Arts & Culture

Among the multitude of reactions one can have to art, a tear of laughter can be as powerful as a tear of sorrow.

After a three-year wave of success that featured number-one albums from Rick Ross (Deeper than Rap and Teflon Don), Wale’s successful reboot, Ambition, the eclectic but entertaining crew-rap compilation, Self Made Vol. 1, and Ross’ monster Rich Forever mixtape, Maybach Music Group has hit a rough patch.

Dr. Albert Camarillo, president of the Organization of American Historians, is giving a lecture tonight at Portland State on racial segregation. His lecture, titled “Segregated Life in U.S. Cities—An Era of Racial Borderlands,” is especially relevant to the demographics of Portland.

Why can’t great art be fun? That’s the question that encapsulates the career of pop art pioneer Wayne White, one of the founding artists of Pee-wee’s Playhouse and the subject of Neil Berkeley’s 2012 documentary Beauty Is Embarrassing. the film screens this week at the Northwest Film Center.

Ramen has been a go-to college meal since the dawn of education. A cornerstone of all-night study sessions, this familiar square of dried noodles has helped many PSU students stave off starvation. But if you’re ready to take ramen to a whole new nutritional level, try it in this sesame chicken salad recipe.

Eliot Treichel is from small-town Wisconsin, and he’s not trying to hide it. His short stories and essays inhabit, nay, breathe a world of rushing rivers, fishing holes, desert highway expanses, and guns and pickup trucks. His characters are laconic, solitary and tough, even while the author tenderly and quietly exposes their vulnerability.

Halloween presents the opportunity to relive childhood with the joys of dressing up, scaring ourselves senseless with horror flicks and munching on mountains of candy. This bloody punch recipe is a goofy treat that will please all your friendly ghouls. Filled with fruity eyeballs, this drink is delightfully creepy. It tastes wonderful on its own but can easily be made devilish with the addition of two ounces of vodka per tall serving glass.

A college student’s guide to a great Halloween party There is a lot of work involved in throwing a party: You have to plan the guest list, the food, the…

All Hallows Eve is upon us, and what better way to revel in its demonic delights than with black metal, a longtime obsession of mine?

Superheroes have always been easy, fun choices for Halloween costumes. You get to dress up as the guy or girl you watched in cartoons as a kid, and usually the store-made costumes come with fake muscle padding that boosts your confidence—and that’s before alcohol!

In May of this year, Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Pictures released The Avengers, a $220 million project of unforeseen ambition and an all-star ensemble cast that just happened to be written and directed by an impish, red-headed television veteran that nobody besides his cult following had ever heard of. It went on to become the third-highest-grossing film of all time. Joss Whedon has been having one hell of a year.