“Dude, we’ve been planning this for a while, haven’t we?” I asked a friend of mine, who prefers to remain anonymous. We’ll call him Keenan.

“Yeah, but we’re actually fucking doing it. We’re actually fucking going to the other side of the Hill,” he mused, lacing up his new Nikes like they were armor. Our pulses thumped in our throats and were drunk with the exotic lure of the place.

There’s a Hall & Oates song called “So Close” which contains these lyrics: So close, yet so far away. We believe in tomorrow, maybe more than today. Daryl Hall and John Oates often strike my steely heart, their words like a flint. But this time, the resulting spark lit a strong urge. RISD, our redheaded, sulky stepsister, had lurked in my skull for too long as just a murky ghost.

Who were these too-hip brooders? I had heard whispers, seen glimpses, but I wanted to crawl right down into the belly of the beast and understand our cigarette-wolfing, wanton pseudo-siblings that were so close, yet so far away. [Read more →]

Etsy announced today that it would grant $300 fellowships “to two of the most promising Etsy shops coming out of the RISD community.” The idea for this prize came from a conference called RISD Entrepreneur Mindshare  that took place last November — at this conference, guest speakers from creative businesses shared their experiences with RISD students and provided insight on how to succeed in the creative industries.

Vanessa Bertozzi, the Director of Community and Education at Etsy, spoke at the conference back in November. She noticed incredible interest from young artists in creative businesses and decided to team up with RISD showcase students’ most “promising” Etsy shops.

The recipients of this award were Matt Vidalis and Deborah Fulop, both from the illustration department, and Michelle Hur, a jewelry and metalsmithing student. Check out their shops and support local art from down the Hill! Who knows, you might find a good belated Valentine’s Day gift…

“A Better World by Design,” a symposium for all that’s on the cutting edge of sustainable innovation, is back in Providence this weekend from September 30^th to October 2^nd. “Better World” was founded in 2008 by members of Brown’s Engineers Without Borders, which has partnered with RISD and other members of the local community to put on this year’s rendition of the conference.

With 12 speakers, 11 panels, and 15 workshops and tours, “Better World” really does have something for everyone. In fact, we’ve taken the liberty of pairing you with your perfect conference match: [Read more →]

So you’re soooo into XKCD. Yeah, okay, cool. Everyone on the internet is “soooo into XKCD.” For a new webcomic that hits a bit closer to home (literally), check out Bobwhite, a webcomic by Magnolia Porter, a recent RISD grad.

Bobwhite follows the lives of three friends at an “arts-focused college in Providence, Rhode Island” *COUGH WONDER WHICH ONE,* and it is great.

Part of the fun is spotting PVD specifics, like the statehouse in the background or a reference to H.P. Lovecraft. But even without the added bonus of College Hill in-jokes, this comic does a superb job expressing college, friendships and that particular brand of collegiate insecurity masked by pretension.

Start from the beginning. The comic ended last spring, which means you can read it all in one go. Go!

No doubt one of the coolest things that happens at Brown each year is the Annual Brown/RISD Drag Show,  which features performances by students and acts from Providence and beyond. Hosted by the LGBTQ communities from the two schools, the event aims to provide a fun and welcoming space in which people can play with gender performance and artistically express themselves. In doing so, the performers hope to give visibility to those who experiment with gender-blending and gender-bending.  The event also aims to raise funds for Lifelines, RI, a local group that helps Rhode Island’s LGBTQ community through advocacy and support.

To find out more about the show and those behind it, BlogDailyHerald sat down with two of the performers, Anthony Rivera ’13 and Abe Pressman ’12. [Read more →]

Photos by Jonathan Bateman/Herald.

According to best.complex.com, our very own Baja’s Tex Mex is number 33 on the list of ‘The 50 best Late Night College Eats’ in the country! Although neither Nice Slice nor Antonio’s made the list, Providence got another shout out with the Haven Brothers’ food truck parked down by Kennedy Plaza. You’ve probably seen it before, but now that you know it’s one of the best, it might be time to try it! Hmm…we wonder if the Taco Truck will make next year’s list.

Staying in Providence over long weekend?  Why not check a few things off of that good old Brown must-do list:

1. The Ratty challenge. This Saturday’s menu features eggplant parm for lunch and “tortellini provencale” for dinner—both of which ought to make fine meals indeed.  Just make sure you bring others: solo all-day-Ratty-sits can get mighty boring.
2. The RISD art museum. Oh yeah, by the way, that art school down the street houses a museum with some of the most famous impressionist paintings in the world.  If you haven’t gone down there yet, or if you’re just hankering for a dose of the finer side of college life (Wednesday night FishCo can’t satisfy that craving for everyone, after all), make sure you check it out this weekend.
3. Federal Hill.  Federal Hill, a.k.a. “the heartbeat of Providence”, is home to some ridiculously awesome (and by that, we mean out-of-this-world-delicious) Italian restaurants.  And no, they’re not all absurdly expensive.  Stick to the basics and make sure you get something with red sauce.  Om-nom-nom.
4. Host a potluck dinner. Okay, so we lied.  You could very easily graduate from Brown without ever hosting a potluck dinner and not feel empty inside.  But why would you ever want to go four years at college without ever going for a lil’ po’luck?   Invite others to cook their own dishes (and we know, dorm kitchens aren’t very well equipped, but that’s half the fun!) and bring them over for some old fashioned fine-(do-it-yourself)-dining.
5. The SciLi challenge. 14 floors, 14 shots. Can you do it?*

*The BlogDailyHerald accepts no legal responsibility for any injury you may inflict on yourself or others as a result of attempting the SciLi challenge.  There’s a reason they call it a challenge (otherwise it would be…say, the SciLi walk in the park.  And where’s the fun in that?).

Simmons, pictured while not speaking at RISD. (Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald)

Ruth Simmons had several commencements on her plate this season, following up Brown’s festivities of last week with a keynote address at RISD’s commencement Saturday.

She told the Herald in May that she couldn’t reveal her remarks because she hadn’t written them yet — but BlogDailyHerald has learned the real reason for Simmons’ reticence: she didn’t want us to know she was going to badmouth us behind our backs.

Lucky for us, the ProJo was there to report on the speech. Remarking on students’ fun costuming — and, we guess, unaware she was speaking into a microphone — Simmons told the crowd, “I hope no one will repeat this, but the Brown commencement was last weekend, and it was a sleeper compared to this.” She also spilled the beans about all our innermost desires, revealing to the crowd that “people up the Hill are very envious” of RISD students’ style.

“Did you know there is someone here with antlers on their head?” she asked. (We weren’t, but that does sound pretty stylish.)

Et tu, Ruth? But maybe the Prez had a point. As the ProJo notes, RISD grads get to wear “festive and zany” costumes — and as one senior told us of Brown’s ceremony, “it was a sleeper.” Just one more thing to be envious of.

RISD’s new Take a Break festival will take place on May 8^th from 1 pm to 8 pm, showcasing nine music acts and a variety of student art.  Advance tickets are available for purchase at the RISD Office of Student Life for $10 with a Brown student ID.  Expect a big turnout to see/buy artwork and get some good local grub.