The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, December 04, 2000, Page 8, Image 8
r*
This Week in USC History
Dec. 2, 1988 - The S.C. Commission on Higher
Education decided to postpone the adoption of a
sweeping set of proposals that upset both USC adminis
tration and faculty.
Marriott sponsors food drive
by Marguerite Higgins
The Gamecock
Kicking off their first of a kind Caring Cans
program, USC in correlation with the Sodexho
Marriott Services is extending their employees
at three USC locations to collect non-perish
able items for families and individuals in need
of food for the holidays.
Lasting until Dec. 14, Caring Cans will have
drop-off tables at the Grand Market Place, Gibbes
Court and Sidewalk Caf6. “This is a wonderful
way to'give back to the community for the hol
iday spirit,” Sodexho Marriott Services mar
keting representative Sheila Derrick said. This
is the first corporatewide program Marriott Ser
vices has done that included USC, Derrick said.
“We’ve gotten the word out pretty well so
far,” Derrick said, which included news an
nouncements on WUSC radio, channel 8, and
public service announcements on local radio
stations. The Executive Director of the Har
vest Hope Food Bank also got the word out by
speaking at the USC Treelighting celebration
earlier this week, urging students to extend their
generosity in the holiday spirit.
The total amount of canned or boxed foods
will be delivered to Harvest Hope Food Bank,
which will distribute the food to locdl church
es and organizations and also get food to fami
lies through their Food Agency Distribution
Center.
“We’re not sure what to expect, but we’re hop
ing that USC students, faculty, staff and other
people will just bring a few items each,” Der
rick said.
“Caring Cans” isn’t the only food drive USC
sponsors during the holiday season. Public Re
lations Coordinator for Harvest Hope Food Bank
Veronica Delcastillo said they expected more
food donations from drives sponsored by Gam
ma Beta Phi,USC Student Services, Financial
Aids Office and various other groups.
“We always can’t keep up with the specif
ic groups since we get more donations during
the holidays, but we appreciate what the uni
versity does for us,” Delcastillo said.
Harvest Hope Food Bank gets their dona
tions from donations from companies and busi
nesses and buys food when in shorter supply.
However, with the holidays coming closer, Del
castillo said she expects a large turnout.
“Six days before Thanksgiving, we got
enough food to distribute more than 100,000
pounds of food from our Food Agency Distri
bution, and we hope to surpass that number
by the end of December,” Delcastillo said.
Derrick said the Marriott Services plans to
add onto their projected food drive by launch
ing another food drive around the college dor
mitories. “It’s still in the organizing process,
but this food drive will basically be about clean
ing out your cupboards and donating anything
students might not need,” Derrick said.
The proposed food drive would begin in the
last few days of exam week and would con
centrate on dorms with kitchens inside the rooms.
However, Derrick said the drive would still es
tablish drop-off points at other dorms.
According to the USDA’s Household Food
Security’s 1999 report, more than 31 million
Americans are food insecure, which means they
didn’t have assured access at all times to enough
food to have a healthy, active life.
People interested in making separate dona
tions to Harvest Hope can contact them at 254
4432 or visit their building at 2220 Shop
Road.
The spotlight desk can be reached at
gamecockspotiight@hotmail.com.
Mackenzie Craven The Gamecock
Caring Cans is a food collection spon
sered by Univeristy Dining.
Cool for August heats
up in December show
by Adam McCallister
The Gamecock
Upon entering Billy G’t for the Cool For Au
gust show, a few things necessary for a music re
view became apparent.
First, there must be a love for music. This is
pretty necessary. Next, there should be some pre
viously known knowledge of the band And then
to top it all of, for most places in the Vista, you
might want to be 21.
Unfortunately, I was a few months short of
one of these requirements.
With some fast talking and a band member
saving me, we entered the somewhat unlikely
concert venue. It’s no secret that Billy G’s might
not be the best place to showcase a band’s talent,
especially an energetic band like CFA.
Their makeshift stage is a tough place for five
established musicians to navigate in and out - not
a place I see the band being used to.
I first witnessed these fellas back in 1997,
commanding a much larger arena prior to their
tour with Matchbox Twenty, Creed and Our
Lady Peace.
Since then it might seem like they have fall
en far from the public eye. Their first release,
“Grand Wrrld,” plays almost like a typical rock
album. However, their studio work pales in com
parison to a live performance.
