child walking down the cold and dark streets alone. When inquiring about who the man is, the son of the Touhy family, played by Jae Head, points out that everyone at school calls this kid “Big Mike.”

Throughout the rest of the movie, the family offers “Big Mike,” who reveals he likes the name Michael, a life that he has never known, and in return Michael changes their lives forever. The Touhys offer Michael a roof over his head, food on his table, money and support for college, and unending love. Michael changes the heart of each Touhy family member by living a selfless, humble life to the best of his ability, despite his unfortunate childhood of orphanage living and absent parents. Through him, the family realizes the value and importance of helping others out and loving the unloved.

After the final scene of the movie, as the credits start to roll, there are real pictures displayed of the real Michael Oher and his adopted family. They also showed a clip of Michael Oher being drafted into the NFL in 2009. Oher was the 23rd first-round draft pick.

Although this was life impacting for Michael it also helped change the Touhys life. There are many different challenges that Michael and the Touhys conquer together. As Michael became a student and football player, his coach, adopted family, and friends helped him become the man he always wanted to be.

Here’s what some of the top critics have to say. The Los Angeles Times, Betsy Sharkey says, “ Watching The Blind Side is like watching your favorite football team; you’ll cheer when things go well, curse when they don’t, and be reminded that in football, as in life, it’s how you play the game that counts – though winning doesn’t hurt, either.” USA Today, Claudia Puig says, “It’s even more powerful when we learn that he now plays in the NFL for the Baltimore Ravens.”

Don’t pass up an opportunity to see the movie, The Blind Side. It has already produced $40.1 million and to most critics is a 7 out of 10. So if you need a break before finals go see the movie The Blind Side. You won’t be disappointed!

Giving 'Cold Tangerines' a Warm Review


By: Taylor Griggs

Shauna Niequist's novel "Cold Tangerines" is an absolute delight from start to finish. I came upon its glossy cover while perusing the shelves of the Greenville College bookstore. It was the tantalizing orange, sprinkled in dew and featured on the front cover that caught my eye. I reached for it, pleasantly surprised by how light it felt in my hands, despite it being hard back, and read the premise on the back. I haven't been able to put it down since.

At page 209 I feel I have a pretty good grasp of Niequist's general tone and style of writing. She has a wonderful voice that is light, airy, often comical, and at times profoundly sobering. Her book is broken up into short stories of delectable proportions that aim to celebrate the gift of life. Once you start one there's no way of stopping until you've reached the end. Niequist's tales are from the heart and range in theme from pregnancy to war torn Africa. Her sensitivity to the sights, sounds, and smells of daily life are breathtaking through her vivid imagery and excellent storytelling. She writes:

"I want a life that sizzles and pops and makes me laugh out loud. And I don't want to get to the end, or tomorrow, even, and realize that my life is a collection of meetings and pop cans and errands and receipts and dirty dishes. I want to eat cold tangerines and sing loud in the car with the windows open and wear pink shoes and stay up all night laughing and paint my walls the exact color the sky is right now. I want to sleep hard on clean white sheets and throw parties and eat ripe tomatoes and read books so good they make me jump up and down, and I want my everyday life to make God’s belly laugh, glad he gave life to someone who loves the gift."

If you desire to appreciate the tiny gifts of everyday life, if you desire to see God in everyday life, or if you just need to know you're not the only one who doesn’t have it all together, "Cold Tangerines" is for you. Peel open this wonderful book and let it breathe life into you, as it did for me.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

What to Expect When Expecting New Moon


By Caitlin Tadlock

I like Twilight, but being a college student makes me an objective Twilight fan.  I feel like I am separated from some Twi-hards in the sense that I know Twilight was a bad movie and am thoroughly aware that the books are at the 4th grade reading level.  With that in mind, this is a list of ten things to look out for when watching New Moon on Friday at the Globe Theatre.
 
1.)  Muscles in the Rain
Taylor Lautner and the rest of the Quileute boys will be showing off their muscles in rain-soaked Washington for the majority of the film for tween girl and twi-mom reasons.  Lautner will also be taking off his shirt every time Bella is in trouble, when he’s about to ride his motorcycle somewhere, or when there is a vampire in his midst.
 
2.) Kristen Stewart's performace is an A+
Kristen Stewart will do a great job acting out the depression her character Bella goes through when Edward leaves her.  One neat thing that Chris Weitz does is a 360 degree of Bella’s life without Edward as the seasons pass behind her.  Half of the movie will play out like a girl going through a heroine withdrawal.
 
3.) Bad acting
Dakota Fanning is not a cute 5 year-old anymore and I have noticed that people don’t realize this when they cast her in movies.  The werewolves are newcomers to acting and the movie clips shown so far present unprofessional and cheesy acting from the wolf pack.
 
4.)  Silly looking CG Wolves
My friend and I busted out laughing when we first saw Jacob Black transform into a werewolf.  It might have been the consensus that the werewolves were in no way scary. The first trailers from this summer and the ones now show a different Jacob wolf but it’s actually not any scarier.
 
5.) Better Tech Credits and Visual Effects
No matter what, the werewolves are going to look ridiculous because they’re CGI werewolves.  But, New Moon in the visual sense will be better looking all around without Catherine Hardwicke’s extreme close-ups and long moments of awkward silence.
 
6.)  Nauseating Fan Girl screams
If you can resist avoiding the theatre for the first seven or eight days there is a good chance you can avoid the twi-hard gasps and screams when Edward apparitions appear for two seconds at a time throughout the movie.

 
7.)PG-13 Violence
More vampire be-headings will take place during New Moon.  Also expect a ton of werewolf fights, Volturi fights, renegade vampire fights and a Jacob v. Edward showdown.
 
8.)  Better Sparkles?
With better special effects come better sparkle effects from Edward…Let’s hope.

9.) Kill yourself scenes
New Moon is going to be depressing no matter how you look at it.  Get ready for the saddest 2 hours and 2 minutes of your youth, besides when you get broken up with in real life.
 
10.) The Eclipse trailer in front of New Moon
a.    Just kidding, but the Remember Me trailer starring Robert Pattinson will be.

Celebrating the Life and Death of Geocities

By Caitlin Tadlock

October 26, 2009, marked the last breath of Yahoo’s website maker Geocities. No more “.GIF” roses or stars around banner advertisements and no more polyphonic background music when you visit your favorite boy band fan site.

It is obvious as to why Geocities has closed its doors, since there are so many better webpage builder options out there, but why not keep it around for historical web reasons? That is what groups Archiveteam and Archive.org have been doing since the announcement of Geocities’ demise. The two archival web groups came together to track down as many Geocities web pages as possible to file them away for public viewing records.

