‘Forbidden City’ filled with hope and ‘heavenly peace’

By Melanie Correia

A student stands admiring the art in the “Forbidden City” art exhibit in the CVPA, created by Honglei Li and Lily Yang. A husband and wife who are both part of the MFA program in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

This scene from “Forbidden City” is one of several digital media films on display in the exhibit, which is in the Campus Gallery through October 4.

The “Forbidden City” exhibition, put on by husband and wife team Honglei Li and Lily Yang, is on display in the CVPA Campus Gallery until Thursday, October 4. This fused display of paintings, music and digital media create a wonderful format for the artworks and messages that Honglei and Lily are trying to portray.

The duo has said that the gallery space is the “perfect format to show [their] work.” The entrance to the gallery is lined with the paintings of the husband and wife team. Once you enter, the paintings have doubled in size in their digital portrayal.

The gallery is halved into two sections, the first which shows “Ash” and “Peacock Flying to the Southeast” by Honglei Li and the other section which houses the other three by Lily Yang, “A Dream of Red Mansions,” “Forbidden City” and “At the Gate of Heavenly Peace.” These five digital films are both shown with music that gives the viewers a much more powerful sense of emotion.

The films are beautiful, moving and powerful. Focusing on cultural messages, the artists use their talents to focus on their hope. The artists are able to send these messages in a different format.

They begin by painting a series of these large scale works and then filming them in sequence. The animation and editing process comes later with the fusion of these paintings into a story.

The most phenomenal piece of these works is the fluidity of the characters. In “Ash” by Honglei, there is a belly dancer in full costume who dances across the screen.

The motions are very realistic, stunning the viewer. The amount of different works and time spent on each individual painting to allow for these tiny differences within each shot is remarkable.

Also, in “A Dream of Red Mansions” the stream, sprinkled

with flowers, that continuously runs during this film is strikingly realistic. The constant focus of every single detail in the wind and pattern of the flowers allows for the viewers to feel as if they are actually sitting by the stream.

“Forbidden City” is a remarkable viewing experience. The emotions emanating from each film is powerful and hopeful.

Visitors are able to view this exhibit during regular gallery hours, Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., or by appointment. The exhibition

is free of charge and open to the public. For more information, scontact Jarrad Nunes at (508) 999-8010.

Paintings hang in the entrance of he CVPA’s Campus Gallery, located in Group VI. The works are part of a collaboration between husband and wife students, Hongei Li and Lily Yang.

MATT'S UNKNOWN MUSIC CORNER

The ‘hunt’ for good music ends here

By Matt Meylikhov

If I had to pick one thing I loved most in music, I would have to say that it would be concept albums. For those unfamiliar with the term, a concept album is a CD in which all songs revolve around a central concept, most likely a story.

Last week I discussed Rhapsody, where the albums tell a story akin to “Lord of the Rings.” But over the years there have been many different styles of concept albums. I’ve seen albums discuss volcanoes, robots and Salvador Dali (two of which I will eventually discuss).

This week’s band has its own concept universe though, which tells the story of pimps, priests, whores, war, life and death.

Ladies and gentlemen, this week I present to you…The Dear Hunter.

Enter Casey Crescenzo, former member of the band The Receiving End of Sirens, which I’m willing to bet more people are familiar with, especially because they are a Boston act and are recently getting a lot of press with the release of their latest album “The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi,” out now on Triple Crown Records.

Casey was with the band with their current line up and participated in the creation of their first record. But that style of music was never fully what Casey wanted to do. While the band was fairly heavy, stylistically, Casey would find himself listening to artists like Bjork after a show in the van as they traveled to the next city.

During one holiday season while the band had time off, Casey put a bunch of ideas he didn’t think would work with his current band down on paper, and recorded them by himself in his home. He gave this disc, now known as the “Dear Ms. Leading demos,” to family and friends. And eventually, Casey parted ways with TREOS to work full time on The Dear Hunter.

