OmnibusThursday, October 6, 19885
KAwcti Tttouonro
Old Troll's lovers never die
By ELIZABETH ELLEN
Staff Writer
Are sailors inherently more apt
to adopt democratic values than
are soldiers? More Importantly, do
soldiers prefer Troll's as It was or
Troll's as It Is? On the resolution
of such matters does the fate of
Western civilization, and the world
in general, depend.
According to author Barrington
Moore, England's traditional
reliance upon naval power at the
expense of building up a strong
army helped nudge the nation in
the direction of democracy as
opposed to fascism or commu
nism. A fascinating thesis to be
sure, and understandable in the
sense that a warship is unlikely to
sail into your horrle of uuSineSS STIG
repress whatever it is you are
doing. Submarines are not really
visually intimidating sitting on
Main Street, whereas an armed
detachment could be.
So we come to the question of
whether landlocked countries
have a harder time becoming
democracies than those with
Poi Dog Pondering
resists having address
or style tied down
By ALLISON PIKE
Staff Writer
What do you do when you live
in Honolulu and your band is
having trouble getting booked in
the local dubs? if you are like Poi
Dog Pondering, you take to the
streets. And when you have
played all the streets? You fly to
the mainland, buy a van and some
sleeping bags, recruit some new
band members for gas money and
you hit the road.
.Pol Dog Wandering might be a
better name for this now Texas
based band which has completed
two tours across the United
States and ventured into Canada
and Mexico. They'll be at the
Brewery Oct. 11. Last year they
stopped at Cat's Cradle, and
anyone who saw that show will
probably remember Pol Dog
because this band's music is hard
to forget
if s nearly impossible to place Pol
Dog in any music category. "We
borrow and steal from all types
of music," main songwriter Frank
Orrall says. "And we play any
instrument we can get our hands
oa" Guitars, tin whistles, accor
dions, banjos, and trombones are
only a few of the instruments
found on Poi Dog's self-titled
debut album The result Is a sort
substantial coastlines, is there
some political destiny written in
the geologic plates which separ
ated into the continents we know
today? Should those who oppose
authoritarian regimes blame geo
logic forces for stacking the cards
against democracy developing in
their nations? This could create a
powerful "wethey" distinction,
original revolutionary rhetoric,
and a significant rise in the pop
ularity of rock collecting for fun
and profit
The decline of a particular "we
they" distinction is just one of the
tragedies of the remodelled Troll's.
By actually cleaning up the place,
the owners made the bar more
Jike the other bars in Chapel HilL
wary "of u-r:ksri the pit
ambience of the old Troll's. One
could dance on the tables without
fear of retribution and sing along
with Hank Williams without fear
of appearing uncouth.
There are now things one can
do there that were not possible
before. One can walk in and out
the door in white shoes, and one
of progressive-Irish folk sound,
living With the Dreaming Body"
and "Postcard From a Dream" are
reminiscent of the early 1980s
original but forgettable hit, "Come
On Eileen," by Dexy's Midnight
Runners. Substitute synthesizers
for acoustics on "Pulling Touch"
and you would swear this was a
New Order song.
The one constant element in ail
six cuts on this album is simplicity.
The songs are light and spontane
ous as if Pol Dog was playing on
a street corner when they
recorded this album, and they will
compel you to dance, or at least
whistle along. Orrall says he
focuses on the positive rather
than the negative when writing,
and his lyrics are proof. "She 'says
my work is like eating cold oat
meal" and "Keep on the sunny side,
always on the sunny side" are
some memorable lines.
The key to this band is its love
for traveL Why else would they
trek across the country sleeping
in vans or in parks or in zoos, not
knowing where their next meal
was coming from? "Everything
revolves around traveling " Orrall
says.
What are his future plans? "I
want to make more records and
travel." '.
can pry those same white shoes
from the floor without enlisting
the assistance of friends. These
new liberties just dont make up
for the losses, however. The pos
sibility of individual prying of shoes
really cuts down on the comarad
erie associated with the old-style
bar. .
