The Hoya Guide: Dec. 2, 2011

the guide friday, december 2, 2011

the weekly magazine for life on the hilltop

GOOD THINGS COME IN PAIRS Jamaican Me Crazy for Caribbean Cuisine

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The Holiday Project: A New Take on Giving

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From White Castle to White Christmas

this issue 3 lifestyle 4 food & drink 10 entertainment 12 hilltop

red square roundup // campus spotlight

holidays in the district // hoyawood // guild of bands // dating dalai // take it from a senior

sweet mango cafe // vapiano // market to table

harold and kumar // tinker tailor soldier spy // christmas music // twilight // face the music

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While most Hoyas journey to the Hilltop alone, others arrive with an old and treasured friend: their twin. Whether they dress alike every day, live together or go out together on weekends, these siblings have a bond that even the college admissions process could not tear apart. At Georgetown, many of these pairs have grown even closer, in spite of the complications that sometimes CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA arise from their “twin” status. Even in the face of mistaken identities, awkward questions and corny jokes, they navigate their way through embarrassing encounters with their best friend by their side. Hoya twins enjoy twice the joys and make it through double the trouble, and they do it together.

COVER PHOTO BY CHRIS BIEN

soundbite dating dalai AnastasiaTaber

Early exposure to sappy romantic comedies instilled a belief in me that there was only one soulmate for me in the entire world — and it was up to me to find him. A terrifying thought crossed my mind: What if he lived on the other side of the world?

the guide Upasana Kaku, Executive Editor Suzanna Fonzi, Managing Editor Chris Bien, Photo Editor Remy Samuels, Layout Editor Samantha Randazzo, Copy Chief Peter Brigham, Deputy Guide Editor Alex Sanchez, Deputy Guide Editor Bethany Imondi, Deputy Guide Editor Christie Shely, Deputy Photo Editor Michelle Cassidy, Deputy Photo Editor Zoe Bertrand, Deputy Layout Editor Jessica Natinsky, Deputy Layout Editor Emory Wellman, Deputy Layout Editor Nikita Buley, Deputy Copy Editor Emily Perkins, Deputy Copy Editor

GEORGETOWN’S TWINS SHARE THEIR STORIES

come out of your shell. join the hoya.

Connor Gregoire, Editor-in-Chief Steven Piccione, Guide Editor Corrections & Clarifications If you have a comment or question about the fairness or accuracy of a story, contact Executive Editor Upasana Kaku at (202) 687-3415 or email executive@thehoya.com.

General Information The Guide is published each week during the academic year with the exception of holiday and exam periods. Address all correspondence to: The Hoya Georgetown University Box 571065 Washington, D.C. 20057-1065 The writing, articles, pictures, layout and format are the responsibility of The Hoya and do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty or students of Georgetown University.

Signed columns and cartoons represent the opinions of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the editorial position of The Hoya.

Georgetown University subscribes to the principle of responsible freedom of expression for student editors.

The Hoya does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, sexual orientation, race, disability, color, national or ethnic origin. © 2010. The Hoya, Georgetown University twice weekly. No part of this publication may be used without the permission of The Hoya Board of Editors. All rights reserved. The Guide is available free of charge, one copy per reader, at distribution sites on and around the Georgetown University campus. Additional copies are $1 each.

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hilltop

RED SQUARE ROUNDUP Georgetown Improv Association

Posada

Saturday, Dec. 3 at 9 p.m.

Bulldog Alley

Tuesday, Dec.6 at 8 p.m.

Walsh Black Box Theatre

Take your mind off papers and exams and share some laughter with friends this Saturday at the Improv show. This event will feature some of the best comedians on campus, so get your ticket in advance for only $6 and prepare yourself for endless entertainment.

The Ballet Folklorico Mexicano de Georgetown proudly presents its annual winter holiday performance. Showcasing traditional dances from across Mexico, this year’s show will also feature a guest performance by Ritmo y Sabor, who is sure to put on a great show.

Friday, Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.

ICC Auditorium Join the Georgetown Program Board for a screening of Our Idiot Brother, a comedy starring Paul Rudd as a free-spirited character who unexpectedly lands in jail. After his release, he moves in with his three sisters, bringing the family plenty of surprises and twists.

GPB Movie: Our Idiot Brother

Thursday, Dec. 8 from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m.

O’Donovan Hall Come enjoy a special late-night Harry Potter-themed breakfast sponsored by What’s After Dark and served by your loyal university faculty and staff at Leo’s. The best part about this event? It’s free. No meal plan is required to show up and chow down.

Midnight Breakfast: Harry Potter Yule Ball

campusspotlight // GASTRONOMES Y

ou might be wondering, what exactly are Gastronomes?

Our name is derived from the word “gastronomy,” the study of food and cooking. So if you’re sick of Leo’s and want something refreshingly exotic to eat, stop by one of our meetings. We welcome everyone, from master chefs to those who would rather eat than cook.

Our mission is to use food as a medium to explore and share different cultures. Our board comprises a dedicated group of foodies who are the driving force behind all Gastronomes’s events. Our programs include field trips to exhibitions and restaurants. We recently went to the National Archives to see the “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?” exhibition and dropped

by Teaism, a tea house nearby.

Next week, we’ll be going out to Pho 75 for some delicious Vietnamese food. We also like to stay on campus and have food-related

get-togethers. This fall, we had a pumpkin-themed potluck where we carved pumpkins while eating delicious food ranging from pumpkin empanadas to pumpkin truffles. For those members looking to brush up on their cooking skills, we have demonstrations, too, including how to make sushi and cheese, as well as a knife demonstration. For pictures of our events, check out our blog at georgetowngastronomes.blogspot.com.

Next semester, we’ll be having a variety of events, including a TexMex Night, a chocolate potluck, an Ethiopian restaurant outing and more. It is easy for interested students to join the listserv or board.

Email cs629@georgetown.edu asking to join the listserv and, if you wish, stating a preferred board position. We look forward to hearing from you!

Chen Sheng President of Georgetown Gastronomes

COURTESY CHEN SHENG

FOR THOSE WHO LOVE FOOD The Gastronomes undertake a variety of activites each semester that expose their members to different culinary experiences.

12.2.11 // the guide // 3

lifestyle

Elizabeth garbitelli Hoya Staff Writer

Charity Aims to Spread Holiday Cheer NONPROFIT SENDS VISITORS TO HOSPITALS

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t’s that time of year again.

Lauinger Library fills up with exhausted students powering through the final pages of papers and hosting last-minute cram sessions for exams. Despite the late nights, each student treks on with visions of the collegiate equivalent of sugarplums dancing in his head — rest and relaxation at home.

For thousands of D.C. residents, however, coming home for the holidays is not a possibility.

That’s where The Holiday Project comes in. Founded in California in 1971 and gaining official status as a non-profit in 1980, The Holiday Project is designed to facilitate visits to hospitals and nursing homes throughout the year, particu-

thing particularly precious: your time.

“We live in a society where people get sprayed with mace on Black Friday [and] people might ask, ‘What are we really celebrating?’” Wiley said. “The Holiday Project gives a lot of people an answer to that question.”

For Sally Anderson, a longtime volunteer and current webmaster of The Holiday Project’s website, the reasons for doing this type of volunteer work were deeply personal.

During the ‘70s, Anderson’s brother spent his holidays in the hospital. Anderson visited frequently, but she heard from the staff at the hospital that her brother had received some

of judgment [at the nursing home]. … I’m never sure who gets more out of it, the people I visit or me,” she added.”

Visiting the elderly and terminally ill does not always bring joy and comfort to the volunteers, though. “I’ve always been the type of person who sees the good in things,” Anderson said, “[but] I could see it being very depressing.”

In addition, Anderson stated, sometimes the institutions themselves were reluctant to allow volunteers to come, especially during the early years.

Anderson described an experience of that nature involving a hospital for the criminally insane, where some patients were handcuffed to beds.

