Page 8-The Michigan Daily- Monday, October 14,1991
9. America sure was beautiful:

Past lives at Sharp Museum

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by Tracy Ginsberg
Are you tired of unattractive parking structures, new
mini-malls and pretentious cafes? Living in this
University town, we're surrounded by constant renova-
tion, and thus tend to overlook our own history. The
University dates back to 1817, yet most of the rich, his-
toric hails have been replaced by bland and indifferent
buildings. Ann Arbor's constant facelift allows us to
forget our past, not only the University's, but
America's as well.
Only one hour away, however, lies the perfect op-
portunity to rediscover that past. On 550 acres in
Jackson, Michigan lies the Ella Sharp Museum
Complex. Sharp was a wealthy and influential woman
of the late 1800s who willed her estate to the city of
Jackson, under the provision that it would become a
museum.
Sharp would be pleased to know that her estate not
only has a museum on its grounds, but also a park, a
playground, gardens, trails, historical sites, a planetar-
ium, a restaurant, an ice cream parlor and even a minia-
ture golf course.
The museum itself consists of two exhibition gal-
leries (the Hurst Gallery and the Emmet Gallery), as
well as a discovery gallery (a hands-on display for chil-
dren). The museum changes displays monthly, with
themes focusing on either art or history. This month,
the museum is hosting an exhibit called "Symbols of
Pride and Patriotism," which runs through the 21st.
The display explores the various symbols that
evoked, or perhaps were the result of, the patriotic fer-
vor of Americans in the 19th Century. Quilts, photos,
paintings, documents and various memorabilia repre-

senting the ideal America and the pride of its citizens are
being shown. Symbols of American pride, such as the
flag, the eagle, Miss Liberty, and "founding fathers"
like Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, have been
printed on everything from playing cards to cookbooks
to magazine covers, and these are also on display.
Another display includes quotations of well-known
patriots throughout the century. Patrick Henry once
said, "When America was in its youth, the language of
America was different; liberty, sir, was the primary ob-
jective." It is interesting to note that, regardless of the *
stage in America's early history, people glorified our
country and relished in its success.
Walking through the complex evokes a feeling of
reverence and nostaglia for the past. Passing numerous
American symbols, I couldn't help but admire, and even
envy, the unconditional love and respect people held for
their country.
Sharp's original home has also been preserved, along
with an old schoolhouse, a wood shop, a log house, a
farmhouse and a tower barn. Guided tours are available,
or you can venture off and soak up the history on your
own. The museum complex truly has a lot to offer. If
you are interested in American history, this estate is
worth seeing. Make a day of it - browse through the
museum, visit the historic buildings, grab an ice-cream
cone and play some miniature golf. It might seem a bit
far, but an hour's drive to discover hundreds of years is
well worth the trip.
SYMBOLS OF PRIDE AND PATRIOTISM are on
display at the Ella Sharp Museum until October 21st.
For more information, call 517-787-2320.

One of the bachelorettes cruelly rejects both of the studs who are competing for her affections. Notice that
the show rejects that burdensome political correctness in every way by keeping the studs and studdettes
homogeneous - no interracial "love" stories on this network, please!
You can be my stud
antm,1we Darlin'

by Rosanne Freed
O n television, when the game
show meets the locker room, we get
horny hybrids like The Love
Connection and The Newlywed
Game - mass market confessionals
played for points. Now there's
Studs, the syndicated dating show
airing on WXON-TV, Channel 20,
weeknights at 12 a.m. The program's
producers call it a tongue-in-check
look at '90s romance that attempts
to "redefine what it is to be a stud."
Maybe. But the timeless battle
of the sexes is Studs' comedic ace in
the hole. The show's successful for-
mula of trashy, bare-all chatter is as
frivolous and non-nutritional an
indulgence as a midnight bag of pork
rinds. Studs is the kind of guilty
pleasure that would make Pee-wee
Herman blush.
The premise of Studs sounds like
a Psych 401 field experiment: send
two Grade-A Prime bachelors on
blind dates with the same three fab-
ulous babes, then quiz the guys to
find out who learned more about the
gals. The challenge for the studs is
to match post-date evaluations

(phrased with as much sexual innu-
endo as the FCC allows) with the
women who uttered them. The chal-
lenge for the viewer is to answer
Studs' 64,000 dollar question: Did
They Do It?
The two macho men face their
three nubile media mates on a Road-
runner-Southwest set that exudes
the sensual vibes of a Bennigan's at
happy hour. To enjoy this romantic
rondo, you have to see the humor of
he-men vying for the title of King
Stud while being flattered and
dogged in turn by a merciless panel
of mini-skirted bachelorettes. For
every date who thinks Stud #1
"sounded like he had PMS," there's
another who boasts, "He was the
sharpest tool in the shed" (or was I
watching This Old House?)
Comments about the studs'
physical attributes (the term
"Hunk-O-Butt" leaps to mind) are
big audience pleasers. Next in popu-
larity: intimate details of kissing
technique, in which tongue motions
rival the complexity of Top Gun
maneuvers. If the idea of five people
interdating in six configurations
seems, well... unsanitary, just imag-

