ii
g
Cliff A. Hicks
Web sites
pay homage
to authors
It seems, with the future of tech
nology flying as fast as it is, that ev
ery author has his or her own home
page, be it official or not.
Those few who don’t probably will,
sooner or later. Lots of people get their
first book published, and soon a hand
ful of web sites spring up dedicated to
them.
Hell, I want to get published as a
novelist so people will open up a fan
page for me. Oh, yeah, the money,
fame and popularity would be nice,
too. Mostly just the money. That, and
being able to walk into a bookstore,
buy a copy of my own book and pay
by check.
Until I do get published, however,
I’ll have to be content surfing through
other author’s home pages. Here are a
few for your netting perusal.
With the new “Hellraiscr” movie
due out Friday, horror master Clive
Barker’s home page seems like an ex
cellcri't ftlace to start.''“Web of Lost
Souls” actually is endorsed by Barker,
which is nice. You can find it at (http:/
Avww.barkerverse.com/).
Sticking with the horror path, the
king of horror, Mr. Stephen King, has
his own site at (http://
www.csif.cs.ucdavid.edu/~pacc/
king.html). It’s not official, but it is
quite up to date.
Other spooksters with their own
unofficial home pages include Vam
pire Queen Anne Rice (http://
www.webcom.com/lchamber/ar.html)
as well as the late H.P. Lovccraft (http:/
/ w w w. c r 1. c o m / ~ j g i f f o r d /
rah_faw.html), who is unquestionably
one of the founders of modem horror.
On a lighter note, Douglas Adams,
the creator of the infamous
“Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy”
series and a decidedly British person,
has several unofficial home pages. The
best of these is (http://
www.umd.umich.edu/~nhughes/dna).
Fellow Brit Terry Pratchett also has
a couple of home pages, dedicated to
him and his “Discworld” series. Try
(http://www-pp.kdt.net/tati.ryberg/
contcnts.html/).
Classic fantasy master J.R.R.
Tolkien has more than 50 home pages
dedicated to various aspects of his
writing and a number of his books.
One of many is (http://paul.cspu.edu/
~aragom/toIkien.html/).
Robert Anton Wilson, whose “Il
luminati” books mingle conspiracy
theory with humor, philosophy, sex
and physics, has an official home page
at (http://www.nets.com/site/raw/
raw.html), which, if I understand cor
rectly, he runs himself.
I cannot depart without a personal
favorite, Steven Brust’s home page. It
is unofficial, but very up to date and
fact-filled. It’s at (http://
www.math.ttu.edu/~kesinger/bmst/).
Sooner or later, I’ll get published,
and then you can all open up fan' pages
to me! Granted, it may be 20 years or
so. But you know, I can wait...
Hicks is a freshman news-editorial and
English major and a Daily Nebraskan staff
reporter.
Radio station nets new image in midlife
By Lane Hickenbottom_
Staff Reporter
Radio stations, like people, can
face a midlife crisis.
The case is true for 95.1 KLDZ.
Formerly known as the home of the
“Greatest hits of the ’70s,” the radio
station underwent a name, format
and image change Monday morning.
Like the middle-aged man who
decides he must buy a flashy Cor
* vette for life to go on, 95.1, now
called “The Net,” changed its music
range from ’70s rock and disco to
’70s, ’80s and ’90s “adult alterna
tive.” The Net is trying to attract
more listeners in the targeted ages
of 25 to 54.
Pending Federal Communica
tions Commission approval, the Net
also will change its call letters from
KLDZ to KNET.
Dallas Michaels, operations man
ager and program director of The
Net, said that 95.1’s former format
wasn’t doing as well for the station
as it used to do.
“There just isn’t enough music in
10 years,” Michaels said.
The Net also began airing a na
tionally syndicated morning talk
show with Don Imus as the host. The
show, which features many guests
and political and newsworthy dis
cussions, will air weekdays from 6
a.m. to 10 a.m.
Along with the change of format,
the e comes a flood of angry, die
ha. d KLDZ fans.
“That is to be expected,”
Michaels said.
He said he expected the first
couple of days to consist of angry
callers complaining about the
change. Afterwards, he said, people
will start calling the station, prais
ing the changes.
The Net also will feature its own
home page on the Internet. Still un
der construction, the site will be lo
cated at http://www.knet.com.
“We will have info on events we
are doing,” Michaels said. “It will
also include stuff on local bands and
other stuff.”
Composer pens classical funk
By Patrick Hambrecht
Senior Reporter
If German chancellor Otto von
Bismarck ever tried to get down and
funky, he would have loved the new
mix of James Brown and Richard
Wagner music, “Randwulf,” com
posed by UNL music professor
Randall Snyder.
“Randwulf’ an# five other origi
nal compositions by Snyder will be
performed tonight at a free concert
in Kimball Recital Hall.
Snyder said combining the thun
dering style of Wagner with the
rapid-fire trumpets of Brown was an
easy choice.
“I really like James Brown’s late
’60s music ” Snyder said. “It’s very
polyrhythmic, with one rhythm use#
on top of another. Often there’s no
chord progression, and the horns are
used as drums.
“It’s very radical, it’s very well
known that rap can be traced back
to James Brown.”
Snyder’s interest in funk music
was peaked recently while he was
doing research for a rock history
class to be offered this summer, he
said.
