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The Weekly Student Magazine of the University of Minnesota
Low / Net Neutrality / Moustaches on Ice / and more 31 January – 6 February 2007
Editorial/ Editor-in-Chief Jenny Odegard
Managing Editor Eric Price
Athletics Editor Nick Gerhardt
Campus Editor Janessa Dohse
Literary Editor Jacob Duellman
Sound & Vision Editor Alice Vislova
Voices Editor Nathaniel Olson
Editorial Assistants Dan Olmschenk, Tammy Quan, Brad Tucker
Staff Writer Carl Carpenter
PRODUCTION/ Production Manager Jeremy Sengly
Art Director Sam Soule
Photography Editor Ethan Stark
Web Editor Luke Preiner
Copy Editors Brent Campbell, Erin Lavigne
Graphic Designers Dave Hagen, Eric Price, Becki Schwartz, Jeremy Sengly, Krista Spinti
BUSINESS/ Business Manager Elena Lyadova
Office Manager Elizabeth Keely Shaller
Advertising Intern Tyler Jones
Public Relations Director Allie Dinnocenzo
Distributors Preston Jones, Luke Preiner
Public Relations Interns Marlys Huismann, Alison Traxler, Julie Veternick
THIS ISSUE/ Cover Artist Dave Hagen Illustrators Dave Hagen, Alex Judkins, Jeremy Sengly
Contributing Writers John Anderson, Carl Carpenter, Janessa Dohse, Alex Doud, Amy Fink, Nick Gerhardt, Andy Irland, Jon Loveall, Jacob Miller, Breanne Subias,
Photographers Daniel Corregan, Heejin Han, Abbey Kleinert, Christine Lenzen, Eric Melzer, Mark Norberg, Ethan Stark
/5:16 Š2007 The Wake Student Magazine. All rights reserved. Established in 2002, The Wake is a weekly independent magazine produced by and for the students of the University of Minnesota. The Wake is a registered student organization.
The Wake Student Magazine 1313 5th St. SE Minneapolis, MN 55414 (612) 379-5952 • www.wakemag.org The Wake was founded by Chris Ruen and James DeLong.
There’s a particular bit of confusion that I seem to come across a lot and would like to address. In a nutshell, if you’re a student, you can write for us, and it’s a lot easier than you’d think; this isn’t some closed-off, Daily-esque behemoth of an organization, and we’re not nearly hip enough to form a clique. I quote from our admittedly rather grandiose mission statement, “…the only thing this paper concerns is students. If that means talking about Britney Spears, campaign finance reform and the intramural broomball finals on the same page, so be it.”
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No matter how irreverent or obscure your interests, we’d like to be the megaphone to your voice (and the editors to your cheesy metaphors), so contact the section editor of your choosing—email addresses readily available at wakemag.org—and we’ll see if Ms. Spears can’t grace our pages once more. Hopefully in the Bastard section rather than on the cover this time around. Eric Price Managing Editor
Sound & Vision/04 VOICES/08 CAMPUS/12 ATHLETICS/14 LITERARY/16 PHOTOGRAPHY/18 BASTARD/19
Sound & Vision/
Low courtesy of chairkickers.com
by Carl Carpenter Even if you’ve never heard a song, you’ve likely heard their name. It’s not uncommon to hear stories in passing of Low’s mastery as songsmiths and performers, especially when you’re in Minnesota. Hailing from Duluth, Minn., this trio is the brainchild of tormented genius Alan Sparhawk. He formed the trio with wife Mimi, filtering through three different bassists since they formed in 1993, with Matt Livingston currently holding the honor. Low’s list of accomplishments is long in length and unquestionable in consequence. They’ve released eight albums to much critical acclaim and a consistent showing in the top ten across the pond. They’ve toured with some of the biggest names in the biz, and released their last album on Sub Pop Records, the label that discovered Nirvana, and has released such recent favorites as
The Shins, Postal Service, and Iron and Wine. Despite the fame and legions of loyal fans, Alan Sparhawk stays true to his roots. Raised in rural Minnesota, where he met his wife in the fourth grade, Sparhawk is the king of the Duluth music scene. On any given night Low can be seen playing in the cramped confines of the Pizza Luce or at an area church lit only by candles. Sparhawk also plays with his bluesy, punk trio, Black-Eyed Snakes. They rarely perform, but when they do, it is nothing short of bedlam. There has been talk of one particularly raucous show at the Brewhouse. With the venue well exceeding capacity, enthralled fans were hanging by single limbs from balcony railings. Though the fans were stuffed in shoulder to
There has been talk of one particularly raucous show at the Brewhouse. With the venue well exceeding capacity, enthralled fans were hanging by single limbs from balcony railings. shoulder, there was constant motion in the crowd. These shows are experiences no attendee can walk away from unmoved. In the spring of 2005, Low went on hiatus just a day before Duluth’s annual Homegrown Music Festival. The temporary split coincided with Sparhawk’s diagnosis of bi-polar disorder and increased inability to get along with the other band members. Bassist Zak Sally was replaced only months later. In December 2005, Low played several Christmas shows to raise money with the goal of building a school in Kenya. They did the same this December with shows in New York City, Chicago, and here in Minneapolis. They play these shows with their repertoire of holiday songs from the 1999 release, Christmas. One of the songs off this al-
