So, I feel like we haven’t talked much lately.
How’re things going with you? Things are kind of busy around
here.
We’re making a major change pretty soon. So, here’s
what’s going on:
The Arts & Entertainment section of the paper is
disappearing from the Daily Bruin’s daily rotation and in its
place our staff of crack A&E analysts is going to put together
a Thursday magazine, titled dB Magazine, to provide you with
everything you always wanted to know about arts and entertainment,
but were afraid to ask.
Don’t let this scare you. When you open the paper for the
first time and instinctively turn to the area between Viewpoint and
the Classifieds and you don’t find your beloved arts
coverage, don’t have a breakdown, it won’t be worth it.
Everything you get now will be in the magazine, except it’s
going to be prettier, more creatively and analytically written and
even more useful and helpful to your collegiate experience.
I liken what’s going on with the A&E section to the
career arc of a little band I like to call the Beatles.
That’s right A&E equals the Fab Four.
Take the Beatles’ early career; they were the biggest pop
stars in the world ““ but they were pop stars. They put out
great singles. They were nice guys, who provided satisfying, but
disposable two-minute gems. You would get excited every time one of
their songs came on the radio, because it made you feel good and
want to make out with someone.
The A&E section up to this point has served a very similar
function. It’s been a great daily one-off thing. You feel
good while you read it. It provides you with momentary, but
seemingly disposable entertainment ““ and little utility
beyond helping you find places where and ways how you can get
people to make out with you. Granted, during the last couple of
years, this make-out info has gone up in quality, and deserves to
be compared to the Beatles pre-masterpiece “Help.”
It’s transitional. Not quite on the level with the genius the
Beatles would later showoff, but containing more depth and variety
than their earlier, more sugary work with songs like
“Yesterday” and “You’ve Got to Hide Your
Love Away”.
The thing is, like the Beatles in late 1965, we’re about
to make “Rubber Soul.” Instead of the daily section,
we’re transitioning into the period of the album as the art
form.
“Rubber Soul” saw the Beatles create a work that was
more than the sum of its parts. They took their songwriting to a
whole new level with songs like “In My Life,”
“Norwegian Wood” and “The Word.” Their
sound also had a much more mature, coherent quality than ever
before.
Similarly, dB Magazine sees the A&E section concentrating
not on a week of scattered parts, but on putting together a
coherent whole that will better serve its readers’ needs. dB
Magazine will give you more price listings, reviews and previews
all in one place to help you plan your weekend and week night
activities. The magazine’s writing will have a more
consistent, entertaining and analytical tone. It will be more fun
and thought-provoking. It will be a resource that you don’t
throw away in anticipation of the next day’s paper. Rather it
will be a comprehensive beauty you hold on to as long as
possible.
Now, I hope we’re on the same page and I look forward to
your continued feedback and support. This magazine is meant to be
your resource and be fun for you, so please e-mail me or call the
office. I promise not to always answer with a Liverpudlian
accent.
Bromberg is delusional. Besides believing he’s a part of
the Beatles he also thinks he wrote “Catch-22.” E-mail
him with suggestions at abromberg@media.ucla.edu.