Arts & Entertainment
Computer, clay animation featured in film
By Jim Hanna
Senior Reporter
The Renaissance in animation just
keeps rolling along.
With feature-length animated films
regularly invading movie theaters and
half-hour cartoons snagging prime
time television slots, the animation
industry is experiencing its biggest
boom since its inception.
To encourage this revival, Ex
panded Entertainment has assembled
90 minutes of animated shorts from
around the world into “The Third
Animation Celebration.” The show is
playing at the Sheldon Film Theater
through next week.
A variety of styles, including cel,
computer and clay animation, arc
featured in the film. The 21 shorts
come from nine different nations.
This third celebration will cer
tainly please those who enjoyed the
first two installments.
Although not all of the films arc as
well-done or as entertaining as oth
ers, the entire effect is consistently
enjoyable.
One of the best cartoons is the
hilarious “Ren Hoek and Stimpy in
Big House Blues.’” Done in the clas
sic Tex Avery style, the cartoon is a
pointless look at an asthma-riddled
Chihuahua named Ren Hock and a fat
cat named Stimpy.
When thrown into the pound and
faced with “The Big Sleep,” the two
grotesquely drawn beasts furiously
try to avoid catastrophe.
Complete with several magnifi
cent jaw-takes and screeching eye
bulges, the film is the funniest, albeit
least meaningful, piece of the feature.
For fans of deep, brooding Euro
pean themes, there is “Darkness, Light,
Darkness.” From its enigmatic title to
its mysterious conclusion, this film is
entirely elusive.
Still, the claymation depiction of a
human being assembling itself is fas
cinating to watch and, at times, is
downright funny.
The increasingly complex art of
computer animation clocks in with
three different pieces. Of these, the
best is “Bonehead,” a short, yet grati
fying film about a bouncy goof who
stops in at a record store to sample
new albums.
Although computer animation is
sharper and slicker than cel or gel
animation, its limits are obvious.
Story telling is almost nonexistent, and
the variety of images is restricted
Other excellent shorts include
“Wiseman,” “Zeno Reads a Newspa
per” and “Welcome,” a Soviet film
about the limits of hospitality.
“The Third Animation Celebra
tion” was coordinated and distributed
by Expanded Entertainment, a group
dedicated to the growth of independ
ent animation around the world. Fifty
percent of the profit generated by this
film and other Expanded Entertain
ment exhibitions is recycled back to
the animators.
As animation continues to flour
ish, films like this will play a vital
role in revealing new talents in the
field. “The Third Animation Cele
r -IBKr£._^.1
Courtesy of Expanded Entertainment
“Ren Hoek and Stimpy in ‘Big House Blues,’” John Kricfalusi’s uproarious update of the clas
sic cartoon mayhem of yesteryear, tells the story of two unlikely comrades, a cat and a hair
less Mexican asthma hound.
bration” is immensely likable and
may spawn an even better “Fourth
Animation Celebration.”
“The Third Animation Celebra
tion" runs today through Feb. 3 and
Feb. 7-9. Screenings arc at 7 p.m. and
9 p.m. with Saturday matinees at 1
p.m. and 3 p.m. and Sunday matinees
at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
h
‘Pioneer’ fails despite
solid music, performance
uy Aaam i. ^ranting
Staff Reporter
“A little artwork makes the past
come alive."
-Pioneer
Despite high aspirations, reveal
ing historical insight and an in
tense musical and visual barrage,
the Paul Drcsher Ensemble’s pro
duction of “Pioneer” is a piece of
postmodern pap.
“Pioneer” tells ihe overlapping
stories of Junior (Rindc Eckert)
and his search for new frontiers
through cryogenic hibernation;
Dottie (Jo Harvey Allen) and her
journey to survive without Junior,
and an overlapping montage of his
loncai ngures, as piayea oy jonn
Duykers.
The ensemble weaves its tales
together with deft glee, combining
some of the best music experimen
tal theater has produced in a long
time with swell lighting and truly
neat settings.
A tip of the hat must go to the
musicians, led by Dreshcr, for some
music that is awfully good. Terry
Allen’s sets create a feel for this
sick savagery that is the core of this
piece. Larry Neff’s lighting com
plemented and often rocked the
audience.
The performances are solid and
strong, particularly Allen as Jun
See DRESHERon 11
Legend Bo Diddley rocks Omaha
with tour through music history
by jonn a. bkretta
Staff Reporter_
Bo Diddley rocked the Ranch Bowl
Thursday night with two blues-packed
shows.
The famed rocker walked on with
his trademark rectangular guitar and
black bowler hat and immediately
launched into the classic song “Bo
Diddley.”
Bo advised the crowd to “clap your
hands and we’ll party.”
The crowd resounded.
Next, Bo took the audience through
a tour de force of rock history with
“Roadrunner,” and on the heels of
that, “I’m a Man.”
“I’m a Man” was first released as
the “B” side of “Bo Diddley,” and Bo
showed why the song has maintained
us power ror more uian iu years. Me
belted out the song with grunting,
rhythmic intonations that delighted
the crowd.
Bo took time to thank the fans for
their continued support over the years.
