6 - The Michigan Daily Summer Weekly - Wednesday, July 291

m,1992

Ef'... magazines all too frequently lead to books and should be regarded by
the prudent as the heavy petting of literature.'
I Fran Lebowitz
Bull shots HA bar, a

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Apted's new film explores the possibility
that the U.S. government might be fibbing

Incident at Oglala
dir. Michael Apted
If you want even more appalling
evidence that the United States gov-
ernment plays dirty and wins, Inci-
dent at Oglala is the documentary
for you.
Director Michael Apted (7 Up,
14 Up, etc.)carefully constructs In-
cident to present both sides, but the
government's story is so full of
doubts and presented by such slick
talkers that it's obvious something
wrong happened here. Beginning
with an "objective" reconstruction
of the shooting deaths of two FBI
agents on the morning of June 26,
1975 in South Dakota's Pine Ridge
Reservation's Jumping Bull com-
pound, Apted puts these killings in
context of problems on the reserva-
tion and with the federal govern-
ment.Onlyoneman,LeonardPeltier,
... the government's story
is so full of doubts and
presented by such slick
talkers that it's obvious
something wrong
happened here.
who almost definitely didn't kill the
agents, is in prison for the crime.
Otherdisturbingfactsincludethat
in the months prior to the agents'
murder there were60 unsolved mur-
ders of Native Americans living in
Pine Ridge,mostof which werecom-
mitted in internal squabbling and

with government-suppliedguns. You
can bet that no one working with the
government went to jail unjustly for
thosekillings.While Apted highlights
the major discrepancies and prob-
lems with the government's evidence,
(Incident)will make you
pissed off no matter who's
side you're on. The govern-
ment insists "justice has
been done," while the
Native Americans claim
they "don't know what
justice is."
he never discuses inconsistencies in
the Native American testimony.
Though these disparities may not
exist, Apted never tells you one way
or another.
Perhaps he could not weave in
this aspect because he uses mostly
talking heads to tell the story and the
issue was not addressed. Still, Inci-
dent is never boring, nor is the way
anyone tells his or her point of view.
It will make you pissed off no matter
who's side you're on. The govern-
ment insists "justice has been done,"
while the Native Americans claim
they "don't know what justice is."
That's one of the many questions
(including whatistruth, whatisabuse
of power,etc.) thatlncidentat Oglala
intensely let's you answer.
Incident at Oglala opens at the
Michigan Theater on Friday.
-Annette Petruso

poem, a
drink and
a tome

by Robert Mertz
Cindi St. Germain, president of the
Poetry Resource Center of Michigan
tookabreatherfrombandpracticewith
ICE 9 to tell me about this crazy, little,
hip-hopping thang going down August
1 in Detroitcity.A collectionofsomeof
the city's finest poets will get together
to do a benefit at Alvin's Finer Bar and
Deli. Yes, that means poetry and music
andanythingelsethatmightstrikethese
artsy types as interesting.
A large portion of the night will be
... tell me about this crazy,
little, hip-hopping thang
going down August 1 in
Detroit city.
performance poetry - readings with
jazz, rock, and visual accompaniment.
There willalsobemore traditionalread-
ings as well as an open mic section.
That means variety and that's what the
folks at the Center want to promote. As
Cindi asserts, there aren'ta lot of these
projects going on rightnow, but poetry
is still alive and kicking.
The Poetry Resource Center is a
nonprofitorganizationstriving tomake
poetry accessible to the general public
and to provide a venue for local poets.
During such rough times as these, the
Center expects only a small govern-
ment grant for the year. Survival de-
pends on private donations and events
like this one. They stress audience par-
ticipation in a poetry slamish sort of
way - brusque types are welcome to
scream their opinions. New talent (or
non-talent as the case may be) is en-
couraged to brave the stage.
The list of notables performing
will include Mimi Mayer, Cindi St.
Germain & ICE 9, M. L. Liebler, Bob
Hicok, Clark Iverson,Kathleen Meade,
Anthony Butts and many others. The
They stress audience
participation in a poetry
slamish sort of way -
brusque types are welcome
to scream their opinions.
cover will be a five dollar donation and
you will be allowed to select a nation-
ally known published book by nation-
ally known Michigan writers at the
door. So motor over to Alvin's and
listen to interesting words put together
in unusual ways and performed before
an inebriatedaudience.
ROCKN'READ happensSaturday8:30
p.m. at Alvins Finer Bar & Deli 5756
Cass Avenue, Detroit, admission $5.

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6

We've heard of buffalo wings, dances, chips and girls, but a tower?

-

'Cure-boppers' are part of the problem
The Cure Among the Cure fans, there has that stretched well over two-and-a- however good the Cure may still
Palace orAuburn Hills been a definite changing of the guard. half hours, and included three en- the negative reaction by the f
July 19, 1992 Nt "r-n.n" th hvs..,.r... ....smnntanato rn~inora h trna vn
N ~ -'pK~WI~u~~JZL~1~ ~~~UhZi1VIU~p1LV

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be,
ans,

A friend of mine was recently
telling me that the Cure had lost their
touch. According to him, they were
just rehashing old materialand sound-
ing pretty damn bland in the process.
After seeing the Cure's performance
at the Palace, however, I question
whether it was truly the band, or in
fact, the fans who are to blame.

iew ture-poppers wn n ave just
discovered the band through radio-
friendly tunes such as "Friday I'm in
Love," now seem to out-number fans
who actually remember the song"M,"
(off Seventeen Seconds) which the
Cure surprisingly threw into their last
encore.
Although Robert Smith and com-
pany put together a marathon show

cores, the enthusiasm on tme part of
the fans was sorely lacking. The band
rolled through most of the songs off
theirlatestalbum, Wish. Theeerieness
of "A Letter to Elise," and the fever-
ish urgency of "Doing the Unstuck,"
were the most captivating of the new
bunch, and garnered the loudestreac-
tions from the "new-wave" of Cure
fans.
Older tunes such as "Charlotte
Sometimes," "A Night Like This,"
and "A Strange Day," were received
in an almost luke-warm fashion by
thesell-outcrowd.Unfortunately,for

downplayed the wnoie event, anda
made it all seem sort of bittersweet at
the end.
Without the lively crowdcresponse,
the Cure now seem rather methodical
in playing these old songs. One might
be tempted to say that they have in
fact performed these tunes once too
often. Yet after seeing the Cure put
on the show of a lifetime (filmed for
a later video), and noting the
unappreciation from the fans, you
begin to wonder if Smith should live
true to his word and call it quits.
-Nima Hodaei

I

*Sunglasses
*Stickers
e Posters ($10 & up)
-jewelry FOR ALL THE BANDS!!
T YAIR YTO-HEAVEN. 340 1/2 S. STATE
Q I ,, 99.-3888

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