6
University Daily Kansan/Friday, October 11, 1991
EXCURSIONS
Rollerblade
Rollerblades have become popular since they entered the market in 1981.
Julie Jacobson/KANSAN
By Stephanie Patrick
In-line skating provides a new way to get in shape
He started three weeks ago, just out of curiosity.
Scott Zeligson, a Tulsa, Okla., junior, saw how much fun his friend was having with his new Rollerblades and decided he might like it.
He since has learned how to stop and has become one of the many people who careen around Lawrence in the brightly colored skates.
"I saw his skates and went right out and bought some," he said. "I remember the first night I got them I was on them for about an hour. It took me a while to get used to them. The only time I fell was when I tried to stop to quickly."
Rollerblade is a trademark name for in-line skates, which were first sold in 1981. In-line refers to the positioning of the wheels in a straight line, as opposed to the traditional two sets of side-by-side wheels.
According to a Rollerblade brochure, the design makes the skates faster and easier to maneuver.
K. T. Walsh, a manager of the sporting goods store Sunflower Surplus, 804 Massachusetts St., said the growing popularity of the skates did not surprise her. Sunflower Surplus has sold the Rollerblades for four years, and sales have increased every year, she said.
The store sells five models which range from $99 to $330, Walsh said. The most expensive skates are the lightest
ones, which also have the most padding.
Walsh credited Rollerblades' success to its popularity with athletes.
Athletes use the skates for cross-training purposes, and they offer the same health benefits as jogging, she said.
Walsh said her customers were a mixture of athletes and those just looking for a fun activity.
For Andrew Shore, Glencoe, III., sophomore, Rolbladder offered an alternative to his normal exercise routine.
*We have students in their 70s who enjoy Rollerblades.* *she should
"Iused to jog every night, and I was looking for something different," he said.
Shore, who has been skating for a month, said Rollerblading was similar to hockey.
'Free of other people's rules'
Learning to stop was the biggest adjustment, he said.
"In hockey you stop by turning the skate out. But with Rollerblading you have to stop on your heel." Shore said.
Glove is a necessary tool for Rollerblading.
"It's a more exciting alternative to running, and it is still fun," he said. .
Shore also endorsed Rollerblading for just about anyone interested in the sport.
"I would say, if you had minimal dexterity you could probably do it." Shore said.
Dan Wilson and Trip Shakespeare want to be recognized for being themselves
By Kristine Curley Special to the Kansan
Dan Wilson is sitting in a Lawrence coffee shop, looking very nondescript. He wears a berry-colored turtleknell from which a silver necklace precariously dangles close to the top of his pants. His wire-framed glasses give him the look of a writer deep in thought. But he is a musician ready to perform a sold-out show at Lawrence's Liberty Hall.
"Playing music means taking as many chances as possible and sharing that with people."
Dan Wilson
Trip Shakespeare
He is friendly, and his charming manner reminds you more of an old acquaintance with whom you could spend hours reminiscing.
"I stopped playing, but I was secret ly writing songs," Dan said.
Dan, who plays guitar and piano, is one-fourth of the band Trip Shakespeare. The rest of this odd quartet is composed of Dan's brother and lead vocalist Matt Wilson, percussionist James Harris and bassist John Munson.
The band got its start in Minneapolis, where Elaine and Matt began playing music together. They needed a guitar for their performances. John, who was an old friend of Matt's.
Dan said that he was not part of the very first recording the band produced. He was living in San Francisco and went to school there. His his carpentry and painting skills.
Dan returned to Minneapolis. It was while he was in Minneapolis that he realized his desire to be a part of the band.
The first collaborative effort for the
newly formed quartet was "Applehead Man." The album is well arranged despite it being the band's first effort.
People began to take notice with the band's second album, "Are You Shakespeareienced?" This album produced "Toolmaster," arguably the most requested Trip Shakespeare song.
Dan, however, doesn't see a problem with the band being identified with the song.
"If I went to see The Clash and they didn't play 'London Calling,' I'd be bummed," he said.
Just because people expect to hear it doesn't always mean that the band will always play it, however.
REVIEW
But idle threats only succeed in fostering Dan's assertion that the band "be free of other people's rules."
"One time this fat, drunk man came up to me and said he had been to six shows and we hadn't played 'Toolmasmus' with them." The teacher insisted that majeureticnne she did, didn't kill it.
