RPInsider

Sorry. We got a little excited.

We can stop crossing off our calendars today. It’s finally April 30th. Gregg Gillis Girl Talk and Wesley Pentz Diplo will be gracing two of RPI’s newest “platforms” (ECAV and EMPAC) tonight.

Friday April 30

Girl Talk at the ECAV Arena. Tickets are sold out, but there’s a chance that someone is selling them on the facebook group. Doors at 8:30 show starts at 9:30 pm. From what we hear it has the potential to be a grossly epic sweat/dancefest, so dance appropriately.

Diplo helps kick off the intriguing onedotzero festival (at 11pm), in its second year at EMPAC. Diplo tickets are sold out, but “the cafe will be bumping with a larger-than-life 40′ HD feed  for those that are curious / up late / didn’t snag a ticket”. If that doesn’t suit you, we do have 2 free press tickets available if you’d like to write us up a review after the show (email us for details). Festival passes are still available for $10. The doors open at 8pm: the installations will be on-going, there are two wild screenings, and the cafe will be open with food and beverage from the folks at the Epicurean.

Shabbat Dinner with RPI-Sage Hillel is being sponsored by the Mahler family.  Starts at 7 and it’s free! [FB]

It’s Troy Night Out!  Get downtown between 5 and 9 to check out all that Troy has to offer. The West Route of the RedHawk Shuttle will take you to monument square.

If you’d like to do more studying, UPAC Cinema has Eli’s Book available for viewing  at 3 times tonight (7, 9:30, and midnight). What’s that? Oh. Apparently it’s a movie called the Book of Eli. Nevermind the studying bit…

The New York State Collegiate Track Conference is having its outdoor championship beginning at 1 PM on the Harkness Field. [RPIAthletics]

Urinetown is playing tonight at 8 PM at the RPI Playhouse.  Tickets are $5 with RPI ID.[FB]

Read more…

Share Uncategorized distractions, ECAV, EMPAC, girl talk, music, party, to do

Dr. Jackson is a speaker at The Economist’s conference entitled “Innovation: Fresh Thinking for the Ideas Economy” where she and “Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich … will square off against conservative economist and blogger Tyler Cowen and Electronic Frontier Foundation Founder John Perry Barlow.” The conference aims to “to challenge established thinking about what innovation is, where it comes from, and how to make it work.” [prnewswire]

You would think GM week began tomorrow with the way the student government candidates are campaigning. It would seem like this Facebook group, brainchild of Anasha Cummings has kicked campaign season into high gear, taking the dialogues online in an attempt to lay everything on the table. It’s a great idea (and we’re a little jealous we didn’t think of it ourselves!) Hopefully this online forum will allow a bit of the political BS to be avoided. You should definitely check it out if you have any interest in making an informed decision about who to vote for this election, (in addition to taking our endorsement into account of course!)

RPI has announced the commencement speaker for this year, and it is Peter Orszag, one of the nation’s leading economists and director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. We’re pretty excited! We’ve heard of this guy before! [AOA] [RPI]

OK Go will be headlining Tulip Fest on May 8th in Albany. The show is free! No word yet on whether or not they’re bringing their treadmills.

Troy is putting together a campaign of its own, one to try and get Google to lay its beautiful fibers of ultra-high speed broadband in Troy. For more information, visit troygle.org or their Facebook group.

Share Uncategorized Albany, Dr. Jackson, music, to do

We’ve been looking forward to these two events since the calendar was published in January! Looks like EMPAC’s potential is slowly being unleashed. Both events use space differently, in real life, and with animation.

+ EXHBITION
Dancing on the Ceiling: Art + Zero Gravity
Thursday, March 18 – Saturday, April 10, noon to 6 PM
Free

Dancing on the Ceiling: Art & Zero Gravity is a major group exhibition in which contemporary artists explore the condition of weightlessness on earth by deploying techniques such as parabolic flight, rigging, and digital effects. The exhibition presents the work of multiple national and international artists, including three newly commissioned pieces for the exhibition.  Distributed throughout the public spaces at EMPAC the exhibition is itself un-tethered from the confines of the traditional gallery exhibition paradigm.

