Posts by Sam Levison

Just a reminder for everyone who’s interested in watching Troy rap: the first batch of 1,500 (per show) Spring Weekend tickets go on sale tomorrow morning (4/4) at 8 a.m. at the Brown Marketplace section of BSA’s website. If you miss the first round, you will have another chance to snag one of 1,500 additional tickets for each show at 8 a.m. on Thursday (4/5). Then, next Tuesday (4/10), BCA will be selling any remaning tickets, plus 2,500 outdoor only tickets for both concerts. Tickets are going for $17 each. Sound complex? Of course it does — it wouldn’t be Spring Weekend ticket purchasing otherwise.

Sometime around mid-March, nearly every Brunonian faces the same question from his or her disgruntled parents: “What are we doing this summer?” ‘We,’ in these circumstances, is not a mere colloquialism, but rather a literal probe into what your parents (and their wallets) should expect from you in the summer months. In the best case scenario, you’ve secured a steady job or paid internship that marks the first babysteps toward financial independence. The converse, on the other hand, involves a mixture of professional couch sitting, regular over-drafting and occasional death threats from the very people who gave you life. By now, they’ve expected you to have applied to a plethora of prestigious jobs. Of course, parents just don’t understand how much effort it takes to drop one’s pre-med plans and leave the Green not read Kant for the next few weeks — that’s why BlogDH has decided to supply you with a nearly perfect cover letter template to ease the application process. Check out our surefire personal statement after the jump. [Read more →]

Fred Flintstone. David Beckham. John Travolta in Battlefield Earth. These three men, all with facial hair, have perpetuated the philosophy that beards are awesome. Some social researchers, however, believe this connection to awesomeness may be untrue. According to a recently published study of women in New Zealand and Samoa (ensuring some anthropological diversity), women consider men with facial hair to be almost universally less sexually attractive than men without. Yes, kid proudly sporting a soulpatch-mustache combo, this applies to you, too. Of the 200 women surveyed, the vast majority determined men without beards to be “significantly more attractive.” The influence of such conclusions is sure to be far reaching. For instance, this data will finally put to rest the age-old dilemma of whether Bradley Cooper was hotter in Wedding Crashers or The Hangover. Moreover, it explains how beardless actors Woody Allen and Adam Sandler have continued to find such beautiful companions film after film. For the college crowd, this study poses a targeted attack on the ritual of No Shave Movember and the even more common practice of being too lazy to shave. In conclusion, if you think you’re single because ‘nobody gets you,’ the simple solution might just be to get that hair off of your face.

For most of us, Saturday Night Live consumption has been relegated to a hodgepodge of Hulu videos, “Best Of…” compilations on Watch Instantly and the sound bites from ’80s and ’90s sketches that have made their way into the cultural zeitgeist. But experiencing SNL like this has caused us to forget that each week a bunch of neurotic individuals sit down in a room to write over an hour of comic material for January Jones to infuse with her trademark lifelessness.

Since Tina Fey’s departure in 2006, the leader of SNL‘s writing staff has been Seth Meyers, a Northwestern grad with a background in improv and an uncanny ability to make celebrities spontaneously appear on Weekend Update. If you’ve ever wondered how he does it, you’re in luck. Continuing its tradition of bringing famous funny people to campus, the Brown Lecture Board has invited Meyers to speak on Tuesday, March 13. Tickets will be distributed (free of charge) from 12–1 p.m. in the Kasper Multipurpose Room (lower Faunce) on Wednesday and Thursday this week. The rule is 1 ticket per Brown/RISD ID and 2 IDs max per person.

