It is a widely accepted notion that live music is better than putting in headphones or listening to the stereo. But why? If the point of music is to leave the world, don’t headphones accomplish that task better by blocking off the external completely? You’re right, they do — but they also isolate us. Listening to music by yourself is wonderful at times, but it can also be lonely. Listening to music with people lets you bring friends with you as you teleport to a brand new dimension. And while the dance room stereo lets you bring your friends along for the ride, it excludes a special group from the adventure: the musicians. The understanding between the artist and the patron is a unique mixture of respect, admiration and communication and is almost entirely lost without the presence of the artist. Unfortunately, Beethoven is long dead, so the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra will have to represent the ideas he stood for.

There are a million good reasons for seeing the orchestra, and the sheer amount of class that radiates from listening to classical music is enough to impress anyone. You don’t have to be an old person to enjoy classical selections, and spoiler alert: The cello solo near the end is some damn good music.

Image Source: Quincena Musical, under Creative Commons

Contact Kamin Kahrizi at kkahrizi@dailycal.org.

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The Shakespearean-trained Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf) and Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard) are performing Harold Pinter’s “No Man’s Land.” The play begins previews Aug. 3, opens Aug. 11 and runs until Aug. 31. After that, you’ll have to go to Broadway to see it.

The play itself is a pretty big deal and worthy only of actors of high caliber like McKellen and Stewart, who play the main roles. Tickets go on sale the weekend after finals, and starting at only $35 a ticket, all those students with no summer plans can finally say there is something to do around here.

Even if you can’t get a ticket, you might find yourself rubbing elbows with one of them at Chez Panisse or in the elevator of the Campanile. McKellen is known to love the Bay, and Stewart has said, “I am delighted to be performing at Berkeley Rep and look forward to living in and discovering the city and its surroundings.”

Who knows, maybe we should try and get the new chancellor to make them honorary Bears while they’re here.

Image Source: BinaryApe under Creative Commons

Contact Chase Schweitzer at cschweitzer@dailycal.org.

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Here’s how the rest of the week goes: you read every book, scrawl every note and skim through every PowerPoint until you’re dead in your head. Caffeine in any form is your best friend, lover and lifesaver all at the same. You find yourself constantly thanking your caffeine with the adage, “Without you, my life would be boring.” And it certainly would be — that and very sleepy. Sleepless nights and unnaturally lighted days spent cooped up in the library come to a close during the trip home on the Night Safety Shuttle, nicknamed the Deadcruiser. Before you know it, this weathering cycle has taken you to Sunday night. And that means the test-filled week you’ve been dreading has arrived.

You wake up on the morning of your first final to the dead sound of your alarm buzzing in your ears. While getting dressed, you put a four-leaf clover in your pocket — your last superstitious hope of success. After all, what more can you do? You pretend to be brave in the face of the harrowing exam, but you’re really not feeling it. A passing grade or failing grade is determined by some filled-in bubbles, and that’s a little freaky.

We know that a lot of students are feeling this right now; we at the Clog can say we are too. But remember that when it comes to studying, don’t carry it all on your shoulders! Make sure to take breaks often, and know that while finals are important, they’re not everything. And you’re worth way more than a number! Keep calm and roll on during this dead week, you Bears. We know you can do it.

As always, you can check out the full playlist right here on Spotify.

Image source: dailydoseofjoshy under Creative Commons.

Contact Hailey Simpson at hsimpson@dailycal.org or follow her on Twitter at @hailey117.

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1. Fleet Foxes, “Sun It Rises”

2. Sufjan Stevens, “Come On! Feel the Illinoise!”

3. Animal Collective, “In the Flowers”

4. Baths, “Aminals”

5. The Postal Service, “Clark Gable”

6. *NSYNC, “It’s Gonna Be Me” (relevant to this playlist based on a *certain reading* of the song)

7. Blonde Redhead, “Spring and By Summer Fall”

8. Arcade Fire, “Month of May”

9. Say Hi, “Snowcones and Puppies”

10. Passion Pit, “I’ll Be Alright”

As always, you can stream this playlist right on Spotify.

Hang in there this last week of classes, bears; we know you can do it!

Image source: hellojenuine., under Creative Commons.

Contact Hailey Simpson at hsimpson@dailycal.org or follow her on Twitter at @hailey117.

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1. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: The company will continue to have performances in Zellerbach Hall tomorrow and Sunday, so there’s still time to get tickets if dance is your thing. Exercising is supposed to relieve stress, so watching people exercise probably has the same effect, right? At any rate, Alvin Ailey is a world-renowned dance company, and the show at Cal Performances is rumored to be amazing.

2. Pericles, Prince of Tyre: The Berkeley Repertory Theater is performing one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known plays — “Pericles, Prince of Tyre” — until May 26. It’s a tragicomedy, so it’ll make you both cry and laugh. You might as well indulge now, you probably won’t smile again in awhile. Plus, if you buy your tickets for Mother’s Day, you get 20% off.  Awww.

3. Silence at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive: Have you ever wondered whether true silence really exists? This exhibit answers questions like “Can I hear silence?” and “Can I see nothingness?” through the exploration of films and paintings. And it’s free for UC Berkeley students. It’ll certainly give you a lot to think about, since dead week’s pretty much completely silent.

The Clog wishes you a happy last week of relative freedom! Take advantage of it, Bears.

Image Source: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, under Creative Commons

Contact Sabrina Werts at swerts@dailycal.org.

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Yesterday was World Book Night, a day (yeah, we know that’s confusing) dedicated to spreading the love of reading by giving out free books to light readers or people who don’t have access to books. Each year, 32 books are selected to be passed out to the less bookish population by the bibliophilic population.

Where are these people getting these books, you ask? The book giver chooses one book from that year’s list that he or she is passionate about and wants to share with others. Then, World Book Night sends them free special-edition copies of that book donated by their respective publishers to hand out on April 23 — Shakespeare’s birthday and UNESCO International Day of the Book. 25,000 people participate as book givers each year. We’ll leave it to you to do the math. That’s a whole lot of books. Pretty cool, huh? Some of the titles on this year’s list include humorist David Sedaris’s “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” young adult novelist John Green’s “Looking For Alaska,” Margaret Atwood’s dystopian nightmare “The Handmaid’s Tale” and Paul Coelho’s bestselling aphoristic novella “The Alchemist.” You can access the rest of list here.

And of course, our resident Berkeley bookstores didn’t miss out on the fun. Mrs. Dalloway’s celebrated the day by hosting author Michael Lewis — the guy behind stories like “The Blind Side” and “Moneyball.” Both Moe’s Books and Pegasus Books promoted the day as well. But the Clog’s favorite thing about World Book Night? Watching the expression of one member of Berkeley’s homeless population as a book giver stuffed a novel into a box labeled “spare change.”

Image Source: danbruell, under Creative Commons

Contact Sabrina Werts at swerts@dailycal.org.

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1) Japandroids, “Adrenaline Nightshift”

2) Biffy Clyro, “Biblical”

3) Hanni El Khatib, “Come Alive”

4) Allen Stone, “Satisfaction”

5) Jessie Ware, “Wildest Moments”

6) Purity Ring, “Fineshrine”

7) Bat for Lashes, “All Your Gold”

8) Little Green Cars, “The John Wayne”

9) Guards, “I Know It’s You”

10) Tanlines, “All of Me”

You can dig the entire playlist right here on Spotify!

Image source: Jason Persse under Creative Commons.

Contact Hailey Simpson at hsimpson@dailycal.org or follow her on Twitter at @hailey117.

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1) Deee-lite, “Vote, Baby, Vote”

2) Chicago, “Vote For Me”

3) The Citizen’s Band, “I Swung the Election (feat. Nina Persson)”

4) Laura Nyro, “The Right to Vote”

5) Radiohead, “Electioneering”

6) Broadway Calls, “Election Night”

7) Tokyo Police Club, “Your English is Good”

8) Monty Python, “Election Night Special”

9) The Torn ACLs, “Election Night”

You can check out the playlist in its entirety right on Spotify, and be sure to follow the Daily Cal coverage about the ASUC elections right here!

Contact Hailey Simpson at hsimpson@dailycal.org or follow her on Twitter at @hailey117.

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1) The Lovely Bad Things, “Fried Eyes”

2) FIDLAR, “Cheap Beer”

3) Palma Violets, “Tom the Drum”

4) Martin Buscaglia, “Oda a Mi Bicicleta”

5) Cafe Tacvba, “Encantamiento Intuil”

6) Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, “How Long Do I Have To Wait For You”

7) Rhye, “Open”

8) Autre Ne Veut, “Counting”

9) Torres, “Honey”

10) Savages, “Husbands”

11) Haim, “Don’t Save Me”

12) Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Sacrilege”

13) Doldrums, “She is the Wave”

14) Blue Hawaii, “In Two”

15) Vampire Weekend, “Diane Young”

As always, you can stream the playlist right on Spotify!

Contact Hailey Simpson at hsimpson@dailycal.org or follow her on Twitter at @hailey117.

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1) The Pogues, “Blue Heaven”

2) Dropkick Murphys, “Barroom Hero (Live on St. Patrick’s Day)”

3) The Irish Rovers, “The Unicorn”

4) The Thrills, “Santa Cruz (You’re Not That Far)”

5) Pladdohg, “Dublin in Rare Ould Times”

6) Rory Gallagher, “Walking Blues”

7) Van Morrison, “Moondance”

8) The Boomtown Rats, “Someone’s Looking at You”

9) My Bloody Valentine, “Sometimes”

10) The Cranberries, “Sunday”

As always, you can kick up the Irish spirit right on Spotify!

Contact Hailey Simpson at hsimpson@dailycal.org or follow her on Twitter at @hailey117.

Image source: homer4k, under Creative Commons.

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