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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-
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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.