Savannah’s iconic St. Patrick’s Day parade and celebrations are world famous, consistently being listed in the top 10 best St. Patrick’s Day destinations. As someone who has made the pilgrimage onto the cobblestone streets before sun rise for the past 5 years, there are definitely right and wrong ways to conquer St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah, Georgia.

Actually going for the parade?

If you are one of the people that are trekking to Savannah purely for the fun of the parade, there are a few things you should know.

Get there early! And I mean early. To scope out a good parade watching spot, I recommended looking at the official parade route map, which can be found on Savannah.com. There are spots along the route that have bleachers set up, and you can rent them from the city, but it’s honestly easier and more comfortable to bring your own chair.

Regarding when to arrive, I have gotten there before sunrise to snag a good spot, hopefully by a public restroom (which is hard to come by in Savannah). The earlier you arrive, the better. At some point, streets start getting blocked off to prepare for the route, so parking becomes more and more limited as the morning goes on. 

If you can stomach it, wake up at the crack of dawn to get a good spot and bring a comfortable chair. You’re going to be sitting down for a while.

Wanna drink a little (or maybe a lot)?

Drinking alcohol and St. Patrick’s day go hand in hand, and Savannah is no exception. Savannah has a unique open container law, allowing patrons to carry open containers of alcohol, as long as they are in plastic, 16-ounce cup (not bottles, mugs or flasks) and must remain in the parameters of the Historic District. The Historic District encompasses the area from River Street to Jones Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to West Broad Street.

On St. Patrick’s Day, this rule is taken well advantage of. During the celebrations, a wristband policy is put into place. Wristbands must be worn by those who wish to carry open beverages and drink outside of establishments, so that they are easily identifiable.

Wristbands must be worn in the control zone, also dubbed “party central.” The control zone spans from East Broad Street to MLK Boulevard and the Savannah River to Broughton Street, west of Drayton Street. To the east of Drayton Street, the control zone is only from Bay Street to the Savannah River.

The wristbands are color-coded for each day, so you must get a new one if you are attending multiple days. Wristbands were $10 a day in 2019 and were sold at multiple access points in the downtown area. You must to be at least 21 to purchase a wristband.

You must be at least 21+ to drink alcoholic beverages. 

Don’t know what to wear?

Obviously, something green! There is no need to try and be that “cool guy who doesn’t wear green.” Participate in the festivities! Stores are selling St. Patrick’s Day themed shirts, pants and hats basically a month before, and if you cant snag one of those, there’s always the option of green beads you can wear. 

Also, be prepared for all types of weather. Lately, it has been rainy in Savannah and a surprisingly windy and cold back end of winter, so it’s a smart idea to dress in something comfortable and something that can help you out if it rains, gets hot and humid or cold.

Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah has become a longstanding tradition for locals and people who come from all over the country. Follow these tips to make sure you can have the luck of the Irish to make the most of out this holiday. 

We get to see if the girls families approve of Peter’s relationship with them and how they react to seeing their family for the first time

Hannah Ann

Hannah Ann got the first hometown date! The pair meet up in Hannah Ann’s hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. Instead of taking the emotional and dramatic date route, Hannah Ann opts for a fun one!

She takes Peter axe-throwing, as an homage to her father who is in the lumber business. They are both hilarious bad at it, but Hannah Ann does happen to nail a bull’s-eye. After the date winds down, Peter decides to show Hannah Ann a list of reasons he is falling for her, which is a callback to when Hannah Ann did the same for him on one of their previous one-on-one dates.

Now, the time has come for Peter to meet her family.

As is typical for a hometown, everyone starts crying as soon as they see Hannah Ann. Tears are flowing so hard that you would think Hannah Ann is returning from war, even though she has been gone for a max of two months.

Hannah Ann’s dad, along with every dad in Bachelor history, expresses his concern about how Peter is dating other women the same time as his daughter. Which is, like, the whole point of the show.

The rest of the night seemingly goes off without a hitch, with more tears and a heartfelt moment between Hannah Ann and her sister.

During Peter’s farewell, he admits he is falling for Hannah Ann and asks her to stay that she loves him over and over again in a rather steamy send off.

