Tuesday
November 5, 2002
michigandaily.com/arts
mae@michigandaily.com
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'Poetry in Motion' includes
some of America's best poets
By David Austern
For the Daily
Courtesy of Sega
T-Mac fakes the funk on a nasty dunk.
Sega's 'NBA 2K3' rules the court
By Adam Rottenberg over less effective: These improvements make the game
Daily Arts Writer more realistic and more fair.
Founded in 1910, the Poetry Soci-
ety of America is the country's oldest
national poetry organization. Its mis-
sion is to develop initiatives that
incorporate poetry into everyday life.
Of these, the Poetry in Motion pro-
gram has been most successful. Influ-
enced by the London-based Poems
on the Underground, it showcases
poems on billboards, in subway cars
and on buses in order to expose the
public to poetry. The poems of the
project reach over 10 million people
daily, in cities spanning the North
American continent. 120 of the
poems are included in the anthology
"Poetry in Motion from Coast to
Coast." The poems were selected by
editors Elise Paschen and Brett
Fletcher Lauer.
Structurally, the book embodies the
spirit of the Poetry in Motion pro-
grams. It recognizes local poets and
their respective poetic contingencies.
By offering examples of poetry from
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POQE T R YY OIN
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With the onset of the next NBA season, Sega has
released its most recent edition in the NBA 2K series,
"NBA 2K3." This year's edition continues the series'
excellence and adds new features for veteran players.
The graphics and presentation of the game will imme-
diately impress. "2K3" continues to improve upon an
already solid graphics engine and the players seem to look
even more like their real-life counterparts. The animation
is solid and fluid. A new enhancement to
this year's game is the ESPN license. The
license adds a sense of realism to the game
and an interesting approach to the menus.*
The opening video contains the "SportsCen- **
ter" logo and theme song. Throughout the NB
game, all the menus feature a distinct ESPN
feel that makes it feel as if the game is actu- For PS2,
ally appearing on TV while playing. Before Gam
each game, a new screen pops up showing
each team's stats while the announcers S
describe either pros or cons for the teams in
the match-up. Post-game features include an ESPN sum-
mary complete with final stats and player-of-the-game
nods all narrated by an announcer.
The "2K" series takes a simulation approach in
regards to the style of game play. This is not "NBA
Jam," or even "NBA Live" for that matter. At times, it
will take the full 24 second shot clock to work around
the defense for an open look. The control schemes from
the previous games remain basically unchanged, but new
additions include more variations to the crossovers and
drop step moves. Ball movement and finding open shots
is vital in order to score, and different defensive schemes
are available to help stop the opposing team. This game
fixes the constant goal ending calls and makes the cross
"NBA 2K3" features an overhauled franchise mode
that enables the player to be the coach, general manager
and the players. This mode starts out in the office of the
coach where you can access the rosters and game plans.
In the general manager's office you can put players on
the trading block, sign free agents, and offer trades to
other teams. Most importantly, it features the full 2002-
2003 seasons and beyond. In the offseason, the draft
occurs and free agents must be resigned. New to "2K3"
Many people consider poetry oblique
and academic and thus feel uneasy
with it. To an extent this is a justifi-
able claim; the poetry we study is
often difficult to interpret. As a
result, this anthology includes poems
that are accessible to a majority of
readers. An excellent example is
William Carlos Williams' "This is
Just to Say," one of the most famous
poems of the Imagist movement. The
A 2K3
XBox and
eCube
ega
is a feature to import the rosters from the
upcoming "NCAA College Basketball
2K3" into the draft class.
Besides offering the normal modes of play
such as Exhibition, Franchise and Season,
"NBA 2K3" has a street ball mode that
offers a fun diversion. With multiple courts
and the option to play 3-3 it offers a different
sort of game than the normal modes of play.
A practice mode is available which lets users
learn how to master the intricate details of
the timing of shots and moves. A create-a-
disparate geographical
truly earns the title
"Coast to Coast." Fur-
thermore, the book
deserves praise for its
populist approach to
poetry. It spans cen-
turies; appearing in the
anthology are Walt
Whitman, Wallace
Stevens and William
Blake, but also contem-
porary poets such as Li-
Young Lee, Robert Hass
and the current United
States Poet Laureate
regions, it
POETRY IN
MOTION FROM
COAST TO
COAST
Edited by Elise
Paschen and Brett
Fletcher Lauer
W.W. Norton & Co.
poem's notoriety large-
ly stems from its
employment of collo-
quial language and
conversational struc-
ture. "I have eaten / the
plums / that were in /
the icebox / and which
/ you were probably /
saving / for breakfast /
Forgive me / they were
delicious / so sweet /
and so cold." The
mock-apologetic tone
of the speaker com-
the poem's carefree atti-
display a poem. However, it also fos-
ters an ideal environment for induct-
ing unfamiliar readers into a love of
poetry. By offering glimpses, the
anthology makes for both a quick
read and an excellent introduction to
skeptics. And it is the hope of the
Poetry Society that these skeptics
will soon turn into avid readers. The
concision of the poetry increases the
re-readability of the book. It allows
readers to return to their favorite
poem and enjoy it a second, third or
hopefully 10th time. In time, the
poems may be memorized and recit-
ed unexpectedly.
