The Battalion
LIFESTYLES
Monday, March 26,1990
Klingons, elves, belly dancers
gearing up for AggieCon XXI
Photo by Steven M. Noreyko
Under a lot of stress from last-minute prepara- displays various science fiction and fantasy items
tions, weary AggieCon XXI Director Pat Edwards which will be on sale at the convention.
By JOHN RIGHTER
Of The Battalion Staff
Mayhem and madness are the
scheduled guests this weekend in
Rudder Tower and the Memorial
Student Center.
For four days, Klingons, belly
dancers, elves, transvestites from
outer space and an assortment of
other bizarre characters will take
part in MSC Cepheid Variable’s 21st
annual AggieCon.
The extravaganza is one of the
largest science-fiction, horror and
fantasy conventions in the southwest
United States, AggieCon director
Patrick Edwards says.
This year’s activities include some
thing of interest for just about every
one. On the agenda are celebrity
guest speakers, panel discussions on
topics in the science fiction, horror
and fantasy fields, a Lazer Tag maze
in Deware Field House, a live-action
role-playing game called Quest, a
dealer’s room, board-game areas, an
art auction, nonstop movies and an
imation films and much more.
AggieCon XXI officially begins at
2 p.m. Thursday, when the dealer’s
room, art show, party room and Ja-
Battalion file photo
Walter Koenig, who has played
Chekov in both the television and
movie versions of “Star Trek,” will
speak at 5:30 p.m. Friday in
Room 201 of the MSC as part of
this weekend’s AggieCon XXI.
panimation and movie rooms open.
Members of Cepheid Variable will
open a “Drench the Wench” dunk
ing booth outside Hart Hall at 10
a.m. Thursday to attract publicity
for AggieCon.
At 5:30 p.m., opening ceremonies
will begin in the MSC Flag Room,
featuring a performance by Nancy
Winds of Magic Belly Dancers.
Highlighting the weekend, Ed
wards says, are the Con’s four special
guests. Author and “Star Trek” ac
tor Walter Koenig will speak at 5:30
m. Friday in Room 201 of the
SC. He will sign autographs in the
Serpentine Lounge at 8 p.m.
From 9:30 a.m.-noon on Satur
day, Richard Pini, editor and co
creator of the popular “Elfquest”
graphic novel series will speak, nar
rate a slide show and sign auto
graphs in Room 261 of the MSC.
Spider and Jeanne Robinson,
winners of the Hugo and Nebula,
science fiction’s most prestigious
awards, will speak at 4:30 p.m. Sat
urday in Room 201 of the MSC, fol
lowed by an autograph session in the
Serpentine Lounge.
Many regional writers and artists
also will participate in the panel dis
cussions and autograph sessions.
AggieCon activities will run from
8 a.m.-2 a.m. on Friday and Satur
day, and will end at 2 p.m. Sunday.
A comprehensive schedule of events
will be posted outside the AggieCon
headquarters in Room 203 of the
MSC.
A full-Con pass costs $16 for
adults, $13 for students and $6 for
children ages 4 to 12. A one-day pass
costs $9 for adults, $7 for students
and $3 for children. Tickets are
available at the MSC Box Office and
at all Ticketron outlets.
A ticket into the dealer’s room can
be bought for a quarter, but it will
not allow you into any other Con ac
tivities.
Additional tickets are also nec
essary for the Lazer Tag games ($1),
to participate in Quest ($5) and for
the movies shown each night ($2).
Tickets to the Friday and Satur
day midnight showings of “The
Rocky Horror Picture Show” at the
Grove will cost $1.50. Edwards rec
ommends buying tickets in advance,
since he says “Rocky Horror” is one
of the Con’s most successful attrac
tions each year.
Rodeo cowboys' athletic talent often unrecognized
By VINCE SNYDER
Of The Battalion Staff
Eight seconds may not seem that
long, but for a rodeo cowboy it can
be an eternity.
Rodeo is a sport that pits man
against beast, skill against power,
luck against winning.
Not many people appreciate the
talents displayed by the cowboy and
animals alike. But both are key ath
letes in a sport that has been around
for more than a century.
The sport of rodeo may not be as
popular today as it has been in the
past. But with the help of a certain
rodeo producer, the past may once
again join the future.
