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(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Music evolves.\nIn many cases bands evolve to find a niche and an audience. \nFor the past fifteen years, Fredie Shaw Anderson and his band Roses for Kitty, has evolved in the Bloomington music scene. A graduate of the IU School of Music, Anderson lives in Bloomington, but travels the midwest honing his trade and displaying his talent. The band recently released their second album Zinc Heart, and in conjunction with the release the band held parties at Vertigo and the Bluebird to celebrate. \nIn those years, Anderson has learned to deal with the loss of bandmates. His band has lost musicians to death, graduation and even freak occurrences such as a horn player fracturing bones in his heart before a concert. Before the release of their self-titled debut album, Roses for Kitty's long time keyboardist, Tom Moeller, passed away.\nCathy Sue Kern, the band's stage manager, has been friends with Anderson for over a decade. She has seen the evolution of the band and musicians first hand. \n"Horn players don't tend to stick around Bloomington," Kern said. Most musicians around town tend to graduate from the School of Music and then move on, she said.\nAnderson is the front man, songwriter and lead guitarist of Roses for Kitty. The band contains a consistent core of drums, lead guitar and bass. Many of the songs feature guest artists who play different and more exotic instruments.\nKern has used his skills and experience to teach other musicians.\n"Fredie helps make young kids into performers," Kern said. "I have seen him take kids that were green and pull the best out of them."\nAnderson believes one advantage of the Bloomington music scene is the School of Music. \n"The wonderful thing about the music school is that you can get subs any time you need them," he said.\nHaving such a loosely organized band structure means many talented musicians have played with the band. Josh Wall, the band's drummer, has been with Roses for Kitty for the last year and a half. \n"I've always enjoyed making music, and I have enjoyed just playing," Wall said.\nAnderson has all his performance music written on sheet music. He goes to the trouble because he likes to be able to find artists to play with while traveling. While written music is restrictive to some performers, Anderson has taken this into account, and during live shows allows guest musicians an extensive amount of time for individual expression during the numerous solo times allotted. \n"You cannot really give that much structure to rock 'n' roll, it's a feeling," Anderson said about the problem of playing scripted music.\nThough Roses for Kitty plays rock 'n' roll, the band's music does not fit neatly into any one genre. "Fredie is an artist," Kern said. "He is not trying to go in a certain direction. He simply wants to entertain people."\nThe band's desire to play to a different audience leads to a lot of traveling in search of venues to play. They play shows at bars and at parks running the gamut between diverse audiences. \n"Playing is a high for me that I can't get anywhere else," Wall said.\nThe music the band plays has also evolved through the years and across albums. On the Roses for Kitty album, reggae is a major genre that comes through in the music. \nThe influences on the newly released Zinc Heart are harder to pin down. Each song seems to be an experiment in a new style and genre, and the one common denominator on most of the songs is Anderson's voice. Two of the pieces are entirely instrumental.\nAnderson's goal whenever the band starts recording is to produce an album that fits together as a story. On Zinc Heart, the story is about love relationships. The band explores the full range of emotions associated with love, and the songs progress in the natural evolution of a relationship.\nIf this record was produced in the hey-days of vinyl it would definitely have a B-side. The second part of the album deals with death, and the mood of the music becomes much more somber.\nBy design, Anderson has put the album together that way. \n"In the middle of the album you get to transition pieces," Anderson said. "They allow the listener to decompress after experiencing the emotions of the songs."\nBloomington has produced scores of bands, but the very nature of a college town dictates that many of these bands do not last longer then four years. Anderson has found a way to deal with the constant migration of artists from the scene, and he has managed to develop a niche in the music and heart of Bloomington.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Sports is about many things. It fulfills a need for competition, it teaches sportsmanship and it can build bridges between people. \nEvery pickup game in any sport ever played contains a mixture of these elements. The World Cup has all the ingredients to make it the best sports competition in the world. The best players in sports represent the best soccer playing nations, making the competition stiff. The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) preaches fair play before the start of every game and the games always seem to have intriguing subplots and human elements.\nThe World Cup doesn't get a fair shake in this country because not many understand the fiber that makes it the world's greatest event. Every four years teams compete to be the best in the world, not just the North American continent. Yes, there is a world east of Los Angeles and west of New York.\nSure the Stanley Cup and NFL playoffs and the NCAA men's basketball tournament are great sporting events, but all the passion they generate pales in comparison to that of the FIFA World Cup. The passion generated by the World Cup Trophy is insane. I have seen countries come to a complete standstill when their team is playing. There are no shops open and no traffic passes through any of the streets in the cities.\nIt is some times argued that nations such as Argentina, Brazil and Nigeria have been held together in recent times because of the passion for their teams. When faced with ethnic division, rising crime and a failing economy, many fans cling to the hope and national pride generated by the team play. It is the difference between life and misery. I am sure those in Detroit and Carolina are not putting that much stock in their hockey teams. \nChina, the world's largest country, has riveted its televisions and radios following the national teams first campaign in the cup. They have built the biggest personality cult around a man simply known as "Bora." Some are saying that his likeness will soon replace that of a guy named "Moe" in Tiananmen Square.