“When I found out that strangers had gone and made sure he was OK on Christmas Day, I was just so impressed. I wanted to give someone else that same feeling.”

— Sally Anderson

SEASON’S GREETINGS The Holiday Project organizes volunteers who visit hospital-bound patients at Christmastime.

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larly on holidays. In this year’s press release for the National Capital chapter of The Holiday Project, President Robin Wiley states that more than 1.5 million Americans are confined to nursing homes during the holidays and that two-thirds of them have no living relatives.

The Washington-area branch began activities in the mid1970s and currently reports that more than 400 volunteers visit with 4,000 to 5,000 people throughout the year.

Street corners and supermarkets are growing crowded with Salvation Army volunteers looking for spare change to help the needy, but The Holiday Project asks for more hands-on commitment from those who want to give. Instead of tossing dimes in a red tin, you can give some-

special guests during the holiday season. “On Christmas Day, he had visitors. At that time … it was not a common thing,” Anderson said. “When I found out that strangers had gone and made sure he was OK on Christmas Day, I was just so impressed.” When she heard about The Holiday Project in 1980, she immediately got involved. “I wanted to give someone that same feeling,” Anderson said.

Anderson began by working in public relations for the chapter in New York. She took part in her first visit that December for Hanukkah at a nursing home on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

“I loved the people that I met. In those days, I considered myself very shy,” Anderson said. “[But] there was no sense

After sitting down with a worker at the hospital, Anderson was met with shock. “He looked at me and said, ‘Why in the world would you want to bring volunteers here on Christmas Day?’” Anderson said. “He let us bring volunteers on the condition that we [don’t] interrupt his football game. During the visit he comes out and watches … he says to me, ‘I want to tell you I was wrong. … You have redefined the meaning of Christmas for me.’” Anderson describes that anecdote as one of her favorite experiences.

“These are the type of things that keep you going,” she said.

In recent years, visiting programs increased so much that Anderson herself proposed closing the national hierarchy in favor of only local branches.

lifestyle Anderson herself proposed closing ing,” Wiley said.

Anderson reported that many high the national hierarchy in favor of only local branches. “It’s not that The Holi- school students participate in The day Project has changed but that the Holiday Project, although she has not culture has changed,” Anderson said. seen many college students in the “We began because there was a void, D.C. area. “A lot of students go home and now there isn’t. Maybe we had a for Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Anderson said. big [impact] in changing the culture.”

Wiley did say that some students To fit changing needs, The Holiday Project now functions mostly as an had been involved in recent years, and education-based program and facili- helped with online promotion, but the National Capital tator for groups chapter does not to organize their have any student own volunteerinterns this time ing, according around.

“We to Anderson. In could use more order to do this, student involveThe Holiday ment with manProject severed agement,” Wiley legal responsisaid. “Funding bility to local is always an ischapters and sue, [but] the ceased record— Sally Anderson internet is openkeeping, which ing a whole new has caused realm. Because some problems we are a smaller getting grants.

However, Anderson felt the change project, we might have fallen behind the curve [with that].” was worth the difficult transition.

“There is the opportunity for people Wiley found that over her time with The Holiday Project, involve- to contribute but also to allow others ment waxed and waned. “People do to contribute something to you,” Anget out and volunteer during the hol- derson said. “It works both ways.”

Wiley agreed. “In so many cases, you iday season, but statistics about residents in nursing homes are alarm- really brighten someone’s day.”

“There is the opportunity for people to contribute, but also to allow others to contribute something to you.”

Q & A

ALL PHOTOS HOLIDAY PROJECT D.C.

AN EXTRA SPECIAL GUEST Even Santa Claus joins the Holiday Project sometimes.

Which character from Harry Potter would you like to be?

“Dumbledore. It doesn’t work out for him in the end,but he had a pretty good run.”

“Professor McGonagall. I like how she can change into a cat, and she is very strong but reasonable at the same time.”

Christian Segars (COL ’15)

Mary Burgoyne (COL ’14)

“Ron. He seems like a cool guy.”

“Tonks. She can change everything; she seems really chill and [like] the one everyone would go to.”

Jack Devlin (COL ’13)

Megan Schmidt (COL ’15)

12.2.11 // the guide // 5

lifestyle

center stage

Katrina Yeh Special to The Hoya

Bringing Tinseltown to Georgetown: Student Group Fosters ‘Filmanthropy’ Hoyawood is a new student organization focused on bringing Hollywood closer to the Hilltop. Through a combination of film and media, the group shows popular documentaries and hosts panel discussions by influential speakers in the entertainment industry. the guide talked with Hoyawood’s founders, President Reilly Dowd (SFS ’12) and Vice President Elle Leonsis (COL ’14), to learn more about the club.

Briefly, could you describe what Hoyawood is?

Dowd: This is Hoyawood’s first semester, but it’s something I have wanted to do for a long time. Basically, the idea is to bridge Hollywood and Washington and bring the most compelling films to the Hilltop for screenings Leonsis: I also think it is anything “entertainment”: music, sports — just an entertainment-based club.

Dowd: We just recently did a Hoyawood retreat to attend the CNN Republican

presidential debate in D.C. Part of it is that we really want students to get involved with events along the campaign trail. It’s not singularly devoted to documentary film, but entertainment, film and television are really powerful vehicles for messages and [especially] political messages.

What are your roles?

Leonsis: I act as a liaison with SnagFilms. It’s an online independent film database. My dad founded it, so I work there, and so does Reilly, which is actually how we know each other. Through working there, we’ve both learned about film distribution, film festivals and how to get the word out through the Internet and documentaries. We have a good relationship with Snag, and they let us use any movie. They’ve even offered to send out filmmakers and directors … to attend our events [involving their films].

Dowd: These past few months have

COURTESY REILLY DOWD

MEETING THE CANDIDATE Reilly Dowd (SFS ’12), founder of the Hoyawood club, poses with Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman.

6 // the guide // 12.2.11

really been about getting Hoyawood up and running. We’ve had two general body meetings; we did a retreat to SnagFilms, where we met with the CEO; and we did a roundtable discussion about the distribution of documentary films and how to get involved in the entertainment industry. … But mostly, we have been going through the process of new clip development, which has been really exciting.

Why did you create Hoyawood?

Dowd: Well, I had wanted to start it last year, but I ended up taking a semester off to intern at the White House.

My interest in politics all started in San Francisco, and then grew when I came to D.C. to intern for Nancy Pelosi when she was speaker of the House. That was what drew me into the world of media, just watching different press events and seeing the whole healthcare debate be covered in the summer of 2008. After that, I really wanted to study media and its relation to politics. I remember when I first got to Georgetown, an alum told me, “Oh, you’re studying at the SFS. Los Angeles is not in our vocabulary, and we don’t know how to spell Hollywood.” Basically, she told me that diplomacy was not entertainment, and I was doing the wrong thing. I ended up going to USC Film School for a summer and fell in love with it. From that experience, I really wanted to bridge the two together, and I came back to D.C. and started working at Snag. Still, I wanted to bring my experiences beyond campus life back to the campus to start something that hasn’t really been done at Georgetown before.

What is the importance of connecting Georgetown students with personalities from Hollywood?

Dowd: There’s no real connection with the entertainment world and the student body on this campus, and as a result, a lot of Georgetown students have an interest in the entertainment industry but don’t feel like it’s something that they can explore. Entertainment and film are powerful vehicles for education, but at the same time, it is important for people to have a connection if they are interested in it and want to pursue it outside of their college campuses. We provide those people with a social aspect and the ability to network in ways that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

Some things you didn’t know about Reilly and Elle: Reilly has interned for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in the White House and at CNN. Elle’s favorite band is the Kings of Leon.

Reilly hopes to make her own political documentary after graduation.

Elle plans to extend the concept of “filmanthropy” to Hoyawood.

Leonsis: Snag was founded on a concept called “filmanthropy,” which alludes to the way that films can inflict social change. A lot of why we want to bring SnagFilms on campus is so that students can get involved with political things.

