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THE MUSICAL
CT A F I T R A L A CULTRUERAKISH FANATICAL F
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RIDE ALONG WITH AN URBANA COP
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CUT ME OUT! 2006 LOCAL MUSIC AWARD GUIDE
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SEXIN’ THE EX
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MARGE, IT TAKES TWO TO LIE. ONE TO LIE AND ONE TO LISTEN.
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UNDER THE COVER
BUZZ STAFF volume
Apr. 6
no.13
Cover Design • Nikita Sorokin Editor in chief • Erin Scottberg Art Director • Claire Napier Copy Chief • Sara Sandock Listen, Hear • Anna Statham Stage, Screen & in Between • Elyse Russo Around Town • Lianne Zhang CU Calendar • Todd Swiss Photography Editor • Austin Happel Designers • Brittany Bindrim, Nikita Sorokin, Allie Armstrong Calendar Coordinator • Brian McGovern Photography • Austin Happel Copy Editors • Sarah Goebel, Ruth McCormack, Meghan Whalen, Dan Petrella Staff Writers • Paul Prikazsky, Tatyana Safronova, Syd Slobodnik, Todd J. Hunter Contributing Writers • Michael Coulter, Seth Fein Production Manager • Rick Wiltfong Sales Manager • Mark Nattier Marketing/Distribution • Brandi Wills Publisher • Mary Cory
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e-mail: buzz@readbuzz.com write: 57 E. Green St. Champaign, IL 61820 call: 217.337.3801 We reserve the right to edit submissions. Buzz will not publish a letter without the verbal consent of the writer prior to publication date. Buzz magazine is a student-run publication of Illini Media Company and does not necessarily represent, in whole or in part, the views of the University of Illinois administration, faculty or students. First copy of Buzz is FREE, each additional copy is $.50 © Illini Media Company 2005
First Things First • Michael Coulter This Modern World • Tom Tomorrow Life in Hell • Matt Groening
AROUND TOWN Not So Elective • Sara Sandock In Your Words with Sgt. Matt Myrick The Local Sniff • Seth Fein
LISTEN, HEAR Boris Yeltsin: From Communism to Rock ’N Roll • Tatyana Safronova Sound Ground #120 • Todd J. Hunter Local Music Award Predictions CUT ME OUT! 2006 LMA Guide Album reviews
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CU CALENDAR
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STAGE, SCREEN & IN BETWEEN
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TALK TO BUZZ
INTRO
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A Look at the Rentheads • Meghan Whalen Film and theater reviews Hidden Gem / Guilty Pleasure Movie times Artist’s Corner with Whitney Hutchinson
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CLASSIFIEDS
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THE STINGER
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Doin it Well • Kim Rice & Kate Ruin Jonesin’ Crosswords • Matt Gaffney Free Will Astrology Likes and Gripes
erin scottberg EDITOR’S NOTE
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t f i na l ly look s l i ke Mo t he r N a t u r e h a s stopped fucking with us, and boy is it about time. Although the past month of winter has been spliced with menopausal hot-fl ashes and mood swings, I think the old lady has fi nally settled down and is letting spring in. Now I love all four seasons — just not at the same time. In fact, when each season gives me what it’s supposed to, it can elate my mood better than any drug out there. I could wake up pissy as hell after two hours of sleep only to walk outside to a bright sun and warm breeze and my mood will do a 180 just like that. When it’s wintertime, a two-foot snowfall has the same effect. There’s a natural pattern that weather is supposed to follow and according to that pattern, we should be experiencing April Showers so those lovely May flowers can bloom ... showers like the one that passed through Champaign-Urbana Sunday night. I’ve loved storms since I was a little kid. I used to play this game with my sister and the neighbors where one person would sit at an upstairs window watching the clouds and yell the “weather report” down the heating vents to someone waiting in the basement with a pen and pad of paper. When the storm started, we’d run outside and clean the leaves off the sewers so the neighborhood wouldn’t flood. Now that you know I’ve been a weather-nerd all my life, it’ll be no surprise to you that as the skies turned black Sunday night, I stopped workINTRO | A ROUND TOWN | L ISTEN, HEAR | CU CALENDAR | STAGE, S CREEN &
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ing, rolled up my jeans and went outside to watch the storm bend trees at 45 degree angles along Green Street. There’s just something utterly and completely awing about Mother Nature, especially when she rips car washes apart and knocks down 100-yearold trees. I know that sometimes this fury has a fatal wrath, and I’m thankful no one was hurt in Champaign County during Sunday’s storm, but I can’t help but be impressed by the forces of nature. Storms like that get my blood pumping and my adrenaline running. I’m going to be a tornado chaser when I retire. I’m not joking. As long as my physical state permits it, I can think of no better way to ease into old age than riding in a four by four pickup down country roads, trying to deconstruct one of the most destructive forces of nature. Until then, though, I’ll have to be content with watching the Doppler radar update on my computer during storms. It seems that with good weather comes good times. First, there’s the CU Local Music Awards at 9 pm tonight at the Highdive — no doubt a a good time. Tickets are only 5 bucks and there will be a free bus from Campustown to the venue. If only they did that every weekend. Then there’s Friday, one of the biggest days of spring: opening day at Wrigley Field. I’ll be sitting outdoors somewhere, Old Style in hand, watching the Cubs begin “their” year. This is it. I can feel it in my bones.
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BART, WITH $10,000, WE’D BE MILLIONAIRES! WE COULD BUY ALL KINDS OF USEFUL THINGS LIKE...LOVE!
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michael coulter FIRST THINGS FIRST
Of sickness and strippers One columnist’s story of coming down with a nasty bug
N
ote: Since a few nice folks asked where the piss the column was last week, I was going to write a simple note to say I was ill. After a tiny bit of consideration and an enormous lack of spirit and ideas, I decided to write a whole column about where the hell I was. If you can’t take advantage of a sickness, then what can you really take advantage of? For some reason, I still sort of romanticize an illness. I suppose it’s something left over from being sick as a kid when school was so hated that a high fever seemed like a completely desirable alternative. Mom would kiss my ass more than usual. Daytime TV was new and sort of fun. I could drink 7-Up all damned day if I wanted and was, in fact, encouraged to do so. I was a dopey little child anyway, so the fever-induced dementia seemed sort of charming. All of these things and more, days of ill are almost remembered as a pleasure. Once again, something that doesn’t really translate into adulthood. Nowadays when I’m ill, I tend to view it as some sort of punishment from a higher power. I’m not sure I believe in this power when good things happen to me, but the bad things ... I totally believe in it then. In this particular instance, I’m positive my sickness was a direct punishment for going to a gentlemen’s club. “Hey, that was really great that you rubbed your ass on my face for the duration of that Tesla song! Here’s $15! I really hope that as a bonus I get strep throat!” I know it’s probably unfair to blame poor little strippers for my malaise, but whatever. Twenty scantily clad women rubbing their parts (both private and public) on a hundred different men, poles, chairs, each other, and then my torso for about three hours, you do the math. I’m surprised they aren’t required to sell you iron lungs on your way out the door. You know it’s gotta be a veritable stew of diseases and I wasn’t about to go home empty handed. It’s strange how illness sort of sneaks up on a fella. The next day was going swimmingly, no aches or pains, just a general giddiness because I had the day off on Friday. I decided to begin my mini-vacation with a spirited workout. I then planned to have a light lunch, go out, and get ripped to the tits for three days in a row. It’s
like that old joke, how do you make God laugh? Have a plan. Anyways, about twenty minutes into the workout, something just didn’t seem right. It wasn’t the usual stuff like lack of oxygen or an intense cramp in my stomach either. This seemed to be a trauma that meant business. It still hadn’t occurred to me that I was about to get sick. I simply assumed I was working out far too hard and should really skip the rest of the routine and get myself to a bar as quickly as possible. As I drove away to drunker pastures I could tell I was getting sort of dizzy. By the time I got to the house, it was all I could do to navigate up the stairs. There was no reason to go drinking anymore as I was already in possession of a creepy little buzz. It was at this moment it all became clear. I’m freaking sick. Son of a bitch. As I sat on the top step, shook my head, and repeatedly mumbled the words “fucking strippers” I could already tell this wasn’t going to be a normal illness. It wasn’t a lay around for a couple of days and it will go away kind of deal. This was a vomit, fever, cough, chills, pray for death kind of deal. I immediately grabbed the thermometer, partly to see if I had a fever and partly because it was a Christmas gift and I hadn’t used it as of yet. I was already kicking it at around 102 degrees. I was oddly proud of this accomplishment. I quickly grabbed a handful of vitamin C and washed it down with a glass of cranberry juice, sort of like quitting smoking the moment you are diagnosed with lung cancer, the damage was already done but I gave it a shot. I was sort of slappy and thought it might be a swell idea if I was even slappier. I took a few swallows of some codeine infused cough syrup that was left over from the last time I was sick. It’s not as if I was coughing just yet, but I must confess I sort of enjoy the euphoria of the codeine, needed or otherwise. I quickly began taking care of the necessities while I was still able. I took the dog out and explained carefully that it might be the last time he went out for about six days so he should really get everything cleaned out. I made a nest on the couch with a few magazines and a soda pop stationed on the coffee table. I turned on the TV and settled in. I then fell asleep for roughly the next five days, awakening only to vomit, cough and eat a Popsicle. How did I ever believe this to be fun?
OOPS! WE MADE A MISTAKE • Although buzz strives for accuracy, we sometimes make mistakes. If you catch something we didn’t,
please let use know at buzz@readbuzz.com. When a correction is needed, it will be listed here.
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NOT SO ELECTIVE: CU RAISES AWARENESS
AUSTIN HAPPEL • PHOTO
ON ENHANCING ART EDUCATION
Viktoria Ford teaches a kindergarten art class at Barkstall Elementary School Tuesday, April 4. SARA SANDOCK • COPY CHIEF
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iktoria Ford, an elementary school art educator, had to ask the janitor to pick up pencils he found on the ground at the end of the school day so that she could maintain supplies in her art classes. She also spent $1.49 out of her own pocket for each student to enable them to participate in class projects and have the necessary supplies. Art education is overlooked in a large portion of Illinois according to a study done by The Illinois Creates Coalition. A forum was held March 6 at the Virginia Theater regarding arts and education in Champaign County. The forum was prompted by the statewide survey conducted by The Illinois Creates Coalition. This survey revealed that a majority of superintendents (72 percent) and principals (80 percent) in the state of Illinois agreed that students who study the arts perform better on standard achievement tests and college entrance exams. The majority of the research also supports the idea that arts education motivates students to come to and remain in school. However, Illinois falls below the national averages in providing arts education programs in schools. Compared to a study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics in 1999-2000, Illinois is lower than national averages when it comes to the availability of arts education programs in elementary and secondary schools. The broadest disparity was found in the visual arts, but this was true for all four of the arts disciplines; music, visual arts, theater and dance. INTRO | A ROUND TOWN | L ISTEN, HEAR | CU CALENDAR | STAGE, S CREEN &
Many local educators, administrators, parents and other members of the communit y were present at the for um representing the 18 schools present in the city of Champaign that make up the Unit 4 district. All of the panel member s were d i rect ly involved in the arts and had a lot of experiences to share. Panel members included State Representative Naomi Jakobsson; Nathaniel C. Banks, d i rector, U I UC A fricanAmerican Cultural Program and school board member, Champaign Community Unit School District 4; Kim Fox, founder, Fox Development Corporation; Jean Korder, c u r r ic u lu m coord i n at or, Urbana School District 116; Rick Murphy, fine arts chair, music director, University Laboratory High School and past president, Illinois Music Educators Association; and Trudy Walters, principal, Barkstall Elementary School. John Jennings, professor of art at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, served as moderator.
The forum began with a report from Julie Adrianopoli of the Illinois Arts Alliance. She informed everyone of the recent statistics discovered regarding the lack of art education in schools around Illinois. The most emphasized statistic was that 20 percent of Illinois students do not have art education at all. Adrianopoli also reported that rural areas in the state had significantly lower arts education programs than those located near the cities and in the suburbs. This was thought to be because of lack of funding in rural areas. “There aren’t a lot of students of color and low-income students involved in arts,” Banks, director of the UIUC African-American Cultural Program said. “That’s what we are trying to change. We have to start early to increase diversity.” Banks said that if he had not had the influence of music in his life and didn’t take advantage of art education that he wouldn’t be where he is today. The state was allocated $3 million this year to be spent on both arts education and foreign language education, an increase from that allocated in previous years. “When it comes down to dollars and cents, the arts don’t have any kind of insurance,” University Laboratory High School Music Director Murphy said. In regard to the funding, Murphy said that even though the state isn’t giving the art programs enough money, $3 million is still a million more than what they received last year. “The only problem is that by splitting the money between the art and foreign language programs, I fear it is giving the administration the choice to enrich only the foreign language departments,” Murphy said. “By putting programs against each other it is not going to help.” Ford, an art educator, said that she spent time writing grant proposals to the government asking for money when she should be working on the creativity in her classroom. “There needs to be more consistency,” Ford said. “A lot rests on the shoulders of the art educators.” On the other hand, Korder, School District 116 curriculum coordinator, believes that the core problem of the program relates back to the necessity for more time spent in arts education during a student’s school day. She believes that art education should be made mandatory in all schools. “O u r element a r y pro g r a m s a r e ve r y s t r on g ,” Korder said. “We see every child, every day, and when they choose to participate they are taught by profession a l s i n d a nce, d r a m a , and art. But the problem - Jean Korder is that these classes are only electives at this time.” Walters, principal at Barkstall Elementary School, believes that the arts create characteristics in students that wouldn’t normally be developed through ever yday classes such as math and science. “I’ve seen what the arts have done for children first hand in the classroom,” said Walters. “There is a very obvious benefit.”
We see every child, every day, and
when they choose to participate they are taught by professionals in dance, drama, and art. But the
problem is that these classes are only electives at this time.
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THE CHALK OUTLINE GUY’S GOT A GOOD JOB.
Viktoria Ford teaches art at Barkstall elementary school in Champaign. Walters said that schools were made years ago to create good citizens and by taking away some of the programs, you aren’t developing the student’s full potential. “By understanding the importance of being well-rounded and the ability to f ind depth to what makes you feel good, strong, and at peace, you become better citizens, “ Walters said. “That is what is important about the arts. It is about understanding that different people have strengths.” Murphy teaches music instruction groups and he says the most rewarding thing in this field is that everyone is working toward the same goal, to make the best sound they can. “It tends to be people who make things successful, not programs,” said Murphy.
