Photo courtesy of BC Music Department

Childhood memories are always dear to one’s heart. The toys, the food and the music—they need not be too intricate; even the simplest of things can stir up the most pleasant nostalgia.

While the board game you absolutely love may not be in production anymore and that favorite candy bar of yours no longer tastes like it used to, tunes from your childhood will always stay the same.

Indeed, music has been scientifically proven to trigger powerful recollections and can bring you back in time to a particular phase of life.

On Friday, June 8, the Bellevue College Music Department is going to bring to you the Spring Choral Arts Concert “Kidding Around” that highlights “A Disney Spectacular,” and if you are one who likes to take a stroll down the childhood memory lane, this is an event you don’t want to miss.

The “Kidding Around” Concert will start at 7:00 p.m. and the Bellevue College Concert Chorale directed by Thomas Almli, Director of Vocal Music Activities and BC Music Department Chairman, will be performing their 2012 Spring Invitational Concert in the Carlson Theatre.

Also performing will be Bellevue College’s Class Voice Singers directed by Brennan Baglio. According to Almli, every year there is a theme for the BC spring concert, and this year, the music selection revolves around kid-themed music, including picks from Disney movies and classical choral music.

Guest group of the night will be the Chamber Choir from Thomas Jefferson High School, conducted by Laird Thornton. The Chamber Choir will be performing music from “Schubert, Spirituals and Songs.”

The BC Concert Chorale performs every quarter and it took the BC Music Department the whole of spring quarter to organize the “Kidding Around” concert.   “It will be great, fun and an awesome way to see BC student talent,” said Almli.

Besides Concert Chorale, other music groups at BC also give quarterly performances. So, music lovers, look no further for concerts and recitals because you may not be aware, but BC actually has a lot to offer when it comes down to music.

Tickets can be purchased prior to the event through www.brownpapertickets.com/event/234981 or 1-800 838-3006, or the day of starting 6:15 p.m. at the door. It is $10 for the general public and $7 for students.

Photo courtesy of BC Photography Club

Spring, photography, fashion, free food and raffle. What’s not to love about these?

On June 5-7, BC’s Photography Club is going to collaborate with Fashion Club to present “Spring. People. Fashion.”—a photography exhibition at the “fish tank,” which is also known as the lounge area opposite to the café in the C building. Cookies and drinks will be served once students sign in at the entrance of the exhibition. Hours are 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and admission is free.

Not only will there be pretty photographs and free food, the Photography Club has also given students a very good reason to stop by the “fish tank” by setting up professional lighting and equipment at the venue for on-the-spot photo shoots.

Anyone going to the exhibition can have their portraits taken for free by student photographers/members of the Photography Club, and the pictures will be uploaded to the club’s Facebook page for retrieval. The club is also selling one-dollar raffle tickets, with the prize being an instant film camera.

The aspiration of “Spring. People. Fashion.” is simple—to capture and depict  the wonderful  everything of spring; the name  of the exhibition is quite self-explanatory as outdoor portrait photography is going to be the main feature of most work shown.

In order to take pictures that seize the essence of such theme, members from the Photography Club are pairing up with Fashion Club members in photo shoots where the latter pose as models. Ten pairs of photographers and models are participating in this event, and according to Joaquim Lei, president of the Photography Club and Fashion Club member, the clubs are anticipating putting up 40-50 photos.

The photographer-model pairs are doing the photo shoots in different locations including the BC campus, Seattle Japanese Garden, Somerset and Bellevue Botanical Garden; the choice of these is motivated by the intention to show off the fabulous spring weather.

Joining forces with the Fashion Club, another aim of this event, as stated by the president of the Fashion Club, Michael Yoon, is to draw attention to the latest spring fashion trends.

The fact that most models taking part in the event are Asians is a deliberate arrangement hoping to resonate with the celebration of the Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May. For both the photographers and models, this exhibition is a precious opportunity to present to the rest of the school their work and passion about photography, and to gain experience in photo shoots.

