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Student Focus ~.:
Parekh findspe rfectbalance of
academics, activities in HSC.
MUSIC
V Prodigy, the Chemical Brothers,
the Orb and Orbital are already con-
firmed for this summer's Organic pack-
age tc , which aims to bring live elec-
tronica to the American masses for the
first time. Underworld and Meat Beat
Manifesto are also expected to join the
rave-style festival, which will hit four
cities in July and reconvene in September
for a full-scale 20-city tour. Like the
Monsters of Rock tour in the '80s and
Lollapalooza in the '90s, the Organic tour
will expose fans to a particular genre's
brightest stars, according to a spokesper-
son for the bands' publicity companies.
Though none of the groups on the bill
have enjoyed commercial success in the
U.S., Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers
have 3become
MTV Buzz Bin
darlings, and
their mix of
techno and
dancemusicis
viewed by the
music industry
as the next big
thing. The tour
has its roots in
last summer's
one-day Organic
festival, which
took place in
San Bernadino
Rose has
toying wil
idea of ci
over into
electronic
years,
National Forest and
produced by members Jack Hues and
Nick Feldman specifically for this col-
lection. Still, we're left wondering
"What the hell is a Wang Chung' and
why would I want to do it tonight?"
V Plenty of movies are re-born as
sequels, but with the exception of "Dirty
Dancing," it's rare to see a hit soundtrack
album inspire a sequel. But, according to
Addicted to Noise, the makers of William
Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet," starring
Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio,
knew they had too good a thing going to
leave it at one album. With the original
soundtrack still kicking strong in the Top
20 on sales of over three million, now
comes the release of "Music from the
Motion Picture: William
Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet Volume
2" (April 8), a 24-
track mix of
beeinmusic and dia-
logue that com-
Sh - thepletes the first
album's mission.
rossng As promised, the
CD is a cut-and-
paste mix of
story-telling set to
ca for music. It weaves
the classic story
together with
C r a i g
Armstrong's omi-
nous techno score and remixed versions
of songs that didn't fit on the first album.
The result is a shotgun blast style that
accurately captures director Baz
Luhrmann's quick-edit update of the
story while still managing to squeeze in
remixes of One Inch Punch's "The
Montague Boys," "Kym Mazelle's
"Young Hearts Run Free;" Quindon
Tarver's scene-stealing coyer of Prince's
"When Dove's Cry" and the Butthole
Surfers/Dust Brothers collaboration
"Tybalt Arrives." With the inclusion of
tracks like the "Gas Station Scene" and
"Kissing You;" Luhrmann (one of the
album's executive producers along with
Nellee Hooper), who's also credited
with scripting the collection, manages
to put yet another modern spin on
Shakespeare's most enduring tale by re-
introducing it as a contemporary opera
set to near-pounding beats alongside
swelling string arrangements. After all,
what other album do you own that has
both the Butthole Surfers and Wagner
on it?
~ File it under the "strange but true"
heading, but AxI Rose has indeed been
in discussions with diminutive former-
techno god Moby about producing the
next Guns 'N' Roses album. Addicted
to Noise tells us that the duo are said to
have gotten along famously during
meetings over the past three weeks and
has supposedly seen eye-to-eye on a lot
of things. The story goes that Moby,
who spilled the beans last week by men-
tioning that he had been meeting with
Rose recently to listen to demos at a
panel on the future of electronica at
SXSW, went in to soak up some music
compiled on nearly 300 DAT tapes that
the band had filled with ideas, loops
and sketches, and was duly impressed
with what Rose and crew had come up
with. As you might recall, Moby recent-
ly abandoned his mantle as the God of
Techno by releasing the guitar-heavy
album "Animal Rights,' but what you
may not know is that Rose has been toy-
ing with the idea of crossing over into
electronica for years.
~ Word is out that Skoal smokeless
tobacco is sponsoring a summer alterna-
tive rock festival. The tour, says Addicted
to Noise, is to be known as Skoal Music
ROAR (Revelation of Alternative
Rhythms), is slated to feature a rock-ori-
ented slate of performers including Iggy
Pop, Sponge, Linda Perry (ex-4 Non
Blondes), Reverend Horton Heat, the
Bloodhound Gang and Tonic at the bud-
get price of $10 a ticket. In a nod to the
competition, the tour is expected to fea-
ture multiple stages and side-attractions
like virtual reality tents, rock-climbing
walls and the like. The first-time event
will kick off in early June and work its
way across the country, no doubt trailing
controversy behind it at a time when the
drive to restrict teen access to tobacco
products is on the upswing.
