Torch Tunes
By Megan Tower, A&E Editor and Kelsey Schnell, Copy Editor
Creator of Vans Warped Tour Comes to Ferris
Kevin Lyman will talk about the popular
summer tour and his history in the music
business.
By Jen Becker, Ferris State
Torch
On Tuesday, Nov. 27, music
industry tycoon, Kevin Lyman will speak in
Williams Auditorium at 7 p.m. as part of
Entertainment Unlimited’s (EU) five star
speaker series.
Lyman will speak about his
extensive history working with globally
recognized bands like the Stone Temple
Pilots and Nine Inch Nails, as well as the
summer event he began known as Vans Warped
Tour.
According to
punkskamusic.com, Lyman got his idea to
start Warped Tour in 1994 after working at
various skateboard shows.
One year later, he was
approached by the skateboard shoe
manufacturer, Vans, who offered to help
sponsor the tour if they could incorporate a
skate fest with the music.
In 1998, the tour went
international for the first time, with shows
in Australia, Japan, and Europe.
In an interview on
absolutepunk.net, Lyman was asked what steps
a band should take to try and get a show on
the Warped Tour.
“I encourage bands to get on
the ball early and send me an application in
early January,” said Lyman. “Your best bet
is to present yourself in the most
professional way you can.”
Lyman also stated that the
most local way to get on Warped Tour is
through the Ernie Ball Music Man Battle of
the Bands. Information for the battle can be
found at battle.ernieball.com.
According to Lyman’s
biography on auburnmoonagency.com, he has
had several entertainment industry jobs that
have ranged from artist management and
booking to production management.
Warped Tour is only one of
the tours that Lyman has under his belt. In
2004, he started Warcon Enterprises along
with Bob Chiappardi, which is an independent
record label that focuses on hardcore rock.
Through Warcon, the two
founders started a tour called the Taste of
Chaos (TOC). TOC has featured bands like the
Deftones, Adair, and My American Heart.
Aside from Warped Tour and
TOC, Lyman has helped put together the
Watcha Tour, the United State’s first Latin
rock and hip-hop festival.
Lyman is also part owner of
SideOneDummy Records, another independent
record label that has signed bands like MXPX
and Flogging Molly. This label is also
responsible for releasing all of the Warped
Tour compilation CDs. He also founded 4Fini
Inc., a marketing and event production
company that specializes in custom tours and
events.
According to punknews.org,
Lyman also recently signed on to co-write
and produce the teen flick “Endless Bummer”,
a story about a group of beach buddies who
search for a lost surfboard. The movie is
due out in June 2008.
When asked in his interview
with absolutepunk.net, what advice he would
give to someone who has a dream, he replied,
“Don’t mind the negative stuff. I deal with
it all the time. People being negative do it
just to be negative. Give suggestions, we
all need input to come up with better
solutions. If you love something, work hard
at it.”
The speaker series is funded
by the Student Activity Fee as allocated by
the Finance Division of Student Government.
If anyone is interested in
more information or needs special
accommodations to attend this event, call
ext. 2610.
The Expert of the Sex-Perts
Maria Falzone will by humorously presenting
the facts and rules of safer sex at Ferris.
By Kala Willette, Ferris State
Torch
“No should mean no in
relationships. So men, do you want me to cut
off your penis with a razor blade? Ah, your
lips say no, but your eyes say yes.”
This is a direct quote from
“sex-pert” Maria Falzone’s lecture at
Dartmouth College, dartreview.com, and this
is the type of humor you will find all
throughout her “Sex Rules! Nine Rules to
Greater and Safer Sex,” sex talk.
On Thursday, Nov 15 at7
p.m., at the Williams Auditorium,
Entertainment Unlimited (EU) is introducing
Maria Falzone to Ferris, and introducing
students to the “funniest, most informative
safer-sex talk you can book,” as part of
this year’s Five-Star Speaker Series.
Falzone is not acting simply
as a comedian on the subject; her main
points are very informative and essential to
college students, delivering them in an
unabashed approach to the rather
uncomfortable idea of “the talk.”
