By KRIS AUMILLER
Film Reviewer
KRASOIB@PSU.EDU
The Number 23
When I first saw the preview
for this film, 1 knew I had to see
it. 1 love Jim Carrey in everything
he has done, and a good thriller/
insanity movie hasn’t ever
been overdone.
Not to mention, 1 have a mild
obsession with the number as well.
My baseball number has been
number 23 since 1 was 14 years old.
By the w ay, when 1 was 14, it was
my ninth year of baseball, and 14 +
9 = 23.
I have a small obsession with
the number, but not as bad as
Jim Carrey’s character in the
movie. Passwords (no one heard
that), screen names (no one heard
that either), or anything for that
matter that involves a number has
involved the number 23 for me.
Walter Sparrow (Jim Carrey) is a
dog catcher with an uneventful life.
Until his birthday, he lived what he
described in the film as a perfectly
normal life.
Then, at 4:58 (2 minutes before
he gets off of work), he was called
for a stray bulldog. When he
“caught” the dog, he looked at the
dog’s nametag that simply reads,
“NED.” Of course, N (14), E (5), D RATING
(4) 14 + 5 + 4 = 23. The dog bites No question. The Number 23 gets
him and runs away. Sparrow finally five out of five baseballs,
gets to meet up with his wife when
the dog runs away and he met his f \j /\ (\ f) L
wife at the bookstore. \*\J V/ y VfJ Vc y
Rune Scape game gives escape from boredom
By OLIVER EISLER
Staff Reporter
OPESOOO@PSU.EDU
Imagine you are in a world with
limitless possibilities, where every
step is a leap into a world straight out
of your imagination. Your actions
change the world around you and the
experience of the gamers that inhabit
this same world. That is what an RPG
(role-playing game) is all about.
In the earliest days of the internet,
there were online text-based RPGs
called, rather tragically, MUDs
(Multiple UserDungeon)—there were
also MOOs, MUSHs, MUCKs and
other unfortunate acronyms, but they
generally amount to the same thing.
MUDs weren't much more than
Player's Exchange: Longtime staple for local musicians
By JOHN FOX
Staff Reporter
JTFIS3@PSU.EDU
The Player's Exchange is a
Harrisburg area music store that
has catered to the need of every
local musician in the area since its
conception over thirteen years ago.
Located in Lemoyne, The Player’s
Exchange specializes in buying
and selling new and used musical
equipment of all types.
Owner Scott Frange is proud to
serve every demographic of area
musicians who have come to him
over the years ever since he started
The Player’s Exchange.
“I take my business very seriously,”
says Frange. “My customer base
covers beginners to very high end
collectors. They all get the same
honest, dedicated service. I want
to match up the potential buyer
with exactly what he or she needs,
She is leafing through a book
and decides to buy it for him. The
book is unsurprisngly titled, “The
Number 23.”
He begins to read the novel and
starts to convince himself that the
character is based on him. Not only
that, he began to see “the
number” everywhere.
His birthday, his address, his
driver’s license number and his
social security number, after some
arithmetic, can be derived back to
the number.
After all this, and his continued
reading of the book, he goes to see
a college professor. The professor
tries to calm him down and shows
him that the number 23 is good to
the game of paranoia. Such as, two
divided by three is .666, the number
of the devil.
Julius Cesar was stabbed
23 times. The Oklahoma City
Bombing happened on April 19
(4 + 19 = 23). Joseph Smith, the
beginner of the Mormon religion,
was bom on December 23, 1805
(23, and 18 + 5 = 23). The Mayans
predicted that the world would end
on December 23, 2012 (2, 1 + 2 =
3, 23). And the list goes on and on.
When I came out of the movie
theatre, the number captivated me.
I started to see it everywhere. I
was wearing a shirt from my high
school baseball team that had 23
My friend and I got in the car
at 12:11 AM (12+ 11 =23). We
passed mile marker 2.3 on
the highway.
Also, we passed a speed limit
sign with a radar display. The speed
limit was 55, and we were going 58
(5+ 5+5 + 8 = 23). In my opinion,
that makes a great movie.
If it is quotable or if it can grab
a hold of you in some way, it is a
worthwhile two hours. The Number
23 has instantly become a part of
my top five movies of all time.
writing on a screen, and you had to
rely heavily on the programmer’s
writing skills to immerse yourself
in the world. Unfortunately, most of
the MUDs were quite poorly written,
or the developer lost interest and the
MUD would slowly die
as the players got bored
MUDs have been around
for quite a long time but as
technology has evolved and
improved, the games have
also improved and now
you can play graphic-based
MMORPGs. One such
MMORPG is Rune Scape.