My first Geocities experience started with building a fan page dedicated to the Mickey Mouse club in 1997 or 98, and of course my second one was for The Backstreet Boys. The background was black and I had tiny GIF sparkles flashing around the locks of bad hair from the Backstreet Boys. I stopped updating my fan pages when I gained musical taste and when they made me pay to have a certain amount of JPEGs stored on their website.

The following are students’ reflections of Geocities webpages:

“Geocities changed my life. Whether I was browsing music libraries for MIDI versions of my favorite late-90s pop songs or checking my homework assignments on Mr. Nyhuis' 8th Grade Math Webpage, my web-surfing experience was always enriched by the wide variety of resources that Geocities had to offer. I'm appalled at Yahoo's decision to shut down the website, and I urge everyone to pray that they will reconsider their unforgivable action.” - Dav Timm

“I think all my old bands in high school had a Geocities page but no one actually knew how to use it. Sweet stuff.” - Robert Varner

The online archive teams only got a tiny piece of the huge pie when filing away Geocities webpages. Thousands, maybe millions of Arial and Comic Sans fonted pages are lost forever in the World Wide Webular black hole of oblivion.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

'Pirate Radio' Sets Sail


By Caitlin Tadlock
caitlintadlock@gmail.com

Sassy, classy and cool is Richard Curtis’ (director of “Love Actually”) British comedy “Pirate Radio”, formally known as “The Boat that Rocked”. “Pirate Radio” has an all-star Brit lineup that includes Billy Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Rhys Darby (“Flight of the Concords”), Nick Frost (“Shaun of the Dead”), Tallulah Riley, Emma Thompson and introducing America’s new British muse, Tom Sturridge. The film features only two American leads, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and January Jones (“Mad Men”).

In the 1960’s rock & roll was limited to two hours of BBC play each week in the UK. In “Pirate Radio” a group of radio renegade DJs’ set in the sea, outside the jurisdiction and broadcast rock & roll 24/7. Pirate radio ships got away with a lot of things that are regulated even today by the Federal Communications Commission. In the film the British government stops at nothing to shut down radio rock.

I believe there is a big difference between the UK’s “The Boat that Rocked” and America’s “Pirate Radio”. Even in the movie trailers the two focuses on different themes of the movie. In the British version the trailer revolves around all of the DJs’, the life of new addition Young Carl (Tom Sturridge) and the British government shutting them down. In the American version the trailer focuses almost solely on Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character “The Count” as a sort of rock savior to the ship, which is hardly the major point in the story.

The film seems to be edited heavily for American audience. The story jumped scenarios too quickly and characters and story lines were underdeveloped that made the audience fill-in-the-blank in places. All together “Pirate Radio” had extremely choppy editing. The music was the driving force but the selection was lacking too, understandably they couldn’t dish out the money at the time for any Beatles songs to be featured in the film.

“Pirate Radio” still has its very British sense of humor, which is good. The characters all have their unique trait and their senses of fashion are over-the-top. I’ve been in the radio business since I was 17-years-old and have had the unfortunate opportunity to work with some of the most greasy, grimy money hungry blokes. Today, radio is run by monopoly corporations headed by overweight and soulless beings that only care about website hits and revenue. 40-year-old pop DJs’ jump at the chance to get a picture with Miley Cyrus for the purpose of looking cool to under age kids on Facebook. “Pirate Radio” is refreshing in a way that every rock DJ, news reporter, intern and boss care about what they play and the fans. Basically, music was the driving force for radio.

Even if the movie lacks some historical musical aspects, the “Pirate Radio” soundtrack makes up for its lackluster. The Who, The Kinks, The Turtles, The Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix and Cream make up a fourth of the two disc album with Duffy being the only current artist featured.

The theatre’s audience on Friday night gave “Pirate Radio” applause when the credits rolled. It was a small crowd, the mindless explosion trash “2012” came out that day, but it got the point across that “Pirate Radio” was a delight to the eyes and ears. I will find a way to purchase the British version “The Boat that Rocked” before I watch or buy “Pirate Radio” again. I have an inkling that the original may be all around better than the export they gave to us ‘mericans.

Monday, November 9, 2009

The Beat is Dead



By Sam Adams

Friday October 30th marked the last day of St. Louis’ hip-hop station 100.3 The Beat. At noon the hip-hop and R&B format abruptly changed to Halloween music. The station ended with Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road” and started the twelve o’clock hour with Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” followed by the theme song to “Halloween” and “Ghostbusters”. Within an hour fans of the station flocked to their Twitters and Facebooks asking what was happening to The Beat.

Due to lack of listeners for the past few years, Clear Channel decided to pull the plug on The Beat and all of its employees. The station had low ratings due in part to its rival hip-hop station Hot 104.1. It is expected to change to a rock format in January to compete with 105.7 The Point.

At midnight on November 1st the 100.3 website changed from a Halloween theme to Christmas 100.3. At 6:00 a.m. Christmas music started pumping out into the airwaves. The holiday music will last until January 1st, when the format will make another change.

Employees that were let go from 100.3 The Beat at noon on October 30th included KiKi the First Lady, DJ AJ, Taylor J, Dwight Stone (D.Stone) and Selena J who is now solely on The Beat’s sister station Majic 104.9.

The Death Set Review


By Matt Stuttler

The Death Set’s most recent album Worldwide, released in 2008, passed
under the radar of the majority of well known trend spotter blogs.
This is an utter shame, as the band brings a jangly, electronic,
sample heavy take on punk rock akin to Dan Deacon and vocals
reminiscent of a happier Mae Shi. Forming in Australia then moving to
America to feed on the teenagers of our country’s East Coast, The
Death Set quickly took to the proverbial skies and toured with
Brooklyn band Japanther. After signing to Counter records, The Death
Set released Worldwide. Some highlights of the album include
“Negative Thinking”, beginning with some sweet samples of
pre-programmed voice modulators then jumping straight into a
consistent dance beat with a smooth as butter guitar lead leaking all
over the place. The band doesn’t suffer in the least from only having
two members, proving that heart and pure weirdness can make up for any
deficiency of live performing members, such as on “Selective
Memories”. Another stand out of the album is “Impossible”; que'd in
with an old school hip hop stomp and racing between thick synths and
shout along verses. Check out this band if you’re looking for hope in
advancement in this art-stricken society that is modern music.

http://www.myspace.com/thedeathset

Donald Miller Book Tour Comes to Greenville College



By Wendy Smith
The Donald Miller “A Million Miles Tour” comes to Greenville College on Tuesday, November 17 at 7:00 p.m. On Miller’s 65-city national book tour he will talk about his latest book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. Greenville College is the only stop in Southern Illinois.

General admission for the event is $15 or free for a limited number Greenville College students, faculty, and staff. More details will be released soon about how students, faculty, and staff can get a ticket. You can purchase general tickets at www.iTickets.com

Miller is best known for his New York Times Bestseller Blue Like Jazz, which has been adapted into a movie. A sought-after speaker, Miller has delivered lectures to a wide-range of audiences including the Women of Faith Conference, the Veritas Forum at Harvard University, and the Veritas Forum at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California.