She will be informing
students about the dangers of sex, of
course, but not in a typical health-class,
multifold brochure, deeply scarring sexually
transmitted diseases video sort of way.
Instead, she has developed
her lecture at a completely different angle.
Instead of preaching the ways of abstinence
and the idea that being sexually active is a
reflection of low morality and
self-confidence, she expresses the need to
appreciate it and understand it, and be
mentally and physically prepared so that we
are essentially able to make smarter
decisions about it, and know our personal
boundaries.
Falzone has presented her
lecture at hundreds of colleges and
universities around the United States, and
has received enormous amounts of positive
feedback from students, facultyand staff,
and administrators. The content remains
informative and mature while being spiced up
and retaining the attention of the audience
by her clever use of humor and divulgence in
personal experiences.
According to
californiaaggie.com, “Falzone believes that
college students are a good demographic for
her program, since this is the time when
young people are first away from home and
have a great deal of freedom.”
At one lecture, as said by
dailycampus.com, she was claimed to have
opened with the sex talk that kids typically
receive from their parents. She exemplified
this by enlightening the audience with the
same talk that her mother gave her, “If you
sleep in the same bed with a man, you’ll
have a baby.”
Falzone previously pursued a
career in stand-up comedy, and was a
finalist in the San Francisco International
Comedy Competition. She has been a headliner
in several top comedy clubs throughout the
nation and also Europe.
In addition she has appeared
on several different television shows,
including, A&E’s “An Evening at the Improv”,
NBC’s “Friday Night,” and ShowTime’s “Full
Frontal Comedy”.
If any additional
information is desired, or if anyone needs
any special accommodations in order to
attend the event, please contact Matt
Eickhoff at x2610.
Who Ya' Gonna Call?
John Zaffis, a professional ghost hunter,
visited Ferris last week.
By Mo McNeil, Sports
Editor
Ghost Hunter Zaffis
Ghost Hunter John Zaffis visited Ferris State
University Monday evening to tell his run-ins with ghosts and spiritual
beings. He late took a select number of people searching through the lower
levels of the Prakken, West and Alumni buildings. Photo by Ben Kramer, Photo Editor
In front of
at least 300 people, 30 year professional
paranormal, John Zaffis, spoke about energy
manifests, residual hauntings, objects, and
houses. Zaffis got involved in the
paranormal studies after he had a sighting
of his grandfather at the foot of his bed
when he was 15.
Zaffis began
the presentation about the different houses
he has been in and different objects that
attacked their owners.
One woman
bought a doll and would wake up to find the
doll on the floor and her ankles scratched.
She would wake up from a nap on the couch
and the doll would have moved, or she would
wake up in her bed and there would be the
doll again.
Zaffis asked
where the woman bought the doll. It was from
an estate sale; the doll had burn marks on
the side of its face and was found in the
rafters in the attic. It had belonged to a
young girl that died in the fire. Zaffis
advised the women to put it back in the
rafters. The woman did and there wasn’t
another problem.
According to
Zaffis, there’s no time in the spirit world
and the spirits will cross over when they
are ready.
This I agree
with. My dad bought a house in Dearborn and
the first night there he swears he felt
someone watching him. He looked at the door
and there was an elderly woman in a blue
dress watching him.
Zaffis then
went on to discuss possessions and
poltergeists. Zaffis has been involved in
exorcisms; he showed one that aired on ABC
News.
Before the
show ended, Zaffis showed the difference
between spirits (that show up in pictures as
white orbs or white streaks) and
poltergeists or evil spirits (which show up
in pictures as dark colors such as black,
gray, or red.)
“Poltergeists
have a certain energy you can tap in and get
things to move,” Zaffis said, showing
pictures of objects from a boy’s room.
Then the
names of five people from the audience were
called to bring one friend to go on a ghost
hunt in the lower level of Alumni, West, and
Prakken buildings. Entertainment Unlimited
members (about 20 people) went as well.
We went down
to the old basketball court that had been
broken down into storage rooms. Zaffis
wasn’t even all the way through the door
before he said he felt energy and instructed
us to take photos.
