Event: Big West Championships

I have always loved Halloween and nothing gets me in the spooky spirit more than Halloween treats.

I had it all worked out. I’d be sitting around in class earning some knowledge and I’d spot a beautiful girl reading my column, laughing out loud despite herself. She can’t help it; I’m funny.

Originally, I wanted to use this week’s column to better clarify my personal politics. As a feminist who discovered herself on the Internet, I don’t think the mainstream media (read: print media) represents feminist issues accurately, or as often as they should. My plan was to cap off last week’s column with something a little closer to home, to give a better idea of how I see the world.

Last week I wrote about why illegal downloading is understandable, at least in certain cases. I don’t recommend it, but hey, I’m not going to judge you if you do.

Halloween ’07: the night of the drunken bumblebee fight. No, there was no bitch-slapping and we didn’t end up making out. I just didn’t think she was qualified to tell me to shut up. On Halloween ’08, my friend – the Greek goddess – prevented me from macking on a freshman dressed as Santa Claus who probably had DC swipes. She then danced with Obama, resulting in brown body paint on her white dress. Only Halloween allows you to use sentences like that.

This past Saturday night in Davis, most students were enjoying themselves at the bars, searching for a party or perhaps studying for midterms. I, however, was standing in the middle of the Davis Cemetery with four friends and one lantern. Yes, it was actually a lantern.

Warning – side effects of listening to Rodrigo y Gabriela’s 11:11 may include uncontrollable foot-tapping, head-bobbing and clapping. Listen at your own risk.

A challenge often confronting eccentric, visually arresting musicians is the task of transferring the spirit of frenzied and elaborate live shows onto a recorded medium. And they rarely come as weird as Baltimore’s Nuclear Power Pants. The guitar-less nine piece includes two very bearded lead singers, three female backup singers, a synth player, a keytar player and a dude that jabs a mic into an amplifier.

The Blueprint 3 is supposedly an anthem to Jay-Z’s innovative mark on the music industry. Jay-Z ambitiously sets out to release an album entirely centered on the idea that it will be a template for future originality – something he took literally in some tracks with its futuristic sound.

In their debut album, I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose, UK-based band Bombay Bicycle Club combines alternative rock, experimental and blues elements with Strokes-esque rhythms and melodies to bring an enticing mix of sounds to the soi-disant indie rock genre.

For many artists, having an original work displayed proudly in a museum or gallery, gazed upon and admired by art lovers and fellow artists alike, is the ultimate dream.