Arts & Entertainment
Club members enjoy relaxation of gaming
i
(Lincoln High senior Tony White measures firing distance during a game of “Space Marine” at
the Reunion Sunday afternoon.
By Julie Naughton
Senior Reporter
Soldiers are killed, countries are
vanquished and kingdoms are annihi
lated every week at the Reunion.
But according to Randy Seybert,
it’s all really a game.
Seybert is the president of GAME,
or Gamers’ Alliance of Miniature
Enthusiasts, a gaming club that meets
at the Reunion twice a week. Mem
bers play board games, fantasy games
and historical games, he said.
“If it’s a game, it’s probably played
by us,” he said.
Seybert said members join the club
for a variety of reasons - yet ironi
cally, with all the action the main
appeal seems to be relaxation.
“It’s a tension release,” he said.
“Also, many of these games give you
the feeling that you’re actually out in
the woods or whatever doing it. It’s
the same as fishing or hunting — it
gives the player an adrenaline high. ’ ’
Seybert said he has been gaming
since he was “old enough to know
how.”
Many people have negative im
ages of game players, he said, partly
because of “bad publicity” that the
game “Dungeons and Dragons” has
received over the years.
“People shouldn’t judge those of
us that game,” he said. “I’d like
everyone to come down and see for
themselves what we do. We’ve got
something for everyone.”
The club has been meeting for a
year and a half, he said. Membership
last spring was five people, but “the
ball really got rolling last June’ ’ when
the club’s membership grew to 35,
Scybcrt said.
The new members learned of the
club through the old members and
through Hobbies, Etc., a gaming store
located in the Reunion, he said. Sey
bert said that Hobbies, Etc., gives the
club’s business card to people who
come into the store.
Membership is not limited to Uni
versity of Ncbraska-Lincoln students,
he said. The club is open to anyone
who is interested in gaming.
“We have lawyers, construction
workers, students, the whole range,”
Scybcrt said. About half of the club’s
official 35 members are students, he
said.
“I say official because there are
about 35 to 40 people that come down
now and then to play with us,’ ’ but
aren’t actual members, he said.
The club meets at the Reunion at 7
p.m. Wednesdays and Sunday noons.
jTazz sextet makes tribute to Benny Goodman
By Julie Naughton
fjfenior Reporter
, Jazz fans were treated to an eve
fling of world-class music Saturday
rnight, when a sextet of well-known
conrprt
jazz musicians took the stage at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s
Kimball Recital Hall in “A Benny
Goodman Tribute.” '
The sextet consisted of Buddy
DeFranco on clarinet, Herb Ellis on
guitar, Terry Gibbs on vibraharp, and
the Russ Long Trio on bass, drums
and piano.
DcFranco, Ellis and Gibbs have
been performing the art of jazz for
more than 40 years. Between them,
they have performed with nearly all
the stars of the jazz/big band era,
including Benny Goodman, Julie
London, Count Basic, Tommy Dorsey,
Glenn Miller and Ella Fitzgerald.
Each song the sextet performed
had tics to Benny Goodman. The
compositions ranged from the upbeat
and cheerful "Benny’s Blues’ ’ to the
romantic and dreamy “Memories of
You.”
“Memories of You” is the type of
song that World War Ii-era couples
courted to; slow, romantic and heavy
on the mournful clarinet. The compo
sition’s background consisted of sub
dued piano, soft drums, tinkling vi
braharp and soft bass. It could have
either put you in a very romantic
mood or pul you to sleep, depending
on how much sleep you had in your
system.
“What’s New ’’also was an enjoy
able part of the program, showcasing
the skills of talented vibraharpist Gibbs.
The composition was upbeat, toe
tapping jazz.
At one point or another in the two
hour program, each performer was
showcased. Guitarist Ellis look the
lead with “Here’s A Rainy Day,”
pianist Long was the lead instrumen
talist for “How Long Has This Been
Going On,” and vibraharpist Gibbs
look charge on “What’s New.”
Compositions “Don’t Be That
Way,” “Seven Come Eleven,”
“Airmail Special,” “Soflwinds,’’
“After You’ve Gone” and “Avalon”
rounded out the program.
The six members of the group
always seemed to be having a good
time on stage, which can be very
important to a live performance.
Guitarist Herb Ellis seemed especially
cheerful, grooving on his tunes.
The sextet’s perceptions of
Goodman were interspersed through
out the program; Gibbs, who perhaps
knew Goodman best, was extremely
entertaining with his tales of how the
absent-minded Goodman called eve
rybody “Pops.” Each performer
seemed to have a genuine admiration
and respect for Goodman.
The sextet performed two encores,
and appeared to be genuinely touched
by the audience’s support for their
talents.
-1
Columnist urges US. audience to be first
to idolize new British 'flavors of the month ’
By William Rudolph
Staff Reporter
London, England -- The Fine Young
Cannibals. The Cure. Morrissey. All
of these British exports are reasona
bly well-known, to say the least, in
American music circles.
In fact, many of the bands at the
top of the charts in past years have
been British.
But just because a band is larger
than-life this week in England doesn’t
necessarily guarantee that hordes of
Americanos will rush out to record
stores.
For every Phil Collins who hits the
charts in both the United States and
the United Kingdom, there are acts
that arc only the grooviest thing since
Velveeta cheese in our former mother
country.
Following is a list of some current
flavors of the month in England. Be
the First on your block to idolize such
British megastars as:
BROS: Twenty-one-year-old
blond twins Matt and Luke Goss barel)
ignited a spark in the audience wher
they opened for teen queen Debbie
Gibson this summer in the Unitec
States. But in England, Bros (it rhyme!
with “floss”) and their two album;
have made more teeny hoppers sail
vate than Nebraska has cows. Cable
viewers with long memories might
remember seeing the popsters on
Nickelodeon’s “Don’t Just Sit There.’’
Unfortunately, apparently everyone
did remember seeing them, making
the title of their single, “When Will I
Be Famous,” an appropriate ques
tion.
KYLIE MINOGUE: It’s hard to
tell someone in the United States that
the former star of the Australian soap,
“ Neighbours,4 ’ is bigger than Jesus
in the United Kingdom. The winsome
Kylie only has had two hits in the
United Stales with “I Should Be So
Lucky” and a disco revamp of “The
Locomotion.” But it’s true; Kylie is a
cosmic megastar overseas, with at
least eight hits and two top-selling
albums to her credit. Not to mention
her appearance on almost every poster,
keychain, T-shirt and magazine cover
in Britain. Kylie’s so big she even
turned on the Christmas lights on
Oxford Street this year, an honor
normally reserved for luminaries like
Joan Collins. Lately, Kylie also has
been paired with fellow Australian
Michael Hutchcnce of INXS, much
to the rocker’s fans’ disgust.
JASON DONOVAN: Another
singing Australian soap star (and on
“Neighbours,” to bool), the blond,
blue-eyed boy-next-door’s singles like
“Too Many Broken Hearts” and his
all-star ducts with Kylie have created
more teenage trauma than all the acne
i in existence. There’s even a Jason
i Donovan board game. Take that. New
i Kids. According to Jason’s manager,
it’s not fair for Jason’s fans to see
: their idol without makeup.
BIG FUN: Jason, Marc and Phil,
three vacuous Ken dolls, stole Bananar
ama’s moves and gyrated, posed and
cooed in falsetto all the way to the
pages of “Smash Hits” with such
singles as “Blame It On The Boogie”
(remember the Jacksons’ version?)
and “Can’t Shake The Feeling.”
SONIA and SINITTA: It’s not
that hard to tell these two first-name
only pop women apart. Although they
share the same producers, the same
basic number of beats per minute, the
same chord structures and the same
basic backing track, redheaded Liv
crpuddlian Sonia sings “Listen To
Your Heart” and has never been booed
off stage. Sinitta, on the other hand,
has been booed off stage. Her video
for “Love On A Mountaintop” fea
tures the singer and backup dancers
all attempting to frantically gyrate in
neon spandex biking outfits.
Well, there they are, a sampling of
Britain’s pop best. Next Christmas,
when you listen to your copy of Band
Aid II’s “Do They Know It’s Christ
mas?,” you, too, might be able to
match the voices with the names on
the record sleeve. But if any of the
above acts don’t sound like they’re
about to replace R.E.M. in anyone’s
hearts or boom boxes, take heart.
Warrant, Tiffany, Expose and Poison
don’t raise many temperatures in the
United Kingdom, although New Kids
on the Block and Martika have been
known to turn up on the charts.
Rudolph Is a junior English major and is
currently spending a year at the l niversity of
London.
Courtesy of Twin/Tono Recoids
Das Damen
Das Damen’s latest album
‘strong release’ for group
By Michael Deeds
Smtor Editor
Das Danien
“Mousetrap”
Twin/Tone Records
Somewhere in the lonely terrain
between present and past fall Das
Damen.
An evolution of The Misguided,
a short-lived punk band, Das Damen
quietly has slipped through inde
pendent labels and into the main
stream of alternative rock.
‘ ‘ Mousetrap’ ’ is a strong release
for the band - it is well-produced,
which in this case means grungy
and garage sounding, and drives
straight forward.
Comparisons with anything from
Dinosaur Jr. to the Beatles are
unavoidable, but Das Damen taps
a sound that grabs your head and
See DAMEN on 10
