Articles written by Kevin Saucier

John Mayer shows his musical talent on national tour

wpolley — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:09:12 -0400

John Mayer is one of the few musical acts my girlfriend and I agree on, so any time a tour of his comes reasonably close, it’s pretty much understood we will be at the show.

Mayer is one of the few modern guitar players I feel brings the whole package to the table.

To put it another way, there are plenty of great, talented guitar players out there, but with a lot of these virtuosoes, I find myself ignoring their cliché’-ridden lyrics and melodies and just counting down to “guitar time,” instead of enjoying the songs as a whole.

But over the course of four studio albums and two live albums/DVDs, Mayer has proven himself to be a talented songwriter, as well as musician.

Last Friday, the pop guitar player’s summer tour arrived in his second home of Atlanta to a very appreciative crowd.

The show was opened by radio band One Republic, who had no trouble holding the attention of the large amphitheater and closed their set with their hit, “Apologize.”

Cartoon - We Need an Artist

wpolley — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:29:00 -0400

Cartoon - Artist Wanted

Cartoon - Hops for Tots

wpolley — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:18:00 -0400

Cartoon - Hops for Tots

A new campaign brought to you by university presidents around the country.

Cartoon - AU Alert

wpolley — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:11:00 -0400

AU Alert - Delayed is OK

For use only when extremely urgent updates can be delivered after the fact.

Staff Opinion: Get involved with your campus’ paper

wpolley — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:46:00 -0400

Welcome back, Plainsman readers. Try to ignore the “Kramer hair” in the picture above and allow me to introduce myself.

I’m Kevin, I’m a junior, and I’m going to be the caretaker of this corner of the paper for the next year.

Now that you know me, I can get on with the actual message of this column.

When I was home in Mobile this summer, my favorite way to start my morning (or afternoon) was with a bowl of Frosted Flakes and the opinions pages of the Press-Register.

Day after day, some of the most insightful and hilariously ignorant things I had ever read came off of those opinions pages and not from the staff, but from people so passionate about their community and their opinions they felt compelled to write to their local paper and share something.

These two pages are where the staff of The Plainsman get to speak their minds and share their views in both personal columns and editorials agreed upon by the entire editorial board, but they are also where you get to speak your mind and alert us to the quality of the job we are doing.

‘Wii Fit’ makes fitness fun

wpolley — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 01:00:00 -0400

Wii Want to Play. Do you?: Trey Holland, left, a senior in marketing, and Parker Morris, a junior in civil engineering, play Nintendo Wii. A new game for the popular console, Wii Fit, is set to hit stores next month. Pete Riley / PHOTO EDITOR“Sweatin’ to the Oldies” and the infinite number of weight-loss and workout DVDs at electronics stores will soon have some new competition from an unexpected place: the video game industry.

A new product for Nintendo’s Wii gaming console will offer owners the opportunity to keep track of and, like Fergie, work on their fitness.

The device, to be released in the United States May 19, is called “Wii Fit,” and consists of a game disc and a Balance Board capable of weighing the user and locating their center of gravity for the game’s different activities.

When the user inputs information like their height and age, the game combines this with the weight information and calculates the player’s body mass index rating. Throughout the player’s use of the game, the game will keep track of the user’s weight loss or gain.

Activities the game allows the user to do include a ball-rolling mini-game, which uses the Balance Board to let the player act as if they’re standing on top of a ball and must roll it towards a target, like multi-directional log rolling.

Other games include ski jumping, snowboarding, tightrope walking, and hula hooping.

The game also includes activities users could do without the game, like push-ups, jogging, step aerobics and yoga exercises, but the game tries to present them in a manner that is viewed as more fun than work.

Shane McDonald, an employee at a local games retailer, said his store has been accepting preorders for the game for several months.

“It’s selling like crazy in Japan, something like 1.5 million units, and if it sells like that over here at the $89.99 price point, it’s going to be huge,” McDonald said.

SHARPS & FLATS: ‘Attack and Release’ The Black Keys

wpolley — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 01:00:00 -0400

‘Attack and Release’ The Black Keys

I always viewed The Black Keys, the guitar and drums duo from Akron, Ohio, as The White Stripes with a better drummer and no gimmicks. Not necessarily better, but a little more honest.

It’s like, “Hey, we’re white kids who like blues, too. No candy canes here.”

REEL REVIEW: ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’ is funniest break-up ever

wpolley — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 01:00:00 -0400

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Our Rating: ****

I can’t remember who it was, whether I read it somewhere or it was a friend, that said “These guys take turns getting famous,” in reference to the clan of actors that have worked and grown up under the wing of producer-writer-director Judd Apatow, but they were definitely right.

And I hope Jason Segel, the actor in the movie whose character, Peter Bretter, is attempting to forget Sarah Marshall, stays famous, because he has long been a favorite of mine.

My favorite line in “Knocked Up” is when Segel and Jonah Hill are playing ping-pong and Segel’s character says “You know who I’d like to get pregnant? It’s that Felicity Huffman, man. Ever since ‘Transamerica’ I can’t get her out of my mind.”

Reading that it might not be so funny, but I’m about 80 percent sure that was improvised, his delivery made it, and as soon as I got home, I had to Google him to find out who that guy was.

And now he’s starring in a movie that he wrote, and I enjoyed the hell out of it.

Reel Review: Prom Night

wpolley — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 02:52:24 -0400

Prom Night an expensive cliche collection

Our Rating: 2 Stars

I have no qualms with spoiling the heck out of this movie for those who may read this, because there’s not much to spoil provided you’ve ever seen a horror movie before. There are no big words, it’s a remake of an ‘80s horror flick, and everyone the main character loves will die.

Auburn City Fest continues to grow

wpolley — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:00:00 -0400

Auburn City Fest, the town’s largest, free outdoor festival, will take place April 26 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. City Fest will offer activities for citizens of all ages, including a lumberjack show, dogs catching frisbees, medieval reenactments and musical performances.

“We have a variety of activities for children and people of all ages,” said Ali Wilson, public relations specialist for the city of Auburn Parks and Recreation. “We’re anticipating a large crowd with the lumberjack show coming. They will probably be a large draw.”