Thursday
Sexy and Smokin’ Hot
Janet Jackson’s got a new
CD‘All for You’ PAGE 9
PULSE EDITOR: BEVIN CAFFERY bcaffery@gladstone.uoregon.edu
Theatrical thesis
■ Kat Reese presents her
lighthearted thesis project
onstage at the Pocket Playhouse
^ 'vl
I** ^ a
’N\The Closet’
PLAY REVIEW
Pocket Playhouse
By Mason West
for the Emerald
Kat Reese admits that she is a bad
girl
That is the short reason why her
play/Honors College thesis project,
“I’N\ The Closet,” did not appear on
posters advertising this term’s Pocket
Playhouse season. But her lack of spon
sorship didn’t keep her from pushing
ahead and it certainly doesn’t hurt the
quality of her production.
The long reason why Reese’s produc
tion didn’t receive Pocket support is
that she and friend Darlene Dadras were
banned from the Pocket after violating
production rules in their show “Pieces”
during winter term. Reese has been giv
en temporary permission to use the
space for her thesis.
Aside from the private tension, there
are two big red flags attached to this
show that could turn off the potential
audience: “Honor’s College thesis proj
ect” and “one-woman show.” Stereo
typically, these titles herald an incom
prehensible, drawn-out, self-indulgent
performance. But Reese pays little at
tention to stereotypes and deftly avoids
these pitfalls.
Her show is lighthearted and enter
taining, but it still means something.
Not “SOMETHING,” but something.
The parts that could mean “SOME
Turn to Pocket, page 10
Mason West Emerald
Self-proclaimed bad girl Kat Reese puts her all into the one-woman thesis project she intends to wow audiences with today
through Saturday beginning at 5 p.m. in the Pocket Playhouse. The free performance is a mix of monologues and childlike
storytelling, including an excited rant about throwing a stone at another girl’s head for not sharing her bicycle.
Novelist continues gory
social criticism in book
■ Chuck Palahniuk’s new book
‘Choke’ furthers his controversial
social commentary on sex and
violence made famous in ‘Fight Club’
Chuck Palahniuk ‘Choke’
Doubleday & Company, Inc.
★★★★☆
By Dave Depper
Oregon Daily Emerald
Chuck Palahniuk saw his career as a
writer rocket skyward in 1999 when a little
novel of his was made into a movie.
That novel was the already-controversial
“Fight Club,” and the movie stirred up all
sorts of ruckus from critics who thought
that it was a major example that violence in
films had finally gone too far.
Most of these critics missed the point.
“Fight Club” was not about violence, but
rather it was a scathing indictment of the
society that forces people into violence.
The same critics will probably miss the
point again when they read Palahniuk’s
fourth novel, “Choke.” They will probably
say that its moral core is rotten, that it in
spires readers to engage in all manners of
debauchery and that its religious refer
ences are decidedly blasphemous in na
ture.
Let them complain.-They’ll be missing
out on one hell of a good time.
“Choke” is the story of a loser named
Victor Mancini. Once a promising medical
student, he now works at a theme park
called Colonial Dunsboro, where all em
ployees must stay in character at all times
or face sadistic punishments. He works
there with his best friend Denny, who is a
chronic masturbator.
Victor is also a clinically diagnosed sex
addict, and he spends his weeks cruising
Turn to Choke, page 9
Pinehurst Kids’third CD
bleeds your energy dry
■The Portland emo group blasts
out aggressive pop/punk songs in a
style reminiscent of West Coast music
before “indie” rock took over
Pinehurst Kids‘Bleed it Dry’
Barbaric Records
By Carol Rink
Oregon Daily Emerald
There’s something about Pinehurst Kids
that makes you want to rediscover the pow
er pop/punk sound all over again. Maybe
it’s the driving power chords, moody
melodies and angst-ridden lyrics. Or maybe
it’s just the simple fact that the Portland,
Ore., group knows how to crank out an al
bum full of catchy rock tunes.
“Bleed It Dry,” the band’s third and latest
release, is loaded with aggressive, energetic
pop songs about love, solidarity, guilt and
regret. Often referred to as an “emo” band
— a broad title that covers many different
styles of emotionally-charged punk rock —
Pinehurst Kids explore everything from
tight drum beats to the traditional verse
chorus-verse structure. The album definite
ly has its own sound, but remains vaguely
reminiscent of bands such as Sunny Day
Real Estate, Jawbreaker, Mudhoney and
even Weezer.
The opening track, “Spinning Out,” finds
sonic pop bursts of guitar progressions that
move swiftly over the chorus: “But I know
you know/ it’s not the same feeling that/you
had before/ cause she was just leaving and/
you know you can’t keep on/ spinning
out.”
The songs “Rollover” and “Deconstruct”
follow more of a solid punk rock structure,
complete with heavier distortion, a mess of
chord changes, and a loud, robust voice
Turn to Pinehurst Kids, page 10