The Guilfordian
September 5,1997
Eddie From Ohio:
fun for hippies
BY MORGAN REFFELL
Staff Writer
On Saturday, August 30, the
students at Guilford College were
treated to the sounds of the Wash
ington, DC-based band known as
Eddie from Ohio. The band con
sists of singer Julie Murphy, gui
tarist Robbie Schaefer, percussion
ist Eddie
Hartness,
and
bassist
guitarist
Michael
Clem.
Al
though
the kind
of music
they
played
was not to
everyone's
ir
tastes, the general consensus was
favorable.
Some people enjoyed the
calming sound, like student Abby
Tormanen, who said "I like the
band because it was mellow but
not boring." Freshman Hope
Wedderburn felt that "the music
was good but after half an hour
everything started to sound the
same."
That the band's musical influ
ences span almost every genre is
immediately obvious to any lis
tener, they list as strong influences
everything from Grateful Dead to
Lyle Lovett to Red Hot Chili Pep
pers to Billie Holliday.
Many listeners have tried to
shove the band into one musical
genre or another, but it is nearly
impossible to say that Eddie From
Ohio fits into only one category.
Critics have called them neo
folk, calypso-grass, country, and
jazz, and have compared them to
10,000 Maniacs, Grateful Dead,
and Shawn Colvin.
The paper "Dirty Linen" when
writing a review of the band, said
Study Abroad Opportunity!
Interested in an Alpine experience in Northern Italy next spring? Students with stamina
(no complaining on those steep slopes), talent for community living, and an interest in
languages, Pound's poetry, or cross-cultural differences are encouraged to apply for the
1998 semester abroad program in Brunnenberg. Applications and course descriptions
are available in the Study Abroad office (Worth House II) or Library 206. Carol Hoppe
of the English department will lead the group and begin interviewing applicants early
this fall. Application deadline is September IS.
Features
to "imagine Crosby, Stills, and
Nash, in their heyday, backed by
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones."
After only having been to
gether for five years, this former
bar band is doing well, playing
over 250 shows up and down the
East Coast last year. They have
delphia, Chicago, Boston, and
Tampa, Florida just to name a few.
The students who watched
them play on Saturday obviously
enjoyed the performance. Many
had seen them play here last year
and were excited to see them again.
Many others had not even heard
of them before but were entranced
by the upbeat mood of the music,
the stunning voice of Julie
Murphy, and the amount of fun
that the band was having.
Faith Jost, a sophomore at
Guilford, after listening to them,
said that, "Julie Murphy had a
beautiful voice and the drummer
was absolutely wonderful." It was
obvious that many people felt the
same way, looking around at the
contented audience and the few
people dancing in the back.
When Eddie from Ohio started
playing on Saturday, there were
only a few people in the audience.
By the end, the music had report
edly drawn close to 200 people.
This snowball effect typified Eddie
From Ohio's grassroots style.
Carter and Mors check
Go to the Movies
♦This Week: Kull the Conqueror
BY JONATHAN
CARTER &. PETER
MORSCHECK
Features Film Critics
Jonathan: In
the opening credits
of Kull the Con
queror, we see
Kevin Sorbo's name
over
10,000
names
on their
mailing
list and
are be
i n g
played
in regu
lar rota
tion on
radio
stations
in Phila-
followed by the title
coming out of a wall of flame while
loud, decidedly non-medieval elec
tric guitars groan in the background.
Anyone who sees that should know
what they're in for.
If you see Kull, don't expect a
dramatic fantasy epic. The filmmak
ers know that the American viewing
audience is (unfortunately) not ac
customed to fantasy, so they make
sure the movie doesn't take itself
completely seriously. Of course you
should expect that from any movie
that lists Kevin Sorbo's name before
the title.
The movie takes place in the
medieval kingdom of Valusia. By a
twist of fate, Kull, a barbarian, be
comes king. As king he supports
such liberal policies as abolition of
slavery and freedom of religion. Kull
is a pretty good guy, really. He's not
a drunken womanizer like the other
famous barbarian, Conan. He's
today's modern barbarian king.
Unfortunately, rivals for the
Valusian throne don't like Kull very
much, and they tiy to overthrow him
by working with Akivasha, a resur
rected witch-queen who wants to
rule the land herself. Kull manages
to escape and goes off in search of
the Breath of Valka, a divine weapon
that can kill Akivasha. Of course,
one of his rivals is after it too, which
leads to a climactic three-way battle.
Kull is fun, basically. It prob
ably won't get nominated for any
Oscars, but it's still worth seeing.
And unlike most sword-and-sorcery
movies, it has a decent budget. The
sets are great, and the Croatian and
Slovakian backgrounds work well.
However, the mythical world is never
fully realized, and it doesn't draw
in the viewer. Particularly uninter
esting is the kingdom of Valusia,
which apparently consists of one
castle and about fifty peasants. It's
not much of a kingdom.
While the story's okay, there
are several technical problems and
Courtesy of UNION
I w 3/ %
guitars. And the
acting... well, it's better than I
thought it would be. That's all I'll
say. There's also a good deal of
whipping in the movie, but I guess
some people won't mind it very
much. I think the director had some
'issues.'
So overall, Kull is a pleasant
afternoon's diversion. Its only job
is to entertain, and it does the job
very well.
Peter. Kull's got problems. As
a barbarian who has just been
named King, everyone's out to get
him. In his first week of rule he is
pestered by scheming nobles, be
witched and married to a just-re
vived 3000 year old demon-queen,
forced to journeyto the "Isle of Ice"
(from which no one has ever re
turned), and even peed upon by a
camel.
Yet, in true hero fashion, he
manages to overcome all these diffi
culties, and even works towards the
abolition of slavery and religious
tolerance. In other words, Kull is
THE MAN.
Oh, in case you didn't know,
"Kull the Conqueror" is an old-fash
ioned sword & sorcery flick. With
Kevin Sorbo (of "Hercules: The Leg
endary Journeys") in the title role,
plenty of swordplay and babes, and
a heavy metal soundtrack, it looks
at first glance to be a bad "Conan"
rip-off. In reality, it is a superb
"Conan" rip-off!
This movie managed to far sur
pass my exceedingly low expecta
tions due to 1) the better-than-av
erage special effects, 2) the high
quality dialogue: ".. .When I get my
hands on the b — demon I will rip
out her evil heart", 3) the fact that
the aforementioned b — demon is
played by Tia Carrere (SIGH), and
4) any movie that lists an albino
Burmese python in the credits is
okay in my book. "Kull the Con
queror" is a better waste of an hour
and a half than you would think.
7
annoyances in the
movie. The editing
is jerky in some
scenes, and the
music disturbingly
goes back and forth
between a lush or
chestral score to
80's-esque electric