Kickin' it with MC Paul Barman
Susan Chopnick: We wanted to know: have you ever performed in front of this many Jews since your Bar Mitzvah?
MC Paul Barman: Never Bar Mitzvah'd, so that is an impossible question. But the easy answer is, (long pause) no.
Back to life, back to reality
Whenever Ive written a new Hooticle (I could say Hoot Article but “Hooticle” combines two of my favorite things: words that sound vulgar but are in fact not, and the merging of two words into one) many people ask me why, given my obsession with television, and reality TV in particular, dont I go on a reality show myself? And because said people actually exist only in my head, I dont even have to bother answering out loud!
Love and madness with Free Play
The Free Play Theatre Cooperative, which launched its inaugural season just last semester, has announced its four-play season spanning both semesters of the 2007-08 academic year, under the theme of Love and Madness. The fall semester will see two of these productions, The Night I Asked Cristine to Marry Me by Sam Zelitch 09, directed by Allison Vanouse 09, and The Love of the Nightingale by Timberlake Wertenbaker, under the direction of Becky Webber 08, while the spring will bring C.P. Taylors Good, directed by Eli Matzner 08, and Martin McDonaghs The Pillowman, directed by Free Play Artistic Director Josh Mervis 08.
SSIS Question Sex-tion: safe, sane, and sensual sadomasochism
Q: My roommate recently told me that she and her boyfriend practice SM. Some of the things she told me about are pretty weird and they sound dangerous. Is it okay for her to do that stuff?
-Scared Silly
Punk Rock finishes year of concerts off with a bang
The final concert at Brandeis this academic year sponsored by the Punk Rock and Roll Club promises to be another great free show with several talented up-and-coming bands. The Lovely Feathers, Ra Ra Riot, and Math the Band will round out the year by playing at Chum's this Friday night at 9 pm.
Entering Disturbia
Few would deny Disturbia offers a fair amount of amusement. The film is an updated version of Hitchcocks Rear Window. In order to appeal to its teenage audience, Disturbia is a lot racier, violent, and more technologically advanced than its predecessor.
Dream a little dream, I do
It opens with the sound of a gong. Graduate student Naya Chang appears on the stage, dressed as the monkey king. She tells the audience that life is suffering, the cause of suffering is attachment, the cessation of suffering is attainable, and the cessation of suffering comes from freeing oneself from attachment. Then, the drumming begins and Ramona Alexander starts her descent down the stairs. Thus begins the eclectic show that is The Dream Project.
Embark on a road trip? Aint no mountain far enough
Road trips have long been hailed as the ultimate college experience. Just grab a couple of friends and you have the thrill of the open road and unlimited potential for adventure before you. Despite the clichs and bad comedies inspired by this tradition (remember the one with Tom Green? Yeah, that one.), the college road trip is a pastime that will withstand the test of time and rightfully so. Just in case you too wanted to embark on your own life-changing, self-defining, soul-searching journey across the great American landscape, we interviewed road-tripper extraordinaire/Brandeis student Ethan Feuer 07 to find out the dos and donts of the college road trip, and ended up learning his personal story in the process.
Chalav U'Dvash: A publication as sweet as milk and honey
Jason Lustig 08 isnt an average Brandeis student. Not surprisingly then, neither is the Zionist publication that he co-founded in 2005 with Daniel Temkin 08. Chalav UDvash is, according to Lustig, who is currently a General Editor, the only publication of its kind. Youre not going to find another Jewish publication, in English, run by undergraduate college students, studying the issues that we do in such depth… maybe not anywhere in the world.
Strange But True
Japanese company recalls flaming toilets
A Japanese toilet producer offered free repairs for hundreds of thousands of bidet toilets the other week after three of them spontaneously burst into flames. Had people been using the toilets at the time, they would have found themselves with grilled rump roast. The bidet toilets, not sold outside of Japan, include features such as massages, deoderizer, and a self-opening and closing lid. The toilets run from approximately $1,500 to approximately $2,500.
Come to the Rubik's Cube and think outside the box
Amanda Clare 09 is bringing puzzles to Brandeis. At her brand-new Enigmatology Club (translation: the study of puzzles), newbies and seasoned puzzlers alike will riddle over everything from Rubiks Cubes to Soduku to Crosswords. The club has yet to meet, but she is bursting with ambitious plans and has already lined up a celebrity guest speaker for next semester Will Shortz, crossword puzzle editor of The New York Times. However, the club isnt going to be a lecture it will be very interactive and democratic, explained Clare.
Never a time so sweet
Well, friends, this is it. Its been a good run, but Horseradish now signs off for good. Before this school year even started, I had wondered many times how I would feel writing my last piece, and just what I would want to say to you when this occasion finally came. Let me assure you that, even after three prolific years of writing columns for The Hoot, I am very much at a loss for words. I hope the following will suffice…
Rabbi Lehmann steps down as Jewish chaplain
Rabbi Allan Lehmann, Brandeis Jewish Chaplain and the Rabbinic Hillel Director, will be leaving Brandeis at the end of this term to take a position as Associate Dean of the Rabbinic School at Hebrew College in Newton Center.
QRC lobbies for new staff position for gender identity and sexuality
Following a 2003 proposal to increase resources for queer students at Brandeis, the Queer Resource Center (QRC) is advocating a new position to educate and address the community in issues of gender and identity and sexuality.
Registrar ethnicity options create Student Union elections concern
Following the candidacy of an allegedly white student for Senator for Racial Minority Students, questions have surfaced regarding the issue of changing ones race with the registrar for the purposes of Student Union elections.
Panel discusses wrongful convictions and Maher case
The Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism and the Justice Brandeis Innocence Project hosted Righting Wrongful Convictions: A Dialogue between an Exoneree and his Prosecutor Tuesday, where wrongly convicted man Dennis Maher spoke alongside his prosecutor.
Student-led shirt initiative leads to UJ deliberation
The practices of Brandeis.CampusShirts.net, a student-led screen printing initiative, have led to a possible Union Judiciary investigation, sources said Thursday. The debate comes after student allegations of undue pressure on student clubs, as well as a conflict of interest between the Finance Board and CampusShirts founder and former Finance Board member Jacob Bockelmann 09.
Pipes comments on Middle East
Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes spoke to a crowd of over eighty on Monday in the Shapiro Theatre. He lectured to a mainly off-campus audience on The Islamization of Europe.
Finkelstein discusses Israel’s human rights record
After weeks of controversy, false starts, and wavering club support, The Holocaust Industry author Professor Norman Finkelstein spoke before a crowd of over 100 in the Rappaporte Treasure Hall Tuesday. His three-hour lecture discussed Israels human rights record, alleged exaggeration of the Holocaust to exonerate Israeli policies, as well as touching upon his long-time feud with Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz.
Friedman to speak at commencement
After the recent death of author David Halberstam, it was announced Thursday that Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Thomas Friedman 75 will be this years commencement speaker, joining senior class speaker Jon Krisch 07. Halberstam, the author of works such as The Best and the Brightest and The Powers that Be, was killed in a car accident in Menlo Park, Calif., on April 23.
