Issue 14 Vol.

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Campus Corner

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10 ON THE CORNER
Victorias Pasta Shop is an age-old gem on Campus Corner. In this issue, find out which items you will and wont find on the menu, the perks of build-your-own pasta and the unique setup and atmosphere.

BOYD
STREET MAGAZINE
July 26, 2013 Issue 14 Volume 12
Editor-In-Chief Kelli Smith Art Director Kelli Smith Copy Editor Ashley Roy Photography Mark Doescher Carey Flack Contributors Jordan Attebury Alexis Auckland Chase Cook Mel Guapo Advertising Representatives Joe Wilhite Publisher Joe Wilhite

TECH ATTACK
Mature ratings typically feature blood and guts, but what about the games with actua...maturity? Chase lists thought-provoking games with the M rating and their uniqueness.

8 9 ON THE SCENE 12

MUSIC
Colin Nance is a man with many talents, formidable in both the producing and songwriting scene. Check out Mel Guapos interview with him!

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ROMANCE
In our current era, where shows like Big Bang Theory reign supreme, one may ponder: are nerds really all that? Our romance expert weighs in on why hot guys may not be so hot. Dont forget to test your nerd IQ!

Boyd Street Magazine P.O. Box 721494 Norman, Oklahoma 73070 Copyright Boyd Street Magazine Phone: (405) 321-2400 E-mail: joe@boydstreet.com Any articles, artwork or graphics created by Boyd Street Magazine or its contributors are sole property of Boyd Street Magazine and cannot be reproduced for any reason without permission. Any opinions expressed in Boyd Street are not necessarily that of Boyd Street management.

ON THE CORNER
Our writers did it again. Im always entertained by the content in Boyd Street. Check out Jordans review on Victorias Pasta Shop, or you could go to page 12 and let me know what you think of Alexis thoughts on nerds these days. If youre interested in technology, check out Chases thoughts on video games theme choices. Last but definitely not least, Mel always has something good up his sleeve, and this time its about Colin Nance. Until next time, xoxo,

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Tech Attack Chase Cook

Finding Adult Themes in Mature Games

Weve all seen that video game trailer. You know, the one where the white, brown-haired hero blasts all of the baddies with his guns as he saves the world. There is blood, busty women and plenty of bad words that precede the final rating of the game, which gets an M for having all of that mature stuff. The ESRB rating system labels this childish content as mature because it typically involves visuals that are reserved for adults, and I tend to agree. I dont think Id let my younger kids play Call of Duty or even The Last of Us until I thought they were old enough. (The ESRB rating system is a guideline. Parents make the ultimate decision.) However, in the midst of all these adult-themed games, there seems to be a lack of, well, adult themes. The mainstream games worry more about explosions and violent conflict because they have to sell games, so controversial games or complicated plots are expensive and risky. The prevalence of this violence pigeonholes gaming as a hobby thats more sound and fury than anything else. But there has been a recent movement by developers to put the mature back into mature games. Games like The Walking Dead and even big-budget titles like Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us feature storylines that revolve around father/daughter relationships as well as complicated subjects such as racism and love. The results are games that ask questions such as: Is racism the result of fear? How far would you go to protect the ones you love? These are topics that really make gamers think about the decisions they make during the game. In The Last of Us, the game is framed around an end-of-the-world event, and the people you fight arent typical bad guys or terrorists they are other survivors searching for food or shelter. There is a reason for the violence that extends beyond the typical you must do this to advance habit. In The Walking Dead, the characters you have befriended will turn against you out of fear, anger or hunger. The well-developed personalities and writing make it difficult to make decisions such as letting someone kill himself/herself or killing someone before they turn to a zombie. And there are consequences for your actions: characters will leave you, attack you and even undermine you if you slight them too many times. A long time ago I would have tried to make the argument that sophisticated stories would make games legitimate, but trying to convince people that games are worthy isnt worth the time. Some people think games are wastes of time and for kids, and thats OK. Hell, some of them are. But there are some games out there doing everything to make us video game lovers excited for the future. Better technology, older developers (who grew up with video games) and publishers willing to take a risk are pulling video games into a new era of storytelling that makes everyone who loves video games a winner.
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Review: The Last of Us

