Dear Cornell students, faculty, staff and random people who pick up this paper,
Right now, you are most likely sitting in Libe Café, CTB or some equivalent. You may have a few blank notebooks, an astronomical bill on your Cornell Card from books you’ve just bought and some (hopefully) good coffee in hand. The nights are already starting to get colder, and your liver is taking some serious beating from this week, because, as you told your mother again last night, classes don’t actually start until like, mid-September. As you try to stave off the what-am-I-going-to-do-without-Schedulizer panic attack, your eyes alight on these words and you groan inwardly, thinking “Man, I wish it was still summer.”
We do too.
Here at Daze, we think that if we got money for each time we wrote “Here at Daze” we’d be rich. Also here at Daze, while we sadly say goodbye to our fading suntans, we realize this is a bittersweet sign, if only because well, this semester? Is gonna be rockin’.
Over the summer, Sammy Perlmutter ’10, Sun arts-and-entertainment editor emeritus and our current Daze design senior editor, has been working somewhat tirelessly on a complete design overhaul of the section, which will premier on these very pages next week. We ourselves have been working semi-tirelessly, blogging, plotting and festival-attending in preparation for well … now, when we will also be working tirelessly to bring y’all up to date on the what’s what, both in Ithaca and outside of the Cornell bubble.
Our diligent writers and editors sacrifice sleep, school and sometimes their social lives as we attempt to review as wide and varied a range of arts and entertainment as possible. Sometimes serious, often silly but always honest, we let you know what we think — be it about Moby’s last album (“mind numbing” and “obnoxious”), The Dark Knight (even if it results in a barrage of angry comments) or even whether Rock Band is just a game for lazy dreamers (it is, which is why we love it). And when our voices aren’t enough, those of musicians, filmmakers and others grace our pages, such as last year’s interviews with the New Pornographers, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, CAKE, Kevin Smith, Todd Haynes (director of the Oscar-nominated I’m Not There) and Frank Warren (of PostSecret fame).
As you probably know, we don’t only cover the mainstream scene; we also feature what’s going on right here, underneath your very own noses, including events like Cornell Design League’s spring fashion show, acts brought by the CUPB and the CCC, shows at the Schwartz Center and Risley and local concerts, restaurants, and art openings.
Along with our new and much improved design, keep an eye out for our blog, (f)Artsy online at cornellsun.com/blog/fartsy, as well as new ongoing features and mini-features. And while we greatly miss our graduated columnists who have moved onto better things (they like to think), and certainly don’t know what we’ll do without munchie advice from the Snack King, we’re excited to bring you, along with our usual line of over-opinionated columnists, a set of talented and outspoken newbies:
Alex Harlig ’10 is slipping on Dana Mendelowitz ’08’s oversized sunglasses and will bring you her own perspectives on fashion; Lauren Herget ’10 will be providing her thoughts on popular culture as well as jogging advice; Rabia Muqaddam ’10 and Rachel Gevirtz ’10 will tell you stories they probably shouldn’t; Julia Woodward ’10 will fill you in on the music scene; Peter will bring on the serious arts thinking, Julie will bring back the pop cultural silliness and Sammy Perlmutter ’10 and Rebecca Weiss ’09 will just generally bring the awesome. And of course, we can’t forget our regulars Martin, Maurice, Nathan, Jared and Ted.
Before we’re done, two more things: first, we know there are many of you doing super-cool, artsy or just entertaining things around campus. Let us know, and you may get your very own 15 minutes of fame. Second, if you love music, art, movies, theatre, tv, fashion, food, books or Paris Hilton’s YouTube response to Senator John McCain (oh man, we definitely do) and you’ve got something to say, let us know. We want to hear from you, so start putting that pen to paper.
Well. It’s probably time to grudgingly proceed to your next class. But cheer up, boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen: the year may have started, but it’s going to be a good one.
Love,
Peter Finocchiaro and Julie Block,
Sun Arts and Entertainment Editors
and
Sammy Perlmutter, Sun Senior Editor