Acting is the art of seeming, not being,” Carl Stone Jr. intones self-importantly to the wide-eyed ingénue Elfie Fay, the on (and off) stage Ophelia to his Hamlet. In cynically giving her the cold hard facts about the “world’s second oldest profession,” i.e. acting, he tells her that if he were to play the part of an actor who was playing the role of Hamlet, “that would still be acting.” The irony is, of course, that we the audience are watching an actor, in this instance Kent Kuran ’08, doing just that.
Justin Pierce Baldwin Gerald: I live my life in a state of bemused annoyance. Sometimes, mostly on the weekends, the irritation subsides, and I experience fleeting moments of unadulterated joy. At other times, the humor that keeps me afloat is … Read More
Holden Caufield can wonder about the ducks all he wants. I wonder about where bohemia went—my bohemians went and why I can’t find them and how they survive on these streets in the winter—, and so I imagine my own … Read More
I love Woody Woo students. Their affability. Their political charm. Their electoral obsession. But I know I’m not – nor ever will be – one of them. I’m a prideful English major, content with my metrics, and my ever-mounting stacks of books. There are overlaps, assuredly, between the literary and the political approaches to life – human psychology and pompous writers come to mind – but sometimes, the gulf is felt. And a lot.
It’s the images of a frying egg which haunt me, I think, and make my responses to his question habitual. “No,” I respond again. This is probably the fifth time he’s asked me to get high with him. Something about … Read More
By far the best film of 2005 was Werner Herzog’s mind-altering Grizzly Man. Those who disagree should go out and rent it again. Good, huh? I know. I liked it too.
On CNN, I think, the election night coverage was titled ‘America Votes.’ I was watching and a friend next to me said, “No, it doesn’t.” At face value, the descriptive statement ‘America Votes’ is false. America really doesn’t vote, at … Read More
I’ve made a vow not to subject students to my highly educated and refined political world view, aka my rantings and ravings about the contemporary political situation, but I don’t mind admitting that I’m totally obsessed with U.S. electoral detailia … Read More
My father is a newsman, and during the election season he heads down to D.C. to do reporting. When Rumsfeld resigned, I knew that he would be thrilled. Donald Rumsfeld is one of my father’s least favorite Americans. When I … Read More
Yes – I am one of those annoying North New Jerseyans who pretends they know the City. Just accept it. Like any other wannabe New Yorker, I jumped at the chance to show my suitemates around the Big Apple. Our … Read More
Like the juiciest of farts, the relieving and incredibly human production of The Playboy of the Western World arouses in the depths of your belly that sort of visceral, ancient laughter perhaps only possible and appropriate in Irish villages. It’s … Read More
Towards the end of the summer, I was wasting an evening with one of my friends in Micawber. Note: at the time it didn’t seem that pathetic. Anyways, in between flipping through random books I noticed Chuck Klosterman’s newer book, … Read More