Posts by Alexis Rodriguez

Ever wanted to attend a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, but never had any Jewish friends to do so? Now’s your chance to attend one and party it up like it’s Purim all over again. Despite the fact that Bruno’s clearly older than thirteen, Hillel has decided to throw him the best middle school party you’ve ever been to.

Although I have never heard of these games (Coke and Pepsi, wha? [Ed.-This is Coke and Pepsi. It's the best.]), it’s sure to be a fun time. Bonus: they’re having free giveaways throughout the night! Extra bonus: the event is free! So ditch those grimy college parties and revert back to your maybe-not-so glorious days with Hillel from 8:30-10:30 p.m. Mazel Tov, friends!

Keep an eye out for this celebrity!

Here at Brown, it’s not totally uncommon to be near the occasional celebrity. Although many of them tend to be incredibly elusive, there is one that you can meet and talk to on a daily basis in the Blue Room. Last week, Brown’s very own Allen Pires, aka DJ Lefty, won best deejay at the 2013 Cape Verde Music Awards!

This award ceremony, which is similar to the US’s Grammy’s, highlights the best artists from around the world who demonstrate excellence in their music specialty. In the best deejay category, for example, the three artists nominated hail from the US, Cape Verde, and Holland. For Allen, this award is significant not only because it’s a huge accomplishment by itself, but also because he is a Cape Verdean native. As a deejay in the states, Allen was very popular for his hip-hop and turntables work. In the 90s, he opened for famous artists, such as Notorius B.I.G. and Lil’ Kim, before moving into radio as a personality. After leaving radio, Allen moved on to collaborate with DJ Baby-T on a compilation CD that featured Cape Verdean music with an American edge to it. From there, the CD gained popularity, and the collaborators soon labeled themselves “The Lights Out DJs” in 2005. Eight years and twelve projects later, the group won their first award after being nominated three years in a row.

Note: Whether or not DJ Lefty will be making an appearance during Spring Weekend 2013 is currently unknown, but you can enjoy some of his videos on Lights Out DJs’ YouTube channel.

This semester, I told myself I would go out of my way to make new friends and find a housing group get to know the community better. Sure, my Facebook indicates I have over 100 friends that attend Brown, but how many do I actually hang out with on even a semi-regular basis? As a self-proclaimed social networking guru, I would spend endless hours gazing at photos of all the people I knew at Brown and tell myself that I should really consider hanging out with them more. The problem was that I wasn’t sure how to.

Enter Lent: a time of giving up something for six weeks until the day before Easter. The purpose of Lent is to prepare for the Easter season, but I decided to expand upon that and make it a starting point for establishing a more personal, more active social life. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the best deadline idea, but regardless, I figured I’d at least have made an effort to get to know more people by then. On February 13, I went against my procrastinating lifestyle and decided to cut myself off from Facebook and Twitter.

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not total social suicide to leave the social networking world. I mean, I’m still allowing myself to stay on Tumblr and Instagram. But I told myself it would be more rewarding to see people in person rather than on my computer. As of now, I’ve been off of Twitter and Facebook for a month, and I feel as though I’ve definitely made an improvement! Thus, I’ve made a list of benefits of doing the Facebook/Twitter detox with personal anecdotes to help motivate you to do the same. Check it out after the jump.

[Read more →]

Mmmm, pancakes.

National Pancake Day is finally here! To celebrate this delicious day, IHOP is back with its annual Free Pancake Day. Unlike the Spring Weekend lineup posted earlier today, there is absolutely no catch to this! The only request they have (besides pay for your drink) is to make a donation for Children’s Miracle Networks Hospitals. If this interests you, I recommend going early because the line gets ridiculous later into the evening. But it’s totally worth it even if you do have to wait. Ditch the Ratty, grab a couple friends, and be a philanthropist for an evening while enjoying free pancakes!

Image via.

You go, Miss Rhode Island.

Olivia Culpo, the first Rhode Islander to ever win Miss U.S.A., was just crowned this year’s Miss Universe! This marks the U.S.’ first win in the competition since 1997. The Brown Boston University student first won our Brunonian hearts when she stood up for transgender women during the Miss U.S.A. pageant in June. Before becoming queen of the universe, Cranston-native Culpo was known for her appreciation of cheeseburgers and love for playing cello. She even played alongside Yo-Yo Ma! (Soo casual.)