Any controversy we can talk about serves as a platform for conversation.

What are some upcoming events that you have planned?

Dowd: We’re going to hopefully plan our first real, big Snag-Hoyawood event in February or March around a political documentary. [On Monday we had] a big event — it [was] a screening of Miss Representation [with the director there].

Leonsis: Other than that, we are currently in the planning process but will keep everyone posted about upcoming dates.

lifestyle

Can You Find a Soulmate Across the Globe? dating dalai

W

AnastasiaTaber

hen I was little, before falling asleep, I would look up at the stick-on, glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling and daydream about finding my soulmate. Early exposure to sappy romantic comedies instilled a belief in me that there was only one soulmate for me in the entire world — and it was up to me to find him. A terrifying thought crossed my mind: What if he lived on the other side of the world?

Since then, I’ve abandoned the idea that there is only one person out there for each of us. The realist in me long ago decided that who you end up with is a matter of opportunity and timing — barring the help of any mystical guiding hands (also known as fate). My younger self raised an

interesting question, though. Really, how likely is it that a person could find his or her lover on the other side of the world?

Well, according to my globe, the other side of the world from America is China — where I happen to be living at the moment. Has a Chinese man swept me off my feet? Hardly. However, I haven’t really tried to find Mr. Right in China. Maybe it has something to do with the question posed by my 20-something Chinese student life assistant. One day he turned to one of my American male classmates and asked a question out of innocent curiosity: “Why do American women have fat legs?”

So maybe the standard of beauty doesn’t translate between these two cultures. (I have to admit, going by my experience with advertisements displaying the standard attractive Asian male, it doesn’t translate well on my end, either.) Then again, I have gotten a few awkwardly but strongly worded emails from some rather bold Chinese students I’ve taught that sug-

gest the contrary.

So how exactly does one find one’s soulmate on the other side of the world? It’s not just time and opportunity that are important but common traits as well. It’s no coincidence that of all the dating Chinese students I meet, almost all of them are with classmates from high school. Even in the mixed Chinese-American marriages I’ve encountered, more often than not, both individuals had attended American universities.

The National Marriage Project found that people are most likely to meet their partners through friends and acquaintances. Given the rising popularity of websites like Date My School, however, this trend presents an interesting question: Does a successful relationship require the couple to share at least a few friends? Or can they subsist on common interests alone?

The benefit of meeting someone through acquaintances is that it assures both parties that the other is trustworthy — or at least trustwor-

thy enough to win the respect of a mutual friend. The new approach of dating websites like Date My School emphasizes a closed community consisting purely of college students with names (but not pictures) kept anonymous. Perhaps this signals a change in how couples will meet in the future — in specialized online groups, rather than through mutual acquaintances.

My grandmother once imparted these golden words of wisdom to me: “The most important thing is to find someone with whom you have a lot of things in common.” Maybe it’s not so much about finding a partner through acquaintances as it is about finding the person who inspires just the right amount of nostalgia in you, mixed with a sense of adventure for the new. And that’s the kind of feeling that can transcend cultures.

Anastasia Taber is a junior in the College. She can be reached at taber@ thehoya.com. The Dating Dalai appears every other Friday in the guide.

Students Band Together in Performance Guild JOANIE GREVE Special to The Hoya

T

his Saturday will be the culmination of a semester’s worth of work for six Georgetown student bands.

On Dec. 3 at 8 p.m., Georgetown’s Guild of Bands will be having its Fall Band Blast in the Walsh Black Box Theatre.

Students who participate in the Guild do so as a one-credit class for a semester. Professor Joe McCarthy advises each band weekly and helps them improve throughout the semester, with this event acting “like their final exam,” he said.

“We set up rehearsal time in the studio that we have down in the basement of New North, and then they rehearse two or three times a week … and then they meet with me on Wednesday nights individually,” McCarthy said.

The ability to use that equipment and rehearse with it every week is one of the greatest perks of the Guild for Mike Jaroski (COL ’12), whose band, Text Message, will be performing this Saturday.

“Once you’re in the Guild, you have access to Studio D, which has all this rehearsal equipment. There’s a PA system, drum set, and a guitar and bass amp, which nobody has around here because it’s hard to bring your equipment from home,” Jaroski said.

Jaroski’s band consists of him and two

friends, brothers Joe (COL ’12) and John (COL ’14) Romano, and they mainly play rock music. However, rock isn’t the only type of music played in the Guild. “We have many different kinds [of music].

We’ve had solo acts; we actually have a great duo that’s in there now that’s all acoustic; there’s one particular group [in which] both of the leaders of the group are from Greece, so they’re playing a lot of the music from their homeland. Every group is really different,” McCarthy said.

The bands vary in other ways as well, namely the amount of performing experience they have. “The experience level is so varied from each group, and that’s what makes it so fun for me, feeling the different levels, different styles [and] different concepts,” McCarthy said.

In addition to advising the Guild, McCarthy also leads Georgetown’s World Percussion Ensemble (which will be performing Sunday at 4 p.m. in McNeir Auditorium). He feels that groups like the Guild help students like Jaroski to continue with their music after college.

Jaroski plans to stay with his band after graduation, staying in the D.C. area to play with Text Message during the school year and then touring dur-

COURTESY MIKE JAROSKI

JAMMING OUT Text Message is one of the student bands that has benefited from the support and camaraderie of the Guild of Bands. ing the summers. He said McCarthy has been a positive influence on his band’s decision to pursue their music after college.

“I feel like [McCarthy]’s very encouraging to get us to try and actually play in the D.C. area, as opposed to just doing Georgetown shows,” Jaroski said.

In this way, the Guild acts as much more than just a way for bands to rehearse and get some feedback on their music. “It’s not just a bunch of rock bands,” McCarthy said. “Everybody really has their own sound and identity, and it’s great. I think it’s been very successful.”

12.2.11 // the guide // 7

K

Seeing Double | elbuoD gnieeS

imberly and Caroline Garity (COL ’12) always knew that they wanted to go to the same college. Dave Nulsen (SFS ’12), however, fought with his twin brother when he realized that Pete (COL ’12) too had fallen in love with Georgetown.

The Garitys and the Nulsens, along with other twins on the Hilltop, share a unique experience with its own joys and challenges.

Although Annie and Bonnie Yan (MSB ’14) are not identical twins, each is often mistaken for the other, perhaps because their clothes match every day. According to the twins, Annie picks both of their outfits for the day.

“I’m really bad at deciding stuff, even what to wear,” Bonnie says. “[Annie]’s my personal stylist.”

“It got to the point that Bonnie’s fashion sense was just horrendous,” Annie says. “So she decided to copy what I was wearing. I just buy two of everything.

Buy one, get one free deals are just meant for us.”

At one point, the Yans even shared a Facebook account.

“We used to have an ‘AnnieBonnie Yan’ [profile that we] shared since eighth grade, but we split the summer before college because I thought people would think it was weird. But they found it anyway,” Annie says.

Although the Yan twins dress alike, live together, are both pre med and have the same major (finance and international

Business), they weren’t always sure that they would or should attend the same college.

“I wouldn’t say we purposely tried to go to the same college or different college,” Annie says. But in the end, the pair applied to the same 19 colleges and received the same responses.

“When we went into the college admission process, I thought it would be fine if we didn’t go to the same school,” Bonnie says. “But after we came to Georgetown, I was so thankful that she was with me.”

But the pair has had their share of awkward encounters, too.

“In elementary school they put us in different classes,” Bonnie says. “In first grade, one of my classmates was talking to me and she went out to go to the bathroom, and apparently Annie had just come out of the bathroom. She came screaming back into the classroom saying ‘Bonnie! Bonnie, I saw your ghost outside!’

My teacher had to calm her down.”

More recently, during one late night in the Leavey Center, the Yan twins were hugged by a stranger who said he had never met Asian twins before.

