Broadside
Accepting the Gay Community at Mason
I just got back to my dorm from the 2009 George Mason University drag show. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect as I entered the Johnson Center, techno playing, a crowd congregating around the stage.
I couldn’t even locate a seat on the first floor, so before the second floor too became filled with onlookers I ran up the stairs and reserved a table for my friends and myself overlooking the grand arena of the JC. And what lay ahead is something I can never and shall never forget.
As the Elephants Take Over Lot A
By Opinion Editor William Curtis
It’s that time of year. Yup, you guessed it. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus has come for its annual visit to George Mason University. Get ready for the big-top tent, the flying trapeze, the concessions and cotton candy galore. But the one thing we students love most of all about our friends’ visit—wait for it—is the outrageous amount of traffic that comes with it.
Comedian Performs in DC
Photo by Samuel Primero.
By Broadside Staff Writer Kyle Ridley
While last year’s writers strike brought much of Hollywood to a standstill, it brought comedian Aisha Tyler to a stand-up comedy special. The former Friends guest star had cut back on live performing to pursue acting and used the strike to craft material for her return to the stage.
“It’s definitely been my first love,” said Tyler, 38. “It’s been great that I’ve had the opportunity to focus more on it.”
Tyler’s focus paid off in February when Comedy Central premiered her one-hour special, “Aisha Tyler is Lit: Live at the Fillmore,” filmed in her hometown of San Francisco, Calif. The special was released on DVD the next week.
Interviews in Adventureland
Photo courtesy of Miramax Films
Connell (Ryan Reynolds) and Em (Kristen Stewart) in the new movie Adventureland.
By Broadside Staff Writer Dylan Hares
Broadside had the chance to talk to Greg Mottola about his newest film, Adventureland.
Broadside: What do you say to people’s reactions about Jesse Eisenberg in Adventureland. He just seems like a Michael Cera replacement?
Mottola: Well, I guess what I would say is that I actually knew of Jesse as an actor before I ever met Michael Cera. Jesse’s first film was called Roger Dodger, which was a small indie film with Campbell Scott, and Campbell Scott was in a small indie film that I directed and wrote. As much as I love Michael, I actually felt Jesse was more appropriate for this movie because he’s a little more neurotic, a little older, and not quite as innocent as Michael.
New Column: In Bed With Billy
By Broadside Sex Columnist Billy Curtis
My friends fondly refer to me as the gay Carrie Bradshaw. With my life being more dramatic than a Jane Austen novel, I have always felt the name suited me all too well. Every day I would have a new dilemma that would occupy my mind for most of the day. Story after story, I would verbally paint pictures of my dates, relationships and even sexual encounters to my friends in the hopes that maybe they could help me with whatever problems I had. After becoming a fine-tuned storyteller, I realized that my friends—while their advice was always helpful—could not help me with my situations and problems with men, so I took a new approach. If my friends could not help me with the overly dramatic situations I encountered, then maybe I could use my own experiences to help anyone who has found themselves in the same situation at some point or another.
Mason Loses All Four Home Games
Photo by Peter Flint.
By Broadside Sports Editor Brian Chan.
| Softball vs. Virginia |
The softball team (13-18, 0-6) briefly held a two-run lead against the Virginia Cavaliers (20-9, 2-4), but the team fell for the seventh straight time after their 3-2 loss in eight innings.
Head Coach Joe Verbanic tweaked with his lineup, putting freshman second baseman Alyssa See batting at the leadoff spot and senior center fielder Alison Bryan hitting behind her. Bryan, who was held hitless in her last 12 at-bats including an 0-for-11 performance in last weekend’s series against the Towson Tigers, singled in the first inning. Freshman third baseman Tori Dudley hit her third home run of the season to give Mason the early 2-0 lead.
The Cavaliers answered with two runs in the second inning after left fielder Alison Pittman tied the game with her RBI single.
Adventureland Thrills Moviegoers
Photo courtesy of Miramax Films.
By Broadside Staff Writer Ross Bonaime
Everyone has had an experience like Adventureland. A place that, in the moment, is your own personal hell, but once you look back on that time, it brings back some of your fondest memories.
In writer and director Greg Mottola’s follow-up to Superbad, Mottola encapsulates that feeling in a manner in which George Lucas did with American Graffiti or Richard Linklater did with Dazed and Confused: it is not so much about what you have to suffer through, but the experience you gain from it.
After coming home from graduating college, James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg of The Squid and the Whale) is raring to go with his friend on the trip of a lifetime through Europe.
First Academic Advising Expo Well-Received
Photo by Aaron Arenas.
Broadside Staff Writer Jared Trice
Student Government’s Committee of Governance and Academic Affairs partnered with George Mason University’s Academic Advising Committee to provide students with the opportunity last week to meet with academic advisors from all of the university’s colleges at the first-annual Academic Advising Exposition.
The event, held in the Johnson Center’s Dewberry Hall on April 2, was first initiated by the student committee upon the realization that department policy can sometimes prevent students from easily accessing their advisers.
Athletic Housing Causes Stir
By Connect2Mason Reporter Lauren Jost
The typical Room Assignment Process, as mandated by George Mason University, was not what Roxanne Bauland, junior global affairs and Latin American studies major encountered when she was signing up for housing for the 2009-2010 academic year.
Bauland and her prospective roommates were planning to remain in Northern Neck for the 2009-2010 academic year in a four-person single bedroom apartment. Together, they conducted what they call “active housing research” to see who would be retaining rooms for the next year. Her plan was to see if the current residents were planning on retaining their rooms for next year, or if they would be available.
Calling for an NCAA Football Team
By Broadside Correspondent Shannon Dodson
With an accomplished basketball team, George Mason University students, faculty and staff all share a raucous spirit that livens the campus. However, some Mason fans feel as though that spirit is weakened during basketball’s off-season. One way these spectators think that this issue could be addressed is by the university gaining an NCAA football team.
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