FEATURES

Beatles tribute band, public sing-alongs highlight festival

Vanessa Notman

February 3, 2006

Curtis Remington might look like your average businessman by day. But by nightfall, khakis are traded for bright colors, keyboards for guitars and short haircuts for wispy wigs. A graphic artist by day and a Beatle by night, Remington is the rhythm guitar and harmonica player for the Beatles tribute band Yellowsub Marines, and he loves every minute of it. "This isn't a full-time job, this is a full-time passion," Remington said.

FEATURES

'Waiting Room's' all-female cast works

Melissa Talon

February 3, 2006

The message that the female body is mistreated in MSU Department of Theatre's "The Waiting Room" is as loud as the piercing screams in Act 1.

FEATURES

Iranian girl's memoir impresses

Alessa Thomas

February 1, 2006

Imagine a world where you can be arrested for speaking out against your government, dancing at a concert or painting your fingernails.

FEATURES

'Feast' on new food-themed (SCENE) exhibit

Melissa Talon

February 1, 2006

The Oreos on display don't twist or crumble, and you definitely can't bite into them. The popular cookies are just a sampling of the smorgasbord of art in the victual-themed "Feast Your Eyes" exhibit at (SCENE) Metrospace, 303 Abbott Road.

FEATURES

'Bad Dates' hilarious

Melissa Talon

January 31, 2006

A miniskirt? Too provocative. Toss it to the ground. An ankle-length gray number looks too matronly.

FEATURES

Five favorites

Every week, The State News presents five things going on in the world of pop culture that might make your life a little bit better.

FEATURES

Skilled acting, soundtrack help 'Match Point' amaze, stand out

Alessa Thomas

January 31, 2006

Woody Allen could be a philosopher, but it's a good thing he opted for a directing career. "Match Point" weaves the story of four young people's lives into an example of how luck can dictate our paths.

FEATURES

'90s TV shows now abundant on DVD

Margaret Harding

January 31, 2006

When I browse through the DVDs at Best Buy or FYE, the last emotion I expect to feel is nostalgia. Yet that yearning for yesterday hits me time after time when I see the shows I grew up watching available to the masses again. The biggest shock has to come from learning that "Beakman's World" — the science-experiment show that featured Beakman, the dour Lester the Rat and Josie — has "The Best of Beakman's World" on DVD for the low, low price of $5.97 at Amazon.com. As a kid, I loved watching Beakman perform experiments to answer questions about rainbows and why the sky is blue.

FEATURES

Securing the 360

Margaret Harding

January 31, 2006

The Xbox 360 is the current pinnacle of gaming experience. And — as is appropriate for a pinnacle — it's proved quite hard to reach.

FEATURES

New MSU theater chair plans to renovate Auditorium

Melissa Talon

January 31, 2006

Newly appointed chair of the Department of Theatre, George Peters hopes his strong administrative background will help put MSU theater in the spotlight.

FEATURES

Locally filmed movie debuts in Lansing

Alessa Thomas

January 31, 2006

"Last Night Out" describes the night before Brandon's wedding as Joshua takes a reluctant Brandon out on the town. The characters are played by Brandon Bautista and Joshua Ortman, whose first names correspond with their characters'. Ortman begins the night by flaunting his bad boy persona — he hits on girls, drinks excessively and enthusiastically takes Brandon to a strip club against his wishes.

FEATURES

Lewis strays from genre

By Erik Adams Special for The State News As you can read in any rock magazine of note (Spin and Harp, for instance), Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis set out to make her solo debut, a soul album in the vein of 1971's "Gonna Take a Miracle" by Laura Nyro and LaBelle.

FEATURES

Queen tribute band resembles real thing

Ryan Mccormick

January 30, 2006

The Union Ballroom hosted an almost contradictory event Friday — an arena rock show in an intimate environment. Contradiction or not, it was definitely a hand-clapping good time for audience members when Almost Queen — a Queen tribute band — hit the stage with screaming guitar solos, monstrous drum beats and heavenly vocal range. "Really, we started the band when we found a guy that looked exactly like Freddie Mercury," said Tom Cavanagh, guitar player for the tribute band, before the show. Cavanagh, who has a striking resemblance to Queen's guitar player Brian May, was right about his band mate Joseph Russo looking like Queen's late great lead singer Mercury. Russo wore the trademark white tank top with white jeans and, of course, sported the Mercury mustache.

FEATURES

Game parties in Detroit still accessible

Corinne Devries

January 27, 2006

The biggest sports game of the year is just down I-96, and you want to party with the big name celebs in Detroit.

FEATURES

Marsalis delivers outstanding performance with band's help

Ryan Mccormick

January 27, 2006

Wynton Marsalis & the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra didn't just perform at the MSU Auditorium Wednesday night — they generated a mind-blowing event. The show was over before the audience had a chance to grasp the virtuosity of jazz brilliance on stage.

FEATURES

MSU grads produce short indie film that pokes fun at dieting

Alessa Thomas

January 25, 2006

MSU alumni Marty Shea and Ian Bonner are making names for themselves in the film business. Their recent short film "21 Carbs," which Shea and Bonner wrote and directed, has won two awards and been accepted to eight film festivals.

FEATURES

'Muslim World' surprises; falls short with humor, intelligence

Alessa Thomas

January 24, 2006

The title sums up the whole plot — "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" is about just that.

FEATURES

February usually brings film slump

It's that time of year again — the quality of new motion picture releases has been progressively dropping, and it's about to hit the low point.

FEATURES

Alumnus follows dream; creates record label in NYC

Ryan Mccormick

January 24, 2006

An MSU education has fueled alumni on the road to exciting careers all over the world. For 1999 graduate George Katsiris, his philosophy degree served as a catalyst for the creation of a record label based in the Big Apple.

FEATURES

Five favorites

Every week, The State News presents five things going on in the world of pop culture that might make your life a little bit better.