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WEDNESDAY JANUARY 28, 2015
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arts & features
TRENDING 'Montage of Heck' features man behind the myth
Y You have most likely seen his face. You can probably
LYNDSEY HAVENS
@LyndseyAlana
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You can probably recognize his music. There is a good chance you have even flipped through a poster of him at the poster sale in the Kansas Union. Kurt Cobain is arguably one of the most easily identifiable figures in music and his influence permeates today's culture just as much, if not more so, than it did in the early '90s at Nirvana's peak.
In 1993, Cobain stopped in Lawrence to meet writer William S. Burroughs for the first time. The two had previously collaborated on the song "The Priest' They Called Him," but worked separately before fusing Cobain's tapes with tapes of a reading Burroughs had done. As Charles Cross recounts in "Heavier than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain," "Burroughs remarked to his assistant, 'There's something wrong with that boy; he frowns for no good reason.'"
Dave Grohl, former Nirvana drummer and current Foo Fighters frontman, remembers needing to get away after Cobain's death. In Grohl's recent HBO miniseries "Sonic Highways," a documentary that chronicles Foo Fighters' recording experience in eight cities, Grohl said he remembers driving down a dirt road with nothing in sight for miles, when suddenly, he saw a hitchhiker on the side of the road.
Grohl slowed down enough to see that the hitchhiker was wearing a shirt with Kurt Cobain on it. He claimed that this was the moment he realized the full impact, importance and lasting influence that Cobain had, and would continue to have, not only in the music industry but in the world.
Montage of Heck," the first fully authorized documentary on Cobain, premiered at Sundance Film Festival earlier this week. The documentary has been in the works since 2007, and according to Consequence of Sound, Cobain's widow Courtney Love and their daughter Frances Bean granted director Brett Morgen access to a surplus of materials to incorporate in the documentary. Some of these materials included never-before-seen journals, audio recordings, paintings, drawings and home videos. Consequence of Sound claims that the film highlights "the good, the bad, and the wholly uncomfortable," and interviews Cobain's closest companions. Everyone except Grohl.
Morgen told Billboard Magazine that although Grohl was interviewed for the film, the interview took place too far along the production process. Prior to the documentary's debut, Morgen said that trying to re-edit a film with a new interview in 10 days is a difficult task.
"This is the picture I wanted I didn't want there to be a lot of people in the film," he said. "I hope we'll see a version [with the Grohl interview] some time."
The film has no official release date yet, but will premiere this year on HBO.
Super Bowl travelers get top treatment
Edited by Victoria Kirk
TERRY TANG
Associated Press
ROSS D. FRANKLIN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
and the Phoenix One
For some travelers visiting Arizona for the Super Bowl, the trip may be just as memorable as the game.
Hundreds of luxury jets will arrive at the eight airports around metropolitan Phoenix by kickoff Sunday, adding to the thousands of flights expected over the weekend. The Federal Aviation Administration and area airports have been planning for the influx for the past year.
Private jet-setters will receive VIP treatment. Many travel with companies that allow individuals and businesses to own a portion of an aircraft or to buy flight hours and that lavish perks on customers including goody-filled swag bags, a concert by country group Lady Antebellum, complimentary cocktails and high-end catering once they emerge from their Lear Jets and Gulfstreams.
"We've got a team that greets every airplane. We do roll out — it's maybe not red carpet
A growing number of private jets sit parked at Scottsdale Airport Tuesday in Scottsdale, Ariz. With the NFL Super Bowl football game and PGA golf tournament in town the private jet traffic into the Phoenix-area airports is expected to increase.
Saturday night in Scottsdale difference."
with Lady Antebellum ar traffic, meaning more than additional aircraft.
but there is carpet that's rolled out," said Eric Lampert, Netlets' vice president of flight operations.
The boost in private jet traffic for the Super Bowl is a sign of how the big game has increasingly become a VIP event, from the many celebrity parties to tickets running several thousand dollars.
Starting Thursday, NetJets will have a temporary furnished lounge where customers can relax with complimentary food, drinks, television and Wi-Fi. They will also get a Super Bowl gooey bag and admission to a party
Dallas-based Flexjet has hired Press, a Phoenixbased food truck, to serve complimentary Italian street eats to passengers starting Thursday. The specialty menu will include mini sausage-bread-pudding muffins, caprese salad skewers and raspberry-filled bombolones, which are Italian doughnuts.
"These little details really matter," said Megan Wolf, Flexjet's vice president of customer experience. "They'll remember years later that we had this really great food truck and how fun it was, and they'll tell their friends. So, it makes a
The FAA, airport operators
The area will be inundated with between 1,200 and 1,400 private and commercial flights, but plans are in place to handle the load, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.