The Dear Hunter is quite a departure, as far as music goes. It blends many different styles and influences to get a sort of indie/folk form of harder rock. For people who are fans of a heavier music, do not fear. Songs like “City Escape” and “The Procession” are more in the vein of Casey’s old gig. But then you get to hear songs like “The Pimp and the Priest” and “The Oracles on the Delphi Express” where you hear more of what Casey wanted out of his music, being the primary writer.

And Casey is quite a writer himself. He is an absolute mastermind when it comes to wordplay, repeatedly impressing me song by song. When you know the concept behind the CDs (which I will get more into later), the lyrics really take a hold of you by force as you see how clever Casey really is.

By all rights and standards, the song “Red Hands” should blow this band out of the water, with lyrics like, “maybe this is just a work of art/ Scripted players in a play of lust/ Hope the ending’s well worth waiting for/ And everything you wished it be.” This track finishes with a whole sing-along chorus.

Or we could go to another one of my favorite songs, “The Pimp and the Priest,” with the lyrics, “the pimp and the priest pounce on quickened cat’s feet/ For the freshest young blood/ In sin’s for the feast/ The book will then brew what the sinful commit/ While the pimp and the priest prey quietly/ Where the precious sinners sit.”

Still not convinced on his writing talent? I submit to you the opening track of their latest CD, “The Procession,” with the screaming chorus of, “(She’s inanimate, bloodless elegance)/ Fatal fascination breeds a bloom of misery/ (Helpless hiding tongues bathed in revulsion)/ Here lies unfinished beauty wilting premature/ But we can’t be too sure, no, you can’t be too sure.” Mr. Crescenzo knows his way around the English language to say the least.

This band has an insane amount of talent to back up the words. I’ve talked a lot about Casey, so all I’ll say now is that he has one of the most fantastic singing voices today with quite a range.

But moving on to the rest of the band: Eric Serna is an absolutely insane guitarist. You might not be able to tell from the recordings, but if you ever get to see this band live and hear them perform “The Inquiry Of Ms. Terri,” his solo at the end of the song is improvised differently every night and great every time. If you can find a YouTube video, I’d suggest listening to it.

Then there are the brother’s Dent, Sam and Luke. Sam plays the drums and is an absolutely top notch drummer who never misses a beat and pulls off some very impressive parts. He is classically trained in drumming as well, which brings an interesting dynamic to the rock band.

His brother Luke doubles as a keyboardist and a guitarist and provides backing vocals live. He really knows how to play the keyboard, using two at a time on stage. His jazz influences in the keys have definitely improved from what Casey had originally written for piano parts for the first CD; it shines on the second.

And the bass player, Josh, who was added after the recording process of the second CD, brings his own dynamic to the band in his positive attitude and great additions to the live show.

Now I’d like to provide you with some information about the story behind the band. The title of the band, The Dear Hunter, is not just a play on Deer Hunter, but is in reference to the lead character in the story, Hunter.

The story tells the full life of Hunter, from birth to death, in six acts (in the style of an opera, the first two of which have been released).

Act I, “The Lake South, The River North,” introduces all the players that come to form his life, his mother Ms. Terri, and the pimp and crooked priest who together run the Dime, a place where sin rules and lust is acted upon.

His mother, a whore, runs from the city when she finds herself pregnant with a son to escape the life she had. But when she dies several years later, at the beginning of Act II, “The Meaning Of, And All Things Regarding Ms. Leading,” Hunter finds himself traveling to the city in search of a calling, and, as he is a very naïve soul, falls in love with a whore by the name of Ms. Leading who works for the same men his mother worked for (unbeknownst to him of course).

As the story progresses and he learns more about life and love, he grows to hate Ms. Leading as she falls for him. At the end of Act II, he leaves for war.

As of this moment, The Dear Hunter has put out two CDs, an EP and a full length. The EP was written entirely by Casey, an 8 track that’s about as long as most band’s full length CDs.

But for the second, Casey worked on it with the rest of his band and drew material from older demos to create a CD just 3 minutes short of the maximum time (the CD running at 77 minutes, 80 being the max).

I actually had the privilege to spend time with the band as they recorded the second CD and got to see a lot of the writing process and early versions of songs as they were built from the ground process.

