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Features

FEATURES

NBA Live 2003 wins battle of best basketball video game

Ben Landes
November 5, 2002

The battle for the best basketball video game has been a gruesome one the last few years. With Sega Sports releasing its hit franchise “NBA 2K2” on all three consoles last year and acquiring the ESPN logo this year, it seemed as though Electronic Arts might finally need to step down from the ring. But then again, a little pressure might be just what EA needed to push boundaries and introduce new innovations to keep its franchise afloat.

FEATURES

I Spy predictable, yet entertaining

Casey Mcnenly
November 5, 2002

Leading up to the upcoming James Bond spy drama “Die Another Day,” Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson turn up the heat in the race for the best toys, the hottest women and the best action sequences in “I Spy.” Special agent Alex Scott (Wilson)has spent the bulk of his espionage career as second fiddle to rival spy Carlos (Gary Cole). Nevertheless, Alexis ordered to recover the world’s most sophisticated plane that was stolen from the U.S.

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Williams pleases during Common Grounds gig

Ben Landes
November 5, 2002

The seats were arduous, the view was awful, the wait was unbearable, it was way too hot and a bottle of water cost more than $2. But fortunately, the music was phenomenal. Dar Williams’ petite and delicate figure approached the stage at the Common Grounds Coffeehouse in the basement of Akers Hall on Sunday night to the delight of audience members who’d suffered through uncomfortable seating and high temperatures. But the moment Williams opened her delicate mouth and strummed her rosewood acoustic guitar, all was forgotten. Her sultry voice captivated the room as listeners gazed at a performer who’s captured the essence of a nostalgic generation.

FEATURES

Sand mandala creation shows Tibetan tradition, purification of deeds

Emily Buckler
November 4, 2002

At the age of 3, Thupten Tsondu was forced to flee Tibet and seek political asylum with his parents in India.Now, 42 years later, Tsondu visited MSU with three other monks for the Tibetan-Mongolian Monks Dharma Tour 2002-03: A Life in Exile, presented by Students for a Free Tibet.Their visit is one stop on the North American tour, which was created for supporters to learn more about Tibetan and Mongolian refugee monks and their work to support monastic students.

FEATURES

Auditoriums No Exit gives dark look at choices in life

Lindsay Frederickson
November 4, 2002

Everyone knows people they just can’t like. Your personalities clash, you have different values - you just don’t “click.”Now imagine being trapped in a tiny, stark living room with two of these people, doomed to wrestle each other for an eternity, never finding common ground, torturing each other with accusations and verbal weaponry.“No Exit,” by French playwright Jean-Paul Sartre, pits two women and a man against each other in an early existentialist look at the human condition.

FEATURES

Bowling for Columbine premieres in Lansing

Casey Mcnenly
November 1, 2002

While we might not be conscious of life outside of football, there is a film to take attention away from the weekend’s action. From the creative mind of Flint’s Michael Moore, “Bowling for Columbine” premieres this weekend at Celebration Cinema, 200 E.

FEATURES

Baths Fourposter offers 50-year, intimate look at couples life

Lindsay Frederickson
November 1, 2002

Starting tonight, audiences will get to peek inside the evolution of a young couple’s relationship from their wedding night to old age in Bath Community Theatre Guild’s production of “The Fourposter” by Jan de Hartog. “It offers a chance to peek in on the evolution of a relationship, of a family and it’s enduring,” guild president Jeff Croff said of the 1951 play. “The Fourposter” was turned into the musical “I Do, I Do!” in 1966.

FEATURES

Folk singer Dar Williams to perform at Akers

Ben Landes
November 1, 2002

Dar Williams will grace the Common Grounds Coffeehouse in the basement of Akers Hall at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Beginning her music career on the Boston-Cambridge coffeehouse folk circuit, Williams has been turning heads for years, even though she’s never had a major label push her career to the masses.

