8 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 18, 2005
ARTS
Folkie M. Ward bears his soul on 'Radio'
By Andrew M. Gaerig
Daily Arts Writer
MUSIC R-EVIEW
Every genre of popular music pur-
ports to be the bastard child. Jazz is too
hoppin' for the man. Rock'n'roll is too
nihilistic. Blues is the neglected grand-
daddy of them all. But folk - well,
folk can make a real case for itself.
Whereas every-
one knows Miles M. Ward
for Ward to
never reall
Howeve
sounds an
Ward isn'te
his art. He
American
"Oh Take1
"Paul's So
"One Life2
listic rang
which, asi
Courtesy of Paramount
"Patrick! It's like we're high!"
'Spongebob' makes a
big splash on DVD
By Bernie Nguyen
Daily Books Editor
While the appe
yellow sponge
living in a psy-
chedelic under-
water world may
be lost on the
greater popula-
tion, it lives in
vivid and joy-
ous color on the
;a of a rectangular
The
Spongebob
Squarepants
Movie
Paramount
big screen. With "The Spongebob
Squarepants Movie" DVD, Sponge-
bob has made the transition from the
big screen back to the small screen in
one fabulous, childish leap.
With the opening of the new
Krusty Krab restaurant, Mr. Krabs
needs a new manager - and who
better to fill the spot than Sponge-
bob, the best fry cook in the Pacif-
ic? Sadly, things don't quite go his
way, but even with his career dreams
shattered by Squidward's promo-
tion, Spongebob finally has a chance
at glory. He tries to retrieve King
Neptune's crown from the forbidden
metropolis of Shell City, thereby
saving his boss from death. He also
delivers all of Bikini Bottom from
mental enslavement by Plankton, the
tiny evil genius who is behind the
whole catastrophe. Together with
his endearingly stupid best friend,
Patrick Star, Spongebob's journey
moves in stages from a road trip to
a struggle against monsters and a
nasty hitman and finally into a quest
for self-discovery.
The greatest strength of this glee-
fully immature cartoon is easily the
humor it draws from every aspect of
life. Spongebob and Patrick act like
two grown-up kids whose perception
of the world is lovably naive. Through
their eyes, the movie becomes one
enormous journey through a world
of entertaining musical numbers,
imaginative characters (voiced by
Tom Kenny, Alec Baldwin, Scarlett
Johansson and others) and a visu-
ally spectacular stint in the world of
live action. A special appearance by
David Hasselhoff adds to the childish
splendor of the film.
The film itself steers away from the
sleek animation popular in today's
cartoon features, and the resulting
colors and angles are clear and sharp.
The special features on the DVD are
also worthwhile; they include a 20-
minute featurette about the origins
of the movie by creator Stephen Hil-
lenberg and the actors who voice the
characters. An educational short with
Jean-Michel Cousteau explores the
natural origins of Spongebob and his
world, and there's also a short clip
emphasizing the importance of pre-
serving the oceans entitled. "Saving
the Surf."
As a whole package, this DVD will
appeal more to a younger audience
(especially since the special features
are geared toward elementary school
kids who follow the show faithfully).
The movie itself, however, is enter-
taining for any age. This DVD just
goes to show that Spongebob, who
lives in a pineapple under the sea,
is the one of the coolest little yellow
guys around.
Movie: ****
Picture/Sound: ****
Special Features: ***
Davis's name Transistor Radio in mindset
and rock'n'rollers Those p
make heroes of Merge of Ward's
both themselves tion of Vin(
and their forebear's note-for-note rip- warmth of
ping of the blues, folk is still the prod- ing, every
uct of the unholy union between dirty centers oft
hippies and filthy commies. Its place in sounds lik
the public consciousness is as anachro- oak-panel
nistic as the "This Machine Kills Fas- thread her
cists" slogan scrawled across Woody songs are
Guthrie's beaten guitar. radio yestc
Portland, Ore. folk artist M. Ward's ed riverbo
third proper album, Transistor Radio, is On "Radi
an ode to old-time radio. This is a dicey his "littleF
proposition, as Ward is glorifying a media begins "C
outlet that, save for a few years in the early radio camp
'60s before the mop-tops took over Amer- "Four H
ica, did nothing to prop up folk music. the soft aco
Folk didn't have jazz's dancing jive or first half w
rock's gruff juke: Rather, the genre toiled a snarling,1
in the forgotten fields of oppressed labor- similarly re
ers and displaced families. It's odd, then, piano anno
Culturalshow
celebrates
Afica's beauty
By Victoria Edwards
Daily Fine Arts Editor
o pay homage to a medium that
y supported his predecessors.
er, Transistor Radio's varied
nd styles should affirm that
exactly picky when it comes to
re he runs a gamut of old-time
a - Appalachian moan on
Me Back," strained country on
ang" and incandescent folk on
Away." Ward's impressive sty-
e is the backbone of the album,
it turns out, is a folk work only
:t.
