Volume 1. Issue 3

Volume 1. Issue 3
Cover Art by Harlie Brindak
Issue 1 2007
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
s
ART/EVENTS
T
4
Bridge Art Fair 08’
6
28
Featured: Urara Muramatsu
9
LaGuardia Tee Shirt Artists
30
10 Featured: Michele Jang
14 Teenage Lontano
16 Relay for Life 08’
MUSIC
Album Reviews
Featured: Kane Dulaney
Balser
FUN
32
Slaying Dragons: The Three
Great Dragons
IN THE LIFE OF
18 Where I Live: Curry Hill
Copy Editors
Maria Plotkina
Ariana King
Jaime Sunwoo
Benny Lam
Paul Vergara
Hilary Davies
MOVIES/THEATER
Louis Peralte
Rio Nose
Katrina Cortes
Ren Santiago
Amanda Sonnenschein
Chloe Dietz
Samantha Zeldin
Harlie Brindak (Cover)
Mary Turgeon
Layout Editors
21
22
23
24
26
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince
Caspian Review
Paranoid Park Review
Iron Man Review
At What Cost Art?: A Review of
Sunday in the Park with George
FOOD
Go! Go! Curry!
Mary Turgeon
or
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A R T
Events
BRIDGE
ART FAIR
O8’
by Jaime Sunwoo
Bridge Art Fair 08’, also held in Berlin,
London, and Miami, premiered in New
York City. To make each Bridge Art Fair
unique and exciting, each exposition
had its own focus. Bridge London spotlighted African art, Berlin focused on
the galleries of Los Angeles, and Miami
is highlighting Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. Bridge New York focused on Asia.
Here, the best of contemporary art
from South Korea, China, Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, and Singapore were
exhibited.
Yuna Park, German Cafe, Oil on canvas 2008
Courtesy of Kwanhoon Projects
This year, the international, contemporary Bridge Art Fair was held on
the Waterfront, locally known in the
Chelsea gallery district as “The Tunnel.”
Once a 23,000-square-foot railway tunnel and later converted into the famous
Tunnel nightclub, the lofty space was as
correspondingly innovative as the contemporary art work that it showcased.
The Bridge Art Fair featured more than
50 international exhibitors from Austria,
Canada, China, Denmark, Germany,
Italy, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland,
the UK, the United States, and more.
Bridge New York was a success.
Visitors varied from students looking for
new inspiration, people coming for leisure, and prominent art collectors and
connoisseurs. It was also a great opportunity for artists from different parts of
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Issue 1 2007
the world to mingle, communicate, and learn
new ideas being cultivated in the modern art
world. Here are a few works from galleries that
were showcased in this year’s Bridge Art Fair. To
see more, go to http://www.bridgeartfair.com/
exhibitorlist_nyc.htm
Chen Yu, Untitled Series No. 17,
Oil on Canvas 2006
Courtesy of Schoeni Art Gallery
Lauren Kalman, Tongue Gilding,
Digital print 2007
Courtesy of Sienna Gallery
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A R T
featured
“A Song.” It used to be like “A
Magazine Girl Transformed.”
Where did you get your idea for
the artwork?
Urara Muramatsu
From a fashion magazine.
You said that part of the girl’s hair
is supposed to represent sheet
music. Was that your idea, or
was it like that in the original
picture?
Grade: Sophomore
Major: Art
Reppin’ from: Chelsea, Manhattan
What art classes are you currently
taking in LaGuardia?
Studio practice 4 and 3D.
What are your motivations and inspirations?
I guess “atmosphere”? The atmosphere of people or the atmosphere
of landscapes, especially those that
bring back memories or make me
feel happy make me want to draw.
What kind of art do you particularly
enjoy?
Modern art.
What’s your favorite medium?
Oil or watercolor. I’m really interested
in oil right now.
Courtesy of the artist.
What major are you interested in after you graduate? Are you thinking
about applying for an art college?
Fine arts. Of course! I really want to
go to Cooper Union and paint.
Interviewed by Rio Nose
Which artists inspire you?
Picasso is pretty good. I get inspired
by a lot of famous artists, but I get inspired by movies a lot, like I really like
Akira Kurosawa movies.
Okay, now I’m going to ask you a
few questions about your artwork being featured in the MoMa. What is the
piece called?
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No, that was my idea. I had
to do something with it, like
change it in some way.
Was there anything else you
changed about the original picture to make it special?
I didn’t draw the whole body,
like I made it fade because I
didn’t want to draw the whole
body and I didn’t want to mess
it up. I also made some kind of
pink air coming out of her head
so it looks like her thoughts are
continuing.
What does your father do?
He imports clothing from all over
the world to Japan. He has a
store in France, Berlin, London,
and Hong Kong. He also owns
a few galleries in New York and
Japan.
Have you ever presented your
artwork in one of his galleries?
Yes, one in New York. But It
wasn’t a formal gallery, it was a
gallery where people can buy
an artwork at a price that has
$.99 at the end. Mine sold for
$49.99.
What was the piece of?
It was a painting of a boy holding a big heart-shape cloud.
Were you happy?
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I was happy! People told me that the couple
that bought it were tourists and they looked
really happy.
LaGuardia
Tee Shirt Artists
Does your father influence your artwork?
