Architects and visual artists have used the “rule of thirds” for centuries to generate balance by placing important compositional elements along imaginary lines while writers and musicians use the “rule of threes” to create emphasis. “In our language or culture, three provides a sense of the whole,” wrote Roy Peter Clark in “Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer.”

"Motivation is not something one ‘does to’ someone else — good motivational practice requires that we engage others in a common quest,” writes editor Michael Theall — a veteran professor, university administrator and social scientist — in the citation for “Motivation from Within: Approaches for Encouraging Faculty and Students to Excel” (June 1999).

The continuum of high-culture music concerts at Weill Hall was given a hiatus on April 17 for an introspective look inside the scientific soul of California winemaking. Chemistry and biochemistry professor Phil Crews from the University of California, Santa Cruz presented a lecture entitled “The Chemistry and Science of Wines & Wine Making” to more than 700 attendees consisting of Sonoma State chemistry and biochemistry students and faculty, curious enophiles and a few insiders from the local wine industry. The event was funded by a grant from the Green Music Center Board of Advisors University Affairs Committee.

Picking out a great bottle of wine can be as easy as sending a chimpanzee to the nearest liquor store with a note and $50 bill in its hand. But what if one doesn’t have a chimp or the money? Have no fear. By the time readers finish this, they will have received basic training in choosing quality wines that are affordable to most college students. 

When the top fashion models retire from their trade, they often become talk show hosts, cosmetic spokespersons or entrepreneurs. In the case of math professor and fashion model Rick Luttmann, retirement will entail traveling abroad as well as writing mathematical papers and textbooks.

From the popular music perspective, Johnny Cash was cool, then he was uncool. Now, he’s cool again.

An artist’s brush mark — their one-of-a-kind calligraphic brush stroke — may be as singular as their fingerprints or signature. Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne and many other famous artists had celebrated brush marks that have become legendary among art historians and aficionados.

When an artist struts the music domain with a single moniker a la Prince, Sting or Madonna, and that name happens to coincide with the surname of legendary rock and blues guitarist Jeff Beck, they’d better be good. Check that — they’d better be great.

Three-piece music ensembles, also known as trios, have been a popular format since the Middle Ages.

Celluloid heroes are going, going, gone. No John Wayne riding off into the sunset, no Minnie Mouse or Popeye the Sailor Man and no Brad and Angelina on tiny rectangles of motion picture film. 

In the world of late-night television, if a network says, “jump,” talk show hosts usually say, “how high?” Such is the case at “The Tonight Show” where NBC Universal has manipulated the careers of three well-known hosts for the sake of projected ratings since 2009. 

Music is not the first thing that comes to mind in anticipation of the 86th Academy Awards show on March 2. Despite such notions, the recording industry’s relationship with the Oscars is a big deal to the artists, engineers and producers who are nominated for creating the “best original song.”