The 83rd Academy Awards are finally here to honor the best and most creative films from 2010, as well as some of the latest fashions.

As is the case each year, the Academy has nominated films from a wide variety of genres in the various categories.

On one hand, you have the high-budget films like Inception and Toy Story 3, and on the other you have the mass popular films like The Social Network and 127 Hours which are geared toward youth.

Of course there are the films made specifically with Oscar statues in mind 8212; films like The King’s Speech, Black Swan and The Fighter.

There are also the more artful and daring projects, such as The Kid’s are All Right, True Grit and Winter’s Bone.

With such a variety of quality and Oscar-worthy films for the Academy to choose from, I don’t see any clear favorites rising up to walk away with a treasure trove of Oscars.

With all that said, here is a full list of all the nominations. My picks for who I think will win in each category appear in bold.

Best Picture:

Black Swan

The Fighter

Inception

The Kids Are All Right

The King’s Speech

127 Hours

The Social Network

Toy Story3

True Grit

Winter’s Bone

Best Actor:

Javier Bardem, Biutiful

Jeff Bridges, True Grit

Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

James Franco, 127 Hours

Best Actress:

Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone

Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Best Supporting Actor:

Christian Bale, The Fighter

John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone

Jeremy Renner, The Town

Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right

Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

Best Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams, The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech

Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Hailee Seinfeld, True Grit

Jackie Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Best Director:

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

David O. Russell, The Fighter

Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech

David Fincher, The Social Network

Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit

Best Original Screenplay:

Another Year

The Fighter

Inception

The Kids Are All Right

The King’s Speech

Best Adapted Screenplay:

127 Hours

The Social Network

Toy Story 3

True Grit

Winter’s Bone

Best Foreign Language Film:

Biutiful, Mexico

Dogtooth, Greece

In a Better World, Denmark

Incendies, Canada

Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi), Algeria

Best Documentary:

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Gasland

Inside Job

Restrepo

Waste Land

Best Documentary (Short):

Killing In The Name

Poster Girl

Strangers No More

Sun Comes Up

The Warriors of Quigang

Best Animated Feature Film:

How To Train Your Dragon

The Illusionist

Toy Story 3

Best Cinematography:

Black Swan

Inception

The King’s Speech

The Social Network

True Grit

Best Art Direction:

Alice in Wonderland

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows

Inception

The King’s Speech

True Grit

Best Costume Design:

Alice in Wonderland

I Am Love

The King’s Speech

The Tempest

True Grit

Best Film Editing:

Black Swan

The Fighter

The King’s Speech

127 Hours

The Social Network

Best Visual Effects:

Alice in Wonderland

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows

Hereafter

Inception

Iron Man 2

Best Makeup Design:

Barney’s Version

The Way Back

The Wolfman

Best Original Score:

How to Train Your Dragon

Inception

The King’s Speech

The Social Network

127 Hours

Best Original Song:

“Coming Home” from Country Strong

“I See The Light” from Tangled

“If I Rise” from 127 Hours

“We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3

Best Sound Editing:

Inception

Toy Story 3

Tron: Legacy

True Grit

Unstoppable

Best Sound Mixing:

Inception

The King’s Speech

Salt

The Social Network

True Grit

The Academy Awards will be held on Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. Central Standard Time on ABC.

Although my team the Seattle Seahawks were knocked out of Super Bowl contention by the Chicago Bears, I still can’t wait to watch the Super Bowl on Feb. 6 and see if my other favorite team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, can win against the Green Bay Packers.

Every year on Super Bowl Sunday, my friends and I get together to eat massive amounts of food and enjoy the game.

Being a former professional chef, most of the menu selection and food preparation gets handed off to me, which personally I really don’t mind.

For me, Super Bowl Sunday isn’t complete if there aren’t large platters of food you can gorge on throughout the game.

Many of you might have read my scathing (but fair) review of Weary Wil’s and the un-appetizing nachos they serve. So I thought for this tailgate edition of my food column I would offer up a recipe for some really good nachos served on actual tortilla chips.