Well... Yes. I don’t know, I think I influence my
own artwork, but I wouldn’t be here without
my father. My father really likes my artwork,
even if it’s crappy. One time he bought a
hanger I made that’s in the shape of an alligator and he keeps it on his desk.
By Ren Santiago
Tomo
Hamano
What about your mother?
She was an illustrator before, and she’s really into anatomy right now so she wanted
to take a class with me.
What do you look for in other people’s artwork?
I look for the use of colors. I don’t really pay
attention to techniques because I know
they’d be good, but I want to see how they
use their colors and what kind of colors they
mix. I really learn from that.
Tomo Hamano is a sophomore art major at LaGuardia. He’s tall and friendly
and in love with the Japanese clothing
brand, UNIQLO. He first started making
them last year, when his brother brought
home a screen from AP Printing. In the
future he wants to be a designer. As of
now, his shirts don’t have a theme: “I do
it for fun,” he says with a smirk. So far he’s
screen printed about four designs and
made around fifteen shirts. He’s given
them away to his friends for free, but he
is looking to make some profit. It’s not yet
decided, but they may cost around $5
to $15. It depends on the design, really.
Contact: [email protected]
When did you start drawing?
When I was in kindergarden. I was always
trying to draw princesses. My friends and
I would always go to the teacher and ask
them to draw a princess for us so we could
color them in, and sometimes we would
trace the ones our teacher drew.
One time, somebody told me that I was bad
at drawing and I got so upset. That made
me dislike art for a while. Nobody ever says
that anymore though, I think I’m the only
one that doesn’t like my own artwork.
Do you have any good memories, or times
that made you happy because of your artwork?
Well this, that I’m being featured here, but
also in my bathroom in Japan, my artwork
when I was five is hung up and my dad really likes it. It’s a drawing of my mom and
my dad at a party. My dad has a tuxedo
on and my mom has a dress on. My mom is
trying to ask my dad to dance, but he’s being surrounded by a lot of women, but my
dad is reaching out to my mother because
he wants to dance with her. This picture is still
hung up in our bathroom because my dad
likes it a lot.
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Could you talk about your clothing style,
because you’re really stylish and everybody likes what you wear every day?
Well I like fashion because my dad is in the
fashion industry, and my mom is really fashionable. I just grew up in a family like that.
Does it take you a long time to dress in the
morning?
Yes. But recently, I just grab anything I find
and I put it on. I used to be really interested
in fashion. I thought I was gonna study fashion and become a designer, but right now I
don’t really care. I’m not really interested. I
like it, but I’m not that interested.
How do you define art?
Benny Lam is a sophomore art major at LaGuardia. He was one of the few artists who’s
bag design was chosen for the My Green New
York contest made to replace plastic bags that
contribute to pollution. He started making shirts
for fun, but now he has geared this hobby to
raise money for the school Film Maker’s club.
Each of his shirts go for $10. So far, he’s made
approximately ten original designs but also accepts commisions on custom designs.
Contact: [email protected]
Benny
Lam
Well my dad, he doesn’t do music, he
doesn’t paint, but I still consider him an
artist because of the way he thinks. I think
anyone who thinks in a very unrealistic way
but has some logic behind it and is willing to
explain it to you is an artist. Actually, anybody who thinks is. I also think people who
struggle in life are all artists.
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A R T
featured
Michele Jang
Grade: Junior
Major: Art
Reppin’ from: College Point, Queens
Interviewed by Maria Plotkina
Maria Plotkina: What art classes are you taking
at LaGuardia?
Michele Jang: This semester, I’m taking advanced painting and realistic drawing.
MP: What is your favorite academic class?
MJ: Definitely English, because it is also a form
of art.
MP: What is your favorite medium?
MJ: Oil. I only like oils and also oil pastels, because you can add them onto oil paintings.
MP: Do you have a favorite artist?
MJ: That’s hard… I like Gustav Klimt, Otto Dix,
and also John Singer-Sargent.
MP: Do you like visiting museums?
MJ: Yes.
MP: What inspires you?
Michele Jang, Lady With A Feather Hat,
Oil on canvas, Courtesy of the artist
MJ: More than the image itself, I like colors. If
I see colors I like on my palette, I might add
them into the painting even if I hadn’t been
Michele Jang, Afroman, Oil on canvas, Courtesy of the artist
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Michele Jang, Brooklyn Bridge, Oil on canvas, Courtesy of the artist
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your
Michele Jang, Model Lily Cole, Oil on canvas, Courtesy of the artist
planning on it. And, of course, fashion- that’s
my main inspiration.
MP: Do you think you’ll continue making art
after LaGuardia?
MJ: Yeah, definitely, in my free time and at
school.
MP: What college are you planning to apply to?
MJ: I’m applying to Parsons and London
School of Fashion.
MP: What inspired you to paint Lily Cole?
MJ: I painted her because she looks very different, almost like an alien. Also, her red hair
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is very different from stereotypical beauty.
Most people think of blonde hair, blue eyes,
and a long face when they think of beauty.
I wanted to show beauty in other forms.
MP: How did you begin painting Afroman?
