Page 8 Daily Nebraskan Monday, February 19,2001
Michelle Miller
of Lincoln shuf
fles through a
pile of songs
Thursday night
„ at Duffys
Tavern.
F
j Duffy's offers karaoke
BY CASEY JOHNSON
Admit it. You want to be a
rode star.
And Duffy’s Tavern, along
with its house band Shithook,
have been giving people that
opportunity for years. Even if it's
only a song or two.
“We treat it as a public serv
ice,” laughed Shithook drum
mer Dave Robel. “Everybody
f wants to be a rock star, right?
Even us, so every Thursday we
get Jo play rock star and so do
you and everybody else.”
The band, composed of Phil
Shoemaker (front-man/guitar),
David Boye
(bass/keyboard/vocals), Robel
(drums/vocals) and Steve
Lamphere (guitar/vocals),
formed in 1991 and have been
playing karaoke at Duffy’s, 1412
O St., for about six or seven
years, according to Phil
Shoemaker.
! Tami Jovanelly, a University
of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate
student in groundwater and
hydrology, said she preferred
live karaoke to synthesized
because it added more to the
experience.
“People don’t care if you
screw up because that’s what it
is all about; it’s about having
fun,” she said.
And lots of people are hav
ing fun at Duffy’s every
p Thursday night. As the night
progresses more patrons show
up and the line for karaoke gets
longer. , I
The crowd is an active par
ticipant as well When each song
ends, one could immediately
tell what the crowd thought of
the performance.
Kaitlyn Conner, a UNL sen
ior Spanish major, said she
thought the live version with
Shithook was more fun because
of its entertainment value.
"You don't have to be up
there and actually sing to have
fun," she said. “It’s just hysteri
cal watching everyone else go
up there because it’s kind of a
sink or swim thing."
Those people who may be
nervous about forgetting words
or fouling up the order of a song
need not worry, though.
Patrons who wish to partici
pate pick songs from large
poster board sheets at the front
of the line. The sheets have the
words written on them and act
as a makeshift TelePrompTer
during the song. Those who
wish to participate also have a
large list of numbers to choose
from.
Lamphere said that right
now the band had about 95
songs that they could play, but
participants were not limited to
just those songs.
, “If someone comes up and
wants to play a certain song, we
generally try to play it for them,”
Left: Tamie
Jovanelly,an
UNL graduate
student, sings"!
Will Survive"
Thursday night
at Duffy's
Tavern.
Bottom:
Kaitfyn Conner, a
UNL senior
Spanish major,
does her version
of"PieceofMy
Heart" by Janis
Joplin Thursday
night at Duffys
Tavern. Phil
Shoemaker of
the band
Shithook played
guitar during
karaoke.
he said.
Reed Colton, a graduate stu
dent in environmental engi
neering and an occasional par
ticipant, said that the band just
added another dimension that
gave more life to the experience.
"When you are behind the
(karaoke machine) and you are
listening to someone else's
music, it’s just different,” he
said. “This is a whole lot more
exciting.”
Colton also said that when
he first got on stage he was nerv
ous, but it soon passed.
"Once you get singing and
you hear the band behind you,”
he said, “you forget about it and
just sing.”
Boye said one of the most
interesting parts was watching
the first-timers before and after
they get on stage.
“I love watching them when
they are waiting in line because
sometimes they're just petrified,
and they come up here, and
they have got maybe 150 people
out here watching them, and
they just go crazy,” he said.
Although they have been
playing the gig for more than six
years, the band has rarely
missed a show, which is evident
by a story that Shoemaker told.
“One time Dave the drum
mer over slept and didn’t make
it down here, so we ended up
pulling a kid out of the crowd.”
Steven Bender/DH
Reeves, Theron have heat
to burn in 'November'
BY SARAH SUMNER
Imagine a life that capture the
happy easy of a walk or the
delight of a small boat race that
* opens the eyes of die materialistic
and those who are wrapped up
with life’s pleasures and pains.
A sweet love story with a twist,
“SweetNovember” tugs at the
heartstrings, makes you laugh
from your gut and helps you to
appreciate the honest, little
things in life.
Sarah (Charlize Theron) is a
woman who has had success and
money, but opted out of the
chaos of big business pet groom
ing for a simpler kind of life. She
takes care of small animals, sav
ing them from research. She
makes them strong and finds
homes for them. In a way, she
does the same kind of favor for
men.
Sarah takes one man into her
apartment for one month to
teach and help him to take joy in
everyday events without reserva
tions.
Soon, she comes across
Nelson (Keanu Reeves), an adver
tising executive who is extremely
involved with his work and has no
room for anything else. The
chance meeting happens at the
. Vt'
Department of Motor Vehicles.
He gets her thrown out because
he tries to cheat off of her, and
now she is going to use him to get
a ride and have a roommate for a
month. It takes some convincing,
but he succumbs.
This is Theron and Reeves
second feature together, the first
being “The Devil’s Advocate”
where they played husband and
wife. The have an on-screen
chemistry that is genuine, cute
and at times explosive.
