Do you want to save money? Own one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture and decorations that have character? Live in a sustainable, earth-friendly manner? Eco-friendly design and practices have become very prevalent in recent years, encouraging everyone to reuse, recycle and not waste resources.

You can start small and work your way up to bigger projects. With a conscious effort, endeavors like trying to create no garbage during the day or reusing materials in creative ways will benefit the earth and keep you from going broke. MUSE offers a couple of ways to make your life a little more green.

Earth friendly

“Eco-design has been around a long time: Our ancestors practiced eco-design as a matter of necessity,” design professor Ann Savageau said in an e-mail. “The term ‘eco-design‘ first appeared in the 1970s, but it didn’t become widespread until the last decade. Now eco-design/green design is everywhere.“

There are a number of very basic, cheap and easy ways to live a little more eco-friendly.

“[These changes] are not glamorous and seem simple, but they result in significant energy and resource savings,” Savageau said.

Some of these changes may seem old and heavily talked up, but they really can save money. Turning off lights when you leave a room, turning off the water while you brush your teeth, recycling, composting and turning down the thermostat when you’re out are all small but effective changes.

There are other practices such as buying eco-friendly textiles, bringing your own bag to the grocery store, or using LED or CFL light bulbs that are very common but valid suggestions.

Eco-chic

Almost all materials can not only be reused but also turned into something extremely unique. Eco-friendly interior design gives a whole new meaning to DIY, really challenging people’s crafty and creative sides. Broken dishes can become an elegant chandelier, bicycle tires can become arm rests and lamps and couches can be infused with new life.

The Davis Waste Removal Center on 2727 2nd St. has bulky item drop-off days a couple times each year. On these days, large items such as couches, tables, lamps and lawn furniture are accepted and can be scavenged at no charge. These types of materials can be reclaimed, refurbished, repainted and ultimately reused.

“When one runs across this derelict old table or chair, one could go get surplus materials and dress up that item, or paint it, or do something to make it work in a new life,” emeritus design professor Gyöngy Laky said.

Eco-friendly design has become a very popular and competitive field.

“It’s hot. It’s the cutting edge. It’s really what everybody’s talking about,” said Kerrie Kelly, interior designer and owner of All American Design and Furnishings, Inc.

Kelly is an example of how using reclaimed items can be both kind to the earth and very sophisticated. In the spirit of what she calls “eco-chic,” Kelly is designing furniture using recycled glass, copper and woods with beautiful flourishes that are environmentally conscious at the same time.

These forms of creative recycling use materials that would have otherwise been thrown in a landfill or sent out to the oceans.

“Plastics and things like that have chemicals in them which are very damaging to our ground water and to the soil,” Laky said. “Not only have we taken these materials and not figured out how to keep them as good resources but we’re also putting them into the landfill and damaging other natural resources we have.“

ELENA BUCKLEY can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.

After a four-year hiatus from Sacramento, the Found Footage Festival – a showcase of strange videos discovered by sifting through garage sales and thrift stores – will return to the capital city on Friday.

The collected videos will be shown at 7 and 9:30 p.m. at Movies on a Big Screen, which is located at 600 4th St. in West Sacramento. Tickets are available at the door for $10.

Created in 2005 by Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher, the showcase features some of the funniest and strangest videos that the friends have found in their long search for unwanted VHS tapes.

Prueher, who currently works for “The Colbert Report” and is a former head researcher for “The David Letterman Show,” said that the idea for a collection of found videos began when he discovered a ridiculous training video in McDonald’s where he worked during high school.

Encouraged by the McDonald’s video, Prueher began searching through garage sales and thrift stores for similar VHS tapes. Around the same time, Joe Pickett – now a contributing writer for satirical news organization The Onion – was working for a video duplication house in Minneapolis.

