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SPORTY SUNDAY
SUNDAY
Football fans find local Super Bowl fun
By Matt Tait
Kansan sportswriter
With the Atlanta Falcons preparing for their first-ever trip to the Super Bowl where they will meet the defending champion Denver
meet the defending champion Denver Broncos, Lawrence residents are getting ready as well.
Several area bars and restaurants are running Super Bowl Sunday specials. The Sports Page Brewery, 3512 Clinton Parkway, is showing the game on 30 televisions, including one big screen.
While it is not the same as knocking one's head into a locker or head butting a teammate's helmet, football fans and business have come up with their own Super Bowl celebrations.
"It such a busy day you're going to get good business," Bill Sahle, brewer manager, said.
Johnny's Tavern, 401 N. 2nd St., is having chili and hot dog specials and showing the game on 20 televisions
J. B. Stouts, 721 Wakarusa Ave., is having drink and food specials and drawings for Super Bowl paraphernalia.
Fatso's, 1016 Massachusetts St., is serving their drink specials in actual stadium cups from Miami, and they are giving away T-shirts and a large inflatable chair.
Old Chicago, 2329 Iowa St., is also giving away an inflatable chair to the winner of its trivia contest.
Some students find their own recliners more appealing than an night out on the town.
"My friends want to go to a bar, but I don't want to because I want to watch the game and sometimes it's too loud at bars," Amanda Romek, Englewood, Colo., senior said.
For fans with the coveted tickets, or a little extra time, a road trip to Miami, Atlanta or Denver gives a different perspective on the game.
"I got lucky on some tickets and I'm going to the game with some friends," Michael Baker, Denver sophomore
said
According to la Sunday's USA Today magazine, Super Bowl Sunday has exceeded New Year's Eve as the most popular day to have house parties and has passed every holiday except Thanksgiving in food consumption.
Since Chiefs fans are stuck on the sidelines, students have found different reasons to throw Super Bowl parties.
"We're throwing a party and I'm rooting against Denver," Dave Splawski, Chicago junior said.
Photo illustration by Christina Neff
Events Calendar
Matt Merkel-Hess
Friday, Jan. 29
Mingus Big Band with Kevin Mahogany. 8 p.m. Lied Center. $35/$30 adults, $34/$29 seniors. 17.50/$15 students.
KU Opera. "Iolanthe" by Gilbert and Sullivan.
7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall, Murphy Hall,
$7, students $5, adults and seniors.
Kansas Zen Center. Formal Dharma Speech by Zen Master Hae Kwang. 7 p.m. Lawrence Arts Center
Saturday. Jan. 30
Saturday Afternoon Feature Film Series.
American Graffiti. 2 p.m. Spencer Museum of Art Auditorium. Free.
KU Opera. "iolanthe" by Gilbert and Sullivan.
7:30 p.m. Swarthout Recital Hall, Murphy Hall,
Hall 7, $7 adults, $5 students and seniors.
Sunday, Jan. 31
Piano Concerto Readings. KU Symphony Orchestra with graduate piano students. 7:30 p.m. Lied Center. Free.
Film Festival. Super Bowl Sunday Double Feature. Camille Claudel. 12 p.m. Sense and Sensibility. 2:30 p.m. Spencer Museum of Art. Free.
Semisonic's newest release sounds strangely surprising
By Matt Cox
Kanson music man
Semisonic
Feeling
Strangely
Fine
Rating:B
Semisonic flaunts the ability to surpass the Top 40 fluff of "Closing Time" and creates well-rounded pop rock.
Dan Wilson's writing has matured since The Great Divide, their debut album. Feeling Strangely Fine, their second effort, feels strangely statifying even after listening to it just once.
"Closing Time," their first single, succeeds because of its instantly memorable melody, but lacks as a whole because of the tired music structure. "DND" clones the "Closing Time" rhythm, making you begin to sing the lyrics to the
popular song, only to be interrupted by different lyrics on a different track. "Singing in my Sleep," their second single, spawns another tired chord progression but this time with an annoying, staccatto organ lead. But the mediocraty ends here and the rest of the album really starts to shine.
undeniably addictive groove. The song begins with an upbeat piano lead that immediately grabs your attention. Then in comes the fuzz-bass line and drums to accentuate the groove started by the piano as lead singer Dan Wilson tells a story about a fight the night before. Everything about this song has a refreshing energy and it has to be listened to over and over again.
