DeKalb - a town that contains a variety of thriving businesses - is home to three of the most unique retailers and repair shops for musical instruments in the area. However unaware many might be of these spots, each location - Ax-In-Hand, Elliott’s...

Tough physical training, intense mental discipline and finding a spiritual center sounds like a mix of the Marines, NASA and a monk. However, all three of these traits are offered by the Northern Illinois Shotokan. "Shotokan is the traditional Okinawan...

As good as it may be, Thrice sounds too much like a variety of other bands to be taken seriously as a legitimate rock group. Already, groups like New Found Glory and Yellowcard have managed to establish themselves as the headlining grudge-rock bands of...

If there are any lingering doubts that sexual harassment still exists in the workplace, this film would immediately dispel them. Based on a class action lawsuit settled eight years ago, "North Country" comments on an extremely relevant social situation....

NIU Philharmonic Orchestra conductor Brett Mitchell grew up with "Star Wars." As is true of most kids, the music, the light sabers and the force struck a note that would have a lasting impact. "Often I’ve thought about why I conduct and some 1 percent...

Video games are often at a disadvantage in Hollywood. Titles such as "Halo," "Metal Gear Solid" and "Resident Evil" blur the line between player-directed action and professional quality cinema. Unfortunately, one only needs to look at the 1993 bomb "Super...

Certain albums make better soundtracks than the overly-hyped public relation tools that pass as movie soundtracks nowadays. At times, a band can piece together tracks that are cohesive enough to backdrop the movie in our minds and diverse enough to compliment...

Although Jamie Obermeier, assistant professor of metals and jewelry design, may not have started out with a passion for art as young as most, he became talented in a short amount of time. That all artists are born as artists is a common misconception,...

For Martina McBride’s most recent album, she took a bunch of country classics and made them her own. An album full of cover songs may make some people cringe, but she did it and she did it well. McBride went as early back as the ’50s with Hank Williams’...

When walking around campus I see people that I know walking toward me. The sad thing is I really don’t want to talk to them at all. Is there anything I can do to not act rude by not talking to them? Listen, you are talking to the king of skipping out...

As numbers get called one by one, players move their special markers up and down their cards. Tension builds until the word "Bingo!" is shouted and sighs of disappointment are heard around the room. The scene is repeated over and over again throughout...

Take a few unshaven, gun-toting cowboys, throw in some cute one-liners, showdowns and horse chases and you’ve got the standard, stereotypical western. What separates Clint Eastwood’s 1973 classic, from its cliché peers is its minimalistic directing,...