0 Th Michigat! Daily Best of AnnArbor 49 30B- The Michian DailysBest of Ann Arbor 1998 - Thubsday, April 16,1998 U Best of Daily Arts Daily Arts keeps readers readmg feelmg the joy and pain of arts FARAH SAYS FAREWELL * Why do people go to concerts? Do they go solely because of the music? Do they go only to see the per- former up close and in the flesh? Or do they simply go just for the 'joi de vivre' concert experience? In the case of Morrissey, fans flock to the concerts because they have no choice. They travel from great distances because they know that Morrissey has touched them. They wait around his hotel because they admire his ability to champion the small shy body inside us all. They swarm around his tour bus before sound check because they understand that Morrissey is one of the most important rock icons of this generation. They go to see Stephen Patrick Morrissey simply because it is something they have to do. ' - From "Wizard of Moz: Morrissey hypnotizes Hill with eerie, evocative set," by Brian Cohen, Sept. 26, 1997 * Short of ballroom dance lessons in the Michigan Union or Ypsilanti's square dance club, it's been. a while since there's been any new dance movement in and around Ann Arbor. Until tonight. The doors of the Liquid Lounge are set to open at 10 p.m., inaugurating the arrival of club and techno music on the Ann Arbor night scene. - From "Liquid Lounge makes splashy jump into dry A2 club scene," by Stephanie Jo Klein, Oct. 29, 1997 * The witching hour. The time of night when weird things happen. When a full moon can transform young, unsuspecting col- lege students into wild, raving party animals. In the wee hours of Saturday morn- ing, at the stroke of midnight, amidst the light snow that was falling, the most unlikely of outcomes came true. Adam Sandler finally showed his face in Ann Arbor. The comedian/musician from Saturday Night Live and such movies as "Billy Madison" and "Happy Gilmore" had cancelled his previous engagement last month due to a bout of laryngitis. But on the final stop of his tour promoting his new album, "What's Your Name?," Sandler made it on stage ... for one hour. Yes, Sandler played for all of an hour in front of 4,000 screaming fans in Hill Auditorium, who shelled out upwards of S15 to listen to eight songs. Do the math. - From "Sandler disappoints with sloppy show" by Gabriel Smith, Nov. 24, 1997 * Mark Waters, director of what may be the first cinematic incest com- edy, "The House of Yes," is weird. Or at least that's what his mom thinks. "I showed this movie to my mother and my aunts, who are 60 years old and live in Indiana, and I was very amused at how much they liked it. As my mom put it, 'Well, you know, there's not too much cussing in it or anything. Sure, it's weird, but you're weird - and it's funny.' That's my mom, though, who's a little biased." - From "Director Waters puts 'House'on market" by Bryan Lark, Dec. 10, 1997 "Dawson's Creek" is like a post- card. The city in the photograph seems beautiful, interesting and clean. The reality is most often dirtier, more boring and uglier, but those aren't the qualities you would look for in a post card. The WB network's newest, and quite honestly, best show presents a picture-perfect version of reality. It's not fake so much as it has been doc- tored for aesthetic effect. - From "Sex, dialogue drive WB's brilliantly hormonal 'Dawson'," by Michael Galloway, Jan. 27, 1998 * I was in the 5th grade when my friend Zack let me borrow an Andrew Dice Clay tape and at the time, I laughed my ass off. Looking back, 1 think it was for two reasons that I was in tears: He swore (a lot) and he talked about female body parts. I still love a good, crass joke, but when I went down to the State Theatre in Detroit to see Dice perform on Feb. 27, 1 realized I am no longer a 12- year-old boy and Dice is clearly past his prime, or should I say, climax. - From "Old, fat Dice isn 't worth the price," by Reilly Brennan, March 9, 1998 * Psychotherapist and author Amy Bloom has reinvented love. Expanding on a previously published short story, Bloom's debut novel, "Love Invents Us," explores often- overlooked aspects of love found in everyday life. The seemingly effortless expansion on Bloom's recurrent themes found in "Love Invents Us" were read by the author herself in front of a 50-mem- ber audience at Shaman Drum Bookshop on Monday. The shift from short story to novel has not been without some difficulties for Bloom. "Novels are very differ- ent," Bloom said at the reading. "It's a big playground, and there are a lot more rides. It has a different shape and has to stay connected in different ways." Despite her concerns about the transition, Bloom has woven the most delightful elements of her popular short stories - believable human characters, idiosyncratic plots, sharp wit - into "Love Invents Us" seam- lessly. - From "Bloom blossoms in latest novel," by Amy D. Haves, Jan. 21, 1998 * Claude Monet, largely known to college students through calendars and dorm-room posters, is considered the founder of Impressionism and still looms large in the art world today. Last week, his work became the focus of one the biggest exhibitions ever at the University's Museum of Art: "Monet at Vtheuil: The Turning Point" finally hit Ann Arbor after years of planning and preparation. The show, the Museum's first-ever ticketed exhibition, is unprecedented in the Museum's history and expected to draw fans of the artist from around the country. The Monet show is small, featuring only 12 works. But the show is of great importance as it brings these pieces together for the first time since they left the artist's studio. "Monet at Vtheuil" not only highlights a turn- ing point in the artist's career but also features some works that have never before left their respective galleries. - From "Monet behind the scenes; After two years ofplanning, research, Monet works reunited at Art Museum," bv Anitha Chalamn and Anna Kovalszki, Jan. 29, 1998 * Sometimes I forget why mid- season replacement shows are, well, mid-season replacement shows. A big thank you and a dead trout for NBC are in order for refreshing my memory with their abysmally clichd sitcom "For Your Love." Just imagine the pitch