Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THEY SAID IT| pa ^ “Conversation is a game of circles.”™ Monday, November 8, 2004 *** WALD0«*** I IM with TheMix386 By MARIA CHARLES STAFF WRITER It’s never hard to find out what second-year biology student Stephanie Freudenthal is up to. Just check her away message. Freudenthal is one of more than 60 million people nationwide who use an instant messaging service, a softwar application that enables users to have interactive text conversations. The fast and cheap way to communicates, is particularly popular among college students. Forty percent of college students with Internet access actively use at least one instant messenger application. Twenty-three percent of college students choose AOL’s instant messenger as a way to 1 communicate with their friends and family, according to j 1; imediaconneaion.com. the software in high school, she admits that since coming to college it has become a staple in her life. “I probably talk to 10 or 15 people everyday online,” she said. One of the most beloved features of instant messaging is the away message. Students with high-speed Internet access can stay connected all day leaving different away messages, often times posting a quore or amusing quip. Freudenthal said she gets on her | computer just to check what people have written. j “I'm a definite fan of away messages," she said. “It keeps you j connected to people here and from I home." J There is an art to crafting the perfect away message. A group of students at American University in Washington, D.C., did a study analyzing and categorizing different types of away messages. One member of the research group had a friend who posted on his profile the steps to forming the perfect away message. “It is important not to underestimate the value of a good away message,” one person wrote. “Too much internet time is wasted by people reading mediocre/poor away messages.” Rules include incorporating humor, not leaving quotes or lyrics unless the)' are timely and never using one-word away messages. Freudenthal is angered by the generic “I am away from my computer right now,” she said. “That’s obvious,” she said. - “I try to leave something a little creative.” Second-year electronic journalism student Kristen Cook said reading a good away message can brighten her day. “It’s funny because you can .actually picture the person saying (the away message). It’s like having your friends that aren’t here with you,” Cook said. While instant messaging is a popular way to communicate, there are certain conversations that are better to be had in person. “Conversations that involve a lot of emotion should not be done online,” Freudenthal said. With text it is hard ro convey tone and impossible to read facial expression. Many times sarcasm and jokes must be prefaced in order to be taken the right way. GRAPHIC “It’s funny because you can actually picture the person saying (the away message). It’s like having your friends that aren’t here with you.” KRISTEN COOK SECOND-YEAR ELECTRONIC JOURNALISM STUOENT || Even with those drawbacks, Freudenthal said instant messaging has infiltrated the college psyche. “You rarely find a college student that doesn’t use instant messenger,” she said. Second-year music student Casey nmttn is one of tnose people, fie refuses to use instant messaging as a way to communicate. “We've become way too lazy in our society and this just promotes it even more. I’d rather call someone on the phone and talk to them,” Smith For Smith, instant messaging is a “You can easily waste an hour or two talking to people online,” Smith said. He said he feels computers and technology have made people think they need programs like instant messaging when they really don’t. “In a small way it can start to control our lives.” Comments on this story? E-mail gimtecotltfeatttres@givmjc.edu ILLUSTRATION BY JASON STEELMAN/THE GAMECOCK nation Instant messaging has become more than a fad - it’s turned into a college student’s lifeline MOVIE REVIEW Law ys charm can’t save stale ‘Alfier “Alfie" Starring Jude Law, Susan Sarandon ★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ By MARJORIE RIDDLE THE GAMECOCK Jude Law uses his sexy British accent and disheveled hair to try to win over audiences in the remake of the 1966 movie “Alfie.” While endearing as a carefree bachelor who comes to question his own lifestyle, Law cannot rescue this disappointing romantic comedy. Alfie Elkins lives by modest means, driving limousines for a small-time company. He keeps himself busy by meandering the streets of Manhattan, looking for the company of attractive vifomen. His supposed girlfriend, Julie, played by Marisa Tomei, dumps him after finding evidence that he’s not quite the faithful type. While feeling some remorse, Alfie manages to move past the break-up and unfortunately falls right into the arms of his best friend’s girlfriend during a drunken encounter. Even more unfortunate, the night leads to an after school special moment. What would normally be a movie’s climax turns into nothing more than an afterthought. It seems as if the director said to himself, “OK, this could be a life-altering experience, but for Alfie, well, we’ll just let him PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Jude Law’s looks are the high point of the otherwise less-than-stellar remake of “Alfie." Susan Sarandon co-stars as one of his girlfriends. continue on in his promiscuous ways after a few seconds of painful reflection.” Alfie also grapples with a possible life-threatening ailment but escapes with his physical health intact, vowing himself a changed man. Alfie eventually falls for a twice widowed, older woman named Liz, played by Susan Sarandon. Their relationship, unlike Alfie’s others, is severely undeveloped and confusing. For once, instead