The Highacres Collegian
Code:Blue
By: Kelly Anne Walch and Tom Harrison
On Friday, February 12, while snow, ice, and bitter winds
whipped through the campus, a small yet captivated
audience of lunch patrons-tumed-blues enthusiasts basked
in the sultry sounds of Code:Blue. This innovative band is
made up of Bob "Robo" Vaughn and Rene Campbell with
their rich and deep voices providing lead and backing
vocals, Kristy Hinchee and Jenae Williams the substance
giving back-up singers, Chris Younken a master on lead
and wave guitar, Jerry Zolten giving rhythm on glue guitar
and backing vocals, Harry Werner providing a "bluesy"
touch on bass, and John Raiser who can be likened to
Charles Watts of rolling stones on drums. These
electrifying eight members ignited their audience with
classics, such as, "Respect Yourself," "Who’s Making
Love," "The Same Rope," "I’d Rather Be (Blind, Cripple,
and Crazy)," "Back in Baby’s Arms," and "I Wish It
Would Rain," as well as original songs "(You’re So)
Busy," "Not Enough Joy," and "Joy Jam," all of which are
featured on their album "Stages Then and Now." The
group considers this album their "...first stage in bringing
the drive and energy of early Rhythm & Blues into a body
of new music," and the group thinks of their origins as
"Code:Blue has carved its sound from the roots of R&B,
inspired by original soul artists such as Otis Clay, O.V.
Wright, Etta James and Sam Cooke—all masters who were
compelled to pour out life’s emotion on stages."
Everyone who attended was, to say the least,
impressed. If you, because of the aforementioned bad
weather or general apathy, missed this truly one-of-a-kind
musical experience, take heart. All of the songs performed
are available on CD (for the small sum of twelve dollars)
or on tape (for the even smaller sum of eight dollars), and
can be ordered from Splash Records by calling
1-814-234-1412. If you are not sure if you are ready to
invest on Code:Blue without hearing them first, then head
up to State College where they often make appearances, or
maybe if we are so fortunate they’ll be back here next
year!
Loaded Weapon I
By: Todd Ritter
In the great tradition of
"Airplane", "Naked Gun" and "Hot
Shots" comes "National Lampoon’s
Loaded Weapon I,” a spoof of the
"Lethal Weapon" movies. This time
Emilio Estevez and Samuel L. Jackson
play the Mel Gibson/Danny Glover
roles. William Shatner plays the
villian, with Tim Curry as his sidekick
and Kathy Ireland as the love interest.
Unfortunately, unlike "Airplane"
and "Naked Gun", "Loaded Weapon"
fails to create little more than a
chuckle. "Airplane", for all its worth,
is a brilliant movie. Never before or
since has a movie contained so many
jokes, political satire and off-color
references. It was an hour and a half
of pure, giddy laughter, nothing more
and nothing less. The makers of
"Loaded Weapon", however, felt that
they had to give it a plot, albeit a
weak one about drug smuggling in girl
scout cookies. Sure, "Loaded
Weapon I" is funny, especially in its
spoofs of "The Silence of the Lambs"
and "Basic Instinct", but here are too
many scenes where not much happens.
Another problem here are the jokes.
They’ve been used several times
before. (One character’s name is Miss
Demeanor-funny, yes, but ancient.)
Next to "Airplane" and the rest
of its kind, "Loaded Weapon I" pales
in comparison. The producers
expected a barrel of laughs but instead
it only misfired.
Air Force Quartet at Hazleton
By: Lisa Homberger
A clarinet quartet from the U.S.
Air Force performed on February 19
at Penn State Hazleton Campus. The
concert started approximately at 7:30
p.m. in the Upper Highacres
Commons. This quartet was one of
many acts performing for Penn State’s
Family Weekend.
The attendance at the concert was
overwhelming and many students
came with their parents to listen the
quartet. Even students who were not
participating in the weekend’s formal
events stopped in to hear the
ensemble.
The quartet is stationed at Langley
Air Force Base located in Virginia,
which is part of the Air Force Combat
Command Heritage of America.
.m/
Quartet members, from left, are Senior
Airman Karen Wright, Airman Ist Class
Jennifer Littlehole, Staff Sgt. Alison
Christofoli and Staff Sgt. Peter Foreman.
Page 5
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Sommersby
By:Todd Ritter
It is post Civil War Tennessee and
Jack Sommersby (Richard Gere) has
just returned home after a six-year
absense. But home has changed
dramatically in six years.
Sommersby’s wife, Laurel, (Jodie
Foster) is engaged to another man and
the War has left the town permanently
scarred. Sommersby isn’t the same,
either. He doesn’t drink as much, he
isn’t as abusive to his wife ,his shoe
size, according to the town cobbler,
has diminished two sizes and even his
own dog doesn’t recognize him.
These small idiosynchrasies plant
doubts in his wife’s mind, yet the rest
of the town remains convinced of his
identity.
That is the basic plot of
''Sommersby", the dazzling new film
now playing in theaters everywhere.
It raises the question of identity.
What if you could erase your none too
pleasant past and assume a new life?
Would you do it and how far would
you go to keep it?
"Sommersby" is very well done.
It’s beautifully photographed and the
attention to detail is excellent. Jodie
Foster is, as usual, wonderful.
Richard Gere is great, too. I really
think this is his best performance yet.
It is not hollow, like his work in
"Pretty Woman" and it isn’t over
dramatic, like his performance in
"Internal Affairs." His Jack
Sommersby is charming, intelligent
and ultimately human.
The film is unabashedly
sentimental, and all the better for it. It
revels in its romanticism and even the
most jaded viewer can’t avoid getting
teary-eyed. The ending, although
incredibly sad, seems justified and, in
a way, it wouldn’t have been the same
movie without it.
March 1993