Generation Magazine Vol. 28 Issue 10

Generation Magazine - February 22, 2011 - It’s all about connections.

CONTENTS

Featured Also 05 | Editor’s Letter

Buffalo buffalo in Buffalo?

07 | Agenda

A couple of good movies, Shrek, and Lady Gaga! OMG OMG OMG!

08 | He Says, She Says

12 12

Hairy issues.

09 | The New Social

Networks 10 | Best New TV Spring is almost here! Get ready to

18

spend lots of quality time inside in front of a glowing box.

11 | Radio How to preset your car stereo.

12 | Death of DJ

Youtube Keep up with new music...no

commitments!

20

(716)2010-GEN Text us your comments, advice questions, texts from last night, picture messages or whatever else you want other people to see (and we do text back).

716- 201-0436.

NYC image by deltabelun on flickr

oscars image by lincolnblues on flickr

14

14 | 140 Characters Turns out, you can pretend to be someone you’re not on the internet

15 | Hit or Bulls*** 16 | Oscar Picks!

A British guy learns how to talk and an American guy learns how to cut off his own arm.

domestic abuser is back!

Short story by Allison Ruiz

18 | Chris Brown The multifaceted pop star/ 20 | Literary

23 | Parting Shots

Combine these two Parting Shots and make your own computer!

EDITOR’S LETTER Pros and Cons: Buffalo

When I visited Gawker.com on the morning of February 9, 2011, and saw a picture of our shirtless congressman, flexing his muscles in a picture that he had sent to a woman on Craigslist, I realized that as big of a mess it is, I am going to miss this place. Chris Lee’s resignation is a perfect example of why we all have a love-hate relationship with Buffalo.

Aside from Chris Lee, this city gets a lot of bad press. Every couple months or so, there is a story on newly-discovered police corruption in Buffalo. Just recently, we have found out about a Niagara Falls officer, Ryan Warme, who used his department-issued gun during

drug transactions, gave out descriptions of undercover cars to drug dealers, and groped women after forcing them out of their vehicles. National news outlets have also picked up the trial of Muzzammil “Mo” Hassan, a local television executive, who beheaded his wife two years ago.

At the same time, a teen from a Buffalo family who was given a new home on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” is facing felony assault charges after slashing another girl’s arms with a box cutter. We also know that Buffalo is still heavily segregated, as fellow South Campus constituents know best. Buffalo has had four straight Super Bowl losses. Many outsiders I know wonder why we stick around despite having to deal with freezing temperatures.

What people don’t realize is that Buffalo has a few wonderful qualities about it that city like New York does not have. The people of Buffalo are some of the nicest and most passionate people I know. For example, when I came to Buffalo from Syracuse and began working at the Alberta Drive Wegmans, I was amazed by the passion the people showed for the Buffalo Bills. They knew that the Bills wouldn’t go far, but they still cheered on and wore their favorite jerseys until the end of the season.

If you go to New York City, you know about the long commutes, which can be treacherous during hot summer days. In Buffalo, summer is beautiful, and nothing beats a relaxing ride through the city with the windows open, with the breeze and smells of Buffalo food hitting your face. If you want to catch Shakespeare in the park in New York City’s Central Park, you will probably be stuck in the ticket line for hours. In Buffalo, you can come a few minutes before the show.

The Olmstead Parks system is another gem that defines the greatness of Buffalo. There are numerous beautiful park, most notably the Delaware Park and Front Park. Buffalo is also a only a few minutes from Niagara Falls.

Speaking from experience, there is

Generation Magazine 2011 - 2011 Staff Editor in Chief Dino Husejnovic

Managing Editor nothing more romantic than taking a casual stroll down Niagara Falls Park during a summer sunset. Central Park does not even compare.

Our economy may suck, our buildings may be crumbling, but the people and the culture is what makes this city better than it what seems like. I think the fact that Buffalo bars stay open until four in the morning tells the story well. Buffalonians’ city may be in tough shape, but that is not going to stop them from enjoying life, and enjoying it big time. Screw dumb Congressmen. Forget the whackos. Focus on the good. Buffalo is doing just fine.

As a fellow Buffalo redditor slikymike says, “Just think... You could have been born in OHIO.”

Kathryn Przybyla

Creative Director Elizabeth Flyntz

Contributing Designer Jordan Rosenberg

Copy Editor

Catherine Prendergast

Associate Editors Seon McDonald Steve Neilans Allison Balcerzak

Photo Editor

Marina Bayramova

Circulation Director Dino Husejnovic Editor in Chief

Rashid Dakhil-Rivera

Contributing Staff Josh Q. Newman Nathan Grygier Jessica Brant Allison Ruiz

Business Manager Ariella Goro

Ad Manager Tommy Zhao

Cover photo by Marina Bayramova.

Model: Alexandra Pivovarova Stock photos courtesy of stock.xchng

reddit.com/r/ubreddit reddit.com/r/buffalo

Generation Magazine is owned by Sub-Board I, Inc., the student service corporationat the State University of New York at Buffalo. The Sub-Board I, Inc. Board of Directors grants editorial autonomy to the editorial board of Generation.

Sub-Board I, Inc. (the publisher) provides funding through mandatory student activity fees and is in no way responsible for the editorial content, editorial structure or editorial policy of the magazine.

Editorial and business offices for Generation are located in Suite 315 in the Student Union on North Campus. The telephone numbers are (716) 645-6131 or (716) 645-2674 (FAX). Address mail c/o Room 315 Student Union University at Buffalo, Amherst, NY 14260 Submissions to Generation Magazine should be e- mailed to ubgeneration@gmail.com by 1 p.m. Tuesday, a week before each issue’s publication. This publication and its contents are the property of the students of the State University of New York at Buffalo 2011 by Generation Magazine, all rights reserved. The first 10 copies of Generation Magazine are free.

Each additional copy must be approved by the editor in chief.

Requests for reprints should be directed to the editor in chief.

Generation Magazine neither endorses nor takes responsibility for any claims made by our advertisers. Press run 5,000.

ubgeneration.com | 5

source: reddit user: skeezer

AGENDA

BROADWAY | SHREK THE MUSICAL | FEBRUARY 22-27

The lovable green ogre who won the heart of a beautiful princess in the popular DreamWorks animated film has been adapted for the stage. The musical features a talented cast who bring the show to life with entertaining music, dance and comedy. Venue: Shea Performing Arts Center. Tickets start at $40

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CONCERT | LADY GAGA | MARCH 4

At the Grammys she made her entrance in a giant alien egg pod continuing her trend of over the top showmanMulti-talented actor and rock icon Meatloaf who has garnered a reputation for highly entertaining, ship. It is inevitable that “The Fame Monster” singer will theatrical shows as well as his charitable work will stop by Niagara Falls on his tour. With such a long dazzle buffalo with her catchy pop tunes and eccentric and varied career including his upcoming appearance on the “Celebrity Apprentice,” fans would be imagery. Venue: HSBC Arena. Tickets start at $49.50 if you pleased to rock out to his hits. Venue: Seanca Niagara Casino. Tickets start at $38 don’t mind rear view seats

CONCERT | MEATLOAF | FEBRUARY 25

MOVIE | DRIVE ANGRY 3D | FEBRUARY 25

Nicolas Cage is back with one of his perennial movies, this time as a felon who breaks out of hell in order to redeem himself by preventing the cult who killed his daughter from doing the same to his grandchild. There’s the beautiful woman, there are fast cars and there’s 3D.

MOVIE | RED STATE | MARCH 4

Writer and Director Kevin Smith helms this dark horror themed film about a group of teens who accept and online ad for group sex and wind up facing death in the face at the hands of a pastor. As with all things Kevin Smith, it is probably more than just a horror movie. ubgeneration.com | 7

TEXT US YOUR QUESTIONS! 716-201-0436

An advice column divided by the sexes, starring Catherine Prendergast and Nathan Grygier

(607): Sometimes when I’m having sex with my gf, my dad will “accidentally” walk in on us. Its obviously intentional. What do I do?

CP: I’m not so sure your dad walks in on you on purpose. Haven’t you noticed how utterly careless fathers are? In fact, they are essentially the epitome of ignorant. Dads are model examples of being forgetful and oblivious. I bet your father wandered into your room just to ask you a simple, fatherly question like, “Hey son, how would you like to go fishing tomorrow at the lake? I got the boat all ready!” And boom, you were not just sitting at your desk doing your homework like he thought. Or that time he caught you and your gf in the shower. All he needed was to go! Bathroom time with the newspaper is a staple in most fathers’ daily routine. Maybe you’re the one interfering with his personal time.

NG : Well, I guess it really depends on if you want to stay on good terms with the man or not. If he’s watching you plunder his daughter, chances are he’s either not getting any or one of those overprotective types. If you want to fight fire with fire, when you suspect he’s going to walk in go into some crazy sex position like the Italian chandelier or the wheelbarrow. Double points for you if you’re in crazy leather sex outfits. Guarantee he won’t want to walk in on you again when he sees his daughter being whipped by a man in assless chaps.

(716): How do I go about arranging a gangbang? And don’t say CRAIGSLIST. CP: CRAIGSLIST! Ha! I said it! Now what are you going to do?

NG: Uh, you don’t. Come on, you’re in college. Are you seriously that sexually desensitized that you have to touch swords with another man doing work with the same girl to get off? If that’s the case, you don’t need a gangbang, you need some therapy. Or just don’t ejaculate for a long time, like a month or so. After that, even a handjob will feel like the holy grail to you.

(516): I’m a guy and my legs and arms are real hairy. They have become so dark, I’m practically a gorilla, and girls don’t like gorillas, unless they’re from Jersey Shore.

Do you think I should shave my legs and arms, or is that just weird?

are really only 2 reasons that a man should shave his arms and or legs.

The first reason is actual practical, male swimmers shave all of their body hair to move faster in the water. The second reason is if the man is gay and his partner frequently complains about the tickling sensation he receives from your hairy arms when receiving a reach around.

So I guess if you can play off being a swimmer, go for it. You just don’t want to be seen as the guy who shaved his arms to keep from making his boyfriend giggle during sex.

about how superior to her you are.

But if you insist on dumbing yourself down, don’t be too dramatic about it. You want to avoid saying things like “Oh me like that lots, you so money.” That type of dialogue will just make her leave you. Just watch a season of Teen Mom or Jersey Shore, I’m pretty sure that will kill the same amount of brain cells as a solid week of binge drinking.

(914): My girlfriend’s GPA is 2.8, while I have a solid 3.8. She’s struggling, but I still love her. I don’t think she’s dumb. The only thing is, she always gets upset when I talk about my good grades or smart things in general. Should I, and how, can I start acting stupid so she doesn’t get jealous?

CP: Nah, I wouldn’t be too worried.

