Country music, Christian lyrics

Rap-rock, alt-country, pop-punk, alt-rock—but Christian country? With the ever-present crossbreeding of music genres, one that may not be easily recognized is Christian country. Though a majority of the general public is unfamiliar with Christian country, the genre came in to existence nearly 10 years ago and has had a surge in popularity, within the last two years.
Read more...

Salvation: one pinprick at a time

FORT WORTH, Texas—While he’s sticking dye under his clients’ skin, tattoo artist Bobby Doran might also instill a little Christian faith into their hearts.
Read more...

Apple bytes into competition

Moving ahead with plans to broaden its presence in the budding digital media sector, last week Apple Computer launched a new litany of multimedia software and a pair of laptop computers that set new company records in PowerBook size, or lack thereof.
Read more...

Kerouac manuscript set for display next month

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP)—The original manuscript of Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road will be displayed at Indiana University’s Lilly Library beginning next month.
Read more...

Lullaby in hard rock

Self-proclaimed hard-rock band A Static Lullaby—which hails from Chino Hills, Calif. —is accustomed to headlining local shows in what is usually a rather warm climate where most in attendance are generally quite familiar with the band’s music.
Read more...

‘Liza’ takes flight

It seems Philip Seymour Hoffman has a propensity for vices. Or, at least his characters do. In 1996, Hoffman played an alcohol-guzzling craps player in Hard Eight; his Scotty J. had a bout with cocaine in 1997’s Boogie Nights; his Lester Bangs was addicted to cough syrup in Almost Famous (2000). Yet of all his varied characters—and habits— Hoffman’s characters never seemed to delve into the sordid (and exceedingly common) world of huffing—a compulsion usually reserved for teenagers.
Read more...

‘Waiting’ DVD falls flat

One of the clichés often written about jam bands is that their music is too self-indulgent. Critics say bands like Phish and Widespread Panic are merely picking up where the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers left off, "noodling" endless chord progressions in a drug-induced haze, breaking no new ground and pleasing only their die-hard followers.
Read more...

‘Kangaroo’ jump-starts actors’ friendship

Ever since Louis Fucci saved Charlie Carbone’s life 20 years ago, the two have been inseparable. Both struggling to succeed, Charlie works at his mobster stepfather’s hair salon and Louis works on devising a new get-rich-quick scheme in the new Warner Bros. release, Kangaroo Jack.
Read more...

TOP 5
Some Chronicle staff members look back on the albums released in 2002 and pick their favorites.

Michael DesEnfants, Staff Writer

1. The Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Warner Bros.)
   And I thought they could never put together a better record than Soft Bulletin.
2. Swearing at Motorist This Flag Signals Goodbye (Secretly Canadian)
   Simple rock, done really well.
3. Pedro the Lion Control (Jade Tree)
   This "rock" album does just that.
4. Beck Sea Change (Geffen/Interscope)
   Most mature album to date.
5. My Morning Jacket Chocolate and Ice (EP) (Badman Records)
   Any album by them, from any year is in my top five.

Grad’s got ‘Game’

Amateur film producers John Vanis and Juan Carlos Buitron, have learned the beauty of turning a script into a visual art form with the making of Tio’s Game. The film, originally titled Everyday, was produced by a group of young artists—including a Columbia graduate—who used their skills and love of the arts to create a piece that is as inspiring as it is entertaining.
Read more...

Local Events

Arts on Campus
In the last weeks of school, final projects are strewn around campus. On Jan. 9, Suzanne Cohan-Lange’s graduate-level Visual Images class held several live installations throughout the 623 S. Wabash Ave. building. Cohan-Lange said the final assignment had two parts; one was to create a costume based on their culture and the other part was to create an installation. One woman’s installation, titled "Identity Trap," had chicken wire partially blocking a hallway on the seventh floor with Christmas lights strewn on the floor. In the middle was a large silver pinwheel. The class will continue to exhibit installations Jan. 16., from 6:30 to 9 p.m., in Room 819.
Read more...