Thursday, April 11, 1996
Today's Dylan to appear
BEHREND-Descrihcd as the Dylan of
the 90's, Grammy nominee Greg Brown
will appear as part of the Creative Writer
Speaker Series at Penn State Eric, The
Bchrend College, on Wednesday, April 17
at 7 p.m. in the Reed Lecture Hall on the
second floor of the Reed Commons
Building.
The performance is free and open to the
public.
Praised by critics everywhere, Brown is
a brilliant, seasoned songwriter,
storyteller, and soulful musician. The
New York Times raves, "lnisl voice is a
gravel-fkx)red basement full of memories,
ruminations, lust, and last-ditch
humor... Mr. Brown finds his only solace
in clarity and resilience." Brown's
insightful lyrics reveal powerful images
painted on a canvas of gospel, blues, rock,
calypso, and jazz. Other performers,
including Willie Nelson, Carlos Santana,
Michael Johnson and Mary Chapin
Carpenter, have paid tribute to his music
by recording his songs. He is well known
to fans of the public radio show, A Prairie
Home Companion.
Profit cashes in
Fox tests waters with seven episodes
by Adria Kovaly
Collegian Staff
Ever watch a shark? They ll,l, - aNtettrA o l4 , 4iNtklMGWAitw•Goil' s
cruise around, testing the waters, mother to a FiriVate facility where
until just before they're ready to she can be treated for her MS
strike. Then they lunge in for
the kill. Strange as it may seem,
this is the best way I can think of
to describe Fox's new antihero,
Jim Profit.
A junior executive for
conglomerate Gracen & Gracen,
Profit (Adrian Pasdar) schemes to
become the company's president
of acquisitions. He does this
mainly by computer, hacking
into files and creating fake
documents electronically. His
original angle in is Gail Koner
(Lisa Darr), whom he blackmails.
Later, Gail becomes his assistant
after he has been promoted. This
gives her greater power to help
him with his various plots to
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Brown has recorded eleven albums,
reaching Top 10 playlists around the
country. His 1985 release, in the Dark
With You, was called one of the best
recordings of the eighties. In 1986, Songs
of Innocence and of Experience (poems by
William Blake which Brown set to music)
also won high acclaim.
"[His] voice is a gravel
floored basement
full of memories,
ruminations, lust, and
last-ditch humor..."
- New York Times
One Big Town, recorded in 1989, earned
Brown his first NAIRD (National
Association of Independent Record
Distributors) Indic Award for Adult
Contemporary Album of the Year, as well
as three and a half stars in Rolling Stones.
Brown's 1992 release, Dream Cafe, was
also a huge critical success. The
eliminate his competition. As
reward for her part, Jim forgets
about the blackmail (or at least
Profit does nothing physically
violent to those that stand in his
way. Instead, he manipulates
things to produce the outcome he
desires. For example, after
blackmailing Gail, he uses the
information he acquires to get
one of his fellow executives fired
(thus opening up a chance for
advancement). When this plan is
discovered by security chief
Joanne Meltzer (Lisa Zane),
Profit and Gail cook up a plan to
frame one of the other executives,
which results in her being
terminated from the company.
A foil for Profit's plans is his
stepmother, played by Lisa
Blout. She knows that Jim had
Entertainment
set fire to his father years ago and
plans to blackmail him. He
turns the tables on her by killing
his fathemitlatMeedlc similaT 11
Profit has a
gruesome feel to it,
particularly due
to its main
character...another
thing that gives
Profit a spooky feel
is how Jim knows
things about the
people he is
playing mind
games with.
the ones she uses to shoot heroin
with. In other words, he's
blackmailing her back.
Killing his father is not a
totally malicious act on Profit's
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Washington Post called it an
"unassuming triumph," and in the opinion
of Z Magazine, it rivaled Bob Dylan's
Blood on the Tracks.
In 1993, Brown earned his first Grammy
nomination with the release Friend of
Mine with Bill Morrissey. During this
year, Brown entered into kids' music with
Bath Tub Blues. 1994's The Poet Game
is Brown's most critically acclaimed
recording to date, winning him the
NAIRD Indic as Singer-songwriter Album
of the Year. Brown's 1995 release of The
Live One depicts the energy and humor in
his songwriting.
The 1995-96 Creative Writers Speaker
Series is sponsored by the Penn State-
Behrend Division of Humanities and
Social Sciences, its Creative Writing
Program, and the Clarence A. and Eugenie
Smith Endowment Fund. Brown's
performance is made possible by support
from the Mary Behrend Cultural Fund.
For more information about the
performance or the series, please call the
division of Humanities and Social
Sciences at 898-6108.
part. For years, after his mother
had run away, Profit's father kept
him in a moving box, throwing
The
bdy odly crrmpany, and
schooling, came from the
television he could see from a
hole cut in the side of the box.
"Profit" has a gruesome feel to
it, particularly due to it's main
character. Jim delivers
voiceovers throughout the show,
explaining his plots and telling
the viewer about the other
characters. Another thing that
give "Profit" a spooky feel is
how Jim knows things about the
people he is playing mind games
with, no matter how minute or
disturbing. And even thought the
show deals with business
wheelings and dealings, they keep
the jargon simple. You may not
catch all the terms, but you can
tell what's going on.
Fox is testing the waters with
seven episodes of the new show
to see how audiences take to it.
Personally, I see it as something
different from the prime time
dramas of today, mainly because
there is no drama. Suspense and
tension, yes, but no drama. This
promises to be an interesting
series, to say the least.
"Profit" airs Monday nights on
Fox, from 9 to 10 pm.
Dylan
of the 90's, Greg Brown
brutally honest music is
revelatory. As its tide bulicates,
this disc tells a survivor's tale,
one that is by turns defiant. wary,
humble and pained.
Earle sets the tone with the
venlng tide track, making it
clear that this won't be an
exercise in self pity. Om a
strident, rhythmic guitar, he takes
on his detract= Now some of
you would live through me/Lock
me up and throw away , the ltryKlr
just find, Om to hide
kwafflopg-iip
sway.*
, Later, though. in a pair of stalk.
bluce tunes. Earle acknowledges
hisbis> ohlictive„ selfdersnanive
oltion. The tide of one of those
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