If you aren't too busy studying and find yourself free tonight or Thursday evening, there are two concerts that might be worth checking out.
Tonight at 9 p.m., The Makepeace Brothers will be performing a 21+ show with British Phil at Cafe 210 West. I hadn't heard of them before, but they definitely have an interesting sound. They're good summer music.
Then on Thursday, from 6:30 to 9:45 p.m., Matt Pond PA, Bobby Long, and The Kalob Griffin Band will be performing on the Allen Street Stage as part of State College's "First Thursday".
Classical, jazz, and Broadway fans take note. The Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State has announced its 2010-11 events calendar and it includes some of the biggest names in the business. Broadway fans should be particularly excited, as five Tony-Award-winning musicals will be singing and dancing their way across the stage in Eisenhower Auditorium. Monty Python's Spamalot, A Chorus Line, Fiddler on the Roof, the Color Purple, and Spring Awakening will be coming throughout the year.
After the jump: what classical and jazz fans can look forward in 2010-11.
Last Friday, up in room 331 in the HUB, Chad Urmston of State Radio and Dispatch fame was mentally preparing himself for his upcoming performance at the Last Stop Music Festival. As I ventured up to the room with fellow State Radio fan Kelly Brough, neither of us knew what to expect. We knocked on the door and entered, at first thinking that we were in the wrong room. But a shadowy figure on the opposite end of a long table wielding a guitar informed us that we were in fact in the right place. After the jump is a transcript of the interview with Chad, with topics ranging from his days with Dispatch to his song "Camilo".
Rumors have been flying around for the past few months about the Big Ten looking to expand the size of the conference by one, three, or five teams. The biggest prize up for grabs (as it pertains to additional members) is Notre Dame, which is an independent football team, despite being a member of the Big East in most sports. So, why expand? First off, JoePa wants it, and who's gonna tell him no? Certainly not me.
But some other reasons why the Big Ten is considering adding members can be found after the jump.
The anthem we sing at football games and at other profound moments is staying as is for the time being, but Penn State grad and current doctoral candidate Brian Canada did bring up an interesting point about it. In an email to Roger Williams, Executive Director of the Alumni Association, he took issue with the line "For the future that we wait."
That sounds awfully passive for a university that wants to position itself as a leader in research and innovation, doesn't it?...If Penn State students are truly out to "make life better," as one of our more recent taglines has suggested, then why would we sing about *waiting* for the future?
Considering the $2 billion fundraising campaign Penn State has just launched, it's not a good thing, nor does it fit with the "Penn State mentality", to have as one of its blazons a song that can be interpreted as encouraging that kind of inactivity.
After the jump: more history about the Alma Mater.
There was no home-pitch advantage for the Stanford women's rugby team on Saturday as the Penn State Lady Ruggers defended their national championship by defeating the Cardinal 24-7. Not only was this Penn State's 2nd straight national championship, it was also their 3rd title win in the past four years with Stanford being the break in the streak with a 2008 championship.
Penn State's defense was aggressive from the beginning, limiting the Cardinal to only one try during the entire match. Stanford coach Johnathan Griffin had this to say:
"They're unbeatable now for the next 12-15 years. They are the Cal of women's rugby."
Cal won the men's title on Saturday, capturing the title for the 18th time in the past 20 years.
With another national championship in hand, the Lady Ruggers can now come home and rest and throw their support behind the men's volleyball team, which has a chance to also play Stanford in the final on the NCAA Men's Volleyball Tournament this Saturday.