Arizona Daily Wildcat
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Justyn Dillingham Arts Editor 520•621•3106 arts@wildcat.arizona.edu
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Rock legends hold summit INSIDE Pynchon dabbles in detectives Cheese, coffee hits at festival dailywildcat.com/wildlife
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DWWILDLIFE
wednesday, september ,
UA should be happy to have ‘Red Velvet,’ eat it too By Anna Swenson Arizona Daily Wildcat Red Velvet Cupcakery, the new confectionery on University Boulevard , adds a sprinkling of exactly what the UA needed in late night dessert options: class, sophistication and killer cupcakes. So when icy fro-yo in a Styrofoam cup just isn’t working for you, wander past Main Gate Square on the north side of University Boulevard until you are hypnotized by the unmistakable smell of butter cream frosting. The company’s third location, the other two are in Washington, D.C., opened for business Sept. 19. There was skepticism at the sign for a new bakery opening where Salud Spa Bar used to be. While there’s not really such a
Ashlee Salamon/Arizona Daily Wildcat
A row of Southern Belle cupcakes entices customers at Red Velvet Cupcakery located at 943 E. University Blvd.
thing as a bad cupcake, a really good one is hard to find. The small shop is simple and pretty, with bare concrete floors paired with red accents, glass
tables and the cursive Red Velvet logo . The staff is friendly and helpful, and the cupcake CUPCAKES, page B6
Performers at UA pursue arts, follow hearts despite setbacks
Mike Christy/Arizona Daily Wildcat
Above: Ariana Brawley, a dance and communications junior, warms up and stretches during resident artist Sam Watson’s Modern Dance class on Monday in the Ina E. Gittings building. Brawley has been dancing since the age of 12 and realizes that she will probably have to take on a supplementary job in addition to dancing to support herself. Left: Music senior Evan Runyon plays the bass several hours per day to improve his craft.
By Anna Swenson Arizona Daily Wildcat Many of us wanted to be actors or rock stars when we were young. You might have dreamed of being a prima ballerina or the next Justin Timberlake. While most of us moved on to more practical passions, for thousands of students pursuing art at the UA, that dream has never changed. One actress, one dancer, and two musicians all spoke of pursuing passion and creative release. For Evan Runyon, the choice to pursue music wasn’t a childhood dream, but something that came later. “It was more of a lack of any skill in traditional jobs,” he said.“I had no real talent for or interest in computers or administration,” he explained. “I knew I had to do something creative and Emily Jones/Arizona Daily Wildcat
also something self-directed.” The music senior, who plays the string bass several hours per day to improve his craft, plans to attend graduate school on the East Coast when he graduates. Though it is often difficult for classically trained musicians to find work, he has a positive take on his pursuit. “You can’t delude yourself as a musician — it’s always a buyers’ market,” he said. “There are always going to be fewer jobs available than people looking for them.” Runyon’s advice to younger students considering a career in the arts: “Be prepared to really not be truly appreciated by most of society.” When asked if the economic downturn made him re-evaluate his chosen career path, Runyon said that isn’t a concern of his. “One of the most rich times for music in the United States
was the Depression.” What makes all the long hours of practicing, struggling and suffering for his art worth the hard work? “It’s a labor of love,” he explained. “When you do something that is creative for several hours a day, it’s a release. I don’t have to worry about my emotions bottling up inside.” Senior Ryan Slater also spoke of the long-range aspects of his goal of being a professional musician. “I really just started in high school, I picked up the drums and I fell in love with it. I like the way music affected people and I wanted to be a part of it,” he said. The music and business student has a metal band called Silent Bliss, which is releasing its first, six-song ARTISTS, page B6
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• wednesday, september 30, 2009 • arizona daily wildcat
Around town
OUR PICK “Zombieland.” A special pre-release screening of a horror comedy that involves Twinkies, the one thing in the world scarier than zombies. (Would you rather be surrounded by zombies or told you could only eat Twinkies for the rest of your life? We thought so.) Wednesday, Sept. 30, 7 p.m. Student Union Memorial Center, Gallagher Theater. Passes available from the Student Union Games Room or the Gallagher Theater box office. courtesy of daemonsmovies.com
music did. Richard Wagner’s “Rienzi” overture and Michael Hunt’s “Emerald Reflections” will also be performed. Call Ingvi Kallen at 626-6320 for more information. 7:30 p.m. School of Music, Crowder Hall. $5. Author Readings. Robert Boswell, author of “The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards,” and Antonya Nelson, author of “Talking in Bed,” will read. Don’t worry, though — it’s by no means clear that the heyday of the insensitive bastard is over. 8 p.m. UA Poetry Center. Free.
FRIDAY, OCT. 2
Wines and Felines. Awww. Proceeds from this wine-tasting event will go to benefit the Hermitage Cat Shelter. Awww. Sorry, we just read the name of the event again. Call 571-7839, ext. 3, for more information. 5 p.m. Pastiche, 3025 N. Campbell Ave. $25, reservations requested. “I-10 Trombone Conspiracy.” No, this isn’t one of those conspiracy movies. Instead, this Faculty Artist Series trombone recital features UA trombone professor Moisés Paiewonsky and UA alumnus Mike Wilkinson. Please don’t go up and ask them if they’re part of the trombone conspiracy. 7:30 p.m. School of Music, Crowder Hall. $5.
SATURDAY, OCT. 3
Fall Club Crawl. It only happens twice a year, so don’t miss it! (Well, technically, fall club crawl only happens once a year. But you know what we mean.) Visit clubcrawl.ning.com for more information and a complete list of the bands. 21+. Doors open at 7 p.m. Downtown, on several outdoor stages. Tickets are $8 in advance; $10 day of show.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 30
“Read Out!” What’s your favorite banned book? Do your tastes run more to, say, “I Know Where the Caged Bird Sings” or “Where’s Waldo?” Campus and community members are invited to read passages from their favorite “challenged” books. (We don’t recommend trying to read from “Where’s Waldo?”) Preceded by a viewing of the documentary short “Writers and Censorship.” 6 p.m. UA Main Library, lobby. Free. Jolie Holland. This Texan singer is said to blend elements of folk, country, jazz and blues. Why doesn’t she make up her mind already? With Matt Bauer. All ages. 7 p.m. Club Congress, 311 E.
Congress St. $13 in advance; $15 day of show. Stillsuit. Presumably named after a jacket mentioned in Frank Herbert’s “Dune,” this band describes its sound on its MySpace profile as “the thunderous roar of an emerging giant sand worm.” Um, yikes. 9:30-11:30 p.m. Plush, 340 E. Sixth St. No cover.
THURSDAY, OCT. 1
UA Philharmonic Orchestra. Everyone had to start somewhere, and Ludwig van Beethoven began writing symphonies with his rather predictably titled “Symphony No. 1.” Strangely, his titles never got much better, even though his
What was your last text? “How’s your day going, love? Hope you’re feeling better? Let me know what your plans are after 6.” — Taylor Robinson, English senior “Wait for me to get 150 bitch tits” — Hayden Hall, English and economics junior “Are you going to use quotes from the play or just dissect the passage given?” — Malcolm Cooper, English and creative writing junior “Kz.” — Joe Gradias, biochemistry freshman
“<3.” — Candice Porter, biology freshman “Gonna call you tonight sexy. Just bout to head to class. Miss ya. Love ya.” — Ze’ev Dever, undeclared freshman — compiled by Justyn Dillingham
The Ultimate Doo-Wop Show. From “Under the Boardwalk” to “Do You Love Me,” this show’s got it all. Unless you don’t like doo-wop. 8 p.m. Centennial Hall. Tickets available from uapresents.org; ticket prices for students begin at $15, faculty and staff are elligible for other discounts.
SUNDAY, OCT. 4
Indian Classical Music. Did listening to those Beatles remasters pique your long-dormant interest in the music of India? Or are you one of those people who always skips the George Harrison songs? If you’re not, your prayers have been answered. Violinist Kala Ramnath and tabla player Ty
Burhoe will perform. 7 p.m. Arizona State School for the Deaf and the Blind, 1200 W. Speedway Blvd. $15 in advance; $18 at the door. Pitbull. This Miami rapper has rapped in Spanish and English. Some, of course, might argue that crunk is a language all its own. In 40 years, your grandkids will probably be majoring in it. 7:30 p.m. The Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St. $29 in advance; $35 day of show.
MONDAY, OCT. 5
The Almost. Did you ever wonder if bands were going to run out of random words to name themselves? I’m afraid this Clearwater, Fla., band took the last word. Tough luck. With This Providence and The Dares. All ages. The show begins at 6:30 p.m. Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St. $14. “America Betrayed.” A documentary that examines the safety of our infrastructure, from bridges to highways, and questions how safe we are. For some reason, I’m betting the documentary doesn’t conclude “We’re all quite safe. Now run home and get to bed and forget all about this unpleasant business.” 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering building, Room S202. Free. Grupo Sonido. See, this is what happens when bands run out of real words. They start making up words. 9:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. Plush Lounge. No cover.
TUESDAY, OCT. 6 “Girl, Interrupted.” This 1999 film is being shown as part of Mental Health Awareness Movie Night. It’s rather poignant that this movie is being billed in UANews as “an Academy Award-winning movie with actress Angelina Jolie,” since the movie actually stars Winona Ryder. Poor Winona. (If you’re reading this, don’t worry; I still love you.) 6 p.m. Student Union Memorial Center, Gallagher Theatre. Free. Mark Mallman. This singer hails from Minneapolis, Minn. No word on whether all his songs contain nothing but words that begin with the letter M. 9:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. Plush Lounge. No cover. — compiled by Justyn Dillingham
The top ten most frequently challenged books of 2008
“And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell Reasons: anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint and unsuited to age group “His Dark Materials” trilogy, by Philip Pullman Reasons: political viewpoint, religious viewpoint and violence “TTYL,”“TTFN,”“L8R, G8R” (series), by Lauren Myracle Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit and unsuited to age group “Scary Stories” (series), by Alvin Schwartz Reasons: occult/satanism, religious viewpoint and violence “Bless Me, Ultima,” by Rudolfo Anaya Reasons: occult/satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit and violence “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,”by Stephen Chbosky Reasons: drugs, homosexuality, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, suicide and unsuited to age group “Gossip Girl” (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit and unsuited to age group “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding,” by Sarah S. Brannen Reasons: homosexuality and unsuited to age group “The Kite Runner,” by Khaled Hosseini Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit and unsuited to age group “Flashcards of My Life,” by Charise Mericle Harper Reasons: sexually explicit and unsuited to age group — courtesy of the American Library Association
Tim Glass/Arizona Daily Wildcat
John Sears, a media arts senior, and Caeti Horner, a communications junior, examine a display of banned books at the library on Tuesday.
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arizona daily wildcat • wednesday, september 30, 2009 •
Comics Corner
B3
Lost in translation from comics to film I
Steven Kwan arts writer
strong concept that gets diluted by the time it reaches movie audiences. “Surrogates” has many differences from its comic book origins. Characters and plot devices are changed — particularly with the first surrogate attack — and the world is more fully realized in the movie, while the comics remained steadfast in its pursuit of the mystery. Unfortunately, the themes and characterization from the comics are lost in the movie’s
saw the movie “Surrogates” this weekend, and I was disappointed. I probably shouldn’t have read the comics before watching the movie. The plot comes from the comic book miniseries created by writer Robert Venditti and artist Brett Weldele . Like “Whiteout,” another recent movie that has been translated from a comic book, “Surrogates” features a
illustration by Ken Wright
wrongheaded focus on the visuals. Such changes in translation are nothing new. There have been many comics that have been made into movies — “Men in Black,”“Spider-Man,” “Ghost World,” etc. But they often required a director who understands the different demands of each medium and creates a story without losing the essence of the characters. For example, the Batman franchise has taken its creative cues from the success of Tim Burton’s “Batman” and “Batman Returns,” that is, to adapt the comics to fit the director’s artistic sensibilities.
With “Batman and Robin,” director Joel Schumacher added the vivid campiness from the 1966 TV show, which proved completely at odds with the gothic visual style established by Burton. Its abject failure would mean that no one would take another attempt at a Batman-related movie until 2004, a year which saw “Catwoman” somehow avoiding the direct-to-DVD route. Last year’s “The Dark Knight” demonstrated what could happen when the creators grasp the basic nature of the characters and their world. By absorbing and interpreting the best parts of the Batman comics, director Christopher Nolan reminded us that Batman isn’t just about the villains, but how they reflect Bruce Wayne’s noble yet flawed crusade against the corruption rooted in Gotham City. “The Dark Knight” raised the issue of how we should confront not only crime but also our personal moral dilemmas. I doubt the movie would have been as successful if Nolan had lifted a Batman story wholesale from the comics. Which brings me to Frank Miller and his comics that have been made into movies, “Sin City” and “300.”Almost every line of dialogue and cinematic screenshot in each movie were taken directly from four of the comic books. This meant that audiences were getting the original comics basically unfiltered, but could they really be called movies? Robert Rodriguez brought Miller in as co-director of “Sin City” to ensure that it mimicked the four stories perfectly. Given Rodriguez’s love of the noir style of the original comics, with their stark black-and-white drawings and pulpy dialogue (he is a good friend of Quentin Tarantino, after all), it made sense why Rodriguez recreated the comics without major changes. He seemed to regard the comics as paper movies — it’s easy to see why — and probably didn’t see the need to translate them for the big screen. I doubt Rodriguez and Miller were acting in the spirit of Andy Warhol, that is, by declaring “Sin City” is a movie rather than an animated comic book because they are directors who made it as a movie. So what got lost in the transition from comic book to movie? The static images of comics require readers to fill in the gaps between actions. Rodriguez filled in the gaps, but there wasn’t much substance to it. He adhered to Miller’s stories and visuals too closely, and left behind nothing more than an expensive and elaborate advertisement for the original comics. This probably boosted sales of“Sin City” comics, but it doesn’t make for a satisfying movie experience. – Steven Kwan is a nutritional sciences senior. He can be reached at arts@wildcat.arizona.edu
courtesy of screendaily.com
It’s late...
The real guitar heroes: Getting loud and digging deep By Brandon Specktor Arizona Daily Wildcat It’s a quiet morning in the muggy pastures of Tennessee, but things are about to get a lot louder. Over a cow’s distant moo comes the abrasive pounding of hammer on nail as Jack White, guitarist for The White Stripes and The Raconteurs, literally redefines his instrument of choice. Adorned with an olive-drab vest and matching fedora atop his scraggly rocker’s locks, White synthesizes an empty Coke bottle, a piece of wood and some wire to create a crude yet functioning onestring electric guitar. He plugs in, slips his finger into a slide, then lets loose with a yelping, distorted riff that even the cows can’t ignore. White turns to the camera:“Who says you need to buy a guitar?” David Guggenheim’s (“An Inconvenient Truth”) guitar odyssey “It Might Get Loud” immediately lives up to its title. The multi-faced rockumentary is an intimate look at what that most celebrated of instruments means to a pan-generational panel of music’s most celebrated of guitarists: Jimmy Page, whose distorted blues licks defined ’70s rock in Led Zeppelin and the Yardbirds; The Edge, whose perfectionistic pursuit of ever-changing guitar effects gave U2 its signature dreaminess; and of course Jack White, the new kid on the block whose mix of old-school blues structures and heavy electric wankery has turned numerous eminent heads in the world of modern music. While that lineup of indispensable rockers may seem like a lazy way to get audiences from widesweeping demographics into the theater for a onedimensional display of musical exploitation and idol worship,“It Might Get Loud”could not be farther from superficial. From Jack White’s opening arts and crafts project to a tour of Jimmy’s massive vinyl library (and a spontaneous, ebullient air-guitar show) to The Edge’s philharmonic arsenal of effects pedals and mixing hardware, the film is an intimate, intriguing montage of the unlimited power of musical expression.
Though Guggenheim tells his story in a nonchronological, thematic style broken into chapters, the central focus of the film is a rock ‘n’ roll summit between the three musicians on a secluded sound stage. Through interspersed shots of the guitarists discussing what got them into music, sampling their favorite albums, and teaching each other tricks and licks (the look of reverential wonder on White’s face when Page stands and delivers the main riff from “Whole Lotta Love” is priceless), Guggenheim also focuses on the private histories of each musician. The Edge gives a tour of Dublin’s Mount Temple Comprehensive School, where he first answered the call of drummer Larry Mullen Jr. to form an after-school rock band that would eventually evolve into the U2 of legend. White chauffeurs the crew through his rural Tennessee stomping grounds, pausing to write and record an original song specifically for the film in a creaking old farmhouse. Page reminisces in the castle halls and verdant grounds of Headley Grange, where he and Zeppelin set up shop to write and record their epic fourth album. All the while, we’re along for the ride, marveling at the sincerity and personality of every shot created by Guggenheim’s extreme close-ups of instruments and flailing fingers, and stunning panoramas of the barns, beaches and bastions where each musician goes to become one with his instrument. After the rockers detail the myriad ways that guitar has infiltrated and summarily hijacked their lives, the three gather ‘round the sound stage for a once-in-alifetime jam session. White and The Edge play off of each other as Page leads the trio through Zeppelin’s version of “In My Time of Dying,” and later the three go acoustic for an endearing, folksy sing-along of The Band’s classic “The Weight.” Even through the credits, there isn’t a single shot in“It Might Get Loud”that isn’t totally sincere, inspiring, or just plain bad ass. It should be required viewing for any self-respecting rocker. “It Might Get Loud” is playing at The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. For showtimes and ticket prices, visit loftcinema.com.
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Arizona Daily Wildcat
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• wednesday, september 30, 2009 • arizona daily wildcat
Pynchon’s latest a tired ’60s flashback By Justyn Dillingham Arizona Daily Wildcat
Photo courtesy of amazon.com
Book explores music label’s storied history By Steven Kwan Arizona Daily Wildcat “Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records” chronicles the 20-year history of the music label based in Chapel Hill, N.C. What began as a way for the band Superchunk to self-release its records slowly grew into one of the most respected and surprisingly successful independent labels in the U.S. Author John Cook presents Merge’s story through extensive interviews with and profiles of cofounders Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance, and some of the label’s more prominent bands and artists. The book combines oral history with tour mementoes and photos, and serves as a cautionary tale for new and established bands considering a contract with a major label. Cook does a wonderful job recounting the circumstances that helped define Merge and its contemporaries, and contrasting their actions against such major record labels as Sire Records, Warner Bros. Records and EMI. With the mainstream success of Nirvana and the rise of Seattle’s music scene, major labels trolled the independents in an effort to catch the next big band. Often, this resulted in bands that didn’t know what they were getting into with their contracts. The label would give the band a large advance to produce a record, but then encouraged the band and its producers to waste it on re-recording sessions
and lavish tours. After releasing the album and going on tour, the band would often end up owing the label more money than its advance. Rather than nurture a band and have it bring in steady sales, labels expected bands to create a hit with their first album. Cook attributes Merge’s success to its frugality, but that can sometimes work against the label. Most labels would balk at the expense of making The Magnetic Fields’ 69 Love Songs, a three-disc set of songs featuring every music genre that covered the topic with a full-color, 76-page booklet. Merge released it as a limited edition box set and as individual albums. It became a breakout record for Magnetic Fields and for Merge. Numerous publications and news organizations such as Rolling Stone, NPR and The New York Times covered the project, which led to the set and individual albums selling out and the label agonizing over how to capitalize on the unexpected success. The book ends with McCaughan and Ballance talking about the label’s next step. At a time when people are predicting the death of the music industry amid falling CD sales, mp3s constituting an increasing portion of a music label’s sales and the prevalence of file sharing subverting mp3 sales, the history of Merge Records can serve as a model of how a music label can grow and succeed on its own terms.
SHOWCASE YOUR RESEARCH AND CREATIVE PROJECTS!
Every Homecoming weekend, the GPSC coordinates a fair comprised of student projects from across campus. Panels of judges assess the projects, and cash prizes are awarded for the best projects to both graduate and undergraduate students in 12 different categories, including everything from Fine Arts & Humanities to Engineering and Sciences.
Applications are due October 7th Applications and information available online at www.gpsc.arizona.edu
V. (1963) Pynchon’s National Book Awardnominated debut about “human yo-yo” Benny Profane and a search for the mysterious“V”won him a reputation as one of the brightest literary stars of the ’60s. The Crying of Lot 49 (1966) This slim classic remains Pynchon’s most accessible work, though he later all but disowned it, claiming he’d forgotten most of what he knew about writing before penning it. Gravity’s Rainbow (1973) The most notoriously hard-to-read book since James Joyce’s “Finnegans Wake,” Pynchon’s World War II epic has something to do with rockets, sex and Nazis. It was controversial enough that the Pulitzer Prize committee decided to award no prize at all that year rather than recognize it. Mason and Dixon (1997) Pynchon took a dive into the annals of American history with this book, which featured the eponymous explorers, a pot-growing George Washington, and a mechanical duck. Against the Day (2006) Pynchon’s romp about anarchists at the turn of the century was wellreceived by most critics. Reviewing it at the time, the Daily Wildcat found it “impressive without being likable.”
The Wildcat’s best picks of Merge Records Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998) — It’s strange how lukewarm the critical reception was when this was first released.This album made it OK for a new generation of bands to explore their musical idiosyncrasies. Camera Obscura: Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi (2001, re-released 2004), Underachievers Please Try Harder (2003), Let’s Get Out of This Country (2006) — The albums from this Scottish band capture some of the best aspects of pop music with bright, catchy melodies that underscore the often witty yet bittersweet lyrics. One of the best pop bands of the decade.
Destroyer: Your Blues (2004), Destroyer’s Rubies (2006) — Dan Bejar, the lone constant of Destroyer, described himself best in“Priest’s Knees”:“And I was just another West Coast maximalist exploring the blues.” His clearcut vocals stand in sharp contrast to the obscure, seemingly personal content of the lyrics. Spoon: Girls CanTell (2001) — Spoon’s breakout record offers a case study on the dangers of major music labels, especially when you consider another breakout record that year, The Strokes’ Is This It. Whereas The
Strokes peaked on their second album and subsequently saw harsh reviews and little label support for their third (and possibly last) album, Spoon has been slowly and surely winning over critics and listeners with each release. Girls Can Tell also holds up better than Is This It. Arcade Fire: Funeral (2004) — One of the juggernauts on the label with an electric live show to match its stature, Arcade Fire delivers a classic with Funeral, that all-too-rare album that has no filler and rewards with each listen. — compiled by Steven Kwan
Full Service Auto Repair MARKETING/PROMOTIONS MANAGER The Daily Wildcat has an immediate opening for a creative and enterprising marketing manager to promote readership and market the Daily Wildcat and dailywildcat.com brands. This is a paid student position (grad or undergrad). Qualified applicants will have strong organizational skills and experience working on marketing, promotions or brandbuilding projects. Demonstrated communication skills and the ability to direct creative efforts, both in print and online, are big plusses. Some possible endeavors the marketing/promotions manager could undertake include: Developing “street teams” to increase the Wildcat’s visibility and to promote advertisers; scheduling Daily Wildcat events and sponsorships on the Mall (and other locations); creating online and print contests and promotions.
To apply, send cover letter and resume to Mark Woodhams, director of Student Media, woodhams@email.arizona.edu, by October 1.
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6th St.
5th ave.
November 6th & 7th, 2009
Our guide to the work of the mysterious Thomas Pynchon
N 4th ave.
STUDENT SHOWCASE
Photo courtesy of amazon.com
The vaguely Chandler-ish cadences of this sentence and the fake cynical tone seem intent on reminding us we’re reading a hard-boiled thriller. But the pedantic “acquiring and then taking,” the italicized “any” and the way the sentence dribbles to a close all remind us that we’re not. For all that, “Inherent Vice” has its moments. Some of Doc’s internal monologues about California life are haunting and well-written (a particularly good one begins on page 98). But from a writer of Pynchon’s caliber, it’s just another candidate for the bargain bin at Target.
6th ave.
The Graduate & Professional Student Council invites you to participate in the 17th Annual
Some smart people need to lighten up; if any smart person ever needed to quit lightening up, it’s Thomas Pynchon. Possessed of one of the most awesome writing talents of any living writer, he fills his pages with pop culture references, some of them clever, most of them not. It’s brilliant when one of the characters in Pynchon’s latest,“Inherent Vice,” describes his hometown as a place “where you always root for Ignatz and not Offisa Pup,” referring to the great comic strip “Krazy Kat.” But I groaned when his characters had a conversation about “Gilligan’s Island,” and I groaned even louder when he came up with a connection between Charles Manson and Charlie the Tuna. But you can’t accuse Pynchon of being predictable. With ”Inherent Vice,” the reclusive novelist has done something he hasn’t even attempted since his 1966 classic “The Crying of Lot 49” — he’s written a novel you can read in an afternoon. Unfortunately, it’d be a more-or-less wasted afternoon. Whereas “Lot 49,” about a bored California suburbanite who stumbles onto what might be an ancient conspiracy involving the U.S. Postal Service (or might just be her sun-fevered imagination at work), is a gorgeous, languid, funny book that lodges itself in your imagination and never leaves, “Inherent Vice” reads as if Pynchon has jumped onto a bandwagon with severely worn-out tires.
The bandwagon is that of the fastpaced detective thriller, and “Inherent Vice” is Pynchon’s stab at the genre. It’s as if Pynchon picked up an armful of cheap paperbacks from the bargain bin at Target, spent a month consuming them, and decided to churn out one of his own. Pynchon’s setting is late-1960s California and his hero is “Doc” Sportello, a perpetually stoned detective who’s so out of it he thinks Sherlock Holmes was a real person. He’s hired by his exgirlfriend to investigate a case involving her new beau, a notorious real-estate mogul who runs with a rough crowd. The story glides along for a few chapters in a relatively straightforward way, and is fairly enjoyable for a while. But halfway through the novel, I realized I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to be taking any of this. If it’s a parody, it’s not funny enough, and if it’s meant to be taken straight, it’s not serious enough. Part of the problem is that Pynchon no longer knows what to leave out of a novel. He’s spent so many years writing oversized tomes packed with frantic, tiring inventiveness that he can’t stop himself from putting in every idea he has, be they good or bad. He buries his plot in Pynchonisms, like those made-up songs he seems to find so hilarious. One of them involves a repo man: “Good-bye and cheer-i-o/To my ol’ stereo!” If that sort of thing makes you bust a gut, Pynchon’s your guy. Another problem is Pynchon’s use of dialogue. I’m tempted to say that no one in history has ever talked like the characters in a Pynchon novel. On the other hand, I wasn’t around in the ’60s, so maybe people did say things like this: “See these shoes I’ve got on? Remember those white loafers that Dr. No wears in Dr. No, 1962? Yes dig it! Same identical ones!” Including a movie’s date is one thing, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen it attempted in a line of dialogue. Pynchon also keeps slipping into his habitual narrator’s voice, which makes his fitful attempts to mimic Raymond Chandler’s deadpan style come across as downright embarrassing. “On certain days,”he writes,“driving into Santa Monica was like having hallucinations without going to all the trouble of acquiring and then taking a particular drug, although some days, for sure, any drug was preferable to driving into Santa Monica.”
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“Weird” Al Yankovic received a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture. He also served as valedictorian of his high school at age 16. Read the facts at the Arizona Daily Wildcat!