“I want to thank all of you for
helping me make it through the rock
‘n’ roll crisis,” he said. “I’ve been
here 36 years. Only in rock ‘n’ roll!”
Bo cruised into a slow blues la
ment, with a tune he called “Shut Up,
Woman.” The song included lyrics
like “don’t let your mouth write a
check your tail can’t cash.”
Next, Bo took time “to name a few
people responsible for where we are
in rock ‘n’ roll today.” Bo listed a
virtual legion of blues and rock greats,
from Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed
to “Brother James Brown” and “The
uemus Kay Charles.
When Bo went into the traditional
blues arrangement of “You Don’t Love
Me, Baby,” the crowd was treated to
the eloquent pain of the genre, as Bo
moaned about cheating and decep
tion.
Diddley’s latest innovation was an
alteration of “From Say Man,” titled
“Boy, You Ugly.” “You Ugly” was
about the only verse, but Bo turned
that lyric into a rare and hilarious
experience with turns like “You ugly
and your breath stink/Scope won’t
work/ you need Listeririe” and the
even more offensive “I heard you
landed a new job/ in front of a doc
tor’s office/ making people sick.”
Bo invited several members of the
See DIDDLEY on 10
UNL professors share works
Nebraska poets to versify for peace in gulf
By Bryan Peterson
Staff Reporter
"It is in gatherings such as this—
for word, song, and performance —
where the living spirit of our species
is nurtured, celebrated and affirmed.
This night will, in ways not totally
understood by any of us, help keep
that spirit alive, repair it and strengthen
it for the difficult and sad days which
lie before us and all the members oj
the human family."
— Greg Kosmicki
Twenty-six local poets will be
joined by four musicians and a per
formance artist tonight at Omaha’s
Antiquarium bookstore in a fund-rais
ing performance for Nebraskans for
Peace.
The readings will be held in an
upstairs art gallery at the Antiquar
ium, 1215 Harney St. in Omaha. They
are scheduled to run from 7 p.m. to
3:30 a.m., with several breaks be
tween readings.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
English Professor Greg Kuzma will
be the final reader. Kuzma will be
preceded by several other UNL fac
ulty members, including Amil Quayle,
Ray Ronci and Susan Whitmore, all
from the English department.
Other readers include Liz Banset,
Susan Strayer Deal, Art Homer, Bill
Kloefltorn and Nancy McCleary.
Greg Kosmicki, the event’s organ
izer, will also be reading in the early
Saturday morning hours. Kosmicki
sees the event as “a mass reading
acting as a counterweight to the rush
toward death and destruction; some
thing to affirm life.”
A UNL graduate with an M.A. in
English, Kosmicki has had poems
published in the Paris Review, the
Kansas Quarterly and the Cimarron
Review.
‘‘Poetry speaks to the human ele
ment that people who make war pass
over as something unimportant,”
Kosmicki said. ‘‘It speaks to the human
spirit that holds us together."
Kosmicki and Whitmore both
stressed that all the works read will
not necessarily be anti-war or overtly
-«
Poetry speaks to the
human element that
people who make war
pass over as some
thing unimportant. It
speaks to the human
spirit that holds us
together. GrggKosmjck,
event organizer
-ft -
political- Other themes may include
nurturance, affirmation, love and
nature.
“It is not a reading against the
troops,” said Whitmore, a UNL assis
tant professor of English who has had
students now stationed in the gulf
region.
“It’s more about educating people
about the issues. No one is for killing,
but we have to think about how it
could be different.”
Whitmore also has had several
poems published in various maga
zincs and has just had a piece titled
“Operation Desert Shield” accepted
for publication, a piece that might be
read at tonight’s benefit.
Kosmicki says he expects 200-400
people to hear at least some of the
readings tonight, a number much larger
than attendance at a poetry reading at
last October’s Peace Arts Festival at
Creighton University.
“This will not be a traditional read
ing with everyone sitting still and
listening reverently,” he said. “I hope
folks feel free to get up quietly and go
to the bathroom and such.”
Kosmicki said the idea for tonight’s
reading popped into his head after
talking to NFP Director Robin Carter
about the then-impending Jan. 15 U.N.
deadline for the withdrawal of Sad
dam Hussein from Kuwait.
After driving home, Kosmicki
began calling poets he knew from
prior readings and others with whom
he had gone to school.
“I told them they did not have to
read anti-war or political material,”
he said. “Any creative act is an act for
peace.”
Whitmore said she usually does
not write overtly political poetry, but
that she views everything as being
political to some extent.
“Every poet fears that the culture
is less interested in poetry,” Whit
more said. “When there is a crisis,
people start to open to the artists that
make political statements.”
“Everybody has a responsibility to
make these things their issues ... to
be involved and try to understand as
much as they can,” Whitmore said.
Antiquarium owner Tom Rudloff
referred to the “leave it to the ex
perts” ethic as the death of democ
racy. “There aren’t any experts,” he
continued. “Only the necrophile be
lievers and the biophile believers, and
I want to be among the biophilcs.”
Kosmicki said that as citizens in a
democracy, we have the right and
obligation to take pan. “We did leave
it to the experts, and now we are
fighting a war,” he said.
Admission to the event is S5 and
$2.50 for students under 20.