Bieber’s songs get stuck in your head whether you like it or not. I would only be worried if he bought the Bieber Collector’s Edition of US Weekly. Isn’t there a movie about his life coming out as well? Yeah, definitely be worried if he bought the magazine or two tickets to see his life story on the big screen; but the humming of his tunes is totally acceptable.

CP: But girls actually love gorillas!

Austin Powers? Come on, he’s like, one of the sexiest men ever! Remember his chest hair? It was out of control! But so sexy! Don’t shave. I think you could definitely make your hair work for you. Just be crazy confident about it. Own it. As long as everything else is hair-free – like your witty humor, your thoughtfulness, your understated street smarts – you have nothing to worry about.

CP: Honestly bro, she doesn’t sound worth it. You may not think she’s dumb. But she sounds dumb. Dumb girls are no fun. Well, that’s not really true, they can be. But dating a dumb girl? Especially when your GPA is a full ten points higher?

That’s a whole other ballgame. Do you really love her, or do you just love security? And if you start acting stupid, just so she doesn’t become jealous, well, then, you are both idiots.

NG: First of all, kudos on insulting the Jersey Shore. Secondly, there

NG: Well I mean you could always help her study instead of gloating

(315): I caught my boyfriend singing along to Justin Bieber. I think it’s cute, but should I be worried?

NG: It depends how he was singing along. If he was hitting all the same notes as a prepubescent shemale, then yeah maybe you need to have a talk with him. If he was just casually singing along then you don’t need to be worried. I’ve caught myself singing Lady Gaga more than a few times, and that doesn’t mean that I parade around in outfits made of meat or am even bluffin’ with my muffin. It’s just a song, chill out yo.

By Pratyush Joshi

8 | ubgeneration.com

He Says, She Says

GENERATION February 22,2011

The New Social Networks

Here at Generation, we like our social media. We tweet, we post, we check in, and we network constantly. New technology is something we thrive on and can’t wait to dive into to test out. Though the following list is in no way new to us, we would like to share it with you social media virgins out there. It will give you some insight about what we like and why you should use them.

By Kathryn Przybyla

What is it?

Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting. Simply find the public streams you find most compelling and follow the conversations. At the heart of Twitter are small bursts of information called Tweets.

Each Tweet is 140 characters in length, but don’t let the small size fool you—you can share a lot with a little space. Connected to each Tweet is a rich details pane that provides additional information, deeper context and embedded media. You can tell your story within your Tweet, or you can think of a Tweet as the headline, and use the details pane to tell the rest with photos, videos and other media content. (twitter.com) Why we like it?

Almost every editor here at @ubgeneration is on twitter. It is the perfect way to get up to date information, literally seconds after it comes out. Although we’re big fans of posting our own content and information, twitter can be used for just collecting information from your own interest’s accounts. In other words, you don’t have to tweet in order to read up on your interests. This is where news is breaking the fastest these days, and by the time the Daily paper comes out, everyone has already learned about what happened today.

What is it?

Foursquare is a location-based mobile platform that makes cities easier to use and more interesting to explore. By “checking in” via a smartphone app or SMS, users share their location with friends while collecting points and virtual badges. Foursquare guides real-world experiences by allowing users to bookmark information about venues that they want to visit and surfacing relevant suggestions about nearby venues. Merchants and brands leverage the foursquare platform by utilizing a wide set of tools to obtain, engage, and retain customers and audiences. (foursquare.com) Why we like it?

Almost every building on the UB campus is listed as a venue in foursquare, and every venue has a mayor.

The one who checks into a venue the most becomes a mayor. For example, Dino, the EIC of Generation, is at the Student Union almost every day, and is currently the mayor. Every time he enters the building, he checks in and lets all of his Twitter and Facebook friends know that he is at the Union. When others check in, they can see who has been at the venue recently and Dino’s profile picture. As foursquare gains popularity, the campus mayorship battles will only get more intense. The University at Buffalo (North) venue, along Center for the Arts, are a couple of other hot venues.

What is it?

Tumblr lets you effortlessly share anything. Post text, photos, quotes, links, music, and videos, from your browser, phone, desktop, email, or wherever you happen to be. You can customize everything, from colors, to your theme’s HTML. The average Tumblr user creates 14 original posts each month, and reblogs 3. Half of those posts are photos. The rest are split between text, links, quotes, music, and video.

The same way YouTube embeds make it easy for a video to become a viral hit, the “reblog” button on all Tumblr posts allows a meme to spread rapidly across thousands of blogs with just a click. (tumblr.com) Why we like it?

This is by far the easiest blogging site we have used. Personally, I keep a fashion blog that makes posting and re-blogging photos, videos, text, and slideshows as easy as copy/paste/post. You can literally post anything you’re heart desires with the click of a button. With step-by-step tutorials online, anyone can use this blogging site.

What is it?

LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with more than 90 million members in over 200 countries and territories. The company’s management team is comprised of seasoned executives from companies like Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft, TiVo, PayPal and Electronic Arts. The CEO of LinkedIn is Jeff Weiner. As of January 2011, LinkedIn counts executives from all 2010 Fortune 500 companies as members; its hiring solutions were used by 69 of the Fortune 100 companies as of December 31, 2010. More than one million companies have LinkedIn Company Pages (formerly known as company profiles).

Why we like it?

Getting a job these days is number one priority on a lot of college student’s minds this year. By putting your professional and business experience online is just another step towards a successful career. Think of it as an online portfolio or resume of your work. You can keep professional contacts organized and provide them with any information you like. Job openings are posted here and almost every major organization has a company page to connect with.

What is it?

Although WordPress is not exactly new, or even a social network, we decided that the Content Management System is worth a mention. You can get a blog started in less time than it takes you to read this sentence. All you need is an email address. You’ll get your own WordPress.com address (like you. wordpress.com, you can switch to a custom address later if you’d like), a selection of great free and customizable designs for your blog (we call them themes), 3GB of file storage (that’s about 2,500 pictures!) and all the other great features listed here. You can blog as much as you want for free, your blog can be public to the world or private for just your friends, and our premium features are completely optional. (wordpress.com) What is it?

If you are looking to start your own website, WordPress is the way to go. This free website starting page can give you anything from simple personal page to an extremely detailed webpage for your company. Easy editing tools make it look like a Microsoft Word set up where you can fix/change anything you want in an instant. There are thousands of ways to personalize these pages too. ubgeneration.com | 9

Veggies are Controversial

By Catherine Prendergast There are certain words in this day and age that still carry negative connotations.

Vegetarian and vegan are two of them.

The thought of someone choosing to not eat steak, chicken, fish, and everything in between makes many people cringe and think, Why on earth would somebody not eat meat? Or if they are slightly more understanding, they will think, Maybe eating animal products is bad…but I could never give up that delicious taste of a mediumwell-done burger! And these are just some clean replies to the word vegetarian. Bring in Vegan, and the appalled reactions will skyrocket, if they had not already. Vegan?

No meat? No dairy?! That doesn’t make any sense!

Except that it makes a lot of sense, when you allow someone to explain why.

I realize I have already lost a couple readers as soon as they read the first few sentences, and I am not even a vegetarian, so I can only imagine what true vegetarians and vegans deal with on a daily basis.

However, the subject of this lifestyle choice is quite fascinating, and incredibly controversial, definitely worth a respectable discussion.

The reasons why some people choose to not eat meat vary. It could be as simple as allergies or stomach pains, or possibly it is one way they want to promote animal rights, or maybe they read articles about vegetarianism and decided it was right for them. It is becoming a cliché, but the slogan “Meat is Murder” is still a widespread view. Some vegetarians even disagree among themselves, like certain fish may be okay, while others believe all meat should not be eaten. There is even more disagreement between proclaimed vegans, who typically will not eat anything that came from an animal—that means meat and dairy. But it also means honey, gelatin 10 | ubgeneration.com

and products that one may not even realize. Some vegans will claim that things like honey are permissible, while others say a true vegan is one who will not touch animal products, no matter how small or how trace the ingredient is.

Vegetarians and vegans are often believers of animal rights. They strive to enforce the well being of animals, and one way to do that is to make a personal stand through food. Many people who have not really read about the vegetarian debate will assume that these people must really like animals, with their cute little faces and their vulnerability. But it is so beyond that.

Okay, so animals can be cute, but how about the way modern day cows, chickens and turkeys are treated? Forget about how they look (chickens are not really cute) it is about how the meat industry has been facilitating, feeding, and breeding them. Major corporations have millions of people to feed, so how their animals are kept is not their priority, which is slightly ironic. They are concerned with time and money. Hundreds of thousands of chickens are caged in and injected with hormones so people can buy a substantial amount at the supermarket. Many beef factories will feed their cows corn, to fatten them up quickly.

The consequences are pretty obvious – hormones and antibiotics are bad for the chickens but also for us. And a cow should not be fed corn because it is not their natural diet. A cow’s stomach is made specifically for grass. Corn interferes with healthy digestion, and many cows become extremely sick from all the grain. As cows are kept literally inches apart, the bacteria and sickness spreads. Chicken and cow meat, produced this way, is extremely unnatural.

Even if you don’t care about animals, which is fine, meat derived from cows which are wrongly-fed, injected with antibiotics, and are on the brink of disease should not be eaten.

The environment is a major factor of the debate. Hundreds of cattle and chickens are kept in pretty terrible conditions, and these huge companies use vast amounts of energy and water just to keep them alive. Shipping these products all across the country uses detrimental amounts of gas. Growing vegetables simply uses fewer materials than growing animals. On the other hand, still concerning the environment, there are many people who believe that the act of not eating animal products is too extreme. They agree that the modern day meat industry is inhumane and shameful and should be completely restructured. However, they do not believe that the actual act of eating meat is wrong.

They believe the nutritional value of meat and dairy is crucial to the healthy growth of humans. They often assert that humans have been eating animals since the beginning of time; it is the way of life. They will not buy meat and dairy products from major companies, like Butterball turkeys, but they will strictly shop at organic stores or markets for explicitly organic, free-range, and/or local products.

This brings into question the whole local food side of the argument. Many of these people believe that buying local food is much more important than just not eating meat. For example, they argue that buying a chicken from a small farm just a few miles down the road is much more politically and environmentally helpful than buying tomatoes that were shipped from thousands of miles away.

Even with the concrete arguments regarding the process of maintaining the animals and the effects on our environment, the other side of the issue is just as real.

Society cannot wholly become vegetarians or vegans because there are just too many people to feed around the world. Massproduced products are far from wonderful, but the quantity and quickness they get

shipped out covers a lot of hungry land.

On a smaller scale, economics come into the equation. Organic and free-range products cost significantly more than regular or generic versions. All kinds of people—lowincome families, broke college students, even middle-class families in this recession—just cannot afford to spend the extra money.