It’s Kelsey’s turn!

Coming in at second in line for hometown dates is Kelsey! Kelsey takes Peter to Des Moines, Iowa.

Kelsey chooses to make their own wine, the two stomping on some grapes.

After the messy part, the pair make their own wine in a winery, which c’mon, Kelsey, didn’t you get accused of being an alcoholic? The Devil works hard, but the Bachelor producers work harder. They name the red wine blend they created after themselves, which is extremely original.

Kelsey and Peters evening with her parents go well, no major drama happening. Kelsey even drops the “I love you,” which goes uncomfortably reciprocated by Peter telling her he appreciates it.

As most families are, Kelsey’s parents are worried about Kelsey getting her heartbroken by Peter. During a conversation with her step-dad Mike, she confides in him about how getting her heart broken is her biggest fear–while on the other hand, she tells her sisters she would say yes if Peter proposed. Kelsey’s mother, Beth, warns Peter not to break Kelsey’s heart.

Time for Madison’s date!

War eagle! Madison takes Peter to her hometown turn college town of Auburn, Alabama. She has very strong ties to Auburn, as her dad works in the basketball department.

The two take things to the court to shoot a few hoops. They seemingly have the entire stadium to themselves until a surprise visit from Auburn University’s men’s basketball head coach Bruce Pearl! He takes them through some drills, and Madison is hilariously better than Peter.

After some more alone time, the two are headed to Madison’s house to meet the family.

Something that has been hinted at in previous episodes takes the center plot point once Madison reconnects with her family: Madison is saving herself for marriage. This doesn’t come as a huge surprise to us, as she has been mentioning her faith more and more during the season.

Madison’s mother asks her in an emotional moment if Madison has told Peter this, which she admits that she has not. During this same time, Peter is having a conversation with Madison’s dad about, guess who, his daughter.

Peter confesses to Madison’s dad, Chad that he is definitely falling in love with Madison. This can almost be seen as a super sweet moment between Chad and Peter, until Chad responds with asking Peter if he is sure that Madison is really “the one,” to which Peter can’t answer. This clearly makes them both feel uncomfortable.

Last but not least, Victoria F.!

If you haven’t noticed, all of the hometown dates have gone off without a hitch, just the usual conversations between the contestants and their family and ones with Peter.

They saved the best for last.

Victoria’s hometown date starts out innocent enough with the two connecting in Virginia Beach. They stroll on the beach, with Victoria’s dog and all seems well.

They take this chance to re-do their live concert date with a performance by Hunter Hayes, who Victoria has NOT dated. This makes it a little easier for the pair to have a good time, both happily singing along to “I Want Crazy.” (Foreshadowing much?)

After the two say their goodbyes to get ready for the meeting the family portion, Peter spots one of his exes who just happens to be there and just happens to also be completely mic’d up.

Turns out she knows Victoria and has come on the show to warn Peter about who she really is! She explains that Victoria is known to have broken up multiple relationships and warns him to be careful.

Once Peter gets to Victoria’s house, he is clearly upset about the conversation he had with his ex and wants to talk to Victoria about it before meeting her family. The two take a seat on the front steps, and the drama begins.

Things go down hill very fast, with Victoria quickly turning the blame onto Peter and talks about how there is always drama. She even lets it slip that she doesn’t want to do this anymore and “just, like, can’t!” Very typical for Victoria.

She runs off into the night, yelling at camera crew to leave her alone. Peter has to take time to himself to get his thoughts together. At this point, Peter doesn’t even go inside to meet her family. He gets into a black SUV and they go their separate ways.

After all the drama of their hometown date and everything that has happened prior in the season, Victoria F. is bound to go home at the Rose Ceremony, right?

The Rose Ceremony

The next day, Victoria goes to Peter’s hotel room to clear the air between them. Peter says he’s not ready to give up on this just yet but worries that they may not have what it takes to make this work, ignoring the million red flags Victoria F. has waved in his face.

It’s time for the Rose Ceremony.

Hannah Ann and Madison obviously get a rose, leaving the final rose to be given between Kelsey and Victoria F. It’s no secret that most people are rooting for Kelsey, seeming as Victoria F. said herself she doesn’t want to do this anymore.

