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University Daily Kansan / Friday, October 25, 1991
EXCURSIONS
Fire burns baseball star's home
Baseball star Reggie Jackson was among the thousands of people who lost their homes in the fires in Oakland, Calif.
The 1989 earthquake displaced 1,000 people in downtown Oakland hotels, but this week's fire took its greatest toll on the well-to-do.
"It strips you," said Jackson, who lost his collection of art, guns and baseball memorabilia.
Go Fly a Kite!
You're helpless. Defenseless. Reggie Jackson ever been. The only salvation is that I have health."
Garth Brooks fans sent packing
Nine avid Brooks fans, who planned to camp out at the Mississippi Coliseum until concert tickets went on sale
Officials assured the fans that they would get first picks of the $15 tickets for the country singer's Dec. 6 show.
"This is the only way we kneel to it fairly," said Billy O'Donnell, director of the state FAT Commission, which runs the college.
Fans camping out for Brooks' show would create security and sanitation problems and would interfere with crowds for acroining horse show and a Kenny Rogers concert, Orr said.
McCartney debuts classical ode
Paul McCartney said he enjoyed his first foray into classical music. However, he says he has no plans to learn to read music.
"I've got a superstition about it," the former Beatles' star said Wednesday. "Having reached this stage not really knowing anything, I'm happy to stay in this ignorant state."
McCartney was at Carnegie Hall to talk about "Liverpool Oratorio," a partly autobiographical ode to his hometown. He wrote the piece with composer-conductor Carl Davis. Its North American debut will be Nov. 18 at Carnegie Hall.
McCARTNEY said that he wrote most of the melodies and that Davis wrote down the notes.
"I believe with music, there's a certain magic you can't
take," he said. "With 'Yesterday', I woke up
with that melody in my mind."
Friend recalls electric Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Electric Bob Dylan? The idea even sounded strange to the guys who helped him make the move, reminiscent and guitarist Robbie Robertson.
Robertson recalls meeting Dylan, then famous as an acoustic guitar-strumming folk singer in the 1960s. The two sat around playing electric guitars.
"I went back and told the guys that there was something about this thing, and everybody was kind of like, "I don't know about this stuff."
like, 'I don't know about this stuff,' he said in the Nov. 14 issue of *Rolling Stone*.
From The Associated Press
Hobbyist sets off to start club for KU's kite buffs
By KC Trauer Special to the Kansan
Mike Walker, Overland Park senior flies his stunt kite at the Shenk Complex at 23rd and Iowa streets.
A windy day and an open field allure Mike Walker and his dual-stringed stunkite.
Walker launches his kite and tugs the strings, maneuvering the kite into loops and rolls.
A crowd gathers to watch Walker and his friend Pat Deuser fly their differing types of stunt kites. It's an opportunity for Walker to spread the word about the little-known bobst of stunt kite-flying.
"When we fly, people always come up to us and ask
what are those and how do you do it?" said Walter
(weir).
"The reason we're starting this club is because a lot of people at KU have never seen stunt kits before, and once they see them, they want to get out and fly them," be said.
Because of his fascination with stunt-kite flying and the interest he has created in Lawrence, Walker is starting the KU Kite Club, a project that is something that "could really take off."
Walker became acquainted with stunt-kite flying two years ago in California, where the sport is popular.
It was his fascination with the grace and power of a kite that made Walker an avid fan of stunt-kite flying.
He saw experienced kite fliers dance their kites around each other, defy tangleing and untangling the kites.
It's a weird feeling when you get a stunt kite in your hand. he said, "It's almost like an adrenaline rush when you're flying a kite."
"You get this sense of control like when you're reeling in a bior fish."
Walker occasionally peruses his kite catalog to find stunt knots he would like to fly and the ones so complex he wouldn't even try.
A good kite can be bigger than the kite flyer and can cost up to $150, Walker said.
"Kansas is a good place to fly," said Walker, who along with Deuser, belongs to a kite club in Kansas
Walker said stunt kite flying was popular on the coasts because the winds from the oceans created the right atmosphere. But he said Kansas winds worked just as well.
"Fall and winter are some of the best times to fly, and that's when school is going on, so it's a perfect time for this."
There has been local interest in stunt kites for several years, according to Cheryl Fugitt, an employee of Fun and Games, 816 Massachusetts St.
She said that although kites had always been in demand, recent sales had skyrocketed.
"This year in July, there was something that spurred a tremendous sale of kites," she said.
Kuite is experiencing a little turbulence starting the KU Kite Club. For three weeks he has searched for a faculty adviser to sponsor the club, but he has found no one willing to help.
noble witing with confidence.
A faculty adviser is required for any student organization to be sanctioned by the University. The adviser provides continuity when the organization changes officers and acts as a liaison to the administration, said Ann Eversole, director of student organizations.
When Walker does an adviser, he has an informal following ready to join the club. He gives his business advice to the club.
"I really think that once we get people flying, there will be more people joining," he said.
"It's a pretty visible kind of club. It really draws a crowd."
REVIEWS
"THE LOWEND THEORY"
A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
Hip-hop was once much simpler than it is now. Guys like Afrika Kool and Kim Kool Herd would plug Herc
As time went by, DJs realized that they could extend a single beat indefinitely by cutting it from side to side on their turntables. They also found that they could use the dual wheels of steel to spice larger chunks of sound into minute bits, which could be thrown down to extra flavor. Technology caught up with DJs' imaginations during the 1980s, the form grew increasingly complex.
their turntables into street lights and rock the South Bronx with sparse, funky beats.
