The Occidental Weekly

San Francisco's Treasure Island will become a hipster haven this weekend, Oct. 17 and 18, as the Treasure Island Music Festival returns for its third year. Put on by Noise Pop and Another Planet Entertainment, the event is focused primarily on live music performances. With only one band per time slot, concertgoers are guaranteed to be able to see all musicians in the line-up, a quality that sets Treasure Island apart from other, larger festivals. The venue also features a "vendor village" that sells Bay Area arts and crafts, a ferris wheel, a film lab, an interactive mural and complimentary hair styling. A multitude of dining options cater to those carnivores, vegetarians and vegans hoping to replenish danced-off calories. The festival is designed to be a multifaceted event, with a well-rounded mix of activities accommodating the creative, artistically-inclined crowd.

Tucked away on a floor below ground level in one of the side buildings of the Pasadena Convention Center was more chocolate than any one person could handle. It was the third annual Los Angeles Chocolate Salon, a luxury chocolate convention which took place on Sunday, Oct. 11, and it blew my mind. I tried milk chocolate, dark chocolate, tea-infused chocolate, chocolate liqueurs, chocolate-coated bacon - and that's just to start. I saw chocolate sculptures, chocolate fountains and chocolate spa products. I actually, truly, finally found my chocolate limit. (I wasn't sure it existed, but yes it does.)

Discussions of race are not usually thought of as scientific pursuits. Typically, they are considered part of the humanities or social sciences. Yet inside the Science Center, the "RACE: Are we so different?" exhibit explores the formation of our concept of race. The exhibit was established by the American Anthropological Association, whose introduction video at the exhibit stated that it hoped to create a space where visitors could investigate race through examining and reexamining how it is perceived and defined.

It has been ten years since "The Blair Witch Project" terrified audiences with its innovative and hyper-realistic "home-movie" style. Since then, the style has been replicated with great success in films like "Cloverfield," but until now, no mainstream film has been able to replicate the sheer horror of the original. After sitting on the shelf for two years due to a lack of a distributor, "Paranormal Activity" has finally found its way into theaters, and boy, are we glad.

The current state of the U.S. economy has left many in financial paralysis. Most of us - particularly college students - don't have wiggle room in our budgets for things like new clothes, shiny cars or $55 parking tickets from self-righteous "parking enforcement" officers who patrol streets waiting for someone to miss that inconspicuous "two-hour parking WITH A PERMIT" sign. Still, one occasionally wonders what it would be like to live as the glamorous, rehab-reformed, Coffee-Bean-drinking actors who grace the pages of US Weekly, pictured in photos captioned "shopping in L.A." But where are they shopping? Certainly not in Eagle Rock. I decided to pay the $2.50/15 minute valet parking on Rodeo Dr. and explore what luxuries the overpaid and underworked indulge in when they go shopping.

Delicious food, great company and music are the perfect recipe for a Saturday night. Well Fed, Occidental's new club on campus is devoted to providing just that. Elissa Chandler (senior) and Giulia Pasciuto (senior) began the organization this semester out of their passions for cooking and shared belief that meals bring people together and foster community.