MJ: This one has a long history. It started out
as Dita Von Teese, and I’d been painting it for
weeks. Then one day I just got so frustrated
with it, and I took a huge brush and painted
all over it. Then I started painting India Arie,
and then I changed it into an expressionistic piece. I thought of color and dirt- almost
like the bottom of a garbage can. Basically,
I put whatever I wanted to put on it. I used
a palette, I used my fingers. Oh, and I also
used oil sticks.
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A R T
Events
The barren Drill Hall of the Park Avenue Armory was filled with art-loving
spectators on the night of March 8,
2008. On this night, the debut of the
eerie piece entitled “Teenage Lontano” was performed. The work was
composed by the eclectic Marina
Rosenfeld, a turntablist and musical
artist, for the Whitney Museum Biennial
Exhibition. The piece was performed
by forty or so teenagers from the New
York area clad with white earphones
hooked up to iPods. The performers,
some of whom were paired up, stood
in alternating directions in a straight
line in the middle of the large space
with spotlights hanging overhead. The
nearly half-hour piece of music consisted of an electronic score of computerized sounds from hanging speakers,
whistles, and trance-like drones from
the singers. Each of the vocalists had
a different score, so each person was
singing something completely different from his or her neighbor.
The mystery and beauty of this
piece lies in its weirdness. This piece,
which is technically a cover of György Ligeti’s orchestral work, “Lontano,” has an unusual feel to it. It is
quite odd and haunting. The piece
was inspired by people on the subway where each person is listening
to his or her own music. Like in this
piece, every singer was listening and
mimicking something unique, but it
all came together to make a spooky
mass of chords that floated through
the air. Also, each singer had a white
Photography by Carlton Bright
by Paul Vergara
line painted on his or her forehead
that extended from the performer’s
earphone up into oblivion. The line is
supposed to signify the fact that music does not end at one’s ears, but
rather it continues forever. To take
the analysis further, the piece can be
applied to life. Each person may be
different, but together we all contribute to the world as a whole. Each
of us may get lost in the world, and
we think that nobody can hear our
voice. But if you just listen very closely, you can hear each and every person as part of one big harmony.
I know so much about this piece
because I was one of the performers.
I felt the piece while I was singing it
with the other couple dozen students
who sang that night. Other LaGuardia students who participated in the
piece include Krystine Hall, Samantha Gonzalez, Ethan Applegate, Jasmine Mendoza, Hilary Davies, and
Aressa Coley. Videos of the piece
are still being shown at the Whitney
Museum’s Biennial Exhibition. The
2008 Biennial closed June 1. For
more information, visit
http://whitney.org/www/2008biennial/
You can also watch this Youtube
video for a little snippet of what the
piece is about (look for me at the
eleventh second!):
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=MBk4NqPKD2I
Photography by Carlton Bright
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08’
RELAY FOR LIFE
On Saturday, March 29, 2008, LaGuardia High School marked its third annual
American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life.
With over 360 dedicated participants and
35 different teams, LaGuardia Arts succeeded in raising over $27,000. During
the 12 hour event (from 9 A.M. to 9 P.M.)
many memorable events took place including: a speech by Waffiyah Ali, a junior
vocal student and breast cancer survivor,
the special appearance by Polypman, an
emotional Luminaria Ceremony, games of
fear factor and musical chairs, a pie eating contest, scavenger hunts, and the PieA-Teacher-In-The-Face event, “Relay Idol”
(which was judged by our Principal Bruno
and Assistant Principal Stricklin), a fabulous
fashion show of purple and white designed
by Paul Vergara, and a closing lap to the
song “Fame.” All the money raised during
this event was donated to the American
Cancer Society.
by Rio Nose
CELEBRATE.
REMEMBER.
FIGHT BACK.
Circling the gym was
a track surrounded with
little baggies containing
glow lights and messages
to survivors and those who
have passed away due to
cancer. For 12 hours, participants continued to walk
and walk for these people.
One of the greatest events
was the Luminaria Ceremony. During this ceremony,
every participant walked
along the track for those they love who had or still have cancer. The
lights of the gym were dimmed and there was not a single person
who did not drop a tear.
Photography by
Samantha Zeldin
16
Thanks so much to all donators, including Donna Steffen, Matthew Mendelson, Mia Fraboni, Samantha Zeldin, and Andrea DeVito. And to our top groups: The Awesome Possums, Blank Verse, THE
APPLE POPS, Team Samantha, and Remy’s Team! Your support was
greatly appreciated by the American Cancer Society, the survivors,
and their friends and family.
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By Ariana King
Where
I Live:
Just a short avenue away
from the 28th street 6 train stop
is a small strip of New York City
heavily populated with Indian
culture. From approximately
27th street to 29th street and
Lexington Avenue is Curry Hill,
nicknamed due to its proximity to Murray Hill. It is not a very
large area, but it’s packed
with Indian restaurants and
shops, some being the best
around. My culturally homogeneous strip of homeland is
very randomly placed next to
culturally mixed 3rd and Park
Avenues. A random passerby
might find himself completely
confused in walking past a
Subway sandwich shop, a
Popeye’s, and a Ray’s Pizza,
then be suddenly surrounded
by a spice-filled Asian invasion.
While the strip is rather small,
an immense amount of restaurants pack into all the space
possible.