It was truly a remarkable experience for me to be allowed to sit there with the band and hear only things family and close relationships could hear. If anything, it helped me love the final product even more because I have seen everything it has come from to become the masterpiece it is today.

Casey gave me a copy of the CD in advance and asked me what I thought of the CD, to which I replied, “you know, Casey, while listening to this, I really wanted to find something to critique. Something to tell you I think could be better. But after listening to it several times, I really can’t find anything that I would have done differently or think I could do better.” In two words: it rocks.

So if you enjoy rock with a somewhat jazzy twist along with great lyrics and an intriguing story behind it, look no further than The Dear Hunter. I can’t sing their praises enough.

Please listen at their Myspace (http://myspace.com/thedearhunter) and go see them live sometime. If you get the chance to talk to them, I urge you to, as they are some of the most interesting and friendly guys you could possibly meet.

In all honesty, I have recommended a lot of bands to a lot of people, but The Dear Hunter is one of the few bands that has been enjoyed by everyone I have recommended it to.

They really are something else, and before you know it, will most likely become quite big. So use this opportunity to become a fan so that when everyone is listening, you’ll say “I knew that band when they weren’t that big at all!” And me? I’ll ask them to buy me a new car.

As always, feel free to send me an e-mail (mmeylikhov@umassd.edu) with any band you feel is not talked about enough and a place for me to listen, and I’ll consider them for this column.

THE BEER BARON

Satisfy your Oktoberfest craving

By Gary Albert

In 1810, the crown prince of Bavaria, Prince Ludwig, held a festival to honor his betrothal and marriage to Princess Therese. Since then, the Oktoberfest has been a German tradition held on the last week of September, ending the first week in October.

The traditional beer of Oktoberfest, the Märzen, is brewed in March and stored cold for the summer. Oktoberfest beer is darker and usually more full bodied than your typical lager, and often a bit maltier, so they can sometimes taste very sweet rather than bitter.

This year, Oktoberfest falls between September 22 and October 7, so I’ll try to get in two reviews of this style this year, one for each week of the festival.

This first one, from Brooklyn Brewery, in Brooklyn, New York is not one to pass up. Opening the bottle and pouring it into my American pint glass, the medium head quickly dissipates, leaving an amber brown, caramel colored beer in the glass. Before the first sip, that’s all that will be on your mind, too — caramel.

The smell is very strong caramel. The first sip is surprising, because when I took it, caramel became one of the last things on my mind. The taste gives a very toasty malt flavor, and the caramel is noticeable, but nothing like it was in the smell.

Another surprising fact was that this beer is more complex than I originally figured it would be. The floral-citrus flavor of the hops doesn’t surface until towards the end of the sip, but it lingers enough to give a nice little bite that leaves me wanting another sip.

The mouthfeel is dry, but full bodied and refreshing which makes this beer very easy to drink. It is a little strong on the carbonation, but there isn’t much else negative to say about this Oktoberfest.

The aftertaste is the hops and the toasty malt flavor, instead of that awful, generic “beer” aftertaste you get from most lagers.

The Oktoberfest style is a nice shift from the summer beers that I’d been drinking since June, but it is a little too simple for my tastes. A little spice or something else to make it more unique would have been a welcome addition since the Märzen is such a basic style.

At 5.5% alcohol, Brooklyn Oktoberfest is slightly above your typical alcohol content, and it is on the low-medium end of the cost spectrum, so it is an affordable treat to you bargain hunters.

While I’m not thrilled about the style, I’ll still recommend Brooklyn Oktoberfest to satisfy your authentic German Oktoberfest experience.

Appearance: 4/5

Smell: 3.75/5

Mouthfeel: 4/5

Drinkability: 4.25/5

Taste: 4.25/5

Overall: 4/5

Recommended for anyone wanting a traditional late September seasonal brew, that’s a bit more complex than what you might expect. I enjoyed it, and will be trying more Brooklyn brews in the near future.

If you have a recommendation for a beer for me to review (anything goes), want to comment on or criticize my review, or just have questions regarding beer, send me an email at UMDBeerBaron@gmail.com.