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bum, “Just Like Christmas,” was featured on OC Mix 3 soundtrack. The school in Kenya is rapidly nearing completion and Sparhawk is just back from the tour. He won’t get but a moment’s rest before he’s back at it again. With a show in England on February 15th followed by the Music in Mind Festival in Belgium the day after, their spring tour will be launched. Their CD release show is at First Avenue on the 14th of April. The new album has been eagerly awaited since the release of The Great Destroyer in 2005. The album received a multitude of responses. The group worked with producer Dave Fridmann and found some new sounds. Fans loved the album for its turned up amps and slightly more approachable feel (seen on tracks like “Monkey” and “California”). Others felt it a betrayal of feedback and lost harmonies. In this writer’s humble opinion, it was an alluring fusion of their vocal beauty with the desire to get loud. On their forthcoming release, Low refuses to revert to their comfortable sound of old. Although the angelic voices remain, they’re greeted once again by seven different kinds of smoke. The first song, “Pretty People” is chalk full of droning guitars and pounding bass drum. The next two are a hailstorm of distorted voices, sharp strings, and handclaps, with Radiohead-like drum machines championing the department of percussion. These themes remain throughout, met along the way by squalling notes of electricity, moody bass on tracks about Marianne Faithful and Yoko Ono, and the closing chords of a super fuzzed church organ. Sparhawk’s lyrics and tone remain somber and skeptical, as if there’s simply no one to trust these days; and if his album is once again received by ill-tempered critics and belly-aching fans, then maybe he will be proven right. I give the album an 8.6 out of 10 on Carl’s, less pretentious than Pitchfork and more dependable than Rolling Stone, scale of review.
\ Sound & Vision
Film’s New Frontier
“Spider” John Koerner and Tony “Little Sun” Glover
by Alex Doud For the uninitiated movie film enthusiast, the task of sorting the junk from the gold can be daunting. Enter Harlan Jacobson. Jacobson is a New York critic with a thirty-year background in U.S. media who tours the country with a series called Talk Cinema. The goal of this tour is to expose film enthusiasts to the best of foreign and independent films before they are released to the masses. Before you start searching for a list of titles offered by the series, it’s worthwhile to know that the movie screened is a surprise until the film starts rolling. The path to the silver screen is being repaved by the new millennium. As Hollywood producers cling to interchangeable plot structures and tired clichés, the glass temple of Hollywood is cracking and ready to fall. The tools of the trade are no longer exclusive property of the Hollywood elite. Cameras and editing software are beginning to rival those of the professional standards, and more importantly, many such devices are now affordable to average Americans; Star Wars fans are creating light saber shows in their basements and high definition cameras are capturing grandma’s birthday party in all its wrinkled glory. Take an internet with ever-increasing bandwidth, add a nearly limitless pool of writers just looking for a shot at recognition, and you’ve got a formula for a whole new industry. Where previously the success of a film depended on the capricious benevolence of Hollywood powers, the success of a film can now come by as the outcome of its merit and the dedication of its creators. Today, junk films fail and are filtered out, without the promotional propaganda engines previously provided by production houses. On the other hand, films with intrinsic value find their way to the top of the heap. This is an idealized view of where the film industry is headed, and despite movement in the right direction, times can still be tough for independent filmmakers. We’ve all heard horror stories of the independent filmmakers who spent years in film school only to find that their audience consists entirely of their overenthusiastic parents and maybe a handful of people they paid to sit and look interested. Although some independent films deserve no better, others may be slipping through the cracks. More likely than not, the average moviegoer can’t find the time to attend Cannes and Sundance, let alone keep track of what is worth watching amidst a sea of unfamiliar titles. This is why “Talking Cinema” is a great find for those of us with a little less time on our hands.