One of the more renowned
places in Curry Hill is the quick
Indian restaurant Curry in a
Hurry, which in the opinion of
some, is the best place to get
Indian food for a moderate
price. Walking into Curry in a
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Photography by Ariana King
Issue 1 2007
Hurry, you tend to see a
line of people waiting to
order, and a slightly caved
in room with slightly dingy
blue walls. Ignoring the
depressed atmosphere,
the freshly cooked meats
and vegetables all smothered with sauce and looking extremely appealing,
next to the floury puffy
naan bread waiting to
accompany the vegetables and meats, attention is pulled away from
the lack of Feng Shui and
onto the food. More appealing on the other hand,
is the fully carpeted, waiterequipped upstairs restaurant.
Aside from Curry in a Hurry, walking down the strip
shows you restaurant names
like Curry Leaf, Haandi,
Banana Leaf, Saravanaa
Bhavan, Nasala Bollywood,
Pongal, and, a slightly out
of place French restaurant
called La Petit Auberge,
or in English, The Little Eggplant. A special thing about
Curry Hill is that, when looking for a rare spice, it might
be found in one of the
shops there. Kalustyans is
a specialty shop cramped
with spices. Spices, canned
goods from Asia, and a variety of nuts lay on the first
floor, while the second floor
has an intense amount of
teas. What both floors have
in common however, is the
strong scent of India. While
not the most impressive of
places, just on 27th in between Park and Lexington is a somewhat famous
and good restaurant (or so
New York magazine dubs)
called Blue Smoke. It has no
Issue 1 2007
19
relevance to Indian food, but
is renowned for having good
solid American food. Right
next to it is a newly built steakhouse called Primehouse, and
across the street is a fancy
restaurant Houstons; both are
expensive and basically compete with each other.
Extremely close to Curry
Hill is Baruch College, Gramercy Park, Madison Square
Park, and the Flatiron building. Madison Square Park is
home to barbeque fests and
the Shake Shack. The Shake
Shack is famous for having
the ‘best burgers in New York
City,’ and for appearing in TV
shows and movies.
Apparently there is another
similar Indian area downtown
around 6th street, but the 28th
street Curry Hill is arguably the
first.. and the best. The food
and specialty stores make this
location completely worth
coming to. The overall safety
of the neighborhood makes it
seem somewhat boring and
uneventful place, but it’s actually somewhat fire-prone.
A deli burnt to a crisp a few
years back (but no one was
hurt), a restaurant on 27th
continuously has fire department alerting oven issues, and
an apartment building in between 26th and 27th recently
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Issue 1 2007
had piles of black smoke
billowing out its top.
In the times shortly after
September 11th, the armory on 26th street and the
surrounding
apartments
were plastered with posters
of lost people- it was sad
and, to some extent awkward to see so many faces
that were most likely gone
forever every time I had
to open the door to get
home. On a lighter note,
the neighborhood is also
quite a hotspot for movies.
The armory in particular has
been a location in many
movies such as the morgue
in Men in Black, the prison
in House of D, and the fight
arena in Spiderman. For
filming House of D in fact,
an entire side of a building
was covered with this large
board that was basically
the background setting.
What used to be an apartment building wall became
a few thrift shop stores that
I almost accidentally tried
to walk into. Once, in attempting to visit a nearby
restaurant for a nice meal,
my family and I were prohibited from entering the
block at all because it was
occupied by a film crew.
Coincidentally enough, a
few months later the block
with the restaurant showed
up in I Am Legend, as Will
Smith drove his car in pursuit of a deer.
Lovely as the location
is, the people living in the
area are too. A neighbor
of mine is the author of
Puppy Chow is Better Than
Prozac with a huge black
dog that lies on the lobby
floor in the summer dripping dog saliva all about
the place. Recently, college students have begun
to pervade the area. What
used to be nice, aged
people who, with much
kindness started a conver(continued on page 52)
MOVIES
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA
PRINCE CASPIAN
Review By Rio Nose
pian unite the creatures
of Narnia to fight for
peace between the Narnians and the Telmarines.
The movie's genre is Fantasy/Family/Adventure,
but I think anyone with an
imagination can enjoy it.
The stunning re-appearance of Aslan (a
wise talking lion), the
aggressive fighting
scenes, the beauti
beautiful landscapes of
New Zealand and
Poland, and the
effective music by
Harry Gregson-Wil
Gregson-Williams leaves its audi
audience in awe as they
return from Narnia
to the real world.
I'm personally fas
fascinated by these
kinds of fantasy
movies, as long as
they have good
graphics and music
like this one. Howev
However, I've heard some
comments saying
In this, the secthat this movie is
ond movie of The
too childish, and
Chronicles of Narthat older individu
individunia series, we are
als
would
not
enjoy
brought from WWIIit. I cannot com
comera England to the
pletely
agree.
I saw
medieval yet familphoto courtesy of screenrant.com
this movie with my
iar land of Narnia,
along with the Pevensie who stole the throne that family, and while my father
siblings. One year ago, the was meant for Caspian. thought that it was pointfour siblings had become Other new Narnian char- less, my mother could not
the kings and queens of acters include a kind dwarf stop saying how wonderNarnia during the Golden known as Trumpkin (played ful it was. You can’t know
Age (now extinct). The four by Peter Dinklage), a bad- for sure unless you see it
children soon discover that ger named Trufflehunter, for yourself. You might be
1300 years have passed in and Reepicheep, a cou- sucked into the magical
Narnian time. Narnia has rageous talking mouse. world of Narnia as well.
