Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 31

THE WAY WE LIVE WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 1999 ANN LANDERS MORT CRIIY1! SECOND THOUGHTS 2D DETROIT FREE PRESS Husband undertakes a disaster Mistakes give us lessons in how to do things better "Are you kidding?" Watson re-' plied. ill "Why would I want to fire yojjT when we've just spent 10 dollars educating you." i Mistakes happen. Even tru? most competent and conscien-j tious make them. A mistake may simply showu that somebody stopped talking long enough to actually do somj thing. l' terrific husband.

Dear Ann Landers: That verse by Mort Walker about males who leave the toilet seat up ended with "Please send those men straight to hell." It reminded me of Calvin Coolidge's response when a colleague in the Massachusetts Senate told another member, in a fit of anger, "Go to hell!" Coolidge rose with his splendid air of dignity and said, "I have researched the law, sir, and you don't have to go." A.P. in Memphis, Tenn. Dear Memphis: Silent Cal didn't talk much, but when he spoke, it was always something worth listening to. ANN LANDERS appears Sunday through Friday in the Free Press. Write her and other columnists at P.O.

Box 828, Detroit 48231. LA TimesCreators syndicates has made a big difference in our relationship." He certainly sounds like a one-of-a-kind guy. If we all could be flexible enough to overlook those little habits of our spouses, parents, friends and coworkers that drive us crazy, the world would be a much better place. Have you noticed, Ann, it's the little things that people go nuts over? Ted is on the right track and he set me on that same track today. Please print my letter and tell Ted he should write a book on the subject.

He has a message a great number of people need to see. J.O., Lafayette, La. Dear J.O.: Here's your letter and I hope Ted in California sees it. One key word is "flexibility," but actually, it is much more than that. It's his boundless tolerance and patience, born of love for his wife, that have made Ted such a away, considering their sentimental value, but I could not imagine myself using them to touch food again.

After a heated discussion, I soaked the tongs in a bleach solution overnight and put them through the dishwasher several times. I now see the humor in the situation, although we still refer to them as the Squirrel Tongs. Please don't print my name. No one would ever accept a dinner invitation to our home again. Spokane, Wash.

Dear Spokane: Too bad your maid of honor's gift morphed into a family joke, but it did provide me with my laugh for the day. Dear Ann Landers: The letter from "Ted in California," with the absent-minded wife, was one of the most heartwarming letters I have ever read. The man wrote, "I love my wife and my flexibility Mistakes are such a fundamental part of living that the worst mistake we can make is obsessing over them. The best way to handle most mistakes is face up to them, correct them if we can and then move on. Tom Watson, the founder of IBM, had the right idea about mistakes.

One of IBM's vice presidents undertook the development of a new product and it failed, miserably. Cost the computer company 10 million dollars. When Watson called the young executive into his office, the man knew he was about to be canned. "I suppose you want my resignation," he told Watson as soon as he entered the room. TODAY'S THOUGHT: Unless learn from our mistakes, what ft 3 steps lightly around CustomTable Pads the point in making them? I MORT CRIM'S Second noughts appear Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the Free Press.

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30-year limited warranty. Cinny (Maia Campbell), a bright beauty who possesses all the motivation does not. The audience, of course, is invited to share G's fantasies, nearly all of which include a hot tub, gold jewelry and an adoring public. If any of the above scenarios occasionally run through your head, then "Trippin' could be your trip. But you don't have to be an African-American teen to appreciate a picture that acknowledges the easy allure of sex, the street and celebrity, while making a hero of a kid who eventually concludes that "keepin' it real" is the better choice.

This is not to say that "Trippin' is much of a movie. For the most part, it's just a "House Par GOOD-BYE BALLET, mm imp 313961-0580-Ext. 132 OUTSIDE METRO 1-800328-7237-Ext. 132 I (TIM right time to pisn a HlMBI WlllrH II The Siiiiitl I LSHOS. I tllDOS.

(. 7 itfd-KH cr uffiSRsnd Clll TB1 1-101-722-1111 uiyiui.mlchlgan.org uA rLrl CRIAT lAKIf I ILi i CJUATTlMlft SMMW38P Dear Ann Landers: I can empathize with the woman whose husband soaked his infected toe in her Crock-Pot. I'm sure you will hear from other women whose husbands have done disgusting things with kitchen utensils, but I'll bet nothing beats mine. One day I noticed a dead squirrel in the backyard. I asked my husband, "Dirk," to dispose of it before the children saw it.

