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Screw the Project, Free the Runway

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In our recently-released-from-the-hell-that-was-the-writers’-strike reality television dependent society, when we think fashion or models, we think Tyra and Heidi. However, as you know if you’ve ever been to any CDL events this year or in years past: Project Runway, CDL is not.
I realize this immediately upon entering the CDL studio in MVR. The studios and work rooms are tucked away in a far-off corner of the building I would never have found had I not been led there by some of the friendly members of the CDL board. I am greeted by Meg Cross ’08, president and Kirby Fowle ’08, vice president of publicity, who show me around the room.

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Back in the Day: Reunifications of a Bookish Sort

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There’s a reunion happening on the other end of the line.
Actually, there’s a Cornell reunion — a Cornell Sunnie reunion to be precise, and if I were in the mood to split hairs, I’d specify that it’s a reunion of former Dazies.
Their names are Mickey Rapkin’ 00, S.E. Cupp ’00 and Farhad Manjoo ’00. They work at GQ, The New York Times and Salon.com, respectively. Oh, and they all have books coming out in the month, one out already — the reason behind this joyous reunion.
In short, they are who you want to be in five to 10 years. Or, at least who we want to be.

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Arts Boxer Briefs

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BJ’s Big News:
Novak concerned about fact checking, leaves comedy career to become Sun Copy Editor
BJ Novak announced today that he is leaving his role at The Office to help with with fact checking. “My brains, smarts and good looks are obviously need elsewhere,” he told The Sun today, and then promptly asked us for a job. “That’s what she said,” The Sun replied.
Arts Editor Shamed, Quits Job, Wears Disguise Around Campus
Arts and Entertaiment Editor Peter Finocchiaro ’10 quit his job Saturday night after being called out by BJ Novak for a minor gaffe. If interested in the position, please contact The Sun.
Porn Star 101:

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REVIEW: I'm Not There with Special Guest Todd Haynes

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I should preface this review by saying I have never been much of a Bob Dylan fan. Or expert. In fact, I had to Wikipedia Dylan after both the first time I saw I’m Not There and before Saturday’s screening just so that I could pretend I knew what I was talking about (and what was going on). But I shouldn’t have bothered; both I’m Not There and Saturday night’s Cornell Cinema screening of the film and talk with Todd Haynes were basically Bob Dylan (and music/experimental film/random crazy cultural theory) 101, with Haynes, film critic J. Hoberman and random audience members serving as lecturers.
Seriously, in the metaphor I’m trying to make it was the best class ever — even if it was on a Saturday night.

Test Spin: Yael Naim

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Yael Naim, known (or not known, as the case may be) for singing the accompaniment for the Macbook Air commercial (“New Soul”) is relatively new on the music scene with her first, self-titled album. Amongst a current influx of talented female crooners (Feist, Sia), Naim stands out with her beautiful, clear vocals, simple yet haunting lyrics (even though many of her songs are in Hebrew) and scorching Israeli accent.

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Daze In Tinsel Town: Cornell Film's Past and Present

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It all began with The Emerald City. No, actually, it began with Frank Morgan ’12, who, besides managing four years of hellish winters here in Ithaca, also had the distinction of being the Wizard. (You know, in The Wizard of Oz. Yeah, that guy.) The man behind the curtain is an icon of Cornell’s long, historic tie to the land of dreams and the silver screen (sing it with me… doo doo doo doo doo Hollywood).
In all seriousness though, I had no idea how distinguished our ties were to Tinsel Town until John Schroeder ’74, The Sun’s production manager, told me recently. (Props, Schroedster. Props.)

My Sugar-Deprived Childhood

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Disclaimer: This is, in no way, an infringement on the Snack Food King. I wish I were the Snack Food King. I would love to be a connoisseur of all things junk. But, unfortunately, as you will see, my expertise is more in tofu than jelly beans.

My father loves to tell the following story: one morning when I was a toddler, he came downstairs to find me sitting on kitchen floor with cereal boxes and cereal piled up around me like the Indiana Dunes. Instead of trying to hide under the grain piles, I just grinned at him with my huge chipmunk cheeks, yelled “wee!” and threw handfuls of cereal in the air.

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To Rock (Band) or Not? (pro)

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Look, I see the point that Rock Band and Guitar Hero are just cop-outs for lazy drunk people who would start a band and be famous, if it were that easy. But hey, lazy, sometimes drunk person right here! And really, who wouldn’t start a band – and be pretty freakin’ awesome at it — if they had the time? Why should I have to go through the sweat and tears, the breakups, the poverty, the rehearsals, the fear that you’ll never be famous, the becoming famous, only to lose said fame and become a has-been, and, finally, undergo the embarrassment of showing up on VH1’s Where are They Now? for my music, when I can just as easily pretend to do that on a plastic controller?

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Tell It Like It Is

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Not gonna lie, my introduction to that particular phrase occured during Cornell Days. I was an overenthusiastic prefrosh already self-conscious about my own Midwestern slang, and having never heard what was supposedly normal lingo in the East made me feel even more of an outsider. What did they mean, “not gonna lie?” Shouldn’t it be assumed that you were generally telling the truth when you spoke?

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No Debate for The Great Debaters

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The Great Debaters starts, like many films, in transition: a woman sitting on a bus, staring out at a deceivingly calm-looking country landscape. Although an overused device for a titles sequence, it’s very fitting given the back story for the film’s plot — a country in transition, on a journey from its racist Jim Crow history, taking the first few steps of a long hard journey towards equality.