The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Friday, November 2, 2007 - 5 A fushion of different cultures IASA, one of the University's largest student groups, will perform tonight at Hill By PRIYA BALI Daily Arts Writer The root of the Sanskrit word miz- rana means "mixture." For the Uni- versity's Indian American Student Association, which chose the word for the title of this year's cultural show, mizrana means to combine vari- ous elements of art, dance and music together from across the world. The unification of these elements is the theme of the IASA Annual Cultur- al Show, which will be held tonight at Hill Auditorium. With approximately 300 participants; the show has earned its status as one of the largest student- run productions in the nation - and that's only half of the organization's members. With an aim to actively spread awareness of Indian culture, the 600 members are involved in social, political and cultural events throughout the year. Since the organization's founding in 1983, its participants have voiced an appreciation for Indian culture and a concern for how it will continue to flourish among political and environ- mental changes like the expansion of the Indian diaspora. With community building and service events like Gandhi Day and Dance Marathon, the organization has forged relationships with other student groups on campus. "We create a community that doesn't exclude ourselves from other communities," said Anup Shah, an LSA senior and the president of IASA. "We allow our community to be open because we want people to leave this school with a sense of what other cul- tures are like around the world." One of the ways this is accom- plished is through the annual cultural show, which celebrates the heritage of an ancient civilization and the ways it has spread across the globe. In an attempt to inform and entertain, these shows preserve traditions and recre- ate them through modern-day song and dance. With an unfortunate language barrier between today's genera- tion of Indian Americans and older generations, dance can narrow this gap. An effective form of cre- ative expression, it's one way for a culture to evolve. Tonight's performance will illus- trate how Indian and other cultures are inspired by one another. Both the intro and final dances demonstrate the concept of coming full circle. The first dance will begin in an Indian style, then move into a blend of west- ern beats, while the final dance will be a reversal of this pattern. "Every step signifies a new kind of style - we go from pure Indian classi- cal dancing to jazz in the same beat," said LSA sophomore Nishi Singhal, who was a choreographer on the show. The interplay between cultures is clear in "Noche de Natyam," the Latin-inspired classical dance, and "Ek Kabila ki Kahani," a tribute to the African heritage of the Gujarat state's Sidi tribe. "The main purpose of doing this was to show how seemingly different cultures can coexist harmoniously," said LSA junior Vina Sinnan, who was also a choreographer on the show. This will also be the case for the Bhangra dance "Bhungry," which paints from a palette of both Indian and Western influences. Native to the Indian state of Punjab, the core meaning of Bhangra tradition lies in a festive celebration of patriotism and harvest. As it has moved into main- stream culture, it's been imported into such musical genres as rap and reggae. The show is also comprised of the Raas dance, which uses dandia sticks that are spun and hit together to the rhythm of fast-paced music. This year it integrates a Middle Eastern style. Also interspersed throughout the per- formance will be videos and a fashion show, as well as Bollywood, gypsy, South Indian and village dances. Such a fusion can only yield a miz- rana - a mixture that can hold infinite ingredients. PHOTOS BY SAM WOLSON/Daily The Indian-American Student Association will light up Hill tonight at 7 p.m. Monahan goes it alone, shouldn't Kobe will dominant because a. he's Kobe and b. this game has piss-poor defense. N1BA Live 08: Where's the defense? By MICHAEL PASSMAN Daily TV/New Media Editor There are two important ele- ments in basketball: offense and defense. If your knowledge of the game were solely based on a few hours NBA Live 08 of playing Xbox 360 "NBA Live 08," EA Sports you probably would not have grasped this complicated theory. The creators of "08" seemed to forget that developing a competent defensive engine was necessary for compiling a complete basket- ball experience and, not surpris- ingly, the game suffers from it. It's borderline impossible to stop any legitimate interior threat and perimeter defense is almost as fruitless. Although the franchise has slowly improved since its Xbox 360 debut two years ago, EA Sports' basketball franchise still falters due to frustrating defensive mechanics that permit the likes of Chucky Atkins to drop 40 points on a regular basis and its forced offensive elements fail to capture the real ebb and flow of the NBA. Offensively, the game has sub- tly improved upon its predeces- sor, but still isn't where it needs to be. Ball handling with the right analog stick relies too much on canned animations that limit gam- ers' control and really isn't all that different from what 2K Games was doing on PS2 about five years ago. And with the exception of low- post play, which is actually quite functional, executing a half-court offense is awkward and inorganic as players rarely rotate unless you're constantly