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

Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Watson (Martin Freeman) demonstrate proper posture to their potentially well-rounded audience

Become a well-rounded individual from the comfort of your home

Tom Benton February 6, 2014

Those of you disappointed by the Jan. 28 “State of the Union” address, don’t worry: television goes on. I direct your attention to three fresh series: the BBC’s “Sherlock,”  which has just...

Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey, hanging out in “Dallas Buyers Club”

“Dallas Buyers Club” gives AIDS outbreak a personal look

Travis LeClair February 6, 2014

This year Hollywood delivered an unadulterated and personal view into the AIDS outbreak that shook the United States in the 1980s. An almost unrecognizable Matthew McConaughey stars in the sad and brilliant...

Chris Austin, a.k.a. Aurora Rosay, in action.

Talent show showcases FUN, “Dancing” and fathers

Lindsay Brown December 10, 2013

Eleven students showcased their talents in the Bentley Auditorium on Wednesday Nov. 20 to a meager crowd of about 20 students and faculty. The show was sponsored by Living for Giving and the JSC Chorale...

It’s no hallucination: this is author Oliver Sacks

“Hallucinations” dampens the wonder

Lisa Kent December 10, 2013

This month, I’ve chosen Oliver Sacks’ new non-fiction work, "Hallucinations." What are they? As Sacks notes, they are seeing, feeling, hearing, and smelling things that aren’t there. According to...

Dan and Willy Lindner with  Bob Amos and Catamount Crossing

Stearns hosts Vermont Bluegrass legends

Max Van Wie November 27, 2013

Stearns Performance Space was home to an interesting night of Bluegrass originals and traditional music Wednesday, Nov. 13. Opening the show, Bob Amos & Catamount Crossing mixed their distinctly...

The authors soon-to-be demolished Reuben

Red Onion sandwiches hit the spot

Ben Simone November 27, 2013

On a cold November evening on Church Street in Burlington, my companion and I stood gazing at the gleaming red neon onion in the window just above a rack of bread loaves.   It looked warm and inviting,...

An Ashley Shotwell installation at the Julian Scott gallery

Exhibit showcases three BFA students

Brock Bill November 27, 2013

Ira Musty, Ashley Shotwell, and Brittany Daniels are students pursuing bachelor of fine arts degrees and have been working towards their final B.F.A. exhibits since they arrived at JSC. On Nov. 13, 2013,...

Kanye West on stage during one performance in his Yeezus Tour

Kanye’s “Yeezus” tour heals author’s vertigo

Tom Benton, Surrogate Jimmy Stewart November 19, 2013

                  Kanye West is in the middle of his "Yeezus Tour," his first tour in five years (the last one supported his...

A peasant (Danielle Godjikian) makes an appeal in the JSC production of “Pippin”

“Pippin” spreads a little sunshine, Dibden-style

Tom Benton November 16, 2013

  Kudos to director Patrick Houle for picking the liveliest play performed in Dibden in years (excluding Liz Thompson’s senior play, “The American Dream,” performed last semester). That’s...

The Mix: the scent of drunken blueberries and powdered sugar wafting on the breeze

Mix cafe cooks up country feel, sumptuous specials, and impeccable French toast

Bill Brock November 14, 2013

  The Mix, a small breakfast cafe nestled just behind the Jeffersonville tavern, is always a relaxing treat for anyone who dines there. As you enter the café you are always greeted by a smiling...

A tense moment in “The State of Arizona”

“Independent Lens” opens at JSC

Mariah Howland November 14, 2013

  The “Independent Lens” documentary “The State of Arizona” is playing at JSC on Dec. 3. The film documents the ongoing debate over immigration in Arizona. It is the most recent...

Author Michael Hastings

Hastings’ “Love in Baghdad” brings conflict home

Lisa Kent November 14, 2013

  “I Lost My Love in Baghdad” is a powerful book of nonfiction about the war in Iraq. In short, sharp prose, author Michael Hastings makes us acutely aware of how debilitating, frustrating,...

“Artpop,” Gaga’s third and best album

“Artpop,” Lady Gaga’s turn-on

Tom Benton November 14, 2013

  I resisted “The Fame,” Lady Gaga’s first album, with ease (“Bad Romance” felt too shticky, “Just Dance” my ass), then accepted her second album, “Born This Way,” because...

It’s either this or jokes about a metrosexual with a big hammer.

“About Time” Marvel learns about passion

Tom Benton November 14, 2013

  Richard Curtis is awfully undervalued. He’s the English chap who wrote “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill,” “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” and wrote and directed “Love...

Reeve Lindergh
(ny times)

The Moth at Flynn Theater captures the art of storytelling

October 30, 2013

Earlier this semester, 12 students from David Grozinsky's First Year Seminar: The Language of Film went to Burlington's Flynn Theater to see The Moth, an event sponsored by Vermont Public Television and...