Commercial travelers should not worry that their departures Sunday or Monday will get pushed aside in favor of their luxury counterparts. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, the main hub, has parking space for 250 private jets. The movements of private jets will be based around commercial traffic, which has priority, airport spokeswoman Heather Lissner said.
and aviation businesses have collaborated on a reservation system to manage the flights, especially on Sunday with many of the expected departures. Every flight will be scheduled in an orderly fashion to prevent air traffic control systems from getting overwhelmed, Gregor said.
The FAA will add staffing and operating hours at air traffic control facilities as needed, he said.
The Super Bowl is the grand finale in a week that includes the Waste Management Phoenix Open, a golf tournament in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale. Both events will have the Scottsdale Airport dealing with an expected 54
That was the increase seen when both events took place in Arizona in February 2008, airport spokeswoman Sarah Ferrara said.
Ferrara, who was not employed by the airport in 2008, said she is looking forward to seeing two to three flights taking off every few minutes.
"I just hear the departures are going to be fantastic — these beautiful jets departing one after another," Ferrara said.
Couple fearing apocalypse commits murder-suicide
Associated Press
LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press
A Utah couple and their three children who were found dead in their home last fall overdosed on drugs after the parents told friends they were concerned about a pending apocalypse, authorities said Tuesday.
Police also found old letters from the mother to a Utah man in prison for killing family members in the name of God, murders that were chronicled in the 2003 John Krakauer book "Under the Banner of Heaven."
RICK BOWMER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
This Sept. 28, 2014 file photo shows the home where five Utah family members were found dead in their home, in Springville, Utah. Police say five members of the Utah family found dead last fall died from methadone and other drugs, and interviews with people who knew them revealed the parents worried about a "pending apocalypse." Springville Police Chief J. Scott Finlayson said Tuesday authorities have concluded their investigation into the September deaths of Beniamin and Kristi Strack and three of their children, ages 11, 12 and 14.
Benjamin and Kristi Strack and three of their four children — ages 11, 12 and 14 — were found dead in September in a single locked bedroom of their Springville home. The couple was in a bed, and their children were tucked into the covers around them.
At a news conference Tuesday, Springville Police Chief J. Scott Finlayson said investigators have concluded their probe and determined all five died from "drug toxicity" from either methadone, heroin or a combination of drugs.
Authorities determined the parents committed suicide. The younger two children's deaths were ruled homicides, although Finlayson said there were no signs of a struggle.
The manner of death for the 14-year-old, Benson Strack, was undetermined.
Police said Benson left a goodbye letter bequeathing some of his belongings to his best friend. The only other recent writing the family left behind was a notebook containing handwritten todo lists about feeding the pets and other chores.
Finlayson said interviews with people who knew the Stracks indicated the parents were concerned with evil and wanted to escape from "impending doom."
"There seemed to be a concern about a pending
apocalypse that the parents bought into," Finlayson said. "While some friends thought that suicide might have been, or could have been, included in their plans, others believed they were going to move somewhere and live off the grid."
During their investigation, police found years-old letters between Kristi Strack and Dan Leafferty, who is serving a life sentence for a double murder he committed with his brother Ron.
"Under the Banner of Heaven" is about members of an offshoot of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, told through the true story of the Laffertys' crimes. The two killed their brother's wife and 15-month old daughter.
Ron Lafferty was condemned to death for the July 1984 slayings of his sister-in-law, Brenda Lafferty, and her baby daughter in American Fork, Utah. He claimed to have had a religious revelation sanctioning the slayings because of the victim's resistance to his beliefs in polygamy.
Investigators said it appeared the Stracks were close with Dan Lafferty at
one point but hadn't talked to him since 2008. Police Corp. Greg Turnbow said investigators do not believe the couple's beliefs came from Dan Lafferty.
Benjamin Strack's brother Jacob said the final report from investigators wasn't surprising to relatives still mourning the family's deaths. Looking back, the connection to Dan Lafferty was a troubling sign about the couple's mental state, he said.
The Stracks' bodies were found by their older son and the children's grandmother Sept. 27, according to search warrants. Police found cups
with liquid inside next to each of the bodies.
The older son was Kristi Strack's child from a previous marriage. Police also said the methadone used in the deaths had been prescribed to her.
Court records show Benjamin and Kristi Strack had a history of legal and financial problems, and had gone through court-ordered drug treatment several years ago. But Benjamin Strack's boss has said it appeared those troubles were behind them.
Springville is a city of about 30,000 near Provo, about 45 miles south of Salt Lake City.
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