Cringe-worthy J-Sex moments, Animal Collective concerts at Kimmel, and the easiest jobs on campus. If it's interesting and at NYU, you'll read about it here.
Cringe-worthy J-Sex moments, Animal Collective concerts at Kimmel, and the easiest jobs on campus. If it's interesting and at NYU, you'll read about it here.
Cringe-worthy J-Sex moments, Animal Collective concerts at Kimmel, and the easiest jobs on campus. If it's interesting and at NYU, you'll read about it here.
A tale as heartbreaking as any, the 2004 Oscar-winning documentary Born into Brothels shed light on the difficulties faced by female sex workers and their children in poverty-stricken Calcutta. In order to encourage a passion for art and learning in the children, the filmmakers armed the kids with cameras so that they could capture their lives on film. At the end of the documentary, one of the boys, Avijit Halder, was invited to participate in a photo contest in Amsterdam. It turns out that Avijit, now 20, has emerged from his troubled family life to attend Tisch for film studies. A BBC article reports that the boy, whose mother died when he was in his teens and whose father was a drug addict, has overcome the harsh struggles of his childhood and built a new life for himself at NYU. Pretty powerful stuff.
(Image via) (H/t Wesley Chen)
Update: Apparently we scooped the BBC back in ‘08. And apparently Sam scooped me.
You know how shows like Arrested Development get cancelled, but shows like Two and a Half Men get renewed season after season? Well one day, Gallatin student David Bergmann hopes to keep the Tobias Fünkes of the world on the air, and the Charlie Sheens in rehab where they belong. He has carefully constructed a concentration in Keepin’ It Real: The Sociology of the Entertainment Industry (yes, the pronunciation spelling is official) with an Entertainment Media Technology minor in Stern in order to prepare himself for a career in whipping the entertainment industry into shape. He takes classes in entertainment and media studies, politics, television writing, acting, and public opinion.
In the interview below, Bergmann explains what it means to keep it real, and it doesn’t include emoticons or the Grammys.
Annie Werner: Where did you get the idea to call your concentration “Keepin’ It Real?”
David Bergmann: Actually, it rose out of an idea in high school—I founded a “Keepin’ It Real Honor Society” in response to all the other ridiculous honor societies at my school. We had like 12 different ones like the “History Honor Society” with a whole bunch of members that did absolutely nothing. KIRHS actually got things accomplished around the school.
AW: Like what?
DB: For instance, there was a school store that hadn’t been open in years, so I got my people to do it. Or we’d assign people to walk new students around the campus. That kinda stuff. Not bloated, obnoxious stuff just to put on your resume.
AW: What qualified someone to be a member of the honor society?
DB: Oh. We had an 8 or 9 page criteria form explaining what we did or did not want in a member. There was some crazy stuff on there, too—one section was dedicated to analyzing how a person used acronyms and emoticons on instant messenger. That shit was important back then. Very telling.
If you were watching the Super Bowl last night, you might have noticed this quite adorable commercial by Google that’s now taken the heart of the Internet. But you probably didn’t notice the subtle NYU plug at :04, did you?
Ah, just when you thought NYU and football would never be mentioned in the sentence ever again.
Monday, February 8, 2010 11:30 - by Kenneth Hsu
I only put one show per night this week, so feel free to suggest more in the comments.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
The above video is of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid slamming Alabama Republican Richard Shelby for placing a blanket hold on 70+ of Obama’s Senate confirmable nominees. Congratulations, Senator Shelby: you actually out chutzpah’d Joe Lieberman’s medicare bait-and-switch.
Here’s what Shelby did in layman’s terms: In order to bring a nominee up for vote before the Senate, the chamber requires unanimous consent. As Ezra Klein explains, a hold is when a Senator vows to deny the chamber unanimous consent, meaning that the nominee simply can’t be voted on. This can happen with legislation, too. And pretty much any Senator can do it, for any reason, leaving those who actually want an up or down vote to waste valuable Senate time jumping through a number of parliamentary hoops.
Holds are par for the obstructionist course, but instituting a blanket hold–one that basically shuts down the entire confirmation process–takes some pretty big brass ones. And for that, we should be thanking Shelby.
Continue…
For those of you with friends who can never decide where to eat on a Saturday night, let me recommend Delicatessen (Prince St. & Lafayette St.), the perfect restaurant for someone looking for a fancy place without the over-priced-but-tiny-portions-of-food-that-don’t-actually-seem-that-yummy. Apologies to those who actually enjoy foie de veau.
