Friday e R TSitn til SRS arts. michigandaily. com artseditor@michigandaily.com 5 MiND OVER k G RAY£s' '3tSz7It f MATTER Courtesy of NBC "I find that a shiny pair of handcuffs stands out against an orange jumpsuit." Martha's Apprenice': It's not a good thi~ng By Ben Megargel For the Daily In her post-incarceration bid for image rehab, domestic diva Martha Stewart hops on the real- ity-TV band- wagon with The Apprentice: her version of Martha Stewart "The Appren- Wednesdays at 8 p.m. tice." However, NBC unlike Donald Trump's origi- nal, "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" falls flat because of its lack of originality and overly contrived drama. The debut episode begins with Stewart rattling off her many past successes, con- veniently omitting her recent five months of jail time for insider trading. The show is close to an exact copy of the original "Apprentice's" premise: 16 contestants are split into two groups, competing weekly in various challenges. One member of the losing team is voted off each week by Martha and her two sidekicks, daughter Alexis Stewart and former music execu- tive Charles Koppelman. The winner gets a job working closely with Martha "to create something new or something dif- ferent," as she explains. The contestants collectively decide to split into two groups, one being the "corporate" types, called the Primarius, the other the "creative" types, Match- stick. The teams then take on a set on the task of adapting a classic children's story. Overall, the teams feature more females and artistically inclined charac- ters than their Trump predecessors. Most of the characters blend in with the rest, but a few do stand out: Loudmouth Jim Tay Hall play Blind Pig record debut disc By Amos Barshad Daily Arts Writer CONCERT PREVIEW Holed up in the studio for days at a time, the kids of Tally Hall might not be in school, but that doesn't mean they aren't working. They've been sweating record- label pressure and recording at 40 Oz. Studios since the Tally Hall middle of July. Friday Sept. 23 at Titled Mar- 9:30 p.m. vin's Marvelous At the Blind Pig Mechanical Muse- _ um, their upcom- ing album is a tribute to its namesake, an antique gaming arcade in Farmington Hills, where the members of Tally Hall spent a large part of their adolescence. One of the band's three songwriter/sing- ers, Joe Halley - alongside keyboardist Andrew Horowitz and guitarist Rob Can- tor - explained, "It's this really unusual arcade of oddities, of old school video may prove to be the new Omarosa, while Dawn seems to play the role of the con- stant complainer. What is shocking about Stewart's ver- sion of the show is how much it blatantly borrows from the first "Apprentice."Every aspect, from the faux-suspenseful back- ground music to the mildly attractive Brit- ish secretary, is a copy of Trump's original formula. This would be all well and good if Martha were able to effectively adapt this blueprint to her own style. Stewart, however, is neither as intimi- dating nor as charismatic as Trump. She comes across as cold, lifeless and restrained. Her fellow judges, both infe- rior knockoffs of Trump's, do little to help the situation. When Stewart does add personal touches to the show, they only hamper the competitive suspense that made Trump's series so successful. Instead of a dramati- cally lit boardroom, Stewart holds court in a well-lit, airy conference room. The tasks, more geared toward arts and crafts than business, feel pointless and without con- sequence. Even Annie Lennox's "Sweet Dreams" theme song is no match for The O'Jay's "For the Love of Money." However, Stewart does succeed in one regard. Her method of firing in polite, handwritten letters is a salaciously fantas- tic addition to the show, almost topping Trump's famous "You're fired" catch- phrase. This creative change could have made the show the new guilty pleasure this season. In the end, "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" is a victim of lazy writers and a sloppy concept. The overwhelming simi- larities between Stewart and Trump's shows lead to unavoidable comparisons, and it is apparent that the better of the two comes with a combover. FILMMAKER DAVID LYNCH BRINGS MEDITATION TO CAMPUS By Zach Borden Daily Arts Writer As one of the most revered figures in cult cinema, filmmaker David Lynch has fascinat- ed audiences for decades. With his surreal and haunting portraits of the vari- ous facets of everyday Amer- David Lynch ican life in movies such as "Blue Velvet," "Mulholland Sunday, Sept. 25 Drive" and the famed TV at 5 p.m. series "Twin Peaks," Lynch Free is one of the most unique and Atthe Power Center daring narrative artists work- ing today. The Montana-born visionary con- tinues to test the boundaries of film, but he is currently devoting much of his time to a new project - the David Lynch Foundation for Con- sciousness-Based Education and World Peace. Lynch will speak at the Power Center on Sunday as part of the University's Program in Creativity and Consciousness Studies, a cross-disciplin- ary group dedicated to creative expression as it relates to consciousness. One of the goals of Lynch's foundation is to help students discover and learn about transcen- dental meditation (TM), which was developed by famed spiritual educator Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Lynch, who has been practicing the men- tal technique for 32 years, is eager to spread Maharishi's powerful teachings. "(TM) turns the mind within," Lynch said. "It allows any human being to dive within and experience the unified field. All positive values of that field get better and better." Based on the passion in his voice, it's clear just how much of an impact TM has had on Lynch's life and how it affects his work. "Negative things like anger and anxiety and fear started receding," he said. "I enjoy doing things so much more now and have had more energy and more fun