Restaurant roundup
Parts of this article were first published on the author’s blog, Spilling the Beans.
Video and board game fans flood athletic center in celebration of indie games
The 4th annual Boston Festival of Indie Games (FIG) took place this past Saturday at the MIT Johnson Athletic Center, where more than 100 independent game developers, studios, artists, and animators gathered to showcase their work. The celebration attracted thousands of visitors who ranged from casual gaming enthusiasts to video game scholars.
Arts on the Radar
Arts on the Radar, a “block party for the arts” hosted by the List Visual Arts Center in collaboration with MIT’s Program in Art, Culture and Technology (ACT) and Arts at MIT, took place on Sept. 4.
Growing pains
I go through music phases in bursts, and I make monthly playlists that reveal my brief obsessions. This past July, I went through a particularly angsty music stage — I was full of political discontent (I had just reviewed the anti-capitalist band Desaparecidos, so they were on this playlist too), I was working two jobs, and life was just, in general, monotonous. Needless to say, I identified with a lot of punk rock sentiments: desire to fight the man, weariness of the nine-to-five, eagerness to party (though my packed schedule and never-ending to-do list didn’t allow for it, so I had to live vicariously), and the simple need to do something just for fun.
Can I have the definition please?
I completely understood what director Hubert Hwang ’07 meant when he said that MIT students would probably really identify with at least one of the eight main characters in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The middle schoolers aren’t perfect, and while they have some impressive achievements under their belts, they have flaws, insecurities, and personal matters to deal with. We realize it isn’t fair to idolize them: admire them, sure, but don’t place god-like expectations upon them.
Steve Jobs: A study in contrasts
If you’re a fan of Steve Jobs, you probably won’t like this incredibly unflattering documentary about the iconic tech innovator. For full disclosure, I’m typing this review on a Macbook Pro and I have an iPhone in my pocket, but after watching Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, I have to say, I sort of resent myself for purchasing them. To be fair, this documentary is incredibly opinionated, but after watching it you will certainly get a feeling that Steve Jobs was not a very nice person, to say the very least.
A glimpse behind the curtains
At the beginning of every fall semester, the MIT Musical Theater Guild (MTG) takes the stage in Kresge Little Theater to deliver a charming musical performance. This summer, MTG has been working on a production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a musical comedy telling the story of six middle schoolers as they compete to become a spelling champion.
Inmost Thoughts, a cautionary tale
This summer, the MIT Student Cable Club (Radical Rat Studios) put out an 11-part web series called Inmost Thoughts. The series was filmed on MIT’s campus and the setting has a sort of hackathon-project-presentation feel to it. The story revolves around a mind reading device, and the qualms privacy advocates have with such a technology. The story follows Vivian (Sally Guthrie ’14), Melanie (Carolyn Vasko), Daniel (Ari Smith ’14), and Wendy (Nicole Dalton). Vivian spends a good deal of the series trying to convince Melanie that the mind reading device will help humanity, and conversely, Melanie spends most of the time trying to convince Vivian that such a device is a huge breach of privacy (although Melanie’s feelings towards the device do seem to fluctuate between revulsion and mild interest). Overall, the series is a thought-provoking and humorous reminder of the morally gray areas that accompany cutting-edge technologies.
Never Shout Never is back with Black Cat
I used to listen to Never Shout Never all the time in high school. I first discovered the band when I saw them live at a local music festival back home; they were just an opening act for some band that I can’t remember the name of. Ukulele and light acoustic guitar made up the base of their instrumentals, and that’s what really caught my attention — I was just learning guitar at the time, and their music was simple enough for me to play. I was excited when I learned that they were releasing a new album, Black Cat, this August.
New Politics hits the mark with Vikings
I saw New Politics when they performed in Boston last fall, and of course I had already heard their viral hits “Harlem” and “Yeah Yeah Yeah,” but I wasn’t too familiar with any of their other work. However, the show really blew me away and inspired me to check out their other songs (many of which were just as catchy and still find their way onto my playlists). Near the end of the show, they promised that a new album would be released during summer 2015. New Politics released their first single for the album, “Everywhere I Go (Kings and Queens),” back in 2014, and I’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of Vikings since.
Don’t judge a taco by its tortilla
I’ve been walking past Naco Taco every day since it opened this past spring near Central Square. Its constantly-populated patio and brightly-colored-taco-truck exterior always caught my attention, and last week I decided I needed to give the joint a try.