Contrasting opinions arise concerning all aspects of the issue—if the act of killing animals is morally wrong; if there is necessary nutrition in animal products; what meat, if any, is okay to eat; what should be stopped in the meat industry and how; how to get local food to more people; how to respect the environment but feed an entire universe simultaneously. It is important to still think about and reflect upon these ideas no matter how complicated the issue is. I cannot say who is “right,” maybe we really should all stop eating meat, or maybe meat is a wonderful thing, we just need to be careful how we produce it. Nonetheless, I truly believe that buying local food is one of the best ways to support hardworking farmers, their animals, and the environment. The UB Veg Club is set on promoting the support of a healthy lifestyle, as well as animal rights. According to their mission statement, “UB Veg is an organization committed to promoting the health and social benefits of choosing a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. We are devoted to advancing animal welfare by informing the university community of slaughterhouse treatment, as well as of the health benefits of choosing an herbivorous diet.” Whether you eat meat or not, whatever you choose or believe, getting the word out about why people are vegetarians and why they are concerned with the meat industry is necessary because it is an ethical, social and political issue.

GENERATION February 22, 2011

RADIO CITY

By Ally Balcerzak

Way back in the early 1900’s, someone created an invention that we still use to this day. No, it’s not the light bulb; that was way earlier; I’m talking about the radio. With the invention of the radio came radio stations that catered to different tastes in music, leaving us to hunt for our favorites in every city we visit. Just to clarify for those of you who consider Pandora and AOL Radio actual radio stations, I’m talking about radio radio here, as in the kind you find in a car or in your grandparent’s house, the ones not hooked up to Wi-fi or satellites (yes, they still exist).

Buffalo is lucky when it comes to radio stations; we’ve got so many that there is bound to be at least one for your taste in music. After a little research, and some serious pestering via Facebook, I’ve come up with a list of some of Buffalo’s more popular stations for college students.

Wild 101.1 Technically, Wild is a Canadian station, but let’s face it, Canada is good for some things, even if they are home to the Maple Leafs. Wild is a pop station, they play the Top 40 hits, but they’re also the first place you’ll hear new songs from the bigger artists. Also, listening to international radio in your car is just awesome.

This one is definitely a good station to have on your presets, especially when getting ready to go out.

Kiss 98.5 Kiss is another station that plays the Top 40; it is also home to some of the more obnoxious DJs in my opinion. It’s a good station for the most popular songs now, but you certainly won’t be hearing anything new too often; unless it’s the new Gaga song that is. Their playlist is relatively stale, to the point where you will be hearing Nelly’s “Hot in Herre” daily.

country wyrk 106.5 If you’re into country then this is your station. They play all of the new country songs along with classic favorites. Unfortunately for country fans, this is really the only major country station in the area so if you don’t like it you’ll need to either go XM or make sure your iPod is always charged.

JACK FM 92.9 Jack came on the scene a few years ago with the motto “Playing what we want.”

This is one of those stations that everyone needs on their presets simply because they play everything. Turn on Jack and you can go from hearing Kiss to Train to Katy Perry, separated by some of the funniest radio drops. You won’t hear the same songs played 50 times a day on here.

CANADIAN EDGE 102.1 Buffalo has its own edge, but the Canadian one seems to be more popular. On here, you will find all rock, all the time. They play classics, indie, punk, and pretty much anything with a good guitar riff. If you’re a rock fan, this is definitely your station.

97 ROCK 96.9 If you’re a classic rock fan then this station needs to be on your presets. They never play anything off of the Top 40 list, at least not the current one anyway, and they rarely play anything that came out after 1990. 97 Rock is home to everything 80s rock and all the bands our parents grew up listening to.

WBLK 93.7 In a town full of pop and rock stations, WBLK stands out as the one major HipHop/Rap station. Here you’ll find the newest songs from every major rapper along with the newest dance songs before they hit the Top 40.

WBFO 88.7 We can’t forget our UB resident station, WBFO, which is broadcast from South Campus. WBFO is the largest NPR member station in Western New York, and for those who want to feel intelligent, WBFO has talk all day and blues, contemporary and jazz all night long. This is the perfect station for an insightful drive or decent background music while studying.

In the age of XM radio and iPod car connectors, it’s easy to forget that we can still get music for free when we’re driving. Buffalo is lucky, we have a ton of radio stations that cover a wide range of taste—we might as well check them out while we’re still here. ubgeneration.com ubgeneration.com | 11| 11

Discovering New Music and the Death of

YouTube

By Dino Husejnovic

When going out to a party, or even a bar, one of the most important components to a successful night is good music. But we have all had our share of experiences with DJ YouTube. You know who you are.

They are the people who throw a party and play music straight off of YouTube, with complete disregard for sound quality, selection or people’s ears. Most students will not care too much as long as there is alcohol flowing, but for audiophiles and true music fans, the entire night will sound like being on telephone hold the whole tim. When DJ YouTube runs out of music, he or she turns to their stale iTunes library to complete the night. Occasionally that library will have a decent old song, but will most likely signal the end of the party and send everyone home. To cure the DJ YouTube plague, here is a guide on how to discover new songs, or recover from a night of muddled old music with some quality sounds.

Grooveshark.com

Grooveshark is undoubtedly the number one enemy to DJ YouTube. Three music streaming site, which may be the sexiest website on the web, has a catalogue of millions of songs ready for instant play.

Grooveshark works almost like a music sharing site, minus the downloading. Users uploda their entire libraries, and Grooveshark makes these songs available to other users for free streaming. The user contributions have made Grooveshark’s music library enormous, which means classics and newest releases are posted quickly. As Grooveshark is establishing deals with major record companies and also runs an ad in the sidebar, this is not illegal. Where Grooveshark shines is its playlist-making abilities, with the “Popular” section that can be dropped into a smooth, shuffling and cross-fading playlist that instantly jumpstarts a party. You can search for songs, artist and albums, and drop them into the playlist as you wish. All files are at least 128kbps, which means they will load quick and sound clear. To take the party on the road, Grooveshark offers a mobile app for paying listeners on jailbroken iPhones and Android phones. The VIP subscription is only $9 a month, and if the only devices you use to listen to music are a laptop and a smartphone, then this a steal. No more old iTunes songs and no more terrible quality YouTube videos.

Grooveshark is here to the rescue.

Hypem.com

There is no question that music blogs are the best resource for finding new music. Unfortunately, there are way too many blogs on the internet, and it has become difficult to keep track of all the music posted.

Hype Machine fixes this problem, and it does so beautifully. The music blog aggregator pulls songs from blogs as they are posted into one place, gives them a nice quick player, categorizes them, and keeps track of popularity. As new songs get more plays, they get placed in the “Popular” section. Hype Machine’s “Popular” section is one of the best places online to find music that is fresh, and most importantly, good.

Based on whatever is going on in the music world, “Popular” section could be filled with newest Kid Cudi, Afrojack and club remixes, UK imports, and Indie. This section is constantly changing, but Hype Machine guarantees that no song will stick around for longer than three days, unless you sort to view top weekly tracks. The site also keeps how many times tracks are shared on Twitter and compiles a Twitter chart, which is just another great way of showing what is popular at this moment. Users can also sign up for accounts and mark their favorites for later listening. The latest update to Hype Machine has converted the entire site into HTML5, which means that it is fully usable inside your Android, iPhone and tablet browsers, without downloading any apps. No matter what kind of music you like, it is guaranteed that you will find something new on Hype Machine that you and your friends will not be able to stop listening to.

Slacker.com

Below DJ YouTube, on the list of worst DJ’s ever, is DJ Pandora. These are the people that play the “Today’s Hip Hop and Pop Hits” station the entire evening. The only thing is, in Pandora terms, today means the past ten years. Although Pandora’s algorithms do a good job at picking a genre, they are horrible at picking a date. Slacker Radio is almost a carbon-copy of Pandora, but with a few improvements.

First off, Slacker’s library is much bigger with 3 million songs, compared to Pandora’s 700,000 songs, and is updated more frequently. This makes a huge difference when trying to discover new music. What makes this task even easier is the fact that Slacker offers radio stations with the word “New” in the title.

For example, if you want new hip-hop, you can listen to the “New Hip-Hop” station. This guarantees that you will not hear Nelly’s “Hot in Herre,” but rather Brenton Duvall’s “Blow the Skrilla.” To get rid of ads and get unlimited skips, Slacker subscription is only $4.99 per month, and has apps available for Android phones, the iPhone and newer Blackberry’s.

Bbc.co.uk/radio1

BBC Radio 1 and 1xtra are two little gems hidden across the pond that make a great way to discover songs before they come to the United States. As BBC is funded by the license fee all Brits must pay, it is commercial free. Lucky for us, we can listen to the stations live, or listen to pre-recorder shows for free, in high quality. BBC Radio 1 is the most listened radio station in the world, except in the United States.

It features Top 40, hip-hop, rap, drum-n-bass, dance, asian, desi, indie – pretty much any genre you can think of—in one radio station. The Top 40 list, which is released every Sunday, is considerably better than the U.S. Top 40 Billboard, which stays stagnant and does not include many imports. Radio 1’s Top 40 includes rising U.S. and World songs, so you may find Jessie J reigning the list with Lady Gaga and Chase and Status a few spots down and Kesha in between. Aside from the chart, Radio 1 has a plethora of shows that can be played instantly, such as Westwood’s Saturday night show, which features the best and newest hip-hop, with many unreleased exclusives. Since every show has a track listing, if you hear a good song, you can easily find its title. For more hip-hop and rap, BBC has dedicated an entire station, Radio 1xtra, which has even more Westwood on-demand. Greg James’ afternoon, or morning show in the United States, is a good mix of Top 40. For dance fans, Friday night is a blessing, with Scott Mills’ “Ready for the Weekend” show, featuring newest and best club mixes of Top 40 songs, followed by Annie Mac’s insane two-hour show, which is filled with latest drum-n-bass and dance. For rock and indie fans, there is a nightly treat with Zane Lowe’s show, featuring new rock and indie. There are no better radio stations out there, and for a huge variety of nicely-packaged new music shows, BBC Radio 1 and 1xtra are the perfect outlets. Plus, the sexy British accents will have you addicted.

12 | ubgeneration.com

GENERATION February 22, 2011

ubgeneration.com | 13

Spring

TV

Preview

By Kathryn Przybyla MAD LOVE Premiere: February 14 on CBS Mad Love is a comedy about a quartet of New Yorkers - two who are falling in love and two who despise each other... at least for now. Ben, a lawyer, is a hopeless romantic trying to build a relationship with Kate, a beautiful, smart girl whom Ben thinks is the woman of his dreams. Larry, Ben’s unrefined best friend and co-worker, is a guy who doesn’t believe in love and has a long track record as the third wheel.

