Friday, February 27

Q&A: Stand-up comedian alumnus discusses acting, upcoming performance

A crowd of about 1,300 people listened to Max Amini’s stand-up comedy routine at a concert hall in Toronto. “Why is your husband not here with you? Read more...

Photo: Max Amini, a Persian-American comedian and UCLA alumnus, will perform special Valentine’s Day-themed comedy segments under the theme of “Night of Love” at Royce Hall Friday. (Creative Commons via Wikipedia)


Six friends create Landing 8 Records to revive hip-hop, R&B on campus

A heavy bass beat emanating from pieces of recording equipment strewn across the floor vibrated the Sproul Landing dorm room walls Second-year mechanical engineering student Miles Gibson stepped up to the sole microphone stand, inhaling and exhaling loudly to still his nerves, and began to rap to a beat engineered by his friend, second-year ethnomusicology student Nicholas Henry. Read more...

Photo: Miles Gibson (front), a second-year mechanical engineering student, sings into a microphone while Nicholas Henry (back), a second-year ethnomusicology student, records the vocals on his computer. The two created hip-hop and R&B label Landing 8, based on the eighth floor of Sproul Landing, with four other friends. (Tehya Faulk/Daily Bruin)


For talent agent Natalie Novak, digital media is the future

When Grace Helbig, Connor Franta and several other Internet stars checked into hotel rooms two years ago while attending the world’s largest online video conference, VidCon, something caught their attention. Read more...

Photo: UCLA Extension alumna Natalie Novak helped plan VidCon, the world’s largest online video conference. As a digital media agent, her clients include iJustine, Joey Graceffa and jiffpom. (Aubrey Yeo/Daily Bruin senior staff)


Alumna aims to choreograph change through honoring hip-hop culture

Five-year-old Jackie Oka discovered the secret to achieving elementary school fame. Stepping on the talent show stage to perform for the first time, Oka broke out into dance to Britney Spears’ “Oops!… I Did it Again,” imitating hip shaking and twirls straight from the choreography in the music video. Read more...

Photo: Alumna Jackie Oka is a principal dancer and school programs coordinator for the hip-hop dance company Versa-Style. (Diana Chen/Daily Bruin)


Video Game Review: ‘Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak’

Sand clogs up everything; it’s gritty and coarse. “Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak” might just be the sandiest game ever. It’s a distant prequel to the decade-old “Homeworld” and “Homeworld 2,” and transplants the series from space to the vast expanse of the desert. Read more...

Photo: (Gearbox Software)


Q&A: UCLA’s Tom Nunan talks Academy Award nominee ‘Son of Saul’

In the Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz, where there is hope for neither survival nor redemption, a Sonderkommando becomes obsessed with giving one boy a proper burial. Read more...

Photo: Hungarian actor Géza Röhrig stars as Saul in the Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Film, “Son of Saul.” The film, directed by László Nemes, will be screened at the James E. Bridges Theater on Tuesday, followed by a Q&A with Nemes and Röhrig. (Courtesy of Hungarian National Film Fund)


UCLA community reflects on loss of Mardi Gras celebrations

The glittery masquerade balls, spicy cajun food and rollicking jazz music of Mardi Gras have been absent from the UCLA Intramural Field. But it was not always this way. Read more...

Photo: From 1945 to 1995, Mardi Gras was celebrated with a festival featuring food and club booths, a ferris wheel and carousel on the UCLA Intramural Field. The festival was organized by a committee formed by students who took a two-quarter long class. (Laura Uzes/Daily Bruin)