(out of 5)
When I reviewed Bioshock Infinite I didnt think there would be another game that topped Ken Levines brilliant first-person shooter. I was totally wrong. Naughty Dogs The Last of Us is a third-person action/survival/horror/ adventure game that takes everything the company learned with Uncharted and jams it into one of the best told and most realized stories in video games. The world has been ravaged by the Cordyceps fungus (a real fungus that afflicts insects) and it has turned people into crazed monsters. Players take control of Joel, a character who must smuggle a young girl to a resistance group. Not everything goes according to plan, so Joel and Ellie must fight against monsters, bandits and the harsh environment to survive. The combat in this game is brutal, almost grotesque at times, but the developers made it so because they wanted everything to have an emotional weight. Enemies beg for their lives and 2x4s make sickening cracks when they connect with an enemys head. The cinematic scenes have incredible voice acting and the game is beautiful with brilliant animations. There are some issues such as the fact only Joel can alert enemies when you are sneaking around, so when Ellie runs right into an enemy and he/she doesnt do anything, it can be immersion-breaking. But everything else about this game is incredible, and there isnt enough space to describe it all. So buy it, rent it or borrow it. Just find a way to play it.

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Music Mel Guapo

Behind the Music: Colin Nance

Profiles in Oklahoma Musicians
Colin Nance is one of those giants of the local music scene. He juggles several personal projects at a time and continuously contributes to dozens of others. Hes a producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and a visual artist in myriad interpretations of the word. You can catch his band, The Gentle Art of Floating (soon to release their first full-length record) off and on OKC and Norman and regionally every month or two. He plays solo (as Colin Nance) just as regularly, if not more so. He has scored several short films and is currently working on the score for The Posthuman Project, a full-length movie from OKCs film wizard Kyle Roberts, a high-dollar but lowbudget superhero drama which is presently in post-production. He produces and performs music from dance to rock to ambient in genre, and hes still just getting started. As a day job, Nance is involved in live audio and stage engineering. Ive known him for years, and Im convinced that he is one of the states hardest working musician/ producers. Hailing from Yukon, Colin Nance recently moved to the Oklahoma City metro. His music is heavily synth-based and leans toward chill underground electronic; however, he is not a man to be bound by one genre or one direction. Other related projects in one capacity or another include Late Night Jazz, Gross Beast, Prix Teen, Bed People, Fright Night Club and many others that Im sure I cant remember, as is often the nature of Oklahoma musicians. Learn more about Colin Nance at the following links: Colinnance.bandcamp.com Soundcloud.com/colinnance Facebook.com/colin.nance Facebook.com/pages/Colin-Nance/175689592443583 NOTES FROM A RECENT INTERVIEW WITH COLIN NANCE: How did music begin for you? This one time when I was in fifth grade, my mom bought me a guitar. It all went downhill from there. What is the best part about making music in Oklahoma? Well, for the genre of music I play, there isnt an excess of it going on. If it is, it definitely isnt at the forefront of the scene right now, so its a little refreshing to be in that position. The feeling of treading somewhat new territory or the fact of leaning a little further from the folk roots of this area is liberating. Also, the Oklahoma music scene is so tight-knit. I have a deep infatuation with that for the fact of everyone feeding off of each others creative energies. It inspires me to be a better artist and comforts me to know I am connected to a network of good friends that share a wonderful passion. Is music foremost a public experience or a private experience for you? Foremost: private. There is nothing quite like that uniquely rewarding feeling that washes over you after you have written your newest song. Just having that moment to yourself to be proud and feel accomplished is phenomenal. Music is a process of acceptance. You go through all these phases in hope to gain some sort of respect for your art at the end of it all. First and foremost, it must be accepted by me before it even has a chance of being accepted by someone else. Thats a crucial moment of reflection. When you have a new song that nobody else has heard and you listen to it over and over. Then it grows and catches. It is an entirely different, fierce, ruthless, unforgiving and rewarding beast once it becomes a public experience. What do you think is the relationship between art and politics? They both share the letter T. Its a rocky relationship. What are you trying to achieve with your music as an art form? That ideal is constantly metamorphosing for me. I have come to realize it is very important to never stunt my ambitions when it comes to my music and how I want to come across with it. Its fascinating to think about how many options and paths I have in both the studio and live environments. Im constantly absorbing the life around me and music is my way of fulfilling my sense of purpose adequately at this moment of my life. Anything I need to express or handle personally can usually be done through my art. One thing is for certain when it comes to what I want to achieve, and thats this: To create art, make it public and hopefully inspire others to create and express themselves as well. Continuing the chain of inspiration and creation. It is crucial to our psyche to achieve such things. What philosophy or philosophies are behind your music? When they hear it, I want people to think of my music as a soundtrack to their life. I want it to be relatable to this crazy and surrealistic world we all live in. Hopefully it is a source of solace and inspiration. Let me be the backdrop for your conflict, climax and resolution.

