http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/ All The Print That's Fit To News. en-us editor@dailyernebraskan.com Copyright 2012, The Dailyer Nebraskan. Dylan Bliss http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/entertainment-editors-note-417 http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/entertainment-editors-note-417 Moreover, readers who are already familiar with Seeds’ explorations won’t want their intelligence insulted, milling through introductory features and reviews. We’ve tried to counter that by exuding a complementary appreciation of the content, coupled with a fresh perspective on our favorite acts and pioneering endeavours in film, games, and television. It’s difficult for me to compare our efforts to any local publication, as we’re devoid of monetary motivation and genuine journalistic experience. Personally, I’m a waning business student whose passions for anything in the entertainment realm have simply harboured my desire to share.
The first three interviews I conducted were with some of my most beloved artists, and it’s only become more rewarding ever since. The initial direction of Seeds was unclear to the staff and myself at first, but after plenty of constructive criticism and trials, regular features like “Staff Picks” and “Best of Netflix Instant Watch” have slowly shaped the ongoing format of the publication. In the end, flying under the guise of a legitimate entertainment publication has given our staff some exciting opportunities to further explore persons and mediums closest to our hearts. Countless weekends piecing these experiences together round out a collective labor of love that I will continue to appreciate as Seeds continues. The feedback has been more than welcome. Keep your current investment of interest intact, readers. We’ll see you next year. ]]> Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT Mitch McCann http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/asun-responds-to-critics-with-porched-bag-of-flaming-poop- http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/asun-responds-to-critics-with-porched-bag-of-flaming-poop-
The critics, who were said to be numerous yet still apathetic about student government in general, stood by their initial claims against ASUN. Many of them lacked any incentive to retaliate, but insisted on adding compounding critiques of the organization.

“Most people don’t notice, but ASUN basically begat ASUN. It’s the same people every year. We need some fresh blood in there to shake up the system,” said a senior Marketing major, who asked to remain nameless. “I mean, I don’t want to do it, but somebody should.”

Senators inside the organization deny any specific involvement with the incident, citing ASUN’s recently-passed Freedom of Aerial Campus Expression clause, which allows students to “launch/fling any form of organic product so long as it pertains to the expression of political ideals and/or practices.”

Newly elected ASUN president and IMPACT candidate Eric Kamler stands by the new policy and has remained outspoken in its defense.

“Without the political and sociological tools to properly represent oneself, we are no better than small-minded children,” said Kamler.

“And if that means tossing a little flaming poop onto your competitor’s home turf so they have to stamp it out and get their shoes all turdy, then so be it.” ]]> Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT Christina Mayer http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/newt-gingrich-in-two-person-race-with-student-council-candidate- http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/newt-gingrich-in-two-person-race-with-student-council-candidate-
The beleaguered candidate, whose fund-raising efforts have flagged in the last month, was reportedly forced to ask his sister, Candice, for spending money. Records also indicate that a check for 300 Silly Bandz, written by his campaign, bounced at Walgreen’s this week.

His main competitor, 7th grader Mitchell Romani, took to the playground to address his opponent’s financial troubles.

“Come on, guys... he wrote a check. He’s got to be, like my grandpa’s age. Why doesn’t have a debit card? Does he even go here?”

Setting aside the challenges of his bank account and a likability gap exacerbated by the fact that Mitchell’s dad owns the local arcade, Gingrich has vowed to fight on.

“I might not get the folks in each homeroom to vote for me,” he told the principal when he was called in to talk about using his inside voice, “but when everyone comes together in the lunchroom, they’ll know that I’m the true conservative here. Can I have my bullhorn back now?”

An unscientific opinion poll conducted in room 103B indicates that the average 6th grader thinks Gingrich is creepy and that boob is a funny word. ]]> Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT Greg Bright http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/fraternity-member-accidentally-leaves-homophobia-at-home- http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/fraternity-member-accidentally-leaves-homophobia-at-home-
The blunder caused Riley to say things like “I see no problem with gay marriage,” “I’m going to accept people for who they are,” and, “it’s pretty weird that a house full of guys living together would be so fearful of homosexuality.”