\nEvery four years the World Cup finals represent the culmination of a long process of continental qualification. Getting to the finals is an honor in itself. Many fail to realize that many of the top teams in the world fail to even get in. Absent this year are Holland and powerhouse Iran. In their places are the relative minnows of Ireland and Saudi Arabia. The Saudi team got pummeled 8-0 by Germany in the biggest one sided victory in World Cup history. Then there is the sheer and utter joy the games bring to nations they are played in (South Korea and Japan). \nSenegal, a former French colony, shocked the world by beating the defending champions in their first ever World Cup match. They are still partying on the streets of Dakar. Still to come is the match of Nigeria and England, a similar match up of colonizer and colony. The importance of this rivalry multiplies when factoring both teams will need to win this game to get in to the next round.\nThe World Cup, so far, has matched all before it in excitement and passion. The old guard countries of Europe and South America are being squeezed at the top by teams from the former backwaters of soccer. \nSo give the cup a chance. Wake up a little earlier then usual to watch magicians named Zidane, Ochocha, Ronaldo, Figo and Beckham dazzle.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Someone really wanted Korea to get to the round of eight.\nI love conspiracy theories. How else can FIFA explain two of the worst calls in the Cup going against Italy in the overtime period, which they lost to South Korea. A yellow card on a supposed "flop" when the player was clearly tackled and calling offsides on the most brilliantly thrown ball of the tournament. How else do you explain that -- dad refereeing?\nI love the way the U.S. sports media has made the Red, White and Blue the biggest underdog in the tournament. The only game that the U.S. is going into as a definite underdog is when they face Germany in the quarterfinals. They should have beaten all the other teams they played; the team is honestly not that bad as ESPN tries to make it seem. Enough already with the inferiority complex.\nThe baggiest winners of the cup so far have to be the bookies in London and all over the world. The house made a lot of money throughout the tournament. With Italy losing to South Korea, only four teams are left that had odds of less then 10-1 on winning. That number will definitely go down because two of those teams, Brazil and England, face each other in the quarterfinals. It's good to be a bookie these days.\nThe match-ups\nNow let's consider the football that is still to be played. Here are the match ups: England dukes it out with Brazil; Germany plays the American team; Senegal and Turkey play, assuring a team that has never made it to the semis will. The last match-up is red hot: Spain against the co-host, South Korea.\nThere are some really interesting match-ups. Both England and Brazil have won the Cup before. Both teams will be playing with the pressures of legacy and history. In a match pitting Brazilian flair and English counter attack, I bet the boys from Rio take down the Three Lions 2-1.\nThe Senegal and Turkey game will be historically opposite to the England-Brazil match up. This is Senegal's first trip to the World Cup and Turkey hasn't made it to the championship since 1954. This will be the most important day in the sporting history of both countries. Expect the economy and everything else in both countries to completely stop for the 90 minutes their national teams will be on the field. \nI don't know who wins this one, but of all the matches, it is the one I'm looking forward to the most. I'm rooting for Senegal, because it's about time we had an African team do well in the Cup. It's been 12 years since Cameroon got this far.\nSouth Korea is red hot; they shocked the world when they beat Italy on a golden goal. Now they face a Spanish team that is very similar to the Italians. They will have the home crowd behind them, so things will be interesting. The Spanish have a class team that hasn't lost or tied a match all tournament and will know not to take the host teams chances at beating them for granted. Spain holds off Korea's desperate and lightning-quick attack 2-0 to get to the semis.\nThe blueprint for American soccer has always been Germany. Historically, the American players overseas have done best in the German professional league. The Americans play German soccer, unfortunately not as good as the Germans do. \nGermany has the best player in the cup, Michael Ballack, and the best finisher in Miroslav Klose. The U.S. has Reyna and Donovan, but they're not quite up to par with the Germans.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
No more.\nNo more late nights and early mornings to watch the world's greatest sporting event. Maybe now I can have a quasi-regular sleep schedule. The World Cup definitely has been worth all these sleepless nights and red-eyed mornings.\nThe final game was a classic. The tournament's two most historically-successful teams faced each other for the first time in the World Cup. One in every four people on the planet watched them do it too.\nIt was an epic battle and clash of two teams that play their style of soccer better than anyone else. Brazil brought it's samba and Germany brought its engineering. \nThe Germans controlled the ball in Brazilian territory in the first half for the most part. Brazil did have the better chances to score, but they were off to quick counter attacks. In the second half, the game opened up to favor the Brazilians. Ronaldo became the leading scorer in World Cup history when he tied the immortal Pele with 12 goals.\nEven though they lost, the Germans can now look forward to the next World Cup. It will be held in Germany and they have a nucleus of good young players that should carry them just as far when they play on home soil. \nBrazil won the game 2-0, lifting the cup for an unprecedented fifth time. However, they are not the only winners that emerged out of this Cup. \nWinners in the economics of sport are the two host nations, South Korea and Japan. There was a construction boom between the two countries when they built 20 new stadiums to host the event. In comparison, France built only two new stadiums when they hosted the Cup in 1998. \nOf more concern to U.S. fans is after the team's impressive run, European clubs are going to want the services of some of the more popular young American stars. Major League Soccer will have to decided if it is going to pay these players to stay in America or take the cash offered by the European clubs.\nAs I watched the matches throughout the tournament, I realized the world's soccer-playing nations are coming closer together talent-wise. Yes, Brazil did win its fifth World Cup when it edged out two-time winner Germany in the final. But the third- and fourth-place match was between South Korea and Turkey.\nSouth Korea and Turkey?\nThe have and have-nots of world football are coming closer together. Explain the runs made by Turkey, Senegal and Korea. Well, Korea did have some help from the whistle. More straining and shocking is how one fathoms the early exits of France, Portugal and Argentina.