But, the Bachelor being the Bachelor, Peter gives the final rose to Victoria F., leaving Kelsey to be sent home.

This comes as a huge shock to those watching and to Kelsey herself. Peter walks Kelsey out, and they say goodbye.

So that’s the end of the episode right? Wrong!

We are left on a cliffhanger, as Madison asks to speak with Peter after the Rose Ceremony, supposedly to talk about her faith and how she’s saving herself for marriage.

After all, fantasy suite week is next!

Here is the breakdown to reading a spoiler.

1)    SHOCK

Immediately your mouth drops open and your eyebrows raise up. It takes you a second to process. Did you actually just read that?

2)    DENIAL

No no no, you think to yourself as you stare at said spoiler, mouth agape. You tell yourself that it can’t be true; there is no way that the author would kill off the main character. There’s no chance that John would leave Rachel for Stephanie.

3)    ANGER

This is an obvious one. Soon after reading the spoiler, you’re filled with rage. You want to break your phone in half or maybe go cry angry tears in the corner.

4)    SELF-BLAME

You might even blame yourself, asking, “Why did I think it was a good idea to search through #GameofThrones on twitter when I have only seen two seasons?” or “Why would I look at [insert show here]’s Instagram post when I missed last night’s episode and haven’t been able to watch it yet?”

5)    SULKING

You just sit in the corner and mope, not wanting to do anything but lay on the floor and think about everything except what you just read. You wonder if you should even finish the book or if it is worth it to finish the season when you know what is going to happen.

6)    Acceptance

Eventually, you come to terms with the unwanted revelation. You continue to read the book or watch the show because it’s just too good not to continue. Plus, there’s no way you’ll come across another spoiler, right?

To save us women from these bad profiles, and to give men a better chance in the dating-app game, here are the Top 10 Do’s and Don’ts of Tinder Profiles for Men.

#1: Don’t Make All Your Pictures Group Pictures

This should go without saying, but I can’t tell you how many profiles I have swiped left on due to the fact that I have no clue who I’m supposed to be looking at. It’s a guessing game and I’m not about that life.

#2: Please Have ‘Full-Face’ pictures

Tinder is a dating app primarily based off looks. Yeah, the top of your head may look good and one of your eyeballs look nice but what about the rest of you?

#3: Don’t Have All of Your Pictures Be of You in Sunglasses

Sunglasses basically hide half of your face and lead me to question what you’re hiding.

#4: Don’t Have Pictures of You Holding a Dead Animal

I do not care if you were hunting. No girl looks at a dead animal and feels excited. It just makes us sad. Don’t make us sad.

#5: Have A Bio

If you don’t take thirty seconds to write a short bio, how do I expect you to find the time to text me back?

#6: Please Be Grammatically Correct

Little errors here and there are okay, but I have come across bios that made me inwardly cringe. It seems as if some guys tried to shove a whole essay into their bio with no punctuation whatsoever. Please don’t do this. Keep your bio short and sweet, don’t use run-on sentences, and use the correct form of ‘your’ and ‘you’re’.

#7: Don’t ‘Slide into my DM’s’ and Open Up with a Sexual Remark

What every girl on Tinder will experience at least once is a direct message from a guy saying a completely unwarranted sexual comment. Great way to make a first impression, buddy.

#8: Along with that, Don’t Say It in the Middle of a Conversation

Sometimes I’ll think I’m having a nice conversation with a guy then *wham* they say a completely inappropriate comment—wtf?! Do you say that to girls you meet in real life?

#9: Don’t Mention Illegal Substances in your Bio

Whether it’s a line of your bio saying “420 friendly” or just emojis of leaves and a puff of wind, it is an immediate turn-off. Also, way to keep it under the radar.

#10:  Don’t try to look sexy with unsexy things

One time I saw a picture of a guy trying to look sexy while eating a mozzarella stick. Save those pictures for farther into your relationship.

