April 25, 2007 by The Wichitan

April 25, 2007

Across Campus Student Success Series The Student Success Series and Career Management Center present “Life After College” with Andy Masters at 7 p.m. April 26 in Clark Student Center Comanche Suites. For more information call ext. 4500.

Foreign Film Continuing Education presents “A Very Long Engagement.” This extraordinary love story set against the background of World War I at 7p.m. May 3 at the Kemp Center for the Arts. Convicted of self-mutilation in order to escape military service during World War I, five soldiers are condemned to face certain death in the no manʼs land between the French and German trench lines. It appears all of them were killed in a subsequent battle, but the fiancee of one of the soldiers refuses to give up hope and begins to uncover clues as to what actually took place on the battlefield. Admission is free. Donations are welcome. For more information call ext. 4756.

Student Art Exhibitions The art department opens the Senior Student Exhibition and the Student All-Media Exhibitions with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. May 4 in the Fain Fine Arts galleries. In the Foyer Gallery will be the works of seniors Kim Bartel, Katy Blackwood, Johanna Krantz and Jim Thomason. On exhibit in the main gallery will be all-media student artwork. Both run through Aug.. 24. For more information call ext. 4264.

Spring Choir Concert The music department presents a Combined Choirs Concert at 3 p.m. May 6 at First Presbyterian Church on Taft Blvd. The University Singers and Oratorio Chorus will perform music ranging from a Mozart opera chorus to Irving Berlin vocal jazz to an African-American spiritual. For more information call ext. 4267.

MSU Bookstore April is poetry month as well as sexual assault awareness month. Titles for both are on sale at the MSU Bookstore. These titles will be 20 percent off the list. Clearance sale: Clothing racks are another 25 percent off through the end of April. Bargain Books: The selection is good. For more information visit the bookstore or call ext. 4225.

Entertainment

ʻVacancyʼ provides scares with little blood JASON KIMBRO ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Not since “Psycho” has a roach motel been so horrifying. Well, probably not in the way you are thinking, but “Vacancy” does indeed have its horrible moments. What can you expect from a movie directed by someone named Nimrod? Yes, the directorʼs name is Nimrod, but apparently that is a somewhat common name overseas and such so I will stop there before I become politically incorrect yet again. Despite the name, Nimrod Antal has done one other film that was quite well-recieved and entertaining, with a lovely set of quirky characters in a subway station. This film is called “Kontroll” and is a definite recommendation, but his sophomore attempt has much less to be desired, with a very short running time and a complete lack of violence for such a subject. Hereʼs the gist: Amy and David Fox (Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson) are your typical bickering couple on the verge of divorce. The one thing that makes them atypical and somewhat depressing is their young son died recently and even though David seems to be handling the tragedy just fine, Amy keeps hoarding the guilt, blaming herself for the boyʼs death, the manner of which is never completely explained. They are heading toward Amyʼs parentʼs house to celebrate their anniversary and David, being the typical man he is, decided to take a “short cut” when the interstate began to back up due to an accident. Of course, the short cut gets them lost and before they know it, David has screwed up the carʼs engine trying to avoid some of the local

Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale stare at the roaches in their hotel room in “Vacancy.”

wildlife (he says racoon, she says squirrel). They just so happen upon a gas station and a motel out in the middle of nowhere. Itʼs nearly 2 a.m. and lucky them. The gas station attendant (Ethan Embry) wasnʼt quite closed yet for the night. He informs them that they should be able to make it to the next town just ﬁne since it was just a bent fan blade so they head off toward to next town. A mile or two down the road, after a little more bickering, the car dies and they now must walk back to the station for help, except that the attendant has gone for the night.

After some strange convo with the motel manager next door they decide to stay there for the night in their far-from-luxurious honeymoon suite, pushed on them by the manager (Frank Whaley). It isnʼt long before someone begins banging on the door and walls of their room. David goes to complain and the manager explains that they are the only ones in the entire facility and that, at times, college students break into the rooms. Not to worry, though, heʼll take care of it. David returns to the room and decides to try and watch television. The TV cannot pick up any channels so he then decides to watch some of

the grungy-looking video cassettes next to the VCR. What starts out to look like snuff ﬁlms turns out to be real murders taking place inside their room. Once this realization is made, the banging returns and the lights begin to ﬂicker off and on. The couple begin to freak out and decide to make a run for it, but their attempts are cut short by two masked men with knives. So the entire night becomes a motel of horrors for the couple that, at times, proves to be a truly scary experience for the audience, but this critic cannot get passed the ineptitude of the scripting and the poor play upon the screen.

This film is able to bring back some classic jumps and scares of yore but one gets annoyed when the two heroes of the film are able to get away with things when they are supposedly being watched. The realism of the film is fairly surprising for the first half of the film but with the annoying Hollywood ending and the bad scripting of the second half, most will become bored or annoyed, or maybe even confused at what kind of film they are watching. If youʼre going to have a realistic portrayal, keep it realistic throughout the film. My last complaint would be the lack of violence. With films like “Hostel” and “Grindhouse” bringing us over-the-top cringers it would be nice to have a truly scary film that is able to calm it down a little, but if this move kept out the “F” words and half-second glimpses of nipple, then this would have been a very light PG-13 film. Next week will be the last paper of the semester so i am hoping i can leave you with a better review than this one. But hey! At least this wasnʼt another “Flyboy” flying its way out of the arse of Hollywood again! Adios!