King Richard event ‘faires’ well for SAIL’s new program

By Megan Gauthier

UMass Dartmouth students gather at the entrance to the Medieval village after having spent a thoroughly enjoyable day eating, playing games, watching shows, and shopping. Below, left: A festive jester rides his noble steed through the village.

A live gargoyle statue awaits his next photo-op victim.

The Student Activities Involvement and Leadership (SAIL) office kicked off their first weekend event on Saturday, September 22 with a trip to King Richard’s Faire in Carver, Massachusetts.

Nearly 50 students, both residents and commuters, showed up to take advantage of the free transportation and admission for the twenty-sixth season of the New England Renaissance festival.

Students were transported to the Faire by bus and let loose in the medieval community from 1 to 6 p.m.

From there, many students indulged in food, drink, games, and shows. Hundreds of costumed patrons and employees wandered through the “Realm,” adorned with corsets, full skirts, flowered crowns, and horrifying masks.

Everywhere you looked people were eating turkey legs, drinking a “yard o’beere,” and completely enjoying themselves in a relaxed atmosphere where anything goes.

A minimal fee was required to go on rides, such as the carousel and the swan swing, and also to play games such as the axe throw and the crusader’s crossbows; however, all shows were free.

Upon entering the medieval village, patrons were handed maps of the site and a schedule of events. The shows ranged from a “Flying Freak Show,” and a “Magic Madrigals” singing performance, to the bawdy “Mud Show” and interactive “Human Chess Game.”

The events which drew the largest crowds were, of course, the jousting tournaments. The “Tournament of Champions” was held first, setting the stage for the four knights to be introduced: Sir Joseph of England, Sir Phillippe de Lorraine of Spain, Don Idalgo of France and Sir Otto, Duke von Dusseldorf of Germany.

The second tournament, “The King’s Challenge,” ended in a dramatic fashion with the King’s request that the knights from each country must engage in a “Joust to the Death,” which was the final event of the evening and attracted nearly all faire patrons.

Before leaving, most students scrambled to get memorabilia from their day o’fun, with most of the 21+ attendees carrying around the plastic “yard” glasses bearing the King Richard’s Faire logo.

Many students also flocked towards swords, jewelry, crowns, roses, medieval garb, and, of course, memories of a Saturday well spent.

On the bus ride home, everyone seemed exhausted yet satisfied. Sophomore Addie Hopkins said of the event, “I was surprised by how few people actually went, but it was definitely one of the best times I’ve ever had at King Richard’s. I really hope the SAIL events inspire more people to spend the weekends on campus.”

Jamie Jacquart, the Director of Student Activities, is lobbying for a similar result. The SAIL office is currently planning a series of both on and off-campus events and programs to be held every weekend.

The SAIL office ran a student satisfaction survey last year, and it was apparent that students felt there was nothing to do on the weekends.

After much consideration, the SAIL Weekend Program was born.

The SAIL office plans to partner with on-campus clubs and organizations to help them execute events, and also occasionally travel off-campus to local organizations, such as the Zeiterion Theater in New Bedford.

Jacquart feels that the first trip was certainly a success, noting that the turnout was great considering the late notice, and said “If we provided only 45 students with an enjoyable activity, we met our purpose,” which is, of course, to promote campus community.

Students frequently complain there is nothing to do on-campus over the weekends, and then head home, leaving even less for students who remain on-campus to do. Also, although many clubs and organizations offer weekend programming, many students fail to take advantage of them. SAIL is hoping to change the way students look at the campus, and encourage them to stick around, make friends and have fun.

Resident Assistant Yekaterina Filippova is excited about the upcoming events, noting “It’s great that SAIL is hosting events for the weekends now. It allows those students without cars or motivation to get out and do fun things without spending money.”

SAIL’s next weekend event is in conjunction with the student-run Gaming Society, which is hosting a Halo 3 launch party. Microsoft has donated three copies of the game for the event, during which time students may stop by and play the newly released game, as well as enter to win prizes, including a free copy of Halo 3.