calling plays for them. Game-play missteps aside, the rest of "08" 's feature set is fairly thorough. A deep dynasty mode, dunk contests, online leagues and a new FIBA international tourna- ment make up a solid foundation for agood sports game. Now all they need to do is figure out the basketball part and they'll be set. Cue the John Tesh theme music: Finally, EA Sports realized what the NBA did about 20 years ago: The league's success is dependent on its marquee stars. To empha- size the game's best players, "08" incorporated a new Go-To Moves system where certain players can execute special shots that are rep- resentative of their real-life game. The Go-To Moves vary in their effectiveness (KG's turnaround not really. move is unstoppable), but for the most part there isn't enough diver- Sorry, virtual Isaiah will not accept sity among players -- about half of your terrible trade proposal: The the top guards using the same side- "NBA Live" franchise still has a step jumper. lot of in-game kinks to work out, but the dynasty mode is fairly pol- Time to bust out your Jan-Hendrik Jagla jersey: To capitalize on the potentially existent international basketball fan-base in the US, "08" Time to blow introduces playable FIBA World Championships. It's not a full- it up and start fledged international mode, but just an eight-team, single elimi- all over? nation tournament. Plus, you can even sub in NBA teams, so let's just rename this "Tournament" and ished. There's a focus on managing shed the FIBA badging for "09." your coaching staff and off-day team assignments, and the stan- "Yeesh, Kobe for three": When dard roster-management-dynasty "Madden" cut out the studio fare is included as well. Sadly, the announcing crew two years ago, ability to send refs on Atlantic City the developers did so because getaways hasn't been incorporated announcing in sports games is yet. usually boring and repetitive, and everyone knows it. But the If "08" were an NBA fran- announcing in "NBA Live 08" isn't chise, it would be ...: The Mil- actually that bad. Marv Albert and waukee Bucks. It's not the worst Steve Kerr are constantly talking NBA game ever, but you'd be hap- about something, and it almost pierinvestingyour.time elsewhere. sounds real. It's strange, though, It's reached the point where simply that Kerr is announcing in the improving on the "Live" franchise game, considering he's the new isn't good enough, and it might general manager of the Phoenix be time to blow it all up and start Suns. Conflict of interests? Um no, over. By DAVID WATNICK Daily Arts Writer When a frontman casts aside bis band for a solo endeavor, the resulting album usually falls into one of two categories: It's either a creative outlet to explore ideas which might not be suitable for the band, or its individual promotion, trying to build transcendent star- dom. Pat Monahan's Last of Seven is an example of the latter, from the timely adult-contemporary pop to the price- less portrait of Monahan that graces the Pat cover. Pat Monahan Monahan is known tomost Lastof Seven as the frontman of Train, the Columbia one-hit wonder that made it big in 2001 with "Drops of Jupiter." His debut solo effort could eas- ily inspire (and probably has) the horrific headline "Without Train, Monahan has gone off the track," and sadly, it would not only be accurate, but also much more clev- er than anything Monahan could pen. Seriously, the lyrics are that bad. Look no further than lead single "Her Eyes." Monahan rhapsodizes his love with ridiculous non sequi- turs like "She's old enoughto know / And young enough not to say no / To any chance that she gets / For home plate tickets to see the Mets" and "She's a Gemini, Capricorn / Thinks all men are addicted to porn." After these huge turn-ons, he continues, "She loved Michael Jackson / Up until he made Bad." This girl must be some catch. "Cowboys and Indians / Hete- ros and Gays." If this phrase seems like a jarring way to initiate a para- graph, imagine it opening a song. Accepting people of all creeds is a good thing, as is Monahan's pro- gressive political views, but the track has some of the crassest lyr- ics ever committed tape. To be fair, Last of Seven is an album made for consumption, not an attempt at a consummate artis- tic statement, so it deserves some consideration beyond its lyrical missteps. But the music is a mixed bag at best. Monahan's excellent voice carries the occasional strong melody, but nothing truly sounds natural. "Her Eyes" is marred by a horribly misplaced synth, while the gospel background vocals grafted onto "Someday" and "Rip- ple In The Water" end up showing just how little soul this music has. The simple inclusion of some songs, such as the grungy kiss-off "Ooh My My" or the country com- mentary "Cowboys and Indians," is more puzzling. It's impossible to understand why Monahan would bloat his album to 14 tracks with such stylistic outliers. It's only on Train-esque melancholic piano Stick with Train, sir. That's your ticket. ballads "Thinkin Bout You" and "Always Midnight" where Monah- an sounds comfortable, and, not surprisingly, these are the album's best offerings. Even if he's at his best sound- ing like Train, it's unfair to expect Monahan to eschew musical growth in favor of a tried-and-true formula. But Last of Seven sounds more like a stab at Billboard glory than an attempt at an individual musical blossoming. It's not Pat Monahan exploring Pat Monahan, it's Pat Monahan exploring his commercial prospects.