MONDAY,AUGUST 16,2004
12B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
ENTERTAINMENT
Host to leave 'Late, Late Show'
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — Craig Kilborn has decided to quit CBS' Late Late Show after five seasons, leaving the network to find a new host for the hour that follows Late Show with David Letterman.
"It was easily the greatest job I've had, and CBS was very generous in their offer to re-sign me," Kilborn told Daily Variety. "But I simply want to try something new. I can now focus on writing and producing different television projects I haven't had time for."
Not one to pass up a gag, Kilborn added: "And this is cool: I will continue to wear makeup in my everyday life."
Kilborn had drawn solid ratings for CBS since he took the time slot over from Tom Snyder. Since 1999, the audience had grown 34 percent to this season's average of 1.7 million viewers.
He likely will wrap up his tenure by within a month, according to a source close to the production, Variety reported Friday.
The program is produced by Letterman's company, Worldwide Pants.
CBS, which learned of Kilborn's decision Thursday, had no comment on his replacement, a CBS spokesman said Friday.
There was immediate speculation that Conan O'Brien, whose contract with NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien has more than a year to run, might be a candidate—if he could eventually could end up with Letterman's job.
Industry speculation has it that Letterman is likely to exit late-night TV before Leno does.
Kilborn was the original host of Comedy Central's "Daily Show" and had a role in the 2003 film "Old School."
Velvet Teen: Changes sound, dynamics
BY LOGAN MOORE
Daily Illini, University of Illinois
VIA U-WIRE
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — On their latest album, "Elysium," the Velvet Teen have taken a bold move. They have changed their sound. For any band to attempt to switch up the dynamics, let alone a band with a devoted fan base such as theirs is quite the ballsy endeavor. It can often spell disaster, the underground is littered with the corpses of failed second albums, bands that decided stretch themselves too thin over that grand concept album or awkwardly incorporated "beats." Fortunately, the Velvet Teen have a secret weapon; big, brash, pop songs, overstuffed with the sort of naked emotionalism that seems to have gone out of style among the indie zeitgeist.
In speaking of his band's modus operandi bassist Josh Staples relates, "It doesn't have to be expressed in the same way as our band. But, we're definitely into moving music. I think everyone who listens to music likes that."
Therein lies the appeal of the
Velvet Teen. The songs are bitter sweet and wistful soaring to towering heights, pushed upward on the wings of strong musicianship and the acrobatic falsetto of lead singer Judah Nagler. For a band with such a gargantuan sound, they have somewhat humble beginnings, having once been a side project by Judah and original drummer Logan Whitehurst.
"Logan and Judah were in a band together. Logan had been doing solo projects for years and years and Judah had been making music as well." Josh said. "They got together and started putting songs and music together. It was called The Secret Band ... The Secret Band split up, they continued making music together, really a side project of a side project." Later on Josh joined as bassist, "I'd been listening to their stuff. I was in a few of the bands they used to play with the time and they asked me to join," he says. Current drummer Casey Deitz, formerly of the Americas, joined after Whitehurst decided to devote more time to his project the Junior Science Club.
Building a strong reputation in
the Northern Bay Area for their guitar-driven anthems, blistering live shows, and their 2002 full-length debut Out of the Fierce Parade, the band has emerged as a different animal with "Elysium."
For a band well known for their anglophilic guitar rock, having been compared with everybody from Radiohead to U2, in a genre dominated by the instrument, the move is ostentatious in the most inspiring of ways. Of the lack of a six-story Josh says, "It wasn't our main goal. Our main goal was to make it sound as good as it could. Guitars just didn't fit into the equation." In their wake, the band has opted to fill out the sound of 'Elysium' with an entire string quartet. "It's something we've always wanted to do as musicians," Josh discloses, "... My mother and her string quartet played on two of the tracks."
While these decisions are ultimately a leap forward for the band, the new album will certainly draw comparisons to it's previous work, especially it's well-received debut album. Out of the Fierce Parade. Of the difference between the two albums,
Josh states, "We spent 2000 to the end of 2001 to write all those songs, two years of songwriting went into eight days of recording. 'Elysium' was sort of like the inverse of that ... we didn't have any time constraints. So all the songs came out of the same period. (On the first album) we made an effort to have all the songs relate to one another. On 'Elysium' there's definitely more of that. The themes are very similar; some of the songs are about the same people and situations. It's much more of a single piece."
Perhaps all the freedom and experimentation contributed to the unified feeling of the album as well. States Josh, "You have this thing hanging over your head in a studio...it was a leisurely thing with no dead lines. This particular album could not have been rushed."
In the end, 'Elysium' isn't such a seismic shift in sound after all. The Velvet Teen were always a group of creative young musicians with a penchant for the graceful and bittersweet. Nothing could describe their new album better.
Italy grants Deniro with honorary citizenship
ROME - Italy plans to grant Robert De Niro honorary citizenship, rejecting opposition from an Italian-American organization that says the actor has projected a bad image with numerous roles as an Italian thug.
