ntertainment
Clackamas Print
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
5
Two-man band rockin’ out
I Sam Krause
|| Co-Editor-in-Chief
VISUAL
LITERATURE
by David Stark
The story of a boy,
a childhood, and a
galaxy.
Can anyone tell me what
the 25th of May is?
Here’s a hint: What hap­
pened on May 25,1977?
Give up? Good. May 25th
is the 30th anniversary of Star
Wars.
Ah yes, beloved Star Wars,
which has influenced two gen­
erations and counting of nerds,
with no sign of quitting.
I remember back when I
was little and saw the movies
for the first time. With amaze­
ment, I watched as a blue­
eyed farm boy saved the day
with the help of a scoundrel, a
princess and what I thought at
the time was a big monkey.
I spent the following
months pretending to be Luke
Skywalker, stopping the evil
plans of the Empire, lightsaber
in hand. Being a blue-eyed
farm boy myself, file similari­
ties, at least in my mind, were
remarkable.
And then in 1993, I read
my first Sk»- Wars novel . It
was Timothy Zahn’s Heir to
the Empire, and it kindled a
lifelong love of reading. The
book and its sequels were
devoured, and I found myself
wanting to know more ¿»out
the adventures of my hero.
Every time a new Star Wars
novel came out, I insisted my
parents take me to the book
store in order to get it.
The opening night of
Episode I "was an experi-
ence. Clad in homemade Jedi
robes, I sat with my parents
and watched as a new group
of characters took my story
(at the time, I believed Star
Wars to be a property belong­
ing solely to myself) and
changed it No longer was
there a heroic farm boy, a lov­
able scoundrel, a courageous
princess, a furry sidekick, or
a martyred mentor. They were
replaced with an annoying
slave, an almost-Jedi, a young
queen who I didn’t care for
and the best example possible
of George Lucas’ declining
mental health. Oh. but he kept
the martyred mentor.
That’s not saying I don’t
enjoy the prequels; I do,
mostly. Ewan McGregor as
Obi-Wan is a worthy tribute
to Sir Alec Guinness, and Ian
M cDiarmid is simply fabulous
as Palpatine. The problem is
that they weren’t legends;
they weren’t viewed through
the rose-tinted lenses of my
youth, and they weren’t the
legends they could have been.
So, like many others out
there, Star Wars will always
be a part of my past; and hope­
fully also my future. When
the anniversary celebrations
do arrive, millions of hardcore
fens will be dressing as Jedi.
But for those who have a less
extreme view of fandom, just
get out the movies and maybe
let a bit of childlike magic
back into the world.
4
I can’t say no to a free
concert, especially if it’s local
indie-rock gods The Helio
Sequence.
They showed up in a rec
room at Lewis & Clark, and
proceeded to make every other
one. of their past shows I’ve
seen pale in comparison.
The band is comprised
of Brandon Sommers and
Benjamin Weikel. Together
they make music that is trippy,
but not just for dope-heads.
A crappy emo band opened
for The Helio Sequence, mak­
ing their show all the more
anticipated. It’s been months
since The Helio Sequence
played an all-ages show in the
Portland area, and that’s why
150 skinny Portland minors
showed up.
The emo band finished their
lackluster set (I could have
sworn the lead singer forgot wider, and The Helio Sequence student yelling at a concert!”
some words, but whatever), just kept playing harder and and “Woo!” means “I’m hav­
and within 20 minutes, The harder.
ing a good time; please play
Helio Sequence was ready to
Of course there were more music,” which the band
play.
requests yelled at the stage. I did.
