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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1984)
Page 8/The Battalion/Wednesday, August 1, 1984 Rapid for band United Press International NEW YORK — No one is more surprised by the dizzying critical suc cess of R.E.M., a young Georgia- based band whose two albums have won across-the-board raves, than lead guitarist Peter Buck. Buck says the band was formed “on a whim” and he uses words like “amateur” to refer to his own guitar playing. But he says making music with R.E.M. “is pretty loose — we’re happy doing it.” R.E.M., the acronym for rapid eye movement, made a critical splash with its 1983 debut album, “Mur mur.” Its second album, “Reckon- ing,” generated equal enthusiasm. By mid-June, the album was 37th and climbing on Billboard’s list of the 50 bestselling rock albums in the country. “Reckoning” is a sunny, satisfying album, dominated by uplifting melo dies and ballads with a pleasant country inflection. But R.E.M. is a thinking man’s band. Its lyrics — vaguely impres sionistic, not literal statements — leave what some may feel is too much room for interpretation. Lead singer Michael Stipe has a soft, emotionally detached, voice. He also writes the lyrics, although all four members of the band have a hand in writing the music. They are most successful with “So. Central Rain,” which is the album’s first single, and “(Don’t Go Back to) Rockville,” perhaps the most conta gious tune R.E.M. has constructed. The band, touring across the country this summer, does not have mainstream popularity yet, but it has developed a sizable following among college listeners. Commercial success is important, “but it’s not important enough for us to go out and sell our souls and com pletely change our music to do it,” Buck, 27, said recently in a tele phone interview from Los Angeles. Their music has been likened to the Byrds (“I don’t think it’s the most valid comparison in the world”) and their lifestyle to an episode of the Monkees TV series. R.E.M. was formed by four friends in Athens, Ga. “We thought we’d get 100 bucks and all the beer we can drink, and maybe we’d put out an independent single some time,” Buck said. “It just kind of blossomed overnight.” “I’d never really played (but) I’ve always been a music fan,” he said. “I’m an amateur. I guess I’m a musi cian. I’m really not a great guitar player. There are a lot of people who are better.” He said he hopes the band stays together for “10, 11, 12 years — if we want to keep doing it.” The number of books published to capitalize on the hunger for infor mation about personal computers is reaching epidemic proportions. What follows is a selection of recent computer books that stand out — for better or worse: Getting the Most From Your Micro, by Ernest E. Mau (Hayden Books, 128 pp., $14.95) This is an exceflent reference guide for the care and feeding of your personal computer. It deals clearly with the internal workings of computers without getting overly technical. I liked the approach of taking nothing for granted. Too many “beginner” computer books assume a level of understanding far beyond today’s typical computer owner. The IBM PC User’s Reference Manual, by Gilbert Held (Hayden Books, 384 pp., $24.95) If you can understand the “IBM PC User’s Reference Manual,” you don’t need it. If, as I suspect, you are lost after page three, you also don’t need it. I’m no stranger to Tech- Talk, but this book is a bit much for even a fairly knowledgeable micro computer user. I would be upset if I hadjust plunked down several thou sand dollars for an IBM PC and turned to this book for help through that initial stage of panic in setting up and using a personal computer. Understanding dBase II, by Alan Simpson (Sybex Books, 220 pp., $22.95) Aston-Tate’s dBase II is one of the most popular and useful data base programs currently on the mar ket. For small business use, it is nearly unbeatable. The major draw back to dBase II is that it is necessary to learn a complicated set of pro gram commands. It takes patience, dedication and a certain mindset to master dBase II. Therefore, there is a booming business in how-to-use- dBase II books. Most of them, un fortunately, are as hard to under stand as dBase II. But “Understand ing dBase xll” is different. Simpson’s step-by-step tutorial method is easy to follow and the layout of the book helps enormously.” Overcoming Computer Fear, by Jeff Berner (Sybex Books, 100 pp., $3.95) This is a little book for the hard core technophobe — that person who wants to move into the brave new world of computers but has se rious doubts about their ability to cope with the arcane rituals involved in personal computing. Berner is clearly a cheerleader for computers and as such evokes a somewhat evan gelical fervor at times. His enthu siasm does not, however, cause him to fall into the trap of forgetting who his audience is: those reluctant to whole-heartedly embrace the tech nology. And I give Berner a grateful pat on the back for waiting until chapter three before giving us the obligatory “Computer Literacy Course.” He titles it “A very short course.” He is a man of his word. For that alone, I recommend this book. Confessions of an Infomaniac, by Elizabeth M. Ferrarini (Sybex Books, 215 pp., $12.95, >.95 pb) This book had everything going for it. It was published by the com pany widely considered one of the best at publishing computer books. The subject matter, telecomputing, is one of the hottest trends in com puterdom. And it had sex. Where did it all go wrong? The gigantic flaw in this book is that it is fiction. It comes right out in an opening disclaimer and says it is fiction. It does not need to be fiction. Dat ing and romance really does take place by computer. I’ve seen some of the steamy mes sages that are posted on the hun dreds of electronic bulletin boards around the country. If someone wanted to do a book about consent ing adults having electronic tete a tetes, it’s really out there! There is no reason to make this a work of fic- ... .. V lo tion. tingly enoi finished the book, I noted a message on one of the computer bulletin boards announcing the wedding of two people who used to commu nicate via computer. Now there’s a computerized love story! GoirY straight Photo by ERIC EVAN III Allen Estill, a grounds maintinance em- 51. Each space in the lot which is located ployee for Texas A&M and a sophomore across from Zachary Engineering Building general studies major from College Station, will be one foot wider when the striping is restripes parking spaces in Parking Annex completed. Quick glimpse of China for travelers in a hurry United Press International “Ten years seems optimum,” he said. “Then what? I can’t see quit ting. So maybe we’ll go on forever.” HONG KONG — For the traveler on a tight time schedule, or just seek ing a respite from the shopping temptations of Hong Kong, a short trip to the neighboring city of Can ton offers a glimpse of China. It is a quick and carefully con trolled glance organized by the gov ernment’s China International Travel Service, but certainly inter esting for the first-time China trav eler. The basic tour offers three days and two nights, all meals included. for about $175 a person. The price includes double-occupancy hotel room, transportation and sightsee ing in Canton and vicinity by bus with an English-speaking guide. CITS offers other, longer ver sions, at greater cost, all centered around Canton, the capital of Guangdong province. And for the really rushed, there’s even a one-day tour featuring a quick drive through Macao and a brief stop just across the Chinese border from the Portuguese enclave. Canton, which the Chinese “spell” Guangzhou, is 75 miles northwest up the Pearl River from Hong Kong. The home of 3 million people, it has been a major trading center with the West since the 17th century. The tourist enters China via a three-hour hoverferry trip up the Pearl River that offers a panorama of the diversity of Chinese river traf fic, from sculled sampans and sailing junks to modern container ships. After cursory entry formalities, the group is whisked by bus to lunch in the foreign trade center, site of the semi-annual Canton Trade Fair, and then taken on a tour of Canton city. The number of sights seen by each group seems to depend on the state of Canton’s traffic jams. The standard sights include the Zhenhai Tower, a five-story structure built in 1380 and now serving as the Canton city museum, the Five-Rams statue — the symbol of the city — in Yuexia Park, and the Sun Yat-sen Memorial hall, a huge theater commemorating the founding father of the Chinese republic. The second day includes visits to the nearby city of Foshan for stop® a 1,000-year-old Taoist temple,aif] and a pottery factory, as well as?, visit to a rural “People’s Communes The groups are shuttled frols slop to stop by comfortable Japljl nese-built coaches as the gui:|: point out sights, give improiM Chinese lessons, answer questioni- mostly frankly — and, on occaski! give brief lectures on the cum® Communist Party line. The Canton tours are availaUj through most travel agents. COWED StSlix i^mi NEST IN A TREEHOUSE! If you've been nesting in one of the A&M dorms, now could be the time to fly the coop. 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