SLUG Contributor Limelight
March 28, 2009
Contributor Limelight: Jesse Hawlish
Jesse Hawlish started at SLUG Magazine last summer shortly after finishing his BA in English at the University of Utah. Hawlish clocks in at 6'4", but is far from intimidating. When he isn't drinking free RedBulls and nerding out at SLUG's monthly video game meetings over FPS's, RPG's and whether it is more accurate to spell out Playstation 3 or refer to it as PS3, he can be found doing market research at the airport or schooling lil' kids as a substitute teacher with the Salt Lake School District.
Articles by contributor
Greater than the Sum of our Parts: The Field Work...
Salt Lake pooled their resources and disparate knowledge bases to cooperate in a pilot program called Field Work: Aligning Poetry & Science. … read more
The Food Waste Place: Wasatch Resource Recovery’s Anaerobic Digester
Morgan Olsen Bowerman, Wasatch Resource’s Recovery and Sustainability Manager, says that the digester essentially works like a real, living digestive tract. … read more
CITYART Reading Series: Thirty Years of Beauty & Truth
In 2019, CITYART will be celebrating its 30th anniversary. By far the longest-running reading series in the state, it is organized and operated entirely by volunteers like Joel Long and Michael McLane. … read more
Local Reviews: Elizabethan Report
When I first hunted down Elizabethan Report on the Internet, I was impressed by the band’s uninhibited and energetic stage presence. Even when I wasn’t sure their sound was really my bag, I knew I’d have a blast at one of their shows. On their five-track EP , the mixture of fast funk, stand-up-and-jump rock and various noise-making devices (think trashcan lids and toy pianos) could have easily yielded a discordant mish-mash. … read more
Local Reviews: Herban Empire
This is the kind of music that brightens my day. Comparing things to Sublime is shitty, I know, but here I can’t help it–the down to earth, feel-good vibe and even Andrew Cole’s vocals smack of Bradley and the crew. … read more
Local Reviews: Blackhounds
These days you gotta be specific. Is it alt-rock? Indie rock? Jam rock? No? How about Goth rock? Post punk? Post tech? Techno punk? Stop the list, I’m getting dizzy. There is a true plethora of sub-genres in today’s musical landscape. It’s exhausting, which is what makes reviewing this band such a pleasure. … read more
Maguey Makes its Way: Wahaka Mezcal’s Journey Through the DABC
Mezcal is a spirit made from varieties of the agave plant—it’s basically tequila’s cooler older brother. Libation’s Francis Fecteau brokered with the DABC to get Wahaka Mezcal’s joven mezcal onto DABC shelves on a consistent basis for everyday consumers. … read more
FUZE: Craft Lake City DIY Engineer
When Kristy Sevy’s eldest daughter took an interest in all things STEM, Sevy tried to find learning products that would enable her to engage her daughter in the subjects she loves. Sevy and her brother, Kyle Muir, decided that they would do something about this lack of approachable electronics education platforms for children. … read more
Spirited Practice: Craft Lake City DIY Engineer
Jacqueline Morasco will concoct products for the home out of ingredients you’ll recognize. Everyday items such as vinegar, fruits, flowers, herbs, beeswax and baking soda become bathroom cleaner, goo be gone, salt scrub, lip balm and more. … read more
Momentum Recycling: Making Up For Lost Glass
Momentum Recycling opened its doors eight years ago with the goal of providing local businesses with the same recycling services that are available at home. … read more
Bonneville Bottles of Beer on the Wall! Hoppers Bottles of...
Brewmasters Dave Watson of Tooele’s Bonneville Brewery and and Donovan Steele of Midvale’s Hoppers Grill & Brewing Co. may have flown under some of our radars in the past, but both brewpubs are about to take a big step toward wider exposure for their award-winning suds. … read more
Salt Lake & the Seven Creeks: Seven Canyons Trust
For Seven Canyons Trust, one positive impact comes from a process called daylighting. Daylighting means bringing our city’s seven creeks back to the surface and integrating them into the urban environment in a variety of beneficial ways. … read more
Review: Bloodborne
The spiritual successor to Demon’s Souls and the Dark Souls games, Bloodborne will spit in your face and dare you to do something about it. At this point, you’ve probably either enjoyed the From Software games or you think they’re too goddamn hard to bother with, but Bloodborne is the game that can bridge that gap. … read more
Review: Last Word
At first blush, the quaint little Flash JRPG-like Last Word appeared to be a love letter to witty banter, an homage to the type of conversations Jane Austen characters engage in, and that got me pretty excited. … read more
Review: Mortal Kombat X
In Injustice: Gods Among Us, the long, convoluted, super-serious campaign story was a welcome change to the fighting game campaigns of old. The DC characters therein are complex and storied enough to warrant such thorough exposition. The same cannot be said for the Mortal Kombat canon. I’m sorry, but Johnny Cage’s post-divorce familial tensions are a terrible plot device. … read more
Review: Tower of Guns
Enter Tower of Guns, a nostalgia bomb for the Unreal/Quake generation, complete with all the aged gameplay mechanics of yore. … read more
A Touch of Class: Blackhouse Vapor Company Arrives on the...
