Press celebrates
move to Haymarket
'Betty7 brings twisted humor
I university of
>ka Press
JoshWotfe/DN
The new University Press building at 233 N.8th St will be cele
brated with a series of events this week.
i ( h H u I I of I v • n t f
took -Design Presentations;
Talk* by Univers ity of Nebraska Press designers
end display of award-winning book designs
idftorfoll
10 am How to Get your Scholarly Book Pub
lished
Participants; Gary Dunham, Ladette
Randolph, Sue Breckenridge, Sandra Johnshon
Moderator; Clark Whitehorn
1 pm. Writing About Native America
Participants; Robert f
Deiphine Red Shirt
: Bringhurst, Diane Giancy,
Moderator; Gary Dunham
3 pm Writing Creative Non-Fiction
Participants; Mary Clearman Blew, Hilda Raz,
Use Knopp,WiiliamKloefkorn Moderator;
Ladette Randolph
took Solet
9 am-5 pm
Held at the University Bookstore, Nebraska
Union plaza, A large selection of University of
Nebraska Press Books
Open House Reception;
4;30 pm-6;30 pm
Hors d' Oeurves, conversation with University of
Nebraska Press staff and honored guests.
BY CRYSTAL K.W1EBE
The University of Nebraska
Press is holding a series of events
this week in celebration of its
recent move to the heart of the
Haymarket at 233 N. 8th St
The events begin with book
design presentations today. Other
events include editorial and writ
ing workshops on Wednesday
and a book sale at the University
Bookstore on Thursday and
Friday.
The press sees many advan
tages in its move. *
With the press warehouse just
a block away, the new location is a
convenient way to “sort of
impress local authors,” said Erika
Kuebler Rippeteau, press
Publicity Manager.
According to Rippeteau, the
press is responsible for publishing
books on a variety of subjects as
diverse as Native Americans and
foreign-language translation.
“We run the gamut between
addressing local and regional
concerns to addressing concerns
around the world,” Rippeteau
said.
Part of its growth includes
encouraging university students
to consider careers in the publish
ing field.
“We really are interested in
getting students interested in the
career of publishing. It’s sort of out
there, but people don’t know
much about it We wish to present
publishing as a vital career choice
for students,” Rippeteau said.
Part of this week’s events
include a traveling show of
award-winning book designs cur
rently on display at the press
office.
Today's book-design presen
tations will include professional
designers who will talk about and
demonstrate what they do.
According to Rippeteau, “a
number of authors who either are
Native or have written about
Native subjects” will be on hand
during tomorrow’s editorial and
writing workshops.
Author William S. E. Coleman
will autograph copies of his book
during the book sale on Thursday.
Coleman, who is a theater arts
professor at Drake University in
Des Moines, Iowa, spent nearly 30
years gathering information for
his narrative “Voices of Wounded
Knee.”
Using first-person accounts
from American Indians and white
soldiers, Coleman said, he creat
ed a mosaic of the massacre. -
“Part of the technique is let
ting the whites tell what hap
pened and let the Indians tell
what happened and let the reader
decide who’s telling the truth,” he
said.
Coleman described the mas
sacre as a “tragic moment in
American history,” which many
newspapers reported without
checking facts.
The events will end Sunday
with an open house reception
from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the
University of Nebraska Press
office.
The reception will include
free hors d’oeuvres and toasts at
5:30 p.m.
Exhibits of press books and
awards also wifi be on display.
All events are free, and shuttle
bus service will be available.
BY KAREN BROWN
“Nurse Betty” isn’t so horrible for the
amount of outrageously bad movies
we’ve had this year. Besides, it has
Crispin Glover (Roy) who is one of my
favorites.
It wasn’t a deep movie, but it was
entertaining and strange enough to keep
it interesting. It’s definitely a dark come
dy, considering how much violence is
intertwined with the strange humor and
it will leave you with mixed emotions
throughout, asking yourself, “Do I laugh,
or do I shriek?"
“Nurse Betty” was directed by Neil
LaBute, whose writing/directing credits
include “In the Company of Men” (1997)
and "Your Friends and Neighbors”
(1998). Don’t see “Nurse Betty” expecting
the morbidity of “In the Company”
because the writers are different, and
LaBute moves his camera much more in
“Nurse Betty” than either of the other
movies.
Renee Zellweger plays Betty
Sizemore, who is not a nurse and therein
lies the first plot twist.
Let’s just say she’s a waitress (because
she is) and that she is addicted to a soap
opera in which she is in love with Dr.
David Ravell (Greg Kinnear).
Her obsession with the soap either 1)
helps her cope with the fact that she wit
nesses her husband's brutal murder or 2)
it is a major setback considering it makes
her forget what she has seen, and she
starts living in a dream world.
Blocking out reality isn’t all that bad,
especially when your husband is even
faintly comparable to Betty’s. He dries
his hands on the curtains, eats Betty’s
birthday cupcake and has sex with his
secretary at work.
Is it any wonder Betty is in love with
the crystal blue-eyed Kinnear?
Perhaps the writer of this movie,
John C. Richards, is on to something
when he ties in the idea that women lose
themselves in soap operas
because their hus
bands are jerks.
H m m m ,
break
through
idea.
The scene in which Betty first meets
Dr. David Ravell is quite humorous as he
plays along with her “commitment to
character.” He thinks she is a wonderful
actress who knows every line of the soap
word for word, not realizing she is men
tally ill and a few cards short of a full deck.