“Whenever somebody came in with a video that was funny and could be duplicated, Joe would make an extra copy for us,” Prueher said. “Soon we were showing the goofy videos we found to our friends in their living rooms.“

After receiving a positive response from friends, the pair arranged the first screening at a tiny performance space in the East Village in New York City, Pickett said.

“For whatever reason, these dumb videos struck a chord with people in the audience and we sold out a couple shows that summer. It took off from there,” he said in an e-mail. “We speculate it’s because the videos in our show were originally meant to be watched alone – like exercise videos, training videos, etc. Something hilarious happens when you get a group together to watch them.“

Prueher and Pickett are present at every screening acting as hosts and providing commentary and back-stories for the many clips.

“The show is basically a guided tour through our video collection. We come out on stage and explain how and where we found them and then make smart-ass remarks and observations,” Prueher said.

Many of the found videos are edited into shorter clips, Pickett said.

“Most these videos are so tedious, that we’ll just include a couple clips, and string them together in a themed montage,” he said.

One example is a “Best of Harassment” montage in which Pickett and Prueher edited 17 harassment videos intended for employee training down to only the reenactments of what employees are not supposed to do.

“We try to maintain the essence of what the video is and not manipulate or change the meaning of them,” he said. “It’s funnier if what you see is the real deal.“

As one might expect, sifting through unmarked and unwanted videos has led the friends to some unpleasant viewing experiences. The pair once found a video titled “Vaginal Surgery” and watched a bit of it, only to find that the video was exactly what one might expect – a graphic genital surgery, Pickett said, noting that the video has never been shown publicly.

On the other hand, a penile implant instructional video turned out to be fair game.

“The device literally pumps up a penis using a pump that is placed in the scrotum. It [is] really gross, but also really hilarious, so we included [it] in our first volume,” Pickett said. “In fact, we’ve included full frontal male nudity in every show since.“

Prueher encouraged audience members to bring any strange videos they might have found to the screening, as submissions will be accepted at the show.

Movies on a Big Screen co-founder Robert McKeown said that the show fits in with the kind of independent and unique films that he tries to bring to Sacramento.

“While the films we show might not have the same kind of budget and might not look as slick, you are getting really interesting stuff and true creativity,” he said. “We try to shake up people’s opinions about independent films.“

On Friday night, Pickett and Prueher will also be trying to change people’s opinions – this time about old VHS videos that might have been thrown away or neglected for years. There ought to be a few goldmines out there – after all, one man’s trash is another man’s hilarious found video. Or at least that’s what Pickett and Prueher are out to prove.

ZACK FREDERICK can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.

Passion, electricity, a little spunk, a righteous cause and a great deal of heart: Just what every on-campus organization needs for success – and one of the newest student groups to bring just that is Electronic Music for Change.

The members of Electronic Music for Change have passion for electronic music and a commitment for positive change. Founded in February 2009 by a group of graduating seniors wanting to leave behind a legacy, EMC strives to show the Davis community the beauty of electronic music and its ability to join people in a carefree environment while promoting a great cause.

Chris Chuang, senior international relations major and president of EMC, said that he felt there was a lacking in an electronic music scene in Davis and that the group wanted to cater to students who had an interest in the genre.

“EMC was founded for several reasons,“ he said. “For one, there was a lack of organizations on campus centered specifically on electronic music. We knew that there was a sizeable student population here at UCD who were into electronic music and who would also be [interested in attending] an electronic dance event.“

At the same time, EMC serves as a unifying base for all students interested in electronic music, especially in terms of promoting EMC‘s message of change.

“By ‘change,‘ we are referring to two things,“ Chuang said. “We want to not only leave a positive change in our community through our philanthropic activities, but also change the image of electronic [music fans] who are sometimes subject to the misconceptions and stereotypes that society has.“

EMC believes that electronica can effectively unite people together in light of certain characteristics. To Chuang, electronic music tends to have a more positive and uplifting flavor in its message and tone, which is why the culture of the genre is one that calls for qualities such as peace, love, freedom, tolerance, respect and self-expression.

