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Photo courtesy of amazon.com
Zach
tunes in
By Zachary Bailey
CD Reviewer
zsblos@psu.edu
*****
Walls and Bridges by John
Lennon is the newest disc to be
reissued by Capitol. The album
was originally issued in 1974
and features appearances by
Elton John and Harry Nilsson.
The sound quality on this
reissue is far superior to the
1990 CD release. Eight of the
twelve original tracks have been
remixed while all have been re
mastered.
This album contains several
top notch Lennon songs.
Whatever Gets You Through the
Night teams Lennon with Elton
John, who provides a piano
track and harmony vocal. #9
Dream is a song that has the
ability to transport the listener
to another world. Itis truly
dream-like with its chanting and
sweeping melodic strings.
The album also contains
three previously unreleased
bonus tracks. The first is a live
performance of Whatever Gets
You Through the Night with
Elton John. The legendary story
behind this performance is that
Lennon joined Elton John on
stage to perform because he
lost a bet over whether or not
the song would go to number
one on the charts. The song
did in fact reach the number
one position and Lennon made
good on his word. The second
track is an unreleased version
of Nobody Loves You (When
You're Down and Out). The final
bonus track is an interview that
Lennon made for the people
who worked for EMI back in
England. This was recorded
during the period when Lennon
was unable to leave the U.S.
because of an immigration battle
with the government.
While I am very impressed
with the album itself, there are a
few aspects that did bother me.
The first is it was not issued with
the original album cover. The
original was a picture Lennon
drew as a child. The new cover
is of Lennon's face. I must admit
that I like the new cover better
than the old one. However, I
feel that John Lennon chose the
cover that he did for a reason.
I don't know who decided the
album needed a different cover
but I can assure you that it
wasn't John Lennon.
The other aspect of the
reissue that bothers me is the
artwork on the compact disc
itself. There is a picture of John
Lennon that slowly morphs into
Yoko Ono. I found this to be
the most tasteless artwork for
the CD especially considering
that Lennon and Ono were
separated during the making of
this album.
All things taken into
consideration, I find this to be
the most underrated Lennon
album. I have waited patiently
for the album to be reissued.
Hopefully the newly revamped
cover and much improved sound
quality will be sufficient to draw
new listeners to this album.
K\OCK , K\OCKWHOST-EREYAYA - 00'
Noma breathes ne
By Michael Albright
Staff Reporter
mbal33@psu.edu
Located at 20 N. 2nd Street
in our beloved state capital is
the recently re-opened Noma-
Remixed. However, having been
a patron of the former Noma,
I can't say much has changed
during its leave of absence from
the downtown area. Allow me to
stress that this is not necessarily
a bad thing. Since my initiation
into the downtown Harrisburg
scene, I knew the Noma as a
small, classy joint located just at
the end of the famous Second
Street strip. It was a place I would
not normally go if it stood on its
own, but being that it was nestled
among some of the best-known
hotspots in the city, I thought I'd
see what the club had to offer. It
was described as "Harrisburg's
martini bar" by Harrisburgontap.
com and marketed as a quieter
place to break up the monotony
of the loud club scene on the
same street. "Sleek, stylish and
urbane, are just three words to
describe a big city martini bar in
Harrisburg" touted the Noma's
official website. The former Noma
definireViiid its own charm.
However, Noma owner
Ron Kamionka of Kamionka
Entertainment Group (known
for such clubs as the popular
Hardware Bar, Fisagas, Mars,
and the Bourbon Street Saloon)
decided to close, redesign, and
remarket the small club. Thus
the Noma-Remixed emerged,
opening its doors to the public
on October 7, 2005 to make its
contribution to the Harrisburg
nightlife once again.
The Noma-remixed is no longer
marketed as a quiet martini bar,
Oscar takes o
By Oscar Beisert
Staff Reporter
odblo2@psu.edu
Fashion: While trying to find a
notable, unnoted hotspot in the
Susquehanna Valley, I couldn't
help but notice the fashion
standards of the local glitterati.
The variation of shapes and sizes
provoked a thought; is anyone in
our paper trying to answer the
fashion question?
