The Michigai in Daily-Sunday, Jar Page 2-Sunday, January 21, 1979-The Michigan Daily RAMLINGS/torn o'connell ART/karen born stein W OODY ALLEN has a line in Annie Hall in which he tries to explain why New Yorkers are so defensive about their background. The rest of the country, he says, believes all New Yorkers are left-wing Jewish por- nographers. "I live here," adds Woody, "and sometimes I see us that way myself." Woody's dilemma is common among New Yorkers, but his problem is merely a part of the schizophrenic sociological orientation with which I am cursed: my home town is Westport, Connecticut-the -most determinedly snobbish upper-middle class com- munity east of Grosse Pointe; by af- filiation I consider myself a New Yorker, since the Big Apple, a city close to my heart, is where I spend as much of my vacation time as possible. And by birth and by university I am a mid- westerner. The end result of all of this is best summarized by recalling the classic adolescent plaint, "nobody un- derstands me." Few people in elitist Westport can conceive of why I'd want to be a New Yorker (it's "so dirty" they observe profoundly). Most midwesterners, while accepting without question that New York is indeed a mixture of Sodom, and Gomorrah with an added touch of Calcutta, are at least willing to assume that the city's famous theatres con- stitute a redeeming quality. Actually, no one who lives in New York can afford to go to the theatres, where one is faced with the unappealing prospect of paying $15 per ticket in order to sit with pigeons and bats four miles up in the balcony. What actually makes New York at- tractive to me are probably the same qualities which make it so offensive to outsiders. There is a certain kind of reverse charm about a city where two reeking winos are apparently assigned by the city's transit authority to every subway car. I like New Yorkers them- selves-born fast-talkers, who in- variably sound as if they're trying to hustle you. Even when you're talking to a priest or a millionaire, if his accent tells you he's a local you unconsciously tend to keep a tight grip on your wallet .and slide your watch up your sleeve. Even the real hustlers, the street people, carry on their business with a certain flair not to be found in other municipalities. I recall a panhandler who haunted a certain block in down- town Manhattan and earned the nickname "Superbum," because he in- variably dressed better than the residents he hit up for spare change and would only drink in bars (never, God forbid, stooping so low as to drink in an alley like the run-of-the-mill alkies). But this sort of Dickensian appeal so much a part of New York is difficult to explain to people who haven't spent time there. ALMOST AS difficult, in fact, as trying' to explain the existence of a place called Michigan to people from Connecticut and New York. Ap- parently, the geography classes in the public schools of the Northeast teach that between Pennsylvania and Colorado the United States consists solely of vast fields of wheat, with Chicago -floating vaguely around somewhere. They know, of course, that cars come from Detroit, but assume Detroit is an underground factory located just over the border in New Jer- sey. I myself am occasionally told that my midwestern accent isn't too bad-that I don't sound "entirely like a hick"-but of course .I am met with blank stares in restaurants if I use a midwestern expression like "pop" in- stead of the eastern "soda" when or- dering a soft drink. In Ann Arbor, actually, I get even more flak. If I tell people I'm from Con- netticut, then I'm informed that I talk like an'"Eastern snob" or that I dress like a preppie (especially when I don my seven-year old corduroy sports jacket). All this despite the fact that I was born in Michigan and have lived in the state on and off for a total of 10 years. If I stretch the truth a little and tell them I'm a New Yorker, then it's im- mediately assumed that I'm a moral degenerate. Which may not be entirely untrue in my particular case. But still, it is a stereotype. I can't win. As Rosanne Rosannadana would say, "it just goes to show you-it's always something.' So what can I do, besides move to some midpoint between the Northeast and the Midwest, such as the middle of Pennsylvania? Not all people from Connecticut, after all, are snobs. Just most of them. Not all midwesterners are hicks, although you wouldn't know it if you lived in a frat. And not all New Yorkers are depraved. Wait, I take that back. Tours:* How'd they get so fu I N TODAY'S society status isn't simply what you own-it's what you've seen. Currently taking its place alongside Perrier -water and designer fashions is attendance at as many touring art exhibitions as possible. A large many of these roving displays of relics have seemingly blossomed out of nowhere, offering pleasure, prestige, or both. There's "The Second Empire: Art in France Under Napolean III," widely considered the greatest exhibit of 1978. It consists of a group of French pain- tings by such artists as Courbet, Manet, Degas, and Rodin, and moved from New York to the Detroit Institute of Ar- ts January 18. "The Spendor of Dresden: Five Centuries of Art Collec- ting," now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a visual history of how art collecting began in the small European city of Saxony, and includes a diverse array of art objects. But the majority of these large-scale touring shows are archaeologically oriented, involving the rediscovery of ancient artifacts as in "Pompeii," "Peru's Golden Treasures," and, of course, "Artifacts From the Tomb of King Tutankhamen."