\nThe biggest losers of this cup are the French. They went from first to worst. Many questioned the team when they won the tournament four years ago. Some called them lucky. After this horrendous defense of their title, the French have silenced none of their critics. \nThe worst-kit award goes to the Nigerian team. They wore make-you-wanna-hurl neon green from head to toe. I watched all 270 minutes they played in the Cup, and I thank God that I didn't have an epileptic seizure. \nThe best kits were the Italians. Kappa left it simple, while the other athletic apparel makers tried to show us what people would wear to play soccer on the moon. \nNike and Adidas went head-to-head once again with their ad campaigns. They pulled in major stars trying to boost sales for their football lines. I did catch Adidas' Footballitis, while I really do not care who won the secret tournament officiated by Eric Cantona, a guy who once karate-kicked a fan after he had received a red card in a match. \nThe worst thing about the tournament is we have to wait four more years for the next one. Many of us will have a bitter taste in our mouths after our favorite team did poorly -- thanks Super Eagles. Some of us, after promising runs by our teams, won't be able to wait until the next tournament kicks off -- basically the sentiment of any U.S. fan. \nThe world of football now shifts its focus to the tournament that will be held in Germany. Two hundred four countries will vie for 35 open spots in the 2006 World Cup (Germany is automatically in as host nation). Hopefully the networks in the U.S. will begin to understand and start showing more qualification matches. I mean, really, do they have to show pool and darts every day on ESPN at 1 p.m.\nAnyway, it is now officially time to start dreaming of beer steins, lederhosen and sauerkraut.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
The long ball tourney before the All-Star Game was amazing; Sammy Sosa's first-round expedition showed he is the most powerful hitter in baseball today.\nAnyway, what I have to say only sort of involves Sosa, but he is a prime example of a trend: bigger, faster, stronger. And because of their talent and the unbelievable numbers some players are putting up in today's game, many observers of sport are crying foul.\nBaseball stands at a crux. Many believe the records broken in recent years should have an asterisk placed next to them because of allegations of the use of performance enhancing drugs.\nWith the game in the on-going labor dispute, the allegations of steroid use have put the game under immense scrutiny. I do believe players should be tested for performance enhancing drugs and those found guilty should face the music. Anabolic steroid use is illegal in this country. If Olympic gold medalists can be tested then why can't baseball players? \nBut I honestly believe if the Major Leagues do start testing the players, they will probably find out that far fewer of them are using steroids or other banded substances then what is currently being alleged.\nThe reason the record books have been massively re-written in the past few years can be boiled down to two major fundamental changes that can be reflected in the MLB and other sports.\nThe first major change is a new emphasis on strength training and proper nutrition among modern athletes. To compete in sports today, players have to be stronger than their predecessors of previous decades because of the emphasis on the weight room. Hence what was a feat of super-human strength in a bygone day is now a routine play.\nThe training and preparation that modern athletes put their bodies through was unthinkable as much as 15 years ago. Today even cheerleaders spend time pumping iron. \nAnother result is that the size of the athlete has increased due to the migration to the weight room. The 300-pound lineman was still a freak of nature as recently as 20 years ago. Now they are the norm, even at the smaller I-AA colleges. \nThe average speed of today's athlete is faster than it was in previous generations. The 4.4 second 40-yard-run is the yardstick for football speed and players with that speed more common than in years past. It would be preposterous to accuse all football players with that speed to be juicing.\nPlayers in baseball have undergone the same metamorphosis as football players. With the relatively recent emphasis on strength training and nutrition, athletes no longer have to rely on pure skill to play sports at a high level.\nThe other is the explosion in the talent pool of available players. When many of the original records were written, the Major Leagues were segregated. So in effect, they drastically cut the talent pool. Many of the best baseball players could not play in "the show" because they were the wrong color. \nThe era that today's players are measured against is the one that should have an asterisk. Racism kept some of the best American talent out of the game and isolationism left the best of the world's talent out of the playing field.\nThe two most obvious examples of great players kept out of the majors because of race are the Negro Baseball League star hitter Josh Gibson and star pitcher Satchel Paige. Josh Gibson's 84 home runs in one season is still 11 ahead of Barry Bonds' major league record and Paige was considered one of the best pitchers ever.\nToday's game has such a bigger talent base that keeps on expanding. First the big leagues were integrated starting with Jackie Robinson, then came the Latin players adding their talents to the game. Now talent from Japan and Korea is coming to the game and enriching it. \nBabe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and the rest of baseball's legends did not play the best talent that was around because the game was not integrated back then, and players did not prepare for the games as they do today. \nSo maybe we should putting the asterisks by their numbers.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Steve Irwin is probably the most well-known conservationist to walk the face of the earth. Armed with a witty, fearless and charming personality, an Australian accent and his inherited zoological skills Irwin has conquered the world of animal documentaries. He and his wife, Terri, have made over 100 documentaries showing animals and conservation efforts all over the world. Because of his enormous popularity, "Crocodile Hunter" is shown almost consistently on the Discovery Channel or Animal Planet.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
