12B -The Michigan Daily Weekend Magazine - Thursday, December 5, 1996 0 0 0 The Michigan Daily Weeked Mag ® State of the Arts The "Beavis and Butt-Head" tour bus was in Ann Arbor on Tuesday morning. Or was it the "Choose or Lose" bus? I can't keep them straight. A wise old friend of mine suggested that the bus was probably the same exact one that visited the University two months ago to promote the presidential elec- tion. Of course, this time around it's got a new coat of paint and it's presenting a feature film starring Beavis and Butt- Head (instead of candidates Bill and Bob). But hey, what's the difference? I think my friend was right. Either way, the point is: MTV has branched out of that little box that we all have in our bedrooms and living rooms at home. It has turned its trademark slick and revolutionary style into a public rela- tions package that is aimed at you, Mr. and Ms. College Student. Its sights are set right on your belly-button rings. What does it offer? MTV books, MTV movies, MTV CDs and MTV tour buses that truck into town, sup- posedly providing a public service but really telling us to go home.to catch a few vibes from the coolest channel on the tube. Yeah, dude. Voting is kinda Joshua Rich Daily Arts Editor cool ... but it's not as awesome as Simon Rex! I miss the old MTV! I got cable TV service way back in the 1980s. Some guy named Reagan was president then, and he didn't give interviews on MTV. I remember tuning in every afternoon and night, intently watching Adam Curry and "Remote Control" and "Headbanger's Ball" and a few videos along the way. Back then, MTV showed videos. When it first hit the airwaves in the early 1980s with that forgettable yet prophetic Buggles song, "Video Killed the Radio Star," MTV was a pop cultur- al phenomenon. It arrived to bring music to a new: level of importance in J America. It rescued Top 40 ditties from decades of payola , scandals and Dick Clark dance marathons. And one thing was always clear: The "M" in MTV stood for "music." Back then, MTV played music. MTV helped jump-start the careers of some of our f favorite acts of the past (Men Without Hats) and the present (Michael Jackson). It found- ed a new medium of artistic expression -- the music video - that became the way in which we identified our favorite songs ("Material Girl," for example, in my mind had something to do with Marilyn Monroe, even though Madonna never mentions her in the song). Yup. MTV was a trendsetter, all right. Back then we had Live Aid and "We Are the World." Now we have the "Beavis and Butt-Head" tour bus. But really, MTV in its present, vacant state offers its viewers so much. We have Beavis and Butt-Head to provide insightful commentary on the videos of the day. We have Tabitha Soren's vital Generation X political commentary and hip interviews with the president of the United States. We have Kurt Loder's important "MTV News" segments which, more often than not, tell us about the new MTV product that is on the market. And, likewise, we have lots" of commercials, about half of which are in-house ads for the network we are already watching. I must admit, however, that the net- work's big-show-of-the-moment, "MTV's Singled Out," does have its benefits - besides the lovely and talentless Jenny McCarthy, that is. While eating my turkey and watching a "Singled Out" marathon during Thanksgiving break, I was glad to finally realize that California frat guys really are major dorks. Now there's a true service that the "Choose or Lose" bus can't provide! Lately, when I turn on MTV, I am reminded of that classic 1986 comedy, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," in which our hero fakes sickness so that he can cut school. Yet before he rampages through Chicago or does anything else, Ferris turns on his MTV and soaks up a little rebellious energy. I used to envy Ferris Bueller who got to skip school and watch MTV But nowadays I'd much rather go to class. I want my MTV - When Ies not watching C-SPAN, Joshua Rich can be reached over e-mail at jmrich umich.edut. KERRYTOWN Continued from Page 8 One of the buildings, the Luick building, used to be a lumber mill. In the 1870s it provided much of the lum- ber for early Ann Arbor. In fact, the din- ing room in the K-errytown Bistro was once If Sud a machine room which housed would lea steam engines and a towering Kerrytowi boiler. Another build- ideal laC ing, the Godfrey building, was Sit M5o used as a ware- house during the 1880s up until President, O'N around the 1960s. The third and newest building, which is now the center of the market, was built in the lumber yard for the Luick Company. The building was used as a farm and garden store. If one strolls through the Vintage to Vogue clothing store on the second floor of the Kerrytown shops, one will notice a ramp at the store's entrance which is where a grain bin used to sit. Also in Monahan's Seafood is a high ceiling due to the grain silos which were kept there. Kerrytown was originally named after County Kerry in Ireland, the birth- place of the mother of the brain child Art Carpenter - the visionary of Kerrytown. Carpenter was an activist attorney who had the idea of taking old buildings and recycling them; he was responsible for the idea of Kerrytown and getting people to work together to make that idea come to life. He wanted to use the recycling of old buildings as a catalyst for others to take action - evidently a success in the case of Kerrytown. During the early 1980's, Carpenter's health started failing and he started Zingerman's Deli and Kitchen Port in the Kerrytown Shops. Arbor Ray Inc. involves some 60 stockholders who helped finance the initial renovations of Kerrytown, with Carpenter as president, of course. Carpenter asked O'Neal Construction, which then owned a small share of stock in Arbor Ray Incorporated to do all the renovation work for Kerrytown. In 1981, O'Neal Construction bought all the stock in Arbor Ray. Kerrytown provides a diverse, 11 Fl J unique experience for those who like to shop. But even though it has a pricey reputation, it isn't just for yuppies. LSA junior Catherine Shin said, "Kerrytown has a wide range of'stores that makes it such a great place to shop, especially for food." Joel O'Neal, president of O'Neal Construction, U offers some advice about Kerrytown to nf astudents. "I think if the stu- Sits fthe dents would learn about 9 t baby. Kerrytown, it's arents3" the ideal place to baby-sit their Joel O'Neal parents. I - Jremember the al Construction trials and tribu- lations of what do I do to enter- tain my parents, and Kerrytown is the perfect place, with the market on Saturday morning before a game, for example. We will baby-sit their par- ents," he said. Mike Monahan serves a customer at Monahan's Seafood, one of the many st r II r 'A R Looking for the Perfect rinstnrns (I6ift for the guy who loves sports, movies, military history, and other manly pursuits? - Then how about a one-year subscription to IlAMAN'S WORLD! This 6-page, full color publication is distributed quarterly and is perfect as a gift for boyfriends, roommates, brothers, husbands ... in other words, any REAL MAN! Our mission is to take a humorous look at life ... from a man's point of view! To order a gift subscription in time for Christmas delivery return your completed order fon, along with $16 payment (for a one-year subscription) to: Extensive Enterprises, Inc. * 8044 Ray Mears Blvd. Suite 111 " Knoxville, TN 37919 w m wip Ann Arbor's Oldest Recyclers We Buy and Sel~l Scerao Metal* .--- 5*0 THE I I Adrss______Address______ city StZp_ _ city S... .Za 11 Reusable Materials Available. Public Welcome 4 0 PT9 LECTOI ARE ALWAY! JAZZ L UER Roc 617-0 PACKARI U P TA we ye got hunc Please a"o 4 weeks cs deliveiy of first u. SuSM~ions start Wtec96 ueO*,es must be recivedby Decmeaf e ass&el Iarivl of git announicemient cards by December 25. Outside U.S: please add SSy.ear D fr eilveJ5r. uns tmoniil).