Buzz Magazine: Feb. 17, 2005 by Buzz Magazine

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under the cover

INTRO

editor’s note This Modern World • Tom Tomorrow Sh!ts and giggles News of the weird • Chuck Shephard First things first • Michael Coulter The local sniff • Seth Fein

AROUND TOWN Broadcast en espanol • Tim Peters Life in Hell • Matt Groening q + a with Keith Williams

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CAN VAMPIRES LIVE UNDERWATER?

PHONE: 217/337-8337 DEADLINE: 2 p.m. Tuesday PHONE: 217/337-8337 DEADLINE: 2 p.m. Tuesday for the edition. fornext the Thursday’s next Thursday’s edition.

C OV E R

under

Artist corner with Todd McCannon

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IF YOU WERE ME, THEN I’D BE YOU, AND I’D USE YOUR BODY TO GET TO THE TOP!

LISTEN, HEAR Elsinore • David Solana Wilco concert review • Gavin Paul Giovagnoli Sound Ground #63 • Todd J. Hunter The Hurly-Burley • Logan Moore The Game review • Imran Siddiquee Louis XIV review • Kyle Gorman Vagenius review • Cornalia Boonman

MAIN EVENT Bob ’n Dave • David King Free Will Astrology Jonesin’ Crosswords • Matt Gaffney

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT Uncoverint the layers • Courtney Hrejsa The Polysyllabic Spree review • Kerri Mullen Chicago theatre • Jeff Nelson Th(ink) • Keef Knight Artist Corner with Todd McCannon

WINE + DINE Wine and Food A to Z • Amanda Kolling

THE SILVER SCREEN

INDEX Employment Services Merchandise Transportation Apartments Other Housing/Rent Real Estate for Sale Things To Do Announcements Personals

000 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

• PLEASE CHECK YOUR AD! Report errors immediately by calling 337-8337. We cannot be responsible for more than one day’s incorrect insertion if you do not notify us of the error by 2 pm on the day of the first insertion. • All advertising is subject to the approval of the publisher. The Daily Illini shall have the right to revise, reject or cancel, in whole or in part, any advertisement, at any time. • All employment advertising in this newspaper is subject to the City of Champaign Human Rights Ordinance and similar state and local laws, making it illegal for any person to cause to be published any advertisement which expresses limitation, specification or discrimination as to race, color, mental handicap, personal appearance, sexual orientation, family responsibilities, political affiliation, prior arrest or conviction record, source of income, or the fact that such person is a student. • Specification in employment classifications are made only where such factors are bonafide occupational qualifications necessary for employment. • All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968, and similar state and local laws which make it illegal for any person to cause to be published any advertisement relating to the transfer, sale, rental, or lease of any housing which expresses limitation, specifications or discrimination as to race, color, creed, class, national origin, religion, sex, age, marital status, physical or mental handicap, personal appearance, sexual oientation, family responsibilities, political affiliation, or the fact that such person is a student. • This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate that is in violation of the law. Our readers are informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal oppportunity basis.

2 p.m. Monday for the next Thursday’s edition.

Transportation 300 AUTOMOBILES

310

www.lookatusedcars.com

Apartments

400 410

APARTMENTS Furnished/Unfurnished 1 bedroom lofts $497 2 bedrooms $545 3 bedrooms $650 4 bedrooms $1000 Campus, parking. Fall 04, 367-6626 Available Jan 05 1 bedroom $385 Campus. 367-6626

Available Now. 2 bedroom on campus. $550 per month. 367-6626. BEST VALUE 1 BR. loft from $480. 1 Br. $370 2 BR. $470 3 BR. $750 4 BR $755 Campus. 367-6626. One and Two Bedrooms “Great Rates!!” Jan 1 2005. Go to CU-LIVING.com for details or inquire at info@cu-living.com

Nine Month Leases Available

2, 4, & 5 bedroom apartments available at 209 and 211 E. Clark, Champaign. Nine month lease starting in August, 2 bedroom: $745- $885/mo. 4 & 5 bedroom, $1525/mo. 12 month leases, 2 bedroom: $585- $695/mo, 4 or 5 bedroom $1195/mo.

John Smith Property Management Inc. 217-384-6930

www.johnsmithproperties.com

SWANK-TACULAR!

Remodeled apartments that redefine campus living. 3 and 4 bedroom apartments available at 810 S. Oak St. between John and Daniel in Champaign. Apartments ranging from $895$1195/mo. Nine month leases negotiable.

John Smith Property Management Inc. 217-384-6930

www.johnsmithproperties.com

RATES:

APARTMENTS

420

Furnished

1005 S. SECOND, C

Efficiencies. Available now and Fall 2005. Secured building. Private parking. Laundry on site, ethernet available. Office at 309 S. First, Ch. THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182

1006 S. 3RD, C.

Aug 2005. 1 bedroom. Location, location. Covered parking & laundry, furnished & patios, ethernet available. Office at 309 S. First, Ch. THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182

Paid-in-Advance: 28¢/word Photo Sellers 30 words or less + photo: $5 per issue Garage Sales 30 words in both Thursday’s buzz and Friday’s Daily Illini!! $10. If it rains, your next date is free.

AP News

Action Ads • 20 words, run any 5 days (in buzz or The Daily Illini), $14 • 10 words, run any 5 days (in buzz or The Daily Illini), $7 • add a photo to an action ad, $10

WESTGATE

Fall 2005 5th and Green location Outdoor activity area. 1 bedrooms available. Garage off-street parking. Office at 309 S. First, Champaign. THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182

For August 2005. Extra large efficiency apartments. Security building entry, complete furniture, laundry, off-street parking, ethernet available. Office at 309 S. First, Champaign. THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182

509 E. White, C.

105 E. John

203 S. Sixth. C.

Unique 1 & 2 bedroom apartments. All furnished, laundry, internet, and parking available. Must see!! THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182

Available Fall 2005. 1 bedroom furnished, great location. Includes parking. THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182

For August 2005. Large 3, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths. Balconies, laundry, covered parking. Office at 309 S. First, Ch. THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182

207- 211 JOHN

Fall 2005 Prime Campus Location 2, 3 Bedrooms THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182

307 & 310 E. White 307 & 309 Clark

Fall 2005. Large studio, double closet, well furnished. Secured building. Available January. THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182

503- 505- 508 E. White

Now & Fall 2005 2 and 3 bedrooms. Furnished with internet. Parking and laundry available. On-site resident manager. Call Kenny. THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182

AVAILABLE NOW Studios $295 “Free Parking” 1005 S 2nd One Bedroom $370 509 E White 2 and 3 bedrooms 503 E White $595 THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182

APARTMENTS

• Clean 1 & 2 Bedrooms • Superior • Dependable, 24hr. management NOW LEASING maintenance • Short-term Leases FOR FALL • Free Parking • 24 Hour Courtesy • On Busline Gate House

430

APARTMENTS Unfurnished

CONVENIENT ONE BEDROOMS

Conveniently located near downtown Champaign, 1 BR apartments available February 1. From $360/mo. 352-8540, 355-4608. www.faronproperties.com

SUBLETS

506 E. Stoughton, C

Aug. 2005. Large 1 bedrooms. Security entry, balconies, patios, furnished. Laundry, off-street parking, ethernet available. Office at 309 S. First, Ch. THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182

Billed rate: 35¢/word

CLASSIFIEDS

420

Furnished

605 S. Fifth, C.

DEADLINE:

Hitch review • Matt Pais Loos Ends • John Loos C-U Views Bad Education review • Matt Pais Boogeyman review • David Just Movie time listings Slowpoke • Jen Sorenson

APARTMENTS

602 E. Stoughton

604 E. White, C. Security Entrance For Fall 2005, Large 1 bedroom furnished, balconies, patios, laundry, off-street parking, ethernet available. Phone 352-3182. Office at 309 S. First, C. THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com

HEALEY COURT APARTMENTS

307- 309 Healey Court. Fall 2005. Behind Gully’s. 2 bedrooms. Ethernet available. Office at 309 S. First, C. THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182

JOHN STREET APARTMENTS

58 E. John August 2005. Two and three bedrooms, fully furnished. Dishwashers, center courtyard, on-site laundry, central air, ethernet available. Call Chad at 344-9157 THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182

OLD TOWN CHAMPAIGN

510 S. Elm Available Fall 2005. 2 BR close to campus, hardwood floors, dishwasher, W/D, central air/heat, off street parking, 24 hr. maintenance. $525/mo. 841-1996. THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182

440

1 bedroom, 1.5 bath, central air, free parking, landscaping! 3333957, 359-4652 or home.earthlink.net/nbjewett

Other Rentals 500 HOUSES

510

2 bedroom and 7 bedroom house on campus for Fall 2004. 367-6626. Eight to Nine Bedroom Fall, Campus, $2850 367-6626 Graduate’s dream. 206 W. High, Urbana. 2/3 BR hardwood Pooltable, W/d, garage. Quiet/spacious/beautiful. dorourke@uiuc.edu. Bob 3670298

ROOM & BOARD

540

Want community? Homemade vegetarian meals? Affordable private rooms? www.couch.coop

ROOMMATE WANTED 550 1 bedroom, near campus $300 per month 367-6626

Personals

900

brighten someone’s thursday... place a buzz personal

(217) 337.8337

except lighter

this is real news

First gorilla born at Chicago zoo dies MICHAEL TARM

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ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

CHICAGO(AP) -- Kumba, the first gorilla ever born at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, has died after her health deteriorated in recent months, zoo officials announced Monday. “This was a historic gorilla,” zoo spokeswoman Kelly McGrath said about the female western lowland gorilla, who was 35 when she died. “She is irreplaceable.” Kumba apparently suffered from kidney failure, a common cause of death in older gorillas, McGrath said. Veterinarians started treating Kumba in November after she began losing weight, but they failed to stem her physical decline. “It became evident that she was dying,” said the zoo’s curator, Robyn Barbiers, and keepers decided to euthanize Kumba on Saturday. “Kumba will be sorely missed,” said Barbiers. “It’s always sad to lose an animal.” Kumba was an intelligent gorilla who liked to keep to herself but could also be mischievous— feigning to warm up to keepers she didn’t like and then suddenly grabbing them, Barbiers said. Western lowland gorillas are considered elderly once they enter their 30s, though some are known to live into their 40s, McGrath said. Kumba’s mother, Mumbi, lived to be 37. Western lowland gorillas, found in the Central African Republic and Congo, are endangered, with as few as 10,000 in the wild, according to Barbiers. She said political instability in the countries where they are found makes it difficult to come up with more precise numbers. War, habitat destruction and poaching of gorillas for meat are among the main reasons the lowland gorilla is so threatened in the wild, according to zoo officials. Kumba’s birth in 1970 marked a turning point in how gorillas were kept in zoos, said McGrath. Previously, gorillas across the United States were typically kept in separate holding areas, apart from other gorillas. Kumba was kept with her mother and later with other gorillas. “Kumba’s birth was huge event at the time,” McGrath said. “Kumba marked the beginning of a realization that gorillas in zoos living as they do in the wild—in social groups—was better for them and better from an education standpoint (for the public).” Since Kumba’s birth, there have been 44 other gorilla births at the Lincoln Park Zoo, more than at most other American zoos, officials said. With Kumba’s death, there are now 12 gorillas at the Chicago zoo, Barbiers said.

359-5330 359-5330

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OKAY WE’LL HAVE ANOTHER ROUND…THEN WE’LL INVADE CANADA.

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THE WEDDING DATE .5 star

Debra Messing & Dermot Mulroney The Wedding Date is another movie where being single is a curse, and heaven help you if you haven’t landed a man by your mid-30s. It’s as much fun as getting left at the altar and just as romantic. (Matt Pais)

Fresh flicks opening this weekend

HIDE AND SEEK 1.5 STARS Robert DeNiro & Dakota Fanning Hide and Seek relies on a climactic twist to deliver its psychological payoff, but here the major revelation deprives the film of any intellectual insight, not to mention its already-weak grasp on reality. As far as horror movies go, Hide and Seek is pure child’s play. (Matt Pais)

CONSTANTINE Keanu Reeves & Rachel Weisz Based on the DC comic book Hellblazer, Reeves stars as John Constantine, a supernatural investigator who teams up with a detective (The Mummy’s Weisz) to take down a mysterious cult. Sounds cool, but when will we finally get an Aquaman movie? (Andrew Vecelas)

Your 2005 Oscar Picks First Place: 52 admit two passes 2nd Place: 52 admit one passes to Savoy 16 3rd Place: 26 admit one passes to Savoy 16

Best Picture The Aviator Finding Neverland Million Dollar Baby Ray Sideways

Best Actor Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda Johhny Depp, Finding Neverland Leonardo DiCaprio, The Aviator Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby Jamie Foxx, Ray

Best Actress Annette Bening, Being Julia Catalina Sandino Moreno, Maria Full of Grace Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of A Spotless Mind

Best Supporting Actor Alan Alda, The Aviator Jamie Foxx, Collateral Thomas Haden Church, Sideways Clive Owen, Closer Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby

Best Supporting Actress ThCate Blanchett, The Aviator Laura Linney, Kinsey Virginia Madsen, Sideways Sophie Okonedo, Hotel Rwanda Natalie Portman, Closer

Best Foreign Film As It Is In Heaven Downfall The Chorus Yesterday The Sea Inside

NAME: ADDRESS: PHONE: EMAIL: Send entries to DI Marketing, 57 E. Green St., Champaign, IL 61820

Drop off entries at our 57 E. Green St. location, OR Savoy 16 Theatres, 232 W. Burwash, Savoy Contest Ends Feb. 27, 2005 5:00pm Only one entry per person. Illini Media employees are not elligible. Must be 18 to win. If more than one entry is correct we will determine winners by the tie breaker. The Daily Illini reserves the right to print winners’ names. Other restrictions may apply.

