Life & Arts

Art major Alexandra Williams has entered her senior year with a very specific focus: she wants to approach the human figure in a “spontaneous and aggressive way.” After years of rendering the human body in various styles spawned from anime sketches, Williams hit a sweet spot when doing “doodles” — which evolved into a series of figure paintings on yellow-lined notepad paper. … [Read more...] about Art major enchants with talent

“Xanadu,” Pepperdine Theatre Department’s fall musical spectacular, premieres today under the direction of Bradley Griffin, an associate professor of theatre, and Bill Szobody, the show’s choreographer. “Xanadu” is the story of a beautiful Greek muse, Kira, who leaves Mount Olympus with her muse brothers and sisters to inspire a struggling artist in Venice Beach, Calif. The … [Read more...] about Xanadu skates into Smother's Theatre

Florence + the Machine’s highly anticipated sophomore album, “Ceremonials,” avoids falling into the sophomore slump with its beautifully dark, ethereal sound. With the release of her debut album, “Lungs,” in 2009, Florence Welch and company have been making their rounds in Europe and the United States, taking to the stage in tours, award shows and television … [Read more...] about Music Review: 'Ceremonials'

Last weekend I trekked out to the Camarillo Outlets, the mecca for deal hunters and Asian tourists. But this time was the same as every shopping trip. I start out full of optimism, with delusions of finding perfectly fitting jeans, on sale no less. But after finding nothing but frustration in the first round of stores, I spend the rest of the day cross, making snide comments … [Read more...] about The Bucket List: Outlets call for attitude adjustment

“The egg betrayed me!” practically sums up the swashbuckling adventure that is “Puss in Boots.” Dreamworks’ prequel to the “Shrek” franchise is fueled by the amusingly vain feline, affectionately known as Puss. The film offers an amusing look into the past of the title character from the time he was a little orphan kitten in the Mexican town of San Ricardo. Puss’ childhood … [Read more...] about ‘Puss in Boots’ proves he’s the cat’s meow