While a good deal of the concert-going student body was moshing to Flogging Molly last night, a very different kind of show was going on “across the pond” (or across Shortlidge at the Eisenhower Auditorium). Bela Fleck, banjo wizard supreme, presented “The Africa Project”, a musical collaboration between him and musicians he found when traveling to Africa to learn about the history of the banjo.


Read on for a more detailed account of the evening.

State College Music Spotlight is a new feature at Onward State where we find local artists in the State College area and share them with the community.


These guys have something special.


Johnny Action Figure is a quartet based in Philadelphia, PA. The band is made up of guitarists/vocalists Brendan Fullam and Chris Sheehan (the latter of which is a Penn State album from 07!), bassist/vocalist CF Fullam, and drummer Brad Rittle. On their latest release, Good Eye, Johnny Action Figure shows a future for pop rock as it could be. You’ll find no auto-tune gimmicks or flashy egos here, just four guys who have great ears for melodies, harmonies, rhythms, and how they can all go together.


Good Eye is a very confident, sincere album, where everything seems to be done for the purposes of producing a solid sound. For instance, the second track on the album, “Young Rider“, incorporates 3-part harmonies, doo-wop backing vocals, horns, transitions from 4/4 to 3/4, a walking bassline, and two guitar solos in just over three and a half minutes – yet none of it comes off as gimmicky, show-offy, or unnecessary. It’s clear that these four chaps have excellent technical prowess on their respective instruments, but they show enough restraint to not come off as obnoxious.


Read the full post for more.

It’s a canning weekend. That means that a good amount of your friends are out getting some last minute THON money (or simply going home to escape a zombie campus). For those of us who decided to stay in town tonight, though, there was a treat – Dr. Dog performing live at the State Theatre!


Read on to find out what you missed.

No, they didn’t literally maul the crowd. But they sure did play some solid tunes! Last night, Minus The Bear played to a sold out crowd in State Theatre, offering shelter to people who wanted to go to a concert last night but didn’t like Puddle of Mudd for whatever reason.


Want to hear about Minus The Bear? Or maybe you’re more interested in their openers, Phantogram and Maps and Atlases. Perhaps you’re just curious about the picture to the left. In any event, read on for the full story.

The nice folks at Activision were kind enough to send us a copy of DJ Hero for the Xbox 360 to review. Having devoted hours upon hours to Guitar Hero and Rock Band over the past few years, I jumped at the chance to see what the latest had to offer.


DJ Hero’s interface is similar to that of Guitar Hero (which isn’t surprising, since it’s published by Activision, the company that currently owns the Guitar Hero franchise). The menus all have a slick, graffiti-looking aesthetic, and it’s easy enough to navigate through the menus to select songs. The core of the game has you, the player, rising the ranks of the DJ culture by performing at various venues. You can also play as Grandmaster Flash, Daft Punk, DJ Jazzy Jeff, the late DJ AM, and a handful of others.

The local State College music group Audio Imagery’s name might sound more like a music producing software than a band, but they’re certainly cooking up something. They have set up an ominous website, complete with a ticking clock counting down to the release of their new song “Find Tomorrow”. Whoop de damn do, right? Bands release new songs all the time, so what’s the big deal?
Well this song, ladies and gentlemen, is about everyone’s favorite student-run philanthropic organization: THON.
In an email, Audio Imagery described their history and motivation behind the project:

Audio Imagery has been making music in State College since …

State College Music Spotlight is a new feature at Onward State where we find local artists in the State College area and share them with the community. If you are a musician in the State College area or a recent Penn State grad and would like to be considered for being featured in the next State College Music Spotlight, send an email to evan@onwardstate.com with the subject line “State College Music Spotlight”, some information about yourself/your group, and a link to a sample of your music.
Ted McCloskey rocks. He’s a multi-instrumentalist, a Penn State grad, and a regular in the …

