Leigh Finnegan

Features

Dancing in the Dark

It’s a little after 12:30 on a Tuesday night, and the palpable energy in the U Street Music Hall shows no sign of dissipating. DJs Tensnake and Brian Billion have already hyped up the crowd, and when Jesse Rose, an internationally acclaimed DJ from London, gets into the booth and begins his set, the sweaty mass of dancers grooves on, barely noticing the change.

By December 1, 2010

Leisure

Post-dramatic stress disorder in the Gonda

Educational video games suck. Even if the kid with the controller doesn’t realize that the “game” he’s playing is actually edutainment and demands higher mental functioning, it’s a pretty safe bet that he’d still rather be blowing up heads in Gears of War than hopping to the next lily pad with a prime number on it. But what happens when the violent, war-driven video games are the educational ones?

By November 18, 2010

Leisure

For films that are really underground

The building at 2301 M Street does not look like a haven for culture. It’s big, gray, and industrial looking, and flanked by two equally bland office buildings. But if you head down a set of concrete stairs to the sub-sidewalk level, you’ll stumble upon a temple to the art of motion picture: the West End Cinema.

By November 11, 2010

Voices

There are two sides to every brain, why not use both?

Two weeks ago, knee-deep in midterms with no end in sight, I was sitting in a Lau cubicle staring at a pile of books and an empty Microsoft Word document. As an English major, I’ve written plenty of literature papers, but this particular essay was giving me a massive case of writer’s block.

By November 11, 2010

Leisure

American cuisine from a New York eatery… in D.C.

Who doesn’t love Teddy Roosevelt? He shot bears, he’s on Mount Rushmore, and he had one of American history’s best mustaches. That must be why at the P.J. Clarke’s near the Farragut West Metro stop, the biggest and most prominent of the hundreds of framed, old-timey pictures is a giant painting of our mustachioed 26th president.

By November 4, 2010

Leisure

Warming Glow: Enough cable to hang itself

One evening this summer, my father came home to a disturbing scene: I was sprawled on my couch in front of the television, eating cereal out of the box and too dazed to notice that he’d entered the house.

By October 28, 2010

Leisure

There’s no shame in being a Phone Whore

Camryn Moore has a very nice speaking voice. It’s clear, articulate, and engaging, the kind that an acting coach tries to coax out of his aspiring thespians who just can’t sem to vocally grip their audience. So it makes sense that Moore is the star of her own one-woman show, which has won both audience and critical acclaim.

By October 21, 2010

Leisure

Warming Glow: Glee is bigger than Jesus

In 1966, when John Lennon quipped that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus,” people went nuts. They burned records and religious groups pounded home the argument that Satan loves rock and roll. A little ironically, the Beatles have since become so canonized that these days comparing any musical act to them is decried as blasphemy.

By October 14, 2010

Page 13 Cartoons

Jeff Whitman

Jeffrey, stop that. We talked about this.” His mother’s quick hiss was harsh and familiar, and Jeff reflexively looked down at his arm. He hadn’t even realized he’d been slowly digging his fingernails into his flesh, but he never did. It was a nervous habit as old as he could remember, one of many, but this one most frequently came out to play during these traditional Whitman family Sunday brunches at the club.

By October 8, 2010

Leisure

Tragic but “fun”

Anyone who read Macbeth in high school knows the basics of the tragic play: it’s long, heavy, and ominous, and its costumes and sets echo its grim themes. But, as director and professor Nadia Madhi explains, her interpretation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding is intended to be anything but the typical tragedy.

By October 7, 2010