The members of EMC share Chuang‘s insights regarding the power of electronica. Junior international relations major Jay Alburez, whose involvement with EMC has been contacting artists to come to Davis, said EMC helps unite all types of people.

“People from all types of different backgrounds, nationalities and interests can come together toward a common goal of providing not only entertainment for the city of Davis, but an image of teamwork and friendship within people from all walks of life,“ Alburez said in an e-mail interview. “We are completely open to all types of people and ideas and are always taking in new members.“

Tu Tran, senior biological sciences major, said that working with the group has been quite an experience within the short time EMC has been around.

“Working in EMC has been great, we all just started as friends wanting to leave a legacy at Davis – and what better way to do it then to throw an electronic dance festival and couple it with a good cause?” he said.

Students interested in EMC can visit the Facebook group page to find out more about the organization and its upcoming event called UNITY, an on-campus electronic dance event that will be held on May 28. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the Freeborn box office. Proceeds will go to UC Davis Children‘s Hospital.

MARIO LUGO can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.

Although I’ve been a student for 16 years now, I’ve been finding it increasingly difficult to actually buckle down and concentrate in my studies.

Procrastination isn’t my number one problem (though it’s definitely up there), and neither is dozing off during lecture or putting off studying for that midterm because I wanted to do some weekday gallivanting out on the town – nope, my trouble lies in the listening and paying attention part of going to class.

The worst part about it is that I always try to convince myself that I’m a good student. I’ll go to lecture, sit in my seat off to the side of the room and arm myself with my handy dandy three-subject notebook and Paper Mate pen, only to use the 50- or 80-minute period to decorate the page with doodles, practice my cursive or make pointless to-do lists I never get around to to-doing.

The result of this negligence: Observant notations like “Print out lecture slides!!” and insightful reactions like “Wait, what?” when the professor says that the midterm is the day after tomorrow.

But you know what I don’t have trouble following? Reality television programs, especially when said programs aren’t complicated by silly things like convoluted plot lines, character development or story arcs.

Really though, I’ve picked up a thing or two about life from some of my favorite television shows. Call it what you want, but I prefer to think of these as an empirical approach to learning – life lessons that may be more useful to me in the future than concepts like Optimality Theory.

I have to start with my favorite show: TLC’s “Jon and Kate Plus 8,“ which follows the Gosselins, a family consisting of two parents and two sets of multiples that – you guessed it – add up to eight (twins and sextuplets, to be exact.)

As wholesome as a show that promotes family bonding and features adorable children and parents that are still together (one of whom is a stay-at-home mom) may seem, it’s actually more progressive than one may think.

I’m talking about interracial marriage, people. Kate is the white baby mama and Jon is the hapa papa (he’s half-Korean and half-white). Mixed marriages aren’t a big deal in reality, but in mainstream television, they are few and far between. Plus, mixed kids are always cute – always!

Another show that’s gotten me far in life? “The Hills.“ Believe it or not, there are a couple of gems of knowledge underneath the superficial lifestyle it portrays as cameras follow “Laguna Beach“ alumna Lauren Conrad and her posse around Los Angeles.

Besides teaching me that you can get far in life if you’re pretty enough, shows like this taught me that it’s okay not to be the center of attention, i.e. the main character. As “The Hills” and “The City” have taught me, you’re better off not being main character on a show like this – it’s common knowledge that the narrators of shows like this are usually the most boring.

After L.C. kept going on about loyalty and friendship and grew a faint but noticeable mustache, the cameras turned its focus to the shenanigans of Spencer and Heidi. Who’s the most entertaining individual on “The City?” Not Whitney Port, that’s for sure.

But when you’re a side character – er, I mean, friend – you can still have a personality, and then exploit the hell out of it. Heidi and Spencer made household names of themselves; hey, even Brody got his own bro-show out of it.