Murphy feels that the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush’s attempt to keep all children on the same educational plane, has made an awful impact on arts. He said that because every person has to reach a certain level in testing it takes time from electives — the art classes — in order for students to improve in the tested subjects such as math and science. “Other countries such as Germany and Japan require arts in their curriculum,” said Murphy. “We are falling behind.” Janet McClellan was in attendance at the Arts and Education forum Monday night. McClellan is an executive committee member of the Parent Teacher Association Board of Managers in Illinois. She was at the forum to represent the entire state of Illinois’ PTA members. The Arts Alliance has asked the PTA to support their program in arts education and McClellan was listening to see where the PTA would fit into the arts and education programs. “Everybody wants more funding,” McClellan said. “The problem is that if you give more money to one program you are ultimately taking it from another.” McClellan, who is from Urbana, said her hometown was lucky that it has done a good job in incorporating arts into all of the school districts. She said that not every city is quite as lucky. “It is important to get involved in different arts — creative, music, writing — they all intertwine to create better students and community people,” McClellan said. “People forget that this generation will someday be running our world and that we need to prepare them in all areas.” McClel lan said she was even guilt y of not taking full advantage of all the different
forms of art Champaign County has to offer. “I don’t even take in enough arts as I should,” McClellan said. “It’s unreal.” Murphy said the forum was a good first step. He said that he left the forum encouraged that people came together to talk about the next steps in maintaining the arts in educational programs. “This was a good start but people need to continue to get together to encourage more dialogue,” Murphy said. “This county has the
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largest organized group of arts in the state so it was good to start here.” Ford left the forum with high hopes that the dialogue about arts and education would continue. “We need to stop preaching to the choir,” Ford said. “Instead of discussing this with art instructors, principals, and other people involved directly with the arts, we have to make the rest of the community aware of what is going on and make some changes.” buzz
AUSTIN HAPPEL • PHOTO
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AUSTIN HAPPEL • PHOTO
Apr. 6
(From left to right) Najwa Sweid, Alexis Earley, Aus Abdulhamed and Sophie Luijten begin creating fish as teacher Viktoria Ford hands out pieces of colored paper during their kindertgarten art class at Barkstall Elementary School Tuesday afternoon April 4.
MULTI-MEDIA ADVERTISING SALES Job Opportunities for University of Illinois Students! Illini Media is having a seminar and accepting applications for students interested in getting REAL WORLD media sales experience. We’re seeking motivated self-starters who are looking for part-time employment during Summer & Fall 2006. Summer employment begins on Wednesday, May 31.
Become a Multimedia Consultant for:
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• Work with clients to develop and implement successful advertising campaigns! • Work with existing customers as well as new ones! • Apply classroom theory to real life situations! • Excellent training about print, radio and online sales & marketing! • Utilize and interpret market research! • Work in our new on campus multimedia facility on Green Street! • A great way to get media experience, build your resume and develop industry contacts! • Make friends! Have fun! Get paid! DATE: Monday, April 10 TIME: 5:00 p.m. (until approximately 7 p.m.) PLACE: Illini Union, Room 210 Illini Media is an independent, non-profit company that has been the heart of communication for students at the University of Illinios for almost a century. Each of our media units has won numerous national and regional awards. Many of our alumni are leading successful careers in media and advertising.
Illini Media is an equal opportunity employer. sounds from the scene
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IN
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WITH
SGT. MATT MYRICK
NOT TOO DANGEROUS, THE CRIMINALS ARE LONG GONE.
Apr. 6
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TATYANA SAFRONOVA • STAFF WRITER
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t 11:57 p.m., Sgt. Matt Myrick of the University of Illinois police department joined another law enforcement officer
who smelled marijuana in a car that had made an improper turn onto Oregon Street. Two more patrol cars lined up behind Myrick’s
With red, blue and yellow lights illuminating the street, the officers surrounded the car. One by one, five black men emerged from the vehicle and the officers began to search the scene. They found only remnants of the drug — seeds and stems — left from when the men allegedly hollowed the tobacco out of a cigar and filled it with marijuana. But such small traces don’t count as possession, said Myrick. “They’re smoking some dope,� Myrick said. “It’s not a big deal in the scheme of life. If we’d have found a bunch in there, it would’ve been a different story.� But officers are always the last to find out whether the stop is a routine traffic stop or a drug bust.
“So you’re always trying to outguess somebody who always has the advantage because they know,� Myrick said. How did the scene look to me (the reporter), Myrick asked, with four police officers up against five men? It was frightening, I answered. “We were outnumbered,� he said. “The bottom line is, if you got in a fight, how many people do you want on your side?� Sometimes, similar to last night, when Myrick and other officers wrestled a drunken diabetic man into an ambulance, even four or five officers may not be enough. “O ne o f t he bi g g e s t pr o ble m s with police work,� he said, “is the perception people have of what’s going University of Illinois Police Sgt. Matt Myrick.
AUSTIN HAPPEL • PHOTO
unmarked white Chevy Impala.
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seth fein THE LOCAL SNIFF
on when they have absolutely no facts about what’s really happening.” He said the news media perpetuates racial tensions by only focusing on situations between white officers and black suspects. “They have to do what sells and what sells is bad, racist cops.” While there are bad exceptions to every profession, a bad dentist wont tarnish the reputations of all dentists nationwide, Myrick said. “We’re held to a higher standard than everybody else.” Myrick was born and raised in Fairmount, Ill. (“Smalltown, USA,” he said), a town in Vermillion County. His mother was a hairdresser, and his father worked for an electric company. He was an only child and by the time he was in high school he decided he wanted to become a policeman. “I was lucky enough to get a job when I was 21 as an officer,” Myrick said. “It seemed like a lot more were applying for and wanted those jobs. It’s kind of switched now ... We’re getting 25, 50 percent of the applicants we used to get ten years ago.” With a changing economy, he said, people would rather be making a lot of money in business than working in law enforcement. “But we still get a lot of good people,” Myrick said. He has been an officer for 14 years. On his first night in uniform, a man tried to stab him. After years of work, however, this job, like any other, has become routine. Myrick works ten-hour shifts from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. with rotating days off. “One of the problems,” he said, “is that you’re not home a lot when the rest of the world is working Monday through Friday, day shift, and has weekends off.” Instead of attending a family get-together, Myrick, a father of two, was wrestling the diabetic into an ambulance. “It’s just one of those things you deal with,” he said. As a sergeant, Myrick is in charge of day-today operations; he runs the shifts, supervises officers on patrol, does scheduling, desk work and patrols. While driving, Myrick listens to radio dispatches and watches a f lat-screen monitor for announcements from other officers. The radio he carries on his belt is tuned to a channel shared by the Urbana police, Sheriff’s deputies, and police in small outlying towns. Champaign police have a different channel, and the radio in his car monitors the Illinois State Police Emergency Network. Some officers take months to learn radio functions, said Myrick. To an outsider, meanwhile, all the voices create a cryptic background noise of buzzes, beeps, and sequences of numbers. After attempting to follow a yellow Corvette that sped past him going in the opposite direction, Myrick opted instead, to head to the corner of 1st and Green streets, where an officer stopped three men, one of them too intoxicated to walk on his own. “You’re not a good cop,” he said, “Until you can drive a car 100 miles an hour going somewhere, drink coffee, and talk on the radio all at the same time.” sounds from the scene
buzz weekly •
I GUESS THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO WANTED TO BE SKETCH ARTISTS BUT THEY COULDN’T DRAW VERY WELL.
Cold Stone Creamery makes me want to vomit. But I LOVE their ice cream.
FIRST SNIFF Bitterness becomes me. I suppose it’s not my fault that I am relatively poor and that I love, love, love Wrigley Field. And while I still maintain that I am completely upset about the cost of tickets for the Cubbies, nothing made my day more than tracking the game on Monday as the Northsiders walloped the Reds 16-7. Can you feel it? This is the year. (Keep saying it out loud. It helps.) TORNADO MEMORIES Any townies out there (who have lived here for more than a decade) will remember April of ’96 and the crazy tornadoes that turned Eagle Ridge and Ogden into a war zone overnight. My parent’s house sat right in the path of the storm and as we cluttered in my neighbor’s basement, I remember thinking that this was the one thing about central Illinois that I’ll never get used to. Sunday night was no different for me as I sat in Piccadilly with my lovely boss, Liz. When we heard the sirens, we closed up shop and turned on the news to hear them say “You MUST seek cover!” I was waiting for them to come right out with the truth after the TV went black and you could hear the news crew scrambling yelling “Run! It’s here! Run!” Just once I want to hear a newscaster say to me: “Listen. There’s a Tornado here. Why the fuck are you watching the news? Just get into your basement and stop looking at the goddamn screen you Media Hungry Sonsabitches! Run!” COLD STONE SINGERS The girlie and I were pleased to see a Cold Stone Creamery arrive on Green Street just in time for spring. And while they will not snatch all of our business away from the masters — Custard Cup — we will most definitely be indulging this summer. We have only one problem with Cold Stone. Somewhere, in some office building, some time ago, some stupid corporate suit decided that it would be a nice gesture for them to have their employees sing a jingle every time a customer tips the staff. We demand that they not sing when we tip them. In fact, one time, I literally took the tip right out of the jar for insubordination. I never went back into Cold Stone ever again. Please. Don’t sing to us. Just scoop the ice cream and mix it up. And then there’s their sizes. Why not just Small, Medium and Large? What is the deal with Like it, Love it and Gotta Have it? I feel uncomfortable just thinking about it, let alone writing it or saying it out loud. Go ahead. Try it. You’ll feel like you’ve reverted to being a thirdgrader. I guess, in its essence, that’s not such a bad thing though.
MY FRIEND, THE HERO ... So, I am sure by now you have all heard about the disgusting occurrence on the Duke University campus of a racially charged gang rape. My skin crawls just thinking about it. Turns out my buddy from high school lives next door to the house where it occurred, heard it all go down and is now getting threats for coming out and speaking up for the victim. At what point in our society, as humans, do we just throw out the racism? I mean, I am as prejudiced as the next “non-racist” but at the same rate, I never even think to refer to black people as the grandchildren of cotton-pickers. I hope that when the culprits of this mess are brought to trial, that the term HATE CRIME is littered throughout the media. It’s important for people to understand that this was more than just an instance of male domineering and raw, unchecked violence. This was a hate crime. The culprits should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
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BAND OF THE WEEK No one throws down the funk like Beat Kitchen — not in this town at least. While they’ve been playing for some years here, it wasn’t until they added Mr. Soul himself, Brandon T. Washington that they truly jelled into the band they are today. Do not miss them on Friday night at The Cowboy Monkey. And for $5, you just might walk out saying that you had got more out of it than at any of the other snobby indie rock shows that I usually push. It’s so worth your time. FINAL WHIFF I graduated with a degree in creative writing. So please excuse me for using “f ire” as a metaphor for “activism” in my last column. I am not planning on setting anything on fire. I am not an arsonist. But watch out. I am still planning on starting some shit up. Thanks to all 34 of you who responded. I respect activism and different opinions, but, I won’t be protesting in front of any churches. What’s the point? Is it a war they want to end or do some of these people have ideological and religious agendas that they are trying to push? Just a call, but I seriously doubt that any of these people would be caught dead protesting in front of the Church of Ba’hai in Urbana. Though I bet some of them are not totally against the war. Again, just a call. Seth Fein is from Urbana. Perhaps he was too hard on Cold Stone. Perhaps it’s because he was an assistant manager at 31 Flavors for two and a half years. He did not mean to admit to that. Reach him at sethfein@htotmail.com.
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BORIS YELTSIN: FROM COMMUNISM TO ROCK ’N ROLL TATYANA SAFRONOVA • STAFF WRITER
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N 1703, RUSSIA’S PETER THE GR EAT COMPLETED ONE OF T H E N AT ION ’ S MO S T G L OR IOU S P ROJ E C T S — ST. PETERSBURG — A PORT CITY OF PALACES, BOULEVARDS,
FOUNTAINS, AND STATUES. THE ISLAND CITY IS JOINED TO THE MAINLAND BY DRAWBRIDGES. WHEN THEY ARE RAISED AT NIGHT FOR SAILING SHIPS, THE CITY BECOMES ISOLATED
PHOTO BY BOB LINDER
FROM RUSSIA IN TH E EAST A N D EU ROPE IN TH E W EST.
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St. Petersburg was built at the northwest corner of Russia on frequently flooding marshes. Nevertheless, it was a salute to Europe by Peter the Great, who hired French and Italian architects to design the buildings in the city. Peter was unstoppable in making his creation magnanimous. The second largest city in the country and Russia’s capital for two centuries, St. Petersburg was also the seat of Russian art and culture. It was a frequent home to composer s l i ke P yot r I lyich Tchaikovsky and Igor Stravinsky a nd w r iter s l i ke F yodor Dostoevsk y and Aleksandr Pushkin, Russia’s most celebrated poet. Ph i l ip Dickey, t he d r u m mer a nd songwriter of the Springfield, Mo. band Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin, immersed himself in the literature of Russia and the history of St. Petersburg before he traveled to the city in 2003 for its 300-year anniversary. “I like the fact that the main celebrity over there [was] Pushkin,” he said. “We’ve got Michael Jordan, Brad Pitt, really stupid actors and stuff. And then the hero in St. Petersburg is the poet ... Russia, you know, is kind of backwards, but at the same time all the arts that come out — I think there’s always this struggle between wanting to be Russian and then getting with [the] rest of Europe. It’s fascinating that they should be kind of so isolated and would be making a fast start.” Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin also immerged out of isolation, created six years ago in the third largest city in Missouri, a part of Americana where the downtown blends with the countryside. Springfield is the international headquarters of Assemblies of God, the world’s largest Pentecostal Protestant Christian denomination, where Philip’s father is a chaplain. “Religion is too nice of a thing for us to mess up with our dumb rock ’n roll songs,” Phillip said. His humility is frustrating. Philip thinks the band — John, Will, Jonathan, and him — is nothing special and any good music they make is a result of luck and a conniving perceptiveness about what the audience will like. “I think we figured a lot of things out now already to really trick people,” he said, laughing. “You can figure out all the tricks.
It’s like, you can make people like you. Like our biggest trick is [to] double everything and it just makes it sound cooler.” Or maybe Philip is merely putting us on. The band’s song “House Fire” is a touching interplay of piano, acoustic guitar and their distinctive Beatles-esque vocals over a tight rhythm of drums and electric guitar. The song was no accident. It took the band three years to write, to figure out the lyrics and melodies for the vocals, some of which read: “We did what we could/To save this house from falling/But it burns because it’s wood/And now you’ll never call me darling ... We did what we could/To save this car from crashing/Your pretty face is soaked in blood/You know, I still find you dashing.” Philip is embarrassed about how seriously everyone takes the song. “It sort of sounds like it’s a metaphor but I think that’s kind of dumb,” he said. “I mean, I really literally think of a house. Like, how that would make you feel. Seeing how all your things end up.” The songs on SSLYBY’s independently relea sed a lbu m Broom a re poppy a nd astound ing ly catchy w ith l ittle tunes dribbled on the piano and polyphonic vocals. However, Philip considered the first CD a phase. “I almost classify our old songs as songs that were obviously written in someone’s bedroom when they were feeling sad about something. And we’re trying to be less mopey and just get over it and kind of admit that we like going to parties,” he said. “Songs that we can do a dance to, have a party to, that’s what we’re kind of going for now.” On April 4, SSLYBY started their most recent tour in Springf ield where they performed with the band Harry and the Potters. Initially playing shows only in the Midwest, the band will travel out west for the first time where they’ve already made a name for themselves on the Internet. Even as far as Moscow, a graphic artist has started working on a poster for the band, and they’ve spoken with a concert promoter about doing a show there in 2007. Maybe next year, Boris Yeltsin will once again make Russian headlines. buzz Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin plays at Highdive, 51 Main St., Champaign, Friday, April 9 at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 at the door.
sounds from the scene
Apr. 6
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ASH FUNK.
