Culture

Phi Mu Alpha’s Battle of the Bands, which took place at the Historic Dawn Theatre last Friday, was the most successful Battle in recent memory, junior and Phi Mu Alpha President Jack Shannon said. After judges comments and popular voting, Holy Moses walked away victorious. “From what I’ve heard, everything else pales in comparison,” Shannon said. “This is the most...

I remember exactly what I did on May 1, 1999: I watched “Help Wanted,” the premiere episode of “Spongebob Squarepants,” in which Spongebob (Tom Kenny), an anthropomorphic yellow sponge, becomes a fry cook at the Krusty Krab restaurant. The zany antics and crazy slapstick hooked me immediately; I’ve been a fan ever since. As I’ve aged, I’ve come to enjoy...

Ah, young love. “Fifty Shades of Grey” was released Feb. 13, just in time for loving couples to buy tickets and wallow in shared discomfort. Thankfully, the movie’s racy content is utterly unsupported by anything but a lavish production budget. The script is often self-serious to the point of comedy. The plot lumbers along like some rare Hollywood species of...

The school of literary criticism known as New Historicism rightly perceives the importance of historical context in illuminating texts, but can downplay the individual artistry of the author, Visiting Assistant Professor of English Benedict Whalen said Friday at a lecture in the Formal Lounge of the Grewcock Student Union. Whalen’s talk was organized by the literature honorary Lambda Iota Tau...