Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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This Week in USC History Feb. 29, 1996 — USC alumni Hootie and the Blowfish won best new artist and best pop group vocal performance at the Grammys. r Snood has become almost . an obsession among college students Charles Fox/College Press Exchange Bemie Carlin, a freshman at Temple University, plays Snood on his computer. The shareware comput er game is becoming the new Tetris, addicting many students on college campuses who try it out BY PETER MUCHA College Press Exchange “I got my mother addicted,” said Jenkintown’s Kristen Findeisen, a freshman at the University of Delaware. Anne Willis, a sophomore at the University of Texas, got hooked and passed the habit on to her boyfriend, who gave it to his father, who ensnared people at work. Even autior Michael Crichton is reputedly a user. So read oi at your own risk. No, it’s na something bad. It’s Snood (rhymes wi.h dude), a shareware computer ganE that’s swept the country, especially colege campuses, where it has lured students into losing sleep, if not losing poiits off their grades. “You can pretty much go into any dorm, and people have it up on their laptop,” said Fndeisen, 18, who’s studying international clarions. It’s easy tc play the game, which is downloaded from the Internet. A player shoots a disenbodied head — a Snood —at rows of ofoer heads, which grimace and stick out their tongues as they descend the screen. But that hrrdly explains the passion. At Northwestern University a year ago, students dressed up as Snoods to celebrate Catherine Leamed’s 1,000th game. “We’d beplaying so much,” said Michelle Aus:ein, 19, who threw the party for her roommate, “when we closed our eyes at night, we could kind of see the pieces. Just 1,000 games? Dartmouth’s student newspaper, The Dartmouth, reported about a student who played more than 10,000 games. Snood’s designer, David Dobson, said he knows at least one person who racked up 22,000. Dobson estimates that more a million copies of the game have been downloaded from his Ufeh site. - Little Snood. “They’re kind of cheesy, but we’re, proud of them,” Willis said. As a professor of marine geology at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., Dobson is the kind of guy who writes papers on Amazonian sediments for journals such as Palaeogeography Palaeocliniatology Palaeoecology. (That’s one journal, not three, and it’s known to thought possible, the father of two said. “But I’m not rich by any means.” One registered member was Jurassic Park author Crichton, who wrote to say that playing Snood had been interfering with finishing a book. The fee entitles players to additional features, such as new levels of difficulty. One set of games called Puzzle has 50 levels. - Pa vine also Duts a www.snood.com. Recently, the number has been about 8,000 copies a day. Over a week, such totals would surpass Zelda Classic for ‘We’d been playing so much, when we closed our eyes at night, we could kind of see the pieces.* Michelle Austeir Northwestern University studen stop to incessant pleas for folks to sign up. After every few games, a rhyme will appear as a tune plays: “The poems are bad They keep getting worse Register now — «T* . * . _ It . 1 VV 111UUWS, UIC most popular game at www.downloads.com, a site that offers free software. “Yeah, we’re pretty addicted to it,” said Bob Rudderow, 22, a senior majoring in digital media at Drexel, who has seen students playing it in class on their laptops. He has the South Park version for the Mac, which features the heads of characters from the Comedy Central cartoon show — not only dropping on the screen, but dropping profanities, too. Texas’ Willis and her roommate Brittany Kuhn, both 18, created a Web page (http://ilovesnood.iwarp.com) that features songs such as “Twinkle Twinkle cognoscenti as Palaeo Cubed.) Dobson, 31, began tinkering with software in elementary school in Iowa, and wrote Snood for his wife, Christina, about five years ago. “She likes games like that. She likes Tetris and solitaire games,” he said. It was based on some similar games that have been around for a decade or more, he says. “There’s nothing original in video games.” As with other shareware, users can get a copy free and are asked to send in money if they like it. Dobson said more than 