Silver Bullet Bar 1401 E. Washington, U. www.silverbulletbar.net 344-0937 BEST BAR IN CHAMPAIGN-URBANA BEST DJ’S AND MUSIC - BEST DRINK SPECIALS

Monday - $2 Domestic Beers Tuesday - $2 Rum & Coke Wednesday - $2.50 Screwdrivers Thurdsday - $2 Amaretto Stone Sours FREE POOL 8PM-9PM FEMALE DANCERS NIGHTLY OPEN Monday - Thursday 8pm-1am Friday-Saturday 8pm-2am Ladies & Couples Welcome Always Free Admission with our T-Shirt ATM $5.00 Admission/Ladies Free Accepted MUST BE 21

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EDITOR’S NOTE PAUL WAGNER • EDITOR IN CHIEF

he other night I was toying with the idea of watching the Grammy Awards. And then I decided not to.And from what I’ve been hearing from friends that were unfortunate enough to have watched them, I think I made the right decision. In this glorious age of the Internet, where the world is at my fingertips, just a few clicks of the mouse away, I was able to eat a nice dinner, play some video games and not watch the entirely too long program. And what did I find? That the Grammys are totally useless. Or worthless. Take your choice. They don’t know anything. Seriously. “Vertigo” by U2 won for both Best Rock song and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?! The song sucks. And I love U2, man. Joshua Tree is one of the best albums ever. But in “Vertigo” they count “uno, dos, tres...catorce.” And for all those people out there that can count from one to 20 in Spanish, and I think there’s a lot of you, U2 won a Grammy for counting “one, two, three...FOURTEEN!” That’s absolutely ridiculous, if you ask me. I mean, come on Bono, this is below you. The most abominable atrocity made by the Grammys this year was the fact that John Mayer won two of them for a really crappy song. Now, I’m going to lose some respect from a lot of people for saying this, but I enjoyed his first album, Room For Squares. It had a few good songs, and, in my opinion, he made it cool to be a dork, which REALLY helped me out with the ladies. But Heavier Things just sucked. And “Daughters” was one of the worst songs on the list. I don’t even know what the damn song means. It won two, count them, TWO Grammys. And they weren’t slouch awards either. He won for Best Male Pop Performance of the Year and for song of the year. SONG OF THE YEAR! There’s no way that “Daughters“ was the best song in 2004. On that John Mayer note, (I saw these bands in concert together over the summer. I got the tickets for free, so don’t look down on me too much) Maroon 5 won for Best New Artist. I enjoy their music, a little, but Best New Artist? Not a chance. And I doubt that I’m alone in my thinking. Just ask someone who knows ANYTHING about music.They’ll tell you. And I’m not claiming to be a huge authority on the subject or anything. But I think I have a decent grasp on what’s actually good, and the crap that wins at the Grammys. Why didn’t Kanye West win Album of the Year? I don’t know. But the Ray Charles album that did win looked freakin’ awesome. And Norah Jones won a few, which I’m ok with. She has a sexy voice. And I liked Green Day’s American Idiot for best rock album, but even that doesn’t compare to the quality of their older stuff. And the Garden State soundtrack won, and I’m a big fan of that cd. If you really want to learn about some good music and see some bands with plenty of talent and not enough press, check out the Plugg Awards. Because they actually know what they’re talking about. And if you’re a member of the population that agrees with who won, I apologize for probably offending you. But seriously, go listen to WPGU because they play some damn good music. -Paul

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BUZZ STAFF v o l u m e

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Cover Photo • David Solana Cover Design • Glenn Cochon Editor in chief • Paul Wagner Art Director • Carol Mudra Copy Chief • Stacey Ivanic Music • Kyle Gorman Arts • Brian Warmoth Film • Andrew Vecelas Community • Susie An Calendar • Erin Scottberg Photography Editor • David Solana Designers • Adam Obendorf, Sue Janna Truscott, Glenn Cochon, Claire Napier, Hannah Bai, Brittany Bindrim Calendar Coordinators • Cassie Conner Photography • Sarah Krohn, Adriana D’Onofrio Copy Editors • Jen Hubert, Nellie Waddell Staff Writers • Matt Pais, Randy Ma, Martha Reggi, John Loos, Brian Warmoth, Imran Siddiquee, Todd J. Hunter, Jennifer Crabill, DJ Bozak, Courtney Hrejsa, Brian Klein, David Ruthenberg, Syd Slobodnik Contributing Writers • Michael Coulter, Amanda Kolling, Seth Fein, Logan Moore, Jeff Nelson, Maureen Gombas Production Manager • Theon Smith Sales Manager • Anna Rost Marketing/Distribution • Rory Darnay, Louis Reeves III Publisher • Mary Cory

TALK TO BUZZ e-mail:

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CHECK IT OUT GUESS WHAT!! Checkers Monopoly Trivial Pursuit Chess Mancala

You can check out these and other board games in the Rec Room or at the Information Desk at the Illini Union. Just hand over your student ID, pick out a game, and you’ll get your ID back upon returning the game. Pretty awesome huh!

THOU SHALT KILL

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LEAD STORY In January, days after a crackdown by Mexican President Vicente Fox on corruption at the La Palma jail near Mexico City, a full-page ad appeared in the daily newspaper Reforma, supposedly placed by higher-profile inmates, who, according to the ad, were now suffering under â&#x20AC;&#x153;subhumanâ&#x20AC;? conditions, treated â&#x20AC;&#x153;like dogs, like animals, like we are worthless ... scum of society.â&#x20AC;?What the government had done was confiscate the drug lordsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and organized-crime leadersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; big-screen TVs, computers and cell phones (which they were using to retain control of their operations from behind bars), break up their prison rackets, and even end their personal pizza deliveries.

T H E E T E R N A L T E M P TAT I O N The Roanoke (Va.) Times reported on Jan. 17 that a Wytheville police officer had to rescue a 9year-old boy who, with time on his hands as he waited for a school bus on a â&#x20AC;&#x153;bone-deep coldâ&#x20AC;?morning, decided to find out what would happen if he licked a metal pole.While awaiting

â&#x20AC;˘

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IS TO SOLVE IT.

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-Alan Saporta MATT PAIS â&#x20AC;˘ LEAD REVIEWER

wEiRd

A chuck shepherd

someone to bring warm water to free the boy, the officer and the kid had the following conversation: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Have you learned anything?â&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;?Uhhuh.â&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;?Are you going to do this again?â&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;?Uh-uh.â&#x20AC;?

RECENT ALARMING HEADLINES (1) â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fireworks Explode in Pants, Burn Boyâ&#x20AC;?(a January story in New Orleansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; TimesPicayune about an 11-year-old boy improvidently carrying bottle rockets in his pants while holding a sparkler). â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cleric Suspect Misses Hearing Due to Long Toe Nailsâ&#x20AC;?(a January Reuters dispatch from London, reporting that radical Islamic rabble-rouser Abu Hamza alMasri found it too painful to walk to court). â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cops: Mom Used Hammer on Son Over Homeworkâ&#x20AC;?(a January Associated Press report in which police charged a St. Louis woman with excessive supervision of homework, which allegedly also included pliers).

home on New Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Eve, robbed them of $540, held them at gunpoint for more than hour, and then,when he noticed a piano in the house,ordered the husband to play two songs while Hardy sang. After the songfest, Hardy suggested they order pizza and meanwhile began playing with his gun. The siege ended, and police were called when Hardy joined a long list of people chronicled in News of the Weird for accidentally shooting themselves.

READERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; CHOICE In a widely publicized move in January, Oklahoma state Sen. Frank Shurden proposed legislation to bring back the â&#x20AC;&#x153;sportâ&#x20AC;?of cockfighting, which the state outlawed in 2002.To appease critics, Shurden, apparently serious, suggested that the roosters wear tiny boxing gloves instead of the razor cleats on their legs and also wear electronic-sensitive vests in order to record hits so as to non-lethally determine the winner of a match.

CREME DE LA WEIRD

O U R AW E S O M E A N I M A L F R I E N D S

Paul Kelvin Hardy, 40, was arrested in Martinsburg,W.Va., after he broke into a coupleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

A landmine-detection outfit in Mozambique has upgraded from explosives-sniffing dogs to giant African hamster rats, according to a December Agence France-Presse dispatch, because the lighter, more plentiful rats have noses that are just as sensitive and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t suffer dogsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; need for affection and constant reassurances.And Northern Arizona University Professor Con Slobodchikoff, who spoke to the Albuquerque Journal in December about his two decades of elaborate, patient desert research, said that prairie dogs he has studied at three locations in the Southwest speak in different dialects but would likely understand each other.They can even invent sounds for new things and perhaps even gossip. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; In a tourist park next to the zoo in Chiang Mai, Thailand, handlers have toilettrained seven elephants. In photos published in Bangkokâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Nation in January and now available on the Internet, a 5-year-old elephant is shown using a giant white, Western-style concrete toilet as if he were human, including using his trunk to pull a cord to flush. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Recurring Themes: Michael Hensonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dog became the latest one to â&#x20AC;&#x153;drive,â&#x20AC;?after he pawed the gearshift of Hensonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s idling truck, sending it through the front of the Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Reilly Auto Parts store in Springdale, Ark., in December. And Matthew Harperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hunting dog became the latest one to shoot someone, stepping on a shotgunâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trigger and blasting Harper in the arm, near Upper Klamath Lake in Oregon in October. And Leana Beasleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rottweiler assistance dog became one of the latest to save her clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life by (as per training) nose-punching a telephoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 911 button upon seeing Beasley suffer a grand mal seizure and then barking furiously into the receiver (Richland,Wash., October).

RECYCLING IN URBANA! Did you know that all Urbana apartments, fraternities/sororities, and rooming houses have onsite recycling service ? Look for the green recycling cart next to your trash receptacle and participate today !

Multifamily Recycling Program

City of Urbana

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know what to recycle ? Go to www.city.urbana.il.us (Click â&#x20AC;&#x153;Recyclingâ&#x20AC;? under Quick Links),

check the sticker on cart lids, or call 384-2302.

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An informed and opinionated look at this weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s events

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COMPILED BY LOGAN MOORE

According to final results released this week, the Shiitebacked United Iraqi Alliance had a plurality of the vote in the Iraqi elections, short of the two-thirds majority needed to control the National Assembly. Still with 48 percent, you can bet Grand Ayatolla Al-Sistani is doing the funky chicken at a party somewhere. The House voted recently to require all states to confirm that all driversâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; license applicants are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants. So â&#x20AC;&#x153;Buddy,â&#x20AC;? the local drunk/DMV employee, gets to play God for a little bit, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Naw, Ima â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;fraid you a terrorist oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;somethinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. License denied.â&#x20AC;? Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas met in Egypt to verbally agree to end years of fighting. Because all years of ethnic and religious strife is another, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hey you guys better cut it out. We mean it this time gosh darn it.â&#x20AC;? The UN called upon world governments to fulfill their pledges to the tsunami relief effort. Over $1 billion was initially promised, but so far governments have only contributed about $360 million. Because yaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; know they were totally busy with...stuff. The Bush Administration is seeking $400 million from Congress to pay nations aiding in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dubbed the â&#x20AC;&#x153;solidarity initiative,â&#x20AC;? nearly a quar ter of that money will go to Poland. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget about Polandâ&#x20AC;Śgettinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; them bill yâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;all. Awww snaps. Wal-Mart announced plans to close a store in Canada where workers were planning to unionize. The retailer claimed the closure is necessar y because demand from union leaders would make a profit at the store impossible. Someone should tell Wal-Martâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s CEO that Upton Sinclairâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Jungleâ&#x20AC;? was a cautionary tale, not a how-to manual.

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little deception and betrayal does not a good suspense film make, and Pedro Almodovarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s frighteningly unexciting Bad Education is nothing more than an exercise in by-the-numbers noir. In attempting to create a menacing world of backstabbing, treachery and rampant sexuality, the usually solid writer/director hits a sizable pothole and barely registers a pulse throughout this empty-headed excuse for a psycho-sexual thriller. It approaches dishonesty as a justification for melodrama and buried secrets as the validation for super-slow pacing. Enrique Goded (Fele Martinez) is a famous film director who hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seen Ignacio Rodriguez, his former Catholic schoolmate and lover, in 16 years. So his world is understandably thrown upside down when a young man (Gael Garcia Bernal) walks in his door, claiming to be Ignacio, with a story supposedly based on the boysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; short-lived romance that was torn apart by the pedophiliac and corrupt Father Manolo (Daniel Gimenez Cacho). Bad Education unfolds partially as a movie within a movie, as the history between Ignacio and Enrique is played out as Enrique reads about it in Ignacioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s story, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Visit.â&#x20AC;? Later on, we see their history actually come to life, as Enrique directs the

movie based on the story.Yet thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an astonishing lack of intrigue to any of the revelations and duplicities, even as Ignacio is presented as a sometimes transvestite named Angel Andrade. Angel blackmails Father Manolo for a million pesetas, and Enrique starts to suspect that his first love may actually have died years before. This isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a chilling look into the effects of childhood abuse or the ramifications of BAD EDUCATION â&#x20AC;˘ GAEL GARCIA BERNAL misconduct in private religious institutions. In fact, Almodovar hard- transvestite performers, wrongdoing by ly provides any specifics as to Father religious officials and a significant amount Manoloâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s treatment of Ignacio or identifies of homosexual sex, Almodovar still doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t any real connections between those experi- necessarily go beyond the limits of mainences and his later life in which he finds stream filmmaking. He just uses typically that his true identity wears a dress. More unconventional subject matter as the setproblematic is that the filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s premise of the up for an unoriginal, uninvolving story rekindled love affair between Enrique and that confuses sex and love but never fashIgnacio is far from believable, as the two ions a critique about either. Visually, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a well-made movie about menâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;separated since catching each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eye at the age of 10â&#x20AC;&#x201D;barely have the foun- identity both forgotten and rediscovered, dation for a temporary hookup, much less a with Almodovarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trademark aesthetic simplicity amidst bright pastels. But lifelong romance. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s as if the director of critical and where his other films are gentle, sensuous audience favorites such as Talk to Her and strolls through morally difficult situaAll About My Mother watched a few tions, Bad Education is a long, dull slog Hitchcock movies, took the general con- through the melodramatic muck. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cepts that made his films so sinister and no chill in the pain felt by the two lovers deemed himself qualified to construct a separated before their relationship could film noir in his own style of soap opera- take shape, and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no consequence to the mismanaged schooling that guided influenced drama. Usually, a director willing to take their lives in such different directions. chances and a movie that crosses bound- And thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nothing worse than an eduaries is better than one that sticks to the cation with nothing to teach. status quo. But even in incorporating

BOOGEYMAN DAVID JUST â&#x20AC;˘ STAFF WRITER

Ibody t was only a matter of time before somewould come out with a film based

on that scary creature underneath the bed or in the closet. That honor goes to Stephen T. Kay, director of Boogeyman. A young boy, Tim, lies awake in bed one night, petrified at what lurks in the closet. Timâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s father (Charles Mesure) runs in to the bedroom to calm his fears. In order to prove to Tim that nothing is in his closet, the brave dad goes in to investigate. The horror that follows is easy to simply laugh at.Yes, the Boogeyman takes the boyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s father. Apparently he preys on parents now, too. The film advances 15 years, depriving the audience of this pivotal character. Tim, now played by Barry Watson, is just a normal guy. Normal to him has been redefined as having no closets, having a transparent door on the refrigerator and placing lamps in every square foot of the apartment. He probably wishes he was back at his home on 7th Heaven. On the one hand, he has a problem finding a date for the weekend, and on the other, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s s o u n d s

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buzz weekly

NO, DONNY, THESE MEN ARE NIHILISTS. THERE'S NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF.

BAD EDUCATION

The best way to escape from a problem

y o u r e v e r y d a y n e w s but hell, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re weekly

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Unfortunately, many of these shocking moments in the film are simply the music hitting a very loud chord as Tim opens the stove, answers the phone or perhaps something even more inane. The film, instead of keeping the audience in total suspense for a well-timed shock, simply tries to do so at every turn and overuses it to such a point that it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even fun(ny) anymore. Ultimately, Tim confronts the Boogeyman in a completely lackluster sequence that seems to merely cash in on weirdness. The Boogeyman looks like a person who surrounded himself with dark muddy water. Why not surround himself with the heads of abducted kids? Or maybe he could actually be a monster. The few scares Boogeyman provides are not worth the frustration of the rest of the film. The film is based on the oldest of childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bedtime stories.The writers had all the material in the world to work with, and this is what they churned out. At No. 1 in the box office, though, get ready to see it all over again in Boogeyman 2. Perhaps Boogeyman 2: Boogey Nights?

