12 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, June 18, 2001
High school hell
revisited in 'Fish'

ARTS
'Sugar' is loaded flu

By Jennifer Fogel
Daily Arts Editor
A new trend has developed on televi-
sion involving a look back at our better
days, when we were young and innocent
and life was basically hell. From the WB's
now defunct "Popular" to old school
"90210" (the "Brenda" episodes)," high
school has become
"the" settipg for any
truly interesting and
Go Fish moneymaking teen
show. Once again,
NBC the NBC network
Tuesday at 8 p.m. higher-ups have
decided to stay true
to form and pull out
from their replace-
ment recesses "Go
Fish," a truly unre-
markable teen com-
edy set around a freshmen as he embarks
on his tumultuous journey through high
school.
"Go Fish" centers on Andy "Fish"
Troutner (Kieran Culkin, Mac's little bro),
a freshman with a three-point, foolproof
plan for high school popularity. Of course,
being as this is supposedly a "comedy,"
Fish's plan is thrown out of whack on his
very first day, mostly due to his awkward
but eccentric best buds, Hazard and
Krack. Not only is his plan ruined by an
unfashionable and lame attempt at sexual
humor a la "American Pie," but the girl of

his dreams, Jess (a beautiful sophomore)
definitely doesn't associate Fish with any
impressive connotations.
Making the best of a bad situation, Fish
listens to the advice from his older brother
Pete (Will Friedle, "Boy Meets World"),
who once was the king of the school and
has now returned to become one of its
oppressive yet clearly uninterested faculty.
After having a rollercoaster of a day him-
self trying to make his students like him,
he spouts off a long-winded story to Fish
that ended with, "the moral of the story
is: Don't give up 'cuz Swedish girls
might have sex with you." Of course you
probably don't get that now ... it didn't
make sense then either.
"Go Fish" has some high points, most-
ly in the wonderful ensemble that the pro-
ducers have brought together which
includes Andy Dick. He plays ... ironi-
cally enough ... a drama teacher. Fish's
friend Krack (Kyle Sabihy, "Analyze
This") is too good for this show, relegated
to a sidekick who only gets screen time
when he's trying to prove that he's
smarter than all of his teachers combined.
It comes as no surprise that "Go Fish"
was created from the likes of Adam Herz
whom we all at the University remember
as "that guy who made 'American Pie."'
Guess he has a thing for high school.
Unfortunately, this high school is too fan-
tastical and ripe with drivel. Friedle's Pete
is basically an "older" version of his for-
mer character, Eric, from "Boy Meets

The cast of "Go Fish."
World.' Culkin seems to try really hard to
turn the blandness of the script into a
work of art, but definitely falls short in
the execution.
Like Fish, "Go Fish" means well and
only wants to be popular. What is really
irritating is that NBC had a wonderful and
critically acclaimed "high school" drame-
dy in "Freaks & Geeks." But as most of
us who adored the show know, ratings are
the be all and end all for television. Thus,
the moral of the story is: Watching "Go
Fish" isn't going to lead to sex with
Swedish girls - if your lucky it might
lead to another nauseating rendition of
high school hell.

Sugar Ray, Sugar Ray;
Lava/Atlantic
By Michael Oslnsld
Daily Arts Writer
Sugar Ray's last album was titled
14:59. This self-titled follow up proves
that the clock is still ticking on their
fame countdown. The band is not with-
out talent, though Mark McGrath is defi-
nitely not the best voice in rock. But
MTV and teenage girls like boys who
look good. The real problem, however, is
that most of the songs on this CD seem
stolen or recycled.
Aside from the weak lyrics of CD
opener "Answer the Phone" (the chorus
consists of "Answer the phone/I know
you're at home," and that's pretty much
it) feels like a bad Blink 182 impression.
The first single, "When It's Over" is
classic Sugar Ray. If Sugar Ray can be
referred to as classic, although there is a
Throwback to "Every Morning" when
they sing "Shut the door baby/don't say a
word" in "Ours."
But the new single is a pretty good
pop song. It's happy and upbeat, just like
Sugar Ray's other hit singles. Like it or

not, get used to it because the sc4
be on your radio all summer long.
The album is full of average
songs, with a few exceptions. "
Now" is reminicent of the Spin Di
with heavier guitars. While "Stay
features a reggae-esque beat, but it
Bob-Marley-good reggae. It's mor
the members of Sugar Ray though
were UB40.
The album closes with its tA4
songs. "Just A Little" has a co
sound to it that was pleasantly surpi
The guitar work is good and the
are executed well with a slight coi
western twang.
"Disasterpiece," has a good op
guitar riff with a Rolling Stones fee
song goes more in a pop/rock dir
than the Stones would play, but i
sounds alright. Overall, the CD is
age. Sugar Ray is basically a pop
now, so the songs are all easy on
If you're a Sugar Ray fan, chan~
you'll love it. If you're looking for
less, groundbreaking rock and roll
a Zeppelin album.
Grade: C+

'Good People' of
Ann Arbor greet
acclaimed writer

By Usa Rait
Daily Arts Editor
The good people of New York, appar-
ently, are bold, funny, vivacious and
spirited. They are moms, daughters,
lovers, friends,
students of all
ages, boyfriends
Thisbe and husbands.
Nissen They feel what
Shaman Drum human beings
everywhere feel,
Thursday June 28, do what people
7:30 p.m. everywhere do.
They are as
flawed as life
itself, yet we love
them nonetheless.
At least, this is what can be deduced

from Thisbe Nissen's premiere novel,
"The Good People of New York." And
she should know.
Although Nissen was born and raised
in the Big Apple, growing up in a city
so diverse and full of life is surely not
the only reason why she succeeds so
well at creating memorable, realistic
characters. These are characters that we
wish the best (and the worst) for, that
we grow up with, and that we identify
with.
Perhaps - no, most definitely -
Nissen's adeptness at writing is part of
her training. After graduating from
Oberlin College with an English major
and Creative Writing concentration, she
attended the prestigious Iowa Writer's
Workshop, home of literary greats such
as John Irving. And although "Good



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People" is her first novel, it is ne
first published work; Nissen
penned the award-winning short
collection "Out of the Girls Roon
Into the Night," and has written
stories for several magazines.
Beginning with the apples-
oranges courtship of native
Yorker Roz Rosenzweig an
planted Nebraskan Edwin Ande
the novel moves seamlessly thi
their love affair, the birth of
daughter Miranda, their subset
divorce, and the carnage follo
it. From Roz dating Mirat
orthodontist to Edwin's move
to Nebraska to marry a small-
nurse, and then back to Mira
adolescent bouts with older
the book cooks up plenty of
twists.
Cleverly, the reader is often
the resolution of some of these
- did Miranda lose her virginity
tender age of thirteen, for exampl
never truly find- out. Instead of
unsatisfying, this narrative tech
proves only to stimulate the ret
imagination (and thereby unique]
lors the book to each reader's di
tastes).
What can one expect to see
at Nissen's reading on June 28
good people of Ann Arbor will h
wait and see - and perhaps even
little imagination.

Good
Job

ot the Week
lamie
Stone
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