Noelle Walker is a sophomore writing & linguistics major from Gainesville, Georgia. She is an editorial candidate for The George-Anne. She spent the past year active on and off on Tinder and has since learned a thing or two.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Netflix)

In this unrivaled age of universal Bill Murray fandom, where the man could cough on your baby and you’d still laugh and give him a hug, you likely think you’ve seen all the Murray classics. The problem with your overzealous pride in your Ghostbusters knowledge is that many of us forget the streak of quality films Murray made in collaboration with the steampunk Renaissance man himself, Wes Anderson. Movies like The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Royal Tenenbaums hit big with critics, but this little gem is sure to revamp your interest in his unique directing style.

The basic premise revolves around a world famous oceanographer, Steve Zissou, played by Murray (think Captain Ahab in a quirky stop-motion fever-dream) who takes to the high seas to hunt down the “jaguar shark” that ate his partner. The selling point for this movie as a new-age classic is the baffling ensemble cast that has become one of Anderson’s calling cards. Of course, the golden child Murray gives one of his best performances, but then you have Cate Blanchett (The Aviator, The Curious case of Benjamin Button) as a darkly comedic and very pregnant reporter, longtime collaborator Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers) plays Murray’s estranged could-be son, and William Dafoe (The “Green Goblin” from THE REAL Spider-Man) playing Murray’s right hand man aboard the doomed search vessel.

This movie is an endlessly quotable, cheeky, good time that would play the perfect third wheel on a date night.

 From Dusk Till Dawn (Hulu)

Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez walk into a bar, the bar is staffed by sexy stripper vampires and a whole lotta’ weapons. The punchline writes itself. Tarantino, of Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill fame, and Rodriguez, director of Desperado and Machete, pack a silver-plated punch with their over-the-top dialogue in this purposefully “B Movie-esque” action/horror flick. Throw in Tarantino himself co-starring alongside a young George Clooney and what you get is one of the funnest rip-roaring movies you’ll ever set your bloodshot eyes on.

The soundtrack alone is enough to keep you enthralled if it weren’t for Clooney dishing out classic one-liners like McFlurries at Ronald McDonald’s funeral. The graphics are enough to hold you in there, but it’s the mood shift halfway through that will make you sit and contemplate your existence by the time it’s over. Violent to the point of hilarity, this movie leaves no gore-stone unturned as our antiheroes, a pair of murderous bank robbers named the Gecko brothers, battle their way through the heart of dive bar hell.

Still not convinced? Ladies and gentlemen… Satanico Pandemonium.

Requiem for a Dream (Netflix)

Certainly the most mainstream of the movies on this list, this Darren Aronofsky adaptation of Hubert Selby Jr.’s pitch-black, brooding novel was named one of the top three movies of all time by IMDB. But the notion that it LOST money at the box office on its measly $4 million dollar budget says that your average moviegoer wasn’t ready for the product that was delivered.

Requiem works as a crescendo while navigating through the intertwining stories of four recreational drug users who slowly find themselves consumed by their vices. The film’s score heightens in unison with the story line and repeats its siren song as you lay your head down for bed after the credits roll, drifting asleep dreaming of dancing sugar-plum heroin fairies. The cinematography remains engrossing and steeped in reflective perception throughout as you just can’t help but wish the best for our main characters as they waste away.

Rock star character actor Jared Leto (Fight Club, Suicide Squad) shines in his breakthrough role as the realistic Dorian Gray-portrait of a junkie, a performance that still stands as his most moving. Co-starring alongside Leto is funnyman Marlon Wayans (White Chicks, Scary Movie) as his best friend, Jennifer Connelly (Blood Diamond) as his girlfriend, and a particularly disquieting performance by Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist, Interstellar) as his mother.

This movie is not for someone looking to pass a Friday night in peace. Keep your dates as far away as you can from this caustic, unnerving, and ultimately profoundly hard to watch movie. But if you somehow manage to stop diverting your eyes from the horror on-screen, you’re likely to learn a damning lesson about the human condition.

Many other articles and reports were subsequently published debunking the claims and showed that the website may not be nearly as influential on the average consumer as the industry claims. Despite this, there may be some truth to the claims, albeit not as drastically as the film industry may claim.

The recent drop in movie going has been a hot topic in the industry for some time. The price of movie tickets has steadily increased over the years, even more drastically in recent years. When you take into account 3-D, concessions and assigned seating, the movie-going experience has never been more expensive, requiring the films we decide to see in theaters to be more enjoyable than ever.