The Business of Food
(photo by H.W. Wilson)

“Business of Food” offers plenty for thought

Lisa Kent October 30, 2013

"The Business of Food" is my first foray into The Reference Shelf series. Regarding "The Reference Shelf," "the books in this series contain reprints of articles, excerpts from books, addresses on current...

Frozen Ken
(courtesy of Ken Leslie)

Ken Leslie finds light in the Greenland dark

October 30, 2013

Over the past 15 years, Fine and Performing Arts Professor Ken Leslie has periodically travelled to the far north, above the Arctic Circle, to work on his art. This past winter, he travelled for the first...

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

S.H.I.E.L.D. yourself from Marvel’s “Agents”

Tom Benton October 17, 2013

After my piece on the VSO, which turned out to be my piece on my opinion of classical music, I decided not to write negative criticism anymore. That wasn’t necessarily why my VSO piece was so useless...

Miral

“Miral” promotes education, inspires hope

Lisa Kent October 16, 2013

“Miral” is a work of fiction about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Under an umbrella story about an orphanage for Palestinian children and the courageous...

Machete Kills

“Gravity” sinks, “Machete” kills

Tom Benton October 16, 2013

“Gravity” and “Machete Kills” reach for the light in opposite ways. “Gravity” sees it in the stars; “Machete Kills” sees it in the Mexican sunlight. Which movie you prefer boils down to...

Rough Francis

Rough Francis: not rough at all

Tom Benton October 15, 2013

I’ve been listening to a lot of earthy girl-rock lately, ‘90’s stuff: Jonatha Brooke, Bic Runga, the Sundays, the usual suspects. Rough Francis, the 3/5 black punk group that played Dibden on Oct....

The Vermont Symphony Orchestra in action

Vermont Symphony Orchestra: they’re good at what they do

Tom Benton September 25, 2013

The Vermont Symphony Orchestra kicked off its Made in Vermont Music Festival at JSC on Friday night, Sept. 20, the first night of JSC’s Alumni/Parents Weekend. Alumni and parents are certainly their...

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Cant Stop Talking

“Quiet” speaks loud about introverts

Lisa Kent September 25, 2013

When I first heard Susan Cain on a TED Talk last year, I was mesmerized. Cain, a self-named introvert, was talking to a large group of people about—me! (Or rather, introverts like me.) Her voice was...

They said The Familys only worth a rental, huh?

Time to see “The Family”

Tom Benton September 25, 2013

"The Family" satirizes the glamorization of mob life we’ve seen since Martin Scorsese blew it up to magnificent proportions with "Goodfellas." (See also "Casino," "Boardwalk Empire," "The Sopranos,"...

A skeevier world awaits

“GTA V” best route to suicide

Tom Benton September 25, 2013

So "Grand Theft Auto V" comes in the mail and I know the time has come to dump my girlfriend, only I don’t have a girlfriend because I’ve been saving my freedom for "GTA V." I whistle the "Andy Griffith"...

Twiddle rocks Dibden on Sept. 5

Twiddle wants girls, lighters and guitar

Melissa Rixon September 11, 2013

Twiddle rocked Dibden on Thursday, Sept. 5. The band members met while undergrads at Castleton State College. They play a fusion of jazz, reggae, funk and bluegrass. Before they unleashed that fusion...

Emily Lantot

“Detroit” gallery shows a city in decay

Kayla Friedrich September 11, 2013

Currently being displayed in the Julian Scott Memorial Gallery is, "Detroit: Current Reflections," by photographers Karen Guth and Emily Lanctot portraying the deterioration of Detroit. The exhibition...

A moment from the Broadway revival of Pippin

Fall musical “Pippin” wonders: Better to burn out than fade away?

Tom Benton September 11, 2013

Kurt Cobain suggested new adjunct theater professor Patrick Houle should make JSC’s fall musical "Pippin." "I was listening to Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ album and I thought of the line in Kurt Cobain’s...

Reactions to Man of Steel have a sobering effect on Henry Cavill

“Man of Steel,” as messianic as its hero

Tom Benton September 11, 2013

I’ll write 20 f-----g pages about "Man of Steel" someday, right after I finish my essays on Stallone’s American mythologies and why the ending of "Lost" didn’t suck. Stallone’s accurately regarded...

“Into the Woods” fills seats and enchants the people in them

“Into the Woods” fills seats and enchants the people in them

Anna Maria Liccione May 3, 2013

“I’m in the wrong story,” the Baker’s Wife (Kate Kendall) said to Prince Charming (Marcus Provost) after an illicit tryst in the woods. Throughout this fractured fairy tale, things that seem out...

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