The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 11, 1998 --9 Powell delves into human soul ByCara Spindler For the Daily The poems in "Old and New Testaments" combine biblical language and imagery with facets of everyday life. Using the Bible as a sounding board, Lynn Powell creates a vibrant voice that displays human experience in her *ok of poetry. In a recent interview, Powell described her work in part as "poems about growing up in the southern Baptist church." "I feel like the religious culture that I grew up within forms Lynn your character, language Powell and the way you see the Shaman Drum world," she said. "The church is pervasive even Tororrow at 8 p.m, when I've lived in the north my adult life." Currently, Powell is a writer-in-residence at her son's elementary school, "working at both ends of the spectrum and every- thing in between." vision that is acute and looks at the grace of finite lives. One of the stories that she retells is "Immersion," which is from a revival where Powell was saved. " I can wait till after' I'd told my mother,/ but, at the watery suggestion, pinch sharpened between my legs/ 'I can wait'... ,questioning of the sacred fluids from Christ's blood, menarche and this "chlorinated baptistery." This questioning forms the matrix of her vision: The power to pull in theoretical and incarnate into the corporeal. Powell views biblical events in a way that is everything but stagnant. "And he said, 'I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.' And Sarah was listening at the tent door ... and Sarah laughed to herself," the epigraph setting the stage for the book reads. "How did Mary judge,/ when little Jesus wept, if tears were real, or crocodile?" As a mother, watching her children deal with both the biblical world and their own, Powell reflects on how the stories that formed her substrate were actually lived. How does a mother give up a child? "Dilute my children's love with selfishness,/ let them refuse the treacherous kiss...Make their their lives long, happy, ordinary -,' she writes. There is a continual, subtle questioning of the idea that God is omnipotent and humans have lost out on Paradise. In "The Garden," she celebrates the bittersweet: "And I lean toward his mouth,/ delicate as the herbs we bruise/ for fragrance." Powell understands that we cannot measure position and velocity at the same time, and our unending desire to do so. In "Myth," a sestina written about her daughter, Powell reads the myth of Savitri the Indian Princess to her daughter, spangled like a 5-year old ballerina. At the last page of Savitri and her prince old and fat, her daughter asks, "Mom, read the story backwards." In the interview Powell described this moment as the desire to "turn back, to not have time make its mark on us, except that only in a poem or a myth we can escape." Powell mentioned how many people have particular reactions to the book because of its title. She said, "Looking at it through a mine field because the words (in the title) are so loaded ... It feels a bit like a Rorschach test, before people open it there's this reaction" When asked "why the bible?", Powell said, "It's the language that's the richest and most resonant. I've had people tell me, you can't put Jesus in a poem, you can't put Calvinist there." These are the rules that Powell breaks with flu- idity and grace. In Powell's words "Old and New Testaments" is "not about religion ... it's about love, grief and sex, and being a mother and life and death ... the dominant subject is about being a human woman in this world." As the last stop on her first visit to Michigan, Powell will be reading at Shaman Drum tomorrow at 8 p.m. Powell's poetry is a testament of lives lived and known; of the physicality of the human body and its meaning within a mythological, lical context. What does a story mean at the el of human existence? How do we guide life with the framework of religion and loca- tion? She writes about these facets with a I Photo Courtesy of University of Wisconsin Press Author Lynn Powell will read from her book of poetry, "Old and New Testaments" tomorrow at Shaman Drum. Too much history weakens By Gabe Fajuri D~aily Arts NNriter After prostitution, it's been said that magic is the world's second oldest profession. Whether you believe that or not, there can be no doubt that for centuries, conjuring has fascinated and enchanted countless audiences, from the ancient Egyptians to the most sophisticated Broadway theater-goers. The new PBS documentary "The Art of Magic" attempts to explain just why magic has held the interest of so many people for so long. For two and a half hours, a combination of historical material, modern performance and interviews with many of today's master magicians not only show viewers some incredible illusions, but attempt to go beyond the surface and explain the psychology of magic to viewers. In attempting to show the "why" of magic, the whole thing goes wrong. I commend PBS for its attempt to cover so much material in one special, but after watching it twice, I had a problem dis- cerning what the exact focus of the whole thing was. "The Art of Magic" begins with a discussion of ancient magic and its uses in years past. Shamanistic magic, ceremonial magic and plain old tricks get lumped together through the next two and a half hours. That may seem like a long time, but who can really cover generation after generation of history in just 150 minutes? Not even documentary master Ken Burns could do it. I couldn't tell whether the focus of the special was on tricks, magic through- out history, the psychology of magic or why people are attracted to conjuring. Even more issues were also addressed. Although the focus of "The Art of Magic" is muddled, it isn't unworthy of time to watch because the producers lined up an all-star cast for the show, With performances of the signature rou- tines by Jamy Ian TheArt of Magic **I PBS Feb, 11, 9 p m. Swiss, Max Maven, Eugene Burger, Hiawatha, Jeff McBride and The Pendragons, the performance segments prove to be the most entertain- ing portion. Swiss' exquisite card magic is blended smoothly with Maven's mind reading, Burger's stories, and The