BOOGEYMAN â&#x20AC;˘ BARRY WATSON

haunted by childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bedtime stories. Life is so tough sometimes. In typical horror fashion, Tim returns to the house that stores all the repressed memories of his childhood and also his fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s corpse in the upstairs bedroom closet. People underestimate how inspiring and rewarding it can be to revisit the places they wish they could forget about. Not Tim, though. He knows what he must do. The rest of the action will occur at or around the haunted house. Most of this time is spent staring at closet doors and praying nothing comes out of them. The film is able to make the audience jump out of their seats many times.

â&#x20AC;˘ 25

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The few scares Boogeyman provides are not worth the frustration of the rest of the film.

CONSTANTINE (R) Fri. 1:15 2:00 4:10 5:00 7:15 7:40 9:50 11:00 Sat. 11:30 1:15 2:00 4:10 5:00 7:15 7:40 9:50 11:00 Sun. - Thu. 1:15 2:00 4:10 5:00 7:15 7:40 9:50 SON OF THE MASK (PG) Fri. 1:20 3:20 5:20 7:20 9:20 11:45 Sat. 11:20 1:20 3:20 5:20 7:20 9:20 11:45 Sun. - Thu. 1:20 3:20 5:20 7:20 9:20 ARE WE THERE YET? (PG) Fri. 1:10 3:15 5:20 7:25 9:30 11:40 Sat. 11:05 1:10 3:15 5:20 7:25 9:30 11:40 Sun. - Thu. 1:10 3:15 5:20 7:25 9:30 WINN-DIXIE (PG) Fri. & Sat. 1:30 4:15 7:00 9:20 11:40 Sun. - Thu. 1:30 4:15 7:00 9:20 BOOGEYMAN (PGâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;13) Fri. & Sat. 1:10 3:20 5:20 7:20 9:25 11:30 Sun. - Thu. 1:10 3:20 5:20 7:20 9:25 COACH CARTER (PGâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;13) Fri. - Thu. 1:10 4:00 7:00 9:50 â&#x2DC;&#x2026; NEVERLAND (PG) Fri. & Sun. - Thu. 1:10 3:20 5:30 Sat. 11:00 1:10 3:20 5:30 HIDE AND SEEK (R) Fri. 1:10 3:20 5:30 7:40 10:00 12:10 Sat. 11:00 1:10 3:20 5:30 7:40 10:00 12:10 Sun. - Thu. 1:10 3:20 5:30 7:40 10:00

â&#x2014;&#x2020; HITCH (PGâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;13) (3 SCREENS)

Fri. & Sat. 1:00 1:30 3:30 4:20 7:00 7:20 8:45 9:30 9:45 12:00 Sun. - Thu. 1:00 1:30 3:30 4:20 7:00 7:20 8:45 9:30 9:45 MEET THE FOCKERS (PGâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;13) Fri. & Sat. 7:20 9:50 12:15 Sun. - Thu. 7:20 9:50 â&#x2DC;&#x2026; MILLION DOLLAR BABY (PGâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;13) Fri. & Sat. 1:00 4:00 7:00 9:50 12:30 Sun. - Thu. 1:00 4:00 7:00 9:50 POOH'S MOVIE (G) Fri. & Sun. - Thu. 1:20 3:20 5:20 7:00 Sat. 11:20 1:20 3:20 5:20 7:00 RACING STRIPES (PG) Fri. - Thu. 1:00 3:05 5:10 â&#x2DC;&#x2026; SIDEWAYS (R) Fri. & Sat. 1:20 4:00 7:00 9:40 12:15 Sun. - Thu. 1:20 4:00 7:00 9:40 â&#x2DC;&#x2026; THE AVIATOR (PGâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;13) Fri. & Sat. 1:00 4:30 7:50 11:30 Sun. - Thu. 1:00 4:30 7:50 â&#x2DC;&#x2026; PHANTOM OF OPERA (PGâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;13) Fri. & Sat. 7:40 11:00 Sun. - Thu. 7:40 WEDDING DATE (PGâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;13) Fri. 1:00 3:00 5:00 7:00 9:05 11:10 Sat. 11:00 1:00 3:00 5:00 7:00 9:05 11:10 Sun. - Thu. 1:00 3:00 5:00 7:00 9:05 â&#x2DC;&#x2026; HOTEL

RWANDA (PGâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;13) Fri. & Sat. 1:30 4:15 7:10 9:40 12:15 Sun. - Thu. 1:30 4:15 7:10 9:40

Showtimes for 2/18 thru 2/24

FE B . 17

Human Beings are divided into

mind

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like poetry and philosophy,

body

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2 3 , 2 OO5

COULTER = HILARIOUS

seth fein

the local sniff

body.

The mind embraces all the nobler aspirations,

but the

•

all the fun.

Daddy ain’t got no back

And an unrelated apology to a fine restaurant in downtown Urbana

Why lawmakers are more like flawmakers

The following is the sole opinion of the author. It is not an endorsement from the BUZZ as a whole.

MATT PAIS • LEAD REVIEWER

Hitch is highconcept Hollywood fluff, yet, for the most part it works.

ill Smith has always been a ladies’ man, but the Fresh Prince has always been a little too fresh. There was something snide in his swagger, like his characters’ personalities were identifiable by their easy-going skill with women. In Hitch, Smith finally allows vulnerability to sink in, revealing a smooth-talker who’s actually terrified that he can’t put his money where his mouth is. He plays Alex ‘Hitch’ Hitchens, a notorious bachelor who lives astonishingly well considering his employment as a “date doctor.” In advising average-looking men how to land ladies that are (at least physically) out of their league, Hitch works only from referrals and exists like a whisper in the wind in New York City. His latest challenge is Albert (Kevin James), an awkward accountant with a major jones for Allegra Cole (Amber Valletta), a high-profile New York City socialite. But as Hitch teaches Albert how to talk, how to kiss and how not to shake his groove thang, the master tries to woo gossip columnist Sara Melas (Eva Mendes) and finds he may still have a lot to learn about love. Hitch is high-concept Hollywood fluff, yet, for the most part, it works because of its focus on chivalry and love and not sex and debauchery. Hitch isn’t just a pretty face who takes pride in seducing women; in fact, he’s such a good guy that he won’t even take on a client

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COMPILED BY SARAH KROHN

Allen Zuber Paris, Ill.

“Great movie, very funny.”

COLUMBIA PICTURES

HITCH

with impure intentions. As he confronts the notion that Sara might just be the woman that can tame him, there’s nothing to suggest that Hitch has more wild oats to sow. Rather, for this playa to settle down, he needs to come to terms with himself and his past, and Sara is just the girl to help him forget the first love who cheated on him. Of course, Hitch doesn’t exactly go off HITCH• WILL SMITH & KEVIN JAMES without one. Kevin Bisch’s script is loaded with unfunny slap- to build a movie on the idea that goodstick and pratfalls, desperate for big laughs looking women won’t pay attention to lesswhen the film does warm, cozy smiles much attractive men if they don’t conform to the better. It repeatedly relies on blatant symbol- ideal of a well-refined appearance and careism about opening your heart—yes, love can fully groomed behavior. But director Andy be a lot like skydiving, all right already—and Tennant (Sweet Home Alabama) pulls it off doesn’t seem to believe in its own ability to and finds room for the message that if two people aren’t really meant for each other, no win us over with subtlety and sincerity. The film also doesn’t quite get to the amount of third-party interference can bottom of Hitch’s establishment as the city- bring them together and if they are, nothing wide relationship guru. In flashback, he’s can keep them apart. This is the right role for James’ bigshown as an awkward, geeky college kid— he looks like a cross between Carlton Banks screen debut, and he adds a disarming and Urkel—and it would have been intrigu- sweetness to the nerdy, lovestruck Albert. ing to see how he adapted into the suave But it’s unquestionably Smith’s show, and expert that claims any man can sweep any the actor finally discovers how to be confident without being cocky and how to be woman off her feet. Still, the trick to Hitch is that, while authoritative without arrogance. There’s everything Hitch and Albert do is calculated also a perfect niche for Hitch as a movie and deliberate, none of it seems phony. that, like an issue of Cosmo, can both These are two guys who would do anything entertain and court women while teaching to romance the women they love, but they guys a few things about falling in love. never lie or do anything that force them to Now that’s the cure for the common be anyone but themselves. It’s a little sticky romantic comedy.

Hitch

Gary Shae Urbana, Ill.

Andrea Zuber Paris, Ill.

“I haven’t laughed that much in a while.”

“It was lots of fun.”

Okay, friends and enemies. First things

Loos enDs MOVIE NEWS BY JOHN LOOS

In a bid to surpass the Grammys as the most nonsensical awards show on TV, the producer of this year’s Oscar ceremony, Gil Cates, has announced a massive shake-up of how the awards will be handed out. Instead of the traditional nominees-in-the-audience approach, Oscar hopefuls in some of the smaller, technical categories will stand on stage as the winners are announced while others will be given their award while still sitting in their seats. While Cates insists the changes are meant to match host Chris Rock’s in-your-face style of comedy, sane people realize they’re just really, really stupid. Oscar winner Catherine Zeta-Jones was recently crowned Woman of the Year by Hasty Pudding Theatricals, the nation’s oldest undergraduate drama troupe from Harvard, for her various contributions to the entertainment industry. Her husband, Michael Douglas, winner of the Hasty Pudding Man of the Year award sometime in the Pleistocene Era, was on hand to watch the festivities as Zeta-Jones joined the likes of Sandra Bullock, Julie Andrews and Mamie Eisenhower (yes, Mamie Eisenhower) with her award. Word has is that Lady Bird Johnson is still pretty f-ing pissed about that one. Corey Feldman, no one’s favorite child actor from the ’80s, has been subpoenaed in the Michael Jackson case. A friend of Jackson when he was an adolescent, Feldman, now 33, said he once went to Jackson’s house and was shown a book on a coffee table filled with naked men and women with various venereal diseases. Jackson never touched him inappropriately, Feldman said, and doesn’t consider the pictures a “big deal.” It is, after all, a little known fact that after covered bridges and babies sitting on watermelons, scabies is the most popular subject for coffee table photo books.

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coulter

VOTE LAUREL PRUSSING THIS TUESDAY SETH FEIN • CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Woody Allen

first things first

first. Although it was made clear to me that this was not required, I wanted to make a public apology to the Courier Cafe. I realize that you were offended by my comments in my first letter to Tod Vader. I have been going to the Courier for years. I was simply trying to get a laugh, and perhaps I did. But if it came at the expense of the restaurant and its hard working employees, I am very sorry. Now! On to the upcoming election! And I will do my best to write without any “ghettospeak” as it may damage my credibility because we all know one inevitable truth: If we all don’t speak the same dialect and if we all don’t speak the same opinions, we are unpatriotic and supporting terrorism. I was flooded with letters this week, from former Urbana City Council members to police officers to professors to regular ol’ denizens of Seth Fein is from the city. And while Tod “I Urbana and just am going to need a new returned from Costa job soon” Satterthwaite Rica where he could never wrote me back, buy a huge lobster one of his contenders, for $5, smoke cigarettes wherever he Laurel Prussing, did. wanted and see a Almost immediately. She writes: monkey from his

Dear Seth, As a candidate for mayor of Urbana I’m glad you agree that it’s time for a change. It took many years to get students the right to vote here. Local elections do affect the lives of students directly, although many don’t consider voting. Here’s why it matters. Like everyone else in the community, students have a lot of concerns that are decided by city government. Do you think Urbana should raise the fee for on-street parking or raise the fine for underage drinking to $280? Tod Satterthwaite proposed these changes. I oppose irresponsible drinking behavior, but I think it’s wrong to exploit students as a revenue source. Fines should be reasonable. Charging $100 more for underage drinking than for assault and battery is unfair. Likewise, I won’t gouge students with high parking fees just to put more money in city coffers. Many of the issues that concern longerterm residents of Urbana concern students as well. As mayor, I plan to be pro-active in addressing the challenges our city faces. I can’t promise to revitalize Philo Road with the snap of my fingers, but I won’t sit around

bedroom window. You can reach him @ sethfein@hotmail.com.

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waiting for businesses to come knocking on my door. After years of steady decline, with no action from the mayor, the city got a tentative plan for approaching the problem a month before the election. The city also needs a small business incentive program. We need more places to shop in Urbana. Helping small businesses locate in Urbana would increase our retail options. Anyone who is discouraged about the national election should realize that their vote will have a much bigger impact in the city election Feb. 22. If students vote in the Democratic primary, they could pick the next mayor. It was students standing in the rain for four hours in 1992 who got me elected State Representative (and the only Democrat to win this district in the 10 years it was gerrymandered to be won by a Republican.) On Tuesday, Feb. 22, you probably won’t have to wait in line. And you could help make history. I would be the first woman mayor of Urbana. But beyond that, I think I would do a good job. The people who know Urbana government best are overwhelmingly supporting me.These folks know it is time for a change. That is why out of the eight elected Democrats in city government, only one is supporting the incumbent mayor: himself. The incumbent,Tod Satterthwaite, is urging Bush supporters to cross over and vote for him in the Democratic primary. Seventy percent of Urbana residents voted Democratic last fall. Don’t let the Republicans decide who the Democratic candidates should be. Laurel Prussing

Well, if that isn’t enough to make you go out and VOTE FOR LAUREL PRUSSING on Tuesday, Feb. 22, maybe this will: I am a young aspiring writer, amongst other things. In all reality, I have much to learn when it comes to many issues, not limited to: paying my taxes, good sex, my diet and consistent writing in a public magazine. I don’t pretend to know everything. Well, maybe sometimes. But, I can say this much. Laurel Prussing took the time to write a well thought out response to some of my questions, knowing damn well that by doing so, she might be alienating herself from some of the people who hate me as a columnist. But she chose to do it anyway because she believes in the citizens and the well being of Urbana. And if she’ll take time to deal with me and my histrionics, you can be sure that she’ll listen to you. The time for change is upon us in Urbana. And for that change, I am going to VOTE FOR LAUREL PRUSSING this Tuesday. I am hoping that you will follow my lead and do the same.

MICHAEL COULTER • CONTRIBUTING WRITER

've been carrying three scraps of paper around in my pocket for awhile about our brilliant lawmakers, and it's sort of creeping me out. I want this information off my person immediately, so I'm giving it to you. Sorry. My father has no ass, or to put it in Sir Mix-A-Lot (or whoever's) terms, daddy ain't got no back. It must be like baldness and skip a generation since I have a big sweet ass, but come to think of it, dad's bald too, so I don't know.Anyway, I need to warn him to stay out of Virginia.The state's house passed a bill last Tuesday saying you'll be fined $50 if you display your underpants (and I'm assuming butt crack) in a lewd or indecent manner. Now in all fairness, dad's display of underwear may not necessarily be lewd, but mom and I both find it indecent.

Back in Virginia, the idea is designed to put an end to youths wearing their pants all cool and low. It's also designed to make folks appreciate absurdity. Geez Louise, isn't there something more important for these jackasses to be worrying about. Sure, it's easy to see how ridiculous this style is if you're an adult, but looking cool is part of growing up. I'm fairly sure the problem will take care of itself in a few years when the offenders realize it's not a practical style for middle age.

