Tuesday

RTSe MOd= Bailu

arts. michigandaily.com
artspage@michigandaily.com

8

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CAMPUS
NOTES

TOM WOLFE SPEAKS
ABOUT HIS RESEARCH
AT THE 'U,
By Jeremy Davidson
Daily Arts Writer
"One night, all of a sudden about two in the
morning, the lights came on and that's what real-
ly shocked me. You don't really realize how big
a fraternity party is when the lights are dim ... a
guy came running through saying 'everybody out,
everybody out! They're coming!' "
Sounds like a typical Saturday night on Washt-
enaw Avenue. But in this case, renowned author
Tom Wolfe was the one fleeing what he presumed
was "a crackdown on illegal drinking." While con-
ducting research for his latest novel "I Am Char-
lotte Simmons," Wolfe approached the college
experience with the open and innocent mindset of
an incoming freshman. When Wolfe decided he
wanted his fictional Dupont University to be both
an intellectual and an athletic powerhouse, the Uni-
versity of Michigan was an obvious choice for his
research. Other schools he visited included Univer-
sity of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and University
of Florida-Gainesville.
Many of the incidents in his book were taken
from real life events that occurred in actual uni-
versities. Wolfe said his experience at a frat party
at Michigan served as valuable material for his
depictions of the nightlife at Dupont. "Everybody
was great ... I think people were just kind of inter-
ested to have this man from Mars in their midst. I
just came out and said, I don't know a thing about
what you're doing, but I'm really interested,"
Wolfe said.
His new book continues his tradition of social com-
mentary by focusing on the seedy side of the Ameri-
can undergraduate experience. Charlotte Simmons, his
naive freshman protagonist, is shocked when she gets
to Dupont and finds it steeped in debauchery. Through
this story of one girl's coming of age, Wolfe focuses the
reader's attention on his combined experiences at the
schools he visited.
Wolfe said the motivation behind "Charlotte
Simmons" was fascination with co-ed dormitories,

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released second season on DVD to relive the magic: Tobias in blue-
face, Gob and Michael's perpetual daddy issues and all the continual
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the more you love it.

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Especially with the Halloween
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most local mazes going haunted
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dose of apple-picking, and you've
got yourself the perfect fall tradition.

Courtesy ofP icador

Tom Wolfe in his trademark white suit.
which he felt made the modern undergraduate expe-
rience unique for a new generation. He also wanted
to explore the role that colleges were playing in
promoting universal tolerance. "To my amaze-
ment," Wolfe said, "no one had written anything
that described how people felt living this particular
life. There are only two countries in the world that
do this, the U.S. and Sweden."
Many people have interpreted Dupont to be a
representation of Duke University in Durham, N.C.
Wolfe vehemently refuted this idea. "That (notion)
has been the bane of my existence ever since this
book came out," Wolfe said, adding that he never

Will Ferrell as Robert Goulet
-Ferrell's "SNL" version of the self-
important cheeseball crooner may
have debuted a while ago, but I've
just rediscovered him courtesy of
DVD. All you Ferrell haters out there
- prepare to be converted. You can't
quite appreciate the lyrical genius
of Sisco until you've seen an aging
hipster lounge sing his way through
"The Thong Song."
ifilm.com's 'Shining' Trailer
- It takes one very sick mind to pair
Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" with
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Jack Nicholson's classic horror film
gets the modern Hollywood treatment
in its rebirth as "Shining," a warm- 4
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even went to Duke to do research because his daugh-
ter was there at the time. Wolfe said if he had known
the school in the novel would be interpreted that way
"I would have never called the place Duporft - (a
name) so close to Duke."
Wolfe exposes a seldom-explored facet of Ameri-
can culture: "Charlotte Simmons" is a culmination of
his experiences observing and participating in college
and campus life across the country. "The University of
Michigan turned out to be a great source for me because
I wanted a university ... that had both strong academic
standing and a high-powered sports complex. I think
that fits U of M pretty well."

0

Courtesy of FOX

'25 to Life'
can't match
talented
frontman
By Andrew Kahn
For the Daily
I
If T.I. were 50 Cent, the Pimp Squad
Click would be G-Unit - and they'd

A second 'Development' arrives on DVD

By Punit Mattoo
Daily TV/New Media Editor

How can a show nominated for
18 Emmys (winning six), produced

by golden child
Ron Howard and
declared by many
as the best show
on television fail

Arrested
Development:
Season Two

probably have
their own Reeboks.
But this isn't the
case, and the other
members of P$C
(AK, Mac Boney,
Big Kuntry and
C-Rod) don't have