RACHEL FILIPINAS may or may not be in the process of developing her own reality TV show, set to take place in the depths of Lower Freeborn. E-mail her at rmfilipinas@ucdavis.edu for more information.

Metric

Fantasies

Independent

Rating: 4

It‘s become a recent trend that as artists create new records, they add a variety of instruments here and there, use a pinch of synthesizer, toss in a tasty beat mix, sprinkle in a couple clever lines and gently place it into the indie rock oven and hope for the best, yes?

Rather than add layers and layers of oftentimes appealing surface fluff, Ontario-based indie rock group Metric decided to strip to its roots.

After a four-year break from songwriting and a soul-searching trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina, singer and keyboardist Emily Haines said in [] [omit oddities lm] recently, “The songs that I wrote here were the simplest and clearest writing that I‘ve done in I think in my whole life.“

Fantasies, which was released a week early on Apr. 7 (due to an “earlier release“), is an accumulation and culmination of past Metric records. The tracks on Fantasies bare similar lyrical and auditory characteristics of previously recorded tracks, as well as contextual parallels.

Many feelings are expressed in Fantasies, such as love, hopelessness, battling internal issues and overcoming difficulties – just as the name of the album implies.

In past records, Metric subtly interweaved serious social and political issues and commentary into their music that are evident in tracks such as “Monster Hospital“ and “The Police and the Private“ off Live it Out (2005), thereby evoking a faint sense of impending doom.

Fantasies continues to address issues, though the perspective is noticeably more optimistic than it has been previously. That is not to say the contents are cheerful and the sound popish as opposed to creatively raw in a tasteful fashion.

The added brilliance of Fantasies is that it may appeal to everyone in the sense that there are different aspects of the music to pay attention to. If it‘s not the melodies and progressions keeping a listener in tune, then it must be Haines‘ clean, windswept voice cooing, “If you‘re still alive/ My regrets are few/ If my life is mine/ What shouldn‘t I do?” Either way, the love will grow.

Give these tracks a listen: “Blindness“ “Twilight Galaxy“ “Stadium Love“

For fans of: Broken Social Scene, The Stills

– Simone Wahng

Green River Ordinance

Out Of My Hands

Virgin Records

Rating: 2

Remember when everyone had to buy their music from Wal-Mart so they could get the “clean” versions of Blink 182 and Offspring CDs? The edgy album covers still made parents uneasy. The rebels listened to the uncut versions.

Of course, they could have instead made their parents sigh in relief with a Matchbox 20 album or a purity ring or something. And if Green River Ordinance were around back then, the band would have worked as well.

Out Of My Hands, Green River Ordinance’s second studio release and first release through a major label, follows its predecessors and influences like a dog.

Out Of My Hands is basic and formulaic, but Virgin knows it. Green River Ordinance knows it. It works, and there’s nothing really wrong with the album besides the fact that it’s a bundle of radio singles that will never hit the radio.

“Come On” sounds like a track from “Grey’s Anatomy,” which really parallels the whole CD with its life lessons and bittersweet endings. “On Your Own” sounds just like “Last October,” which sounds just like the title track “Out Of My Hands.“

Out Of My Hands is rock music to buy for your daughter. You’d feel great while listening to it on your trip to Disneyland, knowing that there’s an alternative to the mainstream’s corrupting side. Thank God there are only two sides.

The band also features bass and guitar-playing brothers Geoff and Jamey Ice, who have a cool enough surname to warrant at least a listen. That’s about it, though.

In other news, there’s a new Depeche Mode album out.

For fans of: The Fray, Lifehouse

Give these tracks a listen: “Come On,” “Out Of My Hands“

– Justin T. Ho

MUSIC

Dirt Nasty, Andre Legacy, Beardo

Today, 8 p.m., $15 in advance, $17 day of show

The Boardwalk in Orangevale

Some people are so bad that they’re good, and Dirt Nasty may or may not be one of those people. It all just depends whether you’re into obnoxious rap songs that feature topics such as cocaine, itty-bitty baby dicks and bestiality.