With the combination of multi-instrumen
tal lead guitarist Chris Harris and drummer Lar
ry Voss, both fairly new to the band, their rock
sound becomes highly infused with a union of
many different genres. At different times through
out the show, you can witness the ambient key
board sounds offset with a smooth drum and base
line or even an addition of a powerful loop track.
However, the real power comes in the form
of Gordon Vaughn’s lead vocals. He has a pow
er over the stage with his oral/rap/ballad tech
u i
Special to The Gamecock
niques. We feel his influences coming though in
many songs, obviously showing the impact mod
em singers like Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas
(a future collaborator on their sophomore effort),
Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and even Tracy Chap
man have had on him.
Coupled with his passionate performance,
Vaughn’s snake-like moves proved as agreat jux
taposition to the 30-something crowd’s dance at
tempts.
After looking past what is onstage and into
the songs themselves, it’s easy to tell the lyrics
act as an open door into private and personal feel
ings.
Throughout the show, Vaughn provided a
commentary on the meanings behind a few of the
more delicate subjects, guiding us through such
melodic treats as “Happy Days” and “Walk Away,”
a track possibly familiar with the MTV masses.
After all was said and done, Cool For August
easily came out and surprised the Columbia au
dience. This might not be the stadium they’re used
to, but they wouldn’t let it affect their show at all.
The spotlight desk can be reached at
gamecockspotlight@hotnian.com.
Incubus descends
on South Carolina
by Susan Lucas
The Gamecock
Back in 1991, while still in high school, Bran
don Boyd, Mike Einziger, Jose Pasillas and Alex
Katunich decided to form a band.
In coming up with a name, they did what
many bands have done before — they flipped
through a thesaurus. As Boyd explained to Rolling
Stone in February, Incubus “means a demon who
invokes the spirit of women in dreams. We were
like, ‘Cool!’”
For several years, Incubus played gigs through
out their native California. Their songs were
strongly based in the realm of hard rock but had
some great funk rhythm.
In 1995, DJ Lyfe saw one of their shows and
asked to join the band. With the added hip-hop
feel, they released “Fungus Amongus.” In
1997, they received the opportunity to tour
Europe with Kom.
As well, they released the EP “Enjoy Incubus”
and the LP “S.C.I.E.N.C.E.” They then joined
forces and played dates v/ith 311 and Sugar Ray.
Incubus hit a rough patch in 1998 with the
departure of DJ Lyfe. However, the amazing DJ
Kilmore quickly filled his spot. Incubus once
again hit the road, touring with both The Fami
ly Values Tour and Ozzfest.
In 1999, Incubus finally received the criti
cal acclaim they deserved with the release of
“Make Yourself.” Boyd’s poet-like writing and
amazing vocals are featured on their new acoustic
CD “When Incubus Attacks.” Now out with the
Deftones and Taproot, the members of Incubus
have a reputation for being nice guys who put on
a solid show.
On Nov. 29, Incubus played the Hornets
Training Center in Fort Mill, S.C. They came
dancing out to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and
Susan Lucas The Gamecock
immediately broke into “Make Yourself.” While
they did squeeze in “Vitamin’.’ and “New Skin”
from “S.C.I.E.N.C.E.,” their set consisted main
ly of songs from their recent LP, including “Stel
lar,” “The Warmth,” “Nowhere Fast,” and “When
It Comes.”
It was a tight set by guitarist Einziger, bassist
Katunich, drummer Pasillas and DJ Kilmore.
Boyd, singing with raw emotion, played the con
ga on several songs.
Boyd kept the mood light. At one point, he
proclaimed they were “the Jackson 5.” Midway
through the set he announced that they were
about to play a “really heavy metal song,” before
launching into the sweetly melodic “Drive.” Fi
nally, before ending with their liit “Pardon Me,”
Brandon announced that they would be “playing
here every Friday for the next month.” I know
I wasn’t the only one in the audience who wished
it were true.
The spotlight desk can be reached at
gamecockspotlight@hotniail.com.
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4. V/A- Badlands- A Tribute to Bruce
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6. John Scofield- Steady Groovin ’
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19. Hooverphoric- The Magnificent Tree
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Drunken Ventriloquist
‘A Hard Day’s Night’ director set groundwork with techniques
by Jami Bernard
College Press Exchange
James Keivor
College press exchang
Richard Jestei
directed The
Beatles in “A
Hard Day’s Night'
and “Help!”
