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The Michigan Daily-Saturday, February 3, 1979-Page 5


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Apathy is a dangerous and rapidy growing trend on campus today, one
that threatens to make students even more politically impotent than they
already are. Fortunately, there remain a few of the terminally disgruntled
who take the time to grace local walls with messages of social importance.
Of course I'm not referring here to mindless dogmatics who scribble
swastikas or "Down with the Shp!" Trained monkeys can do as much. Nor
do I have any patience for those exchange students who insist on discussing
their domestic politics in their own language. As one annoyed English-
speaking student wrote in reply to a lengthy indecipherable diatribe on the
walls of MLB: "Let's see visas and passports right now."
No, the kind of things I like to see are clear, easy to read expressions of
cogent and controversial opinions dealing with sensitive topics like religion,
politics, and sex.
SOME SQUEAMISH TYPES might complain that this leads to remarks
which display "bad taste," that persistent nemisis of all college students.
Yet is not taste a totally subjective thing? It may be difficult to defend
scrawls like East Quad's: "Gas Jesus, '78," but there is a certain aura about
such undisguised hatred that seems to transcend the bounds of taste com-
pletely. In any case, such evil sentiment is really not all that common:
Religious remarks, for example, are usually limited to things like: "God
didn't create the world in seven days; he screwed around for six and then
pulled an all-nighter." (Courtesy: Grad Library)
Political comments tend to be equally gentle, perhaps a result of the
general lack of interest in the general student population. It must be admit-
ted that East Quad is dense with cries for anarchy, but then one must con-
sider the source. Elsewhere, the political graffiti that exists tends to relate to
specific issues such as Joel Samoff, nuclear energy, and whales.
Possibly it is the issues themselves which account for the relative scar-
city of current-events related items etched on the walls of our favorite
buildings: Few people, it seems, are capable of spelling "Divestiture!"
correctly. This brings to mind the question of grammar and graffiti. How;
can a major university be proud of its reputation when the scribblings of the.
student body suggest that many enrolees fall a shade short of literacy? The
examples are legion, but you need only read the summer-sublet posters in
the Fishbowl this spring, and you'll see what I mean.
CONCLUDING THIS WEEK is the question that all of us have been
wondering about: What is the meaning of "Joe Licks Taint?" This cryptic
and omnipresent phrase has never been satisfactorally explained, and any
information as to the deeper significance of this puzzler, no matter how
inaccurate, will be gratefully accepted.
So, until next time, as they say in East Quad, have "Fun, fun, fun, 'till
they take our magic markers away.''

By ERIC ZORN
Long before musicians like Vassar
Clemens plugged his electric fiddle into
fifty-thousand dollar sound systems in
order to blast "The Orange Blossom
Special" to as many thousand listeners
as would crowd behind the stacks of
speakers, groups of men and women
gathered on porches, in living rooms,
and in front of fireplaces to play music
for each other and enjoy an evening
together. At its Pest, music is a very
personal form of communication which
provides joy and satisfaction on many
levels, and that sort of communication
is perhaps best offered in a straight-
forward and sipcere performance from
a musician or group of musicians who
have lived their music all their lives.
If any group ever looked as if they
just hopped off a tractor or a semi-truck
to pick up their instruments, it is the
Cork Lickers, the association of six
good-ol-boys who brought their three
fiddles, guitar, banjo and bass to the
Ark on Thursday night for an evening of
old time string band music. Live and
just barely rehearsed, the Cork Lickers
come from the mountains of North
Carolina where they hve learned a
great number of old tunes which set
toes to tapping and feet to stomping.
IT TAKES A brave group to saw
three fiddles at once: Even two fiddlers
tend to go out of tune with each other

Sid Vicious found dead

NEW YORK (AP) - The nude body
of punk rocker Sid Vicious was found in
a Greenwich Village apartment Friday
and police said he apparently took an
overdose of heroin at a party
celebrating his release from jail.
Police said a syringe, a spoon and
"what was probably heroin residue"
were found nears the body when it was
discovered at about 12:30 p.m. by the
musician's mother, Anne Beverly.
Mrs. Beverly had gone to the Bank
Street apartment to awaken her son for
his required daily check-in at a police
station, Detective Richard Houseman
said.
The 21-year-old British citizen, whose
real name was John Simon Ritchie, had
been released from jail Thursday on
$50,000 cash bail. He was accused of
killing his long-time American
girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, last Oct. 12
by stabbing her in the stomach.
Vicious had been freed once before on
bail, but it was revoked after he was
accused of hitting Todd Smith, brother
of rock singer Patti Smith, in the face
with a beer mug during an early-
morning fracas in a nightclub.
Vicious, bass guitarist with the now-
defunct Sex Pistols band, was bailed
out again Thursday and left jail saying
he wanted a slice of pizza.
Houseman said Vicious went to the
Greenwich Village apartment, which
was rented by out-of-work actress
Michele Robinson, for a party to