Exhibition opening: March 18, 6 – 10 PM
6 PM: Reception with commissioned artists – visitors to the opening reception receive a free exhibition catalog! (while supplies last)
7 PM:  Talk by special effects legend Douglas Trumbull (2001: A Space Odyssey,  Close Encounters, Star Trek, Blade Runner), followed by a screening of Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece of science fiction cinema, 2001: A Space Odyssey on EMPAC’s massive 56′ concert hall screen.

http://www.empac.rpi.edu/events/2010/spring/zerogravity/

+ PERFORMANCE
The OpenEnded Group: Upending
Thursday, March 25, 2010, 7 PM
Friday, March 26, 2010, 7 PM
Saturday, March 27, 2010, 2 PM
with music by Morton Feldman, recorded at EMPAC by the FLUX Quartet
Followed by the making of Upending with The OpenEnded Group
$5 for Students

Upending is revelatory work of 3D animation: an actor-less drama of disorientation and reorientation that compels viewers to rethink their relationship with the material world. The play of images is accompanied by a gutsy, EMPAC-produced spatial recording of Morton Feldman’s first String Quartet by the FLUX Quartet.  Following a short break, each evening will conclude with a talk and q&a that traces this EMPAC-commissioned work over two years, from inception to completion.

http://www.empac.rpi.edu/events/2010/spring/oeg/index.html

Share Uncategorized art, EMPAC, media, movies, music, to do

It's gonna be one for the books.

Mark your calendars everyone. On April 30th, one of the world’s most famous ex-engineering students will be gracing our campus. Gregg Gillis, better known as the mash-up artist Girl Talk will be up in the brand-spankin’ new ECAV with his laptop all set to go. Gillis’s last album, Feed the Animals was number four on Time Magazine’s Top 10 Albums of 2008 and is very popular as party and dance music.

Girl Talk shows tend to get a bit sweaty, but that doesn’t stop the party. A lesser known tech school newspaper had this to say about a previous performance. Last year, Gillis visited our neighbors to the north at Skidmore College too.

Tickets go on sale March 3rd for $10. [facebook]

http://www.myspace.com/girltalk
Thanks for the heads up Michael!

Share Uncategorized concert, music, party, to do

The weekend looks something like this.

After a brief hiatus, we have returned with what’s going on this weekend!

Friday November 6

It’s been kinda cold lately, so why not head down to Rev Hall and check out The Fiery Furnances tonight at 7:30. Tickets are $15. Opening acts are Cryptacize and Dent May.

EMPAC and associated cool stuff pt. 1: Is a talk and workshop by Mark Downie of the Openended Group. From what we hear the talk is going to be pretty cool and the software open-source programming environment called FIELD and weekend long workshop on it is supposed to be pretty life changing (if you’re into creating digital art).

FREE HOCKEY!!!! for students who wear black to the Men’s Hockey game tonight. We’re playing Yale (the defending champions) so be sure to bring extra spirit.

Cars and Ski Equipment are on display at the Empire State Plaza. Auto Show and Ski and Snowboard Expo respectively. Both are until 9pm tonight, and then continue for the rest of the weekend.

Do it for the children! Tonight the Rensselaer Christian Association is sponsoring a concert in the McNeil Room with proceeds going towards Love146, an organization that fights child sex slavery around the world. Performing are The Peace from New York City, as well as the Rusty Pipes, Sheer Idiocy, the Campus Serenaders among others. Recommended donation is $2, and there are raffle tickets for some pretty awesome prizes too.

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Share Uncategorized music, to do, Troy

I wonder what hat she'll be wearing in December!

We have received a forward of an exciting email from a club president.  Aretha Franklin, “The Queen of Soul” will be performing on campus on December 4th as a part of “Celebration Weekend,” a “Tribute to the Transformation of Rensselaer.” The weekend also celebrates a the 10th anniversary of Dr. Jackson’s tenure at RPI. In 2008, Franklin was ranked #1 on Rolling Stone’s list of The Greatest Singers of All Time.

You could say Franklin’s paying her R-E-S-P-E-C-Ts to our fine school.

