*
V
oe
By Kasey Kerber
New system
rates actors
by income
Here’s the deal. If you’re in Hol
lywood, your name is no longer the
most important means of identifi
cation.
It’s now your number.
No, not your phone number, fax
number, beeper number or even
your Social Security number.
It’s your The Hollywood Re
porter number and the number alone
is now what determines a star’s
worth in the movie business.
You see, every year “The Hol
lywood Reporter” ranks all actors
and actresses (even those that have
appeared in Howard the Duck)
based upon how likely they are to
bring in the big bucks on the silver
screen.
Is it a good system? A bad one?
Is it unfair because it doesn't take
into account an actor or actress’s
actual acting ability?
Maybe. Yet are we really the
ones to criticize? Heck, every time
we pay $4 to see a “good” movie
we’re inadvertently ranking the ac
tors and actresses in it.
And every time we pay $1.50 to
see a “maybe it's worth six quarters”
movie, we’re inadvertently telling
the actors and actresses that they
need a better agent.
Yet, ail jokes aside, Hollywood
is a money business, and “The Hol
lywood Reporter” is merely echo
ing that fact.
I agree with some of the
rankings, but others are more off
than an archer experiencing a sei
zure.
Take for example Adam
Sandler. His rank is a 22. This guy
is a major money maker, but some
how Hulk Hogan, Jon Lovitz,
Shannen Doherty and “Freddy
Krueger” Robert Englund all have
higher ranks.
Or the fact that you can appar
ently add up the ranks of two O J.
Simpsons and three Chris Elliots
and barely make more money than
one Julia Kooerts.
Then this makes me wonder
what the actors and actresses are
thinking when they see their own
ranking.
I can just see the expression on
“The Karate Kid’s” Pat Merita (Mr.
Miyagi) when he picks up an issue
of The Hollywood Reporter and
sees that his ranking places him be
low Hulk Hogan:
RAT MORITA: “Let’s see., here
I am. Well, crap!”
Overall, it can’t be all bad. Tom
Cruise, Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks,
Mel Gibson and Arnold
Schwarzenegger do have perfect
100’s. Sean Connery is close with a
94, as well as Jim Carrey with a 97.
Yet the question remains:
Should we judge an actor or actress
by how much hey make and not the
quality with which they doit?
I think that in the end, The Hol
lywood Reporter ranking system
matters little in the long tun.
Kerber is a sophomore news
editorial major aad a Daily Ne
braskan staff reporter aad col
_ Ron Sodrun/DN
STUDENTS, FACULTY and the community view the latest addition
to UNL’s sculpture collection, "Ibm Notebook.* About 400 people
attended the unveiling of the sculpture Friday.
‘Tbrn Notebook’
unveiled Friday
By Sean McCarthy
StaffReporter
Tom notebook pages now scatter
the outside of the Temple Building.
This may sound like litter to anyone
who hasn’t read the paper or has been
out of the country the past month. Ac
tually, it’s “Tbm Notebook,” the lastest
addition to UNL’s sculpture collection.
The sculpture and die Madden Gar
den, where “Tom Notebook” rests,
were unveiled Friday in front of about
400 spectators. The sculptors, hus
band-and-wife team Gaes Oldenburg
and Coosje van Bruggen, attended the
ceremony along with benefactors Mr.
and Mrs. John Madden, whom the gar
den was named after.
George Neubert, director of the
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and
Sculpture Garden, led off with die in
duction. Other distinguished speakers
included Pat Lundak, president of the
Nebraska Art Association, Terry
Fairfield, president of the University
of Nebraska Foundation, Gail Yanney,
chairperson of the Nebraska Arts
Council and Mayor Mike Johanns.
UNL Chancellor James Moeser
was also among the speakers at the
dedication.
“This is a beautiful place where
once we had a very unbeautiful park
ing lot,” he said.
u
This is a beautiful
place where once we
had a very
unbeautiful parkins
lot.”