“I’ve never been more embarrassed for our fraternity in my life. How could John leave his homophobia at home? Why did he ever even take it out of his wallet?” said John’s former best friend Lance Goodwell.

“You never leave the house without your homophobia or your Sperrys. It’s just the unspoken rule.”

The fraternity has been putting fires out all week, and today promised that “we don’t allow fags in here” would be their motto for “the rest of eternity.”

“This was just a simple mistake, that’s it. We all know that when John carries around the homophobia he hates the gays just as much as any other fraternity brother,” fraternity President Matthew Wells said.

Riley has been kept in the fraternity house all week, refusing to talk to reporters except when he released a statement confirming that he still “hates all gay men and ugly lesbians” and that the blunder was a “one time mistake” that he promises will “never, ever, ever happen again.” ]]> Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT Greg Bright http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/old-man-gets-it-up http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/old-man-gets-it-up
Gussman has been working on the project for months and had so far been unable to get it to stay up for any extended period of time. This was causing a strain in his relationship with his wife and deep, personal feelings of inadequacy and despair.

“I’m just glad everything worked out. He’s really been hard to live with,” Stan’s wife Susie said.

“Since he couldn’t get it up, he just kept trying to do other manly things around the house. And when he would finish something he’d shout, ‘see Susie, I’m still a man!’ It was incredibly annoying.”

As of yesterday morning Stan has reported that he’s still got it up, but that it’s starting to become “a little bit of a problem” and creates more work then he can handle at his “old age.” ]]> Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT Mitch McCann http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/ninety-pounds-of-whitney-houston-found-in-cocaine-autopsy- http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/ninety-pounds-of-whitney-houston-found-in-cocaine-autopsy-
“Officially we aren’t allowed to release anything regarding the autopsy of the cocaine. We are, however, approved to disclose findings during the procedure and it appears that anywhere up to ninety pounds of miss Houston were found throughout the entire ordeal,” said Coroner David Simms in a statement to the press.

“Without going any further into the tragic incident, my office would like to add that the aforementioned stimulant’s untimely death appears to have been accidental, but will be at least in part attributed to the presence of Miss Houston in the toxicology report.”

Family of the deceased crystalline tropane alkaloid gathered Friday to mourn its passing. Houston’s representatives sent their condolences but were unable to attend the ceremony.

“We deeply regret this series of events,” added Houston’s sister-in-law and manager Patricia. “Without Whitney here to defend herself, no one will ever really know what happened between her and cocaine that evening.”

The reports of the deceased have been released for public viewing, but both parties have requested that speculation remain at a minimum as to Houston’s involvement in the cocaine’s passing. ]]> Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT Alex Rule http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/huskers-to-institute-all-tight-end-offense- http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/huskers-to-institute-all-tight-end-offense-
After the Huskers 9-4 football season in 2011, offensive coordinator Tim Beck announced the offense is getting a revamp. Beck further explained that the team would be undergoing a journey to find the cause of those four losses. Following careful study, which included attaching a camera to quarterback Taylor Martinez's helmet during practice, the coaches had a diagnosis: Martinez apparently can't see anything downfield.

“Well, what do they expect?” asked Martinez when told of the findings. “They keep putting a bunch of big tall guys in front of me and the other team puts even more, then they get in a fight and I get distracted.”

In an effort to correct both problems, Beck reported the team will be undertaking something unprecedented in football history. Starting next season, Husker officials will be taking out the offensive line and replacing them entirely with tight ends.

“By doing this, we can eliminate Taylor's blocked view and give him more targets down field,” said Beck in a press release on the unorthodox setup. When asked why he was not replacing the back field with more receivers instead of the linemen, Beck responded, “Actually, we are doing both.”

Beck went on to explain that the entire offense, save the quarterback, would be replaced with these 'tighter ends' and that even Martinez would be going in to receiver training. “We are operating under the assumption that more receivers are always better, so eleven is better than ten.”