An MMORPG is a ‘Massively
Multiplayer Online Role-playing
Game,’ which is a long way of saying
that it’s a virtual world that lots of
nothing more. I take each buyer very are always getting a great value,
seriously and lam very conscientious compared to buying new. Beginners
about ensuring repeat business, as well as pros appreciate that
My regulars are very loyal, over all
these years.”
Over the years, The Player’s
Exchange has developed the
reputation of being a very
important staple among Harrisburg
Area Musicians. Scott elaborates on
that fact, as well as his standards of
business and quality merchandise.
“As I said before, my business
covers all ranges. I get just as excited
when 1 buy a 1-year-old Fender as I
do buying a 1952. 1 buy only clean
pieces of equipment. My standard
policy is a six-month warranty on
everything leaving the store. No one
offers anything of that kind on used
gear. That is why every piece must
be right: No excuses. My guitars and
amps reflect that. I take great pride
in every piece of inventory. When atmosphere, as are his customers,
you buy a used guitar or amp, you You can always see and hear an
This is my first week of movie
reviews. I don’t think the total
purpose is to just tell you how the
movie was. I’m going to tell you
why I thought it was good. Movies
will be put on a scale of one to five
baseballs. I have a sad obsession
with baseball, so I figure I will
incorporate that into my reviews.
I was afraid to go see this movie
due to my hatred of Sin City. I
fell asleep in the theatre went I
went to see Sin City. Then, I was
forced to watch it again and did
everything I could to not reach
for the nearest bottle of alcohol.
However, after seeing this movie,
it turns out, I don’t hate Frank
Miller, but my hatred for Robert
Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino
grows with every preview I see for
Grindhouse.
First off, I wasn’t planning on
seeing 300. I was sucked in by the
others around me that saw it. In
fact, one person actually said (I’ll
leave them nameless for their own
safety), “Dude, 300 is god’s gift
to cinema.”
The only two reasons I went to
see it was due to the fact that we
couldn’t rally enough guys together
for a trip to Al’s Diamond Cabaret
and 1 had two free passes to a good
movie theatre. Therefore, my
roommate and I decided that we RATING
would go see half naked women 1 give it four out of five baseballs,
somewhere else. x —x
In the film, King Leonidas (if)
(Gerard Butler) of Sparta is
people can be in at the same time.
As a virtual world, Rune Scape
works in much the same way that the
real world works: the grass is green,
the sky is blue, gravity stops you from
flying off into space at ninety miles
This header of www.runescape.com shows that thousands of people play it at a time. Rune Scape is
a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, or MMORPG.
a second, but it has the advantage of players in them, and the busiest are
being completely imaginary so that usually full to capacity. By having
even though dragons aren’t real, you other ‘real’ people in the game
can search all across Rune Scape to with you, the game opens up plenty
very much.”
Among the many things that Frange
sells at The Players Exchange,
some of the most are chords, straps,
tuners, cases, etc. Frange talks at
length about how he determines the
value of a particular Trade-in as well
as the labor required for a repair.
“Several factors play in: the cost
new, condition, on occasion the blue
book and the internet values. Prices
on vintage guitars can vary week
to week, especially with condition,
originality and buyers’ desirability.
I send most repairs on guitars and
amps out for service. I use people
1 have had confidence in for years.
They support me well. I do some
minor repairs on site.”
Scott is proud of his store’s
300
challenged by King Xerses
(Rodrigo Santoro). Xerses offers
to make Leonidas his lead general
in exchange for his lands. Since
Leonidas cannot declare war
without backing of the senate, he
takes 300 of Sparta’s finest warriors
with him to meet the Persian army
of over 100,000 in the valley of
Thermopylae. In this valley, the
Persian numbers advantage meant
nothing. The valley is right next to
the edge of a cliff. Someone could
have 1 million troops, but they
could only fight eight wide. It not
only shows how dominant Spartan
warriors were, but how sloppy the
Persian Empire was by using slaves
for their army.
Apparently, this movie isn’t
very historically accurate, which
is the only knock I’ve heard from
anyone. For example, little is
known about Leonidus. Spartan
men were taken from their mothers
for battle training, however, future
kings were exempt. Therefore,
they created a fictional back story
to help “understand” him. Also,
he took around 7,000 soldiers with
him to the valley. Then again,
who is an expert on the Battle of
Thermopylae?
1 was extremely impressed by
this movie. Plotline, Acting, and
extremely the CGI made this a
great film. It amazes me how far
computer technology has come.
There is a shot in the film where a
Spartan soldier is behind his shield
and there are primitive explosives
being thrown at him.
I found out after the movie that,
Spartan and all, was completely
computer generated. Not only
that, this isn’t a typical blood and
guts action movie. Great character
development could, dare I say,
make this a “date-worthy” movie.