30,000 people have sent in the $14.95 registration fee. “I’m doing much better than I ever jiw|j an me verse” Singing these songs is one of the sure signs of Snood addiction, the Dartmouth article said. Dobson is surprised at how the game has caught on. It was even shown in a commercial for Wingspan Bank, in which a husband is too distracted by Snood to heed his pregnant wife. “Snood is taking up all of my nonwork time here,” Dobson said. “I get about 60 to 70 e-mails a day about Snood stuff.” A key to making an addictive game, he said, is to keep it simple and short, so the player finds out how he’s done right away. “It’s just so easy to play,” Willis said. “You can play it, and you don’t even have to think about it. It’s just like natural.” “I’m convinced,” said Bemie Carlin, 19, a Temple University freshman, “that Snood is something like a time warp.” He’ll sit down to play a game or two, “then you miss lunch, and it’s dinner;and vou wonder what happened to your three hours.” The allure, he said, is “a combination of the colors and weird-looking faces and the fact that you don’t want to do whatever it is that you’re supposed to do, like homework.” Kyle Sherman, 20, a third-year engineering student at Drexel, said it’s “weird” that he got caught up in Snood because “I don’t play a whole lot of games.” “My friends make fun of me,” he said. “A bunch of guys I play volleyball with, we hang out at my place. There would be times when they’re playing darts and they can’t find me, and they’d just yell, ‘Snood!’” ■Fortunately, there is hope. “It wears off after a while,” says Austein, whose habit has declined since the past year’s Snood party. “I’m burned out on it I couldn’t beat level 42.” Vigil to honor S.C. Persian Gulf veterans by Amanda Silva The Gamecock In honor of South Carolinians who served during the Persian Gulf War, a candlelight vigil will be held Wednesday night in front of the State House. Gov. Jim Hadges declared Feb. 28 Gulf Whr Remembrance Day — 2001 marks the 10th amiveisary of the United States’ victory over Iraq. “Gulf War Remembrance Day provides a unique opportunity for citizens throughout South Carolina and the nation to honor Gulf War veterans for their devotion to duty and willingness to serve,” Hodges’ declaration said. Hodges said he encourages all South Carolinians to recognize Gulf War veterans for their dedication, courage and patriotism. More than 600,000 troops served in the Persian Gulf between Aug. 2,1990, and July 31,1991. USC alumnus Bill Simmons is the state coordinator for the vigil. Simmons, a Persian Gulf War veteran, recently published a book of poetry about the horrors of the war and the sacrifices made by U.S. veterans. The vigil is scheduled for 6-8 p.m. The spotlight desk can be reached at gamecockspotiight@hotmail.com I Shadow: something to sink your teeth into by Tug Baker The Gamecock | REVIEW MOVIE: Shadow of the Vampire STARRING: Willem Dafoe, John Malkovich, Catherine McCormack GRADE: ☆☆☆ out of ☆☆☆☆ In 1922, German director F. W. Mumau set out to retell Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The Stoker family refused to give him the rights, so he was forced to rename his silent film Nosferatu, and Count Dracula was changed to Count Orlock. What Mumau produced was one of the finest horror films ever made. Shadow of the Vampire is both a tribute to Mumau’s classic and a parody of it. Shadow tells of the making of Nosferatu with a twist. What if acclaimed actor Max Schreck, who played the original Count Orlock in Nosferatu, really was a vampire? It’s not a ridiculous idea after seeing Schieck’s convincing performance. The story follows Mumau (John Malkovich) as he and his crew are finishing shooting Nosferatu. Everything has been filmed except for the scenes with the vampire. For this, they relocate to a dingy castle in Czechoslovakia, where the vampire Schreck (Willem Dafoe) comes to shoots only at night and then disappears eerily. Soon thereafter, the cameraman becomes food for the bloodthirsty Schreck, and Mumau is forced to consider the evil he has brought into the lives of his cast and himself. While this is an interesting story, the one truly fascinating character is Schreck. Willem Dafoe does an unbelievable job portraying a vampire acting like an actor acting like a vampire. , Special to The Gamecock Willem Dafoe’s portrayal in Shadow of the