6A
Thursday, September 19, 1996
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Lawrence Air Services
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Learn to Fly
Radio show cracks more than jokes
"Coors Light Nights" Fall '96 Lawrence's Biggest Pub Crawl
Join 105.9 The Lazer for two more incredible nights in September. By visiting all four taverns on any of the two nights left on the crawl, You Could Win an exciting trip including airfare hotel accommodation and more!
Thursday, Sept.
O Street Tavern
The Crossing
Bullwinkle's
*The Wheel
Saturday. Sept. 21st Harbor Lights
Fatso's
Red Lyon Tavern
*Louise's*
- The Lazer will broadcast live from 9-midnight at this location Weekly Prize awarded September 19. Grand Prize awarded September 21 at midnight. Winners will be notified. Check your favorite bar listed above for complete details
By Lindsey Henry
Kansan staff writer
A few times a year, Kip Niven gets the opportunity to crack wainsmuts between his butt cheeks, all for the sake of entertainment.
Niven is one of seven members of radio station KANU's Imagination Workshop, a sketch comedy troupe that performs and tapes skits that are then broadcasted by more than 100 National Public Radio stations.
The Imagination Workshop will open its 1996-97 season with two performances on Saturday, Oct. 5, at Liberty Hall, 642 Massachusetts St. Shows will be at 5 and 8 p.m. The later show will be broadcast live on KANU.
“You'd think seeing a radio show live would be boring, but this is literally the most fun I've had in 25 years as a performer," said Niven, a 1968 KU graduate. "Our audiences love seeing how it all goes together. You have seven fairly normal-looking people doing crazy things."
Niven's skill with his recurring-cracking stems from his recurring role as Butt
Master in one of the workshop's skits. The Legion of Super Heroes.
"The only power my super hero has is cracking walnuts with his butt," Niven said. "So while I am on stage, clenching my butt cheeks, a sound effects lady is really cracking walnuts off stage into a microphone."
Niven said it was a huge honor that the show was broadcast on National Public Radio.
Niven described the Imagination Workshop as a radio version of Saturday Night Live. The only difference, he said, is that Imagination Workshop is funny.
The Imagination Workshop's awards include two gold medals as the best comedy show and one grand prize in 1993 for entertainment programs from the International Radio Festival.
"To be a part of the network that brings such quality programming as All Things Considered is wonderful. It is like a step up in class," he said. "But please understand we don't do anything on stage that is highbrow."
Darrell Brogdon, the show's producer, started the Imagination Workshop in 1985.
Contributed photo
In 1988, National Public Radio picked it up for distribution.
Brogdon said the October shows would offer topical comedy, contemporary spoofs on old-time radio shows and political jabs.
"This is our only shot before the election to make fun of Clinton and Dole," Brogdon said. "We hope this would be something everyone would be interested in. Our main goal is to make the people laugh."
Tickets are $10 for main-floor seating and $7 for balcony seating and are available at Liberty Hall.
The Best Pizza In Town... Honest!
K. U. Students receive $1.00 off anytime with a valid Student I.D. We also offer private rooms for meetings and parties. plus a large gameroom for all ages!
- Buffet hours 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.•
Buffet Prices... Lunch $3.99 Dinner $4.99
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BlueStew heats up local audiences with blues sound
By Erln Rooney
Kansan staff writer
A steady gig at a nationally known music house is a dream for bands.
BlueStew members had such a dream, and now Brett Mosiman, owner of The Bottleneck, has made it a reality.
BlueStew will play almost every Thursday night this semester at The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St.
The band will not play when advance-ticket concerts have been scheduled.
Mosiman offered the band a choice of nights to play the venue repeatedly, said Nathan Meckel, Nashville, Temn., junior and BlueStew guitarist.
"I guess they've got confidence in us," Meckel said. "We feel really lucky. We'll see what happens."
Bands like the Salty Iguanas and Baghdad Jones have had regular performance schedules at The Bottleneck, and Mosiman said BlueStew had similar potential.
"We're always trying to help hands, and they were at the top of the list in Lawrence talent-wise and audience-wise," Mosiman said. "I think they're on their way to becoming very popular in town."
Meckel is joined on stage by Chebon Tiger, lead vocalist and guitarist, and by drummer Mike Patrum, Garden City junior. Meckel and Tiger met at the Full Moon Cafe, 803 Massachusetts St., in October, during a blues jam session. The pair met Patrum in January and played their first concert two days later.
