Category: Uncategorized
Weekend round-up
By Lucien Flores, Staff Writer
There’s an abundance of exciting shows to check out this weekend in Boston. If you need a rest from the cold or a break from the school grind, then try to nab last-minute tickets to one of these dates.
Alt-J at Paradise Rock Club – Saturday March 2nd and Sunday March 3rd
I mentioned this concert in my start-of-the-semester concert preview but there’s no harm in rehashing the suggestion. While the freshman British band is playing two dates at the intimate Paradise Music Club, good luck getting tickets as both nights are sold out. Don’t fret if searching through Craigslist searching is not your thing, as the band will back in Boston on September 13 at the much-larger Bank of America Pavilion.
In the midst of their meteoric rise, Alt-J announced a world tour so this will be one of the last times you’ll be able to see them in such a cozy environment.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra at Brighton Music Hall – Saturday March 2nd
Unknown Mortal Orchestra has a thick psychedelic 1960s sound that will draw comparison to Tame Impala, however, UMO creates a far more compelling product. Listening to their two albums brings listeners back to an era they likely never experienced. “From The Sun” almost sounds like a lost White Album track and “The Opposite of The Afternoon” is haunting with its whispery vocals.
Opposite of The Afternoon:
Tenacious D at House Of Blues – Saturday March 2nd
If comedy rock is your thing than there are few bigger acts than Tenacious D. Going strong since 1994, Jack Black and Kyle Glass will bring their ridiculous tracks to Boston’s House of Blues.
What to do at home this weekend?
Listen to Youth Lagoon’s newest album, Wondrous Bughouse on NPR. He’ll playing the Boston Calling music festival in late May alongside The National, Of Monsters And Men, and others.
Tales of a Transplant: Sandy, please
By Ryan Galindo, Staff Writer
@rygalindo
Living in Guam does have its pros and cons. One con: Guam is situated in an area of the Pacific called “Typhoon Alley.” As you may already have guessed, typhoons (a fancy, exotic word for hurricane) pop up regularly and somehow decide to make Guam a part of their blood path.
Downed power lines in Guam during Ponsoonga Typhoon / PHOTO COURTESY RODGER SPRINGSTEEN
I’ve had my share of typhoons in my 18 years of life. The first one was good ol’ Typhoon Paka in 1997. I was only three-years-old, and I barely remember the details of the disaster. I do recall a few vague, cloudy snippets of the storm: the power outages, the fallen trees and my mom trying to put me to sleep against the backdrop of the pouring rain and howling, Category 5 winds. Like I said, I don’t remember much, but I knew it was bad, so bad that Paka was even upgraded to Super Typhoon status and the name “Paka” was retired from the list of hurricane names. I didn’t even know that was remotely possible.
In 2002, we had Super Typhoon Chata’an. In Chamorro, the native language of Guam, Chata’an means “rainy day.” And boy was that day rainy. Hell, it was a torrential downpour. I don’t remember much of Chata’an except that it ruined my summer.
A year and a half later, in December 2003, we had Super Typhoon Pongsona (pronounced PONG-SONG-WAH). Pongsona was nothing short of a bitch. It flooded streets and downed power and telephone poles. Guam was devastated. Oh, and Ponsonga had the audacity to prance its way into Guam a few weeks before Christmas. The nerve.
We didn’t have electricity for almost a month, if not more. It was a really big deal, actually, so big that the daily newspaper had a little box on the front page detailing how much of the island had its power back and which part of the island the power company was working to repair next. With each passing day, the percentage enclosed in the box increased: 12 percent, 20 percent, 45 percent and eventually 100 percent. Luckily, my neck of the woods was one of the first to have electricity reinstalled, so that was great.
Water was also a problem. If I remember correctly (I’m writing this all from memory okay, so if any of you Guamies notice anything wrong, forgive me), there was a water outage, too. And if you did have water, it was probably unsafe to drink it.
Ponsonga is the last typhoon I can recall because it was so catastrophic. If there were any other typhoons after it, they were probably too tame compared to Ponsonga to be worth remembering.
Guam has been typhoon-free for several years. And that is why I find it ironic that once I leave Guam and move to Boston, I get struck by Hurricane Sandy.