Theron has become a com
mon face in films in a short time.
She's been in “The Cider House
Rules,” "Reindeer Games” and
“Two Days in the Valley.” She
seems to throw herself into her
acting and come across as an
accessible and fine actor.
Though she may be spread
ing herself a little thin with role
after role so close together in
time, her pleasant face and
endearing qualities make her a
joy to watch. She shows child-like
characteristics of being enter
tained by the little things, finding
delight in the most practical
things such as cooking, going to
si >
the park all day or having dinner
with friends. She makes us
believe that these things are what
she and life are about. Theron
puts a truth to her character that
makes her believable and real.
Reeves is all business - a real
jerk to anyone who gets in the
way of his career, always wanting
to be in the limelight. Reeves
seems to enjoy the power that
projects in his high marketing
scenes.
He does it well. He transforms
from an egotistical persona to a
man willing to seek change for
the sake of love. The acting is con
sistent, and they never seem to
skip a beat with the challenges
they are facing.
“Sweet November” is a loving
story with heartache, humor and
devotion. It helps that it has some
of the most attractive people in
Hollywood as the main players -
eye candy. It may go a little off the
deep end with some of its themes
of monthly courtships and giving
up one lifestyle for a different type'
of lifestyle, but it is kind and inter
esting from start to finish.
“Sweet November." Starring
Charlize Theron, Keanu Reeves.
Directed by Pat O’Connor. Rated
PG-13 for adult language and sit
uations. Playing at the Plaza 4.
A
Rush magnificent in 'Quills'
BY BILLY SMUCK
“Quills” is a provocative yet
amusing tale that takes an in
depth look at the consequences of
limiting self-expression and how
repression can backfire.
Based upon a true story set
200 years ago in Paris, “Quills”
focuses on the last years of
Marquis de Sade, a pornographic
novelist played by Geoffrey Rush.
Incarcerated in the Charenton
Asylum for the Insane, Sade is well
looked after by the compassionate
Abbe Coulmier (Joaquin
Phoenix), the supervising priest of
Charenton who believes in pro
gressive therapy and rehabilita
tion.
Sade’s living quarters look
more like a lavishly decorated
hotel suite than a chamber in an
18th Century insane asylum.
Surprisingly, Sade is not nearly
as obsessed with the act of sex as
he is with the idea of it. His com
pulsion is the creation of sexually
graphic stories in a lewd and
humorous fashion, drawing
much attention, which is both
critical and adoring.
Through the assistance of a
laundry maid (Kate Winslet), Sade
is able to get his writing to a pub
lisher. After his latest work,
“Justine," reaches the public,
Napoleon is outraged and sends
Dr. Royer-Collard (Michael Caine)
to cure Sade of his sinful madness.
Royer-Collard, who practices
an old fashioned, barbaric and
aggressive treatment, unknow
ingly becomes an opponent to
Sade, whose confidence, influ
ence and genius amazingly stand
up to Collard’s authority for a
while.
Royer-Collard turns out to be a
hypocrite posing to be a moralist
when it is revealed that Royer
Collard has married a 16-year-old
girl, whom he is old enough to
have fathered twice over. Once
Sade learns of the marriage, he
gathers some of the other inmates
to poke fun at Royer-Collard’s per
sonal life by performing a play
titled “Crimes of Love.”
After indecently exposing and
humiliating Royer-Collard, Sade
has gone too far, inviting Royer
Collard’s wrath in what turns out
to be a personal war that severely
threatens Sade’s pampered
lifestyle. The unforgiving Royer
Collard is insistent on at least
silencing Sade even if he can’t rid
him of the toxin&in his mind.
The more Sade is reprimand
ed, the harder he becomes to
ignore. Even when his quill pens,
ink and paper are taken from him,
he continues to write with a chick
en bone and red wine on his bed
sheets, and that’s only the begin
ning of his desperate antics. He
later turns to more extreme and
unthinkable measures in order to
continue writing.
Sade's perversion is ignited
through his perseverance, and
while many may not agree with
his behavior, there is certainly
something to be admired in his
persistence to salvage his artistic
channel and outlet of self expres
sion.
Sade is able to endure a great
amount of suffering at the hands
of Royer-Collard, and the audi
ence can’t help but be compelled
to root for Sade in the midst of his
underdog situation.
Rush’s performance as well as
the writing of Doug Wright are the
film's greatest attributes. Rush
turns in a marvelous performance
that is worthy of his best-actor
Oscar nomination.
In fact, Rush’s performance
elevates the quality of this film,
which takes a look at the reverse
effect of outside forces seeking to
quiet an artist's work no matter
how controversial it may be.
“Quills” can also be praised for
addressing timeless issues and
drawing parallels to the censor
ship of material in today’s society
while asking questions that will
continue to perplex the bound
aries of art for years to come.
“Quills.” Starring Geoffrey
Rush, Michael Caine, Kate
Winslet and Joaquin Phoenix.
Directed by Philip Kaufman.
Rated R for strong sexual content
including language dialogue and
violence. Playing at Plaza 4.