Posts by Sam Levison

Now that we’re knee deep in finals commotion wouldn’t it be nice to take a break and hear a wildly successful Brown alumnus talk about his eyeglass business? Of course it would! Andy Hunt ’04 will be leading a discussion in Petteruti Lounge tonight at 6:30 p.m.on his various experiences as an entrepreneur. His coolest role is undoubtedly that of co-founder of Warby Parker, an online eyeglass company that emphasizes retro frames (think Don Draper/Truman Capote/Gatsby swag) and affordable prices. If you’re looking for another good study break today, take a minute (or an hour) perusing the company’s many styles. Glasses porn may not be a thing, but this site comes close enough. While the specs surely attract the young adult crowd, they’re also familiar enough to appeal to just about anybody, which is probably why the business recently expanded with its first brick and mortar location. As the talk is sponsored by Brown and RISD entrepreneurship groups, Hunt will surely have plenty of advice for how to get a promising concept off the ground. If you need further proof that your 20-page final research paper on [_insert esoteric topic here_] means nothing, be sure not to miss this cool thing. Once more: Today (Tuesday, May 7) in Petteruti at 6:30.

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Yes, BuzzFeed went there and we emerged victorious. Click to enlarge.

Think you’re sexy, cute and fucking smart to boot? BuzzFeed has now confirmed your hubris. According to an index derived from useless rankings from Forbes and DateMySchool, Brown is the Sexiest, Smartest College in the United States of America. With 5th place hotness and 19th place academics, Brown crowded out several other Ivies (including Harvard and Princeton) and the notoriously sexy-smart (?) Carnegie Mellon for the top spot. Take a stomp around the Main Green and breathe in the sultry intelligence that is the Brown student body. Raise your eyes from your computer in the AQR and check out the nubile nerds that populate its silent space. And tonight while you’re making love to a stunning coed, recite some of Plato’s Symposium for good measure.

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Netflix, a platform with which we are intimately acquainted, has a way of messing with the hearts and minds of its customers. Qwikster was a debacle and the recent Cartoon Network additions are a win, but a couple days ago the streaming giant slipped a veritable atom bomb into a letter to its investors. No, they didn’t decide to push Arrested‘s release date (or the streets might be running Netflix red with cancelled subscriptions). Instead, the ‘Flix opted to break hearts by not renewing its contract with media giant Viacom’s television networks, which is set to expire next month. This means goodbye to countless shows from MTV, Comedy Central and…gasp…Nickelodeon. BlogDailyHerald loves Nicktoons and it is almost unfathomable that we won’t be able to watch boatloads of Spongebob, Ren & Stimpy and Hey Arnold! as we procrastinate studying for exams. Guess we’re gonna have to settle for Jake the Dog and Finn the Human…not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Despite a lead single about “women, weed and weather,” Kendrick Lamar will likely not spark a blunt when the clock strikes high during Saturday’s concert. See, way back when Lamar was Kendrick Duckworth he unintentionally smoked a joint laced with PCP (hence M.A.A.D aka “My Angel’s on Angel Dust”). For anybody who has seen Training Day, you can imagine what a profoundly unpleasant surprise that must have been. Though a point of debate on the kanyetothe forum (check it out if you like forum beef), Kendrick’s weedless lifestyle is a confirmed fact. While many rap artists swear by the chronic, Lamar insists that “it was never a dependent for [him]” and that he no longer bothers with it. So hold your joint high at 4:20 p.m. tomorrow, just don’t be discouraged when Lamar fails to join the festivities. The true letdown, however, is that Dr. Dre’s claim that he “pass the blunt then pass the torch” to K.Dot is really just speech in the rap vernacular and not an account of any actual blunt-torch passing.

A list of Alain Macklovitch’s countless achievements as a DJ, producer, performer and entrepreneur would make for a pretty substantial profile—but Liam has already noted many of these in his great piece “Why A-Trak is the best choice for Spring Weekend’s electronic musician.” So curricula vitae aside, what is A-Trak going to bring to the table (besides perhaps the most suitable dance track for describing what far too many students will be doing on Friday, April 19)? A great goddamn DJ set. That’s what. Although I’ve left my EDM obsession in 2010, A-Trak’s surprise set at Ed Banger’s 7th Anniversary remains one of my top concert memories. Mixing turntable prowess (prowess might even be an understatement) with a deep knowledge of all genres of dance music, A-Trak provides a unique experience that’s impressive to diehards and dilettantes. Familiarize yourself with some of his production work and treat yourself to an exemplary set after the jump. [Read more →]

While Gordon Wood (the subject of this squabble) and our beloved Michael Vorenberg continue to hold it down in Peter Green, a trendsetter has emerged from the History Department’s Sharpe House. According to a recent article in the New York Times, capitalism has become the fashionable topic for historians across the country and Brown’s own Seth Rockman is part of the vanguard. Professor Rockman, an early Americanist, has focused his research on slavery and the elaborate economic machinery that kept the peculiar institution running—incredibly interesting for history nerds, but not quite exciting for the student masses.