The 2nd annual Cambridge Jazz Festival
Nothing says summer quite like jazz: they are both relaxed yet spontaneous, fun, and lively. The annual Cambridge Jazz Festival took place this year on July 26. Located in University Park (just a couple of streets behind Simmons Hall), it was the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The free festival drew the attention of people from all different walks of life — young children and longtime jazz aficionados alike all sat together in the grass enjoying the live music and the sunshine.
The journey of a 2010 Fields Medalist
Birth of a Theorem: A Mathematical Adventure is the recently released English translation of Cédric Villani’s Théorème Vivant. Director of the Institut Henri Poincaré in Paris, Villani cuts a unique figure, frequently wearing large spider broaches on his jacket lapel. He is an expert in partial differential equations and their application to problems in statistical physics. His book recounts his frustrating but exciting journey to winning the 2010 Fields Medal for work on Landau damping.
A lighthearted take on John Green’s novel
It was about 1 a.m. the night before the screening, and I had just put down John Green’s Paper Towns. I had read his other books in high school, but for some reason, Paper Towns had evaded my bookshelf. Of course, reading the book could have been a huge mistake, biasing my view of the movie — after all, book fans seem to be set up for eternal disappointment at the theater. As expected, there were changes, additions, and some things that were integrated differently or left out completely. But John Green was an executive producer for the film, so fans can rest assured that the heart of the novel has been carefully transplanted from paper to the big screen.
Don’t you wish your last MRI was this much fun?
Self/less isn’t a boring film, but the trailer suggests a film more philosophically engaging than it ended up being. In fact, if you see the trailer, you don’t really have to attend the movie to know what it’s about, and most people will be able to predict each turn of events. Like I said, it isn’t boring — there are some exciting scenes that attempt to add mystery and thrill — but don’t expect to be too surprised. The film presents some entertaining (though mostly unoriginal) ideas, but ultimately doesn’t deliver. For example, the concept of transferring consciousness from one body to the next in an attempt to achieve eternal youth is pretty cool to think about. However, I was supremely disappointed with the lack of imagination regarding this process — apparently if you go into a huge MRI-esque machine with a strange net on your face, you can transfer your mind into another body. Make sure to bring your suspension of disbelief into the theater with you along with your smuggled-in candy.
Signaling a new wave
In a musical era where few people can name current artists and bands other than The Black Keys and Jack White that classify as “rock bands,” the popularity of guitar-driven music, whether in the form of blues-rock, punk, or psychedelic, appears to be waning. The exploding popularity of electronic dance music (EDM) and the continued mainstream success of hip-hop has left little room for attention to the prototypical 5-piece rock band. Australian band Tame Impala has been a rare success in the broad yet shrinking genre of rock music — they’ve won Grammys, had songs featured in television shows and commercials, and have been lauded by critics for bringing much-needed innovation to a dying genre. Stepping out of their musical niche, Tame Impala has taken a bold risk with their new album Currents, which differs greatly from their previous rock-oriented music.
This movie was made on an iPhone?
I know that “heart-warming” isn’t an adjective you’d usually associate with a movie set around the sex-trade industry in Los Angeles, but let me tell you, Tangerine is a heart-warming film — forgiveness and acceptance are key themes throughout the movie.
Róisín Murphy — Hairless Toys
When her longtime romantic relationship and music collaboration with Mark Brydon — the other half of the now-defunct electronic music duo Moloko — ended, Róisín Murphy swiftly launched her solo career with the 2005 album Ruby Blue. A peculiar and refreshing record, filled with unusual combinations of brass instruments, dance rhythms, and sounds taken from everyday life, Ruby Blue garnered very positive reviews from the critics and showed that the Irish singer and producer was not going to be overshadowed by her history with Moloko.
Jurassic World rips its way to the record charts
Playing off childhood nostalgia and obscene levels of hype, Jurassic World was poised to make a record-shattering opening weekend. And it did, beating Marvel’s Avengers for the highest-grossing opening of all time.
Listen up United States, Desparecidos has a lot to say
It’s been 13 years since Desaparecidos released its first album Read Music/Speak Spanish, but fans can rest assured, Payola picks up where it left off. The lyrics are politically-charged, anti-capitalist calls to action, delivered with a sting that is to be expected from the band’s frontman, Conor Oberst (best known as the lead singer of Bright Eyes). Oberst simply isn’t having this generation’s apathetic attitude — he criticizes complacency and slacktivism (“Donate a dollar with my coffee and save someone / Calling all friends I loosely know / We’re a tight knit clique in the virtual”). The group released Read Music/Speak Spanish when the United States was just beginning to recover from 9/11, the economy was crashing, and the Iraq War was just beginning. It’s fitting that Payola was released just as candidates begin to announce their intentions to run in the 2016 presidential primaries.