Their onscreen chemistry works
well, as does the other duo of Wesley
(Chris Rock) and Charlie (Morgan
Freeman) who are father and son.
They are the enemy and seem to be
fashioned after Ben Affleck and Matt
Damon as the fallen angels in the movie
“Dogma." However, in "Nurse Betty,” the
“fallen angels” are aimless, cruel and
unreflective.
At least in “Dogma” they were think
ing about their “job” on several planes
and contemplating philosophical/bibli
cal questions while murdering millions.
Rock and Freeman are simply hitmen
who sell drugs.
There is no profound revelation into
their souls, there is no mercy... at least
on Rock's part who has inexorable anger
for everything and everyone. Freeman
becomes obsessed with Betty and shows
a soft side, but that tames his killer
instinct by only a minute amount.
Let’s just overlook the fact that these
evil protagonists are African-American.
No matter. The movie later balances out
the stereotypes by including a bilingual
(Spanish/English) woman and a scene in
which two Spanish-speaking women
have a conversation! This can’t be a
Hollywood movie.
Or can it? Let’s see, the music was not
Top 40, and it was nice to hear. It was
original and not too demanding of the
viewer’s attention. It came in at the right
times and did what music is supposed to
do - accent the visuals and the dialogue.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a
Hollywood movie or not, it
worked. It served it’s purpose
to make people laugh and
had a fairly original script.
For that, I would recom
mend it for a night of
entertainment
m i
|;Mi< ! /< llvVf {'M,
1/(0) I K ( lup)t
i •!.'•(! KtniiC ..I,
ifliij' lioih
i; (vi< >i( \\(<■,
1-.1 o.));,.(»( ,.i:(!
)• •!i! y i
Nurse Betty
-(Director
★ of 4 stars
Album is refreshingly natural,
unlike most music these davs
BY ANDREW SHAW
Chris Smither did it the hard
way, never succumbing to the
pop-rock scene but writing and
performing music according to
his own life and mind.
A member of the blues revival
of the 1960s, Smither still per
forms regularly in coffee shops
worldwide.
Born and raised in New
Orleans, Smither learned to play
the ukulele at a young age and
transferred his talent for ukulele
picking to the acoustic guitar.
Realizing that New Orleans did
not offer everything a growing
bluesman needed, Smither
migrated to Boston, where he met
and performed with Bonnie Raitt.
In the 1980s Smither suc
cumbed to alcoholism, but even
tually managed to fight back. He is
sober and back on the road,
scheduled to perform in small
venues in North America and
Europe through April 2001.
On “Live As I’ll Ever Be,”
Smither exposes his talents in the
truest form of blues music. Armed
with only his expert guitar playing,
his rough blues-laden voice and
his storyteller tunes, Smither pro
duced an enchanting album of
beautiful music.
It is not easy to encounter
such naturally pleasing recorded
music in today’s industry. Smither
hides behind no gimmicks, sam
ples, distorted electric guitar or
even percussion beyond the
stomping of his foot, but his music
is completely mystifying.
This might be partly because
he writes simple but effective
songs based on his life’s journey. In
“No Love Today,” Smither paints
the picture of his childhood town
where, like the familiar tinkling of
the ice cream man’s truck, a pro
duce seller would walk down the
street, shouting the daily produce,
“I got banana, watermelon,
peaches by the pound... but I got
no love today.”
Smither’s lazy voice and folk
blues melodies, though not
diverse, are pleasantly familiar
and reminiscent of a time when
music wasn’t about money but
about the conveyance of experi
ences and personal thoughts.
Trip-pop takes Lincoln stage
BY MAUREEN GALLAGHER
GOODING, a solo musician from Wichita, KS,
is living the dream of thousands across the coun
try.
He is set to release his fifth album, 3X, on Sept.
19, and is currently on the largest tour of his career,
with a stop at Knickerbocker’s tonight.
GOODING will be joined on stage by Jesse
Reichenberger on drums and Bryan Kelly on bass.
The three began playing together in high school
when they served as the rhythm section for their
high school jazz band.
However, the show tonight will be a far cry from
listening to a high school jazz band.
GOODING plays what can best be described as
guitar-based trip-hop accompanied by a multime
dia show. He is excited about the overall effect, say
ing, “This is definitely the best live show I’ve ever
done.”
GOODING first got into music at age four when
he received a KISS album from his father. He con
tinued to be a music fan throughout his formative
years, listening to Prince, Sting and U2, and
dreamed of one day playing music live onstage.
And those years of being a KISS fan had their
lasting effect- to this day GOODING strives to not
only play music, but to put on a good show.
GOOD
ING achieves
that goal by
way of a film
screen that
broadcasts
various
images dur
ing his live
show.
The roots
of the multi
media show
perhaps also
lie in movies.
GOODING has always been a fan of movies and
movie soundtracks, citing Eric Sarah, who scored
“The Fifth Element," “The Professional" and “The
Messenger," as a major influence.
Right now GOODING is working on the sound
track to a Wade Hampton film entitled “It’s a
Wonderful Death,” though juggling the schedule
has been a little difficult.
“There’s not much time to do everything
because I'm booked for the next three months, but
I’m excited to be on the road, playing some good
music, ” GOODING said.
Performance Preview