By Carl Carpenter I’d never encountered a presence of such unwavering intimidation. It may have been due to the fact that the first I heard of Tony Glover was in Bob Dylan’s Chronicles: Volume One. Not only that, but the words with which Dylan spoke of him. ethan stark
other viewers directly after the film is why many fans of talk cinema come back again and again. When asked if these reviews have a direct impact on the film, Susan Jacobson of Talk Cinema explained that the series will generally show films that have largely made the festival circuit and which eventually release theatrically. She
“We bring the film festival experience right to the audience. People enjoy being surprised, and seeing films without preconceived ideas…” added that an occasional film without a formal plan for release will make it into the series, but that the program is not a focus group and will not affect the final form of the film. When asked why the series has had such success in its past fifteen years, Susan had this to say: “We bring the film festival experience right to the audience. People enjoy being surprised, and seeing films without preconceived ideas the way we do when we attend a film festival, and they also enjoy letting someone with curatorial experience and vision select a slate of films that are worth their time.” As the track record clearly shows, Talk Cinema is often one of the first venues of expression for the films that become gems of pop culture. Many of the films screened have already had success in the festival circuit and are on the verge of breaking into the mainstream as well. So if you are up for a little adventure in your theater going in the coming weeks, Talk Cinema offers an exciting and provocative alternative to the mainstream market. For more information and show times visit www.talkcinema.com
The series covers a wide variety of genres with past screenings including everything from Super Size Me to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It includes a dramatic range spanning from Amélie to Pulp Fiction, and is a sounding board for the films prior to release. All audience members are able to critique the film directly after the screening, hold conversations with critics and film aficionados, and review the results of their group’s critique via the Internet. According to the series representatives, this opportunity to offer feedback and talk with
“And then there was Tony Glover,” he recalled, “A harp player who played with me and Koerner sometimes… I played the harp too … I couldn’t play like Glover or anything, and didn’t try to.” It did nothing but add to my growing feelings of great inferiority when I looked into his work further and found that he, along with Koerner, were respected and revered by all of my musical heroes. The likes of John Lennon and The Doors were among their legions of fans. They’d played just about everywhere imaginable and seen it all. He played shows with both the Doors and the Allman Brothers Band. He hosted a six night a week radio show, interviewing the likes of Pete Townshend and Eric Clapton. He’d written record and book reviews for the likes of Rolling Stone and CREEM. As if it weren’t enough, I began collecting stories of his rocky past with people in general. He has a reputation as a man with little time for pleasantries. He’s been known to show up just a few minutes before the show, and leave immediately following, so as not be disturbed by pesky bystanders like myself. As I walked alone across the empty Washington Avenue Bridge, I felt a unique combination mounting of joy, excitement and twisting nerves. I knew that they were playing every Thursday over at the 400 Bar on West Bank, and had been promised an introduction. I paid my $7 and removed my I.D. “Great,” I thought, as the black Sharpie confirmed my under 21 status, “Another way to let these guys know I have no business talking to them.” I went to the bar and ordered up a Red Bull, a surprisingly dangerous move considering I’m usually one to lay off caffeine. As Glover had characteristically yet to show, I was introduced to Koerner first. A musician of high critical stature would never be your guess if you were introduced unaware. To be honest though, I’m not really sure how I would place him. A character unlike any other would be your safest assessment. Not far off from 70 years of age, and there he stood at the bar with a girl, who couldn’t have been older than 25, standing at his side. Initially, I was quite tense. Just as with Glover, I had first heard of Koerner while reading Bob Dylan’s book. He was the first friend that Dylan made in Minneapolis. “… Tall and thin with a look of perpetual amusement on his face. We hit it off right away.” They played together often that summer and Koerner taught him a lot of songs. Today, Koerner is a physical presence in spite of his gangly posturing, carrying the demeanor of a softspoken, yet mischievous teen. His hair is thinner, See “Spider,” p.17
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St. Paul Winter Carnival: Minnesota’s Ludicrous Legacy by Jon Loveall From ice-skating at the Depot in downtown Minneapolis to building anatomically correct snowpeople in the back yard, Minnesotans have always found ways to endure and even celebrate the deep chill that has traditionally descended upon the state for a good portion of each year. Indeed, the earliest Scandinavian immigrants to this state were a stubborn lot who seemed eager to prove that they enjoyed the climate of this winter wasteland and that their settling here wasn’t some sort of tragic mistake. For the past 121 years, there have been none with grander delusions than the organizers of St. Paul’s Winter Carnival, occurring this year from January 26 through February 4. Their sheer will and bold belief in the beauty of the season has allowed them to forge one of the most successful and historic festivals in all of North America. Their positive attitude and unyielding belief in the spirit of community has convinced thousands of Minnesotans to join in a celebration that the majority of the sun-loving world might consider an excessively personal date with Mother Nature. “We go after the Minnesotan in them,” explains marketing director Mary Huss, “We tell them not to be afraid of the cold, but to embrace it. Let’s show the country and the world that we enjoy it.” Huss’s words seem to be a challenge to the most foolhardy among Minnesota’s population: college students. She explains that the Winter Carnival offers convenience and opportunities for those in the 18-25 year age group to get in touch with their inner Minnesotan. A majority of the events will be held on Harriet Island, just an easy route 50 bus ride away from the U’s Minneapolis campus.