The Gaming Society is holding the event on Friday, September 28 from 7 to 11 p.m in the Commuter Café in the Campus Center; refreshments will be served.

For more information on King Richard’s Faire, visit www.kingrichardsfaire.net . For more information on the Gaming Society’s Halo 3 Launch party, feel free to contact Vice President Dan Riall at U_Driall@umassd.edu. For more information on future SAIL events or to make suggestions about possible future events, visit the Student Activities portion of the UMass website or stop by the SAIL office, located on the top floor of the Campus Center (above the Commuter Café) or contact Chris Donovan at U_c1donovan@umassd.edu.

All patrons who received tickets indicating “violations” met at the Mouth of Hell to testify and proclaim their innocence.

A festive jester rides his noble steed through the village.

INDEPENDENT GAMER

Soar as high as the clouds with just a click of your mouse

By Brett McCabe

Do you like to get high? So high you’re surrounded by clouds? And what if you could control those clouds by flying around and creating rainstorms to make the world a beautiful place?

Contrary to my scruffy appearance, I am not talking about marijuana; I’m talking about playing video games.

This week I’m spotlighting “Cloud” by students from the University of Southern California, which was given a Game Innovation Lab Research Grant by the University for their efforts. If you have bigger dreams than just making it through this school with your business degree, then read on.

Remember staring up at the sky from the ground? Think back to when you were younger, playing in the backyard of the house your family used to live in before you had to move due to unfortunate events. Before that, when the world was still pure. You used to lie on the crabgrass and imagine shapes in the clouds. That one’s a castle… that one’s a dinosaur….

You wished you could form those clouds into whatever shape you wanted. Well now you can. Using your dreamer character in the computer game “Cloud,” you can fly around the 3D sky in your white hospital gown, collecting clouds and putting them together to create bigger clouds.

Team Leader Xinghan “Jenova” Chen explains the game: “I always wish to make a video game that makes you feel more productive and enjoy your life better. Most video game today is about addiction. But for “Cloud,” it is designed to be something you can put down and go back to enjoy your life at any time. No failure, no saving. You pick it up and leave it with no second thoughts...”

Using as little controls as possible, ‘Cloud’ is about exploration, leaving all things mysterious to force the player to think. It took me awhile of “noodling” around in order to figure out how to control my clouds. And I’m still not great at it.

White clouds are your clouds. You can attract the darker clouds of the same size or smaller. The more you grab, the larger your collection grows, allowing you to attach to even bigger clouds. Another technique is having your character absorb the clouds, to release later. This is easier for traveling far distances.

When black clouds collide with white clouds, it is called a fight. The fight creates rain which helps water the islands below.

“Cloud” is a great game if you want to relax and use your logic in a different way. This world is better left to be experienced as it is not as linear as most games you would normally play on your home console.

So why should you download “Cloud”? If I’m not convincing you, try this résumé: After multiple server crashes due to high traffic, Electronic Arts helped by moving the game download to EA’s FTP server. “Cloud” went on to being featured in G4TV’s Attack of the Show, Game Informer’s “Top Ten Games You’ve Never Heard Of,” and winner of the 2006 Independent Game Festival Student Showcase as well as the 2006 SlamDance Guerilla Game Maker Competition.

Download Cloud for free at: http://intihuatani.usc.edu/cloud/.

Cartel breaks out of the bubble, but fails to break the mold

By Tyler Slomkowski

Lead singer Will from Cartel gets the crowd going as he rocks out to “Lucky St.” during The Warped Tour. Despite Cartel’s lackluster CD, they are a great live band.

In one of the most publicized recording events in recent history, Cartel, a pop-punk band from Atlanta, Georgia, locked themselves in a bubble in New York City for three weeks to record their new album.

In the bubble, complete with live web cam feeds from every room in the house, Will (vocals, guitar), Joseph (guitar), Nic (guitar), Jeff (bass) and Kevin (drums), set out to record their self-titled album as a follow-up to their widely successful debut album, “Chroma.”