This is really exciting, more details sure to follow!

photo: flickr user bo_mackinson

Share Uncategorized Aretha Franklin, celebration, concert, Dr. Jackson, famous people, music

Friday, 9/18

I’ve heard it made people cry… “Up” is playing at UPAC Cinema tonight at the usual times: 7, 9:30, and midnight.  Tickets are $2.50

If you want to laugh, Sheer Idiocy is performing at 8 PM in Mother’s in the Union.  They’re the improv comedy group, and it’s usually a pretty good time.  FREE.

Get your 15 minutes of fame at Ground Zero.  They’re having their “BiWeakly Open Mike,” which I assume is a biweekly open mic.  Free.  In the basement of Nugent Hall (use the entrance closer to Bouton Road).

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Share Uncategorized Albany, music, to do, Troy

Editors Note: The following concert review was sent in to us by Dan Scheffler. We hope you enjoy it!

“Having just stomached some of the wondrous offerings of a one, Commons Dining hall, I sauntered into the Houston Field House, multicolored ear plugs in hand. I knew what to expect from last year’s Honda Civic Tour and RPI’s solution to poor venue acoustics (volume to 11 please.) I watched as Hey Monday played to a crowd of mostly non-RPI civilians. This was easily deduced by noting that most of them were being monitored by their mommies, were shorter than 5 ft., and had a combined shriek worse than that of anything known to man.

But back to the music. Hey Monday played a decent set, and at least got enough exposure through each of the other bands that the audience couldn’t forget them (rather was not allowed to.) They had a decent set and certainly attempted to play to the crowd. And in my humble but completely warranted opinion – were much better live than on disc.

With them finished, I took a marvel as to how the music didn’t sound like UPAC Sound’s usual job and how peaceful the crowd seemed. It was nice not to have people swooning over half profile pictures of band members every 12 seconds.

Read more…

Share Reviews, Uncategorized all time low, cobra starship, concert, dan scheffler, fall out boy, field house, hey monday, metro station, music

She still isn't set to grace us with her presence any time soon.

So Lady GaGa isn’t coming to campus this weekend (sorry Dr. Palazzo), but Fall Out Boy, Cobra Starship, All Time Low, Metro Station and Hey Monday are! I guess they’ll have to do… Here’s what’s going on the rest of this lopsided weekend.

Friday 4/24

Take a ride downtown on the free Troy Night Out Shuttles, leaving from the Union hourly from 5-9. (fbook)

Check out the local scene. It’s the last Troy Night Out while we’re all still here, so why not head downtown to grab dinner, or check out the EMAC/EART exhibit at the Arts Center in Monument Square. If you have never been to a Troy Night Out, we strongly encourage you to check it out. It is lots of fun, and tonight is your last chance this semester!

Get dancin’ The Official Unofficial TNO Afterparty hosted by goodship is FREE this month! A must do. (fbook)

Not Avenue Q, but still puppets. EMPAC hosts Basil Twist and his show Dogugaeshi at 8pm. The show is influenced by japanese “stage mechanism puppetry.” Johannes says “Eet’s jaust greate”. (empac)

Valkyrie plays in UPAC Cinema in DCC 308 at  7, 9:30, and midnight for the usual $2.50. (imdb)

Let’s hope its just a play. Assassins! is at the playhouse tonight at 8pm and other times this weekend. (players)

Those Idiots again? One of our hilarious improv groups Sheer Idiocy presents their last show of the semester tonight in Mothers starting at 8pm. This comedy will cost you nothing but your time. (fbook)

Air and Fume Hood Exhaust (CII) Favorite event of the weekend by far. (Is this a band?) Hold your breath when you walk by the CII? (rpical)

The rest of the weekend is begging you to check it out…
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Share Uncategorized goodship, music, provost, Rev Hall, to do, Troy

Palazzo and GaGa sitting in a tree...

This past week the Student Senate held a Pizza with the Cabinet forum to discuss various goings-on with the students. During this time, many things were discussed, but as the Poly has neglected to mention a critical point, RPI’s premier student-run blog has to step up and fill in the gaps.

At one point, the discussion was centered around EMPAC, and who would be in the lineup for the upcoming year. Dr. Palazzo said something to the extent of ‘We should get Lady GaGa here. I think she’s hot.’ What?! Our esteemed Provost is a Lady GaGa fan?

+5 Dr. Palazzo. +5.

Analysis after the jump.
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Share Uncategorized lady gaga, music, provost