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(04/14/05 4:00am)
"Revolution 9," John Lennon's noise experiment from the Beatles' White Album, was different than anything that had come before it. Thirty-five years later the Books' third album, Lost and Safe, expands on the landscape created by "Revolution 9." It's more listenable and a full-length album.\nThe American/Dutch duo of Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong improvise with traditional string instruments and their extensive collection of found sound samples. The result: an electro-acoustic collage of folk, baroque and indie rock that uses familiar sounds in an unfamiliar way.\nOn 2003's The Lemon of Pink, East Coast wanderer Anne Doerner's voice penetrates that album's aleatoric, minimalist scrambling of Appalachian and Cajun folk as prettily as ever -- so much that I would never want to see a picture of her because I don't believe it could live up to that voice. At times, Lemon is as reflective and serene as a still night with waves lapping on the beach. Other times the schizophrenic cut-and-pasted space-time sequences are as ruffled as Seinfeld's "puffy" shirt.\nStill, on Lost the group one-ups itself by letting de Jong's voice become the 'vocal' point. The cellist's distorted voice evokes Sigur Rós' Jon Por Birgisson. The lyrics are socially and psychologically conscious, delivering Built to Spill-esque bipolar similes indicating both positive and negative values, at times also seeming to give words to the noises being produced.\nLost is weird from the start. Each song sounds like a book on tape with a beat behind it. "A Little Longing Goes a Long Way" reminds me of the glacial burr migrations of Sigur Rós interspersed with the atmospherically close, homogenized electronica of Air, though it's uniquely not. "Be Good to Them Always" sounds simultaneously like ancient and apocalyptical post-rock, with interjections of dissonant orchestral outbursts disbursed next to manipulated yet sincerely urgent news clip sound bites and dialogue. Full of unbridled, merry-go-round enthusiasm, "Vogt Dig for Kloppervok" is a human melody fighting at once through chaos and progress. "An Animated Description of Mr. Maps" utilizes Blue-Man-Group-ian tribal pipes cracking. As for the rest, taut string work is heard above elements of timbre, vinyl static and birds crowing, never quite soaring to a peak.\nWith more moments of peaceful, illogical fluency, Lemon remains my favorite Books effort to date, but Lost grows on me with every listen. In this independent duo's music, as the album title suggests, one can lose themselves and at the same time feel nevertheless surely protected. Admittedly, the musically chaotic Lost is not for everyone, but it is truly innovative. And if it suits you, the Books make for especially good reading music.
(04/13/05 4:41am)
"Revolution 9," John Lennon's noise experiment from the Beatles' White Album, was different than anything that had come before it. Thirty-five years later the Books' third album, Lost and Safe, expands on the landscape created by "Revolution 9." It's more listenable and a full-length album.\nThe American/Dutch duo of Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong improvise with traditional string instruments and their extensive collection of found sound samples. The result: an electro-acoustic collage of folk, baroque and indie rock that uses familiar sounds in an unfamiliar way.\nOn 2003's The Lemon of Pink, East Coast wanderer Anne Doerner's voice penetrates that album's aleatoric, minimalist scrambling of Appalachian and Cajun folk as prettily as ever -- so much that I would never want to see a picture of her because I don't believe it could live up to that voice. At times, Lemon is as reflective and serene as a still night with waves lapping on the beach. Other times the schizophrenic cut-and-pasted space-time sequences are as ruffled as Seinfeld's "puffy" shirt.\nStill, on Lost the group one-ups itself by letting de Jong's voice become the 'vocal' point. The cellist's distorted voice evokes Sigur Rós' Jon Por Birgisson. The lyrics are socially and psychologically conscious, delivering Built to Spill-esque bipolar similes indicating both positive and negative values, at times also seeming to give words to the noises being produced.\nLost is weird from the start. Each song sounds like a book on tape with a beat behind it. "A Little Longing Goes a Long Way" reminds me of the glacial burr migrations of Sigur Rós interspersed with the atmospherically close, homogenized electronica of Air, though it's uniquely not. "Be Good to Them Always" sounds simultaneously like ancient and apocalyptical post-rock, with interjections of dissonant orchestral outbursts disbursed next to manipulated yet sincerely urgent news clip sound bites and dialogue. Full of unbridled, merry-go-round enthusiasm, "Vogt Dig for Kloppervok" is a human melody fighting at once through chaos and progress. "An Animated Description of Mr. Maps" utilizes Blue-Man-Group-ian tribal pipes cracking. As for the rest, taut string work is heard above elements of timbre, vinyl static and birds crowing, never quite soaring to a peak.\nWith more moments of peaceful, illogical fluency, Lemon remains my favorite Books effort to date, but Lost grows on me with every listen. In this independent duo's music, as the album title suggests, one can lose themselves and at the same time feel nevertheless surely protected. Admittedly, the musically chaotic Lost is not for everyone, but it is truly innovative. And if it suits you, the Books make for especially good reading music.
(04/07/05 4:00am)
"National Lampoon's Gold Diggers" is a bad movie. Possibly the stupidest, most boring flick ever made since the beginning of time.\nPlayboy Bunny Nikki Ziering is on the DVD's cover. This implies a crude comedy with at least one-sided sex appeal going for it, but Ziering's part is smaller than her swimsuit. Her bare breasts themselves don't make it worth watching Cal (Will Friedle of "Boy Meets World") and Lenny (Chris Owen, the sex-addicted nerd in "American Pie") drag the plot along the other 98 percent of the time.\nTheir broads, Doris (former Woody Allen leading lady Louise Lasser) and Betty (Renée Taylor, Oscar-nominated writer-actress) bring name recognition to the credits -- that is if you were young during disco. True, they're old, but they do clean up nice. Picture an old woman in a sexy nurse's uniform -- or on second thought, just rent this DVD!\nOrphaned and broke, Cal and Lenny set out for the American dream by marrying Betty and Doris for their money -- only, psych! The newlywed husbands don't know their wives' fortune, made from Dad's invention of sausage wrap condoms, has been siphoned away by their nut job uncle. Each side plots to use the other via marriage and murder for inheritance and life insurance.\nThe comedy's script is banal, comic timing is nonexistent and anticipated gags are stretched further than "your mom" jokes were in middle school. Its unoriginal scenes include a knocking-over-an-urn bit, a geek strolling around in a smoking jacket after sex and the wear-a-suit-of-steaks-and-get-attacked-by-a-doberman routine (see: "Meet the Parents," "Revenge of the Nerds" and "Jackass: The Movie").\nI hate to say it, but the latter half of the movie actually does have a bit of spirit, and I actually smiled (just once!) when the scheming couples argue and then come to terms.\nBetty tells Cal, "Killing me is one thing, but you hurt my feelings," after they take turns insulting each other's privates. Meanwhile, Lenny and Doris realize some of the best relationships begin with attempted murder, one saying to the other, "There's not a person alive who doesn't at one time or another think about killing their spouse." These two fantasize of growing old together at the ripe ages of 80 and 130.\nThe DVD's extras include 10 deleted scenes, bloopers, gold-digging tips, the trailer and outtakes of Ziering topless, hence the absence of the movie's original PG-13 rating.\nGuys, it's not worth it. "Gold Diggers" is a DVD I give three pointing structures of my body way down.
