IUSA

Crowe's 'town' worth visiting

By Alyson Brodsy and Rob O'Connor · Thursday, Oct. 20,2005 12 a.m.

Man, do I hate Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. And not just in a cute, pouting kind of way. Whenever I see either one of them I have the overwhelming desire to throw my shoe at the T.V./movie screen/billboard. If ever you read the headline "Bloom attacked with loafer," chances are it was me. That is why it is so amazing that Cameron Crowe ("Almost Famous," "Vanilla Sky") was able to make an enjoyable movie starring both of them. Yet that is what "Elizabethtown" is, maybe not as great as his past efforts, but still worth a trip to the theater.

Danger Doom project highly animated

By Alyson Brodsy and Evan Ross · Thursday, Oct. 20,2005 12 a.m.

It's incredibly likely that anyone hearing about Danger Doom will react with a healthy dose of skepticism. It stinks of cheap cross-promotional marketing, novelty recording and a co-opting of a currently popular television trend. After all, it is a rap album about cartoons. Not just any cartoons, but the fanatically popular Adult Swim line-up shown late-night on Cartoon Network. For all the naysayers out there, The Mouse and the Mask is perhaps the most bizarrely catchy cash-in this year.

Ruined by a record label

By Alyson Brodsy and Mallory Simon · Thursday, Oct. 20,2005 12 a.m.

O.A.R. fans: Prepare for a great divide. Stories of a Stranger, the 7th album from the band known for its college-heavy following, creates exactly the stir it was supposed to. For good or bad: that's up for debate. Initially I sided with the latter. The CD signifies a growing move for the band, now under Atlantic Records, and showcases an attempt to prove they are more than a band that can come into college towns and get undergrads to rock out in their apartments.

Dysfunction is a function of great comedy

By C. Warner Sills and Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Oct. 20,2005 12 a.m.

What do you get when you combine a dysfunctional family, a magician named Gob, a Private Eye named Gene Parmesan, a blue-painted David Cross, Saddam Hussein, a bounty hunter/caterer called Ice, Liza Minnelli, a carnivorous seal, Henry Winkler, a one-armed man, Ron Howard, the Motherboy competition and lots of frozen bananas? The answer of course is season two of the brilliant television anti-sitcom "Arrested Development."

Post-punk grave-robbing and ho-hum covers

By -Nate Bethea and Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Oct. 20,2005 12 a.m.

Gang of Four's story is one of the greatest and saddest in rock music, mostly because they put out two fundamentally amazing albums and then proceeded to shred their legacy with horrendous (I'm talking so bad it can't be described) subsequent albums. 1979's Entertainment! is one of the most solid and jaw-dropping debuts ever committed to tape, and its follow up Solid Gold was of equal quality. It was only in the '90s when albums like Mall and Shrinkwrapped came out that music fans were forced to tears.

AMY RAY

By -Kehla West and Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Oct. 20,2005 12 a.m.

Amy Ray may be the one person alive who wouldn't mind going back to high school. Her newest solo album, Prom, tackles the heady brew of identity, community and the heaps of hormones that are born of the high school years. The mandatory Amy Ray political overtones make appearances, but the overwhelming aura of Prom is all about those four turbulent years. But Ray didn't initially set out to write an album about high school.

Gather 'round for storytime

By Alyson Brodsy and Gary Mellini · Thursday, Oct. 20,2005 12 a.m.

With "Get Your Way," the opening track off his second major full-length release, Catching Tales (a fitting title since most songs are narrative voice-overs), Jamie Cullum seems to have taken the jazz influences from the many swing covers off his last album, Twentysomething, and nicely incorporated them into a more modern, swing style of his own. This popping, upbeat number complete with a soulful, funk strut shows that Cullum need not only cover 1950s standards, but can make his own.

Where will they be ten years from now?

By Alyson Brodsy and Thom Kudla · Thursday, Oct. 20,2005 12 a.m.

Before I even begin this, I have a single question for you: what happened to that show "Where Are They Now?" on VH1? You know, the show where they catch up on the recent developments of your favorite auxiliary entertainers. I seriously haven't seen the show on VH1 since I was in junior high, and that's certainly saying something since I'm one super-duper-senior. Now maybe in the last 70080 hours of programming on VH1, I happened to miss a showing of "Where Are They Now?" Be that as it may, I'm just dying to get some updates on the lives of superstars such as Debbie Gibson, New Kids on the Block and the entire cast of "Beverly Hills, 90210."

'Proof' of an Oscar nod

By Alyson Brodsy and Chris Wisner · Thursday, Oct. 20,2005 12 a.m.