Even though the band has accepted the criticism that they are “sell-outs” for agreeing to a deal with major corporate empires MTV and Dr. Pepper, they maintained that their second album would allow them to break free from the pop-rock genre.

“Cartel” is a record that fails to offer anything new from the boys from Georgia who had a tough act to follow with their debut CD selling over 3,000 copies in its first week.

The CD starts strong with the ballad “The Best.” It yields strong lyrics and vocals with a solid guitar background. Unfortunately, the rest of the songs seem to regurgitate hit songs from “Chroma” such as “Honestly” and “Say Anything (Else).”

Their first single “Lose It” is a catchy tune with strong power chords and simple lyrics like “immediately we find out then/That I can be blamed for this/Well then you just/figured out today/And you’re so sweet, you say/Go now and get your own life and live it your way/And I hear you say/Go on and lose it/Go on and lose it all.”

Their next single will most likely be “The Fortunate,” which sounds almost exactly the same.

Most of the songs on this CD follow the same structure with exceptional drumming and mesmerizing vocals. The lyrics leave something to be desired in most songs, while “If I Were To Write The Song” is easily the best song on the entire record. It is basically two songs back-to-back with the first part telling the story of Will wondering if he will ever be able to write the song that could change the world, and the second part being the metaphorical “world-changing” song.

The electronic drum kit and amazing mixing of this song give it the sound that Cartel promised on the entire record. On “Wasted” the somber lyrics poorly reflect the relatively upbeat background instrumentals. Wyclef Jean remixes this song as a bonus track on the CD, but it makes the song sound even more like an MTV theme song that will undoubtedly leave young teenage girls using it for ring tones.

The overall feel of this record parallels “Chroma” with some exceptions. It seems as Cartel can and should afford to take more risks in their writing because they always knock it out of the park.

By playing it safe, Cartel delivers a soft CD that reflects the circus atmosphere of recording in the televised bubble. Cartel will be able to maintain some credit with true fans by continuing to be a terrific live band, but one can only hope that their next record takes more chances and breaks out of the pop-rock bubble.

New shows take over the CW network

By Shara Sarnelli

Autumn is just beginning! So what does that mean? New classes, new students on campus, new friends…and new television shows! Will you get addicted to a new series this year?

The CW (Channel 21 at UMass D.), has a line-up of new shows coming to television. So far, the line-up is looking pretty good.

“Gossip Girl:” The teenage characters of this show come from a highly privileged prep school of Manhattan’s Upper East Side. These preppy students learn, through their reliable source known as the Gossip Girl, that Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively of Accepted) is back in town. No one knows why Serena has returned after spending time at a boarding school.

But what is even more shocking is that no one in town knows the true identity of this omnipresent “Gossip Girl,” even though they revolve all their social knowledge around her personal website and random text messages.

The relationships between the groups of friends who attend the prep school get further complicated with the return of Serena and the prevalence of the Gossip Girl.

The series premiere was on September 19, with new episodes every Wednesday at 9 p.m.

“Reaper:” Sam (Brett Harrison of Grounded for Life) was a slacker, mainly because his parents failed to discipline him for the first 20 years of his life. But Sam’s slacker lifestyle took a turn-around once he turned 21.

Sam discovered that his parents let him slide all these years because they had sold his very soul to the devil before he was born.

The devil? Sam couldn’t possible believe this…until Satan himself stopped by to explain to Sam that he had serve as Satan’s bounty hunter. Sam’s mission is to track down evil souls that have escaped Hell, and then bring them back to Hell.

Catch all new episodes of “Reaper” every Tuesday at 9 p.m.

“Aliens in America:” Justin (Dan Byrd of The Hills Have Eyes) is a socially awkward boy who, like most teens such as him, dreams of becoming more athletic and more acceptable so he can fit in with the “cool” crowd.

Thankfully, Justin’s mother is the kind of mother that takes charge to manage her family. She’s come up with a plan to help Justin: she’s signed him up for the school’s international exchange program. The exchange student that arrives to live with them turns out to be entirely opposite from what was expected.

“Aliens in America” will premiere on Monday, October 1 at 8:30 p.m.