The band's next album was titled "Across the Universe," which left little question that the group was capable of generating innovative material with each new effort.
That's what makes the band's latest release, "Lulu," more incredible. The lyrics are reminiscent of *Applehead*, and it adds another level of the music on "Across the Universe."
"What you get back from 'Applehead Man' are some of Matt's simple lyrics,but a rowdier,wigged-out side has resurfaced." Dan said.
In fact, some songs on "Lulu," such as "Patricia," are examples of the bands earlier collaborations.
"We just had too many songs fighting to get on records," he said.
The album contains more than just leafy from the band's previous album.
six songs are recent enough that we
had only played them a few times," Dan said.
The band is currently on tour to promote its latest effort, and the band will play tonight at the Blue Note in Columbia, Mo.
Last night's sold-out show at Liberty Hall was open to people 18 years old and older, rather than only to those people 21 years old and older.
Dan said he liked the idea of having shows that underage listeners were allowed to watch.
"At all-age shows you get a bunch of people chain-smoking because there no beer," Dana said. "People are sick. Air is filled with a kind of nicotine haze."
Alcohol-free shows such as these hold other advantages for Dan, too.
"I's a real drag to watch people fighting while you're playing," he said.
"Playing music means taking as many chances as possible and sharing that with people." Dan said. "You have to go out on a limb. You can't be afraid that the tree is going to break under you and you're going to fall."
Although playing music to masses of drunk people is not Dan's idea of a good time, one gets the feeling that he is at ease with his decision to contribute his artistic merits to the band's poetic ramblings.
At the rate this band is progressing, the only thing it might break are the conventional perceptions of what happens to consciousness in a place of unconscious bands should churn out.
THE FEELIES
"CRAZYRHYTHMS"
It's around 1979, and you and three of your friends are down in the
dumps. Few bands are playing the intelligent rock ' n' roll you crave. What to do? Pick up some guitars and start your own band, that's what. Hence, the Feelies were born.
The Feelies wrangled a record deal and released its first album, "Crazy Rhythms," in 1980. The album was reissued and eventually it went out of print.
The band did put out a few other records over the ensuing decade. But "Crazy Nrhythms" remained in music which fabled and elusive document.
Recently, however, the album has been re-released and is much easier to find.
and what a find it is! The jangle-
strum guitar sound, the open-to-
interpretation lyrics, and the music's general obliqueness all tempt comparisons with R. H. K. Anderson. But at the same time. These comparisons, however, seem somehow insufficient.
Perhaps more accurate, though again obvious, are the comparisons that one can make with The Velvet Underground. The spectre of the VU is dredged up often, but here it seems appropriate, although Feelies guitarist Bill Million recently said, "I've never heard a band that sounds like the Velvet Underground."
Even so, the twin guitar attack of Million and Glen Mercer does bring to mind Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison of (you guessed it) the VU. Million and Mercer are not slaves to someone else's style though, as with their work with Mirai, stretching and elongating it to create a sense of tension and propulsion. Their solos are relatively minimalist, stuttering and repeating just a few notes to create their phrases. At times, the chirpininess of their guitars is reminiscent of their own music, it's hard to say whether that's intentional or just an interesting coincidence.
The thing that really sets the Feelies apart, however, is the highly rhythmic and percussive feel of its music. The repetitive nature of the riffs and solos, along with the use of complex footwork to heavy drumming work to create a driving, sometimes vaguely mechanical, sound
Being the nice guys they are, the Feelies leave you with many options as to how you can enjoy the record. You can sit quietly and intensely study the sturdy, almost scientific guitar interplay. You can play it like a drummer lost in the (dare I say it!) crazy rhythms. You could even put it on and leave the room entirely. I'm sure they wouldn't mind.
Reviewby M. Olsen
More on Madonna
If you thought the behind-the-scenes documentary "Truth or Dare" told all there was to know about pop star Paula Abdul, you would come the unauthorized biographies.
To learn how Madonna cruised the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan and picked up young men for flings in the back seat of her limousine, consult Madonna Unauthorized, by Christopher Andersen.
Not one but two books came out this week, promising new scandalous details of her tragic childhood, her greatest fears and her string of lost loves. as one press release said.