and fight for dominance, and three will
only add to the problem unless
everyone has good taste and manages
to stay out of each other's way. The
Cork Lickers exhibit not so much tact
and taste as enthusiasm, and their en-
semble of gut and string is alive with
momentary harmonies and exciting
flights of fancy above first position
which sound a lot like a parking lot jam
session.
In a way the whole point, of old time
southern-traditional music is that the
fiddlers .aren't always in tune, that the
band members wear undershirt and
overalls and dirty down vests, and that
they hollar the choruses in unison
rather than attempting the harmonies
one finds in the old time country
groups like, say, the Delmore Brothers,
The Blue Sky Boys, or Ray and Ina Pat-
terson. Sure, The Cork Lickers could af-
ford swifter stage apparel, could fade in
and out of solo breaks, and, judging by
their individual voices, could croon a
few fancy harmonies: These trappings
would only get them further away from
the point of their music; from the
essential beauty of everyone playing
with fire-on-the-strings abandon.
THURSDAY'S PERFORMANCE
was not sloppy, though, by any means.
The square dance tunes were alive,
especially the syncopated screeching in
"Cacklin' Hen," and the infectious
rhythms of songs like "Molly Put The
Kettle On" and "Black Eyed 'Susie."
Typical of the vocal selections was
"Little Brown Jug," which was
highlighted by a chorus which simply
continued the "ha ha ha!" theme all the
way through to everyone's delight.
As if their flannel shirts and baggy
jeans weren't enough to convince you
that the Cork Lickers are not
Renaissance men, their stage show
closed the case. For example: ."The
other day it was so dry, I saw two trees
fighting over a dog," was probably the
best joke of the night, with the restof
the pattercoming across as charmingly
insipid at best. Lead fiddler Casey
Morell has a disarmingly effective
12: 3A M 0
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works}o p &
the. C ae r6 u
"Th Tme, 1'i overe t
.,aIhlproviSo~riorl'
BEST OF BROADWAY
presents
HERMIONE GINGOLD

POWER CENTER
FEB. 2-4
Fri.-Sun. 8pm with 2pm Sun. Matinee
Tickets are availble at The Power
Center 763 3333 Sat. 1 5 & 6-8 and
Sun. 12-5&6-8


In
C elebrat ion,
A PLAY BY DAVID STOREY
JAN. 31- FEB. 3
TRUEBLOOD THEATRE 8PM
UNIVERSITY SHOWCASE PRODUCTIONS
TICKETS $2 AT PTP OFFICE IN THE
MICHIGAN LEAGUE 7640450

i


HatikvaliCampaign (UJA)
upped its 1979 pledge

UP'

TOURSI'

stage presence, and, though he plays
the drunken rube part louder than most
of his band, he's the only one you'd want
to bring home to meet Mom and Dad.
The wooden floors of the Ark were
pounded by a collection of eager clog
dancers during the performance, but it
remains to be seen whether this sort of
musical "electricity" can be captured
on a ,record. The Cork Lickers first
album, on which, Morell says, "There's
a few tunes we really want to learn," is
due out soon. Typically, ,string band
recordings lack most of the guts of a
live performance, and do not even come
close to capturing the exuberance with
which most of these bands play.

Return your pledge card today

The Ann Arbor Film Cooperative present at MLB 3
Saturday, February 3
FANTASTIC ANIMATION FESTIVAL
7 & 10:20-MLSB3
Sixteen fabulous cartoons from around the world that demonstrate what
animation is capable of-from humorous and fantastic to the suggestive and
macabre. Among the outstanding artists are Canada's PAUL DRIESSEN,
France's BERNARD PALACOIS, MAX "SUPERMAN" FLEISCHER, noted under-
ground filmmaker Jordan Belson, and Oscar winner Will "CLOSED MONDAYS"
Vinton.
SUPERSHORTS
8:40 only-MLB3
One of the most consistently hilarious, engrossing and entertaining programs
of short films ever assembled. Titles include EAT THE SUN; THE DOVE;
QUASI AT THE QUACKADERO; HARDWARE WARS; RUNNING, JUMPING, AND
STANDING STILL FILM (Peter Sellers); and RAPID EYE MOVEMENTS. Features
IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE END: THE TRUTH ABOUT DE-EVOLUTION
starring Devo, the De-Evolution Band from OhighO.
MONDAY: Edgar Ulmer's BLUEBEARD & MURDER IS MY BEATI