We then
headed around the basketball court and
offices with Zaffis repeating he felt
energy. There were 20 of us crammed together
flashing photos like paparazzi; of course
there was energy.
Zaffis began
elaborating as the group began getting
scared. We were in lower Alumni when Zaffis
identified the energy. It was right after an
FSU employee revealed we were in the same
area as the hospital once was, where a
student died.
We were
walking down the hallway when someone yelled
that a girl had something on her camera.
There was a light rod going across the
screen. Orbs then appeared on someone else’s
camera.
Zaffis jumped
all over it, saying the energy wasn’t
negative but aggressive. It was also young,
because it was a strong energy, and it was
associated with campus. If that didn’t get
the group riled his next comment did: “they
are deliberately staying with us.”
After what
felt like the millionth time of him saying
he felt energy I asked him what he was
feeling. He described the energy: clogged
ears, stomach cramps or queasiness. Zaffis
says that everyone reacts to it differently.
Yes, that’s
how I was feeling, but it could have
something to do with being crowded into a
small hallway with my ski jacket on, and the
heat going full force.
The scariest
moment of the night was when we were in the
old photo lab in West building and someone
rubbed the light switch, sending the room
into complete darkness.
We walked
through Alumni’s main floor, and Zaffis
declared the air was much lighter and there
was no energy. Probably not; the group had
spread out, the heat isn’t as intense, and I
think he was tired of watching people spaz
out.
Whether
Zaffis is for real or not, I don’t know, but
I do know it was a fun post-Halloween
activity.
Your Professor's Artwork May be on Display
Faculty artists from Ferris and Kendall have
their works at the Rankin Center Art
Gallery.
By Megan Tower, A&E Editor
The
Ferris and Kendall faculty art exhibit is
currently being held in the Rankin Art
Gallery from now until Nov. 30. The gallery
featuring art staff from both Ferris and
Kendall College of Art and Design.
“[This] is an
annual event that alternates exhibition
location between the Kendall and Ferris
galleries,” said Carrie Weis, gallery
coordinator for Ferris’ art gallery.
The exhibit
is open to faculty in art departments in
both universities. However, an invitation is
opened to artist professors that don’t teach
art courses at Ferris.
Kathleen
VanDeMark, a graphic design professor at
Ferris, is featured in the gallery.
“I love it.
[The students] really are the only reason I
do this,” said VanDeMark. “It’s amazing to
see how everyone is interested in the art
you’ve created.”
Other faculty
from Ferris includes Lynnette Vought, Robert
Barnum and Jill Jepson. Tom Post, Elizabeth
Hawkins, Jay and Patty Constantine, and
Molly Alicki-Corrivaeu are featured faculty
from Kendall.
Faculty work
will mainly be two dimensional pieces like
paintings and photography. Weis did say that
there will be a couple three dimensional
pieces. She also mentioned that the pieces
in the gallery will range in styles from
photorealism to complete abstractions.
“The faculty
exhibit is really about two things. The
first is to support our faculty on their
personal journey as artists. The second is
to provide students the opportunity to see
what their professors are creating and talk
to with them about their inspiration and
creative processes,” said Weis.
“I love to
look at faculty’s work because I get to see
the same techniques they told us in class.
Two years ago, I was taught techniques then
I went to the gallery a few weeks later and
saw them in action,” said Mandy Lattin, a
junior that has had class with both
VanDeMark and Lynnette Vought.
The gallery
is open from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday
through Friday in the Rankin Center Atrium
(near the Seattle’s Best Coffee Shop).
Does America's Health Care System Need a
Doctor?
Michael Moore's "SiCKO" will be presented in
the Williams Auditorium.
By Thomas Wilson, Opinions
Editor
The
documentary film, “SiCKO” will be presented
in the Williams Auditorium this Saturday
Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased
for $3 with student I.D. or $5 for general
admission at the Williams Auditorium Box
Office.
In this film,
Michael Moore, made famous by “Fahrenheit
9/11” and “Bowling for Columbine,” sets out
to investigate the problems with the
American health care system. Through
investigation, Moore proposes three things
for a new system. These things include free,
universal health care for all Americans for
life, the abolition of all health insurance
companies, and a strict regulation of all
pharmaceutical companies.