put off by the eerie story arc
last effort, The Transfigura-
cent, will revel in the open-air
f Transistor. Ward's comfort-
yman voice exposes the soft
these songs; the whole album
e it's set in a charmingly dusty
ed parlor. There's no narrative
e, just a subtle sense that these
connected by the themes of
eryear: weeping hearts, crowd-
ats and long-lost homesteads.
o Campaign," Ward pleads for
piece of mind" to return, and
alling out your name / On this
paign."
ours in Washington" breaks up
oustic guitar fog of the album's
with a confident drumbeat and
restless speaker. "Big Boat" is
efreshing, as a jumpy barroom
Dunces the album's most memo-
He's just like early Dylan, only .000001 times as cool.
rable lyric: "Says he's got a big boat / It
ain't no carnival cruise / Says he's got a
big boat /But it's just a ferry boat / Enough
to fit an extra one or two."
At the end, Ward's emotional connec-
tion comes through acoustic redemption,
something he achieves on the achingly
beautiful "I'll Be Your Bird." Over full,
smoky chords, Ward whispers, "I'm not
your chestnut / I'm not your mole / I'm
not your DJ late night radio / I'll be the
first one to ask where you were / I'll be
your bird."
Transistor Radio is filled with these
sorts of gleaming emotional revelations.
And while no listener would accuse
Ward of being sterile or emotionless,
moments like these humanize his skilled
compositions, providing the early-A.M.
connections that Ward no doubt seeks
in America's fast-disappearing old-time
radio stations.
This year's African Cultural Show, entitled "African
Nights: Unity," will be held today at 7 p.m. in the Michi-
gan Union Ballroom. The Afri-
can Cultural Show will highlight African
talented student performers; Nights: Unity
pieces include dances, plays and
poems meant to illustrate and Tonight at 7 p.m.
encompass the African spirit and Tickets $7
experience. At the Union Ballroom
LSA junior Remi Alli, the pub-
licity chair of the African Students Association, said that
the show's primary goal is to provide a more positive
view of Africa than has been portrayed in the media.
"A lot of the aim is (to) put Africa out there and have
(people) realize that although there is a negative stigma,
(there is) a lot of beauty attached with Africa that we'd
MIKE HULSEBUS/Daily
Ken Matthew, an LSA senior, and other members of the African Cultural Show, put on by the African
Student Association, practice their unity dance for their show in the Michigan Union Ballroom today.
like audiences to see when they come," Alli said.
Alli said the African Cultural Show would
incorporate different elements of popular culture
with an African flair. One piece is a skit where
seven Africans live together as a parody of MTV's
"The Real World."
Alli said that this year, the ASA worked efficiently
to prepare for the cultural show. This year's experience
contrasts with past years' productions, during which the
group has faced internal hurdles.
"We had a lot of enthusiastic members who wanted
to dedicate their time (to the show). So we're really for-
tunate in that sense; we were really efficient. Last year it
was much more difficult," Alli said.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased for
$7 at the door.
U U
CONGRATULATIONS!
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0.
The following students will be among those recognized during the Honors Convocation program on Sunday, March 20, 2005.
These individuals have demonstrated the highest level of undergraduate academic success by achieving seven or more consecutive
terms of all A's and earning the designation of Angell Scholar. The University of Michigan congratulates these students on their
superior scholastic achievement and wishes them continued success.
ELEVEN TERM ANGELL SCHOLARS
Mark David Buckles
School of Music
TEN TERM ANGELL SCHOLARS
Nathan R. Platte*
School of Music
NINE TERM ANGELL SCHOLARS
Bishr A. Al-Dabagh
Jonathan W Davidson*
Eric Y. Shieh*
College of Arts and Sciences -- UM Flint
School of Management -- UM Flint
School of Music
Adam Ryan Brown
Casey I. Cohen
Cameron Lynn Contizano*
Stanley P. Dimich*
Michael Thomas Georgoff
Samar Hassan Ibrahim*
Sean Garrett Kelly
Aviva Rachel Morady
Kristen Anne Neubauer
Scott Allen Oostendorp
Peter J.. Peltier*
Bradley Norman Reames
Daniel Jacob Schmidt
Erik Wright Schomburg
Robert Perry Stephan
Justin Bradley Stoney
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
College of Arts and Sciences -- UM Flint
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters --
UM Dearborn
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
College of Engineering
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
College of Arts and Sciences -- UM Flint
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
College of Engineering
College of Engineering
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
School of Music
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0
EIGHT TERM ANGELL SCHOLARS
Julie Ann Blume*
Thomas Mu-Chang Liu*
School of Music
College of Engineering
Thomas Patrick McDonough* College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Andrew Martin Vosko*
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
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