Alex Loong, project manager of the upcoming exhibition, said that this event is of the largest scale compared to their previous functions.

“Spring. People. Fashion.” is indeed the fourth exhibition the Photography Club has put together since its establishment in fall 2010 by Japanese student Nao Chikama who was then enrolled in the IBP program. The earlier exhibitions have all concentrated on landscape photography that featured Seattle scenery.

“This is the last quarter of mine here at BC, and I want to make memories last,” said Lei. If there is one thing we can be certain of, it is that photos make memories. So as far as that is concerned, Lei has unquestionably succeeded.

Photo courtesy of First Nations

“Right here now at the United States…we have experienced the longest running holocaust in the world,” said Zandra Apple, member of the Lakota tribe at South Dakota and student contact of the First Nations Student Association.

Imagine what happens when outsiders invade your homeland, cut down the forests, contaminate the food supply and bring vicious disease to your people—that is exactly how the Native Americans were treated when the Europeans came and took the natives’ land away.

While most people are aware of this part of the Native American history, little know that the groundless exploitation of the Native Americans are still taking place right now in America. To raise students’ awareness on the issues important to Native Americans, the First Nations Student Association is going to host a day of storytelling, film and speakers on May 22, from 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. in the N Building at Room 201.

“Traditional communities do not often voluntarily give up or sell the resources on which their communities are based until their communities have been destroyed. They also do not willingly allow their land bases to be damaged so that other resources can be extracted.

It follows that those who want the resources will do what they can to destroy traditional communities,” stated the movie “END: CIV,” which is going to be shown during the Holocaust of Indigenous Nations event on Tuesday.

“END: CIV” is a documentary based on part of “Endgame,” a best-selling book by Derrick Jensen, an American author and activist.

The documentary looks at our culture’s addiction to systematic brutality and environmental exploitation and dissects the causes underlying the collapse of civilizations.

Franklin Lopez, director of “END:CIV,” focused a part of the documentary on the indigenous people and how their reservations are being destroyed by resource-hungry non-natives, such as the Koch Brothers who are contributing to the infamous dirty oil coalition. In a nutshell, the Koch industries are building pipelines underlying America’s breadbasket—states with desirable soil and climate that oftentimes produce an agricultural surplus—that runs a high risk of contaminating water supply and food source.

Such exploitation also goes against the Native American strong belief to conserve our common mother, our mother earth. Like the Native American Proverb put it—Treat the Earth well: We did not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we are borrowing it from our children.

Another program of the day will be the showing of the clip of the lecture given by Eloise Cobell at BC in 2004. Cobell is a Native American who sued the federal government for resources they have taken illegally from Native Americans after the government’s refusal to pay the natives their rightful share of revenue generated off of the oil non-natives extracted from their reservation. Besides the two videos, the First Nations Student Association has also invited traditional storyteller Roger Fernandes and activist Deborah White Plume on campus and share with BC their very own experiences and culture.

Fernandes will be telling stories that have been passed on orally from one Native American generation to the next while Plume, who has raised national awareness on the dirty oil situation, will give a lecture on “Defending our Lakota Land.”

Currently there are 119 self-proclaimed tribal members in attendance at BC but few are aware of the situation at their land bases.

The purpose of the event is to educate both the Native American population here at BC and all the other students about and give them an idea of what is actually happening to the natives. “A lot of Native Americans are not aware of what is really happening.

“I have no clue as to what is actually happening there until I meet Zandra,” said Ramona Sabourin, club advisor of the First Nations Student Association, tribal member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota and program coordinator of the Health Sciences and Wellness Institution here at BC.

The First Nations Student Association was first established in 2003 when Apple came to BC in pursuit of her Associate Degree. Not being able to find visible self-proclaimed Native American students on campus concerned Apple. She wanted to start a club to see if other natives would come forth, and fortunately they did.

“Every higher education institution should have a First Nations Club. The federal government allows us to get higher education money to go to school and we should be recognized…because the whole United States was built on the foundation and the back of Native American property and real estate,” stated Apple.