The kid is good. \nThere is nothing else you can say about Lance Armstrong. The man is dominating his sport much the same way Tiger Woods has been dominating the sport of golf in the past few years.\nBut there is a marked difference between what the two men have accomplished in their individual sports.\nTiger plies his trade where he is loved. On golf courses around the world fans come to stand in awe at the splendor of a man named Tiger. His every swing is an artistry of which fans come to watch and cheer. \nEvery course on the PGA tour has become the equivalent of a home court for Tiger, with all his fans watching every move he makes in his gallery, yearning to see him and his mastery of the game. That was until last Saturday at the British Open, but that is another matter entirely.\nArmstrong, unlike Tiger, is dominating his sport in a land were he is not worshiped, a land were he is not revered. Armstrong wins in a land where he is hated, despised and accused of cheating along every centimeter of the course.\nThe Tour de France, the jewel of the road bicycle racing world, is not particularly Lance-friendly, nor is it particularly American-friendly.\nNot only does he face the same agonizing and grueling climbs in the mountains that his competitors face, but he also faces legions and legions of fans that want nothing more than to see him fail. They want to see him beaten.\nEvery climb and descent of the race, every turn and stop, is lined with fans that continually boo and heckle Armstrong as he races toward a record-tying fourth consecutive Tour de France title.\nTo get a taste of his world, find a drunk walking around Kirkwood. Go with them to the SRSC and get on a stationary bike. Then try to pedal that bike for half an hour with the drunk screaming obscenities. \nArmstrong does that five hours a day for 20 stages of one of the world's toughest sporting events. The man is a defiant gamer.\nThere may be no other sports figure as equally hated by opposing fans and loved by loyal fans than Lance Armstrong.\nProfessional cycling for most of us starts and ends with Armstrong. Little 500 riders may know a few more of the stars of the sport, but it is only the die hard few in this country who know any other cyclist. \nBut every American is rooting for Lance. Not many pay attention to his sport, but everyone knows his story. His accomplishments on a bike are so much more impressive when you realize his biggest victory was life itself. \nHowever his dominance after a life threatening condition has lead to accusations of doping. And that, with soured European American relations, makes you realize that Lance has landed himself on a powder keg that is the politics of sporting competition.\nIn Europe, cycling enjoys a much higher audience than it does in the U.S. There is more of a bike culture, and they do not want their race won by an American. \nSo Lance has to race up these hills with not only his opponents against him, but the crowd against him. He is booed and jeered every time he pushes down on a pedal for the 20 stages that make up the tour. \nArmstrong is not only beating the riders. He is not only beating the course. He has already beaten his biggest battle -- the battle with death. \nNow all that lies ahead for him is winning his place in the hearts of cycling fans around the world.\nMaybe he can learn from Tiger after all.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Two Bloomington residents, Joshua Silbert and Dylan Wissing, formed a band in 1983, which later evolved into Johnny Socko. They have been enjoying a wild ride ever since.\nSilbert and Wissing were friends before they attended the IU School of Music where Siblert studied saxophone and Wissing was a Jazz Studies major. \nSiblert says Bloomington was a great place for a band to begin. \n"It is a great place for musicians because you get the formally educated musicians and the self-taught southern Indiana rockers," Silbert says. "Interesting things happen when you mix formally educated musicians and self-taught ones."\nJohnny Socko made its debut on Halloween in 1990 with Silbert playing saxophone and Wissing behind the band on the drums. The band has evolved a lot since then, but the commitment to putting on a good live show remains its focus. \n The show is always important for a band that has been known to open for themselves as a Journey cover band or as Auto Bon Jovi, a techno tribute band to Bon Jovi. Johnny Socko has also performed songs from the "Flash Gordon" movie soundtrack on stage.\n"I think some things have stayed the same, the energy of the live show is still the same," Wissing says. "We are always trying to have a lot of energy at the show."\nSince its debut, Johnny Socko has played over 2,000 live shows and sold 20,000 copies of its four studio albums. Johnny Socko is a traveling band whose fan base has evolved with near constant touring.\n"(We are) proud to make a living as original artists, making music has been our full- time living for a decade." Wissing says.\nThey are also proud of their roots as a Bloomington band. Some of their most memorable shows have been on the stage of the Bluebird. \n"The most fun show in Bloomington was last year; we were playing at the Bluebird when we recorded the show that became the first discs of our Double Live record," Wissing says. "It was amazing; we played three encores and were on stage past three in the morning." \nIn the midst of all its touring, the band has produced four studio albums, has been featured on the soundtrack to MTV's "Undressed" and released two live albums. With the latest being the 2000 release Quatro. The band is currently working with New Jersey based producer, Ken Lewis on its fifth studio album.\nLewis, the band's current producer is a veteran sound engineer. He has worked with many major recording artists ranging from Diana Ross to Public Enemy to Soul Asylum.\n"It has been an amazing experience working with him; he has 21 gold and platinum records, and four Grammy nominations." Wissing says about working with Lewis. "We can worry about being musicians and don't have to worry about producing the record. He is a sounding board for ideas and tells us what works and what doesn't. This is the most excited we have ever been as a band."\nWissing says the best part of working with a producer is having an outside, open ear for writing music.\nLewis is as excited about working with the band as the band is about working with him. \n"I think I can get them a record deal, if I didn't I wouldn't be involved with them." Lewis says. "The album should be out in late September. It will be far and away the best record they have ever done."\nLewis believes Socko achieves its own unique brand of music with its recent recordings. \n"I think they have crafted such an original sound," Lewis says. "The amount of sound these guys can produce and the berth of the style they can produce is amazing. It is a special thing and I don't think I have heard it in any other artist."\nThe band and their producer are expecting big things from there current venture, and Lewis is confident in Johnny Socko's ability. \n"This album is going to be big and as good as any big label produced album being made right now," Lewis says.\nThe album itself is a departure for the bands usual sound. \n"The style of the music is leaning a bit more rock and roll, there is a heavier side to this album," Lewis says. "The musicality is amazing with the band."\nSilbert says the new album further differentiates Socko from other bands.\n"I'm listening to the album for the first time, and I would not call us a regular rock 'n' roll band." Silbert says. "It is really dense, and takes in a lot of modern sounds and technology, but (with) some of the grooves you can tell we've been listening to music all our lives,"\nFor ten years, four albums and 2000 shows, Johnny Socko has continued to rock, and from the looks of things, the band won't soon stop.