Connie, Kate’s roommate, works as a nanny and finds Larry aggravating... or does she?

Generation Review: The combination Jason Biggs (American Pie) + Sarah Chalke (Scrubs) combo of this romantic comedy is pretty much amazing. You really couldn’t have a better time slot either, following How I Met Your Mother on CBS’s Monday comedy lineup. It’s a half hour we probably won’t miss.

SHEDDING FOR THE WEDDING Premiere: February 23 on the CW They say two of the most stressful things in life are losing weight and getting married. Imagine having to go through both at the same time. In The CW’s new reality competition, Shedding For The Wedding, that is the challenge that nine overweight couples must face as they compete to see who can lose the most weight and win the wedding of their dreams. Engaged couples from all walks of life come to Los Angeles, where they will live together and compete over a three-month period.

Generation Review: For all you realityaddicts out there, this might be up your alley. But we are on a reality TV overload

right now and can’t handle the realness of this new reality show. Really. This show is looking to be a cross between Biggest Loser and Say Yes to the Dress, which can either turnout to be really awesome or really awful.

BODY OF PROOF Premiere: March 29 on ABC Dr. Megan Hunt (Dana Delany) was in a class of her own, a brilliant neurosurgeon at the top of her game. Her world is turned upside down when a devastating car accident puts an end to her time in the operating room. Megan resumes her career as a medical examiner determined to solve the puzzle of who or what killed the victims.

Megan’s instincts are sharp, but she’s developed a reputation for graying the lines of where her job ends and where the police department’s begins. It turns out her career isn’t the only thing that will need to be rebuilt; Megan’s family has taken a backseat to her ambition, and now she’ll discover there’s a lot of work to do when it comes to dissecting her relationships with the living. (ABC.com) Generation Review: This show looks like it’s going to be a cross between CSI and Desperate Housewives – to the max. Delany is best known for her role at Katherine Mayfair on DH, so there is no doubt ABC will try and fool us with a genius doctor who wears 4 inch pumps while performing autopsies. The comedy will be there, with good looking assistants and other police officials, but we’re not too excited about this cop/doctor/mystery/drama/comedy.

It’s nothing we haven’t seen before.

CAMELOT Premiere: April 1 on STARZ

In the wake of King Uther’s sudden death, chaos threatens to engulf Britain. When the sorcerer Merlin has visions of a dark future, he installs the young and impetuous Arthur, Uther’s unknown son and heir, who has been raised from birth as a commoner. But Arthur’s cold and ambitious half sister Morgan will fight him to the bitter end, summoning unnatural forces to claim the crown in this epic battle for control. These are dark times indeed for the new king, with Guinevere being the only shining light in Arthur’s harsh world.

tics and office pranks only a mad genius could think up. (FOX.com)

Generation Review: THIS IS GOING TO BE EPIC. We are stoked for this new show coming to STARZ in April. But we’re poor and most of us don’t even have STARZ at home, so Hulu here we come. A great cast of Jaime Campbell Bower (Twilight), Eva Green (Casino Royale), and Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love), will make this show an absolute hit. DVR was made for this.

TERRA NOVA Premiere: May 23 on FOX Terra Nova follows an ordinary family on an incredible journey back in time to prehistoric Earth as a small part of a daring experiment to save the human race. In the year 2149, the world is dying. The planet is overdeveloped and overcrowded, with the majority of plant and animal life extinct. The future of mankind is in doubt, and its only hope for survival is in the distant past. When scientists at the FERMI Particle Accelerator unexpectedly discovered a fracture in time that made it possible to construct a portal into primeval history, the bold notion was born to resettle humanity in the past – a second chance to rebuild civilization and get it right this time.

BREAKING IN Premiere: April 6 on FOX Breaking In is an offbeat workplace comedy about a high-tech security firm that takes extreme - and often questionable measures to sell their protection services.

The series centers on a team of uniquely skilled oddball geniuses hand-picked to work for a manipulative mastermind. Contra Security, corporate America’s answer to “The A-Team,” gives clients a sense of security by first ripping it away. The firm is led by Oz, a larger-than-life head honcho who is a man of mystery and master of manipulation. The members of the odd squad include alluring bad girl Melanie, who is in charge of lock-picking, safecracking and heart-breaking; and Cash, a fanboy who specializes in strategy, logis-

Generation Review: Who doesn’t love a show with cool gadgets and bad-guysgone-good? It sounds like a hit on paper and with Christen Slater leading the cast as Oz, Breaking In should be a good. The previews look like this show is going to be a cross between The Office and Inspector Gadget. Hopefully this team can be more tech savvy, rather than goofball comedy.

We have enough of those already.

Generation Review: Avatar fans, your time has come. With the absence of LOST and any other acceptable sci-fi shows this year, Terra Nova seems like a nice replacement.

With Steven Spielberg as an executive producer, we’re afraid to say anything bad about this new show.

140 characters can tell 1000 words

By Steve Neilans What’s better than Gary Busey? A crazy Gary Busey.

What’s better than a crazy Gary Busey?

A Gary Busey imposter.

Imposters have been popping up on social networking sites since the prehistoric days of Myspace. It started with a 40-yearold bald dude with no job making a profile of a hot 20-something in panties and has evolved into a legitimate -- in the most liberal form -- business.

For example, Betty White has an imposter, BettyFckinWhite, with nearly 30,000 followers. She informs her followers on ev14 | ubgeneration.com

erything from not appearing on the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue to her anticipation of the zombie apocalypse (it means a Golden Girls reunion).

“2 Golden Girls 1 Cup. #seniorporntitles (An oldie but a goodie.)”

“Now how will I keep my fingering skills at the expert level? RIP Guitar Hero” “Tracy Morgan said that Sarah Palin is ‘good masturbation material.’ Really?

Well, I’ll give it a try. Be right back.”

Betty White probably doesn’t care about it; after all, she’s Betty White. However, not all celebrities with the (un)fortunate pleasure of having a Twitter or Facebook imposter share the same enthusiasm.

Enter Rahm Emanuel.

Rahm Emanuel is probably going to become the mayor of Chicago after elections on February 22nd. He leads his opponents by double digits in the polls and proves that having allegiances with President Obama can come in handy in the state of Illinois.

Saying the right things has helped Rahm Emanuel come a long way.

Conversely, saying the wrong things has helped MayorEmanuel come a long way.

MayorEmanuel is the imposter Twitter account (also with about 30,000 followers) that brings a unique take on the mundane moments of a politician’s life.

“LAST

DEBATE

OF

THE

MOTHERF*CKING RACE, I MADE YOU MY B*TCH.”

“I’m so glad I’m wearing my unicorn T-shirt under this suit. When I get down, I just think of that golden f*cking horn, and I feel better.”

“We’re up above the clouds now. Looking down is just a sea of pink fluff. Actually, it looks mother*cking delicious.”

“Today’s coffee is a steaming cup of f*cking awesome.”

While Emanuel (the real one) admits that the tweets make him smile, he still wants the mother*ckin’ imposter to reveal himself/herself. He’s even willing to pay a little bit of money to make it actually hapGENERATION February 22, 2011

pen: $2,500 to $5,000 to any charity of the tweeter’s choice to be exact. Kind of a copout on Emanuel’s part, but at least he doesn’t come off looking like the Internet nazi who seeks to destroy any inkling of creativity left on the interwebs.

Politicians aren’t usually known for their ability to take a joke, but Emanuel is really handling this well. He could handle it the wrong way and look like an idiot, or he could handle it the right way and gain some good press. He’s handling it the right way.

Perhaps Jay Cutler could visit Emanuel at City Hall and get some pointers for his own imposter. NotJayCutler (13,000 followers) is an example the dark side of imposters. Betty White and Rahm Emanuel can read their imposters’ tweets and laugh; Jay Cutler can’t. Cutler, who is widely perceived as a crybaby and quitter, is portrayed as exactly that on his imposter Twitter account.

“Look, hate me or love me, but love me.”

“Dudes, my knee STILL hurts. Not my right knee, or my left knee, but my we-knee.”

Of course everyone realizes this is a fake account (hell, it’s NotJayCutler), but not every imposter wants to make over-thetop jokes like MayorEmanuel.

For example, if one of my friends statuses states how much they love masturbating to Teletubbies, I’m going to guess that another friend hacked them (I would sure hope so). However, if one of my friend’s statuses states how they can’t wait to go on their annual Wal-Mart shopping spree, it makes me feel a little uneasy because it’s certainly plausible. Those rollbacks are so amazing…

There is a term for these kinds of people who make people on the Internet feel uneasy: trolls. Trolls are those people who love to make others squirm on the Internet. They aren’t always bad – in fact, they usually prove how stupid people in general are –- but they certainly have no actual life (which could be said for a lot of people on 4chan).

A troll pretends to be a human being in order to inevitably piss people off. The larger the dupe, the more successful the troll is (‘successful troll is successful’). In one particular case, an imposter/troll actually caused legal action to be taken.

The story begins with Tony La Russa, manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. If you were to read his Twitter account (TonyLaRussa, now deactivated) from a couple years ago, you would have heard him making jokes about two of his former players who died. Of course he didn’t actually say those things, but it only takes a couple people to interpret the joke as fact before news sources start jumping on the story.

La Russa would go on to sue Twitter once it got out that he apparently had no soul. It is unclear whether he settled or not, but it was clear that Twitter had to do something.

Twitter would go on to implement a policy where parody accounts could still exist if everyone realizes it’s a joke, and famous people could verify their account to prove they are the true person. This made it much easier to not be falsely impersonated, but where is the line? How many mother*ckin times must Emanuel say mother*ckin before he’s taken down?

The state of California has started to draw that line for its citizens; anyone who uses another person’s identity online will be charged with a misdemeanor. However, Arnold did tell UB it’s okay to break rules… so… I hear, LA is pretty warm this time of year…

Being anonymous is what makes the Internet so unique.

It’s also what makes the Internet so dangerous. I could create a fake Twitter account in Dino’s name and make horrible sexist comments and be completely anonymous (not anymore… sh*t…). There is a fine line between a funny moment and an awkward moment, and imposters walk that line every day.

Long story short, don’t be a jerk. Your enemies will learn how to make a Twitter account and ruin your life. They are watching your every move and are probably outside your window as you read this... Sweet dreams.

Hit or BS

By Steve Neilans

HIT>>Arcade Fire

Hipsters everywhere raised their venti chai-mocha macchiatos to toast Arcade Fire winning Album of the Year at last week’s Grammys. Not only was The Suburbs better than any album released this year, it also had a following of diehards who would cream themselves to tell you exactly how much better it was.

Eat on these egg shells Lady Gaga.