Entertainment Value: C Artistic Crap: C Plot/Script: D Performances: C Overall GPA: 1.75 SunKyu Yoo-Norris

Hitchhiking musician faces trials, tribulations

CARLY BURRESS FOR THE WICHITAN Itʼs early in the morning, around 5 a.m. Dean Strickland wakes up, gathers his three scuffed bags and his sticker-covered guitar case. He walks to the front of the building that he had slept behind that night. After taking a deep breath to shake his nerves, he walks down the street towards I-35. Strickland reaches the highway and begins his journey along the shoulder of the road. Trafﬁc is not very busy because it is still early in the morning. The sun is still rising and so is the temperature. A car pulls over on the side of the road about 200 feet in front of Strickland. A man is standing behind the little car with the trunk open. He asks Strickland if he would like a ride. Strickland says yes, puts his things in the trunk and walks to the passenger side of the car. The driver ﬂips on his left blinker and pulls

back into the growing traffic. Strickland, 39, took the phrase “start on street level” literally when he began hitchhiking from town to town in Texas booking gigs and sleeping behind buildings. Strickland was born in Vicksburg, Miss., but at the age of five he was moved to Ft.. Worth when his dad took a job transfer. At the age of six, his dad began to teach Strickland how to sing and play the guitar. After graduating high school, Strickland worked for the city of Forrest Hill reading water meters. During this time he bought a house, a new truck, and was even engaged. After living with his girlfriend for six months, she asked Strickland to give up playing the guitar for her. He decided this was impossible and the relationship ended. Shortly after, Strickland decided he was unhappy with his job and wanted to pursue music as a career. The first step in this process was going to college. Strickland studied voice and guitar at Tarrant County Junior College from spring 1996 to spring 1997. In 1997 he transferred to the college of music at UNT where he remained for the next four years. After graduating from UNT Strickland sold his house and truck and relocated to Hollywood to attend the Musicians Institute. He received journeymanʼs certificates from the recording artists program,

the guitar institute of technology and the voice institute of technology. After the spring of 2004, Strickland took a greyhound bus back to Texas and found a cheap apartment in downtown Dallas. It was not long before he had a gig at a coffee house, which only fueled his desire to play more gigs. Stricklandʼs brother advised him to go to Austin and take advantage of the huge music scene. In order to do this, Strickland had to devise a plan to get to Austin because he sold his truck before moving to Hollywood and he barely had a cent to his name. The plan soon became to play at the coffee house and try to make enough in tips to buy a greyhound bus ticket to Austin. Then once in Austin he would do a live audition at a couple of places and get gigs. Then he would take the money from these gigs and use that to get back to Dallas a couple of days later. July 2005, Strickland performed his coffee house gig and then jumped on a greyhound and made his way to Austin for a couple of days. While there, he stayed with a friend from Hollywood. He went to at least 20 different places looking for a live audition because he didnʼt have a demo. No one would listen to him play, which meant that he was making no money. Strickland had to ﬁnd some place to play so he could make enough tips to get back to Dallas in time for

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his coffee house gig. His friend suggested going to 6th Street, and told him that if he didnʼt make enough money there then he might be able to help him get back to Dallas. After spending seven hours on 6th Street, Strickland walked away with $12. The friend said that he wouldnʼt be able to assist him after all and suggested hitchhiking, which angered Strickland. After pacing for a while, he left without saying goodbye to his friend and began to walk north on I-35 and accepted several rides. Strickland arrived back in Dallas in time to play at the coffee house. After playing that night, he called his friend to let him know he made it back to Dallas safely. His friend explained that he had only been joking when he said that he couldnʼt help him get back to Dallas and that he had intended on helping him all along. But because Strickland had just left without saying goodbye, he never got a chance to explain. It wasnʼt long before Strickland ﬁgured out that money was not as necessary as perceived to be in order to travel. While hitchhiking wasnʼt always the safest mode of transportation, it still was a convenient and cheap way for him to get from gig to gig. He began by building a network with an editor in Lubbock who eventually printed a small article claiming that Strickland should receive an award for determination. Strickland then took that article to other newspapers in towns he performed in to try to get them to write stories about him too. His determination paid off and he has currently booked 24 cities in Texas and even a seminar in L.A. In May 2006, Strickland hitchhiked his way to Wichita Falls, where he spent three days sleeping behind buildings. He was eventually able to get a live audition at Old Town where he has graced the stage with his presence on multiple occasions.

Strickland is one of the few who can claim they have accepted rides from 625 to 650 people. With all these rides accumulating, it is amazing that he has only had two bad experiences. The experiences were both in Oak Cliff and might have been the same couple each time. Because Strickland didnʼt get a good look at their faces the first time, it is hard to tell. While he was walking on South I-35 around 1:30 a.m., a small silver car pulled up along side the road. The man got out and opened the trunk for Strickland to put his things in. Strickland did so and then climbed in the back seat of the car. The couple in the car began to ask him where he was from and where he was going. The man then asked Strickland if he had gas money and when Strickland said no the man pulled over to let him out of the car. He popped the trunk and when Strickland ran to the back to get his things, the man began to peel out. Strickland held onto the back of the trunk in an attempt to not lose his most valuable assets. He was dragged for a short distance but eventually jumped into the trunk. The couple pulled over to fill up the gas tank and to see what had been left in the trunk. The man was very surprised when Strickland jumped out at him. He held onto his guitar and said, “Iʼm sorry, sir, but I canʼt let you take my guitar. Itʼs my life.” The man stepped aside and let him leave. While Strickland has had his bad experiences, he has also had a few really good ones. Once while on the way to Austin he was picked up by a man who worked for a radio station. The man told Strickland that if he was ever back in town to call him and he would set up an on-air interview. Stricklandʼs plan is to get a circuit of 50 cities together so he doesnʼt have to hitchhike so far from town to town. Stricklandʼs only goal isnʼt just to build a 50-city circuit. He also wants to write enough songs while hitchhiking to fill an album. He currently has nine out of 12 songs. All of the songs he performs are written by him and are copyrighted.