WHAT THE HELL?!
soundground #120 THIS WEEK IN MUSIC
[ PARASOL TOP TEN ]
moment of the week
TODD J. HUNTER • STAFF WRITER
1. ELOPE 3WD
KYLE GORMAN • STAFF WRITER
Holmes and vocalist Raquel Adorno. Show time is 10 p.m. and admission is free. April 21, Triple Whip has a free show for Boneyard Arts Festival at Independent Media Center in Urbana. Tonight for the WPGU-buzz Local Music Awards 2006, a free shuttle to and from The Highdive departs from 6th and Green at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. and returns at 1 a.m. upon conclusion of ceremonies. The bill consists of nominees Terminus Victor, elsinore, KrĂźkid, DJ Elise, Angie Heaton and the Gentle Tamers, Larry Gates and Jesse Greenlee of Lorenzo Goetz, and one act to be announced. Show time is 8:30 p.m., and cover is $5. Concurrent with the Local Music Awards in Champaign are two all-ages shows in Urbana. The Courtyard hosts Showoff (“Falling Starâ€?) with JigGsaw, Hell in the Pacific, and Coco Coca. Show time is 8 p.m. and cover is $5 ($4 with UIUC ID). Anomic plays an even earlier show at Independent Media Center in Urbana. Saturday at The Courtyard, elsinore and Lorenzo Goetz appear again together with The Elanors. This is a free show with free food, and show time is 9 p.m. April 29 at Cowboy Monkey, elsinore issues its third record, Nothing for Design; Gentlemen Auction House and the Wandering Sons open. Show time is 10 p.m. and cover is $5. Todd J. Hunter hosts WEFT Sessions and Champaign Local 901, two hours of local music every Monday at 10 p.m. on WEFT 90.1 FM. Send news to soundground@excite.com. Support your scene to preserve your scene.
Gravitation
Though posterit y has largely regarded the Beatles as a clean-cut boy band, they weren’t as cherubic as they first appeared. Those guys were getting girls pregnant, spending time in jail for drug possession, and rushing through live sets to maximize their time spent having sex long before Diamond Dave and Van Halen were even hot for teacher. The worse offense, though, might have been that the blokes smoked. Witness the new cover for the reissued Beatles compilation, Capitol Albums Volume 2, on EMI Records. Ringo’s smokin’ a fag on the original photo, but thanks to the magic of Photoshop, he’s just plain missing two fingers that once held the offending coffin nail. Remember, though, if not for Ringo’s whiskey-and-pack-a-day voice, there’d be no Mr. Conductor on Thomas the Tank Engine...
2. THE 1900S Plume Delivery Parasol
3. ANDREAS MATTSSON The Lawlessness of the Ruling Classes Hybris
4. VOXTROT Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives Cult Hero
5. BAND OF HORSES Everything All The Time Sub Pop
6. HELL ON WHEELS The Odd Church Hybris
7. ISOLATION YEARS Cover The Distance NONS
8. PADDINGTON DC The Sun Is Down And The Sky Is Grey Lowlife
9. ROCKETSHIP Here Comes Rocketship Nonstop Coop
10. ANTENNAS Sins PHOTO COURTESY OF AMAZON.COM
The Beaut y Shop has two new releases, if not new mater ia l: the f u l llength Yard Sale, April 10 on Snapper, and the single Monster, April 24 on Believe. B o t h a r e e x c lu s i ve t o Britain; the only exclusive track is “Public Hanging,� a B-side on Monster. Frontman John Hoeffleur suggests: “You can stream the entirety of Yard Sale from the front page of NME.com. Just click on media player where it says ‘Listen Now’ and view all albums. So if you’re on the fence, here’s a great way to confirm that we’re not your cup of tea.� Mojo this month says the songs on Yard Sale “inspire equal measures of melancholy and delight.� April 22-29, The Beauty Shop tours Britain again — a respite from Illinois weather, which toppled a tree onto Hoeffleur’s Dodge Caravan April 2. On March 31, bass-and-drum duo Triple Whip made a three-song demo at Pogo Studio; twenty-four hours later, it was available at myspace.com/triplewhip for preview. The songs are “Lesson Learned,� “Sequel,� and “Wreckin’.� April 13, “Feels Wrong,� a fourth song featuring Santanu Rahman, becomes available on the Green St. Records compilation Crescendo. Rahman, who founded Triple Whip with bassist Holly Rushakoff, moved to Austin Jan. 2 and married in San Antonio March 25. Also on April 13, drummer Jane Boxall will play marimba in the lobby of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Boxall will play old and new material as well as one song apiece with saxophonist Michael
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Novoton
sounds from the scene
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YOU GOT ME HOTTER THAN GEORGIA ASPHALT.
Apr. 6
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2006 LOCAL MUSIC AWARD PREDICTIONS Before I begin my predictions, first allow me to say something to curb the reactions for if/when (most likely when, I’m a pessimist) all my LMA predictions are completely wrong. Unlike my goofy pal and fellow sarcastic asshole Brian McGovern, I’m not “super hip with the local scene,� I guess you could say. I’m more likely to be sitting in my bedroom listening to a live Phish show while doing an awkward hippie dance than to attend a show at Cowboy Monkey, possibly hearing Desafinado or The Beauty Shop play. However, I’ve been doing my research and I believe I can consider myself a gifted (it’s a nicer term for nerdy) sixth grader in the scholarly system of local music knowledge. Though, you probably could have guessed my basic knowledge from my awkward name dropping a sentence or two ago. And just for the record, local music fucking rocks. Anyway, here they are: Best Folk/Americana: The Elanors. Runner up is elsinore, but not because their name is basically the same. I like them both, but Elanors’ “Completely� cinched the deal. Best Rock: The Living Blue — I can’t stop listening to their music. Best Female: Joni Laurence. Best Record: Headlights. The Enemies EP is catchy in a Death Cab way. Best Male: Steve Ucherek. – Carlye Wisel
sophistication of The Enemies EP from Headlights make them likely contenders, the award for Best Album of 2005 goes to the complex sonic introspection of Shipwreck’s Origin. – Susan Schomburg Best Folk/Americana: Though nobody can deny The Beauty Shop’s talent and success here and in the UK (and last year’s win), The Elanors are CU’s undiscovered gem of heartbreaking pop and folk music, and two just really nice people. Best DJ: Considering everybody’s disappointment last year when J-Phlip didn’t get nominated, she may be it. And I don’t think she’s going to be around foreva... Best Rock: Shipwreck put out the best record of the year, not only in Champaign, but anywhere. They just get better every time. Best Jazz: This is more like the “best band featuring Tom Paynterâ€?; cat plays in three of the five nominated groups. (Brazilian group) Desafinado cut a surprisingly good record this year, so that might give them an edge. Best Hip Hop: KrĂźkid is the best MC in town. Even if you only have a passing interest in hip hop, you’ll find something you’ll like on Raisin In The Sun; great production, great drawly flow, and a great back-story. Best New Band: There isn’t a bad choice here, but nobody fits in to the scene as well as Fireflies. Best Female: Holly Ruskakoff is the CU scene’s first lady. Whether on radio, pen or bass, she is a cornerstone and it wouldn’t be the same without her. Best Male: From the White Horse to an MTD bus, Larry Gates rocks out everywhere. Best Record: Going by spins, I’d have to say Living Blue, but Shipwreck has made one of the most perfect debut records since the first Wu-Tang LP. – Kyle Gorman
These are predictions, not endorsements. Good luck to all the nominees. Best Folk/Americana: The Beauty Shop won Best Roots/Americana last year and looks likely to repeat, although dark horse elsinore advances. Best DJ: I feel DJ J-Phlip is favored, but I predict DJ Bozak on name recognition. Best Rock: The Living Blue and Lorenzo Goetz appear neck and neck, but The Living Blue and Headlights split the hipster-scenester vote, while Lorenzo Goetz has a more 2006 will go down in history as the year that killed award shows. With Green Day and U2 monolithic fan base. owning the Grammys and Trash, er ... I mean Crash, winning Best Picture at the Oscars and Best Jazz: Desafinado comprises half the population of Champaign, and Tom Paynter is in three of these, but the SAGs, the already sickly metaphorical award ceremony cow definitely got its mercy bullet Green St. CafĂŠ Gibron " # $ "( "" %)) "
Jeff Helgesen can never be counted out. to the brain. But maybe, the CU Local Music Awards will restore my hope that the most Best Hip Hop: Krßkid has the buzz. $" ( deserving should win. Fingers crossed. Here are my fave picks. Runfrom Dates: Best New Artist: With the release of Dirty Shoes, Megan Johns went girl next door to overnightsignature sensation. Best Folk/ Americana: The Beauty Shop. Definitely my favorite area band, The Beauty Shop ! ( 217.337.8382 4/6 & in a land of normal to small giants. The Beauty Shop has this swagger and odd chemistry that Lynn O’Brien Cameo Turret are too "
obscure. is a super-giant signature for anyandchanges 217.337.8337 Best Female: Joni Laurence has the most just makes me$
want to see them again and again. Waiting for their new album is like waiting to find out if you ' loyal fan base, but I predict Erin Fein has higher numbers. were not on original layout 217.337.8303 Best Male: Larry Gates is the hardest working man in the scene and one of few with a following onsignature campus. knocked up your girl after the crazy, blurred night of Unofficial. So much anticipation!! Best Record: This was between Fire, Blood, Water and American Minor, which went unnominated. Best Hip Hop: Agent Mos. Mos is the only guy I’ve seen out on Green Street freestyling with a boom box at Best Live Band/Performer: Lorenzo Goetz, for the same reason as Best Rock. his feet; that’s love for his craft. His flow is mos ridiculous too, so I must cast my vote for the agent. Band You Most Want to Reunite: This is between HUM and Absinthe Blind, and the question is whether HUM’s Best Rock: Headlights. As much as I love the other ... wait, no. I don’t really like the other nominees very 2003 and 2005 reunions sufficed. Absinthe Blind, in the meantime, is more popular than ever. much. Side note: Although not a nominee, Blanketarms is one act that is also deserving of this award, so – Todd Hunter check it out! They are so indie, it’ll make your head spin like a whirligig. Best Record: Headlights. I have a powerful soft spot for power pop. These guys are really the most deserving Despite the myriad awesomeness to be found in the folk and Americana nominees this with a beautifully produced, written and executed album. Plus, if anything, this should be theirs as compensation year, The Beauty Shop’s biting, amplified edge gives them the advantage in the awards for being compared to the Get Up Kids and The Anniversary. Eww! Throw-up noises! Sharing similarities with vote and they take home the award for Best Folk/Americana for the second year in a Stars and New Buffalo, Headlights, now on Polyvinyl and getting some mega Internet press, will be the ones row. Scorching live performances and a new album that builds on interlocking riffs and a to beat, BIG TIME. pulsating rhythmic drive, The Living Blue runs on testosterone, booze and the Best Rock – Brian McGovern to be found in an area much broader than CU. The sweet, soulful voice and promising songwriting of Megan Johns disarms her competition rather than beating them, making In a surprise shocker, DJ Mertz sweeps every award (except best female performer, Erin Fein this appealing newcomer to the CU scene the Best New Artist of 2006. When dealing within a single genre, wins that). Mertz can’t carry home all the trophies and sells half of them to the guys from it can be difficult to pick a winner; when trying to choose among the best several have to offer, it can be Lorenzo Goetz ... all in all, vindication for a DJ career that has consisted mostly of morons next to impossible. Although the stripped-down energy of the Living Blue’s Fire, Blood, Water and the mellow asking for mainstream crap and Mertz scowling in return. – Brian Mertz
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CUT ME!
✃
Apr. 6
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TONIGH T! 9:0 0pm at
T HE HIGHDI V E
Clean yourself up for a night of glitz, glam and stardom at the second annual CU Local Music Awards. Drinks will be flowing, bands w ill be r ock ing and the be s t of this ye ar ’s loc al t alent w ill be announc e d. T he e vening include s per f or manc e s by L ar r y G ate s and Je s s G r e enle e, Angie Heaton feat. Joni L aurence, K rukid, DJ E lis e, E lsinor e and Ter minus V ic tor. T icke t s ar e $5 at t he door or online.
ES E IN M O N E TH
BEST FEMALE: Joni Laurence Holly Rushakoff BEST DJ: (Triple Whip) DJ Lil Big Bass Erin Fein DJ Mertz (Headlights) DJ Bozak Lynn O’Brien DJ Elise Adriel Harris DJ Phlip (Elanors) BEST HIP-HOP: Krukid Al-iteration Sanya N’kanta C King Agent Mos BEST MALE: Larry Gates (Lorenzo Goetz) Jon Hoeffl eur (Beauty Shop) Tristan Wraight (Headlights) Steve Ucherek (The Living Blue) Noah Harris (Elanors)
BEST JAZZ/R&B: Desafi nado Ear Doctor Kilborn Alley J. Helgesen Nu-Orbit Ensemble BEST NEW ARTIST: Cameo Turret fi refl ies Megan Johns Bailey Lynn O’Brien
BEST FOLK/AMERICANA: Elsinore Angie Heaton & the Gentle Tamers Elanors Beauty Shop Joni Laurence BEST RECORD: Shipwreck (Origin) Headlights (EP 2) The Living Blue (Fire, Blood & Water) Triple Whip (Snake Creeps Down) Terminus Victor (Under Surveillance) BEST ROCK: The Living Blue Headlights Lorenzo Goetz Tractor Kings Shipwreck
C’MON RIDE IT . . . WE’LL BE YOUR DESIGNATED DRIVER TONIGHT
W
hether you’re looking to imbibe or don’t want to dole out cash for a cab, Highdive has solved your problem — we’re bussing folks straight from Campustown to the show. Buses will be picking up riders at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. from the corner of Green and Sixth streets (look for the white school bus that says Highdive). No reservations required. After the show, catch a bus back to the same destination. NOTE : You don’t have to be on the “to” bus if you want a spot on the “from” bus — we don’t want you drinking and driving.