Even their family members occasionally confuse them. “Our father has definite-

Christie Shely/The Hoya

Annie AND Bonnie Yan The business school sophomores are Hilltop icons for their signature head-to-toe matching outfits.

Victoria Edel Hoya Staff Writer

away at the University of Delaware. When they’re a set of triplets.

“Twins think they’re as cool as us,” Todd Zach ran the Marine Corps marathon in October, Todd and Amanda trekked out says. “But they’re a lot more common.”

The Reese triplets intended to go to dif- to the 14th Street Bridge to cheer him on ferent colleges after attending the same during the toughest miles.

One of the most common questions the school for 14 years. Todd chose Georgetown as his path to the business world Reese brothers are asked is about the exisand Zach found himself picking between tence of mythical twin senses. “‘So if your brother is a couple miles schools and siblings.

“I knew that I wanted to go to medical away and he’s in pain or in danger, can school after college, so for me, it didn’t you sense it?’ No! We don’t have telepamake sense to take out student loans for thy!” Zach says. “I like to make the ESPN undergrad when I knew that I’d be tak- joke from Mean Girls,” Dave says. “Though ing out loans to pay for medical school,” less and less people get it.”

All the sets of twins emphasized their apZach explains. “My mind was telling me the smart choice was to go to the Univer- preciation for the support of their siblings.

“I’m [Kimberly’s] biggest critic and her sity of Delaware, but my heart told me to biggest fan,” Caroline says. come here.”

Todd feels the same way about Zach.

Two days before the May 1 decision “It’s nice to always have family there,” deadline, Zach still hadn’t decided, so his he says. “There’s always someone there brother stepped in.

“Todd said, ‘Zach, I can tell you want who’s willing to help.”

Of course, there are more practical to go to Georgetown. If you go to Georgetown, I’ll help you pay your medical perks to having a twin at Georgetown.

Courtesy Peter Nulsen Courtesy peter nulsen school loans,’ because he knew he wanted “You don’t ever have to eat at Leo’s alone,” BACK IN THE DAY Dave (left) and Pete (right) back when they were children. The fra- DAVE AND PETE NULSEN The “Minnesota Twins” annually host a twin-themed party for to go into banking,” Zach says. “And he is Annie says. ternal twins have gotten past their sibling rivalry. their birthday, despite the fact that they are not identical.

And with a twin, you always have a still standing by that statement.”

Though the brothers don’t live togeth- partner in crime. “It’s fun to always have ly punished the wrong twin,” Annie says. ing the smiles and greetings of people class I had mentioned I was a twin, and lot of criticism for that,” Kimberly says.

The Garity twins said they can often er, they see each other as much as their someone to pregame and go out with,” Because the two lead such an inter- they don’t know, assuming that the per- my professor said, ‘Oh, that’s why you busy schedules allow. They try to cook din- Pete says. predict these kinds of reactions. twined life, they’re often criticized by son is a friend of their sister. Though were so rude to me.’”

Zach says he gets annoyed when people “People always feel the need to state their ner together on Fridays and to coordinate those who don’t know them. “When we the Garitys now walk around smiling at Like the Yans, The Garity twins have were in high school, people got offended almost everyone, it took time for them met criticism for their decision to live opinion on whether or not they would when they go to the gym. They have also ask about his relationship with his sibthat we dressed alike,” Bonnie says. to adjust to these frequent, awkward en- together and pursue similar interests; want to be a twin,” Caroline says. “They’ll sung together in the choir at 7:30 p.m. lings. mass since the second week of their fresh“When people ask if we’re close — of But Annie explains that their shared counters. both are co-captains of GU Irish Dancing, say, ‘Oh, I would hate that.’ Thanks.” man year. course we are,” he says. “It’s almost imposThe Nulsens, fraternal twins from St. characteristics are an important part of “The worst is when it happens with pro- art history minors and studied abroad at It took a while for Todd and Zach to sible not to be when you grow up with Louis Park, Minn., took the opposite aptheir identities. fessors,” Kimberly says. “The first time it Georgetown’s Villa Le Balze.

“I can’t try to be different from her be- happened, it was freshman year. It was “Whenever I say I’m a twin, people al- proach. Not only did they live in separate get used to living without their sister, your two best friends.”

The twins all echoed that statement. cause then I wouldn’t be myself,” she said. my professor, but Caroline saw her and ways ask if my twin goes here, and I al- dorms freshman year, but Dave stopped but all three have stayed close. Fresh“If I’m really down, the first person I go “People wanted us to be unique, but we she didn’t even smile, because she didn’t ways say yes. And they immediately say, talking to Pete for a few days when his man year, when Zach and Amanda both share similar interests, so if I tried to be know that person at all. Later on in the ‘You don’t live together, right?’ You get a brother revealed that he intended to pick took general chemistry, they would help to is Pete,” Dave says. “If I’m really up, the each other with their homework over person I go to celebrate with is Pete. To the same college. different, I wouldn’t be me.” me, that’s something I can’t put words to, “I was selfish enough in high school to Skype.

Kimberly and Caroline, identical twins It helps that their sister isn’t too far how valuable that is.” think that Georgetown was my school,” from Los Angeles, have always been close.

Dave says.

“I always say, ‘Yes, we are those twins,’” But the anger didn’t last long. “A couple Caroline says. weeks later we realized there was a lot of They don’t remember ever discussing positive that could come from this,” Pete whether or not they’d separate after colsays. lege.

Once the brothers arrived on the Hill“I think it was always assumed that top, they worked hard to forge separate we’d go to the same school,” Kimberly identities, but slowly their lives merged. says.

Now, they live in two connected houses.

The duo also decided to live together “For me, it was a maturation process, their freshman year. realizing how stupid it was to try to get “Freshman year we thought it would away from the person you’re closest be nice to have a home away from home, with,” Dave says. together, since we were moving so far These “Minnesota Twins,” as they’re ofaway,” Kimberly says. “We didn’t want to ten jokingly called, like to make light of risk coming and each having a bad roomtheir twin status. Every year, they have mate.” The situation was especially cona twin-themed party for their birthday venient because Kimberly and Caroline where guests must match each other. “It’s share most of their clothes. They own funny because we’re not identical,” Dave only one of each item, though, so they says. “But people seem to really get into never match. it.”

“In high school we were known as the Todd Reese (MSB ’12) maintains that he Garity Girls,” Caroline says. “But then we and his brother, Zach (COL ’12), are more got here, and I just assumed that everyCourtesy zach reese Chris Bien/The Hoya special than the other multiples on cambody knows I have a twin. But that wasn’t KIMBERLY AND CAROLINE GARITY The Gariity Girls make dealing with twin-related pus. Together with their sister Amanda, TODD AND ZACH REESE Two-thirds of a set of three, Todd and Zach each know how always the case.” who studies at the University of Delaware, to effectively use the talents of their siblings.

The pair often find themselves return- social nuisances seem easy.

food&drink Takin’ Jamaican to the Next Level Caribbean Flavors Come to DC Keeley Williams Special to The Hoya

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SWEET MANGO CAFE

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3701 New Hampshire Ave. NW cuisine: Jamaican price: $$$$

hen people think of food in D.C., they typically don’t think of Caribbean cuisine — Ethiopian and American, perhaps, but definitely not Jamaican. I myself am Jamaican, and grew up with a patty shop around the corner and hardo bread always within reach. Looking for a little bit of home in D.C., I craved the taste of jerk chicken and callaloo, which led me on a search for authentic Jamaican cuisine. This quest of mine led me to some questionable areas. (Translation: There are certain parts of southeast Washington that I would rather forget.) But my patience and persistence (and the aid of a nice Caribbean cabbie) led me to Sweet Mango Cafe.

When it comes to Jamaican restaurants, I admit that I turn into a form of Tom Colicchio from “Top Chef,” meaning I become a bit of a snob, daring the restaurant to impress me. But here were the meat and potatoes I grew up eating.