The Winter Carnival offers convenience and opportunities for those in the 18-25 year age group to get in touch with their inner Minnesotan. For college students looking for an evening of fun, Huss suggests turning no further than a Winter Carnival institution with a name that brings up feelings better linked with church potlucks than hip entertainment: the Hot Dish Tent. This venue’s music stage will play host every night to a wide swath of entertainers. Huss points to Friday, January 26, a Teen Night featuring a showcase of local bands and the Saturday, February 3 margarita party as the most attractive of these events for a college crowd. Organizers of the Winter Carnival also call upon those children of the 1980s who fell in love with dog sleds either through following the Iditarod in their third grade class-
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jeremy sengly
rooms or, more likely, through watching Paul Walker’s legendary performance in the modern cinematic masterpiece Eight Below. A dog sled rally featuring teams from as far as Jamaica and Korea will be held on February 3 and 4 as part of the festival “That should be really cool,” Huss coyly declares. For those college students most interested in making mittens and scarves a worthwhile investment, one of the festival’s crowning achievements this year is an ice maze. Huss admits that the long warm spell this winter has required some creativity on part of event organizers. More ice-intensive palaces of the past have given way to this year’s ice maze that requires (only) 2500 blocks of ice. Snow, Huss explains, can be made and hauled in, but ice is harvested from local lakes. This is a process that can only begin when temperatures dip below 20 degrees and ice is at least fourteen inches thick enough on these lakes, something that did not occur until much later this year. Despite this year’s challenges, organizers remain optimistic. “The ice maze should be a beautiful sight,” Huss smiles.
Perhaps most important to organizers of the Winter Carnival is the tradition of the century-old event. Even to this day, the festival pays homage to King Boreas, he who reigns over all the wintery festivities. For those in the 19th century, this stubborn celebration of winter built a sense of community among locals who might have been the laughingstock of family and friends in more habitable parts of the nation. For attendees today, the festival offers an opportunity to connect with the land, the climate, and the community in a way that ordering NetFlix and sipping some hot cocoa in one’s apartment might not allow. Even as winters grow increasingly milder, organizers of the Winter Carnival are not ready to give up the legend of King Boreas and the frosty temperatures that makes the Twin Cities distinct. “The cold weather, that’s who we are,” Huss explains, “We’re people who enjoy our climate.” After all, thousands of stubborn Minnesotans couldn’t be wrong. Could they?