James Moeser
UNL chancellor
Moeser praised the connection be
tween the 20-foot sculpture and life in
Nebraska. He cited the way the spiral
of the notebook represents the torna
dos and the lines of the tear in the note
book represent the Platte River.
“Even the colors, black and white,
remind us of the academic garb,” he
said.
Johanns said Friday was one of the
top five days he would have as
Lincoln’s mayor.
‘“This has been a truly remarkable
day,” he said. “This piece of artwork
will continue to indicate this close re
lationship between the city and UNL.”
Artists Oldenburg and van Bruggen
spoke after receiving a welcoming ova
tion.
Please see NOTEBOOK on 13
Sculpti ehas
dualpurpose
By Fred Poyner
Art Critic
Against the background of a Ne
braskan fall, a new and animated sculp
ture has, in a proclamation by the
Sheldon Gallery, “blown into town.”
‘Tom Notebook,” a joint effort tty
Coosje van Bruggen and Claes
Oldenburg, is not intended to be a per
manent addition to the sculpture gar
den. From a distance, the twistings
tossed appearance of the individual
“pages” reinforces this fact.
Closer inspection of the center
sculpture, however, reveals the steel
armature between the pages, changing
a viewer’s impressions from move
ment-oriented to inflexible stability.
The nature of this work is really
dual in purpose. Again, the distant view
compared to the close-up characteris
tics confirm this duality. Hie perspec
tive view shows us an oversized note
book with loose sheets of paper — a
familiar image on a college campus and
the indispensable tool for the student,
the artist, the writer.
Upon approach, the notebook im
age loses part of its definition. Hie
words on die pages become holes in
metal, while die illusion of paper is
replaced by the heaviness of the me
dium. Hie separate pages seem to
emerge from the ground, rather than
pass along the surface unencumbered.
By itself, the sculpture is a depar
ture from the Sculpture Garden collec
tion, in terms of location and interpre
tation. As an installation physically
removed from the rest of the collec
tion, it maintains its illusion as a
nonsculpture object. As a sculpture
focused on incorporating both far-off
motion and close-up permanence, it
avoids a future death of common ac
ceptance and stagnancy as a university
feature.
“Tbm Notebook” requires a second
look.
Popularity catches up
with Omaha band
By Ann Stack
Senior Reporter
The members of the Omaha group
Blue Moral Ghetto apparently haven’t
caught on as to how successful they’ve
became. Either that, or they’re just ig
noring it.
Flip on any radio station—classic
rock, alternative, Ibp 40 — and you
can hear their catchy, sing-along single
“Shine All the Time.” It was in heavy
rotation all summer across Nebraska.
For every time they were heard on
the radio, they were probably playing
somewhere live. Band members said
they nearly killed themselves playing
four to five shows a week to promote
their self-titled HP.
But you won't see these four band
members wasting any time riding the
wave of success their single has
brought them. Instead, they’re going to
try to reach the widest audience pos
sible through their music.
“People call us pop—but there’s
much more to it than that,” drummer
Joel Kassera said. “The advantage that
we might have is that our music has
much more mass appeal. We get people
from all walks of life at our shows.
They’re really into the music.”
Getting a wider fan base means
leaving Nebraska for a while. The band
won’t play Omaha again until Edgefest
on Sept 15, where they will be per
forming between The Refreshments
and Ttacy Bohnam.
This month they’ll also be playing
gigs in Kearney, Lawrence, Kan. and
St. Louis before heading into the Stu
dio to record a new full-length album
due out early next year.
And all this after foaming not even
a year and a half ago.
“We’re at a record-setting as far as
local bands go,” Kassera said. “That’s
not saying we're better than anyone
else, we’ve just worked really hard and
we’ve gotten some lucky breaks.”
“Shine All The Time,” which fea
tured a harmony with KDGE-FM
Please see BAND on 13
Maini Spbck/DN
MATTHEW BAN1A, lead singer fw Blue Moon Qietto, plays Saturday
Night at the Brass Rail, 1436 OSt .