One of the District’s go-to restaurants for Afro-Caribbean cuisine for years, Sweet Mango Cafe, like any good Jamaican res-

taurant, has that unmistakable thing that is vital to an authentic Jamaican dining experience: vibes. Vibes, in the island sense of the word, are that sweet yet subtle signal that tells you that you’re getting the real deal. The vibes first hit me when I exited the metro at the Georgia Ave-Pentworth stop. Emerging from the bowels of the D.C. underbelly to the familiar fragrance of “jerk” on the grill, I opened the door to Sweet Mango Cafe as if to confirm the vibes that I sensed to be true. And, sure enough, my ears heard the Jamaican patois and the clinking of long-necked, glass Jamaican soda bottles, and suddenly I felt at home.

Even though I laud Sweet Mango Cafe on its traditional Jamaican recipes, do keep in mind that it is no Michelin Star winner or a place where a dinner jacket is a necessity. The reason why I recommend Sweet Mango Cafe is that, like the country from which its dishes hail, while it may be rough around the edges at times, it always has heart and soul at its core. It’s a

Hoya Happy Hour

laidback spot where you can get that no-worries feeling as soon as you bite into a warm, delicious beef patty. Sample from the wide range of what Sweet Mango Cafe has to offer. Jerk chicken, Jamaican curried shrimp and, for those of you who are the adventurous type, Oxtail, braised meat that has been softened to perfection in coconut milk and paired with rice and Gungu peas.

Bob Marley once said, “One good thing about music, when it hits, you feel no pain.” And like Jamaican music, Jamaican food is similarly a comfort to those in need of comforting. If you’re looking for a place to get away, a place with good food and a come-as-you-are mentality, then you won’t find a better spot than Sweet Mango Cafe.

sweet mang ocafe .com

Dishes you have to try: ackee and salt fish

served with johnny cakes

bammy

jerk chicken with rice and peas — and the cabbage salad on the side

A weekly roundup of some of the best shots, mixes and punches.

Baileys Mint Hot Chocolate As the temperatures begin to drop and finals approach, nothing quite has the power to warm a tired student like hot chocolate. But if you find plain hot cocoa boring, mix things up a bit by adding mint chocolate irish cream and green chartreuse. The result is minty, delicious and sure to help you get through those grueling term papers.

10 // the guide // 12.2.11

+ 1 cup hot chocolate

+

2 oz. Baileys mint chocolate irish cream

+

1/4 oz. green chartreuse liqueur

whipped cream

Carrots Without the Vegetable market to table BethanyImondi During my childhood, my mother persistently warned me that if I ate too much of one thing, then I would turn into that food item. Each time I heard this, I immediately thought of Violet Beauregarde in Charlie in the Chocolate Factory turning a distinct hue of blue and inflating with juice to become a human blueberry. With this in mind, I became very cautious about eating too much of certain foods, mostly fruits and vegetables.

Despite the foods’ nutritional benefits, my fears of transforming into something edible made me very selective in my food choices.

One food I came to shun was the carrot. Ignorant about the benefits of the vegetable’s carotene richness, I thought any enjoyment of the carrot would result in my skin tinting orange. Although some people might like the orange look (I’m talking to you, Snooki and the rest of the “Jersey Shore” cast), I preferred my skin in its natural shade. Because of this, I avoided carrots in any form.

That was until I discovered carrot cake.

Maybe it was because the vegetables were baked with butter and cinnamon and hidden under smooth cream cheese icing, but I rarely turned down an offer of a bite of carrot cake. I convinced myself that the various other ingredients in the cake would offset any chance of my becoming an Oompa Loompa. Yet, there were occasions when I did say “no” to the dessert. I came to despise any carrot cake recipe with chopped nuts or raisins. Ironically, I preferred my cake to have as little interfering with the vegetables as possible.

Fortunately for my waistline and my overall health, now I actually consume carrots beyond the realm of baked goods. Carrots are such a versatile ingredient that can be incorporated into savory and sweet recipes. Braised, glazed, sauteed, pureed — these are just a few of the many cooking techniques for the vegetable. But even with all these different preparations, I still prefer my carrots in dessert form, making the chance of an orange glow worth every bite.

food&drink

Pasta Palette’s Hot Italian Sister SARAH AMOS Hoya Staff Writer

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But the fast-food eatery doesn’t scrimp f you took Leo’s Pasta Palette station and added Euro-chic furniture, ingredients on style; their own homemade pasta is like shaved fennel and a Frank Sinatra kneaded and stretched behind the counsoundtrack, then you have Vapiano. Forget ter. Vapiano features the standards like Alfredo, carbonara your momma-madeand pesto, as well as the-meatball Italian some more exotic restaurant chain takes such as tacchioriginated with no piccante, a pasta German entrepreand chicken dish neurs, mixing fresh with orange chili Italian classics with Vapiano sauce, bok choy and Deutsch efficiency. bell peppers.

Ordering is very But opting for much like the pro1800 M St. NW the basics, in my cess in the cafeteria Washington, DC case, proves satis— you choose which cuisine: Italian fying as well. (The pasta, meat, vegpomodoro e rucola etables and sauce price: $$$$ includes a moderyou want. In lieu of ate portion of curly a GOCard, the cook pasta accented with hands you a white plastic chip card with your order for when a light, summery tomato sauce and wilted arugula with just enough of a peppery you check out.

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MARRAKESHDC.COM

PASTAFARIAN Vapiano makes its own pasta on site and cooks it up with your choice of add-ins and sauce in front of you.

EURO BISTRO The red-hued minimalist vibe makes for a warm eambience. bite.)

Aside from pasta, the other main draw is the hand-tossed pizzas, which like the pasta feature the usual margherita, salame, verdure (veggie pizza) as well as American-Italian favorites like chicken pesto and chicken barbeque. Instead of choosing one of these, my friend treated herself to a custom cheese pizza with garlic. Simple but satisfying, she noted that the cheese had the right amount of melty-stringy goodness and said she’d return.

While Italian purists may scoff at the fast-food concept, for a college student the prices are reasonable (ranging from $8.95 to $11.95 for pizzas and pasta dishes), but the trendy atmosphere doesn’t feel cheap.

Potted basil plants line the large, communal tables and keep the modern vibe fresh.

For this cheap college student (with an elitist appreciation of arugula), it’s a great place for an outing with a large group of friends on a Friday night.

Carrot Cake Muffins Ingredients:

Makes 15-18 muffins 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 cup sugar ½ teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg 3 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ⅔ cup vegetable oil 1 ½ cups shredded carrots

4. Evenly divide batter among the prepared Directions: muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes, or 1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease muffin until a toothpick inserted in the center comes tin, or use paper liners.

out clean.

2. In a large bowl whisk or sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract and oil.

5. Remove from oven. Before removing from the pan, let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

If desired, muffins can be transformed into cupcakes by topping with cream cheese frosting.

3. Fold the wet ingredients and the shredded

carrots into the flour mixture, stirring until just combined.

Bethany Imondi is a junior in the College.

She can be reached at imondi@thehoya. com. MARKET TO TABLE appears every other Friday in the guide.

12.2.11 // the guide // 11

arts&style Greatness Emanates From Espionage Film maria miracle Special to The Hoya

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ROTTENTOMATOES.COM

HOLIDAY FUN Comedic duo John Cho and Kal Penn has put out a Christmas film.

The Harold Angels Sing keeley williams Special to The Hoya It’s that time of the year again, when if you didn’t get the holiday season knocked into you on Black Friday or even the newly invented Cyber Monday, then the flurry of holiday films is sure to do the trick. Like that little girl from Miracle on 34th Street, The Guide’s holiday wish came true when it got the opportunity to sit down with actors John Cho and Kal Penn to discuss their new seasonal flick, A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas.

gold and a cult classic. Why do you think that the Harold & Kumar films are so popular, especially with college students?

Penn: We never expected the first movie to get such a following, especially after it didn’t do very well in the theatres. But it got the underground following, especially from people that were in college, because they were our target audience.