Vampire of silent-movie actor Max Schreck is both a parody and a tribute to Bram Stoker's character Dracuia. acnrecK. s cnaracier is comically tragic, forced into the deal by Mumau in exchange for the blood of film starlet Greta Schroder (Catherine McCormack), Schreck is the antithesis of everything that society has told us about vampires. He gets caught bumbling around trying to unlock hotel doors. He’s not incredibly bright, and he’s far from handsome. He has problems remembering events of his life and often looks back to his past “glory days” of castles and servants. While all the characters provide the farcical aspect of the movie. Shadow is an homage to the art fomi of silent cinema that Mumau mastered. The movie closely follows the techniques used in moviemaking at the time Nosfcralu was made. onaaow meticulously produces sets and establishes shots that are extremely close to the ones in Nosferatu. The depiction of 1920s German life adds a backdrop that is simultaneously hilarious and dark. Along with these beautifully created scenes, Shadow of the Vampire is filled with many nice touches — little elements that add quite a lot to the movie. The script is superb, with the right combination of sinister and comical material to create an amazing dark comedy. Plus, this movie is the only place you can hear an aging vampire’s opinion on the book Dracula: “It was... sad.” The spotlight desk can he reached at gamecockspotiight^hotmaiLcom What’s Happening Wednesday, Feb. 28 Adam’s Mark: Dick Goodwin Musics Blue Martini: Skipp Pearson and Jazzology ' Decisions: Muddy Quarters Delaney’s: Joal Rush Elbow Room: Grand Theft Audio, Left t Front Tire New Brooldand: Loch Ness Johnny, Neck Road Runners: Open Jam w/Steve Kemp Blumenthal Performing Arts Center (Charlotte): The Phantom of the Opera ley’s: Karaoke Legends: Karaoke w/Ken Martin Rooster's Den: Karaoke w/Tootie Rock: Vickie s Karaoke Contest Sandra’s: Rick and Tina s Karaoke Tavern on the Greene: Amos-Britt Band Uncle Doctor's (formerly FUBAR): Shutdown Art Bar NUVIBE Billy G’s: Beach & Boogie Night w/DJ Butch Davidson Bottoms Up: Sue Irwin Crocodile Rocks: Ladies Night Eddy Ho’s: Pool Tournament Knock Knock/Ftip Side: College Night Merfin’s: DJ Cotton Thursday, March 1 Decisions: Chris Richards Delaney’s: Davey Clark New Brooldand: Grasshopper & Will Road Runners: Open Jam In The News ■ Housing names winners of campaign Tuesday night was the finale of University Housing’s Winning Wednesdays campaign. Second-year College of Journalism and Mass Communications student Julie Pike, who was one of the six grand prize winners, said she has no idea where she will choose to five. “I’m really excited because it allows me to choose the best place to •live on-campus,” Pike said. The grand prize winners get their first choice of housing. Other prizes included an SEC tournament package, a bicycle and cash cards. Third-year College of Journalism and Mass Communications student Myra McPhee won the SEC tournament package. “I am very happy that I won the SEC tournament prize because I am happy to five anywhere once it’s on campus,” McPhee said. Gretchen Koehler, director of University Housing Administration, said the Winning Wednesdays campaign gives average students the opportunity to get excited about campus housing. “Winning Wednesdays is one of the most widely recognized promotions by students on campus,” Koehler said. Denise Golden, graduate assistant for Marketing and Special Projects said, “We’ve collected thousands of dollars worth of prizes for the other 19 winners, from Sodexho-Marriott, Carolina Alumni Association, Frankie’s Fun Park and Carolina Collegiate Credit Union and many more.” ■ Bill Cosby to bring ‘Fat Albert’ to movies LOS ANGELES (AP)-Bill Cosby’s “Fat Albert” character is coming to the big screen as a live action film. Cosby and his wife will be executive producers for the film planned by 20th Century Fox. No start date has been set for the feature, which is being produced by Davis Entertainment Co. “For the millions of ‘Fat Albert’ fans, trust me, he could not be in better hands,” said Cosby, who is writing the screenplay with Charles Kipps. “Fat Albert” and his friends will be based on Cosby’s standup routines about a group of urban youths in Philadelphia. The characters also were featured as a long-running Saturday morning cartoon on television..