I also miss the Trollsters, those
regulars who appeared to have
crawled out of a swamp for an
evening of hardcore drinking in a
more cultured swamp. These peo
ple are becoming an endangered
and displaced species because their
habitat has been radically altered.
Maybe we should call in the World
Wildlife Fund on the case. .
While on the subject of changes
in local bars. lt me put In a
complaint about the repainted
bathrooms at Henderson street
Bar. I sorely miss the philosophizing
on the women's room walls, now
a solid stomach-turning hue.
"Lslexics of the world, untie"
heads my list of good H-Street
graffiti.
By CATHY McHUGH
Omnibus Editor
When I was a little kid I used
to ask my mom and dad on
Mother's Day and Father's Day
when Children's Day was. I was
really hoping there would be a
Children's Day, because getting
breakfast in bed seemed like a
pretty good deal to me (specif
ically, I wanted a Youngest-chiid-in-the-family
Day, so my broth
ers and sisters would have to
serve me). I was told, rather
just ask a soldier
Transforming bars can have
reverberations far beyond the
scope of downtown Chapel Hill. For
instance, look at the effect on
literature. If Trollsters leave Troll's
en masse, will they live under
bridges and frighten the Three
Billy Coats Gruff? Will generations
of young fairy tale fans have this
old favorite altered beyond recog
nition by a new, troll-like popula
tion unleashed on society and
entering its folk culture?
Furthermore, what if soldiers
and not sailors decide they like the
new Troll's better than the old
one? If soldiers adopt the bar as
a locus for establishing greater
solidarity and communication, we
might head down the road to a
stronger army, a weaker navy, and
eventual fdSCiSrfi.
Furthermore, what does a clean
Troll's imply about the eternal
nature of Platonic forms? it is
unclear what an ideal Troll's,
existing in the realm of forms,
would look like. While I contend
that the version with tar-like
sternly if l remember correctly,
that every day was Children's
Day. I didnt understand it then,
and I'm not sure I do now. I've
never, ever gotten breakfast in
bed. Anyway, all of this does have
a point. Sort of. I can understand
naming days if something pro
ductive comes of it, like school
gets cancelled, but there exist on
our calendars some truly obscure
and just plain unproductive holi
days. Ponder these:
b Friendship Day is Aug. 6.
Nice sentiment, I suppose, but has
anyone ever heard of it?
n r.iother-In-Law's Day is
Oct 23. Whats the matter, isnt
Mother's Day good enough?
Breakfast in bed twice is border
ing on bogus.
United Nations Day is Oct.
24. So. does this mean there's
Hwy 54
I J ILaxiH
residue on every flat surface is
preferable to the newer and more
sanitary establishment, the con
cept of such a bar in the dreamlike
Form Land somehow jars the
senses. The renovation, by offer
ing Plato an alternative, could
have induced him to introduce a
different ideal Troll's into the
realm, thereby screwing up all our
lives, as well as the effectiveness
of satellite communication.
Now that the Space Shuttle
program has gotten off the
ground again, satellites could
possibly be adjusted to compen
sate for the atmospheric distor
tions caused by a change in the
Platonic forms. George Bush
showed up at the Discovery's
touchdown the other day and
claimed his appearance was not
campaign related. 7h :5 intui
tively true. He probably came to
emphasize the urgency of keeping
the world safe for sailors and
Trollsters so that Old Glory may
continue to wave proudly over
this glorious democratic nation.
God bless him!
going to be a huge party in New
York City three weeks from now?
n Armed Forces Day is May
20. Do ail the military people get
the day off? Or do they just get
more TV time?
a Columbus Day is Monday, i
guess good or Chris deserves his
own day. and I did get out of
school for it when I was a kid.
sweetest Day is Oct 15.
Who thought this one up? Do you
do something for the sweetest
person you know or the one who
eats the most sugar?
I still feel left out Why is there
no Student's Day? At least on this
campus there is university Day
on Wednesday. And we do get
to miss some classes.
Hey. maybe there's something
to this day-naming stuff after all.
Woof cm down.
rmn;s:s
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