ly • Novembers, 151
AP Photo
:tion of over 40,C
Lie quilt
>ption was to have
plastic plate installei
ehead bone had been
nothy's parents me
n August.
3 brought in Zide, win
nderson. The three de
se Timothy’s own
he bone they needed ti
cranium.
:h portion of his fore
doctors made a sol
opiate mirroring tin
art and then scannei
skull to locate an are;
ir contours,
ten removed the pietf
led the forehead's con
id sliced it inti
and Noble $2,441 ii
3, for the trip butt!
the company untilJtto
rks for First Amen
tank, 8*>id the^ched
, of sequence with oti
liths’ account,
purchasing services
adopted an ethics pol
ild not accept gifts fit
iating with. This
residents,
sident of marketing
tified Smith visited ll
jo, which was standi
r a bookstore. Butf *
’uesday • November 8, 1994
Mgielife
The Battalion • Page 3
MYSTERY
"W"BUB ET
I BB mar P HT u
Quirky comedy show
to blast into A&M
today when the defer'
sses.
ION
n chief
1EE, Opinion editor
tILNE, Photo editor
)ER, Sports editor
i, Aggielife editor
iann, Stephanie Dube, Amarf
imith and Kari Whitley
hah Islam, Tiffany Moore, SBl
tacey Cameron, Blake Griggs,
rson
1 and Haley Stavinoha
a/ Diener, Stewart Doreen aw
enderson, Erin Hill, Jeremy
orge Nasr, Elizabeth Preston,
atro Oakley
I Michelle Oleson
-iday during the fall and spring
is (except University holidays! 1111
at College Station, TX 77840,
McDonald Building, Texas
Texas A&M University inti*
inlism. Editorial offices are 111
DU. Newsroom phone miinkt 1
ir endorsement by The tiatlal**
or classified advertising, call
? hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m
(as A&M student to pick up!
ster, $40 per school year3W
nerican Express, call SIS#’
■on
CAN
By Jeremy Keddie
The Battalion
“Mystery Science Theater 3000”
will be bringing Adam West, star
of the former Batman series, to the
silver screen of Rudder Theater
Wednesday at 7:30 and 9:45 p.m.
in “Zombie Nightmare,” a 1986
Hollywood bust about a murdered
teenager revived by a voodoo
queen and slaughters his punk-
teen assailants.
“Mystery Science Theater 3000”
began in August 1988 as a way to
make fun of movies which never
quite made it or just plain sucked.
The characters are seen in the
front row of a movie theater dur
ing movies, and comment and
crack on the films usually horrible
dialogue.
The actually format of the pro
gram involves a human named
Mike Nelson, and robots Tom Ser
vo and Crow, who have been
stranded in outer space by scien
tists to monitor the effects of
cheesy movies on the human
species.
The show is in the midst of a
nationwide college tour, in which
college students can see the world
premiere of the show’s version of
“Zombie Nightmare.”
The show debuted in September
1988 on a Minneapolis-St. Paul
UHF station.
“Mystery Science Theater 3000”
now appears on Comedy
Central, an all-comedy
network. However
TCA Cable does not
carry Comedy Cen
tral and Wednes
day’s showing will
be the only chance for Texas A&M
students to see the premiere.
Since its beginnings, “Mystery
Science Theater 3000” has been
nominated for the Cable Ace
Award for best comedy series, and
was nominated for an Emmy
Award for outstand
ing individual
achievement in
writing for a vari
ety or music pro
gram.
Partly responsi
ble for these awards
are Paul Chaplin
and Mary Jo Pehl,
two of “Mystery Sci
ence Theater
3000’s” writers.
Chaplin was per
forming stand-up
comedy, and the
producer of “Mys
tery Science The
ater 3000” was in
attendance at one
of his shows. Chap
lin said his perfor
mance was terrible.
“He admired my
fortitude to go on
even though the au
dience kept leav
ing,” Chaplin said.
“By the end of the
third act there was
no one left.”
Chaplin landed
himself a job as a
writer for “Mystery Science The
ater 3000,” with Best Brains Inc.,
the corporation which
produces the show.
Helping Chaplin
with the scripts is
Mary Jo Pehl.
She had also been
doing stand up
comedy and in February of 1992
began writing for the show.
With the talent of these two
writers and several others, Best
Brains Inc. saves 24 movies a year
from reaching their graves early.
