It was perhaps just a few inches of skin, the area encompassing the buttocks and hips. The surface area wasn't that much when you think about it, but it was just enough, effectively trapping two individuals within the same body.

That was the disfiguration that brought conjoined twin sisters Daisy and Violet Hilton to the stages of Vaudeville before adoring audiences during the Depression. [Read article]

Today

Okkervil River - This folk-rock quartet is sure to impress music fans of all genres with opening bands Low Skies and Band of Horses. 11:30 p.m. $7. (21+) Plush. 340 E. Sixth St.

'Napoleon Dynamite' - Efren Ramirez and Aaron Ruell, who played the iconic characters Pedro and Kip, respectively, in last year's indie film hit, will discuss the making of the film. 7 p.m. $10 for students, $12 general admission. South Ballroom of the Student Union Memorial Center. 1303 E. University Blvd. [Read article]

Newsworthy

Mary-Kate Olsen has officially dropped out of New York University. Her people claim that she needs more time to concentrate on the straight-to-video business. I suspect she just needs something a little less challenging than NYU, and the UA might be right up her alley. Plus, the cocaine is much cheaper here than in New York.

Random review

Joel's Bistro, on University Boulevard by Starbucks, has one of the best locations in town with its courtyard seating near the fountain. And the food really sucks. The crepes are made with frozen fruit. They do not have orange juice. My eggs came with multiple pieces of eggshell in them. Even my drunk of a mother could avoid the eggshells. Just kidding, I've never met my mother. [Read article]

He may have been the exhilarating and intellectually magnificent sidekick in "Napoleon Dynamite," but unbeknownst to most, Pedro Sanchez is not actually a real person. Just in time for a special performance at the Student Union Memorial Center, the Arizona Daily Wildcat was fortunate enough to get a chance to prod deeper into the man behind the magic and mystery that is Pedro: Efren Ramirez. [Read article]

America has and does a lot of things that Europe doesn't, and we like it that way.

We carve dead presidents on our mountains.

We like to know more about the lives of our celebrities than our own domestic and foreign policy.

We prefer to drink soda out of buckets than glasses.

We like weapons, and we like them big and noisy.

Yes, we Americans do a lot of things differently than the Old World. However, one thing that Europe does trump us in is the use and proliferation of town squares. [Read article]

Faces of the Fiesta, a celebration of the tradition of mask making and mask wearing, might inspire more creative mask making for Halloween. However, the Arizona State Museum's second annual event is also geared toward providing a cultural and artistic context surrounding the meaning of masks.

Mask maker and performance artist Zarco Guerrero will perform his one-man comedic drama titled "Face to Face in a Frenzy." [Read article]

"Domino" gets a bit chaotic with flash-cuts, endless zooms and an extremely saturated color scheme that's bathed in green. So much style shoved down so fast means that director Tony Scott had trouble finding space for any kind of meaningful content. And so the end product is equal parts impressive and maddening.

The film starts in an interrogation room, with the questioning done by Lucy Liu. Bounty hunter Domino Harvey (Keira Knightley) sits opposite her, and has been injured doing whatever led her to the police station. The questioning leads to a Domino narration, and we hear about her rise to a criminal life amid bits of information about how she ended up caught by the police. Essentially this is a biopic with a bonus thriller attached. [Read article]

The first thing you'll notice in a song by New York's The Hold Steady is Craig Finn's voice. It's slightly nasal and Finn doesn't use it to sing as much as to speak/bark his lyrics in a way that is aggressive, witty and world-weary. The first thing you'll notice about The Hold Steady's music is that it's familiar. Riffs are culled from classic '70s rock 'n' roll, without familiarity breeding contempt. More than a few critics have noted this and Finn completely embraces their views. [Read article]

You always remember your first time

Whoever came up with the idea that you never forget how to ride a bicycle never met me. It's not like I was ever a champion cyclist, but I could pedal my little heart out ... when I was 7. Over the years enlightenment came in the form of an automobile, and my bike became the biggest dust magnet in my dad's garage.

I think at some point my parents got rid of the pink splatter-painted gem that I remember from days of yore; however, to ensure my love, they bought me a new purple splatter-painted mountain bike that sat in their garage for more years than I'm comfortable to admit. [Read article]

You've got to admire their adaptability.

The University of Arizona Wind Ensemble, composed of approximately 60 of the finest musicians on campus, is presenting its second concert of the fall season in honor of the recently deceased composer Alfred Reed.

Reed, an icon in the wind concert world, passed away on Sept. 17 at age 84. The upcoming performance "Tribute to Alfred Reed" was organized quite spontaneously as a tribute in his honor, according to director and School of Music professor Gregg Hanson. [Read article]

These are hard times for music critics hoping to use their venomous pen. Looking to take a hard stand on former critical darlings, critics have been stymied by the excess of good to great releases by the likes of Franz Ferdinand, New Pornographers and Mr. West (among others). They're running the risk of looking soft and bands like My Morning Jacket don't seem to care.

After releasing 2003's ode to southern rock, It Still Moves, My Morning Jacket began working on Z, their "departure" album. Critics' eyebrows perked up as that word is often synonymous with "disaster." [Read article]

The pressure on Broken Social Scene's numerous shoulders must have been phenomenal. Before arcades were on fire, BSS was proving there was strength in numbers in 2002 with its breakthrough album You Forgot it in People (their debut, Feel Good Lost, came out in 2001). BSS emerged as the premier orchestral collective - up to 15 members at times - by making music that was both beautiful and volatile. [Read article]

When most boys his age were listening to Milli Vanilli, Sean Costello was busy becoming the next blues legend.

To say that Costello had an early start would be doing the man injustice. Armed with both a blossoming passion for blues and an amazing talent, taking up music at a young age may have been a no-brainer, but still required a little effort.

"I just got into blues since I was a young kid. The sound of it always excited me when I heard it," Costello said. [Read article]