A mere week after making my 'Year of Awesome Skin' proclamation, I'm typing this column on a Saturday night with an alluring purplish rash on my chin. This is not necessarily because I am the worst beauty columnist in the world, although, well, maybe.
With the Dow reaching a five?year high last Wednesday and the recent sequester hoopla, the state of the economy is of global importance. The fashion industry was hard?hit by the recession, with designers like Adam Lippes quietly shuttering their doors a couple of seasons ago and editors' perks evaporating. It felt suddenly inappropriate to wear ridiculously high heels or flounce intricate brocades. High?low dressing had been on the rise, but exploded as fashionistas and socialites alike bragged about their Reed Krakoff bags paired with J.Crew cashmere twinsets and Kate Spade rhinestone studs.
"I never thought this book was going to be about the media. I thought that I was just going to go study activists at a large national convening," said Tufts Sociology professor Sarah Sobieraj on her most recent research and book, "Soundbitten: The Perils of Media Centered Political Activism" (2011). Despite her academic background as a sociologist, Sobieraj, a self?proclaimed media junkie, has found a niche in media studies. This has manifested itself in varying research, television appearances and her role as a leading media studies professor at Tufts. In light of the recent presidential campaign and Occupy Wall Street movement, the general public is increasingly interested in the way that politics are covered in this country and "Soundbitten" (2011) reveals a darker side of biased media coverage, specifically that of the 2004 Presidential National Convention here in Boston. Sobieraj's book returned to the forefront of Tufts' collective consciousness when she spoke at Tufts Thursday.
If you've been to the Back Bay in the past decade, chances are that you've been to one of Pavement Coffee House's three locations. With shops at 286 Newbury Street, 44 Gainsborough Street and 1096 Boylston Street, Pavement occupies some truly excellent real estate and will be opening a fourth location soon. Though these first three locations were originally home to Espresso Royale Caffe, they are now independently and locally owned.
Now in its 22nd season, "The Amazing Race" has proven to be a huge draw for viewers in America and around the world. The promise of exciting challenges and scenic travel locations has given the reality TV show multiple Primetime Emmy awards, and the show continues to attract more than 10 million viewers every episode, a testimony to its transcending popularity and appeal.
Tucked away in ICA Boston's galleries, the video installation exhibit "RagnarKjartansson: Song" is easy to miss at first. But it would be a shame to overlook this particular exhibition. Organized by the Carnegie Museum of Art, the exhibition transports its viewers to a variety of extreme environments, using repetition of sounds, tunes and gestures to play on the line between recorded and live performance, and between fiction and reality.
Anyone who saw Atoms for Peace on their last tour in 2009 had a lot to expect from the group's debut album, "Amok." Formed by Radiohead's Thom Yorke to perform his solo album, "The Eraser" (2006), the group sports an eclectic lineup: Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, David Byrne's percussionist Mauro Refosco and Joey Waronker, a drummer whose work has appeared in much of Beck's catalogue. The most thrilling achievement of the group was its ability to transform "The Eraser" from a compelling but chilly album into a dance-infused extravaganza on stage. Their debut brings incredible sonic density and some of this energy to the studio, but one can't help but feel some of the band's manic grooves cooled off as the album was being assembled.
"Safe Haven" is the latest film adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks book - and its refusal to stay within the predictable outline established by previous adaptations is its undoing.
The second and final part of the second season of "Suits" has now come to a close, and what a ride it was. The first season introduced us to the unoriginal yet necessary trope of the unlikely duo, Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) and Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams). Mike is a brilliant bum, taking the LSATs for other people for money, and Harvey just happens to be a very successful lawyer looking for a new assistant. What will happen next? Who knows! It all seems like a horrible cliche - but it isn't the premise that matters: it's the show. The writers of "Suits" are brilliant with dialogue. The seemingly endless amounts of wit at their disposal results in them producing some of the most entertaining dialogue on television. Much like AMC's ever popular "Mad Men," "Suits" must rely completely on this dialogue because, unfortunately, there isn't much action involved in a show about lawyers.
