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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 1989)
The Battalion LIFESTYLES Monday, September 18,1989 B-CS movie scene nothing to shout about Did you want to see a good, new movie last week? A few friends of mine did. We looked in the newspaper to pick one, but surprise, no new movies to see. It seems “Batman,” which was released in June, has been around forever. I’ve seen it three times, even though I thought it could have been a better film, because I’ve seen practically everything else. Everyone and their dog has seen “Batman” at least once. The movie is already expected to hit the video stores in November, and the film is still loitering in movie theaters trying to suck up every last bat-dollar. It seems this summer’s hit movies just won’t die. “Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade” and “Pink Cadillac” were released in late May, and “Ghostbus- ters 2,” “Dead Poets Society,” “Field of Dreams” and “Star Trek 5” have all been around since June. Neil Young once sang “it’s better to burn out than it is to fade away.” For the loyal movie-goer, old movies that won’t die can mean only one thing: bore dom, with a capital “B.” When seven movies have been around since June, two others have played since July (“Lethal Weapon 2” and “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”) and several more have been around more than a month, not many openings exist for new movies. Further, there isn’t anything to replace the old summer hits. Lately, the new releases have been yawners. Anyone remember “Let It Ride” or “Eddie and The Cruisers 2”? “Kickboxer” is a bonafide bomb, although it may make some money, which seems like a worse scam than anything Jim Bakker ever developed. Only “Casualties of War” is a good, recently released film, but it will soon be another movie that needs to be replaced. If the lack of recent movies has gotten you down, don’t blame your local theater owner. Bryan-College Station is a small movie market with only five movie theaters that feature 17 to 20 of the latest releases. Unfortunately, this means local theaters primarily show films from major studios such as United Art ists, Disney or 20th Century Fox. Small, independent films such as “sex, lies, and vi deotape” and “Romero” are usually restricted to ma jor cities, which means we must wait until these films are released on video before we can see them. On the bright side, .this means we don’t get such disas ters as “Millenium.” Too bad “Kickboxer” somehow slithered into Bryan-College Station. All is not lost, however, even with “Kickboxer” still around. A1 Pacino is back in “Sea of Love” which promises to be an exciting mystery thriller. Also, Mi chael Douglas is returning in the big budget movie, “Black Ram.” November will probably be the big month for movies, with Michael J. Fox leading the way in “Back To The Future 2.” For now, we wait. “Sea of Love” just opened, so that’s one new movie to see. Otherwise, we’re stuck seeing the same movies over again or renting more movies which we saw last summer. But there is one more positive note: no an nounced plans for a sequel to “Kickboxer.” Finding a good roommate is hard By James A. Johnson Of The Battalion Staff If you ever have to visit the Off-Cam pus Center to look through the card file for a roommate, you are likely to find this horribly familiar: “We get along with just about anyone, but we don’t want any smokers, greeks, atheists, holy rollers, babblers or quiet people. ” “No metal heads, no geeks, no fags, no freshmen. Just looking for a ‘normal’ guy who likes to party on the weekends. ” “I can’t stand liberals, commies or slobs!” “All I’m looking for is someone who is immaculate, but not picky. She has to be smart, but not brainy. Please call, I PROMISE I am an open-minded per son. ” not know of the other’s visit. Rausch said it was an example of hearing two com pletely different sides to a situation. “One woman told me her roommate was too bossy and didn’t like her dog,” Rausch said, smiling. “Four days later, the other left a note to her roommate saying that she couldn’t take it anymore because the dog was too messy, it pooped everywhere and there wasn’t enough air-conditioning.” Rebecca Shivers, a sophomore el ementary education major from Hull, said she learned the hard way of the im portance of roommates knowing what it means to share duties. Because Shivers’ two sisters had at- tended A&M, her parents bought a no longer have to tolerate one of her roommates who had the annoying quirk of not cleaning lipstick off her drinking glass before putting it in the dishwasher. “Believe me, lipstick