Category: Life & Arts
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Game Corner: E3 2016 Highlights
Highlights from the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2016 video game conference.
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Q&A: Comedians Paul Varghese & Chris Castles
On June 30, comedians Paul Varghese and Chris Castles performed in SUAAB’s Double Trouble Comedy Show. The Mercury sat down with the two to discuss their origins, influences and future plans. What prompted you to get into stand-up comedy? Varghese: I graduated college with a film degree, but then I took a stand-up writing workshop.…
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Debut novel reinvents genre
Emma Cline’s thoughtful and penetrating debut novel, The Girls, is partially inspired by the Manson family exploits of the 1960s, but the majority of Cline’s writing is built on themes that revolve around many adolescent females — judgment, acceptance and belonging. Even though the novel is Cline’s inaugural major literary work, her finely tuned prose…
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Film enthralls with bizarre plot
“Swiss Army Man,” written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, shines shamelessly in the bizarre and awkward and delivers a truly unique take on how mankind should approach life. The film is deeply philosophical, with Daniel Radcliffe (from the “Harry Potter” film series) and Paul Dano (from “There Will Be Blood”) adding landmark…
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Course of Nature
John Geissman awoke in his tent at 3:05 a.m. to the excited snarls of an animal near his campsite in the Beartooth Mountains. A human scream turned his blood cold. He grabbed his headlamp before exiting the tent, forcing down an instinctive fear telling him to stay silent, to stay hidden. In the night, the…
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“Coloring Book” could be album of Summer 2016
Chance the Rapper’s latest album features catchy tunes, religious themes Each summer, music fans anxiously await a sound that will define those three magical months. This year, an early contender for the summer standard bearer is Chance the Rapper’s third project, “Coloring Book.” Chance had huge expectations to meet after his 2013 breakthrough album “Acid…
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“X-Men” disappoints with thin plot, poor visual effects
Newest film in franchise suffers from clichés despite efforts of young cast “X-Men: Apocalypse” is a surprising step backwards from the series’ last installment. Bryan Singer returns a fourth time to direct a movie in a franchise that he helped create. Singer’s initial return to the X-Men series was with the 2014 smash hit “X-Men:…
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New skate shop opens in McKinney
UTD junior-owned specialty store to offer full-sized skateboarding ramp, individualized lessons for patrons of all ages Skaters across North Texas now have a one-stop store for all things related to skateboarding, thanks to the efforts of a UTD student. Daniel Brodsky, an information technology and systems junior, came up with the idea for the Point…
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Pinpossible: Graduation Cap
The end of the semester is quickly approaching. All my social media feeds are filled with pictures of banquets and formals, and the countdown to graduation is steadily ticking down. My undergraduate graduation was a bit nontraditional — I finished my classes and defended my honors thesis in June, but I didn’t graduate until August.…