Mommie Dearest, the campiest of guilty pleasures

“No wire hangers, ever!” Everyone knows this line. It’s been repeated in the popular culture sphere since the 1981 release of the infamous Joan Crawford biopic Mommie Dearest.  What was once supposed to be a serious film, quickly evolved into a camp classic and guilty pleasure with a cult following. All the unseemly elements are … Continue reading →

SNL needs a diversity make-over, for many reasons

Saturday Night Live, the legendary sketch-comedy show, has never been the picture of diversity. However, in October cast member Kenan Thompson re-ignited the old debate when he claimed in an interview with TV Guide, that black, female comic’s “are just never ready” when auditioning for SNL, in response to the show’s long-history of having few … Continue reading →

Are we becoming a “selfie” nation?

According to the Oxford Dictionary, people really like taking pictures of themselves. Last week they revealed their word of the year was “selfie,” a form of self-documentation that they define as: “(n.) a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.”   Singer, … Continue reading →

KU students discuss what they’ve learned in the past year, and their hopes for 2014

As the last two weeks of the fall 2013 semester comes to a close, and the stress is upon our backs from the load of papers, projects, and finals we’ve under anticipated until now, one cannot help but look to the upcoming new year without some relief or a light at the end of the … Continue reading →

A Very Polish Thanksgiving

So it’s Thanksgiving. The table is set with turkey, mashed potatoes and maybe some green bean casserole. But let’s take away the turkey, and substitute it for cabbage rolls, and instead of green bean casserole add beet soup. This would describe the last three Thanksgiving dinners for Air Force student, Katie Mullins, whose aunt Sophia … Continue reading →

My brush with a Catholic church

For my listening post assignment in my Diversity in Media class I chose to accompany my friend Allie, and her family to their Catholic church for Sunday mass. Before I arrived at my decision, while muddling through all the possibilities, my mind kept curiously returning to a religious event as an option. My best guess for this … Continue reading →

Holidy Bazaar 2013

The annual event kicked off it’s 38th year at the Lawrence Community Building Sunday. Continue reading →

The 90s revival is still going strong thanks to Buzzfeed and Katy Perry

Things have a way of coming around full circle. In the 70s they had 50s centered Happy Days, American Graffiti, and The Last Picture Show. In the 90s there was a hippie revival, with movies like Dazed and Confused and bands like Blind Melon and the Spin Doctors. And currently, youth (some who barely saw … Continue reading →

Halloween and Blackface: A Yearly Battle

Every year, when October creeps upon us, the daunting task of choosing a Halloween costume begins. Sometimes the mind meanders towards the morbid or taboo. If you have enough gumption, you go with that impulse in the hopes it will achieve the perfect shock value. However, there is a conscious line, and it was crossed … Continue reading →

Indian Dance Festival Celebrates Another Year in Kansas City

The Nuvaratri dance festival celebrates it’s 14th successful year! Sources: Dvisha Patel, Pankaj Patel and Suresh Waghela Continue reading →