“The worst movies you want to
do can be surprisingly expensive,”
he said.
The show has featured such
cheesy movies as “Super Agent Su
per Dragon” (1966), “Warrior of
the Lost World” (1984) and “I Ac
cuse My Parents” (1945).
Pehl and Chaplin said writing
for the movies begin several
months before they are televised.
All of the writers sit in and view
the movies together, while taking
down all comments made during
the airing.
Sometimes it’s too much humor
to handle, Pehl said.
“I have big bouts about spewing
Diet Coke through my nose,” Pehl
said.
But things can become too dry
Host Mike Nelson and robots Tom Servo and Crow.
to handle after viewing each movie
about six times.
“If you’re having a bad day
where nothing is funny, there oth
er people in the room who will pick
up the slack,” Pehl said.
Admission to Wednesday “Mys
tery Science Theater 3000” will be
free with a student ID card.
Williams' storytelling moves 'Loose'
By Erin Hill
TfE Battalion
Victoria Williams
“Loose”
Mammoth Records
*** (out of five)
Remember your elementary school
nusic teacher? The one that played
he guitar and autoharp and sang
Puff the Magic Dragon?”
Well, Victoria Williams, a
linger/songwriter from Louisiana,
leems just like one, minus the auto-
farp. Her songs are lessons and her
toice the teacher.
Even when her songs cover the
tsual topics, namely love, relation-
hips and family, she narrates with
ncredible expression.
At times Williams could pass for a
lountry crooner, as on “Happy to Have
(nown Pappy.” But “Love” and
When We Sing Together” are pure
oik tunes, the kind we haven’t heard
since the days of Peter, Paul and
ary.
She can sing ballads too, like “Na
me’s Way,” a duet with Dave Pimer
Soul Asylum, and “Psalms,” a slow
song with a spiritual message.
Just when you’re convinced she is
iust another female folk singer-Joni
Mitchell wannabe, she breaks out
with her rendition of “What a Wonder-
World.” Considering she’s a young
Caucasian woman she does a formida-
hle impression of Louie Armstrong.
Williams refuses to be categorized
d enjoys teasing her listeners with
wide variety of styles, genres and
subjects. Her talent for writing songs
with such different styles may be due
to her experience in writing for a wide
variety of performers.
Pearl Jam, Soul Asylum, the Wa-
terboys, Michelle Shocked and The
Jayhawks are just some of the bands
that have performed her songs.
Those artists and many more re-
tsed “Sweet Relief’ last year, a col
lection of Williams songs as a
fundraiser for emergency health care
for musicians, a problem Williams un
derstands since she was diagnosed
with Multiple Sclerosis.
“It was the greatest gift,” said
Williams in a press release. “Hearing
those artists sing my songs sounded
really wonderful — and maybe that
Save me a new-found confidence to
wards doing another record.”
That record is “Loose” and confi-
Victoria Williams’ poetic style of music is featured on “Loose.”
dent is a good way to describe it.
From the laughter in her voice to
the photos of her playing around with
her dog on the album cover, it’s appar
ent that Williams is having fun doing
what she knows she is good at.
At times her voice lacks maturity
and it sounds like a little girl with a
squeaky voice, but it is a little girl
with an adorable smile and charming
personality who makes you happy
anyway.
But Williams’ best songs are the
ones where she sings likes a grown
woman. Two of these are the folk rock
ballads “You R Loved” and “Hitchhik
er’s Smile” with R.E.M.’s Peter Buck
and Mike Mills.
When Williams is at her best the
album moves along, demonstrating a
remarkable range of styles and emo
tions. When she isn’t, well, she’s still
a good songwriter.
This is Williams’ third album and it
sounds like her most honest one yet.
Williams said “I know that I had a
better time making it.”
With any luck, her fans will have
as much fun listening.
Black Crowes' 'Amorica'
starts strong, ends weak
album begins to darken with the album’s
fourth track, “Cursed Diamond.” Begin
ning with a somber mood, both lyrically
and musically, the song depicts a person
who is frustrated with his life. Robinson’s
only escape from this wretched feeling is
to get high.
“I freeze myself / Rain on myself / OK,
so I stone myself / And I might even find
myself,” he sings.
Robinson is a “cursed diamond” who
wants to “shine for you” and even “sparkle
too.”