Can we even evaluate fashion in
our modern era or are the current
fashion standards equivalent to
Fibber Magee in Molly's closet.
According to GQ, the modern
hipster in his twenties needs a
certain outfit—a $533 shirt by
Dior, a $9OO jacket from Dolce
and Gabanna (DG), a $9B belt
from Armani Exchange (NX),
a $348 pair of jeans by Helmut
Lange, and a $139 sporty over
the-shoulder backpack by Diesel,
which is a whopping $2,018 and
should not be worn more than
every so often. Further down
the guy line, I wondered at what
point does high end evolve to low
end; or is there an evolution at
all? Still in pursuit of hot spots, I
found one—the Park City Mall of
but as being more consistent
with the type of scene offered
by the neighboring nightspots.
The Noma-Remixed still has its
own charm though. The club still
attracts the nine to five office crowd
throughout the
week, who visit
after a day at
the office to
enjoy a drink
with friends
and coworkers.
On an ordinary
business day,
the Noma-
Remixed may
sport more suits
than a deck of
cards but as the
week draws to
a close the club
is home to a
younger crowd.
It is this ability
of the venue to
entertain a wide
demographic at
various times
that makes it
unique among
its peers that
are targeted to
a more specific
dtiftiOgraphic.
As you walk
through the
front doors and
into the long
and narrow
Noma-Remixed offers a new lit up dance floor and an oxygen bar, a
club, your ears
are greeted
by the latest
popular music
currently gracing every radio
station on the dial. Your eyes
are drawn to the long, sleek and
colorful bar on your right, stylish
two-person tables on the left and
lounge areas at either side of the
stark contrast to its former facade.
Lancaster!
Distracted from the glitterati
and others denoting modern
fashion, I was surprised and
consumed by the fact that an
H&M had somehow infiltrated
central Pennsylvania. There
I was able to procure several
accessories—a scarf, gloves,
and socks, and all for under ten
dollars. For those of you who
have never left Central PA and
are unfamiliar with H&M, this is
a European clothing designer
that houses a milieu of affordable
trendy ensembles. Unfortunately,
H&M wasn't attracting as large
of a crowd as the Abercrombie
and Fitch and Hollister stores,
which seemingly offer the same
sort of styles; the only difference
being Hollister's classic example
of French doors that line the front
of their stores—personal bias! At
these two similar venues you can
get new, but worn looking, jeans
for around $lOO and shirts—of
all kinds—for varied prices that
usually border the $5O range;
t-shirts can be consumed at a
cheaper price. It's like a thrift
shop for people who are too
snooty to pay low prices and
wear used clothing. And a little
bar with lounge-style chair and
coffee tables, and finally a small
dance floor in the far corner that
appears as though it belongs in
a Michael Jackson video, as it
lights up right beneath your feet.
Photo courtesy of downtownafterdark.com
A separate bar and lounge
area downstairs opposite the
restrooms enhances the clubs
offerings. Providing a very quiet
getaway from the upstairs party,
the downstairs boasts a quaint
bit further down the line—at the
supposed dead end of fashion-1
found myself at Aeropostle,
which until then—reading as it
Apostrophe-1 had come to call
Catastrophe. I entered the fashion
no-man's land in pursuit of some
tractor green gloves for a cheap
price, which I had been unable
to procure at another venue.
While inside I was compelled,
by convincing associates, to
check out the sale rack(s) and in
the name of research I began to
browse. There were moderately
trendy tops for as low as $3 and,
on the high end of my interest, $5
could buy your choice of bottoms.
So by the time I left the store, I
had dropped a big fat $9.99 on
a pair of business casual cords
and a flattering pair of brown
pin stripped dress pants—both
of which sized appropriately to
boost my ego. Funny how what
you think of as a disappointing
cul-de-sac can have the best real
estate deals.
So after the compilation of
my eight-month-old Versace
jeans going from holy to holey
and shopping satisfaction at
Catastrophe, I began to wonder
are we fashion heavy hitters
The Capital Times, December 9, 2005 9
bar able to seat only several
people in a room made to hold
20 people at the most.