does not come off unless it’s manually cleaned off,” she added. “If there’s one thing I learned through the whole ordeal, it was to make sure the other people knew that every one was to divide the chores.” David Denny, a senior psychology ma jor from Garland, does not advise stu dents who need roommates to live with old high school buddies. He learned that old friendships often can gradually de velop into heated rivalries. Last year, Denny decided to room “I’m a Christian, but easy to get along with. ” “If you don’t party, DON’T CALL!” As easy as finding a compatible room mate may seem, it can often turn into a semester-long nightmare for students who get stuck with someone who is more (or less) than they bargained for. No one knows this better than Mary Ann Rausch and Nancy Thompson. Rausch, assistant coordinator of the Off-Campus Center, said most problems between roommates are usually caused by a lack of communication and an un willingness to compromise. “It is so important for roommates to get to know each other before they live in the same place,” Rausch said. Besides occasional physical brawls be tween roommates, Rausch recalled one incident when a student found her po tential roommate to be very friendly be fore discovering that she was doing heavy drugs with her boyfriend in their apartment. It was a result of not know ing enough about one another, Rausch said. Rausch remembers two female room mates who came in and made separate complaints against each other, but did We get along with just about anyone, but we don’t want any smokers, greeks, atheists, holy rollers, babblers or quiet people.” — Quote from roommate request card house to prevent their daughters from paying high apartment rent and utility costs. The last sister to attend college, Shivers figured she could offer the va cant rooms to two needy students at a reasonable cost. But what she did not expect was that her future house-mates would have some plans of their own, and some addi tional duties for her. “They expected me to do everything,” Shivers said. “They complained about stupid things like loose window screens.” “One of the girls even had the nerve to ask me to officially designate one of the weekdays for doing laundry to save on water costs . . . you know — bitchy,” she said. Shivers said some days she would come home and they would be teaming up against her cat. “They teased her unmercifully,” she said. “After a while, I felt like they were ganging up on me.” Shivers finally found no alternative but to politely tell the “companions” to leave. That way, Shivers knew she would with someone he had known tor two years, but jealousy over new friends caused controversy and lead to the end of the friendship. “Every time my friends would visit, he would come in, stare at them, go to his bedroom in a rage and slam the door,” Denny said. “He wasjust jealous.” Denny said his roommate became self ish and rarely tended to his responsibili ties. After a few weeks, his roommate put their only mailbox key on his key chain. When he went to pick up the mail, Denny’s mail often was left in tne box for days at a time. “I missed financial deadlines and im portant meetings because of it,” Denny said. “He could have at least told me I had mail in the box, but since he had the only key, I would have had to dig around for his key chain.” Denny’s pocketbook also began to suf fer because his roommate was the type who enjoyed delaying rental payments. “I was pretty open-minded about lending him money at first, but some times he would go several weeks without paying,” Denny exclaimed. “Onetimek went to a record store and bought thrs CDs, so then I figured he could pay back. Once again, he gave me some lam excuse ... I told myself, ‘Never again. Rausch said roommates should k aware of things such as sleeping habiti neatness, social practices, habits and e\ pectations that other parties might have Nancy Thompson, Off-Campus Get ter coordinator, said the most comma pet peeve of which students have disapproval is roommates who have vis tors spend the night too often. She recalled a recent incident whei one female student came into heroffici and insisted that she have a male room mate. “It was so unusual,” Thompson said “She (the girl) told me that she was fed up with female roommates because ei ery time she turned around, the othei girl would be wearing her clothes. “The only way the girl could put at end to it was to share an apartment will; a male student. That was her whole ra tionale,” Thompson said, laughing. She said most students look for room mates who are considerate and respect their rights, but many students oftendc not take enough time