Culture Minister Giuliano Urbani still wants to grant De Niro honorary citizenship during next month's Venice Film Festival, where he is expected to promote his voice-over role in the animated movie "Shark Tale," press official Tiziana Benini said Friday.
descent," the organization said in a statement.
"De Niro has made a career of playing gangsters of Italian
The Order Sons of Italy in America wrote a letter to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi earlier this week, urging him to cancel the planned honor.
The letter to Berlusconi argued: "He has done nothing to promote Italian culture in the United States. Instead, OSIA and its members hold him and his movies responsible for considerably damaging the collective reputations of both Italians and Italian Americans."
Berlusconi's office had no immediate comment.
EATRATAINMEN NESIS IN BRIEFE
ENETARAINMEN NESIS IN BRIEFE
'Apprentice' winner gets deal as spokesman
PHILADELPHIA — Bill Rancic, who won a job with Donald Trump on "The Apprentice," will moonlight as a spokesman for a credit card company.
Rancic will represent Advanta _a Spring House-based credit card company that caters to
small businesses_in public appearances,media interviews and promotional campaigns.
"Bill has a particular resonance" with an age group that is getting into small business, Advanta chairman Dennis Alter said Thursday.
Rancic, an Advanta cardholder, is working for Trump as an "owner's representative" in the development of the 90-story Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago.
"I am in for the long run," he said. "My goal is to be in deals with Donald Trump rather than doing them for him."
Cleveland family gives art collection to museum
INDIANAPOLIS — The Gund family of Cleveland has donated a $15 million collection
of Western art, including the Frederick Remington bronze "Bronco Buster" sculpture, to the Eiteljorg Museum for permanent display.
The collection of 57 bronzes, oil paintings, watercolors, sketches and lithographs is the largest gift of artwork to the museum since 1989, when it opened with founder Harrison Eitejlorg's collection of American Indian and Western art, museum President John Vanausdall said.
In recognition of the family's contribution, the Eiteljorg will unveil the Gund Gallery of Western Art when it opens its newly expanded building in June 2005.
George Gund, a Cleveland banker and real estate investor, began collecting Western art in 1929. After he died, his family assembled an exhibit that traveled the country. It has been stored in Eiteljorg's climate-con
"The passionate dedication of its volunteers and of its professional staff, along with its uniquely dedicated facilities, were key to our decision," said Gordon Gund, owner of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers and one of George Gund's six children.
Two women appointed to direct art festival
ROME — Venice's Biennale has appointed two Spanish art experts to direct its International Art Exhibition, one of the world's most prestigious contemporary art festivals.
Maria de Corral and Rosa Martinez will direct next year's exhibition, organizers said Thursday. It
was the first time women had been chosen for the job.
The following edition, in 2007, will be directed by Robert Storr, an artist and critic who has been curator of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Biennale said. Storr will also run a Biennale international symposium on contemporary art to be held in the autumn.
President Davide Croff hopes the choice of these new directors will "encourage the Venice Biennale's project for renewal in the visual arts sector," the Biennale said in a statement.
The Venice Biennale Art Exhibition takes place every two years, with displays of architecture, dance, music, theater and visual arts. The exhibitions began in 1895 and are displayed in pavilions in Venice's shipyard district.
The Associated Press.
Carpet Squares 18" x 18"$1.99 3 ft x 3 ft $4.99 Paint & Primer $5/gallon Mr. Beer Kits $23.99!
Paint • Hardware • Tools • Military Surplus
Camo • Canvas Shoulder Bags & Packs
Mr. Beer • Big Ass Duffels • Desk Chairs Bike
Stuff • Hunting & Camping Gear •
Super Cheap Lil' Doo-dods
MIDWEST SURPLUS 785-842-3374
1235 N. 3rd·Lawrence, KS NW side I-70, North Lawrence
SILVER WASH for the price of a Full Wash
PACKAGE INCLUDES:
- Exterior Wash and Towel Dried • Underbody Blast • Front and Rear Carpet/Seats Vacuumed • Inside/Outside Glass Cleaned • Dash, Steering Column and Door Jams Wiped • Rust Inhibitor Sealer Wax • Air Freshener
Offer good through 9/30/04 UDK
FREE!
CLEAR COAT WAX
with purchase of a Gold Wash Package
PACKAGE INCLUDES:
- Exterior Wash and Towel Dried • Underbody Blast • Front and Rear Carpet/Seats Vacuumed • Inside/Outside Glass Cleaned • Dash, Steering Column and Door Jams Wiped • Rust Inhibitor • Sealer Wax • Polish Wax • Air Freshener Offer good through 9/30/04 UDK
MON
AT year spot
The open Olymp In the talk new Germ Olymp East By Sea Euro again umpl platf Stad built Prim
T mee thro ano best gold
B her com ton. its paig of th
(    )