Music — the art form has entranced humanity throughout the ages. Whether asserting religious fervor or expressing the fiendish tendencies of a demon barber, musical compositions have found their way into nearly all aspects of culture. Now, (arguably) the greatest work of a great dead German will help honor and celebrate the accomplishments of our beloved President Ruth J. Simmons. If posters featuring Beethoven’s beautiful face haven’t already informed you, the Brown Student Orchestra and Chorus (and PC’s Festival Choir) will be performing a bit of the old Ludwig Van as a tribute to Simmons at Veterans Memorial Auditorium tomorrow evening at 8 p.m. (Maybe the timing should have clued us in to today’s big news…)

In addition to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the concert will also feature shorter pieces by Verdi, Bruckner and Brahms. Tickets for the show are available ($10 for students) online or at the Vets box office today and tomorrow.

Nowadays, everybody needs a Facebook account. Your favorite pop star has one so 42,000 people can ‘like’ her picture of beef stew. Your mother has one because an hour of Book Club just isn’t enough. Even esteemed Dean of the College KBerg has gotten in on the Facebook game. And just when you thought the social network couldn’t get any more absurd, you discovered that Bruno — yes, our very own overexcited mascot — has a Facebook page. First piece of good news? He has yet to switch to Timeline. More on the public window to the man-in-the-bear-suit’s soul after the jump. [Read more →]

What did musically-inclined love makers do before iTunes? Many crafted mixtapes ‘by hand’ with an actual tape recorder. The wealthier ones used remote-controlled CD changers. And surely some simply synced their lovemaking to Side A of Barry White Sings for Someone You Love. Nowadays anyone possesses the technology to craft intricate playlists of bedroom jams on iTunes, but we all know how a poorly placed song can make every lovemaker’s sweet dream a not-so-beautiful nightmare. Fortunately, BlogDailyHerald has a discerning palette for the music that moves Brunonia’s most erotic passions… and the tunes that kill wood faster than Daggett and Norbert. Find our picks for the Best and Worst songs to complement your whoopee-making after the jump. [Read more →]

As Americans, we are convinced that the best things in life are free. MasterCard believes everything but four to five select items are priceless. Jenny from the Block has informed us that her “Love Don’t Cost a Thing.” And just by being a U.S. citizen, you, too, can have several enumerated rights at your disposal. Unfortunately, Hallmark, Zales and almost every American restaurant (yes, even White Castle) have crafted their first quarter marketing campaigns to suggest otherwise.

Forget true love, a successful Valentine’s Day is contingent on one thing: your wallet. For the broke college student, however, this poses a problem. Despite all our cleverness and ‘potential,’ our bank accounts have little…or nothing…or overdraft notices to show for it. Luckily, we do have one critical advantage over the average adult: Bear Bucks, points and meal credits. Our principles for impromptu, edible Valentine’s Day gifts on Meal Plan after the jump.

[Read more →]

When was the last time you took a gander at the Brown Dining Services webpage? Most likely it was early freshman year when some kind-hearted upperclassman revealed to you that your 3 meal per-day plan was far inferior to Flex 460… it sounded like something halfway between Trimspa and P90X, so naturally you referred to the website to make sure it was real. If you remember the site, it resembled a cross between a GeoCities page and one of those random science-for-kids websites you would visit in grade school. Fortunately, BuDS has given itself an extreme makeover (web edition), which has improved both its aesthetics and functionality. Three reasons why the new site is better after the jump.

[Read more →]

Stereotypes — are they just some problematic abstraction your freshman seminar professor attempted to purge from your mind with stern looks and lots of _(fill in the blank)_ist theory? According to Stanford School of Education Dean Claude Steele, they pose a problem more palpable than a mere issue of political correctness.

As this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Lecturer, Dr. Steele will present on his recently published work Whistling Vivaldi and Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us this afternoon at 4 pm in the Granoff Center. With his concept of ‘stereotype threat,’ Steele offers a rather disconcerting look at how easily stereotypes can become realities in an educational setting and identity’s significant impact on classroom performance — sound like something you’ve experienced firsthand? Most of us have, and that’s why this is a cool thing you shouldn’t miss. Again, the lecture is at 4 pm in Granoff and, if you can’t make it, will also be streaming here.