GET MORE INFORMATION AT WWW.CUMUSICAWARDS.COM sounds from the scene
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THIS HERE JACKET IS A SYMBOL OF MY INDIVIDUALITY AND MY BELIEF IN PERSONAL FREEDOM.
album REVIEWS
Apr. 6
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JASON COLLETT Idols Of Exile [Arts & Crafts] BY JARON BIRKAN
LANTERNA Desert Ocean Jemes Mountains BY KYLE GORMAN
It’s perhaps one of pop music’s greatest coincidences that the greatest masters of the subtle, Brian Eno and his protégés, have chosen to work with some of the boldest artists, be it a sociallychallenging artist like Bowie or exceedingly-transparent “believers” like U2’s Bono. C h a m p a i g n ’s L a n t e r n a certainly are inf luenced by such ambient works in their instrumental, guitar-driven music showcased on Desert Ocean, but the only thing “obvious” about the music is a clear vision. Only such a band could speak without irony, as guitarist Henry Frayne does, about the group’s photographer as the visual representation of Lanterna and that his pictures represent what he sees in his music. To continue the photographic
metaphor, it’s reasonable to say that Lanterna trafficks in portraits, rather than the stereotypical “spaghetti-western” landscapes many such inst r ument a l musicians hope to capture. Frayne’s shimmering guitar and sighing, arching synths, and sharp, expository percussion from Eric Gebow are the subject of photos composed in a way that the distinction between foreground and background is ignored; instead, the artist f avor s a g r ad ient ch a nge. Frayne’s impeccable pedigree (sound-collager, radio host, f ilm and T.V. composer, and his extensive connections to the good-ol’-days of Champaign rock) speaks for something, but the open-minded should form their own impressions.
ertising Proof
Client Name: Kennedy’s Ad Rep: Ann Advertising: Run Dates: signature ark Any Corrections In Red Display 217.337.8382 Classified Advertising signature 25 charge for any changes 217.337.8337 Fax: were not on original layout 217.337.8303 signature
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Jason Collett, one of the principal forerunners of the Toronoto label Arts & Crafts (see: Feist’s Let It Die and Stars’ Set Yourself on Fire), is an active performer in the label’s centerpiece, Broken Social Scene. However, Collett has never been truly interested in the unbridled anthemia of that band, instead choosing to tinker with early 1970s folk-rock, an era when Jackson Browne and others realized that a social agenda wrapped cleanly in a pop melody was an effective way to communicate with a jaded audience. Though he tries to match the transcendence of Browne and his Canadian counterparts, Collett never does. What’s left is a semi-enjoyable pop album like Idols Of Exile, strewn with excellently upbeat melodies that are almost nullified by a domineering darkness. Without the American dream to disseminate (as those folk-rock troubadours had), Collett inevitably turns inward, giving Exile, his third album, a distinct Canadian diffidence. His songs operate in an expansive space, but do not try to fully encompass it. Being the songsmith that he
is, Collett never wants to abandon his pop music leanings, instead reconciling his salient notions of regret and guilt by operating in terse phrases and abstract imagery. A lot of the time he fails, and falls into self-pity and grand incongruity, but sometimes he is able to bridge the disparity as on “Hangover Days.” Here he pairs a jilted lover’s lament with a recollection of newfound passion, detailing it all over one of the most accomplished melodies this year. The song is a semi-duet with Metric’s Emily Haines, whose edgy sweetness gives Collett’s paramour the context he needs in order to engender some vindication with the listener. Still, Collett is at his strongest when he reverses the roles. On “I’ll Bring The Sun” he rapturously sets himself up as the savior of a failed relationship. This role allows him to exude an undercurrent of loss, but here it lingers, not dominates, bridging and destroying the gap that defines and irreparably hurts the album. Catch Jason Collett of Broken Social Scene Friday, April 9 at Highdive with Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin. Show starts at 7 p.m.
MATES OF STATE Buzz Classifieds Bring It Back
Daily Illini
Barsuk OKRecords BY DAN OK MCDONALD w/changes
Sometimes, love makes people do need 2nd proofApparently, if you’re strange things. in Mates of State, it makes you write a song called “Like U Crazy.” Try a taste, it has all the syrup of a Shirley Temple film and then some: “I can’t wait to say all the things you can’t see/All the things that make you better/’Cause I can say/All the things you can’t see/All the things that make you/I like you crazy, You crazy...” No kids, you crazy. In between the oo-oo’s and the oh-oh’s, my head is like whoa. If I spend too much time thinking about the lyrics from Mates of State’s latest effort Bring it Back, my brain might explode. The words to “Like U Crazy” are about half an intellectual step above whatever mindbending abortion of thought Britney and K-Fed would come up if they put out a duet. Okay, maybe it’s not that bad, but it’s close. The Mates have been married since 2001, and it seems that after five years they still can’t get over how much they’re into one another. But isn’t it slightly self-absorbed to devote almost an entire record to singing to each other? Maybe it’s just obnoxious. Or cute — I’m torn. Isn’t music (or some of it, at least) supposed to be dreamy and love struck and all that John Hugghes/John Cusack stuff ? I think it is — some of my favorite songs are love songs — but at what point do we get to say, “It’s fun, it’s cool, Cori and Jason are married — we get it”? For me, that moment is fast approaching. The me’s and you’s, we’s and our’s that stampede through Bring it Back pretty much saturates my we’re-marriedand-singing-about-it threshold.
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At the same time, the reason why the duo sounds so good together from harmonies to rhythm is the same reason they can be so obnoxious: they sound like they legitimately love each other. Their songs are the conversations that most couples have; the Mates just have that conversation with an organ and snare drum in the background. There’s no way you can record “Like U Crazy” for a contrived relationship. You can’t make that stuff up. If you can forgive The Mates for their lyrics, you’ll find the musicianship is still sweet. Say what you want about their songwriting prowess, but they’ve nailed their sound down. They’re in their prime on piano-heavy songs “What it Means” and “Nature and the Wreck.” Anchored by the rare electric guitar that floats like Cori’s organ, “For the Actor” is the dance/pop highlight of the album. Bring it Back has all the head bobbing, dance-y vamps that Mates of State fans expect. The flip side is that this record sounds like old Mates of State — most of these songs could have just as easily come off of their last record, Team Boo. Their sound is still keyboard-driven, and song structure is still wildly eccentric. The Mates of State seemed to achieve what they wanted to on Bring it Back: they brought back their sound, love songs and dueling harmonies that make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. They’ve perfected the keyboard and drum combo, but they risk wearing it out. sounds from the scene
Apr. 6
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SO I JUST, UH... I CUT THEM UP LIKE REGULAR CHICKENS?
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W P GU / BUZ Z LOCAL MUSIC AWAR D S
PHOTO COURTESY CUMUSICAWARDS.COM
HEADLIGHTS The local music community buzzed with excitement in February as the song “Everybody Needs a Fence to Lean On” by Champaign-Urbana’s own Headlights was featured on ABC’s hit show “Grey’s Anatomy.” The band was excited about the inclusion and the local response. “We got pretty lucky, actually,” said Erin Fein, vocals/keyboards. The trio, including Tristan Wraight (vocals/guitars/bass) and Brett Sanderson (drums) are currently on a 70-show national tour until the end of May. For the tour, they added a traveling bassist, Nick Sandburn. “We’re really excited about it,” Fein said of the tour. “Hopefully we’ll make it back alive.” The Enemies EP was released on Polyvinyl in November 2005, and a full-length album is set for release in August. EITHER/OR with Erin Fein (doing her best to speak for the band): Urbana or Champaign? I was born in Urbana ... Can I say both? I like both. Big Lebowski or Royal Tenenbaums? The Big Lebowski. The Beatles or the Stones? The Beatles, for sure. What song will you never cover? We’ve thought about doing covers, but we’ve never played one as Headlights. We’re talking about covering a Breeders song. What dead celebrity would you face in a boxing match? ... John Candy. Is that inappropriate? – Leah D. Nelson
LORENZO GOETZ The sound of Lorenzo Goetz is the explosion that came from the collision of white boy hip-hop, unbelievably funked-out beats, constant head nodding and what must have been happy pills. Singer, guitarist and songwriter Larry Gates lays down the groundwork for the band’s sound: “Funky and sexy and fun — those are the rules.” Gates says he had no way of expressing himself musically until he got to college. “I met some cats who played guitar and they invited me to hang out, and they would build a fire and drink beer and play the acoustic guitar until the wee hours of the morning.” Influenced by everyone from John Lennon to Beck to Mos Def to Michael Penn (Sean Penn’s brother), the band sticks to catchy tunes and tight rhymes. sounds from the scene
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TRACTOR KINGS If their sound was a food, it would come together like a musical pizza — it has rock dough, country cheese, folk tomato sauce and a tiny sprinkling of indie pepperoni. Formed in the late ‘90s, The Tractor Kings, whose name was thought up during a game of Tetris, is fronted by Jacob Fleischli on guitars, vocals and harmonica/organ. The rest of the band is rounded out by Johnny Chemical on electric guitar, Aaron “Jibbski” McAllister on bass and backup vocals, and Josh Lucas on drums, not to be confused with the identically named, easyon-the-eyes actor from American Psycho and lame romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama. Although they prefer to be thought of as four individual musicians, the group definitely has a collaborative “man-crush” on Bob Dylan, citing him as the person they’d most like to open for, in addition to being their largest musical influence. EITHER/OR: Urbana or Champaign? Champaign. Big Lebowski or Royal Tenenbaums? Back to the Future Beatles or The Stones? Bob Dylan. Power Rangers or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? What does that have to do with the price of onions? What’s your favorite venue to play? Cowboy Monkey, because it’s one of the better sounding rooms in CU. Catch Tractor Kings with The Living Blue at Canopy Club on April 21. – Carlye Wisel THE LIVING BLUE Hailing from good old rural Illinois, The Living Blue has been together for the past eight years, although previously they were known as the Blackouts. Labeling their music as “rock and fuckin’ roll,” The Living Blue references The Seeds, Human League, Television, the Yardbirds and Echo and the Bunnymen as their primary influences. The band has released three albums since 2002 — Everyday is a Sunday Evening (2002), Living in Blue (2004) and Fire, Blood, Water (2005). The Living Blue is Steven Ucherek (vocals and guitar), Joe Prokop (guitar), Mark Schroder (drums) and Andrew Davidson (bass). EITHER/OR with Stephen Ucherek: Urbana or Champaign? Champaign, although Joe would say Urbana ... they’re pretty comparable really. Big Lebowski or Royal Tenenbaums? Tough one ... I’d have to go with Lebowski. Beatles or The Stones? The Stones. What do you do to relax? Smoke grass, play guitar, make love, have a drink, read a book ... all of these activities usually intermingle with each other at various times. Most memorable concert: The Gris Gris at SXSW last year. I saw them at the Club Deville. It was invigorating and primal ... we danced and howled at the moon! Catch Living Blue at the Canopy Club April 21st in Urbana with Dark Country and the Tractor Kings. – Anna Statham
PHOTO BY CHRISTINA LEUNG
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All the current players, Jesse Greenlee on drums, Eric Fisher on bass, Josh Miethe on guitar, and Gates, arrived in Champaign about six years ago. EITHER/OR with Larry Gates: Urbana or Champaign? Champaign. Big Lebowski or Royal Tenenbaums? Equally great, but I gotta go with Lebowski. It’s just better dialogue. Beatles or The Stones? Beatles. What dead celebrity would you like to face in a boxing match? Liberace. I think I can take him. Which Greek god would you be and why? Dionysus. Wasn’t Dionysus in charge of wine? Lorenzo Goetz breaks it down hard at the Highdive, Thursday April 6 and at the Illini Union Courtyard, Saturday April 8. – Tatyana Safronova
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“There’s something in a shipwreck that’s very reminiscent of the fact that there was life there, and there were things going on, and then it’s a very still presence. All the physical things are left behind, and there’s a mood in and of itself, without any people there.” So says John Owen, singer and guitarist of local rock band Shipwreck. Drawing on musical influences as diverse as 1960s and 1970s soul and funk, and bands like Radiohead, Spoon and Neutral Milk Hotel, the band pays attention to timbre and tone quality, using finger-plucking guitar lines, unusual song structures and atmospheric instrumental sections. With band members hailing from central Illinois (except their bassist, who was born in Russia and later moved to Springfield), the Champaignbased quartet has one full-length album under its belt (2005’s Origin, nominated under the Best Album category for the Local Music Awards) and they plan to record extensively in the next year, with the ambitious goal of releasing four EPs in the next sixteen months. EITHER/OR with John Owen: Urbana or Champaign? I like ‘em both. If it’s going to be an either/or, I’ll go with Champaign. Big Lebowski or Royal Tenenbaums? I personally thought they’re both decent movies, but the other guys in my band worship The Big Lebowski. Beat les or T he Stones? Anot her dividing point in t he band. I’m a Stones man, myself. What song do you refuse to cover? There are all kinds of songs I refuse to cover. I don’t like doing any song that’s really current. I don’t see the point of covering a song you can hear on the radio. It seems like you’re riding someone else’s coattails. And I wouldn’t cover Green Day. I absolutely detest that band. Shipwreck is playing at the Canopy Club’s Monday night Practice Space for this month (April 10, 17, and 24). The shows are free. – Susan Schomburg
PHOTO BY AUSTIN HAPPEL
SHIPWRECK
ROCK NOMINEES
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4-20 Show w. Groovatron & Cornmeal 4-21: The Living Blue, Tractor Kings 4-27 & 4-28: Umphrey's McGee (2 nights!) 5-2: Quietdrive, Ludo
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9:;(!11<=)>9?(@>A!BC1DDD CALENDAR | STAGE, S CREEN &
IN
B ETWEEN | CLASSIFIEDS
Vitamin C - It’s Good for You! Cinema Gallery through April 15 “Dust Memories,” Art Works by Aaron Hughes IPRH through May 5 Petals & Paintings Krannert Art Museum from April 7-9 Opening Reception on April 6 from 6-8 p.m.
Emergence II Verde Gallery through May 20 “Moments of Grace” Pages For All Ages through May 14 Larry Kanfer’s Cityscapes Larry Kanfer Gallery from April 8-22 Rantoul and Die Station Theatre, April 6-8 8 p.m., $12 Intimate Apparel Krannert Center’s Studio Theatre, April 6-9 7:30 p.m.,
April 9 performance at 3 p.m., $13 Illini Union Board’s “Grease” Assembly Hall, April 7-8 7:30 p.m., Additional performance at 2 p.m. on April 8, $15, $13, $11 Angels in America Part I: Millennium Approaches Parkland College Theatre, April 12, 14-15, 20-23 8 p.m., April 23 performance at 3 p.m., $10 Mark Morris Dance Group Krannert Center’s Tryon Festival Theatre, April 8-9 7:30 p.m., $36, $20
Concerts Paradox Saxophone Quartet Beckman Institute 12:15pm, free University Oratorio Society and Symphony Orchestra Krannert Center, 7:30pm, $6, $2 Chaiway 57 Allen Residence Hall, 7:30pm, free
DJ
VI SI T W W W. CUCALE NDAR . COM FOR TH E MO ST CURRE NT E V E NTS AND TO AD D YOUR OWN .
