Culture
Boulder Coffee
The Recall shines at Boulder Coffee
Boulder Coffee on Alexander Street was the place to be for jazz enthusiasts and music fans of all kinds last Sunday. The Recall, the experimental, unique, and totally fun jazz group made up of five first-year students performed their first show. The moment I walked into the coffee shop, everything about the place felt […]
Mad Men
Not Vanilla: impersonal yet personal
Reader, sophomore year has been quite a doozy. The courses have gotten more intense, as have my extracurricular activities. And in this time when I have especially needed to focus, I have fallen into the pit of emotion that is “Mad Men.” I have a complicated relationship with “Mad Men.” And I’m warning you, spoilers […]
Black Panther
‘Black Panther’ is thrilling and human
I hate getting sick of things that I love. I recently realized that, in the past, I had obsessed over the “Star Wars” franchise so much that it detracted from my enjoyment in my last few viewings of the movies. I was simply getting sick of “Star Wars.” It’s a terrible feeling — knowing that […]
CT Recommends
CT Recommends: John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’
About once a year there will be a big snow in New York City. If we’re lucky, we’ll get a day off from school. So every New York City kid, like me, has been classically conditioned to feel great joy when exposed to extreme amounts of snow. Snowy days, for me, call for snowy movies. […]
Not Vanilla
Not Vanilla: Spending for smiles
This weekend, dear reader, I went for the first time to the Rochester Public Market. It was a chilly Saturday morning, but I came prepared with a warm winter coat and UR quarter-zip. My crew of friends and I meandered around the market, enjoying the fresh produce and the homegrown business–feel that campus lacks. To […]
Music
Music and being human: 20 years of “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea”
Saturday marked the 20-year anniversary of genre-revolutionizing album “In the Aeroplane over the Sea” by Neutral Milk Hotel. Two decades later, “Aeroplane” still manages to influence indie music and capture unique facets of the human experience. “One of the best feelings in the world is when you read or listen to something and it feels […]
Frat Party Review
Mardis Gras frat party weekend, reviewed
"Fraternity," a word stemming from the Latin "fraternus" meaning "brotherly." The North American fraternity system itself can be traced as far back as the 18th century, and has been a pillar of friendship, philanthropy, and binge drinking along the way. River Campus is no stranger to a good, yummy fraternity. Our campus is home to […]
Drama House
‘The Underhill’ is ambitious and fascinating
I’m not sure how to describe “The Underhill” to someone who didn’t go, because it is nearly impossible to explain. The installation (which is not exactly the correct word, but it’s the one I’m going to run with) is a mix of mystery, fine art, sound art, horror, fantasy, science fiction, and storytelling. It ran […]
MGMT
MGMT returns with ‘Little Dark Age’
Everyone knows MGMT for three songs: "Kids," "Electric Feel," and "Time to Pretend." All three appear on their 2007 debut album, "Oracular Spectacular," and MGMT hated that. The music was meant to be sarcastic, not commercial, and so the band retreated deeper into a neo-psychedelic retaliation hole. The effect of their retreat was immediately seen […]
Justin Timberlake
Not Vanilla: Big-time halftime disappointment
This year, when I sat down to watch the Super Bowl, I was expecting two things: a decent game and a memorable halftime show. I was pretty excited, especially knowing that the halftime performer was Justin Timberlake. He’d been out of the limelight for a good bit, so I was excited to see what he […]