By Anne Hiersman
Self-disoovery
more than
I’ve always wanted a keen fash
ion sense.
Unfortunately, I was bora in the
’70s. When you begin your life
wearing plaid bell-bottoms and but
terfly collars, fashion sense is pretty
much out of the question.
Nonetheless, I’ve spent my
whole life trying.
Being cute when you’re little is
pretty easy — even if your mama
dresses you funny. But right around
fifth grade, puberty kicks in. You
take charge of your appearance
and... things get ugly. In my case,
really ugly.
I tried everything.
First, it was friendship pins. I
stuck than in my shoelaces. I wore
them on my shirts. I had them ev
erywhere.
Then, when I felt I was ready to
move up in the accessory world, I
started collecting trinkets — doz
ens of them. Big, ugly, plastic trin
kets h* a variety of obnoxiqus col
ors. I wore than around my neck
on a big, ugly, plastic chain. And
they jingled — clanked even —
every time I walked.
By sixth grade, I had outgrown
that Irid stuff. (Besides, the weight
ofmy necklace was starting to make
me stoop). It was time to move on. <
It was then that I discovered
hair spray. Boy, did I discover it.
Aqua Net was the elixir of gods—
and the nightmare of anyone who
tried to walk barefoot through my
bathroom.
Make-up was soon to follow:
blue eye shadow, purple eyeliner,
green mascara.
Once I had my what-the-hell
exploded-on-your-face makeover
perfected, I revamped my ward
robe.
Like every teen-age girl, I
looked to Madonna, the mistress of
style, for guidance. It was out with
the leg warmers, suspenders and
ties, and in with the big earrings,
bangle bracelets and “Jellies.”
Not to mention tight-rolled
jeans. That was (Hie trend my
mother was glad to see go. She was
sine I was going to have to have my
feet amputated because I rolled my
jeans so tight I cut off my circula
tion. That fad left an impression on
me like no other — especially
around the ankle area.
That was when I stepped back
and asked myself, “Who the hell do
you think you are, you idiot?”
And you know what?
I didn’t have an answer. d
I had spent so much time follow
ing fads, I had left myself behind.
Since then I have taken a realis
tic look at myself. I have come to
terms with my beauties and my
blemishes, and I have learned to
appreciate — ami accentuate *—
who I am. •• > . . rjwi
And I’ve decided: there’s noth- .
ingmore fashionable than someone
who has her own style.
That makes sense tome. ' _
tor.
■ « - Mabni Spkck/DN t
PLAST1K TRUMPET, a Lincoln band, was selected to perform next week at the College Music Journal
festival The band members are Mike Elsener, Nate Walcott, Benjamin Armstrong, Jonathan Hischke,
Garth Johnson, Carl Masters and Nathan Puetens.
Nebraska bands to showcase talent
By Ann Stack
Senior Reporter
Look out New York—here cranes
some of the best new music Nebraska
has to offer.
Four bands from Nebraska will be
represented at the annual College Mu
sic Journal festival for up-and-coming
bands.
The College Music Journal is a
trade magazine for college radio sta
tions and is sold at most book and
record stores.
Every year, die magazine has a fes
tival to showcase signed and unsigned
bands from all over the country. Bands
must apply to be accepted to play at
clubs around New York for the four
uay event.
Representatives from record labels
and other music critics attend the fes
tival, and the best thing the bands can
get is a record deal. No matter what,
they will all get the exposure and ex
perience.
Plastik Thimpet, Lullaby For The
Working Class, Cursive and Com
mander Venus, all from Lincoln, were
selected as four of the 300-plus bands
to play.
“We’re playing in the suavest
lounge in Manhattan — the Luna
L»unge,” PlastikThimpetlead Singer
Garth Johnson said. “We’re loading up
the ’76 Ford Chateau now.1”
Plastik Thimpet formed in Febru
ary 1990 in Germany of all places.
“I was an exchange student as a
high school senior,” Johnson said. It
was mere ne met native Kooen israiss,
and a trans-Atlantic song-writing part
nership began as a German Plastik
Trumpet and an American Plastik
TYumpet were bom.
“There’s a separate band going on
in Germany as we speak,” he said. “He
helped me start the band here.”
Plastik Trumpet is composed of
nine members, seven of whom are
making the trek to New York. They are:
Johnson, on lead vocals, Benjamin
Armstrong on drums, Jonathan
Hischke on bass, Mike Elsener on gui
tar, Nathan Puetens on synthesizer,
Nate Walcott on trumpet and Carl
Masters on xylaphone.