The peak of the album is "Never You Mind,"a true popinfluenced rock song with an
"Gone to the Movies" offers an interesting storytelling twist to an aftermath of a break-up. Wilson sings about the trials of a man searching for his girl who is "gone to the movies now and not coming home." The lyric theme is engaging and the soft bed of music pinpoints an believable atmosphere.
Rock band keeps audience grooving at the Granada
By Matt Cox
Kansas music man
Semisonic
Tuesday, Jan. 26
Granada
Rating: A
The most amazing thing about Semisonic is their ability to reproduce on stage all the effects found on their albums with only three band members.
Drummer Jacob Slicter plays a small keyboard or a drum sampler while drumming, and bass player John Munson and guitarist Jacob Slicter play keyboards during some of the songs.
They started Tuesday's concert with "F.N.T.," a single from their previous album, The Great Divide. The live version was better than the CD recording. The audience was hopping up and down and the tone was set. Wilson communicated with the audience vocally and physically to create a connection between music starand concert-goer.
The song "Singing In My Sleep" followed. Only a few people in the theater were not singing along.
Semisonic seemed to be playing their greatest hits since the next song was "If I Run," the biggest single from their first album. They didn't save the big songs for the end, which was where the beauty lay. Every song they played that night was full of energy, emotion and punch.
During "If I Run," Wilson displayed his guitar-playing ability in a five-minute jam session. He was amazing! He played complicated blues leads with no effort and great intensity. The display of pure adrenaline came to an end when the musicians slipped back into the song's chorus. When the song ended the audience was more exhausted than the band.
Semisonic took a break from playing their radio singles when they performed the greatest song on the Feeling Strangely Fine album, "Never You Mind."
Their latest single, "Secret Smile," followed and then they performed other songs from the new album followed by a cover song from The Artist Formerly. Known as Prince (or whatever the musician wants to be called now). They maintained the same energy the whole night right up to the final bash when they played "Closing Time." Although predictable, the song's popularity made it an appropriate end.
She's All That isn't that much
By Brendan Walsh Kansan movie critic
For those suffering the throes of puberty, *She's All That* is probably a great movie. For anyone older than 16, there are better options out there.
She's All That
Starring:
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Rachael Leigh Cook
Rating:D+
Zack, the captain of the high school soccer team and class president (Freddie Prinze Jr.) is dumped by Taylor, his vivacious and equally popular girlfriend Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, six weeks before prom. Zack, unfazed, bets his friend that he can transform any girl in the school into a prom queen and a substitute for his ex-girlfriend. Zack's project is Laney (Rachael Leigh Cook), a clumsy wallflower and super dork. The end result is predictable.
She's All That
The high school they attend seems borrowed from the early years of Beverly Hills 90210. It is a lot like mine was, except that where I came from less than half the students drove BMWs, we didn't have a DJ broadcasting tunes and witty remarks over the PA system between classes, and people who were dorks tended to stay that way.
The film teaches us that all it takes for teenage girls to be popular among their peers and loved by the school stud is a pair of contacts, revealing clothes, a love for partying and two short eyebrows instead of one long one.
Laney sums up the movie when she compares her life to Julia Roberts' transformation in *Pretty Woman*, "except for the hooker thing."
The movie is not without its charms. For example, there is a well-done scene involving pubic hair that will cause even the most cynical audience members to react.
The cast is a virtual list of who's in teen acting circles. Cook is a veteran movie actor as well as a frequent guest on Dawson's Creek, and Prinze Jr. is the son of the late senior Prinze, who was somewhat of a film and TV star in the 70s. Also in the cast are Macauley Culkin's little brother, Kieran, and Academy Award winner Anna Paquin. Rapper Lil' Kim makes her act- ing debut and R&B soulman Usher plays
the part of the campus DJ. All these talents do the best to save the movie, but it's still a silly romantic comedy in the end.