The big question left is what will happen when the ball is hiked and the defensive line flattens the tight ends left facing them. In response to these criticisms, offensive line coach Barney Cotton noted that “right now, we're training them to stand sideways and let the defense rush by them,” adding, “they're just so skinny.” ]]> Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT Jacob Fricke http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/nebraska-basketball-fans-looking-forward-to-15th-consecutive-rebuilding-year- http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/nebraska-basketball-fans-looking-forward-to-15th-consecutive-rebuilding-year-
“I love the Huskers, and always have,” says 51 year-old Lincoln resident Gerald Duval. “But every team has their ups and their downs, and next year’s going to be a ‘rebuilding’ year of sorts.”

“Just like the last 14 have been,” he added.

Current student and Nebrasketball fan Jake Sorensen agrees.

“It’s tough, following a team like this,” says the junior journalism major. “Every year you expect just a little bit of progress.”

Sorensen, who was seven the last time the Huskers made the NCAA tournament, is optimistic about new head coach Tim Miles.

“He brings a spirit, enthusiasm, and a history of tourney visits,” he said, “though that somehow seems familiar.”

Undoubtedly, he is referring to former head coach Doc Sadler, who was fired after six ineffective years. He could also be referring to prior coach Barry Collier, whose Husker career came to a similar end.

The Huskers, who last appeared in the NCAA tournament in 1996, have the unfortunate distinction of having never won a tournament game, despite an otherwise storied athletic history. Miles, who recently led Colorado State to a victory in the NCAA tournament, hopes to change this.

“It’s a privilege to come here and bring the Huskers into a ‘new era’ of sorts,” Miles said. “This job is incredibly attractive, especially with the new arena and a chance to coach in the Big 10.”

“I’m thrilled to be a Husker, and I hope I can bring the program their first NCAA win, and maybe even more,” he said. “Unless a job in the ACC opens up first.” ]]> Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT Jacob Fricke http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/nancy-grace-unable-to-bring-self-to-say-innocent-until-proven-guilty- http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/nancy-grace-unable-to-bring-self-to-say-innocent-until-proven-guilty-
Though Grace strove to condemn a suspected murderer, after reviewing the facts of the legal matter on air she realized that perhaps it was too early to pass judgement.

“You know, maybe this one isn’t so cut-and-dried,” said Grace on her program. “I guess we have to accept that, here in America, it’s innooocc....”

Grace tried several times to say the word “innocent” before succeeding.

“Innocent until porrrrrrrrrrr.....”

For several minutes, Grace could be seen and heard struggling to pronounce the word “proven” in context with the rest of the sentence. After a few seconds experimentation, it was discovered that she could, in fact, say the word on its own. In context, however, she was unable to say it until a production assistant coached her through it during a commercial break.

“Sorry, viewers,” Grace began after the commercials. “As I was saying, in America, it’s innocent until proven guilt---”

Upon this final attempt to utter the phrase “innocent until proven guilty,” Grace’s throat constricted and her limbs gave way, resulting in her face smashing directly into her desk. Knocked unconscious, Grace was unable to be revived in time to finish her show.

Several hours later, she awoke at a nearby hospital. She then gave a terse statement to the press.

“I’ve thought about it some more, and that son of a bitch needs to pay for whatever it is he did. Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!” ]]> Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT Jacob Fricke http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/unfinished-antelope-valley-parkway-replaced-with-sinkhole- http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/unfinished-antelope-valley-parkway-replaced-with-sinkhole-
Reaction to the sinkhole has been uniformly and overwhelmingly positive.

“It’s so nice to finally see that project done with,” said Lincoln resident Doris Pollele. “It’s been closed down for so long that anything is good. And it’s so symmetrical!”

Area students agree. “I have absolutely no idea what that thing was supposed to be, but now it’s a spectacle,” said sophomore English major Paul Foster. “Maybe this will bring in some tourism dollars.”

Local and state governments have similarly responded well to the sinkhole.