\ Sound & Vision
“Carousel” at the Southern Theater By Andy Irland Two pianos begin an enchanting waltz as the company joins in a whimsical, yet poetic romp around an illuminated white circle. Couples dressed in authentic 1940’s garb pair up as they blissfully circulate around this imaginary carousel. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic Broadway musical, “Carousel” is now underway at West Bank’s Southern Theater. Presented by Nautilus Music-Theater, this new production is centered around themes of love, social class, domestic abuse, and redemption. Combining idealistic American dreams with a tragic and heartbreaking chain of events, the characters paint a vivid picture of a hopefulness found somewhere between daydreams and reality. The remake remains faithful to Rodgers’ original score, giving the melodies and accompanying choreography a vintage feel. “Carousel” tells the story of love between Billy, a hardened fairground worker, and Julie, a restrained girl from town. The tension starts when the two can’t quite confess their attraction to one another, and quickly escalates as they eventually marry and encounter domestic and financial troubles. Billy is abusive toward his wife and penniless since quitting his job at the carousel. Immediately after learning of Julie’s pregnancy, Billy agrees to help his friend, Jigger, in a robbery attempt that ends up costing his life. In the afterlife, the Starkeeper announces that Billy must return to Earth to assist his fifteen-year-old daughter in order to gain entrance into heaven’s gates. Young Billy and Julie lie on their backs and imagine married life. Carrie and Enoch lean on each other, arm in arm, as they visualize long nights by the fire with the children sleeping upstairs. The music of the carousel organ lingers over the town at night as the years drift by. For audience members with a keen sense of humor, there is also comic relief from this melodramatic contemplation. Hammerstein included plenty of witty one-liners and goofball characters to evoke an array of responses. The townsfolk gossip, flirt, joke, and live carefree. Jigger scoffs at the notion of love and the plight of the lowerclass gentleman so he submits to the life of a mangy sailor-thief. Nettie, the resident mother figure, seeks to comfort and advise everyone. Stars Bradley Greenwald and Jennifer Baldwin Peden have each appeared in numerous productions through the years. These local favorites are brimming with experience, allowing them to shimmer onstage. Greenwald builds his character with his charming, powerful singing while Peden conveys warmth and sincerity. Together, the two create an emotional clarity that audiences can easily identify with. Jill Anna Ponasik plays Carrie, a young
eric melzer
mill worker who marries a fisherman named Enoch, played by Joel Liestman. This couple ages alongside Billy and Julie to become a wealthy middle-class family with many children. Carrie is portrayed as free-spirited while Enoch is straight-laced and proper. This contrast in character creates chemistry to supplement their small-town aspirations of striking it rich and growing old together.
This musical carries a very different message: even an abusive, negligent husband can be forgiven of his past and current failings. The production is highlighted by the Southern Theater’s raw atmosphere. Exposed brick and chipped-off paint coats the walls of this otherwise well furnished and intimate venue. Last year, the 100 year-old building celebrated its 25th anniversary under ownership of a non-profit organization founded by current artistic director, Jeff Bartlett. They celebrated by hosting Nautilus music-theater’s first attempt at interpreting a classic. “Man of La Mancha,” the story of Don Quixote, featured the co-stars, producers, and many of the cast members in “Carousel.”
beauty of the self-proclaimed favorite work of the team responsible for “The Sound of Music,” “The King and I,” and “Oklahoma!” “Carousel” was performed on Broadway 890 times from 1945 to 1947, adapted to film in 1956, a television series in 1967, and is being converted into another film starring Hugh Jackman, currently in production. Approaching a musical that won five Tony Awards, a New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and Time Magazine’s “Best Musical of the Century” is no easy task. Rodgers and Hammerstein based “Carousel” on Ferenc Molnár’s “Liliom,” in which the protagonist is sent to hell after failing at achieving redemption. This musical carries a very different message: even an abusive, negligent husband can be forgiven of his past and current failings. While the graduating class joins in a round of Carousel’s now famous anthem, “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” the ghost of Billy admires his wife and daughter from afar. Through his gaze we can recognize our own difficulties in finding love and meaningful relationships. From his story we are reminded that anyone, regardless of social class, can be redeemed.
This year, Nautilus Art Director Ben Krywosz set his sights on examining the social commentary and melodic
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Tube. Anybody with Internet access could watch the clip of Sen. George Allen, R-Va., directing a racial slur at a campaign opponent during last fall’s midterm Congressional election. Allen’s popularity dropped following the incident and James Webb’s victory over Allen helped Democrats gain control of the U.S. Senate. Would YouTube have gotten off the ground without Net neutrality? Everybody knows that grass roots entrepreneurs have made the Internet what it is today. Consider the following cases if Net neutrality didn‘t exist: Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders of Google, were two Stanford graduate students in their early twenties when they began working out of their search engine headquarters that was Page’s dorm room. Google now stands as the world’s most popular search engine.
alex judkins
Don’t Screw Me, Keep the Net Free Maintaining neutrality over the web proves trying
as a comprehensive government agency to protect Americans from being screwed by big market forces by encouraging options and competition. But on Dec. 29, 2006, the FCC approved the $85 billion mega buyout of BellSouth by AT&T, the biggest telecommunications deal in U.S. history. Out of the ominous shadow of the merger, Democratic commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein forced AT&T, through their holdout approval of the merger, to concede provisions in order to close the deal. The most important concession AT&T made was its twoyear agreement to abide by Net neutrality, the provision that allows Web sites to have an equal opportunity to be viewed despite their size or financial prowess - or lack thereof. By agreeing to recognize network neutrality, AT&T cannot discriminate against or control information going over its network until 2009. It cannot provide a faster lane to Web sites that are capable of paying for more bandwidth, making all Web sites equal, which totally kicks ass.
