If you’re looking for extraordinary gifts for people in your life, then the 2010 City College Holiday Art Sale may just be the place to find them.

These one-of-a-kind pieces, created by both City College art students and staff, will be sold in the Quad on Dec. 2 to Dec. 7 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will also be extended hours on Dec. 2 and Dec. 6 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

For more information about the 2010 Holiday Art Sale, contact Jennifer Griffin at 558-2559.

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It’s just another part of the average college-aged woman’s day: classes, work and a GCB.

GCBs, or gourmet coffee beverages, are sweet coffee drinks with an avalanche of whipped cream and caramel on top. They’re the source of the queston, “Hi, would you like some coffee with your cream and sugar?”

But experts warn all that sugary sweetness could pose significant health threats.

Among female college students in their 20s, GCBs contributed to weight gain in those who habitually indulged in them, according to a 2004 study conducted by Simmons College Department of Nutrition in Boston. In the study, participants consumed at least 2.5 GCBs a week, with calories ranging from 180-500 calories per beverage.

Jeff Christian, a registered nurse at City College, says that it’s no surprise that drinks such as Starbucks Frappuccinos are tied to weight gain because they increase a person’s recommended caloric intake for the day.

“There is limited nutritional value, and individuals who drink a GCB [and] then go have breakfast or lunch are potentially taking in more calories than they are expending,” Christian says. “Those nutritional choices can lead to an increase in weight if the individual is not balancing the calories they take…» Read More

City College’s film club, Sac City Film and Media, and its production team will be hosting a casting call on Nov. 5.

Sac City Film and Media’s House of the Talented (H.O.T.T.) will produce their first film production called “Student Body.”

Dwight Taylor, the president of Sac City Film and Media and a member of H.O.T.T., is the screenwriter for “Student Body.” Taylor says he hopes that this will help him become a part of the horror film industry.

“I wrote the screenplay and [I’m also] an actor,” Taylor says. “I’m a horror [film] fan, and I wish to grow among those we see in the movies and excellent stories we read.”

Not only is Sac City Arts and Media looking for nine actors and actresses between the ages of 18-24 to cast as its main characters, but it is also looking to cast roles for a female reporter and a male professor between the ages of 27-50.

Aside from the main cast, Sac City Arts and Media is looking for lots of volunteers to play zombies.

Since the director is from the Art Institute of Sacramento and the school is collaborating with “Student Body,” casting will be held on…» Read More

Along with teaching students to play guitar, City College guitar instructor, Matthew Grasso, has even managed to record an album on the side called “Past, Present, Future.”

The album, which was released Oct. 18, contains 18 tracks of Grasso’s original recordings of classical guitar pieces, and took 16 months to create with recording in the summer and between teaching guitar classes.

“For a finished CD product, it took 16 months of on and off (more off than on) running around to complete it,” Grasso says. “During the summertime is when I do most of my creating of music.”

Grasso is hosting a record release party for his new album on Nov. 5 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis in Davis, Calif.

For more details on Grasso’s music and concert dates, visit http://www.matthewgrasso.com

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When I think about a canned food drive, I usually think about the competition between classes in elementary school where the class with the most cans won a pizza party.

When I heard about the canned food drive at the cosmetology department at City College, however, there was no competition or pizza party involved.

From Sept. 29–Oct. 6, the City College cosmetology department held its semi-annual canned food drive, with all proceeds going to the Sacramento Food Bank. With this drive, a can got you a free haircut or manicure.

As a person who has no problem blowing $35 on a haircut, I must say that hearing “free haircut or manicure” and “canned food drive” reeled me in for a couple of reasons.

First, I heard from a friend that the cosmetology department charges $2 for a manicure and that I should try it out. Secondly, I had some cans that I wanted to get rid of.

I immediately made an appointment for a back-to-back haircut and manicure.

