Wednesday, December 18, 2024

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Features

FEATURES

Through every conflict, music is always there

Call me old-fashioned, but mix tapes are fantastic. No, they’re super hip. I’m not talking about burned CDs, I’m talking old-school mix tapes, complete with static, low bias and songs that are sometimes cut off too short. Since junior high school it’s been a hobby of mine to put together mix tapes for people I become friends with.

FEATURES

Our flag was still there.

On Dec. 7, 1941, John Moon was 13. Sitting in the back seat of a Buick on the way to see his Aunt Bess in Detroit, he heard on the radio Pearl Harbor had been attacked. Moon, now 72, is a senior companion volunteer for Active Living for Adults and said the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington evoked emotions comparable to his initial reaction to Pearl Harbor. “My reaction was similar to what is going on right now,” he said “Amazement and shock.” The public has been bombarded countless times with media comparisons to the attack on Pearl Harbor, an event the student population at MSU has little means to relate, other than stories from grandparents and residents like Moon. “I was kind of too young to be shocked right away, but I knew there was this terrible thing,” Moon said of the Pearl Harbor bombing, the event that drew the nation into World War II.

FEATURES

Popular comedy opens this weekend

You haven’t seen every side of Shakespeare until you’ve seen “Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet).” It’s a hybrid of “Romeo and Juliet,” “Othello” and author Ann-Marie MacDonald’s sense of humor and is being performed at Bath Middle School, 13675 Webster Road, this weekend. “It starts out with this drab academic who’s been working on her doctorate and her thesis is that ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Othello’ were originally comedies,” Bridgette Redman said.

FEATURES

Students to debut independent films tonight at Lawn Shorts

Everyone has a friend that always talks about making a movie.Some people even rope their buddies into acting out a few scenes in their ambitious masterpiece.But for all those people who have actually spent a great deal of time and money to create their own film, there aren’t a lot of places available to show it.

FEATURES

Womens jazz tribute to be held tonight

The Women’s Resource Center and MSU’s Department of Residence Life are teaming up to present a jazz concert on campus. “An Evening With Women in Jazz: A Tribute to Breast Cancer Survivors and Their Supporters” will be held from 6:30 p.m.

FEATURES

Local success story comes home for free show

The Dollar Nightclub, 3411 E. Michigan Ave., will host the eighth birthday of The Edge on Friday with an all-night concert featuring Exit to Windsor, Joydrop, Bliss 66, Molly, 19 Wheels and the Verve Pipe.Doors open at 7 p.m., but Exit to Windsor and Molly will perform at an outdoor stage beginning at 5:45 p.m.

FEATURES

Hardball strikes out

Ahh, predictability. Almost all of modern sports movies are full of obvious twists and turns you can see coming before you even buy your ticket - and I’m not just talking about Adam Sandler movies. Every team is awful at first, gets good, undergoes tragedy and then overcomes that tragedy to attain victory.

FEATURES

Bad Ronald aptly titled

If you haven’t heard of Bad Ronald then you probably haven’t been to the mall lately. The group’s self-titled debut is an ideal soundtrack for most mall clothing stores frequented by college students.

FEATURES

Writing series displays rich literary heritage

Famous Michigan writers and poets have the chance to display their work by taking part in the Michigan Writers Series, which is presented by the MSU Libraries. Beginning in 1992, the annual fall event was created to recognize writers who had ties to Michigan and bring those ties to campus. Because of increased popularity and audiences from 25 to 75 people, the yearly gathering of writers was eventually changed to a series. “I realized the audience was larger, so I decided to switch it to a series,” founder Peter Berg said. Writers now have more chances to express their work, while allowing the audience to hear some of their favorite readings and interact with them. From its creation, the series has been a complement to the Michigan Writers Collection, which is a primary resource for the rich literary heritage existing in Michigan. The collection was started to recognize the works created by MSU students that went on to earn national and international recognition.

FEATURES

Ben Folds releases promising solo effort

If there was any doubt about Ben Folds’ ability to make an album without former bandmates Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee by his side, “Rockin’ The Suburbs” has washed it away. The new album is distinctly Ben Folds in both style and song, and although it tends to be more melancholy than his previous albums with Ben Folds Five, it doesn’t hurt the record.

FEATURES

Under Construction builds busy week

The average band doesn’t often get the opportunity to play on national television or star in a documentary, but Under Construction isn’t the average band.The East Lansing band is making an appearance on national television, headlining a Saturday night show at Rick’s American Cafe, 224 Abbott Road, and debuting a documentary about Under Construction - all in the same week.Under Construction is the guest band on the Mitch Albom Show on Wednesday afternoon, which airs on the radio station WJR in Detroit from 3 to 6 p.m., and on MSNBC Cable from 3 to 5 p.m.On Thursday night, lead singer Jesse Young will be debuting his documentary about the time and work that goes into Under Construction for an MSU film festival called Lawn Shorts.

FEATURES

Play exhibits few surprises

An elaborate and well-constructed set was probably the best part of the Lansing Civic Players’ weekend performance of Agatha Christie’s murder mystery, “The Spider’s Web.” Because it is a Christie story, the audience should know what it is in for.

FEATURES

Cable-access station to hold anniversary special

Local cable-access favorite “Skitz” will celebrate its 10th anniversary tonight with a two-hour live special on station WELM, a local cable-access station. Producer Nathan Quinn, 30, has high hopes of the program making its way to a network and being sponsored in the near future.But more than anything, they are celebrating all the fun they’ve had and plan on continuing, regardless of the near future.“I would be doing this for most of my 30s,” said Quinn, who started the station 10 years ago.

FEATURES

Local rockers to perform in Ann Arbor this weekend

If you are one of the many Domestic Problems fans who missed its most recent show in East Lansing, you may have to take a road trip to catch the band this fall.The Grand Rapids sextet played at Rick’s American Cafe, 224 Abbott Road, in late August, before many students returned for the fall semester and doesn’t have any other shows in East Lansing planned for the coming months.But that doesn’t mean it won’t be nearby.