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Show Life The College Times MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2008 A6 C O O L The Starting Line starts new pursuits B E A N S Death of a paper salesman Luke Hickman Life editor America's entertainment heads are stupid. They always know how to ruin a good thing. They look at what makes money, then milk the teat -- over and over again — until all that's coming out is powdered milk. Last year, I wrote a column on how bad they're becoming through their new trend of prolifically pumping out remakes (which is still going on). Well, it looks like they're about to apply a new formula for beating dead horses: spin-offs. Haven't they learned yet that it doesn't work? Isn't the bitter taste, of Joey still in everyone's mouths? I guess not, because NBC is about to perform the coup de grace on one of its highest rated comedies - The Office. When the original series of The Office stormed Britain with huge success, writers/actors Ricky Gervias and Stephen Merchant kept the usual BBC formatting for their show - two to three short seasons. They didn't capitalize on their success by wearing out a good thing. NBC has some things to learn from the BBC. The Office on BBC only ran two, six-episode seasons and a two-episode special (to give closure to the fans). That's 14 episodes in total. Did it ever get old? No. Did they ever burn out their plotlines? No. Do people still love and admire BBC's The Office. Without a doubt. When NBC adapted The Office for U.S. audiences, they did a brilliant job at translating the characters and uncomfortable nature they carry. But they've burned it out. Now that Jim and Pam are together (which is something the BBC didn't do until the last ten minutes of the very last episode), it1 s lost a lot of its hype. Last week, NBC announced that a spin-off of The Office will join fall's Thursday night lineup. And that is how The Office will end. Photos by Chad Hunt / T t i c College Times The Starting Line finishes their last Utah show. Security blunders egregiously Ken Moqlund / The College Times Traditional Hindu dancing was also part of the Festival. A Traditional Hindu dancer helps to energize the crowd. Chad Hunt Life writer As the crowd began to chant the final few lines of The Starting Line's classic song, 'The Best of Me," the band left their instruments on stage and waved goodbye, serenaded by their own lyrics as they departed from the stage of In The Venue on March 29. This final song of a nearly two hour set marked the last time the Philadelphia-based band will be stopping in Utah for an indefinite time frame. Only a month prior to this final performance, the band announced they would be going hiatus. "I think we're all appreciative of what we' ve had and what we've been given and where we're at in our career, but there comes a time when you want to see what else is out there and want to focus on different things," said Matt Watts (guitar) in an exclusive interview with The College Times before the show. Kenny Vasoli (vocals/ bass) was also in that same interview in the basement of In The Venue. In the dimly lit pool hall, which is also referred to as the dressing room, Vasoli and Watts recounted what they had accomplished over the past eight years k as a band as well as the events that led up to the decision to take a break. "Basically, just doing this monotonously for eight years kind of drives us all to want to do other stuff for a little bit," said Vasoli of the decision. Watts added that he felt that in relationships like this "people tend to start to grow apart on certain levels at some time, and — granted we're all still friends ~ I think it's one of those things where creatively everyone just needs to branch out for a minute." This branching out for three of the members of the band is coming in the form of new projects. Vasoli is working on getting an album ready to release this summer with his new solo project, Person L. Watts and Tom Gryskewicz (drums) are starting up a new project with some other friends from Philadelphia called The Seventy Six. In the interview, Mike Golla (guitar) was described as looking forward to spending time with his family. The band announced their break in an online press conference through the popular music Web site Absolutepunk.net. After making the initial announcement, the band answered questions from fans on the site about everything under the sun. "We didn't just want to write a blog about it and have kids just take the news and that be it. We wanted to answer any questions that people might have. Absolutepunk is a great supporter of us," said Vassoli of the decision to make the announcement through Absolutepunk. Watts added, "We just wanted to be in communication with our fans and keep them in the loop." To make what is, for now, their last trip around the country as memorable as possible, the band played a set of around 21 songs broken up into three- or four-song blocks. Playing from their entire catalog of songs, the group looked back into their 2002 release, Say ft Like You Mean It, and their debut Ep, With Hopes Of Starting Over, for a large chunk of the material they played during the show. Also coming in support of The Starting Line were label mates Steel Train, an up and coming band called Four Year Strong, and longtime friends Bayside. As the . crowd filed in and began to fill up the floor, Steel Train opened the show by playing material from their recent release.Trampoline. Trampoline, though a departure from their earlier folk- Explosion of color Krishna temple hosts annual Festival of Colors Greg Wilcox Life writer What does the burning of an effigy and throwing colors into the air equate to? The festival of colors held at the Krishna temple in Spanish Fork, of course. Hindus, natives of India, and a whole lot of Utah County folk threw hundreds of bags of colored chalk into the air, celebrating the spring season and the victory of good over evil. The throwing commenced just after the burning of an effigy and lasted 15 minutes, creating a massive, kaleidoscopic explosion of colors that enveloped the whole crowd surrounding the temple. Though it may seem unorthodox, the throwing of colors actually symbolizes equality between everyone, regardless of skin color. S«STARTING LINE-AID Every year the event attracts more people. So many people showed up this year, in fact, that some had to park over a mile away. 'it was pretty cool. Definitely the most rocking religious fest I've been to," said Orem resident Michelle Wilson, who attended with some friends. "Definitely a different way to welcome in spring. Everyone just seemed so happy." Attendees were also allowed to enter the Krishna Temple, sp long as they took off their shoes for reverence. Inside, behind glass, were statues of Hindu gods. Several devout followers were also inside worshipping. Even if the parking was inconvenient for some, it didn't deter anyone from enjoying the festival. The crowd was packed like sardines around the temple, and engaged in loud revelry throughout, even after the colors were thrown. Dancing and music on a nearby stage were also important parts of the festival. S«COLOR.A!0 |