Hoping to attract a young audi
ence, Bad Company Rodeo produc
ers have brought the sound of rock
’n’ roll music to the rock ’n ’ rough
style of rodeoing.
“We’re trying to offer a different
flavor to the sport,” Bad Comapny
producer Mack Altizer said.
“Rodeo is heading in the wrong
direction of politics instead of enter
tainment. We think we’ve found a
way to turn it around and continue
the entertainment into the ’90s.”
Tunes are played over a state-of-
the-art sound system as two-ton bulls
attempt to discard unwanted passen
gers straddled across their backs.
Each bull is named to a hit song,
and that song is played during the
eight-second ride, encouraging fans
to rock to the beat and cheer for the
cowboy.
“Funky Cold Medina,” “Wild
Thing,” “Takin’ Care of Business”
and “Wooly Bully” are just a few ex
amples of the “animal-song” combi
nations used during the perfor
mance.
Bad Company displayed their
new innovation last weekend in the
National Intercollegiate Rodeo for
the southern region. The event,
sponsored by the Texas A&M Rodeo
Association, was held at the N.W.
“Dick” Freeman Arena in College
Station.
See Rodeo/Page 5
The three-man “Saddling Sirloins” team won the
Bad Company Rodeo steer-saddling competition
Photo by Eric Roalson
Friday night by being the first to cross the finish
line with a rider on a saddled steer.
Lifestyles Editor Mary-Lynne Rice 845!
Austere Angels Fall 1
draws audience inside
inspires its compassm
ByCHIPSOWDEN
Of The Battalion Staff
In
The Aggie Players’ Fallout
Theater is host to a radioactive
production that will leave you
with a special glow. “Angels Fall”
is a play about six people trapped
together in a small New Mexico
mission after the release of radio
active dust from a nearby ura
nium mine.
But “Angels Fall” is really
about the people involved and
how their lives are changed by the
time they spend together. And as
the characters get to know each
other, the audience gets to know
them.
Although the play seems sim
ple at first glance, the characters
relate in complex ways and as
they reveal more about them
selves, the audience is drawn into
the action.
The austere set also draws you
into the play, quite literally. The
benches that serve as pews in the
mission come right up to the first
row of seats in the theater.
As you walk in and take a seat,
it seems you could be sitting in
the back row of this little church
where the action takes place. You
feel like a part of the set.
At the beginning of the first
act, the Rolling Stones’ “Wild
Horses” comes over the sound
system. Don Tabaha (played by
Ross Lambert), an Indian who
grew up living in the mission,
comes into the church and sits
down after tossing his knapsack
aside. It takes a second to realize
that the show has begun.
Soon, the other characters en
ter the church, having no place
else to go since they are trapped
by roadblocks due to the accident
at the mine. The confrontations
begin immediately.
In one humorous scene, Zappy
Zappala and Marion Clay (played
by David Roberto and Kathy
Schultz), are arguing about the
delay while Niles and Vita Harris
(played by Allen T. Horton and
Kelly Roman), look on. Roberto
repeatedly asks, “Do you mind?”
as though the Harrises should go
somewhere else. But they have no
place to go.
fact, everyone in the
seems out of their natural t(
ement, except, of course, forfi
ther Doherty (played by Billy)
Thomas).
We know that we are seeiiii
just one facet of each characters
they pass through this stoppim
point on their way to someplao
else. But the play gives jus
enough information to imagk
the other facets of the character!
and it is this process of imajp
tion that makes them come alive
The most immediatly likeable
character is Zappy Zappali
whose aggressive, well-meaniii;
but not terribly smart demeanor
is well-played by Roberto.
The play’s major theme of
knowing who and what you are
crystallizes during Zappala'i
speech about his realization that
he was to become a professional
tennis player.
On the other hand, Niles Har
ris, a professor who has lost confi
dence in his profession, suffers
an emotional crisis. But heissi
able to convince the young la
baha that the direction his school
ing is to take is his choice alone
Unfortunately, some of the pro
lessor’s lines were difficult to un
derstand.
T(
sf
UCi 3 Idl iLi . Ear i
Although the production o!|| m
this play isn’t up to the standardH a 'j ’
of larger productions by the Ah
gie Players, “Angels Fall” is per
naps better for it. As it is, the
characters are able to shine
through unencumbered.