P$C
25 to Life
Grand Hustlie
the individual star

brass instruments, it's easy to listen to
three or four tracks consecutively and
confuse it for one very long song. T.I.
excluded, the members of P$C show
little versatility, portraying themselves
in only two ways: either as thugs who
will stab you in the club for a wrong
look or as misogynists who sexually
exploit women on a nightly basis. Lis-
teners will undoubtedly find themselves
fast-forwarding tracks to get to T.I.'s
verse. Don't waste your time - just go
out and buy Urban Legend. There are
some exceptions, however, as the rest of
P$C match their leader vocally on the
Lil' Jon-produced "I'm A King" and the
original "Like A Movie."
After a complete listen, it seems as if
T.I. is simply trying to cash in on his solo
success, and who can blame him? As a
result, 25 To Life comes off as nothing
more than an average mixtape album.

so miserably in I I
the ratings week 20th Century Fox
after week? For
the always-on-
the-brink-of-cancellation "Arrested
Development," fans pointed at Fox's
marketing and scheduling of the show,
but two more reasons seem more rel-
evant: The layered, subtle humor of
the "smart" comedy is too intelligent
for mainstream audiences raised on
formulaic sitcoms with laugh-track
jokes (see "Friends") to understand,
and the inside jokes based on compli-
cated plotlines and backstories make
the show difficult for casual viewers
to watch. Fortunately, both of these
problems are solved with the arrival
of "Arrested Development - Season
Two," which allows repeat viewings
and the opportunity to see all of the

episodes viewers might have missed.
Already having cemented its status
as the most unique ensemble cast out-
side of "Seinfeld," the Bluth family
takes its eccentricities to another level
in season two. With the Bluths facing
investigation because their fugitive
father allegedly built palaces for Sad-
dam Hussein, Michael Bluth (Jason
Bateman) attempts to salvage the
company's name and revenues. His
family, however, manages to screw
things up. While season one featured
its fair share of off-the-wall plotlines
(Michael dates a lawyer pretending to
be blind to gain juror sympathy), sea-
son two seems to have felt the effects
of rumored cancellation. It's as
though the writers created hilarious-
ly absurd plotlines compounded with
any number of inappropriate jokes,
knowing that Fox no longer cared
about the program. They wouldn't
have to worry about tying up loose
ends in the story.
Aside from the Bluths' business
troubles, the season included Tobias's
(David Cross) attempts to become a
member of the Blue Man Group, his
daughter Maeby's (Alia Shawkat)
new job as a producer at a Hollywood
studio (leading to her standard reply
of "Marry Me!" when co-workers

wonder why she looks so young) and
George Michael's relationship with
the bland, ultra-Christian Ann.
Standout episodes from the second
season include "Burning Love" in
which Ann and George Michael host
a party to burn "devil's music" and
"The Immaculate Election," where
Gob (Will Arnett) creates an over-
the-top campaign video for George
Michael's fruitless bid for student
government president.
The show also features the requi-
site guest appearance from Ben Still-
er, whose turn as a cocky magician
seems slightly tired coming off his
appearance as a cocky gym owner in
"Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story."
Other cameos include Stiller's wife,
Christine Taylor, as Michael's child-
hood crush; Julia Louis-Dreyfus as
the supposedly blind lawyer Michael
may have impregnated; and Martin
Short as an eccentric family friend
with no use of his legs. Short's charac-
ter, a former radio-serial star, creates
some of television's most inappropri-
ate and insensitive laughs, including
his attempt at dancing that consists
of his caretaker shake his dangling
body so that his legs move freely.
The only fault of the DVD is its spe-
cial features. For a show that doesn't

potential like that other rap crew - and
that practically sinks the Atlanta group's
debut release, 25 To Life.
About halfway through the album's
15 tracks, listeners will realize that for
the most part, the songs are redundant.
The production, handled largely by Tony
Galvin, breaks no new ground. Mostly
utilizing weak drum patterns and some

Know your rights. And your responsibilities.
Learn more about recent changes to the Statement of Student Rights ard Resonsibities
Find out what you can do if you feel your rihts have been violated or if you've been
accused of violating anothers and where you can go for assistance, answers and support.
Representatives frorw
" the Michigan Student Assembly,
the Offke of Student Conflict Resolution,
" the Office of the Ombuds,
U Student Legal Services
* Universiy Housing
will be avadable to answer your questions.
Be in the know.
anr*s mrnv ua*

seem like it will last much longer,
viewers are expecting the typical cult-
classic treatment of background foot-
age, plenty of interviews and thorough
commentaries to reward those who've
watched the show since the begin-
ning. Instead, we get one commen-
tary on each disc, which although still
funny, is so crowded by cast members
that each one's stories or jokes are
cut off by others trying to make their
own witty comments. Aside from the
extensive bloopers and deleted scene
reels that do provide some laughs, the
only featurette worth watching is a
three-minute recap of the first season
that allows first-time viewers of the
show to easily catch up and long-time
fans to refresh their memories.
With the third (and probably last)
season currently on hiatus because
of Major League Baseball, "Arrested
Development - Season 2" comes
out at the perfect time for new fans
to discover the unique laughs and
unforgettable characters of "Arrested
Development" before television's best
sitcom returns for a surely amazing
stretch of episodes.
Show: *****
Picture/Sound: **
Features: ***

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