I’m sure most people would agree that spending money on an unsatisfactory product is never a good feeling, especially when that product is absolutely non-refundable, which is why more and more production companies are doing their best to build excitement and draw an audience into a film before they even debut.

Most movies, especially blockbusters, will begin their marketing campaigns several months prior to release and will showcase multiple trailers, promotional materials, actor interviews and spend millions upon millions of dollars on advertisements.

Production companies have to do their best to convince as many consumers as possible they need to see a film in order to guarantee a return on their very expensive investments. And consumers are conflicted because with the price of theater tickets rising every year, now more than ever we truly can’t afford to waste money on a movie that is poorly made, or worse, we just don’t enjoy.

This is where Rotten Tomatoes can play somewhat of a negative role in our decision making. Now, I’m sure most people have a good idea what kind of movies they like and what they don’t. Someone who enjoys romantic comedies will be more likely to see a movie that falls into that category, because they already know that there are likely themes and elements present in that movie they already enjoy.

It’s when we go outside of our comfort zone that we tend to rely on the crutch of reviews and acclaim. Of course there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s a natural and logical inclination. If you aren’t knowledgeable on a certain subject, it’s often best to seek out someone who is. However enjoying movies simply isn’t a science. Despite what production companies would like you to believe there’s no way of knowing whether we will like a film until after we’ve already watched it.

While Rotten Tomatoes was founded in the pursuit of helping you avoid the truly awful films, and believe me it often does, it’s important to take into consideration that the first scores that appear when you Google a movie are strictly critical. And while critics are very knowledgeable, no matter how hard they try, they all admittedly have their own biases and preferences.

They are more knowledgeable on certain genres, and have their own interpretations of what makes a movie good or bad, things that many consumers may not take into consideration, or frankly, care about at all. This has long been the disconnect between critics and the general public, so a critic may hail a movie as a cinematic masterpiece and the average movie-goer, taking their word for fact, will spend their hard earned money, only to walk out confused and disappointed.

As you can probably imagine, these problems are only amplified when Rotten Tomatoes aggregates the reviews of thousands of movie critics. Back in the day when there were fewer movies being released at a lesser cost for the customer, you may have just walked out of the theater after a disappointing movie scratching your head. But now it’s just a full blown disappointment.

Some recent examples are mother! and Kingsman: The Golden Circle, two very different movies, with two very different target audiences. mother! garnered national attention as one of the most bizarre movies of the year. Many audience members were upset, confused and unsatisfied with the film, earning it a measly 48 percent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes significantly lower than its 68 percent critic rating.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle, on the other hand suffered the opposite fate. While its quirky action scenes and tongue-in-cheek dialogue garnered appeal with the general public, resulting in a 70 percent audience rating on the site, critics lampooned it as messy and unfocused, bringing its critical rating down to 50 percent.

All of this isn’t to say that you should ignore criticisms or that audience ratings are the only ones that matter. Critics are knowledgeable and helpful sources for upcoming films and can help push you in the right direction. But it may be worth looking a little deeper into their critiques rather than taking them at face value. Something they might hail a film for, you may hate, and vice versa. It may take a little more time but it may save you some big bucks down the road. And a few trips to your local movie theater.

Ian Leonard is the Enterprise Managing Editor for The George-Anne. He is a senior writing & linguistics major from Johns Creek, Georgia. Watching movies and critiquing others is not a profession for him but rather a hobby and a habit. 

Last week Biloxi, Ms., school systems made the controversial decision to take Harper Lee’s acclaimed novel off their eighth grade required reading list due to the language and subject matter of the book. In a statement made to The Sun Herald, vice president of the Biloxi School Board, Kenny Holloway, said “There is some language in the book that makes people uncomfortable, and we can teach the same lesson with other books.”

Now, I never had the opportunity to meet Ms. Lee prior to her death, but I can imagine that if I ever had the pleasure to meet her for a cup of coffee, the revelation of “I wrote the book to make people feel more comfortable” would have never come up.