Generic DJ Jackson’s Ribs-NTips, 8pm, cover
Lectures / Discussions “Consuming Blackness: Tourism and Neoliberal Multiculturalism in Late Socialist Cuba” International Studies Building, 12pm, free “Age of Networks” National Center for Supercomputing Applications Building 3pm, free “Removing Photographic Blue Caused by Camera Motion” Everitt Laboratory, 4pm, free “The Spider Trap: Corruption , Organized Crime and Transition in the Balkans and Russia” Levis Faculty Center 7:30pm, free Michael Jeffords: Picturing Nature Urbana Free Library 7:30pm, free “Sacrificing the Sacrifices of War” Spurlock Museum 8pm, free Malik Yusef Gregory Hall 8:30pm, free
Miscellaneous Asian Games and Crafts Night Weston Residence Hall 7:30pm, free Coffee Hour: Poland Cosmopolitan Club, 7:30pm, free
Krannert Uncorked Krannert Center, 5pm, free
FRI. APRIL 7 Live Bands Billy Galt Blues Barbecue 11:30am, free Prairie Dogs Iron Post 5pm, cover After Five Live: Craig Russo Latin Jazz Project Virginia Theatre, 5:30pm, free Desfinado Cowboy Monkey 5:30pm, $2 Grass Roots Revival Kickapoo Canoe Landing, 5:30pm, free Gabe Dixon, Matt Wertz, Matt Kearney Canopy Club, 6pm $8 in advance/$10 Jason Collett, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Fireflies Highdive, 7pm, $8 in advance/$10 Dave Dreyer Band Hubers 8pm, free Country Connection Rose Bowl Tavern, 9pm, $1 StillLine Iron Post, 9pm, $5 Thanksgiving, The Watery Graves of Portland, A John Henry Memorial, Privacy Courtyard, 9pm, $4 student/$5 Will Rogers Band Neil St. Pub, 10pm, $3 Beat Kitchen, Bahlu Organ Trio Cowboy Monkey, 10pm, $5 Poprocks Tommy G’s 10pm, cover
DJ DJ Elise Boltini, 6pm, free DJ Bozak Soma, 8pm, cover DJ Delayney Barfly, 10pm, free DJ Tim Williams Highdive 10:30pm, $5 DJ Mertz Boltini 10:30pm, free
Dancing Contra Dancing Phillips Recreation Center, 8pm, $5
Karaoke Liquid Courage Karaoke The Brickhouse, 9pm, free
Lectures / Discussions International conference on “Post-Communist Nostalgia” Illini Union, 9am6:45pm, free “Legal Threats to Accessing Reproductive Health Care” University YMCA, 12pm, free
April 7, 7 p.m Highdive, $8 Broken Social Scene is one of the great bands of our modern area. With 16 credited band members and a seemingly infinite amount of other collaborators, their songs contain a collection of some of the brightest and innovative minds in music. It’s post-rock meets pop and stretches the limits of each. One of these broken scenesters is Jason Collett, an important piece of both the band and the blossoming Toronto music scene.
Miscellaneous Etc. Coffeehouse Wesley Foundation, 9pm, free
Film “Falling Down Stairs” with Yo-Yo Ma and Mark Morris Boardman’s Art Theatre 1pm, free Film Series: “Memoirs of a Geisha” Gregory Hall, 7pm $2 w/ UIUC ID, $3
SAT. APRIL 8 Live Bands Aye-Aye Booking presents Park, Blame Twilight, Down State, Hell in the Pacific, Greenwood Independent Media Center 5:30pm, $4 Bahlu Iron Post, 6pm, cover AIESEC International Music Festival to benefit War Child Music: Greg Spero Trio, The Mugdock Pipers, Chandani, Desafinado, Zimbabwe Music Ensemble, AGNEEJA Yechudit, Marajo Funk Canopy Club 6pm, $4 Billy Galt Pages for All Ages 7pm, free Pauli Carman w/ Paul Sabuco The Hideaway 7:30pm, cover
Collett has released two albums on his own, his most recent the first proper release from the Arts and Crafts record company (home to BSS, Stars, and Feist). While solo albums are stereotypically Jason Collett. slow, over sentimental, and introspective acoustic guitar pieces, Collett’s music sounds more like, as he puts it, “a house party.” Bringing all his friends to help with the album, and with the tour, the music is full and fun. Rollicking guitar solos, handclaps, and horns fill the air. The material is a little more structured and fundamental than the Broken Social Scene, but that doesn’t mean it kicks any less. It’s kickin’! Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is probably a slightly longer band name than I approve of, but despite even that, they are my new biggest crush. From Springfield, Mo., SSLYBY is everything great about music in one band. Obvious nods to Elliott Smith and other ’90s indie icons are wonderful homage not rip-offs. They are just the right mix of old and new, of imitation and innovation, and wonderful pop music in general. Come see Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin open for the concisely named Jason Collett and along with two-syllabled local favorites, fireflies. Someone still loves all of you and is booking great acts to play in the CU. – Brian McGovern
New Twang City Hubers, 8pm, free Country Connection Rose Bowl Tavern, 9pm, $1 Big Grove Zydeco Iron Post 9pm, cover Will Rogers Band Neil St. Pub, 10pm, $3 Renegade Tommy G’s, 10pm cover Al Weber, Exit Clov, Molehill, Death Ships Cowboy Monkey 10pm, $5 Lorenzo Goetz, The Elanors, Elsinore Courtyard 10pm, free
Concerts Annual Mom’s Day Harp Studio Recital: Ann Yeung and Jing-I Jang Music Building, 11am, free University Women’s Glee Club Annual Mom’s Day Weekend Concert Krannert Center 2pm, $6, $2 Junior Recital: Andrew Hsu, violin Smith Recital Hall 2pm, free Junior Recital: Katie Drown, clarinet Smith Recital Hall 5pm, free University Black Chorus Annual Mom’s Weekend Concert Krannert Center, 7:30pm $10, $7 “At the Horo,” An Evening of Balkan Dance Music Smith Recital Hall, 7:30pm, free The Temptations Review Featuring Dennis Edwards Virginia Theatre, 7:30pm, $40, $25 Atius Sachem “Mom’s Day Sing” Foellinger Auditorium 8pm, $15 Afterglow: Musicians from the Department of Dance Krannert Center, 10pm, free
DJ DJ Bozak Soma, 8pm, cover
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sounds from the scene
Lectures / Discussions
“G” Force Karaoke American Legion Post 71, 8pm, free Liquid Courage Karaoke Geo’s 9pm, free
Senior Recital: David Webb, clarinet Music Building 2pm, free University Trombone Choir Krannert Center, 3pm $6, $2 Senior Recital: Anna Mudroch, flute Smith Recital Hall 7:30pm, free UI Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble Music Building 7:30pm, free
Lectures / Discussions
Family Fun
Spicy Clamato Illini Union 8pm, free De Bono Courtyard 9pm, free
Sunsplash: DJ Delayney, DJ Bris Canopy Club, 10pm, $7 DJ Tim Williams Highdive 10:30pm, $5 DJ Elise Boltini 10:30pm, free
Karaoke
International conference on “Post-Communist Nostalgia” Illini Union, 9am-6pm, free “Why Sacrifices?” Hillel Foundation, 12pm, free “Soundscaping the World: The Cultural Poetics of Power and Meaning in Wakunai Flute Music” Spurlock Museum 2pm, free
MON. APRIL 10 Live Bands
Miscellaneous Etc. Coffeehouse Wesley Foundation, 9pm, free
Film Film Series: “Memoirs of a Geisha” Gregory Hall, 7pm $2 w/ UIUC ID, $3
SUN. APRIL 9 Live Bands Dave Dickey Big Band w/ special guest Tito Carrillo Iron Post, 6pm, $5 Crystal River Band Rose Bowl Tavern, 9pm, free RAQ, Family Groove Company Canopy Club, 9pm, $5
Concerts
Mom’s Weekend Flower and Garden Show Stock Pavilion 9am, free Champaign-Urbana Comic Book Convention Eastland Suites, 10am, free
Second Sunday Concert: William Moersch, percussion Krannert Art Museum 2pm, free
Dave and Steve Joe’s Brewery 5pm, free Feudin’ Hillbillys Rose Bowl Tavern, 6pm, free Michael Davis Bentley’s Pub 7pm, free JazzJam w/ ParaDocs Iron Post, 9pm, cover The Ponys, The Saps, The Confines Cowboy Monkey 10pm, $7 Shipwreck Canopy Club 10pm, free Dave and Steve White Horse Inn, 10:30pm, free Finga Lickin The Office 10:30pm, free
DJ
DJ Delayney Barfly, 10pm free
Karaoke
Champaigndj.com presents Karaoke The Phoenix, 9pm free
100%
Project 66: An Exploration of Utopia Inspired by the Works of Ilya and Emilia Kabakov Krannert Art Museum through July 30
“Poem in Silence” University YMCA from April 8-9 April 8 from 5:30-9 p.m., April 9 from 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Mind / Body / Spirit
Undergraduate Recital: Tiffany Pan, oboe Smith Recital Hall 5:30pm, free Undergraduate Recital: Keturah Bixby and Keelin Eder, harp Music Building 5:30pm, free Yo-Yo Ma, cello Krannert Center, 7:30pm, $45 Master of Music Recital: Jennifer Griest, piano Smith Recital Hall, 7:30pm, free Senior Music Education Recital/ Undergraduate Recital: Danielle Beard and Jane Kinas, flute Smith Recital Hall 7:30pm, free Atius Sachem “Mom’s Day Sing” Foellinger Auditorium 8pm, $15
Jason Collett, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, and fireflies perform at Highdive
10.25" x 5.417"
Pattern Language: Clothing as Communicator Krannert Art Museum through April 9
U of I Jazz Combo Iron Post 7pm, $2 Anomic Independent Media Center, 7pm, cover Showoff, Jiggsaw, Hell in the Pacific Courtyard, 8pm $5, $4 students Caleb Rose Bowl Tavern 9pm, free Local Music Awards: Terminus Victor, Elsinore, Krukid, DJ Elise, Angie Heaton, Larry Gates & Jesse Greenlee Highdive, 9pm, $5 Pomerory, Swizzle Tree, Logan Square Canopy Club, 9pm, $5 Andy Moreillion Tommy G’s 9pm, free Kwyjibo Zorba’s, 9:30pm, $3 Will Rogers Band Neil St. Pub, 10pm, free
Liquid Courage Karaoke Radmaker’s Billiard and Sports Bar, 7pm, free “G” Force Karaoke Pia’s of Rantoul, 9pm, free Liquid Courage Karaoke The Office, 10pm, free
Concerts
International Coffeehouse Wesley Foundation 4pm, free “Water on Mars: Can Hydrous Minerals Explain” Natural History Building, 4pm, free “Understanding the Food You Eat” Parkland College 7pm, $1 “Legal Threats to Accessing Reproductive Health Care” University YMCA, 8pm, free
10.25" x 5.417"
Live Bands
Karaoke
The Profits, Soultro Canopy Club, 11pm, $8 in advance/ $10
Buzz (April 6 Insertion) 4c
THU. APRIL 6
Swing Dance McKinley Foundation, 9:30pm, free
Human Rights Film Series presents “The Take” Illinois Disciple Foundation, 7pm, free Social Justice Film Festival: “Milagro Beanfield Wars” Law Building, 6:30pm, free
Moosehead
art & theater
Dancing
Film
MH-140-06.2H
cu calendar
DJ Literati, Sasha, DJ J-Phlip Cowboy Monkey, 10pm, $3 DJ Limbs Boltini, 10pm, free
WWW.EMERGE.CA
14
TAKING A CUE FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, EVENTS OF HIGH PRIORIRTY HAVE BEEN LABELED IN ORANGE.
“Model Checking: From Hardware to Software and Back Again” Siebel Center for Computer Science, 4pm, free
Workshops Challenging “Lady”: Reclaiming Our Bodies, Defining Ourselves Allen Hall’s South Rec Room, 7pm, free
Comedy
Dancing
Film
Concerts
Salsa Lessons Dance Club Urbana, 7-8pm, $45 fee Swing Lessons Dance Club Urbana, 8-9pm, $45 fee Waltz Lessons Dance Club Urbana, 9-10pm, $45 fee Latin Dance Night McKinley Foundation, 9:30pm, $1
“Glory Road” Virginia Theatre, 7pm, $2
Funkadesi Krannert Center 12pm, free University Percussion Ensemble Krannert Center, 7:30pm $6, $2 University Jazz Band III Krannert Center, 7:30pm $6, $2
Karaoke Liquid Courage Karaoke Geo’s 9pm, free
Lectures / Discussions University and Ubana-Champaign, Partners in Education University YMCA, 12pm free ISGS Centennial Lecture: “Exploring the Wreck of the Titanic: At 13,000 Feet in the North Atlantic” Levis Faculty Center 7pm, free
WED. APRIL 12 Live Bands Irish Traditional Music Session Bentley’s Pub, 7pm, free Kayla Brown & Mike Ingram Silvercreek, 7pm, free Chambana Jackson’s Ribs-NTips, 8pm, cover Greenwheel, Relapse, A Last Victory, FCAB Canopy Club 8:30pm, $5 Tractor Kings, Rob Hecht Iron Post, 9pm, $5 Feudin’ Hillbillys Rose Bowl Tavern, 9pm, free Live Karaoke Band Tommy G’s, 9:30pm, free Soultro Joe’s Brewery 10pm, cover
DJ DJ Stifler Highdive, 8pm, $5 Open Decks Soma, 8pm, free Chef Ra Barfly, 10pm, free DJ Bozak Boltini 10:30pm, free
Liquid Courage Karaoke Geovanti’s, 10pm, free
Lectures / Discussions “Empire, Crisis, and Resistance: A View from the South” Gregory Hall, 5pm, free
Film “Grace Lee Project” Asian American Cultural Center 6:30pm, free
PUZZLE pg. 25
Dancing Tango Dancing Cowboy Monkey, 8-10:30pm, free Salsa Dancing Cowboy Monkey, 10:30pm, $3
Karaoke “G” Force Karaoke T&T Tavern, 7pm, free
PartyLike A Rockstar With the LIVING
BLUE
TUE. APRIL 11 Live Bands Billy Galt Blues Barbecue 11:30am, free Crystal River Band Rose Bowl Tavern, 9pm, free Galactic, Rebirth Brass Band Canopy Club, 9pm, $15 in advance/ $18 Jack Mark Tommy G’s, 9pm free Tally Hall, Nadafinga Cowboy Monkey, 10pm, $5
Concerts Fazil Say, piano Krannert Center, 7:30pm, $35, $20 University New Music Ensemble Krannert Center, 7:30pm $6, $2
DJ Subversion: DJ Evily, DJ Twinscin Highdive, 10pm, cover DJ Hoff, DJ Gambino Mike N Molly’s, 10pm, cover DJ Tremblin BG Barfly 10pm, free DJ J-Phlip Boltini 10:30pm, free
You and 3 Friends Will Win: • Dinner @ Jillian’s With The Band • Attend the April 21st Concert • Backstage Passes • Autographed CD’s of Living Blue’s new release fire. blood. water. • Stay after the concert for an exclusive “green room” party
To enter:
send an e-mail to
partylikearockstar@wpgu.com with your name, address, age, phone number and favorite song from the Living Blue’s “fire. blood. water.”
Deadline for entry is April 16. No purchase necessary. Must be 21 to enter and win. For complete rules go to WPGU.com.
INTRO | A ROUND TOWN | L ISTEN, HEAR | CU CALENDAR | STAGE, S CREEN &
IN
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16 •
buzz weekly
Apr. 6
THE POWER OF ACCURATE OBSERVATION IS COMMONLY CALLED CYNICISM BY THOSE WHO HAVE NOT GOT IT.
•
Apr. 12,
THIS WEEK AT
K R A N N E RT C E N T E R F O R T H E P E R F O R M I N G A RT S
Th Apr 6
Fr Apr 7 (cont.)
