Arts & Culture

Revolutionary Road is essentially a reworking of 1998's The 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 at 6:30 in 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 Resource Center'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 "49 Songs from North of the 49th 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.

Formed in the summer of 1982 in Olympia, Wash. by Calvin Johnson, K Records still embodies much of what it did when it began nearly 30 years 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, 7:30 p.m.

Sam's Haus

Oregon-based bands His Name Shall Breathe and The Squealers are just a couple of pieces of evidence that 2008 may 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 at noon at 115 Music. Performances will continue Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Studio Theatre Cabaret. Tickets are $18 general admission and $9 with a student ID. Featuring prominent musicians of the flute world, the festival will also offer workshops for students interested in flutes and musical performance.

If you're looking for a great action comedy, look no further than "24." The series, told in real-time, features Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), a practically invincible secret agent who can kill 10 men in about five seconds, disarm nuclear devices and even kidnap heads of state.

MUSIC

Far, Automatic Static, By Sunlight

Thursday, 7:30 p.m., $15

Empire Events Center in Sacramento

A brief look into the history of Sactown band Far: The band's been around since 1992, they managed to escape the formulas of the "butthead-rock" genre popularized by Limp Bizkit in 1998 and they split in 1999. Ten years later, Far is back - most notably with their cover of Ginuwine's hit R&B song "Pony."

Last week, UC Davis students lined up to audition for one of the world's most renowned contemporary dance choreographers. John Jasperse is the winter quarter UC Davis Granada Artist-in-Residence. He has been choreographer/artistic director of the John Jasperse Company New York for the last 3 decades and has received numerous grants, fellowships and awards, including a New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" Award.

Artist: Andrew Bird

Album: Noble Beast

Label: Fat Possum Records

Rating: 5

It should be no news to you that we're in a state of economic crisis, so I won't elaborate any further.

I will say, however, is that such times have really put my life into a whole new perspective. A poor college student's diet has helped me shed the baby fat, rising gas prices have helped me "go green" and my fashion choices as a "recessionista" (read: Consignment/thrift store shopping) have changed my wardrobe for the better.

Rating: 2/5

Defiance's plot is simple: Three brothers lead a group of Jewish people out of rural Belarus and into the forest in order to save them from sure death by German Nazis. On paper, it has all the makings of a well-rounded, convincing film: It's set during World War II, its protagonists are Jewish rebels struggling to survive and it includes the star power of Daniel Craig to push it forward. On film, however, Defiance falls flat.