Last night, I was chatting with a friend from Guam that now attends school in Portland, Ore. Of course, Sandy made its way to the conversation and my friend told me not to worry, because I’m from Guam and therefore typhoon-proof.
Damage to a home in Guam during the Paka Typhoon, Dec. 17, 1997 / PHOTO COURTESY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS HEATHER EGHBALI, U.S. NAVY
In retrospect, I guess I am. This is the plus side of living in typhoon alley. Almost instinctively upon hearing about Sandy, I began to gather all the essentials in case of a disaster. I got my cereal and other snacks tucked in my shelf along with a couple of toiletries. I’ve been keeping track of Sandy and any pertinent news relating to school and the T.
It’s actually quite amusing to hear my friends from California and other parts of the hurricane-free world panic about the storm, and I’m just calm and nonchalant about it.
In the end, I’m very grateful that sunlight is starting to seep its way into Boston and that Sandy is starting to become a memory. My thoughts go out to those who have been ravaged by her. I’ve been there before, and it’ll soon pass.
The best and worst Emmy fashion
By Seline Jung, Staff Writer
I rounded up a compilation of who I thought were the best and worst dressed at the 64th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards last night. If you didn’t get a chance to watch last night, scroll through the pictures and critique these red carpet fashions.
Emmy’s best:
- Giuliana Rancic in Ramona Cerveza: Rancic played it safe Sunday night, but there’s a reason it’s called “classic.” The color, modern silhouette, thigh-high slit and belt all work together beautifully.
- Ginnifer Goodwin in Monique Lhuillier: This one might throw some people off, but the dress is so on-trend, and Goodwin’s pixie cut makes the look a perfect mix of sweet and vogue.
- Julianne Moore in Dior Couture: The mustard-canary yellow is so fresh and new, and makes Moore’s auburn hair pop.
- Kristen Wiig in Balenciaga: Wiig looks like she just stepped out of a boudoir — amongst all the other fussy, tight, couture-y dresses, Wiig looked relaxed and lovely.
- Julianne Hough in Georges Hobeika: The color and bottom detailing are stunning; I don’t think I’ve ever seen a couture dress in this ice-teal blue before. Hough looks like she just came back from a haute couture beach wedding.
Emmy’s worst:
- Lena Dunham in Prada: This could have worked if the dress was short or if it was sleeveless. Or both. But the simultaneous cap sleeves, floor length and high neck does not flatter Dunham.
- January Jones in Zac Posen: Messy, messy, messy. Paired with her intense smokey eyes and slicked-back hair, Jones just doesn’t look like herself.
- Christina Hendricks in Christian Siriano: Never mind that she’s busting out of the top, the dress looks cheap and color doesn’t do any favors for Hendricks’ porcelain skin and fire-red hair.
- Glenn Close: Close could have gone for a more classic, refined, simple look but she chose an overcomplicated mess.
- Kathy Griffin in Oscar de la Renta: The awkward thing here is the lone plastic bangle on Griffin’s arm. Other than that, the dress looks really messy in the back, and halter tops are quite dated.
Yes or no?
- Zosia Mamet in Bihbu Mahopatra: I appreciate that it’s fashion-forward and edgy, but at the same time there’s too much going on; the patterned sheer bottom seems random.
- Hayden Panettiere in Marchesa: The dress looks like it might be lovely without the thick blue gauze wrapped around her.
- Nicole Kidman in Antonio Berardi: The blue embroidered bodice is absolutely beautiful, but the dress stops short at an awkward length
- Heidi Klum in Alexandre Vauthier: The only reason this dress gets a pass is because a supermodel is wearing it. If it was anyone else, it’d look like a cheap prom outfit.
All photos are courtesy of E! Online.
Science that can make you smarter
By Kimberly Clark, Science Tuesday Editor
A device that can control a person’s brain is often the fantasy of many science fiction enthusiasts. However, according to a recent paper in the Journal of Neural Engineering, this fantasy might be closer to reality than ever before.
The paper, which is the collaborative effort of researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and the University of Southern California, details a device which can operate from within the brain to sharpen cognitive ability by honing the connections among the brain nerve cells, called neurons.