Sa Apr 8
Tu Apr 11
More School of Music
Tu Apr 11
Krannert Uncorked 5pm, free
Yo-Yo Ma, cello 7:30pm, $26-$45
UI Women’s Glee Club Annual Mom’s Weekend Concert 2pm, $2-$6
Fazil Say, piano 7:30pm, $18-$35
Th Apr 6
Illini Women and University Chorus 7:30pm, Smith Memorial Recital Hall, free
UI Oratorio Society and Endowed Artist Underwriters: Marilyn Pflederer and Symphony Orchestra Vernon K. Zimmerman 7:30pm, $2-$6 Patron Underwriters: Intimate Apparel Judith and Jon Liebman 7:30pm, $6-$13 Roy Van Buskirk
Fr Apr 7 Falling Down Stairs: Yo-Yo Ma and Mark Morris Boardman’s Art Theatre 1pm, free Creative Intersections Sponsor:
Patron Sponsors: Maxine and Jim Kaler Sara Latta and Tony Liss Margaret and Larry Neal Anonymous Patron Co-sponsors: Cecile and Ira Lebenson Jane Ellen and Brian Peterson Judith Rowan and Richard Schacht Masako and Wako Takayasu Corporate Platinum Sponsor: Corporate Gold Sponsors:
Corporate Silver Sponsor:
UI Black Chorus Annual Mom’s Weekend Concert 7:30pm, $7-$10 Mark Morris Dance Group 7:30pm, $18-$36 Patron Co-sponsors: Anna and Richard Merritt Nancy and Ed Tepper Afterglow: Musicians from the U of I Department of Dance 10pm, free
Su Apr 9 UI Trombone Choir 3pm, $2-$6 Intimate Apparel 3pm, $6-$13 Mark Morris Dance Group 7:30pm, $18-$36
Keyboard Series Patron Sponsors: James Russell Vaky Anonymous UI New Music Ensemble 7:30pm, $2-$6
Joshua McCormick, marimba 12:15pm, Beckman Institute Atrium, free
Sa Apr 8
We Apr 12
Balkanalia 7:30pm, Smith Memorial Recital Hall, free
Interval: Funkadesi 12 noon, free
Su Apr 9
Interval Series Sponsor: Anonymous UI Percussion Ensemble 7:30pm, $2-$6 UI Jazz Band III 7:30pm, $2-$6
Th Apr 13 Krannert Uncorked 5pm, free
UI Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition 1pm, Smith Memorial Recital Hall, free
Cantabile Brass Quintet 7:30pm, Smith Memorial Room, free
Th Apr 13 The Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse 12:15pm, Beckman Institute Atrium, free Smith Memorial Hall, 805 S Mathews, Urbana
WILL Second Sunday Concert 2pm, Krannert Art Museum, free
Beckman Institute, 405 N Mathews, Urbana
UI Concert Choir 3pm, St. John the Divine Episcopal Church, free
St. John the Divine Episcopal Church, 1011 S Wright St., Champaign
Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra 7:30pm, $10-$29
Krannert Art Museum, 500 E Peabody, Champaign
Low 7:30pm, $10-$18 Afterglow: Jane Boxall, marimba 10pm, free
Intimate Apparel 7:30pm, $6-$13 Nightcap 10pm, Free
333.6280 8 0 0 . K C PAT I X
Patron Season Sponsors Rosann and Richard Noel
Marquee performances are supported in part by the Illinois Arts Council— a state agency which recognizes Krannert Center in its Partners in Excellence Program.
INTRO | A ROUND TOWN | L ISTEN, HEAR | CU CALENDAR | STAGE, S CREEN &
IN
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Corporate Power Train Team Engine Members
40˚ North and Krannert Center, working together to put Champaign County’s culture on the map.
sounds from the scene
17
stage, screen & i n b e t w e e n
A LOOK AT THE
ANTHONY RAPP AS MARK • ORIGINAL BROADWAY STAR OF RENT
MEGHAN WHALEN • STAFF WRITER
T
here’s only us, there’s only this. Forget regret, or life is yours to miss. No other road, no other way, no day but today.
This oft-quoted line from the musical Rent expresses the show’s universal theme of living life to the fullest in the face of adversity. Since its debut in 1996, Rent, a musical about a group of artists living in New York City in 1989 and an updated version of the opera La Boheme, has become a cultural phenomenon. Not only is it one of the longest-running shows on Broadway, but it has also received several Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. The fi rst musical of its kind, it features music influenced by pop, rock, and R&B and deals with issues such as AIDS and drug addiction. Rent has also managed to generate a very loyal following — fans, or “Rentheads,” wait for several hours to purchase tickets for the front rows of the theater where a production is showing, and then wait by the stage door afterward to meet and talk with the actors. Rob Cameron, a senior at Columbia College Chicago, fi rst saw the musical when he was in sixth grade. Since then, he has
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seen the show a total of 18 times and knows many Rentheads who have taken their love of the show even further. “I know people who have seen it hundreds of times — I don’t know how they do it,” he says. “I’m pretty set with my 18.” In keeping with the visions and ideas of its late creator, Jonathan Larson, Broadway and touring productions of the show offer the fi rst two rows of the theater at a discount rate for fans that are willing to wait in line, or “rush.” This allows a younger audience who might not otherwise be able to afford good seats to experience live theater up close. “If you’re seeing it on tour and you rush, then you’re waiting in a line, and you can pretty much figure out if you’re going to get [tickets] or not,” explains Cameron. “I like to get there relatively early in the morning, more because the experience is fun; it’s good times to just hang out with friends on a sidewalk, believe it or not.” Jed Resnick, who plays the leading role in the current national touring production, recalls the fi rst time he saw the show on Broadway in a phone conversaton with the reporter. “I’d been a huge fan — I was practically one of those Rentheads,” he says. “I was from New York City, so I saw it two or three times. Sometimes I would sneak in to catch the second act of it, and ever since I saw it, it had been a dream of mine to be in it.” As an actor, Resnick believes that the show’s die-hard fans bring a unique energy to the performances. “It’s really wonderful; they’re really supportive,” he says. “They help unfamiliar audiences know when it’s appropriate to laugh and when they can clap — they turn it into more of an event for the audience.” An acting student on leave from Brown University, Resnick landed the part of fi lmmaker Mark Cohen after hearing about an open audition in New York City. Resnick’s character is the narrator of the piece, and one whom many young people can identify with. By talking directly to the audience, he is able to bring them closer into the story. “I think Rent is a musical that is easily accessible, especially for our generation,” says Cameron. “The modern music certainly helps, but this is a show about people just a little older than us [college students], living life with passion and love. Even if their situation isn’t ideal, the way they deal with it certainly is. It’s an appealing way to approach life.” Rent was also one of the fi rst musicals of its kind to feature gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender characters, and ones who must deal with living with HIV and AIDS, an issue that many young people have encountered. The characters in Rent include artists, fi lmmakers, activists, songwriters, and performers, and its themes bring a totally different audience into the theater, one that may not have otherwise gone to see a musical. Larson, who wrote the show’s script, music, and lyrics, wanted to create an unconventional piece that spoke to a new generation, or “the Hair of the ’90s,” as Resnick puts it. But he never lived
to see the impact and the fan base that the show has gained; he died suddenly of an aneurysm the night before the show’s fi rst preview performance. “He wanted to reinvent the musical theater landscape,” explains Resnick. “He expanded the notion of what people thought Broadway music could sound like...and his show continues to be a hit [after] ten years.” And with the recent fi lm adaptation of the musical, the story has gained an even wider fan base, with even more people wanting to experience the live version of the show. As times change and as theater evolves, however, it remains to be seen if Rent will continue to attract such a large younger audience. Yet both Cameron and Resnick believe that it will be around for a long time to come. “Rent has a raw passion and excitement that a lot of shows lack,” says Cameron. “I think there’s something so timeless about it,” says Resnick. “The message is beyond the trauma of AIDS; the messages of love and community are so eternal and so important that I think it’ll stick around for a long time and keep affecting people.” buzz Come experience the cultural phenomenon that is the musical Rent in Chicago.The current national tour will be at the Cadillac Palace in Chicago, Ill. from April 5-15.
ABOUT JONATHAN LARSON, PLAYWRIGHT, LYRICIST AND COMPOSER OF RENT: • B o r n F e b r u a r y 4, 19 6 0 i n M t . Vernon, New York and was encouraged to develop his musical and theatrical talents • Attended the acting conser vator y at Adelphi University where he began writing rock-influenced pieces attacking the Christian Right, the Reagan administration and the effects of television • Composed a one-man musical entitled Tick, Tick…BOOM! and a musical video for children, Away We Go • In 1989, he was asked by play wright Billy Aronson to c o nt r ib u te to a s how t h at wo ul d up d ate t h e op er a L a Boheme. Larson sug gested the title Rent and later took over the project • While developing the show, he lived the true artists’ life; his run-down New York loft had a bathtub in the kitchen • A f t e r h i s s u d d e n d e a t h o n J a n u a r y 25, 1 9 9 6, h i s family founded the Jonathan Larson Per forming Ar ts F o u n d a t i o n, w hi c h p r ov i d e s f i n a n c i al g r a n t s to y o u n g musical theater composers and lyricists
WWW.PBS.ORG
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Celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the musical Rent, buzz explains this cultural phenomenon.
Sources: jlpaf.org, siteforrent.com
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BASIC INSTINCT 2: RISK ADDICTION
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here was a time when Sharon Stone was very sexy. Unfortunately, that was over a decade ago. Now, the one-time blonde bombshell is pushing 50 and desperately needs some major plastic surgery if sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to continue romping around naked. Starring in some of the most elicit and trashy commercial films of the early â&#x20AC;&#x2122;90â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, Stone made a name for herself as the cunning seductress and femme fatale. When her career is in a drastic downward spiral, what better way to invigorate it then a remake of her most notorious role? Well, props to you Ms. Stone. Catherine Tramell â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the novelist cum ice pick killer â&#x20AC;&#x201D; from Basic Instinct is back; this time in London, doing exactly the same thing she did in San Francisco. After a high-speed ride through the streets of London ending in a dramatic car crash, Tramell is implicated in the murder of her newest boy-toy â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the unfortunate passenger. Her indifferent response to police interrogations leads them to send a psychiatrist to investigate further. They send the laughably dense Dr. Michael Glass (David Morrissey) who inevitably falls for temptressâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; seductions like a fly in a spiderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s web. The plot is essentially a retread of the 1992 original and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s neither thrilling nor erotic. Not so great for a film billed as an â&#x20AC;&#x153;erotic thrillerâ&#x20AC;?. Basic Instinct 2 is really glorified smut. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the rough
equivalent of late-night Showtime or cheesy soft-core porn. Whatever producer said â&#x20AC;&#x153;We really need an excuse to see Sharon Stone in her birthday suitâ&#x20AC;? should have shopped around for a different script. Joe Eszterhas wrote the original campy classic complete with terrible dialogue, a plot full of holes and the classic â&#x20AC;&#x153;ambiguousâ&#x20AC;? ending. Basic Instinct 2 could be a direct translation of the original minus the surprisingly effective performances and direction of the original. This film only succeeds in epitomizing the stereotype of every Hollywood sequel from the past and present: unintelligent, uninspired and used simply to furnish the living room of some uberproducerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s palatial Malibu estate. Basic Instinct may have been bad, but at the time it was risquĂŠ; it was erotic; and the notorious uncrossing of Sharon Stoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s legs in the interrogation room probably boosted the filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s box office performance. Basic Instinct 2 is replete with gratuitous nudity, sex and a ludicrous plot to boot. The whole film is down right sleazy. Changing the setting to London does not automatically give a film a sense of sophistication and class. Even the subtitle Risk Addiction makes the film sound like a lost episode of the Red Shoe Diaries; or worse, a film parody on Mad TV. Overall, Stone is not a bad actress. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just better when sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clothed. So for the sake of audiences everywhere, please put Basic Instinct 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; with a 60 year-old Stone seducing the residents of an old peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home â&#x20AC;&#x201D; on the backburner.
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PAUL PRIKAZSKY â&#x20AC;˘ LEAD REVIEWER
BASIC INSTINCT 2 â&#x20AC;˘ SHARON STONE
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19
theater review INTIMATE APPAREL
I
ntimate Apparel manages to present a postmodern view of history as both a fluid and a concrete spectre. Through its concept and set design it presents the past as something that can be examined but cannot be altered. This play is the story of Esther, a seamstress who has made her living in 1905 New York City making lingerie for the society ladies. Upon turning 35 she is interwoven into a series of amours; a Barbadian laborer who writes her letters from halfway around the world, a not altogether straight prestigious female customer, and her extremely orthodox Jewish fabric supplier. After placing her Esther in these three love narratives, the playwright, Lynn Nottage, lays out several fascinating critical readings for her viewers. This play can be read through the lenses of race, sexuality, labor alienations etc. In short, it’s an English major’s paradise. The play compacts so many different themes while still maintaining a level of surface simplicity making it a gem to watch. Part of what made this play so interesting was its hybridity; it manages to float somewhere between abstract performance theater and period revivalism. Let me describe the opening scene; the lights turn up, dramatic music, and the audience sees a white wall, no curtain, and the bare accoutrements of theatre unhidden. On the wall are eight or nine portraits, black and white, all
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linked by a thick webbing of strings. A chair is placed in between these pictures, bolted four feet up the wall. This chair is George’s perch until he enters Esther’s story. Four of the characters walk on stage in unison and stand under the portraits against the wall. All characters are always visible, even when they are not in the scene, to remind the audience that even though this history is over and done with, the interpretation thereof is an ongoing exercise that can never stop. Kudos to Micah J. Maatman for designing a set that interacts with the characters in a way seldom seen. And to the director, Robert Castro, whose quick reworking of the play on the night I saw it (Mrs. Dickson, played by Lisa Gaye Dixon had laryngitis and all of her lines were read, on stage, by another girl while she acted) granted the play yet another level of symbolic meaning without subtracting any pleasure from viewing. This play really just represented a level of theater we don’t get to see very often, no wonder it was named New York Drama Critic’s Circle’s award for best play. It’s just plain great — go see it before you run out of time! Intimate Apparel runs Wednesday through Saturday, April 5-8 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 9 at 3:00 p.m. in Krannert’s Studio Theatre. To order tickets by phone call 217-333-6280.
20TH CENTURY FOX
CONSTANCE BEITZEL • STAFF WRITER
ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN ALICE HUDDLESTON • STAFF WRITER
I
n an age where terribly un-amusing family movies abound, director Carlos Saldanha’s animated film Ice Age: The Meltdown is welcomingly refreshing. Instead of solely relying on ridiculous sight gags, as so many movies do today, this sequel film uses witty dialogue to achieve most of its laughs, making Ice Age: The Meltdown as good as its 2002 original. The movie follows another chapter in the lives of a mammoth named Manny (voiced by Ray Romano), Sid the sloth ( John Leguizamo), and Diego, a tiger (Denis Leary). They have learned that the effects of global warming will soon cause their valley to flood, and the trio must make the trek to safety before their home is submerged. On their way, however, they confront several imminent dangers, including a pair of vicious, sharp-toothed aquatic creatures. Meanwhile, romance brews between Manny and a fellow
mammoth he meets, Ellie (Queen Latifah). As in the first film, of course, the story is intermittent by the hilarious misadventures of Scrat the squirrel, still in arduous pursuit of that pesky acorn. What is so great about Ice Age: The Meltdown is that it is appealing to both adults and children alike. The movie is filled with an abundance of fun moments for kids to enjoy, but it also has many clever cultural references and innuendoes that only older audience members are liable to understand. The character of Scrat definitely provides most of the big laughs throughout the film, but the rest of the animals are charmingly entertaining as well. While the film’s animation style may not be breakthrough, it is still very well done. Simply put, Ice Age: The Meltdown is just a fun movie. Being able to make a sequel as engaging as the first is a rather tricky task, but here the filmmakers have succeeded.
