The NEIU Independent

"On Drawing," exhibited in the Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) Fine Arts building, room FA-217 from April 13-24, thrusts against all conventions of drawing with its eclectic array of artwork created by the students of Professor Rafael Vera's Advanced Drawing class. This art exhibit was also organized by one of his students, making this exhibition a much more personal one.

This was student Stefan Carrera's first time being a curator of an exhibit. "I don't like being the center of attention," said Carrera. Chosen to be the lead by Vera, he was responsible for choosing the best out of three submissions from each student. On April 12, Carrera planned and organized the layout of the exhibit. "It allows me to take a step back from creating artwork and focus on the establishing of a coherent gallery composition," said Carrera. "I now have more respect for curators and their work."… Post the First Comment

High School kids? Screaming babies? Music in a language I couldn't understand? This had all the makings of several hours of torture. I was contemplating leaving until the host; Jose Efrain Rivera took the microphone and opened the show. When he did, I was glad that I had stayed.… Post the First Comment

The 2nd annual North by Northeastern Video Festival was held on April 21, 2009 at Stage Centre Theatre. The event was supported by the Department of Communication, Media and Theatre. The festival featured some exceptional experimental short films and a couple of well-made music videos.… Post the First Comment

"We kind of just [felt] like we had stolen a bunch of movie cameras and film and somehow they let us make this movie in this mall." That is how funny man Seth Rogen ("Knocked Up") described his experience filming his newest movie "Observe and Report." The movie features Rogen as mall security guard Ronnie Barnhardt, who chases around a flasher, Tasers people and protects his mall from hoodlums, all the while falling in love with Brandi, the gorgeous flashing victim played by Anna Faris ("Scary Movie").… Post the First Comment

This column was the hardest one I had to come up with. I ran out of ideas, so I decided to look at the facts of the semester. Since this is our last non-themed issue of the semester, and there more than likely are quite a few people graduating in May, I thought to myself "Why not have an actual theme?" The theme is school, and there's quite a bit to go around, so some of these might seem a bit odd, and you might disagree, but that's fine.… Post the First Comment

Being a rock star might sound like every kid's dream, but apparently, it's not just sex, drugs and rock n' roll. It's actually a lot of work, or so says guitarist/vocalist Wayne Static of industrial metal band Static-X. Promoting their new album, "Cult of Static," Static-X will be performing for 31 of 39 nights on the Sno-Core Tour from April 1-May 9.… Post the First Comment

The long awaited expansion pack to "Grand Theft Auto 4" has finally been released and it's not really for everybody. "The Lost and Damned" is primarily a story expansion to the game, telling the tale of a biker named Johnny. He isn't a new character in the game, rather he participates with Niko in a couple of missions during the main story, and that really is the entire point of the expansion.… Post the First Comment

"Crank 2: High Voltage" is absolutely ridiculous from start to finish. If you're looking for an action movie that makes sense, it is not this one. It starts going downhill right from the get go as the movie picks up from where the first one ends: Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) drops out of the sky onto a car, bounces into the air and splatters on the pavement nearby.… Post the First Comment

"Mary Poppins," which is running through June at the Cadillac Palace downtown, is a glorious feast for the eyes, featuring amazing sets, fantastic dancing, stellar singing and some of the most outrageous stunts I've seen this side of the circus. I was anxiously anticipating the play because I loved the suffrage angle represented in the film, and I was hoping for some riveting discussion with my own young Girl Scout (she and her 9-year-old brother accompanied me) regarding women's right to vote on the way home.… Post the First Comment

The Deep Vibration, a talented and self described rock and roll band that plays only American music, released a short EP called "Veracruz," and it's pretty good. There's just one thing that bugs me about it now, and is definitely going to keep bugging me.… Post the First Comment