Lords and ladies convene at the Smith Campus Center for Collegium, a weekend of Medieval-themed classes sponsored by the College of Boethius.

A Medieval Weekend at Fayre Pomona College
By Amy McDaniel
A&F Editor

Did you notice all the people in medieval costumes around Smith Campus Center last weekend? I certainly did, and I took some time to figure out exactly what was going on for all of you who were too busy or too shy to ask.

My interpreter to the medieval world temporarily stationed at Pomona was Eilidh Swann Stralachlan, right out of fourteenth century England, or Cat Ellen, as she’s known in the twenty-first century. Eilidh, donning a royal blue dress with a white head covering and a sparkling green belt, betrayed her modern persona only with a modern purse.

Local Sex Shops Spice up Inland Empire
By Emily Field
Staff Writer

Last Sunday at 1:15 pm, when most people were stumbling back from brunch, I was hyperventilating in the parking lot of Mustang. For those of you not in the know, Mustang is an adult bookstore on Central Ave. in Upland. It wasn’t exactly that I had never been in a sex shop before: I had never been in one alone before. This seemed like an important distinction at the time. I was fully prepared to run out screaming at the first sign of a potential flasher.

Pomona Welcomes New Art Professor Lynne Berman
By Alexandra Romano
A&F Editor

Instead of plopping down in the middle of the art studio on a couch covered in canvases, Lynne Berman, Pomona’s new painting professor, suggests we talk in the “chaos” of her office. Berman began her career at Pomona College along with the class of 2007 and president David Oxtoby about a month ago, but she has had her eye on Pomona for years. In 2000 Berman was introduced to the college when she did a project with the Montgomery Gallery. She worked with students and developed a fantasy to some day work here regularly with similar students. Last year she heard about a job opening, and she jumped on the opportunity to apply.

Warhols: Pop Pop Pop
By Dan Driscoll
Staff Writer

When the indie-credible Dandy Warhols cashed in on the royalties from the use of their 2000 hit “Bohemian Like You” in a European Vodafone commercial, screams immediately went up that the Portland, OR pop-art quartet had sold out. Unfortunately, the screamers had missed the point: “Bohemian” was created as somewhat of a pop-joke, its inane lyrics simultaneously celebrating and mocking pop culture, just as their namesake had once done with subjects like Campbell’s soup cans or Queen Elizabeth II. Indeed, commerciality was the crux of the joke.

Common Ground Through Hip Hop at Cal-Poly Pomona
By Tim Anderegg
A&F Associate

A good show gets the audience going. At his recent concert, Chicago hip hop artist Common delivered, and then some. You cannot go wrong with a concert that is close to school, out in a field on a warm California evening and filled with people who are really into the music. The best part of all, though, was that it was free, courtesy of Cal Poly Pomona.

The concert was thrown by an organization called Associated Students, Inc., to welcome the first year students, and it was actually an all-day festival. Two fellow Pomona students and I only attended the Common show, though, because we heard about it from a friend from Claremont at the last minute. It was definitely worth the trip.

Hail to Radiohead at Concerts Across the US
By Chris Meyer
Opinions Editor

Radiohead are in an interesting place in, The Year of Our Lord 2003. Already six years after their immortalizing epic OK Computer, three years after their classic genre-defying Kid A and two years after their, er, newer album, Amnesiac, the band seems to have hit their apex already, at least on paper. Since the last time we heard from the Oxford quintet, garage rock and electroclash became the latest buzzwords among the hipster kids, while modern rock radio has embraced liberal pillagers of Radiohead’s sound, such as Coldplay and Muse. On the eve of their sixth album’s release, the question became: can even Radiohead remain relevant forever?

Dick on Food: Try Pho
By Eddie Dick
Staff Writer

If you are looking for an exotic culinary treat in the area, then Pho Ha Vietnamese Restaurant on Indian Hill is the place to go. Its combination of fresh ingredients and unique flavors make it a real winner for readers looking to take a walk on the culinary wild side.

To help me sort out the dizzying array of options on the menu, I brought along Kelli Howard ’04, who was fresh off the boat from a two-month stay in Vietnam. Going to Pho Ha with someone who knows a thing or two about Vietnamese food can be handy, but certainly not necessary.

Capturing a Man
By Elizabeth C. Holtz
Staff Writer

Recreating a life is difficult enough in a novel, but on film the challenge is even greater. Yet by employing a number of different techniques, the directors of American Splendor, Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, manage to capture both the essence of Harvey Pekar and many facets of American life.

There have been a number of notable movies released recently that focus on the life of an artist: for example, Frida and to some extent The Hours. But while each of these films manages to communicate something important about these artists, neither film is able to transcend the wall between thier extraordinary subjects and the viewers. American Splendor not only achieves this but also captures the terrible beauty in a life that is not as average as it claims to be.

Laundromats, Prague Style
By Michael Owen
Contributing Writer

In Salt Lake City, my hometown, public transportation is somewhat problematic because mostly homeless people and students, neither of whom pays taxes, use it. As a result, conservatives in Utah (virtually everyone) repeatedly decry efforts to improve public transportation, unless you include freeways, which are supported by all. For instance, Governor Mike Leavitt has spent his almost eleven years in office trying to overcome statutory barriers to construct a new freeway through the endangered wetlands east of the Great Salt Lake. He will soon leave this project to his successor because he has been asked to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

New West Wing: Regime Change
By Tim Anderegg
A&F Associate

A good show gets the audience going. At his recent concert, Chicago hip hop artist Common delivered, and then some. You cannot go wrong with a concert that is close to school, out in a field on a warm California evening and filled with people who are really into the music. The best part of all, though, was that it was free, courtesy of Cal Poly Pomona.

The concert was thrown by an organization called Associated Students, Inc., to welcome the first year students, and it was actually an all-day festival. Two fellow Pomona students and I only attended the Common show, though, because we heard about it from a friend from Claremont at the last minute. It was definitely worth the trip.