arizona daily wildcat • wednesday, september 30, 2009 •
Electronic sampler boldly goes where no music has gone before By Tauni Malmgren Arizona Daily Wildcat Think electronic music begins and ends with candy kids and that late ’90s Darude “Sandstorm” song? Think again. English DJ and music journalist Mary Anne Hobbs is committed to changing your mind with Wild Angels , her handpicked selection of the latest in recent electronic music. Hobbs is no stranger to music: she scored her first music journalism gig in the ’80s when she was only 19. She has since made a name for herself as the BBC Radio 1 personality who introduced dubstep — a largely instrumental form of electronica that draws on London garage and drum and bass — to the world with her 2006 compilation The Warrior Dubz . Earlier this month, Hobbs dropped Wild Angels , the last of her triple album dubstep sampler she put out in collaboration with reputable electronic record label Planet Mu . Whether you’re an electronic music convert or a curious newcomer, Wild Angels makes for a great electronic music compilation, sounding like a mixtape for future generations. Hobbs, a prominent figure in England’s underground electronic scene, has used surgical precision to select artists of varied notoriety in order to present the cutting edge of electronic music. The result? A journey into unknown musical frontier, with dubstep’s definitive wobbly baseline as the driving force. Because Hobbs hasn’t personally created anything for the album, the sequence of the music becomes an art form just as important as the tracks themselves. Wild Angels starts with Mark Pritchard’s experimental “?,” a minimal song similar to a shuttle engine on standby. The mix then immediately blasts off with Hudson Mohawke’s “Spotted,” a bubbly track with acid-influenced synths. There is a general sound of upward acceleration with songs like Tranquill’s hip-hop influenced “Payroll (Paul White’s Clean Dub)” and Gemmy’s vibrant “Rainbow Rd.,” which sounds like Nintendo 64 Mario Kart . The mix’s energy peaks with the likes of booty-dropping dubstep artist Starkey and his “Gutter Music V.I.P.,” a powerful track backed by rumbling bass and sensual samples. The only criticism to be made of Hobbs’ compilation, unless you’re one of those heck-no-to-techno, Journey-ornothing types, is that the music can start to sound monotonous, mechanical, and mind numbing. This is particularly true during the playlist’s center, when Hobbs’ compilation churns sometimes overly
complex layers of a similar beat pattern. This criticism — pretty common to dubstep — can be passed off as a criticism of electronic music in general. However, it seems as if, with the falling action of Wild Angels , Hobbs directly addresses the issue with emotional tracks like Teebs’ organic, strings-intensive “WLTA” and Darkstar’s amazing remix of Radiohead’s “Videotape.” The mix’s conclusion leaves you with a feeling of floaty electronic surrealism, with Sunken Foal’s acoustic and staggeringly beautiful “Of Low Count & Light Pocket” and Appleblim’s throbbing, ambient track “Within,” providing a peaceful sense of hovering around the moon after a mind-assaulting voyage through dense electronic soundscapes.
Track Highlights: Starkey - Gutter Music V.I.P.
Though dubstep originates in the UK, this heavy hitter is from the states, ready to demolish any dance floor. Darkstar - Videotape If you liked the Radiohead original, this new spin on the old track is a must-hear. Sunken Foal - Of Low Count & Light Pocket I’m just sayin’, it would be very difficult (read: impossible) to find a recently released electronic track more beautiful than this one. RATING:
Dethalbum II proves to be savage yet friendlier affair Few of us were brutal enough to withstand the first “Metalocalypse.” You would think the body count, which, not including the converts, numbered in the tens of thousands, would serve as ample warning. Yet here we are again, pushed to the precipice and forced to confront Dethklok’s second album of dark and heavy evil. But all is not lost. Brendon Small, the creative force behind the fictional band Dethklok, has absorbed enough death metal clichés and tropes to know how to defang the genre’s excesses for Dethalbum II, the songs of which were culled from the second season of the Adult Swim show “Metalocalypse.” With a concision that somehow makes the dense music feel roomier, the album serves as a friendly introduction — to a point — to death metal. Songs such as “Laser Cannon Deth Sentence” and “I Tamper With the Evidence at the Murder Site of Odin” — even the titles are wonderfully bombastic — pay homage to the genre’s history while acknowledging its underlying nerdy silliness. It’s difficult to take seriously a song like “Burn the Earth” that growls: “There’s nothing to save/You’re my slave/Burn the earth/For minimum wage.”
By Ada Dieke Arizona Daily Wildcat Look who’s bringing artsy-fartsy to the streets! Cleveland-born, Universal Motown Recording artist Scott Ramon Segring Mescudi, a.k.a. Kid Cudi, released Man on the Moon: The End of Day, great news for other upcoming free-spirit rappers looking to lay their claim to the musical universe. Kid Cudi, known for his infectious single “Day ‘N’ Nite,”not only executive-produced his album with Kanye West but also contributed to the art direction and its motion-picture style organization. Moon chronicles Kid Cudi’s life as he deals with issues guys his age may experience: loneliness, girls, achieving dreams, sex, smoking (“Hyyerr” featuring Chip Tha Ripper is a slow jam validating getting high), identity, etc. After a slow start, Moon finally gets poppin’ near the end of Act II with the head-nod inducing“My World” featuring Billy Cravens. Kid Cudi’s off-key (and off-kilter) singing style is not aggravating, and matches the psychedelic throes of the album; yet his uniquely hyper-rhythmical rap flow reminds us of his connection to hiphop. There’s evidence of this on “Sky Might Fall,” “Alive” featuring Ratatat, “Cudi Zone” and “Make Her Say” featuring Kanye West and Common. When he flows, he “hop-scotches” all over that joint with timing that’s on point. Specifically, on “Alive” the production is as bizarre as it is excellent, as Ratatat helps Kid Cudi concoct a galacticallyjamming beat that makes you feel like freestyling about random stuff like
tomatoes or something. Kid Cudi may want to be incomparable, but if you need to box him, put him between Kanye and Andre 3000 of Outkast and sprinkle with a little Pharrell of The Neptunes. While the album incorporates usage of crazy and electronica-tinged sounds, it’s not completely groundbreaking. However, it’s headed in a good direction that encourages hip-hop to explore varying song structure and instrumentation. Kid Cudi may believe he’s a “man on the moon” but with this CD, he’s helping hip-hop prepare for takeoff, trek off the beaten path and blast out of this world.
Kid Cudi Man on the Moon: the End of Day G.O.O.D./ Dream On / Universal Records RATING:
Photo courtesy of amazon.com
Photo courtesy of amazon.com
By Steven Kwan Arizona Daily Wildcat
Kid Cudi: Hip-hop’s newest space cadet
B5
This isn’t to say that Dethalbum II should be considered watered-down metal, however. If anything, the nearly indecipherable lyrics, aggressive yet compact guitar solos, punishing rhythms and greater dynamic shifts in tone, show that the music can stand up to the likes of Tiamat, Meshuggah or any other death metal bands. So metalheads and fans of the animated show will find Dethalbum II to be as brutal as other death metal bands. Those looking for a gateway to the world of metal should start with the band that’s bigger than The Beatles.