A Million Miles in a Thousand Years amusingly and tenderly chronicles Miller's experience with filmmakers as they edit his life for the movie. He also shares the principles storytellers use to make a story meaningful and exciting, as well as applies them to real life.

The book tour also features comedian, actress, and author of Angry Conversations with God, Susan Isaacs.
Isaacs, an alumnus of The Groundlings Sunday Company, has an MFA in screenwriting from the University of Southern California and has had many guest appearances on hit television shows including Seinfeld. Isaacs has guest lectured at Pepperdine University, Orange Coast College, Santa Monica College, and teaches for the Act One Program.

Go to www.amillionmiles.com or contact media@greenville.edu for more information.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Homecoming Concert


Saturday's Homecoming Concert in the Blackroom featured:
The Van Pelts (Above)
Ever Ash
Skylight Windows
A.J. Alvarez
Liz Rourke
Mark Pedal
Michael Trieb

The participants were from this semester's lab bands and singer/songwriter class.

Jack-O-Lantern Ideas


By Caitlin Tadlock

Greatest
1.) Favourite Deceased Pet
Let your neighbours know that you still hold them responsible for running over your cat by setting out carvings of your recently demised precious one.
2.) Michael Jackson through the Years
The original JACK-o-Lantern! Use mini, white, and regular pumpkins to chronicle MJ’s life in fruit form.
3.) Monuments
Show off where you’ve been by displaying the Eiffel Tower, Sears Tower and Leaning Tower of Pisa on your front door step.
4.) Lady Gaga
Make some Alexander Wang shades and put on some Chanel lipstick and the above picture says it all!
5.) Jack Nicholson - The Shining
Stick a light in it and you will surely scare off the little ones with this creepy lantern!

Lamest
1.) Pumpkins with Hangovers
During the fall, my mom loves sending me FWD emails showing pumpkins in different scenarios throwing up their insides. After the third FWD it gets kind of old.
2.) Nightmare Before Christmas carvings
Unless you and your friends are Hot-Topic regulars, this was so twelve years a go.
3.) Hillbilly Pumpkins
We get it your an uneducated smuck from the south. You don’t need to show us with your pumpkins!
4.) Heath Ledger - The Joker
Same goes with the Halloween costume.
5.) Ed Hardy chic-kins’
If I ever see a brightly colored tool-ish pumpkin sitting out on someone’s porch it will most definitely be smashed by morning!

Top Ten Reasons to Live This Week


By - The Papyrus Staff

1.) New Music Sunday on 105.7 the Point
Taking a well deserved break from playing Sick Puppies, Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin, Les Aaron gives listeners a breath of fresh music from all over the world from 7p.m. to 8p.m. every Sunday. From the most diverse and unexpected to the just plain good, Aaron presents the best sixty minutes of music radio in town.

2.) Harold and Maude
I just discovered this 1971 film in one of my Communication classes. It’s about a 17 year old boy falling in love with a 79 year old lady renegade. The two embark on off-the-wall adventures before her 80th birthday. Cat Stevens did the soundtrack to the movie which features the song from the iGoogle super phone commercial “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out”.

3.) Auto-Tune the News
Interviewers, sportscasters, and vice presidents alike break into song to report important news in auto-tuned form. The Gregory Brothers take our favorites in politics, media and entertainment like Newt, Biden, Katie Couric and of course T-Pain to smash them together into three minute webisodes.

4.) My Robot Friend
Hailing from New York, NY the eccentric Robot Friend spits out the sweetest robot tunes! The most recently released track “Waiting” features Alison Moyet, an English pop-singer formally from the band Yazoo. “23 Minutes in Brussels” and “Robot Love” are two of the best songs from his album Soft-Core available on www.myrobotfriend.com

5.) Jon Brownhill
The 2007 Greenville College alum is in town for two weeks starting yesterday!

6.) Meteor Showers
The last meteor shower took place Tuesday night and it was pretty sweet.

7.) Robert Pattinson School
The original R.Pattz is a language, science and mathematics college in England. To be accepted into this prestigious online school you need to be an enthusiastic, lively and versatile Mathematician to join the strong team, delivering courses across all key stages, including the opportunity of Further Mathematics at Advanced Level.

8.) Josh Brolin
No, not the actor! Former members of Mauled by Bears and The Doctor and The Devils have a new killer project. Check out myspace.com/joshbrolinrules to hear songs such as “Billy Mayzhem” and “Where are You Going? pt. 2”.

9.) David Bazaan at the Highdive
Sunday in Champaign, David Bazaan will be playing at The Highdive venue. The show is only $10 for a sure-to-be good night of jams.

10.) MakeMeBabies.com
MakeMeBabies is using advanced face detection technology to predict what your baby will look like. Upload your photo, your partner’s photo and make a baby in seconds!
You can also make babies with the listed celebrities or send baby invites to your friends.

Let the Wild Rumpus Start! Where the Wild Things Are Review



By Aaron Oda

When I heard over a year ago that Spike Jonze was going to be directing Maurice Sendak’s beloved children’s book Where the Wild Things Are, I jumped for joy in excitement over the thought. Being the wildly inventive and creative director of such films as Adaptation and Being John Malkovich, I knew if anyone could pull it off, it would be Spike Jonze. Helping out in the writing process is Dave Eggers, author of the tragicomic memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.
For those of you that missed out on the book as a kid, Where the Wild Things Are tells the tale of a misunderstood boy named Max, who, after lashing out at his mother, runs away from home into the woods. The woods then transform into a mysterious forest, leading him to a ravaged boat, which after a highly dangerous sail washes him to an inhospitable island. There he encounters the nine-foot-tall wild things, which seem to come straight out of the wacky universe of Jim Henson (in fact the wild things were made at Henson’s Creature Shop). Max then persuades the monsters to not devour him by saying that he, in fact, is their king. These wild things are not complete savages though, in fact, they are more human than monster, holding fragile emotions and with no parents around, constantly hurting one another emotionally and physically.
The rambunctious bunch are friendly and child-like, yet possess a true sense of complexity and confusion. The wild things have their own issues to deal with such as the affects of loneliness and letdown, as they soon find out that Max is not their king but a regular kid. It’s like they each embody a specific experience Max has had in his past home, the home he soon desires to be back at. This is what makes the film work so well. There is this sense of melancholy to the performances, a sense of baggage and childhood anguish. Max realizes that being in a family is hard and that although he loves the new friends he’s found in the wild things, he longs for real love, the love only his real mother can offer.
The whole atmosphere and mood of the film is just beautiful. Marked by hand-held camerawork and sun-stroked cinematography, the aesthetic look brings a romanticized and lo-fi quality to the picture. The darkness and messiness of the wilderness provide a visceral contrast for the viewer as well. The sublime, child-like soundtrack is wonderfully scored by Karen O, singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, as well as some like-minded friends of hers. The music is dynamic and compelling, marked by strumming acoustic guitars, a children’s choir, and Karen O’s instantly recognizable voice. It also has sounds of sadness and yearning, making for a diverse musical ride.
Ultimately, Where The Wild Things Are is the story of a child’s innocence brushing up with reality’s hardships. It brims with creativity and the untamed spirit of our youth. Some may be turned off to the darkness of the film or the lack of narrative to the story, but it’s a right choice for this fairytale. The film feels like a daydream in a sunny afternoon, weaving and winding about with carefree attitude rather than a straightforward linear movie made for cheap laughs. In the end, it’s about a boy trying to understand himself and the joy and difficulties love brings. From its rousing energetic opening to the beautifully heartbreaking ending, Where The Wild Things Are is quite the journey, and in this reviewer’s opinion, possibly the best film of the year.