A similar technology has been studied in rhesus monkeys. To do so, researchers at Wake Forest taught a matching game to five rhesus monkeys. The monkeys were shown a picture of a toy, a person or a mountain range on a large screen. They then had to pick the same picture out of a group pictures that was displayed later on the same screen. For every correct answer, the monkeys received a treat.
After playing the game for two years, the monkeys were choosing the correct picture for easier matches about 75 percent of the time and 40 percent of the time for harder matches.
Researchers then implanted a small probe with two sensors into the monkeys’ brain by feeding it through the monkeys’ foreheads and into two layers of their cerebral cortex. These layers, known as L-2/3 and L-5, have been proven to communicate with one another during decision-making like the kind the monkeys used while playing their game.
The device picked up the crackling sounds that the monkeys’ neurons made when they played the game and sent the sounds to a computer. Researchers from U.S.C. studied the sounds to find a pattern for when the monkeys made a correct decision.
Once the researchers had pinpointed the pattern for correct choices, they used the device to send it into the monkeys’ brains right as they were choosing an answer. The monkeys who received the correct pattern improved their score by approximately 10 percent.
Then the researchers administered cocaine to the monkeys to impair their cognitive abilities. Unsurprisingly, the monkeys‘ scores fell approximately 20 percent.
While the device in the paper is far from commercial application, the study demonstrates that such a device could be developed in the future. Dr. Sam A. Deadwyler, a researcher at Wake Forest, told the “New York Times” that the technology used in the rhesus monkey study could be condensed into a chip that would be implanted in the brain.
The technology could help people who have lost mental capacity due to brain injuries, dementia or strokes.
Lobstah night stratehgy
My lobster night meal from Fall 2011. Yes, I photgraphed the lobster. FRANKIE BARBATO/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
By Frankie Barbato, Blog Editor
Boston University is known for its excellent selection of dining. Compared to other colleges, BU’s student body can’t really complain when it comes to what to eat for dinner. However, the glory that is our dining halls is summed up the best by the epicness that is lobster night. Yes, that’s right, each September, BU students can enjoy lobster right in the dining halls. Gosh, we’re so spoiled.
Wait! I think I’m acting too calm about the wonder that is this night. The lines curl around the door, the lobster (and subsequent corn on the cob and potatoes) fill the dining hall with an aroma of wonderfulness. Each diner gets a bib to wear. I always wear the bib because when else is it socially acceptable to wear a bib?
Tonight will be my third lobster night. I’m a seasoned lobster night veteran. There’s a strategy behind the night, and although you might think I sound crazy, follow my guidelines and you will have a great lobster night experience.
Time correctly:
Arrive early. By early, I mean senior citizen early. I suggest between 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Then cut the whole line. Just be discrete and say, “oh hey! I kind of know you. Let me just squeeze right past.” Done. You are now in lobster world while the rest of the line is sad because they wish they were you.
Never stop eating:
The powerful dining hall people will make you think you can only eat one lobster. Don’t listen to them. Last year I had two lobsters, because I strategized beforehand. Do you have any vegetarian friends who will accompany you to the dining hall, but eat a bowl of cereal instead? Take their lobster ticket. Then walk aimlessly around the dining hall pretending like you lost yours, and someone nice will offer you theirs, too. Boom. Three lobsters for you.
Be messy:
Wear the bib, and attempt to stay clean, but you will come out of their a mess anyway. Embrace it. Plan ahead by not wearing your best clothes, or by not eating dinner with people you want to look good around. Also, take advantage of the moist toilettes.
Photograph the event:
Last year BU Dining Services ( @BUDiningService) asked students to tweet pictures of their lobster night. From your food to your friends eating their food, they like it all photographed. It’s secretly my goal to get my picture retweeted. Oh, the simple things.
Now that you’re prepared, happy eating.
Top five favorite workouts for college students
By Marie Goldstein, Staff Writer
As college students, we are busy from morning to night with schoolwork and other activities that make it easy for us to skip the gym and make up excuses. However, after freshmen year we realize that the freshmen 15 is no joke and we quickly get our bodies into shape. Boston has various opportunities to help students get in shape. Here are the top five favorite workouts for college students:
1. Running:
In Boston, we are lucky to have beautiful and lengthy running trails nested within our city. A student favorite is the Charles River esplanade. Students take a break from studying indoors by running along a beautiful river. Workout stations are next to the track that students can stop at to tone their body. In the winter, it is easy to continue running either on a treadmill or the indoor track at FitRec. Running is one of the few exercises that work out every muscle in the body.
