Held in Las Vegas in early January, the 2014 International CES exposed spectators and competitors to Ford’s latest hybrid car. This machine is setting the stage for revolutionizing the green-energy industry in cars—with special thanks to the help of one Tech professor and his lab.

Unlike current hybrid-electric models, the new car, the C-MAX Solar Energi Concept, has built-in solar panels that can take energy from the sun’s rays directly to convert to energy for the car’s later use.

Both Ford and SunPower developed the car’s panels. Ford then called Dr. Bert Bras, a professor in the school of Mechanical Engineering, and his lab to seek out a better way to concentrate sun rays in an effort to maximize the absorption of light.

“Ford didn’t just want to build an electric car, but a plug-in hybrid electric car that actually uses green electricity,” Bras said to the Georgia Tech Research News. “Just putting photovoltaic cells onto a car is not going to do it, so they reached out to us to help progress the concentrator idea.”

The system has the ability to take in an up-to-eight-kilowatt-hour battery charge, if placed in sunlight for a day. This would not be enough to charge the car’s battery, however; this is where Bras’ lab came in handy, developing a magnifying glass-like contraption that better harnesses the power of the sun. It also improves the energy absorbed by a factor of eight. With that kind of a charge, a person could drive at least 20 miles before any gas begins to be consumed.

One Ford representative at the CES convention explained to the DailyFinance that simply harnessing the sun’s rays rather than using the current plug-in method could save a consumer roughly $500 to $600, depending on the cost of electricity where the consumer is situated. Either way, Bras’ team devised a simple solution that provides the consumer savings.

In addition to the direct savings, as the Georgia Tech Research News reports, the car would be powered by the sun for nearly 75 percent of trips, in terms of the trips made by an average driver.

Though the car still contains a fuel-engine system, the latest Ford model adds another layer of separation between the conventional fuel-model and a completely independent and green system.

Ford’s model comes against Toyota’s counterpart, which used a fuel cell to power the vehicle. The green transportation system seems to be taking off in all directions with consumer’s options on the rise.

“Whether it’s fuel cell, whether it’s a solar energy car, whether it’s pure electric, I think there’s going to be a spectrum… especially with public consciousness growing every single year about some of the different choices that they might have in coming years,” said a Ford representative.

The winter of 2013-14 is proving to be one of new endeavors for TV series. There seem to be endless commercials and previews for series premieres and pilot episodes. The past month and coming weeks offer a wide range of shows from comic book adaptations (Gotham) to teenaged supernatural love triangles in Bitten to science fiction Helix. Even an Australian TV series, Rake, has been slotted for an American adaptation. There appears to be at least one new show starting in every genre. Intelligence, The 100, Enlisted and True Detective are but only a few of this winter’s new shows.

Even with all of the new shows to choose from, it is still nice to have returning favorites. Psych recently began its eighth season, making it one of USA Network’s longest-running shows. It takes a certain kind of creativity to maintain a series since 2008. Without this, the show would quickly have lost the interest of its audience.

Considering the show follows the cases worked by a fake psychic detective with a penchant for rule breaking, Psych has the perfect excuse for doing almost anything with its plot. Over the past seven seasons, the show has explored various genres of filmmaking, including old westerns, Bollywood, soap operas and, most recently, a musical.

Throughout the series, Shawn Spencer (James Roday) and his partner Burton Guster (Dulé Hill, Men of Honor) solve crimes that the Santa Barbara Police Department are having trouble with, have deemed unsolvable (such as the Mr. Yin and Mr. Yang murders) or have decided the case is too strange to actually be worth their time.

With such leeway to do whatever strikes the writers’ fancies, a show can go one of three ways. The writers could ignore the fact that they are able to do anything, making for a more realistic, but rather boring, show.

The writers could go in the complete opposite direction and make the show incomprehensibly strange, but it would include absolutely everything that the scriptwriters might desire.

Fortunately for its viewers, Psych’s writers opted for the third path by taking the middle ground. This third choice creates episodes that do make sense but stretch the imagination.

Episodes, for the most part, follow a logical chain of events, even when the events themselves are less than logical. However, the writers did not satisfy themselves with creating a comprehensible detective show. They added comedy, probably Psych’s best quality.