If To Kill a Mockingbird makes you uncomfortable, then good. If the racial slurs and actions taken by the characters of the novel make you uncomfortable, then good. If you as a reader come to the same slow revelations that Scout as a character and a young girl come too, then good. The book is still doing its job and you’re still a human being. The novel was not meant to make people comfortable. It was meant to reveal the gross racial atrocities of the time. It was meant to wake people up. It forces its reader to recognize the world isn’t always just black and white – something society today should probably take note of.

The first time I read the book, I remember being appalled with the jury’s final verdict at the end of the trial. A jury convicted a black man with a physical disability that rendered him incapable of committing the crimes of which he was accused – somehow reaching the equivalent of justice for the residents of Maycomb, Al,. I remember asking my parents how they could have made that decision. My mother responded simply, “You have to remember the times.”

10-year-old Cheryl was searching for a justice that couldn’t be found in a generation then. And yet future generations are doomed to repeat the same mistakes without books like To Kill a Mockingbird. The banning of books with themes similar to this novel takes away a growing mind’s ability to develop senses for things like empathy, morality, justice, and right vs wrong. Without those things, what is the point of literature? Sure we can entertain our children with heroic tales of knights defeating dragons but don’t we want our children to learn the value of courage and determination along the way? Otherwise our stories become nothing more than just superficial words on a page. Our children learn skills like sentence structure and long division but nothing about what it means to be a part of humanity.

Cheryl Nuzum is the Editor-in-Chief of Reflector Magazine. She is a senior English major from Snellville, Ga. Her love for literature began as a child and has only grown since. To Kill a Mockingbird is her favorite novel.

With the lackluster lineup of blockbuster horror movies this year, your best option for a good squirm may have to come from podcasts. For those of you who haven’t adopted the habitual podcast listening lifestyle, you’re in luck. You’ve got a lot of binge listening to do with these three twisted pods’.

Sword & Scale

Having just reached its 100^th episode, this true crime phenomenon is a staple for many podcast listeners. Host Mike Boudet recounts tales of murder, mayhem, and depravity in this thoroughly investigated eclectic series.  From Ted Bundy, crazed puppeteers, wannabe cannibals, and to harrowing tales of survival, this podcast is sure to have something that will keep you pressing play on the next episode. As you may expect, viewer discretion is extremely advised because you’ll find that the tagline proves true: “The worst monsters are real”.

Lore

Sometimes the truth behind the myths of old can make you question reality as we think we understand it. The thin veil blanketing our existence and keeping us comfortable is lifted by host Aaron Mahnke in this grim, soft-spoken podcast. We exist in a modern world ripe with superstition, but the centuries and millennia that have past left behind lore that still influences us today.

This bi-weekly podcast has eerie atmosphere in spades that serves as a crescendo until the last line of the show. By the time Mahnke brings the story full circle, you’ll be scrambling to don torches and garlic to hunt down the beasts that lie in wait in the dark corners of every room you step foot in.

Largely hailed as one of the best podcasts on the market, Lore was recently green-lit as a television series for Amazon Prime. If podcasts aren’t exactly your forte yet, feel free to catch some of the show’s best stories brought into this visual medium.

Spooked

A product of audio juggernaut NPR’s Snap Judgement podcast, the appropriately named Spooked podcast is everything you’d want during Halloween-time. Paranormal and supernatural experiences are told week-by-week by gifted story tellers in this creepily crafted collection of work. As opposed to the distance you allow yourself to create from the old-timey tales you may hear in Lore, these fresh horror stories are made even more terrifying by the idea that those telling them believe them to be true.

If you physically experience something ultra-terrestrial, all-the-while trying to convince yourself that it can’t possibly be true, then the situation has just justified its own means. It is real because your mind went through the ordeal. You felt the presence, saw the being, or just felt the mood change in the room. The idea that we believe something should not, CAN NOT exist in this realm, does not apply to those entities themselves. These are the questions raised by the Spooked podcast and unfortunately, those are just the one’s we allow ourselves to ask.

Happy spooking, my pretties.

Moser spoke on his artistic experience with “transmediation” on Thursday in the Georgia Southern Arts Building to a room of about 65 students. Transmediation is the transition from one medium to the next.