Your characters took us to White Castle and Guantanamo, so why a Christmas movie? And, above all, why 3-D? Cho: [We] felt that the next logical step was to go do a Christmas movie. And there was enough satire about the season. It just made sense.

Penn: Even though it’s a Christmas movie, it really is for everybody. We make fun of all the holidays. The 3-D just really heightened the emotional arc, and we were able to take artistic license because of the movie.

Cho: With the 3-D, you can make an event of going to see the movie.

Any possibility of a fourth film?

Cho: I don’t know … Harold & Kumar Go to Space? I think that would be awesome to do. It all depends on how this movie does.

Surely this movie has brought back your holiday past. What is your favorite holiday memory?

Cho: When we first came to America, we had never heard of Santa Claus. So my parents really pushed the idea of Christmas on us. I will never forget that on Christmas Day, when I unwrapped my present from Santa, it was in a Hoover box, and then they finally told me there is no Santa.

Penn: Well when I was six, I woke up to go to the bathroom and saw Santa coming down the chimney.

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle is comedic

12 // the guide // 12.2.11

We have seen both of you branch out into other genres, yet you guys have come back as these hilarious characters. Do you prefer comedy or drama?

Cho: We have been lucky to be able to do both comedic and dramatic work, [whereas] some haven’t able to do different projects.

Penn: I definitely missed comedy … It’s good for your health.

Kal, you have spent some time in D.C. working in the White House. What is your favorite place to hang out in D.C.? (Please say Georgetown.)

Penn: Definitely. Mr. Smith’s on M Street.

I’m guessing that besides space, all that’s left is Harold and Kumar Go to Washington? By the way, if you do, I want a credit in the title sequence.

Cho: Harold and Kumar in D.C. would be great, but what could they do here?

Penn: Go to the Smithsonian. I could definitely see Kumar ripping up the Portrait Gallery.

n many ways, young adults of this day and age have fallen victim to the development of the 21st century. Films and television shows have become canvasses for the latest and greatest pyrotechnics, a competition of who can fit the most explosions into a two hour span while maintaining some semblance of a plot. As one such victim, I have had difficulty embracing the truly moving works of today, too desensitized by J.J. Abrams to recognize the beauty of subtlety. That said, I have been following the production of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy for two years now, and even as I navigated through IMDB in my numb state, I could sense the greatness of this particular project.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy begins with a very 70s motif; in fact, one of the highlights of the film is its cinematography. We follow George Smiley’s (Gary Oldman) files as they travel through chutes and elevators following his forced retirement, and we find ourselves becoming agents, gathering the secrets of British Intelligence seeping through the walls.

One such secret, as suspected by the head of B.I., known as Control (John Hurt), is that one of the four senior figures within the agency may in fact be a Russian spy. Following the death of Control and the shooting of agent Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong), Smiley is recruited to investigate the matter of the mole at the top of the Circus. The presence of the mole is made clear by former agent Ricky Tarr. Tom Hardy plays the young, naive agent gone rogue after falling in love with a Russian spy who shares her knowledge of the mole within the British intelligence apparatus.

Tarr’s longing to be accepted as a serious man and a successful agent is palpable, and throughout Hardy’s performance I couldn’t help but vacillate on whom I thought was stealing this show, Oldman or Hardy. As Smiley’s work carries on, we find that in trying to track down the mole before his death, Control had assigned code names for each of the suspects. And as it turns out, all of them are guilty of consorting with

the enemy, more formally known as Karla, the Soviet head. Smiley finds success in discovering Haydon as the mole and in his defense, Haydon’s line of the movie says it all, “I’m someone who has made his mark.”

The tumultuous and detailed plot requires a second watch, and deserves more recognition than I can give it. But each shot and each frame are methodical, mirroring the way that a British Intelligence agent would have worked, and in the same way that Oldman, with quiet intensity, embodies Smiley’s identity completely.

It seems that Oldman and Smiley are more alike than one could have imagined. Oldman has stated on numerous occasions that this is his role of a lifetime, and it feels to me as if he almost looks up to and continues to try and emulate Smiley. Just like his character, he is a true British man, captivating with his delightful accent. Perhaps my favorite response from Oldman, while discussing the idea of how war has changed over time, is “The world’s a mess … and it’s perfect. It always has been.”

ROTTENTOMATOES.COM

TOY SOLDIERS The film depicts the work of a motley crew of spies.

lifestyle

TAKE IT FROM A SENIOR // Out of the Library BenJohnson

I

was that kid who lived in the library.

You all know him; many of you have been that same kid. We’re the ones who occupied Lau, before it was cool to sleep in a cold, uncomfortable public place. We’ve knowingly exchanged resigned glances while we ordered quadruple shots of espresso just before the 2 a.m. last call at The Midnight MUG. We’ve worn the bags under our eyes as badges of honor, while complaining to our classmates (but secretly bragging), “Yeah, I didn’t sleep last night.” And worst of all, we’ve convinced ourselves that this prolonged state of sleep deprivation somehow enhances our education at Georgetown.

Learn from a senior and a reformed Lau-aholic: Get out of the library, leave your MacBook in your room and then go get a real education, not just the one-

dimensional kind you get from reading a textbook through bleary eyes.

Many of you have never pulled an allnighter and rarely venture into the belly of that blot on the landscape that we Hoyas lovingly call Lau. If that’s you, kudos! You may now move on to the guide’s Food and Drink section. This article is not about you — it’s about the countless other Georgetown students who are so focused on pure academics that they miss out on everything else that D.C. has to offer.

Like many other Hoyas, I arrived at Georgetown with a certain degree of tunnel vision when it came to academics. Grades mattered, and although I did my fair share of sports and extracurriculars, academics always took priority. As a result, during my freshman and sophomore years, I spent more all-nighters in the library than I care to admit. Whenever I asked myself why I was crammed into a cubicle studying something I neither cared about nor had any intention of ever applying to real life, I simply told myself that I came to Georgetown

to learn, and soldiered on. What I wish I’d realized sooner is that just because you’re going to class and doing your homework doesn’t mean you’re getting as much education as you can out of your time at Georgetown.

Don’t just take my word for it — take Georgetown’s. Jesuit education is based on a philosophy of cura personalis: educating the whole person. Turns out, St. Ignatius of Loyola wanted you to take time off from studying to go do intramural sports, try out for the play or just go get dinner with your friends. Education isn’t just about reading whatever PDFs your professor uploaded to Blackboard; it’s about experiencing everything around you, whether that’s a fantastic new restaurant review you just read or joining the tourists and heading down to a Smithsonian to take in an IMAX movie.

In the words of Mark Twain, “Don’t let learning get in the way of your education.”

That’s why after a couple of backbreaking semesters I decided that I’d had

enough. Rather than subjecting myself to more nights in the library, I cut back on my course load and got an internship.

Getting off campus for 20 hours a week was a breath of fresh air, and best of all, with internships there are no grades, no homework and no burly officer who comes around at midnight asking for your GOCard.

So, all you workaholic underclassmen who are reading this on the second floor of Lau, take it from a senior: Don’t wait until your golden years on the Hilltop to break out of the library. It doesn’t matter whether you get an internship like I did, spend your time at Yates or just go read more interesting books. Looking back on college, you’ll never wish you spent more time in the library — so why wait until after graduation to start regretting it?

Take It From a Senior is a rotating, biweekly column written from the viewpoint of graduating seniors. Ben Johnson is a senior in the SFS. He no longer lives in Lauinger Library.

Artists Put New Spin on the Holidays

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t’s finally December, and that can mean only one thing: It’s time for Christmas music! From now until Dec. 25, these classic tunes will dominate the airwaves, spreading good tidings and cheer to anyone and everyone — whether or not they want it. To meet this incredible demand, musicians from every genre release special holiday albums for their fans. Since hearing these tunes is inevitable, let’s at least look at what’s good and what’s not from this year’s flood of festive new releases.

