Seagal
doesn’t
light‘fire’
1
By Gerry Beltz
Film Critic
Steve - buddy, pal. How and
where did we lose you?
C’mon, you haven’t made a
decent flick since “Under Siege.”
Since then, you’ve either done
overblown cameos (“Executive
Decision”), cookie-cutter sequels
(“Under Siege 2”) or just plain
garbage (“The Glimmer Man”).
Nowadays, you want to say some
thing. You have something on your
mind (besides fungus) and you are
trying to use a popular medium (i.e.
movies) to communicate your views.
A noble gesture, but come down
off the soapbox. It ain’t workin’. “On
Deadly Ground” was the tap on the
shoulder, but “Fire Down Below” is
the bat smackin’ you upside the head.
For this flick, you play
Environmental Protection Agency
agent Jack Taggart. Sent to a small
town in the Appalachians, you inves
tigate a possible illegal toxic-waste
dumping scheme masterminded by
former resident-turned-corporate
bad guy Orin Hanner (Kris
Kristofferson), who rules the town
through a cordless phone, and gets all
the best one-liners.
You meet all the standard cine
matic stereotypes in the town: The
local idiot (Harry Dean Stanton) who
knows a lot more than anyone thinks
he does; the lonely, beautiful, single
woman (Marg Helgenberger) with a
mysterious past who is shunned by
all the local residents; and loads of
rednecks who try to kick your ass
from here to Duluth to get you to
leave town.
wait! l almost torgot about you
trying to date the lonely woman, but
her mysterious past becomes another
subplot to bring to a suitably violent
and issue-addressing closure.
And, of course, all these prob
lems are met and resolved through
the appropriate use of attitude and
ammo.
Sorry if I’m missing anything
here, but those Lite-Brite leather
parkas you were sporting throughout
the movie were a bit distracting. I
hope those things ran off both AC
and DC, or did a Crayola factory
explode and cause all the crayons to
melt onto your clothes?
(Also noticed you’re still keeping
the camera from showing you in pro
file. Eat some fruits and veggies once
Please see FIRE on 13
By Bret Schulte
Senior Reporter
The only thing safer than
opening a bar in Lincoln is to
land it as close to campus as pos
sible - enter Mouse’s Library, the
newest addition to a burgeoning
bar scene spiraling out from its
O-Street epicenter.
Mouse’s Library, 1644 P St.,
has been established in an age
old anchor of the Lincoln-student
liquor life, Herm’s Liquor. The
establishment’s new owners hope
to use the location’s familiarity
to draw customers to the lounge
while maintaining the business
that made Herm’s a local favorite
- off-sale liquor.
Todd and Tommy Mausbach
bought the shop VA years after
Herm’s changed its focus from
strictly off-sale to a sports bar,
renaming itself Herm’s Huddle.
Now the Mausbach brothers have
created a radically different
image inside an old familiar shell
in hopes of drawing the next gen
eration to an old oasis.
“We’re trying to create a
loungey scene still close to cam
pus and O Street,” Tommy
Mausbach said. “We’re going for
a totally different atmosphere
than O Street.”
Designed by Kristen Atchity,
a University of Nebraska
Lincoln architecture graduate
student, the shop’s interior has
been completely gutted and
rebuilt with an industrial, post
modern theme. Highlights
include brushed steel, electric
blue paint and black trim.
“We used all raw materials,
such as metal and wood, without
taking away from its color,”
Tommy Mausbach said.
To complete the lounge
atmosphere, several tables and
benches will be installed, as well
as a bookcase, thus earning the
latter half of the lounge’s name.
Tommy Mausbach said that
“Mouse” is a name both he and
his brother have been called ever
since they were kids, and
“Library” was added in order to
integrate the lounge with its
close proximity to campus.
“We wanted to tie the lounge
into the college life,” he said.
“There seems to be a need for an
intimate loungey hangout close
to campus.”
Expecting the bar to serve as a
springboard for weekend bar
sprees, Tommy Mausbach is
counting on a crowd coming over
from campus in the early evening
looking for a comfortable place
to gather and socialize. Tommy
Mausbach said the lounge will be
kept low-key with an emphasis
on atmosphere rather than mass
consumption.
“We really hope to get the
~Blrl>xrowd,” he said. “We’ve
noticed from parking downtown
that a lot of people walk over
from campus and we want to be
that first stop.”
Tommy Mausbach wants
Mouse’s Lounge to be an alterna
tive to the cattle-like O Street bar
scene of packed taverns and deaf
ening noise levels - but at the
same time, close enough to
downtown that patrons will be
able to join the herd without get
ting lost.
The prices will be competitive
with other bars downtown -
$4.25 pitchers of domestic beers
and specials throughout the
week. The vast majority of sales
will come from the retention of
its off-sale customers from the
building’s days as Herm’s,
Tommy Mausbach said. Special
66
We re going for a
totally different
atmosphere than O
Street”
Tommy Mausbach
co-owner of Mouse’s Library
packages on kegs, taps and cups
will be offered, as well as sales
on cases of beer and other
liquors.
Mouse s Library will hold its }
grand opening this weekend, with
a special game for its new clien
tele. Called “Sneak a Leak,” the
game includes free beer for all’in
the bar - until, that is, someone
either “leaves or relieves,” Todd
Mausbach said. In other words,
free beer will be given to all the
customers attending the grand
opening from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
on Friday and Saturday, until
someone either decides to leave
the premises or simply breaks
into an emergency sprint for the
bathroom. Afterward, normal
prices will resume.
Michael Warren/DN
SUSIE ATWOOD, a bartender at Mouse’s Library serves up a cold one. The grand opening of Mouse’s Library is this weekend. In an event called uSneak a
Leak,” free beer will be served until someone goes to the bathroom or leaves.
Bar looks for new image
Dancer prefers teaching kids to performing
By Liza Holtmeier
Senior Reporter
Ask most dancers, and they
will tell you that 25 is a late age to
begin dancing. That fact has never
bothered Thom Lewis, though.
At 25, Lewis began his career
in dance at the University of
Arizona because “they needed
somebody to lift the girls.” Now,
after 22 years in the field, he trav
els throughout the United States,
performing and teaching work
shops. : . •
On Friday, University of
Nebraska-Lincoln students and
Lincoln residents will have an
opportunity to learn from Lewis’
experiences. Lewis will teach a
9:30 a.m. workshop on partnering
in dance to UNL dancers, and at
12:30 p.m., he will teach the pub
lic creative movement for chil
dren. Both will be held at 304
Mabel Lee Hall. The public work
shop will include basic approach
es to teaching movement to chil
dren, and those interested should
contact Charlotte Adams at 472
1713. Students in the teachers col
lege and educators throughout the
community are encouraged to
attend.
This is not Lewis’ first trip to
Nebraska. Last March, he per
formed with the Arizona-based
company Tenth Street
Danceworks and taught dance and
composition classes.
“He taught movement through
visualization,” said Heather
Schwenzer, a senior dance and
pre-medicine major who partici
pated in the classes last year. “He
was very approachable and he did
a lot of hands-on teaching.”
Since then, Lewis has contin
ued his work with the Arizona
Arts Commission on art programs
in the state’s schools.
“Performing is fine, but teach
ing is what keeps me in dance,”
Lewis said. “For me, it’s the best
way to increase exposure to the
art.”
Though Lewis enjoys working
with trained dancers, he says his
Please see LEWIS on 13
