Arts ^Entertainment
Tuesday, February 14,1995 Page 12
“Breakin* 2: Electric Boogaloo”
1984
I am a child of cable.
Was it a coincidence that I was a
child during the early days, when “Red
Dawn,” boxing and “Breakin’ 2: Elec
tric Boogaloo” were the only things on?
I think not. It was fate.
And fate has a nasty way of making
future events kind of messy.
“Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo” did
it to me. I would try to spin on the
kitchen floor until I got sick, moonwalk
until the soles of my shoes were gone
and do the wave until my shoulders
were out of joint.
But that wasn’t the thing that drove
the wedge between me and my mother.
It was the middle of August, 1984.1
was just about to go into the fourth
grade and my mom and I were about to
embark on that holiest of holy quests
into the depths of male childhood hells,
school shopping.
In fourth grade, I was no fashion
lizard. The only criteria I had for my
jeans was durability.
But when I stepped into J.C. Penney’s
at Westroads Mall in Omaha, I was
transformed into a bad reflection of a
French fashion critic.
I wanted parachute pants.
I saw them on the far wall. They were
black nylon with what looked like 17
useless chrome zippers on them. And I
was in love.
“No, they look stupid,” my mother
snidely (and probably correctly) said.
“Besides, you’d destroy them in a week.”
“Nu-uh,” I shrewdly retorted.
Needless to say, I walked out of the
store without my beloved parachute
pants. And to add salt to the wound, a
neighbor kid came over later that day to
show off his new pair of parachute pants.
Jerk. I hope they melt to your legs.
Since then, I have needed therapy.
Despite my parents contributing very,
very heavily to the expenses of my college
education, I have never forgiven them for
not allowing me to know the wonders of
nylon, zipper-ladened pants.
— Matthew Waite, sophomore news-edito
rial maj or and Dally Nebraskan senior reporter.
Former director donates to art series
By Jeff Hampl
Staff Reporter
A high school instructor first challenged
Norman Geske to study art history.
Geske now plans to challenge others to
discover the subject’s importance. He and
his wife, Jane, have set aside $50,000 in
their will to sponsor a University of Ne
braska-Lincoln lecture series by arts histo
rians.
A native of Sioux City, Iowa, Geske
became interested in the visual arts before
he graduated from high school.
However, he said, “It became clear to me
that I wasn’t going to be an artist.”
One of his teachers recognized his love
for art and suggested he work in a museum.
She made an appointment for him to meet
with the director of the University of Min
nesota art museum. Geske was so impressed
with his visit that he decided to major in art
history there.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree,
Geske moved east, where he received his
master’s degree in art history from New
York University’s Institute of Fine Arts.
Although his thesis focused upon American
paintings, he said he enjoyed European art
as well.
Geske came to UNL in 1950 to be assis
tant director of the university art galleries.
He became director in 1956.
He was involved in the creation of the
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and served
as its director until his retirement in 1983.
Geske first considered an arts history^
lecture series two years ago while eating'
lunch with Larry Lusk, dean of the College
of Fine and Performing Arts.
Lusk said he wanted to recognize Geske
and his wife for their commitment to the
arts in Nebraska.
Together the three planned the lecture
series, which will include historians not
only of the visual arts but also of music,
theater, dance, film and architecture.
The lecture series will begin in the fall of
1996 with Geske as its first speaker. A
specific date for his lecture has not yet been
set, but he has decided that his topic will be
“Why Art History?”
“I have always believed that the history
of art is an important and rewarding means
of understanding and appreciating contem
porary society,” Geske said. “I thought that
the lecture series was something the cam
sconurumvuN
Norman Geske, former director of the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery,
and his wife, Jane, have donated $50,000 to sponsor a UNL lecture
series by arts historians. Geske is currently writing a book and
preparing lectures for the fall of 1996.
pus needed.
“A lot of people don’t even know the
university teaches art history.”
Lusk is pleased that the planning stage
for the series is occurring. The college will
provide interim funding so the Geskes’
recognition can be immediate and not just
posthumous. I
Honorariums for guest speakers can range
from $ 1,000 to several thousand dollars.
“We’re trying to get the best,” Lusk said.
Arrangements for the Geskes’ donation
were made with Theresa Klein at the Uni
versity of Nebraska Foundation.
“The series is geared to the entire com
munity and state. It will appeal to every
one,” Klein said. Because of the series’
importance, she said, the University of
Nebraska Foundation is seeking additional
funds to continue and expand the series.
Performance tonight
pays Cather tribute
By Joel Strauch
Senior Reporter
Willa Cather will be reviewing
a chamber orchestra salute tonight
at the Lied Center.