Michael Buble – Christmas Michael Buble, the smooth crooner behind hits like “Everything” and “Haven’t Met You Yet,” knocks one out of the park with his first full-length holiday album, the aptly titled Christmas. Buble takes many classic tunes to new heights, especially on the standout tracks “Holly Jolly Christmas” and “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).”

Buble demonstrates again and again that he has one of the sexiest voices on today’s musical scene, which is only heightened by the addition of throwback, jazz-inspired accompaniment with an infectious brass section that will leave you tapping your toes and embarrassingly dancing by yourself. When taken as a whole, Christmas is the strongest new holiday album of the season and is definitely worth a listen.

com “New Girl,” the sound of Zooey Deschanel belting out Christmas carols may not be entirely new, but when she and her musical partner Matthew Ward (who record under the moniker She and Him) dusted off their Santa hats, they created a unique and charming holiday album. Deschanel’s playful vocals coupled with Ward’s simple acoustic accompaniments create an amazingly retro vibe across the entire album, and many of the tracks, especially “Sleigh Ride” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” seem like they would have been right at home with my grandparents in 1950’s Middle America. Some listeners, however, may be put off by the duo’s insistence on using the ukelele on almost every track.

Overall, A Very She and Him Christmas is a solid album and a great option for the pesky hipsters on your Christmas list.

Ginuwine – A Ginuwine Christmas A Ginuwine Christmas is without a doubt the strangest holiday offering this year. This album takes classic carols and adds generically manufactured R and B backbeats and sexualized lyrics, creating a poorly executed holiday mess. Check out “Christmas Day,” a charming little tune about “making love under the mistletoe” and “having you scream out my name” on the happiest day of the year. Since Ginuwine is clearly trying to make a “sexy” Christmas album, he should really take a page from Michael Buble’s book and not rely on awkward lyrics and ar-

Available today.

She and Him – A Very She and Him Christmas For fans of the movie Elf or the new sit-

Nicole Jarvis Special to The Hoya

tificially produced harmonies. Ultimately I would avoid A Ginuwine Christmas like the plague, unless you are as much of a glutton for punishment as you are for holiday food.

Various Artists - Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album, Vol. 2 At first glance, another “Glee” Christmas album seems like the last thing we need this holiday season. But it is undeniable that when “Glee” gets it right, it really gets it right, and these cheery “high schoolers” are clearly naturally inclined toward these joyful holiday classics. Amber Riley belts out “All I Want for Christmas Is You” with a strength and presence far beyond her 25 years. We’ve all heard the song before, but Riley’s vocals add the vital magic that many versions fail to capture. Equally successful is Naya Rivera’s sultry adaptation of the classic made famous by Marilyn Monroe, “Santa Baby.” Practically every singer or celebrity looking for some “sexy” holiday publicity has covered this song, but Rivera’s version substitutes their blatant showboating for a more subtle and ultimately more rewarding performance.

basket-

Justin Bieber – Under the Mistletoe This year’s holiday season has been blessed by a Christmas album from the permanently prepubescent pop prince Justin Bieber in the form of Under the Mistletoe.

The album’s first single, “Mistletoe,” has al-

REPRISE

BUBLE CHRISTMAS Michael Buble’s is amongst this year’s best holiday albums. ready become a radio staple, and much of the album continues along the same vein with Bieber straining against his immature image — with some success — on more thoughtful tracks like “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire).” Musical guests are everywhere with tracks featuring Usher, Mariah Carey and The Band Perry, but Bieber holds his own against their considerable talents. The lump of coal in this album is the strange reinterpretation of the classic “Drummer Boy,” which features Bieber rapping and a guest verse from Busta Rhymes, who inexplicably ends his verse with a call of “Happy Hanukkah.” Under the Mistletoe signals that Bieber may be able to weather his next few years as an artist better than expected.

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entertainment The Finals Countdown air.

Once you’ve stepped outside, cue up “Horoscope” by Vast Aire. This song is a little bit baffling. Its background is soft-core electro; think KinneChapin elevator music. Yet when paired with a voice that sounds like Bubhen you read this head- ba Sparxxx and mixed with some line, did you think that mildly angry lyrics, the whole this column was going thing becomes awesome, if inexplito be about ’80s music? Did you cable. If you like the odd contrasts envision nodding your head as I on Watch the Throne, you will likereminded you of lost gems such as ly enjoy this song. If not, never fear “She’s a Beauty” by The Tubes and — perhaps this next one will keep ruthlessly mocked David Bowie’s you from pulling out your hair in a “Fashion”? If you did, I’m sorry; you paper-writing-induced rage.

This week’s last song is “When should probably stop reading now, as you will be sorely disappointed it Rolls In” by Sims. Sims’s voice is by what is to follow. Though I so mellow and quiet that it almost won’t be writing about epic bands sounds like he’s whispering in this this week, my title is still appropri- song, which makes it perfect to ate — I’ve picked out some songs listen to while studying. The song to help you get through the few itself is a little bit melancholy, but because the weeks ahead. background The time between Thanks[I]f you listen to these three music sounds like something giving and songs, vacation will only that Band of winter break is seem 500,000 miles away.

Horses or Edrough, to say That’s a promise. ward Sharpe the least. Everyand the Magnetone has 4,472.5 ic Zeros would things to do write, the track doesn’t become and about an hour one of those depressing songs you in which to get each of them done. There’s no time to can only listen to when you’ve just enjoy the first snow of the season fallen down the stairs or acciden(at least the first since Halloween) tally texted your ex. Instead, the or competitively watch Jeopardy overall effect is bittersweet, much with your roommates. You can’t like you might feel after having find a seat in the library because completed one final assignment, everybody and their brother have only to realize you still have three been there since 7 a.m. But don’t more to start. Wow. That analogy fear these dark days ahead, my was a bummer. I apologize.

So there you have it — three songs friends, for I am arming you with music — specifically, Kid Cudi- to tide you over until you get a real esque chill rap — to lift your spirits. vacation. You know, one that lasts If you’re looking to improve your more than four days. Right now, mood on a bleak, study-filled day, that break might seem a million “Go Outside” by Grip Grand and DJ miles away, but don’t fret. You’ll be MF Shalem is an excellent choice. so busy that before you can say “Lie My brother introduced me to Grip down forever, lie down,” it will be Grand over Thanksgiving break, Jan. 5, and you’ll be so sick of your and I immediately downloaded all little sister that you’ll be begging to of his albums. I’m slightly obsessed come back to school. Plus, if you liswith his sound, which is similar to ten to these three songs, vacation Brother Ali or Atmosphere. With will only seem 500,000 miles away. its big-band horn instrumentals That’s a promise. and upbeat lyrics, “Go Outside” is certain to make you smile even on Kinne Chapin is a senior in the Colyour darkest day. Plus, the message lege. She can be reached at chapis important for this time of year: in@thehoya.com. FACE THE MUSIC Please, for your own health, leave appears every other Friday in the the library and inhale some fresh guide.

face the music

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14 // the guide // 12.2.11

Latest Twilight Flick Fails to Break Ground JEREMY TRAMER Hoya Staff Writer

“H

ey you guys, I just saw a Twilight quickly). Twilight’s dad gets drunk at the movie and hated it because I’m wedding and drops half a dozen vaguely not a 12-year-old girl, and also misogynistic one-liners. Remember that because LOL, it’s Twilight and people hate time my uncle showed up drunk to my tee it on the Internet or something! Ready for ball game? It was kind of like that. Also, Anna Kendrick, who is edged out only by some hackneyed vampire jokes?”

Nah, yo. First of all, I’ve declared an of- Ellen Page on my Actresses Who Ruin Movficial moratorium on cheap one-liners ies list, provides a few attempts at laughs about “Jersey Shore,” Justin Bieber and in her role as Dawn, an ex-lover of Edward Twilight, the unholy trinity of played-out who is pissed that he’s getting married to pop culture punching bags. Second of all, someone else (the wedding causes her to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part I break down, hence the title of the film). wasn’t that bad.

