Tuesday
April 15, 2003
michigandaily.com
mae@michigandaily.com
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CLEAR THE AISLE
EVERCLEAR RETURNS WITH NEW RECORD,
RENEWED LIVE ENERGY
By Daniel Yowell
Daily Arts Writer
Portland, Ore., rockers Everclear stormed Pon-
tiac's Clutch Cargo's last Tuesday, cranking out a
blistering hour-and-a-half set of raw, unadorned
rock and roll. Although touring in support of
their latest release, Slow Motion Daydream, their
most favorably-reviewed album to date, the band
performed an eclectic set containing songs from
each of their six records.
Everclear lead singer/guitarist Art Alexakis and
drummer Greg Eklund took some time before the
show to speak with The Michigan Daily.
The Michigan Daily: Your new album sounds
really natural as a follow up to the two American
Movie discs. What was the process of writing
and recording it like?
Art Alexakis: Well, to be honest with you,
from our perspective, it combines all the records.
There's definitely a more guitar immediacy there
than what we had in Volume 1 and even in Vol-
ume 2. I think Volume 2 had a more riff rock feel
to it; this has more of a classic Everclear, if you
can call it that, kind of feel. Lyrically, I think it's
the most mature record that we've made. It's def-
initely the most sociopolitical. It's going to piss
some people off. But it's also got more sense of
humor, I think, than any of our records. I mean,
we're all kind of smartasses. We're older than the
average band and what we keep saying is you
have to be able to laugh at yourself and the world
around you.
TMD: The first half has a little more irony,
and it's more pessimistic. Then somewhere
around "Science Fiction" things start to get
more optimistic, more hopeful. Intentional or a
happy accident?
AA: It's a happy accident. I think the charac-
ters go from very narcissistic and nihilistic with
songs like "I Want to Die a Beautiful Death."
That's just pure fuck you, fuck your politics - I
want to get high, get laid and go out with a
bright flash. The character in "How to Win
Friends," is so battered and brutalized emotional-
ly that he can't even trust the blue sky. I do think
it seemed natural for songs with a little bit more
light to be at the end.
TMD: What do you guys think is the best
song on the album and what is your personal
favorite? Any difference?
Greg Eklund: I think "New York Times" is
my favorite. I don't think of it in terms of intel-
lectual and favorite, it's one in the same for me.
AA: I think the best song on the record is
probably "New York Times." I feel like when I
wrote that song and we recorded it, it tied
everything together. I gotta say "TV Show" is
really a strong song to me - there's a lot of
power there.
TMD: What's your lineup for this tour? I've
seen you guys with an extra guitarist, extra per-
cussionist.
AA: Keyboard player. On this tour we just
have another guitar player, Jeff Trapp. This is the
best crew we've ever had. Everyone gets along
well, and we just have a good time.
GE: We also tried to strip it down, to make it
more about the songs rather than trying to dupli-
cate all the other stuff in the studio. Our records
have always been way more produced than we
are live and we just want to go out and be a four
piece rock and roll band again.
TMD: You guys are touring in support of
your new album, but what kind of sets are you
playing?
GE: We're doing songs from every record. We
have so many records now that if we did all the
songs that everyone wanted us to do, it would be
The magic
of S Oz
captures
audifences
By Jaya Soni
Daily Arts Writer
Graduating with a degree in electri-
cal engineering this year, 20-year-old
Oz Pearlman considers himself to be a
"smart-alecky kid." Still present within
him today, this characteristic has
helped Pearlman to not only graduate
so young, but to also possess a unique
power that few other students hold: the
power of magic. As one of the few col-
lege-age professional magicians, Pearl-
man adds a unique flavor to the
Michigan campus.
Last Wednesday, Oz performed in
front of a group of Indian American
Student Association members during a
senior recognition dinner. Engaging his
audience with witty jokes and a sincere
demeanor, Oz opened his act with a
few rope tricks before moving onto his
specialty of card magic.
Within minutes, it was easy to see
why Oz enjoys his profession so much
and why viewers enjoy his up-close
magic. Trick after trick, eyes widened
and skeptical students allowed amaze-
ment to conquer any disbelief.
Oz's presence around the Ann Arbor
community has been noticeable since
his three-year career as a professional
magician at BD's Mongolian Bar-
beque. However, his professional abili-
ties have transcended the University
community and Oz has performed at
large venues such as the Fox Theatre.
Performing professionally since 15 in
front of groups ranging from five to
1,500, Pearlman learned that magic is
more than a compilation of technical
skills. Using "magic psychology,"
Pearlman connects with his audience
and uses his charm to sway skepticism.
However, Pearlman's greatest magic
accomplishments are recent, as this
year he has joined forces with Penguin
Entertainment to become the compa-
ny's creative consultant. Created, by
two Michigan alums, Acar Attinsel and
Maxwell Murphy, the company aims to
sell magic via the Internet. Recently,
Pearlman' flew to Las Vegas to filn'
Courtesy of Capitol Records
I'm old enough to be your dad.
like a Bruce Springsteen show.
AA: Yeah, and no one wants to see that.
GE: We are doing a lot of stuff that even hard-
core fans haven't seen.
