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I
■ BEST BET
A i!!fi the band that recent 'y won the 90.5 FM/Lakewooa Am-
phitheatre-sponsored band contest, will play the Georg, a The
ater tonight at 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $4. There is no opening
Dana.
The Rea ana Biac* • Thursday. June 28. 199C • S
A&E
‘Confidential’ author, book bleed with obsessive ambition
By JEFF RUTHERFORD
Entertainment Writer
James Ellroy is obsessed.
“I’m going to be the ^entest
crime writer alive by the time I’m
50. Since I’m 42 now, I’ve got a
busy eight years ahead of me," El
lroy said recently during a tele
phone interview from New York.
With the June publication of
“LA Confidential," Ellroy is
working towards that ambitious
goal. “LA. Confidential" is the
third book in the L A. quartet, a re
telling of 1950s Los Angeles crime
history through Ellroy’s eyes.
The quartet started with Ellroy’s
1987 novel, "The Black Dahlia," a
fictional account of the 1947 Black
Dahlia murder case in which an as
piring actress was brutally killed.
Next was a sprawling crime novel
called ‘The Big Nowhere.’
Now Ellroy continues his vis
ceral, violent look at history with
“LA. Confidential." In the novel,
fictional characters interact with
real-life crime figures.
“It’s history as seen by me, my
basic impressions and rewritten to
suit my purposes. So what I’ve
done is what I’ve always wanted to
do — to create a revision of the his-
‘An abandoned auto court in the San Berdoo
foothills; Buzz Meeks checked in with ninety-four
thousand dollars, eighteen pounds of high-grade
heroin, a 10-guage pump, a .38 special, a .45
automatic and a switchblade he'd bought off a
pachuco at the border...’
— From ‘L.A. Confidential'
tory of Loe Angeles back then cen
tering on crime," Ellroy said
But unlike some writers, Ellroy
doesn’t pull any punches. None of
his heroes are perfect. The cops
will stop at nothing to further their
Stompers, Puppies at today’s Legion show
By NOEL MURRAY
Entertainment Writer
It’s summer again and no one
wants to cram into a hot, sweaty
club to see live music. So why not
do it outdoors? Today at 4:30
& .m., the Summer Division of the
hiversity Union offers Athens
the chance to do just that — for
free!
Yes, it’s that good ol' Praise
The Legion show held, tradition
ally and aptly, at Legion Field.
This year, the Union has co
erced four exceptional Athens
bands to play. Featured in order
of appearance are the "Creedence
Clearwater Revival on crack"
stylings of the Labrea Stompers,
the righteous and loud melodi-
cism of Five-Eight, the ethereal
pop of Seven Simons, and the
down-home disco of the Chick
asaw Mudd Puppies.
Donna Bowman, organist for
the Stompers said, “We’re very
The Labrea Stompers: They'
uniforms to play Legion Field
excited about it. We played Le
gion once before, for the Take
Back the Night benefit, and it
was a lot of fun. We’re going to re
cord the show, possibly for a
demo tape. It’s a good place to re
cord because the sound is so
clean. Also, we’re excited about
playing with Five-Eight again.
They’re our favorite band."
II shed their Waffle House
this afternoon
Five-Eight has been on the
road recently in North Carolina
and Tennessee, but is back end
looking forward to tonight. Bas
sist Dan Horowitx claims that the
out-of-town shows were very
well-received and they even tried
out some new materia] on the
virgin ears of our neighbors to
the north.
Tonight is also special because
it may be the only chance the
town gets to hear Seven Simons
this summer .
Manager David Prasse says
that the band hopes to log a lot of
road hours over tr.e next couple of
months and probably won't play
in Athens again untu fall.
The biggest name in the show
are most likely rising stars, the
Chickasaw Mudd Puppies. This
Athens duo has beer, stomping
and strumming for only a snort
while, but they’ve already man
aged to garner a record contract
w-ith Polygram. They’ve played a
slate of shows with alternative
supergroup the Violent Femmes,
and have a v.deo on MTV.
Altogether, it looks to be a
stellar night for the University
Union, so be there. It’s free!
In the event of rain, the show-
will be renamed Praise the
Georgia Hall and the location will
be changed accordingly.
own goals
Ellroy is a realist. He write*
what he knows. When he was 10
years old, Ellroy’s mother was
m urdered by a stranger she met in
a bar Her killer was never found.
The unsolved murder of his mother
merged with another death within
nie mind.
"When I was 11, my father gave
me a copy of The Badge’ by Jack
Webb. At the beginning cf tHe book
w as a detailed account of the Black
Dahlia murder case. Thoae two
cases, my mother’s death and the
Black Dahlia merged within my
mind and became one," he eaid.