BlueStew has a temporary bass player, Justin Love, Overland Park graduate student and permanent member of the band Justin Case.
"We're a hodgepodge of blues. We're not all Texas; we're not Chicago. We're a mixture of styles," Meckel said.
The idea for BlueStew's name came during a brainstorming session with friends. Meckel said that the name seemed appropriate for the band's music style.
"They enjoy themselves so much on stage," Kipp said. "As they perform, their energy gets conveyed to the audience, and I think that's why I enjoy it so much. Once you experience that with a band, that's why you want to go back and see them again."
Kathy Kipp, Woodridge, Ill., senior, said she liked blues and had seen BlueStew often.
Student couples note benefits conflicts in taking class together
By Megan Jordan Kansan staff writer
Love to study? What about studying with the one you love?
KU students have found that taking classes and studying with a boyfriend or girlfriend can be both positive and negative.
Brock Ainsworth, Overland Park sophomore, has three classes with his girlfriend, Missy Songer, Wichita sophomore.
"I'm not organized at all, and she keeps all her stuff in little folders, so that helps me," he said.
Ainsworth motivates Songer to keep up with her schoolwork by asking about her progress, he said.
Kim Grassmeyer, associate director of the Student Assistance Center, said that dating partners could replace parents by holding each other accountable for homework.
"Little reminders help a lot," Grassmeyer said. "And it's not somebody riding your butt but someone who cares enough to ask."
Marshall Jackson, administrative associate at the center, said it was important that couples understood each other's academic goals.
If one partner is serious about school and the other never wants to study, conflicts may arise, he said.
Although academics are important to both of them, Songer said studying with Ainsworth could be difficult when one was in the mood to have fun.
"If it was just a friend I could say, 'Listen here, I need to study,'" she said. "It's different with a boyfriend; I don't want to make him mad."
Different comprehension levels also can cause friction. When one partner understands the material and the other is confused, impatience and frustration are normal, Jackson said.
Songer and Ainsworth encountered the situation when discussing a book for English class.
"If a friend had tried to tell him he probably wouldn't have overreacted like that," she said.
When Singer tried to explain the main ideas to Ainsworth, he got upset.
Despite potential problems, if students understand how important academics are in their partners' lives, taking a class and studying together could be an advantage.
Songer said she knew Ainsworth better after learning his study habits and how he handled stressful situations, such as tests.
Lawrence, KU plan to organize weekend-long events for fans
By Bradley Brooks Kansan staff writer
City peps up for home games
Students and residents of Lawrence will be seeing blue this fall when KU football comes to town.
With the creation of "Big Blue Weekends," a Friday night pep rally, game-day tailgate parties and other activities will mark home football games.
The University of Kansas Athletic Department and the Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau, 734 Vermont St., have worked together to make football weekends a citywide celebration.
"We need to make it a festival atmosphere downtown," said Jennifer Carter, travel sales and marketing manager for the visitors bureau. "If you are a visitor to Lawrence, you can't tell if anything is going on during football weekends, despite heavy traffic. We're hoping to get people to stay the whole weekend, and not just one night."
The Big Blue Weekends will begin at 7 p.m. each Friday with a pep rally and street fair. Eighth Street will be blocked off between Massachusetts and New Hampshire Streets, and the KU spirit squad, football coaches and mascots will be there.
On game days, tailgate parties will be held around Lawrence. For $2, a person can enter the parties and ride a bus to and from Memorial Stadium. Hosts of the parties are the Holiday Inn, 200 McDonald Drive, Old Chicago Restaurant, 2329 Iowa St., Johnny's Tavern, 410 N. Second St., and a family tailgate party at the stadium is tentatively planned.
Organizers hope that the promoting will be economically advantageous for all Lawrence merchants.
While the Athletic Department and visitors bureau are understandably excited about the weekends, not all KU students are looking forward to downtown invasions.
"I really don't like football," said Holly McKinney, Lenexa senior. "I want to get away from all the people who come to the games, and I usually go to Mass. Street to escape the annoyance of football fans. They should just keep the pep rallies on campus."
they'd probably have to start with typewriters and work their way up from there.
the Per
*Performa 6290/100 8/1.2GB/CD
*Apple Multi-Scan 14" Display
*Apple Design Keyboard
*Internal 28.8 Pax/Modem
*StyleWriter 1200
*Iomega Zip Drive
*Jayhawk Mouse Pad
*10pk 3M HD Disks $21
$219100