Author: Paul Farias

Community, Drama

Behind The Scenes: ‘The Rocky Horror Show’

Paul Farias

Have you ever dealt with a moment in time where you felt like you weren’t doing anything productive? One where you were just going through the motions and letting life pass you by? I had that feeling for the longest time earlier this year. I’ve been interested in theater for the past 7 months now and that comes from the improv workshop I did in late January. This brought me to Del Mar’s production of ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,’ which was my first time acting. To put all the years of listening to music, learning how to…

Community, Drama, Entertainment

Giving the audiences ‘Goosebumps’

Paul Farias

For the first time ever a South Texas theater, namely Corpus Christi’s Harbor Playhouse, is staging “Goosebumps: Phantom of the Auditorium.” Tickets can be found on Harbor Playhouse’s website at harborplayhouse.com. One of the lead actors, Abigail Martin, felt a certain kinship with her character, Brooke Rodgers. “Brooke is kind of an upbeat, optimistic fun-loving girl who loves scary stuff and that’s me really,” Martin said. The music also influenced her to audition as well. “I loved the songs ‘Babbling Brooke’ and ‘Story of the Phantom,’ and they are my second and third most-listened songs on Apple Music right now,”…

Community, Entertainment

Let’s do the time warp again at Aurora Arts

Paul Farias

For local actor Ricky Martinez, Richard O’Brien’s “The Rocky Horror Show” was a calling. “It’s one of those shows that you kind of have to do as a performer,” said Martinez, who portrays character Brad Majors. Despite the calling, he decided to audition later in the process. “It was really a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing, I decided to audition last-minute,” said Martinez. “My voice was shot. It was a crazy audition process.” Martinez is one of many actors for this year’s installation of Aurora Arts Theater’s annual staging of “Rocky.” “With only a month and a half to stage a…

Campus

Viking Quest Day Helps students find majors

Paul Farias

The Student Success Center and Career Development hosted Viking Quest Day on Aug. 28, a series of seminars and luncheons where new students met with faculty in the Venters Business Building. The event was designed to assist students with deciding on a major. “It’s targeted to students who are coming to college and undeclared with their major,” Student Success Center director Omar Villarreal said. While the day was pitched for students with an undeclared major, they were not the only target audience. “Maybe they signed up for a major and they’re not sure that they want to remain in that…

Sports

DMC kicks off Fall semester intramurals

Paul Farias

Del Mar College’s Intramurals department, responsible for on-campus sports and athletics, is about to launch their Fall 2024 season. Multiple sports will be offered this semester. “Flag football, soccer, basketball, volleyball, fun runs, weekly backyard events, Zumba, water aerobics, and more,” are among the sports set said Intramurals director Carla Gamez-Vela. On top of sports, the department also offers free recreational activities for the student body. “We also have a fully equipped fitness center with weights, cardio machines, tennis courts, indoor pool, racquetball courts, fitness classes, all free of charge,” Gamez-Vela said. The weight room, tennis courts, fitness center, gymnasium,…

Community

Pickle Fest comes to Corpus

Paul Farias

Local Nueces Brewing and Barbecuing Company hosted their inaugural festival dedicated solely to pickles on Mar. 23. Though food festivals centering pickles have been common in major cities, Corpus Christi has never had one. Many local vendors joined together to help produce the first one aptly titled ‘Nueces County Pickle Fest.’ The celebration ran from 11:30A.M. to 6P.M. “We have a vision of growing it city-wide, little bit bigger. We feel that ever city has their own festival and we like to make Corpus Christi the official home of the Pickle Fest.” Brandon Harper, Co-Owner of Nueces Brewing Co. said. …

Campus

Music at DMC in April

Paul Farias

Four Del Mar Music Department ensembles will be performing for free towards the end of the Spring 2024 semester. One of them is the Percussion Ensemble, whose performance will take place in the Richardson Auditorium on May 1 at 7:30p.m. Run by percussion professor Neil Sisauyhoat, the ensemble will be presenting a variety of selections from several decades and styles. “A highly entertaining concert, the ensemble’s performance features traditional music from Brazil as well as works by James Campbell and Emmanuel Séjourné, among others,” Sisauyhoat said. Not only will there be classic and traditional sources, but more contemporary songs will…

Entertainment

The Bad Seeds: a classic 60s Corpus band

Paul Farias

For the past few issues, I’ve mentioned several modern local acts. I’ve written about the types of bands that you could go see live. This time, I’m looking back to the past for Corpus music with The Bad Seeds. Not Nick Cave’s band, but the Corpus-based garage rock band from the 1960s. Consisting of front man Mike Taylor, fellow singer and guitarist Rod Prince, bassist Henry Edgington, and drummer Bobby Donaho, the four-piece was a popular Gulf Coast rock act during the mid-60s. Ultimately, like many white-hot garage acts of the time, they fizzled out as quickly as they came…

Entertainment

DSA-powered music at Studio B

Paul Farias

Another month, another four-band show brought me back to Studio B. On top of music, there were politics at play as well. This show was sponsored by the local Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA chapter, with all of the artists that night showing solidarity for Palestine in the midst of its ongoing conflict with Israel. Not only were there artists meeting under a cause I support, but there were a number of newer musicians performing as well. Thus, with an interest in hearing new sounds, I made my way downtown to 1609 Agnes to shoot another show. Bribba It…

Community

An inside look of Moniq’s discography

Paul Farias

This last time I talked about a local artist’s catalog, it was a four-piece rock band. This time, I’m switching over to pop territory. Since she released her first song in 2020, the local musician Moniq, real name Monique Martinez, has put out an EP and other singles as well. ‘A Woman’ Moniq started her career with a solid, chill song in ‘A Woman.’ Her smooth vocals compliment the varied instrumentation, and even when the harmonies begin as well, there’s never a sense of clutter. While the dynamics fluctuate all throughout ‘A Woman,’ the foundation is never shaken. It always…