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The Red & Black | Wednesday, March 5, 2003 | 7
Derby arcade game has players horsing around
By SHAUNA INTELISANO
sintelisa@randb.com
Sega has brought the
thrill of thoroughbred horse
racing to Georgia. The Derby
Owners Club World Edition
truly is an interactive, role-
playing game. The player
acts as a breeder, trainer,
jockey and owner of thor
oughbred racehorses.
“This game is like crack to
everyone who works here
and the people who come to
play — it is highly addictive,”
said Capri Bolton, the front
desk sales clerk at Dave and
Busters in Gwinnett — one
of the two locations in
Georgia where the game can
CAME REVIEW
be played.
“I’ve never seen anything
like this,” Bolton said.
“People come in here and
spend hundreds of dollars on
this game.”
The game is set up with
eight monitors situated in a
stadium-like configuration
and a 50-inch monitor which
displays the racing action.
Each player starts by
choosing a dam and sire to
breed and creates a fictional
horse. The player names the
horse and then chooses the
jockey and his wardrobe.
Then it is off to the train
ing farm where the player
selects his feed, exercise rou
tine and training regimen.
All of these strategic
choices ultimately lead to
the horse’s presentation on
racing day. While racing, the
players use a whip at tactical
moments to maximize the
horse’s performance.
After the horse has raced
20 times, it can be retired to
breeding. Once the horse is
retired, it never can race
again, but if the horse was a
champion, it becomes a valu
able trading commodity.
After the horse is created,
the machine spits out a play
er’s card, a credit card-sized
memory storage device. The
card has the horse’s picture
and information stored. The
player can take the card to
any Derby Owners Club and
race.
Wait, there’s more. The
cards can be traded and
sold.
“Derby Owners Club has
been operating in Asia for
two years. Its popularity has
been unprecedented,” said
Peter Gustafson, director of
Sega Enterprise USA sales
and marketing, in a written
statement.
“My boss purchased a
card off e-Bay from a man in
Japan. He bred it with
another horse and created a
special breed,” Bolton said.
The cards listed on e-Bay
range in price from mere
pennies to more than $100.
The addictive aspect is the
trial and error process of cre
ating a successful racehorse
as well as the extensive
breeding process in which
players can interact to try
and produce the best possi
ble racehorse.
The Derby Owners Club
can be found in Georgia at
Dave and Busters at 4000
Venture Drive, Suite 15,
Duluth, Ga. — (770)497-1152
— and at Jillian’s at 5900
Sugarloaf Parkway,
Lawrenceville, Ga. — (678)
847-5400.
SPECIAL | The Red & Black
▲The Derby Owners Club
is available at Dave and
Busters and Jillian’s.
Band from Big Easy proclaims itself ‘fonkiesf in New Orleans
Jon Cleary and the Absolute
Monster Gentlemen
“Jon Cleary and the Absolute
Monster Gentlemen”
Grade: B-
Jon Cleary and the Absolute
Monster Gentlemen is the self-pro-
claimed “fonkiest band in a city
that’s renowned for having the
fonkiest bands in the world.”
The New Orleans outfit is indeed
CD REVIEW
“fonky,” but it takes a more relaxed
approach to funk than some other
products of the Big Easy.
At times, the group sounds like
Bruce Hornsby and at others like
the Funky Meters. Elements of
blues, soul, funk and groove are
professionally weaved together, and
while this is nothing new, Cleary
and the Gentlemen still sound
good doing it.
There is a feeling throughout the
album, however, that they’re hold
ing back. It’s good, but not as good
as it could be.
The opening track, “Sometimes
I Wonder,” begins with soft piano
that quickly ascends into electric,
funky keys. Cleary comes in with
subdued wailing announcing that,
as the track’s title would suggest,
sometimes he wonders.
Cleary’s rolling keys pick up the
tempo in the second track,
“Cheating on You,” one of the row
dier moments in the brief 49 min
utes of this album.
“More Hipper” is a more rhyth
mic, percussive song, in which
Cleary’s keys take a backseat to
the drums of Jeffrey “Jellybean”
Alexander and the bass of Cornell
C. Williams.
The fourth track is an homage
to an obvious influence for this
group and one of the pioneers of
New Orleans funk, the Funky
Meters.
“Just Kissed My Baby” was
released by the Meters in 1973 on
its fifth album, “Rejuvenation,” and
is covered very cleanly in this ren
dition.
There are several songs on this
CD, such as “Take My Love,” which
provide glimmers of the band’s
house-rocking potential, but there
are others that lean dangerously
close to the R&B, adult contempo
rary side of the fence.
“When You Get Back,” “A Little
Satisfaction” and “Fanning the
Flames” still possess a distinctive
flicker of funk but mostly just
sound like mindless soft rock.
Thankfully, though, there are
also a couple of zydeco blues num
bers that add a great deal to the
album.
“Been and Gone” and “So Damn
Good” are two Cajun blues songs
that just don’t last long enough.
More of this would be a step in the
right direction.
The final track is my favorite on
the album, as well as its saving
grace.
“Too Damn Hot” is an emphatic
instrumental that manages to be
both soulful and funky at the same
time. More of this would be a big
step in the right direction.
Jon Cleary and the Absolute
Monster Gentlemen’s polished New
Orleans sound shows enormous
potential. This CD is hindered by
its own brevity, though, and would
benefit from more experimentation
and elaboration.
— Russell McLendon
\Blair Witch’producer
sets newest film in Athens
By RYAN SIEVEKING
rsievekin@randb.com
Producer Gregg Hale hit it big with “The
Blair Witch Project,” but now he’s hitting
Athens for his sophomore act — as a director.
The once-producer has his sights set on fea
ture film directing, and for his first act, he’s
chosen Athens as the principle set and loca
tion for filming.
His movie, an independent film named
“‘@lien,’“ focuses on a love triangle between
two Athens residents and a third wheel who
happens to be a mysterious Internet lover.
“It’s a low budget feature film,” Hale said.
“It’s an indie picture. We’re taking advantage
of low budget filming to explore different ways
of capturing the story.”
“'@lien'” — yes, single quotes are in the title
— is a quirky love story about a geekily beauti
ful girl named Hannah. One of her lovers,
known only as Alien, is involved purely through
the Internet. The story follows Hannah as she
crosses the country with the flesh and blood
third of the triangle, Henry, who is evading the
law.
Henry doesn't know Hannah is using their
escape to finally meet Alien face to face.
Through her journey, Hannah discovers true
love, her estranged mother and herself.
“As it happens, Hannah is a UGA dropout,
and Henry has never gone to college,” Hale
said. “Henry is a slapdash kind of guy who gets
by on charming wits. He earns quick cash by
performing in Athens.”
“'@lien'” is tentatively set to begin filming in
June of 2003. It has been scheduled for a shoot
of five six-day weeks — three weeks in Athens
and two weeks on the road between Athens
and San Francisco by way of New Orleans.
From the outset of the project, Hale envi
sioned Athens as the perfect place for the set
ting of “‘@lien.’”
“Athens is amazing,” he said. “It’s a rustic
southern city. In places, it’s old and beautifully
decayed, but at the same time it’s vibrantly
energetic and enriched by college life. I wanted
Athens to be a personality in the film.”
Casting will take place Saturday in Athens
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Tasty World. Students
are encouraged to audition for various roles,
including the parts of Hannah, Henry and
Alien.
Hale plans on giving actors opportunities to
explore the story outside the boundaries of the
script.
Actors auditioning for the parts of Hannah
and Henry should be aware of the intense
nature of both roles. The emotional range of
each role runs the gamut from ecstatic to mis
erable to enraged to lusty to jaded.
Both roles involve nudity, as well.
Those auditioning for the roles of Hannah,
Henry, Catherine, Dana, Alien and Desk Clerk
will be expected to read from the sides avail
able through the production company’s Web
site (www.haxan.com). Those auditioning for
all other roles should come prepared with a
monologue no longer than one minute.