(04/06/05 4:34am)
"National Lampoon's Gold Diggers" is a bad movie. Possibly the stupidest, most boring flick ever made since the beginning of time.\nPlayboy Bunny Nikki Ziering is on the DVD's cover. This implies a crude comedy with at least one-sided sex appeal going for it, but Ziering's part is smaller than her swimsuit. Her bare breasts themselves don't make it worth watching Cal (Will Friedle of "Boy Meets World") and Lenny (Chris Owen, the sex-addicted nerd in "American Pie") drag the plot along the other 98 percent of the time.\nTheir broads, Doris (former Woody Allen leading lady Louise Lasser) and Betty (Renée Taylor, Oscar-nominated writer-actress) bring name recognition to the credits -- that is if you were young during disco. True, they're old, but they do clean up nice. Picture an old woman in a sexy nurse's uniform -- or on second thought, just rent this DVD!\nOrphaned and broke, Cal and Lenny set out for the American dream by marrying Betty and Doris for their money -- only, psych! The newlywed husbands don't know their wives' fortune, made from Dad's invention of sausage wrap condoms, has been siphoned away by their nut job uncle. Each side plots to use the other via marriage and murder for inheritance and life insurance.\nThe comedy's script is banal, comic timing is nonexistent and anticipated gags are stretched further than "your mom" jokes were in middle school. Its unoriginal scenes include a knocking-over-an-urn bit, a geek strolling around in a smoking jacket after sex and the wear-a-suit-of-steaks-and-get-attacked-by-a-doberman routine (see: "Meet the Parents," "Revenge of the Nerds" and "Jackass: The Movie").\nI hate to say it, but the latter half of the movie actually does have a bit of spirit, and I actually smiled (just once!) when the scheming couples argue and then come to terms.\nBetty tells Cal, "Killing me is one thing, but you hurt my feelings," after they take turns insulting each other's privates. Meanwhile, Lenny and Doris realize some of the best relationships begin with attempted murder, one saying to the other, "There's not a person alive who doesn't at one time or another think about killing their spouse." These two fantasize of growing old together at the ripe ages of 80 and 130.\nThe DVD's extras include 10 deleted scenes, bloopers, gold-digging tips, the trailer and outtakes of Ziering topless, hence the absence of the movie's original PG-13 rating.\nGuys, it's not worth it. "Gold Diggers" is a DVD I give three pointing structures of my body way down.
(03/31/05 5:00am)
While most everyone has a tale of heartbreak, few have articulated it as Beck did on 2002's Sea Change. Presented in breezy acoustic arrangements and worn-out vocals, Beck's look at his breakup with a longtime girlfriend saw the eternally-choirboy-looking recording artist extremely bummed, bringing about such melancholic triumphs of abandonment and failure as "The Golden Age" and "Lost Cause."\nGuero (translation: "White Boy") finds Beck feeling like his old self once again. The album lacks the inspiration and heartfelt testimonial soul of Sea Change, but his self-styled funk -- funky as three-day-old underpants -- makes up for this thanks to the production of the Dust Brothers, co-producers of one of Beck's most adored albums, 1996's Odelay. \nThe first half of Guero begins on an Odelay-ish note, immediately launching into raucously loud guitars and a Beastie Boys-sampled beat on the single "E-Pro." In "Qué Onda Guero" ("Where You Going, White Boy?"), Beck raps in Spanglish during a catchy loop of car horns and L.A. barrio street banter. I took to it immediately, if for no other reason because of its striking similarity to Control Machete's theme "Si Señor" from the Mexican film "Amores Perros."\nOf course, Beck's knack for gathering and absorbing ideas from those around him has always been his appeal -- each Beck album is a study and homage to a different style. During a time when no one in real life likes country AND hip-hop, he is especially adept at mish-mashing genres, fusing horndog junk-funk, pickup truck twang, Southern blues, rhyming dance party anthems and, this time around, gringo Latin flavor.\nI was surprised to hear Beck play the Guess Who's "American Woman" guitar riff in between the heavy bass-backed, '60s-psychedelia groove and tambourine crunch of "Black Tambourine." Four songs later, a folkified "Billie Jean" beat is the backbone to "Scarecrow," a paranoid stoner's walkabout.\n"Broken Drum" is the only song that comes close at all to being mistaken for a Sea Change B-side. In "Go It Alone," Jack White of the famously bass-less White Stripes shows up on bass. "Girl" is easily a sunny day, windows down hit. \nIn the same way that new R.E.M. albums sound more or less like the older ones, this album is essentially classic Beck with a few highlights. Guero is an album for the true Beck-head.
(03/30/05 4:44am)
While most everyone has a tale of heartbreak, few have articulated it as Beck did on 2002's Sea Change. Presented in breezy acoustic arrangements and worn-out vocals, Beck's look at his breakup with a longtime girlfriend saw the eternally-choirboy-looking recording artist extremely bummed, bringing about such melancholic triumphs of abandonment and failure as "The Golden Age" and "Lost Cause."\nGuero (translation: "White Boy") finds Beck feeling like his old self once again. The album lacks the inspiration and heartfelt testimonial soul of Sea Change, but his self-styled funk -- funky as three-day-old underpants -- makes up for this thanks to the production of the Dust Brothers, co-producers of one of Beck's most adored albums, 1996's Odelay. \nThe first half of Guero begins on an Odelay-ish note, immediately launching into raucously loud guitars and a Beastie Boys-sampled beat on the single "E-Pro." In "Qué Onda Guero" ("Where You Going, White Boy?"), Beck raps in Spanglish during a catchy loop of car horns and L.A. barrio street banter. I took to it immediately, if for no other reason because of its striking similarity to Control Machete's theme "Si Señor" from the Mexican film "Amores Perros."\nOf course, Beck's knack for gathering and absorbing ideas from those around him has always been his appeal -- each Beck album is a study and homage to a different style. During a time when no one in real life likes country AND hip-hop, he is especially adept at mish-mashing genres, fusing horndog junk-funk, pickup truck twang, Southern blues, rhyming dance party anthems and, this time around, gringo Latin flavor.\nI was surprised to hear Beck play the Guess Who's "American Woman" guitar riff in between the heavy bass-backed, '60s-psychedelia groove and tambourine crunch of "Black Tambourine." Four songs later, a folkified "Billie Jean" beat is the backbone to "Scarecrow," a paranoid stoner's walkabout.\n"Broken Drum" is the only song that comes close at all to being mistaken for a Sea Change B-side. In "Go It Alone," Jack White of the famously bass-less White Stripes shows up on bass. "Girl" is easily a sunny day, windows down hit. \nIn the same way that new R.E.M. albums sound more or less like the older ones, this album is essentially classic Beck with a few highlights. Guero is an album for the true Beck-head.