My other recipe is for some really tasty fish tacos, which takes me back to my roots in Seattle where seafood was a staple of my family’s weekly menu.

I am sure these dishes will add an extra bit of enjoyment to your own Super Bowl party.

If any of you have any comments or questions, feel free to email me at fcone@sdsucollegian.com

Fish Tacos

Ingredients

Tacos

• 1 pound white flaky fish, such as cod or tilapia
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
• 1 jalapeno, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 8 flour tortillas

Garnish

• Shredded white cabbage
• Hot sauce
• Crema or sour cream
• Thinly sliced red onion
• Thinly sliced green onion
• Chopped cilantro leaves
• Pureed Tomato Salsa (recipe follows)

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Place fish in a medium size dish. Whisk together the oil, lime juice, ancho, jalapeno, and cilantro and pour over the fish. Let marinate for 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove the fish from the marinade and place onto a hot grill, flesh side down. Grill the fish for 4 minutes on the first side and then flip for 30 seconds and remove.

Let rest for 5 minutes then flake the fish with a fork.

Place the tortillas on the grill and grill for 20 seconds. Divide the fish among the tortillas and garnish with any or all of the garnishes.

Real Kickin’ Nachos

Ingredients

• 1 large bag tortilla chips
• 1 can refried beans
• 1 pound pulled pork, shredded cooked beef, or shredded cooked chicken
• 1 1/2 cups grated pepper jack cheese
• 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar
• 3 jalapenos, thinly sliced or minced
• 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced (both green and white parts)
• Guacamole, to taste
• 8 ounces sour cream
• 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 quart Homemade Salsa (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

On a large, ovenproof platter, spread out 1 layer of chips. Top the chips with 1/3 of the refried beans, 1/3 of the pulled pork and 1/3 of the cheeses, 1/3 of the jalapenos and 1/3 of the green onions. Add another layer of chips and repeat the process two more times. Bake in the oven 5-8 minutes, until the cheese melts and the nachos are warmed through. Garnish the nachos with dollops of guacamole, sour cream, Essence and cilantro.

Serve immediately with the Homemade Salsa.

Homemade Salsa

Ingredients

• 3 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup diced white onion
• 1/2 cup diced yellow bell pepper
• 1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, and minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 limes, zested and juiced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Salt

Combine all ingredients, and refrigerate for at least half an hour before serving.

Although initially excited at the prospect of having a new sports grille here at SDSU, my hopes were dashed after my first visit there with a few friends this last week.

I knew several weeks ago that I would be doing a food review of Weary Wil’s Sports Grill but persuaded my editors to let them get up and running for a couple weeks, as to give them time to work out the kinks that all restaurants go through as they open to the public for the first time.

I arrived at 8:30 p.m. to meet my friends for an evening meal after a long day of class and work.

I had mixed emotions about the place as soon as I entered the doors.

The overall layout and design of the place is spacious with comfortable looking booths. At first glance, it looked like a nice sports grille theme that didn’t seem too overbearing.

What struck me was the lighting, though. It was far too bright for a sports grille or for any nice hang out joint at 8:30 at night. It left me with the impression of walking into a cafeteria, almost as if I had walked around the corner into a secluded section of the main eating hall of The Union itself.

Even worse, the spacious layout of the place and the harsh bright lighting unfortunately allowed me to see the fact that the beautiful hard wood floor apparently hadn’t been mopped in quite some time.

As we prepared to order we were informed that they were only serving their appetizer menu, and to top it off they were out of wings, which was disappointing since it was only 8:30 at night.

Dismayed at the limited menu selection, each of us ordered a different item to get a taste of what they had to offer. I have to say that what we were served was sadly lacking in quality.

Although the dipping sauce for the chislic I ordered was very tasty, the chislic pieces themselves were completely over-cooked almost to the point that they were inedible.

