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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1988)
T Arts & Entertainment Searching Through Stax By Geoff McMurtry Lincoln played host to its first ever Mid-America Record conven tion Sunday afternoon at the Com husker Social Hall. The convention was held in a warehouse on Comhusker High way, which was appropriate con sidering the virtual garrison of old records, posters and other memora bilia being sold and displayed. Wares ranged from old, out-of print copies of singles by forgotten Lincoln bands to posters advertis ing long-forgotten small club shows by bands like the Beatles, the Clash, Led Zeppelin, and the Ra nt ones; and small-label publicity releases for influential under ground bands like Chrome. _ a __ r\___r _ i UJUCJ ndiwi uuuguu ui iiiv Rec Collector in Lincoln said the highest price he’d ever gotten for a record was at a similar convention last July when he got $175.00 for a copy of the Beatle’s infamous “Butcher Sleeve,” an inside liner note sleeve for their 1965 “Yester day and Today” album showing the band surrounded by chopped up raw meat and bones. The sleeve was quickly pulled from the shelves by the record company, but a few copies found their way around to collectors. Most prices were much more down:to-eanh than that, however. In fact, most posters and t-shirts were selling for less than they usu ally do in record stores. T-shirts were usually $5, posters went for around $4 to$5, occasionally more, and nearly every booth had at least one “Buck box” of unknown, (pos sibly never seen?) obscure records of every imaginable variety, both ancient and new, and all for the low, low price of a buck. Not everything was from that period of time which now gives us all of our car commercial jingles. Madonna, Michael Jackson and 1NXS were represented, both on poster and vinyl, and some booths even had large selections of com pact discs on display, but the main attraction was the old and the hard to-find — the unusual and the ob scure. Periodically, event organizer David Schenk went to the front of the spacious room, picked up a microphone, and announced the name of a specific album, single, or other near-forgotten memorabilia a particular buyer was looking for, whereupon a dealer in possession of that particular item would make his acquaintance. In addition to having this dealer/ collector get-together service, the event was a success in other ways. Trader Stephen Sheehan, repre senting Dirt Cheap Recycled Sounds in Omaha, said this was the best-organized event of this type he’d seen. Most of the record stores in the region had booths there, along with several private collectors and deal ers in hard-to-find merchandise. Schenk, of Kansas City, Mis souri, said before the event that if the Mid-America Record Conven tion was successful enough, he planned to repeat it about three times a year in Lincoln. UNL students (from right) Marc FHeden, Craig Heckman and Mike Zinniel browse through posters at one of the stands at the convention. Book examines media in politics By William Rudolph Staff Reporter No one who watches television or reads the newspaper can deny the effect the media has had on the 1988 presidential campaign, partly estab lished after candidates Gary Hart and Joseph Bidcn fell from grace. The recently published “Campaigns in the News: Mass Media and Congres sional Elections,” by Dr. Jan P. Verm eer, illustrates that such relationships exist in all congressional campaigns. “Campaigns in the News” con tains a selection of essays originally presented at Nebraska Wesleyan University in March, 1986, for the Dwight P. Griswold-E.C. Ames Con ference on Mass Media and Congres sional Elections. Vermeer, Nebraska Wesleyan University professor and political science department chair, said today’s social and political climate practically forces candidates to use the media, if only because every other candidate docs. “Campaigns” ex amines how news coverage of a par licular candidate affects his or her campaign and delves into the benefi cial and detrimental effects the media has on congressional candidates, in cluding public recognition and rat ings of legislative hopefuls. “Cam paigns” also addresses the ethical problems that the media faces in campaign coverage, although Verm eer admitted that the definition of “ethics” is tricky to define. Vermeer received his masters and doctorate degrees from Princeton University before joining Wesleyan in 1974. Joslyn to show Raimondi exhibition From staff reports Joslyn Art Museum will feature an exhibition honoring the monumental sculpture by John Raimondi, “Dance of the Cranes,” soon to be installed at Omaha’s Eppley Airfield. “Dance of the Cranes: Drawings by John Raimondi” will appear in the north balcony of Joslyn from May 1 to June 12. Thecxhibition focuseson the drawings that document the process Raimondi followed to create his sculpture. Of the 18 drawings in the show, most deal with the artist’s at tempt to immerse himself in the hab its and life of the Sandhill crane in order to create an abstract sculpture expressing the crane’s essential form and spirit. The works in the exhibition repre sent exploration of the forms which Raimondi used for his final sculpture. A four-foot Cor-tcn steel model for the sculpture will also be on view. To open this exhibition, Raimondi will give a lecture on “Dance of the Cranes” Sunday from 3 to 4 p.m. in Joslyn’s Lecture