rgt
If any group could have done it, I
thought, it. would have been the Dutch
Cove Old Time String Band from North
Carolina who camel out with Sycamore
Tea in 1978. In concert, Dutch Cove is
overwhelming, but in the studio they
glossed gracefully over their songs
editing out the yelps of enjoyment and,
punctuating shouts of "haw! haw!"
It doesn't seem that the Cork Lickers
could ever be antiseptic: They are
ragged but right, sawing away together
to bring up North a real taste of a.;
Saturday night hoedown or a backporch,
songfest. Who needs slick perfection?'
Traditional music did not begin with
that idea and will not end there.

I

Ar hoto
Punk rocker SisI Vicious is shown with his arm around his mother, Ann
Beverly, as they leave Manhattan 7riminal court in New York Thursday af-
ter posting $50,000 bail. Vicious reportedly killed himself Friday with an
overdose of heroin.

celebrate his release.
The detective said others at the party
told him Vicious was "jovial, happy and
contemplating a bright future." He
drank beer most of the evening,

Houseman said, but at about midnight
gave himself an injection of heroin.
"About 45 minutes later he went into
a seizure, but came out of it,"
Houseman said he was told.


PARADISE ALLEY:

I ----- -------------------------.*M: - .
I g R 44~I
SUMMER
I SUBLET
SUPPLEMENT
I O ,
I I.,
I I,
NAME _____
ADDRESS
PHONE ______________________-
I COST: Only $8.00 before.
I 5:00 p.m. March 2, 1979.
(March 3-March 19, cost is
$10.00)
I Make checks payable to the Mich.
I Igan Daily.
Mail or bring in person to 420
Maynard Street.
I
(actual size of ad) Absolutely no ads
Please print or type legibly in will be accepted
the space provided, as you after March 19.
would like ad to appear.
I Supplement will appear
1Sunday, March 25, 1979
------

Sly goes another round

By ANNE SHARP
In Paradise Alley, Sylvester Stallone
returns to two themes that he worked
over in his previous film, Rocky: Prize
fighting, and the strange romance of
poverty in the big city. In Rocky, also
written and directed by Stallone, he
portrays a small-time fighter. In this,
'his second effort at writing, directing
and starring in a feature film, Stallone
plays Cosmo Carbone, a tough, funny
street punk with long hair (in 1946, the
setting for Paradise Alley, anything
over a buzz cut was considered long)
and a golden earring.
Cosmo makes his living by his wits,
which aren't much to speak of. He lives
in Hell's Kitchen, an exceptionally
sleazy part of New York, with his two
brothers, Lenny (Armand Assante) and
Victor (Lee Canalito).
Victor is a sweet, simple soul who just
happens to occupy the strapping body
of a Marvel Comics superhero. Cosmo

trains for the championship match by
punching bloody slabs of dead cow in a
butcher's freezer.
As Lenny, Armand Assante gives a
performance strangely reminiscent of
Claude Rains in one of his nastier roles.
Lenny abandons his mortician's prac-
tice in order to manage Victor's career
at the Paradise. At first a quiet, neutral
character, he becomes greedy and
calculating, making Cosmo, that bum-
bling con-artist, look harmless in com-
parison.
With all the vice and corruption that's
supposedly going on, Hell's Kitchen
doesn't seem all that horrible, and, in
fact, it is somewhat romanticized. Even
the rats which festoon the sets don't
seem undesirable as such; they hang
around the characters' rooms like
household pets. Paradise Alley, and the
dime-a-dance hall where Lenny's girl
works, are rosily lit by neon, giving
them a sort of soft-edged glamor. It's
the sort of place where Cosmo can

Stallone has a way of juxtaposing
purely magical elements, such as Vic-
tor's astonishing physical powers, with
realistic ones, like Lenny and Cosmo's
exploitation of their brother. His
characters are despicable, yet oddly
charming. We don't know how to feel
about them, just as in real life we have
mixed feelings about a politician, a
friend, a brother or sister.
Perhaps, in creating his characters,
Stallone has been too realistic. That
seems like a strange criticism, since
most filmmakers are called down for
being too artificial in their charac-
terizations. Anyway, let's hope Stallone
isn't too embittered by the pannings
that FISTand Paradise Alley (undeser-
vedly, I think) got in their first runs, af-
ter Rocky's success, and let's not make
another Orson Welles out of Stallone.
The man has a lot of talent, and Rocky
doesn't deserve to be his Citizen Kane.


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SILVER STREAK


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