Archive

Stellar expectations for Tenn Cent Fest

These days at Georgetown, it’s all about Tennessee Williams. A flag proclaiming “A Season Named Desire” has been flying over the Davis Center since the beginning of last semester, mysterious signs for the “Glass Menagerie Project” have popped up all over Red Square, and the Department of Performing Arts is bracing itself for an influx of Williams scholars, actors, and enthusiasts this coming weekend. All this hubbub seems a tad confusing at a school with few theater majors and no affiliation to the playwright. It’s this confusion that Performing Arts Artistic Director Derek Goldman hopes to eradicate with this weekend’s Tennessee Williams Centennial Festival, or Tenn Cent Fest—the climax of the Williams- focused “Season Named Desire,” and the first large-scale festival in the history of Georgetown’s Department of Performing Arts

By Leigh Finnegan March 24, 2011

All Win Win does is win

Produced in an industry where the average blockbuster offers a surreal narrative alien to daily life, the low-budget Win Win centers on the meaningful relationships formed around rather unremarkable circumstances. The film follows a familially frustrated high schooler and a financially unstable lawyer-cum-high-school-wrestling-coach as they form an unlikely bond. And while there is nothing too profound or exciting about the premise, the film’s down-to-earth characters and ability to remain light-hearted yet poignant distinguish Win Win from the average feel-good comedy.

By Mark James March 24, 2011

Texas BBQ from NY

There are two ways to approach a meal at Hill Country Barbecue—you can get one meat, or you can get every meat. So when I stopped by the new, Gallery Place location of this Texas-style BBQ joint, I opted for the greasy, heart-clogging latter. Since opening its first location in New York, the restaurant’s aim has been to recreate the down-home feel of an old-fashioned cookout. Hill Country cooks all of its meat sans-sauce, opting for dry rubs cooked over hickory. Traditional sides compliment the cuts, from corn bread to delicious green bean casserole.

By Brendan Baumgardner March 24, 2011

The Sweetlife of a new D.C. music fest

Perhaps as a side-effect of the beautiful weather, spring in the District boasts an impressive collection of outdoor music festivals. And this year welcomes a brand new, highly anticipated addition to the annual repertoire—the Sweetgreen-sponsored Sweetlife Festival on May 1, 2011, aptly described as “a festival with a conscience.” With its humble beginnings in a parking lot behind the DuPont Sweetgreen, Sweetlife’s organizers are thrilled to be holding this year’s event in a much more accommodating venue, Maryland’s Merriweather Post Pavilion. Located smack in the middle of the 40-acre Symphony Woods, this venue creates an appropriately green atmosphere for the environmentally-focused festival.

By Mary Borowiec March 24, 2011

Critical Voices: Wiz Khalifa, Rolling Papers

Wiz Khalifa has his own “line” of rolling papers. His breakout mixtape was called Kush and Orange Juice. In 2010, he bragged in an interview, “I might spend, like, ten grand on weed a month. Easily.” Cool story bro. It’s not that drug-obsessed rap is inherently bad—Jay-Z made his name repping a drug dealing past and Clipse’s coke-rap opus Hell Hath No Fury is a certifiable classic. Even non-peddlers like Gucci Mane can turn massive amounts of consumption into something genuinely intimidating: a 6’3”, 220-lb former convict on codeine is not the kind of person most of us want to mess with. Bragging about weed, though?

By Matthew Collins March 24, 2011

Critical Voices: Of Montreal, thecontrollersphere

Thecontrollersphere, the latest EP from indie pop staple Of Montreal, is in many ways a compilation of rejects. Clocking in at only 23 minutes, the five-song record was primarily composed of tracks cut from their last release, the critically-acclaimed False Priest. Sadly, while False Priest witnessed the band successfully blending funk, electronic, and R&B influences, the tracks that made it onto TCS don’t mesh nearly as well, and the EP feels discordant as a result. But the news isn’t all bad—in fact, this lack of cohesion makes TCS interesting, in a clinical sort of way.

By Samuel Buckley March 24, 2011

Internet IRL: The Internet is for porn

Whether you’ve been looking for it or not, I am going to make the rash assumption that at some point, you’ve seen porn on your computer. It’s there. Your most skewed sexual fantasies are your Google search bar’s command. What once could only be found in the pages of a secret stash of dirty magazines or vaguely-labeled, grainy videotapes is now available in unlimited—not to mention free—quantities. And it’s not just of your normal, interpersonal variety. From bestiality to tentacles, extreme porn that used to be seen as a unique fetish now has an audience.

By Nico Dodd March 24, 2011

Banger Management: Empire state of rap

In today’s rap scene, it might appear that we’re witnessing the Swag Revolution—exemplified by newcomers like Lil’ B and Odd Future Wolf Gang, it’s a movement largely defined by Internet hype and a “fuck the mainstream” attitude to fame. However, there are still some out there who have avoided this path. Among these deviants are a handful of rappers from New York City out to resurrect the classic sound of ‘90s Big Apple hip-hop. And so far, they are doing a pretty convincing job. Underground heavy-hitters like Roc Marciano, whose debut LP Marcberg received impressive reviews across the Internet, have spearheaded this throwback styl

By Matthew Decker March 24, 2011

Finding faith in the last place you would think to look

Though I had already convinced my parents to let me take Elmo as my confirmation name, I ultimately chose Anthony. My last minute decision was in part because I wasn’t actually ballsy enough to pull off the irony of entering Catholic adulthood with a name that conjures up nothing but images of childhood. But mostly it was because St. Anthony, the patron saint of lost items, was the only saint I had ever actually prayed to. I’m sure St. Elmo, the patron saint of sailors, would not have appreciated my summers spent at camp purposely capsizing boats, either.

By the Voice Staff March 24, 2011

Liberating Libya

Almost eight years to the day after the War in Iraq commenced, our new conflict in Libya began. Allied planes now fly over Libya; enforcing a no-fly zone and targeting forces loyal to Gaddafi. And while I don’t mean to conflate Iraq and Libya, growing up with the failure of Iraq makes me leery of our third military engagement in a Muslim country. In the post-Vietnam era, applications of U.S. force have consistently led to consequences we had no way of predicting ahead of time, a danger that often seems lost to policymakers and pundits. When the use of force is not used as a last resort, we frequently risk the danger of creating more problems than we solve.

By Eric Pilch March 24, 2011

Summer internship forces student out of Wonderland

My family is about as Disney as you can get, without actually being part of the Disney family. My mother, father, and grandfather have worked at Disney for a combined total of almost 111 years—longer than the Walt Disney Company has been in existence. All of them have worked for the small and mysterious division of the Walt Disney Company known as Imagineering. The so-called Imagineers design Disney’s parks and resorts and, as they like to say, “make the magic.”

By Kelsey McCullough March 24, 2011

Multiple online personalities change the rules of dating

As I was searching for “friends” on my new Twitter account, I came across some of my old high school flames relaying the sultry details of their latest exploits. These tweets more or less consisted of dirty spin offs of a Tri Delta catch phrase or how “swoll” they are in preparation for some spring break debauchery.

By Kate Imel March 24, 2011

1789 Initiative on track to hit $500 million by 2016

On the heels of an endowment growth campaign that topped $114 million in fiscal year 2010, fundraising for the 1789 Imperative has maintained momentum and is on track to achieve its goals of raising $500 million in scholarship funds by 2016.

By Rachel Calvert March 24, 2011

Student space proposals compete for $3.4 million

Since the Georgetown University Student Association’s endowment commission began accepting proposals on Mar. 16, the improvement of on-campus space has emerged as a common theme in suggested uses for the of $3.4 million available due to last semester’s passage of Student Activities Fee Endowment reform.

By Ryan Bellmore March 24, 2011

LXR to go wireless on Friday

Although wireless Internet access will be activated on Friday in LXR, the second residence hall to receive new wireless access this academic year, it is unclear whether the University will fulfill its commitment of installing wireless service in every dormitory by the end of the semester.

By Jennifer Rokosa March 24, 2011

Editorials

SNAP suffers from arbitrary enforcement

Although the stated goal of the Student Neighborhood Assistance Program is to protect students’ safety, for most students, the sight of SNAP’s flashing yellow lights is a distressing one. On Thursday and weekend nights around Georgetown, SNAP is more often seen as a dour party police. By minimizing the interactions between Georgetown students and the Metropolitan Police Department, SNAP serves a legitimate purpose within the West Georgetown and Burleith neighborhoods. But the program has some unfortunate policies too, such as breaking up parties when there has been no complaint from neighbors, which must end.

By the Editorial Board March 24, 2011

Editorials

Taxing universities won’t solve D.C. budget woes

With the District of Columbia facing a steadily rising $300 million budget shortfall, it is understandable that D.C. officials are looking for novel ways to raise revenue. However, D.C. Councilmember Mary Cheh’s (D-Ward 3) recent proposal to strip Georgetown and other universities in the District of their tax-exempt status is not the answer. Georgetown is, after the federal government, the largest employer of D.C. residents, and taxing the financially constrained institution will only hamper its growth and ability to employ new workers.

By the Editorial Board March 24, 2011

TEDx brings innovation to the Hilltop

On Wednesday, members of the Georgetown community gathered in Lohrfink Auditorium to hear “ideas worth spreading” at the TEDx Georgetown conference.

By Jeffrey Niedermaier March 24, 2011

Editorials

Bringing newspapers to campus worth the cost

When the Collegiate Readership Program was abruptly canceled this past September, Georgetown lost a valuable program. It was heartening to see the newspapers return a few weeks ago. The readership program also returned with some much-needed reforms that will help lower the program’s cost and ensure that more undergraduates have access to the papers. At an initial cost of $6,500 per semester, the price tag for the initiative is large, but it is easily one of the wisest purchases the Georgetown University Student Association has made.

By the Editorial Board March 24, 2011

Saxa Politica: Let students decide funding

Next week, the Georgetown University Student Association will vote in the student activities fee budget, concluding a months-long process that determines how to dole out $800,000 in club funding. Under the present model, GUSA is the only body with power over the budget, and GUSA senators ultimately make subjective decisions as to what constitutes an important contribution to student life.

By John Flanagan March 24, 2011

Sports

Hoyas disappoint again in NCAA Tournament

It was a case of postseason déjà vu for the Hoyas on Friday night, as they fell victim to a sharpshooting underdog in their opening NCAA Tournament game for the second year in a row. Virginia Commonwealth outplayed Georgetown from the opening tip, en route to a 74-56 victory.

By Tim Shine March 19, 2011