A writer in
the New York Times said that this is,
“Michael Moore’s funniest movie to date.”
Moore uses a
lot of sarcasm to enhance his points, so
much so that many critics are calling the
movie funny, though it addresses a serious
subject matter.
“SiCKO” was
released to theaters on June 22. The DVD was
released on Nov. 6. The film has earned
$24,530,513 at the U.S. Box Office so far.
Moore has
directed over 16 different productions in
his career. He has covered topics ranging
from health care, government conspiracy, and
corporate scandals. His previous
documentaries are two of the highest
grossing documentary films to date, and he
has won an Oscar for his documentary,
“Bowling for Columbine.”
Moore was
born on April 23, 1954 in Flint, Mich. He
was a journalism major at the University of
Michigan-Flint. He first got into filmmaking
in 1989 where he ran Bingo games to raise
money for his first film, “Roger and me”;
about how General Motors destroyed the town
of Flint.
“I don’t
compromise my values and I don’t compromise
my work. That’s why I’ve been kicked from
one network to the next: I won’t give in,”
said Moore.
Moore is
known for having controversial opinions,
that he's not afraid to put out there. Many
people will either hate him or love him.
Much of his dismay is with the lack of
control that the American people have on our
own government and economy.
Moore is now
contemplating his next film, possibly
looking into equal rights for homosexuals in
America.
As a glimpse,
he said this in a mini biography of himself
on IMDB.com, “I know that if you believe in
equality, if you believe in standing up for
the rights of all, especially for people
most affected by bigotry and discrimination,
then you have no choice but to be present
and accounted for when it comes to standing
up for gays and lesbians in our society.”
No I'm Not a Detective, but I Watched TV
Last Night
Crime solving shows have inundated American
TV.
By Mo McNeil, Sports Editor
A few weeks ago, I sat down
to watch “CSI:Miami” on CBS to write an
article about former Ferris basketball
player Jeff Hephner who was scheduled to
appear as an extra. If Hephner appeared on
camera, he wasn’t addressed by his
character’s name, or he’s such a good actor
he blended right in.
However, this was the first
time I have ever seen an episode of “CSI”,
and I can’t say I’m in a hurry to sit and
watch another episode. It was one of the
most excruciating hours I have spent in
front of the TV.
It was like the producers
knew checking for DNA is boring so they
added different camera angles, montages, and
some music.
Just check for the DNA, good
grief. “CSI:Miami” must have thought it was
“The O.C.” because every time the scene
changed the viewers were taken on an air
tour of Miami’s beaches, streets, and boats.
I felt like I was being
given a tour of beaches and prime real
estate. I also felt like the show would
rather have the viewers focus on Miami and
not the crime scene, which the viewers spend
hardly any time at.
Don’t think I’m a crazy
person who actually likes to see blood and
gory leftovers from a crime scene, but the
show is “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”,
and there was very little investigating at
the actual crime scene.
Then there was the sniper
shooting, and instead of keeping the cameras
steady, they were spinning around and
breaking into small montages. I’m thinking
the producers wanted the viewers to feel
panic like the actors were supposed to be
feeling, but all I felt was motion sickness.
Overall I give “CSI:Miami” a
C-, for over-the-top and unnecessary camera
angles, a flat plot, and being very boring.
The absolute worst hour of
my life was wasted in front of the TV
watching “Monk” on USA. Seeing an OCD
detective go around speaking slowly,
touching everything, and making everything
even was enough to drive me crazy.
Don’t ask me what Monk was
supposed to be solving. I was too distracted
by his OCD behavior.
I had a hard time sitting
and watching the show. Monk’s voice is a
little disturbing, the plot was slow, and it
always ends the same: Monk explaining to
everyone how he came up with the results,
and clues the viewers into every small
detail that was over looked because they
were agitated with Monk and his OCD.
I’m thinking if a viewer
like myself wants to find a psychology major
to help the fictional character on TV,
there’s an issue.
Overall, I give “Monk” a D+.
There are a lot of things going on in each
episode, and the opening scenes draw you in,
but I just can’t get past Monk's OCD
behavior and his voice.