Area Concerts

10/23 Mute Math $20 8:00 The Pageant
10/24 Relient-K $22 8:00 The Pageant
10/25 David Bazan $10 8:00 The Highdive
10/27 Taking Back Sunday $22 7:00 Pops
10/27 Mason Jennings $15 9:30 The Highdive
10/29 The Chariot $10 6:00 Pops
10/29 Mason Jennings $17.50 8:00 The Pageant
10/25 Samantha Crain $10 8:00 Off Broadway
10/27 Mae/Deas Veil $13 7:30 Off Broadway
10/27 White Rabbit w/Suckers $13 8:30 Firebird
10/29 Honor Society $15 8:00 Firebird
10/30 Our Lady Peace $20 8:00 The Pageant
10/30 Oceania $7 9:30 Firebird
11/01 The Rocket Summer $15 7:00 Pops
11/02 Matisyahu $25 8:00 The Pageant
11/03 Paramore/Paper Route $29.50 7:30 The Pageant
11/04 AFI $26 8:00 The Pageant
11/05 Neko Case $22 8:00 The Pageant
11/07 New Found Glory $16 7:00 Pops
11/09 Nurses/Little Girls FREE 8:00 The Billiken Club
11/09 Between the Buried&Me $13.50 7:00 Pops
11/10 El ten Eleven FREE 8:00 The Billiken Club
11/10 David Cook $30 8:00 The Pageant
11/11 Why? $10 8:30 Firebird
11/11 OK Go $10 7:00 The Canopy Club
11/10 Joe Purdy $12 8:00 Off Broadway
11/13 Somanydynamos $12 8:00 Off Broadway
11/13 Peter Bjorn & John $15 8:00 The Gargoyle
11/13 Cobra Starship $25 6:30 The Pageant
11/16 Cage the Elephant $10.50 6:00 Pops
11/16 Bobby Long $15 8:30 Off Broadway
11/20 Jandroids w/ Surfer Baby FREE 8:00 The Billiken
11/20 Elvis Perkins in Dearland $10 8:00 The Gargoyle
11/21 All Time Low $19 7:30 The Pageant

All are in St. Louis. Highdive and Canopy Club are in Champaign, Urbana, IL.

Agape Needs You!

By MacKenzie Osborne

This article is coming to you from the Agapefest 2009 Assistant Director of Media PR. On behalf on the entire Agapefest Cabinet, we want you to apply to be on staff with us this year! To give you a glimpse of why you should apply, I have interviewed junior Rachel Dothager, Director of Finances.
Rachel Dothager has been on staff since her freshman year and is now on Cabinet as Director of Finances. Here is what she had to say about Agapefest:
M.O.- What made you apply to be on staff your freshman year?
R.D.- I came to Agapefest all four years of high school, and always had a blast. I wanted to know more about the festival, help organize it and hang out with famous people!
M.O. - Why do you think people should apply for staff?
R.D.- I think people should apply because all staff members get All Access passes, which is a cool free perk! Also, it is an awesome experience to work with professionals and other classmates. It is the only student-run festival in the nation, so that means we rely entirely on our peers and friends to be on staff. This is a great experience that would look excellent on your resume, regardless of your major. (I’m Elementary Education!)
M.O.- What are you most excited for this year at Agapefest?
R.D.- I am most excited about working with the Cabinet and being in the decision-making process to choose bands. Also, I am excited for continuing my relations with vendors and artist merchandise people from last year.
There you have it, from one of Agapefest’s very own! Please don’t forget to apply for staff positions at www.agapefest.com/apply, the password is apply. The applications are available now! I hope to see you on staff this year!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Wonderful Wedding in the Upper Union


-Sarah Cleveland
With a wedding cake and punch on hand, GC students and fans of NBC’s hit series “The Office” crowded into the Upper Student Union to join in celebration of the series’ most loved couple’s wedding. Jim and Pam finally were finally going to tie the knot.

The hour long special episode featured many laughs and surprises, for which the show is infamous. While at his stay at the hotel in which the wedding takes place, Kevin, an office worker, has his shoes destroyed by the manager of the hotel. And, (this is a spoiler if you haven’t already seen the episode) Jim and Pam don’t even get married at the hotel.

After the first few minutes of the episode, Pam and Jim ask for everyone’s cooperation at their wedding and especially address their requests to regional manager of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company Michael Scott, who never fails to overdo everything. Everyone must also keep Pam’s pregnancy a secret as not everyone at the wedding knows the news, especially Pam’s very conservative grandmother.
When everyone is finally gathered at the hotel near Niagara Falls for dinner the eve of the wedding, it is Jim, not Michael, who spills the news during a toast that Pam is pregnant. Michael does his best and ultimately worst to try to fix the already awkward and pained situation. The damage, however, is already done, and Pam’s grandmother decides not to attend the wedding.

After a night of crazy mishaps and dancing, not to mention Andy’s (another office worker) trip to the emergency room after doing the splits the wrong way, the morning of the wedding finally comes. Jim and Pam decide to get married secretly on a boat in the middle of Niagara Falls and then join everyone in the chapel for their actual wedding.

The end of the wedding features workers of the office dancing enthusiastically down the aisle to Chris Brown’s song “Forever.”
For “Office” fans everywhere, the episode certainly retained its crazy nature and kept its many laughs original. GC student Abbey Villwock commented afterward, “It’s exactly what their wedding needed to be.”

Kelcie Mattson, another GC student, said with a smile, “It made me cry! Just perfect.”

You can catch more of the sixth season and watch Jim and Pam adjusting to married life by tuning into NBC Thursday nights at 8 p.m.