RATING:
Photo courtesy of amazon.com
B6
• wednesday, september 30, 2009 • arizona daily wildcat
Poetry brings ‘pleasure’ at Congress party By Ali Freedman Arizona Daily Wildcat After one successful night of poetry, music and hummus, the Aural Pleasure party is back for round two. What is Aural Pleasure? The welcoming of pleasing sounds into one’s ears. This event most definitely does that. The brainchild of UA creative writing graduate student and Sonora Review Editor-in-Chief Jake Levine, the Hotel Congress-hosted outdoor event is free of charge and slated to happen the first Thursday of each month. A mishmash of music and poetry, there is some aural pleasure and fun to be had. Although last month’s pleasure party was moved indoors due to weather, the events are regularly hosted in the Club Congress plaza — a delightful place, especially in the cooler autumn months. The last party boasted joint readings by Drew Krewer and Barbara Cully and Bo Mcguire and Richard Siken. Levine, the night’s host, introduced each poet with a personal anecdote of sorts,
artists
continued from page B1
which only added to the personality of the night. The musical stylings of Sunny Italy and The IODS were also featured offering a nice break and time to chat between readings. Each event is set to feature an array of UA graduate-student poets and local musicians. This month’s line-up, while yet to be announced, will also feature some of the UA’s best and brightest, up-and-coming poets. Don’t let the stereotype of a boring poetry reading discourage you; there is plenty of fun to be had at the Aural Pleasure Party. The event, which happens before Thursday night’s Optimist Club, drew a notable crowd with a great energy. Hummus and falafel plates with pita were served to guests at the event. Food, booze and poetry — a beautiful mix. This is not your typical poetry reading. So why not stop by Hotel Congress on Oct. 1, at 6 p.m. grab a Schlitz or Miller High Life and sit back to enjoy some good company and good poetry at this month’s Aural Pleasure Party?
Fulfillment, not money, motivates performers
EP in early November. “I play because I love being on stage. There’s nothing better than playing what you’ve written and hoping other people enjoy it,” Slater said. After generating some interest with the new CD, Slater and his band plan to go on tour playing shows around the Southwest. “At first you’re not going to be making money,” Slater said of making it in the music business.“But music is worth it and hopefully people will enjoy what you do.” Slater also works at the local music production company Funzalo Records. He said he enjoys his work there because he can help other bands try to make it big in a competitive market. “You have to do it because you love it, not because of the money,” Slater said. “Having people enjoy what you do, it’s worth it.” Actress Chelsea Bowdren, a senior in the Bachelor of Fine Arts acting program, echoed Slater’s advice with her thoughts on artistic pursuit. “It’s cliché, but you do just have to follow your heart.” Bowdren explained that she is pursuing a career in acting because she “couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”Bowdren is currently in rehearsals for three productions, including the Arizona Repertory Theatre’s “The Diary of Anne Frank,”which opens Oct. 7. Bowdren said the world’s recent economic hardships have not made her reconsider her dream. “Don’t let the idea of not being world-famous and not having a ton of money intimidate you,”Bowdren said.“I saved up for school, I’ve had to take out loans and apply for grants and scholarships. “A lot of people constitute being famous with being successful. They’re just doing stuff for the
money. Then (there) are people who are acting because they want to and they love to. I hope to support myself through acting, but I’m a realist.” For Bowdren, personal fulfillment is more important than financial success. “I feel oddly complete when I’m acting, even though I know I have so much more to learn from and grow,” Bowdren said.“Through acting, you’re constantly learning because you’re constantly learning about yourself.” For Ariana Brawley, coming to the UA was the first big step toward finally realizing her dream to be a professional dancer.“I started training when I was twelve, and that was always the end goal,”she explained. “The professional dance world is really competitive. It’s almost like being a professional athlete,” explained the dance and communications junior. Brawley explained that training to be a dancer is very expensive, with little monetary reward. She said she will probably have to take a supplementary job to support herself while she pursues her dream. “The last time I checked, I think dancers make below the poverty line,” she said. “Dancers are having a really, really hard time right now.” But Branley said she is not pursuing dance for financial reasons.“It’s what makes me happy. It’s my expression and my artistry, and I’ve fallen in love with it,”she said. “It’s not about the money, it’s not about stability — it’s about the adventure of being a dancer.” Though arts funding is down, jobs are scarce and the life of the artist is uncertain, these four art students and hundreds like them have chosen to pursue creative careers over options that might prove more stable. “If you are skilled and hardworking, there will always be work for you,” Runyon said.
CUPCAKES
Peanut butter, coffee stand out
continued from page B1
selections are both classic and eclectic. After perusing the centerpiece of the store, the glass case filled with rows of delicate cupcakes — a myriad of flavors and combinations — I had to ask the question. OK, the shop is cute. And the people are nice. And it smells really, really good in here. But the bottom line, the question that could make or break this well-meant addition to our local block of restaurants: how do the cupcakes taste? My first reaction after sinking my fork into the shop’s title confection, a whipped creamtufted red velvet concoction, was an unintelligible sound of joy. The cake was more angel than devil’s food, with a light chocolate flavor that paired perfectly with the rich cream frosting. The little cake was pretty, dusted with pink sprinkles and placed in one of Red Velvet’s signature boxes, but not so intricate or styled that you’re afraid to take a bite. The frosting was a fluffy dream of cream cheese tang, and when paired with the reserved sweetness of the cake itself, the experience was the taste equivalent of going to the park when you’re five: classic, reliable and worth getting really excited about. My next selection was a bit more daring: the Summertime Cupcake features a lemon cake with coconut-cream frosting and a sprinkling of coconut on top. The cake was denser and had a noticeable lemon flavor, while the frosting was less rich than the red velvet cupcake, with a subtle hint of coconut. The cake is appropriately named; it really does taste like summer. One bite of this confectionary travel agent, and you can practically hear the waves. The peanut butter cup option was described to us by the nice guy behind the counter as tasting “like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.” If Reese’s were made by angels and sent down by a higher power to be the most amazing thing that has graced your tongue in recent memory, maybe they would taste like this. The cake is moist and has a rich dark chocolate flavor, but the frosting — oh, the frosting. The menu describes it as “salted peanut butter,” and it tastes the way hope feels. The airy dollop topped with three salted peanuts has the sweetness of regular frosting, the almost-savory taste of real roasted peanuts and the saltiness of cravings the world over. Take one bite of the solid cake and the ethereal frosting together, and if you have a single working taste bud in your mouth it is impossible not to smile. My last selection was picked by the cupcake. After I chose three and paid for my purchases, he said, “there’s one more space in this box, I’m just going to give you another one.” He selected
Ashlee Salamon/Arizona Daily Wildcat
Nathan Conte ices a Southern Belle cupcake, one of the many flavors of cupcakes available at Red Velvet Cupcakery, on Tuesday.