FILM
V Having just been shown the Oscar,
Cuba Gooding Jr. may soon be shown
By Jack Schillacl
Daily Arts Writer
On a campus full of "the leaders and
the best;' a constant struggle exists
within the active student body between
work for student organizations and the
trials of classes and homework. Often,
one or the other suffers. Inteflex third-
year studentAnand Kamlesh Parekh has
managed to fulfill both sides of the
quandary throughout his University
career, maintaining a strong dedication
to the Hindu Students' Council while
devoting enough time to his studies to
graduate a year ahead of time.
"The Hindu Students Council is a
student organi-
zation that
focuses on pre-f
serving and
raising aware- Universitj
ness of the
Hindu culture With Stud
and adding its
part to main- great i
taining a more
tolerant com - dedicati
munity and
campus,""
Parekh said. Inteflex thi
HSC is a
national organization with more than 50
chapters at various universities and col-
leges. This year is the 50th anniversary
of India's independence and each of the
country's chapters are putting on one-
day seminars as part of "Freedom
Festival '97," a program designed to
"raise awareness about India's indepen-
dence;' Parekh said.
The University's council celebrated
the anniversary in three parts. The first
0
re
a
rd
is an art display in the Michigan Union
study lounge that is still running. It con-
sists of art work from many different
religions worldwide, showcasing the
tolerance and diversity of the Hindu
religion.
The rest of the celebrations consisted
of a guest lecture by Dr. Veena Gandhi,
who spoke on the role of women in
India's freedom struggle, as well as
numerous discussions on the role of
Indian women in education, religion,
health and family.
The final -part was a night of cultural
dances that took place in the Michigan
Union Ballroom. Participants came and
learned cultural
dances such as
hat the the Raas, the
Gerba and the
is filled Bhangara.
HSC also
nts with sponsors weekly
discussions of
s and Hindu religion
and culture
, every Wed-
nesday in the
Anand Parekh Union. The
J-year student council takes
part in a volun-
teer project once a month and also
holds Yoga sessions.
The University's chapter of HSC has
a unique structure with no officers or
hierarchy. The basic premise is that stu-
dents come to the weekly meetings and
make proposals for the group's activi-
ties. "In this way, it makes it seem like
you are in an organization with a lot of
people who have the same interests,
Parekh said. "It is not about what posi-
tion you are but working with people,
learning and having fun."
Within the council, there is a core
group of members who come to every
meeting and take on specific roles such
as managing finances or media rela-
tions.
Parekh's role in the HSC has grown
over the years. As a first-year student,
he attended the council's meetings,
learning more about his culture. He
took on the specific role of taking care
of funding for the organization.
During his second year, Parekh's
commitment grew. He began working
on publicity and programming for the
weekly discussions.
This year, Parekh has taken a larger
role on the national level of the HSC.
He is in charge of HSC's media public
relations for all of North America. "I
keep the general media informed of
what HSC is doing in trying to promote
religious tolerance and harmony,"
Parekh said.
In-between handling national media
coverage and helping with the arrange-
ments for a daylong seminar, Parekh
has managed to excel academically. He
spent the first semester of this year in
England studying international rela-
tions at Oxford University.
As an Inteflex student, Parekh will be
attending the University's- Medical
School starting in the Fall of 1998. He
will be graduating a year early in May
and plans to spend the interim year in
the MD/MPh program at the
University's Health Policy Management
School - part of the School of Public
Health.
"I finished early in three years so it
__o,
included many of the same acts.
V Maybe Andy Warhol assured us
that everybody would get a stab at 15
minutes of fame in the future, but does
that include "Best Of ... " compila-
tions? Publicity for Geffen Records
announced something called
"Everybody Wang Chung Tonight ...