Actually, her comments and
reviews of various artists and their
works will be used to supplement
the Lincoln Orchestra
Association’s salute to the Ne
braska author.
Carolyn Rometo, the general
manager for the Lincoln Orchestra
Association, said the group would
draw on pieces from the Lincoln
Journal that Cather wrote when
she was a drama, music and art
reviewer for the paper.
“We’ll be using her disembod
ied voice to introduce each piece,”
Rometo said.
The orchestra, along with the
UNL University Chorale and Ne
braska Wesleyan Women’s Cho
rus, will be performing
Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer
Night’s Dream,” Mozart’s Con
certo in A major for Clarinet and
Pietro Mascagni’s Intermezzo from
“Cavalleria Rusticana. ’
“Cather either reviewed these
pieces or made specific comments
about the composers,” Rometo
said.
“Music was a big influence on
her work and her life,” she said.
The performance of “A Mid
summer Night’s Dream” will also
include dramatic readings by En
glish Professor Stephen Buhler.
“It will be a condensed form of
the Shakespeare play,” Rometo
said. “The Arts and Sciences Col
lege has done a lot to help bring
this together.
“It will be a multimedia event.”
Chuck Kuba, the vice president
of marketing for LOA, said he felt
the combination of music and
Gather’s work was fitting.
“The crossover is appropriate
because Cather was such a moving
force in Nebraska and for the fact
that she worked for a local paper,”
he said.
The salute will feature a pre
concert talk in the Lied Center’s
Steinhart Room at 7:05 p.m. en
titled, “I Must Have Music.”
The show will begin at 8 p.m.
Student tickets are $ 11 and $ 13.50.
Romance differs for everyone
By Jeff Randall
Staff Reporter
With the coming of
Valentine’s Day, one question
looms dark and heavy over every
boyfriend, girlfriend, husband
and wife — what is romance?
For some, it is romantic clas
sics such as a quiet dinner, a
dozen roses and a red foil
wrapped box of chocolates. Oth
ers prefer to go down less-trav
eled paths to their true loves.
Freshman English major Jen
nifer Rasmussen said she thought
Valentine’s Day was a good op
portunity for those who usually
were unemotional to express their
sensitive sides.
“I think this is the one time of
the year that my boyfriend will
actually get me flowers,” she said.
“I usually have to spend hours
talking him into buying dinner.”
Brian Parker, a sophomore
pre-med major, said he was a
hopeless romantic, especially on
Valentine’s Day.
“I do all of the stupid things that
you see in the old movies,” he said.
“I open the car door and pull out
her chair for her at dinner. I bring
flowers, the whole deal.”
But Parker said his old-fash
ioned ideas of romance occasion
ally backfired.
“I went out with this one girl
who got really angry whenever I
v would hold open a door or some
thing,” he said. “She thought I
was being sexist, but I was just
doing what I have always done.”
Although Parker believes his
problems were caused by an ex
cess of romantic behavior, ASUN
President Andrew Loudon said
his girlfriend didn’t think he was
romantic enough.
“She always gets mad at me
around Valentine’s Day,” he said,
“because I’m a very unromantic
guy.
“My idea of a romantic dinner
is going to a crowded restaurant
where I can talk to a lot of people,
but she prefers a more quiet set
ting.”
1 Joy Nyhoff, a custodian at
Selleck Residence Hall, was less
specific in her idea of a romantic
evening.
“Just dinner out at a restau
■ rant,” she said. “Anything I don’t
have to do myself is OK with
me.
Nebraska men’s basketball
coach Danny Nee said his idea of
a romantic evening was low-key.
“I think a candlelight dinner
with my wife would be just fine,”
he said.
And what would a candlelight
dinner be without soft music in
the background? Nearly every
one had a favorite love song to
accompany their perfect evening.
“Lady In Red” by Chris
DeBurgh was Nee’s preferred
tune.
Loudon made a selection most
college students probably won’t
recognize.
“I’d have to say ‘The First
Thing in the Morning and die
Last Thing Every Night’ by Dean
Martin,” he said.
After dinner and music, a ro
mantic movie was likely to fol
low for most. Old and new selec
tions were popular.
“On Golden Pond,” “Sleep
less in Seattle,” “Ghost” and
“White Christmas” were named
as favorites.
Parker had a less obvious, but
somehow fitting, favorite.
“Any of the Dracula movies
are good,” he said. “A lot of
people don’t think of them as
romantic, but Bram Stoker’s story
is one of the best romances ever.
“It all depends on how you
look at them, just like anything
romantic.”