“It’s a thing of beauty,” said governor Dave Heineman. “Finally, we don’t have to look at traffic cones, lane closure signs, and a complete lack of progress anymore. Truly, this shows what happens when nature and man work together for the common good.”

Perhaps the most ringing endorsement for the slowly-spreading depression of carbonized rock came from new Husker basketball coach Tim Miles.

“Whoa’d u see that,” Miles said on twitter. “Can’t wait 2 show recruits what Lincoln’s all about!!!” ]]> Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT Christina Mayer http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/north-korea-launches-life-size-replica-of-kim-jong-ils-penis- http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/north-korea-launches-life-size-replica-of-kim-jong-ils-penis-
According to Pentagon spokeswoman Alana Dixon, the love felt by North Koreans “for their loving, just, giant-schlong-toting idol” have not been quenched by his death last year.

As reported by the North Korean Central News Agency, the TaepoDong-2 Love Rocket failed several minutes into its flight path. A smiling anchorwoman assured the public on her nightly newscast that the statue’s destruction was meant “to remind the world that no mere object can compare to the Leader’s mighty manhood.”

North Korea’s ambassador to China addressed criticism of the 38.5-meter weiner replica on an official visit this morning.

“Though some Western imperialists insist that the state launched a ‘long-range rocket’ to ‘advance nuclear ambitions,’ all real North Koreans know that we merely wanted to pay homage to our departed Leader’s mighty and unstoppable giggle stick.”

He added, “Not that I ever saw the real thing. The Dear Leader exposed himself only to truly loyal North Korean female comrades and kidnapped Japanese actresses. The sculptor of this statue was granted a dream vision. No homo.”

CIA intelligence suggests there are plans in the works to launch a similar tribute to current leader Kim Jong Un as soon as the international community restores North Korea’s food aid shipments. ]]> Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/seeds-interview-with-walking-dead-artist-charlie-adlard http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/seeds-interview-with-walking-dead-artist-charlie-adlard
Seeds: How did you get involved with “The Walking Dead?”
Charlie Adlard: [Series writer] Robert [Kirkman] emailed me out of the blue asking me if I’d be interested in drawing “The Walking Dead.” I did know Robert a couple years before; we worked on a comic book indirectly with another writer, Joe Casey. We did a comic book called “Code Flesh” for Image. We did 8 episodes; it wasn’t a full comic book. Image only published the first 5, so it was just hanging there, and I already drew them all. And Robert offered to publish those with his independent small press company Funk-O-Tron. That’s how I got to know Robert, and I met him a couple of times at various conventions, so when he emailed me I knew who he was.

Seeds: How do you and Robert collaborate on “The Walking Dead?”
CA: I get as much freedom as I would like as an artist, short of writing it myself. His scripts are very loose, to be honest. And I think the more we’ve got to work together the looser they become. Subsequently, because he trusts me to do my job, like I trust him to do his job. They are, as the business calls it “full scripts,” so it’s not like when Stan Lee worked with Jack Kirby and Stan Lee would write a vague outline for Jack Kirby and Jack, as a controversial point, wrote the comic himself.
There’s enough information in our scripts for me to do what Robert needs to put down, but the rest is totally up to me. Which is how I want it, and it’s a great working collaboration. We sort of leave each other alone, basically; we’re both incredibly busy and can’t afford the time to be emailing or on the phone with each other all the time. So we both need to be very professional as well. We have to trust each other to do a good job each month; otherwise the whole thing goes to pot.

Seeds: So when you see the script, how do you decide what to draw, or what to put into an image?
CA: In a script all the dialogue is there. Personally, I find working from a full script artistically more freeing than an outline... because you’ve got all the information down for you, and there’s no sort of discrepancy where the writer says, “I really wanted that there,” and you say, “Well, you should have put that in the outline.” There’s a lot of room for mistakes.
On average, Robert’s description will be either large panel or small panel. He doesn’t even define the exact sizes, or the shape or anything. That’s all up to me. A lot of it could literally be a couple of words of the description; it can be as simple as a closeup on whomever. If there’s something he specifically wants, he will put it down. I’d say your average script would be: X talks to Y, close up on Y, close up on X, wide panel, both in shot. Robert said when we started, don’t take these scripts as “this is how it must be done,” feel free to mess around with them. Which I do quite often.

