|
|
Someone better climb up there and move the hour hand up.
While you’re working drinking off your 600 lb. cake hangover, remember that the clock jumps from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. tonight. Out with Standard Time, and in with Daylight Savings! That means one fewer hour of sleep, one fewer hour of studying tomorrow, and a 50% chance that spring might actually come. Try not to miss ALL of your meetings on Sunday.
Image via.
Someday, I plan on starring in the movie of my life. Obviously, my friends would be my Oscar-worthy co-stars, and my years at Brown would be packed with awesome action scenes. The camera would zoom in on me dancing on tables at Fratty in the Ratty, kicking ass in intramural soccer, and killing my problem sets on the 4th floor of the SciLi—okay, so some scenes might not be as action-packed, but the movie would still be awesome.
My friends and I would dominate the movie set, but if we were the only people present, something would be missing. The scenes would only be complete with a crowd of background actors and actresses: my Brown extras.
Your Brown extras are the extra people who fill up your daily Brown experience with familiar faces. We all have our own Brown extras. You can picture that tall guy who works at the Blue Room who you keep seeing at sports parties, or that kid who sings a cappella who you pass on Thayer every day, or that blonde, freckled girl who is always on the elliptical when you go to the gym (but really, who are you??). You feel the urge to smile and say hi, because you know their faces as well as you know how to navigate the Ratty at noon, but then you remember that you don’t actually know them: they’re just your extras.
It was MAYHEM.
There are moments in your life when you just want to drop everything, lie down in the fetal position, and cry yourself to sleep. Brown’s 250th Anniversary cake cutting definitely qualifies as one. As I waited in the crowd for a slice of this infamous cake, I found myself smothered in a sea of feverish, hungry college students (think Spring Weekend but not as arousing fun). Still, I stood my ground and braved the mosh pit pushes and questionable odors — that cake just looked so darn yummy. Hearing the hilarious comments from everyone around me was the only thing that kept me sane. Really. So behold! I give you a list of the best student remarks during The Cutting of the Cake ‘14.
Minutes before The Cutting:
“Do you think it’ll actually be any good?”
“I came all the way from London, so, like, I should definitely be the first one to get this cake.”
“[Getting closer to the steps] I am going into the inferno, wish me luck.”
“I am ashamed.”
“I am pitiful.”
Rebecca Maxfield ’13 graduated Brown with a bachelor’s in theatre arts and performance studies. While at Brown, Maxfield found time to study Italian and translation; for a final project, she translated Questa sera si recita a soggetto (translation: Tonight We Improvise). Although she had long been contemplating translating and directing it, she saw the final project as an opportunity to make a first pass at it in a workshop environment. Since then she’s continued to work on the script. Additionally, Maxfield produced The Tempest for her capstone project. Since graduating has directed Gianni Schicchi, The Light in the Piazza, and other Shakespeare, as well as assistant directing various classic and modern plays in New York and in Providence, including The Grapes of Wrath at Trinity Repertory.
This weekend, Maxfield is producing Tonight We Improvise at 95 Empire, formerly Perishable Theatre and now part of AS220. Tonight We Improvise is “a rarely performed play from one of the great theatrical thinkers of the early twentieth century, Luigi Pirandello. Known for Six Characters in Search of an Author, the playwright uses this play to tackle, in a way that is on-point and often hilarious, what it means to act.” The cast and crew includes two current undergrads, Pu-Ning Chiang and Marissa Grier, and an MFA acting student, Billy Finn.
The play will run tonight at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Not down with the cover charge for whatever party you were planning on attending? Tickets are free for Brown and RISD students! Escape the chaos that will be the 250th Opening Celebration and head off the Hill to see a really cool performance and support an alumna.
Image via.