Hall. This exhibition is sponsored by the Metropolitan Arts Council. Joslyn programs throughout the year are supported in part by United Arts Omaha and the Nebraska Arts Coun cil. The 60-foot bron/e sculpture “Dance of the Cranes” was commis sioned in February, 1987, by the Omaha Airport Authority for the en trance to the airport. Raimondi was invited to compete with three other nationally-known sculptors for the commission. The review committee for the competition included Russell D. Klay, director of finances and properties, Airport Authority; Gloria Bartek, executive director, Metro politan Arts Council; William Lar son, architect at Dana, Larson, Roubal and Associates; Thomas Majeski, art instructor, University of Nebraska at Omaha; and Ellen Si mak, curator of Amercan art, Joslyn Ai l Museum. This is Raimondi’s second major sculpture in Nebraska. His first, “Erma’s Desire,” was completed in 1976 near Grand Island as part of the 1-80 scries of sculptures along Inter state 80. Raimondi noted that he first became familiar with the Sandhill crane during the time he spent in Grand Island. The dedication of “Dance of the Cranes” at Eppley Airfield will be on May 20. Lita Ford dares audience to ‘Kiss Me Deadly’ tonight By William Rudolph Staff Reporter___ At the Carter Lake Ballroom near Omaha’s Eppley Airport tonight, you can have the chance to kiss Lita Ford deadly as the one time “Little Lost Girl” takes to the stage as part of her comeback tour._ Ford first landed in the public eye in the late 1970’s as part of the teen age girl group the Runaways. While the rest of young America was wear ing gold chains or spike heels and trying to stay alive during those fero cious boogie nights of the late ’70s disco phenomenon, Ford was kicking up her teenage heels as one of the founding members of the all-girl band. Besides Ford, the group also included singer and partly-known actress Cherie Currie and the fledg ling Joan Jett, who would go on to achieve solo success by falling in love with rock’n’roll and co-starring with Michael J. Fox and Gena Rowlands in “Light of Day.” Ford, however, did not fare as well as her former rock colleagues. Altera string of albums, a world tour and moderate successes with such songs as “Mama Weer All Crazee Now,” which Quiet Riot would later re work, “Saturday Night Special,” “Victim of Circumstance,” (later turned into a hit by Jett) “Black Leather,” and “Takeover,” the Run aways had reached the height of their fame, about to begin filming the planned but never completed docu mentary of their career. But the group disintegrated by 1979 due to personal and internal management prob lems. Ford’s most recent album, the self tilled 1988 release “Lita Ford” on RCA Records, contains the current chart climber “Kiss Me Deadly.” The video, which features a windblown Ford daring each pretty baby out there to give her a lethal smackeroo, has also been turning up. on MTV. Several of Ford’s albums with The Runaways are currently available on Rhino Records. Known for her wild mane of blonde hair anu her prowess on her trademark double-neck guitar, Ford will lake the stage at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the show are $12.50 and arc available at Younkcrs and Pickles. As of Sunday night, quite a lew scats were still open. i— / Andy Manhart/Daily Nebraskan ‘Weak moment’ balloons into hobby for Omahan By Micki Haller Senior Editor Sieve Derebey began ballooning seven years ago in a “weak moment. Now, he’s the president of Mis souri Valley Balloons in Omaha, and gives ballooning lessons. He also owns one hot air balloon. “Thai’s all my wife will let me have,” he said. Derebcy said ballooning is a year round sport — some balloonists will fly at 20 degrees below zero. The primary limitation for bal loons is that they can’t fly in winds over 10 miles per hour. Also, during the middle part of a summer day, hot air from the ground, called thermals, can be hazardous. Derebcy said he usually flies in the early morning and early evenings. Derebcy said balloonists need extensive training before they can fly For a private pilot balloon license, an applicant must have 10 hours of flight lime and take written, oral and practi cal flight tests. A commercial pilot needs 35 hours of flight time and also must take writ ten, oral and flight tests. When a person buys a balloon, the dealer often offers training, he said Many times, the owner’s personal ity is expressed in the balloon’s enve lope, or the silk covering that holds the hot air, he said. Derebey’s balloon is quite large, he said. The envelope holds 105.0(H) cubic feet, and carries a pilot and four passengers. Derebey said he gives rides, but because he also flies a corporate air plane, he only has time in the eve nings and on weekends. His wailing list of 30 people will carry him through the rest of the year, he said. Ballooning is a popular sport, he said. The rides arc often birthday, anni versary or wedding presents, he said, but sometimes they are simply some thing the person always wanted to do. A 90-minute to two-hour ride costs $125. Dcrebey said he doesn ’ t get a lot ol repeal customers. Mostcustomers arc satisfied after one ride, or they go buy their own balloons. The Nebraska Balloon Club has 150 members and ranks as the major balloon club in the state. Pilots and members of the crew who inflate and chase balloons often join clubs. Derebey said at least one-third ol See BALLOON on 10