Hello. How ’bout that ride in? I guess that’s why they call it Sin City. Wait, wrong opener.

On a daily basis, college students face the conundrum of balancing frugality with exorbitant and often lavish excess. We’d all love to be wise money savers to keep up with the poor student image, but in the end, a four-dollar beer really does go well with a nine-dollar meal at Burgers and Brew.

Since this is my first political column in The Aggie, I thought focusing on a relatively green political figure would make for an appropriate start. And since I want to keep things light, I thought I’d focus on newly-minted Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.), who we all know and love as a former Saturday Night Live cast member.

The soulful and gospel-like vocals make The Temper Trap unlike most indie rock bands out there today. Most distinguished for their track \

This debut album from Parachute delivers simplicity, predictability and hackneyed lyrics – but not much more.

It’s a great year for Karen O. In addition to spending roughly a year traveling to various locations around the U.S. to create the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s March release of It’s Blitz!, O recently helped provide tunes for the motion picture soundtrack, Where the Wild Things Are.

In this album, Hornet Leg captures an older, playful punk feel that I haven’t come across in a long time. The songs are mostly melodious, featuring an unrefined production factor, raw vocals and amazingly funny and creative lyrics that really make you want to thrash and groove.

Q: Is it illegal to talk on your cell phone while riding a bike? What about listening to music through headphones?

MUSIC

Executive Director Don Roth has implemented a creative goal for the UC Davis’ Mondavi Center by moving towards an artistic, educational and operational vision for the past three years. Muse interviewed him on Tuesday.

TODAY

On Monday, rain poured down, pelting the ground and blanketing the campus in a torrential wash. Most students remained indoors, and the few that didn’t trudged along feeling uncomfortably and unfortunately wet. But passing one building, with balloons of every color strewn outside its door, it was clear that UC Davis was celebrating something.