Part of being in college means loving Wikipedia. No, you can't use it in a paper or as a reference point when talking to a professor, but, in reality, it's nearly always the first source we go to if we want some quick information.
Fans of ABC's "Desperate Housewives" can usually count on a major mystery to keep them guessing all season. Last week's seventh season premiere did not disappoint. This year, creator and writer Marc Cherry will keep us wondering: Where did Carlos Solis' goatee go?
"Hands All Over," the latest album from Maroon 5, is like that rusty bicycle sitting in your garage: It still works, but it no longer has that allure it did in the store window. Maroon 5's most recent endeavor is agreeable yet simultaneously stale; it's nothing we haven't heard before. The band seems to have found a solid niche but is continuously unwilling to experiment with their sound. The tracks on "Hands All Over," although enjoyable, meld together into an indistinguishable soup of similarity.
Dysfunctional families are nothing new to television and "Raising Hope" adds another one to the canon. "Raising Hope," created by Greg Garcia, the man behind the hit "My Name is Earl," features a basically unknown cast of actors, which portrays the Chance family, a family of low income and even lower class.
Harvard. A haven of culture, a paradise of academia and the alma mater of a certain Internet mogul currently getting a lot of press. With an entire campus full of neoclassical buildings and references to America's ancestors across the pond, what better place is there to look at that stalwart fortress of Western culture that was 19th century England? Nineteenth-century England was chock-full of admirers of bygone ages. Artists like William Blake turned to classical motifs and themes to explore their own world.
Showtime's award-winning drama "Dexter," which follows Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), blood-spatter analyst by day, serial killer by night, recently kicked off its fifth season.
A friend of mine approached me last week after my column about Jay Sean's "Down" ran: "Hey Mitch," she said. "I liked what you did with ‘Down,' but I bet you can't do that with just any song — what about something crunk?"
Oscar season kicked off last week with the first major contender presenting itself: David Fincher's "The Social Network." Gone are the days of sweeping epics taking home the gold — unless, of course, you pander to the Disney mode of filmmaking.
Activist street bands from all over the country this weekend performed in locations across Davis and Harvard Squares as part of the annual Honk! outdoors music festival. Honk! performers all share a common goal, which is to take a stand against injustice and oppression through the act of creating music. Visit Jumbo Slice at blogs.tuftsdaily.com for more Honk! photos.
After a harrowing week of torrential rain and midterm exams, a good laugh is exactly what the doctor ordered for gloomy Tufts students. The Institute, Tufts' live and filmed sketch comedy group, is ready with that antidote.
Imagine the horror a doting wife experiences when, while laundering her husband's clothing, she discovers a foreign streak of pink lipstick on his dress−shirt collar. Now prolong that traumatic moment of disillusionment by two decades, amplify the exquisite shock tenfold and substitute run−of−the−mill adultery with lesbianism and a very messy mother−daughter relationship.
Having established himself as being familiar with the aerial world in "Legends of the Guardian: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" (2010), director Zach Snyder has evidently proven himself worthy of directing the next Superman film. We decided to simultaneously pay homage to his most recent accomplishment and celebrate his future flick. Here's a list of highly qualified owls we think Snyder should consider for the role of the Man of Steel.
Last week's big TV news was the axing of the critically acclaimed but ratings-challenged Fox drama, "Lone Star" (2010). The effects of that cancellation were felt this week as two other shows followed suit and another came back on the air early to fill the vacancy.
The goofiness of the NBC sitcom "30 Rock" can essentially be summed up by a question posed in its fifth season premiere: "Would you rather be with the person you love forever, but you always have to wear a shirt made out of their pubes, or be alone for the rest of your life but you get to wear whatever you want?"
Facebook is one of those fascinating companies that young entrepreneurs dream of creating. In "The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal," Ben Mezrich, the author of "Bringing Down the House" — the basis for the movie "21" (2008) — attempts to tell the story of how today's most widely used social network was born. Although informative, Mezrich's book uses overly simplified language and contains a bitter undertone, turning a potentially fascinating account into a drab tale of how two dorky Harvard students come up with a good idea.
Electricity. The minute you walk in for the SpeakEasy Stage Company's production of Sarah Ruhl's "In the Next Room (or the vibrator play)," you can't help but notice the buzz both on and off stage. The electrical currents are palpable in the room, but fortunately for the audience members, the play lives up to the excited hum felt before the show. Shocks, sparks and bolts of all types define this scintillating and ultimately euphoric performance.
"Glee" became an instant sensation when it first aired in September 2009. Since its pilot episode — the brainchild of Ryan Murphy, formerly known for "Nip/Tuck" (2003−10) — it has turned into something of a cultural phenomenon, evidenced by its 19 Emmy nominations and four wins.
As many of you are already aware, 2009 (and probably 2010, 2011 and so on) was dubbed the "Year of the Vampire," due to the outrageous popularity of the "Twilight" franchise and HBO's "True Blood." There appears to be something universal and fascinating about the desire for a blood−sucking, undead boyfriend. Even Tufts' curriculum has been affected by the trend: Vampires in Civilization is currently an Experimental College course. But what most people are probably not thinking about is how society's fascination with vampires affected the fashion industry during the 2009−10 season.
As the fall TV season approached, it was "Boardwalk Empire's" game to lose. The stakes, not to mention expectations, were sky−high for Martin Scorsese's HBO show, a Prohibition−era drama featuring a thrilling cast that stars Steve Buscemi.