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From the producers of Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Layer Cake is a high-octane account of drug-dealing gone bad. The nameless lead character, played by Daniel Craig, personifies the nuances of being a â&#x20AC;&#x153;professionalâ&#x20AC;? drug-dealer: a secret identity, careful planning, and swift execution. However, when given an assignment to retrieve an unusually large amount of ecstasy from a cowboy thief, he must learn to be especially innovative to prevent being swallowed by his own violent business. The layer cake, which symbolizes the levels of power in the drug business, is the foundation of the betrayal the main character must constantly face. This film, which is undoubtedly an extension of the Guy Ritchie-era style of filming, is littered with visually stunning scene progressions layered with a fittingly groovy sound track. The film-debuting director, Matthew Vaughn, extensively exploits wide-angled zooming and character-perspective camera angles to wrap the audience around the circumstances which is memorably exemplified in an awe-inducing cafĂŠ brawl. Effectively casted in the lead role, Daniel Craigâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s well-acted and subtly attitudeladen performance is often attributed to Craig being chosen to portray the next James Bond in Casino Royale (late 2006).
GUILTY PLEASURE
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SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
buzz weekly
"5:: HOME ALONE (1990) 4(523$!9 !02),
This CORP NOTE KEEP THIS SAME SIZE ALWAYS mischievous comedy/adventure is undeniably the centerpiece of many a college studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s childhood. Even today, when I apply 8 after-shave, I get an uncontrollable urge to scream as loud as I can. In the movie, the 8-yearold Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) is mistakenly left behind when his family leaves for a Christmas vacation in France. Kevin, confronted by the realities of having an entire mansion to himself, must find a way survive in a world without grown-ups. His parents, paralyzed by the shame of abandoning their son alone thousands of miles away, scramble through busy airports, crowded hotels, and even a van full of noisy polka players to find their way home. All the while, two local serial burglars, Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) have their eyes set on Kevinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mansion. Kevin, of course, has other ideas. He masterminds a stunningly complex plan to thwart the burglars using a series of ploys and contraptions that make MacGyver look like a pansy. Flying paint cans, falling irons, and firing pellet guns are just a few examples of the mayhem beset by the precocious boy. As Kevin faces the burglars and befriends his seemingly spooky yet good-hearted old neighbor, we ask, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Will there be a heart-warming Christmas reunion in this familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future?â&#x20AC;? Watch and find out.
JOHN HUGHES
20 â&#x20AC;˘
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WHAT SHALL WE CALL OUR SON SO HE DOES NOT GET THE SHIT KICKED OUT OF HIM AT SCHOOL? WE SHALL CALL HIM ENGLEBERT HUMPERDINK!
buzz weekly •
21
SLITHER RANDY MA • STAFF WRITER
brow horror combined with surprisingly high brow satire. It paints a picture of old-fashioned Americana that is rarely represented in fi lms today, as least so innocently. Gunn’s script knows its history and off-plays its horror to ver y interesting and hilarious directions. Sure, Slither is camp, there’s no doubt about it, but it’s wonderful and very tight in its comedy, grossness, and execution. The f ilmmaker’s love for the town of Wheelsy and its local inhabitants will leave a smile whenever dialogue is spoken and whenever blood is shed. Make no mistake — this isn’t a per fect movie and clearly not for everyone. But it is one of the best horror movies, fl at-out, that has been released in theaters amidst the barrage of remakes and sequels that flood the screens every year. Slither is one of the most fun movie experiences this year and anyone who wants to see it will not be disappointed. Though time will tell, this has “cult classic” written all over it.
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
J
ames Gunn’s Slither has an exuberance and energy that lights up the screen with all its blood, guts, gore, and southern twang in all its glory. The B-movie is a wonderful slice of exploitation that is so clever, stylish, and exceedingly satisfying that it rises above just a mere homage to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Blob, and Night of the Living Dead. The movie is about the invasion of alien slugs in the southern town of Wheelsy. That statement alone should be enough for viewers to decide whether to categorize themselves with the target audience. But within this mutant-zombie-alien plotline is a love triangle between the squarejawed sheriff Bill Pardy, the impeccable love interest Starla Grant and her husband, now turned alien, Grant Grant. Slither may be the worst kind of horror movie: the gross-out kind. It isn’t meant for tension, scares, or even to psychologically disturb. The horror is in its innards and plain unseemly situations that should not be visualized. This is low-
SLITHER • ELIZABETH BANKS
ATL
Full Service Salon
ANDREW CREWELL • STAFF WRITER
WARNER BROS.
F
ATL • TIP HARRIS
sounds from the scene
rom the beginning to the end, ATL suffers from multiple personality disorder. While telling a story of four youths struggling to keep their heads above water, the fi lm flounders at times as it runs the gamut from a gritty and realistic view of life on the Atlanta streets to Hollywood fluff. The four friends are approaching the end of high school and face the next stages of their lives. Tip “T.I.” Harris plays Rashad and stands out as the star, but the hip-hop actors do a better than expected job of creating believable characters. Rashad is graduating and has enough musical talent to get a record deal and get off the streets, but doesn’t believe in himself. All the while he has to worry about his budding relationship and raising a trouble seeking little brother. Such is life on the South side of the ATL. The plot is loosely based on the adolescent memories of the fi lm’s creators Tionne Watkins (T-Boz from TLC) and Antwone Fisher who grew up going to a local skating rink. The rink is legend in the hip-hop community for congregating rap industry stalwarts and giving Atlanta youths a respite from their everyday poverty ridden lives. The rink is featured, but as exciting as the rink and its frequenter’s antics are, the real action happens on the streets. “Ant,” Rashad’s little brother is swallowed up by the glitz and glamour of the ever-preva-
lent drug trade. Enter Big Boi (of Outkast fame) as the urban warrior and local drug lord who is more than willing to take Ant under his wing. The drug kingpin’s character shines light on a real issue, the willingness of inner city criminals to abuse the lives of adolescents while they roll through their comfortable lives on “24’s.” For every realistic scene, the film unfortunately counters with canned Hollywood garbage. Rashad’s best friend Esquire is a local who fought all odds to get a job at a country club and a scholarship to a swanky private school. Many of the kids plan to enter college after high school and live lives too easy to be believable for the South Side, especially Esquire and his Ivy League aspirations. The love story hits similar sappy lows. While ATL fl irts with being a biting drama, it excuses itself into a lighthearted feel good story with too much regularity. The fi lm, like so many rap videos today, is just a little too ghettofabulous to take seriously all the time. Regardless, the fi lm celebrates the urban center responsible for so many of today’s musical sensations and boasts a hot soundtrack headed by Champaign-born Chris “Ludacris” Bridges. T.I. And most importantly, this film is a welcome sociological change of pace from the rest of the white-bred, romantic comedy travesties that studios are pumping out at breakneck speed.
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BEFORE BIRDS GET SUCKED INTO JET ENGINES, DO THEY EVER THINK, “IS THAT ROD STEWART IN FIRST CLASS?”
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ARTIST’S CORNER
whitney hutchinson
EMILY COTTERMAN • STAFF WRITER
The IUB production of Grease which Whitney is directing will be playing at Assembly Hall on April 7 at 7:30 and April 8 at 2:00 and 7:30.Tickets are $15, $13 or $11 depending on the section.You can purchase tickets at Ticket Central in the Union or at the Assembly Hall box office (www.uofiassemblyhall.com). How was your experience directing Grease?
It was outstanding. I was really lucky that I got to work with such an amazing group of people. When it comes to the staff, those that are working with creative decisions, and the cast that we’re working with, we pulled an outstanding group of people. It’s been a great experience putting together such a huge production but also getting to know everyone and getting the community within this group working too. Are you planning to continue directing?
It’s just a hobby, we’ll see where it takes me. I’m applying for law school next year. So we’ll just see what happens. I would definitely love to be able to continue doing theater and law at the same time, I don’t know how I’m going to do it. I would love to be able to keep this hobby, keep it going. What musical or play would you love to direct?
Wow, probably Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim. I grew up with the music. I just fell in love with it. I think it’s a hilarious show. It’s great for kids, cause it’s all about fairy tales and stuff like that but there’s just so many undertones and so much humor that’s really dark and hilarious. Yeah, definitely I would pick that show.
Do other artistic influences come in through your directing?
For this show, we definitely did a lot of historical research. Cause so much of the music, like everyone knows music from Grease, but a lot of it’s based off of actual songs of the time period. But I did a lot of looking into different movies for different characters to kind of help direct and guide the actors and actresses. Everything from a character on Dawson’s Creek to someone actually playing Sandra Dee in Beyond the Sea, a whole wide variety of things, we pulled from everywhere. What do you want the audience to get out of the show?
I want them to have fun. It’s a very well-known show, it’s campy and cheesy. But it’s really high energy and there’s so much music and so much going on. And it’s about a time that everyone’s experienced - high school and figuring out friendships and relationships and figuring out one’s sexuality. I definitely want everyone to have fun and just be able to laugh and relate to it. It takes place in 1959, but the themes in the play are prevalent in society today. What was the best and hardest part of directing?
I’d say the hardest part is definitely the casting process without a doubt because it’s a grueling process. For our staff it was three days of open auditions and two days of call backs, so a five day process and it’s all at night and you’re still doing classes at the same time. You’re trying to get everyone on the same page as to what they want. I’d have to say the best part is just seeing, while basically the whole thing is coming together, that people are enjoying themselves at the same time. I’m able to see the personalities of everyone in the cast and staff shine through in their work and that’s really great.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHRISTINA LEUNG
Whitney Hutchinson is a junior in speech communication at the University of Illinois who is planning to continue on with law school. She is the director of Illini Union Board’s spring musical Grease, and has also been the assistant director for two other IUB productions — spring 2005’s Guys and Dolls and fall 2005’s A Night on Broadway. Hutchinson also directed plays during high school. Along with working in the theater, Whitney is a member of the university concert choir and a member of U of I’s mock trial team.Whitney has also been elected president of Mock Trial for next year.
Whitney Hutchinson, junior in LAS, director of Grease.
What did you do as an assistant director?
It kind of depends on the director. The director I worked with was great, his name was Chris Owens. He let me take on a lot of the co-positions. Basically, when you’re an assistant, the main vision comes from the director and you’re just there to help him make that vision a reality. Help them figure out blocking, help them if they need to step out of rehearsal or work with a separate group. It was really nice.
Located in the center with a guitar, Chris Blim, freshman in FAA, rehearses an act with other performers at the Illini Union Ballroom on Thursday, March 30, for the upcoming musical Grease. INTRO | A ROUND TOWN | L ISTEN, HEAR | CU CALENDAR | STAGE , S CREEN &
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Marie Clawson, senior in LAS, rehearses at the Illini Union Ballroom on Thursday, March 30, for the upcoming musical Grease. sounds from the scene
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IF I WERE ACHILLES I WOULD PUT MY FOOT IN A F**K OFF BLOCK OF CONCRETE.
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Kayla Br o Angi eH e
on at
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Who Did Yo Pick? You sounds from the scene
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Employment 000
)&-1 8"/5&% 1BSU 5JNF Illini Apple Center
A brand new Apple computer center will be opening in the heart of campus town (across from Starbucks) this April. Part-time student help wanted. Flexible schedules. Send cover letter and resume to Michelle Gabris (michelle@illinimedia.com) or fax 337-3162. Call 337-3102 for more information. The Illini Apple Center is also taking resumes for part-time assistant store managers (20hrs/week). Competitive wages. EOE. Contact Michelle by email (michelle@illinimedia.com) or phone 337-3102 for an application or just send resume and cover letter.
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'VMM 1BSU 5JNF Bicycle service/sales positions available immediately. Previous mechanical or retail experience preferred. Apply in person. Durst Cycle, 1112 W. University, U. Earn $5000 as an egg donor. Must be 20-29 and a non-smoker. Please call Alternative Reproductive Resources at 773-327-7315 to learn how you can help a family fulfill its dreams. Web developer, PT, must be experienced in Dreamweaver & Photoshop. bbn1@verizon.net.
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503- 505- 508 E. White Fall 2006. 2 and 3 bedrooms. Furnished with internet. Parking and laundry available. On-site resident manager. Call Kyle, 202-7240. THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182 Available Now- Studios 1 bedroom • 2 bedroom• 3 bedroom www.ugroup96.com 352-3182
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510 S. Elm Available Fall 2006. 2 BR close to campus, hardwood floors, furnished, W/D, central air/heat, off street parking, 24 hr. maintenance. $595/mo. 841-1996. THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182
509 E. White, C. August 2006. Large 1 bedrooms. Security entry, balconies, patios, furnished. Laundry, off-street parking, ethernet available. Office at 309 S. First, C. THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182
JOHN STREET APARTMENTS 58 E. John August 2006. Two and three bedrooms, fully furnished. Dishwashers, center courtyard, on-site laundry, central air, ethernet available. Call Andy at 369-2621. THE UNIVERSITY GROUP www.ugroup96.com 352-3182
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IDEAL LOCATION NEAR SPRINGFIELD AVE. MINUTES TO CAMPUS! New upscale townhomes feature 3 BR/ 2.5 BA, ceramic tile in kitchen, all silver metallic appliances. Living room leads to private patio. Vaulted ceiling in master bedroom suite. 1 car garage. Starting $1899. Call Ellen at The Brokers R.E. 356-9002.
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25
the stinger
kim rice & kate ruin DOIN’ IT WELL
Visiting the Ex for Sex A XXX experience or one to be x-ed out?