Two other groups ordered the cheddar cheese pints and the portion sizes were vastly different. One person only received about ten cheese pints while the other received mound of them. To top it off, as they began to eat them they asked me if they were supposed to be white in color.

After tasting one myself, I commented to them that I thought they might actually be mozzarella balls instead.

For me, the nachos my friend was served were hands down the worst dish we as a group were served that evening. Instead of toppings coming out on the traditional tortilla chips, they came out on top of a pile of regular potato chips.

When I think of nachos I think of a tasty array of ingredients intermingled with the chips themselves, creating a meal where every chip has a little bit of everything on the plate.

Unfortunately, what my friend received was a pile of potato chips topped with ground beef and a layer of broiled cheese with badly chopped tomatoes, a ragged piece of lettuce draped over the top and some guacamole and sour cream on top.

To top it off, the way the nachos were cooked caused the layer of cheese to form into a kind of cheese flap draped over all the ingredients beneath, which was very unappetizing.

The only saving graces of the entire meal were the order of potato skins and the banana splits two of us ordered.

The potato skins were cooked perfectly and epitomized what potato skins should be, crispy skins of potato topped with cheddar cheese, bacon, and sour cream. As for the banana split, although I didn’t have a bite, it looked as good as how my friend told me it tasted.

To be fair to Weary Wil’s, I haven’t eaten off their dinner menu yet so I can’t comment on the quality of their dinner items. What I can say is that based on the food that I did eat, (which, I might add, was at a time when there were very few people dining) I don’t think that I will be going back.

Frederic Cone has been a professional chef for 15 years. Contact him at fcone@sdsucollegian.com

#1.1918884:1091143401.png:weary-wils-BRUA-003.png:Weary Wil?s Sports Grill is the newest addition to SDSU dining services.:Collegian Photo by Stephen Brua
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With the awards season for the film industry underway, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give film buffs some sophisticated fare ideas for their awards show get-togethers.

Here are some pointers for creating five-star appetizers that I am sure will surprise your guests. I hope you will have great success and amaze your guests.

The following are my two recipes I am sure will amaze you and your guest this awards season.

Caprese

Ingredients

3 Roma tomatoes

1 package fresh whole milk mozzarella

1 package fresh basil

Extra virgin olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Freshly ground sea salt & coarse ground black pepper to taste

• Slice the whole milk mozzarella balls into six slices each.
• Slice the Roma tomatoes on the bias into six slices each.
• Pick the basil leaves and rinse under cold water.

Arrange the Roma tomatoes on a platter and top with one slice of mozzarella and one basil leaf. Sprinkle a little sea salt and black pepper on top of each. Drizzle lightly with the extra virgin olive oil and the balsamic vinegar.

Bruschetta with Garlic and Herb Roasted Crostinis

Part I: Bruschetta

Ingredients

10 Roma tomatoes

2 packages fresh basil leaves, minced

*to mince means to finely chop the herbs very small.

Extra Virgin olive oil

Balsamic Vinegar

*Freshly ground sea salt and course ground black pepper to taste

• Finely dice the Roma tomatoes and place in a bowl.
• Finely dice both packages of fresh basil, reserving ½ cup for the crostinis and add to the bowl with the tomatoes.
• Drizzle in a ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil.
• Drizzle in 1/8 of a cup of Balsamic vinegar.
• Sprinkle in sea salt and black pepper to taste, about a healthy pinch of each.
• Mix all of the ingredients together thoroughly and place back in your refrigerator for later.

Part II: Crostinis

Ingredients

1 French baguette

½ cup fresh basil leaves, minced

6 cloves fresh garlic, minced

Extra virgin olive oil

*Course ground sea salt and black pepper to taste

*To slice on a bias means to slice the bred at an angle roughly 20 &- 30 degrees.