Too complex, A Tribe Called Quest seems to be saying with its new album, "The Low End Theory." Although too laidback to be truly old school, the album is less cluttered than the group's debut, "People's Instinctive Travels am and I," a series of The Tribe's sampling was an exploration of concepts shared with the Tribe's close associates, The Jungle Brothers and De La Sou.
The philosophy of these three groups about sampling has been misinterpreted by many and is in opposition to
the way sampling has been used by others in the recording industry. These groups use sampling in a creative and genuinely artistic way, manipulating sounds to make something old into something new. Others, such as M.C. Hammer, Marky Mark and Vanilla Ice, merely take an old唱 and release it in essentially the same form but claim it is new and original. A perfect example of these剩裂 philosophies about sampling is to contrast how the Tribe used Lou Reed's "Walk On the Wild Side" for their "Can I Kick It?" with how Marky Mark sampled the same song for his own "Wildside."
Perhaps disillusioned by the mistreatment of sampling technology, the Tribe gets back to basics with "The Low End Theory." Most of the songs feature simple beats, which are noticeably harder than the last outing and a minimal number of samples. The album's most notable innovation, as its title would suggest, comes from the bass. Deep and rumbling, this album should soon be a boomin' system standard. But instead of the cold, metallic sounds usually used in classic albums, this album is warm and inviting. The bass lines are taken mostly from jazz records and feature the subtle, springy sounds of the acoustic bass. One standout track, "Verses From The Abstract," even features live playing by former Miles Davis sideman Ron Carter.
The Tribe cements its progressive reputation with its cautionary tale about "The Infamous Date Rape," providing welcome relief from the misogyny that has been so prevalent in rai. Throughout the record, rappers Q-P and Phife prove to be a most impressive group. Their style is an ideal style that moves rap even further away from the days of "Hotel, Hotel, Holiday Inn."
vates while remaining close to hipon's roots.
With its second effort, A Tribe Called Quest continues to grow and explore new territory. The group inno-
Unlike certain other hip-hop acts, the group wants pop success only if it's on its terms. For as Q-Tip rips on "Check The Rhyme," the album's first single, "Rap is not pop. If you call it that then stop."
By M. Olser
"MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO"
RIVER PHOENIX, KEANU REEVES
Imagine Bill and Ted turned gay and living on the streets of Portland, Orle-
Driving it Gus Gus Van Sant wryly illustrates this scene in his new movie "My Own Private Idaho." Guiding us through this surrealistic experience is River Phoenix as Mike, a narcoclastic hustler whose unusual sleeping disorder strikes at the most inopportune times.
Mike's ultimate goal is to find his mother. This is the thread that holds the story together. Just when you look you're lost in the sleazy underworld inhabited by these characters, Mike finds you and brings you back by providing a strange justification for the freakish action going on.
Keanu Reeves is Phoenix's accomplice in these queer adventures. His character, Scott Favor, is a rebellious senator's son whose dialogue sounds like that of an actor schooled in Shakespearean theater.
Scott's hustling is more an act of aggression directed at his father than
one inflicted by environment as in Mike's case.
Scott's destiny is different from Mike's and in the end serves as a situational contrast that allows another view of the effects of this lifestyle.
Scott's destiny gives us the unique opportunity to witness this without cheapening the sensibilities of the other characters.
With "Idaho," Van Sant continues on his bizarre cinematic trek that started with his 1989 movie, "Drugstore Cowboy." Both "Idaho" and "Drugstore" survey the subcultures that exist in society. They deal in subjects deemed untouchable in today's Jesse Helmsan America.
But Van Sant delights in portraying the lives of these outcasts. His characters are never glorified or defamed. They are just presented. The presentation itself is always unusual, thanks to Van Sant's charismatically dense directorial style. So you know that Van Sant accurately portrays Portland hustlers to tell some of their experiences in the movie.
movie.
Techniques such as these make the film more than just a movie about gay street hustlers. If it were, it would merely serve as aad documentary on the lives of this bohemian lifestyle.
Van Sant's ultimate aim is not to extort pity on his characters. His goals seem geared toward awareness and education: These people actually exist and are part of society no matter how dysfunctional they may appear. Whether they are a product of society or products of their own creation remains to be seen, but at least they are finally seen.
Van Sant uses the lives of hustlers Mike and Scott as vehicles to take us out of our realm of quiet complacency into a world of chaotic disarray.
By Kristine Curley
The.Jazzhaus.9261/2Massachusetts
Lawrence Nightlife
The Jazzhaus,926 1/2 Massachusetts Gweedles will perform at 10 tonight, and Idxplosion will perform at 10 tomorrow night. Cover charge is $3.
The Bottleneck,737 New Hampshire
Walkabouts will open for Uncle Tupelo at 10 tonight. The cover charge is $3.00. Nic Cosmos will perform at 10 tomorrow night. The cover charge is $4.
Benchwarmers 1601 W.23rd St.
Now See Hear will perform at 9:30 tonight and That Statue Moved will perform at 9:30 tomorrow night. Cover charge is $1.
Just a Playhouse. 806 W24th St.
Ace High will perform at 10 tonight and tomorrow night. Cover charge is $3.
Bogarts. 611 Vermont
Bogarts, OH Vermont
Let's Buzz will perform at 9:30 tomorrow night.
Cover charge is $3.
Down & Under, 801 New Hampshire
Roach Factory will perform at 9:30 tonight, and Big Toe with the Wilmas will perform at 9:30 tomorrow night. Cover charge is $3.