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Student Artist Spotlight: James Orlando

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[img_assist|nid=33905|title=Behind the Lens|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]
It’s rare to find a student so passionate about his field that he started his career before coming to Cornell, but that is exactly what senior James Orlando did. Instead of coming to Cornell to figure out what he wanted to do with his life, he came to Cornell to perfect what he was already good at: photography. He also happens to have the perfect name for a photographer.
At 21, James has done photography in London, been a starving artist in New York City and been a congressional page at the White House. Oh yeah, and he teaches snowboarding on the side. Don’t worry; your life isn’t that boring.

Sun: Have you always been interested in photography?

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Donna the Buffalo Does Castaways

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This may sound like an insane question: Why would you go to a concert? The explanations are straightforward. One, you enjoy the music the band plays; it touches you in some manner. Two, your friends are going and it might be fun; Friday nights and lab reports don’t always mix. Three, you know someone in the band; maybe they’ll give you a wave during a song, or throw you a (wood) drumstick. Four, you like live music. If you’ve heard of the Deadheads, or recognize the term “Red Sox Nation,” you know that some people have an elevated level of dedication to some bands or sports teams.

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Daze's Best, Worst and Most Utterly Ridiculous Halloweens

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You can’t spend a night — or the requisite Collegetown three — of dressing like a sexy police officer, Sarah Palin or an oversized pumpkin and come out smelling like roses. This week, the Daze staff share their wildest moments from All Hallow’s Eve: raw and (mostly) unedited. From disastrous high school pranks to men whose fetishes happen to be your specific Halloween costume, writers divulge their best and worst nights. It may have been a long time since elementary school going door-to-door; but that doesn’t mean the tricked and treated memories are far gone. So when Friday (and Thursday and Saturday) come along and the inevitable good and bad times happen, just be glad you weren’t us.

Thief in the Night:

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Ingrid Michaelson: Be OK

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Ingrid Michaelson’s newest album, Be OK, is more than “OK.” It’s awesome. Hits “Be OK” and “The Way I Am” are feel good and light. Ingrid’s voice is beautiful and she hardly seems to be making a conscious effort in her high vocals, making them all the more impressive, such as those in “Oh What A Day.” Instruments in the background vary among tracks and Ingrid’s lyrics are poetic and charming, keeping the large amount of tracks that are on the slower side from being anything but boring. Her renditions of “Over The Rainbow” and “Can’t Help Falling In Love” make you forget that she is not the original singer of these classics.

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Inside Risley's Castle

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Sunday, Oct. 26, 6 p.m.: “… I’m sorry?”
“They have so much sex in Risley, they have orgies like every night. Everybody knows that.”
I consider myself a pretty accepting person, but it was shocking that this sort of behavior was tolerated by Cornell authorities. I figure I should do some wiki-stalking before I spent a night surrounded by supposed sexual deviants. Here’s what I discover:

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Battle of the Pen(cils)

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For all students who have ever gotten bored in a class before, young or old, engineers or literary free spirits, there is good news. Your doodles, those things you sketch in the margins of your notebook as you struggle to keep your eyes open after a late night of partying, er, studying, are now considered art.

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Catch It: October 9 – October 16

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Thursday 10/9:

Sneak Peek! Tonight at 8 p.m., Cornell Cinema will be screening a free sneak preview of Ridley Scott’s latest film, Body of Lies, in Uris auditorium. The film is based on David Ignatius’s novel about a CIA operative who chases a lead on a terrorist operating out of Jordan, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. For (free!) tickets, go to WSH or download them from UberDuzi.com.
Cornell architecture alumnus investigates barns, scarecrows and archaic modes of printing. Interested in farm-itecture? Aleksander Mergold ’00, cofounder of Austin+Mergold, will be speaking at 5:15 p.m. today in 157 E. Sibley. If visuals appeal to you more than aural, check out the Austin+Mergold exhibit in Hartells Gallery in Sibley, today through Saturday.

Friday 10/10:

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Stephanie Meyer's The Host

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Combine science fiction with romance and you have Stephanie Meyer’s first adult fiction novel. The Host focuses on what it means to be human in the wake of a foreign invasion.
We’ve all heard the cries of the conspiracy theorists who believe that the Earth is under attack and people are being abducted. This novel explores what would happen if those conspiracy nuts were right all along. This isn’t just another extraterrestrial sci-fi conundrum — we see the story through the eyes of one of the aliens, forcing a perhaps unwanted sympathy. By constructing such a point of view, Meyer turns the violence and animalistic nature of humans into a dualistic package.

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Spun Stories, Mixed Tales

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[img_assist|nid=32525|title=Adam Vana ’09|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]Adam Vana ’09 doesn’t mind if you don’t call him a musician. “I think DJs who insist on that are just insecure,” he says. One of Cornell’s most prolific practitioners of electronic music, Vana prefers to use the word “prosumer,” a concept that fuses the roles of producer and consumer.
Vana, along with fellow Cornell DJ Dan Bailey ’08, has a residency at Le Poisson Rouge on Saturday nights at Collegetown’s City Style Salon and Sake Bar. An equally talented DJ with a complementary style, Bailey plays alternate weekends. Since its introduction this summer, Poisson Rouge has become one of Collegetown’s few dependable non-top 40 club ventures.

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Spotlight On: Brent Green and Brendan Canty

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This past weekend, animator Brent Green showcased his short films at Cornell Cinema. As a sort of experimental vaudeville, he narrated his films live with accompaniment from four indie musicians: Brendan Canty (Fugazi), Jim Becker (Califone), Alan Scalpone (The Bitter Tears) and Rodney McLaughlin. Before the event, The Sun sat down with Brent and Brendan, to get a sense of the men behind the music (so to speak).

The Sun: How do you feel that animation and music enhance each other?
Brendan Canty: Watching a film with pre-recorded narration is vastly different from watching one where the narration is improvised. There’s a degree of temporality within improvisation.
Sun: What makes temporality important?
B.C.: I think that shared experience is the crux.