BS>>O.J. Simpson

The Juice was reportedly squeezed last week. Most football players in jail don’t usually end up on the same team as Adam Sandler or Burt Reynolds, and O.J. Simpson proved this logic to be true. A report was given which told how Simpson was badly beaten by a group of white suppremists and had to be treated for two weeks. Simpson says that story is a lie. Ok O.J., we believe you, just don’t kill us when you’re out.

HIT>>Bill Murray

After years of participating in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Bill Murray finally won it. The former Caddyshack groundskeeper completed his round with a missed 10-foot putt that was followed by him running to the ball to tap it in the hole before it stopped moving. Fortunately, he wasn’t pretending to be a zombie so he didn’t get shot by Jesse Eisenberg.

BS>>Guitar Hero

Activision has officially pulled the plug on Guitar Hero. The popular music video game will no longer be produced for any platform due to the decreasing sales numbers since Guitar Hero 3. Just like a fully charged overdrive meter, all things must come to an end.

HIT>>Dogs

Guys, turn off the smartphone and buy a dog. A Discovery News report has found out that only 36 percent of women think smartphones make a guy look more attractive. Dogs, however, were found to be the best man accessory for picking up women proving once and for all, women like it ruff.

BS>>Playboy Mansion

People left the Playboy Mansion with a new kind of disease that wasn’t sexually transmitted. Nearly 700 people attended a party in early February at the Playboy Mansion, and many of them caught a respiratory virus which causes headaches, back spasms, cough, and fever. It is unknown whether Congressman Lee was using one of the showers or not.

HIT>>No Armageddon

Bruce Willis can breathe a sigh of relief. An asteroid, nicknamed 2011 CQ1, was recorded as being the closest near miss to Earth, ever, last week. The asteroid was bent by 60 degrees once it hit Earth’s orbit, but never hit. Or that’s what they want you to think…

BS>>Mel Kiper

If the Buffalo Bills really pick Cam Newton with the 3rd pick of the draft like Mel Kiper believes, I will cry for days. It’s a lose-lose. We would lose because we’d be investing in a horrible NFL player, and he would lose because he’d be taking a pay cut from his college days at Auburn. Mel Kiper, go back to calling Jimmy Clausen and Mike Williams the next big thing, and don’t bring up Scam Newton ever again. ubgeneration.com | 15

Best Picture What Will Win:

The King’s Speech

Generation’s

127 Hours Black Swan The Fighter Inception The Kids Are All Right The King’s Speech The Social Network Toy Story 3 True Grit Winter’s Bone

“The King’s Speech” and “The Social Network” have been neck-and-neck in terms of momentum and “Speech” is just edging out “Social.” Although “Social” won Best Picture at the Golden Globes as well as almost every other major film award, “Speech” won the Screen Actors Guild award for best cast and its director, Tom Hooper, won the Directors Guild of America (DGA) award for Best Director. These are usually good indicators of which film will take away Best Picture. The story of King George VI’s ascension to the throne in the midst of World War II has touched the hearts of many Academy members and it just might ascend to Hollywood’s most coveted prize.

What Should Win:

Picks

By Josh Q. Newman

The King of England. The founder of Facebook. A psychotic ballerina.

An armless hiker. This year’s Academy Awards is full of exceptional films and stories. To help you navigate through the list of nominees, Generation proudly presets its annual Oscar predictions.

Who Will Win:

Natalie Portman

The Social Network “The Social Network” is without a doubt the year’s best film. In case you’ve been living in a cave the past year, the film documents the founding of Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg and its treacherous ride. The film reaches Shakespearean magnitude in its portrayal of Zuckerberg and his ruthless path to becoming one of the world’s most influential people. It has a great cast, a brilliant script, and a director who knew how to piece everything together. It’s a shame that the Academy might snub this movie.

“Speech” is a good film but it’s sentimental, predictable, and really meant for TV. “Social” has so much more to offer and will probably be remembered as the year’s best film, regardless if it’s actually rewarded it.

Who Will Win:

Who Should Win:

Annette Bening Bening didn’t have a flashy role but she shone though it nonetheless. She played a lesbian doctor having to cope with her partner and her two children conceived by artificial insemination when their sperm donor suddenly appears. Playing domestic drama roles always runs the risk of being melodramatic but Bening made sure to avoid this by focusing on her character’s family life, not the social connotations of her sexuality. Bening has been snubbed three times already by the Academy, including her incredible “American Beauty” performance. I say we give her the damn thing.

Javier Bardem – Biutiful Jeff Bridges – True Grit Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network Colin Firth – The King’s Speech James Franco – 127 Hours

Colin Firth

“The King’s Speech” and “The Social Network” have been neck-andneck in terms of momentum and “Speech” is just edging out “Social.” Although “Social” won Best Picture at the Golden Globes as well as almost every other major film award, “Speech” won the Screen Actors Guild award for best cast and its director, Tom Hooper, won the Directors Guild of America (DGA) award for Best Director. These are usually good indicators of which film will take away Best Picture. The story of King George VI’s ascension to the throne in the midst of World War II has touched the hearts of many Academy members and it just might ascend to Hollywood’s most coveted prize.

Who Should Win:

Jesse Eisenberg “The Social Network” is without a doubt the year’s best film. In case you’ve been living in a cave the past year, the film documents the founding of Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg and its treacherous ride. The film reaches Shakespearean magnitude in its portrayal of Zuckerberg and his ruthless path to becoming one of the world’s most influential people. It has a great cast, a brilliant script, and a director who knew how to piece everything together. It’s a shame that the Academy might snub this movie. “Speech” is a good film but it’s sentimental, predictable, and really meant for TV. “Social” has so much more to offer and will probably be remembered as the year’s best film, regardless if it’s actually rewarded it.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

BEST LEAD ACTRESS

Portman’s acting has generated a lot of buzz. In a particularly tough category this year – all the nominees did a Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole great job – Portman has come out on top as a troubled, Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone delusional ballerina in New York. From the very start of Natalie Portman – Black Swan “Black Swan” you can tell Portman is not quite stable.

Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine Although the film had its flaws – I thought it tried way too hard to be creepy – Portman played her character’s descent into madness with a frantic grace. That, and the fact that she had to learn how to dance ballet, makes her the favorite to win this year.

16 | ubgeneration.com

BEST LEAD ACTOR

Who Will Win:

Chrtistian Bale

Christian Bale – The Fighter John Hawkes – Winter’s Bone Jeremy Renner – The Town Mark Ruffalo – The Kids Are All Right Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech

The Dark Knight hasn’t been nominated for a role before but on February 27th, he’s likely to win it. He hits drug addiction on the head as a crack addict and brother/trainer of Boston boxer Micky Ward. He lost a scary amount of weight for this role as well as picked up a Boston accent and everything that comes with drug addiction (jitteriness, slurred speech, etc.). He was scary good and it does every Bale fan’s heart good to see him get an Oscar. He deserves one after nearly twenty years of fantastic acting and great role choices.

Who Should Win:

Christian Bale See above.

GENERATION February 22, 2011

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESs Who Will Win: Who Will Win:

Melissa Leo

Amy Adams – The Fighter Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech Melissa Leo – The Fighter Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit Jacki Weaver – Animal Kingdom

Leo plays the domineering Boston mother of Bale’s character.

She does a competent job showing the mother’s crazy but tough love for her sons. I don’t have much to say about her performance since I don’t think she did much. However, she’s been winning most of the awards for this category and will most likely follow through in the Oscars.

The Kids Are All Right This quirky script, written by director Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, has all the features of an Academy Award-winning screenplay: an unusual subject matter, dramatic interior drama, smart dialogue, and good pacing. “Kids” has an indie, hipster feel and its treatment of gay marriage, in Hollywood’s current political climate, probably will help it win the bald statue.

Another Year The Fighter Inception The Kids Are All Right The King’s Speech

Who Should Win:

The Kids Are All Right See above.

Who Should Win:

Hailee Steinfeld Steinfeld’s overlooked performance was truly impressive. Under the direction of the Coen brothers, the 14 year old played a tough, stolid daughter of a man murdered by a thief in this remake of a 1969 John Wayne western. She’s unflinching and strong, able to butt heads with the likes of Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon. Her performance made an otherwise unbelievable character believable. If she continues to do roles like this, the young actress has a bright future ahead of her.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Who Will Win:

The Social Network

127 Hours The Social Network Toy Story 3 True Grit Winter’s Bone

The screenplay has been the most talked-about script to come out of Hollywood in years. Aaron Sorkin’s retelling of Ben Rezrich’s book “The Accidental Billionaires” is as impressive as Zuckerberg himself. The dialogue is pitch perfect; the plot straightforward and riveting. Almost every critic in America had nothing bad to say about Sorkin’s screenplay, so the creator/ writer of “The West Wing” and “A Few Good Men” will almost definitely win the Oscar.

Who Should Win:

BEST DIRECTOR Who Will Win:

Tom Hooper

The Social Network Make it your Facebook status, why don’t ya?

Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan Ethan and Joel Coen – True Grit David Fincher – The Social Network Tom Hooper – The King’s Speech David O. Russell – The Fighter

This is a tough one.

Hooper won the DGA award, which is a near dead-on prediction of who will win the Oscar (since its inception in the 1940s, only 6 DGA award directors haven’t won the Oscar). However, David Fincher did an outstanding job with “Social” and won the Golden Globe for directing. It could go either way. I chose Hooper because of odds slightly in his favor but the Oscars are full of surprises, so don’t hold me to it if Fincher wins.

Who Should Win:

David Fincher And let’s be clear: Fincher deserves this Oscar. He did a sleek, crisp, modernist job with “Social,” telling the story with technical prowess and narrative clarity. He got great performances out of his cast and crew. Of course, he was aided by a fantastic script, which I will get to later. Fincher, the director of such classics as “Se7en,” “Fight Club,” and “Zodiac,” has delivered again. Not giving him the Oscar, especially when Hooper didn’t do nearly as good a job with his movie, would show a total lack of aesthetic judgment.

OSCAR Snubs As usual, the Academy has made some fairly noticeable snubs, the biggest two being Roman Polanski’s “The Ghost Writer” and Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island.” They should have been at least nominated for Best Director. Both films are the best thrillers to come out in years with both directors’ signature trademarks beautifully imbedded on screen. The acting category also took a hit.

Ryan Gosling (“Blue Valentine”) and Mila Kunis (“Black Swan”) weren’t nominated, but more importantly Mark Wahlberg (“The Fighter”), Julianne Moore (“The Kids Are All Right”), and Andrew Garfield (“Social”) were left out. All three thespians delivered amazing, Oscar-caliber performances.

The director category, too, is somewhat lacking.

I love the Coen brothers, but they shouldn’t have been nominated for an entertaining but typical Western. “Inception” director Christopher Nolan should have taken their place instead. His strong, visual trickery was very impressive, akin to James Cameron’s “Avatar” the year before. Cholodenko and “Winter’s Bone” director Debra Granik perhaps should’ve been considered as well. The Oscars, of course, can’t accommodate everyone but it could’ve done a better job.

