f page 8 daily nebraskan thursday, february 16, 1978 Self-help books can heal hoards of heM ess human Your life's a mess! That's right, You may not know it, but you're really fouled up with all kinds of inhibitions, contradictory impulses, malev olent brain waves and other stumbling blocks to perfect happiness. If you don't believe it, go to the local bookstore and check out the racks of books dedicated to the proposition that a) you're a miserable, helpless jelly of human imperfection and b) there's an amazing system that will straighten you out in no time, for $3.95 paperback or $8.95 hardbound. Personally, I think most people. make up their mental troubles because they're bored with, drab old normalcy.' The cure can be a ham-and-swiss sandwich, some loud music or, in severe cases, plugging the patient into a ferocious automobile or de mon motorcycle and sending him out for a few hours of controlled-fright therapy. .Jim William But I'm no authority. Neither are the people who write self-help books, but at least they're making big bucks at it. One variety of self-help is exemplified by The Golden Pathway to Harmonious Serenity, by Fung Bung Dung. This tome advises that you can master the harmoni ous vibrations of Indian sages by holding a raw cabbage between your thighs while repeating the mystical phrase, "Owah taener Diyam." Another type of quasi-religious book is sneakier. The authors of these turkeys know that nobody would pic!: them up if the title gave any clue as to what was in side; so the titles are things like Life Can Be Wonderful or How To Have Great Sex All The Time or 1978 Revised SAE Ma hlne Tool Standards. If you begin reading one, though, you 11 discover a more accurate title would be, "Biblical Revelations Say the World Is Going To End Next Tuesday At The Latest, And You Will Go Directly to Hell If You Don't Believe Exactly What The Author Of This Book Believes And Prove It By Buying Ten More Copies." x If the Spiritual heaven doesn't tempt you, there's the chemical one provided by books like Suzy Slut, Friend of Rock Stars and Famous People, Tells You How To Turn Ordinary Marijuana Into Super-dope Using Common Household Items, Step by Step! I have no real interest in super-dope as the mere stench of the stuff makes me gag, but I flipped the book open anyway to 4Step 874: Synchronize the output of the neutron accelerator with the cyclic varia tions in the nroidal plasma field. An atomic clock is necessary for this step. But the big movers in the self-help field lately have been ones like Looking Out for No. 1 and Winning Through Intimidation. I got an advance copy the other day of a new one that seems fated for greatness. Called How to Get What You Want By Acting Like a Jerk, it tells you that every one else in the world gets together at weekly secret meetings to decide how to gang up on YOU to give you frustrations, neuroses and complexes, because they're all really jealous that they aren't as great and neat and good-looking and sexy and swell as you are. And if all those nasty other folks are going to act like that, you should give them what they deserve, right? You have to learn to act out, to overcome your inhibitions, to gain the success you really deserve. Hie book gives simple examples, like getting your boss to give you a ralse "First, define your want. Do you really want a raise, or do you just want more money to spend? If you want a raise, you may have to kidnap the boss's daughter to get what you want? If you simply want more money, you probably can get by just by burglarizing his house." The book sounded great to me except for one little thing-the back-cover blurb that tells all about the author was written in past tense. I don't know what to think well, actually I do, but I'd rather not. If reading all the above maker you feel like life's passing you by, like everybody else is having all the fun getting juicy ab normalities while you're just a well-adjusted fuddy-duddy, have I got a book for you! I'm writing it now. It's called, How To Mess Up Your Life, for Fun (Yours) and Profit (Mine.) Chamber, orchestra tunes up for second concert in series o Qrts and The Nebraska, Chamber Orchestra will present the second concert in its three part series Friday, Feb. 17 at 8 pjn. The concert will be at the First Plymouth Congregational Church, 20th and D streets. The performance will feature the talents of two guest soloists, Stephen Waechter and John Levick, plus the direction of a guest conductor Alfred Savia. Savia is a former assistant conductor of the Omaha Symphony and has appeared several times with the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra. Last year Savia worked with Leonard Bernstein during a conducting symposium held at Tanglewood, Waechter, a classical guitarist, also has made . several Lincoln appearances, most recently as an artist-in-residence at UNL's Centennial College last semester. Levick is the musical director and organist at First Plymouth Congregational Church. His "Abendmusik: Lincoln" series has received high critical acclaim by bring ing outstanding personalities such as Aaron