Entertainment

ATARISTOTLE | Super Smash Bros. in the Black Community

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So if you’ve read my bio or just know me personally, I absolutely adore the party, fighting-game Super Smash Bros. So much so, that winning or losing in a game of four player free-for-all or one-on-one I will physically  transform this angry, volatile beast that has me taking my shirt off and foaming at the mouth to play again and again and again. And if I can’t do that, I will train alone in my room for a few hours the next morning until my nails chip and the skin on my thumbs peel. Silently, I savor every moment. 

Sounds unhealthy? You bet.

Entertainment

TRAVELIN’ WITH JACQUELINE | Hand to God

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This week, I bring you all another event I attended through the charity of West Campus: Kitchen Theatre’s new play, Hand to God. For those of you (most of us), who aren’t familiar with this company, Kitchen Theatre is an organization in downtown Ithaca that performs plays in a small ninety-nine seat theater. Here’s an external view of Kitchen Theater, which you may recognize if you frequently ramble around the Commons:

I found this to be pretty cool because the smaller capacity ensures that everyone gets a good view of what’s happening onstage and produces a more informal atmosphere. Furthermore, before the play begins, the audience can help itself to an array of food that is provided by the company, an arrangement that encourages people to socialize with each other. You’re also actually allowed to bring the food into the theater with you, so you can chew while you view.

Entertainment

MANGA MONDAYS | Subculture

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I recently visited a department store near Kyoto station, hunting for a power converter so I could charge my laptop. The store was split into 7 floors, each selling different products. Most were immediately recognizable: “Men’s Fashion,” “Women’s Fashion,” “Books,” and so on. One floor, however, was mysteriously labeled “subculture.” Of course, I had to check it out. As expected, the floor was full to the brim with anime, manga, trading cards and arcade games.

Entertainment

AKABAS | A Non-Exhaustive List of People Who I Would Vote For President Over Donald Trump

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To Republicans, Donald Trump is like receiving scented candles for a holiday gift: you don’t want it, but for social reasons, you have to pretend like you don’t hate it. To Democrats, Donald Trump is like receiving a pet monkey for a holiday gift: it seems harmless and even amusing at first, but it’s actually the most annoying thing ever. I am in the latter group, and I wouldn’t trust Donald Trump to place a dinner order over the phone, much less be leader of the free world for four years. But I’m wondering just how deep into the barrel I’d need to reach to find someone who I wouldn’t vote for over Donald Trump. For many opposing candidates, my decision wouldn’t even be close, such as Michael Bloomberg (perhaps the only moderate politician alive), Michelle Obama (who recently joined Ryan Gosling as the only perfect human being), Jon Stewart (who would obviously run with John Oliver and call themselves “John Squared”), Mark Cuban (an outspoken, successful, aggressive billionaire who isn’t also a racist, sexist lunatic) and Cornell Psychology Professor David Pizarro.

Entertainment

KYLIE’S ROOM | Podcasting: No Country for Old Men

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An old man drives angrily back home from the supermarket, shouting in disagreement with what seems like no one. He’s shouting a podcast playing over the in-car stereo system. In the past, I’ve always imagined the average podcast listener as an angry old man, listening to [what seems to me] some dry topic, like economics. That assumption was wrong. Podcasts are for everyone — not just angry old men in their cars — but literally anyone.

Bill Nye

MANGA MONDAYS | Anime and Rural Japan

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I recently watched Only Yesterday at the Cornell Cinema (highly recommend it!) and the show really got me thinking about the role of rural settings in Japanese popular culture. Note that I didn’t just say anime there! I’m broadening my horizons a bit this week. To which end, we’re going to start with some cultural background. Modern Japan has a bit of a problem: during the postwar period, the country urbanized at an unprecedented rate (if I recall correctly, it was the highest rate in history, though I don’t have a source for that).

deep focus shot

WATCH ME IF YOU CAN | Hollywood and the Blacklist

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The 2015 biopic Trumbo depicts the struggle that many screenwriters faced during the Red Scare. Dalton Trumbo (played by Bryan Cranston), along with nine other screenwriters, was tried and charged for contempt of Congress under the accusation of writing films promoting anti-American ideals.  As a consequence, he and many other writers faced blacklisting, forbidding them from writing and getting paid, wasting an enormous amount of talent. After his jail time, he decided to use the loopholes in his court orders to his advantage. Trumbo wrote films under the identity of Robert Rich (another screenwriter who was away on military leave) and even won an Academy Award for Best Original Story for The Brave One.