WHY THE OSCARS SUCK Which leads me to this. Although I have been watching the Oscars as far back as I can remember, it has a history of being totally and incredulously wrong. The perfect example is in 1942, when “How Green Was My Valley” won Best Picture over that little-known Orson Welles movie, you know, “Citizen Kane.”

Although that was a long time ago, the spirit has remained the same. The Academy makes some obviously bad choices either out of politics, favoritism, or both. The past two Best Picture winners, “Slumdog Millionaire” and “The Hurt Locker,” were lackluster and classics like “Raging Bull,” “Fargo,” and “Apocalypse Now” were shunned, while now-forgotten clunkers like “Ordinary People,” “Kramer vs. Kramer,” and “Gigi” won the prize. Francis Ford Coppola didn’t win the Best Director Oscar for “The Godfather” and Martin Scorsese didn’t win an Oscar until 35 years into his career. Etc, etc. If the Academy picks “The King’s Speech” over “The Social Network” this year, it will prove that it’s the world’s most prestigious but bogusly flawed award ceremony.

There’s No Ministry in Hell

Josh Q. Newman Hell is other people, according to French writer Jean-Paul Sartre. In “No Exit” he needed four to prove his point. Cormac McCarthy only needed two. “The Sunset Limited,” McCarthy’s latest play, has two characters debate the meaning of human existence, if there is such a thing. McCarthy wrote it five years ago but it recently gained notoriety when HBO adapted it into a TV movie last week staring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson, opening to rave reviews. The play has been compared to the best of existentialist literature – Sartre, Dostoyevsky, Faulkner, etc. – and even to the Book of Job. For a short and economical play, it is deceptively powerful,

Esperanza Spalding

18 | ubgeneration.com

filled with the pros and cons (mostly cons) of life; the moral, metaphysical vacuum of our existence. McCarthy’s heartfelt ode to nihilism engages the reader in a way the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist is famous for: through searing metaphors, beautiful prose, and bloodletting of a philosophical kind.

McCarthy continues his minimalist tradition in that the two characters don’t even have names. They’re simply referred to as Black and White. And they are. Black is an ex-con living in a black slum in New York.

White is a morbidly depressed professor.

They’re both old and down on their luck.

But while Black embraces life, White tries to end his. After his attempt to be steamrolled by a train, the Sunset Limited, fails, Black takes him to his apartment and tries to convince him to continue living. The two’s verbal sparring lasts for 60 pages, every one of them profound and terrifying.

They engage in a godlike battle in which life itself is at stake without ever laying a finger on each other.

Black’s argument relies on faith in God and in the Bible, which is one of the few things present in the stage directions.

He’s a born-again spiritualist, believing that God spoke to him in prison. Though not literally true, the Bible is essentially truth and Black upholds its probity. “Whatever truth is wrote in these pages is wrote in the human heart too and it was wrote there a long time ago and will still be wrote there a long time hence.” White, of course, is beyond dubious. Not only does he not believe in God, he doesn’t believe in anything. The hope for humanity went up in smoke in Auschwitz, its ashes scattered in Hiroshima. He comes to the point where he doesn’t even want to believe in God. Human misery is the human condition, and it’s a world that he doesn’t want to be a part of anymore, both in this life and the

By Seon McDonald Last Sunday, millions tuned in to watch the annual Grammy Awards ceremony, a celebration of the finest music of the year.

The Grammy’s, once an award of prestige and pride, has been losing its credibility lately as many of the awarded artists showed far less talent than their non-nominated counterparts. Short of becoming a joke and in an attempt to remain relevant with the young generation, the nominations for this year’s award were a mixed bag. Popular mainstream artists were nominated over the critically acclaimed begging the question: Are the Grammy Awards about awarding quality music or are they just a popularity contest? The majority who watched justifiably assumed the latter, so when the winner of Best New Artist was announced, it left many scratching their heads.

The nominations for Best New Artist

void beyond.

The world of “The Sunset Limited,” conveniently, is just one room but it touches on everything sacrosanct in the universe: life, death, suffering, suicide, good, evil, etc.

McCarthy is more inclined to side with the pessimistic view of the world, which is why he gives White the best lines. (“Even God gives up at some point. There’s no ministry in hell.”) Yet he gives Black a chance.

Black is a susceptible character, a sincere man trying to get a lost brother back on his way. He’s only doing what a good Christian would do, and even if White doesn’t buy in to the whole God thing, Black still believes he can “save” White by showing him that there is true good in the world.

White, however, rips the argument for humanity into shreds. “Suffering and human destiny are the same thing,” he says.

“Each is a description of the other.” He’s never read the entire Bible but he has read practically everything else. He echoes Macbeth’s claim that life is but an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

“Kafka on wheels.” Any reader of Kafka will know that life is a pitiful, paradoxical mess filled with horrible excuses and demonic shadows. White has lost faith in everything except the heart of human darkness.

McCarthy has said that if a book doesn’t deal with the issues of life and death, then it’s not literature. All of his works suggest that life for the most part is dark and meaningless. But while his novels tackle the issue of meaning, “The Sunset Limited” is about hope. Dangerous, superfluous hope. “The darker picture is always the correct one,” says White. There’s no hope in White’s philosophy and to a great extent in McCarthy’s. A year before the play was published, he wrote “No Country for Old Men,” which is one of the most depressing books in modern American literature.

There’s no room for hope or redemption

in the novel, as is the case in most of his others (I read eight of them, so I should know). His only “optimistic” novel is “The Road,” and even that takes place in a postapocalyptic fallout. To McCarthy, hope facetiously assumes that the world’s evil can somehow be destroyed or even abridged.

McCarthy believes that it will always thrive because it’s part of the human condition.

He spends his time writing novels about how to cope with the world, however painful it may be.

“The Sunset Limited” is about a man who doesn’t want to cope with it anymore.

What are we to make of this? If the play implies anything, it’s that the belief in goodness can get humans through life. In the same way people believe in God (who, for the sake of argument in this play, doesn’t exist), people such as Black can believe in good. It’s that belief and that belief alone that can vanquish the thought of evil. But when you lose that belief, as White did, you lose everything. McCarthy has a natural ability to expose even the most hideous parts of human nature without losing human’s stake in the world. His prose is perhaps the best out there and his ideas, albeit strong for most, have a tragic grace to them. They’re too painful but more importantly all too real.

McCarthy’s illumination of the sad realities of life is nothing new. As one reviewer put it, the voice emanating out of the play resembles the one that addresses Job out of the whirlwind. The play has no final explanations, nor does it moralize or suggest that everyone should throw themselves on the tracks. It’s a rehashing of the ancient struggle for meaning in a random universe.

Strength against chaos. “The Sunset Limited” has tremendous strength as a play and as a Socratic guide but, as every student of history knows, the hemlock awaits.

included Hip Hop trailblazer Drake, Indie rockers Florence and the Machine, Teen sensation Justin Bieber, the English rock band Mumford and Sons and jazz bassist Esperanza Spalding. It was almost unequivocally assumed this was Justin Bieber’s award to lose, and lose he did when Esperanza Spaulding was the named the winner. This didn’t sit very well with the screaming legions of Bieber fans dubbed “Angry Beliebers”. They defaced Spaulding’s Wikipedia page with insults and took their hysteria to Twitter. One fan sourly tweeted “Congrats @EspeSpalding on your 5069 followers...lol. I have more than you.

Who are you?” Immature behavior aside, even Kanye West was hesitant to react and tweeted carefully “I can’t find the words to explain how I feel about the best new artist award… Don’t wanna say the wrong thing.”

So who is Esperanza Spalding?

Born in Portland, Oregon in 1984 to multi-cultural parents, Esperanza whose

name is Spanish for ‘hope’ was something of a musical prodigy. She taught herself to play the violin at the age of 6 and quickly joined the Chamber Music Society of Oregon. Though she was mostly homeschooled, Esperanza returned to the public school system at age 15 after a short stint at The North West Academy, a performing arts high school where she discovered her first acoustic bass.

After getting her GED at age 16, she enrolled in classes at Portland State University. Spalding credits her teachers with allowing her to cultivate her love for the bass instrument, even though she lacked most of the formal training of her peers.

She felt that they recognized her talent regardless and on the encouragement of her instructor, she applied and entered Berklee College of Music on scholarship.

Earning her B.A in just three years, Spalding was immediately hired as an instructor, becoming one the youngest proGENERATION February 22, 2011

fessors in the school’s history. Ever the experimenter, Spalding familiarized herself with various styles of music, infusing her bass line into hip hop, blues and Brazilian sounds around the local music circuit.

Soon after, she began touring with Patti Austin, where she perfected her performance skills and realized her affinity for being on the stage.

Over the years, her superb musicianship garnered her critical acclaim in the jazz scene and allowed her to perform internationally and at high profile events such as the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony for President Obama among others. In August 2010, Spalding released the album “Chamber Music Society”, an exquisite collection of jazz songs with dexterous improvisations fused with elements of modern and vintage chamber music. Featuring songs like the soulful “Little Fly”, a melodic albeit melancholy song that contrasts the exuberant vocal scatting in “Really Very Small”. Spaulding certainly dismissed any perceived misconceptions about deserving any accolade thrown her way. Her voice has a rich texture and impressive range and when matched with her instrumental ability, a dazzling result is produced such as the buoyant “Wild is the Wind”. Spalding puts her multi-lingual ability to use too, switching between English-Spanish and Portuguese which complements her fingers

on the bass strings.

While Chamber Music Society might exude an esoteric nature, it excels at what its best at, that is, showcasing the promise of a dwindling genre of art.

If anything, the Grammy Award is as much a testament of Spalding’s talent as it is a beacon of hope for performance musicians who read and write music while struggling to rise above obscurity. Spalding herself commented after winning; “Jazz artists aren’t typically nominated in this category, so that alone is special about the award this year. But, mainly I hope this will illuminate more than just an edge of the huge breadth of all that is happening in jazz music as a whole right now, so may this bright moment for me, also be a bright moment for my colleagues.”

It’s a nice surprise to see voters recognize Esperanza Spalding for her contributions. It is no question that her nominated peers are all talented in their own rights, especially Justin Bieber whose fans should rest assured that the young star has a bright future ahead of him. If anything, Esperanza Spalding’s victory is a proof that hard works amidst insurmountable odds do pay off.

Chris Brown is Back?

By Catherine Prendergast For anyone who has not been keeping up to date with the times, it is becoming clear that R&B singer Chris Brown is slowly but surely coming back into our lives. The trouble he got himself into two years ago may always determine the pace and extent of what he can do, but Brown is determined to make himself a legitimate artist and public figure once again.

