The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 02, 2002, Page 7, Image 7
THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, October 2, 2002 7
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OUA I AO l O COUNT GALEAZZO CIANO: “As
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? always, victory finds a hundred
E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com fathers, but defeat is an orphan.”
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LECTURE
like there’s
tornom iw
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Last Lecture Series places
professors in a personal
setting with students and
lets them go beyond what
they talk about in class
LEFT PHOTO BY JILL MARTIN/THE GAMECOCK: BELOW PHOTO SPECIAL
TO THE GAMECOCK
Left: Bonnie Drewnlany might speak on Super
Bowl commercials at the Nov. 6 Last Lecture.
Below: Jeff Persels and Kirsten Harrison perform
an adaptation of Daudet’s “Letters from My Mill”
in 2000. Persels, a French professor, will give a
lecture called “As If God Had Pissed Here” for
Wednesday's installment of the lecture series.
BY CHARLES TOMLINSON
AND JUSTIN BAJAN
THE GAMECOCK
Students get to see their favorite fac
ulty members wander outside their
fields of study as the professors deliv
er unbridled, occasionally off-the-wall
presentations in USC’s Last Lecture
Series.
“We ask them to give a lecture as if it
was their last one, just to let them know
they are freed up to talk about whatev
er they want,” said Jaq^moak, USC’s
Last Lecture Series adviser and assis
tant director of Fellowships and
Scholar Programs.
“Most get out of the boundary of
what they teach,” Smoak said.
Jeff Persels, an associate French pro
fessor at USC, will begin this year’s se
ries tonight with his lecture “As If God
Had Pissed Here.” Persels said he was
interested in the Catholic and Calvinist
teachings of the 16th century, which in
spired the topic for his lecture.
“I was struck by how they used dirty
words,” Persels said.
“It’s characterized by a paradox how
we can’t use that type of language now,
but it was acceptable then,” he said.
“Calvin authorized the language to get
the point across to the simple people.”
Persels, who has spent all 10 years
of his college teaching career at USC,
said he was “immensely flattered”
when he learned he had been selected
for the Last Lecture series.
“I had heard of the series before; I
never thought of myself as someone to
do the series,” he said.
USC advertising professor Bonnie
Drewniany, who will present her lec
ture Nov. 6, said she would attend
Persels’ presentation to see what the
series is like and determine how she
should handle her own lecture.
Drewniany described ner
nomination as “flatter
ing and terrifying.”
She said her selection
“is an honor, and you
want to make it wonderful.”
Drewniany is con
sidering lecturing on
tne good, Dad ana
ugly” of Super j
Bowl com- J
mercials, JM
she said.
She said
some commercials
that got rave reviews
might not have
helped sell products, j
but some that did j
not get any acclaim j
might have actual- I
ly been more effec- I
tive.
“The series is m
really interesting j
to go to,” said
Matthew
Wilkinson, a
second-year bac
calaureus stu
dent and co
chair of the Last Lecture Series.
“Professors talk about things they can’t
in class.”
The Carolina Scholars Association
sponsors the series, which started in
the fall of 1999. Smoak said that, when
she worked at East Tennessee
State University, faculty
members participated in a
“last lecture” series and she
brought the concept with
her to USC, where she “put
the idea in the head
of students at
! ^R Carolina.”
Smoak said stu
aents ao most ot
the work in the
program, and
she is just the
adviser. “I don’t
see my role as as
active as theirs,” she
said.
USC students nom
inate university pro
fessors for the Last
Lecture Series.
Wilkinson and co
chair Lee Mangiante,
a third-year biology
j student, selected
this year’s partici
pants during the
spring semester.
They chose the
professors who
had received the
most student
nominations.
“Students just come to nominate
their professors to lecture in anything
they’re interested in,” Wilkinson said.
Smoak said 231 people attended last
year’s lecture series. She said the
“smaller, intimate setting” of the lec
tures allows them to be informal for the
professors and the audience.
“It’s just, when students are going
to take their free time to go to a lecture,
a lot of them won’t make that choice be
cause they think it will be like class,”
Smoak said.
Students, however, are not the only
ones who attend the Last Lecture
Series, which is open to the public.
Alumni, community members and oth
er faculty members also come to the
lectures.
Persels’ lecture will begin at 7 p.m.
in the Gressette Room of Harper
College. Following each lecture is a re
ception, during which audience mem
bers can “eat cookies and chat with the
faculty member,” Smoak said. Also at
each lecture, audience members fill out
evaluations of the professors’ perfor
mances. Smoak said the feedback they
receive is positive.
Students can nominate professors
for the Last Lecture Series by sending
an e-mail to lastlecture@hotmail.com
or by filling out a nomination card at
one of the lectures.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com .
TOP 10
These were the most requested
songs on USC’s student radio
station from Sept 22-29.
1. “FIGHT DIRTY”
_Forty-Fives
^/“ALDHILS ARBORETUM”
Of Montreal
3. “FINALLY THE PUNK
ROCKERS...”
Flaming Lips
4. “CAUTION”
Hot Water Music
5. “GUESTROOM”
Ivy
6. “READ AND BURN”
Wire
7. “JENNIE BOMB”
Sahara Hotnights
8. “FUZZ TOWNSHEND"
FuzzTownshend
9. “SWEETS FROM THE
MINIBAR”
Gerty
10. “AMORE DELTROPICO”
Black Heart Procession
Albums unleash revolutionary sounds
BY CHARLES TOMLINSON
THE GAMECOCK
A disclaimer on the back of the
Flaming Lips’ “Transmissions
from the Satellite Heart” says,
“Please play all tracks at maxi
mum volume.” Doing this would
probably destroy both your sub
woofers and your tweeters.