Still sleek and stylish, the Noma-
Remixed borrows its image mostly
from European culture. Probably
the biggest and
most obvious
influence of
that culture is
the latest fad,
A.W.O.L, an
acronym for
"Alcohol With
Out Liquid".
A.W.O.L is a
machine that
vaporizes
alcohol and
mixes it with
oxygen; the
vapor is then
inhaled by
the user. At a
cost of $15.00,
customers can
choose from an
array of flavored
liquors to have
vaporized in the
machine. The
entire process
takes about 20
minutes. Aside
fromtheA.W.O.L
machines, the
Noma-Remixed
offers a variety
of drinks. From
bottled water
and sodas to
bottled and draft
beers to more
exotic daiquiris
and mixes and of course, a
martini menu that would make
The Rat Pack rave.
Another unique thing the Noma-
Remixed offers its patrons that
its more docile former self did not
n fashion
really getting enough bang for
our buck or do we just enjoy the
attention certain namebrands
attract? So I decided, rather than
writing about pulsating hot spots,
I would revert to a venue less
traveled—the Silver Springs Flea
Market.
Now, I know you Middletown
people have your Saturday
Market, which I do often frequent;
however, Mechanicsburg has this
fashion writer wanna-be looking
much trendier. The clothing
presence is much less visible
at Silver Springs so instead I
choose to accessorize. At the
South end of the market exist
several regular dealers—one
with small box lots housing
items that usually sell from $1
to $5 and opposite this dealer
are two or three dealers selling
items from larger box lots. For
example, some of my triumphs,
aside from the innumerable
antiquities I've procured, include
a vintage Chanel Umbrella, for
which I bargained a whoppin' 25
cents, $1 for a pair of 'Jackie 0'
Dior sunglasses, a $3 watch from
Benneton, which is $95 retail,
and even a very flashy $2 belt
buckle proclaiming the fact that
life
is a VIP card. The card is free to
anyone that wishes to sign up for
it, which contradicts the term "VIP."
However, as a Noma-Remixed
VIP member, one inherits a few
notable benefits such as no
cover charge ever for you and
your guests, monthly invitations
to VIP parties and an honorary
induction into the Noma-Remixed
Martini Club. Signing up is fast
and easy and requires only a
name, mailing address and email.
Customers can sign up via the
web at http://downtownafterdark.
com/nomaremixedinner.htm.
So if you're looking for a
smaller, but still lively place that
feels as though it blends in with
the rest of the famed Second
Street strip but still manages
to be distinct in its own way,
check out the redesigned Noma,
Noma-Remixed. Noma-Remixed
is located at 20 North Second
Street in downtown Harrisburg,
and is open for business Tuesday
through Friday from 4:30 pm to
2:00 am and Saturday from 7:30
pm to 2:00 am. Enjoy!
Noma Remixed
20 N. 2nd St.
Harrisburg, PA 17101
Phone: 717.234.7508
CC: All major
Full bar, smoking
Wheelchair accessible
The Capital Times is look
ing for suggestions for
the Hot Spot section.
Send ideas to
captimes@psu.edu or
drop some snail mail in
the suggestion box.
I was "Made in America." On the
north side, there are a number of
irregular deals wherein the only
guarantee is a large selection of
trendy vintage buttons that house
a diversity of comical slogans and
images. I am most fond of my
25 cent "Nude Dude Contestant"
badge and a $1 "Lucky Strikes
Again" button, which I recently
sold for $5 while on the dance
floor at Stallions—my profit
covering a Rum and Diet and my
costs.
While the aforementioned
examples do not by any means
scrape the surface of what is to
be found at this particular venue,
my effort should serve as a good
guide for members of the Glitterati
that aren't exactly able to afford
Park Avenue apartments or even
Fifth Avenue shopping. So when
you're looking for the perfect
piece to make your outfits stand
out check out the Silver Springs
Flea Market and I suppose, if
you don't wanna leave home,
you could even find something
comparable at the Middletown
market. And as for the tractor
green gloves, it's amazing what
a second look at H&M will do for
a boy.