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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 1987)
Page 8 I Daily Nebraskan Wednesday, March 18, 1987 V 17 i i ir m new AM ailMi Downtown store only 217 11th 477-GQ31 i . i n i r FOR 50 DISCOUNT AM T STORE USE J.,' mj'.m S Schwinn Sprint 10 Speed Quality at a Reasonable Rate $15995 All assembled and ready to ride Plenty of Free Parking mmm scMh mmn J 1517 No. Cotner y 464-6952 3321 Pioneers 4S3-2101 aiOCATIONS Independent study Flexibility is there when you need it with UNL in dependent study. You pick your course, study and test times, and completion date. Examine the course syl labus before you start. Visit room 269, Nebraska Cen ter for Continuing Education, 33rd and Holdrege. Or call: 472-1926 for information. UNL is a non-discriminatory institution Campus B I j mi y.renjf jJlw ; r: 'I -A i I; - Ward WilliamsDaily Nebraskan Rich Palmer takes a customer's order while Le Ann Murphy cleans up at It's The Pits, 4947 Holdrege St. Near East Campus, the restaurant specializes In barbecued foods. It's The Pits isn't, it's good food, but price, sauce are not great By Stew Magnuson Senior Reporter Obviously, anyone who names a restaurant "It's The Pits," should have a lot of confi dence in the product. If what he or she is serving isn't too good, the name might take on the better known negative connotation. It's The Pits, 4947 Holdrege St., is a barbecue restaurant, thus the clever and potentially dangerous wordplay. It's also one of those half-and-half restaurants. It's half "real" restaurant and half fast food. Just like a fast-food joint, you have to stand in line like the once-living cattle that are now barbecued. They gave their life so you can eat them between two pieces of bread. Alter standing in a long line, you order your food, only to get an unappetizing-looking plastic number. You pour your own drinks and pick up your own condiments and silver ware. Here's the part that makes you think you're in a real restaurant. Someone actually brings the food to you. The big advantage is that you don't have to tip this person. They're not waiters and waitresses in the true definition of the word. "Fast food" has many bad conno tations. But I'm afraid I'm going to Dining Review have to proclaim It's The Pits as a fast-food restaurant masquerading as a real restaurant. This might bother some people, but at least it is fast. My dining companion and I waited no longer in the cattle chutes than we did for our food. The problem is the price it's fast-food service with real restau rant prices. Ribs and chicken are two of the cheapest meats one can find in the supermarket, yet a half slab of ribs a la carte costs $7.95. Chicken is a bet ter value at $3.25 for a half bird. The Pit Dinners are a fairly good deal, though, ranging from about $4.50 to $6.95. They come with Texas toast and two "hxins," which may include beans, cole slaw, onion rings, fries, potato salad or deep fried corn on the cob (interesting although a little greasy). It's The Pits smokes all the meats in back with hickory wood (that's probably how they can justify the price). The flavor completely seeped into my chicken, making the rather high-priced long trip from down town worth it. The one thing It's The Pits lacks that I find absolutely necessary for a barbecue eatery is some kind of delectable barbecue sauce. I had to search for sauce with the rest of the condiments, and it wasn't especially exciting. For the lunch crowd, soup and sandwiches can be ordered, and for the drinking crowd, beer and wine coolers are available ($3.95 for a pitcher and 95 cents a mug). .ae tally lost geneimti 'Gilligan 's Island1 holds truth for warless children of '70s By Stew Magnuson Senior Reporter One generation had the Cold War to influence its thinking. The next generation had Kennedy, The Vietnam War and the civil-rights movement. But we who grew up in the '70s and '80s just didn't have much to make us think, just didn't have enough turmoil in our lives to shape our character. Well, maybe Watergate. I remember being very upset during the Watergate trials. Even though I was in fifth grade and didn't really understand what was going on, Wat ergate had me very irate. Since all three networks were snowing the trials, "Bugs Bunny," "The Flint stones," "Bewitched," and "Gilligan's Island" were all off the air. Yes, I'm proposing that the single greatest influence on my generation is, in fact, "Gilligan's Island." ("Hogan's Heroes" comes in as a close second). "Gilligan's Island" made me think. Just what was the professor a professor of? Why did the Howells pack all that money? Why didn't Ginger and Gilligan consumate their love? And most impor tantly, is there any hidden meaning to the castaways' situation? Is their pre dicament symbolic for something more than it seems? 'Let us first examine the mysterious professor. As someone once told me, the professor could make a lie detector out of coconuts. He could speak every Polynesian dialect of every native who happened to land on the island. He knew the medicinal properties of every shrub and root, but the genius couldn't figure a way to get off the island. What good was he, anyway? While he sat translating the ancient runes on a cave wall, he could have been building a raft that floated! Tube Talk Sure, the professor was the smartest man alive. He was so smart he didn't need to specialize in one branch of science. The dunce just- didn't know how to make a raft. And why isn't anyone on the island having sex? Only the Howells are att ached, and Mr. Howell prefers to sleep with Teddy. We've all seen Ginger tease Gilligan when she wants him to do cer tain non-sexual favors, but that's all it is, just a big tease. Skipper, Mary Ann, Gilligan and Ginger are all available. (The professor is married to his scien tific work.) Why aren't any of these people going for a roll in the hammock? Is there something going on between the Skipper and Gilligan we don't know about? Actually, when you think about it, a hundred things about "Gilligan's Island" just don't make sense. How does Gilli gan keep his shirt so clean after all those years? Why did Thurston and Lovey pack so much for a three-hour tour? Was it income-tax evasion? Why didn't they just kill off Gilligan for screwing up all those chances for escape? And most importantly, why weren't all those fine actors able to find work after the show was canceled? I believe that "Gilligan's Island" has many layers of meaning. You can make a Marxian interpretation: the Howells exploit the working class (Gilligan and the Skipper). Or go for something more existential. The island symbolizes man's inability to escape this horrible world. Or, in a more pleasant thought, Gilli gan secretly sabotages all means of escape to save himself from the horrors of the outside world. The island is a paradise (heaven). The outside world is hell. In the late 70s, the castaways finally got off the island. All they had to do was tie their huts together and float out to the shipping lands. But for some of us, the castaways will always be trapped on "Gilligan's Island" in eternal after noon reruns, there to make the next generation think. Theater plans medieval fundraiser Medieval music, dance and merri ment will be the backdrop for the Emmy Gifford Children's Theater's annual fundraiser April 4 at Omaha's Field Club. "Merlin's Merrie Feast" will feature an open bar beginning at 6:30 p.m., followed by a banquet and a demon stration of medieval music, dance, arts and crafts, and a jousting tournament. Tickets to the benefit are $75 per person and may be purchased by cal ling the Emmy Gifford Children's Theater in Omaha.