State College Music Spotlight is a new feature at Onward State where we find local artists in the State College area and share them with the community.
TJ Cornwall is a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist and a recent Penn State grad. You may remember him as a performer in last semester’s Movin’ On Battle of the Bands or the day where we wrote about him three times. But now he has a brand new full-length album entitled Stepping Stones coming out this Wednesday, September 9. We were lucky enough to get an advance copy of the album, and it’s quite impressive!
Compared to the …

In 2009, international admits to graduate schools have declined, a first in five years, according to a Businessweek article published earlier this week.
Though the report found a 4% increase in international applications, the total number of international applications received this year is still below 2003 application levels at many of the 253 schools that responded to the survey.
The findings come a time when international students are increasingly getting cold feet about coming to study in U.S. graduate schools. Many are worried about their job prospects and the daunting challenges associated with obtaining an H-1B visa to work in the U.S. …

To continue with our ongoing H1N1 coverage, it appears that the illness has hit the University Park campus. A Collegian article reports that ten people are infected.
Luckily, all ten are expected to make a full recovery, and it seems like the disease’s spread is being contained. However, this incident has caused some to criticize the university for a lack of communication, notably UPUA President Gavin Keirans:
“In the future, they need to be in a much more active dialogue with the student body about what is going on,” Keirans (senior-business management) said. “It would have probably been in everyone’s best interest …

Last month, a documentary created by three staff members from the College of Communications was awarded the CINE Golden Eagle Award, as reported by The Collegian. The documentary, “No. 4 Street of Our Lady”, is about a Polish woman, Francisca Halamajowa, during World War II who saved 16 of her Jewish neighbors.
The film’s official site provides more detail:
On the eve of World War II, more than 6,000 Jews lived in Sokal, a small town in Eastern Poland, now part of Ukraine. By the end of the war, only about 30 had survived, half of them rescued by Halamajowa. For close …

Having trouble finding an internship in your local area? Many would suggest searching in other big cities, like New York, Chicago, or DC. Others, such as a recent Haaretz.com article, talk about the growing internship/job market overseas.
“In the U.S., most internships are unpaid and may involve traveling, be it to Los Angeles, New York or Washington D.C.,” said Marcia Harris, who until recently headed the career center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “For roughly the same cost and effort, Jewish graduates can come to Israel while getting professional experience,” she added.
But what about non-Jewish …

In a recent Forbes interview, Penn State legend Joe Paterno discussed power, ambition, and glory within the confines of ancient classics. It seems like JoePa has a pretty good understanding of literature and history, something you don’t see in a lot of NCAA Football coaches (certainly not the brutes over at Ohio State, am I right?).
Forbes: Tell us about a time when lessons learned from the ancients contributed to your success.
Paterno: I’ve always admired the way Aeneas stood tall in the face of adversity knowing he had a destiny. I have tried to let that help guide me.
He even …

Last Wednesday, Penn State Fantasy Football Camp officially “kicked off” (please pardon my tacky football pun. It won’t happen again, I promise) on Penn State’s campus! According to the official Penn State Fantasy Camp site, the camp consists of
Football practices, based upon the Nittany Lion traditions, directed by coaches and former star players. Football is non-contact, with emphasis on skill development, learning the offensive and defensive schemes used by Penn State, as well as the kicking game.
The highlight of the Camp is the Blue-White flag football game played in Beaver Stadium with complete GameDay action. Varsity locker room dressing, training …

Last Friday, Penn State Live reported that the Penn State Alumni Association Governing Board has decided on a new board of thirteen members: 10 elected, 3 appointed. Of the elected members, there is an even 5-5 split between incumbents and newly-elected members. If you are not savvy on the general activities of the Alumni Association, you may be wondering, “what exactly is that Penn State Alumni Association that all of the kids talk about these days, and what do these new-fangled elected and appointed members do?”. Fortunately for you, Penn State Live described their purpose succinctly:
Alumni Council is an all-volunteer …