On the Scene
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On the Corner Jordan Attebury

On the Scene
Chimys Louies The Mont

Victorias Pasta Shop

Comfortably tucked in Normans bustling Campus Corner, Victorias Pasta Shop has been drawing hungry diners in for over 20 years. With homemade pasta, a friendly staff and mountains of glorious parmesan cheese served on each plate, its no wonder that this tasty Italian restaurant is packed from open until close. The signature dish at Victorias is the lasagna rolls. A savory combination of shrimp, spinach and cheese is mixed together and rolled in fresh strips of pasta before being baked to a golden brown perfection and served with both marinara and alfredo sauces. One other thing that stands out on the menu is what isnt there. Visitors will find a handful of chicken, shrimp and crab entrees, but dont look for meatballs or sausage. Pork and beef are decidedly left off the menu. Even so, diners dont seem to mind the pared down menu because each dish has been perfected over the years, sure to please. Take, for example, the black pepper linguine. Just the name sounds appealing, though the taste is even better. The linguini is served piping hot and drizzled with lemongarlic butter before being tossed with hearty chunks of snow crab. If youre not a seafood eater, have no fear. Victorias Pasta Shop has many other tasty choices including a cheese-filled spinach tortellini and an oven baked chicken lasagna. My mother-in-law swears by the primavera, which mixes a heaping plate of lemon-garlic butter-drenched spaghetti noodles with bits of carrots, broccoli and mushrooms, while my husband prefers the build-your-own pasta option for his favorite half-marinara, half-alfredo sauce concoction. Even health nuts will have options at Victorias, as they can pick whole wheat linguine pasta and mix it with veggies and a light olive oil sauce. You could even ask them to hold the handfuls of thick, shaved parmesan cheese, but who would do that? Each meal also comes with a huge slice of buttered garlic bread to sop up any remaining delicious sauce on your plate. Though the food hasnt altered much over the years, the restaurant is sure to be different nearly every time you visit, as local artisans use the wall space to display pieces for sale. There is indoor dining on two levels at Victorias: the main floor has been split into two rooms, while a smaller dining area is located above the kitchen area. The eclectic mix-matched tables and chairs are arranged to fit as many people as possible in the cozy space, which means that youll have a shorter wait time for seating and you may have the chance to make some new friends while you dine. Many of Victorias regulars started eating there in college and still make the trip back even after graduation. Be sure to check the daily specials on Victorias Pasta Shops Facebook page or make a point to glance at the large board located on the left side of the main counter when you walk in. There youll see lunch and dinner specials, the stuffed mushroom caps of the day and dessert options. - Address 327 White Street - Hours of Operation Mon - Sun: 11:00 am - 9:30 pm Facebook: Victorias The Pasta Shop
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Romance Alexis Auckland