"Proof," adapted from David Auburn's Tony Award-winning Broadway play, is a drama of mathematical proportions. There is so much going on between all the main players that the effects they have on each other almost seem incalculable -- like the math problem that keeps you up all night making you swear there is no possible right answer.

Jordan River Forum

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, Oct. 19,2005 11:58 p.m.

As noted in the Sept. 18 issue of the Indiana Daily Student, Playboy magazine has made an appearance at IU to try to persuade college girls to pose in its publication. Most of the time you will hear women try to dissuade other women from participating in such a degrading experience, claiming it makes women no more than meat at a meat market. It's time for the real men of this world to step up and share this view.

Ayn Rand: bad for students

By Alyson Brodsy and Vivek Chandrasekhar · Wednesday, Oct. 19,2005 11:54 p.m.

During my time at IU, I have met many students who, to one degree or another, have been seduced by the philosophy of novelist Ayn Rand.

Enough is enough

By Alyson Brodsy and Megan Robb · Wednesday, Oct. 19,2005 11:53 p.m.

The University of South Carolina sent a group of 105 students to work toward the Hurricane Katrina relief effort last week during their fall break. Students at Purdue went home to visit their families. Some students at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., decided to stay on campus to unwind. Across the nation, college students are escaping from the stress of midterms. But IU-Bloomington students are once again in the pressure cooker this week. And they'll stay there until Thanksgiving.

I heart the Game Show Network

By Alyson Brodsy and Matt Peyton · Wednesday, Oct. 19,2005 11:52 p.m.

I've found my true calling in life. I've decided to become a professional game show contestant. With the advent of the Game Show Network showing episode after episode of all kinds of game shows, 24/7, I think now is a prime time for me to get into the market. But there is currently a roadblock for each of the popular shows.

American Girl interrupted

By Alyson Brodsy and Kirk Nathanson · Wednesday, Oct. 19,2005 11:52 p.m.

Many of my friends and readers think I loathe conservatives, so I want to set the record straight. I loathe irresponsible, boorish advocacy groups that lack common sense and self-control, and if way too many of those groups happen to be manned by right-wing nut-jobs, well that's just coincidental.

Kashmir's forgotten quake

By Alyson Brodsy and Peter Chen · Wednesday, Oct. 19,2005 11:50 p.m.

In a week of news dominated by Harriet Miers and Karl Rove, it was probably hard to notice the aftermath of the year's worst natural disaster: the Kashmir earthquake Oct. 8. So far, the death toll stands at about 41,000, which makes it the deadliest natural disaster since the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia. Relief efforts are staggering along with weather and terrain hampering efforts (not to mention the fact that Kashmir is among the most disputed territories on earth).

Get your groove on

By Deara Ball · Wednesday, Oct. 19,2005 11:49 p.m.

Anyone and everyone can dance. Jennifer Lopez does it in her videos. Usher does it on stage. And you can dance, too. With that said, that doesn't mean you should quit school or your job and shimmy over to Broadway or hit the road with Missy Elliot as a backup dancer, but you can cut a rug at a party this weekend.

So much more than a party school

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, Oct. 19,2005 11:48 p.m.

Some students, faculty and administration have become increasingly indignant about IU's party school reputation. This frustration has been reinforced lately because of certain presences on campus. (Namely, Playboy magazine and a company filming a DVD reminiscent of products marketed to the lonely single males who watch late night TV.) The movie filming took place during the weekend at local bars downtown, such as The Jungle Room, Kilroy's on Kirkwood and Bluebird Nightclub.

Just Don't call them Country

By Dan Hopmann · Wednesday, Oct. 19,2005 11:46 p.m.

Face time on MTV seems to be a common goal among many young bands today, whether it's TRL or Hard Rock Live. That's not exactly Nickel Creek's plan. As a trio featuring the mandolin, fiddle and guitar, this band fits in more with CMT and PBS, where they have appeared quite often since their career took off in 2000.

Court issues warrant for DeLay, sets $10,000 bond

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, Oct. 19,2005 11:46 p.m.

AUSTIN, Texas -- A Texas court Wednesday issued a warrant for Rep. Tom DeLay, ordering him to appear at the Fort Bend County jail for booking on state conspiracy and money laundering charges. The court set an initial $10,000 bail as a routine step before the Texas Republican's first court appearance Friday.

Rice won't rule out U.S. troops in Iraq in 10 years

By Alyson Brodsy and Liz Sidoti · Wednesday, Oct. 19,2005 11:45 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday refused to rule out U.S. troops still serving in Iraq in 10 years or the possibility that the United States could use military force against neighboring Syria and Iran.