THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 2012
PAGE GA
Lupe Fiasco has become quite the polarizing figure. On one hand, his dense, thought-provoking verses have earned him a large fan base. On the other hand, his brash comments often cause a social media uprown. After last year's highly disappointing release of "Lasers" — which many believe was a creation of Atlantic records and not Fiasco himself — the artist promises fans that is 100 percent him.
Lupe Fiasco releases solid new album. 'Food and Liquor II'
Like the original "Food & Liquor" album, "Food & Liquor II" begins with a spoken poem previewing content. Fiasco touches all the issues he's known for, painting a bleak image of today's society. He also links up with longtime collaborator Soundtrak on "Strange Frustration." The production is great in the first half, with the exceptions of "Put 'Em Up" and "Audubon Ballroom." These songs suffer from bad hooks and repetitive instruments, which bring down the album's pace as a whole.
After a great beginning, a slow point in the album was inevitable. This starts at the ninth track, "Heart Donor." Production has always been Fiasco's weak point, and it shows in this track. This is one of the most dull, single-layered songs on the album. The next few tracks, "How Dare You," "Battle Scars" and "Brave Heart" suffer from the same mediocritie. Fiasco made a huge sequencing mistake by placing three love songs in a row. All these tracks suffer from annoying hooks and bad production. Even Fiasco's rhymes start to lack in this area; he sounds careless and boring.
After such a disappointing series of tracks, the album picks back up at the end. It's similar to the beginning of the album, but some of the tracks like "Cold War" and "Unforgiveable Youth" also suffer from lackluster choruses. However, these don't bring down the tracks too much as Fiasco returns to his more conscious brand of hip hop. The album ends with the brilliant outro "Hood Now."
Throughout the album, Fiasco addresses social issues in the world, making it a pretty dark album, but in the outro, he gives the listener a sign of hope. The track mainly serves as a celebration of all the things African Americans have done in America. Overall, "Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album" is a solid album. Even when Fiasco is at his best, he's still better than not. —Ryan Wright
FINAL RATING
1 Inn-
41 Caviar base 61 Mound stat
42 Type measures DOWN
8 Gracech 44 Fifth and Main, e.g. 1 Lummox
12 Melody 46 Take away Ever-green type
13 Garfield's pal
14 Golf target (from) 3 Mooch
15 Not restricted by convention 50 Dict. information 4 Java
16 By Jai follower 5 Fuss 6 Actress Sorvino
17 Facility 52 Out of jeopardy 7 Big rigs
18 Sprite 19 Out of jeopardy 8 Fast cat
19 Wing part 56 Uninteresting 9 Bellow
21 Strolled 10 As well
24 Perched 11 Existed
25 Yoko of music 16 Wapiti
26 Storm center 20 "Mighty — a Rose"
28 Skewered entree 60 Swiss range 21 Troubles
32 And others (Lat.)
34 Moray, e.g.
36 Vagrant
37 Aligned oneself (with)
39 Cosmetics mogul Mary —
CHECK OUT THE ANSWERS
http://bit.ly/QVNtYj
23 Color
27 "A mouse!"
29 Elsa's story
30 Reed instrument
31 Transvaal trekker
33 With a suspicious eye
35 Fond du —
38 "CSI" evidence
40 Sings in 60-Across?
43 Un-stressed vowel
45 Ump
46 Arp's genre
47 Hebrew month
48 Lofty
49 Implement
53 Swab the deck
54 Corn spike
55 Greek ⁽⁷⁾
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12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55
56 57 58 59 60 61
CRYPTOQUIP
ORN PYS IKIA'O DNMEES
XMAO OJ PYET IJXA ORMO
CDNXNI CNZNDMPN, CYO RN
PMZN KA OJ CNND TDNQQYDN.
Today's Cryptoquip Clue: I equals D
Denim re-emerges on the fashion scene
FASHION
Denim. It's something almost everyone has in their closet. Perhaps when I say this you are fondly thinking of your favorite pair of jeans or maybe a denim jacket you had as a child. Well, wake up from that dream of yours, because nowadays denim is being explored in totally new and improved ways.