I was horrified when I looked out the window and saw him holding the dead squirrel with my sterling silver tongs. They were a wedding gift from my maid of honor. Dirk said, "I was going to wash them. What's the big deal?" The tongs caused quite an argument. I didn't want to throw them 4TWppin' By TERRY LAWSON FREE PRESS MOVIE CRITIC The title of the teen comedy "Trippin' refers to the tendency of directionless high school senior Greg Reed, -Trippin'" a.k.a.G(Deon Richmond), to out of 4 stars regularly lose Rated nudity, sexual himself in situations, language 1 hour, 32 minutes elaborately constructed daydreams: In the film's first halfhour alone, imagines himself as a famous rapper; as a top college recruit; and as a teenage Terminator, whupping up on the local gangstas and on the boyfriend of his long-time crush From Page ID Officially, this group is prep-ping for a mid-June recital.

Unofficially, they're getting ready to show off at end-of-the-school-year dances and, in a few years, at nightclubs. These girls want to do moves like those they see in music videos by musicians like TLC, Mya and Salt-N-Pepa. Learning to dance hip-hop style is the latest trend in dance school instruction and it's one of the most sought-after classes in metro Detroit dance schools. Teens like 13-year-old Angie Jaskey are flocking to the classes. The reason, says Angie of Birmingham, is simple: "I saw this on TV and it looked really fun to do," says Angie, who has studied jazz dance.

"And this is in. This is a new thing." Dance school instructors say that the phones are ringing off the hook to learn the style of dance that is seen in heavy rotation on cable TV. Often, people will call and ask to learn the "video style of dance." Most merely call it by the style of music that it's associated with. Hip-hop. It's about attitude.

It's about nonconforming. It's about what's in. "We definitely do this at school dances. People look at us at school dances and we'll see them point and say, 'Oh, look at them! They're Courtney Burke, 14, says, laughing. "This is so much fun." Easy to learn The girls have been working with Kourkouliotis on becoming awesome since December.

They are second- and third-year hip-hop students. "I'm so proud of these guys. They've come a long way," Kourkouliotis says. "They've grown big time. They feel it, like you want them to feel it." Kourkouliotis is a trained dancer who specializes in hip-hop, jazz, tap and beginner swing.

But hip-hop can be taught without formal training. Ralphael De'Lawrence, another instructor at Miss Barbara's, did his training in a nightclub. "I teach a form of hip-hop that is free-style, club dancing," De'Lawrence says. "It's the only time you can do what you want on the dance floor. That's why people like this." But it can take a while to teach someone how to move.

its plot his prom date, pretends to have been accepted at UCLA. It's not difficult to figure out where "Trippin' is headed, but compared to most movies aimed at young African-Americans, it takes the high road. Despite the infatuation with sex every "teenage" girl in this movie would pass a Playboy audition "Trippin' is full of positive role models and messages, from Cinny to G's parents to a teacher played by Michael Warren (Bobby Hill of "Hill Street who, after emphasizing the rewards that are to be gained by discipline, goal-setting and hard work, shows up at the prom with Naomi Campbell on his arm. Now there's a lesson kids can relate to. WHERE TO LEAKN CXP-COP DANCZNO A sampling of studios that offer hip-hop dance classes: Danse Elan, 38920 Dequindre, Sterling Heights, 1-810-268-6351 Miss Barbara's Dance Centre, 4301 Orchard Lake, West Bloomfield, 1-248-626-2755 Dance Electric, 24717 Crestview Court, Farming-ton Hills, 1-248-477-3830 Juliart Dance Studio of Troy 3069 E.

Walton, Auburn Hills, 1 -248-377-4190 Jeannie Zlmbalatti's Dance School, 2211 Beech Daly, Dearborn Heights, 1-313-565-3600 this," says Anderson. "It's also very aerobic and people just generally want to work on their coordination. If they go to a club, they want to be able to move with music. Hip-hop teaches them that." Colleen Callaghan, a 20-year-old Oakland University student who takes an adult hip-hop class, says that she uses what she has learned in class at nightclubs and parties. "It's fun to know how to do this if you're at a party, you can do moves you learned in class," she says.

"Plus this is a really good workout. I don't have much time during the day because I'm in school, but the classes are at night and it's a lot of fun." Serious fun The girls in Kourkouliotis' class are having a lot of fun. But they're also very serious about perfecting the routine they'll perform at their recital. Since they enrolled in Kourkouliotis' class, they've learned the latest dance moves, acquired attitude and mastered appropriate facial expressions. "All right, all right.