Graphic by Seth Walker

What comes up to your mind when you think of cavemen? Half-naked, muscular and leopard-skin-wearing? Perhaps the Flintstones?

We may have a clear image of cavemen in our heads but do you know that those are all just stereotypes made strong by the media?

To help us bust these misconceptions about cavemen, the Student Society of Anthropologists will be holding the Cavemen Night on May 18, from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. in C140.

Cavemen, a comedy movie starring Ringo Starr and Dennis Quaid, alongside  a lecture given by the club advisor, Tony Tessandori, will make up the night’s program that aims at changing the conventional image of cavemen.

The plot of the movie revolves around cavemen Atouk and his friend Lar who are both bullied by their tribe’s leader Tonda.

After being exiled from their tribe, Atouk and Lar joined a gang of cave outcasts and went on an adventure with them. The group discovered all sorts of new skills in the journey and finally defeated Tonda.

This gag-filled comedy made in 1981 demonstrates precisely the long established image of cave people—the way they dress and the way they talk and interact with peers—and leads to the heart of the night’s lecture.

Tessandori explained in an e-mail that for the lecture, he will be discussing the cultural and social significance of cave people throughout time and the origin points for many of the things people relate to cave people. He will also look at what the “popular” caveperson does and how they look from a statistical level.

The discussion on cavemen, according to Tessandori, has been delved into in many anthropology classes but has never really fit into any particular class. He regarded this film and lecture night a good way to expand on the topic.

“This is going to be a fun evening but will also be very informative.

“Anthropology as a science is tasked with understanding people. What better way to arrive at an understanding than to take a preconceived notion and to shake it up, discover where it comes from and to see how it fit into the larger social and cultural contexts,” Tessandori commented.

The Anthropology Club has been putting on movie nights for over two years now. The club has also held Alien nights and fundraised for Heifer International.

On top of that, members have volunteered their time to bake cookies and popcorn to buy animals for people in need. Their most recent purchase is a cow!

“We hope that the cavemen night can bust those misconceptions [about cave people], and also celebrate their hilarity.

“Anyone who likes a good movie is welcome to come,” said Freyja Vining, president of the Anthropology Club.

Photo by Amy Leong

Seattle Artist Peter Millett paid a trip to the Bellevue College Gallery Space on May 2 for the opening reception of his latest collection of abstract steel sculptures—Presence/Absence.

The reception began at 3:00 p.m. and attracted a large crowd that included faculty, interior design students, art appreciation students and more. Instead of giving a short lecture and a tour of all the pieces shown, Millett invited everyone to raise questions, thereby starting an interactive discussion on the process of creation and the themes Millett was exploring with these sculptures—age, time and transition.

The first thing viewers noticed when they entered the BC Gallery Space ought to be the meticulous lighting that took Millett and Ross Brown, Director of the BC Gallery Space, hours to set up. “Although all the sculpture is made of metal, what I’m really exploring is light. I’m interested in the way rust sucks up light and the galvanized steel throws off a heavy dull reflection. I like the weightlessness of transparency. And how a soft reflected light can make you think of someone you miss,” Millett articulated in his exhibition statement.

Apart from a sculptor and a painter, Millett has a “little day job” as a freelance news artist for TV stations. He has been doing courtroom sketches for 10-12 years now and being able to experience firsthand cases that are heavily involved in war inspired Millett to put together Presence/Absence. “War is an abstract thing [to many people]. But when you hear people who have been in it talk, it becomes personal,” said Millett.

If you are planning on visiting the BC Gallery Space, be sure to go all the way back and look for the piece named The Presence of Your Absence. This wall piece created in 2008 is made out of mirror and steel is deemed the essence and the “vocal point” of the exhibition. The oval mirror installed reflected light to the wall and fully conveyed the message of Presence/Absence by showing an image that is thought to be unseen.