Their songs are all original and
straightforward, Johnson said, and the
British pop influence is prevalent in
their music.
me lyrics nue me ime oeiween
sentimental and sarcastic.”
Johnson described Plastik
Trumpet's sound as “orchestral pop,”
or taking basic pop songs and augment
ing them with strings, horns and
xylaphones.
The band is looking forward to the
exposure they're going to receive in
New York, although the idea is some
what overwhelming.
"We’re doing everything for just a
30-minute set,” he said. “We’re just
trying to get everything streamlined
and perfect.”
Plastik TYumpet and Cursive both
perform Friday, Sept 6. Commander
Venus and Lullaby For The Working
Class play Saturday.
By Ann Suck
Senior Reporter
A dark cloud of angst seems to have
settled over Lincoln these past few
days, but one bright spot in the blur is
that mornings seem to have a helluva
lot more bite to them.
That’s because “The Animal” has
returned to the zoo of morning radio
shows that seem to be glutting the
morning market.
Yes, kids, you read it right Jon
Terry, better known as one half of the
dynamic morning duo of“Tim and The
Animar at KIBZ-FM (106.3) The
Blaze, has returned.
Tfeny left Lincoln exactly a year ago
to take a position as program director
at WQIZ-FM in Springfield, 111.
“J moved with all the interests of
forwarding my career,” he said. “I
needed to leave because I needed to
show that 1 could do a good job some
where else. And I did, I did a great job.
But I wasn’t as happy.”
Tim Sheridan and Tferry have a his
tory of attracting a strong listening au
dience to their morning show with their
cutting repertoire. They are known for
their no-holds-barred commentary on
local and world news, sports and any
thing else they feel like talking about.
The comraderie between the two is
hard to come by, and Tbrry said he rec
ognized this during his year in Illinois.
“We started taUdnga couple months
ago about what a great time we'd had
together," he said. “I'd done a great job
there, but there was too much business
and not too much fun.”
He put in his resignation in July and
had his first day back at The Blaze
Monday morning. But there's a slight
change in the morning show—it’s now
Sheridan, Terry and Johnny Royal.
Royal was on the airwith Tim and ra
dio personality “Sparky” during
Terry’s absence.
Terry made a guest appearance an
the morning show last January with the
three other disc jockeys, and it whet
his appetite for returning to Lincoln.
“I hadn’t laughed so hard in a long
time," he said. “It put the tang in my
mouth for coming back."
Surprisingly, there were no hard
feelings upon Tferry’s return. Sheridan,
who is also the program director at Hie
Blaze, said the entire Blaze staff sup
ported Tory’s return to the station.
“Sparky,” who adced that his real name
not be printed, moved to the 3 to 7 pm.
shift, which he said was perfect for him.
“I love it,” he said. ‘1 feel I work
better by myself, and I hated getting
up at five in the morning.” He said that
he was glad Tferry is back and that his
return will be a positive change for the
station.
“He’s a cool guy,” “Sparky” said.
“He’s like my mentor. Jon got me into
radio, gave me my first break. I respect
him as a radio personality. I think'Hie
Animal's* return is a good thing.
Things worked out fix everyone all the
way across the board.”
Sheridan is also excited about his
partner’s return.
- “After waking together far three
years, we knew what the other was
thinking,” he said. “He'd never tell me
what he was launching into; I'd have
no idea. We just went with R. The
chemistry was there.” *
Terry agreed that the chemistry the
two share makes for a great show.
“We’re able to get along with each
other. There’s not a whole lot of ego
crap ” Tbrry said. “It makes it easy for
us to work together. The best staff of
real people is in this building. I missed
that. That’s why I’m bade.”
The morning show personalities
may have been known for their big
mouths in the past, but they’re also
known for their hearts. (But don’t tell
anyone.)
They’ve done an annual charity toy
drive every winter, and are planning
another one for this year. They usually
spend 30 hours collecting donations for
Toys for Tots on O Street.
Another example of backing their
words with actions is their new weekly
feature.
“We always bitch about crime,”
Terry said. “But now we’re going to
do something about it.”
They are planning to bring in a po
lice officer every week to do a
Crimestoppers report. Tory said then
idea of a name was, in typical Blaze
fashion, “Put a Pride in the Pokey.”
Needless to say, it’s good to have
him back.