300 grossed close to $7O million
dollars for a number of good
reasons. I really enjoyed it and I’m
sure that anyone would
find all the different types of dragon.
The ‘Massively Multiplayer’
aspect of Rune Scape means that
you will almost never be alone
in your world. Even the quietest
Rune Scape servers have dozens of
old copy of The Three Stooge or
some great classic rock playing in
the background.
“All customers love my store’s
atmosphere. My vintage room makes
them smile and reminisce. The walls
are frill of music memorabilia. My
business is fun to me and everyone
senses that. They really enjoy
doing business here. It is a fun
stop. I have over 40 years of music
playing experience with over 700
live performances; that’s a lot of
experience to share and learn from.”
I asked Frange what keeps his entire
customer base coming back.
“Atmosphere, honesty, service. 1
only sell them what they need.”
There is no doubt that Frange’s
customers have stayed loyal over all
these years. It has come about by an
intimate relationship to the customer
and a superior knowledge of the
demographics in which he serves.
Scott elaborates on the philosophy
Cannibal! The Musical
If you like South Park, you’ll love
Cannibal! The Musical.
The movie is essentially a very
crude live-action hour and a half
episode of South Park. I saw the
movie and looked it up to buy it and
found out a lot of useless information
about it. For instance, the reason
Trey Parker and Matt Stone (the
creators of South Park) don’t have
a college degrees is because they
dropped out of school to make
this movie.
They used everyone they could
find to be the characters in the film;
everyone from their friends, to
foreign exchange students, to actual
professors to be their actors.
This is one of those movies that, as
a piece of cinema, leaves no reason
to be praised actually isn’t that good,
but it needs to be seen by everyone,
especially those who like South Park.
It is full of one-liners and the songs
are brilliant. Also, every song in the
film was written by Parker, just like
everything else he has ever done.
RATING:
The parts outweigh the whole. I’m
| giving Cannibal! three out of five
J baseballs; one ball for being made by
; Trey Parker and Matt Stone, one ball
for being the reason that Parker and
Stone dropped out of college, and
finally, the last baseball because I
can’t stop saying, “Shpadoinkle!”
of opportunities for interaction.
There are many advantages to
a world filled with other people,
and many Rune Scape players
take full advantage of this. Aside
from helping each other through
monograms and quests,
some players form solid
friendships and even host
parties in the Party Room
at Seers’ Village where
they can arrange a balloon
drop and hire a troupe
of singing and dancing
knights to entertain them.
With the recent addition
of Player Owned Houses (POH) to
Rune Scape, the MMORPG has taken
a new turn. Rune Scape members
(becoming a member requires a five-
Photo courtesy of runescape.com
of his loyal clientele bases.
“Nothing in business is as important
as a satisfied customer. He and she
are sold at my store, what they need
to learn on, to perform with and
enough power to get the job done.
It is all about what they need, not
just for a sale. If they are matched
correctly, they believe in me and
return forever. No games here, there
never will be!”
Frange’s Mission Statement is
simple: To provide honest customer
service with integrity and quality
products, to ensure customer
satisfaction and have a good time
along the way.
Frange admits that everyday is
a challenge, but he loves every
minute of it.
Frange also admits that the store
has constantly gone through many
positive changes over the years.
“Inventory constantly changes,”
says Frange. “As far as the future
dollar-a-monthfee)cannowconstruct
their own homes within the game
world, encouraging them to manage
their resources and instilling them
with a sense of pride in their home.
They can also invite friends in to
admire their creation, or send them to
meet the terrors that they have placed
in the dungeons beneath the house.
All of the above being said,
Runescape (and MMORPGs in
general, but especially Runescape )
is not without its flaws. To put it in
the words of Penn State Harrisburg’s
Dance Dance Revolution champion,
Kevin GrifT: “the graphics suck!”
However, if you can get past
that, it can be a very entertaining
game and if nothing else, a
good boredom-killer.
is concerned, Player’s Exchange
will continue to meet the ever
changing needs of the music scene.
Always expect a surprise when you
walk in!”
Frange began playing bass at age
10. Between the ages of 12 through
19, he made records and played many
concerts with local and regional
professional bands. Throughout his
20s and 30s he was a corporate sales
director with Intel and Motorola.
His musical experience, combined
with corporate sales and a great
need for a business like The Player’s
Exchange in the Harrisburg area is
why The Player’s Exchange came
to be a successful business for over
13 years and will be for many years
to come.
The Players Exchange is located
on 225 S Third St in Lemoyne. You
may contact Scott Frange for any
of your musical equipment needs
at 717-975-2385.