|
Event brings independent movie production to campus The GRCC chapter of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and True North Ministries held a screening of Ordinary Radicals Nov. 18 at the ATC auditorium. The documentary that followed Jesus for President Book tour this past summer was a 10 month production in the making said Director Jamie Moffett, and the founder of Jamie Moffett Media Design & Production. Moffett who calls himself a recovering Catholic discussed a little about the production and some of his background. Moffett is the founder of The Simple Way a non-profit in Kensington, Pennsylvania that is about grass roots and social justice through Biblical traditions. Moffett himself is still a skeptic about Christianity but believes in the work his colleagues are doing. He says at this point and time in his life he is really interested in the other 600,000,000 people on this planet and what they are doing. Moffett said he started as an English Composition Major at Eastern University outside Philadelphia, he soon moved past that idea and had an internship in theater and design in New York. Moffett was nominated for the Barrymore Award for "Best Sound Design" for ‘The Screwtape Letters,’ Lantern Theatre, in Philadelphia. “In my 20’s all faith was in question,” said Moffett “I came across so many bad examples in the church, from those in authority, I needed to look elsewhere.” Moffett explained that he is fortunate to be in this business because he has the opportunity to do documentaries about the things that matter to him. “The things that baffle me most could be the same questions others have. The advantage is I can answer investigate them through my work.” Moffett said. Moffett is currently working on another documentary that deals with the revolution in El Salvador in the 1980’s and 1990’s and the journey home of the refugees displaced during that time. The 11,000-mile trip through the United States and ‘The Ordinary Radicals’ production cost was near $250,000. Moffett says that he and his company are on their way to meet the goal of paying back family who they barrowed money from to help produce this film. . BSU offers Study Tables The Black Student Union is a student-run organization with people who are looking to get involved on campus and make a difference in the community. The Black Student Union, also known as “BSU”, welcomes any students interested in multi-ethnic activities and concerns. It is the organization’s goal to promote knowledge of family history, place emphasis on education, and encourage involvement in cultural events. BSU also sponsors social gatherings, and provides a system of support for students with African back rounds. “BSU really helps me build leadership skills and motivates me to strive for academic success,” said BSU president, Brandon McCall. “The Black Student Union is a support system for a lot of the students on campus,” said BSU Advisor, Sara Hill. With over 42 students involved, BSU is more than an organization for a lot of its members. “BSU feels like a big family, everyone is really close,” said BSU member Alexis Conley. “ The Black Student Union is sponsoring a Thanksgiving food drive this November. The food drive is going to continue through the end of December. “People still need food after thanksgiving,” said Sara Hill. BSU is requesting only canned goods. Food bins are located in the Student Life office Mon-Thurs from 8:00am-6:00pm, and on Friday from 8:00am-5:00pm. BSU hosts open mic nights in the Quiet Café with a $50 prize for first place winners. To find dates and times for open mic night, go to the GRCC website, and search “BSU.” Artists sign up in the Quiet Café the day of the event. There is a $3 cover charge, and its $5 for each performer. The next open mic night is on November 18, from 6:15pm-9:00pm. The Black Student Union offers Study Tables to promote an increase in the retention rates of the African American community on campus. While at the Study Tables, students work on homework and discuss scholarship applications. The Study Tables are open to all students, and tutors are available upon request. Study Table is offered from 5:00pm-7:00pm in the Raider Grill, upcoming dates are also available on the BSU website. Open meetings are held in the Farside Room located in the Student Center, every Monday from 2:00-3:00pm. The Black Student Union welcomes students of all races. “We really want to strive for more diversity in the organization” said Brandon McCall. Students who are interested in joining the Black Student Union can fill out an application on the BSU website or contact the BSU advisor, Sara Hill in the Student Life office. 'Ordinary Radicals' are anything but Be prepared to ask yourself what you really believe in, as you sit down and watch this documentary directed by Jamie Moffett. Ordinary Radicals is anything but ordinary be prepared to see. The documentary follows Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw the authors of Jesus For President on their book tour through the United sates during the months of June and July of 2008. Moffett describes the tour as ‘a rag-tag group of “ordinary radicals” that interpret Biblical history and its correlation with the current state of American politics. One of the things that struck me most about this film while watching it was the people telling their stories. The honesty I saw from the lens of this film poured out to me from the screen and moved my heart. Perhaps I am a softy when it comes to such issues as forgiveness, homelessness, love, and grace, and I am only scratching the surface of where this documentary will take you. Yes it is true. I am one those guys who tear up during a touching scene in a movie. One of two scenes that got me thinking right away was the story of Mark Weaver from Orange County, California who read Claiborne’s first book the ‘Irresistible Revolution’ and was convicted on his heart to give away his possessions and try to help. Weaver explained that he really did not have any real possessions worth much. So the next day after he was discussing the story with his family friends from Indiana came out to visit and wanted to go be on ‘The Price is Right.’ So they went, Weaver was called to come on down, and needless to say Weaver had gotten some things he was able to give away and then he moved to Uganda, Africa where he lived in a orphanage for children who lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. The other scene was listening about what happened at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. After Mark Hallen brought the controvesl play “The Laramie Project’ to campus. A student threatened Hallen for bringing the play to the campus and the student newspaper office was broken into and vandalized with the words ‘God Hates Gays’ spray-painted on the wall and computers. The news bits about Matthew Sheppard that the play is based on had me in tears. If you have no idea who Matthew Sheppard is I strongly recommend renting the Laramie Project. Matthew Sheppard was brutally beaten and left for dead just because he was gay. His case stirred great debate in the religious community and even brought some churches to the defense of Sheppard’s attackers. ‘Ordinary Radicals’ does not have a national distributer but is available online at theordinaryradicals.com for $20 and you can view video clips and much more. Local band releases first album La Dispute, a popular local band from Grand Rapids, released their first full-length album “Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair,” on Nov. 8 off of their new label No Sleep Records. The progressively hardcore rock riffs mixed with groovy beats and strong bass lines take your ears on a rollercoaster ride of emotions not to mention, the lyrically poetic vocal style. Their music is not defined by a certain influence, but by a collection of events in their lives. “I’m not sure I could specifically point any influences out anymore,” Jordan Dreyer lead vocalist said. “We’ve been writing music for three years now, so the process has kind of created its own internal sphere of influence amongst the five of us. I’d say that all of our friends in bands are our collective, biggest influence, since we hear and see so much of them.” Dreyer will run circles around you with his words, backed by a whirlwind of instrumental genius. His voice is inherently infectious, on top of his poetic stories of love, struggles and tragedies that are comfortingly heart-felt. A few songs off the album capture a focus leaning towards hurt and deceit, yet others describe the powerful sense of realization and awakening of deep, severed emotions. Dreyer said the songs, “New Storms for Older Lovers,” “Last Blues for Bloody Knuckles,” and “Sad Prayers for Guilty Bodies,” are all based around the same conflict. “The three songs are intended to showcase three separate conversations between people involved in the same divorce,” Dreyer said. The entire album as a whole gives off feelings of hopelessness reinforced with a strong conviction to move forward. It has a common rhythm of longing, not only lyrically but also musically. With mellow blues guitars and aggressive chord progressions in a series of ups and downs. The title, which is derived from a folktale, also has an interesting story behind it Dreyer explained. “It’s the story of a princess who weaves elaborate and beautiful garments. Eventually in spending so much time at the loom, she has been unable to enjoy her existence. In realizing this, she becomes incredibly depressed. The king introduces her to a shepherd’s boy. The princess and the shepherd’s boy fall deeply in love and are married. The princess neglects her weaving and the king becomes very angry. So, he separates them, one on each side of the river. One day a year, the 7th day of the 7th month, they are allowed to meet. On that day, a ferryman brings them each other. However, if the king is not satisfied, he floods the river and they cannot meet.” The stars Vega and Altair are the characters of the story. The Milky Way is the river, and the moon is the ferryman. On that day, if it’s cloudy the king is angry. “The idea was to use the image of the river and the purpose it plays in the folktale to represent the aspects of our own existence that keep us from being truly content,” Dreyer states. “The idea behind the title was to give a concrete image to that flaw…” Not only does their talent show through on this album, but also it’s stunning to see their desire to impress us again and again with originality. La Dispute proves in this album that they’re staying “bright as lightning” and singing “loud as thunder” to show everyone in the music world what they have to offer. Boris bores crowd I’m not one to usually tolerant of music that I’m not fond of. Generally the things that fall into that category are Rap, Country and Opera. Now I have one more thing I can add to that list. Boris. I was always taught that if I didn’t have something nice to say, not to say anything at all. But now that I am attending shows for reviews, I suppose that there is an exception. Boris was by far one of the worst bands that I have ever seen. Not only was their stage presence awful, but so was the music. They stood practically still the entire time they played. At first I wasn’t entirely sure if they were actually really even doing anything. They looked like statues, that had awful music coming from them. As far as the music goes, all I have to say is that I don’t speak Japanese, so it wasn’t really of much interest to me. I know that some bands specialize and do shows in their native language. But when you are opening up for an American band, you should generally sing in English. On top of that, I don’t think that I have ever seen more people looking that bored without sitting in the Secretary of State waiting to get their license renewed. Most everyone in the crowd was looking around as though they had to idea what was going on or even what they were hearing. To me it was a mix of techno, guitar feedback, and