Boogie Wonderland: Rave Houses Smith

By Liz Rodriguez

Glow sticks, baggy jeans, and ecstasy; these three things used to pop into my head when someone mentioned the word rave. Back before I knew any better, I envisioned a rave as an empty downtown warehouse full of teenagers and burnt-out 40 year-olds, experimenting with hard drugs, sporting pacifiers and Sesame Street backpacks, and dancing to indefinable music all night long. And although there are certainly still lots of rave-goers who trek to their local Hot Topic store to buy their gear (gas masks, pleather apparel, and candy jewelry), the average raver today is simply a young person who appreciates listening and dancing to electronic music and likes to cut loose on weekends. [con't]

Okay, okay. The truth is out. The only reason we do this column is to get our very own Mufti sticker. We, the Inland Emperors, have always wanted a Mufti sticker about us, and we figured that the most direct route to Mufti attention would be a Student Life column, seeing as Mufti is the TSL editorial board. So, every night we stay up late drinking MeisterBrau waiting for Mufti to come by. And every morning we put the empty MeisterBrau boxes on our heads (yes, that’s right, like a coupla comedians) and go scouring the campus looking for our stickers. And every morning we’re disappointed. But a few weeks ago, as Drew was looking under the O.E. cap to see if he was an instant winner, Richard cracked the code. [con't]

Student Government Fosters Aspirations

By Jonathan Vanasco

Jake Oken-Berg ‘02, ASPC Commissioner of Academic Affairs, did more this Thanksgiving break than most other Sagehens. He got home a day early and decided that on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, he would walk into Portland’s City Hall, and declare his candidacy for mayor. And that’s pretty much what he did. [con't]

Words Up: Good Vibes at Pitzer

By Ariane M. Balizet

Damn those Pitzer kids and their inexhaustible resources of creativity and enthusiasm. There’s nothing like a poetry reading to make me feel sheepish about the dearth of student-run creative and artistic weeklies here at Pomona. Of course, it’s not all our fault. The administration has come down pretty hard on such supposedly raucous events as the ill-fated Open Mic, whose doom was sealed by the refreshing new faces it brought on campus, and this year’s "too-loud-for-the-Campus-Center-Crowd" Table Manners. [con't]

Film Shows New Kind of Blues

By David Roth

It is probably simple cultural chauvinism, but Japan has always seemed to me to be a nation that’s kind of, you know, different. All I know is from articles, and that book Dave Barry wrote about going to Japan, and the odd documentary or television show. But I know that there are vending machines where men can and do buy "authentic" schoolgirl underwear, that it’s traditional for Japanese salarymen to drink until throwing up in bars, and I know that ultraviolent, sexed-up comic books are big sellers among those selfsame boot-n-rallying urban professionals (thanks, Vice magazine!). [con't]

Ani Difranco: To The Teeth Tamara Chellam Contributing Writer I love Ani Difranco. This is no secret. Every time she puts out a new album, I get nervous. Am I going to like it? Is it going to live up to all the expectations I have built up for it? To The Teeth was released November 16, 1999 to little fanfare–this Ani freak, at least, didn’t know of it until the trusty TSL editor procured me an advance copy. Actually, it’s her third full-length CD of 1999, following Up Up Up Up Up Up and a joint effort with Utah Phillips on Fellow Workers, so I didn’t really have my eyes peeled for something new. [con't] End of Days Keith Richey Contributing Writer End of Days is a right bad movie, a ripe rotting tomato of a flick waiting to be thrown at itself. I use such strong language because the movie’s only strength was the ease with which it sent me to sleep. That’s correct, I slept through a solid ten minutes of an Arnold action flick, despite the best efforts of the theater’s brand-new Dolby Digital surround-sound system. And when I awoke to witness the last thirty minutes of the movie, my sole regret was that I’d woken up at all. So really, the less said about this movie the better. [con't] Six String Samurai: Video Aiden Doherty A&F Associate These days the word ‘indie,’ just as in the days of dear old Christopher Columbus and Vasco de Gama, is a golden word. More than that, it’s a Midas word–everything it touches turns to gold. Good music may be good music, but indie music is better. The reaction against big budget Hollywood, that gross and debased monster that, sadly, we ourselves created, is epitomized by our hip celebration of indie films, such as Clerks, Eraser, or, most recently, Six String Samurai. [con't]

Hi, Art: The 5C Scene

By Robyn Kessel

In an effort to celebrate the art that permeates the Claremont Colleges, let us explore some highlights from the plethora of recent opportunities for making and experiencing art on campus. A lot has happened in the campus art scene this month:

November began with an opening at Montgomery Gallery featuring the college’s impressive collection of 14—19 century Japanese paintings, photographs of the Philippines, and found-object sculptures by Nancy Kyes. The two contemporary artists were in attendance at the opening and both were quite willing to engage students in conversation about their works and philosophies. [con't]