Winged Sparks of Fire - Kelly Latimore


- By Matt Stuttler

Kelly Latimore’s most recent release Winged Sparks of Fire is the perfect soundtrack for this fall season, although it was released this past summer. Self-described as “forest folk” on Kelly’s cllct artist page, the album is simple and soulful, made with stripped down acoustic instruments such as acoustic guitar and banjo, but filling all the same.

The second track of the album, “Multum in Parvo (Harlan and Anna Hubbard)” is perhaps one of the most interesting tracks Latimore has produced inspired by the tale of the Hubbard couple. “Multum in Parvo” is latin for “Much in Little,” and according to Latimore, the Hubbard “learned to live well the phrase". Latimore continues, “After getting married around 1945 they built a shanty boat on the Ohio River in Ohio and then spent eight years drifting down to New Orleans. Their lives were compounded by the gifts of needed things that were at hand.”

Another rousing track on the six song EP is a cover of the classic gospel song “Down by the Riverside”, complimented by some nice guitar slides and wonderful vocal harmonization. For a song so often covered, it is given a new feel on this release, one with vigor and passion behind the lyrics that makes it believable to the listener (especially the line “I’m gonna study war, no more”). Latimore has definitely come a long way from his first release, this being his fifth. He has reached a point to where his voice blends wonderfully with his finger picking work, akin to artists Iron and Wine and Brian Lee & his Orchestra on levels of maturity.

Definitely check this album out for some good room jams, road trip listenings, or for anytime to reflect on that good ole’ feeling of returning to your roots (regardless of where you’re from) and a warm feeling of content sung in the words of one of Greenville’s most recent alumni singer-songwriters. He is sorely missed as a performer and as a generally all around good person here on this campus. To download the album for free from Kelly Latimore (including his past releases), check out http://cllct.com/art/kellylatimore.

Cloudy with a chance of a Review


By: Tyler Duddy
When you were a kid, you dreamed. You dreamt of a world full of giant pancakes, mashed potato snow and hamburgers falling from the sky. I know I had these visions and if you say you didn’t dream like this, then now is your chance to. Welcome to a world full of ice cream storms, spaghetti tornados and pea soup fogs. Welcome to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
The movie is another case of a film idea taken from a book. I have had the book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs for as long as I can remember and I actually happened to bring it with me to college. Beautiful hand-drawn images that spice up the story and really bring it to life, adjectives that will make anyone’s mouth water, and an ending that really hits home makes this book a classic that will forever find a spot on my bookshelf. So naturally I was a bit worried when I saw the trailer for the upcoming film. It looked a little lackluster and was made by Sony, a company not particularly noted for its animation superiority. I watched that trailer every few days studying the only three minutes of characterization, jokes, and plot line that I could get my hands on trying not to read too far into it and prematurely judge it without a proper screening. I toiled in my bed nightly hoping the directors wouldn’t stray too far from what I knew and loved. I failed senior year of high school because of the meatball drawings that littered my final exams, and I actually lost a girlfriend because I decided to test out my theory of a pea soup fog on her while she was sleeping.
While I was obviously not that excited for the movie release, I bought my ticket and stepped into the theatre on opening day to find that my guest and I were the only ones in a theatre meant to seat hundreds. While my logic wanted to take this as a cue to exit, my gut said otherwise. It proclaimed, “Tyler, this is something you have been waiting for, something you have been excited about since you jumped out of your seat in the theatre from when you saw the first trailer. This is something that deserves a chance”. I sat down and prepared for the worst.
I was immediately blown away by the beautiful animation and earth shaking sound effects. (I can’t comment on the 3D effects because I only saw it in 2D the three times I watched it). I was instantly pulled in by the captivating protagonist Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) and his sidekick Steve (Neil Patrick Harris). From the first thirty seconds into the movie until the end credits I was laughing. Now let this be said, I am not one to laugh at movies, I hate comedies and actually came home from my fourth grade class crying because I was the only one in the room that wasn’t laughing at the Peanuts. I can’t even count how many times I laughed out loud during the ninety minutes of flying food. The humor is pretty original and various, meaning it does not rely on slapstick, auditory or animation tricks too heavily to produce laughs. I would most closely relate it to the popular (or at least it used to be popular) web comic Homestarrunner.com because of its outrageous voices and off the wall jokes, or you could say it resembles Gilmore Girls because in most of the scenes everyone talks so fast that it takes a few seconds for your brain to digest it before you laugh and figure out what just happened. I would say most of the funny parts I noticed came from either the randomness of the voices or the ridiculous one-liners.
I think the voices work so well in this movie because the actors are just doing what they do best. Mr. T (voicing Earl) for example is the in-your face tough guy we have all come to love, Andy Samberg (voicing Baby Brent) is the naive outrageous character we’re used to and Al Roker is the (you guessed it!) weatherman. I love this because the directors did a fantastic job of showcasing the abilities of the voice actors without exploiting them and making them the stars of the shows, or the draw of the audience. No one came to this movie just to see Andy Samberg wear a diaper and knock over a wagon full of sardines. The directors are not relying on one main actor or actress (Johnny Depp, Alice in Wonderland anyone?) to sell this movie. It is a joint effort and really works out that way because it is the interactions between the characters and their environments that make the movie so great.
The storyline strays from the book quite a ways, but the writers did this so well that even I even didn’t mind. You can tell that the crew really read this book and applied it to today, the movie is set now, and a lot of the book would not have made sense for today’s kids, and it seems that they figured this out early and wrote the script incorporating the main ideas and high points from the book, while still playing around with it enough to call it their own. I absolutely loved the conversion and would maybe even say I liked the film a bit more.
The music seemed to revolve around one leitmotif, which was okay because they toyed with it and added effects so it fit the situation and reflected the mood of the scene. They also added a few songs to liven up the particular moments, particularly the ice cream fight. But overall I would say the star of the star of the auditory world in this film would have to be the voice acting which shines bright throughout.
Overall this was definitely my favorite animated film of all time. With brilliant jokes and quick wit, this movie will truly make you laugh whether you make it to the final few showings at The Globe or pick it up on Blu-ray when it is released. This is a film of epic proportions so let’s pick it up and give it the recognition the crew worked so hard to deserve.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Accept it the New Moon Soundtrack is an A+!


Here is the Twilight's New Moon complete soundtrack. It is full of good music no matter what you think of the movie and franchise itself. Take a listen! Editors, Grizzly Bear, Sea Wolf, Bon Iver, St. Vincent and Thom Yorke! It's gold!

Death Cab for Cutie - Meet Me on the Equinox

Band of Skulls - Friends

Thom Yorke - Hearing Damage

Lykke Li - Possibility

The Killers - A White Demon Love Song

Anya Marina - Satellite Heart

Muse - I Belong to You

Bon Iver & St. Vincent - Rosyln

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Done All Wrong

Hurricane Bells - Monsters

Sea Wolf - The Violet Hour

OK Go - Shooting The Moon

Grizzly Bear - Slow Life

Editors - No Sound But the Wind

Alexandre Desplat - The Meadow

fun. fun. fun and Eagle Scout!