to consider theit own attitudes. “I’ve occasionally had to tell them that if I was their roommate, I would be in suited,” Thompson said. “I sometime use role reversal, and they realize bo* unreasonable some of tneir request are.” Both Thompson and Rausch advise students to discuss all financial mate before signing leases to avoid legal dis putes. Rausch said she remembers bai l mg to intervene with one apartmem manager to settle a serious brawl be tween roommates over financial respon sibilities. Once students return to school afters semester of bad relations, Rausch said there is one effective way to preventsim ilar problems from happening again. “Students need to learn from theii negative experiences,” she concluded, tim wo Te: Go iev nc AS “Ti pie Houston Symphony delights A&M audience age anc lab- be Vai can wri gre lar ker old hel By Chuck Lovejoy lyri say: rea' Of The Battalion Staff Photo by Scott D. Weaver Christoph Eschenbach The Houston Symphony Orchestra’s Friday night recital of Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No, 5” may have been inter missionless, but it was so captivating the audience members didn’t want to move from their seats. After being spellbound for nearly an hour and a half, the near-capacity Rudder Auditorium crowd rewarded the visit ing ensemble with a standing ovation that made Maestro Christoph Eschenbach take three deserved curtain calls. And deserve them he did. Eschenbach conducted the or chestra without a score. He stood on the podium with only his baton and his expertise. The recital of the massive five-section symphony served as a fitting beginning of the MSC Opera and Performing Arts Society’s 17th season, which will be the biggest and most di verse in the organization’s history. And as a fitting beginning to the evening, Eschenbach took the stage to lead the ensemble in a beautiful arrange ment of “The Star Spangled Banner.” From the first notes of the national anthem, the audience members knew they were about to witness something special But this fact became especially clear once the first notes of the symphony filled the hall. ■ The piece began almost timidly, with only a lone trumpet I i T sounding rhythmic, piercing notes that brought goose i f bumps to the skin. p -1- From there, the level of musical tension steadily roseastk respective sections of the orchesta began to play, creatingthe symphony’s opening funeral march and second folk dance section. The concert’s air relaxed greatly after these first two the more lighthearted “Scherzo” erasing theit = and movements bite. Lowering the initial level even farther was the romantit fourth part, “Adagietto,” which Mahler used to propose marriage to his love, Alma. With Eschenbach and compan' interpreting this section, it was easy to see why she accepted Mahler’s ring. Musically tied to the “Adagietto” was the fifth section “Rondo,” which pushed the level of intensity back to a boil ing stage and brought a dramatic and fiery end to the eve ning. Recent albums capture energy of young bands By John Righter Of The Battalion Staff Fetchin Bones Monster Capitol I was first introduced to Fetchin Bones three years ago during their stint as opening act on REM’s Life’s Rich Pageant tour. I was instantly impressed by the band’s energy and all-out lunacy. Singer Hope Nicholls, a non-stop performer who struts and thrashes around from one edge of the stage to the other, would out last a puppy on speed. With Monster, Fetchin Bones has finally captured that manic vitality on vinyl. The opening number “Love Crushing” is just that: a crush ing assault of guitars, drums and Nicholls’ persistent wails of visceral anguish and honesty: “I’m a rug and you can lay me down/I’m a rug and you can shake me out/Love cru shing.” “Say The Word” is, in the words of the band, “a scathing social com mentary on materialism:” “I’m the girls at the mall/I’m your education/I’m the rain forest/I’m a hamburger.” Monster continues along this path of upbeat-tempo, tongue-in-cheek commentary (“Bonework,” a song on side two, is an interesting hard rocker that serves as a “multinational plea for love and partying in the 1990s.”) before finishing strong with “Cross,” a song highlighted by bas sist Danna Rentes’ ending violin solo. Newcomers Errol Stewart (guitar) and Clay Richardson (drums) blend well with founder Aaron Pitkin (gui tar) and Rentes to provide the pounding, upbeat tempo worthy of Nicholls’ Patty Smith-inspired vocals — a powerful voice relentless in both intensity and melody. 24-7 Spyz Harder Than You In Effect/Relativity The debut LP from the Bronx- based band 24-7 Spyz is all influence and diversity. Producer Ed Stasium, fresh from his work with Living Colour, is re sponsible for cultivating the “get tough” attitude and biting sound on Monster that highlighted his earlier projects with The Ramones and Talking Heads. We’ll be hearing more from Stasium in the near fu ture, as we will from Fetchin Bones. Monster is just too powerful of a beast to go unnoticed. The immediate comparison is to Living Colour, but much deeper in the sound you can detect strong tra ces of Bad Brains (the reggae/hard core mix) and Fishbone (the tongue- in-cheek funk). Already highly acclaimed, bassist and vocalist Rick Skatore, drummer Anthony Johnson, guitarist and vo calist Jimi Hazel and thoughtman/ly- ricist P. Fluid mix the speed and in tensity of hardcore/metal with the spirituality and soulfulness of reggae and funk. Harder Than You is an album made to confuse, assault and resur rect your senses. “Grandma Dynami te” opens the album by shredding into an explosion of speedcore dic tion. “Jimi’z Jam” is a pounding in strumental that combines Hazel’s heavy riffs with Skatore’s raw, throb bing bass line. Fetchin Bones “Social Plague,” “Ballots Not Bul lets” and “New Drug” are the Gospel according to 24-7 Spyz. An annoying tendency towards predictable social commentary serves as an open pul pit for thoughtman Fluid. “I Must Go On” is the album’s highlight, a masterful combination of hardcore and reggae that dichoto mizes the schizoid hallucinations of a Vietnam veteran. Harder Than You succeeds in many other areas, especially when the Spyz drop the Public Enemy act and just play. It is a stong debut, and one of the most diverse and original albums of the 1980s. The potential for this quartet is endless, especially when you consider the many direc tions that remain open for them. - Cure returns to Houston with solid, moody show By John Righter Of The Battalion Staff Saturday night brought to Houston the return (perhaps for the last time) of the ’70s’ most suc cessful Gothic rock band. Per forming for two and a half hours in front of a sold-out Summit crowd, Robert Smith and The Cure mixed a four-set show that featured all of their latest release Disintegration, plus a selection of early material. The Cure opened with Smith appearing from behind a screen of smoke and black lights, slowly moving from one side of the stage to the other, and stopping at seve ral points to look up and acknowl edge the audience. Behind him the rest of the band, led by fellow founding member Simon Gallup, started into “Plainsong,” an ex tremely moving version of the Disintegration single. apparent on early releases like Faith and Seventeen Seconds. Though they played “Let’s Go To Bed,” “The Walk,” “Hot, Hoi, Hot” and other faster, up tempo songs, they continually returned to their more pensive, reticent pieces. In what was quite a change from the usual concert, it was The Cure that dictated the feel and energy level of the show, not the audience. A welcomed variance from the slow peacefulness was a fast, grid ding version of “Killing An Ar ab,” the highlight of the evening and the song “Disintegration,’’a piece that elevated into a stinging culmination of guitars, led b' Smith, and enhanced by a visual hallucination of flashing green- /red lights that paralleled the song’s tempo fluctuations. Smith seemed appreciative of the warm reception, a feeling in creased by the fact The Cure has risen in a mere three years from playing clubs to selling out large arenas. Smith’s humbleness, mixed with his pleasant repoire with the crowd (he said thank you after al most every song, and gave a short intro for each succeeding num ber) added to the sincere and moving feel indebted by the band’s continuation of their moo dier, more intospective songs, such as the early “A Forest,” and “The Same Deep Water As You” from their new album. It was pleasing to find the band focusing on the feel of their last two albums, a style that was also “Strange Day,” from Pornogra phy, “Piggy in the Mirror” from The Top and “Three Imaginan Boys,” a song on the band’s firsi release Boy’s Dont Cry were also welcomed surprises that came off exceptionally well. The Cure, on the whole seemed very relaxed, talking amongst themselves between songs, and smiling quite often Just as Love and Rockets (who did not open for The Cure as ru mored) emerged successful!' from behind the gloomy shado" of Peter Murphy and The Bau- haus, The Cure has prospered with the dismissal of longtime band member Laurence Tol- hurst. The dissension of past tours was in no way apparent Sat urday night, and with the tre mendous response accredited the group, you have to wonder if we won’t be seeing The Cure again in the future.