#Tooreal.

Actor Jason Segel – best-known for his portrayal of Marshall Eriksen in the hit television show How I Met Your Mother - has been spotted in and around Harvard Square since Wednesday evening.

Segel was allegedly seen imbibing alone at Grendel’s on February 1.

Today, this shot of the actor was taken in the Yard:

(Photo credit: Casey Thomson '13.)

Segel is in town to accept his honor as the Hasty Pudding Man of the Year on February 3.

And the countdown to fangirl it up starts…NOW.

I’m a male graduating senior, girlfriendless, and freaking out that after Harvard, the dating pool is gonna shrink faster than a water balloon thrown at a bed of nails. Now, the clever bit: I am only really interested in Harvard girls — and maybe actresses but that’s another story — picky and vain, but it’s who I am. I’m running out of time and all the hot girls have boyfriends! Can you give me hope?

I can indeed, T.B.

First, you needn’t worry too much: there is indeed an after-college dating world, and it is awesome. It seems scary because there won’t be so many single women your age all living within the same square mile you do, but it’s really not any harder to meet them.

Another thing playing in your favor: as men continue to mature emotionally through their 20s and beyond, they tend to become more desirable – this is because personality tends to affect women’s attraction to men more than vice versa. Since you’re so particular about your tastes in women, that will help you as you get older.

You’re right in your observation that the most desirable girls tend to have boyfriends, but clearly not all of them do, although those that are single tend not to stay single long. But as Randy Munroe helpfully articulated, you have more time — a lot more time — than you think.

Of course, meeting the girl you want can be a challenge: most environments where single women might go for the purpose of meeting men will have a lot of single men competing for them (e.g., bars). And in such environments where singles are actively mixing with other singles, the most in-demand ones are more likely to be defensive. So looking in environments like that can actually be quite counterproductive.

Instead, I recommend you look for an environment where you have little or no competition – the idea being, if you’re the only (or clearly the most desirable) single guy in the place, it doesn’t matter if many of the women aren’t single, or if some of those that are single aren’t the type you’re looking for, because when you have no competition you can approach only the ones you’re interested in. You get first pick.

So, where are these places? It’s interesting you should mention actresses specifically, because theater is my go-to example for this: of those involved in student theater, girls usually outnumber guys, and a disproportionate number of the guys are usually gay, which makes getting involved in student theater as a single straight guy a great strategy for meeting someone. Common Casting has already passed you by this semester, but you would be a welcome additional hand on shows’ load-in and strike days, which can be a great bonding experience for all involved. And even after you’ve graduated, wherever you end up, similar activities are good places to look: dance classes, art galleries, community theater, and so on. And all of those can be done for free.

I know you’re specifically fixated on Harvard girls, but if what you’re looking for in that label are brains and prestige, once you’re out and about in the real world you’ll find that Harvard doesn’t have a monopoly. If you’re still set on Harvard girls though, you should stay local and remain involved in the campus social scene.

More important than all of the above, if you’re afraid you’re running out of time you’re probably going to come off as desperate or sleazy, which usually doesn’t go over well with the ladies. If you’re less worried that you’ll eventually find the right girl, you’re more likely to meet her in the first place and make the right impression when you do.

Hope that helps! Cheers!

Special Thanks to K.V., M.G., E.W., and Alexandra Petri‘s sense of humor. Email Some Dude at somedude.harvardfml@gmail.com.

When the actress was asked during a recent event in Cambridge why she had quit Yale after only two years of enrollment, Danes facetiously replied, “I just couldn’t stand the school.” To make clear that all was in good humor, the starlet graciously backtracked, saying, “Nah, school just wasn’t for me. I had too much on my plate.”

Claire Danes, the winner of several Golden Globe and Emmy Awards for her versatile on-screen roles – from fifteen-year-old Angela Chase in My So-Called Life, to CIA agent Carrie Mathison in Homeland – was named The Hasty Pudding Theatrical’s Woman of The Year for 2012.  The actress accepted the honor on January 26 with an appearance at Harvard and participation in a cadre of raucous Hasty Pudding-themed events.

Harvard's chosen drag queens, ready to usher their Woman of The Year 2012.

Posing with the ladies.

Huge crowd along Dunster Street.

After first being paraded along Mass Ave. in an open Bentley with a couple of Harvard’s best drag queens, Danes was ushered into the New College Theatre (oh wait, Farkas Hall?) to attend The Roast of Claire Danes. The actress was called on to the stage to respond impromptu to a selection of Hasty Pudding shenanigans, two of which involved the actress competing in a dance showdown with a mock human-computer and reciting a poem about a certain feminine body part.

The roast was followed by a preview of The Hasty Pudding Theatrical’s upcoming show There Will Be Flood, as well as a Q&A and photo session with the Pudding team.

Danes’ closing thoughts about our fair institution? “I think I would have been happy to go to school here.”

Damn straight, you would have.

Danes' husband, actor Hugh Dancy, in the background

Q&A with the Hasty Pudding.

