The student-run community news site of Vermont State University - Johnson

Basement Medicine

The student-run community news site of Vermont State University - Johnson

Basement Medicine

The student-run community news site of Vermont State University - Johnson

Basement Medicine

A behind-the-scenes look at “Beauty Queen of Leenane”

Caroline Loftus March 23, 2017

In the dark, winding halls of the Dibden Center of Performing Arts, Emily Pike, special effects makeup specialist, frantically looks for the gelatin-based prosthetic molding compound she uses to make life-like...

Bad accents and other misses

Bad accents and other misses

Avery Bliss March 9, 2017

Does anyone remember Val Kilmer at his prime, in movies like “Top Gun” or “Tombstone”? And then you watch him in his more recent works and he just looks tired and bloated? That’s what watching...

Steady as she goes

Steady as she goes

Emily Mullaney March 9, 2017

I like to think of the Steady Betty concert from March 2 in Dibden as a two-layered cake. The icing was not smooth and well decorated, but both layers of cake were moist and satisfying, and the icing melted...

Batman in a Lego world

Batman in a Lego world

Cayla Fronhofer March 9, 2017

On the surface, the idea of making a movie using Lego versions of other intellectual property is pretty ridiculous. As it turns out, the reality of such a movie is still ridiculous, but in more of an amusing...

Nazi bratwursts and other stupidity

Nazi bratwursts and other stupidity

Avery Bliss February 16, 2017

I have seen the true face of the Devil, and it looks an awful lot like the poster for the movie “Yoga Hosers.” Coming from the mind of Kevin Smith, the director of “Clerks,” and “Jay and Silent...

Steaming Dumplings

Authentic food at Ocha Thai Smile

Emily Mullany February 16, 2017

I wouldn’t have guessed that there’s a restaurant of extraordinary quality on this busy stretch of road near I89 in Waterbury. Ocha Thai Smile restaurant is nestled beside and beneath a smoke shop...

Dark wit and shocking twists in “The Beauty Queen of Leenane”

Dark wit and shocking twists in “The Beauty Queen of Leenane”

Cayla Fronhofer February 16, 2017

Walking into the Dibden auditorium, it seems as if no one is there. All of the seats are empty and the heavy blue curtains are drawn across the stage. Tentatively, I step onto the stage and am ushered...

New book explores secrets of trees

New book explores secrets of trees

Lisa Kent February 2, 2017

When I browsed the new book section in Willey Library for a book to read and review, “The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate” by Peter Wohlleben caught my eye. The cover popped...

A look back at Coheed and Cambria’s first album

A look back at Coheed and Cambria’s first album

Emily Mullaney February 2, 2017

It begins with a rustling and a soft twang. The anticipation builds in those few seconds, just before the soft, eerie strings enter. Then the percussion clashes, and the piano player plucks out a melody...

“Maximum Ride” tramples childhoods

“Maximum Ride” tramples childhoods

Avery Bliss February 2, 2017

In the world of book-to-movie adaptations, there are only two possible ways that these movies can be made. They can either be mostly true to the source material, with only a few alterations or missing...

A new kind of Disney princess

A new kind of Disney princess

Cayla Fronhofer February 2, 2017

Disney princess movies have followed a fairly standard formula for nearly 80 years, usually based on a fairy tale and including a prince in some capacity. November’s “Moana” broke that pattern with...

2016’s top 6 albums: diverse new music from veteran artists

2016’s top 6 albums: diverse new music from veteran artists

Jacob Greenia December 8, 2016

The year 2016 will be remembered more for its political discord than it will be for a diverse selection of new music. Through all of the static, the unnecessary noise of political punditry and the derision...

Sanctimonious Sanctum Sacking in Marvel’s “Doctor Strange”

Sanctimonious Sanctum Sacking in Marvel’s “Doctor Strange”

Cayla Fronhofer December 8, 2016

There might be something Strange in the neighborhood, but no one is calling the Ghostbusters this time. The newest Marvel superhero film brings us the origin story of Doctor Stephen Strange, a neurosurgeon...

Valhalla Rising: A new addition to reject fridge art

Avery Bliss December 8, 2016

When you sit down to watch a movie, you do so thinking that what you are about to watch has some semblance of plot or good character development. Not so with “Valhalla Rising,” a film from Danish...

“Raising Hope” raises your spirits

“Raising Hope” raises your spirits

Avery Bliss December 8, 2016

It’s not every day that you find a show that will make you laugh uncontrollably. I have been searching for such a show since I gained access to a Netflix account, and I believe I have finally found it.   “Raising...

