Entertainment

The Roots Get "Down" on Their Latest Album

Though popular success has managed to elude the group, The Roots have shown the way for live rap, building on Stetsasonic's philosophy of using live instrumentation rather than MPC's, keyboards, or synthesizers. The Roots' music echoes rap's late-1980s "golden age" and eschews the fads of the day to restate, again and again, its makers' belief in the power and necessity of innovation, skilled delivery and compelling content. Even though their album works have been inconsistent affairs, more focused on creating grooves than pushing songs, The Roots' live performances are among the best in the industry.

The Roots' live music began in 1987 when current drummer ?uestlove (Ahmir Kahlib Thompson) and emcee Black Thought (Tariq Trotter) came together to perform for money at school and on the streets. Later they hooked up with bassist Hub (Leon Hubbard) and emcee Malik B and moved from the streets to local clubs. The Roots' became a highly tipped underground act around Philadelphia and New York and were invited to represent stateside hip-hop at a concert in Germany. More

The Best Movies You've Never Seen:
May (2002)

I only thought it fitting, being that it is the month of May, to do a review about a movie of the same name, even though this particular movie is something that should probably be saved for Halloween. May is an obscure and provocative film and its haunting images with stay with you for years to come.

May is also the name of the main character that the story focuses on. Ever since she was a young girl, May had a lazy eye and a perfectionist mother. It is this combination that ruins her for the rest of her life. Forced to wear and eye patch in grade school May makes no friends. But as her mother always says, "If you can't find a friend, make one." She gives May the doll that she made when she was a girl. The doll becomes May's best and only friend.

All grown up and working as an assistant at a pet hospital, she talks to her doll and spends most of her time making clothes. That is until she meets a boy. Adam, whom May believes has the perfect hands, is intrigued by May's eccentric ways. More

Othello as Seen on Both Sides of the Pond

You don't have to be an English major to appreciate the value of getting to see a Shakespearian play at the Globe Theatre in London. This summer I was lucky to experience Othello at the Globe in one of the most authentic ways possible, as a groundling. In a slightly more comfortable venue this spring, I saw Othello again as produced by the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Having seen two of the best possible productions of a Shakespeare play, I can draw some interesting conclusions about the value of both.

The replicated Globe was commissioned by an American after he visited London in 1949 and didn't find any outstanding monument to Shakespeare. It was completed in 1997 with the goal of giving modern viewers an accurate presentation of a play as it would have been seen in 1600s London. The biggest difference is probably the noise of planes flying overhead during the performance, but the roof is thatched, plays continue during the rain, and the best tickets in the house are the 700 £5 standing tickets. More