Seeds: Could you talk about a comic book artist’s average workday?
CA: Very basically, a script goes to an artist. Especially in American comic books there tends to be a penciler and an inker. I do both jobs, pencil and ink, mostly because I’m too much of a control freak to let anyone else touch it. Basically, because me and Robert work for ourselves, and because Robert trusts me enough, I ink without him ever seeing the pages. So the first time Robert sees the pages is when they’re finished. So he trusts me enough to where I can do that. There is a slight thing with time. If I was stopping between pencils and ink to show Robert, it would slow me up, and it would slow Robert up. And we’ve built trust.
But I’m sure in other Comic book companies... they will send pencils in first, make sure everything looks fine, then goes to ink. But when I get the pencil and ink done, the page gets sent to Cliff, who is our gray-toner. Even though I do have time for pencils and inks, I don’t have time for the gray tones. Because “The Walking Dead” is a black and white book, the tones of gray add a little something to the artwork, I think. The book then goes to a letterer, who letters the script and then to the printer.
My day is very simple. I get up at 7 o’clock in the morning, I make sure my two kids get off to school. I get into the studio around half past 8. Procrastinate for about an hour. Then I work a very basic 9-5 day. For the last 5 to 6 years, that’s been about it.

Seeds: How much would you say you get done in a day?
CA: This is of no indication of an average artist... but I have reputation in the industry of being one of the fastest artists. I can generally do -- and this is hard to quantify because I pencil them first and ink them after -- but I would say that I complete two pages a day. And I do them quite small. I think the average normal size of an average American Comic book artwork is... I don’t know how to say it because Americans go by inches. But I draw around the same size of the comic, where other artists do a bigger page. And that was a decision made about halfway through “The Walking Dead” to try and do it faster.

Seeds: You’ve worked with Nobel Prize winner for literature Doris Lessing. Could you talk about how the drawing process worked with her versus a comic book writer, like Robert?
CA: This is a little bit of an interesting story. Doris Lessing is not a comic book writer. Believe it or not, the idea for getting her to do a comic initially started as: let’s get some famous authors to do comic books so we could get this great crossover thing, where people who read books by this author would now buy a comic book, and vice versa. Great idea if implemented right, and if the right person was writing. But not everyone can write comic books, and not every comic book writer can write novels.
So when I got the script of “Playing the Game,” it was nine pages long, and I had to do a 64-page book. It was not only nine pages long, but written in verse as well. There was hardly any panel descriptions, it was sort of a poem version of a Stan Lee script. It was just the most bizarre thing. I found out after accepting the job that every other artist friend of mine had been offered the script and they turned it down. So I literally had to sit there for a couple of days and figure out how to expand this thing to 64 pages. So in effect I wrote half of it. It was radically different, to be honest. It was a tricky one to do. A lot of it was trying to figure out what she was going on about, and perhaps I was being ignorant because I couldn’t work out what she was trying to say. I talked to some other artists, and they couldn’t figure it out. It just wasn’t me. It was just the bizarrest thing to do.

--Seeds: Going back to “The Walking Dead”: Tony Moore was the original artist, and you were hired after 6 issues. Did you try to mimic Tony, or did you try to do your own thing?
CA: I did my own thing. I gathered that Robert picked me because I didn’t draw like Tony Moore. There are plenty of guys who draw more like him, so why not ask them first if that’s what he wanted? So I just assumed that he didn’t care that it didn’t look anything like Tony’s. I also wasn’t going to compromise. I assume if someone is ringing me up, they know my artwork. So I presume that they know what I do, and I presume that Robert wouldn’t ask me to draw like somebody else.