Check back next week for a
continuation of this article with other
shows.
These Psychics
Will Psych Your Psyche
The mentalist duo, The Evasons, can read
your mind, describe events of your past and
predict your future, all while levitating
students.
By
Kala Willette, Ferris State Torch
Entertainment Unlimited (EU)
is bringing the “world renowned Psychic
Mentalist Duo,” The Evasons, to Ferris
State.
On Monday, Nov. 19 at 7:30
p.m., Jeff and Tessa Evason will use the
audience to exemplify their mystifying acts
of mindreading, levitation, telekinesis, and
prediction.
They will hand pick their
volunteers right from the audience at
Williams Auditorium to reveal things that no
one else could know and perform things that
defy all logic.
According to EU, “Tessa can
tell you the name of your childhood pet or
the first person you ever kissed” in
addition to so much more. It is even claimed
that the duo will actually perform
levitation on a student.
The Evasons have performed
for over 45 schools in the United States,
and have performed for audiences in over 28
countries. In addition, they have appeared
on many television specials for FOX, NBC,
the Discovery Channel, CBC, CTV and The
Comedy Network.
They have won many awards,
including one presented by the
internationally known magicians, Siegfried
and Roy.
People from all of the
visited colleges had great things to say
about the psychics’ act. A student from one
of the schools said, “Tessa and Jeff amazed
the students with their minds, even the
non-believers were impressed -it was
outstanding.” For more insight to the
peoples’ reactions, check out evason.com.
Each quote on the site
expressed the couple’s fluidity, their
mood-lightening comedy, and above all, their
complete domination and mastering of their
art and act.
Our own Student Engagement
and Activities Coordinator, Matt Eickhoff,
is quoted on the site as well, saying, “The
Evasons exceeded my expectations beyond
belief. Not only was the show amazing, but
they are great people to work with. Despite
performing illusions that seem so ‘unreal’,
they are two of the most ‘real’ people I’ve
ever met.”
They were said to have
delivered everything flawlessly and each
entertainment director of each school was
beyond impressed and ready to book them
again for the following year.
If you still are not
convinced of these performers’ authenticity,
evason.com guarantees $25,000 for anyone
that can prove fraudulence, the use of any
concealed electronic communication devices
or secret assistants.
Widgets:
Friend or Foe?
An examination of widgets and how they can
help, or hurt, your system. By
Paul Jarema, Production Manager
Widgets are, in a nutshell,
small programs that run in the background on
your computer that are accessible at any
time with a simple click or keystroke. They
generally serve a specific purpose ranging
from reporting computer health to getting
the latest sports scores or weather
forecasts.
Widgets can be found on most
computers in some form. Mac OS keeps its
widgets in the Dashboard and Windows Vista
has a built-in sidebar for its widgets.
Yahoo and Google both have their own flavor
of downloadable widget engines as well. I’ve
been experimenting a little bit with some of
the popular widget engines.
I’ve been running Windows
Vista on my desktop since the beginning of
the semester with the sidebar full of
widgets. I installed Yahoo Widgets on my
laptop a few weeks ago and I have some
widgets in the dashboard on my Mac at work.
Each of the widget engines
has a vast selection of widgets for
download. You’ll be able to find what kind
of widget you want or need from any of the
providers. Yahoo even has a widget that lets
you search for and download new widgets.
While I have been using these engines, I
haven’t been able to come up with a
clear-cut winner in performance. The basic
rule of thumb has been, the more widgets you
have running, the poorer the performance
your computer will experience.
For instance, my desktop
(1.8GHz AMD Opteron dualcore processor, 2GB
of RAM, Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows
side-bar widget engine) can run a ton of
widgets and not really sacrifice too much
power. My laptop (2.0Ghz Pentium 4 mobile,
1GB of RAM, Windows XP, Yahoo widget engine)
cannot handle many widgets without slowing
down significantly.
The reason is because, like
any programs you run, the widgets eat up
memory and CPU cycles. My laptop is sitting
idle right now with Yahoo widgets running.