• Slice your French Baguette on a bias* into 24 slices.
• Lay out the bread flat on a pan and turn on your oven to 300 degrees.
• Top with the reserved fresh basil that has been minced.
• Drizzle the extra virgin olive oil and the balsamic vinegar over the top of every slice of baguette, several drops onto each piece of baguette.
• Sprinkle sea salt and black pepper on top of each piece of baguette.
• Place in the pre-heated oven for 3-5 minutes or until the bread is slightly crusted but not over done.
• Arrange on a platter with the brushetta mix in a bowl in the center with a serving spoon.
• To serve: Spoon a little of the bruschetta mix on top of a crostini and then eat.

Meet the Chef

As a chef for the last decade and a half, I have spent most of each day coming up with new and innovative recipes to serve to the people who have come to the restaurants I have worked for.

Cooking has been my passion for more years than I can count and it is my pleasure to extend my knowledge and culinary expertise to those who perhaps don’t have the know-how to execute five-star meals for those they love.

Please email any questions you might have to fcone@sdsucollegian.com.

Hot fashion, dry sardonic humor and some surprising upsets are what marked this year’s Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA., which aired Jan. 16.

Among the hot fashion, two outfits stood out: January Jones’ from the TV series Mad Men and Helena Bonham Carter’s from this year’s film Alice in Wonderland.

Jones wore a spectacular tasseled crimson dress that left very little to the imagination around the neckline, while Carter wore a gown, which seemed as if it leaped from the very screen of one of Burton’s films.

As for the dry humor from the host, Ricky Gervais, it left me wanting so much more than what he gave the audience.

Although it started out with quick wit and some rather questionably humorous anecdotes of some of the guests, after the first several appearances it quickly became mundane and a little boring.

The awards shone for themselves, though there were many upsets through the course of the evening.

The biggest upset for me was the fact that The Social Network swept four of the top awards that evening, claiming not only Best Film and Best Director, but also Best Screenplay and Best Original Score.

We will have to look to the Screen Actor’s Guild Awards coming up later this month and to the Academy Awards in February to see if this was a fluke or if this film was really the best film of 2011.

The other big upset for me came in the television category, where Chris Colfer won the best supporting actor award for his work in the hit TV show Glee.

With that said, here are the final results for both the television and film categories.

Motion Picture

Best Motion Picture &- Drama: The Social Network

Best Motion Picture &- Comedy: The Kids Are All Right

Cecil B. DeMille award: Robert DeNiro

Best Foreign Language film: In a Better World, from Denmark

Best Animated Feature film: Toy Story 3

Best Director: David Fincher; The Social Network

Best Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin; The Social Network

Best Original Score: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross; The Social Network

Best Original Song: You Haven’t Seen The Last of Me Yet, by Diane Warren; Burlesque

Best Actor &- Drama: Colin Firth; The King’s Speech

Best Actress &- Drama: Natalie Portman; The Black Swan

Best Actor &- Comedy or Musical: Paul Giamatti; Barney’s Version

Best Actress &- Comedy or Musical: Annette Bening; The Kids Are All Right

Best Supporting Actor &- Motion Picture: Christian Bale; The Fighter

Best Supporting Actress &- Motion Picture: Melissa Leo; The Fighter

Television

Best TV Series &- Drama: Boardwalk Empire

Best TV Series &- Comedy or Musical: Glee

Best TV Movie or Mini-Series: Carlos

Best Actor TV Series &- Drama: Steve Buscemi; Boardwalk Empire

Best Actress TV Series &- Drama: Katey Sagal; Sons of Anarchy

Best Actor TV Series &- Comedy or Musical: Jim Parsons; The Big Bang Theory

Best Actress TV series &- Comedy or Musical: Laura Linney; The Big C

Best Supporting Actor TV Series: Chris Colfer; Glee

Best Supporting Actress TV, Movie, Mini-Series: Jane Lynch; Glee

Best Actor TV Movie or Mini-Series: Al Pacino; You Don’t Know Jack

Best Actress TV Movie or Mini-Series: Claire Danes; Temple Grandin

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A new year is under way, bringing with it a new season of award shows for the American and international film industries. It also brings my new column to The Collegian, the focus of which will be centered around films and the film industry.