Copland and Daniel Pinkham to Lincoln. Levick wut play the church's pipe organ. The organ was built in 1968 by Hermann Schliker, a pioneer of the rebirth of interest in organ music in the United States. His creation has over 3,000 pipes and actually is two organs in one (the large organ in the front of the church is cornpli: mented by a smaller one in the rear of the building). The concert program includes Villa Lobo's Concerto for Guitar and Chamber Orchestra, Reinberger's Concerto No. 2 for Pipe Organ and Chamber Orchestra in G Minor, Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 5 and Johann Sebastian Bach's First Suite. Tickets are available for the single concert and for both remaining concerts of the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra season. Prices are $3 for students and $5 for gen eral admission to the concert tonight; series tickets are $5 for students and $8 general admission for tonight's concert plus the last performance set for April 21. Human creativity v.tdemsw of mural By Cindy Coglianese A statement of television-viewing versus human creativ ity can be found on a wall. This particular form of graffiti is a mural in the Pump kin Room at Centennial College. Students have been working for three weeks under the direction of Mark Rogovin, an artist-in-residence in the Centennial Education Program, creating the 26-foot by 10-foot mural. According to Rogovin, the mural deals with the "sick and hypnotic influence of television as opposed to the more creative influences of people producing their own sounds and songs." The Pumpkin Room, located in Centennial College, is divided into a television room and a piano room. In the piano room, the mural depicts a piano, a gui tarist, a dancer and other figures. Bright oranges, red and purples are the color scheme for this half of the mural. "Colorwise, the television half of the mural reflects the colors of the television room," Rogovin said. "Blue, green and grey are used in the design of the television room." Rogovin said that the mural's concept is to "dart out sexist and other types of television advertisements." The concept for the mural came as a collective deci sion from Rogovin's formal class of about 15 students. The art work is done by students and helpers. Rogovin said that, shadows of residence and faculty and staff members were photographed and then re-projected onto the wall to be traced and painted. "This is very useful for beginning artists and non artists," Rogovin said. "A more spontaneous feeling is captured by using the shadows. In the mural, identifiable shadows are depicted watch- IS M- I ) I X t ( ) n J is f 1 r , i; -r ?" ' x"4- . 'All ti x-v 101 .it: i it it 'i Ml I i Photo by Bob Pearson Centennial College artist in residence Mark Rogovin (left) supervises work on a 26-by-1 0-foot mural in the college's Pumpkin Room. ing the television set. On the other side of the wall, the shadows are engaged in making music, dancing and per forming other art forms. V "It's been a long time since I've worked with college students," Rogovin said. "I have very much enjoyed the feeling and unity and freedom of Centennial College. "WeVe had tremendous support from the Senior Fellow, Barbara Smith and Centennial staff assistant, Anetta Young. "Even the cleaning women have been involved with watching the progress. Maintenance has followed every stage and has been excellent with providing supplies." Rogovin said that the collective work also has been good experience for the students. He added there is an interest in continuing work with murals among the students and students in education studies have found that murals can be a useful vehicle for classroom activities. Besides the mural at Centennial College, Rogovin has worked with prisoners in the education program at the state penal complex and with the Chicano community in Lincoln. Both projects involve portable murals that are paint ed on five panels. The Chicano project, which is partly financed by Cen tennial College, is turning out to be a festive affair, according to Rogovin. "There are about 25 to 30 people who come each night. They t)ring food and children and many of the Chicano community artists are working on the mural. It's a lively place," Rogovin said. Rogovin is the co-founder and director of the Public Arts Workshop in Chicago. The vorkshop is a mural, photography and "after school' art project. Rogovin is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and the Art Institute of Chicago. He also has traveled and worked with many artists in Mexico, including a five-month project with the Mexican muralist, Davis Alfaro Siqueiros. Instructor s recital Sunday at Sheldon Michael Thiele, an instructor of piano in the UNL School of Music, will perform a free, public recital Sunday in the Sheldon Art Gallery Auditorium. Thiele's performance begins at 4 p.m. and includes five works: Sonata in D Major, K. 576 by Wolfgang Mozart, Tantris le Bouffon by Karol Szymanowski, Pavane pour une Infante defunte and Alborada delgracioso by Maurice Ravel and Sonata in B-Flat Minor, Op. 36 by Sergei Rachmaninoff.