Most detective shows are serious; the characters are intent on catching a killer and have no time for jokes except perhaps at the end of an episode, after the suspect has been arrested and presumed guilty (few if any detective shows actually have any follow through with the people they arrest).

Psych, on the other hand, seems to be dedicated to humor; the characters just happen to solve a mystery while jesting and making endless references to other movies and TV shows along the way.

With this concept, the show seems to be destined for greatness. So far, it lives up to its potential. The return of Despereaux (Cary Elwes, The Princess Bride), an eloquent and crafty art thief who was presumed dead, has started the eighth season with a bang, or at least with a few good laughs at the expense of the British. The first episode of this new season is set in England and does not have the usual case to solve. Rather, Shawn and Gus go undercover to prevent a crime from happening while trying to figure out Despereaux’s true identity.

As far as the overarching story goes, Psych’s first episode of the year falls flat, but this is somewhat excusable due to the resurrection of Despereaux, arguably one of the most cunning adversaries Shawn and Gus have faced during the series.

Hopefully, as the season goes on, the show will not continue to ignore what it presented as major plot points in previous episodes, such as the replacement of the police chief or Shawn’s confession to not being a real psychic. These could lead to some interesting future episodes, but might also make Psych less of a lighthearted comedy as the main characters face life-altering changes.

Ten years ago, the average student admitted to Tech had an average SAT score of 1334.

This year, that same average number, for the more than 5,000 admitted students in the early admission cycle, rose over a 100 points to 1483/1600 for a composite score of 2193/2400.

In addition, diversity was the name of the game, as the Office of Admissions accepted an incoming class with students from all 50 states and 42 countries.

“[This diversity] makes everyone’s experience better,” said Office of Admissions Director Clark. “Any homogeneous group is going to be worse if it doesn’t have diverse perspective.”

The trend shows that roughly 60 percent of the incoming freshman class is in-state, and 40 percent will be out-of-state; 10 percent of the overall population will be from abroad.

The high-school class of 2014 was also the first group to apply to this school using the Common Application, which 517 U.S. institutions of higher education use for undergraduate admissions.

“A number of the major public universities around the country have recently gone to the common application, namely University of Michigan, [University of North Carolina]—Chapel Hill, UVA [University of Virginia].  [They] who are all in the top 10 with us in terms of public [universities],” said Rick Clark, the Director of Admissions.

The switch to the Common App also allows Tech to enhance Tech’s name recognition beyond the state of Georgia around the globe among talented students without stretching its marketing budget.

“Now we can go to Madison, Georgia… but… Madison, Wisconsin… or Southeast Asia… are the places we’re not going to [recruit from]…but there are kids that either should ‘be here’ or at least looking at us and we don’t think they were,” Clark said.

For the last few years, the acceptance rate for both early and regular admissions has gone down due to the increasing number of applicants.  In 2011, 3,000 applications for early action were submitted, and there were 9,000 applicants last year. However, 12,300 applications were submitted in this cycle for early action alone.

“We already have 23,000 applications for [this year]. Last year, it ended at 17,700,” Clark said.

The larger number of applications the process of admitting exemplary students more difficult than usual this year, according to Clark.

“Who are we to be judging these students?” Clark said. “I’m excited about what these students are going to become and where they’re going. It gives me hope for the future of our world.”

Online courses such as MOOCs (massive open online course) may also play a role in future undergraduate admissions. Universities around the country including Tech are rapidly offering college-level courses to anyone with an internet connection.

“I could definitely see a day soon where we’re almost expecting a kid would taken a MOOC before coming to Tech,” said Clark.

Some current Tech students are intimidated by these impressive admission statistics, but most are excited about the incoming class of bright students.

“These early admissions numbers reflect well on our school, and it’s improving the value of my degree,” said fourth-year BUS major Melanie Cols.

“Tech is on an unparalleled trajectory,” Clark concluded. “There has never been a more exciting time to be [here] than right now.”

Earlier last month, the Partnership for an Advanced Computing Environment (PACE) announced a new partnership with Emory University to supply its neighbor in Decatur with a new high performance computing (HPC) cluster.

The computing cluster is named TARDIS, which is also the name of the time machine from the British science fiction series Doctor Who, and is composed of 12 nodes, or computers, with a total of 768 processing cores. An average desktop computer has four cores.

“TARDIS is a brand new thing [and]… it recently just went into full production mode,” said Chief HPC Architect Neil Bright.

Emory began this partnership with Tech in order to replace their old cluster, Ellipse, in the most efficient way possible.

“Their old cluster was old…big… inefficient,” Bright said. “It was time to get it replaced and upgraded. Emory did a business case and figured out how much it would cost them to do it, ramp up their personnel and based on that decided to outsource that particular ability.”

“On the new server, we can now process 20 exomes per hour, a 60-fold increase in speed,” said Michael Zwick, PhD, associate professor of human genetics and scientific director of the Emory Integrated Genomics Core, in a news release by Emory University. “This is a dramatic improvement and will allow members of the Emory community to perform larger experiments faster and for less money. We will be a significant user of the new cluster and our computational services will be taking advantage of this exciting new capability.”

Part of the $500,000 grant that Emory received for this cluster is being given to PACE, which will help to facilitate the setup and maintenance of TARDIS. However, the cluster, which is dedicated to Emory, will only be reserved for use by Emory personnel only. According to Bright, there is no way for Tech faculty to gain access to this resource.

Traditionally, PACE has been a partnership between the Office of Information Technology (OIT) and Tech faculty where the former assist in the setup and management of high performance computing investments made by the latter. However, according to Bright, this is an avenue in which the department is investigating.

“This is something we are interested in expanding with other universities,” Bright said. “Obviously, the Board of Regent schools would be targets here. By doing that, you gain economies of scale and the ability to attract larger grants and have a greater economic impact.”

Physical distance is not a restriction in being able to remotely work with these machines.

“Think Gmail,” Bright said. “You can check it from wherever you are – it doesn’t matter if it’s located in Europe.”

Bright also referenced the new HPC building and its potential for this expansion.

“The bigger picture here is the HPC building we’re going to move into,” Bright said. “Some very large data center space, office space, and operating as public and private partnership may help bring in companies as part of an economic development mission. Various partners from industry could also benefit from HPC.”

Better movement with just a flick of the tongue? One Tech professor has been able to make the daily lives of patients with paralysis a lot easier.

Mobility plays a vital role in the everyday lives of students at Tech, from getting out of bed to taking the bus and trolley system to get to classes. Yet most times, we tend to overlook how much different our lives would be if suddenly, our ability to be mobile were taken away from us.

About 10,000 people a year in the U.S. alone receive spinal cord injuries, causing partial or almost total paralysis, causing drastic life changes for those injured.

Maysam Ghovanloo, an ECE assistant professor, has helped create a revolutionary operating system for patients with paralysis that he believes will lead to individuals not only being able to operate wheelchairs more effectively, but also to do other tasks that were previously daunting or impossible without assistance from other people.

The system, known as Tongue Drive, has patients receive magnetic piercings on their tongues, which will be used to operate as the guide for where they want their wheelchair to move to.

“As the tongue moves, we can sense the change in the magnetic field,” Ghovanloo told Georgia Tech Research News reporters. “And then, our headset has a wireless connection to a smartphone that is worn by the user. It can detect where, and in what direction, and at what location the tongue and this tiny magnet is, and execute that command by sending the proper signal to the wheelchair to follow.

The tongue monitor has a precise location on the tongue so that when a person speaks, the wheelchair will not recognize the speech as a command to move. Additionally, the user can turn the magnet on and off when it is time to eat or drink.

Setbacks for the technology begin immediately in that some users are hesitant in wanting to get a piercing on their tongue, but Ghovanloo believes that this is non-issue.

“They have gone through more significant surgeries. This is really laughable to them. This is not an issue,” Ghovanloo said to Washington Post reporters.

Currently, the technology is not slated to be on the market for another year and could cost more than the traditional wheelchair system currently in use by many, yet Ghovanloo will continue in his efforts to perfect the system to ultimately make this system more readily available.

“I have put it as my mission to help these individuals become more independent, not only [to] lower their healthcare costs,” Ghovanloo said to Georgia Tech Research News reporters. “It is beneficial to society, it’s beneficial to their family members and caregivers, but most important of all, it’s beneficial to themselves, because they cannot go back to how they were, but at least I can help them to be more independent and self-sufficient.

My iPhone lights up to alert me of a new email.

“My group member must have finally emailed me back.”

“The test surely must have gotten postponed.”

As I frantically open my email for any helpful antidote from the stress of an expectedly chaotic day in Hell Week, I see the subject line that means too little to me at the time to even care.

“Reminder: GT Course Instructor Opinion Survey (CIOS).”

Delete.

Believe me, I would love to take the survey. Doing it half-heartedly since I don’t have the time or motivation, however, won’t do my professors justice.

A few days later during Dead Week, I get the same email.

I subconsciously ask a few questions. Busy schedule? Check. Time to care? Nope. Ignore? Without a moment’s hesitation.

Now enter Finals Week. I have four finals: two on Monday, one on Wednesday and one on Friday. Not to mention the final exams I have to proctor and grade starting Thursday.

Essentially, my calendar has little to no time for anything but hitting those books, notes and problem sets until Saturday.

And so, with my grades and mental sanity on my mind, I continue to ignore the CIOS (and for that matter, TAOS) emails.

But now it’s Saturday evening, and I’ve finally finished all my requirements for the semester. I haven’t slept in so long that, when I do instantly fall asleep, my dreams consist of sleeping.

“Believe me, I would love to take the survey. Doing it half-heartedly since I don’t have the time…however, won’t do my professors justice.”

On Sunday, I take the whole day off to make up for all those times that I wanted to catch up on my TV shows or play FIFA 14 or go to the gym, but couldn’t. In my deliriously happy state, I ignore all incoming mail from my beloved university, including the one from, you guessed it, CETL, calling for the last round of students to take the survey as it was the survey’s last day for responses.

When Tuesday rolls around and I had rolled around in enough of my unproductivity, I decide to finally sit down and write a cohesive feedback for my professors this semester, highlighting specific critique that the survey core questions cannot suitably target from a five-point scale.

But of course, the survey is closed by then.

The case I have put forth isn’t entirely applicable to everyone on campus. Some people may be more motivated to finish the CIOS surveys after their final exams within the deadline. Some people’s final exams may end earlier. Others may not be as inclined as myself to put detailed comments in and simply answer the questions instead. And a large number of students may be further inclined to complete them to get a few extra credit points.

Regardless, I personally would like the CIOS survey deadline to be extended, if not open until the beginning of the next semester. Some people may argue this limits the time professors have to improve on their performance from preceding semester by shortening the time after receiving survey results.

“Regardless, I personally would like the CIOS survey deadline to be extended…”

However, professors, who see the survey answers five days after grades are due could instead receive a realtime analysis of results as more surveys start pouring in—something that shouldn’t be hard to accomplish if it isn’t being done already. Furthermore, email alerts for additional responses could facilitate more time-efficient checking of the surveys from their end.

What this may also accomplish is a more deliberate feedback, which could be beneficial to the professor. If students feel less rushed to fill out a survey, they will most likely take more time and devote more energy than they would have before.

If even one more student in a 20-person class takes a survey, that’s a five percent increase in survey participation. After all, isn’t that what the purpose of this survey is?

The American entertainment industry’s admiration for and inspiration from British television is nothing new. Many popular British shows such as  Shameless and Being Human have been remade for American audiences, with the most successful cross-over being NBC’s 2004 hit comedy  The Office, which locked down a primetime Thursday night spot for an incredible nine seasons compared to the two-season run of its British counterpart.

In a recent turn of events, however, American audiences are rapidly becoming more interested in watching original British shows, in many cases, to the point of fan obsession. UK-made shows like Doctor Who, Downton Abbey and Sherlock have become popular among U.S. viewers in the past couple of years, and while such a rising trend in popularity bodes well for both the British film industry and for the strength and diversity of the global film industry in general, it does beg a question: why?

Perhaps one reason for this shift in audience attention is the ability of British shows to give Americans a realistic and first-hand view of a truly different culture. Many American programs have begun to follow a typical formula, with many a new show being a spin-off of a successful predecessor, such as the cases of NCIS: Los Angeles and the numerous branches of the Law & Order series.

While each of these shows, despite its slightly unoriginal or flat-out recycled premise, may be popular in its own right and with its own niche audience, British shows give Americans something they are not familiar with—an entirely new perspective on entertainment. It is this unique glimpse that allows shows from across the pond ultimately to stand out when placed in the Netflix queue.

Availability also seems to be playing a large part in the increasing popularity of these series. Masterpiece Theatre on PBS has been airing British shows regularly since 1971, but because of the low viewership of the channel, many of the shows did not become extremely popular in America. Now, due to streaming sites like Hulu, British shows are readily available to anyone with a subscription and a taste for the foreign style.

Anytime someone wants to watch an episode or an entire season, they can easily turn on their computer and start watching. This internet-based ease of access has also led to an increase in word-of-mouth buzz for these shows. The more often people are watching shows like Downton Abbey, the more they are telling their friends about them, causing a chain reaction that is steadily increasing the viewership for the British television industry as a whole.

Despite these contributing factors, however, it could be argued that the main reason these shows are becoming so popular overseas is their high quality and dynamic storytelling structure.

British seasons, or series as they are called by natives to the UK, do not have a specific structure like American seasons do. They can essentially debut whenever the show is ready, unlike shows in America, where most new seasons begin in either September or February and continue in an episode-per-week format until reaching a season-ending finale episode.

Because they do not have to air every week like American show, British series are granted more flexibility in terms of production. They can spend as much time as they need to make the end product as inventive and engaging as possible without worrying about deadlines.

A great example of this concept of creative freedom is Sherlock, which has now kept fans waiting for two years to premiere its third season after the cliffhanger at the end of season two.

British shows also do not have a rigid season or episode length, allowing the writers to write as much as they think the show needs, instead of adding unnecessary characters and subplots to fill time. American seasons typically last between 22 and 24 episodes for a full season and 13 for half a season; in comparison, British seasons are normally short, normally with only six to eight episodes per series.

Shows like Doctor Who come in on the high end with 13 episodes a series and Sherlock on the low end with a fan-crushingly short three each year.

Great casts are a benefit to any series, and they have certainly been present in the British television industry in recent years, helping several shows to reach the level of global popularity that they occupy today.

Sherlock stars Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch have both gained international acclaim for their roles and, as a result, are now both sought-after commodities in the Hollywood film industry; both actors will star in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which is due to be released in December.

Downton Abbey is also well known for its outstanding ensemble cast, so much so that in 2011, the show was recognized in the Guiness Book of World Records as the most critically acclaimed television show of the year.

Because of these and numerous other reasons, British shows have quickly begun captivating American audiences. However, while these shows are popular, a question begins to arise about the future of British television. Is it a rising fad that will decline in a couple of years, or is it something that is here to stay?

It was a memorable four days for Tech doubles partners Kendal Woodard and Megan Kurey as they took home the  USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships doubles championship this past weekend in Flushing, N.Y.

The duo entered the tournament ranked as the No. 26 pair in the nation but managed to pull out win after win—four in total—to eventually be crowned champions.

The magical run started with a dispatching of number three overall seed Brynn Boren and Zoe Katz of USC, and concluded with a hard-fought, come-from-behind, three set victory over Julie Fellerhoff and Rebecca Shine of Louisville in the title match.

“We are super excited to bring the title back to Georgia Tech.  It means so much to be a part of such a supportive GT family, you all got us through the battles,”  Kurey said.

“It gives us great confidence and hopefully we can continue playing as well as we did.  Our [focus] now is to make it to the NCAAs,” Woodard said.

The truth is the whole experience of playing at the National Indoors was really uncharted waters for Tech tennis, as no Jackets doubles pair had ever won the regional event and made the national tournament, let alone win it. Combining that with Kurey and Woodard’s win over the number three overall seed—their fifth win this year against a nationally ranked opponent—it seems they are doing things that only they thought were possible.

“When we go into a match, we don’t really pay attention to seedings,” Woodard said. “We approach every match the same.  Perhaps this has been one of their keys to success so far this year.”

Another vital ingredient has been the chemistry between these two players.  In response to what worked for her on the court last weekend, Woodard agreed, saying that the chemistry between herself and Kurey was the reason for their victory.

“Megan sets me up great at the net and I try to do the same for her.  It just works,” Woodard said.

Most importantly, they were aware of the magnitude of the stage they were on but didn’t back down from it. On the contrary, they actually seemed to relish the opportunity to play on the same site that the U.S. Open is held.

“It was awesome playing in Flushing Meadows,” Kendal said.  “I look forward to going back and playing there again.”

A universe in jeopardy, a woman to save, a brother in chains—just another day in Asgard for alien superhero Thor. Thor: The Dark World, directed by Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones), is a sequel to 2011’s Thor and boasts a stellar cast, including Chris Hemsworth (Rush), Natalie Portman (Black Swan), Tom Hiddleston (War Horse) and Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs). It is a movie wrought with friendship and betrayal, illusions and harsh realities.

The film opens with a narrative detailing how Malekith (Christopher Eccleston, Doctor Who), king of the Dark Elves, crafts and tries to use a dark weapon called Aether to destroy the universe. Years after Malekith’s eventual defeat, Thor’s love interest Jane Foster (Portman) discovers and becomes infected by the Aether, causing Thor to take her back to Asgard in hopes of a cure.

The movie has some beautiful, heartfelt moments sprinkled throughout, and the dynamic between Thor and his treacherous brother (Hiddleston) results in some of the best acting that Hemsworth does throughout the movie. Hiddleston’s character, Loki, is more human than Thor, showing his inner and outer selves and expressing more emotion than the burly protagonist, further showing that he is not a true Asgardian. It is a running theme throughout the movie that Loki is not actually a son of Thor’s father, but rather an adopted child of an enemy race.

Loki took to heart the fact that he was adopted in Thor and in this sequel seems intent on playing the game for the throne of Asgard. This seems to be a juxtaposition, as he wants his birthright, even though he has no claim to his father’s throne due to  his lack of blood relation.

Although Thor is the main character in the film, the supporting performances tug at the viewer’s heartstrings. These characters often have just as deep a story, if not more so, as that of Thor and Jane or the ever-present evil that lurks in the shadows and slowly becomes stronger as the film progresses.

We see Loki, the true Loki, in a defining moment when Thor visits him in his dungeon prison. In a pivotal scene in Hiddleston’s portrayal of the character, the audience witnesses Loki’s transformation from a perfectly put-together and cunning manipulator, to a broken man sitting at the edge of his confines, bleeding and ragged.

In addition to Loki’s intricate tale of redemption, the story line of Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) slowly growing more and more insane after the events of the 2012 Marvel spinoff The Avengers, in which Loki held control of his mind, is quite interesting compared to the reactions of the other human characters from Thor.

The fact that all of the other human characters are completely fine at the beginning of this latest film, even though they have already experienced so much more than they ever could have imagined, is worth questioning. It makes Dr. Selvig more human, allowing him to become a more relatable character as the audience follows his journey, which at one point finds him in a mental institution.

A rather cliché trope in the movie is that of the defenseless woman that needs to be saved. Dark World furthers the damsel-in-distress stereotype through the characters of Jane and her assistant Darcy (Kat Dennings, 2 Broke Girls). Throughout the movie, the Asgardian women protect themselves and fight far better than Jane and Darcy can.

Frigga (Rene Russo, Lethal Weapon 3), Thor’s mother, fights in hand-to-hand combat against the evil Malekith, and Sif (Jamie Alexander, Kyle XY) is one of the best warriors in Asgard, holding her own even when outnumbered against fellow Asgardian soldiers. On the other hand, while Frigga is fighting, Jane hides behind a column. When Darcy is about to be attacked by dark elves, her intern Ian protects her. It is interesting that even the names of the Asgardian women are fiercer.

In defense of the human females in the film, some may argue that Jane uses her intellect to save those around her.

However, even though she figures out how to use Dr. Selvig’s instruments to save the universe, in the end it is Selvig who helps Thor. Selvig uses Jane’s idea for his instruments and protects Jane and Thor. Even when Jane’s intelligence is about to win over her scientific male counterpart, Selvig saves the day.

