FEATURES
Sisters mourn loss of mom with inspirational musical
Communication junior Darriel Tanner was devastated when her mother and grandmother died only a year apart from each other.
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Talent wasted in 'Anger'
Oh mediocrity, why do you plague talent so? Look what you've done. You've taken Adam Sandler - whose early films "Billy Madison" and "Happy Gilmore" struck chords of pure, insane laughter - and taken over his career. It started with "The Waterboy," and last year we all hoped it would be over after "Mr. Deeds," but no.
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Duo's debut contains nothing new
Here's an idea: Musically inclined siblings forming an act to produce 20-something poppy beats with rhyming lyrics and infectious whining. OK, so it isn't an original idea, but throw an actress into the mix and the duo known as Boomkat is formed, creating an upbeat mix of hip-hop, electronic sounds and Gap commercials. Kellin and Taryn Manning make up the group and were raised by musically influential parents.
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New releases
Winner from the first season of "American Idol," Kelly Clarkson's debut album "Thankful" is out in time to be forgotten while people watch the second season.
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'Things' has echoes of band's New York influences
New York quartet Longwave's new album "The Strangest Things" takes its audience on a tour of astral sky-scrapping epic guitar sounds. With warm atmospheric drums, dissonantly murky basslines and spacey floodlight guitars, Longwave has a sound that's graduated from the U2 college of epic rock balledry.
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Ruling could affect seating at theaters
Going to a movie theater is supposed to be a fun experience enjoyed with friends, but for Melinda Haus, that isn't always possible. Haus was injured in a car accident in 1996 and has had to use a wheelchair to get around ever since.
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Summer productions looking for local actors
With spring ending and summer beginning, several acting and performance groups are announcing summer productions and auditions. The Sunsets with Shakespeare acting troupe is holding auditions, and has announced its shows for the Summer 2003 season. Auditions will be held from 7-11 p.m.
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Production's music saving grace of 'Oklahoma!'
The MSU Department of Theatre's performance of "Oklahoma!" had potential. It's too bad a few glaring problems couldn't have been addressed sooner in the musical. Overall it was lively, delivering a charmingly good time, and problems in the production were either beyond anyone's control or were just silly mistakes. The story of "Oklahoma!" is set in the state of the same name in the early 20th century, while it still was a U.S.
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E.L.U.M. unites hip hop, rock genres
Normally, it's pretty hard to find hip-hop fans and jam-band fans hanging out together in large numbers. But that wasn't the case during Friday evening's unity concert at the rock on Farm Lane. Several hundred local students and residents gathered on both sides of the Red Cedar River for Project East Lansing Unified Music. Sponsored by the Angel Wing Foundation and JTD Enterprises Inc., the event brought together local jam and rock bands Killer Miller and Jebus, area hip-hop artists 3rd Deggree, Alias and DJ Owen and masters of ceremonies Legacee, Pistone, Detritus and Big Perm. Admission was free, with proceeds from drink sales going to help terminally ill children through Angel Wings, a relatively new group based out of Adrian. It acquired the stage used for the concert, donated for the evening by Stage Express, and sold soda pop - donated by Pepsi - to raise money for their cause. Killer Miller manager Aaron Dare, who helped organize the operation, said his motivation for doing the show at the rock is because there is a lack of venues in the area. "We couldn't find any venues for 18 and up so we just wanted to do it ourselves," the communication junior said. "We wanted to bring local rock and hip-hop together for some good exposure.
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Film adaptations bring Thompson to life
It's probably fairly difficult to make a film about a man who is to many a living legend, especially one who would likely pull a gun on you were you to approach his home to ask a question. Such is Hunter S.
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Written by 'U' alumnus, novel takes place at fictional Mich. university
Struggling emotionally to deal with her memories of sexual abuse, Eileen Greenwood spends her first year at a fictional Michigan university attempting to come to terms with her abusive past. Eileen, the main character in "Goldfish Dreams," a novel by MSU alumnus Jim Hines, gained its title from a cat named Goldfish who lives illegally in Eileen's dorm room. "He's loosely based on a puppy we had on our floor when I was a student at MSU," Hines said. "The name was so we could talk about him without getting caught, such as 'can you watch the goldfish this weekend?'" The story itself is based on Hines' experiences working as a sexual assault counselor at The Listening Ear Crisis Intervention Center, 313 W.