(03/24/05 5:00am)
After playing it again and again, Stars' Set Yourself on Fire hasn't failed to impress me. The twee electronic pop album by the Montreal-based band (who, by the way, includes several members of Broken Social Scene) is its third release and the first I've heard. It will be uplifting to some ears and too pansy for others.\nStars are romantics and Fire distinguishes them as such throughout its 13 songs. Navigating recovery from the emotional nadirs of a failed relationship, the prevalent attitude seems to be that of determined optimists not looking for condolences but instead a kind of going on when — no matter where one goes — the working sadness of love lost always follows close behind. Each track succeeds in taking you out of whatever lovelorn or reflective moment the previous one had you in by finding and transmitting another that's equally aurally pleasing and feel-good.\nThe dueling boy-girl diary page confessionals by Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell have a Belle & Sebastian sort of art school cleverness and lyrical drama to them, as well as overblown sentimentality very much akin to that of the Postal Service. The songs cross gorgeous cascading string arrangements, a melody-leading bass line, piano and percussion with Stereolab-meets-Air electronica, fusing emotive, almost repetitive rhythms with dynamic, firefly-like atmospheres.\nFire's first single "Ageless Beauty" is propelled by a restless tempo and singer Millan's feathery chords. "One More Night (Your Ex-Lover Remains Dead)" is a slower-paced and seductive he-said/she-said ballad about two lovers' last night in bed. The track lures you through a seductive concoction of instrumentation and breathy verse, Millan crooning at one point, "He drops to his knees/Says,'Please my love please/I'll kill who you hate/Take off that dress you won't freeze.'"\nThe last four songs shift the mood a little, straying from warring lovers to war itself to the soft revolution (killing the bad guys with love). In "He Lied About Death," a machine gun shower noise seers through an anti-Bush diatribe, and "Celebration Guns" is a workout between the string section and pulsed fireworks as Millan sings a stirring lullaby for the fallen.\nGoing through a breakup is always a painful period, but Stars' rollicking approach of 'and now, time for a little song and dance' is a good way to pick up and build something anew. Put some jeans and Stars on -- perfect headphones pop -- and you'll be ready to start a new day no matter your relationship status.
(03/23/05 5:34am)
When I was little, riding a bike came almost as natural as walking to me.\nI had this sit-down scooter bike I always used and I don't know how long it was before I could actually walk. I'd get off the floor, climb onto the scooter and wheel around our hardwood floors. It took a while before Mom realized I was going wherever I needed by riding it and that I couldn't walk, couldn't even toddle, and that was about the time the scooter disappeared on me. Ever since, bicycling's been an innate way for me to move around.\nStill, when I came to Bloomington the thought of riding in the Little 500 never crossed my mind. When you've never followed bicycling as a sport and don't know anyone who does, it's hard to consider. And you need a fast bike and "Postal Service" stamped onto your chest; not to mention a helmet, bike shorts, tights, gloves and shades.\nI remember, the first time ever keeping a journal, writing a line from the french film "Amélie," an old Frenchman saying, "Luck is like the Tour de France. Everyone waits for it and then it flashes past. Catch it while you can."\nOr maybe I wrote it down wrong, and it was love he likened to the famous bike race. Who knows, but two years later I'm riding the 55th annual Little 500 -- the premier college intramural event in the country! -- because of just that: luck.\nA chance meeting at a party with Alfonso Lerma did me in. Conversation turned to sports, and boom, boom, boom, before you know it we're teammates for the race. He says he's into biking, while I bike to campus everyday and love it.\n"Really?" he asks. "Want to ride Little 500?"\nI say sure, sounds good. I would if I could, but I don't have a good-enough bike and am too lazy to train with a loaner.\n"We can get you a bike," he says. A few days later, I meet our coach Tim Stockton, who gives me a nice old Schwinn to use. As a poor college student with nothing to lose but money, I pick up the necessary essentials next, including a semi-pricey biking shirt if only to fit in with all the Lance Armstrongs on the road. All set. Once you have on tight shorts with padding in the butt, that's when you know this is something that's really going to happen.\nIf anything, I figured all this training would get me into shape for running the Little Fifty, which I ran last year because of a similar lucky encounter while running laps at the Student Recreational Sports Complex. Our team, Pi Omega Tau, placed second and had a really good time with it. But a month into training, it's apparent a bicycle race is going to involve more than going for a jog or a bike ride here and there. The Little Fifty was a pretty good experience and racing both this year will be a trip.\nAlfonso, Greg Schultz, David Foong and I began training together a month ago as Mezcla, which is Spanish for "the mix." We're La Casa's team, although I wouldn't say we're exactly racing for pride in the lineage. Alfonso's Latino, but he, Greg and I are all homegrown Hoosiers. David's Singaporean. In addition, our ages span five years and all grade levels, and Greg and David have both served in the military. Mezcla describes us pretty well.\nNone of us have seen the race itself besides "Breaking Away," and we can't even imagine what it's going to be like. Even though everyone but me has more biking experience than biking across campus, we are all rookies to the race.\nSo far, schoolwork has cost us a lot of time on the bikes. Training has consisted of taking Cycle Fit classes at the SRSC, working out at an abandoned Ashton building that coach got us permission to use, and going for road rides when the weather is forgiving enough. On nice days, the scenery of the Monroe countryside is definitely a 9.5.\nAt any rate, all of this is only to say that things can happen just like that -- all of a sudden, boom, boom, boom -- meet someone at a party, find yourself with a bike one way or another, get a sponsor, fill out some forms and you've got "rookie week" to deal with at the track. And new friends to do it with. I'll let you know how it goes.