Seeds: You’ve been working on “The Walking Dead” since 2004. Do you ever get burnt out?
CA: No, not really. I constantly get fantastic scripts from Robert to provide inspiration. Because of my speed and everything, a project could last 3 to 4 weeks, and that could be frustrating -- I’m just getting used to a character and I’m moving on to the next thing. I enjoy an ongoing process, and I enjoy getting to know the characters. It’s nice to be able to draw Rick in my sleep. I know every nuance in his face, so it’s great. And “The Walking Dead” keeps me locked in because it’s so good. It’s as simple as that. I’m just as intrigued to see where Robert is going to take it in the next issues. It is a weird sort of feeling to know that we’re locked into this for a very long time.

Seeds: Do you and Robert have a timetable with “The Walking Dead?”
CA: We do, we talk about that when we physically talk to each other. Which is unfortunately getting rarer, because of the busy-ness of being us. I’m sorta stuck turning the pages and Robert is doing his thing and the T.V. show, so we probably get to talk a couple of times a year. When we get together, we do talk about more long term stuff. Because there just isn’t the time in the day when we’re emailing each other, but that’s usually just a couple of sentences here and there. I have a very rough idea of what Robert has planned; though he’s done this to me before, where he tells me what he has planned, and it changes when it gets to that point. ]]> Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT Mitch McCann http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/police-briefs-week-of-april-16 http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/police-briefs-week-of-april-16 Early friday afternoon Lincoln police arrested a man, 24, crossing the street adjacent to Anderson hall in downtown wearing a humorous, vintage Wal-mart t-shirt. The shirt’s emblem, seemingly cracked and faded by time, was found by officers only to be a ruse by the apparel manufacturer. The Lincoln man was detained by officers until he relinquished the shirt as evidence to be immediately disposed.

-- Police seize custody of Dan Kim, owner and founder of Red Mango --
During a surprise visit to the downtown Lincoln location, a Lincoln Deputy Sheriff arrested Red Mango owner Dan Kim on suspicion of withholding gummy worms and pomegranate seeds, the officer’s two most preferred toppings, from the Red Mango self-service topping bar. Kim was released later the following evening with a written warning for customer dissatisfaction. ]]> Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT Greg Bright http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/communications-major-attends-class http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/communications-major-attends-class
The action occurred over a misunderstanding of the syllabus on Wells’ part. Believing that the classes exam was scheduled for Monday, Wells decided it would be a good decision to show up for class. The exam, unfortunately for Wells, was not scheduled until this upcoming Friday, information Wells would have known had he read any of the 3 emails the Professor had sent out with the subject “UPDATED SYLLABUS.”

“I really thought the exam was going to be today,” Wells said, sounding disappointed. “I can’t believe I missed a wicked game of ultimate frisbee over a misunderstanding.”

“This professor really needs to send out more emails. This is information I needed to know.”

The mistake did allow Wells to find out that the communications class was centered on business communication, a fact Wells didn’t know and believes will help him on the upcoming exam.

“It’s always nice to know what exactly the test is going to be on,” Wells said.

By 3:05 pm, with only 15 minutes left in the class, Wells decided he had had played enough solitaire and skipped out to go get a late lunch “and probably a dessert,” a treat Wells believed he earned for staying in class for over 30 minutes. ]]> Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT Greg Bright http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/seeds-film-review-the-hunger-games http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/seeds-film-review-the-hunger-games
The Hunger Games, adapted from the popular, and terribly-written, book of the same name by Suzanne Collins, is a film unconcerned with being a film as much as it is concerned with being fan-approved spectacle. It is less an adaptation and more of a fleeting (successful) attempt to make more money off a popular series.

The film follows a 16-year-old female, Katniss, in a dystopian future where America has been split into 12 districts and an all-powerful capitol (where the people apparently get their fashion advice from the Disney Channel original movie, Zenon). Sometime before the events of this story the 12 districts tried to revolt and failed so as punishment, each year the 12 districts send a male and female between the ages of 12-18 to participate in The Hunger Games, a televised event where the 24 kids from the 12 districts fight and kill each other until only one remains.