If students are unable to attend the open
casting at Tasty World, audition tapes may be
mailed to Kimberly Mullen Casting, 1000
Universal Studios Plaza Building 22A, Suite
231, Orlando, Fla. 32819.
Juliana Theory heavy on emotion
The Juliana Theory
“Love”
Grade: B+
Hate emo?
Maybe “Love” can change
your mind.
The new disc by the
Juliana Theory, its third full-
length album, manages to
cross boundaries and almost
frees them from the seem
ingly dreaded ‘Emo’ label.
From the first notes of,
“Bring it Low,” which also
was featured on the “Road
Rules” soundtrack released
this past summer, the
Theory put forth such hard
hitting power that proves
once more it is a force to be
reckoned with.
Power is one thing this
band has never had a prob
lem with, but lyrically, they
still seem to be grasping.
Although principal song
writer Brett Detar has grown
considerably since the
band’s debut, a few songs on
this album lyrically play a lit-
CD REVIEW
tie too much towards the
sensibilities of high school
outsiders.
Particularly in the song
“Trance” where Detar angri
ly complains, “You are the
fashion of now and the sick
ening flavor of cool.”
Still, one of this disc’s
greatest attributes is Detar’s
vocals. They morph from
sounding breathy and remi
niscent of Enrique Iglesias at
one moment (“Jewel to
Sparkle”) to imitating the
throaty snarl of Fuel’s Brett
Scallions the next (“DTM”).
“Love” also relies less on
synth loops and more on gui
tar riffs and melodies than
the Juliana Theory’s previ
ous albums, allowing for a
greater diversity musically as
well as vocally.
For example, the full-on
rock of “Repeating
Repeating” is an angry ode
to the burnout caused by
incessant routine. Detar
rages over the top of thun
dering guitars,“Repeating,
repeating/I’m burnt out,
burnt out on everything/Will
this end?”
Conversely, the elegant,
more acoustic and emo-
sounding “White Days” tells
a story of the occasional
occurrences in life — and
where “Repeating
Repeating” finds its strength
in fast-paced anger, the
strength of “White Days” is
in its ethereal, slow sadness.
Detar delicately sings,
“Turn on the heat/They can’t
feel a thing as I fall
asleep/Keep your eyes off the
white/Don’t let us die
tonight.”
Both experiences have
proven themselves equally
inspirational.
Although on this album,
the Theory’s first on Epic
records, there is one track I
feel they should have dis
carded — its newly reworked
version of “Into the Dark.”
This song, previously
released on 2000’s “Emotion
is Dead,” lacks all the pas
sion it originally possessed.
However, despite its
faults, “Love” endures.
— Natalie David
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4175 Lexington Rd. • 1/5 mile before Walmart
Tel: 353-1511 • wwiv.tuckston.org
College Contemporary
Worship Service
SUNDAY 3:00 PM
Attendance is Growing Every Week!
Are you interested in participating in research
that could improve women's health?
• The Medical College of Georgia is working with University
Health Center to test the effectiveness of an investigational vac
cine designed to prevent infection by certain types of Human
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• HPV is a sexually transmitted virus that causes abnormal Pap
smears, genital warts and 95 percent of all cervical cancers.
• More than 50 percent of sexually active women get HPV-
and there's no cure.
• If you are a healthy woman age 16 to 23 and you have never
had an abnormal Pap smear or genital warts, you may be eligible
to participate.
• Qualified participants will receive free medical exams, Pap
tests, HPV and other STD testing for four years and will be com
pensated for their time and contributions.
• To participate or for more information, please call:
Medical College of Georgia
Department of Family Medicine
Toll Free (877) 643-1414
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This study is being conducted in cooperation with
the Women's Clinic at UGA.
All study visits are conducted at UGA's Health Center.
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Georgia Baptist College of Nursing
of Mercer University
Offering excellence in nursing education
Georgia Baptist College of Nursing of Mercer
University is recognized as a college where caring and
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Georgia Baptist College of Nursing has been educating
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