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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 2000)
Thursday hVlarigold offers relief ^Local good guys Marigold will join several other bands to help benefit the Relief Nursery. PAGE 8 niewell@gladstone.uoregon.edu REBECCA NEWELL :PULSE EDITOR Coyote Ugly* pretty beautiful ■Jerry Bruckheimer trades in asteroids and fighter jets for wet T shirtsand lots of legs By Rebecca Newell Oregon Daily Emerald Five gorgeous bartenders wearing skin-tight clothing, engaging in dancing and wet T-shirt contests on the bar, while ogling men hoot and holler. Sound like anything oth er than a fluffy summer pic, . destined for some financial success with gyrations from supermodel Tyra Banks and the favored voice of Leann ' Rimes? Surprisingly, it is. “Coyote Ugly,” a story about dreams, is a Touch stone Pictures film pro duced by Jerry Bruck heimer, who brought us “Flashdance,” “Top Gun” and “Armageddon.” In the tradition of his past movies, Bruckheimer performed a casting call for talent that encom passed established stars, such as Banks and “ER” actress Maria Bello, who plays Lil, the owner of Coyote Ugly, and also reached to virtual un knowns such as Piper Per abo, who stars in the title - role as Violet Sanford. The 21-year-old New Jer sey girl heads to New York . to realize her dreams as a songwriter when she’s dis tracted by a job in the noto rious bar Coyote Ugly. The bartenders, known as Coyotes, tease and tor ment customers with their sexy attire and antics com plete with a “hands off’ at titude — summed up best by owner Lil’s policy of “appear available but don’t BE available.” With a job that regularly gets her photo in the paper and $300 a night of tips in her pocket, and a budding TU. , . courtesy Touchstone Pictures The infamous Coyote bartenders tantalize in this summer’s romantic comedy ‘Coyote Ugly.’ romance with a local cook named Kevin O’Donnell, played by Australia-born Adam Garcia, Violet’s life seems to be a dream for a young gal, except for her stagnant progress on her song-writing goal. Her biggest obstacle isn’t even the big, mean city of New York, but rather her own fear of singing her songs in front of people, which is ironically the only venue for getting them heard. Throw in the conflict that Violet’s father, played by John Goodman, has with his daughter “leaving the nest” and a little good-na tured rivalry between the Coyotes, and the result is a surprisingly great summer flick about growing up, conquering your fears and realizing your dreams. A littlecheesy? In idea, maybe. But in reality, “Coy ote Ugly” pulls it off and promises to join the ranks of favorite romantic come dies. For old cadets, there's no blast-off here Garner, Jones, Eastwood and Sutherland finally get to explore space. ■ ‘Space Cowboys’ brags an all-star cast, but resembles more of a mission to the nursing home than the moon By Jeff Smith Oregon Daily Emerald Grab the Viagra! Make sure the false teeth are in place! And don’t forget to pack extra pair's of underwear! Because you’re going to outer space, ol’ fogies! Yup, John Glenn will feel so ordinary when he goes to see “Space Cowboys,” a movie about four geriatric ex-Air Force pilots from the 1950s, who get the chance to denture — I mean, ven ture — into the great be yond 40 years later. It is Clint Eastwood’s lat est film that he has directed, produced and starred in, but it doesn’t have that East wood-esque feel to it. The 70-year-old’s aura was crys tal clear in films such as “Unforgiven” and “A Per fect World,” but in this one it was about as clear as Don ald Sutherland’s vision in the movie. The movie was like “Co coon” meets “Armaged don,” but without the corny emotion that was desperate ly needed in this film. The actual plot is kind of ridiculous, so we’ll go over it quickly. Four pilots in the ‘50s are Turn to Cowboys, page 9 Zimbabwe music heats up summer with three-day test ■ Eugene-favoritesShumba and other African musicians highlight the ninth annual Zimbabwean Music Festival at the University Aug. 18 - Aug. 20 By Suzanne O’Kelley for the Emerald Though the word “Africa” does little to describe the vast expanse of traditions, religions, languages and knowledge that reside within the continent’s many nations, one side of the multi-faceted African essence takes shape next weekend in the form of Zimfest, the ninth annual Zimbabwean Music Fes tival. The three-day festival runs Aug. 18 through Aug. 20 on the University campus. Many participants in this year’s Zimfest are members of Eugene s Zimbabwean music community, such as Kudana and Shumba, two professional marimba bands. The festival will also feature groups and individuals from Portland, Washington, New Mexico, Colorado, California, In diana, British Columbia and of course, Zimbabwe. Though the Zimfest tradition is only nine years old, the mu sic that ties the festival together has been in the United States much longer. The birth of Zimbabwean music in the Pacific Northwest is attributed to the late Dumisani Maraire, who taught and performed Shona marimba music, nyunga nyunga mbira, singing, drumming, and dance in Seattle from 1968 to 1982 and from 1986 to 1990. Maraire arranged traditional Zimbabwean pieces for marimba ensemble and for the nyunga nyunga mbira, and composed many more. In 1990, Maraire earned his doctorate from the University of Washington's music school and returned home to teach at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare. Maraire’s legacy lives on in the Pacific Northwest and continues to spread throughout North America as Maraire’s students and students of his stu dents perform and teach. Following in Maraire’s footsteps, musicians come to Zim fest to teach and to learn as well as to perform. The festival hosts a multitude of workshops, beginning Friday and con tinuing throughout the weekend. Sessions are open to every one and range in skill level, content and length. Most work shops cost $12 per hour. Due to space restrictions, the festival organizers recommend pre-registration for all classes, but many workshops are still open and available for on-site regis tration. Zimbabweans who will both teach and play at the festival include visiting musicians Julia (Tsitsi) Chigamba, Musekiwa Chingodza, Beauler Dyoko, Forward Kwenda, Cosmas Maga ya. Sheasby Matiure and Savannah Jammin’/Decent Gang, as well as Peter Masundire and Paul Mataruse, two U.S. resi dents. The Zimbabwean visitors will also give talks about their backgrounds, Zimbabwean music theory and problems fac ing Zimbabwe today. “Our music is both medicine and food, as mbira has the power to heal and to provide for people, Chingodza said. “Mbira pleases both the living and the dead.” Music from Zimbabwe is composed of many instruments and techniques. Basic traditional Zimbabwean music in cludes marimba, mbira, hosho, singing, dancing and drum ming. Musicians have expanded the traditional style to incor porate the guitar and other innovative instruments. During the weekend of Zimfest, numerous musicians will be teaching various aspects of Zimbabwean music. Workshop levels range from introductory, for those who have never touched an instrument, to advanced, for the most proficient Zimbabwean music students. Workshops are offered in most styles of music and include other aspects of Zimbabwean tra dition, such as the Shona language and children’s games, and several classes teach the art of making Zimbabwean instru ments. The Zimbabwean Music Festival takes place in a different location each year and features different events annually. Zim fest was last held in Eugene in 1993, and has been in Portland, Seattle, Victoria and Port Townsend since. According to festi val organizers, Zimfest 1999 brought together an international community of more than 400 people to teach, attend work shops and perform. Organized entirely by volunteers, the fes tival is the largest annual gathering in North America for stu dents, teachers, performers and fans of Zimbabwean music. All afternoon concerts are free, and any available tickets to evening shows can be purchased throughout the duration of the festival. Most concerts take place in the EMU Ballroom or the Outdoor stage near the south lawn of the EMU. A schedule of events is available on-line at www.zimfest.org.