If you think this plot has a lot of potential you’re right, in fact it’s already been done masterfully in a 2000 Japanese film called Battle Royale (that Suzanne Collins had supposedly never seen). However The Hunger Games is plagued with cliche visuals (shots of tree lines going in and out of focus to signify death), terrible camera work (I get that we’re supposed to be emotionally attached to Katniss, lets just cool it with the close-ups) and boring action (is there anything more boring than action that is incoherently thrown together by an amateur editor?) .

The most problematic storyline, however, is Rue, a 12 year-old black girl from district 11, or more specifically her death. I assume her death should be more emotional because she is so young and helped Katniss, but she doesn’t really have enough screentime for someone to truly become attached to her. Her death creates riots in district 11 which doesn’t make any sense because The Hunger Games have been going on for awhile and so the minute Rue was picked, with her only talent seeming to be that she can climb trees, it would seem obvious that she’s going to die. Also, Katniss is saved from death by the other player from district 11, a large black man (I’d also like to point out that the only black players come from the 11th district, the agricultural district) because of Rue. Well if he cared so much about Rue why didn’t he protect her in the first place? How did he even know Katniss had been protecting her? It seems Collins needed him to help Katniss so she just wrote it in, using Rue as a half-assed excuse. This is just lazy storytelling.

The film attempts to say something about the American culture, globalization and treatment of poverty and class but when a film is as aesthetically displeasing as this one, who really gives a shit? ]]> Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT Greg Bright http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/seeds-skins-a-look-back http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/seeds-skins-a-look-back
Skins was a show that immersed itself in over-the-top melodrama and crazy out-of-left-field storylines, and yet somehow almost always got away with it. Between Sid and Cassie, Naomi and Emily, and Alo and Mini, the show proved that a good love story could make up for a lot of flaws and showed that great characters you can become attached to (pretty much all 24 or so of them) can make up for almost everything.

This was a show that believed in only extreme emotions, and to get extreme emotions sometimes you needed extreme circumstances. If ever there was an X-Games TV show, this is it. You always wanted to yell at the characters and say, “this isn’t a life or death situation! You’re going to be okay!” Sometimes it was because they were just being crazy, but most of the time because you could remember being just as crazy.

It was nothing like my high school days and yet somehow I could connect to every one of them on some level. The show worked more as a metaphor for the illogicality of the teenage mind then it did as any sort of realism and for this reason, I think, though the show was severely flawed, I’ll never forget it, and all those characters will have a special place in my heart. Yeah, even you Cook. ]]> Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/seeds-the-wire-tvs-greatest-drama-endures-for-fans-new-and-old- http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/seeds-the-wire-tvs-greatest-drama-endures-for-fans-new-and-old-
Having now just finished the back half of the show’s third season, I’m well aware of the stigma attached to the show and having finally experienced it for myself, I’m pleased to report the universe of The Wire is so provocative that it can literally force you to pay attention. Every word and every scene moves the story toward a stated goal, and when does twist or turn, it can actually make you leap from your chair.

Television’s hard-fought battle to become cinematic in its delivery (both in character creation/depth and look/feel) depends on cornerstones like The Wire. The show’s rampant subtleties in writing, performance and filming, all unfolded across roughly 60 solid hours of dense character study, is daunting to say the least.

The show has a distinct veneer of dense intellectualism that likely turns the typical TV viewer away, but regardless of the finely-tuned, uncompromising ingenuity of Simon’s story The Wire is still an accessible, and indispensable, portrait of American society and politics. Simon holds a mirror up to the sleaze of our self-preserving system and casts both sides - the haves with the have-nots, and the movers and shakers with the moved and shaken - in a deserving light.

Greg Bright: I remember when I finished the season finale for the fourth season of The Wire. I had watched, over the course of a month and 48 one-hour episodes, David Simon (creator, showrunner) and company build the American city up, layer by layer, and watched as each character weaved his or her way through this system with savagely mixed results. Some succeeded, some failed, but through it all I held my breath hoping for the best for each character and being let down half the time. My heart felt like it was going to explode and so I went on a two-hour walk just trying to get my mind around how a show could affect me so emotionally and intellectually.