(07/25/02 4:00am)
Two Bloomington residents, Joshua Silbert and Dylan Wissing, formed a band in 1983, which later evolved into Johnny Socko. They have been enjoying a wild ride ever since.\nSilbert and Wissing were friends before they attended the IU School of Music where Siblert studied saxophone and Wissing was a Jazz Studies major. \nSiblert says Bloomington was a great place for a band to begin. \n"It is a great place for musicians because you get the formally educated musicians and the self-taught southern Indiana rockers," Silbert says. "Interesting things happen when you mix formally educated musicians and self-taught ones."\nJohnny Socko made its debut on Halloween in 1990 with Silbert playing saxophone and Wissing behind the band on the drums. The band has evolved a lot since then, but the commitment to putting on a good live show remains its focus. \n The show is always important for a band that has been known to open for themselves as a Journey cover band or as Auto Bon Jovi, a techno tribute band to Bon Jovi. Johnny Socko has also performed songs from the "Flash Gordon" movie soundtrack on stage.\n"I think some things have stayed the same, the energy of the live show is still the same," Wissing says. "We are always trying to have a lot of energy at the show."\nSince its debut, Johnny Socko has played over 2,000 live shows and sold 20,000 copies of its four studio albums. Johnny Socko is a traveling band whose fan base has evolved with near constant touring.\n"(We are) proud to make a living as original artists, making music has been our full- time living for a decade." Wissing says.\nThey are also proud of their roots as a Bloomington band. Some of their most memorable shows have been on the stage of the Bluebird. \n"The most fun show in Bloomington was last year; we were playing at the Bluebird when we recorded the show that became the first discs of our Double Live record," Wissing says. "It was amazing; we played three encores and were on stage past three in the morning." \nIn the midst of all its touring, the band has produced four studio albums, has been featured on the soundtrack to MTV's "Undressed" and released two live albums. With the latest being the 2000 release Quatro. The band is currently working with New Jersey based producer, Ken Lewis on its fifth studio album.\nLewis, the band's current producer is a veteran sound engineer. He has worked with many major recording artists ranging from Diana Ross to Public Enemy to Soul Asylum.\n"It has been an amazing experience working with him; he has 21 gold and platinum records, and four Grammy nominations." Wissing says about working with Lewis. "We can worry about being musicians and don't have to worry about producing the record. He is a sounding board for ideas and tells us what works and what doesn't. This is the most excited we have ever been as a band."\nWissing says the best part of working with a producer is having an outside, open ear for writing music.\nLewis is as excited about working with the band as the band is about working with him. \n"I think I can get them a record deal, if I didn't I wouldn't be involved with them." Lewis says. "The album should be out in late September. It will be far and away the best record they have ever done."\nLewis believes Socko achieves its own unique brand of music with its recent recordings. \n"I think they have crafted such an original sound," Lewis says. "The amount of sound these guys can produce and the berth of the style they can produce is amazing. It is a special thing and I don't think I have heard it in any other artist."\nThe band and their producer are expecting big things from there current venture, and Lewis is confident in Johnny Socko's ability. \n"This album is going to be big and as good as any big label produced album being made right now," Lewis says.\nThe album itself is a departure for the bands usual sound. \n"The style of the music is leaning a bit more rock and roll, there is a heavier side to this album," Lewis says. "The musicality is amazing with the band."\nSilbert says the new album further differentiates Socko from other bands.\n"I'm listening to the album for the first time, and I would not call us a regular rock 'n' roll band." Silbert says. "It is really dense, and takes in a lot of modern sounds and technology, but (with) some of the grooves you can tell we've been listening to music all our lives,"\nFor ten years, four albums and 2000 shows, Johnny Socko has continued to rock, and from the looks of things, the band won't soon stop.
(07/18/02 4:00am)
Steve Irwin is probably the most well-known conservationist to walk the face of the earth. Armed with a witty, fearless and charming personality, an Australian accent and his inherited zoological skills Irwin has conquered the world of animal documentaries. He and his wife, Terri, have made over 100 documentaries showing animals and conservation efforts all over the world. Because of his enormous popularity, "Crocodile Hunter" is shown almost consistently on the Discovery Channel or Animal Planet.
(07/18/02 3:21am)
Sports are played on the field or on a court. Not on a piece of paper. \n Great cliché, isn't it. But does it hold water? With Tiger and the Williams' sisters winning every tournament they enter, the sport of women's tennis and the game of golf are suffering. No longer do fans watch to see who wins; they just want to see by how much.\nIn fairness, if the Williams sisters where not super-athlete-sisters, but unrelated super athletes, the WTA would have a rivalry reminiscent to Sampras and Agassi at their prime.\nThree of the four major American professional sports -- baseball, basketball and hockey (and even tennis and pro golf can be included) -- have all been more or less dominated in recent years by one team or individual.\nThe Lakers' two-headed monster of Shaq and Kobe dominates the NBA, turning away many non-avid basketball fans. \nThe Yankees and Red Wings buy their championships by out spending the other teams in their leagues.\nCertain individuals or teams are dominating more and more professional sports. We can almost pencil in a Lakers NBA title, a Yankees' Pennant and the Red Wings in the Stanley cup finals every year.\nThe one professional sport that is not dominated by an individual team is the NFL. The only team you can pencil in anything about is that the Rams are going to be good, and that was not even possible a few years ago.\nThe NFL has got something going right for it. There is no talk of contraction, the league does a better job of keeping its athletes off banned substances and the last labor stoppage was well before I was born.\nThe one problem the NFL has is the occasional run in with the law by a player. While many players are upstanding citizens, there is no way the front office of the NFL can control the actions of every player. Paul Tagliabue is no Joseph Stalin, or Bud Selig for that matter.\nThe salary cap they have in place ensures no team can buy a championship, players can still make a very healthy living and teams can play in small markets. Green Bay is about the size Bloomington, and the Packers are staying where they have always been well into the foreseeable future.\nThe signing bonus and incentive-laden contracts ensure players play every game, every minute and every down. Except Randy Moss, who for some reason is allowed to take plays off and is dumb enough to admit he does.\nBecause the NFL is wide open, it has become the most important league socially of the four major sports. After Sept. 11, the leagues followed when it cancelled play the following weekend. Bud Selig wanted his league to continue playing! With many other sports in disarray, sports commissioners would do well to learn form Paul Tagliabue. Everyone in sports can be a winner; the NFL is the one sports league were that promise is true and the games are played on the field, not the pocketbooks of owners.
(06/27/02 4:40pm)
Nostalgia can be a powerful force. It can be so great it causes a band of musicians to forgo most of their creative right, and try their best to remain within the lines of a famous blueprint.\nThe Dark Star Orchestra is a cover band, but unlike other cover bands they don't cover top 40 hits on the radio or play for college students on the weekend. They have built a cult following as they tour the country performing songs originally sung by the Grateful Dead.\nFour and a half years ago a \"Dead Head" was thumbing through "DeadBase," a book containing the set lists of many Grateful Dead shows. John Kadlecik, guitarist and Chicago native, decided he wanted to play a set the way the Grateful Dead would have played it.\nKadlecik gathered musicians together to play the show, told some friends and got booked for four dates at the Chicago club Martyrs. It was supposed to be a fun little project for musicians. It turned into a phenomenon. \nThey came together for a brain-storming session to plan out a few of the details. After all, they were starting a band.\nIt was in this moment the name of the band came to them -- Dark Star Orchestra. \n"The name is a derivative of a famous Grateful Dead song," says Rob Eaton, rhythm guitarist.\nCameron Blietz, the band's sound engineer says, "We are trying to recreate the work of great composers. That is where the Orchestra part comes in."\nBefore long the band had become the regular Tuesday night house band, routinely selling out the club and touring the state of Colorado. \nTheir rapid success and the staying power of such a band was a surprise, says Rob Koritz, drummer.\n"We didn't plan on it. It's a testament to how powerful the music is," Koritz says.\nThe band's reputation began to grow. People wanted to hear the music. \nJeff Zuckerman, former IU student and Clear Channel Entertainment talent buyer says, "Fans of the Grateful Dead enjoy hearing the music regardless if it's the original members or not."\nThe Dark Star Orchestra brings the music of the Grateful Dead to a new audience, Kortiz says.\n"It's a chance for young people to experience the Dead. We love this music and people want to hear it in its purest form," he says, as he describes why people would come and see his band play covers of the famous San Francisco jam band's music.\nJeff Cosby, resident of Indianapolis, has been to 85 Grateful Dead shows and two Dark Star Orchestra shows.\n"I think the main appeal of the band is they not only duplicate the music, but they duplicate the aura," he says. "When you close your eyes, you can sense a spirit that was present then and is present now."\nRon Powell, Bloomington resident, echoed Cosby's sentiment.\n"You close your eyes and they sound identical," Powell says.\nThe band tours longer than the average touring band. Because their music has already been recorded, there is no need to enter the studio to produce new music, Koritz says. The saved time allows the band to spend more time on the road, bringing the experience and feel of a Grateful Dead concert to a new generation. \nThey have developed a cult following the same way the Grateful Dead did when they were touring during the '70s, '80s and '90s.\nMany people see the music as a chance to let go of the pressures of the modern world, at least for a short time. \nSavannah, a member of the band's entourage, says, "They are carrying on what needs to be carried on -- people need to dance."\nAndrew Dofner, aka "Tiny," the band's former road manager and current truck driver, says, "It's all about taking people back. It is about people being able to release, a chance to cut loose and shake their bones."\nMembers of the Dark Star Orchestra idolize the original members of the Grateful Dead as their musical heroes. This has lead to several memorable shows when the members of the Dead share the stage with the Dark Star Orchestra. \n"(It was) the most surreal experience," Koritz says. "I've seen them play before, but it was special getting to watch them from behind. It was like playing basketball with Michael Jordan."\nPlaying with Dead members gave sound engineer Blietz the chance to fulfill one of his dreams. \n"I still haven't come down," Blietz says. "I've been dreaming about working with Bob Weir since 1981, when I saw my first show."\nAs long as there are still people who want to lose themselves in the sounds and vibe of the Grateful Dead, there will still be a band truckin' round the country playing tribute to the very much alive spirit of the Dead.
