Alternative (and Legal?) Ways To Enhance Your Studying Potential

May 15th, 2013 by Chelsea Beeler

Finals week is the bane of every student’s academic career. It’s the time when we all flock to the library to read everything we should have read earlier in the semester. It’s the time when we all spend hours browsing J-Stor looking for the perfect PDF to supplement an eight-page paper. It’s the time when we all hate everyone and everything.

If you’re one of those people that are lucky enough to have a “study-enhancing drug” prescription, then perhaps none of what you’re about to read will be of interest. However, if you’re one of those people who’s non-stop texting/emailing your “drug dealer” for Adderall or scouring through your purse/backpack/tote-bag like a lunatic looking for that loose Concerta you know you had, then keep reading. Following are five alternative ways to enhance your studying potential—if you know of any others worth sharing, feel free to comment below.

Read more…


Do You Want Salt On Your Rim? New York’s Best Happy Hours

May 8th, 2013 by Chelsea Beeler

So spring has sprung or whatever and classes are almost (almost) over for the semester, which means summer is coming and those of us left “stranded” in New York will be jobless and bored. Luckily, there’s this thing called alcohol, which is a great tool when it comes to passing time during the hot summer months.Wow! Can you tell that there are some budding alcoholics here at NYU Local?

Anyway, although many students like to complain about being poor and not having jobs, there are some great happy hours happening around the city e-v-e-r-y day, that bleary-eyed students tend to overlook when they’re walking through the East Village after a hard-core study session at Bobst. After the jump we’ve selected some of our favorite happy hours, and broken them into categories for your reading pleasure. If you know of a great one that we missed (because we definitely missed a few), feel free to leave suggestions in the comment box below.

Read more…


NYU’s ZBT Fraternity Has Been Kicking Ass This Year

May 7th, 2013 by Chelsea Beeler

It’s the Year of the Zebra for NYU Greek Life, which might seem strange since it’s not one of the 12 Zodiac signs and you probably didn’t know NYU even had Greek Life. Yep, that’s right—Zeta Beta Tau, one of NYU’s 16 Interfraternity Council Chapters (yes, we do have those), has pulled off some epic record-breaking feats that are more, uh, impressive than your typical keg-stand/party-throwing frat achievements.

Although a lot of you might already by wondering, “What’s a fraternity and how does it work?,” it turns out Greek Life at NYU is growing and in the process ZBT has become a standout by raising an astounding amount of money for cancer research and snagging first place in NYU’s 2013 Greek Games.

Read more…


NYU Film Student Recreates iCarly With Dads, Our Minds Are Blown

April 25th, 2013 by Chelsea Beeler

When Kyle Hiedacavage first came to Steinhardt at NYU, he realized that Media, Culture, and Communications wasn’t for him. He transferred to Tisch to study film, and the work he’s produced since then has been far from what you might expect from your average Tischie. While many film students are interested in lush production value and commercial marketability, Kyle has focused his attention on the decidedly slimmer niche of experimental video art.

In addition to a series of live-projections and performance videos, he recently completed a re-imagining of an iCarly episode (in which Miranda Cosgrove and all of the characters are replaced with “dads”) for his senior project in an experimental production class. NYU Local sat down with Kyle to talk about iCarly, re-appropriation, and his future projects.

Read more…


Hemlock Grove Is Netflix’s Twin Peaks Lite

April 24th, 2013 by Chelsea Beeler

Last Friday Netflix released 13 episodes of its newest and highly-anticipated series, Hemlock Grove, and the response thus far has been, well, interesting. The series is produced by NYU alumnus Eli Roth—of Cabin Fever and Hostel fame—and set in a quaint fictional Pennsylvania town that is rocked by the death of a high school cheerleader.

Hemlock Grove borders on camp with its brooding characterizations, teenybopper dialogue, inclusion of werewolves and magic, and, oh yeah, blatant racism. Although the storyline seems oddly parallel to that of David Lynch’s cult-classic Twin Peaks, Hemlock Grove falls unbelievably short and ends up looking more like a busted version of Pretty Little Liars, which is already pretty busted in the first place.

