Arts & Culture

When UC Davis fall quarter Granada Artist in Residence Lucy Gough sits down at the Black Bear Diner, she says she is ready for a hearty meal: turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes. “Is it really?” she asks, after learning that this is traditional Thanksgiving food. Hailing from Wales, Gough has only been in Davis – and the United States for that matter – for a month. When UC Davis fall quarter Granada Artist in Residence Lucy Gough sits down at the Black Bear Diner, she says she is ready for a hearty meal: turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes. “Is it really?” she asks, after learning that this is traditional Thanksgiving food. Hailing from Wales, Gough has only been in Davis – and the United States for that matter – for a month.

Thanks to the versatility, energy and spot-on acting by star Bella Merlin, Tilly No-Body: Catastrophes of Love, presented by the theater and dance departments, is truly spectacular.

For a community that puts a large emphasis on doing its part in reducing carbon emissions and furthering a green lifestyle, Davis will host an environmentally-conscious event that hopes to raise funds for ecological conservation.

THIS WEEK IN DAVIS: Tilly No-Body: Catastrophes of Love (Mondavi Center, Vanderhoef Studio Theater), Tonight to Saturday and Wednesday, 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., $15; Garrett Pierce and Timothy James Wright (Delta of Venus, 122 B St.), Friday, 8 p.m., free; Readings by Creative Writing Faculty (UC Davis Arboretum, Wyatt Deck), Tonight, 7 p.m., free.

Bruno Mars’ debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, is anything but conventional. The rookie took on his musical endeavor seriously, and proved what talent actually sounds like.

Initially, Infinite Definitive sounds like it could be heard on a movie during the opening credits, or a running or happy scene. The harmony is a little repetitive at first, but the songs grow on you. The songs are cheery, positive and uplifting in sound and Keith Lynch’s seasoned voice adds to the flavor. It’s good enough to hear in a serious movie and calm enough to fall asleep to.

With some notably heavier guitar riffs and spastic beats, Floater takes a different direction than most bands that reign in the mellow indie-rock scene of Portland, Oregon. Wake is definitely a rock-inspired album.

Prior to last Saturday at 8 p.m., I was an opera virgin.

Pictures of derelicts, vagabonds and punks run amok in the Richard L. Nelson Gallery exhibit “Wonderers.” Guest curated by Matthias Geiger, the show features seven different photographers as they capture the roving, wandering and uprooted existence that many are living to this day.

On Oct. 2, KDVS 90.3 FM presented the 10th installment of the Operation: Restore Maximum Freedom Festival at Plainfield Station in Woodland.

Proudly displayed on Brooklyn-based hip-hop/punk band Shinobi Ninja’s MySpace is this excerpt from a review by Radio Exile’s Dan Berkman:

From tonight to Oct. 24, the Department of Theatre & Dance, in collaboration with Sideshow Physical Theatre, presents a brand new play entitled Tilly No-Body: Catastrophes of Love at the Mondavi Center’s Vanderhoef Studio Theater. Tickets are $15 for students.