People, people, let's think back. I had a freaking ponytail for a couple of years that I wish I could take back. I'm sure there are plenty of unfortunate tattoos, piercing and half-used bottles of styling mousse somewhere in all our pasts. You're supposed to look sort of stupid when you're young, or at least look different, and while it's every older person's responsibility to mock younger folks style, it's not really necessary to pass laws to prohibit this. Just take a deep breath; I'm sure these young ones will be towing the right wing company line as soon as they make more than $15,000 a year. In another moronic legislative move, the house of representatives is working on a law that will enable companies like ClearPlay to alter movies without breaking any copyright laws. These companies essentially allow people to skip over offensive parts of movies and then charge them for it. These companies are rightfully getting their asses sued off, and this proposed bill will stop this from happening. For crapsake, do your job as parents and find movies that are appropriate for your children.

buzz weekly •

"Okay, Tommy, we're gonna watch the cleaned up version of Goodfellas tonight. Daddy cut out all the bad parts so the film only runs about six minutes total and even though I object to 98 percent of its content, I still think it's something you should see." It's just like the idiots who put drapes over the genitals of sculptures.Arguably, film is the most prominent art form in our world today. It is a person's view of something, a particular person's view. The filmmaker is putting forth a statement and just like music or the written word, it should be protected from Michael Coulter some jerkoff changing the is a videographcontent and redistributing it. er, comedian Let's stretch our imagina- and can be tions for a moment and pre- heard on WPGU tend I'm a positive person. 107.1 Thursdays I'm so positive, in fact, that I at 5 with Ricker don't even like the use of workin’ it. negative words. I could take a film like The 10 Commandments and get rid of these negative words leaving the content "Thou shalt kill, Thou shalt commit adultery, Thou shalt covet thy neighbors wife, etc." I guarantee you the same people who advocate cutting film content now would raise holy freaking hell over what I've done. They'd say I screwed with the message that was intended. They'd be right, of course, but we'd all be in the same sinking boat. Lastly, the mayor of West Hollywood has proposed an ordinance making "tail docking" and "ear cropping" illegal. I was surprised to find out these aren't terms used every Friday night in bath houses across America but instead something that is done to dogs.This law would also ban any sort of plastic surgery performed on animals. Two years ago, this same mayor pushed across legislation that prevents cats in this jurisdiction from being declawed. Mice and coffee tables were up in arms over this decision, but most were unaffected. It looks like your Shar-Pei's eyes are just going to have to droop forever now because a much needed eye tuck would be illegal. Those mouth breathing Boston terriers won't get any help either. Sure Sparky, you say you've got a deviated septum, but I think you just want a nose job. No breast implants for Princess either. Just accept the fact that you're a Yorky and your jugs are never going to look like a basset's. What are you gonna do with all this crap? Not much. It's a shame our lawmakers aren't able to show the same restraint. In fact, they really piss me off sometimes. In fact, there ought to be a law. Wait a few weeks. There probably will be.

“The lesson is even if the idea may seem a little bit crazy, if you push it a little bit, you may find it will work anyway.”

A good cook is the peculiar gift of the gods. He must be a perfect creature from the brain to the palate, from the palate to the finger’s end.

- Prof. Gary Cziko

—Walter Savage Landor

BROAD C A

ST EN ESPANOL programs from a computer into radio signals. He even, at one point, as a trial, broadcast a mini-French language radio station whose range extended over the Quad. However, the assistance of others was crucial. “I suppose when you come up with an idea, if you can get support from different people, I think that’s sort of really necessary for this. The lesson is even if the idea may seem a little bit crazy, if you push it a little bit, you may find it will work anyway,” he said. The main proponents of this undertaking are a mix of different University organizations. La Casa Cultural Latina, a resource center for the appreciation and development of Hispanic and Latino culture within the campus and greater Central Illinois area, is the primary sponsor. The Director of La Casa, Giraldo Rosales played a vital role. With the help of colleagues Ben Mueller and Paul Hixson, the idea and permission for placing an antenna on Bevier Hall were initiated. “There were new diversity initiatives being proposed throughout the campus and one of the associate Chancellors asked me,‘Are there any initiatives you want us to undertake?’ I said,‘This is one that I think would be viable. Not only for the Latino, Spanish speaking community but viable for those students at large that are taking Spanish classes and that “Gary Cziko sits with his radio tuned to AM1660, a are planning to go abroad to Spain or spanish radio station he created.” North/South America,’” Rosales said. The Office of the Chancellor provided funding of news, talk, and music lines the programming schedule. while University of Illinois Extension fills some Shows include “Rock en Español,” featuring content via the program Nuevos Horizontes. The fresh urban rock from Latin America, Spain and the College of ACES’s Information Technology and United States. Also, weekday afternoons consist of a Communication Services unit and the Department call-in discussion/interview show, “Línea Abierta.” of Educational Psychology are also supporters. Choosing Spanish as the language of focus was a Filling in Spanish and occasionally Portuguese-lan- simple decision. guage broadcasting from countries like France, the “For a number of reasons, in the country it’s Netherlands,Canada and the United States,a combination the most important language other than English.

wine

X is for eXtraneous

pretty hard to come up with a food-related term that starts with this letter. Someone told me that there’s a Chinese melon that starts with the letter “x,” but I just couldn’t bring myself to write 600+ words about a melon I’ve never tasted, even if it is delicious. Instead, I thought I’d give you a bunch of random tips and suggestions I’ve picked up over the years from cooking classes, friends, articles and personal experience.

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Throw a party. A lot of people are terrified of entertaining but if you realize that your friends want the night to be as much of a success as you do, you’ll enjoy yourself a lot more. Don’t set unreasonable expectations, and don’t worry about getting everything on the table at the same time. When people ask if they can help, put them to work! It gives them something to do and makes everyone feel like they’re part of the process. This really only works for the cooking and prep work; I’m not suggesting you ask your guests to wash dishes or mop the floor.

Always use a sharp knife. I can’t begin to tell you how much easier and more enjoyable this makes dicing and chopping. It helps to start with a good knife. Buy the best knife you can afford and don’t skimp! Look for a knife that is well balanced, has a high hardness rating, a forged blade and a full tang (that means the knife blade extends through the handle for better balance). Also, buy a knife sharpener (the rough bottom of a mug can work in a pinch), and sharpen your knives before each use.

AMANDA KOLLING • CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST

If you have reusable plastic containers and hate the stain left by tomato sauce or curry or what have you, spray the container with cooking spray before adding food. If you have rock-solid butter and need to soften it, place it on your cooktop while your oven preheats. If should be sufficiently softened by the time you need it. Use a microwave to cut cooking time for squash and potatoes. I like to make oven-baked or grilled foil potato bundles with butter, onions, salt and pepper. If I use sliced, raw potatoes, I get nicely browned onions and partially cooked potatoes. Instead, I stick the slices in the microwave for a few minutes before making the bundles, and everyone’s happy. The same goes for squash. I like to make curried squash bisque, but baking the squash for nearly an hour before I even get to any souprelated cooking generally would rule this out as a weekday meal. Instead, I quarter and seed the squash and microwave until the flesh begins to soften.

Cook seasonally. I know I say this a lot, but it will save you the heartache of serving mealy tomatoes in December or limp asparagus in August. Also, if you see a recipe, and you have only one of the ingredients (and it’s water), move on. I don’t want to discourage you from making something new, but I want to save you the frustration and expense of buying a lot of new ingredients for a dish you may only make once. Unless you plan to make this new dish a lot, all those new spices and herbs will go to waste. Don’t dull your knives on a glass cutting board. Use plastic or (my preference) wood instead. PHOTO • ANDRIANA D’ONTARIO

itting solemnly by itself, deep in the basement of a University cultural center, an outdated computer makes broadcasting history. The struggling processor automatically cycles through an international Internet radio play list. By relaying signals to a tiny antenna jutting from the roof of Bevier Hall on Gregory Street and Goodwin Avenue, the students, faculty and whoever else is within the narrow 1660-AM broadcast range on campus can tune in to a worldwide mix of Spanish language radio programming. The mind behind this guerrilla radio is Professor Gary Cziko. The project is known as the Latino Radio Service. Cziko thinks it could be the only foreign-language college radio station in America and quite possibly the only automated radio station solely beaming out Internet broadcasts. Conceived from the educational psychology professor’s own love and fascination with radio and language, this tiny project has assumed impressive stature since going live this past Jan. 3. The LRS owes its existence to the dedication and support of many, as well as an FCC loophole. “I was looking through the Web about low-powered radio stations,” Cziko said. “For a number of reasons, in the He discovered the following: Title 47, country it’s the most important Chapter 1, Part 15 of language other than English.” FCC regulations. The 1990 rules’ -Cziko change per mits an educational institution to transmit on the AM band to its campus, license-free, provided there is no interference to licensed broadcasters. Broadcasting from scratch is a complicated process. Cziko tested different methods of transferring Internet

I know that “x” is for “extraneous” seems a bit of a stretch, but it’s

Latino Radio Ser vice broadcasts over the campus TIM PETERS • STAFF WRITER

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Take cooking classes. I’ve taken several over the years, and they have been very rewarding.Take the class with a friend for guaranteed laughs, or go solo and meet some great people while you learn some new skills.

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After chopping onions or garlic, it seems almost impossible to get that lovely smell off your hands. However, the easiest way to remove that odoriferous offender is by rubbing your hands on stainless steel. Try using your faucet or a spoon and then washing with soap and water. After squeezing the juice out of a lemon or lime, don’t just throw the peel away. If you don’t compost, put it down the sink disposal for a fresh-smelling kitchen.

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I hope these tips help you as they’ve helped me. If you have tips you would like to share, I would love to hear them. If you have cooking skills in addition to nun chuck and computer-hacking skills, e-mail Amanda Kolling at amandakolling@readbuzz.com.

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Todd McCannon is an artist who currently has four paintings on display at the Cafe Kopi in Champaign. He creates art using a variety of different media, picking a medium that relates better to each piece’s theme. McCannon focuses on relationships and situations; he said he takes what happens and translates it into art. He graduated Illinois Wesleyan with a BFA in 1997 and is working on getting his master’s and teaching certificate from Penn State University. McCannon hopes to work with youth programs and disadvantaged kids. His pieces at Cafe Kopi will be up through February. Who are your favorite artists?

buzz weekly •

BROTHERS DON’T SHAKE HANDS, BROTHERS GOTTA HUG!

q+a

that it can continue to make beautiful music for succeeding generations to enjoy. 6. Worst part about working at Buzard?

department director in 1999, and after meeting him and looking over the situation I felt that it was a tremendous opportunity. 3. What were you doing before you started working there?

Currently Todd is a painter and working towards his teaching certificate. What do you like about using different mediums?

Using a variety of mediums is both purposeful and playful. Each medium has a set of capabilities used to create desired effects.When the mediums are used in combination the process of making art becomes experimental, and it is playful. What inspires you to create a piece of art?

I try to find structure in existence and change by communicating it in my work. It is the audience that inspires the work because the audience is whom I am speaking from and speaking to.

Keith Williams is the service manager at JohnPaul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders on 112 West Hill St. When the workers of Buzard Pipe Organs aren’t on the road for business, they have no problem showing visitors their factory. 1. How did Buzard Pipe Organs get started?

John-Paul Buzard did some work on the organs at the University here while he was an undergraduate. After completing his master’s in church music at Northwestern, he returned in 1982 to become curator of the organs at the University. 2. When and why did you decide to work there?

John-Paul was looking for a service

I was working for another organ builder in upstate New York, as well as playing and teaching the organ. 4. What kind of services does Buzard offer?

We build some of the finest new pipe organs in the world right here in Champaign and also undertake first-quality restoration, rebuilding and refurbishment of existing instruments. We have over 120 service clients, including churches, homes and schools, whose instruments we tune and repair on a regular basis. 5. Best thing about working at Buzard?

We are blessed with an incredible talented and hardworking staff. For me personally, I get a great deal of satisfaction in restoring an instrument that’s already older than I am, so

In the service department, we have to go to where the organs are, so there’s a fair amount of travel. 7. Of those working at Buzard, how many really know how to play the pipe organ?

Five of our staff have college degrees in organ, and two of us continue to serve congregations as organists on a weekly basis. 8. When you’re not working, what do you enjoy doing?

Spending time with my family, cooking and reading. 9. What are some goals for the future of Buzard?

We wish to build even better world-class pipe organs and expand our service department to cover an even wider area (we presently work throughout Illinois, as well as in Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma,Texas and Wisconsin).

"Keith Williams has been playing the organ for years and currently works at Buzard Organ in Champaign."

What inspired you to become an artist?

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I have always felt the need to doodle, and the support I have received only encouraged that need. However, it is my belief in art as a tool of communication that inspires me to be an artist.

BROADCAST

What do you want your audience to feel when they see your work?

C O N T I N U E D F RO M PA G E

PHOTOS • SARAH KROHN

I want the audience to see themselves. My work is purposeful representations of situations that I experience;however,I do not see these situations as wholly unique or isolated events. Therefore the presence of an audience is a prerequisite of the art. What is your ultimate goal artistically?

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I try to give the audience identifiable points of reference to allow them a sense of familiarity with the work and ownership of their relationship to the work.The ultimate goal is to supplement the space between you and I.

One of Todd's four untitled pieces on display at Cafe Kopi.

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We have lots of students on campus studying Spanish … and we also have quite a few people on campus, faculty and students, who are Spanish-speaking,” Cziko said. Of course, as often happens to an experiment, there are some occasional glitches and mishaps. One of the problems is the very fact that Professor Cziko is, besides being the station manager, the exclusive overseer. It is only during his waking hours that he can remotely monitor the computer. If the Internet connection wanes, the scheduled programming fails,or any other technical malfunction occurs, he is the only person who can fix it. Thus, it has been an affair of trail and error, gradually smoothing into seamless transmission. An attempt is being made to try to find additional program managers. Anyone with an Active Directory ID and password can remotely monitor and operate the station. Despite the black holes of dead air here and there, the content streams efficiently, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “It’s something I’ve dreamed of doing for a while. It’s fun. In terms of the control, right now I’m playing what I think makes sense,” Cziko said. “I’m pleased with being able to get it going and where it goes from now we’ll just have to see.”

As for where it is headed,“I’d like to continue to find some good international broadcast programs in Spanish language. ... We don’t have any coming from Latin America other than a couple of the programs.” Moreover, the professor spoke of trying to possibly let journalism students create and broadcast their own programs. Ideally, as the listener base grows, enthusiasts will be able to suggest new ideas for form and content. The schedule is flexible and open to any newly discovered, interesting Spanish or Portuguese Internet broadcasts. “Phase two would be able to get additional equipment and be able to do additional student programs and then create some kind of committee where we will coordinate student programs through the daylight hours, and then the evening hours, the Internet radio,” Rosales said. The Latino Radio Service is a testament to technological advances both recent and in the past. The complex Internet communications allow for the instantaneous broadcast of content thousands of miles away, while the outmoded, low-tech AM transmission delivers the compiled line-up through the crackling speakers of campus listeners’ radios. The LRS is just another piece in the interconnected, borderless world culture. buzz

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PULL MY FINGER & Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;LL PULL YOURS.