One of Max Silvestri‘s ’05 funniest stand-up bits involves him watching a very old man moving through a crowded bar to ask the bartender for five nickels in exchange for a quarter. Silvestri is a seasoned stand-up comedian, opening for SNL writer John Mulaney and hosting “Big Terrific,” a weekly comedy show in Brooklyn. Silvestri was recently published in GQ’s January issue, and he will be co-hosting a show on A&E’s new channel, FYI, called The Feed, which is described in a press release as “part road show, part buddy comedy, part talk show.” Silvestri sat down with BlogDH to talk about his time at Brown, his stand-up, and being part of the comedy community.
BlogDH: What year did you graduate, and what did you concentrate in?
Max Silvestri: I graduated in 2005. I majored in Art: Semiotics, which I think somebody told me isn’t technically a major anymore. It was interdisciplinary between modern culture and media and visual arts. I just took it so I could take lots of video production classes. I wasn’t a big theory head or a big visual arts guy. I just liked shooting videos.
BlogDH: Were you involved in the comedy scene while you were here? Did you do Brown Stand Up?
MS: I wasn’t really involved with Brown Stand Up. As soon as I got to school, I knew I wanted to do a lot of comedy, so I got into IMPROVidence immediately. I got into a sketch group, which at the time was called “Beasts of Funny.” It doesn’t exist anymore. I also got involved with the Brown JUG.
At the time, IMPROVidence was a really big deal on campus, and it was for four years. We had shows every week and always at capacity. I met some of the best friends of my life through IMPROVidence who were very important to me in starting comedy.
I ended up starting to do stand-up, but I did it in Boston like at clubs. I never did it really with a group on campus. I did a couple of shows on campus in the Underground with a bunch of comics that I knew from Boston and a Brown alum, like Jordan Carlos.
In case you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t seen the gigantic crane operating in front of University Hall, Brown is kicking off its celebration of its 250th year this weekend. The University has set up a ton — well, a quarter ton in some cases, but more on that later — of programming. Way too much for a hung over busy Brown student to get to, so we’ve boiled down this absurd brochure of events into a nice top 10 to guide you through the weekend, presented in (mostly) chronological order:
1. Jim Kim ’82′s keynote address. The current president of the World Bank and former president of Dartmouth should have plenty of wisdom to drop on us. 2:30-3:50 p.m. in Salomon 101. Tickets are sold out, but you can still watch on a live stream. Worst case scenario, we get this:
2. “The Brown Difference” premiere. This film, directed by Oren Jacoby ’77, P’17 and Betsy West ’73, P’17, will probably be about how Brown is different from other schools. Look for mentions of student activism, and open curriculum, and naked people carrying donuts. Hopefully it doesn’t stray into these obnoxious stereotypes. Curtains up at 5 p.m. in Sayles.
3. Cake. I don’t know how to explain this so I’m just going to come out with it: There is a 600 pound cake in the shape of University Hall coming at us. It’s 3 feet high and 5 feet wide. My God. The cake cutting will take place on the Faunce steps at 6:30 p.m. Friday night.
4. Fireworks. Students in Hope and Slater have been asked to ditch their dorms for the event. We don’t know what exactly is in store, but that leads us to believe that whatever it is is going to be REAL. The fireworks are part of the same extravaganza as the cake, at 6:30 p.m. on the Faunce steps.
After years of midnight announcements online, the Brown Concert Agency is taking a different approach to releasing the lineup for Spring Weekend 2014–one that will draw attention to Brown student musicians.
BCA has pegged six student groups to play a Lineup Release Party this Tuesday at Whiskey Republic. At midnight, they will put a pause to the festivities to announce the lineup for Spring Weekend.
