Writing on the wall: Sumi Ink
(02/25/15 9:52am)
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You are doing it wrong. You’re doing it wrong, and I know you’re doing it wrong because I was doing it wrong too, until a friend of mine threw my copy of Anna Karenina out the window and slapped some sense into me. This is a guide for those of you who choose your next read off Modern Library’s “Top 100 Best Books Ever Written” list, who start books and never finish them or who have ditched books all together for Cosmopolitan and Buzzfeed.
NPR's Invisibilia
When class is dismissed for the day, the Rice visual and dramatic arts professors are far from packing up and heading home. Though devoted to their students, these faculty members are not just teachers. In fact, they are all talented artists in their own right, putting in long hours to construct creative pieces worthy of national and international acclaim.
When I first heard “League of Legends” tossed around in conversation among my guy friends, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes a bit. Without missing a beat, I lumped it into the usual category of video games: mindless, violent entertainment designed to pass long, empty hours. After researching League more thoroughly, however, I found that, in this case, I was far too quick to judge. League is no standard game — with 67 million players a month, “pro teams” that draw 32 million viewers and compete for a million dollars in the World Championships and a collegiate league that inspired the incredibly well-organized and competitive Rice League of Legends club, League, or LoL, as it's called, deserves a fresh look. It’s time to put some misconceptions to rest and for Rice students to give the game and its players a chance.
It’s a Saturday night, you’re covered in sweat and beer, and the thought of dancing anymore at the Duncan public party makes you want to puke. More importantly, however, you are starving — like willing-to-eat-dog-food starving. Fortunately, you made the decision to go to school in a big, concentrated city instead of some northeastern college planted in a rural Pennsylvania field. And that, my friend, means you have access to some truly superb late night bites. These places have everything you could ever want in a 2 a.m. meal — grease, flavor and enormous portions. Remember, calories don’t count between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m. (It’s scientific.)
Okay, I know it’s not even Oscar season yet. That said, it’s never too soon to start planning which films you’re going to spend $20 to see. In all seriousness, 2015 has all the makings of a golden year for cinema. From Fifty Shades of Grey to a new Star Wars flick to works by the entire spectrum of elite directors, the competition for top place at the box office is sure to be brutal. Fortunately, the Thresher has filtered through the mountain of promising releases to pick out those that you should actually invest your time and money into seeing. The following movies are sure to spark conversation and define film this year.
Like many Rice students, I am Type A. Since middle school, I’ve done everything at full intensity — pulled more all-nighters than I could possibly count, competed at the highest level of my sport of choice, completed hours of community service, etc. I had every next step planned and worked for it with all of my being. We’re all like this to some extent; that’s why we’re here, and that’s how we know it paid off.
It’s fall, and love is in the air. There’s no better time than now to ask that special someone in your life on a romantic date, whether you’ve been together since high school or have just exchanged glances in class. Let’s be real, though: Planning good dates is hard. You definitely could take your crush out to Thai Village, but you’re fancier than that. But you’re also a broke college student, so it’s not like you can whisk them away to one of Houston’s finest restaurants. Never fear, my friend — the Thresher has your back. We have researched some of the best dates in Houston. Let’s just put it this way: The only thing that will be better than your day/evening will be your night.
Houston resident and Rice University Artist Research Fellow Dario Robleto is making waves on the national art stage. At only 42, his work has been displayed in solo exhibitions across the nation, in cities such as New York, Seattle and Los Angeles. Robleto’s most recent exhibition, “The Boundary of Life is Quietly Crossed,” is currently on display at the Menil Collection. The exhibition includes a mix of “found” artifacts, Robleto’s own sculptures and pieces from the Menil itself.
Saturday night, hundreds of scantily-clad men and women will file into the Wiess commons with one thing on their minds. Perhaps, even more importantly, the next day’s stories of who “got it in” will dominate conversation.