Although Culpo’s final question was not a description of her perfect date, she did give a shoutout to her siblings by saying she regretted being cruel to them growing up. Since she’s been crowned, Culpo will get to enjoy numerous benefits, including an “undisclosed salary,” all the makeup and clothes she could ever want, and a swanky apartment in NYC. Compared to other 20-year-olds, I’d say she’s set for life.

Image via.

Sound familiar? If it doesn’t, your childhood was not complete. But regardless of whether or not you’ve seen the show or read any of the Goosebumps books, you definitely should not miss the opportunity to relive the spirit of Halloweek by meeting five world-famous thriller writers, including (you guessed it) R.L. Stine. In celebration of Brown’s new Thriller Archive at the John Hay library — just blocks away from H.P. Lovecraft’s College Hill birthplace — Brown alum Jon Land ‘79 will be moderating a thriller panel between Stine, David Baldacci, Steve Berry, Nelson DeMille, and Lisa Gardner in Salomon Hall on Thursday, November 15 at 6:30 p.m.

The price to see these authors? Totally free for everyone. Doors open at 5:45 p.m. so be sure to get there early for good seats! And as if that’s not good enough, there will be a book signing and reception afterwards in Sayles Hall, so bring as many Goosebumps books as you can carry. Free food and nostalgia, what more could you want?

Ahh, Halloween. Cady Heron was right when she said that it’s the one night a year when girls (and boys. Don’t be so heteronormative) can be more scantily clad than usual and no one can say anything about it. And thanks to Halloween falling on a Wednesday, we get to experience two weekends chock full of bear-it-all costumes. Although the “which weekend should I go out” question might be bothering you (the answer is both, by the way), here’s the REAL question that should plague your every thought: “How am I supposed to come up with a different, hot costume EVERY night?” Have no fear, we have prepared eight simple and oh-so Brown-related costume ideas that will totally make you the hottest Brunonian around. We’ve even added a pick-up lines! Take a look after the jump. [Read more →]

Today is Spongebob Squarepants’ second favorite holiday next to April Fool’s Day. That’s right, it’s Leif Erikson Day! Go grab your favorite ginger and celebrate accordingly. And please, don’t forget that giant paper you have to do. (Hinga dinga durgen.)

There are many things on campus that have Brunonians ready to yank their hair out: exams, papers, lack of meal credits/points, and the sudden disappearance of spinach and artichoke spread in the Blue Room.

Perhaps you should consider a more polished trim instead. Allow Sage Delisser ’15 and Ignacio Semerene ’15 of SexPowerHaircuts to shred your hair for you in a style of your choice. Both Sage and Ignacio have been cutting hair before their respective careers at Brown. Sage, who hails from Sarasota, Florida, began trimming his own hair four years ago, and Ecuador native Ignacio has been cutting his since the end of his junior year in high school.

Although both generally cut hair together in New Pembroke #4’s kitchen, the SPH team is willing to meet you anywhere to cut your hair. The duo maintains the classic barbershop feel by offering casual conversation and calming tunes of all genres — including jazz, swing, Latin, and hip-hop — to relax its customers. Also, the crew just acquired bibs to prevent hair from getting all over their customers. So professional.

The best part of the SPH experience is the fact that it’s all for the low price of $10 — that’s cheaper than any of the places on Thayer! You can reach them via Facebook, Twitter or email (sex.power.haircuts@gmail.com)… because we all want to look well-groomed for Mom upon returning home from school, right?

After attending the midnight premiere of this long-awaited movie, I was a liiiiittle surprised there weren’t more people dressed up, ready to protect their seats and popcorn from pesky neighbors. But the movie itself had everything I hoped for: Samuel L. Jackson being awesome, a handful of action scenes, and comical bickering between the heroes. Like all of the Marvel films, The Avengers will certainly fill your thirst for action. (At least until this beauty comes out in July.) But there are other reasons to see it! I thus present to you the top five obscure reasons to see The Avengers:

5. Who doesn’t love superheroes? Also, let’s not forget that 4/4 of these Avengers are attractive. (C’mon, Mark Ruffalo can be attractive.) In order to fully appreciate today’s heroes, I recommend comparing them to those in the 1978 version of The Avengers here.

4. Watch real science in action. Confused? Read this article and learn about the actual powers behind Captain America’s shield and Thor’s lightning.

3. Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark never gets old. Neither do his sly comments throughout the film.

2. Even though she doesn’t receive too much camera time, Cobie Smolders, aka Robin from HIMYM, looks stunning.

1. Find out if Stan Lee makes one of his infamous cameos.

Additionally, don’t forget how Marvel works: There’s always a special treat during/after the credits. I’ll let you decide how long you should stay.