King Peter Penvensie
become a mass of ruins
(played
by William Moafter the invasion of Telmarines, and is now under the seley) and Prince Cas21
Issue 1 2007
I have no idea where
to start. The graphics, the sound effects,
the music, everything
about this movie left
me speechless. Even
the ending left me
satisfied. When I saw
Narnia appear
behind the train
in the first scene,
I felt goosebumps all over
my arm. I immediately thought
to myself, "we're
back".
This
movie successfully draws you
into the world
of Narnia, and
director Andrew
Adamson effectively
evinces
the original fantasy novel written by C.S. Lewis.
control of King Miraz. In
this movie, we meet new
characters who make the
audience further involved
with the intricate story. For
instance, Prince Caspian
(played by Ben Barnes). He
joins the Pevensie siblings to
defeat his evil uncle Miraz,
MOVIES
MOVIES
Paranoid
Park
Review by Katrina Cortes
Starring:
courtesy of filmcatcher.com
This movie is about the guilt
a sophomore named Alex
feels after his tomfoolery
causes the death of a security guard. Not knowing
what to do, Alex flees the
crime scene and destroys
the evidence. Nevertheless, Alex is unable to rid
himself of his guilt. What's
the price of honesty?
Throughout the movie,
Alex struggles with his guilt
and constantly wonders if
he should be honest and
tell the truth, or pretend it
never happened. The situation only worsens when
the security guard's death
catches the attention of
the police, who go to Alex's
school to question students.
Imagine you are in a
place you've been dying
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Issue 1 2007
Gabe Nevins as Alex
Taylor Momsen as Jennifer
Jake Miller as Jared
Dan Liu as Detective Richard Lu
Lauren McKinney as Macy
Directed by Gus Van Sant
to go to for a long time. You
arrive and you're amazed
out of your mind. The
people are as cool as you
imagined they would be
and the setting is as beautiful as you'd envisioned.
It's like a dream come
true! So of course, if one
of those "cool kids" asked
you to go somewhere
with them you would.
The same thing happened to Alex when he
decided to go to Paranoid
Park, a local skate park illegally built by skaters. There,
Alex met a fellow skater
who persuades Alex to
go train hopping with him.
As the train approaches
the next station, a security
guard notices Alex and his
friend and begins to chase
them and hit them with
his flashlight. When Alex
begins hitting back, the
security guard falls upon
the tracks and is sliced in
half by an oncoming train.
This movie seems to
have been made solely
for cinematographic purposes. The visuals which
Gus Van Sant uses are very
well placed and thought
out. The scenery is beautiful and one can see that
certain settings correspond
with the character's feel-
ings. For example, while
Alex narrates the story and
reflects on his actions, he
is usually in his room, or sit
sitting on a bench in a grass
field. Both settings show
how Alex wants to get
away from the bustle of his
life, to concentrate on his
problems. It is obvious that
the angles used to film the
scenery and its charac
characters took a lot of time and
consideration as to which
would make the best vi
visual impact, rather than
relying on the actors to get
the movie's point across.
Speaking of acting, I was
disappointed by the acting
abilities of the protagonists
of this movie. None of them
seemed natural, not even
Gabe Nevins who played
the main character, Alex.
I was especially disappointed in Taylor Momsen.
I had higher expectations
for her since I have seen
her act in the show Gossip
Girls, but she let me down.
This movie was based on
a book by Blake Nelson. I
thought that the plot was
very well planned out,
and intricate in its usage
of flashbacks. It forced the
audience to pay attention, or else one would get
lost among which scenes
were Alex's memories and
which were in the present
time. In addition, Nelson
also used Alex's narration of
the whole book/movie to
show the reader/audience
the "other side of the story"
which no one ever truly
sees unless one is caught in
a situation similar to Alex's.
This story gives the audience a new perspective on
the term "manslaughter."
IRON MAN
Review by Ren Santiago
picture courtesy of screenrant.com
The first movie produced by Marvel, Iron
Man, has so far rolled in
over $185 million in the
United States alone, and
$350 million world wide.
The adaptation begins
with billionaire engineer
and founder of Stark Industries, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), who is
kidnapped by a terrorist
group that is actually a
big fan of Stark Industries. Held in captivity and
weakened due to an injury acquired during the
kidnapping, the terrorists
force him to rebuild his
latest invention, a dangerous form of missile. He
reluctantly agrees, but
manages instead to create a high-tech suit of
armor and escape. Upon
his return home, he commits himself to improving
his suit and using it to protect the world from evil.
Gwyneth Paltrow portrays Tony’s patient and
hard-working personal assistant, Pepper Pots, and
Terrence Howard is a convincing Jim Rhodes, Stark’s
personal pilot and closest
confidant. Jeff Bridges
plays Obadiah Stane,
Stark’s business partner.
Downey’s performance
has been getting a lot of
praise for being- unexpect-
edly riveting. The skirt-chasing genius’s quick tongue
and outrageous lifestyle
makes Tony Stark an utterly
charming character, and
is well-performed. The 126
minutes go by quicker than
you would think with the
naturally flowing humor,
excellent animation and
action, and fleeting dra-
matic scenes. Jon Favreau
does an amazing job as director of Marvel’s first film.
spoiler
Look forward to two Iron
Man sequels (the first on
April 20, 2010). Downey
also does a cameo as Stark
in The Incredible Hulk.
