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Tuesday, November 9, 1982
Daily Nebraskan
Aits & Eetertaiiraieet
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Photo courtesy of NETV
Zaphod Beeblebrox and TrUlian of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe."
Stuff for silly humans
By David Wood
Earth is a pretty blue-green, but other
wise it's nothing special. Space is a big
place. That's the first thing you should
know about the universe.
In the cosmic scheme of things, Earth is.
less than a drop in the bucket. A pebble on
the beach is more distinguished than it. If
you have to bulldoze it to make way for a
hyperspace bypass, you have to bulldoze it.
That's that.
But when the heavy machinery arrived
and hovered over the planet's capitals,
Television
Review
announcing, "Ahem, we're here," the little
humans behaved as if they were outraged.
They had no cause to be surprised. The
plans had been in open file on Alpha
Centuri for months, if they'd cared to
look. The bypass foreman explained this,
then blasted Earth to smithereens.
Humans are dumb, silly things. They're
apes who came out of the trees and still
think digital watches are pretty neat.
They're dumb, silly and mostly unhappy.
About 2,000 laps around the sun before
Earth was blasted, one man was nailed to
two pieces of timber for saying it's nice to
be nice. They're silly, and that's that.
Arthur Dent, for instance, is a perfect
dodo. The absurd Londoner was yanking
his hair out over tritles like heartn and
home when, in minutes, Earth and all its
stuff would perish. He was lucky to have a
neighbor like Ford Perfect, a dapper young
gent, partial to pinstripes, who encouraged
Arthur to quaff as much beer as he could
in the time there was left and to secure as
many peanuts as his money could buy. He
even shared his baton with Arthur, so they
could tclcport to the bulldozing Volgonian
spaceship in the last instant.
Ford isn't the average guy next door.
Actually, he's from the star system
Betelgeuse (pronounced bet tie-juice) and
just happened to be on Earth doing research
on the updated edition of "The Hitch
hiker's Guide to the Universe," which is
the most informative, text a spacefarer can
have since the "Encyclopedia Galactica."
The source book looks like a calculator
with a fancy display, and Ford gives one to
Arthur for reference. Suddenly, the
Volgonian spaceship prepares to enter
hyperspace. Ford tells Arthur to lay down,
put a towel between his ankles and a fish in
his ear. hord happens to be carrying a spare
fish.
That's much of the tone and some of
the action of the first episode of "The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe" (Sat
urdays, 10 p.m., Nebraska ETV Network),
a BBC space comedy that premiered Oct.
30 and is rather good. It's based on a book
by Douglas Adams, whose latest book, by
the way, "Life, the Universe and Every
thing," is currently a Top-10 best-seller.
In the same time slot on weekdays is
another British (i.e. low-budget) space
comedy serial called "Doctor Who," an
ongoing (15 years now) spoof of the
ridiculous old cliff-hanger thrillers. Un
fortunately, cliff-hangers are spoofs enough
in themselves, and the good two-hearted
doctor comes off a little lame. "The Hitch
hiker's Guide to the Universe," on the
other hand, lampoons sci fi at large, is fast
paced, twisted and funny (i.e. wry, as it's
distinctly British).
Arthur, who's never even had time to
change out of his robe, is somewhat be
fuddled by the fast action. But under the
circumstances, he takes it good-naturedly,
even if he's a bit sarcastic at times. Ford's
fast-thinking, though. He knows every
thing. After all, he's a researcher for the
definitive "Guide." He's not particularly
arrogant, but he keeps in a tizzy over the
ignorance that surrounds him. Volgonians,
meanwhile, are big lumps of crud with
piggish noses and no sense of humor.
Episode two pens with Arthur and Ford
on their backs with fish in their ears.
Arthur taps "Babel fish" into his "Guide"
and is told, with scrolling, talking text and
flashy graphics, that Babel fish can be used
as telepathic translation devices. In this
way, he knows what's said when the Vol
gonian captain summons them.
Ford and he are tortured, strapped
down and read excruciatingly bad poetry.
The victims praise the captain's poesy with
polysyllabic rhapsody, lest they are tossed
into raw space. The captain considers it,
then says he was going to chuck them any
way. A man, especially when he's only
dressed in a robe and slippers, can survive
in naked space only 30 seconds. They were
lucky then that, in the 29th second,
they're picked up by a passing spaceship,
caught in its infinite improbability drive.
Things are momentarily strange.
Arthur's legs stretch to the sunset, and his
left arm and digital watch vanish. Ford
turns into a penguin. Before them, waves of
high-rise buildings wash against a solid sea.
Behind them, monkeys type out "Hamlet"
end other classics.