-Kelly Baker & Ben Rieder
Photo by Lindsey Byrnes
Our very own Eagle Scout, along with Miniature Tigers, opened up for the band Fun. last Wednesday night at the Firebird in St. Louis Missouri. Tickets to the show were completely sold out. Ben Helman from Eagle Scout commented, “It was awesome. We’ve never played at a sold out show before. Good times all the time.” Eagle Scout was well received by the Firebird’s enthusiastic crowd, even though they didn’t play Decatur. Eagle Scout was followed by Phoenix based band, Miniature Tigers. Their upbeat tunes and cover of Abba’s Mamma Mia was thoroughly entertaining. This lead up to the main event, the magical musical mystery known as Fun. Fun. consists of the Format’s lead singer Nate Ruess, along with Jake Antonoff, and Andrew Dost. Fun. was also joined by former Greenville College student Jon Goldstein for their current tour. Goldstein is also the drummer for The Pragmatic, another band that formed here at Greenville. Not only was the concert awesome, it was also full of surprises. Much to the crowd’s excitement, Ruess played songs from the Format, bringing back nostalgic moments to his fans. After a long night of music, a hot crowded room, and plenty of dancing, it seemed the show was over. Chanting fans, however, brought Ruesso and band back on stage for an encore. During this acoustic set, a ‘tipsy’ fan proceeded to get on stage and ‘dance’ next to Ruesso. He respectfully declined. On a sweeter note, Fun.’s bassist turned twenty-nine that evening. His father brought a birthday cake and presented it to his son on stage. These surprises really added to the show. Fun’s dynamite performance displayed incredible stage presence. “I thought it was amazing how similar they sounded live compared to their CD,” said Greenville College sophomore, Josh Cranston. Overall, the concert was superb. A tip for all of you avid concert goers, always end the late night with a frisco melt and side-by-side banana chocolate shake from Steak and Shake. Ya dig?

The Death of Hyphen - - - -


- Caitlin Tadlock

It is time to say goodbye to your favorite hyphenated words. Say cheerio to ice-cream, bumble-bee (not the Transformer), pot-belly (not the beloved sub shop) and 15,997 other hyphenated words. With technology changing the way we communicate and the invention of lazy machines that take the communicate out of communication like Twitter, texting and devices that limit thoughts to 140 characters, people just want to get their point across quickly and without the hassle of looking down at a keyboard. Sorry hyphen, but we just don’t care about you anymore.

In the new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary it is estimated that 16,000 words have lost their hyphen because people are not bothering to include it. Go to the library and flip through the new dictionary and make note of the changes. Editor of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Angus Stevenson spoke about the hyphens losing their place in English. He commented, “People are not confident about using hyphens anymore, they’re not really sure what they are for…Printed writing is very much design-led these days in adverts and Web sites, and people feel that hyphens mess up the look of a nice bit of typography. The hyphen is seen as messy looking and old-fashioned.” In that statement Stevenson used two hyphens.

Not all hyphens have been eliminated, Stevenson also noted the importance of some hyphens, “There are places where a hyphen is necessary, because you can certainly start to get real ambiguity. Twenty-odd people came to the party, he said. Or was it twenty odd people?" I will make the announcement now that there is no reason for the hyphen to be taken off of a computer keyboard just yet. The public will still have to worry about remembering what a hyphen is when including it into a website URL, but we could just www.tinyurl. com that problem.

Sufjan is Still Legit.


-Kara Wenthe
Photo by Kim Larson
Saturday, September 26, 2009, I drove two hours along I-70 and I-57 to Champaign-Urbana. Upon arrival, I briefly explored Green Street, specifically Walgreen’s for an embarrassing one dollar and twenty-nine cent pack of gum, Mango Smoothie. Tastes like cream-savers.

I stopped in Walgreen’s due to the tourist-like shame of not knowing my surroundings, and rather than ask for directions, I just needed to take a breather from the crowds of University students on a Saturday afternoon. I also needed a stand-still moment to read the map on my gps device in order to find an art supply store: “art coop”, which I haven’t yet determined whether it’s pronounced art co-op as the recent death of the hyphen leaves the sound change to be implied; or, if the goose on the t-shirts and neon sign are significant to the pronunciation of the name.

The art store doesn’t really matter, I’m just stalling before I begin bragging about the reason I drove to Champaign. Aside from bargain buys at UO and a visit to a long-time friend, I experienced the wonder that is Sufjan Stevens LIVE. And rather than gloat about all the great songs he played, like Chicago or Casmire Pulaski Day, or express my excitement after hearing samples of all the new stuff he’s been writing; because of course, I’m no music major, I cannot come to anyone and critique a song based on sound or music theory.

I am pround to say, however, that I am incredibly inspired by his collaborative trend, as it is a quality I value highly in any art form. It connotes community.

The Castanets, fellow members of the record label Asthmatic Kitty, opened for and played with Sufjan. Most of the forward half of the crowd enjoyed their performance, despite two gentlemen beside us in the crowd rudely and way too audibly discussing football and frat-boy topics.

Tickets went on sale for the nationwide small venue tour one Saturday in August at 9am and despite technical difficulties with websites, almost all tickets were SOLD OUT by 9:37am. Only the Portland location had available tickets in the hours following. Guess they’re just not hipster enough. To further complicate the sales, tickets were will call only and only two per cardholder in order to keep prices reasonable and crowds minimal. The whole ticket purchase experience was excrutiatingly nerve-wracking, mind you.

And the experience is not yet over. I’m one of those trendy kids who asked her parents for a record player some Christmases ago, and I’m still listening to The BQE. Merchandise at the show consisted of shirts, vinyls and CDs of Sufjan’s whole discography, including the not yet released album: The BQE. The BQE, a project commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music; performed by Sufjan, a backing orchestra, including 36 performers in the form of a small band, a wind and brass ensemble, string players, horn players, and hula hoopers, all accompanied by an original film by Sufjan in 8 mm and 16 mm film; and recorded live in early November 2007, will finally be available in under two weeks, official release date October 20, 2009. It is both a symphonic and cinematic exploration of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. The CD includes a DVD of Sufjan’s film as an accompaniment to the music. The vinyl includes a comic book explaining the hula hoops.

So yeah, Sufjan Stevens is still pretty legit.

50 Hour Film Festival Has a Winner!


-Caitlin Tadlock
(Jeremy Ross, Ben Rieder, Aaron Oda and Kelly Baker are winners for their sweet video 'community.')
Photo by Audi Acree
Wednesday night on the quad Greenville College played all the participant videos from 50 Hour Film Fest that occured this past weekend. One group was announced the winner and received new iPod Nanos and two groups of runners up received iTunes gift cards.