Issue 1 2007
23
THEATER
At What Cost Art?
A Review of Sunday in the Park with George
Review by Amanda Hayley Sonnenschein
The artist and the
nature of creation are
tricky subjects to tackle
in the form of a musical.
When the artist brings
novelty and a fresh perspective to his genre, it
can be unfairly rejected
or foolishly embraced for
reasons contingent on
the moods and fashions
of the times. Stephen
Sondheim’s Sunday in
the Park with George,
with the book by James
Lapine, explores both of
these aspects of artistry
through a clever conceit
of juxtaposing the 1880’s
art world with that of the
1980’s art scene. The
musical, in New York for
a limited engagement
at Studio 54, is produced
by The Roundabout
Theatre in association
with the Menier Chocolate Factory. Director
Sam Buntrock, recreating his Olivier Award winning production for the
Broadway stage, inserts
an additional wrinkle to
these themes by framing the story of the two
artists separated by a
century with ingeniously
imaginative and technologically
creative
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Issue 1 2007
P I C T U R E S C O U R T E S Y O F WWW.T H E A T E R . N Y T I M E S . C O M
special effects that
both mimic and illustrate the artists’ respective visions. In this way
the musical becomes
an innovative work of
visual art in its own right.
Act I imagines the life of
Georges Seurat during the
period between 1884 and
1886 when he created his
famous and controversial
painting, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La
Grande Jatte.” The scenes
switch from the artist’s studio to the park on the
Seine River, where Seurat
supposedly observed and
captured his version of a
cross-section of Parisian
life as a study in pointillism.
As the play envisions the
process, the artist spends
his Sundays sketching the
people, animals, and nature before him with the
intense fury of a man on a
mission. His immersion into
his art leads to what he believes is a revelation that
reinvents the very nature
of painting. The eye and
the mind become the palette upon which colors are
mixed to produce a truer
and richer blend. For the
artist, points of color are all
that are needed to suggest the image. Seurat is so
absorbed in his own visions
and obsessions that he neglects his mistress, faithful
model, and muse, the aptly
named Dot. The arc of this
act follows the dissolution
of their relationship and the
completion of his much
maligned
masterpiece.
Daniel Evans, as Georges, captures the rushed
intensity and dismissive arrogance of an artist who
cares for nothing but his
work. As his mistress, Jenna
Russell brings humor and
passion to the uneducated but insightful Dot. Ms.
Russell’s voice is rich and
far-ranging, and the ac
tress has the rare ability to
convey her character’s
psychology and nuances
without sacrificing her vocal pyrotechnics. Other
strong performances come
from Alexander Gemignani as the boatman,
Mary Beth Peil as Seurat’s
mother, and Anne L. Nathan as the mother’s nurse.
The music and lyrics
by Sondheim are in turns
clever and flashy, with an
emphasis on ensemble
medleys. The book by
James Lapine, (who won
a Pulitzer Prize with Mr.
Sondheim for this show),
is an imaginative take on
movements of art that one
does not find in the history books. However, in this
production, the set by David Farley and the projection design by Timothy Bird
are stars of equal footing.
With computer imaging,
splashes of color are swept
across the blank canvas of
the stage, set pieces and
backdrops are rolled in as
needed, and by the time
the first act concludes,
we have been a part of
the process of creating “A
Sunday Afternoon on the
Island of La Grande Jatte.”
“Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine ...
have presented a thought-provoking, sometimes moving, always visually appealing study
of these ideas...”
What works so seamlessly in Act I is not matched by
the sketchy counterpoint
of Act II. One hundred
years have passed and
we are in a museum at the
opening of a show in the
avant-garde art scene. The
celebrated artist is Seurat’s
great-grandson, and he is
assisted in his presentation
by his grandmother, Marie,
the aged infant from the
end of Act I. The roles are
played by the same actors
who portrayed Georges
and Dot. In fact all the actors who appeared in the
first act double as characters in the modern scenes.
Sondheim and Lapine
seem to be spoofing the
pretentious claims of the
1980’s artists with their lightshow installations posing as
sculpture and the importance placed on public
relations over substance. It
is an interesting argument,
but it does not carry the
dramatic impact of thwarted love or the pain of true
inspiration. Despite a hilarious turn as the elderly Marie
by Jenna Russell, and more
displays of technologically
clever special effects, the
second act seems a superfluous
afterthought
to the beautifully realized first half of the show.
The urges to create and
make a mark on the world
are the universal goals of
artists in every century. Unfortunately, the struggle
between personal vision
and public acceptance
often are at odds with one
another and at odds with
a personal life. Stephen
Sondheim and James Lapine along with their creative production designers
from the Menier Chocolate Factory have presented a thought-provoking,
sometimes moving, always
visually appealing study
of these ideas. That they
have made a unique work
of art in the process makes
the trip to the theatre that
much more compelling.
Issue 1 2007
25
RESTAURANT SPOTLIGHT:
Go! Go! Curry!
