Over the past 20 years, the man who invented the blockbuster film has time and time again attempted to retain his title as the king of popular entertainment in cinema while also distancing himself from the notion that he is a purely populist filmmaker cynically attempting to earn maximum profit at the expense of quality. In order to accomplish this he’s resorted every few years to the not-too-subtle tactic of releasing two movies within the same calendar year, one a serious drama and the other a big “event” motion picture designed to appeal to teenagers and children.
On the 27th of March this year, (Afrik’Art), a gallery that a pair of friends and I founded nearly two years ago in Johannesburg while attending the African Leadership Academy (ALA), officially opened its new space. This was the hardwon result of messy beginnings, incessant disputes and the teeth-clenching grit involved in trying to deliver passably professional results on a shoestring budget (while completing both A-level and Entrepreneurial Leadership and African Studies curricula).
I’ll admit when I first listened to “Swing Lo Magellan” that I was disappointed. While I could hear the effort that Dave Longstreth, the frontman and main vocalist, and the others had put into the album, I just didn’t find it enjoyable. The melodies didn’t seem coherent enough: maybe it was that I had become too used to the commercially-produced, predictable tunes of today, but the album simply didn’t feel accessible.
This past weekend, the Women of Amherst performed “On Stage(s),” a show comprising mostly anonymous submissions written by female members of the community about their experiences at Amherst College. After the public and painful confrontation with sexual violence that Amherst experienced this past fall, the Women expected an onslaught of accounts of assault. Instead, along with the more weighty material, people sent in stories of virginity, letters of apology and appreciation to their bodies and explorations of sexual orientation.
Over the past several weeks, the President’s Office and the Office for Conferences and Special Events have organized a series of dinners intended to encourage students to engage outside their comfort zones and standard social groups. Conceived by a member of the Class of 2013, these gatherings are a unique opportunity to attend a small, elegant dinner dressed in your finest clothes. The evening consists of fancy meals (you know they are fancy when you can’t pronounce the name) and professionally selected wines.
When I say “queer graphic novels,” what comes to mind? My guess would be not much; it’s not a combination of words that generally appears together. Alison Bechdel, however, has managed to make a fine career out of this combination. Her most famous work, Fun Home, was named the Best Book of the Year in 2006 by Time magazine and her career has spanned 25 years with no sign of stopping soon.
Black Alumni Weekend, a bi-annual event spearheaded by the Black Student Union and Office of Alumni Affairs, took place from Friday, April 5 until Sunday, April 7. More than 30 alumni returned to their alma mater eager to forge connections with current students and indulge in their college memories. Deeming the weekend as a powerful experience would be an understatement, as the weekend united students and alumni — ranging from the classes of 1972 to 2012 — into a single space to commemorate the past and look forward to the future.