Let's go over this one more time," Kourkouliotis calls out near the end of a recent class. This time, the routine is almost flawless. These girls could be music video bound. KELLEY L. CARTER can be reached at 1-313-222-8854 and carterfreepress.com.

ty" for the late '90s. It gives a loving but strict family and a miniposse of two polar opposites, June (Donald Adeosun Faison of who has too many women for his own good, and Fish (Guy Torry), who has an uncanny inability to make a love connection. And then there's G's dilemma his parents won't give him prom money until he begins applying for college and a reason to try to resolve it. has admired Cinny from afar way, way afar since sophomore year, but she has no time for talkers and players. So pretends to be interested in college to get next to her and then, in order to maintain her interest long enough to convince her to be now commonly referred to as hip-hop, start receiving national music awards and its performers put on shows at large, televised venues.

In the early '80s, the dance style was called locking and popping, and originated in California. Then, it was simply called street dance or referred to as a "funked-up jazz dance." Jamie Anderson, owner of Danse Elan in Sterling Heights, says the dance style derives from the break dancing. Break dancing became popular in the early '80s and two films released at that time, "Beat Street" and "Breakin' helped to take that style of dance to a larger audience. But hip-hop dance officially emerged in 1987, says De'Lawrence. In 1987 rap music won its first Grammy and that year rap artist M.C.

Hammer brought a fast-paced, funky-styled dance to rap music. "It's a cult thing now," De'Lawrence says. Since then, it has had many names, De'Lawrence says, but it has kept the same essence. At the time, some dance studios began teaching break dancing, calling it street dance. Schools responded to the demand of people who wanted to learn how to move like the street dancers they saw.

Other schools simply loosened up their jazz dance instruction and called it something else. "It's not technical, people don't have to have previous dance experience to be good at 7 t. ti. r. ti- discount retail industry is growing.

Kmart, a Fortune 21 company, is really on the move and we're inviting ambitious, c-oriented individuals to our Merchandising Career Open House If you are a college graduate looking for a career, consider joining our team in the entry-level Merchandiser position. PATRICIA BECKDetroit Free Press Stephanie Williams, 13, of West Bloomfield practices her moves. We re onemna our goo I and increasing your As a Merchandiser, you will be working closely with experienced planners and buyers and will receive in-depth training into Kmart's merchandising systems. When your training is complete, you'll be responsible for maintaining store sales and stock plans through coordination of replenishment and merchandise allocation systems. Specific duties will include developing store inventories, calculating store sales and stock investments, monitoring merchandise flow, and conducting merchandise analyses to enhance sales, improve turnover, and meet established in-stock criteria.

To learn all about the career potential Kmart can offer, plan now to attend our Career Open House for your personal interview. rs Big Beaver Road poieniia And breaking down the moves isn't simple. Most instructors develop their own techniques to teach a style of dance that has no rules. "I'm a street dancer," De'Lawrence says. "So I make up names for all of my moves and they sound exactly how they look.

Football. Hopscotch. Boardwalk. Arm thrust." Ilene Schleuning, who owns Dance Electric, a Farmington Hills dance studio, says that people who are trained in very strict styles of dance such as ballet can pick up on the loose movements relatively easily. "Hip-hop style can be more sharp and precise moves, whereas with other dance styles, every other movement connects to another movement," she says.

And the cost of dance lessons is fairly reasonable. On average, classes in metro Detroit cost about $10 for each lesson, about what you'd pay for most other dance classes. Studios usually package classes in 8-15 week sessions, sometimes meeting more than once a week. But teaching the class how to dance is only part of it. "It's all about feeling the music.

You listen to the lyrics of the songs and you portray it through your face and you feel it and you hear it," Kourkouliotis says. "Just like jazz and lyrical music, hip-hop tells a story." The latest thing The story of hip-hop dance is relatively short. Only recently did rap music, Kmart Resource Center Saturday, May 15,1999 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. 3100 W.

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We offer a competitive salary, comprehensive benefits package, performance bonus arvl training. Call us at 248-614-1444, today, to confirm your attendance. If you are unable to attend our Career Fair, please forward your resume to: Kmart Resource Center, Human Resources Attn: MOH51599; Fax: 248-463-6216; Email: hiremekmart.com Equal Opportunity Employer..