C
an partners move from a dating relationship to a purely sexual one without difficulties? It may depend on the individual as well as the length and depth of the relationship. Plenty of us can remember hooking up with someone after the “official” relationship was over. Maybe we wanted to hold onto the relationship. Maybe “sex was great, but we weren’t good together.” Or maybe our ex just got exponentially hotter once off-limits. Folks who have done this say sex with the ex can be charged with energy and emotion. Some insist it is “definitely the best sex I’ve ever had”, while others regret how it complicated matters, and left them feeling hurt. TRYING TO DECIDE IF IT’S RIGHT FOR YOU? Here are some questions that could be helpful to consider the key is to answer honestly: What needs are you looking to fulfill with ex sex? Is it purely physical? Do you want sex without the romantic or emotional attachment? Will you be really able to do this? ARE YOU VISITING YOUR EX BECAUSE YOU WANT TO STAY EMOTIONALLY ATTACHED OR CONNECTED TO THEM? It can be hard to separate sex from emotions especially when you have a history together. Be sure to let your ex know what your expectations are, and find out his or hers as well. If you state your needs openly and directly and your ex continues to have sex with you, at least you can say you’ve been honest. WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS? If you’re both on the same page it could be fun! You probably know what turns each other on, and the idea of “just sex” can be an added kink factor. But if one of you is looking for more emotional attachment it could turn messy as old emotions resurface. Sometimes the person seeking the nostrings-attached sex may end up feeling bad if the other person wants more. If you think it’s possible you’ll end up feeling guilty then move on. If you are looking to fulfill emotional needs, ask yourself if your ex is the best person to provide a sense of intimacy, connection and closeness. Weigh this against the reasons you broke up. While it’s natural to gravitate to those you care about, remember that if you are feeling vulnerable, your ex may not be able to give you the emotional support you need. Some may try to deny their emotional needs. Remember, the best sex happens when we can be honest with ourselves and our partners.
sounds from the scene
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS: Hormones are powerful! Are you totally swept up in the moment? Have you thought through to the next morning, or the next time you see each other? How will you feel afterwards? Will this cause either of you pain or interfere with “getting over” each other and moving on? What if your ex tries to re-ignite the relationship after sex? What if sex makes you feel like you want to do this? Be sure to take care of yourself emotionally. If you get turned on thinking of your ex, but your mind is saying, “don’t go there,” sex with your ex may not be the wisest choice. For those times when sex sounds good and it seems like the ex is the only option ... remember that your own hands (or that new toy) can do the trick. Be sure to take care of yourself sexually. You can be your own best lover! Finally, keep in mind that the world is big and there are plenty of hotties just waiting for you to find them — whether you’re looking for sizzling sex, emotional intimacy or both, you may want to channel your energy into adventures with new people. Above all, be honest with yourself, and be honest with your (ex) partner.
jonesin CROSSWORD PUZZLE
Theme: “This Plan Sucks”– 27 Talk and talk that’s the last time I write 30 File folder attachments 32 “Gone With the Wind” Jonesin’ while flying. family Across 34 What I got when I wanted quiet folks to sit 1 John Candy’s old show 5 Halloween purchase next to 8 Ballet leap 37 Make better 12 A real stand-up guy? 38 Play that gave us the 14 “Is there ___?” word “robot” 39 To be, to Brutus 16 Cosmetics catalog whose male counterpart 40 What I wanted for is “M” myself, but couldn’t get to work properly...then 17 Yoga posture received in front of me 18 One of three won by “Avenue Q” 45 Affix again, in a way 20 What I got when I hoped 46 Read quickly for substantial food on 47 Some NCAA players 48 Written pledges to pay, the plane for short 22 One that reclines 23 Eye, in the Yucatan 49 Ginuwine’s “Tell Me ___ 24 Org. for codebreakers Wanna”
EX-SEX 411 Pay attention to your physical and emotional needs. Sex with the ex may or may not meet those. • Don’t fool yourself! Even if your ex is having sex with you, it does not necessarily mean they care about you, or want to get back together • Most people are vulnerable after a break up. It can be easier to be hurt by someone who has moved on emotionally but stays with you sexually • Breaking up usually means that both parties see other people. Don’t assume that your ex is only sleeping with you. Even if you didn’t use protection before the break up, it’s a good idea to do so now as the risk of getting or spreading an STI is higher. •
51 Fencer’s sword 53 What I wished for, but couldn’t write correctly due to heavy turbulence 58 Beverage with tapioca balls 61 Shelley, on “Cheers” 62 Black and white cookie 63 Horse shade 64 It can be twisted and flicked to make a loud pop 65 Early Chloe Sevigny movie 66 High degree? 67 Collector’s goals Down 1 Outre sexual preference 2 Mozart’s “___ Fan Tutte” 3 Certain fed 4 DJ’s material 5 Duck, e.g.
6 “___ it!” 7 Curvy-nosed Muppet 8 Film with two recognizable notes 9 First name of a “Desperate Housewives” star 10 Johnson of “Plan 9 From Outer Space” 11 Butt 13 Word after per 15 It involves a new color 19 It’s said coming and going 21 Bundle in the office 24 Comes up 25 Ciaran Hinds, on “Rome” 26 Useful things 27 It appears before A 28 Blackjack pairing, perhaps 29 Smart folk 31 Ignores at the ceremony 33 “Oddworld: ___ Oddysee” (1997 PlayStation game) 35 Singer Fitzgerald 36 National Historic Landmark designated 3/27/06 41 Ebbing and flowing 42 He splits to unite 43 ___ Crunch 44 Does some shiatsu 50 At the highest point, redundantly 52 Takes some movie scenes out 53 Channels included in some premium cable groupings 54 Word used a lot by Lumbergh in “Office Space” 55 “You and ___ going to get along...” 56 Little bugger 57 MSNBC offering 58 ___ choy 59 Mr. Geller 60 Screwy place? Answers pg. 15
Kim Rice & Kate Ruin are professional sex educators. Want a question answered in their column? Write to them at riceandruin@yahoo.com
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THE SEA WAS ANGRY THAT DAY MY FRIENDS.
Apr. 6
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free will astrology APR. 6 — APR. 12 ARIES
March 21 – April 19
If you live to be 90 years old, you will have spent a total of eight months sitting in your car stopped at red lights. In addition, you will have wasted ten months standing in lines at stores, banks, and government agencies, and you will have lost almost two years killing time while hoping that a certain phone call, letter, or email will arrive. That’s the bad news, Aries. The good news is that few of those agonizing pauses will be racked up in the near future. This is one time when “no waiting” is the rule. You could make three months’ progress in 15 days.
T A U RU S
April 20 – May 20
GEMINI
May 21 – June 20
I once knew a psychic who worked with people in comas. He contacted their spirits, which were wandering in limbo between this world and the next, and tried to convince them to either fully return to their bodies or else let their bodies die and formally exit to the other side. The task you now face is nowhere as dramatically life-and-death as that, Taurus, but it’s comparable in a sense: Being neither here nor there is a futile state that you shouldn’t continue to accept. Do what’s necessary to make the knotty choice with as much grace as possible.
Plato said God was a geometer who created an ordered universe imbued with mathematical principles. Through the ages, scientists who’ve dared to speak of a Supreme Being have sounded the same theme. Galileo wrote, “To understand the universe, you must know the language in which it is written. And that language is mathematics.” Modern physicist Stephen Hawking says that by using mathematical theories to comprehend the nature of the cosmos, we’re trying to know “the mind of God.” But philosopher Richard Tarnas proposes a different model than these three. In his book Cosmos and Psyche, he suggests that God is an artist--more in the mold of Shakespeare than Einstein. Your assignment, Gemini, is to practice seeing the world like that: as a sublime work of art crafted by a master of drama, suspense, and storytelling. In my opinion, your life these days is a lyrical example of this divine craft.
CANCER
June 21 – July 22
LEO
July 23 – Aug. 22
“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware,” wrote philosopher Martin Buber. That’s something you’re on the verge of proving, Cancerian. Any day now I hope you will discover the hidden truth about a treasure you didn’t know you’ve been searching for; you will stumble upon the surprising answer to a riddle you hadn’t even realized you desperately need to solve.
I had a dream about my three closest Leo friends. In the dream, I was observing them as they wriggled out of cocoons that were hanging from a large tree that resembled a dinosaur skeleton. They were covered with feathers and their arms had turned into wings, though they still had human faces. Once they were free of the cocoons, they soared away. As I watched their ascent, my own arms began to transform into feathered wings. I felt that I, too, would soon be able to fly. Here’s how I interpret my dream: You Leos are ready to take off, and your flights will serve as inspiring examples to other people.
your deep self experiences it with tremendous sadness and loss. In accordance with current astrological omens, you might consider addressing the situation by revitalizing your connection to the plant world. Try singing to a forsythia bush. Hug a cherry tree. Say a prayer for a garden. Eat a salad or drink chamomile tea with reverent gratitude. Buy a new African violet for your home.
SCORPIO
Oct. 23 – Nov. 21
S AG I T TA R I U S
Nov. 22 – Dec. 21
CAPRICORN
Dec. 22 – Jan. 19
AQUA R I U S
Jan. 20 – Feb. 18
Your power animal is the Hawaiian fish known as the humuhumunukunukuapuaa. It has two spines, and that’ll be a good symbol for you in the coming days: You’ll need to have a powerful backbone as you weather challenges to your integrity and authority. The humuhumunukunukuapuaa is also able to wedge itself into tight spaces to seek temporary refuge from its adversaries. That has a metaphorical resemblance to a skill I hope you’ll cultivate. Finally, the humuhumunukunukuapuaa looks like a pig and makes pig-like grunts. You’ll benefit from having a similar ability to confound people about what kind of animal you are. Having multiple identities will keep you strong.
I’m not in the least sorry about that time 15 years ago when Brandon and Anah and I jumped on the roof of a stranger’s BMW at 3 a.m. and belted out songs from “West Side Story.” Nor do I have any regrets about burning 37 dollar bills and kissing 32 people’s asses at 2003’s Burning Man festival during my Sacred Uproar Revival show. I’m also at peace with scores of other past actions that lacked decorum and dignity. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, Sagittarius, it’s a good time for you to do something similar: Celebrate the outrageous, extreme, uninhibited things you’ve done that caused no harm and raised the levels of fun in your part of the world. Then go out and do some more.
Things you DON’T particularly need right now: excuses to procrastinate; urges to retreat into hardened positions and fixate on the way things used to be; a willingness to politely tolerate control freaks; fantasies about changing the personalities of people you love. Things you DO need: a windy day, a meadow, and a dragonish kite; more raw curiosity and better questions; a slightly irrational diversion that fires up your imagination; an idiosyncratic altar in your bedroom; more gratitude for and intimacy with your muse; finger paint and five large sheets of paper so you can illustrate your life story.
Aquarian actress and talk show host Tallulah Bankhead (19021968) had a lot to say. According to her biographer Joel Lobenthal in his book Tallulah!: The Life and Times of a Leading Lady, she sometimes spoke nonstop for hours, and in the course of one especially loquacious day uttered upwards of 70,000 words. Let’s make her your role model for the coming week, Aquarius. I believe it’s your sacred duty to express even more thoughts, jokes, observations, and stream-of-consciousness messages than you usually do. Fluency is your middle name.
PISCES
VIRGO
Aug. 23 – Sept. 22
LIBRA
Sept. 23 – Oct.22
Did you ever get one of those spam emails informing you that you’ve won the lottery in the Netherlands or that your government is trying to locate you in order to give you the assets of a distant relative who died and left you an inheritance? In the coming week, you should be alert for messages that contain authentic versions of those phony come-ons. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you have become eligible for benefits you don’t know about or have barely guessed the existence of.
The World Conservation Union says that one out of every eight of the Earth’s plant species is facing extinction. The threat is even higher in the U.S., where 29 percent are at risk. You may imagine this has no impact on your personal life, but I believe
Feb. 19 – March 20
My best friend in high school was James, a Piscean artist. His work was so wild and beautiful that it scared his parents. Instead of seeing him as he was--a budding creative genius-they suffered from the delusion that he was mentally ill. They confined him to an asylum and forced him to undergo shock treatments. Since they thought I was a bad influence, they forbade us from having contact. I lost track of him when I went to college, and later he dropped out of sight. This week I decided to google James. I was ecstatic to find that he has grown up big and strong. He’s an inventor and philanthropist living in Florida, having made loads of money from his numerous creations. In line with your astrological omens, I nominate him to be your inspiration. May his triumph over his past rouse you to recover some of the fullness of the brilliance that was suppressed and wounded when you were young. Homework: Compose a sincere prayer in which you ask for something you’re not supposed to.
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LIKES AND GRIPES
The Temptations Review
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AUSTIN HAPPEL Buzz Photo Editor LIKES 1. Thunderstorms: Really hard thunderstorms. Nothingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s better than walking outside and being knocked down by high winds only to see shit flying around, backlit by lightning â&#x20AC;&#x201D; lots of lightning. Surreal. 2. Live jazz: Real music, real musicians, improvisation, real sounds. 3. Sushi: Nutritious and delicious.
DAN PETRELL A Copy Editor GRIPES 1 . Fox: Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been almost two months, but I still canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get over the way the network treated Arrested Development. I jus t h o p e t h er eâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s another network out there thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s smart enough to pick up the show and keep it going. 2. Job fairs: I wasted ten hours of my life this Saturday driving up to a job fair in Chicago and back. In the three hours I was there, I stood in lines for hours waiting to talk to recruiters and only managed to talk to three before I had to head back to Champaign. 3. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My Humpsâ&#x20AC;? by the Black Eyed Peas: Anyone who has been out to a bar with me in the past few months has probably heard me complain about this song and its moronic lyrics. I love the Black Eyed Peas, but this song makes me want to punch babies. ALLIE ARMSTRONG Designer LIKES 1 . girlsarepretty. com: This highly entertaining Web site declares each and every day an unconventional holiday like â&#x20AC;&#x153;What Makes Marshmallows So Soft Day!â&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Get Into Somebodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Will Day!â&#x20AC;? Read a few, be amused. 2. Eddie Izzardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dress to Kill: If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve felt a British-Transvestite-Comedian-shaped hole in your life lately, hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s where to turn. You wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be disappointed. 3. Wandering aimlessly through bookstores: Do I really need to give you a reason?
27
featuring
Dennis Edwards
BRIT TANY BINDRIM Designer LIKES 1. Unexpected tornados: Even though the odds of getting killed in a tornado are one in four million, it is kind of exhilarating to get all freaked out and watch everyone run for cover during a storm. 2. Director Michel Gondryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Music videos: His videos are innovative, crazy and extremely creative. My favorites are Bjork videos, especially â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hyper Ballad.â&#x20AC;? 3. Memory foam pillows: So comfortable! They form to the shape your head and cradle your neck. Too bad I recently discovered Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m allergic to the NASA patented foam material.
A Mom's Day Event!
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NIKITA SOROKIN Designer GRIPES 1 . Being lif ted into the air by a tornado: I was walking down the street Sunday evening; the storm was aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;brewin. All of a sudden, I felt myself being lifted-like, up into the air. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Not for me,â&#x20AC;? I thought, and ran into The White Horse for a drink. 2. The Hummer cologne: The bottleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just not big enough. 3. B.F. Skinnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Conception of Human Nature: That guy was a dick.
PETER HOFFMAN Daily Illini Photo Editor GRIPES 1. Champaign Skate Park: Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s awesome that Champaign actually has a free outdoor skate park, but supposedly it was constructed by a bunch of drunken construction workers. I can feel their drunkenness while skating such a weirdly designed place. 2. University resources: I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know how many hours Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve wasted walking to these far-off locations to use printers, computer labs and the like, only to find theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re out of order or closed for some unknown reason. 3. Barrack Obama: Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s obsession with this guy, who hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t done much of anything except some smooth-talking, worries me.
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INTRO | A ROUND TOWN | L ISTEN, HEAR | CU CALENDAR | STAGE, S CREEN &
IN
B ETWEEN | CLASSIFIEDS | THE STINGER
GOT
HEADLINES?
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sounds from the scene