In a textbook case of historical contingency, however, Rockman noticed that emphasizing a trendy topic such as capitalism in his course might attract more students from other disciplines to his lectures. Subsequently, as the Times notes, Rockman’s course enrollments jumped up when he changed its title from “Capitalism, Slavery and the Economy of Early America” to “History of Capitalism.” Naturally, the lure of big ideas and power relation exploration—the opiates of undergraduate study—attracted students in droves. Capitalism, additionally, will provide the organizing theme for his introductory U.S. survey class next fall. With a couple of books in the works (including one entitled Slavery’s Capitalism: A New History of American Economic Development), there is little doubt that Rockman will remain a key player in this emergent wave of capitalist historians. And long as there are new hegemonic relationships to “explode,” Brown students will be along for the ride.

Syd: Well, here we are, at the end of what I consider to be one of the most unpredictable and emotionally confusing seasons of TV in my long career as a television viewer. I would absolutely love to have a face-to-face meeting with Dunham to try to figure out what the hell is going on inside of her head, but unfortunately I’m neither nearly well-connected nor cool enough. So, in place of real facts, I’ll give you my opinion (you lucky dogs!).  Season 2 didn’t necessarily suck, rather it was a huge and surprising departure from Season 1. Dunham moved away from somewhat fluffy, inoffensive “white girl problems” (i.e. Shoshanna’s virginity, Hannah being cut off from her parents, Jessa’s sexual dalliances, and Marnie’s struggle to cope with a lackluster boyfriend) and decided to use Season 2 to tackle some really complex issues. We witnessed parental abandonment, drug abuse, sexual assault, and really scary case of OCD.  Needless to say, it was a difficult season to watch—not because it was bad, but because I expected one kind of show and received something completely different. While I could use up this space to shit on all the things that went wrong in Girls Season 2, I’ve instead decided to have a discussion with Blog writer and fellow Girls enthusiast Sam Levison.

Sam: Girls‘ third episode, “All Adventurous Women Do,” concluded with a rather endearing scene. Hannah Horvath, having fully established herself as lovably awkward and aimless by this point, is listening (or jamming out, rather) to Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own.” Marnie comes home from work, giggles in the doorway and joins her in the bedroom disco. Hannah’s no longer dancing on her own—GET IT!? If Girls continued to rest solely on such “relatable” contrivances it might have made for some fleeting fun—but real life isn’t always a bad day and a rejuvenating dance party. Season 2 has expressed this notion in all its dark, cringeworthy truth. For lack of a better metaphor, one might view it as a Funny People for Season 1′s The Forty Year-Old Virgin. Here on Blog, there’s been a tendency to lament the show’s changes. I’d respectfully disagree and argue that this season, while ostensibly less funny, is a triumph (I’ll elaborate on this below).  Sure Season 2 is difficult at times, but so is life.

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Today in news you didn’t know could make news: Nutella theft at Columbia University has reached catastrophic highs. Since Nutella became a regular amenity in Ferris Booth Commons (like the Sharpe Refectory, but with more affectation), Dining Services weekly costs have supposedly jumped up by thousands of dollars. Yes, the simple and addictive chocolate-hazelnut spread was disappearing at a rate of about 100 pounds per week (i.e. the amount of weight one could feasibly put on by downing tubs of Nutella regularly). The New York Times claims that these numbers are up for debate, but maintains that students fear that their spread hoarding will limit future improvements in dining services. Colleges have a tendency to make the trivial monumental within the microcosm of campus news, but now the Times has been sucked into a story that has essentially zero connection to Columbia’s Morningside Heights neighborhood, let alone the NY metropolitan area. I guess the relevance is that this whole ordeal makes a good case for Nutella’s drug-like qualities. Nevertheless, I believe this kind of gluttonous thievery would never occur at Brown — could you imagine the look on Gail’s face? Of course you can (see far right).

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In an article from last month’s GQ, Netflix President Reed Hastings made this comment: “There’s not a lot of really great, deep, serialized television, and we can see from the data that that’s what people want.” What a pleasant way to view the TV business!  But alas, what Hastings meant to say was, “people want a viewing experience akin to freebasing, and we’re starting them off with House of Cards.” We all know from acute observational comedians that “like crack” is a horribly overused expression, but I’m convinced that Netflix execs skipped the similes and simply exploded an addictive visual substance onto everybody’s favorite streaming service exactly three weeks ago. If you haven’t had a taste, read more on five reasons why House of Cards, while not necessarily perfect, makes for habit-forming viewing. [Read more →]

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