to the NBC programming heads now. "Uh. Mr. Littlefield, how about a sitcom with a racially heterogenous cast that exploits every mildly amusing mar- riage stereotype until the joke has long since ceased to be funny?" Toss in Holly (wife of former Detroit Lion Rodney) Peete, nee Robinson and Michelle Pfeiffer's underachieving younger sister DeDee and you've got a marriage destined for divorce court. - From "NBC's new 'Love' is des- tined for divorce," by Erin Podolsk; March 24, 1998 * Simply put, "L.A. Confidential" has the best acting, writing and direct- ing of the year, hands down, and it would be criminal if the Academy recognized another film as Best Picture. - From "Picture this! Five nomi- nees face off" by Matthew Barrett, March 23, 1998 I've been privileged enough to be on the receiving end of many words of wisdom over the years - some words more wise than others. When I was a little kid, an old friend of my dad used to tell me I should eat a lot of bread crust because it would grow hair on my chest. I've eaten a fair amount of bread crust over the span of my life, and I have indeed grown a bit of chest hair. Now, if I only knew what to eat to keep the hair on my head growing, I'd be all set. In grade school, I used to have a friendwho cursed a lot.uHaving been brought up never to use bad lan- guage, I asked him why he always swore. He told me that words were just words, and they didn't really mean anything. Considering I want to find some kind of job as a writer, that doesn't bode too well for my future. A Great Books TA (they called them TAs back in the olden days), giving me advice about my major, told me that even though a lot of peo- ple say you shouldn't choose a pro- fession just for the money, he'd never heard anyone complain about having too much of it. As I creep closer and closer to the unemployment line, an English degree soon to be in my sweaty little hands, I think to myself, If only I had been an engineer. And then I think ... nah. At a family wedding reception, my grandfather turned to me while we sat at our table, the laughter and music of celebration surrounding us, and gave me these wise words in his broken English: "Women ... Napoleon says, women, dey are de cause of all disease in de world. All war. All tings bad, dey come from women." My grandnother sat next to him, smiling with a wide and tolerant grin. Sedo (this is Arabic for 'grandfa- ther'), I must say - I've gotten my hopes up many a time. I've come close, very close, to being extremely happy in a relationship with a woman. But so far in my life, as sad as it may sound, you're right. My mom tells me all the time: "You should smile more often. You've got a beautiful smile. After i r r r MARGARET MYERS/Daily all, that's how I fell in love with your father - I saw him smile across a room at a party." Maybe she has a point. Then again, my parents are divorced. But perhaps the best words of wis- dom I've ever heard came from my dad himself. And at the time, I must admit, I was quite skeptical. My dad earned many degrees. He never did anything nearly as impractical as major in English; instead, he earned a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering, along with a D.D.S. from the Michigan Dental School. Needless to say, he was in college for a very long time. But he didn't mind. In fact, he loved it. And so, he's told me on occasion: "My col- lege years were the best years of my life." I know. It sounds cliched. But my dad doesn't spew forth cliches too often, so I took him seriously. But back in high school, I always thought to myself, How could that be true? For as long as he went to school, his education really only amounts to a small fraction of his life. Compared to his successful job, his family, all the traveling he does now - how could going to college really match that? Could it really be that much better? Could it really be that good? I didn't believe him. I thought there was something wrong with him. But now, as graduation looms nearer and nearer, as my senior year turns slowly but surely into my senior week, and then my senior day, and then my last senior minute, I realize one simple thing: He was right. And I don't want to leave! Grad school? A double major? Maybe I can even start over fresh, and go for that engineering degree. What about the psych department - I'm sure they could use some kind of full-time human guinea pig to exper- iment on. Lord knows I've got enough problems for 10 or 20 decent theses! Anything! I'll do anything to stay here! Just give me another year! Another semester, even! I swear that'll be enough. Just not right now. Not yet. I'm not ready for the real world, unemployment or a job I can't stand anyway. I'm not ready for wearing a seedy, phony smile when I talk to people I don't like, just because I've got to "network." I'm not ready to deal with people 20 years older than I am on a regular basis - with stomachs two times bigger than my entire body, or with flabby breasts sagging down to their yellowed toe- nails (I'm speaking of men and women, here). I'm not ready to wear polyester pants that I pull up too high. I'm not ready to argue with my next-door neighbor about where you can buy the cheapest garden hose (although I hear Ace Hardware is having a great sale ...). I'm not ready to resort to singles adds or singles bars or sin- gles anything, just to meet some girl with "big bones" whose two front teeth are missing. I want to be young, dammit! I want Y~e Mt4[Pclgrn n tIg Best of Ann Arbor 1998 Best of Ann Arbor Editors: Emily Lambert Eliz Best of Ann Arbor Associate Editor: Christopher Tkaczyk. Writers: Joanne Alnajjar, Amy Barber, Brian Cohen, Jessica Eaton, Chris1 Hall, Stephanie Jo Klein, Kristin Long, Ryan Malkin, Joshua Pederson and Photographers: Louis Brown, Mallory S.E. Floyd, John Kraft, Kevin Krupii Myers, Emily Nathan, Nathan Ruffer, Sara Stillman, Paul Talanian, Adriar Cover photos (clockwise from top left): The Law Quad (file photo); Superi Tyler of Aerosmith (by Warren Zinn); the Ohio State football game (by Wa Action rally (by Sara Stillman); Michigan hockey goaltender Marty Turco { Arts Editors: Bryan Lark and Kristin Long. Special Sections Manager: Jamie Kribs. Editor in Chief: Laurie Mayk.