After checking in with the receptionist and handing over my can of Progresso’s clam chowder, I walked into the salon and met with the two cosmetology students, Kelsey Escolar and Dominique Temple,…» Read More

With the advent of YouTube, the website didn’t just bring people millions of videos within their fingertips, but it created one of the greatest inventions to come with the website: the video mash-up.

Even though the videos tend to lean more on the silly side, the art of the mash-up is a little more intricate than it looks. Timing and mood is everything and if one part doesn’t fit, the intended joke falls flat, thus losing the audience, and most of all, the video pretty much ends up sucking.

Here is a countdown of the Top 5 video mash-ups that did it right:

5) The Dark Knight Trailer Recut – Toy Story 2

What works with this trailer is that the video is edited so each character is synced up to one character and not numerous characters like the “Inception”-“Toy Story 3” mash-up. Plus, Morgan Freeman as Mr. Potato Head….I find that a classic moment. To watch this clip, click here.

4) Rick’s Rager…probably not happening

This clip features a very short scene from the 2001 independent film, “The Debut” interjected with Ridge from “The Bold and The Beautiful”. The video confirms it: Ridge’s royally pissed off and Rick’s…» Read More

A three-alarm fire broke out in Midtown in the early morning of Sept. 30 near J St. and 27th St. The fire severely damaged an apartment building and the recording studio that the famous Sacramento-based rock band, Tesla, used to record.

According to the Sacramento Fire Dept., the blaze, which was reported around 1:46 a.m., damaged three out of the four apartment units in the building. The fire spread from the apartment building to the recording studio, which was located in another building behind the apartments. While putting out the fire, firefighters managed to save most of the Tesla memorabilia, which were instruments and tour memorabilia.

No one was harmed, but four residents of the apartment building have been displaced.

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The first City Theatre play of the fall semester is “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” opening on Friday, Sept. 24.

“Something Wicked This Way Comes,” directed by Lori Ann DeLappe-Grondin, is blended with both aspects of horror and fantasy. The play is about two boys and the strange traveling carnival that stops in their town. Like the title, many wicked and weird things begin to just as the carnival tents go up.

Since there is on-going construction at the auditorium where City Theatre usually hosts its plays, “Something Wicked This Way Comes” will be staged off-campus at California Stage, located at 2509 R Street. The play will be running from Friday, Sept. 24 to Sunday, Oct. 17.

For more information about showtimes and ticket prices, visit the City Theatre website at www.citytheatre.net.

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Textbooks, course materials and tuition not covered by financial aid can be counted as tax credit, according to the National Association of College Stores (NACS).

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the newly instituted American Opportunity Tax Credit allows college students to claim their textbooks and other costs in their annual taxes, making them eligible to receive a tax credit of up to $2,500.

City College student Shelby Ignacio feels relieved for the tax code change, saying it will help students with the brunt of buying course materials for future semesters.

“For us struggling students, it lowers our stress levels just a tad bit.” Ignacio said. “At least we don’t have to worry about how we’ll pay for out textbooks the next semester.”

For more information about the textbook tax credit, please visit www.textbookaid.org.

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Most students on a weekend are recovering from the past school week or going to work, but some playwrights from City Theatre are doing the exact opposite. This weekend, Sept. 11 to Sept. 12, will be anything but calm for the playwrights participating in an annual City Theatre tradition.

City Theatre will be hosting its annual 29 ½-Hour Playwriting Festival. The festival, which is going into its 11th year, is where groups of seasoned playwrights gather around, each producing a 10-minute play based on an image or phrase of the festival director’s choosing.

It seems easy enough to create a 10-minute play with an unknown topic, but what’s the catch? All playwrights have 10 hours to complete their plays, begin rehearsals the next day and perform their scripts later that night, hence the 29 ½-Hour part of the festival’s name.

The concept is intriguing and should be full of unexpected moments that even the actors themselves don’t see coming, which will be fun for the audience.

The performances for the 29 ½-Hour Playwriting Festival will be held at the Student Center on Sunday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. General admission will be $10 and for more information, please contact City…» Read More