Archive

Critical Voices: Ducktails, The Flower Lane

Albums seldom take the form of a holistic work—from the cover art to the music—in a culture geared toward chart-topping singles. This idea of a whole product at times proves detrimental if treated as an end in itself. Real Estate guitarist Matt Mondanile’s solo project Ducktails, for instance, delivers a fourth studio album with a clear focus on unity of the LP without the benefits that often accompany such strategies. In spite of solid production and an aura best described as pleasant, The Flower Lane falls short of memorable.

By Kirill Makarenko January 31, 2013

Paper View: Hardly a trivial pursuit

As a young child, I can fondly remember rushing to finish my dinner and guzzle down my glass of milk to get in front of the TV. “Finish your veggies, Keaton,” my mom would say as I shied away from the mound of asparagus, “and then you can go watch television.” But unlike other seven-year-olds eager to catch the latest episode of Even Stevens or Hey Arnold!, I was stoked about my half-hour daily trivia session with Alex Trebek on Jeopardy!.

By Keaton Hoffman January 31, 2013

Loose Cannon: Beer is good, people are crazy

After the physical stress of 11 days of straight boozing that is add/drop week, my body was in some serious pain. I had clearly had around 15 too many Hot Chicks and not nearly enough sleep. I knew that the only thing that could make me feel like a human being again was a serious detox, but I wanted my detox to be something cool, trendy and obviously not something anyone else had done before. (Because if anyone else had ever done it, I would be just like every other unimaginative soulless pre-professional Barbour coat-wearing Georgetown student.)

By Hamilton Steve January 31, 2013

MPD’s sexual assault record condemned

According to a report published by Human Rights Watch last week, sexual assault survivors cannot expect anything more than skepticism, dismissal, and victim-blaming when reporting an assault to the District’s Metropolitan Police Department. The report clearly exposes MPD’s mistreatment of survivors as well as their mishandling of sexual assault cases.

By the Editorial Board January 31, 2013

Non-English speakers face discrimination

This past week, the all-Republican Board of Commissioners in Carroll County, Md. voted unanimously to make English the official language of government business. The ordinance follows in the footsteps of Frederick County and Queen Anne’s County, making Carroll the third county in Maryland to declare an official language.

By the Editorial Board January 31, 2013

DoD’s women in combat decision inadequate

In an announcement last Thursday, outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta declared that the Pentagon will lift its official ban on women in combat that has been in place since 1994. According to the Department of Defense, this means that the approximately 237,000 positions which women were previously barred from holding will be going under review.

By the Editorial Board January 31, 2013

Carrying On: In search of lost experience

What I am about to say may shock you and shake your morality down to its very core, so brace yourself: We, as members of the Georgetown student body, are an extremely privileged bunch. I’m not talking about the privilege they hammer into our heads from day one, the kind addressed in the convocation speech.

By Leigh Finnegan January 31, 2013

In the developing world, contraceptives save lives

I used to consider myself “transiently pro-choice,” mainly because I didn’t know enough about the issue to restrict anyone’s rights, but I certainly wasn’t comfortable with abortion. Then things started to change as I came to college and, through my studies, came to some startling realizations about women’s health.

By Kat Kelley January 31, 2013

Evading etymology eschews the excitement of English

During Senior Disorientation 2.0 the other weekend, I found myself at McFadden’s. As I sipped a rail drink in the roped off, Georgetown-only section of D.C.’s “douchiest” bar, I wondered if my roommates might accompany me to the main area to be among the “hoi polloi,” as I jokingly put it. “The what?” one shot back. While I explained the meaning of the phrase (Greek for “the many” or “the masses”), I was aware that this type of interaction had happened before.

By Julia von Turk January 31, 2013

Scandalous Italian politics must become a thing of the past

We Italians studying in the U.S. are emigrants who have left our country with no fixed date of return. We left looking for a better education and a fresh outlook on life. Unavoidably though, the heart still pounds to the beat of the noise of scooters in the street, the smell of good coffee, and the warmth of our customs. We are not nationalists—we are cultural patriots. Yet, we will probably not be able to vote in the 2013 Italian general election, which will take place starting on Feb. 24, after a dramatic decade of poor administrations and economic stagnation.

By Nicolo Dona Dalle Rose January 31, 2013

Features

Creative Expression at Georgetown Still Fiction

In preparation for its imminent arrival at Georgetown, last year’s incoming freshman class was required to read the novel How to Read the Air for the Marino Family International Writer’s Workshop. Grounded in the author’s Ethiopian heritage, the book is linguistically elegant and uses a melancholy, poetic lyricism to tell the tale of a young man struggling to overcome his family’s troubled past.