At last, they materialize inside a slick,
gleaming spaceship that is, Arthur notes,
much classier than the Volgonians'. Marvin,
a bored, bummed-out robot, leads them to
the captain, who's a groovy longhair with
two heads and a curvaceous girlfriend
receptionist, and all's set for episode three.
Stay tuned. "The Hitchhiker's Guide to
the Universe" may have crude production
value and its continuity may be piece
meal, but for ludicrous satire, whirlwind
repartee and good clean yucks, it's out of
this world, and that's that. It's just the
stuff for silly humans.
Rotisserie is a treat
By C. Scott Thompson
In the wake of the steak-and-potato
mentality that pervades the majority
of eating establishments in the Mid
west, there is a restaurant in Lincoln
that is a truly refreshing change from
the ordinary. The Rotisserie at 12th
and O streets is a fine restaurant in
every respect, indeed rivaling some of
the best restaurants that I've sampled
in Boston and New York City.
The decor is one of the best parts
of an evening at The Rotisserie. It's
IU
Dining
Review
decidedly deco, with a beautiful black
and gold bar, lots of etched glass and
a delicious color scheme of jade and
cranberry. The hanging art work is
fabulous, and the waiters' dress of
black and white also helps carry out
the motif. The tables are meticulously
dressed and flawlessly arranged. Most
are lit with a single spotlight for a
dramatic touch.
Of course, the food is the main
attraction, and I can safely say that
everything on the menu is a treat. The
preparation is simple and, in many
ways, reflects the "nouveau cuisine"
school. The lunch menu offers meat,
a nice selection of fresh fish, omlettes
and a wide variety of salads.
I had broiled trout with herb but
ter and braised vegetables, which melt
in your mouth. My companion had
a luncheon filet that was very nicely
seasoned and lean. Both entrees were
preceded by a lovely mixed garden
salad and delicious French bread.
Dinner is an affair to be relished,
too. The menu expands for evening
dining, but offers mostly seafood and
poultry, with just a few beef entrees.
Appetizers include prawn cocktail,
smoked salmon and hearts of palm.
The seafood entrees include a few not
seen on any other menu in town. For
instance, the grilled swordfish at The
Rostisserie was better than some I had
at Key West last season. The poultry
side of the menu includes duck grena
dine, duck with scallions and plum
sauce, cornish hen broiled or a 1 'orange
and qual with saffron butter.
Of course, no dinner would be
complete without a complementary
vintage, and The Rotisserie unequivo
cally has the best wine list in town.
The balance is ideal. There is a wine
for everyone. The French whites parti
cularly are well chosen, and the best
part about it is that you can order by
the glass and prices are reasonable.
In fact, prices overall at The Rotis
serie are very reasonable, considering
the atmosphere and quality of food.
Lunch entrees run between $3 and
$7, which is comparable to most other
establishments in town. Dinner entrees
run between $8 and $14, a bargain
considering prices in larger metropoli
tan areaas.
The Rotisserie is a marvelous place
to spend an evening. Owner Bob Sepah
pur has created an unparalleled dining
establishment here in Lincoln. The
environment is chic, the service reserved
and efficient and the food is indeed
outstanding.
Violi
n prodigy to appear
Ida Levin started study
ing the violin in 1966.
There's nothing unusual
about that, except whe was
only 3 at the time.
Today, at the ripe old
age of 19, Levin is a sea
soned performer with many
major concerts and recitals
to her credit.
Levin will perform with
the Lincoln Symphony Or
chestra Tuesday at 8 p.m.
The concert will be at
O'Donnell Auditorium on
the campus of Nebraska
Wesleyan University.
Levin made her debut
with the Los Angeles Phil
harmonic Orchestra at the
age of 10. Since then she
has performed in the con
tinental United States,
Hawaii and Europe.
She is currently a schol
arship student at the Juil
Hard School in New York
City. She has been a stu
dent there sjnee 1978. In
1979, she won the Juil
liard School Brahms Vio
lin Concerto Competition
and performed the work at
Lincoln Center's Alice Tully
Hall. She also won the
1979 violin competition at
the Aspen Music Festival.
While at the Aspen Music
Festival, she participated in
the master classes of Itz
hak Perlman and Pinchas
Zuckerman. She also par
ticipated in the masters class
of Zino Francescatti at the
Maurice Ravel Music
Festival in France.
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Photo courtmy of Columbia
Ida Levin
Included among her
recent engagements are con
certo appearances at Car
negie Hall and Kennedy
Center with the New York
String Orchestra and Alex
ander Schneider. She has
performed with the St.
Louis Symphony, Toulouse
Symphony, Juilliard
Symphony and other, in
addition to giving radio
and television recitals In
various parts of the country.
Last year, Levin gave
a joint recital at the White
House with pianist Rudolf
Serkin. This year, she is on
an extensive tour of the
United States and Canada
that will include more than
30 engagements.