The Flaming Lips begin the
album with a high-pitched AM
radio squealing. Then, drum
mer Steven Drozd, sounding as
if he weighs 10,000 pounds,
makes a crash landing, boom
ing and rattling into the first
song, “Turn It On.”
“She Don’t Use Jelly” and
“Oh My Pregnant Head” show
that the band is capable of dy
namics, as it combines the loud
clutter with more subdued vers
es. And “Chewin’ the Apple of
Your Eye” is an acoustic song
that sounds as if it were taken
from a scratchy vinyl record.
For the most part, however,
“Transmissions” features sugary,
bouncy melodies juxtaposed over
fuzzy guitars that squeak and stut
ter unexpectedly. It’s easy to sing
along to songs such as “When Yer
Twenty-Two” and “Be My Head,”
bdf a barrage of feedback will sud
The Flaming Lips
■ m mBKmmammamsmmsM&mmsmma
A Tribe Called Quest
theYEAK
in milSIC
1993
ienly come out of nowhere, which
is quite a jarring experience.
But the band makes the expe
rience a pleasurable one, also.
Singer Wayne Coyne strains to
sing with Ronald Jones’ shriek
ing guitar, and Drozd’s drum
ming sounds lopsided and larger
than life. Combine these ele
ments with Coyne’s off-kilter
iyrics, and they all come together
perfectly into one big, messy, but
aurally pleasing collage of sound.
BY JUSTIN BAJAN
THE GAMECOCK
“Midnight Marauders” is A
Tribe Called Quest’s “Abbey
Road,” the final addition to a
masterful trinity that retains
the quality of the group’s prior
releases. The album reflects the
group’s evolution from ground
breaking upstarts to artistically
mature performers.
Rappers Phife Dawg and Q
Tip and producer Ali Shaheed
Muhammad formed ATCQ, a
hip-hop group that, along with
cohorts De La Soul, helped usher
in the Native Tongue movement.
The album’s introduction fol
lows the theme of a tour, with a
slow-speaking tour guide talk
ing over easy-listening elevator
music. But this album is not
easy listening; as the guide
says, “We hope that you will
find our presentation precise,
bass-heavy and just right.”
The album’s first song, “Steve
Biko (Stir It Up),” displays the
trio’s unique combination of
hard-hitting snares, light-heart
ed production and creative
lyrics. Q-Tip reflects ATCQ’s in
novative spirit with verses such
as, “I am recognizing that the
voice inside my head is urging
me to be myself/but never fol
low someone else/because opin
ions are like voices: We all have
a different kind.”
Diversity is also a key com
ponent of the album as it follows
the reality of daily struggles
with “8 Million Stories,” the us
age of the n-word on “Sucka
Nigga,” and humans’ sexual na
ture on “Electric Relaxation.”
ATCQ split two albums later,
far from the success it saw in the
early ’90s; each member had a
lackluster solo career, which
proved that a group setting was
what worked best.
Comments on these stories? E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
CD REVIEW
Cage CD
notfor
thefaint
of heart
“MOVIES FOR THE BUND”
Cage
out of ■&☆☆☆☆
BY TITAN BARKSDALE
THE GAMECOCK
Americans’ fascination with
blood, guts and gore is twofold in
its origin. As Jung theorized
many years ago, both nature and
nurture shape a person’s behav
ior and feelings. Our learned ap
preciation for the old dismem
berment of a human carcass
sterns from television and its
flashy “Faces of Death”-type pro
gramming. So that explains the
normal human’s dysfunction. But
what’s wrong with Cage?
Cage’s stint in a mental hospi
tal as a child might justify the
gruesome panorama he creates
on “Movies for the Blind.” For
those new to this emcee, the
Eminem comparisons will be in
evitable because of their shared
skin color and lyrical content.
About two minutes into the al
bum, though, the listener realizes
Cage makes Eminem’s rants look
like child’s play.
“Stoney Lodge,” a vivid narra
tive about his experience in an
institution, is not for the faint of
heart. Cage angrily raps:
“Strapped to the bed, semi-con
scious, half-dead/Spit on the head
nurse and got rushed like I
smacked a fed/holdin’ me down
while the nurse brought me
drugs/took out the needle like
Roc Raider and shot me up like
Courtney Love.”
Further into the album, Cage
devotes about three chilling min
utes to the murder of his stepfa
ther, only to repeatedly recount
his failed suicide attempts two
tracks later. Cage continues these
tales throughout the remainder
of the album, spewing grotesque
anecdotes peppered with twisted
humor.
Cage’s problem doesn’t stem
from lack of writing ability, ca
dence or delivery. He proves he’s
a talented emcee. The problem
with Cage is that he commits
gore overkill on “Movies for the
Blind,” and it becomes painful
ly obvious by midalbum because
of his lack of polish. The album’s
theme becomes muddled in use
less uuer.
As a result, the shock rap los
es its punch and “Movies for the
Blind” cascades into the over
flowing bin of albums that didn’t
maximize their potential.
Although there are some
flashes of brilliance, Cage has to
mature as a songwriter before he
can begin to make great work, or
claims of superiority to Eminem.
Nevertheless, Cage enlists an
all-star cast of surging and es
tablished producers in the un
derground who all provide head
nodders and elevate this album
to slightly above average. RJD2;
El-P, formerly of Company Flow;
DJ Mighty Mi, from The High
and Mighty; J-Zone; and Necro
are a few notables. They provide
eerie, brooding tracks that are
heavy on percussion and layered
with multiple sounds, which
show many dimensions of the al
bum’s musical canvas. If only the
artist could match it.
Die-hard Cage fans who re
member him from his earlier
days won’t be disappointed. The
curious listener who picks up
“Movies for the Blind,” however,
will grow weary of his recycled
morbidity and rely on the pro
duction to carry them through —
if they can stomach it.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com