| PS2 Makes You Study, Sort Of
We've all heard the basic story of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 before: An unsuspecting orphan is pulled from the comfort of his boring life into an adventure that will eventually lead to saving the world from a vast source of evil. Been there, done that. But Persona 3, released on Aug. 14 for the PlayStation 2, is far from a run-of-the-mill PS2 role-playing game, and not just because of the techno and rap that make up its soundtrack. Despite the cliché story (albeit with a modern twist), the gameplay mechanics are so quirky and innovative that one can't help but overlook Persona 3's many similarities to every other RPG ever. Persona 3's originality stems from the fact that it doesn't fit comfortably into just one genre. Half of the game is composed of traditional dungeon-crawling RPG fare, but the other half is a high school simulation, complete with gossipy girls, extracurricular activities, dating, and tests.
willy waterton the sun times
With her comic Minnie Pearl bits, her fancy footwork and her 50,000-watt smile, it's easy to overlook how much music Linsey makes as part of this old-time country music variety show. Pianist Mel Aucoin, a regular with the Becketts in recent years, has more than four decades in the music business behind him, including a lengthy stint on the old Tommy Hunter show. He grew up in the thick of Cape Breton fiddle culture and has high praise for Tyler and Linsey and their place within the Ontario fiddle music continuum. "I'm out of breath when I'm watching those two," Aucoin said after Monday's first show. "They're as fine a fiddlers as you'll hear, wherever you go. They're as good as you're going to get. It doesn't get any better." Sometimes we forget that around these parts, where as Sun Times columnist Jim Merriam once wrote, "the first family of fiddling" is a Grey-Bruce treasure we tend to take for granted.
Kara Walker pushes boundaries
New York — It's the day before Kara Walker's solo show opens at her gallery in the heart of Chelsea's art district. Passers-by hoping for a sneak peek stoop to peer beneath the half-lowered shades. Callers inquire whether she will be present at the reception — people who want to meet her, or even, the gallery owner suggests, touch her, as groupies would a rock star. The 37-year-old Walker is not just a star. In today's art world, she is a supernova. And this is the former Atlantan's moment: A triumphant retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art, one of three exhibits in New York alone. She's on magazine covers, in bookstores. Critics suggest comparisons to Goya, the venerated Spanish Old Master. .
|