the Morning Coffee cupcake. “It really tastes like espresso,” he said. It’s like a classic Mississippi mud pie in baby cake form, or the dessert equivalent of those mornings when your cup of coffee comes out inexplicably perfect. For less than the price of a Starbucks mocha, this little morsel gives you both a sugar rush and a caffeine boost that you can enjoy any time, day or night. All of Red Velvet’s flavors are available late at night. The shop is open on weeknights until 10 and later on weekends. It should become a new UA late-night staple, and it is a major upgrade from other open-late sweet tooth options. If there is a downside to this exciting new shop, it’s that the price is a little steep. At $2.75 each, you might think you could buy mix and make a whole batch at home. Not like this, you couldn’t. The price is worth the taste for the occasional sweet splurge, and you could split one with a friend. The cakes are not large, but some flavors are so rich that a half is more than satisfying. Red Velvet is something UA students should be excited about. Whether you see the world as chocolate or vanilla, you can find something to be delighted about in this sweet, airy little shop. If you don’t believe that the taste of these cupcakes can turn your whole day, week or life around, go try one for yourself.
B7
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• wednesday, september 30, 2009 • arizona daily wildcat
On the Tucson
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Another year, another Greek festival, another slab of cheese By Justyn Dillingham Arizona Daily Wildcat
Clockwise from the bottom: The annual Greek Festival was held Thursday, Sept. 24, through Sunday Sept. 27, at the St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church on Ft. Lowell Road. • Hungry festival-goers sit down together to enjoy authentic Greek cuisine including favorites like gyros, pita and hummus. • Spiro Chalkiopoulos plays a Bouzouki during the annual Greek Festival. • The St. Demetrios Panathenian Dancers display authentic Greek folk dancing. • Colorful jewelry for sale attracted many attendees to the festival. • Chefs prepare authentic Greek saganaki, an appetizer of fried cheese. Lisa Beth Earle/ Arizona Daily Wildcat
Along with a steadily sinking temperature and sidewalks streamed with crisp leaves, no Tucson September would be complete without a visit to the annual Greek Festival, now in its 34th year. And no Greek Festival would be complete without the buildup, which is so prolonged that it makes the final payoff all the more satisfying. First, there’s the search for parking near St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church on Fort Lowell Road, where the festival always takes place, followed by the inevitable decision to park in a nearby neighborhood. Then there’s the line to get a ticket, which vaguely resembles one of Pac-Man’s mazes. Then there’s the line to get food, which is so convoluted I doubt even Pac-Man would know where to go. Since we went late on a Saturday night, when the excitement was beginning to wind down, none of the lines were as formidable as I’d remembered them being last year. But the sheer sight of them is enough to make me catch my breath. While we were waiting in the second line, we saw something whirling through the air like a discus. It turned out to be a vendor hurling plasticwrapped t-shirts, which prompted much of the crowd to explode with excitement. The woman behind me seemed particularly insistent upon getting one, hopping up and down like she was at a Rolling Stones concert and Mick Jagger had just winked at her. Finally one fell at her feet. “I can tell you really wanted one,” I said, smiling. She looked at it and promptly deposited it in my arms.“You can have it!” she said. I stared at it. It wasn’t a Greek Festival shirt, as I — and, I assume, she — had hoped. It was one of those paper-thin Bud Light shirts people wear to sporting events. Since I hate sports and the only beers I like are Czech exports with unpronounceable names, I couldn’t imagine ever wearing it. “Want a shirt?” I asked the vendor who sells me a can of RC Cola. “No,” he responded, in a friendly way. My wife and I finally wound our way through the line and found an empty table to sit at. We were sitting across from an enormous bucket of feta cheese, which I idly imagined as having the appearance and consistency of cement. With that in mind, we dug into our saganaki. Saganaki, for those who haven’t had it, is a Greek appetizer that consists of a half-inch-thick slab of cheese that’s been fried — or, more accurately, set on fire — until it’s surrounded by a thin, crunchy border. It’s far and away the highlight of the festival for me, and I spend a substantial portion of the 52 weeks between festivals anticipating it. It didn’t disappoint. After the usual gyro, we tried some Greek donuts, also called loukoumades. These honey-coated concoctions manage to be fluffy and crunchy at the same time, and they’re utterly delicious. We washed it down with a small paper cup of Greek coffee, which is so smoky and tangy it makes regular coffee taste like water flavored with cigarette ashes. As the closing hour drew near, we sat and watched the band perform fabulously loud, boisterous Greek music. Even though there wasn’t a hint of Southwesternism in the air, it felt like a very Tucson moment. One somehow can’t imagine this festival working in Phoenix. Only Tucson — sprawling, diverse, and full of the sort of laidback, friendly people who like to go to festivals like this — could make it work. We finished our food and tramped back to our car, cheerful, content and — as usual — vowing to go every single day of the festival next year. By the way, anyone want a shirt? — Justyn Dillingham is the arts editor of the Daily Wildcat. He can be reached at arts@email.arizona.edu.