2B - Thursday, February 14, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
REDUCTIVE REASONING
Picking one and one apart.
The Daily Arts guide to Ann Arbor's
upcoming events
Today 2.14.08
Valentine's Card-Making
and Cookie Decorating
11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
At the Michigan League Underground
Free
Japanese Contemporary
Dance
12 p.m.
At the University Hospital Main Lobby,
Floort
Free
Tomorrow 2.15.08
Brown Bag Lecture: Jo
Kanamori
12 p.m.
At School of Social Work Building
Free
NINA Materialize Sacrifice:
NOISMO8
8 p.m.
At the Power Center
$16-$40
Open Mic Night
At the Michigan League Underground
Free
Saturday 2.16.08
An Evening with Ahmad
Jamal
8 p.m.
At Hill Auditorium
$10-$42
Two Candles Burning, A
Chamber Opera
8 p.m.
At Duderstadt Center (Media Union)
Free
Sunday 2.17.08
Dance on Camera Festival
7 p.m.
At the Dance Building, Betty Pease Stu-
dio Theatre
Free
Please send all press releases
and event information to
artspage@michigandaily.com.
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SINGLE REVIEWS
A 'KNIGHT RIDER' (1982) VS.
'KNIGHT RIDER' (2008)
The car 'Knight'
returns
"SUPERNATURAL SUPERSERIOUS"
R.E.M.
Every time R.E.M. releases anythingit's hard not to hope
that they'll finally reclaim some of the brilliance that's been
mostly absent since 1996's New Adventures in Hi-Fi. "Super-
natural Superserious" doesn't really make it, but with its
jangly guitars and super-catchy melody, it's immediately
loveable. The sound harkens back to R.E.M.'s storied IRS
Records years, while at the same time, the super-clean gui-
tars of the intro could stand to be a little less, well, clean.
Lyrically, Michael Stipe still seems a bit too attracted to
platitudes, but the song is still fun and works pretty well.
MATTRONEY
"GANG OF THIEVES"
STATE RADIO
The new single from Chad Urmston's band State Radio
rocks surprisingly hard. "Gang of Thieves" has a sort
of piano-punk feel, with it's swingin' beat and rapidly-
delivered vocals. Unfortunately, Urmston's politics are a
bit dated, making what should be biting "war for oil" lyr-
ics feel kind of contrived. At the beginning of 2008, it's
unlikely that we really needed yet another indictment of
the Bush administration - Urmston's not wrong, he's just
kind of late. Nonetheless, "Gang of Thieves" is an undeni-
ably catchy single thatshould rant its way into the hearts of
hippie-punks everywhere.
MATTRONEY
By DAVE REAP
Daily Arts Writer
Nowadays, everybody's car
can talk to them. In fact, it's no
longer considered out of the
ordinary to get bossed around
by a GPS system. With this in
mind, NBC's made the deci-
sion to bring "Knight Rider"
back from the dead.
The focus of the original
1980s TV series was not David
Hasselhoff, who played pro-
tagonist Michael Knight, but
his super Pontiac Trans Am
nicknamed KITT (short for
Knight Industries Two Thou-
sand) voiced by William Dan-
iels ("BoyMeets World"). Chief
among KITT's attributes,
which included rocket launch-
ers, impenetrable armor and
300 mph speed, was its artifi-
cial intelligence. That allowed
the car to become a character
rather than just a prop, served
as Knight's partner, giving him
advice and even cracking the
occasional joke. The formula
was apparently successful,
because the show maintained
a loyal fan base and ran for six
seasons.
However, "Knight Rider" 's
KITT just isn't as special as
it used to be. A talking Trans
Am doesn't have shit on a
DeLorean that travels through
time ("Back to the Future")
or a Camaro that morphs
into a gigantic metallic alien
("Transformers"). "Knight
Rider" is outdated, compared
with recent trends in the sci-
ence fiction genre. For this
reason, it's hard to imagine
the show surviving today. Yet
NBC plans to test this by air-
ing a two-hour movie event
based on "Knight Rider" on
Sunday.
If nothing else, NBC is
killing the "Knight Rider"
legacy in hopes of making a
quick buck. Based on the pre-
views, the show looks like a
half-assed modernization of
the original series with a less
colorful lead actor (Justin
Bruening, "All My Children")
and a more commercially
driven KITT (in the form of
a 2008 Ford Mustang Shelby
GT500). Updating KITT has
already caused controversy -
the original voiceovers done
by Will Arnett ("Arrested
Development") needed to be
replaced because of his par-
ticipation in General Motors
ads. Val Kilmer ("Batman For-
ever") now supplies the voice.
Vhat's even more troubling
Be real, not
even KITT
could ease
Ford's woes
is the way NBC has adver-
tised the upcoming special;
it looks like a two-hour long
Ford commercial. NBC's man-
ner of dealing with the Ford
Mustang just goes to show
they are approaching the TV
special: with an eye on mak-
ing money rather than a qual-
ity product.
Even if the network took a
more serious approach to the
"Knight Rider" franchise, it's
questionable whether audi-
ences would be truly receptive
to the revived concept. While
KITT might have seemed cool
in the '80s, there's nothing
truly spectacular about the car
by today's standards. In retro-
spect, it probably would have
been best to leave "Knight
Rider" on the shelf rather than
damaging its reputation by
trying to market it to a genera-
tion that's moved on to bigger
and better things.
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MST GRE GMAT MCAT OAT OAT KAT TOM
PR ACT'C
EST
FEBRUARY 16,2008
Al Tests are in Angell Hall:
To play: Complete the grid so that every row, column
and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9.
There is no guessing or math involved,
just use logic to solve, Good Luck and enjoy!
JOIN DAILY
ARTS,
E-mail
gaerig@michigandaily.com
for an application
Freshmen and Sophomores, are you looking for a summer internship?
Would you like to take a step towards bolstering your resume?
Do you want to work with the coolest people on campus?
Difficulty: Medium
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1 9
2 1 5 4
3 714 2 6 819
816 7
13 8
4 2 5 6
8 7 3 1
9 5
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