On February 22th, 2009, Chris Brown booked himself into a Los Angeles Police Department as he was under investigation for domestic violence charges. The woman, who reportedly had visible injuries, turned out to be his famous girlfriend Rihanna. As soon as the news got to the public, Brown rightfully suffered the consequences, just some included his commercials taken off the air, his music banned from certain radio stations, his absence from celebrity events, like that year’s Grammy’s. Brown was charged with felony assault and criminal threats a month later, in March. In June, Brown pleaded guilty to one charge and agreed to do community service and five years probation, as well as to attend violence counseling. He apologized to his fans and Rihanna in a YouTube video, stressing how sorry he felt and how much he regretted the whole thing.

In September, Brown talked about the incident for the first time publicly in an interview with Larry King.

He discussed his past, how he grew up with violence at home from his mother being assaulted repeatedly.

In December, Brown held an interview on 20/20, where he went into greater detail about the situation, especially concerning his relationship with Rihanna. The next year, in June, because he was guilty of a criminal offense, Brown was denied entry into the UK. Chris Brown remained pretty quiet throughout 2009, but started to get back on the scene in 2010.

He did a Michael Jackson Tribute at the BET Awards, where he broke down on stage, getting sympathy from a handful of celebrities and viewers. In May, Brown was part of a collaborative mixtape, and one of the songs became number one on the R&B/HipHop chart for seven weeks, and was number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100. In August, Brown appeared in the film Takers, which also stars Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, and Hayden Christensen. The next month, Brown announced his upcoming album, entitled F.A.M.E, standing for “Forgiving all my enemies.” Drake and Justin Bieber are said to be part of the album, and the song “Yeah 3x” was released in October and came at number fifteen in the US and Canada. In January of 2011, the second single “Look at Me Now,” which features Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes, was dropped. To promote his upcoming album, Brown will start his tour in Australia in April.

Chris Brown shocked his fans and non-fans for his attack on Rihanna, and for a while it seemed there would be no way to get past it. But even though Brown has lost fans, and some people still believe he is a dangerous person and a threat to society, he is singing, dancing, and making albums, just as he did before the whole incident. Will Chris Brown ever live down his past, or will people, rightfully so or not, never let him forget it? Only time will tell. I will say that his performance on Saturday Night Live on February 12th, 2011, made me realize that I kind of missed his catchy songs and gifted dance moves.

Maybe we should forgive and forget? Maybe? ubgeneration.com | 19

LITERARY

AGAIN

By Allison Ruiz It had been a grueling year. Their last conversation hadn’t gone well, and Carmen had left for NYU without being on speaking terms with Jimmy. As she sat in the green lounge chair across from him, her mind began to unearth suppressed memories. A year ago she had sat in the same exact chair at Jimmy’s graduation party. Things were different then. They had been friends at graduation; they had known practically everything about each other. But now, they were no more acquainted then the people in her psychology 101 lecture; physically separated by a couple feet, but mentally on different planets.

Carmen leaned back in the chair and took a closer look at Jimmy. He hadn’t changed much, a little more muscle, but that was it. His hair was still fairly short, his arms still looked too long for his body, and he was still wearing the same preppy clothes he had worn all of high school.

Carmen had to glance away. She couldn’t keep looking at him, for fear of buried feelings resurfacing. He had his striped gray and white polo on, the one that Carmen loved; she knew it was planned.

“So… how was school?” She asked, un20 | ubgeneration.com

sure of what else to say. Jimmy shifted uncomfortably in his seat. It was his turn to observe now. Carmen looked different, but a good different. She had lost weight since he had last seen her, life as a film student clearly hadn’t kept her from running. She had her hair pulled back in a messy bun; he could see that it had gotten significantly longer over the past ten months. Carmen had started wearing glasses again, thick, black frames that went well with her dark brown hair. He couldn’t deny that she looked amazing.

“It was fine. Living at home isn’t exactly the greatest thing on Earth, but I won’t be broke after college at least.” Jimmy prayed to God he didn’t sound as uncomfortable as he felt. He drew his hand across his forehead and up into his hair, in an attempt to wipe away the nervous sweat, Carmen noticed, but she didn’t comment on it.

Jimmy was eager to keep the conversation moving, his discomfort showing as he began flipping his phone between his fingers.

“How was NYU?” The question was punctuated by the sound of the black phone falling onto the glass table between them.

The formalities were beginning to bug Carmen. After everything that had happened last summer, how could he possibly

want to talk about school? “It was cool.

I’m glad I chose it.” She could see that Jimmy was hoping for a story, or anything to keep an awkward silence from ensuing.

But NYU had hardened her; Carmen had lost her tact and acquired a particular crassness during her year away. “Why don’t you just tell me why I’m here Jim? Seriously, last time we spoke some pretty vicious things were said. And now you want to just sit here and talk about school? Give me a break. I’m not an idiot.”

He had been caught off guard; the look on his face made it obvious. Jimmy’s sad attempt at acting cool was over, it was time to come clean. He knew this was going to happen when he had asked her to come over. But he had foolishly been wishing for it to come at the end of their reunion. There was a time when Carmen wouldn’t have come right out and asked what she wanted to know. She used to shy away from these things, choosing to bite her tongue instead of speaking her mind. ++++++ “When are you getting home? I need to tell you something.” Carmen’s text confused Jimmy a little. It was New Year’s Eve, what did she need to tell him? He hit reply.

“I don’t know. Depends on how long we’re at the airport. What’s up?” He had a feeling she wouldn’t tell him willingly. It was going to take some prying for her to put it in a text message.

Her response told Jimmy he was correct.

“Well... we just gotta talk. Call me when you get home?” Jimmy didn’t want to wait until he got home to know. He hated when Carmen got all cryptic. Why couldn’t she just say what she needed to? Her way of avoiding things was funny when they were in school, but right now he hated it.

Sighing, Jimmy texted her back, “I’m not getting home till around eleven probably. I highly doubt you want me interrupting your night. Just tell me.” He hit send and put his phone down on the seat next to him.

For a few moments he pondered what it was that seemed to be so important.

His phone buzzed and he snatched it up to see what Carmen had said. “Um. You see... well, ok. I’ve spent all of break thinking about something and I just wanna get it out there before the new year. Ugh. Please call me?” Jimmy could hear the pleading in Carmen’s words. Had he not been sitting in a car with his parents and grandfather he would have called her simply to end the conversation.

GENERATION February 22, 2011

LITERARY “I can’t. My mom would kill me. You know that. Now what is it? I promise I’ll be cool about it.” He hoped that he had buttered her up enough. With Carmen, manipulation and complements had to be subtle, otherwise she would stop talking altogether. As he waited for her to text back an idea crossed his mind. For a moment he thought he knew what she was avoiding saying. But he decided it was better just to wait and see.

Carmen’s text proved Jimmy knew her well. “I like you. And I know this is coming out of nowhere but I had to say it.” Three little words, not even the major “L” word, and Jimmy’s world began to spin. He had no idea how to respond. He didn’t even know how he felt. Christmas break had been a slew of late nights: mostly consisting of him trying to figure out what was going on with Carmen.

In his mind, Jimmy didn’t think he cared about her the same way. His heart was telling him he did, but Jimmy thought practically. The practical reasoning was that he and Carmen couldn’t go a day without fighting, they both needed to be in control.

There was also the fact that he knew what everyone would say if they started dating.

The baseball guys didn’t like her, and he would take a mocking for it. Did he really want to deal with his buddies picking on him in the locker room? “Look, I don’t want to risk our friendship. I mean, it took us a long time to become friends. I don’t wanna risk ruining it.” He hit send and placed his phone back on the seat, but a moment later he snatched it back up and pulled up a blank text message, “Sorry.”

He only added it as an afterthought. ++++++ Absentmindedly, Jimmy placed his phone on the table, the black coating too hot to hold any longer. As it sat between them it seemed to scream one thousand things at once. After a moment Jimmy picked it back up, unable to handle it’s glaring reminder of his past stupidity, and shoved it back into his pocket. Had he known what those texts would wind up meaning, he never would have sent them.

At the time, all he cared about was what his friends thought, but he had considered what the wrong friends would think.

He stared at Carmen a little longer, unsure of how to respond. Three Christmas’ ago he had known how he felt; he was just too much of a wimp to admit it. Instead he had chosen to play mind games with her.

To apologize now would mean apologizing for everything else. This time, he chose his words carefully. “Things didn’t end well in August. I just thought… I was hoping…” his voice faded out, fear of rejection causing a mental block. When Carmen didn’t say anything, Jimmy realized he was on

his last chance, and if he blew it now, he’d lose her forever. Resigned, he continued, “I thought maybe you’d be willing to forgive me.”

Carmen’s eyes turned to ice. He wanted forgiveness? After all he had done, he had the guts to ask her to forgive him. She was stunned. “You know what? I don’t really want to talk about it.” Carmen wrapped her arms around her chest and let her eyes smolder in Jimmy’s direction. He wasn’t controlling this conversation, she was. After years of her submitting to whatever he wanted, she was finally going to stand up to him. There would be no caving in this time around.

Jimmy rested his elbows on the table and looked at Carmen with a sense of desire. He was clearly in pain but she refused to acknowledge it. Instead, she dropped her head and began picking at remains of puffy paint projects past stuck to the table. Against her better judgment, Carmen looked back into his eyes after a few moments. She felt a tug at the bottom of her stomach when she saw his expression hadn’t changed. For a split second she considered letting her guard down, but then old memories crept their way back into her thoughts. ++++++ “Want to go play tennis after school?”

Carmen asked as they sat down to lunch.

The weather was gorgeous and she was dying to get outside.

Jimmy smiled, “Sure. I’ll kick your ass.”

He laughed and poked her in the stomach.

Carmen punched him in the arm and joined in his laughing, they always beat each other up. She hoped he wouldn’t bail again.

After school she called his cell. “Hey! Ready to go?”

He hesitated for a moment before answering, “Umm, I can’t. My mom is making me clean out the garage.” Carmen sighed, she had a feeling he’d make another excuse not to hang out.

“Oh. All right. Never-mind then.” She hung up the phone and sat down at her laptop. There was no point in going outside now. ++++++ He had spent most of Junior and half of Senior year making excuses every time they were going to do something. It was his turn to feel the pain of being ignored.

“Carmen.” Jimmy’s deep voice wavered as he spoke. “Carmen, please. I’m sorry. I was an idiot. Ok? I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I shouldn’t have said those things.

I wasn’t thinking. The summer was ending and you were leaving. I didn’t know what to do. I thought it would be easier if I just pretended that nothing was going on between us. I’m sorry.” There was a note of pure remorse in his voice. She could tell

he had thought about this.

“Fine, you’re sorry. Big whoop. Do you have any idea how much you hurt me?