Ellroy became obsessed with the
Black Dahlia and his troubles
began to catch up with him He
was kicked out of Fairfax High
School and hit the streets. He
joined the Army in 1965, but faked
a nervous breakdown and was soon
on the streets again. Ha turned to
burglary and petty theft as a way
of life.
In addition to his criminal part,
Ellroy had a problem with arugi
and drinking and was arrested nu
merous time* for public drunken
ness.
“I was never sent to prieon, 'out I
did some time in the LA County-
Jail," he said. “ This whole time I
was reading crime novela, feeding
the obeeasior..
In 1975, Ellroy checked into a
hospital. Kicking his addiction took
time, but four years later he wrote
his first novel, "Brown's Requiem *
Ellroy connected with hit style
in The Black Dahlia" The dense,
brisk style meshed well with his
subject matter and the critics took
notice. He continued to perfect his
writing in The Big Nowhere," but
w-.th “LA. Confidential," he took it
one step further.
"When I finished the novel, I de-
James Ellroy: obsessed
crime writer
tided it was too long I wanted to
cut 100 peges but I knew I couldn’t
delete any of the scer.ee without
•jpeettmg the plot After I made the
cut, I discovered that I had a dense,
complex novel that moved like a
freight train.*
Despite praise from the critic*,
Ellroy refuaee to rest.
Tr.e next book will be called
White Jan,' and it will take the
LA. quartet up to 1959," said El*
”?!» has ever, more plans.
"I want to be the Tolstoy of
American crime fiction." he eaid.
his voice deadly ser.ous. “After 1
finish the quartet, Tm going to re
write the last 100 years of Amer
ican history. There’s going to be a
slew of novels, all different periods
and locales '
‘African Impulse’ at High Museum
celebrates black artists, sculptors
By DAVID WILLIAMS
Entertainment Writer
“Black Art-Ancestral Legacy:
The African Impulse in African-
American Art,” is currently on ex
hibit at the High Museum of Art.
It’s on loan from the Dallas Mu
seum of Art where it was compiled
and organized.
“Black Art-Ancestral Legacy:
The African Impulse in African-
American Art," is the first major
exhibit to study the effects of Af
rican culture on African-American
Art. It took more than three years
to organize and includes more than
150 paintings and sculptures by 49
different African-American artists.
*The works range from the early
1900s, the Harlem Renaissance, to
pieces created for the exhibit,” said
Carrie Pryzbilla, assistant curator
of 20th Century Art at the High
Museum of Art.
One of the pieces designed for
the show was a mbari shrine cre
ated by George Smith. The sculp
ture is based on the shrines that
the Ibo people of Nigeria would
build when their community
needed spiritual strength.
Smith’s version is a large pink
structure resembling a hut. It has
with it four open doors and various
paraphernalia from African cul
ture inside it.
“It is, in a way, the centerpiece of
the exhibit ... the mbari represents
the creativity in each of us," said
Alvia J. Ward, the adjunct curator
of African-American Art at the
Dallas Museum.
“We decided to include a mbari
because :t would make a strong
statement aicut our society and
the need e :r us to pull together,"
Ward s£.d
Many ct the works combine Af
rican images with images from
American life One example is the
mixture of African women and
rows of shotgun shacks in
“Shotgun," a ;-a:r.::r.g by John B:g-
gers.
‘There's a kind of a blending of
what is on hand and the artist’s
own experiences as we.i as what is
inherited from Africa," Pryzbilla
said.
The exhibit is being presented in
conjunction with the National
Black Art Festival, a celebration of
the contributions African-Ameri
cans have made to the arts. The
festival will include more than 60
events taking place around At
lanta.
“One of the reasons we wanted
the show to come to Atlanta was
because we knew that haring the
show during the National Black
Art Festival would bring national
and international attention to it,"
Ward said. “It is a very ambitious
undertaking for the city (of At
lanta' and it has been successful."
“Black Art-Ancestral Legacy:
The African Impulse in American
Art’ will run through Aug. 5.
E-T.’s
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In the winner's circle
Hillao Bresstef
Local merchant Dick Ferguson
name, seems happy to present
Win. Fred Brigham
Moorman, M.D.
Athens Area
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and lki\< anciiut:nti-:k
Announcing the opening of our
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THEATRE
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BILLIARDS • TABLE TENNIS • FOOSBALL
VIDEO & PMBALL GAMES
OPEN
MONDAY - FRIDAY
9 AM - 11PM
SATURDAY & SUNDAY
NOON-11PM
Exercise Your
1st Amendment
Writes...
Come to the Red & Blacks
New Writers' Meeting
Thurs. July 5
7:00 p.m.
at the
Dean s Conference
Room
in the
Journalism Building
All Majors Welcome.