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Features

FEATURES

Lansing isn't listening

Erik Adams
June 27, 2006

Lansing — While covering the June 6 show at Mac's Bar, 2700 E. Michigan Ave., I took a break from having my mind bent by Man Man to jot a query in the margin of my notebook. The question: What has Lansing done to deserve Mac's? Following a weekend when the Indie Mitten Tour — featuring Those Transatlantics, Hawks and Snakes and Go Josephine — made a poorly attended Thursday-night stop at The Temple Club, 500 E.

FEATURES

'Click' unoriginal flop; Sandler fails to entice laughter, amusement

Ryan Mccormick
June 26, 2006

Rewind, stop, eject. Adam Sandler has always come across as a nincompoop, but he used to be a funny idiot, like in "Billy Madison" and "Happy Gilmore." But with his new half-baked, unemotional, remote control fantasy, "Click," he's hit an all-time low of lazy, imbecile comedy. Where to begin? First category of stupidity: Sandler's facial expressions. Maybe it wasn't as noticeable in his other films because they were entertaining, but why doesn't Sandler ever open his mouth more than halfway?

FEATURES

The bartender

Stephen Patterson
June 23, 2006

So you're just chillin' at Maggy's, right? And lets say you just happen to meet a flock of four of the flyest young hunnies your eyes have ever seen.

FEATURES

Gore film fascinating, intellectual

Erik Adams
June 23, 2006

If you're planning on seeing "An Inconvenient Truth," there are two things you need to expect: plenty of Al Gore and plenty of Al Gore's lecture on global warming. However, this is not the Al Gore you may remember from the 2000 presidential election.

FEATURES

Happenings

FRIDAY Festival of the Moon (517) 485-4283. Turner Street and Grand River Avenue in Lansing's Old Town.

FEATURES

Ragbirds explore world music

Erik Adams
June 22, 2006

The Ragbirds are not a jam band. "We actually do draw a lot from the jam-band scene and the jam-band crowd, but I think it's more because we play really interesting world music stuff," percussionist Randall Moore told The State News in a phone interview Wednesday. Moore also discussed his affinity for world music, along with what goes through his mind on stage and the origin of one of his band's more curious song names. How did the band come together? Randall Moore: The Ragbirds actually started with Erin (Zindle, vocalist/multi-instrumentalist) and I.

FEATURES

Transatlantics talk guitar solos, indie rock

Erik Adams
June 22, 2006

It's a good time to be an underground band in Michigan, just ask Mike Spence, guitarist and vocalist for Mount Pleasant's Those Transatlantics. "It seems to me when we travel around the country, we always come back and think, 'You know, we're pretty lucky to be in such close company with people that are as talented as these bands are,'" Spence said. In the spirit of pride for the Great Lakes state, Those Transatlantics will be playing tonight at The Temple Club, 500 E.

FEATURES

Scientists rock Temple Club

Erik Adams
June 21, 2006

To make a gross generalization, scientists are supposed to be objective, urbane creatures, filling their days and nights with researching life's mysteries and acting as the voice of reason and rationality in the face of cinematic hysteria.

FEATURES

Campy mockumentary genuine, witty

Ryan Mccormick
June 21, 2006

The band that was so bad turned out to be great. Half Japanese, a pseudo-band with unrivaled purity, comes alive like a zombie in the mock documentary, "Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King." Think Spinal Tap, but instead of a fake and over-the-hill metal band, Half Japanese is the essence of punk rock — out-of-tune guitars, lousy musical skill and all passion. The film clearly outlines what is good about music from the early '90s, or for any time period, really: absolute freedom of expression and everything that is wrong with music: MTV.

FEATURES

Sonic Youth still making enjoyable records

Erik Adams
June 20, 2006

To: High Council of Pop Culture Critics (high_council@wearecritics.com) From: Erik Adams (adamser9@msu.edu) Subject: Re: Transgressions Against the Art of Criticism Dear High Council, Thank you very much for the concern expressed in your previous e-mail, but I'm not taking back anything I said about "Laguna Beach." These things happen; certainly you all have favorite pieces of junk culture, too. Anyway, the real reason I'm writing this is because I feel that if I am to be accepted as a pop culture critic, I need to get some things off my chest.

FEATURES

Jazz essence moves E.L.

Stephen Patterson
June 19, 2006

This weekend, East Lansing swung, grooved and shook to the smooth sounds of the Summer Solstice Jazz Festival. Amid the orange backdrop of a summer sun, a multitude of good-sized crowds rotated in and out of the festival's intimate setting.

FEATURES

'Nacho' lighthearted, packed with laughs

Ryan Mccormick
June 19, 2006

If you're looking for some sort of epic or life-enhancing entertainment, don't go see "Nacho Libre." But if you feel like turning your brain off for about two hours in an air-conditioned setting with cozy seats under your butt and cupholders on each side, then "Nachoooooooooo" it is. The plot: Ah, nothing really special, but "Nacho" does come through in four zany categories of cinematic sweetness. First category of sweetness: Similarity to "Napoleon Dynamite." If you like the humor in "Napoleon," then you will like this film.

FEATURES

Happenings

FRIDAY World Cup soccer games televised live at the MSU International Center Food Court.

FEATURES

The bartender

Stephen Patterson
June 16, 2006

Jack Bauer, hero of the popular TV show "24" is smooth, chill and refreshing. He's also deadly, with the ability to knock you out before you even realize what's happening. The drink named after his likeness plays the same game. The Riviera Cafe Restaurant and Lounge, 231 M.A.C.