1st place went to Kelly Baker, Ben Rieder, Jeremy Ross and Aaron Oda for their short film called "community." that displayed GC's students' thoughts and opinions on the school's objectives and community on campus.

The runners up were Ryan Haggerty, Andy Coad, Todd Ganton and Josh Bales for "Mapquest". Their film incorporated all three requirements about GC: Romance on campus, MAP grants and GC objectives.

Devin Moroney, Emilie Moroney, Chris Sprague and Jeremiah Clark chose all three requirements of GC romance, MAP grants and objectives.

Visit GC Tech to watch all of the participants videos

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Baring it all for the Sake of Rock and Roll


(Coyne and Brownhill at Van Sant's.)
By Jon Brownhill

Would you ride a bike naked in a public park? I had to ask this question myself when The Flaming Lips decided to shoot a music video at Mt. Tabor park in Portland, Oregon, where I currently reside. The video to be shot was for the song "Watching the Planets" off of their new album Embryonic. The Flaming Lips are one of my favorite bands and their new album is fantastic. The band wanted local extras in the music video but the extras were to be naked and bicycling. I had never done anything like that before. So began my dilemma...

The following were my back-and-forth thoughts the week prior to the September 23rd video shoot:

I love the Flaming Lips and everything they have done. I wanted to be a part of a music video but I didn't want to be naked in public or seen naked on video. However, I was not working that week, and could easily attend. The negative side of this situation would be that my mother could stumble upon this video and be horrified and people all over the world could potentially see me totally exposed. A lot of people were bound to attend and do the same thing. I was self-conscious about my body but thought it could be a liberating experience for me personally. In the end, I decided it would be worth it to bare it all in a safe place with a crowd of people who most likely had similar apprehensions. I had to do it.

The call was to show up anytime at the park from 10am through 10pm on September 23rd. I showed up at about 3pm. As I made my way up the mountain, I heard that the park rangers had shut down the full nudity, but were still allowing partial nudity. I was relieved. I arrived at the top as Wayne Coyne, the lead singer, was inside his signature clear plastic ball. A co-ed crowd of (likely unemployed) young hipsters were surrounding the ball chanting lyrics to the song as it was playing on the loudspeakers. Right after the scene finished, Wayne declared to the crowd of about 100 that they were done with all the extras for the day, but would continue shooting the next day. He was determined to see his vision for the music video through. He said that we would meet again at 10am the next morning at Mt. Tabor, and a bus would bring all of us and our bikes out to Sauvie Island north of Portland. His friend Gus Van Sant, director of Milk and Good Will Hunting, decided to let us use his secluded residence to finish shooting the video.

The next morning, my friend Dave and I got on a bus bound for Gus Van Sant's. It was an overcast and chilly morning, and I was even more nervous than the previous day. We arrived around 11:30 but the scenes were not ready to be filmed until about 1pm. So this group of about one hundred people just hung out on the film director's front lawn for an hour, playing frisbee, psyching ourselves up for the days events, and watching the large freight boats traveling by on the Columbia River headed south towards the ports. The clouds cleared away in this window of time, and the sunshine began to warm the air, as we were all called to the first scene.

The filming began in the forest on another part of Van Sant's expansive private property. The taping began as Wayne once again stood in his giant clear bubble, which sat to the right of another bubble covered in fake fur (you will have to see to understand). The first brave volunteers began stripping their clothes. My friend and I stood awkwardly on the side for the entire first scene because neither of us could quite humble ourselves enough to strip down. Plus, Mr. Van Sant showed up to watch and we were even more star struck than before. Milk, dude, Milk.

After the scene finished next was the naked bicycling. This was it, the entire reason for showing up. Dave and I shrugged at each other, stripped our clothes and rode off down the path on our bikes with the crowd to the production site. I was in shock for a brief moment. I was naked in front of and with a ton of other people. But, everyone was relaxed, calm, and joking with each other. It was not awkward at all. Everyone was having a good time as Wayne directed us over a megaphone to "Bike slower!" on the gravel road as he drove a mini-van in reverse, following us, with a camera pointed out the tailgate. I had faced my fears, and I won.

There were several more scenes throughout the fading day and into the night. The sun was setting and the autumn air was chilling. Luckily, we only had two more scenes; both intended to be shot at night. We went again to the forest. As the crew set up the lights for the night shots, I began to feel awkward. It was cold, and I was tired. This had become a long day of work. We had almost been there for twelve hours already! I was unsure if I would continue doing these scenes. My self-consciousness had erupted once more, but I pressed on. My doubts were subdued when Wayne stripped all his clothes off with us for the last two scenes. It felt like a family as our idol brought himself down to our humble level. The video was then complete.

I finally arrived home that night at about midnight, on my 23rd birthday, with a sense of accomplishment. I felt I overcame a lot of shame and self-consciousness that day and was liberated of body image issues. I felt more confident and excited to be a part of a music video. This experience taught me that we should not feel ashamed of our bodies. It taught me that our differences as humans are only skin deep, but our common ground is far deeper. I have not seen the video yet, and I do not know if I will be seen in it; but frankly, I no longer worry about that. I will of course continue to wear clothes daily, but I won't ever forget this liberating experience.

Helping Local Farmers: Farm Aid 2009


By Brittney Isringhausen

With the sun shining, blue skies, and beautiful leaves changing into their vivid fall colors, one might wonder if it was karma how great the day turned out to be for Farm Aid 2009. Put on by the Farm Aid organization and headed up by its president, Willie Nelson, this benefit concert was once again a huge success. I doubt a single attendee left unaware of our nation’s need for family farms and our part in keeping them alive. Farm Aid pushes people to take personal responsibility for the food choices we make.

The first Farm Aid happened in Champagne, IL in 1985, when Bob Dylan suggested we do something for our own farmers right here in America. Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and John Mellencamp agreed that local family farmers were in dire need of assistance and organized a concert with performers Billy Joel, B. B. King, Roy Orbison and many more. “I’ve always believed that the most important people on the planet are the ones who plant the seeds and care for the soil where they are grown,” claims Willie Nelson. Family farms are the pillars of our communities. They grow high quality food and are vital to the economic welfare of their hometowns and the nation. More and more Americans are joining this fight against inhumane treatment of our land and animals. It is up to us to be responsible with what we purchase and where we purchase it. “Read the Label” and “Eat Your Zip Code” were amongst the many motivational signs that decorated the amphitheater. We are quite blessed to live in a town where buying locally and responsibly is not a difficult task. Just down the street from the town square is Wayne’s Market where fresh, healthy grown produce is their specialty.

Farmers, artists, concerned citizens, and consumers have come together to raise awareness about the advantages of good food from family farms through Farm Aid. But feeling good about benefiting a good cause was certainly not the only high people received from this concert. Performers Gretchen Wilson, Ernie Isley & the Jam Band, Will Dailey and Jamey Johnson, along with headliners, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, and Wilco preformed their oh-so-sweet tunes that kept the crowd buzzing for hours.

