By Cliff Hicks
and Emily Wray
Books need
promotion
for survival
Books are slowly starting to go
the way of the Beta tape and the
mood ring. Soon, the only place to
find them will be in libraries and
second-hand stores.
Why? •
Several reasons, unfortunately.
Book prices have risen. A new
paperback will probably cost be
tween $5 and $7. With hardbacks
in excess of $20, the money issue
becomes even more important.
Books aren’t heavily advertised
anymore, either. Oily a select group
ot autnors reguiariy gei me press
hype saying, “New book! Coming
out soon!”
If Stephen King, Tom Clancy,
Danielle Steele, Mary Higgins
Clark, Anne Rice or John Grisham
have a new book coming out, the
majority of the public will know.
Publishers need to start seriously
promoting books. If they’ve got a
hot new author, they need to pro
doesn’t seem to be reading as much
as it used to. Fewer and fewer books
get exposure each year as the world
turns its eyes to the tube.
It’s hard to get kids to read
books. They want to watch TV, see
a movie, play a video game or surf
the Internet. All of these are valid
forms of entertainment, but they
leave nothing to the imagination.
Part of the joy of books is that
while the author gives you a
storyline with characters and de
scriptions, all the little details that
flesh the world out are left to your
imagination. You envision it as you
want to. /
Therefore, we shall make it our
mission to revive the literary genre.
We cry to the students, “Up with
books hPut thy video game down!
- Back away from thy television set!
Use the brain in thine tiny little
skull!” (Alas, what fools these mor
tals be.)
Well, maybe we won’t go that
far, but we’re going to ask you to
read for fun, no matter what it takes.
During the coming months, we will
offer suggestions and commentary
_ on both genres and books in spe
cific.
By the time we’re done with you,
you will go out and buy a hardback
book because you’re dying to read
the story, not because of who the
author is.
If one student says, “I’m glad
those two told me about this bock...”
we’ll feel satisfied with a job well
done.
Besides, you can still read a
bode when the power’s out, even if
it is by candlelight. It’s called atmo
... sphere. _
Read on, gentle readers, read
on...
Cliff Hicks has a fetish for fe
doras. His sidekick EnUy Wray
has a laugh like popping bubbles.
They are both book lovers, Daily
7 Nebraska! staff reporters aid
shall return.
Nirvana compilation
records band history
By Lane Hickenbottom
Music Critic
Nirvana has released yet another
album, more than two years after the^
suicide of iconoclastic band member
Kurt Cobain.
“From the Muddy Banks of the
Wishkah,” released Tuesday, features
a compilation of pre-released tunes
recorded live from 10 separate tour
venues. The 17-song lineup includes
live versions of the hit singles “Smells
Like Teen Spirit” and “Heart-Shaped
Box.” \.
The intro track sets the tone for this
fast-paced album immediately, with
Cobain yelling from the top of his
lungs.
The intro quickly slides into the
second song, “School,” which was re
corded in Amsterdam in November
1991. Originally released in Nirvana’s
first album, “Bleach,” it contains hard
beating drums, highly distorted guitar
chords and Cobain’s raspy voice.
“Wishkah” is even louder than
Nirvana’s previous, studio-recorded
albums. Longtime Nirvana fans who
have followed the band since its “do
it-yourself’ days will appreciate the
live sound, as will those fans who col
lect anything by the group.
Listeners who only enjoyed the
Nirvana singles that made the pop
charts may want to avoid this new re
lease. “Wishkah” preserves the punk
This new album simply rocks
harder and louder than previous mega
money-makers, “Nevermind,” “In
Utero,” and “MTV Unplugged ”
Playing up through track nine, the
album continues its upbeat momentum
with songs like “Smells Like Teen
Nirvana
“From the Muddy Banks of the
Wishkah”
DGC/Geffen Records
Grade: B+
Spirit,” “Lithium,” and “Sliver.” All
three of these songs, and every song in
between, give the impression of a col
lection of garage recordings. If the al
bum wasn’t recorded in a garage, one
would at least swear that “Wishkah”
was a bootleg. Neither is the case.
Track nine changes the pace a tittle
bit. Maintaining the live sound from
previous tracks, “Spank Thru” starts
much slower. Cobain’s voice is very
deep and almost unrecognizable at
first, making it completely different
from the other tracks.
However, before the song ends,
Nirvana starts playing like a bat out of
hell again.
“Scentless Apprentice,” track 10, is
a song originally released in Nirvana’s
“In Utero.” This track is one of die
album’s few songs that sound close to
its respective studio recordings.