The album picks up a little after
“Cursed Diamond,” but regresses to a
somber tone again with “Ballad In Ur
gency.” Dealing with the same inward ap
athy that is evident throughout the al
bum, “Ballad in Urgency” offers nothing
new and exciting for the listener.
Like “Cursed Diamond,” the song is
definitely a downer. Albums need a het
erogenous mixture of high and low. But
the latter seems to dictate the last half of
“Amorica,” which is a shame for an album
that starts out with such a bang.
By Drew Diener
The Battalion
The Black Crowes
“Amorica”
American Recordings
**1/2 (out of five)
The Black Crowes’ latest musical com
panion may not shake your money maker.
“Amorica,” the Georgia group’s third
LP, is an interesting follow-up to “Shake
Your Money Maker” (1990) and “Southern
Harmony and Musical Companion”
(1992).
On the album’s opening tracks, lead
singer Chris Robinson’s scratchy voice
adds spice to an already impressive con
glomeration of instrumentation. Robin
son’s lyrics deal with traditional themes
like bad love, deception, depression and
confusion.
While these themes may not be origi
nal, the sound of the music combined with
Robinson’s irresistable crooning make
each of the album’s first five songs a plea
surable listen.
The album’s first track,
“Gone,” possesses a sam
pling of the various instru
mentation and sound tech
niques featured through
out the album. A funky
percussion sound reminis
cent of the underlying beat
of War’s “Lowrider” en
velopes the listener imme
diately. The percussion
soon combines with the
guitar, bass, drums and
Robinson’s voice, thus
striking a potent crescen
do.
Robinson sings “Save
me from this season’s dead
air / Take me blind, naked,
and scared.”
Obviously depressed,
the music offers a strange
juxtaposition of moods.
The music, eliciting a feel
ing of ease, dominates
words that appear to rep
resent the antithesis of
such feelings. Even the
manner in which Robinson
sings “Gone” boldly con
trasts the mood of the
lyrics.
The upbeat feel of the The Black Crowes are back with “Amorica.”
Stones still rockin'
after all these years
By Belinda Blancarte
The Battalion
It’s difficult to imagine our fathers
stirring up enough energy to rock-n-
roll like a teenager, but one group of
middle-aged men never seems to slow
down.
The Rolling Stones rocked the Alam-
odome in San Antonio Saturday for a
sold-out crowd of about 50,000 fans.
With an elaborate eight-story ^
high stage that included a fire
breathing cobra overhead, the
Stones kicked off the show
with “Not Fade Away.”
Along with new material
jg :; A
from “Voodoo Lounge,
such as “I Go Wild,” Mick
Jagger and the boys
played their memorable
hit “Satisfaction” as the
crowd went wild.
Other “Voodoo
Lounge” selections in
cluded “You Got Me Rock
ing,” where the audience joined in with
their screams of “Hey! Hey!”
To slow things down a bit, the
Rolling Stones
played the
“Some Girls” al
bum’s hits
“Beast of Bur
den” and the
rarely played
country-sound
ing “Far Away
Eyes,” with the
screen showing
them in black
and white.
Keith
Richards sang
“The Worst”
from “Voodoo
Lounge,” in ad
dition to the
1970s hit “Hap
py” from “Exile
on Main
Street.”
And as an
other favorite,
“Honky Tonk
Woman,”
brought people
to their feet, the
screen pictured
past film stars
such as Shirley Temple, and other fa
mous women like Queen Elizabeth II.
But the best performance of all be
gan when huge inflatable images of
such things as a skeleton, a goat, Elvis
and the Virgin Mary swayed in the
background as Jagger, decked out in
sunglasses and a fuzzy, leopard-print
ed top hat, sang the ever-popular
words, “Please allow me to introduce
myself...” from the hit song
“Sympathy for the Devil.”
And Jagger, now in his mid-
50s, wouldn’t disappoint the
crowd without doing some
of his trademark dancing
of sudden jerks and turns.
Although the Stones
would leave without playing
such favorites as “Ruby Tues
day” or “Paint It Black,” the
band returned for an encore per
formance of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”
And after fireworks lit up the
stage, Charlie Watts, Ron Wood,
Richards and Jagger walked to the
front of the stage arm in arm and took
a bow.
The Rolling Stones are currently on tour supporting their hit
“Voodoo Lounge” album.
f