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Pounding heart
To many Native Americans, drums represent the heartbeat of their culture. This weekend, they become the pulse of Breslin Center as thousands gather for the North American Indian Student Organization's 20th annual Pow-wow of Love.
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Diesel, Tate set film 'Apart' from rest
For the first time since "Saving Private Ryan," Vin Diesel is actually in a fairly good movie. The hugely popular actor has made a lot of money acting in an arsenal of crappy movies such as "Pitch Black" and "The Fast and the Furious." Now comes the unfortunately titled "A Man Apart," an undeniably entertaining action drama with a balance between emotion and explosions nary present these days. The plot is very familiar territory, taken most notably from the revenge epic "Death Wish" and its four horrid sequels.
NEWS
House party
To most people, house parties are nothing special, just places for kids to get drunk and socialize. To others, they are a showcase for local artists, shows as opposed to parties. "It's almost like this big secret thing," telecommunication senior Mike Pasky said. As event coordinator at the Brown House, 404 E.
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Lack of good nickname is bothersome
The other day I was hanging out with my buddies the Irishman, Jewie Lewis, Grandpa Jaeger and Arnie.
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Patch, ring offer alternatives to pill
Ask the Advocates is a column appearing Wednesdays on www.statenews.com that discusses different health issues affecting MSU students.
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'Sound of Music' showcases promising local talent, good music
The Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbott Road, was alive with the sound of good music this weekend.The Lansing Civic Players' production of "The Sound of Music," played at the center, and aside from some minor flaws, it was pretty good.
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New Releases
Pioneers of the "keep away," "stay away," "go away," "get away" genre, Godsmack is set to release its latest Alice in Chains imitation, "Faceless." The album will surely be a success in fans' eyes with songs titles such as "Releasing the Demons," and "I Fucking Hate You."Everyone's favorite jigga man, Jay-Z, is laying down fresh beats with "Blueprint 2.1," a continuation from 2001's "The Blueprint," which brought Jay-Z success with Izzo (H.O.V.A.).Ginuwine is riding his pony on in with his new record "The Senior." With song titles such as "In Those Jeans," and the proactively clever "Sex" it looks like this album will not be a departure from Ginuwine's sexily smooth R&B sound.The Black Keys released its major label debut, "thickfreakness," on Fat Possum (a subsidiary of Epitaph records). The two-man-band has a mean, thick-skinned, blues-rock sound it's been unleashing on sensitive unsuspecting Sleater-Kinney fans while touring as openers.Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis and perhaps better known as Michael Jackson's ex-wife, is releasing her debut, "To Whom it May Concern." The album will feature collaboration with Zwan's Billy Corgan.On the punk front, Rise Against is releasing its new album, "Revolutions Per Minute." The group has been featured on the indie/hard-core/punk Atticus compilation.Continued coverage on the punk front shows Flashlight Brown is releasing "My Degeneration." Formerly known simply as Flashlight, this group has hooked up with Rob Cavallo (Green Day, Alanis Morissette, Goo Goo Dolls) for production.New albums are also being released today by Jayhawks, Lucinda Williams, MC Honky, The X-Ecutioners, Yo La Tengo and Boomkat.Joseph Montes
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Schumacher disappoints yet again
"Phone Booth" ran into some problems in the fall. The sniper-themed film was scheduled for a Nov.
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'Making Cents' a breakthrough for hip-hop
Hip-hop is a door not easily accessible in Ann Arbor and definitely less in Lansing. Artists have fewer options of places they can perform which causes problems building an audience and attracting fans. Members of Ann Arbor's Switch Stance, who have been together since 2001, have been finding a way to break the stereotype and surrounding frustrations while putting together solid beats and rhymes.