Blackhouse Vapor Company opened in Sugar House about three months ago, right around the corner from Trolley Wing Co. Owners Holly and Mike Berry were inspired to create a different kind of vapor store, envisioning a business that would be “not a vape shop,” says Mike, like so many others, “but a vapor-lifestyle shop.” … read more
Review: Poly Bridge
Poly Bridge is a physics-based, bridge building simulation game. This means it’s the PC equivalent of the classic teamwork exercise your middle school teachers put you through—the one where your team had a pile of hard little marshmallows and a bunch of toothpicks and you had to make a better tower or structure than the other teams in the class. … read more
Review: Race the Sun
Race the Sun was one of the PSN free games for May, and easily one of my favorite PSN free games to date. … read more
Review: Nobunaga’s Ambition: Sphere of Influence
Sphere of Influence … read more
Review: Samurai Warriors 4-II
The most fun I had with Samurai Warriors 4-II came in the survival mode, which pares down the gameplay experience into something that felt much more accessible. … read more
Review: Minecraft – Story Mode
My biggest and most loved Minecraft seed is that it is an apocalyptic wasteland. … read more
People Watching 2.0: People Listening
People watching may be my favorite part of Salt Lake Comic Con. … read more
From the Desk of an Idiot: 6 Things I Should’ve...
1. Wear some good walking shoes, dummy. … read more
Privilege Check!
Privilege Check! -A white guy searches for value in the Women of Marvel panel- The Women of Marvel panel at this year’s Salt Lake Comic Con aimed to, and I quote, “discuss the women of Marvel and what it means for their future.” Nevermind finding a referent for that “it,” there isn’t one in the
Review: Nobunga’s Ambition: Sphere of Influence
Nobunaga’s Ambition: Sphere of Influence Tecmo KOEI Reviewed on: PS4 Also on: PC Street: 09.04 Sphere of Influence is one of the most complicated video games I have ever played. Now, I’m not exactly well versed in the world of simulation/strategy games—second place on my most complicated list is probably the 360 game Civilization Revolution—but
Review: Abyss Odyssey: Extended Dream Edition
Abyss Odyssey wants to play like The Binding of Isaac, but it doesn’t have the variety to keep you coming back for another run—not by a long shot. … read more
Review: Tembo the Badass Elephant
Tembo the Badass Elephant is a side-scrolling platformer in which you play as the titular Rambo-themed pachyderm. Tembo dashes and brawls his way through the invading Phantom Army, collecting peanuts, accruing points for enemy destruction, putting out fires and rescuing hostages. … read more
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Animation Block
10 animated shorts from all around the world were featured as part of Slamdance’s 2010 Animation Block. … read more
$99 Specials
To produce a film for no more than $99 in 99 days or less is damn hard. It’s the kind of thing you just can’t do for any reason other than the love. … read more
Blood From a Stone – Review
“Justice rides shotgun, ‘cus that bitch is blind.” -Sean Sharpstone, Ironic Action Hero … read more
Gallery Shorts Block 6
From an Asian youth’s self-hatred to a totalitarian sitcom to an Iranian Farmer’s new television – reviews of another entirely original block of Slamdance short films … read more
Junko’s Shamisen – Review
Screening with The Wild Hunt, the short film Junko’s Shamisen is a wonderfully animated piece of amalgamated storytelling. … read more
Mamachas del Ring – Review
A portrait of Carmen Rosa the Champion–a colorful female professional wrestler in the male-dominated world of Bolivian wrestling … read more
Point of Entry – Review
A poignant yet modest look at the lives of a family split across the Mexican/American border. … read more
The Wild Hunt – Review
A Modern Medieval Saga–an impressive cinematic escape. … read more
Tony : London Serial Killer – Review
While never amazing, Tony is a solid, eerie, and very well acted film. Definitely recommended for fans of the serial killer genre. … read more
One Hundred Mornings – Review
Although the pacing is slow, this film is a thoughtful meditation on human nature and the nature of morality in the absence of society. An intelligent, well-crafted narrative. … read more
Shorts Block 2 – Review
Shorts Block 2 Vapid Lovelies Directed by Frank Feldman Gaysploitation (though not exactly a real word)seems appropriate vocabulary here. I’ve never been especially tickled by brazenly gay humor, Birdcage being one exception, but Salt Lake’s own fashionistas Chris Lemon and David Luna had the audience, including myself, in absolute stitches. What started as a short