CALLAN REILLY
creilly@kansan.com
History graduate student Vaughn Scribner knows exactly what I'm talking about. Scribner doubled his denim for a fashion forward daytime look. Pairing his dark jeans with a lighter shaded chambray shirt on top break up the fabrics wonderfully, so he doesn't look like one big denim blob. While his chambray shirt isn't technically denim, it still gives off the jean-on-jean look. Chambray is
a great way to trick people into thinking you're wearing a denim piece on top. It's also a lighter and more comfortable fabric, so if you feel denim is too stiff or rigid, this is a great replacement.
Scribner described his ensemble as having an "American work wear" appeal. "I really like fashion. I teach a class, and I like to dress up a little bit but still be casual. A more utilitarian shirt
vage jeans and basic shoes are in-the-moment and classic at the same time," Scribner said. Huge kudos to this intelligently dressed history GTA, as he is spot-on with his styling. Perhaps he should teach a fashion course as well. Boys, take notes.
Another fabulous example showing off the hot trend is senior behavioral science student Ayako Sawaguchi. Sawaguchi shows us how she
mixes up her denim by pairing an oversized button up with leather leggings and black con
verse sneakers. Ahhhh,
converse; the timeless
sneaker appropriate for
every age, gender and
style.
"Leather leggings are my favorite, and it's a trend that I see celebrities wearing," Sawaguchi said. "My shirt is from England, and I just put them together because my morning practicum doesn't allow me to wear clothing." A practical and fashionable student, that more could a professor possibly ask for?
FILM
Applying denim pieces with contrasting textures is an absolute must right now. Pair denim with
Right now, I can admire leather, tweed, corduroy, or metallic pieces to spice up outfits in a jiff. Every body type can wear this trend, and closets should be filled with a range of textures for the upcoming seasons.
Edited by Sarah McCabe
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Found Footage Festival organizers Nick Pruehler, left, and Joe Pickett present a movie comprised of weird VHS tapes they were found in the last 15 years. This year, the Found Footage Festival is touring nationally and will be on the road until April.
Old VHS tapes resurrected
LEMILY BROWN
ebrown@kansan.com
Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett find old VHS tapes in thrift stores, Salvation Armies and garage sales. They've found them in estate sales, library liquidations and church rummage sales. Prueher even found a bag of them left in a trashcan. Prueher, a former researcher at the Late Show with David Letterman and Pickett, a writer and director, use these videos for their Found Footage Festival, a show they present across the country, showcasing their collection of random VHS tapes. The 2012 Found Footage Festival in Lawrence will be on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at the Granada Tickets will be $10 and are available at the door.
Prueher said the idea for the Found Footage Festival came out of boredom in a small town.
"We started looking at thrift
stores for items that would make us laugh," he said. "We found a lot of VHS tapes that people had gotten rid of, and we couldn't believe how ridiculous they were. We started inviting friends over to watch them. 15 years later, we had enough videos in our collection — probably 1,200 at that time — to make it into a show. We took it out of our living room and put it into a theater. To our surprise, people really liked it."
Pickett said the weirdest video in the upcoming show is of a man named Frank Pacholski.
The 2012 show will feature exercise videos like "The Sexy Treadmill Workout," and clips from a training video in 1986 on how to care for a pet ferret.
"He made two public access videos in Los Angeles in 1999 where he dances in Speedoed for a roomful of confused elderly people," he said. "Then things get even weird when he starts pouring food all
over himself. It's like watching an awful, gag-inducing dream."
"People can expect to see a perfect blend of weird, gross, hilarious and awful that they really can't see anywhere else," he said. "But, honestly, if there's one reason to come, it's to see a man dancing in speedos for elderly people."
Pickett said students should check out the show because none of the videos can be found on the internet.
Freshman Lesley Taylor from Wichita is planning on going to the Found Footage Festival. She said she wanted to go because it sounded like a unique idea, and she's never heard of anything like it before.
SUDOKU
"I am expecting to see really interesting and exciting footage," she said. "I don't really know what to expect, but I know it's going to be fun."
Edited by Sarah McCabe
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Difficulty Level ★★★★
10/27