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Davis, California

Friday, December 20, 2024

Arts & Culture

Shakespeare through the director’s lens

Every quarter, the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts chooses a new theme for their "Focus on Film" series. Upcoming themes for this year include cases of mistaken identity in Alfred Hitchcock movies and movies that inspired the work of director Paul Haggis. This fall's theme is "Shakespeare in the Cinema."

Breaking cultural barriers through comedy

Undergoing stressful audition processes, dealing with intense criticism left and right - breaking into the entertainment industry is hard enough. Imagine having to overcome problems of misrepresentation and underrepresentation to boot.

THIRDeYE blind

Undergraduate students have the potential to do great things. This year's THIRDeYE Theatre Festival, entirely put on by undergraduates, is not one of those great things.

The first play of the festival, The Readers by Joe Ferreira, threw together important plot elements at the very beginning. The mysterious silhouetted paper passers, the barking dog and the franticly cleaning artist started the show off, dare I say, dramatically.

30 Chairs in 30 Days

While some students saw last summer as a break from work, Jason Dunne saw an opportunity. The junior art studio major embarked on a project - to create 30 chairs in 30 consecutive days.

Dunne challenged himself with certain guidelines for the project, such as only using recycled or found material and not using any parts that were previously on a chair. The final display, which will be presented at the Basement Gallery (located in the basement of the art building) from Nov. 10 to 15, is a collection of 30 unique chairs.

Arts Week

MUSIC

Mylo Jenkins, Brethren, Brethren & the Brethren

Today, 9:30 p.m., $5

Primary Concepts at 219 E Street

Santa Cruz band Mylo Jenkins makes the kind of down-home rootsy indie-folk that reminds me of my childhood days sippin' lemonade out on my front-porch. OK, so I may be embellishing a bit - truth be told, the apartment I grew up in San Jose didn't have a porch to host impromptu folk jam sessions - but the idea is nice, no?

A spotlight on contemporary Chinese cinema

As the third largest film industry in the world, Chinese cinema is getting some much-deserved attention in the city of Davis.

The 2008 Asia Pacific Film Festival opens today and runs until Sunday. The event is free. A short presentation will accompany each screening, and a public symposium titled "Understanding Chinese Cinema: Gender, Modernity, Identity" will be held on Friday at 1:30 p.m. at Olson 6.

CD Review: Microcastle/Weird Era

Atlanta rock band Deerhunter is defined by two simple characteristics - teenage angst and sexual exploration. The latter I got from a sticker on the album that described their sound as "a distrubing plea for erotic asphyxiation." Um … is that supposed to make me want to buy the album?

CD Review: There’ll Be Diamonds

There'll Be Diamonds by Portland-based band Super XX Man is the kind of album that should accompany a long-distance road trip. The effortless transitions between tracks make it an easy listen from beginning to end.

Variations on a Theme

The brilliance of the Internet (besides self-promotion and e-endorsing presidential candidates - I like to think all those Obama pins I sent out on Facebook did some good for his campaign) lies in its ability to make even the most boring day seem exciting, or at least marginally interesting enough to care about. Why else would people create blogs that chronicle their lives or to follow things like random street fashion?

Mraz, Hannigan deliver strong performances at Freeborn

Much like a romantic comedy - you know, that old standby you rely on to give you the warm fuzzies when you're feeling down - Jason Mraz did what he does best as he took the stage in Freeborn Hall on Nov. 3: deliver feel-good pop tunes.

A Written Reward

Despite late night hours, research and writer's block, the time and effort poured into class papers and assignments is not always in vain.

The University Writing Program's 20th annual Prized Writing Student Authors Event will present three winners from its 2007-2008 competition. The free event will be held today in 126 Voorhies at 4:30 p.m.

THIRDeYE Theatre Festival puts student talent on center stage

The annual UC Davis theatre and dance department THIRDeYE Theatre Festival returns this year with three new plays written, directed, produced and performed by undergraduate students. This year's selected plays are The Readers by Joe Ferreira, When Marcelli Met the Dream Maker by Carolyn Duncan and A Piece of Water by Julie Friedrichsen.

A sunny musical forecast

In a world where irony and self-deprecation have become the norm for all things cool, singer-songwriter Jason Mraz has maintained his sunny position in the music industry.

Mraz will perform tonight at 7:30 in Freeborn Hall. Opening for Mraz is Irish singer Lisa Hannigan. Tickets to the show are sold out.

From his first album Waiting for My Rocket to Come to his latest release We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things., Mraz has carved a niche for himself with his signature upbeat tunes.

Artsweek

MUSIC

Thin Air Trio with Margriet Naber Tchicai

Today, 7:30 p.m.

Delta of Venus

Feeling a bit anti-brocial lately? Good food and some live jazz from Thin Air Trio and pianist Margriet Naber Tchicai should do the trick. Problem solved.

Variations on a Theme

I don't know about you guys, but Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. Beautiful autumn weather, carving pumpkins, scary movie marathons, all the candy I could ever want (I'm a big fan of Smarties and Almond Joy, FYI). Of course, the best part about the holiday is that it allows me to indulge in my wardrobe fantasies via the Halloween costume.