That is why, for readers, the anthol-
ogy is like a gift - it permits them to
rekindle the joy experienced during
their first encounter. Lauer, Director
of the Poetry in Motion project, com-
mented, "One of the great things
about the book is that it allows the
reader to take the poems home with
them. When they re-read the poems
they relive that initial moment, but
now they have it forever." The poem
"Avalanche" by Quincy Troupe
offers an artistic rendition of Lauer's
point. "This poem waits for you to
crossover." He is precisely right, the
poetry awaits us all; it awaits us in
the classroom, in bookstores, and
now even transit systems, thanks to
the Poetry Society of America. And
as Troupe says, once we "crossover"
to an appreciation of poetry, there is
no turning back.
player mode also returns to this year's version continuing
with all the options of the previous mode to make players
who represent realistic players of all shapes and sizes.
Sega Sports has managed to create a game that truly
captures the feel of the sport while maintaining a fun
game engine. It also manages to be a simulation fan's
dream with all of the options within the franchise mode.
"NBA 2K3" stands above all other basketball titles and is
the best basketball game on the market. It offers enough
improvements over its predecessor to warrant a purchase
from owners of the previous game, it is not simply a roster
update, though it does have that as well. In spite of a few
minor gripes, if basketball or sports games interest you,
"NBA 2K3" is sure to please.
Billy Collins. The anthology bridges
stylistic gaps, showcasing free verse
as well as rhyme. Also, poets write in
a variety of languages; some of the
poems appear in translation. By
refusing to limit its definition of
poetry, "Poetry in Motion from Coast
to Coast" offers something to any
potential reader.
Per the manifesto of the Poetry
Society, the primary target of this
anthology is the ordinary individual.
bined with
tude makes it a thoroughly enjoyable
read.
Contributing to the anthology's
readability is its length; the majority
of poems included are short, like
Williams'. Others are excerpts from
longer poems - an innovative tactic
on the part of the editors."Presum-
ably, the decision arose out of neces-
sity; a billboard or subway car
placard only has so much room to
I. I
'U' Prof. explores origins of universe
By Shital Thekdl
For the Daily
Don't be scared, it's just astrophysics.
Astrophysics minus the bleary eyed,
hair-graying, ramen noodle-filled all-
nighters before a physics exam.
Tonight, University Physics Prof.
Fred Adams will share his thoughts
on our universe in a way we can
understand. He will be reading from
his new book, "The Origins of Exis-
tence: How Life Emerged in the Uni-
verse" at Borders. Adams tells us that
even before geology, oceanography
and astronomy, there
were the four forces of
nature and physics. 0 MI
are certainly not alone in the uni-
verse. Formation of life wasn't just a
lucky fluke, but a com-
plex chain of events that
can be broken down and
explained by a few phys-
ical laws.
The Prof. also claims s"
that life originated deep
inside Earth rather than in
the ponds of the surface.
Trodden by explosions
about 3,000 times more
powerful than a nuclear c
war, our planet safely hid Fred Adams
life deep
(the study of the origin and evolution
of the universe as a whole)" allowed
- him to synthesize select-
ed findings into one com-
plete book.
"The Origins of Exis-
tence" is a natural pro-
gression from his first
book, which he co-wrote
with Greg Laughlin
" called "Five Ages of the
Universe: Inside the
Physics of Eternity."
esy of Free Press While his first book
all smiles. considered the death of
the universe, "Origins"
speculates how life began. By cover-
ing the formation in detail, "This
book also fills a niche - it tells the
'whole story"' said Adams.
Continuing with a natural extension
of the "whole story," Adams is cur-
rently working on research about the
future evolution of the universe, star
formation and the formation of black
holes in centers of galaxies.
ourt
s is
underground until the
surface was inhabitable.
He explains, "In some
sense, the biggest ques-
tions in astrophysics are
questions of origins: The
origin of the universe,
the production of galax-
ies, the formation of stars
FRED ADAMS Adams chose to write
"The Origins of Exis-
At Borders tence" because of his
Today at 7 p.m. fascination with the
topic. His interest in the
natural world along with
and planets 20 years of research on "star forma-
... it seemed natural to write about the
birth of everything in the universe."
Adams' goal with "The Origins of
Existence" was to convey how "these
laws of physics help us understand
how the universe evolves and creates
structures." The book details the fun-
damental principles and philosophies
of modern astrophysics in seven clean
chapters. It jaunts back billions of
years in time to witness the birth of
the universe with the Big Bang and
follows through the creation of galax-
ies, stars, planets and eventually, life.
Adams provides the insight that we
tion, planet formation and cosmology
I
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