College of Arts and Sciences junior Emily Brennan runs at least once a day:
“Running is a good exercise because it not only improves heart health and builds endurance it is a good source of stress relief and emotional catharsis,” she said.
2. Yoga:
Yoga is an amazing stress reliever! Yoga not only physically makes you fit, but it helps your mind stay active. It removes you from the busy streets of Boston, the piles of homework on your desk and that boy or girl who has been pulling on your heart for weeks. Yoga also leaves little room for excuses because people of all body types can participate; yoga will help tone your body and serve as light cardio as well.
3. Swimming:
If you have ever stepped inside FitRec you would know that there is really no better place to swim! Swimming is another exercise that serves as both body toning and cardio, as well as being a fun activity! Grab a friend and head down to the pool, get competitive with each other or work on personal goals.
4. Zumba
This African inspired dance craze is one of the best workouts. The atmosphere in these classes is high-energy, friendly and judgment-free. You may get so caught up in the action that it won’t even feel like a fitness class anymore, until you wake up the next morning and you can’t walk. Every Zumba class is different and will never fail to surprise you. One Zumba class can burn up to over 1,000 calories. I know I would rather dance around looking like an idiot than stay on the elliptical for three hours. CAS senior Samantha Andrews said, “Zumba is a great way to work out because you get to dance to wicked awesome music and nobody judges you. Its so much fun you don’t realize you are working out.” Warning: Your abs may get the most exercise, from laughing.
5. Spin Class
I like to call this exercise the “Devils Gift.” When you are riding that stationary bike you feel like you are dying, but afterwards it feels great. Taking a 60-minute morning class gets your brain and body started for the day. This is another high energy class where the atmosphere is enough to get you excited and anxious to get in shape. This is one of those exercises that are dreadfully addicting. If you are looking for a weight-loss exercise this is the one for you. Most importantly, wait until you see how awesome your legs look in your stilettos next weekend.
FreepOUT: Campus editor’s playlist
Like Emily’s choice beats? Add the Campus playlist from our TheDailyFreePress Spotify account.
As much as I feel like putting a paper together is nonstop neuroticism, today I was left with some time to sit and stare at my computer in the office.
The result was this: a playlist of stuff I listened to while willing my faithful associates to edit faster.It’s a little bit all over the place because I have music ADD, but whatever, nobody’s perfect.
Please note: “Zombie By the Cranberries” by Andrew Jackson Jihad is my personal anthem about how many people ask me for cigarettes in Allston, and in front of Warren, and everywhere. Happy listening.
-Emily, your friendly neighborhood Campus Editor
**Look out for more editors’ playlists in the coming days and weeks. We have a lot of downtime waiting for the computer to open up/for our associates to edit stories.
Lima living
By Annie Maroon, Staff Writer
Annie is currently studying abroad in Peru and will be sharing details of her experiences and travels over the next couple of weeks.
There are 30 different districts within the city of Lima, and each is marked with a sign like this one. This is the central district, near the university where we’re studying.
Crossing the street in Lima is an extreme sport. Part of what makes it so fun (and by “fun,” I mean “life-threatening”) are the microbuses: buses that barrel down the streets with people hanging out the doors, calling out prices and destinations. And on the side of each multicolored vehicle is a partial list of destinations: BRASIL. VENEZUELA. CUBA. MEXICO.
Of course, they’re only street names. If these were submersible buses that could actually take us to Cuba, crossing the street might be a sci-fi movie, rather than just a terrifying South American experience. But I’m pretty pleased with the idea that I could hop a city bus in central Lima and, eventually, find myself in Venezuela.
In fact, during an excursion over the weekend, we passed by the Pan-American Highway, which I’d forgotten passes through Lima. I’ve been smitten with the idea of the Pan-American for the last couple years: essentially, it runs from Alaska down to the southern tip of South America, but you can’t actually drive the length of it, because there’s a 54-mile patch of Colombian jungle where there is no road and you have to ship your car around it by ferry to continue. Part of me is disappointed by this; the other is a little relieved to hear of a patch of the Americas that hasn’t been paved.