Animation Block – Review
Animation Block Trepan Hole Directed by Andy Cahill Trepanning is the dubious medical practice of boring a hole in your head to treat various ailments, in case you were wondering. Trepan Hole is a trippy little claymation adventure that feels much like the work of Adam Jones in TOOL’s music videos. The little humanoid characters
LOWbASIC – Review
Screening in Gallery Shorts Block 3, LOWbASIC is a unique short by Director Frank Rinaldi, winner of 2009’s Slamdance Grand Jury Award for Best Experimental Film … read more
I Am Comic – Review
I Am Comic delivers big laughs and a glimpse into the world of a professional comedian … read more
Play! A Video Game Symphony
Play! is a concert series that combines the host city’s orchestra with a production company, music director and conductors who travel from venue to venue, performing music from popular video games. The music, naturally, was brilliant. I bought the CD, and I almost got the T-shirt but I crumbled under my nerd shame before managing to. … read more
An October Evening
What would you name an event that’s equal parts fashion show, mini-film-fest, live music, dance performance, magic act and photography slideshow (and takes place inside the Masonic Temple)? I’d call it something splendiferous – something that’d infuse people with the excitement of getting six shows for the price of one. I’d call it the “All Hallows Art Orgy” or maybe “It came from inside the Masonic Temple!!!” … read more
She Was My Brother
She Was My Brother is a mostly-fictional account of a love triangle between a “third gendered” Native American of the Zuni tribe and two Caucasian ethnologists studying the Zunis. See, American natives had this whole ‘acceptance and equality for alternative genders and sexualities’ thing pinned down centuries before our “civilized” culture even deemed it lawful to broach a discussion on such a topic. … read more
An Evening in Canterbury
Held at the Murray Theatre, An Evening in Canterbury combined an authentic 14th century seven course meal with amateur theatre and abundant cosplay. We were in the minority, with most folks decked out in bright felt renditions of Middle English Garb. The alcohol-free event consisted of four of Chaucer’s tales narrated by actors milling through the audience, while up on stage the rest of the cast performed a rough pantomime of the events. … read more
Shorts Block 1
Ah, the shorts blocks. The true pith of any indie film festival. If you want to see the raw kernel of passion that’s supposed to be the whole reason for these festivals in the first place, the shorts blocks are where you want to be. Also, if a movie so happens to really suck a nut, its runtime’s about fifteen minutes, so you can probably sit through it. … read more
Shorts Block 2
Another four-course meal of indie cinema – dig in! … read more
Silver Tongues
Two lovers on the method-acting road trip from hell! – A smart, savage film. … read more
The Beast Pageant
I’d want to get away from it all too, if my life consisted of feeding pills to dead fish for a living… … read more
Snow On Tha Bluff
Forget Omar and Stringer Bell – there’s a new gangsta in town. … read more
Modern Imbecile’s Planet World
A hit-and-miss comedy that misses hard but hits harder. … read more
Matthew Ivan Bennett and Mesa Verde
On February 24, Plan-B, in its permanent home at the beautiful Rose Wagner Theater, will present the world premier of MESA VERDE, a new play by Matthew Ivan Bennett. Disney on Ice this was not. In fact, it was probably the most unique subject matter I’ve seen explored on stage—and a well-acted, emotional powerhouse to boot. Such is Plan-B’s legacy. … read more
Plan-B Theatre: Borderlands
If you’ve never seen a Plan-B production there are a few things you should know about Borderlands. No one gets shot. No one sings any songs. There’s not really a hero and there’s certainly not a villain. In fact, Borderlands’ cast of four Provoans mostly sit around a used car lot and talk about themselves and their shitty problems. Sound like a good time? Well it is—it really is. … read more
A Delicate Balance: Exigent Records Finds its Groove
Colby Houghton, father of two and T-Mobile employee by day, is no stranger to the business behind owning a record label. Colby’s brainchild, Exigent Records, has seen substantial national success with GAZA, Loom, Prize Country and a gamut of successful and up-and-coming regional bands. … read more
SLUG vs Slug: An Atmosphere Interview
