The Michigan Daily-Sunday, February 25, 1979-Page 5
By- R u-
Special
Attraction
I i
Roger scratches the surface
This week's good news for graffiti fans is that the warm spell of the last
few days has made possible the return of Dr. Diag, the man who brings us so
many fine versions of the Greek alphabet. Law authorities vigorously deny
rumors that he will resume hibernating for six weeks if he sees his shadow.
Speaking of scurrilous rumors, it seems that some astute readers have con-
cluded that because I have not reported graffiti from women's restrooms, I
must be a sexist pig. Needless to say, this is a base canard: Some of my best
friends are women. It is not misogeny,but rather a healthy respect for social
mores and the campus police that has kept me out of the ladies' rooms thus
far, and I have no intention of prowling therein in the future. However, I would
welcome the assistance of any woman interested in this highly intellectual
pursuit who might help us fight reports from the National Lampoon that all
womens' graffiti consists of recipes and extremely mild oaths..
AND NOW, ON TO the results of the past week's tour of the Hatcher
Graduate Library. The Grad, with its hundreds of carrels and miles of stair-
ways, is a Mecca for the wielders of the magic markers, and I must recommend
that you see if for yourself. For those of an intellectual bent, there is also ap-
parently a large selection of books.
Starting at the top, I found on the ninth floor stairs an interesting Wall sec-
tion in which the graffiti was all either by or for the security guards. Who would'
suspect those rascals of writing on the very walls they are paid to protect? The
quality was unfortunately not very good, but this was explained in the crisp ex-
change: " Why is there no good graffiti up here?" "Lack of oxygen."
On the eighth floor there was no writing, but from the Map Room there was
a magnificent view of beautiful Ann Arbor. Even on a cloudy day, one can see
the stadium, all three quads, all of central campus, and more. It's a refreshing
perspective, and the next time you're in the Grad you should take a look: The
Map Room is large and uncrowded, and the employees there will surely
welcome an occasional sightseer.
RETURNING TO THE RATHER less appealing lavatories, I found that
there was little of interest on the higher floors as'the whitewashers had paid a
recent-visit. (Incidentally, the bathrooms in the Dennison Builing are a rare
example of Freudian architecture, in that the mens' rooms doors have knobs
and the womens' don't). Above the second floor only an occasionaladvertisement
for the Donna Summer Fan Club enlivened things.
The stairs, on the other hand, wer'e as fascinating as ever. The sixth floor
east stairs feature a vast number of puns on the word "door," none of them par-
ticularly funny or worth repeating, and many obliterated by an irrelevant piece
of Marxist propaganda that shows as much intelligence and blood-boiling
reason as those wonderful Fishbowl orators who remind us that our only duty is
to rescue the proletariat victims of China's imperialist-reactionary-proxy wars.
The fifth floor offers only "Kilroy Died Here" on the east stairs, but the four-
th floor is a veritable cornucopia of vertical plane calligraphy. The following
dialogue is only one example: "If you want something very, very badly, let it go
free; If it returns, it's your forever; if not, it was never yours to begin with."
One wag has added, "What if I want a banana split?" to which another has an-
swered , "Then you-and Grand Rapids-must be the epitome of filth and
defecation."
NOTICE THE PROGRESSION from the trite, cliche morality to hard-
nosed realism to bitter, cynical irrelevance and bathroom vulgarity. This is
what graffiti is all about. In the east floor firebox is a carton of milk of unknown
age: Don't look for it.
Descending-both physically and spiritually-to the third floor, the west
stairwell.becomes the scene of a very acrimonious "Male vs. Female" debate.
The east stairs warn: "Mike Clare, If you don't read this by Friday, October 28,
1972, you are a Twinkee." One can only hope that Mike did not meet an untitily
cream-filled demise.
THE CENTRAL STAIRS' messages are more current, consisting of various
musicological conflicts-"Anyone who supports Pink Floyd must possess the
same limited intelligence as our world leaders"-and a proud yet cryptic
monument to the now-whitewashed "Ralph Williams Fan Club" series.
The second floor marks the end of significant writing in the south wing;
only a few messages like "I'm an abortion. What does that make you?" adorn
the stairwells. The heavily trafficked bathroom, however, is quite impressive.