Another interesting piece shown at the exhibition is The Big Cake. The galvanized steel piece located near the entrance resembled the shape of, as stated in the name, a tall cake and can be interpreted in many ways. On one hand, the vibe this piece gave was so silly and joyful that Millett jokingly said one would expect a bunny in a tutu to pop out from it; on the other hand, Millett viewed The Big Cake in an entirely different light and saw it as a tower in a battle, relating it to toughness and architecture.

“I make sculpture in wood or metal from simple geometric shapes. This language allows me to render experiences I’ve had in a visual and tactile way. With form I search for the essence of the experience. In an abstracted way I can revisit places and reference objects… In some ways my work is like writing music, trying to evoke a feeling from a melody. I constantly rearrange shapes until I find some kind of surprise, something I never expected, some chord that resonates,” Millett explained his artistic concept in an interview with art blogger Lynette Haggard.

Finally, when asked how non-art students can better grasp the meaning behind such abstract art forms and his advice for aspiring art students, Millett’s response to the first question is simple: Be open to how it affects you and always ask yourself one question, “How does it make you feel?” As for the latter, Millett’s personal attitude said it all—“I create to express who I am, I do not create for the critics… I work for myself.”

PRESENCE/ABSENCE is shown at the BC Gallery Space (D271) from May 2-30.  Hours are Monday through Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Friday 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Contact Ross Brown at ross.brown@bellevuecollege.edu or call (425) 564-2788 for an appointment or special accommodations. Free to the public.

Photo courtesy of the Asian Pacific Celebration Coordinator

Local (and awesome) musicians have definitely been frequenting the Bellevue College campus lately. Following our Earth Week guests Kris Orlowski and the Passenger String Quartet, Seattle reggae rockers Kore Ionz is coming to Bellevue College in celebration of the Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month on Monday, May 7, at 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

The five-member band of lead vocal and rhythm guitarist Daniel Pak, percussionist Ahkeenu Musa, bassist Brendan DeMelle, drummer Teo Shantz and keyboardist Kiley Sullivan will perform, as described by Joe Williams of the Seattle Weekly, “soulful, thumpin’ reggae that sounds like it was birthed right in the heart of New Orleans, with enough jazz heart to lead a Jamaican revolution of peace and love.”

“We know them from the Asian Pacific [Islanders] Heritage Celebration in downtown Seattle…[we chose] Kore Ionz because their music is very [inspiring] and unique. Their songs are very good and educational because one of their music [concepts] is ‘world war free’ and [they] have a world wide group,” said Zeta Chik, coordinator of this event, in an e-mail.

When Chik deemed Kore Ionz an educational group, she did mean it quite literally. The band’s first album, “Half-Hour Revolution” was released in 2008 and 50 percent of the earnings from the album went to Service Board, a nonprofit group that helps underprivileged youth develop a sense of responsibility and community. In Aug. 20, 2011, Kore Ionz released their second album “World War Free” which intended to give people a glimpse of the truth and possibly uplift them to go make a change.

The band’s name Kore Ionz was initially a joke as both Pak and a former member were half-Korean. Beyond that, the name Kore Ionz actually has a more profound meaning. According to Pak, like in chemistry where there are positive and negative ions, in our daily lives there are positive and negative people, happiness and sadness, love and hate. When negative and positive ions bond, stability is obtained (think sodium chloride). Likewise, Kore Ionz stands for the idea of everyone getting along.

“War has and always will be about competition,” said Pak. “For food, resources, energy. In the cave man days, tribes would fight to survive…then over the course of thousands of years technology advanced and now, in our modern age, it’s at the point where we could make ourselves extinct with one bad decision.”

Kore Ionz’s visit to Bellevue College is part of the Asian Pacific Heritage Celebration that takes place both in downtown Seattle and on campus every year in May. On campus, the celebration aims at gathering Asian students to celebrate their cultures and helping other students understand the value and specialties behind each Asian culture. “…A lot of people see Asian as one culture; however, we are not all the same,” said Chik.

Apart from the Kore Ionz concert, from 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., several clubs and programs will be joining the celebration in the cafeteria in conjunction with an Asian street fashion show on the same day featuring the most up-to-date fashion from Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and some more. If that isn’t good enough, bubble tea from Boba Express in Factoria will also be served on a first-come, first-served basis during the event. Let’s be honest, who doesn’t like free drinks?