'‘Scentless Apprentice,” however, was
recorded as one of the more hard-core
songs in “In Utero,” so those who are
familiar with it can get a taste of what
“Wishkah” is all about.
“Heart-Shaped Box”, the next
track, starts with the return of Cobain’s
low-key voice. Funky guitar distortion
helps set this track apart from the single
that modem pop-radio station listen
ers are familiar with.
r Cobain does a lot of screaming in
“Polly,” a track originally produced in
“Nevermind.” The screaming effect is
done well, maintaining the tone of the
album.
“Wishkah” brings back memories
of a time when moshing was not syn
onymous with boxingand punkwasnot
synonymous with Green Day. It pours
from the speakers as music the musi
cians truly appreciated, not a compila
tion of songs made to satisfy money
hungry producers.
The album’s insert includes nine
pages of band pictures and a brief Nirr
vana concert history, written by Nir*
vana bassist Krist Novoselic.
Novoselic asks the listener tdteim
ply enjoy the music, writing, “lit all
the analysis fell away like yellow, aged
newsprint. Crank this record up and
realize the bliss, power and
passion...TOTAL NIRVANA!”
Poet shares wisdom at Indian Center i
Simon Ortiz focuses
on the importance of
language and culture
in his readings
Wednesday.
By Ann Stack
Senior Reporter
For Simon Ortiz, language and cul
ture are what define our world.
Ortiz, a free-lance American Indian
writer, poet and lecturer, gave his
speech “Native American Creative
Verbal Expression” at the Lincoln In
dian Center Wednesday. He later ap
peared for a poetry reading in Love
Library.
Ortiz, who lives in Tucson, Ariz.,
began his morning lecture with a bene
diction.
“Poetry and prayer are related to
each other,” he said. “We speak each
when we lode at the world around us.”
He went on to read from two of his
poetry books, “Woven Stone” and “Af
ter and Before the Lightning.” Ortiz has
published over a dozen poetry books.
Ortiz grew up on the Acotna Pueblo
Indian Reservation in Western New
Mexico and later taught at the Univer
sity of New Mexico. Most of his prose
ami poetry focus on events that hap
pened in this region.
His father’s influence was prevalent
in Ms life, Ortiz said. His father worked
as a farmer, a railroad worker and a
housebuilder.
He also acted as the Antelope El
der, who was responsible for the tradi
_ Lane Hickenbottom/DN
JANET JARVIS, a junior English and art majoi; exchanges a check
for an autographed copy of Simon Ortiz’s book. Ortiz, right, read
Wednesday morning at The Indian Center and Wednesday afternoon
in the Great Plains Room in Love Library
tional religious knowledge of the
people and for setting ceremonies and
other important dates.
Ortiz said his father was also a
singer, something else he admired.
“Songs are a way to express our
selves and the way we perceive the
world around us, what we have to share
of ourselves,” he said,
Ortiz sang a song he wrote called
“Dance My Sacred Iterse.” He said
he was inspired to create the song af
ter a pile of human bones dated over
’ 10,000 years old was found in the
Andes Mountains.
“I thought about die ceremony that
had to have taken place in that cave
10,000 years ago,” he said, citing the
thought process that led to the song.
He finished his reading with an
other poem about language, written
during his two years spent an die Rose
bud Sioux Indian Reservation in Saudi
Dakota.
Ortiz ended his lecture by saying
everyone should be adept at using lan
guage, because language was the key
to communication.
“Language is breath,” he said. “It's
consciousness; it’s how we know and
form ourselves.”
Letterman’s
movie critic
sent to jail
XENIA, Ohio (AP) — Fans of
David Letterman won’t be seeing
any movie reviews from Manny the
Hippie for awhile. He was sen
tenced Wednesday to 18 months in
prism for violating probation on a
marijuana-selling conviction.
Manny, whose real name is
Micah Papp, returned from Califor
nia two weeks ago and surrendered
to Ohio officials who spotted him
on “Late Show with David
Letterman.”
In March, Papp pleaded guilty
to selling marijuana to an under
cover policeman and was ordered
to serve five years probation. Au
thorities said he violated the terms
by moving to California without
court permission.
Papp, 20, then appeared fre
quently on Letterman, doing movie
reviews and even taking the host on
a tour of San Francisco’s Haight
Ashbury district, instmctinghim on
street lingo such as “schwag” (bad),
“dank” (good) and “diggity dank"
(quite good).
Please see HIPPIE on 13