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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (July 22, 2004)
Pulse Editor: Ryan Nyburg ryannyburg@dailyemerald.com Thursday, July 22,2004 — Oregon Daily Emerald PULSE Hot Picks: Impart! Art screening of'Jaws' Friday, 8 p.m., $2 suggested donation Comer of Broadway & Willamette RYAN NYBURG BUDGET RACK Celebrities' after death Boy; a lot of people have died. Have you ever thought about that? I mean, damn, just about everyone has died when you get down to it. Throughout the whole course of human history, nearly every person who has lived is now dead. The only ones who haven't died are the ones still walking around, and the odds aren't looking too good for them either. Shakespeare? Dead. Richard Nixon? Dead. J.S. Bach? Dead. P.D.Q. Bach? Dead. All these people and more were once alive and now are dead. Doesn't that just scare the piss out of you? You're going to die! But who knows, maybe it would be a good thing. I know that sounds bad, but what I mean is that many people have gotten quite a career boost out of death. For some reason, once a person passes into the great white nothing, his esteem rises tenfold. In the case of celebrities this increase is exponential to whatever esteem they already had, or once had. People are willing to forgive a lot once they no longer have to deal with a person's faults. Jim Morrison is the perfect example. Once the old lizard passed, it no longer mattered that he had been an insufferable drunken bastard. Now he was a poet, a mystic, a God! Death was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Kurt Cobain is another prime example of post-mortem praise. One less heroin junkie and all of a sudden, mild wordplay, weak non sequiturs and empty expressions of angst are considered poet ry. Tupac Shakur? He's released more albums dead than alive, and is in fact doing pretty well for himself. Other than being dead, that is. Ray Charles hadn't so much as done a Pepsi commercial in years, but he kicks the bucket and all the sudden he's the bee's knees. Ronald Reagan unwittingly caused more human destruction and suffering in eight years than most can manage in a lifetime; now his corpse is a national hero and has been paraded across the country like some kind of twisted Republican geek show. But still, death is an interesting topic. Al though often it is not death itselfrbqt peo ple's reactions to it that are the more fruit ful subject of discussion. Have you noticed that the coverage surrounding a celebrity's death is proportional to his or her popu larity rather than actual importance? When one of the best and most revolu tionary comedians of the century, Bill Hicks, died in 1994, the news passed like a fart in the wind. But Bob Hope, whose comedy was formulaic and prescripted and had not advanced one iota since 1960, was hailed as a genius and pioneer. In fact, it was his style of comedy that everyone since has been revolting against, but who cares? He was a funny old guy Please see NYBURG, page 10 r Erik R. Bishoff Online & Photo Editor Scott Stewart, Sergio Martinez and Sarah Tumquist star in the Mad Duckling Children's Theatre production of ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ The show is sure to delight local children, and their parents, when performances begin July 27. ‘Wonderland’ comes to Children’s Theatre Performers bring joy to their production of'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' RYAN NYBURG PULSE EDITOR Lewis Carroll's classic children's story, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," has remained a popular standard for both children and adults since its original publication in 1865. It has been reprinted numerous times and adapted to stage, screen and television. Many talented illustrators have rendered their own interpretations of the evocative story. Now the University's Mad Duckling Children's Theatre is bringing its own interpretation into the fray with an adaptation of the story penned by director and theater arts graduate student Eliz abeth Helman. "We looked for an adaptation we could use, but everything we found required a cast of 40 people," Helman said. "We needed something for a cast of seven. So I just wrote it myself." Helman said she was attracted to the story because it featured a strong female protagonist, something missing in many stories written for children. As director of past University The atre productions such as "A Thread in the Dark" and "Jane and the Beanstalk," which also featured strong female leads, finding interesting roles for women has been a longtime project for Helman. She isn't the only dne involved in the project who feels that way. "I love that this is a little girl who is out exploring purely on her own curiosity," University post-gradu ate Sarah Tumquist, who will play the lead role of Alice, said. "Nobody is saying 'do this' or 'do that.'" The production of the play, which will be per formed on a lawn outside the Robinson Theatre, summons a variety of challenges: Multiple set and costume changes are necessary, something difficult for outdoor performances. But accord ing to the director and cast members, the trouble is worth it for the chance to perform for what Helman calls "the best sort of audience," young children and their parents. "It's all about the kids," said performer Scott Stew art, who plays the Mad Hatter. "Rehearsals are fun, but when the kids come it's amazingly interesting. It's one of the best things I've done in my life" The joys of performing for children is what the Mad Duckling Theatre, now in its tenth year, has always been about. According to the University Department of Theater Arts Development Direc tor Joseph Gilg, the Mad Duckling performanc es give students a unique opportunity to perform for a young audience. Please see ALICE, page 8 Indie label musicians Wondergoat Records LLC prefers bands ivith social or political messages KEVIN MILLER FREELANCE REPORTER Jason Tanenbaum has a typical academ ic's biography, save for the fact that he runs a record company, making him one of the coolest nerds around. Political science is only the tip ofTanenbaum's iceberg, and when not teaching, he turns musicians into rock stars. As vice president of business and legal affairs for Wondergoat Records LLC, Tanenbaum handles all the corporate and contracting mumbo-jumbo that goes along with managing an indie label. While it may sound like a suit-and-tie po sition, Tanenbaum prefers a Black Sab bath T-shirt and some old jean shorts to formal business attire. In fact, the compa ny prides itself on being more laid-back, artist-friendly and musically conscious than the big guns. "We're interested in developing a scene, not cannibalizing it," Tanenbuam said. "Major labels tend to wait until something is mature and then they swoop down and clip the ones they want, leaving the rest in ruins." At the moment, Wondergoat carries only three bands: Hester Beasley, Ryan Orr and 2Bucks Short — a local punk outfit that recently played two gigs on the Warped Tour. The label says that it prefers signing acts with social or political messages. And, while they accept demo submissions from any genre, Tanenbaum is at once realistic about marketability and true to his conscience. 'I like hearing spoons, but I can't see anyone selling 5,000 albums of Spoon man," He said. Also, we wouldn't put Brit ney Spears out there because I couldn't sleep at night even if I was sleeping on a big pile of money." When you're a small label, certain as pects of sales and marketing can be a challenge, Tanenbaum said. Nevertheless, for local • • Please see LABEL, page 10 'Bourne' sequel fails to reign supreme Fast-paced action and some strong acting can't stop The Bourne Supremacy'from unraveling STEVEN NEUMAN FREELANCE REPORTER Sometimes a sequel is better then the first film. "X2" pulled off this feat, so did "Spiderman 2". Unfortunately, "The Bourne Supremacy" has a bit of an identity crisis. The genre of this film lies somewhere between thriller, spy flick, ac tion movie and corrupt-cop story, but excels in none of these categories. The movie picks up three years after "The Bourne Identity" left off. Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), try ing his hardest to remain out of the sight of the CIA, has moved to an idyllic Indian beach town with his girlfriend Marie (Franka Potente). For a short time, it appears that "Supremacy" is going to be all jogs on the beach in slow-motion, oc casionally interrupted by one of Bourne's frantically edited night mares. Fortunately, a mysterious assassin kills two CIA officers MOVIE REVIEW Please see IDENTITY, page 8 Courtesy Universal Studios Still running from the CIA, Matt Damon returns as Jason Bourne in The Bourne Supremacy,’ which will open Friday nationwide.