“Life is Wild:” Katie Clarke’s veterinarian father, Danny drags their family out of New York City to spend a year living in a broken-down lodge called The Blue Antelope on a game reserve in South Africa.

The whole family agrees that Danny has lost his mind. But to Danny and his second wife, the move was clearly necessary: South Africa deeply needed vets. Also, with the separating of their family, this seemed to be the perfect opportunity for a better start. How will the family adapt after growing up in the city that never sleeps?

Check out “Life is Wild” on its series premiere night, Sunday, October 7, at 8 p.m.

RECOMMENDING RHONDA

A mini golf experience

By Rhonda

The approach of October means many things: fiery foliage, shorter days, Halloween, Oktoberfest, Columbus Day, colder weather, warmer clothing and the end of outdoor mini golf season.

Now, I know there’s been a lot of complaint that there is nothing to do on campus on the weekends, so I entreat you to round up a bunch of friends and venture off campus for a night.

Where should you go? How about Ocean’s 18 black light mini golf in New Bedford? The only black light course in all of South Eastern Massachusetts is conveniently located about 15 minutes from campus, and is certainly one experience you don’t want to pass up.

Ocean’s 18 is an indoor mini golf course, but also offers full swing golf simulation, snacks and an array of arcade games.

I first went to Ocean’s 18 over the summer and I expected it to be kind of lame. I was not disappointed, however, when I stepped into the alternate reality of the black light course. Although it’s not the most challenging of courses, its visual appeal makes up for the lack of difficulty.

Set in a nautical theme, players must shoot their balls up sunken ships, through the mouths of sharks and around coral reefs. Everything in the building glows, from the paintings on the walls to the carpet, and it is quite a trippy experience.

If you’re still a little skeptical, you can take a virtual tour through one portion of the course on www.viewvirtually.com/golfqtd2.htm to get a feel for the environment.

The custom designed golf simulator features has 14 high resolution golf courses to choose from, including Pebble Beach, for those of you who are interested in keeping up your golf skills through the winter. In order to use the simulator, you must make an appointment. Lessons are also available from a USGTF Professional.

The cost of 18 holes of mini golf is $7.50 per person, which isn’t too much to pay for a few hours of old fashioned fun. The golf simulator costs $18 for half an hour and $30 for a full hour. The September to April hours are: Monday through Thursday 2 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon to 11 p.m., and Sunday is open from noon to 8 p.m.

To make reservations for the use of the golf simulator, you can contact Ocean’s 18 by calling (508) 985-1966. You can also find more information about the course by visiting their website, www.oceans-18.com/index.html.

To get to the course from campus, get onto Route 6 toward New Bedford. Take a left onto Rt. 140 North to the King’s Highway Exit toward Acushnet. Take the ramp toward Mt. Pleasant Street and then take a right onto King’s Highway.

The Ocean’s 18 store is located in the Fieldstone Marketplace plaza, right next to Flagship Cinema, and one plaza over from the Savers/Ocean State Job Lot/New Bedford RMV plaza.

What are you waiting for? Grab your friends, put on some UV reactive clothes and head to New Bedford for the ultimate mini golf experience!

ASK MISS CHERRY

Fact or Fiction: Women on Viagra and bald vs. bush

By Miss Cherry

Dear Miss Cherry,

I’ve heard rumors about women using medications like Viagra to help stimulate orgasms during sex. Is this really true? Can a medication really increase the number of orgasms a woman has? —Medication Mystery

Dear Mystery,

If women who took Viagra reported that it does help stimulate orgasms, then it may be all in their heads.

According to Dorian Solot and Marshall Miller, authors of the book “I Heart Female Orgasm,” while in a clinical trial, women who took Viagra did report more orgasms. But the women on the placebo (sugar pill), which they believed to be Viagra, had the same increase in orgasms as the women on the real medication.

Solot and Miller quote, “While Viagra increases blood flow to women’s genitals (as it does for men), this doesn’t result in higher levels of arousal.”