AA: We're doing "Fire Maple Song" off our
first album, (and) "Learning How to Smile,"
Craig's playing keyboards and Jeff's playing gui-
tar and Greg's taking a piss break.
GE: That's my piss break.
- For more from Everclear; check out the full tran-
script of their interview at www.michigandailycom
TONY DING/Daily
Watch me pull a rabbit out of my pants.
their first magic DVD where Oz per-
formed in over 45 new demo videos.
Oz characterizes his street perform-
ance on the DVD as raw compared to
his normal acts for hired events.
In addition to his consistent pres-
ence on the Penguin Magic website,
www.penguinmagic.com, Pearlman
has created his own website with over
80-trick video demos, www.watch-
magic.com. Magicians from over 40
countries have viewed the site, and
Pearlman has influenced children to
participate in the wonder of magic. In
California, an eighth grade boy con-
tacted Oz for his school project. Oz, 13
when he started to pursue magic,
inspired the boy to become a magician
through his website.
As a professional magician, Pearl-
man correlates with magicians from
abroad including England and France,
as well as locally. Pearlman attends
magic festivals to interact and refine
his abilities. Nearby, Pearlman attend-
ed the Magi Fest in Columbus with
only a selected few other college magi-
cians.
Pearlman has been approached to
pursue magic through other corporate
endeavors. While on a cruise, Pearl-
man performed for the cruise "talent
show." After his magical production,
employees asked him to join their
company as a magic entertainer. Pearl-
man thankfully declined the offer, but
was reminded of his first taste of
magic. On a cruise with his father, the
"smart-alecky" Pearlman had been
aselected to participate in a card trick
that challenged his disbelief. Since
then Pearlman has continued to chal-
lenge himself and his viewers with the
mysteries ofomagic.
FX's newest drama 'Lucky' for leading man Corbett
By Christian Smith
Daily Arts Writer
Though "Lucky" happens to be the
name of FX's latest foray into original
programming, it is also a perfectly fit-
ting description of
its star, John Cor-
bett. After a string Lucky
of overlooked Tuesdays at
roles, Corbett 10 p.m.
finally got his big FX
break as Aidan,
Carrie's unruffled beau on "Sex and the
City." Then, he had the good fortune of
starring in last year's "My Big Fat
Greek Wedding," which ended up
becoming the highest grossing romantic
comedy of all time. Following that
film's success, the rest of the cast signed
on to the TV spin-off "My Big Fat
Greek Life." Corbett, fortunately
(depending on who you ask) had
already committed to star in FX's
"Lucky." Granted, that might have been
a bad move under different circum-
stances, but on the tails of the cable net-
work's first original series, "The
Shield," "Lucky" is poised to be a hit.
"Lucky" packs quite- a punch, man-
aging to capture both screwball come-
dy and emotidnal cothplexity at onc6.-
Given its mix of quirk and drama, the
show is a difficult one to categorize. It
loosely follows the format of a net-
work dramedy, but runs only a half-
hour in length. But then again, FX is
not one to abide by television stan-
dards, given the graphic nature of
"The Shield."
In addition to bringing a unique
style to television, "Lucky" also takes
an imaginative look into the life of a
compulsive gambler. As Michael
"Lucky" Linkletter, Corbett exudes an
attractive Elvis-cool with an aura of
slippery Vegas ease. Dripping with
charisma, Lucky also prides himself
on loyalty along with his scam-artist
~fr en4s,,plqyed by Billy,Qar4dell and
Craig Robinson, who would throw
themselves in front of a car for him,
just to make a buck.
ltn last w eek's pilotepisode;'Licky,
after losing the million dollars he had
won in the World Championship of
Poker a year earlier, has to find a way
to pay back his recently deceased
wife's parents for her funeral, without
gambling. At the end of the episode,
after losing his job, being beaten over
the head with a bottle and robbed of
all the money he had managed to
scrounge up, Lucky finds himself in
an unusual position, defeated and sus-
ceptible, with a $100 casino chip in
his hand. This is where the show
could have taken one of two routes;
either focus on the inner-demons and
subtle emotional struggle of a com-
pulsive gambler, or embrace the sar-
donic edge. ofa wild man who can't
stay legit. Though Corbett could
seemingly pull off either, "Lucky"
goes for the latter. It is a comedy after
all. Or is'it?I
I
Eig ht- and 1 3-week classes in five Metro Detroit locations.
Enroll now for spring/summer classes at Wayne State University.
Spring/Summer Term:
II
The 2003
Graduate and
Undergraduate
Hopwood
Awards
May
5
to August 23
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Kasdan Scholarship Award
Arthur Miller Award
Chamberlain Award for Creative Writing
The Dennis McIntyre Prize
Helen S. and John Wagner Prize
Andrea Beauchamp Prize
Robert F. Haugh Prize
Meader Family Award
Naomi Saferstein Literary Award
Leonard and Eileen Newman Writing Prizes
Paul and Sonia Handleman Poetry Award
Geoffrey James Gosling Prize
Spring Session Begins May 5
Summer Session Begins June 25
World-Class Education
~1-
/ /
in the Real World
Will be announced Tuesday, April 15
3:30 pm
Rackham Auditorium
(main floor of the Rackham Building)
Lecture by Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet and Translator
Richard Howard
The
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