Christa David, “Make Me Wanna Holler The Way They Do My Life”

A call to action

Hunter Mallette December 8, 2016

Local sculptor Sabrina Leonard approached Johnson State College at the beginning of fall with an immensely powerful and timely art idea: a performance piece that would highlight racial inequality, with...

Film adaptation brings doom, gloom and dark humor

Film adaptation brings doom, gloom and dark humor

Agathe Fredette November 10, 2016

Cheery, high pitched music begins as you soar through a canopy of clay trees to settle into a bright and pastel-colored forest of claymation. A jingly tune singing of the joys of spring begins and a large-headed...

Intermingled lies and blurred trust

Intermingled lies and blurred trust

Hunter Mallette November 10, 2016

Just in time for Halloween came the movie rendition of the popular novel “The Girl on The Train,” by Paula Hawkins. The cover exclaims, “What you see can hurt you,” which undoubtedly comes true....

A history of political division

Richard Ahlgrim November 10, 2016

The presidential race that finally ended on Tuesday descended into a repetitive mess of insults and false accusations on both sides. How did our two major political parties become so divided? It all began...

courtesy of Brittany Powell

Photographer highlights debt burdens

Jacob Greenia November 10, 2016

Debt is something that affects students, professors, lawyers and countless others in the workforce. From a monetary perspective, debt is something that can stifle one’s economic growth and occupational...

Hitler, vikings and laser-raptors

Hitler, vikings and laser-raptors

Avery Bliss November 10, 2016

Step aside train wrecks, there is a new thing in town that I just cannot tear my eyes away from. I am talking of the most baffling cinematic experience known to modern man. I am talking of “Kung Fury.” The...

The subtlety of Norselaw

The subtlety of Norselaw

Avery Bliss November 10, 2016

I want my money back. Or, barring that, I want one of those memory wipes from “Total Recall.”   Normally, I’m up for listening to most types of music, except for country. Pirate metal? Sure...

The cast thanks the crew at the end of the show

Shakespearian comedy brings hilarity to the Dibden stage

Cayla Fronhofer November 10, 2016

The works of William Shakespeare are among the most timeless stories in history. They have been reworked and reimagined time and time again, and now “Much Ado About Nothing” has come to the Dibden...

Chad Tarves pensively strums his guitar

Live sound for T-Bone Daddy and ukeleles on the loo

Jacob Greenia October 31, 2016

JSC features a bevy of young and upstart musicians from all genres and backgrounds. Senior Chad Tarves, one of those upstarts, helps run his own recording studio and is currently working on releasing his...

Author with Kim Anetsburger

A horror to behold

Hunter Mallette October 31, 2016

As a Rocky Horror virgin, I didn’t know what to expect when I received free tickets for the Stowe Theater Guild from Kim Anetsburger, a Johnson State College alumna.   The Stowe Theater Guild...

An odd tale of love and death

An odd tale of love and death

Avery Bliss October 31, 2016

As I am coming to find out, expanding your horizons isn’t such a bad thing, at least insofar as movie choices and new music are concerned. My most recent venture into the cinematic unknown was “Odd...

Following the cycle in The Fourth Phase

Following the cycle in “The Fourth Phase”

Ian Major October 31, 2016

After nearly three years in the making, professional snowboarder Travis Rice’s highly anticipated snowboarding film, “The Fourth Phase,” directed by Jon Klaczkiewicz, has finally arrived.   The...

Pirates, drinking and time-travel

Pirates, drinking and time-travel

Avery Bliss October 31, 2016

A fast-paced accordion sets off the tune with a deliberately piratical feel to it. It’s upbeat and jaunty, and immediately gives way to a power metal guitar. This isn’t a joke, and you aren’t hearing...

A new look at white privilege

A new look at white privilege

Lisa Kent October 31, 2016

If reading Coates’ “Between the World and Me” wakes us up to white privilege, Debby Irving’s “Waking Up White” hammers it home. Dr. Na’im Akbar, in his appearance in the film, “White Privilege...

Andromeda/Selkie/Self Portrait II

Artist explores metaphors of self

Hunter Mallette October 31, 2016

Lorna Dielentheis, originally hailing from Minnesota, brings her unique illustrative style to Burlington. Dielentheis’ love of fairytales and mythology shows through her illustrations, self-portraits...

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