Lady Gaga’s newest endeavor, the Born This Way Foundation, is set to launch this year at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. It will be a one day event co-hosted by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and The California Endowment. The Born This Way Foundation is a non-profit group that will reach out to youths in campaigns aimed at reducing bullying and creating a more accepting and empathetic culture. Kathleen McCartney, Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, said: “We share the spirit of the Born This Way Foundation in our commitment to inspire social change, empower youth, and foster moral communities. It is an honor to host this historic event on our campus.” The event will be held on February 29th. More information can be found at the Foundation’s website.

Dearest Readers,

To sum up an eventful 2011, our Director of Photography Heidi Lim gives you a beautiful collage of pictures from some of the most defining moments for Harvard this past year.

Finally, after much eager anticipation, The Voice is proud to present our new magazine website! Bookmark it now at HVOICEMAG.COM. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

We wish you a very wonderful 2012!

The Harvard Voice.

Follow the jump for image credits.

Photo credits:

We’re pleased to announce the winners of the third biannual Harvard Theater Awards!

The Harvard Theater Awards, founded in 2010, recognize excellence in Harvard Theater. Awards are chosen at the end of each semester by a panel of volunteer judges from a variety of theatrical backgrounds. To learn more, see the Harvard Theater Awards’ website. Check ‘em out below!

Acting Awards

Best Lead Actor in a Play

Best Lead Actress in a Play

Best Lead Actor in a Musical

Best Supporting Actor in a Play

Best Supporting Actress in a Play

Best Supporting Actor in a Musical

Best Supporting Actress in a Musical

Best Stage Direction

Best Music Direction

Best Costume, Hair, or Makeup Design

Best Set Design

Best Lighting Design

Best Sound Design

Last night, a multitude of no less than 700-something Harvard undergraduates ran naked laps around the Yard in a collective state of euphoria.

Donning masks, hats, fake wings, tails, and what-have-you, participants clearly went through thoughtful preparation for this year’s Primal Scream.

“It took me about half an hour to paint it black down there,” said an anonymous participant bearing the lettering “OCCUPY THIS” across his stomach, with an arrow pointing down to his proudly painted crotch.

“This year I definitely witnessed more exposed genitalia than last year. Harvard students are getting better and better at this,” said an unnamed sophomore who has taken part in three Primal Screams, including last night’s.

Meanwhile, the Occupiers took this opportunity to rally more students’ support by giving out free hot cider and cookies to the Screamers, claiming that they “support any kind of freedom of expression, be it naked or clothed.”

Occupiers giving out free cider

The things we write on our butts

Be naked, be merry

The Harvard University Band braving the chilly night to serenade Primal Screamers. 

Made by yours truly.

Happy studying! 

Her (politically incorrect) Campus?

A few discoveries and comments:

- LOOK HOW WHITE THE BOYS ARE. Like, every single one of them. (And you criticized us for the lack of diversity in our calendar. Next to this list, it’s practically the flag-bearer of diversity in America.)

- Harvard has no representative. We’re too busy occupying Lamont to care about hot freshmen.

- We question certain choices. Really, guys, really?

Check out the full list of finalists for the online magazine’s national search for the most attractive freshman guy here.

Today, one of my House tutors held his office hours not from behind his desk, but from behind the information table at Occupy Harvard.  You know what I have to say to that?

Rock on.

The Yard’s tent city has become the subject of such hot debate over the last few weeks, but for all the wrong reasons.  I’ve heard a lot of students complain about the “inconvenience” of having to show their IDs to get into the Yard, or of having to choose an open gate because their regular route of travel has been cut off. It seems that students have pushed more of their energies into finding alternate walking routes through the Yard than into thinking about why Occupy Harvard has been constructed in the first place.

Every day in class, we as students are encouraged to ask questions, challenge conventions, and think of ways in which we can change our world. This is exactly what Occupy Harvard has aimed to do; yet, it has been received by the Harvard community in an embarrassing and rather sad manner. The Occupy movement is worldwide and has opened countless opportunities for debates, panels, speakers, and education. This is a prime opportunity to discuss the situation at hand, no matter which side of the issues you’re on.

Instead, the student body has polarized between two extremes, to the point where it seems like if you’re not with Occupy Harvard, you’re expected to hate it. I’m not shocked that this movement has made its way to Harvard, but I’m pretty surprised by how it’s been dealt with by the administration.

Faced with a tent city and a sterling reputation to uphold, Harvard locked down the Yard and then sent out an email to all students describing why it all simply had to be that way. In a place where we should be encouraged to challenge and question what’s put in front of us, I think it’s pretty embarrassing that the administration would rather put a lid on the whole issue. I won’t pretend to have all of the answers to the current Occupy Harvard situation, but here’s my short list of what I think the movement could and should have led to:

1. Discussion between administrators and protesters about the issues at hand.
2. Invitations to outspoken economists, politicians, Occupy leaders etc. to visit campus and lecture on their views.
3. Panels of prominent speakers on BOTH sides of the issues to engage students in debate about what has become a global movement.
4. Collaboration between undergraduate departments (perhaps Economics and Government?) to encourage student-run debates.