FEATURES

No Exit showing this weekend at Auditorium

Lindsay Frederickson
November 1, 2002

For a mind-expanding evening that offers dark humor and a real look at what MSU theater students are doing, get down this weekend to 49 Auditorium for Jean Paul Sartre’s “No Exit.” English senior Nicole Birkett said performing in this play has been a positive experience for her because of the cast and scriptwriting. “It was amazing.

FEATURES

Weekend guide

Friday • The Temple Club, 500 E. Grand River Ave. in Lansing, presents Live Jazz Happy Hour with the Jazz Dogs from 5-9 p.m.

FEATURES

Colossal costumes

Lindsay Frederickson
October 31, 2002

Lansing - Shawna Plunkett and Justin Brown studied a bulletin board covered with photos of people dressed as Cleopatra, Marilyn Monroe and Robin Hood as they waited near a small counter at the top of the stairs. “I’m pretty clueless right now,” Plunkett, a psychology senior, said when asked what she was looking for.

FEATURES

Tibetan Buddhist monks begin mandala construction Friday

Emily Buckler
October 31, 2002

Four Tibetan Buddhist monks arrived on campus Sunday to prepare for the construction of a sand mandala that will be on display from Friday through Tuesday at Kresge Art Museum.The mandala, a two-dimensional meditation device that represents Buddhist deities, is an integral part of Tibetan Buddhist monk worship.

FEATURES

No Exit offers classic, dark humor

Lindsay Frederickson
October 31, 2002

In the famous words of Jean Paul Sartre, “Hell is other people.”So says the main male character Garcin in Sartre’s 1944 French morality play “No Exit.” The play features two women and a man grating each other’s nerves in a living room with Second Empire furniture - Sartre’s idea of hell’s physical location.Prepare for a taste of existentialist theory and classic dark comedy in this student-produced production at 7:30 p.m.

FEATURES

Aguileras image no match for musical icons

One of the most unfortunate things about subscribing to two music magazines - Rolling Stone and Blender - is that I often must wade through infinite pages of half-dressed women to get to the real content of the issue.

FEATURES

Selling Sparty

Dan Julian
October 30, 2002

MSU fans love to show off their Spartan pride, and on football Saturdays on campus, it’s easy to spot thousands of MSU faithful showing off their love for their team with commercial products. Fans can stay dry under an MSU E-Z UP Instant Shelter, relax on an inflatable MSU chair or folding tailgate chair, wear an MSU cap and check their MSU watch to make sure they get into the stadium before kickoff - all while cooking some bratwursts on the grill, topped by an MSU grill cover. Terry Livermore, the manager of MSU’s University Licensing Programs, said there are 500 companies under license from MSU and they experience about a 20 percent turnover per year. Livermore said the university’s royalty rate is 8 percent of the wholesale price and revenues are down 6 percent this year. The money the university makes from royalties are split between the Academic Scholarship Fund, the Ralph Young Fund and Auxiliary Services, Livermore said. “Being a public institution, we’re sensitive to a company’s request,” he said.

FEATURES

What's happening?

Events • The MSU Spanish Club will show the film “Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain” as part of its semester-long Romance Language Film series at 5:30 p.m.

FEATURES

Duncan Sheik releases stellar fourth album

Ben Landes
October 30, 2002

Duncan Sheik always finds a way to make his music everlasting. With his immediate success ensuing the incessant appeal of “Barely Breathing” off of his 1996 debut, Sheik continues to relentlessly capture the very essence of timeless romanticism in his music. Six years have come and gone, and with his fourth album “Daylight,” Sheik parades and dabbles in the same formula that made him so beloved in the first place.

FEATURES

Foo Fighters disappoint with latest

Ben Landes
October 30, 2002

Dave Grohl is all over the place these days. The ex-drummer of Nirvana has clearly found his niche as a frontman and guitarist, even though he still drums once in while, like on the Queens of the Stone Age’s new album. With Nirvana’s new self-titled compilation of old songs, which includes the last song ever recorded by the trio, “You Know You’re Right,” and the litigation which prolonged its release, Grohl has been pretty busy the last year and a half. Yet he still found time to finish the Foo Fighters’ fourth record “One By One,” which exhibits a newfound coming of age for the group.