After the wedI say that despite ding, Edward and having basically no Twilight head to idea what was going Brazil for their honon in the film. The eymoon. A few days movie assumes that later, Twilight realanyone who would izes she’s pregnant.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: watch the fourth Then lots of other BREAKING DAWN – PART I installment in the stuff happens, indid you know?: Stephanie Meyer series — sorry, saga cluding a war behas a cameo in the film; she plays — has already seen tween the wolves one of the guest’s at Bella’s wedding. the first three, and and the vampires hence there is no for reasons that need for any kind of eluded me, as well background informaas Twilight nearly tion. This is definitely a fair assumption to dying from her pregnancy before giving make, but unfortunately for me, it meant birth to a baby. Jacob planned to kill the that I had no idea who the people were or baby for some reason, but then decided how they knew each other or what all of not to kill it for some other equally untheir magical vampire terms meant. All I clear reason. Again, all of this stuff would was able to figure out is that the way you probably have been clear if I had seen the can tell if someone is a vampire is if they first three movies. have really pasty skin and bright red lips.

“But are you ‘Team Edward’ or ‘Team I don’t know why they don’t just wear Jacob?’” I don’t understand how “Team Jamakeup to make themselves look like reg- cob” even exists. Jacob is just kind of mean ular people. It’s probably explained in one and immature. I bet Taylor Lautner is reof the first three movies. ally annoying in real life. So yes, I suppose From what I could gather, the film fol- I’m “Team Edward.” If you just chuckled at lows the story of 100-year-old vampire Ed- the mere mention of “Team Edward,” you ward (Robert Pattinson) and his love inter- need to head to your local mirror during est, 18-year-old non-magical regular girl the next commercial break of “The ToTwilight (Kristen Stewart). The very first night Show With Jay Leno” episode that shot is of their friend Jacob (Taylor Laut- you’re no doubt watching and take a long ner) ripping off his shirt. Then he turns and hard look at yourself. If any of you into a wolf. From that point on, I was pret- chuckled at “long and hard,” there’s hope ty lost. So take the spoiler alert I’m issuing yet for this nation. right now — in effect for the rest of this arOverall, the movie wasn’t that bad, and ticle — with a grain of salt. it’s much less embarrassing than some The first half-hour or so of the movie snarky people on the Internet make it out is Edward and Twilight’s wedding. It fea- to be. I have no desire to see any of the othtures a shocking amount of purposeful er films in the saga, but then again I’m not comedy and a shocking lack of uninten- in its target audience. And judging from tional comedy (with the notable exception the audibly positive reactions of the many of the laughably embarrassing whoosh- teenage girls in the theater, its target audiing sound vampires make when they run ence was very pleased.

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A Lioness Cut Down in Her Prime

entertainment

WIL CURIEL Special to The Hoya

P

osthumous albums are a look back at a musician’s career, their achievements and hits, as well as insight to their works in progress, plans for the future and direction as an artist. Following Amy Winehouse’s death from alcohol poisoning in July, her longtime producer and

family decided to release a collection of cov- and the ’50s-style doo-wop harmonies float ers and demos from the final months of silkily in the background.

“Tears Dry,” a slowed-down rehashing of the singer’s life. While at times disjointed and raw, Lioness: Hidden Gems showcases Back to Black’s fourth single, samples MarWinehouse’s talent as a jazz, soul and pop vin Gaye’s instantly recognizable “Ain’t No singer.

Mountain High Enough.” Taking on a MoAfter her charttown classic is ambismashing Back to tious, to say the least, but Winehouse adds Black, Winehouse her signature soul returned to the stusound without bedio to begin work ing overbearing. on a forthcoming LIONESS: HIDDEN GEMS The album then album. Though she loses its way on died before she was artist: Amy Winehouse “Like Smoke,” which able to complete it, features New Yorkproducer and friend song to download: “Valerie” based rapper Nas. Salaam Remi took it The song begins upon himself to crewith Winehouse’s ate a tribute to the throaty crooning drifting over back-up troubled singer.

The album opens with “Our Day Will harmonies, but it is suddenly interrupted Come,” a cover of the 1963 hit by Ruby and by Nas’s brutish style. While his rapping The Romantics. A brass section and hypnot- is respectable, his lyrics about “World ic metronome give the song an island feel, Bank bourgeoisie” clash with Wine-

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COURTESY UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC

New Releases

ALEX SANCHEZ Hoya Staff Writer

“Rigamortus (Remix)” Kendrick Lamar feat. Busta Rhymes Section.80

“Paradisco” Charlotte Gainsbourg Stage Whispers

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Written and produced by Beck, “Paradisco” is one of four singles set to be released from the French starlet’s upcoming LP. While “Paradisco” employs much of the simplicity that has characterized so much of her previous work, it feels too reminiscent of past singles such as “Heaven Can Wait” from 2009’s IRM.

Released in July 2011, Kendrick Lamar’s Section.80 has been lauded for its many standout tracks, like the trumpet-laden “Rigamortus.” The remix, featuring hip-hop heavyweight Busta Rhymes, retains much of the song’s original spirit, so much so that Rhymes’s inclusion on the redux seems almost insignificant.

ISLAND RECORDS

house’s conflicted longing.

Also included on Lioness is Winehouse’s infectious cover of The Zutons’ “Valerie” as well as international hit “The Girl From Ipanema.” Winehouse’s traditional jazz voice fits well with the song’s Brazilian samba-influenced bossa nova style, a throwback to the 1960s. She stays true to the smoky relaxation of the original song while playfully scatting her way through some verses.

Those looking for the most esoteric of Winehouse’s repertoire will be disappointed. Most of the covers range from jazz standards to chart-toppers, and many of the originals have been released as singles.

Sadly, Winehouse’s third and final album seems scattered and rushed. There is no real arc to Lioness; the songs are hastily strewn like the bottles and sheets of paper that littered the floor of Winehouse’s apartment. But what the album lacks in cohesion, it makes up for in raw talent and unfulfilled potential.

“Wintered Debts” Of Montreal Paralytic Stalks

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FIRE RECORDS

Early next year, the Georgia-based rock outfit Of Montreal will release its 11th studio album, Paralytic Stalks, whose many proposed singles include “Wintered Debts.” This seven and a half-minute song borrows from the likes of Sigur Ros and other post-rock-inspired bands with ambient guitar and subdued vocals.

NONESUCH RECORDS

12.2.11 // the guide // 15

best bets

friday Instead of the usual drunken shouts of “Eat that box,” Verizon Center will be filled with the voice of Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli Friday. Head over for some of the signature heavenly sounds of Bocelli who will be accompanied by soprano Ana Maria Martinez and Tony Award winner Heather Headley. This concert will be sure to get you into the holiday spirit.

Where: Verizon Center, 601 F St. NW When: Friday, 8 p.m.

Info: (202) 628-3200 Price: $78-$378 Metro: Gallery Place-Chinatown (Red, Green or Yellow lines)

RIANNA FOLDS Special to The Hoya

gondola ride

saturday Take a break from homework this Saturday and visit the Swedish Christmas Bazaar at the uber-cool House of Sweden.

Sip on some Swedish glogg while you shop for unique Christmas gifts. Complete with Swedish Christmas carols at 1 p.m. and the luminous Santa Lucia procession at 5 p.m., this is an event you shouldn’t miss.

Where: House of Sweden, 2900 K St. NW When: Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Info: (202) 536-1500 Price: Free Metro: Accessible by foot

— sari frankel

sunday The National Zoo is hosting its annual ZooLights celebration, an event for kids and adults alike. The animal houses have extended hours, so you can enjoy both the live animals and the eco-friendly LED-light animal sculptures. The zoo’s picnic pavilion is also transformed into an ice-skating wonderland for the month-long event.

Where: National Zoological Park, 3001 Connecticut Ave. NW When: Nov. 25 to Jan.1, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Info: (202) 633-4888 Price: Free Metro: Woodley-Park Zoo (Red line)