Smaller venues have always must confess that I was only
During their encore, the
been a personal favorite of three feet away from the drum­ band finally played something
mine, from the Crystal and mer and cried out for “more from Com Plex. Sommers, gui-
the Roseland to the Wonder old music!” - meaning I was tarist/vocalist, let himself go
Ballroom and the old Meow hoping they’d get to a track for the last song. There was a
Meow. This rec room, dubbed from their 2001 debut album quaint sloppiness that one can
the Rusty Nail; held its own Com Plex.
only find at a concert. It felt
against other Portland concert
By the time the band left good. He was in a delirium, but
venue mainstays.
the stage, the crowd was in the audience had caused it, so
The Helio Sequence started a frenzy. Some people were they got to take the brunt of it
the show the same way I‘ve too fucked up for me to make - and that’s a good thing.
seen them start for the past heads or tails of what they
Between Weikell’s frenetic
three years: “The Harmonica said. I’m sure “Praay Feebid!” talents and Sommer’s seem­
Song” from their 2004 release loosely translates to “Play Free ingly easygoing playing style,
Love and Distance.
Bird!” or “I’m a drunk college the show was a hit.
As the show progressed,
Weikel, who plays drums and
manages a computer that has
pre-programmed beats and
sounds, was a river of sweat.
He plays the drums like a true
showman, giving it his all and
never missing a beat.
Even more important than
the sweat pouring from the
drummer was the crowd. I
have never seen a mosh-pit
that had people club dancing
in the middle. I also never
thought I would see people
grinding each other while try­
ing to knock over others. It
was a weird scene.
Communication
between the band
and the audience
Photos by Sam Krause Clackamas Print
was
amazing.
LEFT: Guitarist Brandon Sommers on the harmonica.
People kept smil­
ing wider and ABOVE: Benjamin Weikel enjoying himself on the drums.
'Blades’ goes for
the carotid, arterial
spray ensues
Megan Koler
The Clackamas Print
Who knew that the greatest
figure skating movie ever
made would be accompanied
by countless penis jokes, street
fighting, incest, Shakespearean
caliber insults and Olympic
gold medalist Sasha Cohen
purposely
smelling
Will
Ferrel’s jockstrap?
No one could have guessed,
but Blades of Glory is here,
and it is skating sharply
across the exposed jugular of
its competition.
The movie starts out with
skaters Jimmy MacElroy (Jon
Heder) and Chazz Micheál
Micheals (Will Ferrel) tying
for gold in the film’s equivalent
of the Winter Olympics.
MacElroy is the adopted
son of a billionaire, as
well as being a fine-tuned,
classically-trained ice skating
machine with a closet full of
sparkly aqua clothing. On the
other side of the spectrum,
Micheals is a self-described
lone wolf, improvising his
sex-fueled routines while clad
in leather and shooting off
pyrotechnics.
Their
polar
opposite
personalities
clash
when
they are forced to stand on
the same level of the award
podium. A fight ensues, and
the event mascot gets horribly
mutilated.
Consequently, they are
banned from male figure
skating for life until they
end up joining forces as
the first male-male pair in
figure skating history. They
discover the loophole thanks
to MacElroy’s stalker, Hector,
hilariously played by Nick
Swardson.
This film uses the old Ferrel
formula again; a manton top of
the world gets knocked down,
gains a lesson in humility and
rises to the top, once more
sharing the spotlight.
It is an overused formula,
but
Ferrel
continues
to
make it work. He did it with
Anchorman and gloriously
with Talledega Nights, and
even though Blades of Glory
uses the same structure, it is
sparkly and special in its own
way.
Obviously a big draw to the
film is the novelty of seeing
two people of the same sex
(especially men) figure skating
as a pair. They definitely
have fun with the topic, i.e.
a routine entitled “Fire and
Ice,” skated to Aerosmith’s
song “I Don’t Want to Miss a
Thing.”
It seems that , all a pair
routine needs is one strong
person and one light person,
so why aren’t there more
same-sex figure skating pairs
out there? I commend Ferrel
for again being so extremely
socially
conscious
and
progressive.
Some people who see
this film will probably say
it smells like taco meat and
aftershave,; and maybe they
are right. However, that is not
the stench of a loser - it is the
pungent aroma of a winner.
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