The awards show season gets under way at 7 p.m. Sunday on NBC with The Golden Globes. As it has in previous years, the show will give viewers a taste of who the front-runners are and who may be the dark horses that come out of nowhere to steal an Oscar at The Academy Awards next month.

There were many great films as well as countless flops that hit the screen this past year in a wide variety of genres, making it difficult to accurately break them all down into a single top 10 list of the best films.

Each year the top 10 highest grossing films internationally come from only a handful of major production houses who put their money behind three niche genres guaranteed to make them big bucks.

These genres include high action films like Iron Man 2 and Inception, which are geared toward young adults and are saturated with special effects, animated films geared toward children such as Toy Story 3 and Shrek Forever After, or films like the Twilight saga or the Harry Potter series that continue with success generated from previous films that have built a huge cult following.

Although some of these films were in fact really good to watch, I tend to see films richer in storyline or deeper in content. This is why I look forward each year to the award shows where those films that tackle more complex subject matter are rewarded for their hard work and ingenuity.

Look for my recap of the winners, losers, and upsets from The Golden Globes in the next issue and also to my previews of The Screen Actors Guild Awards and The Academy Awards coming soon. With that I will leave you with the top 10 moneymakers of 2010.

1. Toy Story 3

   Disney/Pixar; worldwide gross: $1,063,143,492

2. Alice In

   Wonderland

   Walt Disney Pictures; worldwide gross: $1,024,299,722

3. Harry Potter

   and the Deathly

   Hallows: Part 1

   Warner Bros.; worldwide gross: $901,958,711

4. Inception

   Warner Bros.; worldwide gross: $825,491,877

5. Shrek

   Forever After

   DreamWorks Animation; worldwide gross: $739,813,967

6. The Twilight

   Saga: Eclipse

   Summit Entertainment; worldwide gross: $693,480,124

7. Iron Man 2

   Paramount Pictures; worldwide gross: $621,751,988

8. Despicable Me

   Universal Pictures; worldwide gross: $526,597,262

9. How To Train

   Your Dragon

   DreamWorks Animation; worldwide gross: $494,878,759

10. Clash of

    the Titans

    Warner Bros.; worldwide gross: $493,214,993

Beginning in the spring semester students will be able to ponder the meaning of life and all other existential matters, as the new Philosophy Club will begin meeting.

Chad Lemme, a sophomore majoring in history, and Dan Christensen, a senior economy major, have been working hard over the past month to try and get a philosophy club up and running.

“I’m looking forward to having a philosophical organization on campus. Philosophy has been very under-represented here at SDSU,” Christensen said.

The two of them have a subcommittee meeting on Dec. 8 to finalize the club and have their constitution approved. After that the Philosophy Club will be official and can begin holding meetings.

“We are still trying to arrange a meeting place and time, but Dan and I had talked just briefly about it and it sounds like we will meet bi-monthly in The Union somewhere in the evening,” Lemme said. “We will, however, be working this out upon our club’s approval and will let everyone who is interested know.”

One of their main goals in getting a philosophy club going is to generate a large enough student interest in philosophy that would cause SDSU to consider implementing a major in philosophy.

“The department has proposed a major a number of times over the years, but these proposals have yet to receive administrative approval,” said Greg Peterson, program coordinator and professor of philosophy and religion. “If there [was] a philosophy club with enough student interest, that may help the case for pursuing a major.”

The Philosophy Department will have no official connection to the student-run philosophy club but according to Lemme, they have been incredibly helpful with the two of them getting it up and running.

Both Lemme and Christensen are passionate about philosophy and hope they will be able to build upon that within the club once it is up and running. Lemme has even enlisted the help of his brother, Cole Lemme, in trying to get people involved with the club.