There are five widgets running and my CPU
usage is at a staggering 33 percent when it
should be in the zero to five percent range.
This is causing my laptop to heat up and the
fan to kick on high when it’s doing
literally nothing. Closing the widget engine
moves my CPU usage back into the normal
range. This is typical of all the widget
engines I tested.
I have my personal favorite
widgets running on my desktop right now. I
have a news feed that displays headlines
from the day, a slideshow widget, a weather
widget, a system health widget, a
sticky-note widget and a widget that shows
me all of my system information with one
click.
If you were going to have
one widget running, I think it should be the
system health widget. This will give you CPU
usage and RAM usage and may have more
detailed information such as Wi-Fi signal,
hard drive temperature and battery life.
Ultimately, what hardware
you have in your computer is going to decide
whether or not widgets are useful for you.
If you have more of a high end system, you
can run a good amount of widgets and not
sacrifice performance. If you have bargain
PC, you might not want to have any widgets
at all.
If you want to try Yahoo
widgets, head over to widgets.yahoo. com. To
try Google’s Desktop Gadgets, go to
desktop.google.com/en to install Google
Desktop and then desktop.google.com/plugins
to download some widgets.
Coheed and Cambria
Good
Apollo I'm Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No
World for Tomorrow
By
Megan Tower, A&E Editor
Coheed and Cambria’s “Good
Apollo I’m Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No
World for Tomorrow” flew into stores on Oct.
23. It’s the second part of four in “The
Amory Wars” series.
My first reaction: where
is that usual opener? Coheed and Cambria
(C&C) always has a different version of the
one song for each album. It was not on this
album and I was extremely disappointed.
In addition, the first song,
“The Reaping,” was weak. It did not have an
original sound and the vocals seemed
mediocre. However, the next song, “No World
for Tomorrow,” was very good, but didn’t
have the sound I usually expect from C&C. A
new style, perhaps?
The beginning of “The Hound”
was back to what I was used to and love
about C&C. Experimental, a true exhibition
of lead singer Claudio Sanchez’s vocals, and
a song I could listen to for hours in a row.
The ending five songs, “The
Fall of House Atlantic,” “Radio Bye Bye,”
“The End Complete,” “The Road and the
Damned,” and
“On the Brink” are all
beautifully done songs. They have the
typical C&C sound I love, but they also have
a few minutes of experimentation that show
me that this new side really is amazing. “On
the Brink” is where I hear the most change
in C&C’s sound. However, it’s absolutely
gorgeous. I have more faith in this new
sound thanks to that part. The songs in the
beginning are lacking in some aspects.
I instantly fell in love
with “Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV,
Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of
Madness,” but this one will take some
getting used to.
Kanye West Graduation By Kelsey Schnell, Copy Editor
While en route to a wedding
reception on a charter bus with 3 close
personal friends and 41 relative strangers,
Kanye West’s hit single ‘Stronger’ from his
latest album, “Graduation” bolstered the
most notable transitions among the party
members from inquisitive glances to
interested smiles of appreciation as the
overwhelming majority could no longer fight
the urge to refrain from expressing their
approval through movement.
Since its release on Sept.
11, 2007, Mr. West’s third EP has sold over
1.6 million copies in the United States.
With tracks co-authored by big time artists
like Quincy Jones, Elton John, and
additional production mastery performed by
Timbaland. “Graduation” provides a balanced
yet varied compilation of musical styles
ranging from the egotistically defiant, ‘The
Glory’ to the open admission of the trials
and angst as well as respect for his rival,
Jay-Z, in ‘Big Brother’.
While no track specifically
holds the club worthy status that ‘Gold
Digger’ still evokes, the dynamic of the
album allows the listener to really
appreciate the subtleties of the lyricist’s
meaning between the words; his lines mocking
his own Grammy Awards outfit or unquenchable
need for expensive jewelry.
The consistency of this
album allows the listener to head bob for
its entirety without fear of growing weary.
The complexity of the lyrics and the diverse
assortment of beats and mixes provide an
exciting and acceptable caliber of music
from West. But its lack of a real club
anthem makes it hard for this writer to
shake his booty, or give it more than a 4
out of 5.
