OCR Text |
Show Wednesday, July 26, 1995 The Summer Chronicle - Melville is Moaning; His Generation Is Terribly X-Plo-ited less live actors? I'll let you figure out for yourself which one of the Til be there for you" hunks is really just a bad Xerox copy of Aquaman. I must say, the success of Friends demoamong my similarly-ageconfusis bit a graphic counterparts ing to me. Personally I've found that lifestyle is living a difficult enough the last thing I want to do when I'm supposedly relaxing is watching a wacky version of that very lifestyle on TV! I don't want to identify I want Calgon to take me away! What really hurts about being demographicized is when you start finding some of the stereotypes of your generation hitting a little close to home. The launch point of all this r hysteria, Douglas Coupland's novel Generation X gave me the in droves with such moments. When you actually are and you find you actually are "overeducated and underemployed," that you actually have had more "Mcjobs" than you like to admit, and you actually do lurch from heavy discussions of world mythological structures to old CHiR reruns without a moments hesitation. d Mark Melville The Mercy Cube B twenty-somethin- g - - rcakcr, breaker, (whatever that means), you "have just reached The Mercy r Cube, where life is just one after another. I don't know whether I was pleased, crushed, or merely confused when I woke up one morning to discover that I was no longer merely Mark S. Melville, esoteric individual, but had in fact become Mark S. Melville, member of a much blathered-abou- t demographic group. Namely, Generation X. It wasn't the fact that my age group had been given a name that was troublesome and a curious new experience. What was troublesome to me was- the sudden realization that my generation had suddenly become the prime target of all manner of folks whose job it was to separate Generation X from their disposable one-nin- e ten-fou- incomes. Yes, we're wanted, we're hot, and we're chic (pronounced "sheek," and not to be confused with pants)! But what was even more surprising to me than the realization that I was now the member of a valuable demographic market, was the realization that my former realization had come as any surprise to me whatsoever! After all, wasn't this the true hidden purpose behind all of those SuperFriends Justice League cartoons we used to watch? Just think. For all of its much vaunted (or is that vapid?) "hipness," isn't the new sitcom Friends just a blatant retread of SuperFriends with cape- Chic-bran- d X-e- heebie-- jeebies twenty-somethin- g Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh. Meanwhile, the marketing blitz continues to dump upon the s unabated and shows no sign of letting up. But who's to blame? Alas, no one but the s themselves. Who was it, praytell, that made sure that The Brady Bunch Movie was a boffo box office hit? Us. In my more candid moments, I even admit to allowing myself to be dragged out to see it, although that's the last thing I'd tell the Taste Police. But where are s going to find real escapism now that movies and television all just either serve as reflections of your present life or nostalgia trips to your tacky vclcro-shoechildhood? Maybe that's the real horror behind the song We are' the W&riiWhen you see your life sold back too as entertainment, how to X-er- Rent from page Waco 2 renters, only one unit is available. "The severe and worsening shortage of housing is forcing most to renters pay too much of their poor income on housing, leaving too little of their income for other necessities," said Ed Lazere, author of the report. r house"While the typical hold spends 20 percent of its income on housing, the typical poor renter now pays 60 percent," he said. Lazere said Congress should rethink proposals now advancing through committees to reduce federal housing assistance programs. "For 20 years there has been a bipartisan understanding that the crisis in affordable housing was so great that the number of families receiving rental assistance needed to be increased each year just to prevent the problem from worsening," he low-incom- low-ren- t e low-co- st non-poo- said. Lazere warned that there is pending legislation that would cut federal housing assistance even as the supply of private affordable housing is shrinking. His study said about 28 percent of poor renters in the Salt Lake area or 7,700 live in subsidized housing. - from page 2 died. It was, said Rep. "a Bill Zeliff, who is the hearings, fire that burns in many hearts and minds." DeGuerin and Zimmermann walked a fine line, saying that while Koresh was a criminal he deserved representation, and that while FBI agents on the scene treated them fairly, the bureau did not keep its word on surrender plans. Zimmermann's By account, Koresh was within days of surrendering under a plan agreed to by the FBI, the lawyers and the Davidians. Under that plan, he testified, DeGuerin and Koresh were to leave the compound first to "show everybody they weren't going to be executed." DeGuerin also told of another plan for Koresh to surrender to the Texas Rangers. He said the FBI never responded to that idea. In earlier testimony, government officials told the committee they didn't believe Koresh would have surrendered. They were concerned that he would lead his followers to mass suicide. In a telephone interview, FBI negotiator Byron Sage, said Koresh was - not about to surrender. "It made no difference if it was 51 days, five days, or 51 weeks," said Sage, who was scheduled to testify later Tuesday. "David Koresh was not coming out." The siege began Feb. 28, 1993, when a botched attempt to arrest Koresh and search the compound resulted in the deaths of six Davidians and four agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. DeGuerin testified that evidence he saw inside the compound supports Davidian contentions that the agents fired first. He also recalled seeing bullet holes in the ceiling of the highest spot in the building. He said those holes supported testimony from residents who said government agents fired on them from helicopters. Earlier in the hearings, ATF agents said they did not shoot from copters and that agents on the ground used their weapons only after they were fired upon from inside. "None of us want the FBI or the ATF to be destroyed by this," he said. "We want them to be enhanced by it. Who shot first is irrelevant." The important issue, he said, is whether ATF's raid plan was a good one. DAVID MORRIS Associated Press Writer X-er- iMi)i!vimu.vMiaw!Ji:ii:(. X-er- d you get out? Aaaaaaaaaaaagh! a Double-Nickel- 's safe speed, Good Buddy. ..... f What to HI;- - I .' mm St!"' , look for in a KdOM f J C Bfl (B, You know about the Four C's: Gut, Color, Garity and CaratWcight. Discover the fifth C, Confidence, whenyoubuyadiamcfxlfromanAmeriQnGern Society jeweler. We're AGS jewelers. We're certified annually for our knowledge and ethics, as AGS has been doing since 1934. fat Yotrbuy with confidence when you buy from us. Come in today fora freecopy of our AGSdiamond buyingguide, "Diamonds... Facts and Fallacies? Sierra-We- st 521-090- 226-600- 'J1 11:1s. m ujhv noma ;0 ifcvivr'iw mi iMJHMWfliu. E, i' iiv r asvviti .... ft r & .mt UNIVERSAL PICTURES AND THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE ARE OFFERING A SPECIAL PM. ADVANCE SCREENING OF 'WATERWORLD" ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 26th TM J E W E L E R S ZCM1 Center Downtown Salt Lake 1344 South 800 Eastl Orem Member, American Gem Society iftto 70 PICK UP COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS FOR YOU AND A GUEST AT 240 UNION. 0 6 () 5 OPENS IN THEATRES NATIONWIDE JULY 20th. |