(03/23/05 4:40am)
After playing it again and again, Stars' Set Yourself on Fire hasn't failed to impress me. The twee electronic pop album by the Montreal-based band (who, by the way, includes several members of Broken Social Scene) is its third release and the first I've heard. It will be uplifting to some ears and too pansy for others.\nStars are romantics and Fire distinguishes them as such throughout its 13 songs. Navigating recovery from the emotional nadirs of a failed relationship, the prevalent attitude seems to be that of determined optimists not looking for condolences but instead a kind of going on when — no matter where one goes — the working sadness of love lost always follows close behind. Each track succeeds in taking you out of whatever lovelorn or reflective moment the previous one had you in by finding and transmitting another that's equally aurally pleasing and feel-good.\nThe dueling boy-girl diary page confessionals by Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell have a Belle & Sebastian sort of art school cleverness and lyrical drama to them, as well as overblown sentimentality very much akin to that of the Postal Service. The songs cross gorgeous cascading string arrangements, a melody-leading bass line, piano and percussion with Stereolab-meets-Air electronica, fusing emotive, almost repetitive rhythms with dynamic, firefly-like atmospheres.\nFire's first single "Ageless Beauty" is propelled by a restless tempo and singer Millan's feathery chords. "One More Night (Your Ex-Lover Remains Dead)" is a slower-paced and seductive he-said/she-said ballad about two lovers' last night in bed. The track lures you through a seductive concoction of instrumentation and breathy verse, Millan crooning at one point, "He drops to his knees/Says,'Please my love please/I'll kill who you hate/Take off that dress you won't freeze.'"\nThe last four songs shift the mood a little, straying from warring lovers to war itself to the soft revolution (killing the bad guys with love). In "He Lied About Death," a machine gun shower noise seers through an anti-Bush diatribe, and "Celebration Guns" is a workout between the string section and pulsed fireworks as Millan sings a stirring lullaby for the fallen.\nGoing through a breakup is always a painful period, but Stars' rollicking approach of 'and now, time for a little song and dance' is a good way to pick up and build something anew. Put some jeans and Stars on -- perfect headphones pop -- and you'll be ready to start a new day no matter your relationship status.
(02/24/05 5:00am)
Pony Up!'s debut seven-song EP is original. Unfortunately, it's not so original to be called inventive. It's original in the sense that no one else wants to sound like them. The all-femme five member band of sisters, co-workers, roommates and best friends, hailing from Montreal, has gotten attention as the first band signed to Aussie indie-boy Ben Lee's boutique label Ten Fingers. It is important to note that he never went anywhere either.\nTheir music bears a resemblance to a female version of one of those early emo man bands. One could compare their sound to that of Dashboard Confessional going through puberty. The album starts out fine enough. Give Lisa Loeb a xylophone and a punk rock attitude and tell her to go at it -- that's the first song, "Shut Up and Kiss Me." Sadly, its initial lyrics match my own sentiments regarding this album: "Yeah, you're funny. Yeah, you're cute, but let's move on, that's all ..."\nOn "Minstrel" the Quebecois quintet's lead and background vocals aren't particularly outstanding, nor are they consistently on pitch. "Marlon Brando's Laundromat" is my favorite song on the album. I imagine the girls were watching an Eisley video and thought, "Hey, we can do that ... and with an accordion!" The end result shows they can't, but the lyrics are at least a step up. "Swans" reminds me of either a high school talent show or a local-yokel state fair bandstand -- one where anybody could be up onstage. And "Matthew Modine" rips a Beach Boys chorus while the Mates of State-esque, happy-go-lucky vocals wouldn't pass the first round of "American Idol." On it, they sing about a little-known actor they find attractive being "peachy keen" and giving them "creamy jeans." Now that's yucky. Plus, the song's climax is marked by obnoxious Yoko Ono-esque orgasmic shrieking. "Going Nowhere" is definitely Nintendo-ish with its synthesizer part. The last number, a lullaby called "Toy Piano," reminds me of the combination of a music box, piano and the acrid taste of the sort of childhood nostalgia for a time you'd like to forget. It has all the enthusiasm and liveliness of "The Virgin Suicides" girls singing in unison.\nIn spite of all this, I remain hopeful. Even Hot Hot Heat's debut was poorly produced and rough around the edges. Maybe down the road we will see something from Pony Up! that doesn't sound like a Kidz Bop version of the Unicorns or a strikingly unfunny Moldy Peaches record.
(02/23/05 4:46am)
Pony Up!'s debut seven-song EP is original. Unfortunately, it's not so original to be called inventive. It's original in the sense that no one else wants to sound like them. The all-femme five member band of sisters, co-workers, roommates and best friends, hailing from Montreal, has gotten attention as the first band signed to Aussie indie-boy Ben Lee's boutique label Ten Fingers. It is important to note that he never went anywhere either.\nTheir music bears a resemblance to a female version of one of those early emo man bands. One could compare their sound to that of Dashboard Confessional going through puberty. The album starts out fine enough. Give Lisa Loeb a xylophone and a punk rock attitude and tell her to go at it -- that's the first song, "Shut Up and Kiss Me." Sadly, its initial lyrics match my own sentiments regarding this album: "Yeah, you're funny. Yeah, you're cute, but let's move on, that's all ..."\nOn "Minstrel" the Quebecois quintet's lead and background vocals aren't particularly outstanding, nor are they consistently on pitch. "Marlon Brando's Laundromat" is my favorite song on the album. I imagine the girls were watching an Eisley video and thought, "Hey, we can do that ... and with an accordion!" The end result shows they can't, but the lyrics are at least a step up. "Swans" reminds me of either a high school talent show or a local-yokel state fair bandstand -- one where anybody could be up onstage. And "Matthew Modine" rips a Beach Boys chorus while the Mates of State-esque, happy-go-lucky vocals wouldn't pass the first round of "American Idol." On it, they sing about a little-known actor they find attractive being "peachy keen" and giving them "creamy jeans." Now that's yucky. Plus, the song's climax is marked by obnoxious Yoko Ono-esque orgasmic shrieking. "Going Nowhere" is definitely Nintendo-ish with its synthesizer part. The last number, a lullaby called "Toy Piano," reminds me of the combination of a music box, piano and the acrid taste of the sort of childhood nostalgia for a time you'd like to forget. It has all the enthusiasm and liveliness of "The Virgin Suicides" girls singing in unison.\nIn spite of all this, I remain hopeful. Even Hot Hot Heat's debut was poorly produced and rough around the edges. Maybe down the road we will see something from Pony Up! that doesn't sound like a Kidz Bop version of the Unicorns or a strikingly unfunny Moldy Peaches record.