“Philosophy is the most important aspect of life as far as I’m concerned. We live in a society governed by something else than the need for food and survival,” Cole Lemme said.

Over Christmas break, the three of them will place flyers all over campus to let the student body know when and where they will meet and how to get in contact with them if they are interested.

Currently, if students are interested in getting involved, they can contact Chad Lemme at his email address chad.lemme@jacks.sdstate.edu.

#1.1825240:377378977.png:Philosophy-Ryan-Robinson-7.png:Chad Lemme, sophmore history major, catches up on some reading from one of his many philosophy books. Lemme, along with Dan Christensen, a senior economy major, are starting up a new philosophy club on campus.:Collegian Photo by Ryan Robinson

Maybe it’s possible to better student awareness after all.

Although the final evaluation of the marketing campaign done by Associate Professor Matthew Cecil’s Public Relations Strategies class won’t be finished for a few more weeks, preliminary results indicate it was a success.

The SDSU football game on Nov. 20 had an attendance of 3,918 people and Cecil estimated about 600 students were in attendance. The closest game in relation to similar weather conditions was held on Nov. 8, 2008, and drew 3,276 fans, a game which Cecil attended.

“We don’t have student attendance numbers for that one, but I was there,” said Cecil. “If there were 100 students there, I’d be very surprised.”

This was the first time mass communications and journalism students have worked on a marketing campaign for the Athletic Department. Cecil chose the topic for the class campaign to try and increase the attendance numbers for a post-Hobo Day football game.

“Students had to figure out what sorts of attitudes and awareness issues might be contributing to that problem, develop some communication strategies that addresses and put a plan into action,” Cecil said. “From the students’ perspective this sort of event was perfect. It was a one-time event occurring near the end of the semester.”

The first 10 weeks of the semester were spent doing research and planning the campaign. Based on the results of the research and interviews, the students created a survey that was sent via email to 6,000 students.

“Through the survey results, they found that many students were unaware of basic information like the dates of games and the fact that because they pay activity fees, they have already purchased admission to the games. They also found that SDSU students are much more likely to attend a game if their friends are attending; if they know a student athlete and if there are giveaways,” Cecil said.

During the week of Nov. 15 to Nov. 20, students put their plan into action. Students first employed the use of signage around campus to raise awareness of the game, creating fliers and handouts to distribute.

They branded the game a “Fan Appreciation” event after testing out different themes in the survey they distributed to SDSU students. A “Golden Ticket” promotion was pitched to Aramark, SDSU’s dining service. The corporation agreed to help with the promotion by providing $200 in prizes. Finally, the students did dorm storming that involved speaking to students in person and inviting them to the game.

The class received tremendous support from the Athletic Department’s Senior Associate Athletic Director, Leon Costello and Assistant Athletic Director, Justin Swanson.

“It’s clear to me that the administration in athletics wants to work with students and other groups on campus in any way they can,” Cecil said. “We’re grateful to them for giving our students this opportunity. I hope they got some value in return as well. I know my students have learned a lot through this experience.”

The Peg Leg Update surfaced in the fall of 2009 and has established itself as a venue for readers and writers alike to enjoy and showcase work of a more artistic nature.

The PLU is a monthly print publication that focuses is on publishing long creative non-fiction and fiction works, poetry, art, local events and news.

“Poetry, paintings and passionate opinions need a home in the Brookings area and I think we have the ability to provide that,” said Mitch LeClair, SDSU alumnus and founder of The Peg Leg Update. “Contributors to the PLU write about topics we think might be mildly interesting to people using their toilets or waiting for an Americano.”

In addition to the print copy available the PLU also has a website, www.thepegleg.com, where longer articles, video and interactive work can be showcased.

“We have plans and ideas to do short-form documentaries, scholarly papers, podcasts and satirical videos that will soon be a part of the website, it all depends on our personal motivations to get it under way,” LeClair said.

The distribution spots for the PLU include local coffee houses, a few spots on campus and a few bars in town.

