Culture

In defense of the whip and the nae nae

 Dabbing, flossing, Fortnite dances and other performance-based memes all stem from the soul of the great Silentó. There have been other, weaker attempts to create these memetic trends (The Stanky Leg comes to mind) but none turned the tide quite like the whip and the nae nae. And the fact that these newer memetic performances continue to grow speaks to the luck, skill and concentrated power of will of Silentó’s legacy.  

My grandmother got into a fatal hit and run while walking home drunk on Christmas

 As I mentioned, she had been drinking — rum spiked eggnog, to be specific. Grandma was, admittedly, a tank, but the nog had been flowing all night. I began to worry for her as she started off into the night, stumbling through six inches of heavy snow.  

American Ninja Warrior-life crisis

 Adding to the growing literature on mid-life crisis behavior and the post-divorce psyche, a study published last week by Miami University’s Department of Psychology found “American Ninja Warrior” contestants can pinpoint the exact moment their life went wrong, halfway through their ascension of the warped wall. 

Quick Tips for a More Sustainable Diet

Rebecca Andres: A strong, independent woodwind

Spending her childhood forging her musical talents, Rebecca Andres eventually found herself playing for Cincinnati Broadway Across America’s "Wicked." In the 96 performances that followed, Andres further fine-tuned her flute skills. Andres found her passion for music in the fourth grade. She comes from a family of musicians — many of her relatives play piano and her sister plays the violin. Andres tried to play the violin, too, but found that it wasn’t a good fit. 

Muslim Students' Association Decorates and Donates

  As the leaves swirled down from the trees outside of Armstrong on Friday, Nov. 15, Miami’s Muslim Students’ Association (MSA) swirled ornate designs onto the arms of students who stopped at their booth. Adjacent to a card table covered with various canned foods like Campbell’s soup and JIF peanut butter is another table occupied by a student practicing an ancient art form: henna.

Miami student ‘warms hearts’ through charitable business

Sophomore Owen Dame balances classes, clubs and running his own company. Six weeks ago, the entrepreneurship and economics major launched Warm Heart Clothing Co., a business that sells affordable clothing and donates 15 percent of the profits to various charities. 

Friday Foodie Feature: "How-to" Dining Hall Edition

The key to making dining hall grilled chicken flavorful is to spread a little hummus on it, and la la! 

Behind the Counter

Quarter Life Closet Crisis - Episode 2: In with the new

This week on "Quarter Life Closet Crisis," Nina talks with Amy about the process of choosing new items for Samantha’s wardrobe, and we hear Samantha’s reaction to those recommendations.

Katy Perry is 2019’s underdog

Knock knock.  Who’s there?  It’s Katy Perry — she wants to know if we’re still mad at her for cutting off all her hair and releasing “Witness.” Also, she brought three brand new singles.

Previewing ‘Pokémon Sword and Shield’ from longtime fans

"Pokémon Sword and Shield" are the latest upcoming installments in publisher Nintendo’s and developer Game Freak’s long-running “Pokémon” series. They will be the first main series entries on a home console, the Nintendo Switch. The games will take place in the Galar Region, a United Kingdom-inspired environment.  These games will mark the eighth generation of new Pokémon, some of which were revealed before the games’ release. These include Grookey, Scorbunny and Sobble, the new starter Pokémon players can receive at the start of the games. 

‘Big Mouth’ is back and even more awkward than before

Sexuality, child marriage, incest, cell phone addictions and Florida; these are regular things that middle schoolers go through, right? According to Netflix’s “Big Mouth,” it is. The animated comedy has never been afraid of crossing over the line and season three is direct proof of that. 

Five new songs you should listen to right now: 11/12/19

Charly Bliss – “Threat” Brooklyn-born band Charly Bliss followed up their critically acclaimed LP “Young Enough” with “Supermoon,” a five-track EP bridging the gap between “Young Enough” and their 2017 album “Guppy.” Rounding out “Supermoon” is the succinctly-written, sweetly-sung “Threat,” a three-minute ode to instability in relationships. Lead singer Eva Hendricks sings precariously of how she “can forgive anything [and] it’s absolutely terrifying,” and with her brother, Miami University alum Sam Hendricks, on drums, the song maintains its sense of authority and power the whole way through. 

Kanye … we miss the old you

I hated rap as kid.  Yet my entire family has always had a proverbial love for rap/hip-hop music. My mom had a deep love for Tupac. She remembers exactly where she was when she got the news he had been shot. My dad — a dedicated Biggie fan — was her direct rival. Lil Kim, Snoop and Jay-Z were also among the artists that would play throughout my house.  My music taste was solely limited to R&B and soul. At the time, I was dedicated to my faves: Lauryn Hill, Justin Timberlake, and D’Angelo. The thought of cheating on them with another artist outside of the genre was too much for my young self to handle.  For a while, there no rap artist that could hold my interest. Sure, I love the hip-hop classics “Big Poppa,” “No Diggity” and “Hypnotize” for example, but those are only singular songs. There was never an entire hip-hop album that held my interest from start to finish.  That is, until Kanye came around. 

Rock steppin’ RedHawks swing through the semester

Ten weeks ago, many of these students would not have known the difference between a rock step and a half box. But in KNH 110S/T: Social Dance, learning these basics and more is the first step toward becoming a more experienced dancer.  

Review: ‘Pippin!’ showcases Stage Left’s range

Stage Left’s production of “Pippin!” was absolutely worth that exclamation point. Miami University's only student-run musical theatre organization brought their characteristic enthusiasm to a performance equal parts amusing and disconcerting. 

#FreeBritney: Double standards in the music industry

It’s no secret that the music industry is notoriously sexist. But when Kanye West’s new album “Jesus Is King” dropped — coinciding with the  announcement West stopped taking his bipolar disorder medication during the album’s production —  I couldn’t help but think about Britney Spears. Granted, I think about Britney Spears nearly every day, and especially these days, because of everything she has been going through. That’s because Spears has been in a conservatorship since 2008, after her very public breakdown. A conservatorship is a legal hold which is put into place when someone is so mentally incapacitated, they cannot take care of their own medical or financial needs and someone is appointed to do so for the conservatee. 

Colorful for a cause: Theta hosts vibrant fundraiser

 Although most Miamians were still snuggled in their beds early Sunday morning, members of the Kappa Alpha Theta (Theta) sorority were up and about, motivated by the beginning of the second annual Color Run. 

Quarter Life Closet Crisis — Episode 1: In the Trenches

In this series, Style Editor Nina Franco and senior Amy Kuptz help our Editor-in-Chief Samantha Brunn clean out and update her wardrobe. Amy runs her own business, Get Dressed with Amy, in which she curates style guides for her clients based on their needs.