Arts & Culture

Rating: 3 John Frusciante will always be known for his work with the Red Hot Chili Peppers rather than his side career as a songwriter.His personal work,while generally impressive,is essentially just an offshoot of his work with the band,andThe Empyrean offers nothing to the contrary.

Amongstmy list of innocently bad habits (i.e.constantly cracking my knuckles,biting on straws),my worst vice has to be a combination of two others:the Internet and going on random tangents. So when you’re leading an Internet-less lifestyle at home like I’ve been doing for the past month,it’s easy to devote an awful amount of time normally spent on web browsing (read:Facebook and online shopping) thinking instead about useless things,such as which ofmy friends would make the best “Chain Reaction“ teammates or what country I would visit if I were Anthony Bourdain.

Liberal arts professors tend to appear quite busy as they sprint across campus from staff meeting to staff meeting,their bags overflowing with academic journals and used notepaper.Always curious about on-campus happenings,MUSE set out to discover what exactly these busybody professors were really up to.The answer for three hard-working professors was simple enough – writing.

Revolutionary Road is essentially a reworking of1998‘sThe Truman Show,instead using themes of abstract (rather than literal) confinement. The film’s lack of linear plot renders it rather difficult to describe.It spends very little time with back-story,instead choosing to jump directly into what might be termed the conflict.This permeates every part of the film,never allowing the characters or the audience a chance to catch their breath.

Advertisements on billboards,text in album sleeves and letterforms on book covers – the art of typography may be taken for granted,but artist and designer Simon Johnston has made quite a name for himself in the field. In the exhibit “subject/verb/object,” which is currently on display at the Design Museum in Everson Hall,Johnston explores the nature of visual language and the relationship between visual aids and their semantic roles.An artist talk and reception featuring Johnston will be held tonight at6:30in Everson Hall.

Even the most casual gamer has heard of,played or avoided World of Warcraft – a game increasingly notorious for anecdotal stories of fun and horror as more and more players log on. In a speech early last December,former Federal Communications Commission commissioner Deborah Tate said that addiction to online games like World of Warcraft is one of the leading causes of college dropouts across the United States.

The Favorite BIcon Movie Night,a part of the Lesbian,Gay,Bisexual and Transgender ResourceCenter’s “Beyond the Binary” Week,is a chance to gather with friends and fellow students to eat cupcakes and watch an award-winning film that deals with bisexual issues.

Sure,it may be the oft-picked on butt of many jokes,but I have to say that I’ve always found Canada strangely endearing.Loonies & toonies,universal health care,sexy foreign accents – really,how could I not have a crush on our northerly neighbor? So when I heard that Canada was making a mixtape for President Barack Obama entitled “49Songs from North of the49th Parallel,“ I could hardly contain myself in the cutesy preciousness.I cooed,I giggled,I died in an explosion of bunnies and rainbows and lollipops and Hello Kitty.

090122_ar_videogamereview.cSummary:Headline: Game review: Prince of Persia Layercake: A simpler prince than you once knewBy SHANE PARKAggie Arts Writer The new Prince of Persia (released in December 2008) is actually the fourth and most visually stunning series released by Ubisoft. It has nothing really to do with Persia, and it has nothing to do with the […]

Formed in the summer of1982in Olympia,Wash.by Calvin Johnson,K Records still embodies much of what it did when it began nearly30years ago as an independent label dedicated to releasing underground artists from the Northwestern and Midwestern U.S.The bands on K Records – like underground music itself – are difficult to categorize and diverse in their sounds.

MUSIC Connecticut,His Name Shall Breathe,The Squealers Today,7:30p.m. Sam’s Haus Oregon-based bands His Name Shall Breathe and The Squealers are just a couple of pieces of evidence that2008may have been the year for Portland,but what about Connecticut – erm,I mean,Sacramento? Tim Callahan is the main creative force behind Connecticut,whose ambient dream pop recalls that of acts like Caribou with the melancholy touch of Elliot Smith.

This weekend,the UC Davis music department will celebrate a staple instrument:The flute. The UC Davis Flute Festival starts today atnoon at115Music.Performances will continue Friday and Saturday at7p.m.at the Studio Theatre Cabaret.Tickets are$18general admission and$9with a student ID.Featuringprominent musicians of the flute world,the festival will also offerworkshops for students interested in flutes and musical performance.