Read more…


“Healthy” And Alternative Ways To Smoke Weed Using Every Food Group

April 19th, 2013 by Chelsea Beeler

4/20 is tomorrow as you probably already know, but let’s say this past week really got the best of you and you’re feeling totally unprepared for the big day. You call your dealer last minute and luckily he’s able to hook you up with his last eighth of Lemon Haze, but then you remember how your roommate threw his bong out the window last weekend when he thought the cops were coming to bust that crazy party you were having. You don’t have a pipe because you left it somewhere in suburbia, you don’t have papers because you don’t know how to roll and now that your bong is shattered, you have nothing.

You think for a second that a trip to St. Mark’s might be worth your while, but then you realize you can’t justify dropping change on another pipe that you’ll probably lose anyway. So what do you do? You’ve heard of people smoking out of Gatorade bottles and beer cans and you know that you have a pen and some tinfoil lying around somewhere. Well, *NEWSFLASH*: 4/20 isn’t about inhaling nasty chemicals like BPA or aluminum—it’s a celebration of, you know, natural stuff. So why not refer to the food pyramid and take a look around your kitchen? The following is a stoner’s guide to food you can use to make bongs at home.

Read more…


WiFi Witch: YouTube Clips To Help You Troll On Facebook

April 17th, 2013 by Chelsea Beeler

There are a lot of facets of the Internet that are often overlooked by the general public and I’m not talking about Bing or Google+. For example, there’s a whole series of under 10-second YouTube videos (uploaded by multiple users) featuring Ol’ Blue Eyes, rock stars, and various rap figureheads singing/whispering/shouting some of their favorite phrases. Okay, so what? Well, as it turns out they’re perfect for navigating those pesky Facebook conversations with lame acquaintances and/or good friends; the kinds of conversations where you want to seem funny/lighthearted/not totally asshole-ish. The kinds of conversations you’ll find after the jump.

Read more…


Wifi Witch: Sub-Reddits To “LOL” At

April 12th, 2013 by Chelsea Beeler

Welcome back to  “Wifi Witch”—a new series where I, Chelsea Beeler, talk about all things Internet. If it’s a trend, I can talk about it—or at least pretend like I know what I’m talking about. See something absurd online? Send it my way via nyulocaleditor@gmail.com.  

Before I broke down and made an account, Reddit was always like one of those bands that everyone was talking about, but I had never listened to. A band like Radiohead or something—you know, a band with like eight albums and you’re like, “I don’t even know where to start!” Signing up for Reddit can be a daunting task, but that aside there’s a lot of entertaining shit to be found that extends beyond cat-humor and “fail” videos. Following are some of my favorite sub-Reddits — from NYU-themed ones, to insecure teen subreddits. These are the ones I check frequently and never disappoint.

Read more…


Dos Toros Expands To Brooklyn, “Black Or Pinto” Ensues

April 9th, 2013 by Chelsea Beeler

Last week everyone’s favorite taqueria, Dos Toros, celebrated its expansion to Williamsburg by offering $1 tacos to its loyal patrons on its opening day.  From now on, every time you hop off the L and find yourself on Bedford Avenue, Dos Toros will be there waiting to fill your empty belly with delicious carne asada all while putting Tacos Morelos (that food truck on the corner of Bedford and N 7th) out of business. But that’s besides the point because everyone loves Dos Toros and why shouldn’t they? Whether you’re hungry for a taco, a quesadilla, a burrito, or a burrito without the tortilla (also known as a “plato”), Dos Toros has an affordable version of every Mexican-food staple you could crave. Read more…


Wifi Witch: The Best Relationship and Sex Advice Blogs Because Everybody Needs Those

April 5th, 2013 by Chelsea Beeler

Welcome back to  “Wifi Witch” — a new series where I, Chelsea Beeler, talk about all things Internet. If it’s a trend, I can talk about it — or at least pretend like I know what I’m talking about. See something absurd online? Send it my way via nyulocaleditor@gmail.com.  

One of my favorite things about the Internet is that it is home to an inconceivable amount of information (duh). Whether it’s through Yahoo Answers, WebMB, WikiHow, or just an arbitrary Google search, the answers to all of life’s greatest questions can be found on the web. How can I test if my son is gay? Is my penis too small? What is vegan cheese and how is it made? The possibilities are endless! Read more…


« Older