in life. I also feel intuition, which is a super-valuable tool in filmmaking or any part of life. Creativity grows and the abil- ity to catch ideas grows. All avenues of life start improving." Another goal of Lynch's foundation is to "cre- ate a wave of peace across the country." In order to accomplish this, Lynch is currently raising money for scholarships so that 10,000 students can learn how to mediate. "Schools are in a great deal of trouble," he explainesd. "Consciousness-based education has Fourtesy of the David Lynch Foundation Filmmaker David Lynch will speak at the Power Center this Sunday evening at 5:00. shown huge success in reducing stress and anxi- ety while raising positive values. The world is full of problems, and we're wallowing in the mud. (TM) lifts you out of the mud. Education should develop the human being." Recently, Lynch's foundation gave grants to eight different middle schools to teach both inner-city students and students with learning disabilities about TM. According to Bob Roth, a spokesman for the David Lynch Foundation, research has shown that this mediation practice is more effective than medication, and students have improved their learning skills and grade point averages after practicing TM. In addition to getting his foundation off the ground, Lynch is currently in the midst of shoot- ing his next film, "Inland Empire," due for release in 2006. Lynch was mum on plot details for the film, but he did reveal that he - like fellow film- makers George Lucas and Robert Rodriguez - has made the jump from film to digital video. "DV is the way to go," Lynch said. While he did admit that "the quality is not as good as film," he said there are many advantages to shooting in the digital format as well. As with his foray into digital video, Lynch believes that new technologies are the future. "I think everything is going to merge," he said. "The Internet is the thing. Music is on the 'Net. Films are on the 'Net. Everything is going to be digital." Lynch also made it clear that despite the huge popularity of "Twin Peaks" and the fact that his film "Mulholland Drive" was originally intend- ed as an episodic TV series for ABC, he has no plans to return to television. At this point, Lynch seems focused on ridding the world of stress. He believes it's vital that people discover the power of TM and hopes to find plenty of "eager helpers" in the future. "It's a quick way to end suffering. It's a huge stress reliever. When the mind settles down to the deepest level, the physiology also -settles down and things start unwinding," he said. The A nn A rbor material that we've come up with in the studio thatn e' heard before that eea't wait to play. Spotlight: TMND: Wht's it like to be an Arn Arbor band? No m EB: Ann Arbor is really receptive and supportive ofthas community It steems'ike ther's a lotgig nadepe By Llyd Cargo doing a great job f1prm9iina andputting shows together. Daily Arts Writer There's somethig reay eilabut havig { cmunity< that really spp you.Popl 4e e a se oowrsip. The Michigan Daily caught up with Nomofrontman and Nomo wouldn't inC a rNe University alumnus Elliot Bergman to talk about the hand's next hometawn s TMi: What else is g1iV99 i:thbnd? EB: We just had our record comie out in. Jaan (last)n Fri The Michigan Daily: What's going on at the show this Sat- day on this Iae1 cal.ed P-Vine. put out grat stuff urday? -ee hfr a Brown oco Rosie to S Ra Elliot Bergman: (The show) is going to be a benefit for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. An installation piece by TMD : ow:'thtioa epneto}N.m:; m yfriend Soma (will open the show.It's a large, inflatable t Oh0 E Ppe a e (e s n ssten. We've structure that inflates and deflates in time and is lumines- pJyed : ynd f ibl, f be cent. There's going to be six of us in there playing drones r2 ip 4,1 bkkpatylat wkendin until people get sufficiently weirded out. Then the bands .Chag.'m interestednidng sminghm' k will play. We also have some really great DXs ...:...:.....s.piiual ad neletull ngg ng and chajreging. TMD. What's it like to be playing at The Blind Pig? EB: I'm really excited for it. It's cool to be able to have The N' wi lperrmla The ndP Blind Pig let us do our own thing. We've got a lot of new tomorrow nights a 3p .m. FILE PHOTO Tally Hall will play the Blind Pig tonight at 9:30 games. It's not like, 'get the ball in the hole,' it's 'grab this ball and then we'll shock you' or 'put your hand in a cage and dog will try and bite you."' Drummer Ross Federman added, "(It has) those old arcade games where you don't even play anything. You put in a quarter and watch a guy getting his head cut off." Local entrepreneur Al McWilliams, a purveyor of Spanish educational videos, is fronting the money for the band's record- ing budget and releasing the album on his own label, Quack! "Al's giving us a sweet deal," Halley said. "The way it's working out is unbelievable, especially for a band like us, getting our first deal." With a cross-country tour planned, the band discussed shedding the 'Ann Arbor band' label. "People in Ann Arbor (think), 'Oh it's your friend's friend who's in it, or, 'That kid was in my hall,"' Federman explained. "But on MySpace (www.myspace.com) and all that, to them (we're) a legitimate indie band. They didn't know we were still taking classes. For all they knew, we were already tour- ing the country." "For us, the Internet has been amaz- ing," Horowitz added. "Rather than being a college band in Ann Arbor, we became a national underground band." "It's do-or-die at this point," said Hal- ley. Right now, publicity is key to the band's success. Tally Hall will. be playing The Blind Pig tonight. And their first album, Mar- vin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum, comes out at the end of October. WANT TO WRITE FOR DAILY ARTS? THERE'S STILL TIME. COMETO ONE OF OUR WEEKLY MEETINGS AT 12:30 PM. SUNDAYS AT 420 MAYNARD ST.