“1 take James Brown’s music and
combine it with more of a classical
sound. That piece has more of a rock
feel to it, but 1 guess it’d be more
alternative, for lack of a better term.”
“Randwulf’ will be performed by
the Lincoln Youth Symphony, with
Brian Moore directing.
Snyder said he wrote music ac
cording to his instincts, drawing
from a variety of musical sources,
including Korean music.
“1 ’ m a compulsive composer,” he
said. “I think writing the same sort
of piece over and over again gets
very stale.”
Snyder said he often tried to
champion Korean music to the uni
Photo courtesy of Randall Snyder
Several of Randall Snyder’s compositions will be featured in
a recital tonight at Kimball Recital Hall.
vcrsity as an exciting music all its
own, instead of just a hybrid of Chi
nese and Japanese cultures.
“Its sound is really neat,” Snyder
said. “A lot of Korean music is just
as distinctive as Chinese or Japa
nese.”
Snyder’s renditions of Korean
“Spring Songs” will be performed
with other songs at the 8 p.m. con
cert. Admission is free.
‘Brothers’ best new video bet
By Gerry Beltz
Rim Critic
Sorry we missed you last week,
but we were out enjoying the
weather. Now that the weather sucks
again, we’ve headed back inside.
“Pocahontas” (G) — This ani
mated film was released last week,
for both sale and rental.
The film
~ .... was the first
New Video Disney feature
Release that was in
spired by a
real-life fig
ure. It starred
Pocahontas
j (Irene Bedard)
and the hand
some, fearless
_ John Smith
(Mel Gibson).
The story chronicled the love they
shared amid the problems between
her people and Smith’s friends and
ship crew. Naturally, as a Disney
creation, there were a couple of
cutesy animals and impromptu sing
ing numbers scattered about.
If it wasn’t a Disney film, it
could’ve worked. But as it is (with
Gibson SINGING?!?),
“Pocahontas” was just average.
“Fair Game” (R) — Ooooooh!
Cindy Crawford’s acting debut!
Keep my feet from dancing!
Crawford plays a lawyer who is
chased by the KGB (huh?), and the
only person who can protect her is a
rough-edged cop (Billy Baldwin)
who dislikes her as much as she de
spises him.
Yep, they get it on.
“A Walk In the Clouds” (PG-13)
— Keanu does romance. I’m glad
I’m wearing my rubber pants!
Victoria is returning home, fear
ing her family’s reaction to the ille
gitimate child she is carrying. Paul
(Reeves), a traveling salesman, of
fers to pose as her husband for a
short while, before he returns home
to his own wife.
Hmmm. Will they start to fall in
love? Hmmmm.
Wonderful scenery make this film
above crap, and there are a few funny
scenes as well.
“Brothers McMullen” (R) — It’s
a Catholic thing, you wouldn’t un
derstand.
But writer/director/star Edward
Bums does his best in this comedy
drama about three Catholic brothers
who face their childhoods and find
themselves compromising their
faith, usually because of the women
in their lives.
The film’s mix of sharp dialogue,
romance at a real-world level and
playful sexuality with unrelenting
pangs of guilt make for one of last
year’s best releases.
PICK OFTHE WEEK—Earlier
this week, director Ron Howard was
honored by the Director’s Guild of
America for his work in “Apollo 13.”
One of his earliest films, “Night
Shift,” may not be Academy or DGA
quality, but it is still a riot.
Chuck (Henry Winkler) and Billy
(Michael Keaton) work the over
night shift at the city morgue and get
the bright idea of becoming pimps
(excuse me, “love brokers”) to take
up their free time.
Political
cartoons
displayed
By Cliff Hicks
Staff Reporter
Today, the Great Plains Art
Collection, at 205 Love Library,
goes political.
“It’s Just Plain(s) Politics:
Cartoons as Perceptions of the
Regional and National Scenes”
opens today and will run through
May 3.
The exhibit contains 40
pieces from 10 different cartoon
ists. They arc: Oswald (Oz) R.
Black, Johp H. Cassell, Jay N.
“Ding”Dariihg, Homer C. Dav
enport, Paul Fell, Ed Fischer,
Herbert Johnson, Jeff Koterba,
JohnT. McCutcheon and Guy R.
Spencer.
Each of the cartoons has his
torical value, and displays
prominent political figures like
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Will
iam Jennings Bryan, as well as
more recent regional figures, in
editorial fashion.
All of the cartoonists either
came from the Midwest or did
much of their work there. And
so the cartoons reflect a Mid
western influence.
Most of the cartoons reflect
not only regional issues, but na
tional problems of the time as
well, such as extreme weather,
prohibition, problems in agricul
ture and the effects of govern
ment on people’s lives.
Most of the cartoons are done
in either pen and ink or charcoal,
which gives insight into the dif
ferent techniques used by differ
ent artists.
In addition to the collection
on display, a special panel will
be held Friday from noon to 1
p.m. in the gallery to discuss the
role of editorial cartoons.
Panelists include: cartoonist
Jeff Koterba of the Omaha
World-Herald; cartoonist Paul
Fell, whose work appears in the
Lincoln Journal Star and else
where; and Nancy Hicks, who is
the editorial page editor for the
Lincoln Journal Star.
Michael Stricklin, director of
graduate studies and news-edi
torial professor, will moderate
the discussion.
An informal reception will
begin in the gallery at 11:30
a.m., before the panel discus
sion.
Admission to both the panel
and the gallery is free.