Moser had an interest in films and trains, which had one thing in common, “They’re both long, skinny objects which you almost never see its entirety all at one time,” Moser said.

Moser creates art by replicating cinematic works in new media. A viewer can see Sleeping Beauty (1959) in its entirety by utilizing the concept of fixation, a biological term in which a specimen, such as a butterfly, is arrested of movement so it can be studied. Moser substitutes motion pictures and music videos, among other things, in place of a butterfly. By zooming out completely, one can view the entire motion picture of “Sleeping Beauty” frame by frame.

Sleeping Beauty (1959) by Jeffrey Moser (Retrieved via Fixation Database)

“The underlying idea is to work with information in ways that mix long threads of information all once,” said University Gallery Director Jason Hoelscher, “He’s taken a medium of creativity that’s based in the linear unfolding of time and turned it into something that exists spatially.”

An audience member asked Moser if he had thought about incorporating his work into fabrics, such as silk or quilts. Moser said he would love to collaborate with a textile artist to make a huge The Wizard of Oz rug and to experiment with clothing.

Moser was gifted his uncle’s collection of Ford Motor Company industry films. While transferring the films from the original format to digital in graduate school, he realized the way he interacted with the medium change, Moser said.

Moser’s work is important to Georgia Southern students because it exposes them to different forms of art and an opportunity to meet a professional artist, which aids in expanding artistic ideas, said Jessamy McManus, the university gallery director’s assistant. A 35 mm roll of the film Sleeping Beauty, is currently on display in the University Gallery. The artifact weights about 35 pounds and is accompanied by a projector. “While the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ installation’s spiraling rings of color practically hypnotize you, some of his other videos remind me of getting lost in a kaleidoscope,” McManus said.

Artist Jeffrey Moser standing with a 16 mm film preview of Paranormal Activity 3.

Moser also brought a 16 mm film preview of Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) to the talk. Movie theaters officially switched from traditional film to the digital format in 2012, Moser said. The film contains 90 seconds of footage, and weighs about one pound. Moser walked the length of the large auditorium-like room with the film to demonstrate how long the roll of film was. It would measure about 200 feet if it were unrolled completely, he explained.

The roll of film displayed the contrast between owning a physical object and having a digital copy. “I love when I go to YouTube, and it says, ‘Rare Video’. Dude, it’s on YouTube, it’s no longer rare,” Moser said.

Moser continued by saying that there is no such thing as rarity or ownership when music, movies, and art are in a digital format. It is impossible to sell the work he has created because it is instantly reproducible. Of late, Moser has become invested in creating new, original content while practicing ongoing experimenting with music and video. Moser’s musical background is sometimes incorporated into the creation of his work. 

Moser’s exhibition, “Transmedia PreDelay,” will be on display in the Center for Art and Theatre University Gallery until Sept. 15. More of Moser’s work can also be found on his website.

Although Tracey’s storyline took center stage in mapping the narrative, this six episode season was all about the development of the supporting characters, with Tracey’s story arc taking a backseat to the plots of side characters. This season we learned more about Candice and her longtime boyfriend Aaron and we also got a peek into the mindset and personality of Cynthia, whose religious zeal was made to be a running joke last season.

Overall, this season was more emotional than last season, with characters emotions and insecurities being woven into the story (in the most comedic manner, of course). This go round is not as funny as last season, with some jokes feeling forced or falling flat, but the story and plot of this season makes the characters seem more three-dimensional and realistic.

This show sheds light on serious topics such as religion, sexuality, personal appearance, insecurity  as well as family ties and friendships using comedy. Even when discussing hot button issues like race and the fetishization of black women, this show utilizes comedy to its advantage and turns a realistic scenario into something so ridiculous that the audience cannot help but laugh at the character’s antics. In addition to more serious situations, this season also continues Tracey’s quest to lose her virginity while also maintaining its unflinching portrayal of sexuality on-screen, with Tracey’s jaw-droppingly funny attempts at seduction.

This season is a solid sequel to season one’s introduction and audience members who are looking for more hilarity from Tracey & Co. will not be disappointed.

Both seasons of the show are available on Netflix, and it is rated MA due to the mature content and sexual situations.