Did it ever occur to you that I had spent years taking so much crap from you that I was at my breaking point? Jimmy... you went too far. Give me one good reason why I should believe you’re actually sorry.”

Carmen knew she sounded bitter, and she was. She had left for college practically in tears. Her entire world was changing and he had gone and broken her heart again.

Instead of being able to crawl into bed with a movie and her best friend to get over him, she had had to sit through boring orientations and put on a fake smile. He was going to have to beg.

“You want a good reason?” Jimmy suddenly had the strength to tell Carmen the truth. “I’ll give you one. I’m in love with you. Always have been, and always will be.” His sentence hung heavily in the air between them. After eight years of arguing, two proms, a senior trip, and ten months of not speaking, he had finally admitted how he felt. Now he just had to wait for her to respond.

Carmen was stunned. Jimmy had spent all of high school playing mind games with her, but now he was saying he loved her.

It was too much to comprehend. She had spent her freshman year of college getting over him, and it hadn’t been easy. ++++++ She unlocked the door and walked into the cramped room she would call home for the next nine months. Behind her was Emily, her new roommate. They had lived together for all of forty-eight hours and already it seemed like they had grown up together. Emily hopped up on her bed and looked at Carmen. It was obvious something was up. “You ok? You’re looking a little green over there.”

“Huh? Oh... I’m fine.” Carmen knew she didn’t sound convincing, but it was hard to when her heart was broken and she only had a partial stranger to talk to.

Emily cocked her head to one side. “Really. Hmm, coulda fooled me. Wanna try that again?” She smiled and leapt across the room onto Carmen’s bed. It was talking time.

Instead of fighting it, Carmen simply gave in, “I’ve spent three years in love with a jerk. Just when I thought we had figured things out, he told me he didn’t want to be “tied down” in college. This happened the day before I left by the way.” Carmen looked at her roommate and tried to smile.

But instead of her three thousand dollar, orthodontist-fixed grin appearing, all she could muster were slightly upturned lips that quickly dropped back into a frown, as though it took too much energy to hold them up.

Emily wrapped her arms around Carmen but didn’t say anything for a moment.

Then she said, “Well, I say we get some ice cream, a picture of him looking stupid, some darts, and go throw them at him while eating the ice cream.” She laughed, let go of Carmen and jumped off the bed.

Carmen didn’t move at first. Instead, she took a few seconds to weigh her options.

But one look at Emily bouncing on her toes, hand on the doorknob, with a crazy yet soft grin on her face, made Carmen’s decision. ++++++ Carmen stared at Jimmy for what seemed like hours. After a long silence she finally spoke. “You broke my heart Jimmy. And you did it more than once. I learned a long time ago that you only know how to hurt me, but I still forgave you every time. I left for college completely shattered thanks to you. If Emily hadn’t been my roommate, I don’t even want to think about what would have happened. I spent the past ten months crying, yelling, and retching over you. I’m ready to move on. I waited three years for you to say you loved me. Three years. Why now? Why wait until we’ve started down different paths?” A shimmer appeared around Carmen’s eyes, softly reflecting in the light of the setting sun. She quickly tried to wipe it away with the sleeve of her gray hoodie, but the gloss seemed permanently stuck.

Jimmy’s stomach lurched. In all the time he had known her, he had never actually seen Carmen cry. It hurt him to watch.

He bowed his head so he wouldn’t have to look at her. What else could he say? What could possibly keep her from walking out of his life for good? Unable to hold it back any longer, Jimmy began to cry with her.

He had waited too long. “I’m sorry.”

Two words couldn’t make up for the years of hope and heartbreak he had put her through. Carmen had worked hard to dam up all her feelings of him, if she let that dam open up now, there would be no closing it. She watched Jimmy cry and shake for a moment before she rose from the chair. “I’m sorry too Jimmy.” With three swift strides she reached the fence gate. Tears gliding down her cheeks, she unhooked the latch she had unhooked a thousand times, and pushed the gate open.

She stole one more glance at Jimmy as she turned to close it. Their eyes locked together, seeming to fit like a lock and key.

Hand on the gate; Carmen hesitated to take it off and let it close. Jimmy’s eyes said everything he hadn’t, begging her to come back into the yard and give him one more chance. Knowing the dam had broken, Carmen dropped her hand and let the gate shut with a dull thud.

“Carmen.” ubgeneration.com | 21

Poison

Near heaven’s door I found myself stripped of all my heart and health rasping, as I felt all fade away.

By: John Armstrong

When like a human hurricane an old, familiar, foe had came to flay me for things I’d done before.

From her lips, sweet and gentle hate that pulled me from my deathly state flowed like burning oil from a well in flames.

My world roared back from night to day, and through her anger I was saved, though she’d sooner want me a corpse upon the floor.

With all the pain that hatred brings it is a beautifully violent thing that drives us more than love or curious mind.

Destroying tyrants, driving change for one it leaves broken or deranged, it makes ten that drive us ever further on.

Swaying masses, corrupting gods, and winning fights against all odds.

I assure you, there’s no better tool to find.

Turns blood to black to pitch to tar, but carries one so incredibly far, It’s almost worth no one missing you when gone.

The vitriol I find in this girl towards me makes my head whirl I find myself in a woeful sort of love.

I hate the trash romantic stuff, and the sound of it is strange enough but her anger fills me with joy of life.

And there’s the catch, she’d kill me quick, but without her I’d have no will to stick around this world I’m sick and tired of...

And god! how her blood would boil, and the skies and sea around us roil if I had the guts to ask her ‘be my wife.’

Only something from the unseen, perhaps a devil or ghoulish fiend, could make me need her hellbent wrath to mend.

The poison is shown to be the cure, as she pulls a blade of steel so pure and puts this comic tragedy to end.

Parting Shots Get your

glue guns

ready.

By Kathryn Przybyla I have always been a fan of creating. In elementary school, my favorite class was art and nothing brought me more pleasure than bringing home a handmade gift to my parents. Paper ornaments, Popsicle stick picture frames, and anything involving Elmer’s glue, were my expertise. Upon entering high school, I would take apart old costume jewelry and make something I could wear again. Cheesy, oversized earrings became charms on a long chain necklace. Stray beads from a broken bracelet fit perfectly on a hair pin. The possibilities were endless.

Since entering college, my crafting days and accessory “re-vamping” have taken a back seat to final exams and tennis practices. It’s hard to fit little hobbies in a schedule where you must study, work, practice, and remember to sleep in order to survive.

This winter was a much needed break from the craziness that is college. But with the

Mac > PC

By Ally Balcerzak One of my favorite debates is the tried and true Mac vs. PC argument. Sit down

with any random group of people and the conversation can easily go on for an entire meal. As a firm pro-Mac advocate, I feel it is time to settle the score once and for all

few days I actually had down time, I rediscovered something I loved; my passion for “DIY”.

DIY or “do it yourself” is an art form that has always been popular. The satisfaction of creating something useful, instead of overpaying at a store is fantastic. Taking old wood and building new shelves, adding a splash of paint to make it look new, and paying attention to detail can completely change the way you look at something.

I was wandering around an Urban Outfitters store in their books & house wares section when I stumbled upon one incredible piece of literature. P.S. I Made This combines my two loves in life; fashion and creating. Written by Erica Domesek, this book takes inspired runway and magazine fashion and shows you how to create the same look out of old clothes or accessories you already have. So pretty much, this is my bible.

Yves Saint Laurent once said, “Fashions fade, style is eternal.” That makes sense

right? So why not take our “once trendy but now so last season” pieces and make them something wearable. Its genius! Santa must have been listening as I browsed the book section, since P.S. I made this made its way under the tree this year. (score!)

The book is a designer’s heaven with colorful pictures all mashed up to show you where the inspiration for looks came from. Old t-shirts become fringe summer scarves. Lace ribbon becomes a Gaga-inspired bow. Lost buttons become oversized earrings. Her website psimadethis.com has even more creative ideas on what to design next.

Now not being able to afford runway Versace is no longer a problem. I can turn my own wardrobe into a chic couture-edited version. Although there is nothing like an original, being the under paid college student that I am, DIY will have to suffice for now. Happy crafting.

on why a Mac is in fact better than a PC. Let’s start with the fact that Macs don’t get viruses. How many times have you or one of your friends complained about their files erasing or being without a computer for a few days? When you have a PC, viruses are a way of life, but not with a Mac. When I was getting ready to graduate high school, I spent a lot of time comparing laptops.

Granted, I had been leaning towards a Mac to begin with because I’m an Apple junkie, but I also wanted one because I didn’t want to deal with viruses plaguing my hard drive anymore. My first laptop was an Acer PC, and it saw its demise because of a trojan that refused to remove itself from my files.

When my PC crashed a week before finals causing me to lose a month’s worth of research and writing, my mind was made up.

When I finally went to buy my Mac a few weeks later, I was fully aware of how much it was going to cost me, but had assured myself that it was worth the $1500 dollars. For you PC fans, I will admit that your laptop choices tend to be more economical, but then again, you get what you pay for.

In my case, I got a 15 inch Macbook Pro with a 2.66 gHz processor and separate graphics card, 8 GB iTouch, and a HP Photosmart printer for $1900. When all was said and done, I paid for the laptop while the iTouch and printer for free, which in my opinion, was a damn good deal. I may have spent more than a PC user, but I ended up with a better processor and a bunch of free stuff that I wouldn’t have gotten with that Dell my Dad was gunning for.

Now lets look at the computers themselves. Macs have better graphics hands

down. If you don’t believe me, go ask anyone in advertising what kind of computer they have; Macs aren’t industry standard for nothing. With the standard glass screen that comes on a Macbook Pro, pictures look ridiculously sharp and the colors are amazingly vibrant. Speaker wise, no laptop is ever going to be able to shake the walls with just the built-in speakers, but Macs can certainly get louder while still holding onto their clarity. The sound card found in a Mac let’s you crank up the tunes without plugging in separate speakers.

Last but not least on my list of reasons why Macs are better than PCs, is the simple fact that Apple makes so many products we use daily, that it is simply easier to sync it all together with a Mac. Don’t believe me? Raise your hand if you have an iPod, iPhone, or iTouch. Now, if we all actually raised our hands and it was possible to actually count how many hands were in the air, it’d be fairly obvious that a large majority have at least one of those infamous “i” products. These things were created by Apple and thus work best with their own laptops. Sure you can sync that iTouch with a PC, but with a Mac not only can you sync your music and videos, you can sync your life.

I’m sure many of you want to continue the Mac vs. PC debate with me, and by all means, please feel free to find me and we can duke it out. But let’s be realistic, Apple gives us free stuff and a virus free life while PC companies give us hard drive crashes and the kind of trojan you never want to see in college. Why wouldn’t you go Apple?

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