(06/27/02 4:00am)
Nostalgia can be a powerful force. It can be so great it causes a band of musicians to forgo most of their creative right, and try their best to remain within the lines of a famous blueprint.\nThe Dark Star Orchestra is a cover band, but unlike other cover bands they don't cover top 40 hits on the radio or play for college students on the weekend. They have built a cult following as they tour the country performing songs originally sung by the Grateful Dead.\nFour and a half years ago a \"Dead Head" was thumbing through "DeadBase," a book containing the set lists of many Grateful Dead shows. John Kadlecik, guitarist and Chicago native, decided he wanted to play a set the way the Grateful Dead would have played it.\nKadlecik gathered musicians together to play the show, told some friends and got booked for four dates at the Chicago club Martyrs. It was supposed to be a fun little project for musicians. It turned into a phenomenon. \nThey came together for a brain-storming session to plan out a few of the details. After all, they were starting a band.\nIt was in this moment the name of the band came to them -- Dark Star Orchestra. \n"The name is a derivative of a famous Grateful Dead song," says Rob Eaton, rhythm guitarist.\nCameron Blietz, the band's sound engineer says, "We are trying to recreate the work of great composers. That is where the Orchestra part comes in."\nBefore long the band had become the regular Tuesday night house band, routinely selling out the club and touring the state of Colorado. \nTheir rapid success and the staying power of such a band was a surprise, says Rob Koritz, drummer.\n"We didn't plan on it. It's a testament to how powerful the music is," Koritz says.\nThe band's reputation began to grow. People wanted to hear the music. \nJeff Zuckerman, former IU student and Clear Channel Entertainment talent buyer says, "Fans of the Grateful Dead enjoy hearing the music regardless if it's the original members or not."\nThe Dark Star Orchestra brings the music of the Grateful Dead to a new audience, Kortiz says.\n"It's a chance for young people to experience the Dead. We love this music and people want to hear it in its purest form," he says, as he describes why people would come and see his band play covers of the famous San Francisco jam band's music.\nJeff Cosby, resident of Indianapolis, has been to 85 Grateful Dead shows and two Dark Star Orchestra shows.\n"I think the main appeal of the band is they not only duplicate the music, but they duplicate the aura," he says. "When you close your eyes, you can sense a spirit that was present then and is present now."\nRon Powell, Bloomington resident, echoed Cosby's sentiment.\n"You close your eyes and they sound identical," Powell says.\nThe band tours longer than the average touring band. Because their music has already been recorded, there is no need to enter the studio to produce new music, Koritz says. The saved time allows the band to spend more time on the road, bringing the experience and feel of a Grateful Dead concert to a new generation. \nThey have developed a cult following the same way the Grateful Dead did when they were touring during the '70s, '80s and '90s.\nMany people see the music as a chance to let go of the pressures of the modern world, at least for a short time. \nSavannah, a member of the band's entourage, says, "They are carrying on what needs to be carried on -- people need to dance."\nAndrew Dofner, aka "Tiny," the band's former road manager and current truck driver, says, "It's all about taking people back. It is about people being able to release, a chance to cut loose and shake their bones."\nMembers of the Dark Star Orchestra idolize the original members of the Grateful Dead as their musical heroes. This has lead to several memorable shows when the members of the Dead share the stage with the Dark Star Orchestra. \n"(It was) the most surreal experience," Koritz says. "I've seen them play before, but it was special getting to watch them from behind. It was like playing basketball with Michael Jordan."\nPlaying with Dead members gave sound engineer Blietz the chance to fulfill one of his dreams. \n"I still haven't come down," Blietz says. "I've been dreaming about working with Bob Weir since 1981, when I saw my first show."\nAs long as there are still people who want to lose themselves in the sounds and vibe of the Grateful Dead, there will still be a band truckin' round the country playing tribute to the very much alive spirit of the Dead.
(06/27/02 2:38am)
The World Cup is probably the biggest cliché-generating event in sports. Let's see how many we can go through in this column. \nLet's begin, the more things change the more they stay the same. With the supposed changing of the guard of football, Brazil, winner of four previous cups, will face three-time winner Germany.\nBut the ball is also round, so anything can happen. The third/fourth place match is being played by South Korea and Turkey. Both teams were not expected to make it out of the first round. No one especially expected them to be playing in the second to last game of the tournament.\nThe teams are now playing for national pride so Korea will beat the Turks, because they have the home team support. It will be a high-scoring affair, but the Korean fitness and an extra day's rest will swing the game in favor of the Koreans. \nI wonder how Korea will perform as the favored team. They will have a lot more at stake in this game then the Turks will have. I'm also sure there will be more creative refereeing going the way of the home country's team as they face yet another European team in the knock-out stage of the Cup.\nThe final game pits the two greatest soccer-playing nations against one another. The two nations have combined to win seven World Cup titles. This however will be the first time that they face each other in the final match of the tournament. It's going to be a fun and interesting match up. \nBrazil is going to its third final in a row. In 1994 they beat Italy on penalties to win the title and in 1998 they lost to France behind the brilliant play of Zinedine Zidane.\nGermany has a World Cup tradition to rival that of Brazil. This will be their eighth appearance in the final game of the World Cup, a record. However they have been in a relative slump of late; they haven't won a major tournament since they won the 1990 World Cup held in Italy. \nThis is a clash of the titans. Samba versus Porsche. \nThere are basically two schools of thought on how football should be played, especially on the national stage. One is very meticulous and precise. The game is broken down to the fundamentals and everything is calculated; it is a team game -- German soccer. \nThe other school is more free-flowing. It is known around the world as "The Beautiful Game." It relies on individual talent and spontaneous creativity -- Brazilian football.\nBoth teams have great players who are skilled in their style. Both teams have about equal talent and they measure up close enough when it comes to the tap.\nThe game will come down to who performs better in their chosen mode of play. Can the Germans mount an attack on the Brazilian defense that has basically been untested all tournament? Or will Brazil ride its strategy of score-more-than-you're-scored-on all the way to a fifth World Cup? \nBoth teams came to the tournament with their doubters, but it will be the Brazilians that silence theirs. They have so much more experience and still have the bad taste in their mouth after leaving France with an 0-3 loss. \nGermany shouldn't be too discouraged. They have the building blocks of a team that will run the table in the 2006 World Cup. And guess what, it is being held in Germany.\nOh, when can a dejected Nigerian fan start dreaming of beer steins, lederhosen and sauerkraut?
