Section B · Page 4
The University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, June 9,1999
Commentary
925 Iowa (formerly Hillcrest Theatres)
832-0818
Listener must decide whether music rocks
Being a music critic puts you in a position akin to having to tell people that their children are ugly or stupid.
Music, for all of its commercialism and commodifying, is art, and art is in the eye of the beholder. So while sitting here typing on a wheezing old computer, I'm really in no more of a position to tell you what music is good and what music is bad than I am to inform you that your son or daughter is an ignorant scofflaw. I might want to throttle
the chocolate-stained brat screaming through the produce aisle, but he's some one's beloved child.
Likewise,
my complete
disinterest in
Phish,
for
example,
shouldn't
preclude 6th
Chris Eckert
Kansan critic
ers from adoring the group's everylam.
So think of the column as a child-rearing guide. I'd love for each and every reader to be the best, most-informed parents that they can be. I'll try to provide the best information and pointers so that you can make well-informed decisions.
To that end, I don't see a compelling need to review the releases of omnipresent popular artists, such as the Smash Mouth and Jordan Knight CDs that have recently found their way to the office. If you want to figure out if you like these, just listen to the radio for about 20 minutes this summer, and you'll probably hear them.
One goal of reviews in future editions will be to expose albums that don't get the benefit of radio domination — things you've seen at the store or in concert ads but might otherwise be a mystery.
AREA CONCERTS
Here's a partial list of concerts in Lawrence and Kansas City in the next week. For venue info, check out The Zone or Synopsis.
June 9 Sunbarrow/Busy Signal
[Zero Zero cancelled] Bottleneck
June 10 Ultimate Fakebook, Frog
June 10 Ultimate Fakebook, Frogpond — Hurricane
pona
June 10 Hot Sauce Johnson/Ruska
Jackson
- June 11 Shudderbug — Hurricane
- June 11 The Urge/2 Skinee JS — Untown Theatre
June 11 The Schwag — Bottleneck
June 12 Danger Bob, Dragqueen,
Luxbush — Battleneck (CD release
party for Danger Bob's 3rd album
"Girl of the Bun II")
"Girls of the big (12)
June 12 Overcock — Gee Coffee
June 12 Overcast - Gee Coffee
June 16, Mi6, The Sunshine Vandals
- 53am Street Bar
- June 13 Eve 6/Marvelous 3 - The Beaumont Club
June 13 Bella Fleck & the Flightelons — UpTown Theatre; for everyone mournful for Dave Matthews Band's concert at Sandstone selling out, here's a great musician who played on DMB's last album and a concert that will soothe your pain if you didn't get tickets)
June 14. Avondale, the black water,
Dev-Null, Epparley — Grand Emporium
(free with a student ID, a good
sampler of local music)
June 14 Open Mic Night — Bottleneck
June 15, Truth, Canvas, Donkey
Show, The Touchdown — Bottleneck
But like I said, you, the reader and listener, are ultimately the person who decides what's good for you. So find out for yourself.
The Ultimate Band List (www.ubl.com) is probably the best directory of music links on the web, and Synapsis (www.synapsis.net) and The Zone (www.thezone.org) are both excellent local music resources. Use them.
Eckert is a Towaco, N.J. junior in English.
By Jennifer Roush
Kansan columnist
Hey boys and girls, it's summertime once again! No more teachers, no more books -- yadda yadda yadda. Consequently, many of you without jobs, classes or internships will be bored sultitess by now.
Not to worry-- the Internet can save even the most bored among us. To this end, I have surfed long and hard (for at least half an hour) to find Web sites devoted to summer and summer-related activities. Point your Web browser at any one of these sites and prepare to be entertained.
www.netfix.com/pop-tart/summer.html
This site is called simply "Summer Fun." It features many entertaining and educational links for kids of all ages and parents tired of hearing how bored said kids are. Here, surfers can find new games using a hose and sprinkler, recipes that don't require heating your kitchen to the surface temperature of the sun and other fun goodies. It's the online equivalent of booting the rug rats outside to play.
www.greenweb.com.au/g
arde/index.html
This Australian site is devoted to gardening of all sorts — indoor, outdoor, vegetables or flowers. If it grows in the ground, this Web site explains how to plant it, feed it, water it and watch it thrive. It includes chat rooms
for gardeners and special links for children and seniors.
www.travelhub.com
www.travelinbub.com
If you're looking to take a vacation this summer, this is the site for you. It advertises the ability to locate the lowest fares available on any flight to just about anywhere, and it's hooked up to hundreds of travel agencies from around the world. Come here to book a flight, a package tour or a cruise.
www.amazon.com
This is the world's largest online bookstore, but they don't just want your money. They also aim to educate readers. Summer is the best time to catch up on that classic you've been meaning to read but never had the time, or to renew your secret passion for bodice-ripping romance novels. If you follow the link to summer reading, you'll find Amazon's list of must-read books for summer.
www.tropicweb.net/summer.htm
This Web site, called "Summer Vacation," is a virtual vacation on the Internet. You can learn how to identify and avoid heat-related illnesses, print out a "closed for summer" sign for your oven and even enter a contest to win a No Oven Summer Kit. Teenagers can hunt for summer employment, and the whole family can peruse the Internet Public Library or learn to build a home page.
Regents Court 19th & Mass 749-0445
Orchard Corners 15th & Kasold 749-4226
Sundance 7th & Florida 841-5255
Tanglewood 10th & Arkansas 749-2415
Hanover Place 14th & Mass 841-1212
NOW LEASING FOR FALL