Menu items like “Grandma’s Meatloaf” and “Fried Chicken in a Bucket” are the perfect example of Delicatessen’s comfort food with a twist (and calories). The food is served with style; even the side of fries looks pretty. Still, I highly recommend a “Plain Old Cheeseburger” – which is anything but plain or old – and a “Slice of Birthday Cake” good enough for non-birthday days.
Monday, February 8, 2010 10:30 - by Sharon Wu
Hey all you LGBT-friendly students, the CAS Scholars Lecture Series is hosting a lecture tonight discussing political ideology within the LGBT community. Led by Politics professor Patrick J. Egan, the lecture (5 p.m., Jurow Lecture Hall – Silver 101) is titled “Nurture, Not Nature: Why Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals Become Liberal Democrats and Engaged Citizens.” Here’s the official description:
Monday, February 8, 2010 10:00 - by Kenneth HsuWhy do lesbians, gays and bisexuals (LGBs) tend to affiliate with the Democratic Party and hold distinctively liberal views on a wide range of issues – including issues that have nothing to do with gay rights? Using survey data with nationally representative samples of LGBs, I find that this happens for two reasons: selection (LGBs are more likely to be brought up in environments associated with liberal views later in life) and conversion (the life event of adopting a gay identity is accompanied by the acquisition of a cohesive set of liberal beliefs). These processes lead LGBs to become liberal Democrats well before they have much contact with other gay people or gain exposure to politics. They also result in LGBs participating in politics at higher rates than heterosexuals and being more interested and engaged in public affairs.
Interview with Gramercy from NYU Local on Vimeo.
Jonathon Pace has created a monster. That monster’s name is Gramercy and it exists solely in the realm of YouTube. Check out the page, watch every video, and you will pee your pants and cry simultaneously. There’s already a Facebook group for this barely-a-week-old internet sensation in the making.
So please, watch as I interview the biggest bitch on campus. Special thanks to Rosie Gray for putting the video together.
Monday, February 8, 2010 9:20 - by Cait Raft
In between all the ads, the beer, the food, and the merriment, there was a hell of a game played in Miami last night. The New Orleans Saints finally shed their ’Aints tag by defeating the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in Super Bowl 44. A surprisingly well-refereed and (mostly) turnover-free game almost came down to the wire, while Drew Brees, Tracy Porter, and the rest of the Saints won by sheer fortitude. Brees, the Super Bowl MVP, threw a record-tying 32 completions (on par with yours truly’s favorite player, Tom Brady) with two touchdowns to lead the way for the team that was playing for a city, or as owner Tom Benson said, “for the whole state of Louisiana!”
Things did not start well for the Saints, however, as the Colts took over the first quarter, jumping out to a 10-0 lead in the first 15 minutes. The Saints had a total of 10 offensive plays in that first period. What was most surprising was that the Colts came out running, and running successfully, finally connecting on a touchdown pass from Manning to Wayne that made it 10-0. New Orleans fired back in the second, with three long drives (one ending in a now-irrelevant 4th and goal from one play where they got stopped), leading to 2 field goals to make it 10-6 at half. It was appropriate that The Who played the halftime show, for the WHO DAT nation came back with a vengeance in the last two quarters.
First play of the second half: Saints kicking off, Colts ready to try and score and make this game theirs, but not if Saints coach (and risk-taker extraordinaire) Sean Payton had anything to say about it. With one of the ballsiest play calls in the history of the NFL, Payton called for an onside kick. New Orleans recovered and utilized to the fullest with a Pierre Thomas touchdown. 13-10, and we have a ballgame. But the Colts weren’t going to be denied easily, scoring on their next possession thanks to a Joseph Addai run, during which the Saints defense decided tackling was overrated. Sadly for Indianapolis, this was the last time they would score this game.
Monday, February 8, 2010 9:00 - by Luis Paez-PumarBy the time you read this post, the media will probably either have debunked or confirmed the rumors that Gov. David Paterson will be resigning after a NY Times “bombshell” report on par with former Gov. Eliiot Spitzer’s hooker scandal. In recent weeks, major news sources were floating speculative reports about Paterson getting naughty at a New Jersey restaurant and/or in a closet in his mansion. If true, that’s quite a lot of action for a man who a) is legally blind, and b) is running for re-election this year, no?
However, a Paterson spokeswoman told Gawker that “There is absolutely zero truth to these rumors. The governor is not resigning.” She also explained that the Times story actually isn’t going be published anytime soon. Naturally, this prompted Gawker produced a list of possible “bombshells,” including his third-party involvement with the John Edwards sex tape.
Monday, February 8, 2010 9:00 - by Kenneth Hsu
Loading ...