of asking what the women see in him, the viewer has to ask, what does he see in her? Alfie finally has to face his past discrepancies when a surprising development from one of his former flames arises, sending Alfie scuttling for his life’s purpose. If this were a more engrossing film, the end would leave viewers wanting more, but as it is, they can only be glad it’s over. Other than his apparent handsomeness, deceitful charm and debonair smile, Alfie exhibits no admirable qualities that would make the numerous women he dates interested in him — he’s shallow, selfish, disloyal, dishonest and irresponsible. He typifies the testosterone-driven male who has ♦ Please see ALFIE, page 7 Keen brings country to Newberry Opera By ALBANY GAULT THE GAMECOCK As part of his Farm Fresh Onions Tour, Robert Earl Keen will be performing Tuesday at the Newberry Opera House. A Texas singer-songwriter and an Audium Recording artist, Keen has sold out shows across the United States for the past 10 years. He will be performing songs from his latest CD, “Farm Fresh Onions.” Praised by many critics from Billboard to Rolling Stone, the album has been called one of Keen’s best and named by CMT as one of the top 10 country albums of 2003. Keen has appeared on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and has influenced artists including the Dixie Chicks, George Strait and Lyle Lovett. The Mix got a chance to talk with Keen on the phone about plans for the show. The Mix: Describe your style of music. REK: Country music for people who hate country music. My choice of material is also broader than other country songs. The Mix: What can the people expect at the show? REK: They can expect to enjoy themselves. We have a band of great players. I rarely run into anybody who is disappointed. The Mix: How is life on tour? Texan singer- f songwriter Robert Earl Keen will be at the Newberry Opera House on Tuesday. This performance is part of his tour promoting his new album, "Farm Fresh Onions.” PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK REK: It’s really good. The great thing about it is that it has a lot of structure. The Mix: Who are some of your musical influences? REK: Todd Snider is a great entertainer. Most of my influence comes from books that I read. The Mix: With so many artists crossing over in their careers have you ever considered it? REK: I would like to crossover to a great sports figure. I like what I’m doing. 1 play what I want to play and people enjoy it. Keen has made more than 120 tour stops this year, and Tuesday will mark his second time performing at the Newberry Opera House. Tickets range from $25 to $30 and can be purchased at www.newberryoperahouse.com oA by calling 276-6264. Visit Keen’s Wer site, www.robertearlkeen.com, for more information. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockfeatures@gTvm.se. edu Age doesn’t touch tale of forever young ‘Peter Pan’ By PAT CRAIG KRT CAMPUS “All children, except one, grow up. Wendy knew that she must grow up. You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end.” — J.M. Barrie, “Peter Pan” Actually, two seems a bit young. Perhaps it was different a century ago, when J.M. Barrie wrote those words that tapped into a collective human consciousness. He created a candy coated world of derring-do and constant adventure, where Peter Pan never did grow old. And with that, he launched a million daydreams of exploits in the woods, fighting enemies with harmless wooden swords and having fearful beasts announce their approach with a loud ticking. It was untrammeled life with no downside. Barrie knew about the downside, though. He recognized it in the lines at the top of this story, the first paragraph of his novel. Most of us realized it, too. And maybe that’s why the story has remained such a part of us, inspiring and haunting us. The story is everywhere. After all, somewhere in the world, almost any day of the week, updated versions of Barrie’s 1904 play are onstage. There has been a constant flow of literature on various aspects of “Peter Pan” and its themes. Video shelves are filled with live animated versions of the story, all perpetuating the myth. And “Finding Neverland,” a new movie looking at Barrie’s life and literature, stars Johnny Depp as the famous and eccentric author. Perhaps we didn’t know what the legend was all about, crashing through “All children, except one, grow up. Wendy knew that she must grow up. You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end.” J.M. BARRIE "PETER PAN" the vacant lot on the corner, waving wooden swords and plastic machine guns in a summer-long search for Neverland. But for all of us, hearing the Peter Pan story for the first time — in Barrie’s book, onstage or, most probably, through Disney’s animated version of the tale — left us exalting in our youth, bent on everlasting adventure, yet realizing there was something lurking, like Pan’s escaped shadow, somewhere in the background. Usually, we could dismiss it as simply the inevitable fact that we would grow up at some point. But sometimes it would nag at us. Growing up was code for all the awful things that could happen in the vast unknown; growing up meant you were going to die. That’s why the tale haunts us so. “Peter Pan touches all those buttons,” said Marc Forster, director of, “Finding Neverland,” the story of Barrie’s creation of “Peter Pan.” “I think in regard to the story’s endurance, it has a universal theme we can all respond to — it deals with the issues of growing up, mortality, fear of mortality and forever trying to stay young, which is a little sad ♦ Please s&e PAN, page 7 PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Film director Mark Forster speaks about “Finding Neverland.” Before making the film, hethofoughly researched “£an” author J.M. Barfie.