Tin Cup Serenade

Today, 10 p.m., $3, 21

Sophia’s Thai Kitchen

We’re facing the heat of midterm season, people. My remedy? Soothe the senses with a cool drink and even cooler lounge jams with San Francisco band Tin Cup Serenade, whose bluesy jazz are more southern bayou than Bay Area origins would let on.

Whitman, John Thill, Nicole Kidman, Stellaluna, A Good Pillow

Friday, 6 p.m., donations accepted

Robot Rocket Residence

A night of DIY folk kicks off the season at everyone’s favorite backyard venue. Traveling from the faraway lands of Phoenix, AZ is Stellaluna, whose lighthearted twee brings to mind a Kimya Dawson meets Anni Rossi incarnate. Showgoers will be sure to gather around tight to hear the sweet, soft-spoken vocals and sassy lyrics of lead singer Frances.

Knock Knock, Silver Darling, Missouri Mule

Saturday, 8 p.m., $5

Luigi’s Fun Garden in Sacramento

As much as I love to take advantage of any opportunities to be cheesy, I’ll pass on the knock knock jokes. Sactown group Knock Knock make picture perfect indie pop – and it’s not too bad on the ears, either. Fans of Vampire Weekend and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, this one’s for you.

Olive Drive

Saturday, 9 p.m., $5, 21

The Stag in Woodland

Olive Drive may pay homage to their hometown of Davis, but their understated pop is a bit more reminiscent of our Northernly friends – namely, Canadian indie collective Broken Social Scene. Those searching for that perfect lazy day at the park song, check out “Born Again, and Again“ on the band’s MySpace.

Underscore Orkestra

Saturday, 10 p.m., $3, 21

Sophia’s Thai Kitchen

As the group themselves have said, it’s not just a band, it’s an orchestra. This ensemble from Portland fuses Balkan, Klezmer, Gypsy jazz and swing – a worthy lesson in world music.

Tech N9ne, Murs, Krizz Kaliko, Kutt Calhoun

Monday, 7:30 p.m., $30 in advance, $35 day of show

The Boardwalk in Orangevale

There’s a reason why Los Angeles rapper Murs has run such a successful 2008 hip-hop presidential campaign: He’s damn good! From his work with Atmosphere’s Slug as one half of Felt to his solo work, Murs makes a case for smart and catchy hip-hop; someone with enough charisma to own up to his “Bad Man!” cockiness.

Oak & Gorski

Tuesday, noon, free

The Quad

A free show that features a cello- and guitar-playing duo of cuties? Sounds good to me.

Abe Vigoda, Hawnay Troof

Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., $5 general admission, free with a student ID

UC Davis Coffee House

Thank the Entertainment Council for bringing not just one, but two shows on Tuesday! Balancing out the poppy rock of the afternoon Quad show will be the no wave, “tropicali punk” of Abe Vigoda in the evening.

ART / GALLERY

100% In Focus: Life Under the Lens

On display now

The Art Lounge (second floor of the Memorial Union)

This year’s student juried art show, presented by Campus Unions, exhibits works celebrating the UC Davis Centennial. A reception presenting the winners will take place on Monday at 6 p.m.

THEATER / POETRY

See What I Wanna See

Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. and Sunday, 7 p.m., $18 general admission, $15 with a student ID

California Stage (2509 R St. in Sacramento)

Death, rape, murder – this isn’t your typical musical fare. Sacramento theater group Artistic Differences present this production, which is based on three short stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa.

Poetry Night

Wednesday, 9 p.m.

Bistro 33

This installment of Poetry Night at Bistro 33 brings Rick Campbell, author of Setting the World in Order (a winner of the Walt McDonald Prize), The Traveler’s Companion and A Day’s Work. An open mic segment will follow after Campbell at 10 p.m.

RACHEL FILIPINAS can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.