Maybe this doesn’t sound entertaining to you, but damn it, the show is about so much more than just entertaining you. The Wire is about how each of us navigates the American system trying to succeed and how, in the end, not all of us are going to. As far as Simon is concerned, it isn’t our fault but instead the result of where we’re born and whether or not the institutions will enable us or hold us back. However, the show didn’t spend its time avoiding entertainment. It’s comic relief was some of the funniest and most satisfying on TV, and the way it moved between mystery, suspense, thriller, and heartbreaking drama without ever feeling trite, constantly kept you on the edge of your seat. The Wire is a show that truly lives up to the cliche and grabs you by the heart and doesn’t let you go. ]]> Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT Dylan Bliss http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/entertainment-editors-note-43 http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/entertainment-editors-note-43
The music business is experiencing similar changes. Adele, despite her anti-pop star image, has managed to sell more records than anyone in the past 20 years brandishing honesty and relatability with her powerful vocals. There are cries all across America to get the money out of the system. We’re having anxiety about our changing global rank, especially when it comes to finances. Our ever-increasing technological ability to uncover these issues and communicate our worries has turned America’s perspective successes on their heads. All of this turmoil makes me reconsider what it means to be loyal to your country. Is it more “loyal” to defend the actions of your homeland regardless the outlook, or to rebel against the most corrupt ideologies at the top and restore its integrity to a level befitting “the greatest country on earth.”

I’m no activist, but my opinions(however unwarrented) are situated, and possessing a healthy amount of social awareness at least prohibits me from supporting the wrong leaders and movements, essentially slowing the process of rehabilitation. It may get much worse before we get ourselves the help we really need. We may say goodbye to the dollar. For the first time in my generation, we all may need to pay attention. ]]> Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT Mitch McCann http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/ron-brown-refuses-to-coach-effeminate-looking-running-backs http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/ron-brown-refuses-to-coach-effeminate-looking-running-backs
“As a good, Christian man, I find it offensive that none of these young lads have that good old-fashioned, home-grown toughness. Most of these boys look like they’ve seen the inside of one too many nail salons, if you ask me,” said Brown in an interview earlier this week.

The coach has received some negative feedback from University officials for his comments during last month’s Omaha City Council meeting. Brown testified before the council against the city’s proposed anti-discrimination laws that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected classes in the workplace.

“Look. I’m all for the advancement of society, but these nancy-boys are not fit for the rough and tumble out there on the field. That’s part of the reason I’ve been so outspoken--these new laws are babying our already wussified society,” added Brown.

Brown reiterated his distress with the apparently abnormally unmasculine new lineup of football players later in the interview.

“Without some good old-fashioned principles, how are we supposed to know how to run our country or live our lives? No doubt the majority of this holy Christian nation is opposed to liberal policy changes such as these,” concluded Brown.

“No nation has ever advanced by kowtowing to the ludicrous demands of the minority. And I, for one, will not stand for it.” ]]> Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT Mitch McCann http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/tibetan-firework-prank-becomes-stirring-political-statement http://www.dailyernebraskan.com/article/tibetan-firework-prank-becomes-stirring-political-statement
Bhayir and Nayaar, childhood friends often found joking around between themselves and with other classmates, were hospitalized shortly after an incident involving several Black Cat fireworks. The story hit international news outlets and, as reported by CNN.com, was “one of the most stirring acts of protest” for Tibetan independence and was “truly reminiscent of some of the greatest martyrs in history.”

The upcoming visit to India by Chinese president Hu Jintao has been cause for distress among Tibetan exiles and nationals, many of whom seized to opportunity to protest for the Tibetan government, in exile due to continued Chinese occupation of Tibet.

“[Bhayir and Nayyar] spurred what might eventually be a pivotal step for Tibet’s independence” said CNN Anchor Carol Costello.

“Without the constant reminders of the Chinese political climate, they’re likely to fall off the face of the earth to American viewers. Nothing makes for civil unrest like quality prime time television.” ]]> Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT