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Critical Voices

Appreciating Charizma requires historical background. A few years after Straight Outta Compton and at the same time as A Tribe Called Quest’s masterful The Low End Theory, a young MC by the name of Charizma was on the rise in L.A. While clearly showing influence from both of the aforementioned albums, especially the jazz beats of Tribe and the quick-fire delivery of Eazy-E or Ice Cube, his flow was so far advanced that many predicted he would be the ‘90s dominant hip-hop force.

By the Voice Staff January 22, 2004

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Sleep When You’re Dead

A resident of Georgetown for decades, Mrs. Colette English returns to Richmond every other month to visit the community of friends and acquaintances she left behind there and to comment on the city’s creeping southernness and decay. The traffic is “interminable,” she broods, now accustomed to the assertive driving of Washington.

By the Voice Staff January 22, 2004

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We do like them apples

LEISURE BY PRIYA BAPAT Mask and Bauble’s third production of the season, The Apple Cart, is an updated take on playwright George Bernard Shaw’s vision of the future.

By the Voice Staff January 15, 2004

Leisure

Visions screens political film

Over the summer, my hometown newspaper ran an article about the lack of evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The report that Bush’s constant message of Saddam Hussein’s threat to the U.S. and the world was essentially fabricated outraged me, but I was more upset by the story’s placement.

By the Voice Staff January 15, 2004

Leisure

Eleven reasons to remember ’03

1. The Meadowlands, The Wrens, Absolutely Kosher New Jersey based indie rockers return from seven years of silence with a masterpiece proving that the guitar is alive and kicking. Complex melodies ranging from quiet, intricate beauty to sublime hurricanes of overdriven six-string glory flow together into a single, cohesive opus of the slow decay of suburban nine to five life.

By the Voice Staff January 15, 2004

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Mary Kate, Ashley

Attention all males! Only 150 days, 3 hours, and 29 seconds ‘til the Olsen twins are legal! Since this changes very little for the majority of your sex lives, I’d like to make a proposition: stop coveting the bodies of small children and look at yourselves! Fantasizing about legally unattainable girls is preventing you from any hope you ever had for a real relationship.

By the Voice Staff January 15, 2004

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‘Camelot’: King Arthur, again

LEISURE BY KATHYRN BRAND When one thinks of King Arthur, dueling and damsels, rather than singing and dancing, are among the first things that come to mind. Immortalized as old texts, a bedtime story and even a Disney animated cartoon, the Knights of the Round Table meet the stage in the musical Camelot.

By the Voice Staff December 4, 2003

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The Atmosphere encounter

Picture this: you suddenly find yourself sitting on a couch next to your all-time favorite musician, whom you never imagined you would get to meet. You’ve been listening to his albums for years, and suddenly you’re having a conversation with him. He’s calling you by your name: “Hey Abby, pass me another Corona?” I am hanging out with Slug, also known as Sean Daley, before his Atmosphere show at the Black Cat.

By the Voice Staff December 4, 2003

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Ted Leo needs the Pharmacists

Before the well dressed, skinny tie-wearing mod rock and power pop revivalists of the last few years, there was Ted Leo. One of today’s indie rock elder statesmen, Leo has been getting attention since playing New York’s hardcore scene in the late ‘80s. Tell Balgeary, Balgury is Dead, the recent EP from Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, his current band, reflects Leo’s constantly expanding ability to write complex, catchy, affecting songs.

By the Voice Staff December 4, 2003

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Critical Voices

The Unicorns are pop music, in the way that makes you want to give music one more chance. A much maligned institution, pop is so overabundant that we’re almost justified in taking extreme measures with the entire genre. But before we had to do something drastic (prog-rock ain’t worth it kids), Canada came to our rescue.

By the Voice Staff December 4, 2003

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Critical Voices

The bored, angry masses of America’s white suburban youth should be disappointed by the release of Thursday’s lackluster new album, War All the Time. Coming off their subtlely powerful last effort, Full Collapse, they aimed for a higher, more beautiful sound-and fell flat on their face.

By the Voice Staff December 4, 2003

Leisure

Museum that

Even though it contains both my first and last names, the Smithsonian Institute and the fleet of museums that bear its name just don’t cut it anymore. Museum of Natural History, spare us the giant squid, please-not interested. And the Hope Diamond? How very Home Shopping Network of you.

By the Voice Staff December 4, 2003

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Japanese basic cable round-up

LEISURE BY SCOTT MATTHEWS Tired of lame sitcoms and lowest-common-denominator television programming? Probably not. You are their target audience, after all. But if the usual life-wasting entertainment is starting to wear thin, then clearly the only answer is to move to Japan for its rich array of quality television shows.

By the Voice Staff November 20, 2003

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Jay-Z: the blinged-out Che Guevara

Shawn Carter-the artist variously known as Jay-Z, Jigga, Jay-Hova, Hovito, Young ‘Hov, Young, S “Dot” Carter or simply Jay-is a lot smarter than you think.

You probably know he’s one of the best rappers but don’t really understand why. You probably think he only talks about “money, cash, and hoes,” but love his style anyway.

By the Voice Staff November 20, 2003

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Winged Migration soars

Having trouble appreciating the ubiquitous Canadian goose? Usurping many suburban parks with their squawking and their droppings, these creatures seem more American than the neglected bald eagle. In the Oscar-nominated documentary Winged Migration, , French director Jacques Perrin succeeds in making the Canadian goose and his feathered friends not only inoffensive, but beautiful.

By the Voice Staff November 20, 2003

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Critical Voices

Few former elementary school teachers and certifiable drunks can claim to have had as much of an effect upon independent music as Robert Pollard. As the one-man creative engine behind the indie rock legend Guided By Voices, Pollard has been one of the most prolific artists of the last fifteen years.

By the Voice Staff November 20, 2003

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T-givin’ Truths

“Thanksgiving only comes once a year.” How true that is! How true, and how sweet. But you know what? Waiting for Thanksgiving is boring. every year, the Georgetown campus becomes a wasteland for the four-to-five day weekend when thousands upon thousands of Hoyas clear out for points west, south, north, and possibly even east (for you European exchange students).

By the Voice Staff November 20, 2003

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Brunchy Bunch

Every Sunday morning, my roommates and I bake scones. By “morning” I mean 1p.m. And by “my roommates and I bake scones,” I mean they watch as I throw ingredients into a bowl, mix and bake them. We sit around the kitchen table-last Sunday until four in the afternoon-trying to pretend that we have nowhere else to be.

By the Voice Staff November 13, 2003

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‘The Cradle’ rockxxx

LEISURE BY JULIA COOKE As 8 p.m. comes and goes, the audience gossips audibly and cast members chat among themselves onstage. Murmurs of “I’m so confused” grow louder as actors wander offstage to offer refreshments and chat with the audience. Poulton Hall has become a different kind of theater, one in which the comfort of the audience is paramount.

By the Voice Staff November 13, 2003