(02/03/05 5:00am)
Ani DiFranco's latest, Knuckle Down, is a traffic jam of emotion. As usual, she drives the album home by moving the listener with two instruments — her voice and guitar. Of the 17 self-released albums on her Righteous Babe label since 1990, it's not a stretch to call this one the urban folksinger's strongest to date.\nWhat sets Knuckle Down apart is that, for the first time, DiFranco chose to collaborate in the production process. She also wrote lyrics and composed pieces specifically for the studio that are, as she says, "More string-y and less horn-y." By way of thick, nicely-engineered production and an ensemble of talented musicians, all the colors of DiFranco's palette are at last captured outside of her live performance.\nKnuckle Down, clocking in at an hour, is full of life; vibrant and spirited. Most of the wistful ruminations DiFranco relates stem from her broken marriage as well as the recent passing of her father, to whom she dedicates the record. Her voice is powerful, soul-searching yet proud, irresistible but achingly so in an Alison Krauss almost-whisper. To try and label or compare her work is, to some extent, to overlook the most obvious thing about her, which is Ani DiFranco's being Ani DiFranco: an impassioned feminist, progressive thinker, frank and intelligent lyricist, and more than anything, an individual whose music is best suited to those who experience that special mood only an individual can know. It makes a person feel righteous just sitting there listening to her guitar and that saccharine, down-home alto. \nIn the title-track onwards to the riveting fifth track, "Seeing Eye Dog," DiFranco's concise boho-rapping quavers and leaps to metaphors. She slows the pace down during the album's second half and even to a crawl across the bedroom for the vivid "Parameters," a rehearsal of the spoken word. In "Callous," DiFranco's poignant, can't-be-printed one-liners are heard next to the throb of the bass and an eerie whistle, and two songs later, "Minerva" is equally harrowing. "Paradigm" is a sincere effort that emboldens her voice as she sings with conviction, "But I suppose like anybody/I had to teach myself to see/All that stuff that got lost/ On its way to church," school, and the house of my family/All that stuff that was not lost on me." \nPouring an ocean into a paper cup is what DiFranco does best on stage with her sense of humor, intimacy and busy, stream of conscious playing, but on Knuckle Down she comes as close to that as she possibly can.
(02/03/05 5:00am)
Four bands performed at the IU Fine Arts Student Association Benefit Show at Rhino's Saturday night, a gig organized by Christina Porfidio. The Polly Castros, the Tribute, the Bloodstream and the Swell were featured, and it was a top-notch, if a little too varied, lineup of bands.\nThe Polly Castro's ten-song set was really solid and fun. The guitar/bass droning on the first number by Cody Leitholt and frontman Nick Henning (whose vocals were of parachuting emotion) was very gloom-and-doom a la Interpol, and it made me want to applaud even before it was over. Drummer Dustin Wessel played a rapid discoing-Strokes beat to dance to and Jen Cooper on the keys (other times she played a bass part) transformed the band's sound into the Faint as they covered Billy Idol's "Dancing with Myself."\nAfter three gigs in two days and one more afterwards, the Tribute guys had weary legs after the weekend, yet their wall of sound and Marty McFly-level of onstage energy was unparalleled. The five-member group certainly has a penchant for synthesized effects, and besides one song where he rocked out a tambourine, Jason Campbell's supersonic choruses showered over singer/guitarist Dan Patton's angry Rivers Cuomo-esque whine. Together with Keith Starling's bullet shot bass, Chris Barker's surging guitar and enough intensity from drummer Scott Ferguson to turn cymbals inside out, I really enjoyed the band's catchy, dark dance/punk cannonades of youthful distemper.\nCalled the Bloodstream, three former IU students out of Louisville had a hip sound. Bassist Jarrett Burton had that boy-next-door voice that could be likened to Death Cab for Cutie's Benjamin Gibbard. His vocals took center stage, but as with most cool bands, his "pity-with-a-heartbeat" lyrics mattered way less than the up-tempo vibe, which was created by guitarist Luke Hobson's insinuating, kicky hooks and Toby Van Kleeck's snappy, loud sticks-breaking job on the drums.\nThe Swell have been given a lot of well-deserved attention and I was happy to see them finally. At first they reminded me a lot of early '90s rockers Urge Overkill, but as their set merged and traipsed into infectious funk-ska tunes and wafted in loose, sublimely syncopated reggae, I began to think singer John West sounded a bit like the reincarnate of Sublime's Brad Nowell. The trio was always in tight rhythm with each other and to Justin Shaw's beat, and classically-trained bass player Nick Wyatt especially impressed with his crisp grooves.\nWith energetic bands playing, the only thing I never understood all night was why the crowd never jumped in. The problem wasn't that the bands were apathetic and the crowd wanted something more -- maybe it was the night or the setting that was off. The alignment of the moon and the stars might not have been right, or maybe the audience wanted Simon and Garfunkel, who knows? It happens. All I know is that the bands were anything but apathetic; they were ready and willing to put on a show their audience would remember. You can't deny good energy.
(02/02/05 5:20am)
Four bands performed at the IU Fine Arts Student Association Benefit Show at Rhino's Saturday night, a gig organized by Christina Porfidio. The Polly Castros, the Tribute, the Bloodstream and the Swell were featured, and it was a top-notch, if a little too varied, lineup of bands.\nThe Polly Castro's ten-song set was really solid and fun. The guitar/bass droning on the first number by Cody Leitholt and frontman Nick Henning (whose vocals were of parachuting emotion) was very gloom-and-doom a la Interpol, and it made me want to applaud even before it was over. Drummer Dustin Wessel played a rapid discoing-Strokes beat to dance to and Jen Cooper on the keys (other times she played a bass part) transformed the band's sound into the Faint as they covered Billy Idol's "Dancing with Myself."\nAfter three gigs in two days and one more afterwards, the Tribute guys had weary legs after the weekend, yet their wall of sound and Marty McFly-level of onstage energy was unparalleled. The five-member group certainly has a penchant for synthesized effects, and besides one song where he rocked out a tambourine, Jason Campbell's supersonic choruses showered over singer/guitarist Dan Patton's angry Rivers Cuomo-esque whine. Together with Keith Starling's bullet shot bass, Chris Barker's surging guitar and enough intensity from drummer Scott Ferguson to turn cymbals inside out, I really enjoyed the band's catchy, dark dance/punk cannonades of youthful distemper.\nCalled the Bloodstream, three former IU students out of Louisville had a hip sound. Bassist Jarrett Burton had that boy-next-door voice that could be likened to Death Cab for Cutie's Benjamin Gibbard. His vocals took center stage, but as with most cool bands, his "pity-with-a-heartbeat" lyrics mattered way less than the up-tempo vibe, which was created by guitarist Luke Hobson's insinuating, kicky hooks and Toby Van Kleeck's snappy, loud sticks-breaking job on the drums.\nThe Swell have been given a lot of well-deserved attention and I was happy to see them finally. At first they reminded me a lot of early '90s rockers Urge Overkill, but as their set merged and traipsed into infectious funk-ska tunes and wafted in loose, sublimely syncopated reggae, I began to think singer John West sounded a bit like the reincarnate of Sublime's Brad Nowell. The trio was always in tight rhythm with each other and to Justin Shaw's beat, and classically-trained bass player Nick Wyatt especially impressed with his crisp grooves.\nWith energetic bands playing, the only thing I never understood all night was why the crowd never jumped in. The problem wasn't that the bands were apathetic and the crowd wanted something more -- maybe it was the night or the setting that was off. The alignment of the moon and the stars might not have been right, or maybe the audience wanted Simon and Garfunkel, who knows? It happens. All I know is that the bands were anything but apathetic; they were ready and willing to put on a show their audience would remember. You can't deny good energy.
(02/02/05 4:58am)
Ani DiFranco's latest, Knuckle Down, is a traffic jam of emotion. As usual, she drives the album home by moving the listener with two instruments — her voice and guitar. Of the 17 self-released albums on her Righteous Babe label since 1990, it's not a stretch to call this one the urban folksinger's strongest to date.\nWhat sets Knuckle Down apart is that, for the first time, DiFranco chose to collaborate in the production process. She also wrote lyrics and composed pieces specifically for the studio that are, as she says, "More string-y and less horn-y." By way of thick, nicely-engineered production and an ensemble of talented musicians, all the colors of DiFranco's palette are at last captured outside of her live performance.\nKnuckle Down, clocking in at an hour, is full of life; vibrant and spirited. Most of the wistful ruminations DiFranco relates stem from her broken marriage as well as the recent passing of her father, to whom she dedicates the record. Her voice is powerful, soul-searching yet proud, irresistible but achingly so in an Alison Krauss almost-whisper. To try and label or compare her work is, to some extent, to overlook the most obvious thing about her, which is Ani DiFranco's being Ani DiFranco: an impassioned feminist, progressive thinker, frank and intelligent lyricist, and more than anything, an individual whose music is best suited to those who experience that special mood only an individual can know. It makes a person feel righteous just sitting there listening to her guitar and that saccharine, down-home alto. \nIn the title-track onwards to the riveting fifth track, "Seeing Eye Dog," DiFranco's concise boho-rapping quavers and leaps to metaphors. She slows the pace down during the album's second half and even to a crawl across the bedroom for the vivid "Parameters," a rehearsal of the spoken word. In "Callous," DiFranco's poignant, can't-be-printed one-liners are heard next to the throb of the bass and an eerie whistle, and two songs later, "Minerva" is equally harrowing. "Paradigm" is a sincere effort that emboldens her voice as she sings with conviction, "But I suppose like anybody/I had to teach myself to see/All that stuff that got lost/ On its way to church," school, and the house of my family/All that stuff that was not lost on me." \nPouring an ocean into a paper cup is what DiFranco does best on stage with her sense of humor, intimacy and busy, stream of conscious playing, but on Knuckle Down she comes as close to that as she possibly can.
(01/27/05 5:00am)
The Moaners will no doubt be likened to the White Stripes for the fact that their monochromatic blues-rock is impressive and created by a twosome. True, Jack and Meg do it better, but singer/guitarist Melissa Swingle and drummer Laura King are just out to make some noise -- noise that's deceptively complex, despite its simple components: one voice, two instruments. Their debut album, Dark Snack, amounts to twelve ballads -- 35 minutes long -- of forward-moving estrojam, punctuated with a raw yet controlled, locomoting guitar sound and drums as crashing as a Fat Albert-topped human pyramid. \nSwingle's rough-edged voice is astoundingly similar to that of Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon in the way it sweetly scrapes the high notes. Her lyrics reference the long-past nights of lying awake counting and recounting sheep -- desperate love, heartbreak and hard times. The refrains are in a somewhat PJ Harvey-esque minor key, but the bleakness isn't at all relentless and by no means is it suffering. The unapologetic sexuality and macho blues are what really reaches the listener. \nSwingle references Flannery O'Conner's literature alongside distorted guitars and name-calls with roundabout redundancy in "Terrier," and evokes the lyrics of a Southern blues icon in "Elizabeth Cotton's Song." In "Paradise Club," her variation of the oft-covered "House of the Rising Sun" that was made popular by the Animals in the '60s, Swingle staves off lamenting work at a local strip joint because of the not-bad wages, crooning, "Don't have to/Don't have to strip no more," with no less angst and delayed pitch fall than characters in a kung-fu film. \nSwingle and King met at a show where their former bands Trailer Bride and Grand National were playing together, and the two proceeded to mesh like college kids and alcohol. Recording and drinking Sparks -- a caffeinated, alcoholic Sunkist-tasting beverage -- the two have crafted music to make the sun rise for a new day. \nRemember the scene in "When Harry Met Sally" where Meg Ryan moans in a coffee shop like it is nobody's business? Similarly, these Moaners will catch you off guard, perk your ears and surprise you.
(01/26/05 4:59am)
The Moaners will no doubt be likened to the White Stripes for the fact that their monochromatic blues-rock is impressive and created by a twosome. True, Jack and Meg do it better, but singer/guitarist Melissa Swingle and drummer Laura King are just out to make some noise -- noise that's deceptively complex, despite its simple components: one voice, two instruments. Their debut album, Dark Snack, amounts to twelve ballads -- 35 minutes long -- of forward-moving estrojam, punctuated with a raw yet controlled, locomoting guitar sound and drums as crashing as a Fat Albert-topped human pyramid. \nSwingle's rough-edged voice is astoundingly similar to that of Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon in the way it sweetly scrapes the high notes. Her lyrics reference the long-past nights of lying awake counting and recounting sheep -- desperate love, heartbreak and hard times. The refrains are in a somewhat PJ Harvey-esque minor key, but the bleakness isn't at all relentless and by no means is it suffering. The unapologetic sexuality and macho blues are what really reaches the listener. \nSwingle references Flannery O'Conner's literature alongside distorted guitars and name-calls with roundabout redundancy in "Terrier," and evokes the lyrics of a Southern blues icon in "Elizabeth Cotton's Song." In "Paradise Club," her variation of the oft-covered "House of the Rising Sun" that was made popular by the Animals in the '60s, Swingle staves off lamenting work at a local strip joint because of the not-bad wages, crooning, "Don't have to/Don't have to strip no more," with no less angst and delayed pitch fall than characters in a kung-fu film. \nSwingle and King met at a show where their former bands Trailer Bride and Grand National were playing together, and the two proceeded to mesh like college kids and alcohol. Recording and drinking Sparks -- a caffeinated, alcoholic Sunkist-tasting beverage -- the two have crafted music to make the sun rise for a new day. \nRemember the scene in "When Harry Met Sally" where Meg Ryan moans in a coffee shop like it is nobody's business? Similarly, these Moaners will catch you off guard, perk your ears and surprise you.
(12/02/04 5:26am)
During a recent trip to Miami, something caught Assistant Professor Antonio de la Cova's eye.\nNot only was it familiar, but it was his own work used without his authorization. \nSen. John Kerry's campaign was just as impressed with his Web site, which focuses on Latin America, Latinos and relations between the United States and Latin America, as the rest of the world. \n"I was handed a campaign postcard that read, 'John Kerry and Latin America together,'" de la Cova said. "The postcard's tile-shaped flag graphics looked very familiar, and sure enough, they were mine, copied straight from the homepage of my Web site."\nEven though his Web site has recently attracted wide-spread attention, it has been seven years since de la Cova, a Latino Studies visiting assistant professor, created what he thought was a much-needed Internet outlet.\nNow, 2.5 million hits and a quarter million visitors since January, his theory has been proven correct.\nDe la Cova felt his site, www.latinamericanstudies.org, was not only needed, but also would be used as a primary resource to IU students.\nDe la Cova, the creator of the comprehensive Web site, is under a two-year contract as a joint-hire with the Office of Strategic Hiring and Support and is proud that his site has become the principal Latino studies resources site on the Internet, he said.\n"It's the only portal that contains more than 35,000 links, 5.95 gigabytes in all, to Latin American studies subject-matter," de la Cova said. "If you do a Google search for 'Latino studies' you will get sites that mostly describe Latino studies programs but are not sources for electronic research resources."\nThere is nothing else online that is as extensive and comprehensive, with up-to-date material, de la Cova said. The site is a main hit under Google searches for practically any Latin America studies-related material.\nThe site began on Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's operating system. After de la Cova's move to Bloomington more than a year ago, he learned IU only allows professors 100 megabytes of server space and charges an annual fee for any further allocation beyond the initial usage of megabytes.\n"It would have cost me more than $2,000 annually to keep it on the University's system," de la Cova said. \nUndeterred, the professor bought his own server and began his own maintenance on the Web site. \nBut while providing a valuable public service, de la Cova said the upkeep takes a tremendous amount of time.\n"To keep the site current, I spend two to three hours each day reading through 15 bilingual publications," de la Cova said. "It's an ongoing work-in-progress, and there is no end in sight."\nEven though it is the University's policy not to have any affiliation with sites outside of its operation system, the Web site has garnered much recognition for Latino studies at IU.\nThe program's founding director, Professor Jorge Chapa, said de la Cova receives dozens of e-mails -- nationally and internationally -- from students, the public and professors who assign the site to their students.\n"I know that Professor de la Cova has gotten many extremely-positive comments from users who have found it to be very useful," Chapa said. "His Web site is an extensive collection of extremely useful, fascinating items for those focused on Latinos in the U.S. and in Latin American issues."\nJohn Nieto-Philips, an associate professor of Latino Studies, agreed that de la Cova's site provides a valuable public service and is an excellent teaching tool.\n"It helps students, researchers and historians to reflect on how Latinas and Latinos are changing the face of American society and politics," Nieto-Phillips said. "It contains news articles that highlight how contemporary issues have historical roots dating back several generations and, in that sense, it is a very useful place to go for anyone interested."\n-- Contact staff writer Nate Gowdy at ngowdy@indiana.edu.
(11/01/04 4:36am)
The United States is witnessing a demographic transformation, as Latino Americans have become the second largest minority in the country.\nAn estimated 37.4 million Latinos lived in the United States as of March 1, 2002, and the group comprises 13.3 percent of the national population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.\nThe Latino population is growing fast, said Professor Jorge Chapa, founding director of Latino studies at IU and member of a National Research Council panel reviewing Census procedures.\n"The number of Latinos grew by nearly 60 percent nationally during the 1990s," Chapa said. "It has grown by another 10 percent since 2000, while the non-Latino population has grown less than 1 percent."\nJohn Nieto-Phillips, associate professor of Latino studies, specializes in the history of Latinos, their politics, self-government and the way they participate in society -- including elections. He stressed that this demographic group cannot afford to be complacent because so much is at stake in this election.\n"There are many Latinos who are not voting -- either they are not U.S. citizens or are too young," Nieto-Phillips said. "There are more than 9.3 million undocumented immigrants, and one-third of the total Hispanic population is under 18. The demographics are such that every vote cast is actually representative and on behalf of many more Latinos."\nChapa said it's hard for candidates to categorize Latinos because there's as much diversity among Latinos as the overall population.\n"I think both political parties still tend to peg all Latinos into a square box," Chapa said. "Latinos span a spectrum of political values, and this leads candidates to throw their hands up and assume they are too diverse to categorize as more than one group."\nHannia Burke-Aguero, director of Bloomington's Latino Ministries at the First United Methodist Church, noted that Latinos are interested in many of the same issues affecting the population in general. \n"They share the same wants and needs as the rest of the U.S., and they, too, pay taxes and want the same social services," she said.\nIn fact, the Latino community has many voices.