people whispering the lyrics to so-called songs, that nobody understood. I don’t know about the rest of the audience, but I felt like I would have only understood the point to their music had I been back in the 1970s and tripping on acid while attending Woodstock. . The Real Deal: Students play gameshow The Real Deal Game Show was giving away free money on Wednesday, Nov. 19. An audience of about a hundred a fifty people watched the game show and vied for the chance to win prizes of cash, an mp3 player, a digital camera and a pair of tickets to the sneak preview of Australia. To win prizes students had to answer trivia questions and perform stunts. These stunts including burping contests, chugging water, and singing happy birthday to a blow-up doll. After performing these stunts student had an opportunity to spin a wheel and either choose the cash amount listed or one of two surprise prizes. One prize was always a 'dummy' prize while the other was something valuable such as a new digital camera or a mp3 players. "I thought it was great." Isandro Gomez, a GRCC Architecture student and a winner said. "...I'm very surprised I won forty dollars." To win the money Gomez had to put on pantyhose over his pants and strut his stuff like a fashion model. much to the amusement of everyone in attendance. GRCC Student and Black Student Union President, Brandon McCall had to answer trivia questions regarding Vice-Presidential duties in order for the option to win forty five dollars cash. He chose to take a smaller amount of money and a mystery prize. The mystery prize turned out to be a bottle of bubbles. The event was sponsored by the Campus Activities Board and was put on by the Smith Agency. The host/comedian of the event was Stefano. For Stefano these events are a full time job. He said he does over eighty of these events for colleges a year. He also tries to book comedy shows around these game shows. "We wanted to get students something that was fun, entertaining, a break from class." Campus Activities Board staff member and event chair Paige Bailey said. Everyone who was called on stage walked away with something, whether it was a few dollars in cash or a movie ticket. The audience might of have the most fun of all however, as they got the opportunity to see their classmates embarrass themselves for money. Nine Inch Nails unleash fury on Grand Rapids Apparently listening to Nine Inch Nails is against some beliefs. People were outside VanAndel telling fans they were going to Hell for attending. People dressed in NIN ensembles filled the venue quickly and were ready for the show to start. As soon as NIN took the stage, fans went crazy. Although I wasn’t around to see it, I could hear it from the basement as I was prepping to go out and take photos. As thrilling as it was for them, it was even better for me. Not only did I get to be at the show, which was good enough for me, but on top of that I got to go right in front of the stage. As a warning before I went out, their manager warned us of flying objects. They like to kick stage lights off, and throw mic stands. Of course, as everyone else did, I laughed it off. I was close enough to see each droplet of sweat dripping off front man Trent Reznors’ face and chest. Before I knew it, I was backing off and ducking from the stage light flying my way. Aside from that, their stage presence was spectacular in comparison to the band who played just moments before them. They had multicolored strobe lights, different color screens and cool sound effects. The first half of the show consisted of their most popularly played songs. All the songs that the crowd could sing along to easily. After eight or nine songs they transitioned to some of their instrumental songs, creating a more soothing, slow vibe. During one of the transitions of the 2 hours long concert, Reznor started playing the xylophone, as a screen came down from the ceiling, creating the illusion that there was a hot sunny, cracked ground desert as the stage. Though the band was hidden from the screen, the audience seemed to enjoy it just as much as seeing all the band mates running around energetically on stage. Of the many screens the best, in my opinion, was the screen that created a look of running water. With the soothing sounds of the xylophones and the “water”, it created an atmosphere that calmed the crowd. The movement of the crowd turned into more of a sway rather than the jumping up and down and singing loudly to the songs. Some people even standing perfectly still, with their eyes closed, looking to be taking it all in with just their sense of hearing.
A&E Briefs for November 26, 2008 Squatumentary Amway Brunch Christmas Concert Orbit Room Concert Really Free Market
Speak Out! Have something to say? Sound off to The Collegiate at grcc_collegiate@yahoo.com for your tips or views on the current news, sports, arts & entertainment and opinion. Letters to the editors: The Collegiate is very interested in your opinions, so send your letters in. The
basic premise of journalism centers on the long-standing tradition of providing an
open forum and a free press. Please write to the Collegiate with your opinion.
You can drop off your letters in room 339 Main building, or you can e-mail them
to GRCC_Collegiate@yahoo.com. Please include your name and phone number
for proper verification. Letters are subject to editing for spelling, grammar, and length. |
|
Current Edition: Next Edition:
|
top stories | news | opinion | a & e | sports | archive | blogs | poll | diversions | about | advertise | contact | video
The Collegiate is the student newspaper of Grand Rapids Community College. The opinions and views expressed in this newspaper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Grand Rapids Community College (Michigan). The Collegiate is a free press and a public forum.
Have a news tip or story idea? Send us an e-mail!
616-234-4157 • 143 Bostwick Avenue, NE Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503 (Room #339 Main) © 2008 The Collegiate