Wang Chung's Greatest Hits" (out this
week), which, after you get through the
hits "Everybody Have Fun Tonight,"
"Dance Hall Days" and "To Live and
Die in L.A.;' is about 11 songs longer
than it should be. The 14-track collec-
tion jpadded out by a new dance remix
of "ante Hall Days" by UK DJ's the
Rapino Bros., a previously-unavailable-
on-CD ballad demo of "Everybody
Have Fun Tonight" and a new song,
"Space Junk;' written, recorded and
an enormous paycheck as well.
According to Variety, Gooding Jr. is
being courted to star as the mixed race
politico protagonist in Mike Nichols'
adaptation of the best-selling "Primary
Colors." Already in the cast of the cam-
paign satire are John Travolta as the
Clinton-esque candidate, Emma
Thompson as the prospective First
Lady and fellow Oscar winner Billy
Bob Thornton as the James carville-
inspired advisor. "Primary" will begin
campaigning before the cameras in late
spring.
~ Speaking of Billy Bob,Thornton is
following up his Oscar win for "Sling
Blade" with next month's comedy
"Homegrown,"a film about, of all things,
marijuana, as reported in Variety. Pot affi-
cianados Cheech & Chong and Woody
Harrelson will not be seen, though the
ensemble cast does include Jon Bon Jovi
and Jamie Lee Curtis. Apparently, three
names are a prerequisite.
V Those of you fans who are anx-
iously awaiting the arrival of the high
waters and Christian Slater aura of
"The Flood" will have to wait sever-
al more months, according to USA
Today. The rainy season-and-bank
robbery-thriller starring Slater,
Minnie Driver and Morgan
Freeman has been postponed until at
least September, so that re-shoots
and re-edits can be performed. You
might say that "The Flood" is now
just trying to keep its head above
water.
~ Who are the 10 hottest young
actresses in Hollywood today? This
month's Vanity Fair Hollywood issue
thinks that Claire Danes, Cameron
Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jada Pinkett,
Renee Zellweger, Minnie Driver,
Alison Elliott, Charlize Theron,
Fairuza Balk and Jennifer Lopez are
so hot, they devoted an entire fold-out
cover to the talented women. Check out
this April extravaganza for the latest
and best in portraiture of the rich and
famous - everyone from Madonna to
Eddie Murphy to Kristin Scott
Thomas are profiled.
Anand Parekh, at the HSC-spoan
was a question of, 'What shoi
with my fourth year?"' Parel
"I'm very interested in health p
(the MD/MPh program) merq
career interests of going into n
and my interests in public pol
political science:'
Parekh's interaction with ma
ferent student organizations an
ers has given him firsthand kno
Expressionist Willem de Kooning dies at 92
The Washington Post
Willem de Kooning, 92, one of the leading
American artists of this century and a giant of
abstract expressionism, died Wednesday at his studio
in *Mst Hampton, N.Y. He had Alzheimer's disease.
De Kooning's paintings and drawings profoundly
influenced the development of art in this country in
the years since World War II. His career spanned more
than six decades, and his artistic style underwent sever-
al transformations. But he probably is best remembered
for the violent, slashing brush strokes and the volatile,
cataclysmic and fearsome expressions of his midlife
periodwhenhe painted the "WomaW ties of pictumieR
To many of his admirers, de Kooning was the great-
est of all living American artists. But there also were
critics who said he peaked in the 1950s and that his sub-
sequent work lacked its earlier brilliance and intensity.
With friend and fellow artist Jackson Pollock, de
Kooning was a dominant figure in the group of
abstract artists that revolutionized the New York art
community in the late 1940s. Their compositions
were characterized by a selfiexpressive and.sponta-
neous application of paint, a style that eventually
came to be known as abstract expressionism. The
style helped make New York City the art capital of
the world.
For the first half of his life, de Kooning painted in
relative obscurity, and he lived in poverty for much
of that time. His first one-man show, in 1948 when
he was 44, won him critical acclaim.
In 1982, "Two Women," a 1955 de Kooning paint-
ing, was sold at auction for $1.2 million, setting a
record for the highest price paid for a work by a liv-
ing American artist. Seven years later, that record
increased almosttwentyfold, when another 1955 de
Kooning, "Interchange," was sold on consignment to
a collector for $20.6 million at a Sotheby's auction in
1989.
+ , e Kooning is survived by his daughter
: WIlem de Kooning