After being painted last week, it already has two messages thanking the
janitors for fresh writing space and a personal note, "Fuck 'em if they can't
take ajoke'.. . Shah of Iran."
As with last week and the Dennison Building, I encourage those with any in-
terest in their fellow students' thoughts to go tour the Grad in person. I've only
scratched the surface: There are over five hundred carrels and the old wing
still to be covered. I'll be checking them out this coming week, and I'll expect to
see you there.
William
Windom in
AN EVENING
OF THURBER
POWER CENTER
SUN. FEB. 25, 7:00
Tickets are available at
The Power Center, Sun. 1-7
I
WEDNESDAY ISM MONDAY IS
"BARGAIN DAY" "GUEST NIGNT"
$1.50 until 5:30 TWO ADULTS ADMITTED
FOR PRICE OF ONE
No-mum1m
ADUM MPi., SAT.. SUN.
EVE. i .HOLIDAYS $3.50
M.ON..THURS. EVk. $31
ALL MATINEES 52sCHL O 4$.54
'
CHILD O 14 8 .5
Real? Or.. .
Wayside Theatre FRIDAY & SAT MIDNIGHT SHOW
WALT DISNEY'S
5020 Wushts~naw "e"b veueIfegla
Ypslianti AohAfoolrglf
MIRAGE, Ann Arbor's professional dance company, is pictured rehearsing
for their 8:00 performance tonight at the Armory, 223 E. Ann St. The com-
pany works with autobiographical dance, a relatively new technique which
focuses on emotions and personal experience, and contact improvisation,
another "New Age" dance style which explores the unconscious flow of
dancers moving together. Tickets are $?.50 and available at the door.
KaplIan "Sbig film:
Welcome backsketball
MON, TUES, THURS, FRI '
7:00 & 9:25
SAT, SUN, WED 1-4-7-9:25
FRI. 7 & 9:25
SAT. 1-3-5-7-9:25
SUN. & WED. 1-3-5-7-9
They couldn't
have celebrated happier
anniversaries if they were
married to each other.
By BILL BARBOUR
Hollywood success formula number
25: Take a performer who has gained
popularity in another medium, star that
performer in a movie, and watch that
performer's fans flock to the theatres.
The latest examples of this formula at
work saw Muhammed Ali in The
Greatest, Peter Frampton and the Bee
Gees in Sergeant Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Chlb Band, and, now, Gabe
Kaplan in Fast Break.
From the hype it received on radio
and television, it seemed as though
Fast Break would be cheap, thread-
bare, and solely exploitative of its star.
Wrong. The movie is plagued with none
of these faults. It sets a. pleasant,
almost charming tone in its opening
moments and maintains that tone
throughout.
The movie opens in New Yfrk where
David Green (Kaplan) is a high school
basketball coach. His true ambition,
though, is to coach college ball, and he
periodically fires off applications to any
college that announces a vacancy. At
last, he is approached by the president
of Cadwallader University, a small
school in Nevada, and 'bffered an in-
teresting deal: On top of a room and
board allowance, Greene receives $60
from the president whenever Cad-
wallader wins a game. The hook is that if
the coach can arrange to play Nevada
State, a top ten team, and win, then he
will receive a 3-year, $30,000 per season
contract. He accepts the offer and com-
bs the gyms of New York in an effort to
round up promising talent.
AFTER GREENE rounds up four
players, including a very talented
young woman known as ."Swish," he
and his team set off for Nevada. One of
the funniest scenes in the picture is
when Greene points out cows and other
See KAPLAN'S, Page 8
J'
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J
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FIRST FLOOR MICH IGA N UN ION
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R. J. SMITH ERIC ZORN
THEATER EDITOR
JOSH PECK
STAFF WRITERS
bill barbour, mary bacarella, tony
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chen, mark dighton, el-eanora
diliscia, jim eckert, scott eyerly, pat
fabrizio, owen gleiberman, kart
grosman, diane haithman, katie
herzfeld, steve hook, mark johans-
son, matt kopka, mark kowalsky,
marty levine, lee levine, rich
loringer, peter manis, anna nissen,
gerard pape, lily prigionero, kim
potter, alan rubenfeld, anne sharp,
nina shishkoff, mike taylor, keith
tosolt, peter wallach, dan weiss,
carol wierzbicki, tim yagle.
Ad
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