The real measure of a play like
“Angels Fall” is the extent to
which it makes you care about its
charac ters. And as 1 left the the
I noticed that most people
wliei
ii. \
become of
cared.
the characters. Thei I;
aterj
were talking about what wastoL ^
P “I
le f
“Angels Fall” will play even |f ace
night at 8 tonight through Satur f
day in the Fallout Theater, ingr
Room 144 of the Blocker Build |f So l
ing. j-. 1 ■ Le
Tickets are available at Rudder B oni
Box Office. Prices are $4 forstu ll^ (>r
dents and the general public and R 3 ^* 1
$2 for season ticket holders. For B l( tu
more information and reserva-B
tions, call 845-1234. fr'PP
Dry)
Preservation Hall relives
heyday of New Orleans jazz
By PATRICK HAYS
Of The Battalion Staff
The New Orleans jazz group Pres
ervation Hall brought a piece of the
Aggieland Friday
lal 1
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Crescent City to
night, playing originaFDixielandjazz
for more than two hours in a well-
packed Rudder Auditorium.
The concert, sponsored by MSC
OPAS, gave the audience a taste of
the music which came out of the
roaring 1920s and made New Or
leans the birthplace of jazz.
The group’s two sets included up
beat instrumental and vocal arrange
ments and blues tunes which had the
musicians’ instruments crying with
feeling. Each of the band members
played solos on most of the songs,
trading off moments in the spot
light.
The band consists of seven mem
bers: Wendell Brunious (trumpet
and band leader), Frank Demond
(trombone), Frank Parker (drums),
James Prevost (bass), Lars Edegran
(piano), Narvin Kimball (banjo) and
Willie Humphrey (clarinet).
The spirited Humphrey was the
highlight of the show. In addition to
playing fantastic clarinet parts, he
danced and bounced about the
stage, making gestures and jokes as
well as winking at women in the au
dience — all at the tender age of 89.
Included in the band’s sets were
“Tiger Rag,” “St. Louis Blues,” “Be
cause of You” (featuring Kimball),
“Sugar Blues,” “Louisian-i-a” (fea
turing Demond) and “Little Liza
Jane” (featuring Humphrey).
“Sugar Blues” was one of the best
songs of the evening, showcasing
Brunious’ trumpet and fantastically
sweet voice.
The band closed the show with an
extended version of the jazz classic
and Preservation Hall trademark,
“When the Saints Go Marching In.”
As Brunious and Demond paraded
through the audience and led doz
ens of fans onto the stage, the rest of
the crowd responded with a stand
ing ovation.
Throughout the show, the band
members were thoroughly relaxed,
chatting and joking with each other.
The band maintains an informal
atmosphere — rather than following
a set playlist, the band chooses its
songs as the show progresses. They
even took a couple of requestsFrid
night.
It was clear that the crowd!
joyed the performance. Lookii
down rows in the audience, ne;
every foot could be seen tapping
the music. Fans responded
cheers after the solos.
The show carried with itacerti
amount of nostalgia. Not on
[Con
I he show carried with its
certain amount of nostalgia
Not only are these
musicians preserving and
carrying on the tradition of
jazz music, they created it
Some of them were around
when jazz was in its infant
stages, being played in
backstreet bars and small
clubs. The years of
experience can be seenofi
the faces of these men as
they play the music which
has been so much a partoi
their lives.
Th,
Wm
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hind
P
rying on the tradition of jazz muss
they created it.
Some of them were around whe 1
jazz was in its infant stages, beinj
played in backstreet bars and snU
clubs. The years of experience 0
be seen on the faces of these men#
they play the music which has bef 1
so much a part of their lives.
Preservation Hall is also the nan#
of a jazz club in New Orleans, estah
lished in 1961. Jazz music was at
low point at that time, and a grotif
of musicians opened the club in a
attempt to preserve jazz music, tlt f
only truly American art form.
The club, located at 726 St. Pet#
Street in the French Quarter, pr#
vides a relaxed listening at#
sphere, with wooden benches an(
odd chairs for seats, and the
wicker collection basket used in tit f
early days of the hall.
The band is one of several g
which plays at Preservation
when not on tour.
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