March 23, 2005 | Page 9

Book

cD

~OFICAPITALISM

Gruesome Acts of Capitalism

David Lester
Br CALEB BEHN
CONTRIBUTOR
I begin my review of the David
Lesters “Gruesome . Acts’ of

Capitalism” with a poignant quote
fran my friend Arthur Mtheson,
Oxford trained lawyer and former
Canadian Diplomat.

He states: “Some books we read for
pleasure. Others are read for instruc-
tion. Occasionally one encounters a
book that is valuable for both reasons.
This book is, in my view, one of those
rare finds: It combines a penetrating
and insightful treatment of issues
threatening the very existence of
mankind,..It provides a perspective on
human endeavor, both positive and

negative, that we ignore at our peril.”

I would suggest that, though this-

was written about another book, it is
applicable to David Lester’s book as
well. :

We here at the university, are the
future of this country; we are, for bet-
ter or worse, the future leaders of our
society. I would suggest that, as such,
we have a responsibility to critically
think about our system, broadly con-
strued.

It is for this reason that I recom-
mend that people read through this
exceedingly short (111 pages, about
that many sentences) and highly infor-
mative book. The entire thing is statis-
tics about what capitalism has done to
our world.

I do not suggest that we have to
believe everything that is in the book,
because, given the title, it has a very

Joke

; ve Gruesome Book Critical for Academics

definite bias. However, given the ubig-
uitous bias that envelopes our society
in favour of capitalism, alternative
paradigms are-typically maligned and
de-legitimizd without reason, and
therefore one should endeavor.at the
least to be informed of the “other side’
of the debate. Another good reason to
check out this book is that the profits
from its sale are donated directly to the
Canadian Centre for Victims of
Torture.

IT end my review with an example of
the information contained within the
book, and. the way in which it is pre-
sented throughout. Take what you will
from this information: “80% of the
world’s industrial output is controlled
-by 1,000 corporations.”

Source: Windrew Lithgow, Shared
Vision Magazine, 2003.

Aha Shake Heartbreak
Kings of Leon

Sentimental Maniac
Geoff Gibbons
Bullseye Records

Third Time’s a C

Br FONAS GAGNON
OPINIONS EDITOR

The Kings of Leon are back for
their second full-length record with
Aha Shake Heartbreak. This record is
a combination of southern rock and
strokes like neo/retro rock.

This CD is very similar to their first
full-length release; it is a logical pro-
gression of the sound they ‘created’ on
their first album. The music is still
southern rock-ish, and Caleb (the lead
singer) is back with his:style of singing,
which is somewhere in between a
moan and a yelp.

This is not a groundbreaking CD
that will cause a million bands to start

Kings of Leon Moan and Yelp Their Way Through CD

up, but it is a good straight-forward
rock CD, It-has its up-beat songs that
will have ‘your. feet. stomping, such as
The Bucket and Taper Jean Girl, as
well as its slower songs, such as Soft.
Although this is not a leading edge
band, it pulls off its music well enough
that it is fun to listen to. This is not a
music genre that everyone has been
trying to resurrect, like the garage style
rock of The Strokes, and in that it
does carve out its own niche.

The music is done well enough and
so is the singing, if the lyrics are some-
times wanting. All in all, a good CD
for those who appreciate this type of
music.

harm for Geoff Gibbons

Br TANYA ALVAREZ
STAFF WRITER

Sentimental Maniac is the third CD
from Geoff Gibbons and is a unique
album in many ways. The songs link
together and tell a story about the
things that make us human. This
approach really enhances the folk style
of music and the meaning of the
lyrics. The words are simplistic on
their own, but they portray great
images very much like the works of
Tomi Petty or Simon and Garfunkel.

Who Fired the Gun is the prologue
for the album and the second to last
song. It is not only an amazing intro-
duction as a prologue, but it is also a
powerful song; it is heartbreaking and
provoking. Slowly Nowhere Fast is
suspected to be a major single, but it is

a fairly typical soft rock song; it’s good
but does not offer anything distinctive
to Sentimental Maniac. Hole in
Romeo, however, shows a lot of
promise on the whole. The lyrics and
the sound mix together providing an
exceptional contribution to the album.

Heartache is almost a cliché now
with all the songs that have been writ-
ten about it, but Geoff Gibbons does
not come across as a cliché, even when
he mentions Romeo and Juliet.
Gibbons’ songs from previous albums
have been’ featured on the series
Higher Ground and a number of fea-
tured films. He has been featured on

CMT in Europe and Canada, giving

him recognition as one of Canada’s
more promising singers/songwriters.

Listen Up Industrial Dance Music Fanatics

Elemental
Cesium_|37
Metropolis Records 2004

Br Cotin VANDERENDE
CONTRIBUTOR =

Isaac Glendening and Matthew
Cargil formed Cesium_137 in 1998,
Cesium_137 produced their album
Elemental with trance and synthpop,
while employing unique sound and
structures to create an original sound.
Simply put, Elemental is the dream of
Cesium_137 conjured into teality.

Cesium is a perfect example of the
sounds of classical music structure
synthesis, emotional vocals, and hard
dance music grafted into one form;
track two is a great example of this.
Other songs recommended include:
three, because of its fast beat and
intense lyrics; this track shows the pas-
sion of Cesium_137. Track five has
great beat, but not the greatest sup-
porting synthesis, although it is good
enough to make mention. Many of the
tracks on this album have fast techno
beats like Darude and ATB, but this
track has intense emotional lyrics,

‘unlike many techno bands. If you are

a listener that likes dance music then
you would enjoy track eight. In track
ten, there is a great organ style intro-
duction, which is not heard much in
music these days, followed by a. great
beat.

If you are a listener that: enjoys
industrial dance music, then this group
is right up your alley. If you like more
fast beat techno, this may not be what
you want, but it is similar. I recom-
mend. Cesium_137 to those that like
rave music and trance music.

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Doctor!
Doctor Who?
*Insert dry laughter*

Br Bos Woos
STAFF WRITER

This joke’s history goes back a long
way. Well, to a recent car trip I went

on with my friends where we were
debating what constituted the lowest
form of humour in the known uni-
verse.

Is this joke the worst joke ever?
Who can tell? Doctor Who? Was that
pun the worst joke ever? Quite possi-
bly. The point is this: if you want to
torture you friends, feel free-to tell this
joke. On a scale of one to ten, I rate
this joke, a fish.

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