It is disappointing, but not unusual, that such a big movie franchise such as Marvel’s Cinematic Universe would continue this stereotype. After all, they deal in masculine super heroes because that is what sells in this modern age.

However, it would have been nice to see Jane physically protect herself against the terrors of the Nine Realms.

Overall, Dark World encompasses so many themes and storylines that manage to work together to create a very enjoyable experience.

By the end of the movie, the watcher is relieved and yet still anxious over the characters’ predicaments. This is a precarious position to be in, but it is also a position that ensures that Marvel’s legacy of Thor will continue, whether it be through another Avengers sequel or another Thor movie.

One thing is for sure, there will be a wide audience, including this writer, awaiting the next chapter in this epic saga.

Last Friday, Nov. 1, Tech’s Ferst Center for the Arts hosted Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, a swing revival band that has been lighting up venues with their soulful tunes since the early 1990s.

2013 is a special year for the band, as this is their 20th anniversary. As a testament to this special occasion, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy gave a stellar performance for the Tech community. Each song that they played was good in its own right, but an observant audience member might have noticed that several of the songs sounded almost the same. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy made up for this apparent lack of musical diversity by spreading out the similar ones, giving the audience a rest by playing unique songs in between the monotonous ones.

While the band’s music was undoubtedly the main attraction of the night, the lead vocalist, Scotty Morris, added to the entertainment with his upbeat attitude and boundless energy. During each song, he was intent on his performance and sang or played accordingly. Whenever Big Bad Voodoo Daddy was not in the midst of a song, however, Morris would talk to the audience, giving anecdotes and interesting tidbits about the origins of some of their songs; perhaps his favorite thing to say was the name of each band member.

Between songs, Morris embarked on an unceasing round of introductions, occasionally introducing the same person three or four times in a row with only slightly different wording each run through. By the end of the performance, concert-goers had to have been determinedly not paying attention throughout the entire performance to not know at least one band member by name. The only Big Bad Voodoo Daddy member who Morris failed to introduce more than once was Morris himself, whose name had to be looked up for the purpose of writing this article.

However, Morris’s energetic babbling was not directed at the audience, to whom he spoke rather coherently. Aside from introducing the others on stage, most of what Morris hastily declared between songs was relevant and interesting.

For example, while the band was preparing to sing “Mambo Swing,” Morris, after introducing someone of course, picked up a cowbell. A rather excited audience member shouted “More cowbell!” in allusion to the viral Saturday Night Live skit, and Morris, hearing him, replied “Yes, my friend, always more cowbell.” Then, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy took off into the lively “Mambo Swing,” followed closely by more introductions, naturally.

The friendly speeches of the lead vocalist improved the concert but did not account for all of the entertainment last Friday. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy performed extraordinarily well. Unlike many bands, their live performance was on par with their albums, of which nine have been released since 1994. Arguably, this band sounds even better in person, which is rare, indeed.

Throughout the night, the group performed many songs, including their most well-known and popular “Go Daddy-O,” “You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight (Baby)” and “Mr. Pinstripe Suit.”

Each of these hits were performed with gusto, but the real entertainment came in an unexpected sense when the band played their lesser known works, some of these may have been completely unfamiliar to several members of the Ferst Center audience. These songs included the unusual “Zig Zaggity Woop Woop,” which, contrary to common belief, does not actually constitute an English phrase.

A band performing their greatest hit is expected to be a grand exhibition, but Big Bad Voodoo Daddy managed to make a spectacle out of all of their songs. Whether it was an internationally famous tune, or one that only the group’s most devout fans have heard before, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy put care and skill into their performance, allowing audience members to immerse themselves in the music.

Perhaps the most well-placed song of this concert was the one that Big Bad Voodoo Daddy ended with, a spirited rendition of “So Long-Farewell-Goodbye.” However, even though they said goodbye to the Ferst Center at the end of the night, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is by no means disappearing from the public eye. On Oct. 22, they released their newest album, It Feels Like Christmas Time.

Throughout the performance, Scotty Morris talked about this new album but continually promised the audience that the band would not play Christmas music as early as the first of November. It was moments like these that made the concert not only a musical spectacle to behold, but also a simply entertaining and worth-while experience.

For anyone who particularly liked Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, however, Morris made certain that they knew that this album is now for sale.