Arts & Culture

From an outsider’s perspective,campus events like poker tournaments and open mic night seem to effortlessly take place each quarter.But in reality,Campus Unions program coordinator Lexer Chou is the woman behind the scenes,planning and orchestrating each event brought to the UC Davis campus.

Rating:5 Slumdog Millionaire doesn’t just “have heart,” as some people say; this movie runs on heart.Heart is all it knows,its entire raison d’être,its focus and emphasis at the same time. It’s a classic story with enough creativity to avoid feeling stale.The plot follows Jamal Malik through his childhood in the abject poverty of Bombay slums,eventually leading to his fateful appearance on India’s version of the game show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” and his attempts to reconnect with the girl he loves.

Entertainment Council The Entertainment Council has a number of events planned for the quarter.The first music event of the year will bring pop-punk bands Limbeck and Push Push Pull to the ASUCD Coffee House next Wednesday at7:30p.m.Other events such as Singles Awareness Night and the Coexist Comedy Tour are planned for February.The EC is also sponsoring the annual International Film Week in March,and is presenting a screening ofChoke next Monday at8p.m.in123Science Lecture Hall.

Best Album Weezer, The Red Album – Julia McCandless   Why?, Alopecia – Zack Frederick   Lykke Li, Youth Novels – Rachel Filipinas   Kings of Leon, Only By the Night – Laura Kroeger   Nine Inch Nails, The Slip – Justin T. Ho     Worst Song “Low” by Flo Rida ft. T-Pain The […]

ur Davis apartments and dorm rooms are not immune to invasions of various non-human creatures. So why do we hate them so much? Artist Catherine Chalmers will explore humans’ hatred of such creatures with the lecture “Sex, Food Chains and Cockroaches” tonight at 6:30 in Wyatt Pavilion Theater.

Fans of “The Simpsons” and Shakespeare alike will have an opportunity to rejoice next week as the theatrical mash-upMacHomer makes a stop in the Mondavi Center on Dec.11.The one-man show,which was created by Rick Miller in the summer of2004,replaces the original characters of Shakespeare’sMacbeth with characters from the popular cartoon “The Simpsons.“ Miller,who has performed the show for over500,000people in the last13years,said the idea came to him as a result of too much idle time backstage during a touring production ofMacbeth.

MUSIC Standard Tribesmen, Harlem, Fatty Acid Today, 8 p.m., $5 Funcastle in Sacramento Maybe you think you’ve already heard enough garage-pop throwbacks, but the Texas-based trio behind Harlem is a band worth listening to. Not quite lo-fi and with the right amount of sloppiness, Harlem sheds some catchy and jangly light on lyrical subjects like […]

Being that the scheduling gods just aren’t on my side (two finals and two papers all on Tuesday are just the beginning of my suffering) combined with the fact that stuffy noses and horrible headaches have recently become my new best friends,I can confidently say that I’m very ready for the upcoming break.

It’sDec.12– finals are done,fallquarter’s notes are either filed or trashed and you’ve probably forgotten most of the quarter already.But if you’re not going home,you’re in for a longwinterof Davis cheer (i.e.you’re probably stuck alone in an empty apartment).For all of those staying in Davis over the break,here’s an exciting and provocative list of localwinter activities to keep you busy throughout the break.

The Hebrew Hammer(2003) Christmas movies tend to grab the attention of almost every media outlet during the holiday season,so it’s always nice to see some diversity on the regular cable channels.If you haven’t seen this2003holiday classic on Comedy Central already,it’s bound to be on eventually.Starring Adam Goldberg,Judy Greer and Andy Dick,the film follows a former Israel Defense Forces captain as he becomes a pimped out Orthodox Jewish badass on a mission to save Hannukah.With frequent mentions of circumcision and character names like Esther Bloomenbergensteinenthal,stereotypes obviously run rampant.

“Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis” by Tom Waits So there aren’t a lot of hookers in Davis.But that’s okay,I can still identify with this song; it’s not like Tom Waits actually gets Christmas cards from hookers either – on second thought,maybe he does.With the song’s sleazy piano and Waits‘ distinctive smokers‘ croon,this might be just the kind of slow burning love song even someone as potentially jaded as a hooker can fall in love with.Besides,when you’re strutting your stuff up and down the cold streets of Davis this weekend – in fishnet stockings and high heels – you just might feel a little like a lady of the night.In that case,Tom Waits and I have you covered.You can thank me later.I recommend a card.

For improv artists performing in front of an audience,their every word and move is open to scrutiny.But despite the public nature of their art,the innards of improv subculture are largely hidden.Until now. On one end of the spectrum of improv actors is Mike Lane,a senior international relations and history major and director of Birdstrike Theatre.The acting troupe has grown every year since its inception in2005,though Lane has grander plans that may cause friction with anti-establishmentarian fans.