In the land of indie hip-hop, Slug and Ant are kings. Minneapolis’ homegrown rap group Atmosphere is two men: Slug’s the voice and Ant’s the noise. … read more
Smoke That Shit: A Hookah How-To with Aztec Highway
Aztec’s resident hookah expert Santino Novasio is here to spread the love with some pro tips for all the Salt Lake hookah lovers and future enthusiasts. … read more
Craft Lake City Artist: Claire Taylor
Claire Taylor has an abiding love for animals. Wolves, lambs, pigs—subtly anthropomorphized beasts are her adopted symbols. … read more
Geek 2.0
Roger Altizer has a job that’s so cool you probably haven’t even thought to wish for it. While pursuing his PhD at the U of U, Altizer has proposed and implemented the University’s first gaming classes. That’s right, this enviable fella is actually a professor of video games. … read more
Herc
For a moment, walking into Herc’s home is like walking into anyone’s home, until you empty out into Herc’s Living Room, and the scene changes from cozy to state-of-the-art. Although Herc’s high-end set up spans four rooms of his abode, the comfy furniture, carpeted spaces and secluded backyard garden keep the house that doubles as a recording studio feeling like a home. … read more
Video Game Reviews – November 2009
Video Game reviews this month include Halo 3: ODST, Need For Speed: Shift, Scribblenauts, Wet and Zombie Apocalypse. Nerd out. … read more
Localized: Bluebird Radio, Libbie Linton and Indian Headset – May...
May’s Localized is going down Friday the 21. Come for the urgent, electric indie rock of Bluebird Radio, and stay for the eloquent vocals and somehow heartening melancholy of singer/songwriter Libbie Linton. Indian Headset opens. Five bucks at the door. … read more
Uinta: Straight-Up Crooked
Releasing thoroughly unique, high alcohol craft brews in big, celebration-style bottles, Uinta Brewing Co. has gone to great lengths for their labor of love: a new line of beers dubbed The Crooked Line. When it comes to brewing the delicious cornucopia of mass-produced Utah beers, consistency is paramount. But with a Crooked beer, bending the rules is more acceptable, and creativity takes center stage. The Crooked line will be, quite literally, the biggest and strongest beer ever produced in our fair state. … read more
CLC Artist: Andy Chase
Hailing from the greater Ogden area, Andy Chase is a Craft Lake City veteran. Chase’s paintings, silkscreened and lino-cut prints and pillows will be available at this year’s CLC from $15 up. Like many prolific crafters, Chase’s “hobby” is fed by a serious love for the process. “It’s a need I have—an outlet.” she says, “If I don’t create for a while, I feel like I need to release the creative tension.” … read more
Serious Entertainment: Plan-B Celebrates 20 Years of Socially Conscious Theatre
This city is lucky to be the home of Plan-B Theatre Company. 2011 marks Plan-B’s twentieth year of socially conscious theatre, and this season’s plays can be experienced beginning in October through November of this year, and continuing in February through May of next year, at the beautiful Rose Wagner Theatre downtown. Two decades of producing intimate, progressive theatre is hardly an accomplishment to be taken lightly, and at times Plan-B has had to fight tooth and nail. … read more
It’s Just a Jump to the Left: Doing the Time...
The Rocky Horror Picture Show shadow cast performance at the Tower Theatre is a Halloween mainstay that Salt Lake’s own Latter-Day Transvestites have been bringing us since 1995. A dozen crew members and a cast of nine (plus five or so extra trannies for good measure) regale the audience with their own semi-slapdash rendition of the cult musical while the movie itself plays on the screen behind them. … read more
Top 5 Video Games – 2010
As much as I try, I can’t play everything. So if you can’t find Super Scribblenauts or Starcraft II or the latest WoW expansion on this list, it is not a reflection of their merit, so much as an indication that I am but one nerd with finite resources. Don’t be hatin’ … read more
Giving You the Business: A Look at Growth Within Utah’s...
As the national economy swings dangerously above a pit of crocodiles on a rickety rope bridge, the craft beer industry is up ahead, bushwhacking its way forward. You will not find Salt Lake’s craft beer fanciers catching a self-loathing buzz in an alleyway after spending their last three bucks on a Pfeifferhorn Lager from Epic Brewing Company. These well-made beers aren’t popular because they take the edge off your shitty life—they’re popular because they’re well-made to begin with. … read more