1. Check out a Concert

No, I’m not suggesting you sit on Ticketmaster for hours to pay hundreds of dollars to see Fall Out Boy. Check out a band you’ve never heard of. Scour the web for open mic nights and underground punk shows. You might end up catching the next big thing to hit MTV. If there’s a venue nearby that’s known for being a breeding ground for legendary rockers, join their mailing list. Otherwise, check out sites like Underground Hip Hop Dot Com or Open Mikes to find some decent music at a cheap price. Stuck on campus without a car? See if your school sponsors its own concert series, open mic’s or talent shows, and hit ‘em up, son.

2. Pee Your Pants (Not Literally)

Underground concerts too loud for you? Hit up a comedy club or try to catch an improv troupe in your area. Comedy shows run fairly cheap, and you can bust a gut without waking up with your ears ringing in the morning. Sites like The Improv list venues in several different cities, or you can Google “improv” and the name of your town to see if there’s anything nearby. Did you know that tons of Saturday Night Live regulars got their start at improv clubs like LA’s infamous Groundlings? Or that comic messiahs like Adam Sandler used to tour college campuses before making it big?

3. Take Center Stage

My personal life motto? You haven’t lived until you’ve Karaoke’d. Find a local dive bar that hosts karaoke, and hit it up. You don’t have to worry about being embarrassed in front of townies who are doing renditions of the Dixie Chicks and Metallica, and if you can force yourself onstage without boozing it up, you really won’t have to pay anything for a kick-ass good time. Karaoke in the states is at an all-time high, so there’s bound to be someplace nearby that will let you croon “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”

4. Casino Night

Free drinks while you gamble? Two words for the poverty-stricken college student: Penny Slots.

5. Stage a Cultural Outing

Everyone wastes $10 at the cinemas these days to see 90 minutes of cliches and inevitable plot lines. Get your culture on and take in a play, a musical, a cabaret, a drag show, anything! If you live in a city that’s host to a variety of playhouses, chances are, you can get student rush tix on the cheap, and if not, check out your local repertory theaters or community theaters. There have been some amazing shows to hit the stages over the past few years, and chances are, you’ve only seen them on DVD (e.g. The Producers, Little Shop of Horrors, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Hairspray… why not seem them all live?)

6. Laser Tag and Cosmic Bowling

Playing pseudo-sports in the dark, under black lights and glowing neon? It’s like a graffiti party, without the “Who the hell wrote that” factor the next morning! Let out your competitive streak by challenging your friends to a game or two, and follow up with a greasy trip to the 24-hour diner for some Disco Fries. Your arteries will hate you, but it’ll be a refreshing, welcome change.

7. Check Out Your Campus Calendar

Don’t feel like finding a DD or selling your soul for gas money? Tons of colleges these days are sponsoring quality entertainment on the weekends, in an effort to prevent their students from binge drinking for 72 hours straight. From music events to movie screenings to themed activities in the student union, you can get your fun on for cheap, or, even better, free, and you never have to worry about the cops busting up your good time.

Though the government strongly opposed her behavior, the media has dubbed Monserrat Morilles La Diosa Metro, or “Metro Goddess.” The attemped performance outside of the palace followed a series of stripteases that Morilles carried out on Santiago subways.

Whereas the U.S. rewards nudity with notoriety (look at NYC’s Naked Cowboy!), Chilean society isn’t quite so liberated. In an attempt to make the introverted Chile a “happier” country, Morilles boarded the metro at one station, and performed a striptease while the train sped to the next station, where the entertainer deboarded the car.

I wonder if American media has influenced the Metro Goddess in any way? Stripping in front of a government office? Maybe VH1 should pick her up and give her her own reality dating show.

Maybe there isn’t a whole lot of cool music that comes to your mind when you think of the state of Colorado. Well, that’s all about to change. Open your Myspace up and get ready to check out some of Colorado’s best acts that are still making their way up from the underground.

“I wish daft punk was playing” THE CHAIN GANG OF 1974

“Make you move” THE TITLE WAVE

“Open sea” INPUT

“Are you with me” VAUX

“Because we are” THE AUTUMN FILM

“The minimalist demo” TRAITORS TO THE QUEEN

“Simple Magic” MICHAEL COLE

“Hold my hands up” MY BODY SINGS ELECTRIC

“Math Equation” MATT AND ISOM

“Complete and utter confusion” FEAR BEFORE THE MARCH OF FLAMES

Enjoy!

It’s Thursday again and that means it’s time for another round of Weekly Obsessions!

This week has been a mix of the last days of warm weather and the gray dreary days of Fall, so I’ve been trying my best to counteract any kind of gloominess with tons of color and fun!

First things first:

Fashion Obsession: Colorful Hair!

On Monday, I woke up feeling like I needed a change–any change. Simply, I was bored. And what do I do when I’m bored? I change my hair color! I’ve had all sorts of wacky colors and cuts through the years but I wanted something drastic.

I made my way down to SoHo to the Arrojo Studios where I asked my awesome colorist to make me as blonde as possible. She took one look at my dark brown hair and I could already tell it would be impossible. Going from dark brown to platinum would be a painful, all-day process.

Such a bummer. (Sidenote: If Japanese girls can go blonde, why can’t I?)

She salvaged the situation by putting some (subtle) blue and pink bits all throughout the front of my hair which I completely love. Maybe after a little more planning I’ll be able to go lighter, but for now, I’m loving the new streaks.

For those of you not quite ready to take the plunge? Get a wig! Halloween is coming up so there’s no better excuse to try out something completely ridiculous (and hilarious!).

Leisure Obsession: Zines!

To me, Zines scream “1999!”, but for some reason, this week I’ve been totally infatuated.

For those of you who are in the dark right now, according to Wikipedia, Zines are a small circulation, non-commercial publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest.

You can usually find zines within any kind of underground movement, or in a lot of our cases, on college campuses. They cover all kinds of topics. I’ve seen some fantastically creative ones that cover anything from vegetarianism to punk rock.

Lucky for us, there are lots of places to find interesting zines online. And for you ambitious folks out there, you can read up on how to self-publish here.

Tech Obsession: Completely Useless (But Fun!) Gadgets We May Use…But Probably Won’t!

Maybe I’m nuts, but when I read about new inventions or concepts that are pretty much useless it doesn’t matter–as long as they look cool, I’m so down.

So, it makes sens that I freaked out when I saw this. Amazing!! It looks like Lite-Brite which, anyone who knows me personally can tell you, I adore.

Apparently, they do this kind of stuff in Vegas but I’ve never been there so I’m going to just have to swoon over these pictures until I can get my butt out to Nevada to gamble my savings away.

And check this out! I know people, I know. We can all just wipe our mirrors off with a towel or something, but this is just hilarious. They should sell these babies with a guarantee that you’ll have a good giggle every morning after your shower…that should move a few off the shelves, right?

Food Obsession: Shabu-Shabu Restaurants!

Have you guys seen these? If we’re talking fun this week, these Japanese restaurants are it. It’s basically like beef fondue, if you want to put it simply.

What happens is, when you sit down you get raw beef (or pork, lobster, crab, chicken, or duck) which you submerge in a pot of boiling water to cook. Then you get an array of dipping sauces to spice up your poached meat.

To me, it’s like a welcome variation to sushi (thank God) that everyone can enjoy together…and that’s the most fun!

Check out Brighten and their video for “The Better Way”! Learn more about the band here.