Pendragons' high-energy illusions. I recommend you pay spe- cial attention to Swiss' card work, The Pendragons ver- sion of "Metamorphosis," Eugene Burger's "intimate miracles" and Jason Byrne's 'Magic' phony so-called "psychics" and "fortune-tellers"and people with "unexplainable powers" are. Randi's debunking is entertaining and informative, but once again, provides another topic that confuses the focus of the special. For the non-magicians watching the special, the more notable names would be Lance Burton and Sigfried and Roy. Their Las Vegas shows are used as examples throughout "The Art of Magic," especially when discussing the magician of today. Expect to see birds materialize, bodies to levitate and an elephant to vanish before your very eyes. In fact, a huge portion of Burton's show is included on the show. You can check it out lie later this month at the Fox Theatre when Lance leaves Vegas for a weekend engagementin Detroit. There are many reasons to watch "The Art of Magic,' namely the magicians themselves. Just as they do in person, their performances on the special are outstanding and entertaining. As a sort of magic show, "The Art of Magic" suc- ceeds. It's a great showcase for some of today's great- est magicians that might not otherwise get a chance at recognition on national television. Unlike the mediocre "The World's Greatest Magic" on NOC, PBS's cameras truly do justice to the performers in this special. But as a special that teaches while entertaining, "The Art of Magic" falls short of its goal. The vast material presented was just too much to jam into only a couple of hours. dove act. If you've never heard of any of those folks then this is the time and place to get acquainted with their talents. James Randi, a retired illusionist and author, also spends a good deal of time in front of the camera. He even gives away a secret or two during his pseudo- professorial segments in which he explains just how The Amazing Randi (James Randi) revealed an insideI the PBS documentary "The Art of Magic." Photo Courtesy ofrPBS look at the world of magic in With a dash of charm, Emeril 'kicks it up a notch' Li Sy Ein Poddisky For the Daily There is a conspiracy on television today the likes of which Agents Mulder and Scully have never seen. The master- mind is a man so frighteningly outra- geous in his zeal for what he does that it - impossible to take your eyes off him len for a second. His name is Emeril. The Food Network, one of cable's newest additions, is a place of drool- inducing half-hour cooking shows where Emeril Live The Food Network Daily, 9 p m. everybody oper- ates on a first name basis. The regular schedule of shows includes "Two Fat Ladies," "Molto Mario" and "Michael's Place." And then, there's Emeril Lagasse, the man with the ultra- thick New England accent whose overspiced self is invariably it, "essence") and "Emeril Live." "The Essence of Emeril" is on a total of 22 times per week anc' "Emeril Live" is on 12 times. In his live show, he works with an audience, a factor that pushes his usu- ally wacky, sometimes grating personal- ity into overdrive as he feeds off of the energy (and the salivary glands) of the crowd. Emeril uses a lot of catchphrases, endearing himself to some viewers while putting off others. He is a man of extreme reactions and the audience is no different - you either love him or hate him. Emeril jumps up and shouts "Bam!" numerous times throughout either show, tossing down spices and ingredients into bowls with enthusiasm. He loves adding garlic and extra spices to his dishes, informing the crowd that he is going to "kick it up a notch." "Emeril Live" is really a half-cooking show, half-talk show. He often mentions that other talk show hosts are probably jealous of the food that he and the audi- ence are making and every so often he brings in special guests, like "Good Morning America" weatherperson Spencer Christian. His goal with "Emeril Live" is to keep the audience and viewer "happy happy," as he likes to say, and they certainly seem to be if the live audi- ence is any indication. Truly a nut, Emeril's latest mission in life is to find and purchase the Partridge Family bus. He keeps a donation bowl Photo Courtesy of The Food Network Emeril Lagasse tres to keep his fans "happy happy" with his show "Emeril Live." Read Weekend, etc. tomorrow to find out about the dating trends of the University. II, LIKE NORTH CAMPUS'? LOVE WILLOWTREE- 1 and 2 bedrooms Plenty of Free parking Now leasing for Winter, Spring, Sumwer and FA V WILLOWTREE APARTMENTS 769-1313 Look or us at the U-M HOUS ng Fair! EHO called the "Bam! Bowl" on his cooking counter for audience members to fill and often asks his viewers to send in a dollar or two to help him in his quest. Emeril's antic personality shines through in his preparation and cooking of meals. One recent show focused on cooking different types of sausage. Emeril made his own sausage at one point in the segment, and an audience member called out that he was "practic- ing safe sausage." Always a good sport and a lover of the double entendre, Emeril continued to joke about the sausage-making process for the remain- der of the show. "Emeril Live" is clearly the better of Emeril's two shows, allowing Emeril to do what he does best - interact with a live audience and share his unbridled passion for cooking and food. Whether you love or hate him, it's always easy to laugh at Emeril and how absurd the whole cooking show-as-talk show idea is. For all his conspiracy-laden schedul- ing on the Food Network, Emeril is worth checking out at least once. Maybe he'll suck you in and maybe he won't, but it's likely that you'll walk away from his show hungry for more. cooking away when the remote stops on the channel. * t's no wonder that the Food Network often seems like it is all Emeril, all the time. Emeril is the only network chef who has two shows, "The Essence of Emeril" (named for Emeril's special secret ingredient, known as, you guessed 1 4 40 -1 M, -, "m r+ Y ' , s. P '$' L' Student Publications Board Vacancy STUDENT DISCOUNT DAYS 20%O off ALL SALON SERVICES AND PRODUCTS* Faculty, Flaff, students and alumni of Susi wKSm.sd * tu ep- A 1"31-1 1 C