The Plaza de Armas in the center of the city, which was built by the Spanish when they established the city in the 1500s. Lima’s brightly colored government buildings, as well as several cathedrals, are in this area.
The point is that I’m on the other side of that gap in the road. Ecuador and Chile are my neighbors right now. But I’m in no hurry to head out of Lima, seeing as I only have two more weeks to learn my way around a city that sprawls over 310 square miles along the Pacific coast.
So far I’ve seen the area around the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Peru, a neighborhood that seems to be under a great deal of construction; Miraflores, the residential district where I live with my host family; the city center, which is full of brightly colored Spanish buildings and tiny shops selling llama-related paraphernalia; and Pachacamac, the ruins of an ancient city on the outskirts of town. It’s all part of greater Lima, but I feel like I’ve been in several different regions – the only unifying factor is the fog.
The fog, for which the local name is “garua,” is here to stay. During the entire Peruvian winter, it hangs over the ocean and the city on the cliffs up above, blocking out any hope of sunlight. I am serious when I say that I saw ten times as much sunlight in a week in Ireland (where I studied last fall) than I have in my first week in Peru. But even in the dead of winter (you know, jeans and sweatshirt weather), wandering around Lima for the next two weeks suits me fine.
One of the “microbuses” that carry people across the city, usually for about one sol – the equivalent of less than 50 American cents.
Oh no, HuffPo
By Gina Curreri, Staff Writer
We all read The Huffington Post. It’s nowhere near good and far from credible, but for a quick read on some new whacko survey or study, HuffPo’s got you covered. The blog section supposedly features “fresh takes and real-time analysis from HuffPost’s signature lineup of contributors.” Well, okay.
“A Struggle for Not Struggling,” a Tuesday, July 10 blogpost, was truly signature. The writer started off rough after she listed “Sex and the City” protagonist Carrie Bradshaw as her journalistic inspiration growing up. Oh, yes. Writing about sex and men and trolling all over the city is what I dreamed of as a 10-year-old, too. I couldn’t tell if the writer was joking with that serious jab to all diehard journo fans. I let it slide and continued reading.
Side note: I let her inconsistency between using the serial comma and not using the serial comma slide, too.
She wanted this 10-cents-a-word freelancer life as a real New York City journalist. She wanted the big time: a life of journalism that’s thrilling but doesn’t pay all that well. But now she’s graduated, she started a 401k as a 22-year-old, bought a car and is too well-off to live that old dream. That. Old. Dream. In true Carrie Bradshaw fashion, “Can you make a mistake and miss your fate?”
She thinks she has. She’s too successful. She wants those poor years everyone has after college, eating ramen with loads of credit card debt like the characters on “Girls.” She’s bummed she has a career. She can’t live on mom and dad’s dime. (As if that would even be a poor life at all. You should be so lucky.)
The entire piece is really bizarre. A first-person account as a 22-year-old that reads as a modest brag with a tinge of “poor me” that will live online forever is something she’ll surely regret.
“Is the quarter-life crisis just not having a full-time job and living with your parents, or is it realizing that you have to choose some irreversible path for your life?” she said.
She said what? She’s an editorial assistant at StudentAdvisor, according to her Twitter account. Hell, she’s on the brink of retirement. There’s never going to be an opportunity for her to drop everything and move to New York City after working at this place full-time for three months. Life’s a whole quarter over!
Maybe she meant well. I can see where she was trying to go, but it came off horribly. The Internet’s all over it already.
Plus, the writer graduated from Northeastern last spring. The only valid conclusion from all this? BU trumps Northeastern. (Duh.) Okay, joking. That’s clearly extrapolating data from one example. We communication majors take statistics now. But at one point she does say her Northeastern professors “discouraged” students from careers in journalism. Nice program, Huskies.
Follow Gina on Twitter at @ginacurreri
PHOTOS: Rodrigo y Gabriela @ The Orpheum
Photos by Meagan Bernatchez, MUSE Staff Photographer
Photos from the Rodrigo y Gabriela show at The Orpheum on April 23, 2012.
