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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 1993)
Arts 0 Entertainment Baseball-style cards educate about AIDS Courtesy of Eclipse Enterprises A prototype of the AIDS trading cards featuring Rock Hudson. By Anne Steyer Staff Reporter Nolan Ryan, move over. Collectibles shops will have to make room on the trading-card shelves for a new product — AIDS Aware ness fact cards. “The cards are a handy encyclope dia of AIDS, boiled down and con densed,” said Catherine Yronwode, editor for Eclipse Enterprises non fiction. Eclipse is not a newcomer to fact cards. The company published the popular Iran-Contra cards and the Savings and Loan cards in addition to trading-card staples such as comic book cards Yronwode said the AIDS cards, wh ich are due out at the end of March, were full regulation-size trading cards and came in a foil-wrapped pack. Each pack contains 12 cards and a condom and has a suggested retail price of 99 cents. There are also six randomly in serted bonus slickers, sporting color ful graphics with a “Stop AIDS” slo gan and an AIDS hotline number. The set covers a myriad of topics separated intosubsets, Yronwode said. The “People with AIDS” cards il lustrate the wide variety of individu als the virus has affected, such as Magic Johnson, Freddie Mercury and Rock Hudson. The “AIDS Facts” cards discuss the history of the spread, transmission and prevention of the disease, how to get an HIV test and how to pul on a condom, among other things. The most common misconceptions about the transmission and proven -it Some people are expecting something trashy, but these aren’t done that way. They’re not written tongue-in cheek or In any way but to educate. — Yronwode editor, Eclipse Enterprises nonfiction -tf - tion of the HIV virus are included on the “AIDS Myths” cards. Yronwode said other cards in cluded descriptions of other sexually transmitted diseases, the effect of AIDS on the world at large, and de mographics of AIDS in North America — how AIDS affects women, hetero sexual and homosexual men, intrave nous drug users and children. The cards were written by Stereo Review editor William Livingstone, California journalist Perry Gaskill, Yronwode and medical researcher Althaea Yronwode. The purpose of the cards is two fold, Yronwode said. The first part, she said, is to show how AIDS affects the world in entertainment, sports and politics. The second is to provide a quick and easy way to learn the facts about the disease. Fifteen percent of the profits will go to Broadway Carcs/Equity Fights AIDS, a New York-based, non-profit AIDS support group. Yronwode said I the group did two things: give direct grants to those in the industry who need help and raise money for other support groups. Yronwode also said Eclipse would offer the cards at cost for organiza tions that wanted to use them as a fund-raising tool. “Some people are expecting some thing trashy, but these aren ’ t done that way,” Yronwode said. “They’re not written tongue-in-cheek or in any way but to educate.” Most traditional forms of journal ism do not include prophylactic in serts, however, and Yronwode said the inclusion of the condom had gen erated a lot of hate mail. Some stores will not carry the cards because of the condom, she said. Comics’ Ink, 1401N.Coiner Blvd., will not be carrying the cards because of the condom. “Most of our customers are younger kids, and we didn’t want to impress that upon them,” Paul Schearf, Com ics’ Ink co-manager, said. John Doan, general manager of Cosmic Comics, 200 N. 66th St., said he ordered one box of the cards in support of the project. Doan said he did not expect any adverse reaction from parents regarding the sales of the cards because he did not consider the cards a “kids’ item.” Yronwode dismissed the possible condom controversy and said the in clusion of the condom was not unlike the slicks of gum included in card packs of the past. “A condom would work better to prevent disease than a slick of bubble gum,” Yronwode said. -- Tale offers no emotional blowups “The Volcano Lover” Susan Sontag Farrar Straus Giroux The title is mysterious and intriguing-an attention-catching title that piques a reader’s curiosity. It alludes to the prospect of an explo sive, dynamic adventure. Unfortunately, author Susan Sontag’s “The Volcano Lovers” delivers almost none of the entertainment and intrigue that is promised by the title. Instead, the book is very dry and extremely difficult for a reader to fight through. The setting is Naples in 1772. The novel focuses on the Cavaliere, a British ambassador to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The char acters of the Cavaliere and his wife Catherine are based on the lives of Sir William Hamilton and his wife Emma. The Cavaliere is a bizarre man. He is a lover of things, with little regard for money. He collects virtually anything and everything. He is also completely enamored by Vesuvius, a volcano that is of prime interest in the city of Naples. The volcano is a representation of the Cavaliere’ s life. Each explosive, powerful erup tion of the volcano is symbolic of the passions of the Cavaliere, whether