Media Nugget

Vaughan Oliver

Vaughan Oliver
Vaughan Oliver

Vaughan Oliver has created stunning artwork for the 4AD record label since 1980. Under the name 23 Envelope, he and photographer Nigel Grierson helped define 4AD's visual identity through graphics for Modern English, Cocteau Twins, and This Mortal Coil. By 1988 Grierson had moved on and Oliver re-christened the studio v23. Collaborating with various photographers, he continued to create images that complemented and enhanced each group's music in a unique manner. Some of Oliver's most unforgettable designs grace the covers of albums by the Pixies, Lush, Ultra Vivid Scene, and His Name is Alive.

You Can Count on Me

Kenneth Lonergan
You Can Count on Me
2000

On paper, this looks like a maudlin downer. After losing their parents in an accident when they were children, Sammy seems to have gotten her life together while brother Terry wanders aimlessly from place to place, only returning to their hometown to ask his sister for money. But writer/director Kenneth Lonergan knows when to hit you and when to hold back. The result is a touching and funny film, aided in no small way by the performances of Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo, and Matthew Broderick, as Sammy's pathetic boss.

Fefu and Her Friends

Maria Irene Fornes
Fefu and Her Friends
1977

Fefu and Her Friends follows eight women throughout the rooms of a house on a single spring day in 1935. It's impossible to convey the emotions that this play conjures up, or even what it's about, really. But here are some words that one might use in the attempt: Avant-garde, absurd, insightful, honest, engaging, disturbing, outrageous, hilarious.

FEFU: ... A black cat started coming to my kitchen. He's awfully mangled and big. He is missing an eye and his skin is diseased. At first I was repelled by him, but then, I thought, this is a monster that has been sent to me and I must feed him. And I fed him. One day he came and shat all over my kitchen. Foul diarrhea. He still comes and I still feed him. I am afraid of him. (Emma kisses Fefu) How about a little lemonade?

Hearts of Palm

Idaho
Hearts of Palm
2000

The first thing that hits me is the piano. Simple, spare, gorgeous; laid in a bed of subtle electronics. And then the drums kick in. And finally, Jeff Martin's voice. Before the first song is over I realize that this isn't quite the same Idaho I've come to know and love over the years. This is better. There's more space, more depth, more detail. Martin has shifted focus from the band's signature four-string guitar buzz to his singing and, ultimately, to the songs.

Without Limits

Robert Towne
Without Limits
1998

They say long-distance running is a lonely sport. They must have said it before Steve Prefontaine rolled onto the scene. A hippy who liked to run fast, he was an anti-jock superstar when he started breaking records (and hearts) at the University of Oregon in the early 1970s. In this quiet gem of a film, Billy Crudup channels the renegade spirit of "Pre," a guy who partied harder and ran faster than anybody else before crashing (literally) at a tragically young age. Sports films tend to get mired in cliches or overwhelmed by their own irreverence, but what Towne has crafted here is a dignified, unsentimental portrait of a complicated hero.

Writing in Restaurants

David Mamet
Writing in Restaurants
1986

The playwright's first collection of non-fiction offers short, powerful blasts of intellect, insight, humor, and venom. From the dead-on indictment of faddish art in "Decadence" to a beautiful recollection of place in "Pool Halls," Mamet's prose is clarion and his observations are keen. Do not miss "True Stories of Bitches" and "Things I Have Learned Playing Poker on the Hill."

Flip Your Wig

Hüsker Dü
Flip Your Wig
1985

I've always been amazed at how prolific Hüsker Dü was. In their salad days (1984 to 87), they produced five dynamic records that married punk intensity to pop songcraft --and two of them were double-albums! But with two distinct voices in songwriters Bob Mould and Grant Hart, neither the quantity nor quality of their output is really surprising. Home to such memorable tunes as "Makes No Sense at All," "Flexible Flyer," and the title track, Flip Your Wig was the last album the band recorded for SST Records before moving on to bigger (if not necessarily better) things at Warner Bros.

Deep Cover

Bill Duke
Deep Cover
1992

Bill Duke directs a brooding, stylish exploration of a man who stares into the abyss for too long. Laurence Fishburne plays an undercover cop who becomes hopelessly entwined in the drug world. His predicament is summed up in one of his voiceovers: "Was I a cop pretending to be a drug dealer or a drug dealer pretending to be a cop?" Both Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum deliver possibly their best performances in a movie with great character development. By the end of the film, these men are forever changed. The director takes us into well-worn movie territory with this story of the undercover cop, but he does it brilliantly.

Constructor

Soda
Constructor

This online gadget is the straight truth when it comes to java applets. Using simple points and lines -- the latter contracting and expanding like muscles -- you can create an amazing variety of fascinating geometric "organisms." Of course, like me, you may be an incredibly impatient creator and instead opt to browse the Zoo -- a menagerie of stunning designs by expert constructor geeks.

Tobin Sprout

Tobin Sprout

Best known as former guitarist and songwriter for Guided By Voices, Tobin Sprout has more recently gained acclaim for three solo albums of charming, slightly skewed pop --as well as for his new band, eyesinweasel. While fans and critics alike have recognized his musical talents, Sprout may be even more gifted as a painter. His striking photo-realist paintings feature such domestic details as storefronts, stovetops, and kitchen appliances. His work can be found on album covers and in galleries throughout the Midwest, including his own in Michigan, The Petrified Fish.