“There are no
extra bits," Richard
Lester said firmly, and
you could hear hearts
breaking from Liver
pool to Shea Stadium.
Lester, 68, di
rected the Beatles in
“A Hard Day's Night”
i in 1964. The movie
is being rereleased Fri
day with a digital as
sist and much fanfare,
but, as he says, no ex
tra bits. Not that we
need them. It's
enough to bask in the sheer energy ot the
film. Its fast and furious style laid the ground
work for MTV, the opening scenes of the
first “Austin Powers” film and more.
The lads from Liverpool looked so re
laxed in front of the camera (well, maybe
not George Harrison) that you would think
Lester shot the film with no script. In
fact, there was one, by the late writer-ac
tor Alun Owen, and it was Oscar-nominat
ed. Meanwhile, Gilbert Taylor's stunningly
immediate black-and-white photography
suggests nothing more or less than the frank
realism of cinema verite.
Lester's innovative film has lost noth
ing in the intervening years. Although it has
not gained anything in terms of additional
footage, that's not to say there were no
extra bits at one time.
“All four Beatles had a key scene on his
own," recalled the now-retired Lester dur
ing a brief visit to New York between world
cruises with his wife. “Ringo (Starr) was
walking around with a dreadful hangover by
the river, Geoige had a scene with an ad ex
ecutive, John (Lennon) had a little scene,
and Paul (McCartney) had a sequence with
an actress in an 18th-century costume with
a wig. It was a charming scene, but I felt it
was too languid and lethargic in tempo
and that it was going to take a lot of effort
to pull the film's energy back in. So I cut
it out, and Paul was the only one who
never got a scene of his own."
More painful is the loss of two musical
numbers that failed to make the final cut.
“I was given nine tracks of music the
Beatles had already composed and record
ed," said Lester. “I threw one out. I have no
memory of what it was called, or where it
is, but I never put any footage onto it. We
did film a song called ‘You Can't Do That,’
but I felt again we needed to keep the tem
po moving upwards toward the conclusion
of the film. I am sure there are purists and
musicologists who would say I'm an absolute
idiot to have done that, but so be it."
Lester demurred when asked about cre
ating the jazzy, freewheeling, multi-cam
era, quick-cut style with which he has been
credited.
“I don't think there is ever such a
thing as a new style," he said. “We're all de
rivative. We're all rip-off merchants. You
might do things in a way nobody thinks has
been done before, but it's somewhere if you
look for it. You can see a line that goes
through everyone's work from the time they
started making films.
#
“A lot of the techniques I was using
haven't changed at all. The microphone that
we used to shoot ‘A Hard Day's Night’ —
with its wires and its fishing line — was
not very different from the microphone that
A1 Jolson used."
The director's influences included Buster
Keaton, Federico Fellini and Francois Truf
faut. But the Lester style was also a prod
uct of a youth spent in the burgeoning tele
vision industry in Philadelphia, where he
rose from 18-year-old stagehand to direc
tor within a single year.
“In live television, there was no chance
of getting it right or better. If it went wrong,
it went wrong. Also, the use of multiple
cameras was the thing that made what I did
different from the people who were my in
fluences. The directors of the French New
Wave used a single camera and shot their
films in a very traditional way, although with
great energy."
Lester also directed the Beatles in
“Help!" (1965), Lennon in a serious act
ing role in “How I Won the War” (1967) and
Beatles see page 9
‘A Hard Day’s Night’ Trivia
- An 11-year-old Phil Collins was in the filmed audi
ence for the Beatles concert that ends the movie. His
mother was a casting agent specializing in extras and her
task was to fill the auditorium.
- Wilfrid Brambell, who played Paul's troublesome grand
father, was a star of the hugely popular British sitcom
“Steptoe and Son."
- The entire movie was scripted “in Liverpool cadences
we hoped the Beatles would be comfortable with,” Lester
said. The only improvisations were a few lines during the
press conference scene.
-The filmmakers referred to the extsemely tearful girl in
the concert audience as “the White Rabbit." She might
have been one of the fans who, according to Lester,
tried “to saw their way into the theater with hacksaws."
-Along with screenwriter Alun Owen, musical director
George Martin was nominated for an Oscar.
- Lester told John Lennon he could easily have an act
ing career. Lennon replied, “Yeah, but it's silly, isn't it?”