Author Archives: Gabrielle Ouaknine

“Wait.. did we take a picture with  a dominatrix Easter bunny on Friday night?” I asked my group the day we came back from Spring Break. Surprisingly enough, I was hallucinating.. we did in fact get our picture taken with a dominatrix bunny who happened to be one of many opening performances we saw when we went to see Boys Noize at Webster Hall.

Webster Hall, which is located on 125 East 11th street in Manhattan, was filled to the brim with a diverse crowd of people the night of the Boys Noize concert. The red awning stands out on the tiny alleyway, and was my focal point as I rushed to the concert in the misting rain that night. After joining my group, we headed on up the stairs and emerged in a lounge area where people were mingling and drinking cocktails or nursing plastic bottles of beer. “This doesn’t LOOK like Boys Noize to me, guys,” I told my group. And of course, I was right. It was merely 10 pm and Boys Noize wouldn’t grace the stage until around 2 am.

Boys Noize is actually the stage name of one guy: Alexander Ridha, a German electronic music producer and DJ. While my group was perusing the many musical acts that were performing that night at Webster Hall, including the bunny dominatrix, we noticed people running towards a set of stairs at the back of the club at around 2 am. We decided to investigate and were greeted by the vibrations of Boys Noize’s bass thumping through our bodies as we climbed higher and higher towards the sound.

We emerged in a huge room that was filled shoulder-to-shoulder with screaming fans both dancing and waving their arms to the beat of the songs. Laura and I made sure to jump on one of the many amps that lined to edges of the room in order to get a better view of Boys Noizes manning the turntables up on stage, like a captaining manning the wheel of a giant ship. The room was dark, aside from huge seizure-inducing lightshows that filled the stage and changed to the beat of the music. The whole experience was like being in one of Kanye West’s music videos, but in a good way.

Boys Noize is a great performer because he feels out the crowd, knowing exactly when to pump the crowd up and when to calm them down. Electronic music isn’t my favorite genre, but I was dancing and really enjoying the music for a change. Boys Noize was definitely worth the wait, although I recommend going to see it with a group of people you enjoy waiting around with, like I did.

I’m pretty open to music. I’d like to think I have a very diverse taste in music, however, damn. When I first heard Tamar-Kali’s “Pearl Remix,” I had to fight the urge to put my hands over my ears. The video itself was interesting, following the lives of women going about their daily lives before they all end up at the same party. The beat was hard to follow and all over the place, and even Tamar-Kali’s voice didn’t make up for the lack of harmony in the song. Then I was really confused when some random chick started randomly rapping and bumpin’ along to the music. I really tried to focus on the lyrics, but spent most of the music video trying to contain my laughter. Sorry Tamar-Kali, I’m not impressed.

Good art creates a reaction, and Radiohead definitely achieves that through their new music video for “Lotus Flower.” The song is composed of skittish drumming and a mystical harmony that lures the listener into a trance. Add that to Thom Yorke’s eccentric dancing, which could only be described as “trippin’ on balls dancing,” we cannot look away. The only thing I can say is, “it’s art?”

After hearing Adrian LeBlanc speak about her experiences researching for her latest book, Random Family, I was hit with a new all-over sense of enthusiasm for my impending journalism career. LeBlanc passionately spoke about her research, which took over a decade to complete, and how her heart has been opened by the work she does. She spoke about how the journalist is the tool: the world you relate to others first comes through your eyes and ears.

LeBlanc’s dedication and emotional connection was apparent to me as she described her research, even falling asleep to the voice of her characters. She spoke about how many of her peers wondered how she could stomach the stories she was told, but reassured us aspiring journalists that “you get as much story as you can take.”

One of the hardest things to accomplish as a journalist, is finding your voice, and LeBlanc’s voice is an inspiring one. One of many years of research, hardwork, and most of all compassion and understanding. As LeBlanc explained to us with great sincerity: success is less about climbing and more about not falling down.

When an indie movie theater located inside a bar states that a movie starts at noon on a Sunday, it’s actually more of a suggested time rather than set in stone. Especially when that Sunday marks the first day of daylight savings time, and even more so when the bartender who is running the movie is hungover. “The movie runs on MY time, basically,” Karla Allen, resident bartender and the lucky person in charge of running the movie at reRun Gastropub Theater explained. The reRun Gastropub Theater is located inside reBar, a bar/restaurant located in the heart of the Dumbo neighborhood in Brooklyn. For those of you unfamiliar with the term (don’t be embarrassed, I had to google it too), Dumbo stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, not after the lovable Disney elephant with the oversized ears.