You could just wait for the Facebook flurry (and Blog coverage) from those who trek down the hill on Tuesday night, but here are six things you’d be missing out on:
Clyde Lawrence Band
Clyde Lawrence is a junior hailing from New York City. His infectious soul-infused pop has caught the attention of many Brown students, Providence locals and, according to comments on the video above, French people. He plays a lot of shows at Brown and in the Providence area, and they’re always a good time. Continue Reading
Hello wonderful readers and welcome back for another (a)rousing Sextion post! As springtime approaches (we almost didn’t have snow this week!), things are going to get steamier than the windows in the Nelson on a busy winter day. Recently, I have scoured our lovely Brown University Confessions page and selected some important sex-etiquette questions that deserve some answers. Have any more questions? Feel free to email me at monicabruinksy@gmail.com!
This first question depends on a lot of different factors, as illustrated by this lovely flow chart! Follow it down and you’ll know whether you can simply text the person asking for your item back or give up hope of ever seeing it again.
Last week, I heard something truly despicable. I was in the Ratty, doing what I do, minding my own business, when I hear, “Yeah, gotta hit the gym. Gotta get those biceps if I wanna get any Spring Weekend.” I only just stopped vomiting in anger, which is why it took me so long to respond to this monstrosity of a thought, but here we go.
What? Excuse me? The nicest biceps in the world will not make girls want to sleep with you if you are A) the kind of person that plans seven weeks in advance to get toned arms or B) are the kind of person who only wants nice arms 3 days out of the year.
And excuse me, person who this dude was talking to: Why did you not slap him in the face then and there? Dear readers, he agreed with his friend. He said he’d join him in the Bear’s Lair, which is the worst place ever. If you insist on subjecting yourself to the gym, do it for your health, not your sexual track record.
Why do you not have bulging muscles right now? Oh, it’s a shit ton of work and totally not worth it and chocolate gives you more self esteem than a bench press ever could? Then maybe you should never have the muscles. Do you think a girl is interested in you because of the girth of your arms? Something tells me she’d prefer for your girth to be allocated differently, and your weirdly big ‘weekend arms’ just make other aspects of your anatomy seem smaller.
Since the dawn of time, we have been avoiding manual labor. We started farming because hunter-gathering was too much work. We built cars and forklifts because we were sick of running and lifting. You are flipping off all of human history in the hopes you’ll get laid.
But guess what? You won’t. Because if you’re not getting laid right now with your average looking biceps, your biceps aren’t the deal breaker. The deal breaker is that you are planning your one night stand a month and a half in advance. People plan vacations to Florida with less notice. How on earth can you think about Spring Weekend when I’m wearing a coat over my jacket above my sweatshirt on top of my sweater which is hiding three layers of long underwear?
Listen, my friend. I can think of an easy arm exercise that I already do on the regular. You can do it from the comfort of your own bed. You do that. I’ll stick with my skinny arms.
P.S. If the dude who said that reads this article and wants to come pick a fight, please do. Last time we encountered each other, your arms weren’t exactly a force to be reckoned with.
Image via.
Scientists genetically altered 12 H.I.V.-positive people’s cells to make them resistant to the AIDS virus, a new report released today shows. If enough cells can be engineered to repel the virus, AIDS in these patients may in effect be cured. Researchers announced at a Boston conference today that a baby born with H.I.V. had been cured. A clinical trial in which 60 babies born infected will be administered drugs within 48 hours is set to begin soon.
The Boston Supreme Court ruled today that a man who took cellphone pictures up the skirts of women riding the Boston subway did not violate state law. “A female passenger…wearing a skirt, dress, or the like… is not a person who is ‘partially nude,’ no matter what is or is not underneath the skirt,” the court said in its ruling.
Pope Francis announced in a newspaper interview published today that the Catholic Church could support some types of civil unions, but maintained the church’s longstanding view that marriage is between a man and woman.
Israeli naval commandos seized an Iranian shipment of rockets in international waters today. Israeli officials believe the rockets were intended for Palestinian militant groups in Gaza.
The European Union offered $15 billion in aid to Ukraine over the next two years. Russia’s foreign minister and defense minister both denied today that there were Russian troops in Crimea.
Loading ...
blogdailyherald
blogdailyherald
blogdailyherald
blogdailyherald