“An updated, solid map will be up on our website with our first-of-the-fall print issues release,” LeClair said.

Mitch and a close group of friends collaborated near the end of summer 2009 and devised plans for the publication including printing schedules, content ideas and branding elements.

“I wanted to provide a space for fledgling creative minds … ” LeClair said. “I also wanted to gain experience in a managerial role in a publishing effort before graduating SDSU, so I figured I might as well start my own publication.”

LeClair graduated in spring 2010 with a Bachelor of Science in journalism with minors in English and professional writing.

The other two main figure heads of the PLU are SDSU seniors Simeon Brown, who is majoring in English and minoring in professional writing, and Catey Watkins, who is an advertising major.

“Most everyone involved is a current SDSU student, we have seen interest from students studying in a wide spectrum of majors,” LeClair said.

Although LeClair is the founder of the PLU, the name of the publication supposedly came from Simeon Brown.

“I would like to lay this claim once and only once, the idea for the name of the magazine was mine. Mitch was the one that who brought up the fact that Wilmont Wood Brookings had peg legs, but I was the first one to say “Peg Leg Update.”

“Mitch is very smart about staying hip and he encourages us to be innovative,” Brown said.

#1.1782255:1620207886.png:Peg-Leg-Submitted-Photo.png:The Peg Leg Update features many student writers. The magazine contains various articles and stories, including news and poetry.:Submitted Photo

It was a night to remember and possibly one of the finest classical performances I have seen &- not just here in South Dakota, but in my hometown of Seattle, Wash. as well.

Upon entering the front doors to the Performing Arts Center, my guest and I walked into the crowded main lobby of finely dressed ladies and gentlemen mingling with each other waiting for the show to begin.

Prior to the doors opening to the symphony, Dan Brown, dean of the Music Department, President David Chicoine and the Brookings Mayor Tim Reed spoke to the crowd to welcome everyone and thank Conductor Pavol Kogan and the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra for coming to Brookings.

When the cordialities ended, the doors to the symphony hall were opened, and the throng of guests filed in. We made our way upstairs to the balcony level and quickly found are seats along the right side.

It wasn’t long before the members of the symphony began filing onto to the stage and tuning up their instruments. Then finally Kogan walked onto the stage with the crowd giving him a great welcoming ovation.

The symphony began the performance with “Capriccio Italien, Op. 45″ by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It started off softly and slowly and quickly gained momentum. Soon the various sections of the symphony were alternately playing off each other in a beautiful synchronicity. Though the opening performance began slowly, the ending was a sharp crescendo of music.

After a standing ovation by the crowd and three bowing encores by the conductor, Maestro Kogan returned once more to the stage with featured guest violinist Jennifer Koh to perform the “Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64″ by Felix Mendelssohn.

It was truly a delight to watch Koh, accompanied by the symphony, work her magic on the violin. In alternating succession they would play off each other in near perfect harmony.

Koh’s solo violin work, so full of passion and depth and emotion, if one closed their eyes they could almost visualize the notes flowing off her violin and out into the crowd. The intricateness of her movements across the violin and how the notes mixed with the overall symphony was a work of a rising master.

As before, the performance reached a crescendo and then ended with a flourish. The crowd erupted with cheers and yet another standing ovation for Koh and the symphony lasting several minutes and multiple encore appearances by Koh and Maestro Kogan.

After the intermission, the symphony and Maestro Kogan came back on stage for their final performance of the night, Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibit.” Maestro Kogan knew what he was doing when laying out which pieces they were going to play and in what order.

Although this final performance encompassed multiple individual symphonic pieces as the symphony under the guidance of Kogan began, I quickly became lost within the music and had trouble at times distinguishing where the transitions into the different movements were.

Perhaps this was simply because I gave myself up to simply enjoying the performance as a grand unifying whole and wasn’t concerned so much with picking it all apart. Whatever the case, this final performance really brought the whole experience together and left me satiated at the end but still yearning for more music.