~ Without doubt, these are all historically important and often spec- tacular shows-cornucopias overladen with a wealth of organized information and stunning aesthetic appeal. But as Steve Martin made painfully obvious, this alone does not explain the frantic -desire of so many to endure claustrophobic lines for hours and grovel for scalpers' tickets just to catch a glimpse of Tut's treasures. A salient feature of many of these exhibits is their carnival, almost Karen Bornstein wrtles for the Dail A Ars page Disney-like quality. They are not only entertaining, but packaged and displayed as entertainment, as the aesthetic counterpart to a trip to Seaworld. All the valuable information is presented by way of music, wall- sized posters, and modern infor- mational devices. Alnd, like a day at the fair, you roam from one beckoning relic to the next as you would move from poster, you find it is totally unnecessary to seek out any information actively, to ask for any response to the images you are receiving-all the stimuli, instead, come to you, entertain you, and make the experience of viewing pre- Columbian gold artifacts a truly passive one. It's glamorous, and fun, and a bit like watching TV. And, unfor- tunately, it is exactly this pat, polished, 'Many of these exhibits are not only entertaining, b.ut packaged and displayed as entertainment, as the aesthetic counterpart to a trip to Seaworld. ' sunday iRidQZInCEISTIC PUZZLE A. Pertaining to the underworld_-- _ 24 15 28 59 74 100 144 114 B. Original model or pattern C. Officials D. Prison utimate (2 words) E. Demoniac; fiendlike F. Persecute or harry a certain minority group G. Raise; thrust skyward H. Connections; links I. Empiricism; speculation J. Hundu or Buddhist symbol represented by a square within a circle K. Adjustable: flexible L. Mild emotional disturbance 60 66 89 103' 110 124 120 142 164 7 12 46 85 163 91 116 139 _ _- __- - - - - - - - - - 98 19 27 69 87 107 154 167 183 184 37 198 79 84 95 140 115 42 51 182 121 4 75 169 185 193 14 (Hyphenated word) 187 86 20 161 39 178 94 32 9 18 53 126 30 138 57 63 80 93 105 151 168 188 171 141 117 35 8 125 158 128 50 78 97 65 150 157 180 165 194 131 10 17 40 196 62 68 104 123 M. Negatively charged atom N. Oblivion; seventh heaven 0. Ancestry; decline P. Eager for action (Colloq) (3 words) 4. High mental ability R. Twisted to one side S. Clams, crabs and lobsters T. Turns from a straight course; goes unsteadily U. Dwarf; pygmy: dummy V. Strike repeatedly W. Privy X. Common phrase used at the end of a list of introductions (4 words) Y. Cloying 137 56 44 34 70 45 55 64 5 132 175 149 101 25 41 48 162 73 186 2 26 49 61 81 96 118 145 147 11 23 71 77 108 119 136 33 143 133 153 6 174 13 29 67 129 159 82 92 113 135 BY S TEPHEN J. POZSGA Copyright 1979 INSTRUCTIONS Guess'the words defined at the left and write them in over their numbered dashes. Then, transfer each letter to the cor- responding ,numbered square in the grid above. The letters printed in the upper-right-hand corners of the squares indi- cate from what clue-word a particular square's letter comes from. The grid, when filled in, should read as a quotation from a published work. The darkened squares are the spaces between words. Some words may carry over to the next line. Meanwhile, the first letter of each guessed word at the left, reading down, forms an acrostic,'giving the author's name and the title of the work from which the quote is extracted. As words and phrases begin to form in the grid, you can work back and- forth from clues to grid until the puzzle is complete. Answer to the Christmas Puzzle: Oh, but he was a tight-fisted hard at the grindstone, scrooge, a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner, 'hard and sharp as flint from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire, secret and self-contained and solitary as 1- an oyster. (Charles ) Dickens A Christmas Carol booth to booth. Experiencing "Peru's Golden Treasures," a magnificent exhibition of shining gold artifacts that left the Detroit Institute last month, is similar to taking a mini-trip to ancient Peru, complete with audio-visual echanceinnis (as if they were needed!). Prior to entering the exhibit everyone receives a mysterious apparatus referred to as a "by-word" case, resembling a telephone receiver minus the portion for speaking. Upon ap- proaching designated cases of dazzling gold figurines, jewelry, headdresses, and armor, and putting the receiver to your ear, you are treated to brief lec- tures on the objects within, accom- panied by eerie Peruvian music chiming in the background. The exhibit walls are plastered with huge aerial photographs of Peruvian lands and color-coded maps, all of these stimuli pleasantly reaching the senses and filling them with the aura of "Peru." A S YOU mill from what appears to be the most sparkling showcase to the cutest little lecture to the brightest packaged quality that makes these exhibits so trendy. Ann Arbor has not been blessed with the fanfare of any of the large-scale exhibits that are making the museum rounds. Although it is, of course, unfair to compare the presentation of touring exhibits with local shows, many of Ann Arbor's exhibits gain from their in- timacy, and can be as rewarding. Many of these shows demand that you look, study,sinterpret, and experience. They beckon to the viewer, without the deadening insulation of the larger even- ts. One such exhibit can be found at the Univesity Museum of Art through the end of January, a small, spare collec- tion of prints and etchings by Jacques Callot, a French engraver who lived and worked in France and Italy during his short -lifetime (1592-1635). The 34 pieces are diverse in subject matter, small in size, but large in impact. Revealing the innovative technique of repeated biting to obtain varying dep- ths of line on the same plane, Callot's works thrive depth, and a details. Even a line or sw pressive func depth, a coun It has be executing the Callot work magnifying- meticulous de viewer cann prints ever s have 400 yea portance of ti sudden curv triguing worl sists of two r three-dimen: many folds c than oblitera reveal the vo of the bodies pressions ar toonish, and larger than th an -incredib presence. A viewer i collection of more person, You look, for without bann and fireworks the artifacts hype. On the and the other richness of splendid exhi packaging. stultifying in pounded by th of would-be somewhere because they' never had au was probably ' 88 189 156 166 54 99 172 38 72 112 192 177 191 111 127 152 21 3 31 83 148 173 179 43 195 76 47 52 58 106 122 134 146 155 160 1901 176 197 181 36 1 16 22 102 109 130 90 Pictured are a Moche metalworker from "Peru's Golden Treasures" (left) and the head of King Tut, from two of the fashionable exhibits currently making the rounds.