The neighborhood is filled with lots of local businesses, and everyone seems to support each other. “I come into work with a Starbucks cup, and they nearly chew my head off!” Karla says, “But in the Bronx (where she lives) there’s nothing but chains as far as the eye can see.” This is not the case, here in Dumbo, Brooklyn.

The bar itself houses an independently owned coffee shop, the bar, and the movie theater, which only plays indie films. Paintings adorn the hallways which were painted by local artists and are changed once a month. Some of the movies played are directed and written by locals of the area, who come to the Friday screening of their films for a Q&A with the audience before the show. Even the decorations in the theater are comprised of old scraps from the local junkyard. The 60 seats themselves were taken from old minivans, and hubcabs are plastered on the outside of the bar.

An old fender hangs precariously above Karla’s head as she talks, her hands animated as she reveals these secrets to me. The way Karla explains these things to me, I feel as though I’ve tapped into a secret world all hidden here under the Manhattan Bridge. The owner of the entire place, Jason Stevens, used to be a VP at Morgan Stanley before he got fed up, quit his job, and opened reBar and then reRun last July. It’s a Cinderella story in reverse: from big business to small business, no fairy godmother required.

The entire place felt relaxed and personable, even the audience, which consisted of myself and five other people. “Six people on a Sunday is a GREAT turnout,” Karla clarifies, “Most people in New York have only gone to bed like five hours earlier anyway.” This is definitely true, although the audience seemed to have no problem nursing their beers at 12:30 in the afternoon. I couldn’t even stomach the thought of drinking again so early, so I stuck with coffee.

As exciting as the thought is of being able to legally enjoy a drink while watching a movie, there’s one huge overlooked problem: nature. And nature was definitely calling, as I sat there on the edge of my seat, for more reasons than one. The film that was playing was Brotherhood, (tickets were only five dollars!) an intense film about the sadistic side to fraternity hazing. The film starred Trevor Morgan, who is a “that guy” actor. Meaning, you watch the movie and say to yourself, “Oh! He’s that guy from that one movie..” but you never remember their names. The film was definitely more than I could handle on a pleasant Sunday afternoon, hopped up on caffeine.

The great thing about New York City is that even if you’ve lived here your entire life, there is still always something new to see, somewhere new to discover. ReRun was a great introduction to the subculture of local business owners that populate New York City and the treasures that lie under the Manhattan Bridge.

As you all know by now, Luke Matheny‘s short film “God of Love” won Best Short Film at the Oscars on Sunday night. The goofy-haired kid who proudly exclaimed, “I guess I should have gotten a haircut,” won his Oscar for his 18-minute thesis film for NYU. The film itself is a very well made and in one word- charming.

Matheny both directed the film and starred as the lead male romantic protagonist, Raymond Goodfellow, a lounge singer (and darts expert) who is bestowed the powers of Cupid. Well, sort of. The love darts he finds on his doorstep allow whomever is struck by them to fall in love for six hours, and at the end of the six hours, they have the free will to decide whether to stay in love or not. Long story short, Goodfellow does not get the girl of his dreams but instead helps others find their soulmates. The film ends the way it began with a close up of Goodfellow atop a scooter, bow and arrow slung across his shoulders, proclaiming that he is the “God of love.”

The film, which is shot entirely in black and white, is very relatable which is why it’s so charming. How can you not love the goofy awkward protagonist who pines for the girl who loves his best friend? We’ve all been there. You can’t help but root for him to win the girl over, and then you can’t help but love him even more when he sacrifices the girl he loves so she can be happy – with his best friend of all people. I’ll say it again, the film is extremely charming. Even the black and white didn’t bother me.

The best part of the film is the casting. Luke Matheny as the protagonist works so well because of his goofiness. He is that much more charming because he is awkward rather than if he was a suave and handsome guy. His clever dialogue really won me over. One of my favorite parts of the film is when he is ice skating with the object of his affection, Kelly (played by Marian Brock), and he is reciting the nine page poem he wrote to her – in Portuguese. Who couldn’t love a geeky romantic? Apparently not Kelly, who ends up with Goodfellow’s best friend, Fozzie, played by Christopher Hirsh.

Despite Goodfellow’s original motives being about subverting another’s free will for his own personal gain, I never once condemned him for it. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to maybe fall in love? Goodfellow and Matheny both redeem themselves in the end, and make the film an instant hit.