273 W. 38th Street
New York, NY 10018
by Ariana King
Price:
The food is not overly
expensive. If very you’re
hungry, no more than $15
will be necessary.
Environment:
The food is really the main
highlight - the walls are
rather interesting with their
Matsui-obsessed
nature,
but the TV on the wall plays
an unending loop of a promotional video concerning a chain of Go!Go!Curry
in Japan. The shop is small,
but not cramped. It is an
easy place to go to alone,
and it is somewhat comfortable to do so. I would
not recommend bringing many people. There
shouldn’t be a problem
with the hygiene of the
place, as it’s fairly clean
and comfortable.
GO!GO!CURRY is a rather
interesting restaurant dedicated to Hideki Matsui, a
Japanese baseball player
for the New York Yankees
(now newly married), that
serves
Japanese-style
curry. It sits in a somewhat
squished location in between 7th and 8th avenue
on 38th Street, but is not
easily ignored due to its
bright yellow awning and
flags fluttering all about
the place. In addition to
the neon yellow brightness, a television set plays
in the front window, and
the restaurant’s mascot is
a gorilla. As eccentric as
the outside appearance
sounds, the inside meets
it in eccentricity. The walls
are plastered with baseball
26
Issue 1 2007
and Matsui-related memorabilia. Yet, this little shop is
actually quite a find.
Taste:
*
Taste of course is all
personal preference, but I
found the food absolutely
delicious. The menu is really quite limited to curry
and katsu dishes, none of
which are vegetarian, but
being so limited gives the
restaurant the chance to
focus all of its flavor into
these few dishes. Japanese curry differs greatly
from Indian curry in many
ways.
Japanese curry
tends to be more stew-like
than its Indian counterpart
in that it is thick, often milder, and filled with things
* All scales are out of 5
Courtesy of www.roboppy.net
Photograph by Rio Nose
Overall:
I really think that the taste factor is the most
important aspect of dining, and the taste factor of GO!GO! is definitely good enough to suggest people try it out. The curry sauce, rice, and
katsu are all delicious and worth eating again
without hesitation, so I strongly suggest giving it a
try despite the exotic sound of Japanese curry.
Photograph by Rio Nose
like meat and potatoes. This
particular curry sauce does
not have meat and potato
bits in it, but instead, if meat
is desired, one should order
katsu. Katsu is easily summarized as breaded meat,
either chicken or pork, which
is especially good with curry
sauce. The katsu in particular is really amazing here. The
sauce was perfectly mild,
thick, rich, and tasty. All dishes come in small, medium,
large, and extra large, but
the curry is rich enough to fill
a person up more easily then
expected and is served with
rice and cabbage. In other
words, don’t underestimate
when ordering from here.
The bowl sizes mostly refer to
the size of rice ordered.
Issue 1 2007
27
ALBUM REVIEWS
“Brain Thrust Mastery”
We Are Scientists
Astralwerks
REVIEW BY LOUIS PERALTE
Courtesy of www.cduniverse.com
“Pretty. Odd.”
Panic At The Disco
Fueled By Ramen
REVIEW BY HILARY DAVIES
Courtesy of www.cduniverse.com
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Issue 1 2007
Panic at The Disco has changed a lot
since they released the surprise smash “A
Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” in 2005. Aside
from dropping the exclamation point from
their name (I know, I was disappointed
too), their sound has changed dramatically. They’re not teenagers anymore,
and it shows in the content of their new
album “Pretty. Odd.” Heavily influenced
by the Beatles, these songs are less wordy
and more relaxed - purposeful, even. No
one in the band is confined to a single
role -- guitarist Ryan Ross sings lead vocals on “Behind the Sea” and Brendon
Urie and Jon Walker switch instruments
on “That Green Gentleman.” All in all, if
you are looking for a repeat of the last
album, you’re going to be disappointed.
“Pretty. Odd.” is a definite departure from
the chaotic electro-burlesque music and
the image they had way back when. The
album came out in stores on March 25,
2008 and is available to purchase now.
Courtesy of www.astore.amazon.co.uk
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REVIEW BY BENNY LAM
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“Mentor Tormentor”
Earlimart
Major Domo Records /
Shout! Factory
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Maybe it is their “still-under-the-mainstreamradar-status,” or maybe it is just their heavy resemblance to the sound of The Pixies and Sonic
Youth. Whichever it is, Earliment, a Los Angelesbased indie band, delivers a solid album titled
“Mentor Tormentor.” With the gentle harmonic
vocal background as well as the several touches of rhythmic melody from the keyboard, Earlimart interlocks several contemporary sounds
ranging from the crisp drum beats to the continuous piano melodies. The presentation of the
record contrasts from some of the slower tracks
such as “Bloody Nose,” “The Little Thing,” and
“The World” to the more blood-pumping track
such as “Everybody Knows Everybody.” Don’t
be surprised to pick up some melancholy vibes
as well as the often beautiful effort that is being
put out. After all, Mentor Tormentor marks as another step away from the band’s early “punk”
roots towards a more sophisticated, full sound.
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MUSIC
I’m a big fan of the last album by We Are Scientists, “With Love and Squalor (WAS).” The lyrics were self-deprecating, but the music didn’t
show it. It was almost as though they were actively trying to hide the fact that they loathed
themselves so much. It was what everybody
needed--- The ability to hate themselves and
be happy! However, with this new album, “Brain
Thrust Mastery,” that charm is gone. It’s not hard
for me to say that I’m a wee bit disappointed.