Talk Nerdy to Me
When I was in junior high and high school, the jocks ruled. On the clique totem pole, they dominated top position followed by bad boys, funny dudes and, snorting their way onto the bottom rung, nerds. No chick wanted to get down with a mathlete. Picture retainers, high-waisted jeans paired with tucked-in collared shirts, glasses, disheveled hair, big words and straight As. If youre getting a little hot in your business area due to that last sentence, its because times have changed. Nerds are the new jock, just like pink is the new black. Ladies love a well-spoken, Smarty McKnowledge, future-so-bright type. If you can flex a mean algorithm and have an invite to attend Princeton, some vixen is ready to shed a few clothing layers for you. Stupid and too cool fell by the wayside way back. Hopefully theyre crumpled up in the same, deep grave as stirrup pants. Nerds rock. Dont let their odd demeanor fool you because they usually bloom into sexy, ambitious, successful men. For now, though, theyre deliciously trendy on an awkward level. Females crave treating nerds the way that Hugo the Abominable Snowman treated his new bunny wabbit George (a.k.a. Daffy Duck). They want to rub them and pet them and squeeze them and hug them and stroke their bills and rub their pretty feathers ... or whatever you do with nerds. If you havent watched Guy Code or Girl Code, please tune in. Girls, you should watch Guy Code, and vice versa. Its excellent insight into the psyche of the opposite sex, and its laugh-out-loud good. Guy Code agrees nerds are so popular now that cool dudes are disguising themselves in nerd uniform to bag babes. Fat Boy Barnett says, I bet real, old-school nerds are mad about whats going down today. They had nerd civil rights movements back in the 80s. Steve Urkle paid dues for these new guys. He put in blood for Kevin Durant to walk around looking like a geek. (Although, Westbrook totally = Urkle.)

Trivia
1. In the movie Revenge of the Nerds, what food was recommended by Takashi to impress UN Jefferson during the Lambda Lambda Lambda party?

On the Scene
The Mont Louies Too Diamond Dawgs

2. What did Booger call the treats he brought out during the Lambda Lambda Lambda party to get things going?

Othellos

Fuzzys

Chimys

3. Which Thunder basketball player had No. 19 retired by the Seattle SuperSonics? Gus Williams Nate McMillan Lenny Wilkens Fred Brown 4. Which Thunder player was selected fourth overall in the 2008 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics? Serge Ibaka James Harden Russell Westbrook Kevin Durant

Take a tour today and mention you saw us in Boyd Street! Like us on Facebook The Renaissance At Norman www.livebyou.com

But the man spits truth. You tell a spicy mamacita youre working on a cure for cancer, and shell ask, Oh, really? without breaking eye contact and while deftly unbuttoning her blouse. Thank God it has come to this because let me tell you something, ladies: those hot and dumb dudes are played out. If your boyfriends IQ is so low you have to dig for it, its going to be a problem in the future. I know his body is so hot you can bake cookies on it, but looks are fleeting. Plus, hot guys are notoriously egotistical, disrespectful and lousy to be with. Wouldnt you prefer intelligence, kindness, cleverness and capability to achieve a fabulous livelihood? My friends neighbor, Mr. Barely-out-of-his-20s-and-buying-a-$500K-home tech dweeb will tell you how his website got him the smokin hot wife, the car, the house and the clout right here in Nompton. Football what? Hot guy, who? So in 2013, Trekkie boy with the nice words, odd fashion sense and killer brain is winning. Girls have finally learned that one day soon, hell be the seven-figure gangster. Hell fill out, and youll be smiling next to his kind soul, drooling all over his PhD. Nerds? NERDS! NERDS! NERDS! NERDS! NERDS!
12

Answers: 1) Robster Craws (lobster claws); 2) Wonder joints; 3) Lenny Wilkens; 4) Russell Westbrook

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