The Polysyllabic Spree KERRI MULLEN

â&#x20AC;˘

STAFF WRITER

I am stealing Nick Hornbyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

4RAFlC *AM "OAT $RUNKS &RIDAY &EBRUARY AT PM &REE "RING YOUR WHITE SPORT COAT AND YOUR PINK CRUSTACEAN AND JOIN IN A FREE CONCERT WITH A LOCAL BAND THAT S A TROPICAL TREASURE #ENTRAL )LLINOIS ONLY *IMMY "UFFETT TRIBUTE BAND PLAYS ALL YOUR FAVORITE TUNES FROM THE (OUSE OF "UFFETTÂ&#x2C6;FROM h-ARGARITAVILLEv AND h#HEESE BURGERS IN 0ARADISE v TO h#OME -ONDAYvÂ&#x2C6;AS WELL AS "UFFETT INSPIRED ORIGINALS LIKE h4HIS !IN T $UVAL 3TREET v THE TITLE TRACK OF THE "OAT $RUNKS NEW RECORDING 7E LL BE GRILLING BURGERS OUT ON THE TERRACE SO PACK UP YOUR PARROTS GROOM YOUR PENCIL THIN MUSTACHE AND COME ON OVERÂ&#x2C6;THE WEATHER S lNE IN HERE #REATIVE )NTERSECTIONS 3PONSOR 4HE .EWS 'AZETTE

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literature

(and The Believerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s) idea of praising books because who actually reads book reviews nowadays? Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re boring. And books. Books are boring, as Hornby gamely points out on the first page of his first column in The Polysyllabic Spree. The illustrious Mr. Hornby has been doing his column in this magazine, The Believer, which was founded on the principle that book reviews are all the same: acidic commentary on contemporary fiction, and frankly, we can do without one more addition to that extensive library. The central question of the collection of columns is, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Why do we read, and how do we stop getting in our own way when we do finally get around to it?â&#x20AC;? The first question is answered by Hornby directly: books are boring, but are much loved nonetheless. The answer to the second question is, we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. Hornbyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s columns are full of sidetracks and off-topic anecdotes, and it feels like real life, with all its distractions, somehow can coexist with books. Also, he invents a game which gets more elaborate as the columns progress:The Polysyllabic Spree game. The Spree is the Believer committee: â&#x20AC;&#x153;...twelve rather eerie young men and women..., all dressed in white robes and smiling maniacally, like a sort of literary equivalent of the Polyphonic Spree.â&#x20AC;? They are adamant and somewhat dangerous about their devo-

4HURSDAY 3ATURDAY &EBRUARY AT PM 4HURSDAY 3ATURDAY -ARCH AT PM 3UNDAY -ARCH AT PM &LEX 3# 3TU 5) 9TH 3INGLE 3# 3TU 5) 9TH 4HROUGHOUT HIS EARTHLY YEARS #HARLES $ICKENS CARRIED WITH HIM THE CHILDHOOD INJUSTICES HE FELT AS A YOUNG BOY WORKING IN A SHOE POLISH FACTORY WHILE HIS FAMILY LANGUISHED IN $EBTORS 0RISON (E USED THE LESSONS OF HIS CHILDHOOD ELOQUENTLY IN HIS NOVELS INCLUDING 'REAT %XPECTATIONS 4HIS RICHLY THEATRICAL STORY FOLLOWS THE ADVENTURES OF YOUNG 0IP AS HE ENCOUNTERS AN ESCAPED CONVICT VISITS THE BIZARRE -ISS (AVISHAM AND HER HAUGHTY WARD %STELLA AND THEN SEEKS HIS FORTUNE IN ,ONDON WHERE HIS hEXPECTATIONSv OF BECOMING A GENTLEMAN ARE MYSTERIOUSLY REALIZED $ESSERT AND #ONVERSATION &RIDAY &EBRUARY AT PM AND 3UNDAY -ARCH AT PM +RANNERT 2OOM

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book review

tion to the Believerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main tenet: book reviews must be positive and joyous. Or else. Hornby hints at his attempts at eluding their all-encompassing control and mocks their inexhaustible erudition: â&#x20AC;&#x153;...they spend their days reading Montaigneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s essays aloud to each other...â&#x20AC;? By doing so, he gets you on his side. Clever, right? Inventing a vague set of characters to give an oddly narrative style to a column supposedly about books only? Yeah. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s great. And get thisâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; the book has an index, so if you just want to know what Hornby thought of Dickens, you can flip to his numerous Dickens entries; Hornbyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in platonic-reader-love with him, and frankly I thought it was a little show-offy.Who reads David Copperfield? But the fact that Nick Hornby did, this sporty pub patron gives you hope. His self-deprecation is a clever ruse, oh yes, making you think â&#x20AC;&#x153;Well, hey, maybe Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll just read Chekhovâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s letters too! I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even like soccer, so I have about 100 more hours per month to spend reading than Mr. Hornby does.â&#x20AC;?Which is fine, very sneaky, but fine. But then he reminds you that he gets books for free in the mail because heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a famous writer and does these things for a living. Then your ambition deflates a tiny bit. So why should you read it? Because this guyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s funny and witty and if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like to read, you can at least read this column and get your book learninâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. You could say youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve at least heard of something Tobias Wolff has written. It makes you want to read, even though we all know: itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s boring.

Chicago Theatre JEFF NELSON

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drama

buzz weekly

â&#x20AC;˘ 21

theatre review

STAFF WRITER

Chicago's off-Loop and suburban theaters have consistently been on

the cutting edge of what we can call â&#x20AC;&#x153;new theater,â&#x20AC;? and two current Illinois premieres in the north suburbs will do much to remind us why we look to the Chicago theater scene for trends in theater. In Glencoe, 20 miles north of the Loop, the Writers' Theatre has staged the latest import from London's West end, Nick Whitby's To the Green Fields Beyond.This grim anit-war play, in the tradition of R. C. Sherriff's Journey's End, gives us the characters and thoughts of a British tank crew before a major offensive in 1916. The multi-cultural crew, with their differing backgrounds, are very interesting individuals and certainly the brutality of the trenches of World War I is an ideal forum for an anti-war play, but something is not right here. These tank soldiers seem to have an endless stream of metaphysical pronouncements on war and the meaning of life that range from the profane to the poetic, sometimes within the same thought. It is a stretch to match their takes on the meaning of life with their characters. Only Anish Jethmalani presents a character that really makes sense and that does diminish your interest in these characters. Director Kate Buckley, who has a fine track record of Chicago area theater productions, makes a good case for this play with her taut direction and devotion to the script. But Mr. Whitby's excesses in poetic exposition and metaphysical ramblings create so many barriers that Ms. Buckley's splendid staging overcome what that script lacks. It seems no one has yet to equal two plays from the 1920s on the subjectâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; Maxwell Anderson's and Laurence Stalling's What Price Glory? (1924) and the aforementioned Journey's End (1928). Here are two classics in need of revival. To the Green Fields Beyond will continue at The Writer's Theatre at 325 Tudor Ct. in Glencoe until April 3. Check www.writerstheatre.org or 847-242-6000 for details. A more thought provoking look at the world comes from playwright Thomas Gibbons whose new play, Permanent Collection, at Skokie's Northlight Theater gives a fictitious, but very truthful drama around the controversies that came to surround the Albert C. Barnes Foundation and its fabulous collection of art. Located in Lower Merion, Pa., a wealthy suburb of Philadelphia, this incredible collection of impressionist and African art was housed in a small, limited access building.Whiles Barnes lived (d. 1951), only students who studied there and special visitors by appointment could view the collection. Even after it was open to the general public, you had to book a visit a month in advance, with its quota of 1,200 visitors a week. By the late 1990s , the once $10 million endowment was starting to run out, and the museum asked to move into a museum complex in downtown Philadelphia. Gibbons' play takes this basic story and adds some spice. Here is a script loaded with hot questions about the purpose of foundations,the public responsibility of great art collectors,the sanctity of wills and race. Yes,raceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; you see, Barnes hated the academic and art establishments and left the management of his collection to a largely black college. He also stated that the collection could not be changed or moved. Mr. Gibbons, to his credit, manages to get all of this and more into a wonderfully dense script that runs right at two hours with an intermission and is loaded with complex and interesting characters. Director Lisa Portes has assembled a flawless cast that grab every moment of Permanent Collection and make it a story about people, not about bureaucrats and lawyers. Among the standouts, is Chicagoan Harry J. Lennox (recently seen in Ray), who seems to redefine â&#x20AC;&#x153;stage presenceâ&#x20AC;? with every performance. Always a pleasure too is University of Illinois graduate Celeste Williams, who adds another fine performance to her already distinguished Chicago stage career. As the final legal hurdles have been cleared to move the Barnes collection to Philadelphia, this fine new play just may make you rethink the whole thing and feel you were the better for it. Permanent Collection will continue its run at Skokieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Northlight Theater in the Performing Arts Center just south of Old Orchard at 9501 Skokie Blvd.You have until March 6 to catch this one, and can find out how by calling: 847-673-6300 or dialing up: www.northlight.org.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Every great work of art has two faces, one toward its own time and one toward the future, toward eternity.â&#x20AC;?

UNCOVERING THE LAYERS OF VERDE

PHOTOS â&#x20AC;˘ SARAH KROHN

ince its grand opening just over two years ago,Verde Art Gallery has created a unique niche in the local community. Co-owner Curt Tucker explains that the downtown Champaign gallery strives to make art accessible to the general public.Verde provides this through incorporating the art pieces with a coffee shop, newsroom and an overall relaxed atmosphere, which together offer a range of sensory stimuli for visitors to the downtown area. Verdeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foremost claim to fame, though, is of course its ever changing gallery, which showcases a monthly lineup of different media. New artists are showcased every six weeks, which provides a great variety available to both local residents and students. Currently, the gallery features two artists, Champaignbased painter Hua Nian and John Dodero, a Chicago-born ceramicist now residing in Oregon. According to Tucker, Verde tries to consistently blend local, national and international art together, juxtaposing two artists simultaneously on a regular basis. The mediums and style must compliment each other, which creates a more cohesive and less intimidating flow to the gallery. According to her artist statement, Huaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paintings bring mysterious ancient artifacts to life through color intensity and â&#x20AC;&#x153;luminosityâ&#x20AC;?. She views each work as a vibrant, living and breathing tablet that translates meanings from the past. Originally from Guangzhou, China, she writes, â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is a world that I have sensed ever since I came to the United Statesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;spontaneous, on-rushing, multi-dimensional, beautiful and mysteriousâ&#x20AC;?. Hua layers transparent watercolors with deep, opaque pastels, which offset and balance the Raku finish on Doderoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pottery perfectly. Raku is a glazing technique invented by Japanese potters in the 16th century but slightly altered and

John Dodero Shino Platter is one of many pieces which are a unique process called Raku.

modernized during the 1960s in the United States. The unique metallic, crackled and glossy finish of the pieces is the result of a complex process that involves extremely high heat firing and smoking the pot or other ceramic work with combustibles. The end product leaves a layered look with intense color underneath washed over by a beautiful smooth, slick surface. However, the Raku finish is not the defining feature of Doderoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s works. Inspired by both Southwestern United States American Indian art and various forms of Asian art, he marries these two styles into contemporary and unique pottery. For example, in his trademark â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fetish Potsâ&#x20AC;? (which are available in a wide variety of sizes and colors), he combines the American Indian-influenced gourd shape with a Japanese-inspired black twig-like handle. Onto this handle, Dodero has strapped a very Uncovered Tablets contains a collection of John Dodero ceramics and Hua Nian paintings will be on small Pueblo â&#x20AC;&#x153;fetishâ&#x20AC;?. A fetish is a small ani- display at Verde Gallery until Feb. 26. mal precious-stone carving that is said to have spiritual powers. They are associated with American a home. His web site (www.doderostudioceramics.com) Indian life and art. Like this series of pots, Doderoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work even says â&#x20AC;&#x153;A wide range of coloring oxides is used to meet the many need of the DĂŠcor industry. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;We want to match consistently combines unique elements of several cultures. In addition to the pots, large speckle-finish platters fea- your couchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; has been our motto. As odd as this sounds we turing fish or heron carvings are also on display. With the understand people have to live with our pots and we want to exception of the green, white, and blue â&#x20AC;&#x153;Heron Platter,â&#x20AC;? the produce ware to complement the dĂŠcor and create a harmoothers are finished using a variation on the Raku tech- nious environment.â&#x20AC;? Although Raku is not safe to eat on, all nique. These pieces have a raw and charred appearance in of the pieces can serve a practical purpose. For example, the contrast to the crackled and glossy finish of the rest of the gourd-shaped cachepots can be used as planters for house galleryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s display. This distinctive finish mimics the feel of an plants, and the platters can be used for decorative displays. The practicality, individuality and beauty of each handancient platter found at an archaeological dig and as a result, Doderoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work again plays off of Huaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paintings that made piece, along with Donderoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unique techniques, make are intermingled with his various pots, platters and baskets. his ceramics worth investigating. All of the work at Verde Art For example, Doderoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aquamarine and Gallery is for sale and the price range is quite wide to accomgrey glazed â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cachepotâ&#x20AC;? is balanced by Huaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s modate customers of all income levels. Co-owner Curt â&#x20AC;&#x153;Purple Visionâ&#x20AC;? that hovers above it. Tucker said that he makes agreements with the artists to keep â&#x20AC;&#x153;Purple Visionâ&#x20AC;? shows hints of American the price affordable for much of the art displayed. This is just Indian band patterns and is textured with another aspect of making art accessible. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I want people to be chunky layers of pastels in greens, blues and able to pick up and take home a piece of real art, not somered tones. Through their different mediums, thing they bought at JCPenny,â&#x20AC;?Tucker explained. In addition to bringing in national, international and both artists attempt to make sense of different forms of art by interpreting past histories local art,Verde Gallery and the adjoining Verdant Cafe offer and combining cultures. Through his work, a wide array of other events as well. These include story Dodero notes in his artist statement, he telling, live music, tango lessons and dancing and spoken wants to try to find commonalities between word performances.The owners place great importance on the East and the West. He writes,â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am fas- community involvement in all forms of art. buzz cinated by fusions of style and culture. We all sprung from the same well; I am just tryVerde and the Verdant are located at 17 E. Taylor St. in ing to find my way back.â&#x20AC;? All of the ceramic pieces can be special Champaign.The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from ordered in a variety of colors and sizes. noon-10pm and the cafĂŠ is open Tuesday through Saturday from Dodero feels that the Asian and American 7am-10pm. For more information, call 217-366-3202 or check created through Indian fusion can offer a tranquil quality to out their web site, www.verdant-systems.com.

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THIS WEEK AT KRANNERT

Daniel Barenboim

COURNTEY HREJSA â&#x20AC;˘ STAFF WRITER

buzz weekly â&#x20AC;˘

WHOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ANTHONY, WHOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ANTHONY?

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0ATRON 3EASON 3PONSOR 4HE FAMILY OF 2AYMOND 4IMPONE 3R

+RANNERT#ENTER COM OR +#0!4)8

-Benjamin Disraeli

ELSINORE: PUTTING IT ON A TRACK PHOTOS AND TEXT BY DAVID SOLANA

or Charleston band elsinore this was the first time the band had recorded in “an upscale studio.” The White Horse house band recently released their first album and recorded their track for a Green St. Records compilation album. Each band represented on the album got eight hours in the studio. The morning for elsinore started before the band arrived (below) Saturday morning, Feb. 5. Second engineer Carl Lund and record producer Mark Rubel (Hum, Poster Children) directed the band to the spots each respective musician would occupy before they all began tuning. Chris Eitel tuned his bass with the studio’s equipment (top right), Mark Woolwine warmed up on a piano the band members happily found to be in perfect tune (closest on right), and guitarist Ryan Groff warmed up both his vocal chords and his strumming (far right), while Dave Pride used only his ears to tighten the skins on his drums to the prescribed frequencies (bottom left). The process occupied slightly more than an hour before the band launched into input testing. Rubel and Lund ran back and forth between the studio and the recording equipment, perfecting the input from each microphone as Groff and Pride gave their opinions on the levels of each instrument that would make their respective ways to the track,“less piano... more bass... less piano... more of Dave.” The group then played the song through for the first time, the first of what will be many times on the way to perfecting the track (bottom right). The group likes and takes advantage of the Champaign-Urbana music scene, which has more than Charleston’s “two or three places to play.” buzz

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John Dodero

[Paintings by Hua Nian and Ceramics by John Dodero] Verde Gallery through Feb. 26 Tue-Sat 10am-10pm

“People in Motion” Humanities Lecture Hall, IPRH, 805 West Pennsylvania Avenue, through Feb 25 Mon-Fri 8:30am-5pm, free, www.iprh.uiuc.edu Undiscovered Tablets [Paintings by Hua Nian and Ceramics by John Dodero] Verde Gallery through Feb. 26 Tue-Sat 10am-10pm “Apocalypse Then: Images of Destruction, Prophecy, and Judgment from Dürer to the Twentieth Century” Krannert Art Museum through April 3 Tue, Thu-Sat 9am-5pm, Wed 9am-8pm, Sun 25pm Suggested Donation: $3 “Laws of Abstraction” [challenges the assumptions, hierarchies, and reactions associated with the

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Murder

Mystery dinner:

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708 S. Goodwin 18+ Urbana, IL 344-BAND 344-BAND Every W ednesday! Comedy at the Canopy! brought to you by 7-10 p.m. * $5 * Canopy Main Room

Friday, Feb. 18 World’ s Grea orld’s Grea test test T r ibute ibute t o

Maybury: DOA

LED ZEPPELIN!

Saturday, F eb

ART EXHIBITS – ON VIEW NOW “My Body is My Billboard” [exhibition and sale of artist-made T-shirts designed and produced by a wide range of local and extra-local artists and designers in response to one (or all) of three themes: Designers Do It Better, Souvenir (See, I was There), and A Pun Is Fun] OPENSOURCE, through Feb. 27 Free and open to public, but donations are appreciated.

buzz weekly

JUST 'CAUSE YOUR HUNG LIKE A MOOSE DOESN'T MEAN YOU GOTTA DO PORN.

Undiscovered Tablets

“Most people die with their music still locked up inside of them.”

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COURTESY OF WWW.VERDANT-SYSTEMS.COM

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The I dan R aichel Project

museum experience] Krannert Art Museum through March 27 Tue, Thu-Sat 9am-5pm, Wed 9am-8pm, Sun 25pm Suggested Donation: $3

#1 in Israel! Israel! 7 pm early

Thursday, T hursday, F eb 2 4 with

“Over + Over: Passion for Process” [art inspired by the arts and crafts movement, including meticulous hand-beading, sewing, quilting, silhouette cutting, collaging, and collecting] Krannert Art Museum through April 3 Tue, Thu-Sat 9am-5pm, Wed 9am-8pm, Sun 25pm Suggested Donation: $3 “State Of The Art 2005 National Biennial Watercolor Invitational” [Curated by Gladys Nilsson] Parkland Art Gallery through April 6, 2005 Reception: Feb. 24, Mon-Fr 10am–3pm, Mon-Thur 6–8pm, Sat 12pm–2pm Paintings from Todd McCannon Cafe Kopi through February Open 7 days a week, 7am-midnight “The Butterfly on Books” [A special exhibition of bookplates selected & curated by Dr. Yu (Ian) Wang] Pages for All Ages through Feb. 28 Mon-Thurs 9am-10pm, Fri-Sat 9am-11pm, Sun 10am-9pm

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Elsinore

Mike Ingram

Friday, Feb. 25 with special guests

Saturday, F eb. 2 6

with special guests

The Dog & Everything, Inept, & Aujalyn

Sunday, S unday, F eb. 2 7 buzz pick Think you know Whodunit? Make yourself reservations to “Maybury, DOA,” an interactive murder mystery dinner performed by the Champaign Urbana Theater Company. The citizens of Maybury, IL, have invited you to join them for a special pitch-in supper at Aunt Em’s to honor famed filmmaker Sam Goldwin who’s in town filming his new movie honoring Maybury’s own Sheriff Randy Taylor. The night starts out great, then things begin to go wrong...someone has been poisoned! It’s up to the guests to reveal the murderer’s identity— interrogate characters, eavesdrop on conversations, do whatever is needed piece together the puzzle and bring justice to Maybury. $35 buys you dinner at Aunt Em’s on Feb. 27 or March 6. Call 355-3636 to make sure she knows you’re coming. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres start at 6:00 p.m. and dinner’s on the table at 6:45 p.m. Check out www.cutc.org for more information. -Erin Scottberg

w. Broken D ay & Short a nd S weet (ex-SSullen)

Thursday, M M arch33 w. Blue Merle & Michael Tolcher

Friday, F riday, M arch 4 - 6 p m! w. Further Seems Forever, Days Away & Jamison Parker

Sunday, S unday, M arch 6

Tickets for advance shows on sale now at: The Canopy Club, Family Pride, and Bacca Cigar, or call 1-800-514-ETIX. Or print tickets at home on JayTV.com!

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buzz weekly

wednesday CONTINUED FROM PAGE

Live Music Boneyard Jazz Quintet The Iron Post, 5pm, TBA Jazz Night: Chambana Jackson's Ribs-N-Tibs 8pm, $2 UI Chamber Orchestra Foellinger Great Hall 7:30pm, $2-$6 Alan Vasquez, Beat Kitchen The Canopy Club 9pm, 21+/free, under 21/$2 Blues Night: Kilborn Alley Tommy G's, 10pm, free Jam in the Lounge Nargile, TBA, free

DJ Chef Ra [roots, reggae] Barfly, 10pm, free Salsa Night Cowboy Monkey, 10pm, $2 DJ Limbs Boltini, 10:30pm, free Comedy Greg Lausch, Steve Burr Canopy Club, 7-10pm, $5 Dancing Tango Dancing Cowboy Monkey

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7:30pm, free Salsa Dancing [Salsa/Mambo/Bachata] Cowboy Monkey, 10pm, $2

GAVIN PAUL GIOVAGNOLI • STAFF WRITER

It never fails to be refreshing when a favored

band tramples the formal stage of one of your university’s historic lecture halls, takes hostage of all those monotone, powerpoint memories, and replaces them with thumping beats, raucous guitar riffs and high decibel vocals. Where podium and professor once stood, thousands of dollars worth of thunderous audio equipment stacks eight feet high. The first couple of rows by the stage are now far from lonely as rowdy inebriated die-hard fans stand elbow to elbow. Last Tuesday our beloved Foellinger Auditorium harbored Chicago’s finest altcountry act, Wilco, bursting its 1,750 seat capacity with a few short of a sold-out crowd. The musty theater, amped with a snowy Mardi Gras aura, hushed as Tweedy and Co. piano-hopped into the soft swell of “Hell is Chrome” and initiated what was to be a quite memorable show for the first leg of their spring tour, sadly without the poetic antics of Thax Douglas. And being the Grammy-nominated (and now winners) group of souls that they are, they seemed in high-spirits for the occasion. Notably taken with a grain of salt, Tweedy joked at one point, “We don’t have a chance against the O.C., Modest Mouse ... or … Franz Ferdinand.” Even as the band jested in speech and demeanor, they managed to produce a tight and stirring syncopated set of 25 tracks; roughly a two-hour show, the majority of the material drawn from their more experimental albums Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002) and A Ghost Is Born (2004), with a fair share of Summer Teeth (1998) as well. In accordance with previous Wilco tours, the stage was adorned with constant movie screen-sized animations to coincide with their semi-psychedelic side, ranging from vaginal wing formations trailing “I’m Always in Love’s” wailing synthesizer melodies, to an endless sunflower transgression of hypnotic insects dizzying the acoustic plucks of “Muzzle of Bees,” to soothing, surreal monochrome sand storm drifts of Chicago skyscrapers during “Jesus, Etc.’s” violin chorus pulls. All of which was left quivering compared to the red/blue ominous-type silhouettes of the band members cast 20 feet high over the pillars, walls and front section of old

Kids Around the World Wednesdays [crafts and games from around the world for families] Spurlock Museum 9:30am-12pm, $1 donation Lectures & Meetings Champaign County Young Republicans, Legislative Breakfast Series [Guest speaker: Tracy Parsons, President and CEO of the Urban League of Champaign County] GOP Headquarters, 7-8am, $5 377-3318 or visit www.ChampaignYR.org

Gideon Yago

Israelis Iraqis & Palestinians“

Sunday, February 20th @ 3pm Foellinger Auditorium Free & Open To All

A program of: The Initiative For Israel on Illinois Campuses; A Hillel/JCRC Partnership Sponsored by; SORF, IlliniPAC, American Israel Public Affairs Commitee, American Jewish Commitee, Anti-Defamation League, Hillel Foundation at the University of Illinois Champaign/Urbana, UIUC Program in Jewish Culture and Society, USD Hagshama of the World Zionist Organization. With Special Thanks To: Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest.

Across 1 Scrooge's kvetch 4 Ballet bend 8 On the surface? 14 In the manner of 15 Arrangement on the table 17 There are 13 19 George on "CSI" 20 "Walking on Thin Ice" songwriter 21 Spill it, with "up" 22 Not kosher 25 Ready response 27 Houston center 29 Knotty craft 33 It has 26 members 39 Work without ___ (take risks) 40 Name given to Patty Hearst 41 Take back property 42 There are 39 in a title 45 With the least thought 46 Adder's warning 47 Fall drink 50 Work for "Maxim," maybe 52 Top rating 53 "Tremendous" or "stupendous": abbr. 56 "Mon ___!" 59 One of 52 64 Like obscenities in family newspapers 65 Satan's Whiskers ingredient

66 Bear witness 67 Tarzan's trademark 68 Bass's home Down 1 "All your ___ are belong to us" 2 ___Vista 3 How flirts may play 4 Psychedelic stuff 5 Novelist Harper 6 ___ many words 7 James Bond's alma mater 8 ___ Hill (Sisqo's original group) 9 They're often released before the album 10 Recurring phrases, in jazz improv 11 Barroom brawl 12 "Featuring ___ of thousands" 13 ZZ Top song covered by Kid Rock in 2002 16 "Achtung Baby" producer 18 Qishon River's country: abbr. 23 Label that bought Virgin Records in 1992 24 Tracy Chapman's first hit song 25 Deadlock 26 "It's not great, but not terrible either" 27 "That's the tick-

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et!" preceder 28 Years, to Brutus 30 What entropy leads to 31 Dressing option 32 "You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all ___" 34 Maj.'s superior 35 Word after clip or martial 36 They may be treated with meat tenderizer 37 Omar of 2004's "Alfie" 38 Sleep badly 43 Charlemagne's domain, for short 44 Crabs, e.g. 47 Olaf, for one 48 Fumble-fingered 49 Tractor man 51 Words exchanged on the big day 52 Kind of blue 53 Fore's opposite 54 WWII time 55 Agree 57 Actress McClurg 58 Midshipman's inst. 60 "___ for Noose" (1998 Sue Grafton novel) 61 Thunder Bay's prov. 62 Cheer competitor 63 Boss of Flo, Alice and Vera

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Old Foellinger Hosts Wilco

Karaoke Liquid Courage Karaoke Geovanti's, 10pm-2am, free

Adelante! Book Club [Roberts Vs. Texaco, by Bari-Ellen Roberts] Pages for All Ages, 7pm, free

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MAROON 5 WON THE GRAMMY FOR BEST NEW ARTIST OVER KANYE WEST

jonesin crossword puzzle

MTV’s News Correspondent

Reporting from the MiddleEast, Yago writes and broadcasts in the channel’s daily “10 to the hour” segments, and has done exclusive reporting on a wide range of topics such as the war in Iraq, the presidential elections, hate crimes, AIDS and of course: Rock and Roll.

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crossword

February 23

Come Hear

FE B . 17

E-MAIL CALENDAR@READBUZZ.COM TO LIST EVENTS.

Foellinger’s collegiate crowd.Whether or not you believe this technology to be truly evocatively integral to their sound, it does indeed make for a pretty damn stimulated rock ‘n’ roll performance. But let’s not forget the essence of the music that this band has forged; Tuesday’s session proved consistent. Their alt-country stabilized beginnings turned Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (see “Poor Places”) on our asses and ran rampantly, as the group’s signature cacophony crescendos piercingly shook mesmerized undergraduate minds only to squeeze them into pure, lucid nuggets of folksy epiphanies.“At Least That’s What You Said” and its rhythmic jabbing electric guitar tweaks were the climax of the show. For the most part, all members of the rock outfit played the recorded stylings of the band’s studio albums, skipping only a couple piano intros (i.e. “Theologians”). But their stage presence and performance made up for this lack in variation. John Stiratt (bass) and Jim O’Rourke (guitar) hammered fierce chord progressions, jolting their bodies in an almost seizure-like way. Glenn Kotche (drums) melded thumping syncopated tangents to Mikael Jogenson’s (piano) two-handed piano and synthesizer flurries, while Tweedy soothed everything together with those ever-so-familiar magnetic lyrics. It was hard to catch the flaws, the only noticeable one being a little rasp in Tweedy’s voice from time to time. The band closed with an encore of a series of political stabs, beginning with “Ashes of American Flags” and three sarcastic, but amusing covers: “Political Science” (Tweedy claiming it to be written by Dick Cheney), Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” and “Something’s in the Air” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, all taken as left winged-ly as you wish. Political notions aside,Wilco’s performance at U of I saw warm reactions and satiated students, a few generous co-eds even throwing beads as they left the floor of Foellinger.This being the opening act of the tour, the band proved enthusiastically equipped to take on the rest of the nation throughout the remainder of February. The last chance any Midwesterner has at catching a partial taste is a solo performance by Tweedy in Chicago benefiting the Children’s Memorial Foundation Kawasaki Research Fund, after which the innovative semi-pop stars shoot to the UK. buzz

WILCO

s e t l i s t 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Hell is Chrome Handshake Drugs A Shot in the Arm Hummingbird I Am Trying to Break Your Heart 6. I’m Always in Love 7. At Least That’s What You Said 8. Muzzle of Bees 9. Jesus, Etc. 10. Company in My Back

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11. 12. 13. 14.

Via Chicago War on War Candyfloss I’m the Man Who Loves You 15. Poor Places > 16. Spiders (Kidsmoke) ENCORE

19. Kingpin 20. The Late Greats 21. I’m a Wheel ——— 22. Ashes of American Flags 23. Political Science 24. Don’t Fear the Reaper 25. Something in the Air

17. She’s a Jar 18. Theologians (New Intro)

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FE B . 17

WHEN DID ALL THE PUNKS START DRESSING SO NICE?

sound ground #63 TODD J. HUNTER • STAFF WRITER

music

K ate Hathaway Band began a residency at White

Horse Inn this week, to be every Tuesday from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., no cover. The full-length follow-up to One Two Three is well underway, and each week, material from it will be previewed. In addition, Kate Hathaway is at work on the score for a play to be presented at Station Theater: Welcome to Tolono by Mark Roberts. elsinore continues its residency at White Horse Inn, every Friday, albeit this week with a special guest: Darrin Drda’s Theory of Everything. elsinore at last has its EP, Harmonic Implosion and that the release show went well is inarguable; that night alone, Jackson Avenue Coffeehouse patrons purchased 128 copies. In addition to the version on Harmonic Implosion, a new “Wall of Bricks” was recorded Feb. 5 at Pogo Studio for Playlisted, the second annual Green St. Records compilation. Also Friday, Urbana expatriates The Idle Hours bring back their psychedelic “Art Party” to Cowboy Monkey. In tow are The Weakdaze and Make Believe, a band bearing suspicious similarity to Joan of Arc. Show time is 10 p.m., and cover is $5. Late Friday, before a packed house at Nargile,The Living Blue tore through a set of almost-all-new songs due for inclusion on its third album, to be recorded next month and released this autumn.The band anticipates a European tour but remains as accessible as ever with a show at Courtyard Café, at 8 tonight. Split Habit and FCAB open.

The Format The First Single

Kasabian Club Foot

Louis XIV Finding Out True Love is Blind

Hot Hot Heat Goodnight Goodnight

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Also at Courtyard Café, Saturday, the unlikely union of Headlights and Sick Day shares the stage with The Felix Culpa, from Rockford. Between Headlights and The Felix Culpa, that’s two Tristans (Wright and Hammond) for only one cover, cover either night being $6 ($4 with valid UIUC student ID). Elsewhere Saturday: Brass Rail briefly resumes as a concert establishment to present Mad Science Fair, The Chemicals and The Frame (ex-Monster Honkey). Cover is $3. For something other than rock, DJ Missus and UC Hip Hop Congress perform from 8 p.m. to midnight at a McKinley Foundation dance to benefit HIV/AIDS education, prevention and services. Sunday,Tommy G’s Bar and Grill hosts another free weekend concert, with 12 Ways from Sunday, Civilian and Brother Embassy. Show time is 9 p.m. Nargile, meanwhile, matches locals Wasteoid Workforce (ex-The Failures) with out-of-towners Medford and Lunar Linguist. Then Tuesday, Nargile spotlights jigGsaw, The Silent Treatment and Deconstructing Jim. Half Empty Records issues The Further the Better, the new Deconstructing Jim album, this month. Each night at Nargile, show time is 10 p.m., and cover is $3.

Todd J. Hunter hosts “WEFT Sessions” and “Champaign Local 901,” two hours of local music every Monday night at 10 p.m. on 90.1 FM. Send news to soundground@excite.com.

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HURLY-BURLY M83 supported by Ulrich Schnauss will be making a second jaunt through the U.S. beginning March 12 and ending March 30 including a two night stint at Chicago’s Empty Bottle March 21 and 22. Caribou (formerly known as Manitoba) and the Junior Boys will be touring March 30 through May 9 including a show in Chicago May 7 at the Empty Bottle. The Raveonettes will release their sophomore effort, Pretty in Black, May 3 via Columbia records. The album was produced by Richard Gottehrer and lead guitarist Sun Rose Wagner as well as featuring contributions from Maureen Tu c k e r ( Ve l v e t Underground), Ronnie Spector, and Marin Rev(Suicide).

w H at tH e He L L? MOMENT OF THE WEEK Elton John, be-knighted butterfly of Britain, will have his portrait plastered on the outside of 20 AirTran Airways jets to promote the airline’s launch of XM Satellite Radio in each seat. Now when the stewardess is plowing through the in-flight safety spiel passengers can keep themselves busy by listening to “Benny and the Jets,” looking at the side of the plane and giggling their asses off.

a s t r o l o g y

ARIES

PARASOL RECORDS TOP 10 SELLERS 1. Kevin Tihista’s Red Terror • Home

Demons - Limited Edition Schuba’s Residency (Parasol Special Projects) 2. The Field Mice • Skywriting & Singles (LTM) 3. Khonnor • Handwriting (Type) 4. Postal Service • We Will Become PICTURE COURTESY OF WWW.GILES.COM

Silhouettes (Sub Pop) 5. Akmomo • Return to N.Y. (A Hidden

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai wants to wipe out his country's opium fields. To do so would destroy the lucrative heroin trade, and local warlords couldn't use their ill-gained profits to influence the parliamentary elections coming up in April. But American military leaders don't want to burn all the poppies. They fear that might destroy Afghanistan's economy and make elections impossible. Heroin is a major export and source of revenue, after all. I predict that you'll soon be facing a personal quandary with resemblances to this one, Aries. What should you do? I suggest you avoid abstract speculations about morality, and instead simply do what's most likely to build up the moral courage of everyone involved.

TAU RU S

(April 20-May 20)

You're being called on to meet a higher standard. You're being asked to boost your output or take on more responsibility or show you can handle greater expectations. While it's understandable if that's unnerving, I urge you to keep it all in perspective. Remember what journeyman basketball player Jon Koncak said when assigned the task of replacing his team's departed all-star, Shaquille O'Neal. Reporters asked him if he felt a lot of pressure. "Not at all," he replied. "Pressure to me is being in an airplane and the pilot dies and they ask me to fly the plane." The challenge you face may be daunting, Taurus, but it's nothing like that.

GEMINI

(May 21-June 20)

It's a perfect time to convene a summit conference for all your sub-personalities. Most of them are now amenable to setting aside their differences and agreeing on a new master plan. Even your inner child and your inner stuntperson are inclined to see eye-to-eye. That bodes well for the possibility of staging a festival of harmony that brings out the cooperative spirit in your inner gadfly, your inner rebel, your inner spy, and several other inner selves that normally pursue their private agendas.

7. The Wedding Present • Take Fountain (Manifesto)

(June 21-July 22)

• Superwolf (Drag City) 9. Antony And The Johnsons • I Am A Bird

Now (Secretly Canadian) 10. Frank Lenz • Conquest Slaughter (Velvet Blue Music)

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VIRGO

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

"People change and forget to tell each other," mourned playwright Lillian Hellman. I bring this thought to your attention, Virgo, because at least one of your relationships now fits this description. It's at a pivotal point when the accumulated changes you have both undergone can no longer remain unspoken. To avoid becoming irrelevant to each other, you must communicate the backlog of truth now. (P.S. I suspect there are actually two relationships like this.)

(Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Charles Darwin spoke of the "survival of the fittest" as being a central factor in the process of evolution. What exactly did he mean by that phrase? The following quote from his seminal book, The Origin of Species, makes it clear: "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change." I suggest you make that thought the seed of your meditations in the coming weeks, Libra. Your literal survival won't be at stake, but the survival of some of your fond dreams might be in question. The only way to guarantee that they thrive is to keep transforming yourself.

SCORPIO

(Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

The python is your power animal right now, Scorpio. It's renowned for eating large meals. By stretching its jaws, it can devour an entire deer or crocodile in one sitting, providing enough nutrition for as long as a year. Somewhat like the python, you're now in position to ingest a huge

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amount of food for thought--a banquet of rich and tasty revelations. The feast will take months to digest, and will be a continual source of nourishment the entire time.

SAGITTARIUS

(Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

I've decided to install Britney Spears as the Sagittarius of the Week. Not because of her singing or dancing, nor her eccentric relationship with the institution of marriage. Rather, I'm giving her temporary status as your role model because of her disdain for what anyone thinks of her. In recent weeks she has been photographed wandering down the sidewalk with white pimple cream liberally spread on her face. Other photos have revealed her picking her nose, wearing a white t-shirt stained brown from an apparent soft drink spill, and sporting a baseball hat bearing the slogan "Carpé Assüm: Seize the Ass." Be like her in your own sphere, Sagittarius: cheerfully immune to the oppression of public opinion, peer pressure, conventional wisdom, and the law of the pack.

CAPRICORN

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

If you try to operate a chainsaw or backhoe before you've been trained in its use, you might hurt yourself or others. That doesn't mean the chainsaw and backhoe are evil. Now let's apply this idea as a metaphor for a situation you face right now. I believe you are at the earliest stages of your relationship with a freshly discovered potential. You've realized the benefits that it can ultimately offer you, but you're nowhere near being able to wield it safely and effectively. Having sounded this warning, however, I want to encourage you to begin learning how to use it immediately.

AQUARIUS

(Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

"It's not that I'm so smart," said Albert Einstein, "it's just that I stay with problems longer." This thought should be your foundation in the coming week, Aquarius. As innovative as you can be in dreaming up solutions to knotty dilemmas, you are sometimes insufficiently devoted to the drudgery of executing all the details of your solutions; you don't always follow up on your promising beginnings. The good news is that this is a perfect moment to change that old pattern. I dare you to endure boredom for the sake of a very good cause.

PISCES

(Feb. 19-March 20)

Your official role model for the coming weeks is the Vietnamese freedom fighter, Trieu Thi Trinh, who resisted the Chinese occupation of her country in the third century. Unlike her, you shouldn't literally raise a rebel army, establish your own sovereign enclave, and ride into battle against the invaders on the back of an elephant. (Although it's fine to do all that stuff metaphorically.) Like her, you should agitate for liberation with unstinting exuberance, as if your soul's health depended on it. I suggest you write her most famous utterance on a piece of paper and carry it with you everywhere you go: "My wish is to ride the tempest, tame the waves, kill the sharks. I will not resign myself."

(July 23-Aug. 22)

In 1972, Leo singer Mick Jagger said, "When I'm 33, I'll quit rock and roll. That's a time when a man has to do something else. I don't want to be a rock star all my life." At age 61, Jagger has now been reneging on that promise for almost three decades. It's probably for the best. A person with an ego as monumental as his would likely have been unhappy as, say, a kindergarten teacher or economist. I bring this up, Leo, because it is Renege on Your Unwise, Unwarranted, Unworkable Promises Week. Let Jagger be your inspiration as you weasel out of or bravely renounce an old vow.

LIBRA

Agenda Record) 6. Hood • Outside Closer (Domino)

PICTURE COURTESY OF WWW.RAVEONETTES.COM

what ’s your sign?

(March 21-April 19)

LEO

c h a r t s

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CHECK IT OUT. THOSE GUYS LOOK LIKE A LAME VERSION OF US.

I was meditating on your horoscope as I rode my bike up the hill in a misty rain. "Give me a sign," I prayed to the grey-yellow sky. "What do Cancerians need to know?" As I peddled over the last hump and reached the top, a spectacular response materialized--a five-alarm fire of a rainbow. To my further amazement, I saw where one end of it landed: on the rusty metal roof of a shack in a horse pasture not too far away. I threw down my bike and dashed to it. There were slats missing in the shack's walls, so I could peer inside. I saw a black metal safe in the middle of the room, surrounded by wisps of straw and chained to a u-shaped pipe that disappeared into the floor. I knew I had obtained the oracle you needed--a rough metaphor for the uncanny fate awaiting you. My intuition told me there'll be one difference between my experience and yours: Whereas I had no legal right to whatever was in the safe, you can and should gain access to the storehouse you find.

8. Bonnie “Prince” Billy & Matt Sweeney

Top 5 Most Requested Songs Last Week

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CANCER

THE Queens of the Stone Age Little Sister

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Homework: How has the war in Iraq affected your personal life and beliefs? Testify at http://www.freewillastrology.com.

Puzzle

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v e n u e s C H A M P A I G N

U R B A N A

ASSEMBLY HALL | First & Florida, Champaign 333-5000 AMERICAN LEGION POST 24 | 705 W Bloomington, Champaign 356-5144 AMERICAN LEGION POST 71 | 107 N Broadway, Urbana 367-3121 BARFLY | 120 N Neil, Champaign 352-9756 BOLTINI LOUNGE | 211 N Neil, Champaign 378-8001 BOARDMAN’S ART THEATER | 126 W Church, Champaign 351-0068 THE BRASS RAIL | 15 E University, Champaign 352-7512 THE CANOPY CLUB (GARDEN GRILL) | 708 S Goodwin, Urbana 367-3140 CHANNING-MURRAY FOUNDATION | 1209 W Oregon, Urbana COSMOPOLITAN CLUB | 307 E John, Champaign 367-3079 COURTYARD CAFE | Illini Union, 1401 W Green, Urbana 333-4666 COWBOY MONKEY | 6 Taylor, Champaign 398-2688 CURTIS ORCHARD | 3902 S Duncan, Champaign 359-5565 D.R. DIGGERS | 604 S Country Fair, Champaign 356-0888 ELMER’S CLUB 45 | 3525 N Cunningham, Urbana 344-3101 EMBASSY TAVERN & GRILL | 114 S Race, Urbana 384-9526 ESQUIRE LOUNGE | 106 N Walnut, Champaign 398-5858 FALLON’S ICE HOUSE | 703 N Prospect, Champaign 398-5760 FAT CITY SALOON | 505 S Chestnut, Champaign 356-7100 THE GREAT IMPASTA | 114 W Church, Champaign 359-7377 G.T.’S WESTERN BOWL | Francis, Champaign 359-1678 THE HIGHDIVE | 51 Main, Champaign 359-4444 HUBER’S | 1312 W Church, Champaign 352-0606 ILLINOIS DISCIPLES FOUNDATION | 610 E Springfield, Champaign 352-8721 INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTER | 218 W Main, Urbana 344-8820 THE IRON POST | 120 S Race, Urbana 337-7678 JOE’S BREWERY | 706 S Fifth, Champaign 384-1790 KRANNERT ART MUSEUM | 500 E Peabody, Champaign 333-1861 KRANNERT CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS | 500 S Goodwin, Urbana Tickets: 333-6280, 800-KCPATIX

LA CASA CULTURAL LATINA | 1203 W Nevada, Urbana 333-4950 LAVA | 1906 W Bradley, Champaign 352-8714 LES’S LOUNGE | 403 N Coler, Urbana 328-4000 LINCOLN CASTLE | 209 S Broadway, Urbana 344-7720 MALIBU BAY LOUNGE | North Route 45, Urbana 328-7415 MIKE ‘N’ MOLLY’S | 105 N Market, Champaign 355-1236 NARGILE | 207 W Clark, Champaign NEIL STREET PUB | 1505 N Neil, Champaign 359-1601 THE OFFICE | 214 W Main, Urbana 344-7608 PARKLAND COLLEGE | 2400 W Bradley, Champaign 351-2528 PHOENIX | 215 S Neil, Champaign 355-7866 PIA’S OF RANTOUL | Route 136 E, Rantoul 893-8244 RED HERRING/CHANNING-MURRAY FOUNDATION | 1209 W Oregon, Urbana 344-1176 ROSE BOWL TAVERN | 106 N Race, Urbana 367-7031 SPRINGER CULTURAL CENTER | 301 N Randolph, Champaign 355-1406 SPURLOCK MUSEUM | 600 S Gregory, Urbana, 333-2360 THE STATION THEATRE | 223 N Broadway, Urbana 384-4000 STRAWBERRY FIELDS CAFE | 306 W Springfield, Urbana 328-1655 TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES | 105 N Walnut, Champaign 352-8938 TK WENDL’S | 1901 S Highcross, Urbana 255-5328 TOMMY G’S | 123 S Mattis, Country Fair Shopping Center 359-2177 TONIC | 619 S Wright, Champaign 356-6768 UNIVERSITY YMCA | 1001 S Wright, Champaign 344-0721 VERDE/VERDANT | 17 E Taylor, Champaign 366-3204 VIRGINIA THEATRE | 203 W Park Ave, Champaign 356-9053 WHITE HORSE INN | 112 1/2 E Green, Champaign 352-5945 ZORBA’S | 627 E Green, Champaign

