Tuesday, January 27, 2026

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Features

FEATURES

Singer scores with atmospheric album

Donald Fagen's "Morph the Cat" embodies a toned-down version of Frank Zappa's goofy humor with a smooth, funky rhythm. The longtime co-leader of the jazzy, classic rock group Steely Dan released his third solo album March 14.

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Classic film still moving

Set in New York City in the late 1950s, "West Side Story" tells the story of a "Romeo and Juliet"-esque forbidden romance between the beautiful Puerto Rican immigrant, Maria, and the handsome American street rat, Tony.

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Five favorites

Things going on in the world of pop culture that might make your life a little bit better: 1 "Memoirs of a Geisha," a movie about a Japanese child who is taken from her poor family to work at a geisha house before World War II, is released on DVD today.

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Rapper's new album lackluster, unoriginal

The bass lines thud, and the lyrics "go dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb." Or at least that's how E-40 lays down the hook for the single "Tell Me When To Go" from his new album, "My Ghetto Report Card." E-40 is a West Coast rapper — "The Ambassador of the Bay" — with straight A+s in hustlin', tycoonin', hoodshop and music, says the CD jacket of "My Ghetto Report Card." But what E-40 forgot to grade himself on was originality, in which he gets an F. He raps about muscle cars with flashy rims, drinking Hennessy and 40s of brew, keeping an eye out for the police and degrading women.

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Adult comedy pokes fun at art

The Fireworxxx players are amateurs when it comes to high art. Trouble arises when a group of second-rate porn stars decide to create an artistic film with dialogue, so they recruit a Yale graduate to help them with a script.

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Ashlee Simpson George Bush of pop culture

I think magazines are pulling for Ashlee Simpson. The thought came to me when I was scanning the magazine aisle in Target, and there she was on this month's Elle Magazine, airbrushed and sparkly, shooting me a stock "you want this" gaze.

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Headlights to play at Mac's Bar

By Erik Adams For The State News According to keyboardist/vocalist Erin Fein, Headlights makes "melody driven pop." Listening to the band reveals the modesty of this assessment.

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Indie band plays somber, sulky pop

Headlights describes its sound as "Indie Pop with a Shoegazey aftertaste" on MySpace.com. And since the Internet never lies, especially MySpace, there's no reason to argue with Headlights' claim. The band rightfully takes on the role of an indie band since it isn't on a major record label and principally sings about depressing moments in life.

FEATURES

Filmmaking on deadline

Teams choose a genre, a prop, a character name and a line of dialogue from a bag — then they get 48 hours to make a five-minute film that includes all the elements. Chris Harrison and Elizabeth Stanton were representing one team out of 24 total at Magdalena's Teahouse, 2006 E.