The gates at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in St. Louis opened at 12:30 with the first band, The Blackwood Quartet, performing at 1:00. The first half of the show consisted of good ole` jam bands and country music. Gretchen Wilson, the Pocahontas local, played a great set including “Here for the Party” and “California Girl” after first “dedicating” the song to Paris Hilton. At 5:00 Willie Nelson came out to thank the crowd and welcome the viewers at home that were watching the show live on Direct TV and welcomed Wilco to the stage. Opening with “Bull Black Nova,” they put on a great but short set. Jeff Tweedy joked about their hometown, Belleville, IL, and gave his fair share of encouragement toward being responsible in food purchasing. Jason Mraz, the big pop act of the concert, performed “The Remedy” and his popular “I’m Yours”. He encouraged attendees not to worry about what others think of you when it comes to activism stating, “Raise your voice and participate in something.”

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds performed their perfectly fitting acoustic versions of “Funny the Way It Is” and “Stay or Leave” along with many others. Matthews and Reynolds were then joined by Willie Nelson on guitar and vocals for “Gravedigger.” It was truly amazing. Matthews made comments to Nelson, saying “The quicker we get behind the kind of things Nelson believes in the better we all will be.” Up next was John Mellencamp, one of the four founders of Farm Aid, who opened with “Pink Houses” followed by “Paper in Fire” and “ Check It Out.”

Neil Young, another founder, performed “Sail Away,” “Long May You Run,” “Field of Opportunity,” and “Hold Back the Tears,” which definitely graced the crowd. Wearing a ‘Stop Factory Farming’ T-shirt (which he later ripped off to reveal a green ‘Go Family Farming’ T-shirt), Mellencamp stated, “We’re here to make a difference and you can make it without us, but you’ve got the biggest vote with your dollar bill.” He encouraged attendees to text FARMER to 90999 to donate $5. If you were not at the show this is something you didn’t miss out on, you can still text and do your part.

Welcoming Willie Nelson to the stage with him, they performed “Homegrown” expressing the value in planting a bulb and letting it grow. Willie Nelson, being the closing set, was accompanied by his son Lukas Nelson who performed “Always on My Mind” and “On the Road Again.” Billy Joe Shaver, who missed his slot earlier in the day, came out to join Nelson for “You Asked Me To.” It was rumored that the big finale would bring together all the headliners, which did not happen, but that is not to say the finale was lacking.

The ending, a gospel-themed performance, brought back the Blackwood Quartet and Phosphorescent for an epic performance of “I’ll Fly Away” and “Amazing Grace.” With a packed stage and more inspirational words from Willie himself, the music of this show was amazing. Nelson took time to speak to all of us young lost souls out there saying that if you don’t really know what to do next, why not do one of the most commendable jobs and be a farmer.

Dave Matthews has a quote on the Farm Aid website (where you can find tons of information about where to buy locally and what companies support responsible production) stating, “We’re at a moment when a lot of people are asking, ‘What is America? What represents America?’ Certainly, I think that the family farm is a main ingredient of what made America.” We are still able to make the choice between food that is grown and raised by local farmers or food that is genetically engineered on factory farms. If we do not all get together on this and start making the right decisions soon, those choices are going to disappear. Check out the website (www.farmaid.org), watch the concert online, and listen to the advice given by the founders and supporters of Farm Aid. In supporting organizations like Farm Aid, or just by simply “reading the label” we can all be a part of saving healthy, fresh, family farm food that we cannot do with out. So go on then and “eat your zip code.”

Get involved with Agapefest

By Kristina Crawford

Would you like to get involved in an experience that can only be had at Greenville College? Then sign-up for a staff position for Agapefest 2010! Agapefest is the only fully student-operated music festival, and who wouldn’t want to take part in such an event? Applications will be available for students on October 19, 2009, and can be found at www.agapefest.com/apply.

The Staff positions that are available for students are within the following departments: Ticketing, Security, Main stage/Second stage, Hospitality, Media/PR, Staff Services, Vendors, Ministry, and Grounds.

If you are looking for direction for your future career, being a part of Agapefest may be a good opportunity to get a feel for a potential avenue by working in an area of interest. I was interested in finding out more about Public Relations; I thought perhaps working on staff in the PR/Media Department would give me the opportunity to see what Public Relations was all about, and if it would even be a career that I really wanted to pursue. I quickly fell in love with all Public Relations entails, and I knew I wanted to pursue it further. So if you are interested in Marketing, Event Planning, Concert Promotions, Music Business, Digital Media, Media Promotions, or Public Relations (or if you just want to be a part of something greater than their self) apply at www.agapefest.com/apply starting October 19th. It will for sure be an experience you will never forget.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Brand new "Daisy" Review


By Matt Stuttler

As I first listened to Brand New’s album Daisy, I thought for sure I had downloaded the wrong album. It begins with an eerie sample of an old recording of a lady singing a gospel song, and then tears into a Glassjaw-esque heavy, blistering track full of straight screaming. This first song, entitled “Vices”, is definitely the heaviest tune Brand New has ever written, as well as the most different sounding track in their entire four-album discography.

The rest of the album is just as surprising. The band seems to have been influenced by those they have influenced, with traces of southern roots in “In a Jar” and maybe even a little bit of folksy twang on “At the Bottom”. They even seem to be taking nods with Modest Mouse, both vocally and with their guitar work. This is not to say that Brand New has progressed dramatically, but that they have possibly matured musically, though not nearly as much as from their first release of Your Favorite Weapon to Déjà Entendu.

Songs such as “Sink” and “Gasoline” are bristling with yelping vocals, lyrical imagery of fire and God, and the burning down of both. Frontman Jesse Lacey seems to be continuing the spiritual quest he began in The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me. Questioning the point of existence in the song “In a Jar”, Lacey sings “Holding out for rest but on the seventh day/ I’ve created nothing and I’m wide awake…There’s too many saviors on my cross again/I know I’m never going to be a perfect man”.

The album concludes with “Noro”. The chorus, “I’m on my way out”, is appropriate for both the ending of this epic endeavor, and also hints towards the rumored possibilities riddled across blog sites that “Daisy” may indeed be the last work of the collective Brand New.

In general, Brand New has added a great album to their repertoire. It’s experimental, but not to the point where they’re doing something different in their particular niche. It has both upbeat and slower songs, with both types washed in walls and sometimes bricks of effects. I would suggest this album to fans of Manchester Orchestra, Colour Revolt, mewithoutYou, or for anyone who likes southern tinged rock, a hint of religious mockery and questioning, distorted overdriven instruments and thumping bass drums, and a little bit of noise and post hardcore elements.