Country music gets a bad rap, particularly amongst politically correct, progressive college students such as those populating Rice University. Trust me, I get it. Despite growing up around horses and ample Toby Keith, I instinctively cringed the moment I heard Kenny Chesney’s “American Kids” blaring from my best friend’s radio. It wasn’t the rhythm or the vocals; it’s impossible to not at least tap your foot to Kenny’s hit. There was just some deeply rooted, perhaps partially warranted disdain for the genre that was hard to shake. Yet, as I politely indulged my friend and listened to the entirety of her exclusively country playlist, I found my guard coming down. In fact, the past few days, I haven’t been able to stop listening, and I’m not holding back. I’ve come to realize that there’s something moving and, for lack of a better word, magical about country music. While there is reason to question certain elements common to the genre, I would claim that Rice students, especially as Texans, are missing out if they write off country as a whole.
If you’ve been a good student this semester and have been hanging in Fondren Library a lot, you’re bound to have noticed the giant, bright-yellow pipe situated to its right. While Soundworm, as it’s called, may appear delightfully minimalistic, there is more than meets the eye. In fact, Soundworm is Rice University’s first ever student-created public art installation.
A quick disclaimer: I almost didn’t write this article. Though I had some ideas milling around in my head for a while, I also know that writers far more astute than I have covered nearly everything that could ever be written about food. However, after some deliberation, I decided this phenomenon in itself is probably a good starting point. Where do our ideas about food come from?
Sometimes it may seem as if all Rice University students have time to do is go to class, study and perhaps party a bit on the weekends. Certainly these activities alone can make for a packed schedule. However, hundreds of Owls cram their Google calendars even further with participation in weird/unique/innovative recreational clubs. Some you probably know well, and others, well, may blow your mind a bit. So, just for you, the Thresher has scoped out the student activities list to find some of the coolest clubs on campus that help make Rice the “unconventional” place that it is.
As Sept. 11 approaches, I am forced to recall the day when the Twin Towers came down. I was six, walking in line in elementary school back to my classroom when I noticed a group of other children crowded around the slit in the TV studio door. I walked over and followed their collective gaze to the television in the corner, displaying what I recognized as a flaming airplane smashing into a building. When I think back on that moment, knowing the details of the event like I do now, I am filled with tremendous sadness. Yet, at the time, instead of bursting into tears of distress like the adults around me, all I recall feeling was mild indifference. ‘Another bad thing,’ I thought, my face blank.
Syllabus week has a reputation for being a period of relative ease; a chance for students to settle back into the college routine and reconnect with friends. However, while you may have spent long hours upon arrival lounging at the pool, you might not have realized that one group on campus has been slaving away. The Shepherd School of Music majors hit the ground running this past week in preparation for the highly rigorous placement auditions: ten minutes during which students must play in front of a faculty panel to determine their positions amongst their peers for the year. While a good performance can help students achieve coveted positions like Concert Master or First Chair, a poor audition can have harsh consequences.
For a while now, I have wanted to become a criminal attorney, so I naturally love cop shows. This summer in particular was stock full of Netflix binges of top-notch detective mysteries such as The Killing, Law and Order and the zany Twin Peaks. I watch them the way you eat potato chips: with great joy and very little thought. You know the plot –– the gruesome crime scene, the forensics that narrow down the suspect, the interrogations and, my personal favorite, the trial. It’s thrilling, it’s mentally stimulating and, most of all, it leaves the viewer with the satisfying feeling that the world is just. Cop shows are addictive because they allow the viewer to enter a realm that is distinctly private yet completely essential to society –– an illusion that can be substituted for the harsh realities and inequalities of the real-life criminal justice system.
Rice is an amazing place, with perhaps equally amazing coffee – (Rice Coffeehouse, Salento). However, it is shameful to go to college in one of America’s largest cities and not venture outside of the hedges occasionally, even if it is just to grab a cup of joe and hit the books. Here are the coffeeshops that I think every adventurous, sleep-deprived Rice student should be sure to visit this semester:
Ever since 1980, the Thresher has scouted the finest of the Rice theater scene to present its annual Sammy’s awards. From talking vaginas to man-eating plants to enchanted fairies, there was certainly a wealth of creativity, ingenuity and raw talent in this year’s crop of productions. This year, the Sammy’s were selected by a special group of students involved in Rice theater: McMurtry College sophomore Rachel Landsman, Duncan College freshman Yena Han, Wiess College senior Ian Bott and Hanszen College freshman Rachel Buissereth. These panelists have each carefully selected the winners according to their own respective judgements: