rts & Entertainment
Third Twisters caters to serious music shopper
By John Payne
Senior Reporter
Twisters Music and Gifts opened
its third (and biggest) outlet at 6105 O
St. last Saturday - and according to
owner John McCallum, his new store
should offer not only one of the larg
est selection of records, tapes and
compact discs in town, but shopping
convenience as well.
McCallum, owner of all three
Lincoln Twisters outlets and former
owner of Dirt Cheap Records, says
several factors weighed in his deci
sion to use this location for the new
Twisters.
“We wanted a store to cover this
section of town, and the parking here
is very good,” he said. The new
Twisters is housed in what used to be
a realty office adjacent to FirsTier
Bank. McCallum says the abundance
of space will enable him to maintain
a more extensive inventory of lop
releases, as well as hard-lo-find ma
terial.
McCallum said Twisters, like most
music stores, caters to compact disc
shoppers, but that album enthusiasts
have not been forgotten.
“It’s getting to a point now where
only the very top releases being put
on vinyl,” he said. “Recording
companies are realizing that in many
cases, it just isn’t worth it. But on the
upside of that, CDs finally are start
ing to drop in price.”
The new Twisters has a vast selec
tion of LPs, both new and used. The
extra space also allows fora selection
of imports.
McCallum says plans arc under
way for an awning to be constructed
around the new Twisters, as with the
downtown and East Park locations.
“Rightnow, we’rcnotrcal notice
able,” he said. “We want to let people
know that we are open for business.”
The East Park Plaza Twisters is
located just blocks from the new
Twisters, but according to McCal
lum, the two stores4 ‘cater to different
markets.”
“A shopping mall music store has
a completely different atmosphere than
that of an independent, free-standing
music shop,” he said. “Our new place
will cater to the serious music shop
per.”
-i- 'I ■ I 111 y * h ■ ll —Will, I, j_, I
David Hansen/Daily Nebraskan
Lincoinites browse the new, bigger Twisters, 6105 0 St.
Earth Day commemoration
Environmental success stories documented
By John Payne
Senior Reporter
Making environmentalism pay,
both ecologically and financially, is
the subject of the Public Television
Outreach Alliance documentary,
“Profit the Earth,” which will air at 8
tonight on the Nebraska ETV Net
work (channel 12/cable channel 13).
The hour-long presentation focuses
on several environmentally aware
entrepreneurs who have found ways
to make their ideals turn a profit in
corporate America.
The special was produced by the
University of N'cbraska-Lincoln and
Nebraska ETV for the PTOA and
attempts to show that a healthy ccon
omy need not come at the expense of
our ecosystem.
Among the success stories featured
is that of Gene Anderson, who runs a
cloth diaper service in Seattle. In
addition, Anderson collects used dis
posable diapers and recycles them for
profit.
Disposable diapers arc the third
largest item occupying America’s
already cluttered landfills. With avail
able space for additional dumps be
coming more and more scarce, city
governments arc realizing the need to
reduce the amount of incoming gar
bage.
Anderson says that his goal is to
eventually “keep the diapers from
the landfills altogether.’’
Randy Gcc and Ken May of Den
ver arc businessmen and engineers
who arc trying to convince businesses
to install their solar energy systems,
which are no more expensive than
conventional means while not harm
ing the environment.
Both Gcc and May say that their
interests in solar power exist “be
cause we’re environmentalists and
because we believe that one day the
company will be very profitable. If
either of those were missing, we would
give it up today.”
Taking more of an overall view
are environmental lobbyists like Dan
Dudek of the Environmental Defense
Fund. Dudek has proposed incentives
for industries to practice pollution
control. Many of his ideas were in
stalled in President Bush’s recent Clean
Air Act.
His proposals call for limits to be
set on exactly how much pollution
industries can emit. Companies who
keep their pollution output less than
the amount they are allowed can in
turn sell their “left-over rights” to
companies who arc exceeding their
limits. The idea is that it would liter
ally pay industries to improve their
pollution policies.
All of the stories featured on “Profit
the Earth” arc accounts of everyday
people who have turned environmental
problems into money-making ven
tures by providing solutions. Ameri
can ingenuity, as well as human con
cern, is the catalyst for the “new
environmentalism” on display here.
“Profit the Earth” kicks off pub
lic television’s “Year of the Environ
ment,” and commemorates the 20th
anniversary of the first Earth Day.
Brennan s debut EP displays
talent; music not overly fancy
By Brian Meves
Staff Reporter
Ian Brennan and the Faith Healers
“One Sided Stories”
Toy (Jun Murder Records
‘ One Sided Stories” may be only
one side of music, but it’s well worth
the time.
Ian Brennan and the Faith Heal
ers' debut EP, “One Sided Stories,”
surprisingly is a great find. From the
opening track “Sweet Loneliness”
clear through the last song “1 Need
You Right Now,” it is full of musical
diversity, as well as common sim
plicity.
Vocalist Brennan is very talented.
f° go along with all lead singing
, chorcs, he also plays guitar and drums.
Brennan also is able to add vocal
variations to each song. At limes, he
stngs in a rough gravelly voice and
then all of a sudden he is soft and
sm°oth in his vocal delivery.
Joining in excellently with Brcn
J)an is backing vocalist Kate Casler.
On each song, her radiating vocals
aod wailing groans mesh together with
Brennan to create a certain unique
ness. She definitely has lead vocalist
ability.
For the most pan, all of Brennan’s
lyrics revolve around this certain girl
that he wants. But she keeps screwing
up her life will) drugs.
The first song and probably the
best, “Sweet Loneliness,” displays
the awesome vocal tandem of Bren
nan and Caslcrat its best. Throughout
the song, a drum machine is pounding
out tribal sounding beats, mixing in
w ith very soft guitar. In the song, he
tells about how drugs w'crc more
important to her than he was.
‘ ‘When I walked in/Shc was shoot
ing up in her thigh/Shc sal perched on
the kitchen countcr/her skirt hiked up
to her waist/She did not look up/
though she knew I w as thcre/lt was at
that momcnt/1 realized what mattered
to her more ”
On “Spanish Lullaby” and “I Need
You Right Now,” Brennan demon
strates his powerful vocal chords more
so than on any other song. It is as if he
is reaching dow n deep for every last
bit of sound he can muster.
The most interesting song, how
ever, is “Heroin.” It is filled with a
great sounding guitar riff that is not
heard anywhere else on the album.
But that is not the interesting part -
the chorus is. Over and over in a waa
waa voice Brennan drawls out:
“Herrr... o ... waaaaaaan ....
Hern ,.. o ... waaaaaaan. ^
Altogether, "One Sided Stories”
is a very impressive display of talent.
There is nothing overly fancy here,
it’s just good music.
The only thing left for them to do
is to release a full length album.
'Cry-Baby’ plot pushes spoof too far,
but pseudo-musical’s cast intrigues
By Julie Naughton
Santor Reporter
“Cry-Baby” is a high-camp
pseudo-musical, a spoof of 1950s
based musicals such as “Grease.”
The premise: Rich, cultured
Allison Vemon-Williams (Amy
Locane) falls in love with a good
looking juvenile delinquent from
the wrong side of Baltimore, a guy
called Cry-Baby Walker (johnny
Depp). He rides up on his motor
cycle to steal Allison from her
grandmother’s charm school. Alli
son goes, and grandma gives her
blessings - “for one night of hap
piness.”
Allison and Cry-Baby go to the
Turkey Point Dame Club, owned
by Cry-Baby’s giandmothcr and
step-uncle. They see a gnup of
teenagers danc ing up a storm, and
Allison is introduced to Ci7-Baby’s
pregnant sister, Pepper (Ricki Lake)
and a few of his friends, including
Wanda Woodward (Traci Lords).
Cry-Baby shows off his vocal chords
in a performance dedicated to Alli
son.
Although Allison is a little un
comfortable at first - Cry-Baby’s
family is a litilc offbeat - she quickly
adapts, even after Pepper’s spiel
about her pregnancy: :‘Oh, I’m ;!o
happy to be knocked up. I wish 1
was having triplets.”
It is at Turkey Point that the
preppy, innocent Allison, a vision
in white taffeta, is transformed by
Wanda and Cry-Baby into a drape
babe extraordinaire, introduced to
never-before-known skills like
advanced motorcycle riding and
French kissing.
During the night at this motor
cycle haven, it appears that Cry
Baby and Allison’s romance will
progress. But trouble ensues when
Allison’s group, known as
“squares” in Baltimore 1950s ter
minology, decides to take on Cry
Baby’s group, known as “drapes,’ ’
to save Allison’s honor. In the fra
cas, Cry-Baby is carted off to jail
and later is sentenced to the Mary
lan^^j^^or Boys.
Brian Sballlfo/DaUy Nabraakan
Bui whai finally happens - and
how the squares gel ihcirs - makes
for happy endings for all charac:
lers.
Cull film director John Waters
has assembled a diverse cast for
“Cry-Baby.” That cast, which
includes newspaper heiress Patri
cia Hcarst, pop icon Iggy Pop, for
mer porn star Lords and teen idol
Depp, makes for an interesting
movie.
Depp tries a little too hard as
Cry-Baby. It’s fun to sec the seri
ous cop of “21 Jump Street’’ loosen
up and lip sync, but unfortunately,
that’s about all he docs. The script
doesn’t give him an opportunity to
do much except pout and show off
his baby browns.
Locanc goes from Teen Queen
to Motorcycle Queen as Allison.
Locanc makes the transformation
easily, showing her versatility as
an actress, but a weak script makes
the change a tough swallow.
Lake is completely charming as
the pregnant Pepper. She plays
backup drums when her brother
sings, she takes care of her two
children and happily anticipates
the birth of her third Though the
script is not written to suit Lake’s
talents, she shows appeal in this
role.
But while the cast is intriguing,
the plot is wafer-thin. Although the
movie is supposed to be a spoof, it
is pushed too far.
“Cry-Baby” is playing at the
Cinema 1 & 2 Theatre, 201N. 13th
Si