By Katie Mitchell January 24, 2013

A meal fit for schmiels

DGS Delicatessen aims to bring classic Jewish cooking to Dupont Circle. Advertising itself as a “Restaurant, Sandwich Shop, and Bar,” the deli takes a modern approach to Jewish cooking. While such an approach may seem refreshing, however, it renders the word “delicatessen” almost arbitrary.

By Alexandra Golway January 24, 2013

Ballin’ at the Inauguration, or, Stevie for president

At first, when I woke up the morning after the Inaugural Ball, I thought the cheeky bloggers over at Buzzfeed had stolen my angle for this Lez’hur. There it was at the top of my morning Twitter feed: “The Inaugural Ball Was Just Like Prom.”

By Gavin Bade January 24, 2013

Renwick: Gallery of the 21st century

It’s not often that yarn sculptures foretell the future of art, but the Smithsonian’s latest exhibit hardly meets one’s traditional expectations of craftsmanship. The 40 under 40: Craft Futures exhibit at the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery arrives to D.C. 40 years after the museum’s founding in 1972, showcasing a vast range of craft art made post-9/11, when the “20th century effectively ended.” The exhibit effectively demonstrates to viewers the new directions of art in the 21st century, combining every medium from ceramics and metalwork to industrial design and installation art.

By Dayana Morales Gomez January 24, 2013

Mark Wahlberg introduces mediocrity into Broken City

The game of good cop/bad cop is a familiar one, having been played countless times by directors in the detective genre. Our protagonist shifts from one side of the law to the other, bringing a question of ethics to the forefront of a film’s consciousness. The Book of Eli director Allen Hughes’ Broken City is hardly a departure from this ho-hum yet satisfying formula, but it muddles the narrative structure by thrusting a complex and intricate corruption drama into the mix for the viewer to digest. Themes of sex and power, good and evil in a corrupt city unfortunately become lost in the shuffle that is an unsustainably convoluted web of stories.

By Theresa Wrzesinski January 24, 2013

Critical Voices: Ra Ra Riot, Beta Love

As is the case with all instruments, synthesizers demand moderation and proper place within a finished musical product. Such devices are hardly appropriate in a full-blown experimental framework, particularly one that lasts hardly 30 minutes. Syracuse-based Ra Ra Riot, however, ignores these practices on the indie rock band’s third studio album, Beta Love, bringing an unpolished, unnatural, and chaotic creation into the world.

By Kirill Makarenko January 24, 2013

Reel Talk: Taking care of showbiz

We live in a sad world when Twilight sequels sell out weeks before they are released. Fortunately for the film industry, however, a new generation of production and distribution companies has turned heads with the innovation of profitable art house films.

By Mark James January 24, 2013

GU Fossil Free pressures University to divest within 5 years

GU Fossil Free, a new student group created last semester, delivered a letter to President DeGioia’s office Wednesday morning requesting that Georgetown University immediately begin a process to divest from coal, oil, and natural gas companies within five years.

By Isabel Echarte January 24, 2013

Owner of Jack’s Boathouse faces legal battle over property rights

Jack’s Boathouse has been renting out kayaks from the Georgetown waterfront for nearly 70 years, but a legal battle is beginning to develop over the rights to the property—and the current operator of Jack’s is alleging that the National Park Service (NPS) has made a deal with a major competitor.

By Rhiannon Greene January 24, 2013

Students honor MLK’s legacy with service, celebration

Throughout this week, the Georgetown community is celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with several events organized both on and off campus to commemorate the 50th anniversary of King’s call to justice and embrace of radical social change.

By Lucia He January 24, 2013

City on a Hill: Certifiably screwed

It’s not often I agree with anything a Chamber of Commerce chapter has to say, but even your friendly progressive columnist has to admit the D.C. Chamber and its business lobby allies have a point in their criticism of the Certified Business Enterprise program. On Tuesday, they wrote a letter to Mayor Vincent Gray asking him to veto a bill passed by the D.C. Council late last year tightening up requirements for businesses participating in the program.

By Gavin Bade January 24, 2013

Critical Voices: Bad Religion, True North

After almost two years of rumors and speculation, Bad Religion has finally released their 16th album, True North. Since their start in 1979, the punk rock band has become known for their three-part harmonies, intellectual lyrics and religious commentary and their latest opus is no different. As in the past, they continue to use their music to tell a story. For this album, the narrative is all about finding one’s way in the world, using an internal compass to find the way to “true north.”

By Zakiya Jamal January 24, 2013

Under the Covers: Bunanameh more than ‘meh’

Buna Alkhas experienced 25 years of estrangement from his motherland, Iran, and from his father, the renowned Iranian-Assyrian artist, poet, and translator Hannibal Alkhas. This exile transformed Alkhas while he made his way around the world, while back home Iran was pulled through a totally polarizing metamorphosis.

By Emilia Brahm January 24, 2013