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IF I EVER DIE OF A HEART ATTACK, I HOPE IT WILL BE FROM PLAYING MY STEREO TOO LOUD. - UNKNOWN

thursday

Zorba's, 9:30pm, $3 UI New Music Ensemble Foellinger Great Hall 7:30pm, $2-$6

February 17

Live Music Acoustic Music Series: Kristi Kjeldsen, Dave Burdick Aroma, 8pm, free Kayla Brown Bolitini, 8pm, free The Living Blue, Split Habit, FCAB Courtyard Cafe, 8pm $4/students $6/non Dexter Ardoin and The Creole Ramblers Cowboy Monkey, 9pm, $5 U of I #3 Big Band The Iron Post, 9pm, TBA Caleb Rose Bowl Tavern, 9pm, free Quadremedy Tommy G’s, 9pm, free Craig Russo's Latin Jazz Project

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DJ DJ J-Phlip [house] Barfly, 10pm, free DJ Bozak [hip hop and other soulful beats] Boltini, 10:30pm, free India Night: DJ Kuki, DJ Runi, DJ Khiladi Nargile, TBA, $5 Karaoke "G" Force Karaoke Pia's of Rantoul, 9pm-1am, free Dancing UIUC Swing Society McKinley Foundation 9:30pm-12am, free Fitness Belly Dance for Fitness The Fitness Center Champaign, 8pm, $7-$9

Belly Dance for Fitness Gold’s Gym, Champaign 7:30pm, $7-$9 Wine Tasting Krannert Uncorked Krannert Art Center Lobby 5pm, free

frdiay February 18

Live Music The Prairie Dogs [bluegrass, folk] Cowboy Monkey, 5pm, $2 The Prairie Dogs [bluegrass, folk] Verde Gallery, 8pm, $5 Weasel Dreams The Iron Post, 5-7pm, TBA The Boat Drunks [Jimmy Buffett tribute band] Krannert Center, 5pm, free Billy Galt Tommy G's, 5-7pm, free ZoSo [Led Zepplin tribute band] The Canopy Club, 9pm, $5

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Mother Popcorn The Iron Post, 9pm, TBA The Idle Hours, Make Believe, The Weakdaze Cowboy Monkey, 10pm, $5 Chill Factor Tommy G's, 10pm, $2 elsinore, Theory of Everything White Horse Inn, 10pm, free Jim Easter & The "Artistics" [50’s, 60’s popular dance tunes] Champaign V.F.W. Post 5520 8-11pm, free Grass Roots Revival Caffe Paradiso, 8-10pm, free DJ DJ Bozak [hip hop, downtempo] Barfly, 10pm, free DJ J-Phlip Boltini, 10pm, free DJ Tim Williams [hip hop, house, top 40 dance] The Highdive, 10:30pm, $5 Theater Beneath the Trees Greg Hall Theater, 8pm, $4

McKinley Foundation, 8pm12am, $5 Reasonable Doubt TNT Tavern, Rantoul, 8:30pm-12:30am, TBA Sinfonia da Camera Foellinger Great Hall, 7:30pm, $8-$30 DJ DJ Resonate [hip hop] Barfly, 10pm, free DJ Limbs [hip hop, soul, dance] Boltini, 10pm, free DJ Tim Williams [hip hop, house, top 40 dance] The Highdive, 10pm, $5 DJ Bozak, DJ Sophistico [hip hop, house, old school] Nargile, TBA Karaoke "G" Force Karaoke Sappy's on Devenshire, 9pm-12am, free Theater Beneath the Trees Greg Hall Theater, 8pm, $4

saturday sunday February 19

February 20

Live Music The Idan Raichel Project The Canopy Club, 7pm, $10 Grass Roots Revival Pages for All Ages, 7-9pm, free Medford, PushMode, Annonited Christian Soldiers Wake the Dead Cafe, 7-11pm, $5 Big Bang Theory [70's & 90's covers] The Highdive, 7:30pm, $5 The Noisy Gators The Iron Post, 9pm, TBA NIL8, Honest Pod, Not 4 Nothing Paulie's, 9pm, $5 Headlights, The Felix Culpa, Sick Day Courtyard Cafe, 9:30pm, $4 students/$6 non Beat Kitchen, Punsapaya Cowboy Monkey, 10pm, $5 Tosser, The Resinators, Habitual LineSteppers Friends & Co., 10pm, $3 The Fourhorsemen [Metallica tribute band] & Angry Chair [Alice in Chains tribute band] Tommy G's, 10pm, $5 Mad Science Fair, The Chemicals, The Frame Brass Rail, TBA, $3 DJ Mussus, UC Hip Hop Congress [HIV/AIDS Benefit]

Live Music Leigh Meador Trio The Iron Post, 8pm, TBA Blues Night: Kilborn Alley Jackson's Ribs-N-Tips, 8pm, TBA Crystal River Band Rose Bowl Tavern, 9pm, free 12 Ways From Sunday, Civilian, Brother Embassy Tommy G's, 9pm, free Medford, Lunar Linguist, Wasteoid Workforce Nargile, 10pm, $3 UI Wind Symphony and UI Symphonic Band I Foellinger Great Hall, 7:30pm, $2-$6 DJ DJ Wesjile [hip hop] Barfly, 10pm, free DJ Bozak Boltini, 10:30pm, free

monday February 21

Live Music Jazz Jam with ParaDocs The Iron Post, 7-10pm, TBA

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Vagenius Vagenius EP [Independent] BY CORNELIA BOONMAN

Quadremedy [rock] Tommy G's, 10pm, free DJ UC Hip Hop presents Chill in the Grill The Canopy Club, 9pm, free DJ Delayney Barfly, 10pm, free DJ Bozak Boltini, 10:30pm, free Ear Candy [local house music DJs] Nargile, TBA, free

tuesday February 22

Live Music Open Jam/Open Mic hosted by Brandon T. Washington The Canopy Club 9pm, 21+/free, under 21/$2 The Crystal River Band Rose Bowl Tavern, 9pm, free Jiggsaw, The Silent Treatment, Deconstructing Jim Nargile, 10pm, $3 Adam Wolfe's Acoustic Night with Jess Greenlee Tommy G's, 10pm, free Open Stage Espresso Royale Goodwin & Oregon, 8pm, free UI Symphonic Band II and UI Concert Band I Foellinger Great Hall 7:30pm, $2-$6 DJ DJ Sophisto [house] Barfly, 10pm, free Subversion: DJ ZoZo, DJ Evily, DJ TwinScin [industrial, darkwave, electro] The Highdive, 10pm, $2 DJ J-Phlip Boltini, 10:30pm, free Karaoke "G" Force Karaoke Neil St. Pub, 8pm-12am, free Liquid Courage Karaoke Geo's Chill and Grill, 9pm, free Dancing Belly Dance for Fitness The Fitness Center Champaign, 8pm, $7-$9 CONTINUED ON PAGE

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I’M GOING TO GET ME ONE OF THOSE VAGENIUSES.

Lead

lead review

The Game The Documentary Aftermath BY IMRAN SIDDIQUEE

Since the rise of Midwestern and southern hip-hop, the rap

game has lacked a mainstream rapper with that coastal edge. Not to say that the middle of the country isn’t as rough as the coasts, but personally, nothing hits me as hard as N.W.A.,Tupac or Biggie. So here to resurrect the West Coast of the game, is The Game: an aptly named rapper who remarkably manages to drop an innumerable amount of references over an obviously commercially driven set of beats, without sounding as cheesy as Guerilla Black. It works because the beats are mainstream hip-hop at its best and when combined with the referential lyrics, the album works as a retrospective look at gangsta rap. The greatest producer in the history of the genre, Dr. Dre, starts the album off and sets the tone.“Westside Story” is just classic West Coast; beginning with an “In Da Club” type synthesizer before that smooth Dre piano creeps up on the beat. Kanye West grabs the mantle and runs with it on “Dreams,” which ascends to ridiculous heights. A few tracks later “How We Do,” another one produced by Dre, continues the streak of bonafied hits. 50 Cent joins the chorus of all-stars here and puts down a solid verse while carrying the hook. If anything,The Game struggles with hitting his hooks, and I never thought I’d say this, but you almost welcome the familiar Fiddy singing the chorus. The rest of the album is littered with musical perfection provided by the likes of Timbaland, Hi-tek and Just Blaze. Apart from the music though, The Game’s lyrical prowess is not much to shout about. He doesn’t have a signature style like Fiddy or Lloyd Banks, his G-unit mates, and he doesn’t come close to the overall ability of the great rappers he idolizes so much.Yet what makes his effort so enjoyable is that The Game is aware of the skills of others; as he says on “The Documentary,”“I never take shots at legends.” And as much as he maintains the braggadocio that is required of all gangster rappers, he never seems insincere. Especially on a track like “Start From Scratch” where he begins pretending not to regret anything, before pouring out all his regrets “It’s a doggie-dog world/Jesus please holler back.” In fact the album is like a testament to the way in which rap has affected his own life as well as the lives of so many others.The rapper The Game is a product of the rap game, and his debut album is an ode to the great hip-hop albums of the past 20 years. It especially reminds us of how much Dr. Dre is missed in modern rap and raises the anticipation for his return on Detox. But in the meantime, lay back, sip your gin and juice and roll to The Documentary.

Louis XIV Illegal Tender EP Atlantic BY KYLE GORMAN

Expect big things from San Diego’s Louis XIV.They may be the other band named after a European historical figure at the present but listening to Illegal Tender, their most recent EP (and the third in less than a year), it’s easy to hear the band meet Franz’s disco basslines and raise them a shuffle beat and bluesy guitar. Anyone who doubts the prowess of Louis XIV should simply take a look at the EP’s centerpiece, “Finding Out True Love is Blind.”

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Restrained guitar, low piano and shuffle drums lead into pounding power chords as the leader expresses his affection for the ladies, one ethnicity (or personality) at a time.The guitar builds gradually under the piano (no audible bass, of course), but the real treat is in the second chorus, which features, yes, one of the girls begging for it.These guys do the sort of wonders for misogynism in rock music that Bowie did for homosexuality. That’s not all, though: the trio churns out another 15 minutes of bizarre, bluesy glam (with British accents!) featuring an excellent slow-burner (“Marc”, a tribute to T. Rex’s Bolan) complete with a George Harrison solo, and an honest-togoodness New Orleans reprise that makes the Doobies look like slouches. In this preview of things to come, Louis XIV shows their intentions for a big 2005.

I’ve always been slightly wary of bands who name the keytar as one of their key instruments. The fusion between regular keyboard and guitar is an unlikely one and a quirky, kitschy, gimmicky one at that. Flock of Seagulls, anyone? In fact, any ‘80s band, anyone? Don’t get me wrong, I really do have a fond place in my heart for many ‘80s and new wave bands. The new new wave trend (Franz Ferdinand, Dogs Die in Hot Cars, The Futureheads, The Ordinary Boys), as well as the real one, does send delightful little shivers up my spine; it really does. It’s just when I heard the words “keytar” and “L.A. band,” my brain worked into overdrive, thought that Vagenius was another one of those Los Angeles scenester bands. You know the kind. Spiky black hair, plugs, deconstructed As I Lay Dying t-shirts, girl jeans, either Vans or Converse, the sweat, and the sweet, sweet smell of arrogant music pretension. Sometimes, I am so wrong. Vagenius happens to be an L.A. band but an L.A. band that only slightly conforms to the indie-electro-rock scene, at least in their clothes and some sonic stylings. The rest is all Vagenius, which is impressive, considering that they consist solely of guitar, synth and drums. Vagenius is electro-futuristic, dancepop, dancerock—it doesn’t really matter what you call it because they’re really, really talented.This statement proves to be true simply by the sheer amount of followers they have, considering they have yet to let out an LP.Yet, their EP is strong enough on its own; it doesn’t even need followers. Why? Just the buzz surrounding the release of the EP was enough to

get people listening. Since the release, Vagenius has been all over the Internet and Los Angeles: www.thecobrasnake.com (the new Polaroid Scene, a.k.a. hipster party photos of pretty people from all over Los Angeles), and Teaching the Indie Kids to Dance Again (one of the premier internet music blogs). After all, it’s hard to resist the bouncy, catchy hooks of the majority of their songs when Juliette Commagere, the stunning lead singer, is practically inviting you to come live in their word of shiny, shiny ‘80s spacesuits and mohawks. My issues with the keytar practically dissolved upon the second track on the EP, “Everyone Comes Here.” The song buzzes with a smooth, synth-y feeling, and it’s clear that all three musicians are incredibly talented because none of it is sounding kitschy at all. “Everyone Comes Here” leads into a slower, rock-tinged, flirtatious song, “Educated Fool,” which sounds more like something from the past than anything else on the album.“Here We Go Again” starts off with a punchy drum beat, and then different textures of sound are pieced together as Commagere (appropriately) sings “Here we go again/It’s unraveling,” which fits together against the contrasting (and also unraveling) soundscapes. The first track, “After All,” is almost delicate in the beginning, Commagere’s voice seductively meandering around the bounce of keytar … really. The clear favorite, however, is “Magazines,” which sounds like something that Madonna might have done had she more musical ingenuity and a better voice. All and all, Vagenius’ second EP is most definitely a commendable effort and a good one at that. They’ll even give it to you for free if you sign their guestbook on totallyvagenius.com. Vagenius is currently touring with the Kings of Leon, and will gracing Chicago with their presence at the Beat Kitchen on March 10 (time and cost to be announced on www.beatkitchen.com).

Why You Need Chiropractic Q: “How can every person in the world have misaligned vertebrae?” A: We all live in similar conditions. There are three things everyone has in common that cause spinal misalignments (called Subluxations). 1. Stress. Whether it’s at work or at home, we are constantly assaulted with physical, mental and emotional stress. 2. Toxins. We simply cannot escape chemicals that harm us. And worse, we don’t always get the things we need like vitamins, minerals and pure water. 3. Trauma. It doesn’t have to be a car accident. The birth process, for example, is very traumatic to the spine and nervous system.

Dr. Jeffrey Melby 1808 Woodfield Dr., Savoy 217-355-7321

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SUJ FORGOT HER FUNNY SENTENCES

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SHE ALSO PIDDLED IN THE KITCHEN AGAIN. BAD SUJ!

Fridays: $2 Bud Light Bottles $3 Jack Daniel’s $1 Kamikazes Saturdays: $2 Drafts Bud Light $3 Bacardi Drinks

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ON SALE THIS SATURDAY 2/19-10AM!

214 W MAIN ST DOWNTOWN URBANA 344-7608

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Tickets at Civic Center Box Office, All Outlets including Select Schnucks & Bergner’s

MAY 10

604 N CUNNINGHAM URBANA 367-5888

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CHARGE-BY-PHONE: 217-351-2626 or ticketmaster.com