the passion be a collectable or a person. Throughout the novel, the reader accompa nies the Cavaliere on his various coliecung expeditions, travels and volcano-climbing es capades. The reader is made very aware of his every compulsion and obsession. The problem is that although the novel is jampacked with activities and events, the pre sentation is extremely mundane. And while there are some truly amusing things in the novel, they are hardly enough to make the book worth reading. Sontag can be credited for her ability to subtly express her obviously feministic views. Without the reader being consciously aware of it, she skillfully expresses many of her personal views on the roles of men and women in society and on politics. But unless you enjoy torturing your mind and wasting your lime, search for more enter taining adventures. _ . . — Elaine Clair Courtesy of Farrar Straus Giroux Volcano ‘Babylon 5 blasts into television s sci-fi universe You’ve all heard ihe criticisms of “Babylon 5” — mainly, that it’s nothing but a rip-off of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” The plots are similar — a space station in disputed territory, next to a wormhole in space, a I ess-than-reputable meeting place for alien races. So, it can’t help but pale in comparison to the legacy of Gene Roddenberry, right? Wrong. “Babylon 5,” which premiered Monday night on Fox, may have some surface similarities to DS9, but it is an entirely different kettle of Denbian slime devils. Babylon 5 is a sort of United Nations in space, a giant space station built in orbit around a planet to serve as a free zone for human ity and the four major alien races known in the year 2257. Babylons 1 through 3 were sabotaged; Babylon 4 simply disappeared. Good old humanity just doesn’t know when to give up. The station is huge, modeled on Gerald K. O’Neill’s L5 colonies, with giant parks and cities around the inside. It also has a booming “entertainment” industry, complete with bar and gaming tables. Just off the station, a worm hole allows access by space-faring races. As the opening says, borrowing from “Casablanca:” “Sooner or later, everyone comes to Babylon 5.” In the series premiere, one of those races, the Vorlon, never seen by outside eyes, have de cided to send an ambassador to Babylon 5. No sooner is he off the ship than an assassi nation attempt is made. The next two hours are spent searching for the assassin, and suspicion immediately falls upon Jeff Sinclair, the com mander of Babylon 5. (SPOILER WARNING: If you don’t want to know the ending, skip the next few lines.) The culprit utilizes a shape-shifter, another familiar device from DS9 and other SF shows. So it’s not blazing any real new trails in terms of plot tricks. But is it any good? Surpris ingly, it is. The special effects, created on relatively simple PCs and cooked up in a “video toaster,” areas good as anything that Industrial Light and Magic has come up with for “Star Trek.” The soundtrack has a pulsing, urgent undertone that is different from the bombast of ST:TNG or the lazy orchestral renditions of DS9. The atmosphere of Babylon S is darker, sleazier and more conducive to intrigue than the squeaky-clean future of Roddenberry and Co. The aliens and humans are possessed of deep antagonisms toward each other, setting the stage for maneuverings and intrigue in a way that “Star Trek” cannot. “Babylon 5” is trying to be different from DS9, and has added pressure from DS9’s smash premiere. Nonetheless, it is a worthy entry into network TV’s SF lineup this year, far better than the abysmal and thankfully cancelled “Space Rangers,” and a cut above the aclion packcd “Time Trax.” Given lime, “Babylon 5” has real possibili ties. — Sam Kepfield Smith to bring music to areaT -Courtesy of RCA Records Michael W. Smith < Audience-friendly singer/kcyboardist Michael W. Smith has crossed a line few people forget once they've heard him. Besides being known for acoustic pi ano sets and audience sing-alongs. Smith is also known for crossing over from contemporary Christian music to secular rock ‘nrroll. While Smith’s songs highlight his Christian beliefs, he delivers a message similar to the Neville Brothers or any other rock artist pitching brotherhood and sisterhood. Smith's lyrics communicate a genu ine sense of spirituality without pulpit pounding preaching. Before his solo career, Smith played keyboards for Amy Grant, another Chris tian crossover. After Smith’s debut al bum, “Michael W. Smith Project,’’ re leased in 1983, he continued to tour with Grant as her opening act. Now Grant’s honied vocals are fea tured on some of Smith’s albums, includ ing his latest release, “Change Your World,” on RCA’s Reunion label. Throughout “Change Your World,” Smith’s gravelly voice strikes chords of assurance and sincerity, while lyrics fo cus on positive promises. “Out of This World,’ a track currently receiving air play, even incorporates a few lines of rap. For Smith’s 1993 “Change Your World” tour, he plays a gutted grand piano with a Korg KX88 keyboard inside. Smith will appear Thursday night at the Omaha Civic Auditorium along with the Christian rap group D.C. Talk, — Jill O'Brien