Men and women’s bodies work differently, especially down the sexual avenue. While there is no sexual miracle drug like Viagra for women yet, some gynecologists do prescribe testosterone and estrogen treatments and supplements for patients with low libido.

And Viagra is a prescription drug, so you shouldn’t be taking this unless prescribed by your doctor.

Dear Miss Cherry,

I’ve been a lot more conscious of my body lately, especially of my genitals. And when watching porn recently, I noticed that my vagina doesn’t look a thing like the porn stars’, especially when it came down to shaving. Am I doing something wrong? Should I be concerned that mine doesn’t look the same? — Image Conscious

Dear Image,

First off, good for you for being more conscious of your body! Every woman should get to know her body, inside and out.

Secondly, know that porn is messing with your perceptions of what “normal” really is. A vagina is like a fingerprint; every woman’s is unique to her. Porn vaginas tend to have a generic look.

Solot and Miller quote from their book, “The women who act in mainstream porn films and those whose photos are online are hired because they have a specific body type-and genital type- that producers and website owners think people want to see.”

Just as they select men for porn with abnormally large penises, women get selected for a certain look they possess. The pubic hair shaving is also part of that “look” in porn films.

But for women outside of the adult film industry, shaving is a matter of personal preference. So go with whatever you feel comfortable with. Bald or bush: it’s all your decision on how you dress up your va-ju-ju.

Appreciate and embrace your vagina for how it looks, and ignore all vaginal stereotypes that pornos have been slipping you.

If you have any questions that you are seeking advice for, send Miss Cherry an e-mail at AskMissCherry@gmail.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE: While Miss Cherry’s advice is well-researched and supplimented with matierals provided by on-campus Health Services, she is not a trained health professional.

All serious medical questions should, obviously, be discussed with a trusted family healthcare provider or member of the university’s dedicated Health Services or Women’s Resource Center staff.

Health Services can be contacted at 508-999-8982 or visited online at www.umassd.edu/studentaffairs/health/.

The Women’s Resource Center is located in Pine Dale can be contacted at 508-910-4584 or visted online at http://www.umassd.edu/wrc/.

POETIC PERFECTION

“Arsenal”

J.C.N.

Hope with wings tells a story that stings
With all its might a cowardly plight
Rushing through the mind of fire
A passage made in secret desire

But it never weeps
Nor does it sleep
But remains to be unknown
After all it knows of life

Hidden in the hearts
But shaped by the sleepless might
Conveys a ploy to destroy
Anything and everything in sight

Until the day is reached
As well as the setting sun
That hope with wings
Told a story that stung

Everyone and everything
Beautiful and true
But a new day is left
With a new way to leave

But when it comes
It won’t matter to whom it concerns
It won’t take what it has taken
And will let rest what it had sought

But when hope with wings told that story that sang
Loud and persistent, forever resistant
The small sun rose and became what is known
As the story that sang, in more ways than any could imagine

“As Love Descends”

Anonymous

Slowly, the lights start to fade,
The faces of all others begin to diminish,
Time comes to a halt as we have made,
The stars and planets brilliantly align.
Your heartbeat coinciding with mine is the only noise,
That resounds about this cloud that we’re floating on;
And it becomes our secret song that plays aloud,
Only for us to hear,
Every time your breath falls upon my neck.
It’s this subtle sound that reminds me of how you and I,
Are the only two people when placed side by side,
That make sense in this senseless world.
With your hand embracing mine,
Our fingers gently become intertwined.
I know now, as I look into your eyes,
That you are everything I need.
You brush the hair away from my ear,
Whispering words of worth and warmth.
I’ve never felt so at home.
Closer now, I feel your chest heaving up and down, heavily.
Your arms tighten around my body; we are melting into one.
And our lips flaunt the most graceful of dances,
Compelling ourselves into intervals of sleepless trances.
And with the starlight drawing on our skin,
Our backs arching in the white moonlight,
I’m painting the prettiest images in my mind.
Sterling silvers and bottomless blues,
Nothing looks as beautiful as we do.

Poetry submissions may be sent to the A&E editor,
Shara Sarnelli, at ssarnelli@umassd.edu.