Hopkins is a diverse university where an incredible mix of cultures, academic interests and personalities coexist and thrive. Here is the section where you can publish your unique thoughts, ideas and perspectives on life at Hopkins and beyond.
In 2011, over 800,000 people worldwide took the Graduate Records Examination, better known as the GRE, as part of an effort to gain admission to graduate education programs. This year, I will be among those taking the test.
Halloween 2012 has come and gone. Along with it, parades of girls sporting some sort of animal ears, or dressed as this or that uniformed official could be seen meandering the streets of Hopkins and Fell’s Point. Of course, you also had your classic celebs, political figures or iconic movie characters making an appearance (or several). The high incidences of multiple identical costumes that can generally be found during the Halloween season are a testament to the fact that thinking up and carrying out a distinct and brilliant original costume, while admirable and desirable, very often proves pointless and near impossible. However, just because you can’t be unique in your costume choice doesn’t mean that whatever you put together can’t be hilarious or well done. After all, the abundance of Mitt Romneys did not detract from those particularly spot-on Romney renditions that made sure to have their life-sized cardboard binder full of woman (singular — it turns out binders can’t actually hold that many women, Mitt). It’s not so much how you dress up, but rather how you arrive. Costumes need not be unprecedented or unparalleled in uniqueness, but whatever else they are, they should be executed well.
Whales!” someone shouted, and everyone on the boat jumped out of their seats. We strained our eyes to catch even the slightest glimpse of the magnificent beasts.
There is a lot going on this month. I could write about my Halloween, but I have nothing to say about the holiday that I did not already address last month. I could write about Hurricane Sandy, but I do not have the authority, and I would rather make people happy, and not sad. I could write about National Novel Writing Month (http://www.nanowrimo.org/), but then it would sound like me preaching about the importance of writing everyday. I could write about the election, but we already get enough of that everywhere we turn. I could talk about all of these things right now by saying that I won’t talk about them.
This week I’m reviewing a recent film that received rave reviews: “Moonrise Kingdom,” directed by Wes Anderson, cowritten by Anderson and Roman Coppola. If you haven’t watched the film yet, be aware of minor spoilers ahead.
You know what’s funny and on the internet? Kittywigs.com. You know what else is? Twitter! For a long time, I avoided the Twitter rage that has swept up college students and weird adults. I didn’t like the idea of posting about my every thought and action. I’m not that exciting! I do a lot of boring things like cut my fingernails and eat cheesy popcorn. No one wants to read about that. But recently, I discovered a new, brilliant use for Twitter that finally got me on board and got me to register for my very own account. So what is this trend? I WILL TELL YOU:
Last week I wrote a piece on what is a classic in American cinema (and cinema as a whole). This week I want to focus on global cinema, in particular a movie from the largest producer (by number of films) of motion pictures in the world: Bollywood.
Despite its somewhat underground location, the Dogwood Restaurant on Hampden’s The Avenue is not to be overlooked. Located below the bikram yoga studio’s giant “LOVE” sign, the restaurant is a cozy room with murals on its walls. Contrary to the common review that Dogwood’s dining room is like a cave, its enclosed underground environment gives it a warm, comfortable feel.
A certain maturity comes with becoming a Hopkins upperclassman as students learn how to deal with the responsibility of growing up and moving into their own off campus places. That’s what I like to think, anyway.
For the past 30 years or so, musical sampling has attained a significant role in the music industry. What is sampling exactly? According to Wikipedia, music sampling is taking a portion of one recording and using it as an instrument in a different recording. Through samples, one can create an entirely different song from the origin of said samples. An example of this is Endtroducing… by DJ Shadow. Released in 1996, it has been cited by the Guinness Book of Records as the first album ever to be created entirely with samples. If you were to listen to the original material the samples come from, you would see how they do not sound anything like the instrumental hip hop and trip hop feel that DJ Shadow falls under.
I’m turning back the clock a bit and examining a pivotal landmark in the history of the film industry, “The Godfather.” Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 masterpiece might be the single defining work of his career and perhaps the most critically acclaimed film in cinematic history. Before the film was even in pre-production, studios knew it was going to be well-received (both critically and commercially). There was a fierce bidding war over the rights almost immediately after the novel was released. Studio executives and directors alike knew they had a gem on their hands.
I am not an athlete by any means. I picked clovers in the soccer field when I was eight, won the “Enthusiasm Award” from my summer camp volleyball team and was picked last for every team in high school gym, ever.
Recently my travels took me to the Big Apple where I was able to witness the wonderful spectacle that is “The Colbert Report.” Getting tickets is not as easy as you might think. The Twitter account Spiffomatic64 (I have no idea where the name comes from) gives you automatic updates on the tickets available for “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.” I kept the Twitter page open in my tabs and it still took me weeks to get a ticket. You have to act really fast because the tickets are free! But I finally succeeded in getting two tickets, one for me and one for my boyfriend for the night of Thursday, Sept. 27.
My older sister has four children. This year Ahava, Cirillo, Alejandra and Jose will be nine, three, two and one years old, respectively. She lucked out since she has the best of both worlds, two boys and two girls. Anyways, these rascals keep us all young with their endless energy. Not to mention, they’re also the ultimate form of entertainment.
On Monday, I awoke to the news that James Blunt had retired from the music industry. “I just want to take some time out for myself,” he told The Daily Mail, “I haven’t got any plans to do more songwriting.”
Dear AskMani, So I’ve been inspired by Drake’s song “Motto” and something about “25 sitting on 25 mill” just resonated with me. I’m currently 21 and far from on pace. Do you have any advice for making $24.999999 million dollars in four years? Sincerely, I Wanna B Rich
When I was a mere sophomore in high school, I decided it would a brilliant idea to travel to India on a service project with my school, despite the fact that I cannot stand spicy food. I would spend the two weeks there eating lots of naan bread and not much else.
On Oct. 2, Dave Grohl, the founder of the Foo Fighters, announced via their website that the band would be going on hiatus for an undetermined amount of time. Obviously, after winning 5 Grammy’s with their album Wasting Light, going on a massive world tour and just being one of the most popular rock bands around, this is terrible news for a fan to hear. Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters were the saviors of music; they are that one rock band that is as, if not more, popular than the big names within the current electronic dance (EDM) trend in music. But upon further analysis, are the Foo Fighters really the saviors of music? Are they actually bringing anything new to the table?
