Trashy Offering

Suburban Trash

"Nobody Likes The Dik van Dykes”

The Dik van Dykes

Og Records

by Dean MacPherson

Do you remember things from your childhood? How about Nerf, Slinky and that marvel...Gnip-Gnop! Do you remember things from your teen years? Being shunned in High School for not conforming in some way, your parents trying to con you into doing REALLY uncool stuff which you were sure was invented for the sole purpose of making you look like an auk?

Well, these are the things that the Dik van Dykes write about.

What can one say about such mun- dane, suburban subjects as garage sales and a rock god named Laszlo, or curl- ing, the only sport more boring than golf (hey watch it buddy, my parents curl AND play golf!).

*I Was a Teenage Gumby’ recounts the feelings of being a social outcast in high school, something many of us have experienced in one form or another.

The Dik van Dykes slow rockabilly style makes for an interesting backdrop for these subjects, and they are well worth listening to.

Tyrants Of Trash

“GRUESOMANIA" The Gruesomes

Og Records

by Dean MacPherson

Before listening to this album, I had never heard of theGruesomes, but as I had the free album (thanks Gerard) in my hotlittle hands, I decided to give

- thematry. The Gruesomes are heralded _as Montreal's ‘Titans of Teen

Trash,’ and it is a title they are well wor- thy of. Their music is aconglomeration of every sixties band you’ ve ever heard, and theylook like the Ramones! Most songs on this album area raunchy mix that lets you slam, jive or just listen. One of the best songs on the album is “Je- Cherche,’ which is in French, sol don’t know the words, but inany language, this song has an animalistic power which just drawsyou right in. Good stuff, Maynard.

Final Trash

"Strangeways Here We Come"

The Smiths

by Dean MacPherson

Okay, so this review is somewhat

“after the fact. We all know that the Smiths no longer exist as a single entity, but I just got the album, so if you have any complaints, you can eat my shorts. Now, on to business.

Let me get one thing perfectly clear, as the president said. Iam a BIG Smiths fan. Jangly guitars and angst-ridden lyrics are my kind of thing. Morrissey is the musical equivalent of the royalty he so despises. So why am I so disap- pointed with this album? Could it have anything to do with the mediocrity of melody which permeates this collec-

tion? Or maybe it’s the fact that I have difficulty finding a complete sentence of more than five words in anything be- sides the titles. There is a chance that my musical tastes might be dulling rapidly due to prolonged abstinence from sunlight caused by over-exposure to the Other Press office. Sadly, I don’t think this is so.

I will definitely miss the Smiths, but this album just doesn’t measure up to ‘The Queen Is Dead’ or "Meat Is Mur- der.”

If you’re the kind of person who now listens to the Pretenders solely to hear Johnny Marr, or if you wear your “I'd like to drop my trousers to the Queen’ t-shirt until it has holes everywhere, then buy this album. Otherwise, it’s not worth the eleven bucks.

Shields At Douglas

Carol Shields, a prominant Canadian poet and novelist, will be the writer in residence this year at Douglas College.

As writer in residence, she will be giving readings from her works and going over submitted manuscripts. Carol has recently been nominated for the 1988 Govenor General’s Literary Award.

An agenda for readings and office hours are as follows:

Wednesday, Feb 3:

Workshop 7- 8:30pm Maple Ridge Campus

Thursday, Feb 4: Reading 12- [pm Rm 3307 / Office Hours 2- Spm + 7- 9 rm 3307

Friday, Feb 5 :

Office Hours 10am- 12pm + 2-Spm

Saturday, Feb 6:

Reading 10am- Ipm, New Westminster Public Library

not).

Hot Flick

by David Mills

Good Morning Vietnam was not just another "Let’s decimate a foreign country" type film. It was also not originally intended to nor did it make a mockery of the events that took place during the Vietnamese war. Good Morning Vietnam portrayed the war in the light that it actually occurred.

Robin Williams portrays Adrian Cronauer an Armed Forces Radio disc jockey and co- median. He essentially plays the part of a joker who got transferred to Vietnam from Crete. Over the course of the film he laughs at Army procedure until his character reaches a pivotal point in the film. He finally sees death up close and personal, when a terrorist bomb goes off in a local bar and he is forbid- den to broadcast the truth. There are many repercussions of his actions.

This film shows what actually occurred in the command structure of the American Army that was fighting in Vietnam. It shows the army’s policy of with-holding information that is detrimental to the moral of the troops. It also depicts the armies warped values that are demonstrated perfectly in Lt. Hauk. Lt. Hauk is nota funny guy, and he derrives great pleasure from listening to polkas (I kid you

I will recommend this film to anyone who enjoys a good hard laugh. Robin Williams is genuinely funny in this film. The producer made a wise choice by letting the man be him-

self and melt into the part. Also the sound track of this film will just be awesome because it has all of the old songs from the sixties and early seventies. I*left the theatre with a genuinely good feeling at the end of this movie. If you wait for this film to come out on video you are cheap and you are missing an excellent film.

Uneasy

you make me feel

uneasy... a single swing in an

empty park

rocking

slowly

back and forth...

slowly

back and forth

Deborah McMunn

BAG Has Buriak

by Mike Roth

The Burnaby Art Gallery will be host- ing an exhibition of works by Myros Buriak (1943-1987) from February 5 to 28.

There are over 60 works in the exhibi- tion, all drawn from an abundant body of paintings that Buriak had accumulated over his brief (12 year), but prolific career as a Vancouver artist.

Ted Lindberg, the Gallery Director,

Missy

describes Buriak’s work as " scrupulous, strong, instructive and jubilantly post- modern in its daring assumptions.”

Some of the works testify to Buriak’s fascination with the colour-subduing overcast of Vancouver. These pictures reveal a loving and appreciative relation- ship with the city, including its rampant development and urban blight. Other works represent a period of pre-occupa- tion with figurative interpretations,or forays into the ream of abstract composi- tions.

Buriak was first educated and practiced as a lawyer until he made a shift to paint-

ing in his late twenties. He died in 1987 at the age of 43.

"He demonstrably plucked the mysti- que of painting from the very jaws of. cynicism and ennui to the delight of his | contemporaries.” Lindberg said, describ- ing Buriak’s short career as an artist.

This first museum exhibition provides a glimpse at this remarkable legacy.

On thursday, February 11, at 8pm, Ted Lindberg will give a "Director’s Tour"

of this Exhibition.