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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1995)
Arts ^Entertainment Wednesday, November 1, 1995 Page 9 the glassy eye Mark Baldridge CableVision: a viewing adventure The new ehannels are coming, the new channels are coming! Starting today, CableVision will carry four new channels—well, make that three new channels... and one old one back from the dead. The Travel Channel (ho hum) will make a dramatic comeback (yawn) to Lincoln. Sigh. I’m sure the old people will be happy. But the rest of the changes are fairly exciting—even by my baroque standards. The main attraction, of course, is the Cartoon Network featuring that most stellar of all talk shows: “Space Ghost Coast to Coast.” Hosted by none other than the Ghost himself, the show features real-time high jinks with fading superstars — people like Adam West and Dr. Joyce Brothers (not that there *is* anyone like Dr. Joyce Brothers). Think of the Cartoon Network as a kind of “Cartoon Express,” only 24 hours a day. Yum. May there never be “nothing on” again. Also in the new lineup is Bravo, which the cheery drones at CableVision describe as “sort of like A&E, only less commercial.” “Less commercial” apparently means showing more avant- garde films, etc. In short, less family oriented. I wouldn’t kick it out of bed. Lastly, Turner Classic Movies ar rives in Lincoln. From the sound of it, Ted Turner bought all the good movies and Ameri can Movie Classics got what was left over — so between the two of them, we should be set. Pop some com and pull up the blankets and settle down for the long winter’s nap. All that’s missing from the lineup, as far as I can see, is Comedy Central. It’s a channel made famous by “The Simpsons” cliff-hanger a few weeks ago — with shows like “Whose Line Is It Anyway” and “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” “MST3K” has been touted — in this very column — as the show this city is most lacking—that is, the show we can’t afford to live without. We are tragically unhip. We are clueless and will remain so — a cultural backwater — until we can watch “MST3K” and decide for ourselves whether we like it or not. I’m not going to give up on this: I want my “MST3K!” In the meantime, I might be pre pared to curl up in front of “Merry Melodies” cartoons ... for now. Baldridge is a senior English major and the Daily Nebraskan Opinion page editor. The Glassy Eye is a weekly column deconstructing television for entertain ment purposes. Send ideas or sugges tions to Mark Baldridge, c/o the Daily Nebraskan. The real (web) world Join real lives on the Internet By Brian Sharp Senior Editor Imagine living in a place without walls. No doors to shut out the world. No privacy. Anyone can come into your home at anytime — day or night. Welcome to the Virtual Dorm. For those who come to visit, it can be found on the World Wide Web at <http:// www.taponline.com>. But for the people whose every move is being sent out across high-speed phone line, it’s in a small New England college town. Meet Andy, Ben, Garth, Abby and Lucy. They live here. Today, the Virtual Dorm welcomes the world into its living room—dubbed the hangout room — its bedrooms and its kitchen. Four cameras will chronicle the lives of the five student volunteers who will live here through out the school year. Derek White, MarketSource vice president and producer said in a statement that Virtual Dorm was the first site to use the Web’s real-time interactive technology to the fullest. “We’re providing virtual interactivity with real-time sound and video with real people who have real lives.” MarketSource is a marketing service com pany with much of its business directed toward colleges:'T@P Online debuted Aug. 15 as an other way of communicating with the college market. It is one of the first commercially-spon sored Web sites. To bring Virtual Dorm online, Honda laid out a site sponsorship of $100,000. The cameras in the Virtual Dorm never shut down. For those without real-time capability, the site will also transmit still shots updated every few minutes. The five roomies will keep daily journals, be available for “chat” sessions and carry on e-mail conversations on computers whose screens will never go black. Rob Thi baul t, director of corporate communi cations for MarketSource, said comparisons be tween Virtual Dorm and MTV’s “The Real World” series were not unexpected. But simi lari ties are slight. “People will say there are no original ideas left,” he said in a telephone interview from Cranbury, N.J. “I guess that (‘The Real World’) was in the back of our minds. “The difference is these people are already Courtesy of T@P Online Andy, Lucy, Ben, Garth and Abby open their lives to the world today as “Virtual Dorm” hits the World Wide Web. Friends. We’re not throwing them into an artifi cial environment. This is where they live. These are the people they have lived with.” Meet Andrew. The 20-year-old ecology and community major is in his third year of college. He is from Cleveland, listens to funk, world music and jazz, sports dreadlocks, likes to talk about his six-foot dragon and fears talk show hosts. Hmmmm... OK. Meet Ben. He is tagged the “mysterious” one of the group. He has been studying education, community and multiculturalism for more than two years. He spends much of his time practicing aikido. Meet Lucy. When she isn’t riding horseback, she is a second-year student majoring in social change, religion and philosophy. The 20-year old is a New York City native and dreams of becoming a wrangler. Meet Abigale. Hailing from Philadelphia, the 18-year-old is president of her local Habitat for Humanity. In her second year of studies, Abby is majoring in childhood education and public policy. Meet Garth. Unfortunately, other than being referred to as the “suite’s computer expert,” little is known about Garth. In the weeks to come, that’s sure to change. “We’re not doing any editing,” Thibault said. “You are not going to see ‘The Best of.’ “You can tune in anytime of the day or night and see what’s going on. Sometimes you’re going to see a dark apartment. Sometimes, I’m sure, it’s going to be pretty unreal.” Thibault said the search for student volunteers began in May, bringing thousands of applicants. The five selected volunteered as a group, he said. They receive a small stipend and unlimited use of the computers, but that’s it. Room and board, tuition, bills — it’s the real world. “They’re living their lives on the Net,” he said. One thing that is known — after today, these five college students will be the most widely accessible youth of America. Basically, he said, they can have visitors in their home, unannounced at all hours. Visitors, told only to keep it clean, are asked a few simple questions, and are left with some plainspoken advice. “Ever made coffee without a filter?” “Ever watched television without an editor and commercial breaks?” “Ever yel 1, ‘I love you! ’ at the character you so adored?” “Ever have them respond?” “Enter T@P Online Virtual Dorm.” “These cameras are live and there’s no one around to edit out what you don’t want to see.” Opera Omaha stages Webber’s ‘Joseph’ By Brian Priesman Staff Reporter The rainbow of spectacle that is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” paints the stage at Omaha’s Orpheum Theater this week. >• Thootor ' The production, which 1 llcalui I opened Tuesday night, is the ! f -i - I''-* I- fourth musical in Opera Omaha’s five-show 1995-96 Omaha Broadway Theatre Season. “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” tells the biblical story of Joseph, his 11 jealous brothers, and his adventures in Egypt. Joseph, the dream-reading favorite son of Jacob, is sold by hisjealous brothers into slavery. His owner, the rich and powerful Potiphar, takes a liking to Joseph, as does Potiphar’s sexy wife. After an attempted flingby Mrs. Potiphar, Mr. Potiphar has Joseph thrown into jail. There Jo seph comes into contact with a variety of charac ters who take advantage of his ability to read dreams. Eventually, his amazing talent is used by the Pharaoh, an Elvis-like ruler with a heart of gold. Pharaoh fancies Joseph, and suddenly Joseph finds himself the second-most powerful man in Egypt. “Joseph” is written by the team ol Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. The pair is also responsible for “Jesus Christ Supefstar” and “Evita.” Webber’s other works include “Song and Dance,” “Cats,” “Sunset Boulevard,” and “The Phantom of the Opera.” Tim Rice’s other works include the book and lyrics for “Blondel,” “Chess,” and the lyrics for the award-winning Disney films “Aladdin” and “The Lion King.” Andrew Lloyd Webber’s score blends popu lar songs with a wide variety of musical styles, including Calypso, country western, French chan son and ’50s rock ‘n’ roll. “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” stars Sam Harris as Joseph, the fa vorite son of Jacob. Harris, fresh from his Broad way debut in Tommy Tune’s acclaimed revival of “Grease,” has traded his leather jacket and sideburns for his amazing coat of many colors. Originally written as a one-act, the show has since been revamped by Webber and Rice mul tiple times. Making use of two local children’s choirs, a blinking Sphinx and a dancing camel, this pro duction of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” is directed by Steven Pimlott. The show runs through Sunday. Showtimes are 7:30 each evening, with 2 pjn. matinees Saturday and Sunday.