Boston Calling
Only one year after its inception, Boston Calling is already making a name for itself as a top music festival for rock-lovers all along the East Coast. Fans of all ages, from enthusiastic high schoolers to parents, came together Memorial Day weekend to listen to some of their favorite artists while downing Sam Adams and dancing the night away.
Summer sparks are in the air
After finishing a tour with alt rockers New Politics and playing at a variety of music festivals this spring, Magic Man was ready to jump straight into their first performance at Boston Calling. The synth rock and pop band calls Boston home, having spent part of their college years performing at house parties and local live music venues. Joey, Magic Man’s drummer, even reminisces about visiting MIT for Bexley’s Beast Roast party during his time at Berklee.
Snowden’s revelations: the backstory
Leaking secrets in the public interest requires not only a ready and courageous whistleblower. It also demands an able and courageous deliverer to carry the precious message to the world. This year’s graduation week marks the one-year anniversary of the unveiling of Edward Snowden’s identity and the first wave of explosive NSA disclosures delivered by journalist Glenn Greenwald and filmmaker Laura Poitras.
Edgy and elegant
It’s finals time, even in the ballet world. Next week, advanced students of the Boston Ballet School will give their end-of-year performance, and in two weeks the company wraps up its 50th anniversary season with Balanchine’s Jewels. Dancers don’t revert to grunge-mode like college students during crunch time, however. The Boston Ballet was at its finest last Thursday in Pricked. They made the audience laugh, cringe, and marvel in awe during the edgy, fun, and technically demanding performance. They earned a well-deserved standing ovation from the audience at the finale. I’ll long remember the performance.
Clan in Da Front: A Better Tomorrow
“I smoke on the mic like smokin’ Joe Frazier, the hell-raiser, raising hell with the flavor,” Inspectah Deck growled over the rugged beat of “Protect Ya Neck,” Wu Tang Clan’s first single, which they self-produced and released. They were chaos contained, ready to explode.
Nearly perfect
One of the benefits of attending a concert by a new-ish band is that you get to hear their whole repertoire. For Foster the People, this included songs from their second album Supermodel, their first album Torches, B-sides from both albums, and everything in between.
Let’s talk about gender
How would you feel if you went to a concert where a performer dressed as an aerobics instructor with tights, a wig, and glittery shorts asked you to repeat, “I am not a woman, I am not a man, I am both, I am neither, if you don’t like it, take a breather?”
Pricked will showcase extremes of ballet
Patrick Yocum began dancing eleven years ago, in his hometown of Souderton, PA. After graduating high school, he trained for a year at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, and then joined the Boston Ballet II trainee program, working his way through to join the Corps de Ballet in 2011. He spoke to The Tech about life as a dancer, and Boston Ballet’s upcoming performance of Pricked.
Highland, high score
It seems that every time I visit the Union Square area, I find a new spot that makes me wish that Somerville neighborhood was closer to campus. Highland Kitchen was a find that reaffirmed that sentiment. With well-executed and unique renditions of international comfort food as well as a modest and fun vibe, this restaurant is one that I could see myself returning to night after night.
Joan Jonas to be the US representative at the next Venice Biennale
Joan Jonas, a professor emeritus at MIT and a prominent contemporary artist, has been chosen to represent the United States at the 2015 Venice Biennale, one of the world’s most prestigious contemporary art exhibitions. Venice Biennale (Biennale di Venezia in Italian) takes place in Venice every two years and brings new exciting art to hundreds of thousands visitors. The 56th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (May 9 — November 22, 2015) will be directed by Okwui Enwezor, writer, art critic, curator, and the Director of the Haus der Kunst, Munich.
The Other Woman retreads familiar comic ground
Cameron Diaz stars in the new comedy The Other Woman as Carly, a no-nonsense, successful Manhattan lawyer. We know she is successful because both her apartment and corner office feature floor-to-ceiling windows showcasing spectacular, geographically implausible views. Also, she has pretty shoes. Carly is dating a seemingly perfect guy named Mark. He is perfect, the film tells us, because he has great hair, sometimes sends flowers, and has what looks to be a very expensive watch (and no apparent need for a day job). Carly’s nicely ordered life is overturned, however, when she unexpectedly discovers that Mark is actually married, and, even more unexpectedly, strikes up a friendship with his wife Kate (Leslie Mann) and his other mistress Amber (Kate Upton).
Remembering the lost
How long will we remember the Boston Marathon bombings? While those killed remain in our memories one year later, two million people killed by the Khmer Rouge are, less than forty years later, all but statistics.
Chatting with MIT Ballroom Dance Team
Tomorrow Rockwell Cage will shine with crystal-studded costumes, sleek hairdos, and elegant tail suits as dancers from different areas gather for MIT Open, the annual ballroom dance competition organized by MIT Ballroom Dance Team. The Tech took this opportunity to visit the team members during their weekend practice and talk about preparations, the team’s progress, and dancing in general.
Colors in all their glory Quilts and Color exhibit is an unexpected treat
Are quilts fine art or folk art? The exhibit Quilts and Color, currently on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, invites viewers to answer the question for themselves.
Crime never sounded so posh
Dom Hemingway, written and directed by Richard Shepard, stars Jude Law as the title character, a career criminal on parole after 12 years in prison. Dom is vengefully determined to claim what he thinks is rightfully his, and heads to the grand French villa of a powerful crime boss (Demián Bichir), hoping for a big payday as remuneration for his years of silence while in prison. Along the way, Dom gets himself in and out of trouble — most of it comical and amusingly mischievous, some of it brutal and truly menacing, and almost all of it involving copious amounts of drink and drugs — before turning his efforts to a reconciliation with his estranged daughter, and perhaps, a slim chance at redemption.
Time is Illmatic, keep static like wool fabric
From New York’s Queensbridge Houses, a teenager scripted a work of art so raw and compelling that twenty years later its stories still ring true, full of yet-to-be-mined jewels of wisdom, studied religiously, and revered by the Hip-Hop community.
Goulash and cabbage and veal, oh my!
After a short walk from Andrews station on the Red Line, you may find yourself thinking you are in Poland when you walk into the tiny room that houses Café Polonia. You will be greeted warmly by a strong Eastern European accent and menus written both in English and Polish. The Slavic comfort food delivers on authenticity as well as quality, making the quick trip down to Dorchester worth it any day of the week.
Ceci n’est pas une interview
There are known unknowns — that is, things that you know you don’t know. Back in 2003, Robert McNamara was for me, an unknown when I saw him standing awkwardly in a khaki raincoat on the poster for The Fog of War. I had at best a very vague idea of who he was, and I had never even heard of Errol Morris, the film’s director.
Quality and quantity
Dine Out Boston, formerly Restaurant Week, took place this year on March 16 – 21 and 23 – 28. Even though the second half of the citywide event coincided with spring break, the two-week celebration is a great chance for students to try out some high-end restaurants at slightly more affordable prices.
Dramashop welcomes spring with a dark comedy
Walking down the infinite corridor, you might have noticed the slightly demonic child on the poster for Dramashop’s latest production of The Pillowman. It’s hard to miss, as it looks like the cover of a horror film. The Tech chatted with cast members Salvador Esparza Jr. ’14 and Adam K. Strandberg ’14 about the production, their experiences as actors, and their early days in Dramashop.