\n"I don't think people realize there isn't just one voice in the Latino community -- this is a constant frustration for others," said Lillian Casillas, director of IU's Latino Cultural Center, La Casa. "It's getting harder to categorize Latinos as one voting bloc because the group as a whole can't seem to differentiate on the issues."\nEven if Latinos cannot be typecast as voting one way or another, Nieto-Phillips suggested Latinos tend to support Kerry. \n"Kerry represents more of a commitment to education," Nieto-Phillips said. "This election will in large part determine the role of the federal government in shaping (Latino) children's futures."\nAbout 30 percent of Latinos work for employers who do not offer health insurance, compared to 13 percent of whites, Nieto-Phillips said.\n"Latinos also have higher poverty and drop-out rates," he said. "The statistics are striking -- they show there is a crisis. There is a lot riding on this election, so Latinos have to take interest in it."\nNieto-Phillips added that Indiana is only now experiencing significant growth in the Latino population, while many parts of the country have already had to adjust. \n"(Latinos) are moving to places where there has never been a Hispanic population before," Nieto-Phillips said. And because of this movement, voter awareness is a top priority among Latino activists. The Southwest Voter Registration Education Project is a nonpartisan mobilization aimed at raising the Latino vote to 20 million in 2004, Chapa said.\n"Latinos vote in the highest numbers in New Mexico, California, Florida, Arizona and Colorado," Chapa said, "and in the last three presidential elections, Latinos have voted roughly 2-1 for Democrats."\nAntonio de la Cova, Latino studies assistant professor, pointed out that in Florida, the 2000 election's key swing-state, Cuban Americans will play a crucial role in determining the outcome of the Nov. 2 election. Three and a half percent of the U.S. Latino population are Cuban Americans, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.\n"Eighty percent of Florida's 450,000 Cubans voted in 2000 -- a very high proportion," de la Cova said. "They are denied the right to vote in Cuba, so when they get the opportunity, they do so passionately."\nHe said the 2000 presidential race was decided by 537 Florida votes, and Bush won 81 percent of the Cuban vote -- after Clinton had earned 40 percent of their vote in 1996.\n"Clinton's decision to return Elian Gonzalez in 2000 to his father in Cuba may have cost Al Gore the presidential election in 2000," de la Cova said. \nDe la Cova added that more conservative Latinos, such as Cuban Americans, will side with Bush because he embodies what they perceive as family values. Also, for single-issue voters, Bush represents the candidate of choice because he will tow a harder line with Cuban leader Fidel Castro.\nLocally, in Monroe County the 2000 U.S. Census listed 1,250 Hispanics, but that number is misleading.\n"The Monroe County (Latino) population is larger than 3,000," Burke-Aguero said. "There are those enrolled at the University and undocumented (immigrants) who don't register for fear they will be sent back." \nBecause of the high numbers of Latinos in the state, there might be increasing interest in trying to understand issues related to population movement, Nieto-Phillips said.\n"I think language policies in the schools will become more important," Nieto-Phillips said, "and it'll be increasingly important to have multilingual staff in such crucial positions as police, emergency medical technicians and as translators at hospitals."\n-- Contact staff writer Nate Gowdy at ngowdy@indiana.edu.
(10/19/04 5:21am)
Larry Yaeger is a high-tech hero. \nHe built the voice for Koko the gorilla, appeared in "Terminator 2," worked as a scientific consultant and graphic artist in Hollywood, built one of the best-known artificial life simulations (PolyWorld, a computational ecosystem) and has done pioneering work on artificial intelligence. He also spearheaded computational fluid dynamic flow studies over space shuttles and submarines in the beginning of his career.\nMost recently, though, Yaeger has been Apple's technical lead in developing its state-of-the-art handwriting recognition system, software that features prominently in the newest version of operating system software.\nA bushy, silver-haired fellow, Yaeger is also a new professor in the School of Informatics.\nRobert Goldstone, a psychology professor as well as a colleague and friend, explained that even while working for Apple, Yaeger telecommuted from Brown County for years.\n"Larry has been highly-connected to the cognitive science community at IU. He will be an exciting, knowledgeable teacher," Goldstone said. "He has a rare blend of theoretical knowledge and practical savvy."\nBefore IU, Yaeger's career sat with Apple. He is a Distinguished Scientist -- the corporation's highest position up the technological tract.\n"He is an expert on computer programming, artificial intelligence, neural networks and artificial life," Goldstone said.\nYaeger's years at Apple have also given him grounded expertise in making large-scale systems actually work. Very generally, his job as a researcher is to analyze very-complex problems and to use computers to solve and simplify them. Yaeger is currently getting acclimated to academia and will begin teaching an artificial intelligence and artificial life topics course next semester.\nHis reason for coming to IU is purely practical -- he has lived in Brown County for the last eight years.\n"I love the vibrancy of Bloomington. It's just been a magical experience at IU ... and I wouldn't miss Lotus Fest for anything," Yaeger said. "More significantly, IU is allowing me to pursue the research directions I'm most interested in."\nYaeger has an unabated interest in artificial intelligence -- a science which has been both glorified and vilified over the years.\n"In 'Terminator 2,' (artificial intelligence) led to terminators," he said. "In real life, I think machines will always be interdependent with us."\nOn the lab scene set of director James Cameron's science fiction film, Yaeger's video footage of his simulated ecology and organisms led Cameron to tell the actor (Mike Dyson) that he was playing Yaeger.\n"That's a dubious honor," Yaeger said. "Seeing as that character was out to destroy the world and is (supposedly) playing me. So I try to approach things responsibly with that forewarning."\nThe automatic handwriting recognizer is another story, as it has a bright future. \nAt its core is a neural network character classifier. In other words, it takes what is written and turns it into plain text.\n"The original Apple Newton PDA (personal digital assistant) behaved very poorly, and was parodied in the Doonesbury comic strip," Yaeger said.\nYaeger is quick to note he had nothing to do with that first generation of the technology.\n"I kept a copy of that Doonesbury on my wall as reminder and incentive to do better," he said. "I was either lucky or good, but I got it (the second generation) to work."\nWith handwriting recognition, he went so far to say it will play a greater role -- along with speech recognition -- as the technology improves.\n"For class situations, for example, the ability to hand out electronic notes and for students to annotate these, draw their own diagrams and to add explanatory text would seem to be incredibly invaluable and a natural way of working," he said.\nThis semester, Yaeger cannot be found in the classroom, but his days are a mix of research and meetings. He hopes to do a bit of writing for publication soon, and while this is most rewarding for him, he expects that to change.\n"I'm looking forward to 'infecting' students' minds -- to teaching and getting people interested in ideas so they can run farther with them than I'll be able to," Yaeger said.\nAndy Clark, professor of logic and metaphysics at Edinburgh University-Scotland, and past director of cognitive science at IU, said that along with his scientific claims to fame, Yaeger is a huge science-fiction movie buff. \n"Larry has the largest video/film collection I have ever seen, in all formats that ever existed," Clark said. "It's a national treasure -- and so is Larry."\n-- Contact staff writer Nate Gowdy at ngowdy@indiana.edu.