But those interested in the revelation that Madonna once ate out of garbage cans should buy Madonna Revealed, by Douglas Thompson.
"She may be Our Lady of Perpetual Promotion but she does have her secrets," said Ben Petroleum, representative for Carol Publishing, which put out Madonna Revealed.
Carol Publishing originally scheduled its book to be available Oct. 25. When they realized rival Simon & Schuster was about to come out with Madonna Unauthorized, they moved up the publication to yesterday.
Carol arranged for media coverage of the book's arrival at a well-known Manhattan bookstore. Ten minutes later, while the TV crews were there, the Simon & Schuster truck pulled up with copies of the other book.
Madonna's publicist in New York at Warner Bros. declined to comment about the books.
"Carol did beat them — by 10 minutes," said Felice Rose, general manager of the bookstore, Shakespeare & Co.
Carol is hoping his $12.95 price for its paperback version will be more appealing to Madonna fans than the Simon & Schuster hardcover at $20.
Lincolnline
But Simon & Schuster representative Sandy Bodner says they're counting on their cover to lure fans.
Madonna's never-before disclosed abortions and her near-genius IQ of 140.
**Reports on her bisexuality, her nude modeling and her work as a porn actress.**
It's an embossed picture of the material girl in fishnet stockings and a black satin bath suit, Bodner said, "I have never seen anything like it."
- Her relationship with John F. Kennedy Jr. The book says Madonna thought she was destined to have a fling with him, just as Marilyn Monroe, whose appearance she has tried to imitate, allegedly had a fling with President Kennedy.
Some tidbits inside Madonna Unauthorized;
Child star arrester
One-time child star Adam Rich was arrested and accused of pocketing a drug-filled syringe at a hospital where
he was being treated for a dislocated shoulder,police said.
Rich, 22, who has repeatedly tangled with the law, played a role in the attacks Nicholas Bradford on the popular ABC-TV series "Eight"
Adam Rich
series "Eight is Enough"which r
enough, "which ran from 1977 to 1981. Rich was taken into custody Sunday at Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital in Palm Bay for booking for investigation of possession of a controlled substance and was being held at Los Angeles County Jail
in lieu of $18,500 bond.
"While being treated for his injury, he removed a syringe containing a drug from the doctor's tray while the doctor was out of the room," police said in a statement. Police answering the telephone early yesterday said they could not elaborate on the statement.
Prosecutors said they would decide today whether to file the case as a misdemeanor or a felony.
Childhood abuse
Sinead O'Connor says she and her siblings were victims of daily beatings while growing up.
"I was beaten up every day ... very, very badly. I lived my life in a state of terror." The Irish-born singer said on November issue of Spin magazine.
O'Connor's hits have included the song "Nothing Compares 2 U."
Sylvester Stallone's advice to a group of drama students was as direct as a Rocky Balboa uppercock: Tell lies on your resume.
"That's very important. You must lie," Stallone told a University of Virginia audience Friday.
"That's not what we teach them here," drama professor Bob Chapel interrupted.
Stallone had other pointers.
Straight talk from Sly
"You have to have blind faith in yourself," he said. It also helps to "make friends with depression and failure."
Stallone visited the Charlotteville campus because of his interest in Edgar Allen Poe, who attended the university.
- The Associated Press
Lawrence Community Theatre
Nunsense
Seq1, 26, 27, 28, and
Oct.4, 5, 6'', 10, 11, 12, 13''
Box office hours weekdays
9am–noon
and 4.00pm–7.00pm
Phone: (913)843-7469
Student Senate & The Elections Commission
are now accepting Applications for Replacement Senators
here are vacancies for
2 Graduate Seats
1 Journalism Seat
Pick up applications in the Student Senate Office, 410 Student Union or The Office of Student Life, 300 Strong Half.. Applications are due on Monday, Oct. 21, at 5:00
Applications are due on Monday, Oct. 21, at 5:00 in The Office of Student Life.
house
The Episcopal (Anglican) Church at KU
canterbury house
National Day of Prayer for Persons Living with HIV/AIDS
On Sunday, October 13, we will offer an AIDS treatment that does not depend on EM surveillance.
that doesn't need FDA approval.
Join us for Holy Eucharist and prayers for healing.
5:00 p.m. at Canterbury House, 1116 Louisiana,
Lawrence, Kansas. Call 843-8202 with questions.