For more information, please contact Zeta Chik at zeta.chik@bellevuecollege.edu or Nora Lance at nora.lance@bellevuecollege.edu.

Photo courtesy of www.wrapup.imbee.com

To all film enthusiasts: Clear your schedules on April 27-28; you are going to the Future of Film Expo!

Future of Film Expo is part of the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) 2012 and a truly incredible experience for all film lovers. It features exhibitor booths, speakers, workshops, panels, demonstrations and lounges. Exhibitors include top film schools such as Loyola Marymount University, Florida State University and Digital Domain Institute, as well as others such as Canon, Panasonic, the Screen Actors Guild, etc.

While many may be full of passion for movie-making, it can oftentimes be frustrating not knowing how and where to find the right supporting resources. If you are one of them, School’d: A Film Education Panel on April 28, 11:15 a.m. is a panel you cannot miss.

Speakers on the panel—Andrew Syder, Professor at Florida State University, Rich Fortinberry, Chair of BFA Film Program, Brooks Institute and three other experts—will talk about what it takes to get into the best film schools and what you can learn beyond the classroom in the age of DIY filmmaking.

With the increasing prevalence of 3-D movies like Avatar and Titanic 3-D, another exciting workshop is definitely “2-D to 3-D Conversion: We’ll Make a Convert Out of You.”

In 2011, 19 out of the 48 3-D movies released were converted from 2-D, while most of the remaining stereo-captured movies feature shots benefited from post-processing and conversion. Benoit Doidic, part of the team behind Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, will help us learn to separate the myths from the facts concerning 3-D conversion in the 60-minute workshop on April 27, 2:30 p.m.

He will discuss the key tools and techniques used in the proper of conversion of a feature film and more importantly, how to differentiate good 3-D from bad 3-D.

On the same day at 4:00 p.m., Pulitzer Prize winner and director Vincent Laforet will also be giving a keynote presentation  discussing the emerging technologies for telling stories and platforms for the next generation of filmmakers.

Laforet is deemed a pioneer for his innovative tilt-shift and aerial photography and in the field of HD-capable DSLR cameras. His forward-thinking approach to image making and storytelling made him a three-time winner at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

One of the best things about the Expo (other than free admission) is that it caters for everyone from film industry executives to young filmmakers to film fans.  If you are the latter and find the above-mentioned workshops too heavy, staff at the Expo has something planned for you, too.

Film 101 workshops that are held daily at 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. will teach participants the basics of framing shots, visual storytelling and practical filmmaking for any budget. So when your budding filmmaker friend is attending a panel, don’t start texting in the corner of the nearby Starbucks. Instead, drop by the Film 101 booth!

Future of Film Expo is a new addition to NFFTY, which is the flagship program of The Talented Youth, a non-profit arts organization founded in 2007.

Each spring in Seattle, Washington, NFFTY showcases films by the best young directors of age 22 and under. It is the world’s largest youth film festival.

NFFTY aims at enabling, nurturing, promoting and encouraging the next generation of filmmakers to inspire, lead and entertain the world with their stories.

“The Future of Film Expo gives exhibitors the unparalleled opportunity to meet and interact with the best young filmmakers from around the world. This event will truly represent the future of film in all aspects,” commented Jesse Harris, Founder/Executive Director of NFFTY.

Other hands-on Expo workshops and panels include: Keynote Panel: Behind the Scenes of Independent Film, Maxon/Cinema 4-D Product Showcase, Talk Shop: Using the Right Technology for Your Story, Queer Exposure: LGBT people in the film industry, and so much more.

For those who are aspiring to go into the film industry, Future of Films Expo is not only an amazing setting to gain experience with the latest technology, but a great networking opportunity to meet film schools and people who have been there, done that.

Future of Film Expo is taking place April 27-28, 11:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. Admission is free and you can find more information at http://www.nffty.org/expo.