(06/20/02 7:56pm)
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(06/13/02 3:59am)
Sports cliché: games are played on the field, not on paper.\nWith all the talk of favorites and can't-miss teams, Argentina and France have choked on the world's biggest stage. This is the first World Cup ever with all the defending champions participating; three have already been sent home after disappointing first rounds.\nArgentina and France were both ranked in the top three in FIFA's world football rankings and both were made to look very marginal by their opponents. Argentina did have to contend with playing in the "Group of Death," however that is no excuse for scoring only 2 goals in 3 games, especially when you consider they have some of the World's most explosive players in Gabriel Batistuta, Ariel Ortega and Hernan Crespo. \nOn the French roster are the leading scorers in the British, Italian and French professional leagues. The most explosive scoring trio in European club play could not come up with a single goal in Asia, making France only the second team ever to not score in three games of World Cup competition. \n"Les Bleus" can make the excuse that they were without the service of Zenidine Zidane, arguably the best player in the modern game, in their first two games. However, unlike basketball, one player can not dominate the game of soccer. \nThe French should have done better. Now everyone will be second guessing whether or not their win in the World Cup four years ago was a fluke or not.\nTwo former champions came into this World Cup with very little expectation. Coming in to the tournament, many questioned how good Brazil and Germany really were. They have totally dominated the teams they have faced so far in the tournament; however, they are in the weakest groups in the tournament. Their true test will be in the second round, when they will not be facing the minnows of the world. \nThis World Cup was supposed to be the forum where Portugal would finally make an impression on the World stage. The only impact they have had is giving the United States team an over inflated image of themselves. The Red, White and Blues win over the over-hyped Portuguese team was not as big an upset as everyone here seems to think. The Portuguese are not that good and the American team is not that bad.\nThe surprise team of the World Cup has to be Spain. They have traditionally been the most underachieving nation when it comes to international competition. They are the world's perennial choke artist. But this time around there has been a marked difference to the team's play.\nWith much of the world's attention going to their neighbors to the west, the Furia Roja have gotten the maximum number of points in their groups. This is surprising since they are playing entertaining football against a group that is not filled with cupcakes.\nThe biggest over-achievers have been Senegal and Mexico. The African side, who were runner-up to Cameroon in the African Cup of Nations, is the only team from the African continent that made it to the Round of 16. They haven't played brilliantly, just well enough to get there.\nMexico has been pure class. In what could be considered the second "Group of Death," the Mexican team has gotten maximum points in their first two games. Their encounter with the Italian Azzurra will be their true litmus test.\nHaving said all this, the team that will win the Cup will be the Italians. They have had their problems in group play, but they will pull through. They have an impressive line-up of strikers and midfielders. Factor in that they have the best defense in the world, and they may have the best recipe for success. The have also dropped out of the last two tournaments in penalty kick situations with the eventual champs, so they have been strong before; they've just had some bad luck.\nThere. I made it through an entire column without making an excuse about the Nigerian's horrendous performance. \nI guess it is time for some fans to start looking toward Germany '06.
(06/06/02 6:54pm)
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(05/30/02 4:00am)
Music evolves.\nIn many cases bands evolve to find a niche and an audience. \nFor the past fifteen years, Fredie Shaw Anderson and his band Roses for Kitty, has evolved in the Bloomington music scene. A graduate of the IU School of Music, Anderson lives in Bloomington, but travels the midwest honing his trade and displaying his talent. The band recently released their second album Zinc Heart, and in conjunction with the release the band held parties at Vertigo and the Bluebird to celebrate. \nIn those years, Anderson has learned to deal with the loss of bandmates. His band has lost musicians to death, graduation and even freak occurrences such as a horn player fracturing bones in his heart before a concert. Before the release of their self-titled debut album, Roses for Kitty's long time keyboardist, Tom Moeller, passed away.\nCathy Sue Kern, the band's stage manager, has been friends with Anderson for over a decade. She has seen the evolution of the band and musicians first hand. \n"Horn players don't tend to stick around Bloomington," Kern said. Most musicians around town tend to graduate from the School of Music and then move on, she said.\nAnderson is the front man, songwriter and lead guitarist of Roses for Kitty. The band contains a consistent core of drums, lead guitar and bass. Many of the songs feature guest artists who play different and more exotic instruments.\nKern has used his skills and experience to teach other musicians.\n"Fredie helps make young kids into performers," Kern said. "I have seen him take kids that were green and pull the best out of them."\nAnderson believes one advantage of the Bloomington music scene is the School of Music. \n"The wonderful thing about the music school is that you can get subs any time you need them," he said.\nHaving such a loosely organized band structure means many talented musicians have played with the band. Josh Wall, the band's drummer, has been with Roses for Kitty for the last year and a half. \n"I've always enjoyed making music, and I have enjoyed just playing," Wall said.\nAnderson has all his performance music written on sheet music. He goes to the trouble because he likes to be able to find artists to play with while traveling. While written music is restrictive to some performers, Anderson has taken this into account, and during live shows allows guest musicians an extensive amount of time for individual expression during the numerous solo times allotted. \n"You cannot really give that much structure to rock 'n' roll, it's a feeling," Anderson said about the problem of playing scripted music.\nThough Roses for Kitty plays rock 'n' roll, the band's music does not fit neatly into any one genre. "Fredie is an artist," Kern said. "He is not trying to go in a certain direction. He simply wants to entertain people."\nThe band's desire to play to a different audience leads to a lot of traveling in search of venues to play. They play shows at bars and at parks running the gamut between diverse audiences. \n"Playing is a high for me that I can't get anywhere else," Wall said.\nThe music the band plays has also evolved through the years and across albums. On the Roses for Kitty album, reggae is a major genre that comes through in the music. \nThe influences on the newly released Zinc Heart are harder to pin down. Each song seems to be an experiment in a new style and genre, and the one common denominator on most of the songs is Anderson's voice. Two of the pieces are entirely instrumental.\nAnderson's goal whenever the band starts recording is to produce an album that fits together as a story. On Zinc Heart, the story is about love relationships. The band explores the full range of emotions associated with love, and the songs progress in the natural evolution of a relationship.\nIf this record was produced in the hey-days of vinyl it would definitely have a B-side. The second part of the album deals with death, and the mood of the music becomes much more somber.\nBy design, Anderson has put the album together that way. \n"In the middle of the album you get to transition pieces," Anderson said. "They allow the listener to decompress after experiencing the emotions of the songs."\nBloomington has produced scores of bands, but the very nature of a college town dictates that many of these bands do not last longer then four years. Anderson has found a way to deal with the constant migration of artists from the scene, and he has managed to develop a niche in the music and heart of Bloomington.