Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THF MTY Page 6 I I I I ^ T J I A, Friday, April 21,2006 -1-----1-1---:-~ Keep the lights on, melt your face off .. ...—”— Special to TH E GAMECOCK Allister’s most recent CD, “Before the Blackout," offers consolation for the brokenhearted in sweet tracks such as “Blackout.” It’s the band’s third album with Drive-Thru. Latest Allister disc boasts strong lyrics, good soundtrack for summer slacking “Before the Blackout” Al lister ★★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ Chad Henderson THE GAMECOCK Have you ever decided to put a Slip N’ Slide in your front yard in the summer, and your radio was rocking so hard that you forgot to put water on it and when you slid your nipples caught on fire and burned off? No, of course you haven’t. Speaking of nipples on fire, classes are coming to a close and the summer is breathing down our necks like the raptors in “Jurassic Park.” Some of you may be going to summer classes, some may be vacationing and some of you may be sitting in a lawn chair with zinc oxide under your eyes while the sun burns the brains out of your head. Whatever you’re doing you’re going to need good tunes to get you by, so why not check out Allister’s latest album, “Before the Blackout.” This album rocks harder than this four piece from Illinois has ever rocked before. They’re taking more time writing their songs, it seems, and the end product is a new sound that shows their maturity. It’s like finding Charles Manson screaming in a Disney musical: intense, loud and easy to sing along with. This album has more hooks than a Labor Day pirate convention, and it has many moments that seem like Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day wrote the guitar parts. Then one would think Rivers Cuomo from Weezer did vocal coaching sessions before Allister recorded this album. “Before the Blackout” is Allister’s third album on indie label Drive-Thru Records. This label is home for such acts as Something Corporate, The Starting Line, The Early November and Home Grown. On Allister’s first album the songs were very pop-pun. with fast beats that were perfect for the Warped Tour. The second album had much of the same, but they started their journey in a more melodic hook driven songwriting style on that album. “Before the Blackout” is the destination of that three-album journey RLUSTGR • 7 Tim McManus / THE GAMECOCK USC’s campus features bathrooms of all shapes, sizes, colors and contents. Restrooms in the Jones Physical Science Building as well as the Carolina Coliseum have served as message boards for students’ venting and celebrations. Campus restrooms habitat for Jetsons debate, Poop Nazi Tim IDclllanus STAFF WRITER USC’s campus has a place for everything: places to learn, places to play, places to work and places to relieve yourself after learning, working and playing. Throughout our campus there are restrooms, each with an atmosphere and a story all their own. The Jones Physical Science Building’s basement-level men’s room, for example, tells the story of students’ struggles with self-paced astronomy, which is located just down the hall. Many students find self paced astronomy class, often referred to as “astro,” very difficult and one student took out his frustrations by writing, “I hate astro” on the bathroom stall in capital A later bathroom stall artist saw this as an opportunity to make a clever pun about the cartoon series “The Jetsons” and added the comments, “...and Elroy” and “Jane was hot.” One of the greatest struggles for a self-paced astronomy student is unit eight. Unit eight, which is twice as long as most other units, is a review of units one through seven, and many students take it up to 30 times without passing. One triumphant, pen wielding student wrote, “I passed unit 8, f—kers!” Another student assumed a more positive mood and wrote, “good luck on exams.” And if any restroom on campus had an ominous message it would be the women’s restroom in the student media area on the third floor of the Russell House. On the inside of the door, the grain of the wood produces a pattern in the shape of a demon’s head. If any USC bathroom had a famous story, it would be the women’s restroor in McMaster College neai room 214. Last October, the Columbia City Paper ran a story about a woman who defecated in inappropriate places in this restroom, particularly on the wall. The author of the story, Todd Morehead, said he’s heard rumors that the woman, referred to as the “Poop Nazi” and the “Poopetrator,” has struck again, but he’s not sure. Thursday afternoon, the bathroom was sparklin clean and everything seemeu to be in its appropriate place. One bathroom that you can count on not being clean is the one in the basement of the Byrnes building. Tiernan Cole, a fourth year international studies student, said there was once a sign on the door that said, “The Bears Den,” and that’s what he refers to the restroom as. It is a very small restroom with dingy yellow walls, a toilet, poor ventilation and several holes in the walls. For such a smal' restroom, there was a grea deal of litter on the floor, TOILET • 8 Lack of plot scariest part of horror-spoof sequel Marjorie Riddle STAFF WRITER “Scary Movie 4” is actually quite scary because it overdoes its unoriginal humor with boring themes that will tire viewers. The fourth installment of the horror-spoof series follows Anna Faris as Cindy Campbell as she tries to solve the murder of an Asian ghost boy. Cindy is a former boxer who tragically caused an accident that killed her fiance. She goes on with her life and takes a job caring for an elderly woman in the woman’s haunted home. . She meets neighbor Tom hit it off. Just as their relationship begins, aliens invade, and the two are separated. In her quest to solve the little boy’s murder, Cindy and her friend Brenda venture cross-country and are led into a remote village u/ i t Vi A m i c h overtones. The aliens invade the village, and Cindy and Brenda are captured. Cindy finds Tom along with his daughter and son. The aliens attempt to torture them. The mystery of the little Asian boy’s death is revealed, but the aliens determine whether The ending is actually kind of funny, but the movie is so stupidly outlandish with tired themes that audiences will be glad the hour-and-a half film is finally over. Like most awful movies, the best scenes are in the trailer. And even those srenes onlv cause halfhearted snickers. David Zucker, the director of “Naked Gun” and “Airplane!,” directs a dud with “Scary Movie 4.” Zucker has proven in the past that he can create hilarious spoofs, but he fails to reproduce genuine comedy with this film. The celebrity cameos completely dull movie. The best scene occurs in the first five minutes before the opening credits even roll. Shaquille O’Neal and Dr. Phil spoof “Saw” and riotously make fun of themselves. It was nice to see that Dr. Phil has a sense of humor about how cocky and opinionated he can be. O’Neal made fun of his occasional basket misses. Molly Shannon and Michael Madsen both appear in the film. They’re both talented, and more screen presence by either may have improved the movie. With the blatant reference to “War of the Worlds” and mouiE #,-i “Scary Movie 4” ★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ Special to THE GAMECOCK Celebrity cameos, such as those of Shaquille O’Neal and Dr. Phil, represent high points in the otherwise unoriginal ,. _ mm M It ■ ■ I J 1_ MAI i——^