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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 12, 2004)
Pulse Editor: Ryan Nyburg ryannyburg@dailyemerald.com Thursday, August 12, 2004 — Oregon Daily Emerald PULSE Hot Picks: Walker T. Ryan and the Delta Mystics 10 p.m. Saturday August 14 Luna, 30 E. Broadway $5 cover RYAN NYBURG BUDGET RACK Accessibility of media enhances substance A few columns ago, I posed the ques tion of why comedian Bob Hope was praised all to high heaven when he passed, while the death of comedian Bill Hicks was barely noted. The answer boiled down to a matter of popularity. Hope was a beloved figure while Hicks was a scabrous and bitter cynic who never reached a level beyond cult status in his lifetime. Hope was acceptable to the mainstream, despite his bland, white-bread comedy, while Hicks broke new ground with his vitriolic and intelligent social satire. It's not fair that middle-of-the-road work should be exalted over brilliant comedy, but then again, life isn't fair. If it were, then, as a colleague of mine said, you would de serve every messed-up thing that has ever happened to you. But the idea of how a fig ure such as Hicks could even rise to what lit tle prominence he reached is intriguing. To me, it opens up questions about how cer tain ideas rise in media, how different view points become available and what is and is not given a chance in our culture. Hicks was able to make it into promi nence despite being an abrasive performer because stand-up comedy is and open medium. Anybody with the proper skills can be a stand-up comic and find an out let for his or her work v/ith little personal expense. Stand-up comedy is also one of the few media in which new and creative viewpoints are rewarded, given time and perseverance. There is no way to hide a lack of talent, though some have made valiant efforts (Carrot Top comes immedi ately and regrettably to mind). Stand-up is currently in a static period as far as I can gauge. Suffering from declining returns, the industry behind it has rallied around safe bets. This is the problem that affects any medium when the audiences start shrinking and the money doesn't flow easily. Eventually, one of two things will happen: The tide will turn and stand-up will rise to prominence again, meaning risks will be easier to take, or the whole thing will disintegrate into dust, leaving the way open for someone else to come around and do it over again. Either way, someone will shake things up eventually. If you look at any medium you'll find ap proximately the same patterns. The differ ences are in how open or closed the nature of the medium is. Each system has its own quirks. Television, for example, is by its na ture the most firmly closed system. With a limited amount of space available (we're talking broadcast rather than cable or satel lite here, though they're all owned by the same people) and a relatively high expense inherent in operating a station, home grown local TV is hard to find. Public access is always available, but comparing the reach of that to network television is like compar ing a garden hose to the Mississippi. Cable and satellite opened things up a bit, but if you want to make it on televi sion, you still have to play by the rules of the people already in the game. It also Please see NYBURG, page 10 TOP OF THE MORNING Ann Dornfeld hosts "Morning Edition" for NPRat KLCC early Tuesday. Tim Bobosky Interim Photo Editor Air time KLCC’sAnn Dornfeld is a lifelong radio aficionado and hosts an NPR morning show MICHAEL A. BOOTH FREELANCE REPORTER nn Domfeld's love of radio developed at a young age. When she was six years old, she JL \»and her older brother would record televi sion shows like Mister Rogers' Neighborhoodand then insert their own commercials. "We called our station K.I.D.S.," Dornfeld said. "We'd sign off by saying 'K.I.D.S. Seatde — That's our motto!"' Twenty-one years later, in the National Public Radio studio radio station KLCC, she exudes the same youthful enthusiasm she had in her KIDS days. As the local host of NPR's Morning Edition, the morning news program, Dornfeld settled into her seat in the cramped 10 foot by 20 foot studio lined with vinyl records from floor to ceiling Tues day like it was her own personal happy place. When Tom Krumm, the host of the music pro gram Fresh Tracks, came into the studio just min utes before his 9 a.m. turn in the studio seat, Dornfeld and Krumm immediately began their on-air exchange to introduce his show. Smiling, Dornfeld swiveled her chair to face the studio control panel, pressed a button and began. "Fresh tracks with Tom Krumm is coming up next," Dornfeld said. "How are you this morning, Tom?" Her voice was smooth, precise, low and no ticeably changed from a slightly higher and faster conversational tone she used off the air only moments earlier. Dornfeld's enthusiasm for public radio doesn' cease with her on-air delivery. She is also passion ate about attracting a younger demographic to be come the next generation of radio listeners. "You can only do so much to cater to a younge audience," Dornfeld said. "But you can produce stories that interest younger people." Younger hosts can bring a cutting-edge approad to the production of news stories, she said. She ate an example of a story she wanted to report abou the growth of an unusual singles Web site callec Friendster that Dornfeld describes as a "self-promo tional" Web site. When the Web site was becominj popular, she proposed the story to her boss Please see NPR, page 10 Courtesy The comedy juggling team Brothers From Different Mothers will appear at the Lane County Fair, which will be held Aug. 17-22. Lane County Fair offers new attractions The fair stays loyal to its roots in agriculture but also offers some high-tech fun SARA BRICKNER FREELANCE REPORTER Kimberly Cook, a member of the Beta Alpha sorority, said her favorite part of the Lane County Fair is the food. "It's only one time a year that you get to have corn on the cob and elephant ears," Cook said. Every year, Kimberly Cook and her peers sell com on the cob at the Lane County Fair in order to raise money for Beta Alpha, an in ternational women's organization that is in volved with numerous service projects. Cook has worked at the Beta Alpha com booth for fifteen years. The fair was a lot smaller when Cook started working there, she said. "It's grown a lot since I first joined. We didn't sell near as much corn as we do now," Cook said. "The Lane County Fair is one of the biggest and best county fairs in the North west," said Lane County Fair Marketing Manager Carrie Matsushita. This year, six days of fair festivities will begin on August 17, including rides, shows, music, food and family entertainment. Last year, more than 170,000 people attended the Lane County Fair. This year, fair organizers ex pect similar numbers. Several new events await this year's pa trons, including several modem attractions for gamers and technology gurus. The Race Play Motion Simulators NASCAR replica will offer NASCAR fans an opportunity to simulate driving on a real race track and will be located on the lawn in front of the Con vention Center. Interactive Gaming Experi ence; or IGX, is a free, interactive video game exposition featuring 20 screens for gamers to sample new PC, Playstation 2, Xbox and GameCube games, or to enjoy old favorites. v "We offer a lot of attractions that would be appealing to an urban environment," said Matsushita. "We've seen fairs histori cally move in a direction where they're be coming much more urban." Despite an emphasis on technology, agriculture is still a central part of the Lane County Fair. "Emphasis on agriculture is key," said Matsushita. "We try to emphasize educa tion for people who have never been on a farm or grown up in an agricultural setting." Around 6 p.m., patrons will have a Please see FAIR, page 8