All of the tracks on this album are downers. You
can tell that they’re no longer having fun hating
themselves.
The starting track, “Ghouls,“ flaunts their new
weapon of choice, synth. Every step you take in
this album is filled with synth. I don’t have anything against synth; It just doesn’t flatter WAS.
I wish that they had stuck to their guns: overdriven guitar, kickin’ drum beats and a powerful
bass line to match. One good thing about this
new album is Chris Cain’s bass playing. Songs
like “Lethal Enforcer” and “Chick Lit” show off his
new funk-influenced bass lines. One would think
that at least these songs would be uplifting. This
isn’t the case, however. You can just add them
to the list of songs that make you want to curl up
in a dark corner. Brain Thrust Mastery is satisfying,
but that’s it. It’ll keep you going until the next album is released, but it doesn’t match the power
of the preceding album. I’ll continue to think
back to the good old days where there was no
synth and Michael Tapper, We Are Scientist’s former drummer, rocked out on the drums. Now,
excuse me while I go cry emo tears in a corner.
Issue 1 2007
29
MUSIC
FEATURED
HILARY DAVIES: What influences you?
Kane
Dulaney
Balser
Interviewed by Hilary Davies
From what I’ve seen of him, Kane Dulaney Balser is a cool, intelligent person who
is genuinely nice. He’s a killer guitar player,
and his music reminds me of all the cool
parts of my childhood. He is a junior instrumental major who has played in many LaGuardia ensembles, notably the New Music
Singers. On his music MySpace, he gives a
nice little autobiography:
“I was born in St. Vincent’s Hospital somewhere in Manhattan. I spent three years of my life in Fort Green, and
then my family moved to Park Slope, following the influx
of other families to this pleasant little town. There are now
many musicians growing up in Park Slope, and I began
my musical experience in the band sTUNgUN. That band
was a fun one, but we broke up due to different musical tastes. Now I’m doing lots of musical experiments. My
main band is Dulaney Banks, with the great Banks Harris.
But when I’m not playing with Banks, or my brother Luca
(of Jet Lag) or any other singers/musicians, I go solo.”
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Issue 1 2007
KANE DULANEY BALSER:
Anything real influences me,
for example Bob Dylan, Neil
Young, and nature. These
are just things that help to
clear my mind, because
when my mind is clear, everything is real, therefore
everything influences me.
HD: How long have you
been playing and what do
you play?
KDB: I’ve been playing guitar for almost 5 years.
HD: I’ve heard you’re in this
little band called Dulaney
Banks. What’s the history of
that?
KDB: Dulaney Banks is a
blues duo with me and this
girl named Julia from my
old school, and we started
around 8th or 9th grade.
We realized we both liked
blues, and she sang and I
played guitar, so now we
play blues together.
HD: Is this just a hobby or
are you considering a music career in the future?
KDB: It’s possible.
Photograph by Chloe Dietz
HD: Do you think LaGuardia has helped in any way
whatsoever?
KDB: Yes. LaGuardia is helping me find what I want, and
what I don’t want. Also I’ve
met some great people at
LaGuardia who inspire me.
HD: Thanks for your time.
Is there anything else you
want to mention before
this interview closes to an
end?
HD: Are there any shows
coming up that people can
go to?
KDB: Not at the moment.
KDB: I’m looking for a
drummer for a band, so
if anyone’s interested let
me know.
HD: How do you keep your
hair so perfectly straight?
KDB: I’m not sure. Maybe
it’s my shampoo.
CONTACT
KANE at
[email protected]
or CHECK OUT
HIS MUSIC at
http://myspace.com/
kanedulaneybalser
Issue 1 2007
31
The Three Great Dragons
32
Issue 1 2007
by Mary Turgeon
To be continued...
Issue 1 2007
33
CONTINUATIONS
Where I Live: Curry Hill
sation in the elevator that
you nodded to ‘interestedly’ and ran out as quickly as the doors made their
quiver and jerk open, has
turned into a bleak minute
of ‘yeah so I’ll see you at 6
right?’ from a college student over an expensive cell
phone. On the bright side,
the new change to a college neighborhood brings
a newly built Pinkberry, a
karaoke restaurant, and a
bundle of random shops.
In the nearby Japanese
restaurant where my family goes, discounts and
exemplary service are not
unexpected, and one of
the very nice waiters is forever named, ‘‘Mr. Thank
you very much.’’ What
might be as interesting as
the neighborhood itself are
the surrounding neighborhoods. Just the slightest
bit lower down Lexington
Avenue is Gramercy Park,
the neighboring rich kid
to Curry Hill’s average kid
status. In fact, the park is
just a gated up block in
the middle of the road that
marks the end of Lexington
Avenue which can only
be opened with a key.
As bland as my neighborhood is, I’m sure I would
resolutely hate leaving it.
It’s small, only made up of
restaurants, and the occasional spew of restaurant
compost on the sidewalks
34
Issue 1 2007
can get a bit annoying,
but if you can get used to
that and if you have the
patience to stray from the
usual 1 train pattern, take
the 6 instead and browse
about through the 28th
street area.