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! I- 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 0 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 01 II 1 I I