ine the look of concern that crossed
the other women's faces when one
date mentioned her cold sore!
But Studs' female contestants
aren't plagued by moral doubts.
After all, these guys are totally
STUDLY. With minor exceptions,
each duo is made up of one beefy, an-
imalistic hunk who got Crazy
Glued to a Nautilus machine and one
handsome, brooding hunk with a
Dudley Do-Right chin and a shot at
the lead in "The Charlie Sheen Sto-
ry." This is what's known as Car-
tesian dating dualism.
Although equally attractive, the
women on Studs tend to be younger,
and lower on the career ladder, than
their male counterparts, so they're
"dating up." But the women have
the upper hand throughout the
show, accepting or rejecting their
suitors at will. The women stroke
their male egos or mock their vanity
with impunity.
So feel free to peg Studs as a
feminist role-reversal game where
only the men can lose, or just a
sleazy twist on a tired theme of pa-
triarchal oppression. Either way,
Studs is one view of modern love
that's a lot less depressing than
those "1-900-Romance" commer-
cials with which it competes in
TV's flickering still of the night.
ELLEN
Continued from page 5
they are best rock/dance band, what-
ever that means, best alterna-
tive/dance band, best industrial
band, and best alternative rock band,
which are all completely different


The Ellen James Society (L-R) Scott Bland, Bryan Lilje, Cooper Seay and Chris McGuire shipwrecked. This
explains what McGuire meant when she talked about the tragic being comic.

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things.
"So I go, 'What does that mean?'
I mean, I don't think people really
know where to stick us and I think
we sound like, uh..." McGuire pau-
ses, and gives up. "I don't know
what we sound like. Although, I
was with our manager yesterday and
I was saying, 'God, I hope we win
that best industrial band, so when
people ask what we sound like, I can
say Nine Inch Nails," she jokes.
"'Cause I was, like, 'Why are we up
for best industrial band?"'
All kidding aside, it becomes
clear that the Ellen James Society
takes its music seriously. The

group's first album, Reluctantly
We, on Indigo Girl Amy Ray's Dae-
mon Records, is a powerful group of
songs dealing with everything from
broken relationships to finding God.
"The one thing about us," Mc-
Guire continues, searching for the
right words, "is we don't go,
'That's not an Ellen James kind of
song.' So, for instance, there's some-
thing that's going to be on the new
record (due sometime in March)
that's this really slow, almost

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Celtic-like ballad. That's really
kind of different, but it's still, you
know, I hear it played back and
there's some type of edge that we
have, and I don't really know what
creates that, but it's always there."
THE ELLEN JAMES SOCIETY'
appears at the Blind Pig Wednesday
with Insane Jane. Tickets are $5.50
in advance at TicketMaster. Doors
open at 9:30 p.m.
that think more of themselves than
of their audiences (cf. Barton Fink'.
and the Coens), it's refreshing to see
a film that's not only unafraid of be-
ing stupid, but that also relishes the
opportunity to show audiences that
they shouldn't be afraid to be stupid
either - if that means they are just
being themselves.


ERNEST
Continued from page 5
and Varney can concentrate on put-
ting Ernest into panic-and-screw-up
mode - which is what these vet-
erans of 2000 30-second Ernest
commercials do best.
So, no, this isn't a great film
(unlike its predecessors), but in a
world of films that take themselves
much too seriously and of directors

ERNEST SCARED STUPID
playing exclusively at Showcase.

is



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QUARTET
Continued from page 5
After making recordings, televi-
sion and radio shows, books, and a
film, the Quartet remains faithful
to its original 'pursuit. "As time
goes on, we look forward," Dailey
says. "We appreciate being able to
make good music together... We
don't place too much emphasis on
the awards. What we revolve
mostly around is the continuing ap-
plause of the audience."
Kavafian, who will be perform-
ing as a guest violinist in the Bart6k
piece, is one of the few string play-

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ers to excel on both the violin and
the viola. Along with being artistic
director for New Mexico's Music
from Angel Fire festival, Kavafian is
a frequent soloist with the major
symphony orchestras throughout
the United States and Europe. She
toured worldwide with the Tashi
ensemble, of which she is a founding
member and with which she ap-
peared in Ann Arbor in 1981. Her
most recent Ann Arbor appearance
was a year ago, with the Chamber
Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Born in Istanbul, Kavafian was
raised in Royal Oak. She studied in
Detroit with Ara Zerounian and
Mischa Mishakoff, and later with
Ivan Galamian and Oscar Shumsky
at the Julliard School. In 1988, she
received the Avery Fisher Career
Grant Award and was appointed
Visiting Professor of Music at Yale
University.
THE GUARNERI STRING QUAR-
TET AND VIOLIN!ST !DA KAVA-
FIAN will perform tonight at 8 p.m.
in Rackham Auditorium. Ticket
prices range from $18 to $29. Call
764-2538 for tickets and info.

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