Arts

Just a short week after President-elect Barack Obama was voted into office, Denise Campbell received a phone call that presented her with the opportunity of a lifetime – an invitation to take part in celebrations leading up to the president’s inauguration.

Artist and slam poet Gina Loring graced many of those gathered in Chumash Auditorium with her smooth, soulful presence at Another Type of Groove Wednesday night.

Another Type of Groove is a free monthly event that functions as an open forum for anyone who desires to share their poetry, spoken word talents and minds with the rest of the very supportive, open-minded community.

For a guy who would rather enroll in upper-division calculus than sit through a live musical, and who looks back with less-than-fond memories about his childhood in Catholic school, the idea of attending a theater production about Jesus was less than appealing.

Over the winter break, my house rekindled our love affair with an exquisitely rad film known throughout the land as “The American Astronaut,” a space-western musical perpetrated by the band The Billy Nayer Show. Starring, written and directed by the BNS front man, Cory McAbee, the film chronicles the misadventures of Samuel Curtis who must bring a 16- year-old boy to Venus so that he may be the stud for the planet made up entirely of women.

Maybe you’re an engineering senior with a passion for surfing. Or you’re investing your time studying animal science at Cal Poly, but also really enjoy the art of jewelry making. With heavy academic demands, how is it possible for a full-time college student to make time to fulfill these buried creative passions? The answer lies within the ASI Craft Center.

So I was up in San Francisco a few days ago, as a final hoorah before the new quarter, with a couple dear friends of mine. On my visit I made it my goal to go to at least one of Frisco’s comic book shops. Now, before any of you Bay Area people flame me with hate e-mail about calling San Francisco “Frisco,” you would only be wasting your time.

The day of salvation is finally here for Cal Poly civil engineering student Chris Decool. He comes bursting through the door of his one-story home on the outskirts of San Luis Obispo. His roommates turn their necks from the TV to see Decool wiggling loose from his backpack as he scrambles toward his room.

Bundle up in your scarves and mittens and make your hot cocoa, because the holiday season is here. Look no further than the Cal Poly campus for a little holiday spirit. The December event line up will help add merry to your Christmas season.

1. Poinsettia Sale

Cal Poly’s annual poinsettia sale runs until the end of the quarter.

With China rapidly rising as an economic powerhouse, more and more Cal Poly students have been taking advantage of the modern languages and literatures department’s Mandarin Chinese language program.

The program, which has been plagued with financial woes and a lack of instructors willing to stay for an extended period of time, is starting to gather momentum again with current full-time lecturer Sophia Chen.

The holidays are upon us and for many that means leaving San Luis Obispo to spend Christmas at home with family and friends. However, for those who are staying in the area, San Luis Obispo offers a wide variety of activities and events for everyone to participate in this holiday season.

KCPR has officially turned 40. And while there’s a bunch of nostalgic bullshit we could hash, perhaps the most important thing is the forgotten gems that KCPR holds that inspire a certain cool geekdom. Each week, we add 10 to 20 albums and one or two you find are completely brilliant and you watch as they never catch on and fade into the background.