BY JOhn andersen When the U.S. Congress passed the Communications Act of 1934, it established the Federal Communications Commission, an independent federal agency responsible for regulating interstate and international communications of radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. The FCC regulated the rates of telephone companies, controlled business relationships between networks and their affiliates and limited the number and types of services a single person or corporation could own in a single market. It acted
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Network neutrality is vital for a healthy, competitive and innovative Internet and society. Many grass roots organizations absolutely depend on the non-discriminatory nature of network neutrality. Some sites include: StopGlobalWarming.org, a Web site dedicated to bringing people together to protest global warming; AIDS.org, a nonprofit educational organization and FreePress.net, a nonpartisan, noncommercial organization committed to educating citizens on important media policy debates. These sites, which (like the Wake’s) speak out against what the members feel are injustices, are the types of sites that would suffer without neutrality. Organizations like these don’t have the money to fork over to huge corporate whores so that access to their Web site can happen at a reasonably fast rate. To see American citizens put up with this kind of potential corporate control without Net neutrality would be utterly shameful. The Internet has provided millions with the cultural and political means to better participate in and benefit our democratic society. Look at the grass roots nature of You-
Pierre Omidyar was 28 when he started eBay as a hobby. According to the eBay Web site, Omidyar wanted to experiment with how equal access to information and opportunities would affect market efficiency. Craig Newmark started Craigslist in 1995 to spread news about events around the San Francisco area. It’s now the seventh most visited English-language Web site, according to craigslist.org. Despite dubious suggestions made by Hands Off The Internet, an organization backed by Internet operators like AT&T and BellSouth, Net neutrality is nothing new. It’s not extreme overregulation by the government, as some might like to think. Network neutrality has been around since the advent of the Internet and has protected peoples’ right to access all Web sites without discrimination. The dispute over network neutrality became prominent in June 2005 when the Supreme Court ruled in National Cable and Telecommunications Association v. Brand X Internet that cable companies have the right to deny rival Internet service providers access to their networks. It
The Internet has provided millions with the cultural and political means to better participate in and benefit our democratic society. Look at the grass roots nature of YouTube. gave cable companies the power to control who or what goes over its network, which includes information on the Internet. It sent the protections of Net neutrality down the toilet and gave operators a window to extend their cold hands around the throat of Internet democracy. AT&T and others are just looking to push their profit margins by charging Web sites and Internet users higher premiums to allocate more room for things like online gaming and movie and music downloads that need more bandwidth. Instead of increasing bandwidth for all content, network operators want to be able to discriminate against those who don’t pay extra. There is a financial incentive for them to create a two-tiered system. In the newly-elected Democratic Congress, there is hope for a comprehensive communications bill that would protect Net neutrality. “The Internet Freedom Preservation Act” of 2007 was introduced by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-ND and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine earlier this month. With hopeful bipartisan support, the freedom of the Internet can still be salvaged. Grass roots support for Net neutrality is essential and I fully encourage everyone who uses the Internet to send an email to their representatives in Congress to get Internet protections secured. There is still time to show corporate cable and phone companies that we, the people, aren’t going to let them screw with our right to a free and fair Internet.
Guns, Firebombs and Emotions Wartime societies breed unrestrained cynicism
BY jacob miller The latest album from Neil Young, titled “Living with War,” is full of politically charged content coming from someone who is known for making bold statements on political and social issues. I can’t say I’ve listened to it much, but the name is certainly thought provoking. What does it mean to be living with war? Obviously the experience of war for those in the bloody streets of Baghdad is totally different from that of the American masses, whose fardetached understanding of the occupation and violence is constrained by the sneaky filters of the news media. We are encouraged to think about the war in heroic terms where we are the good guys, but for those of us who see beyond the many faces of wartime propaganda, these are frustrating and disappointing times.
What does it mean to be living with war? Perhaps the bitterest aspect of living in modern wartime has to do with the implications of living in the culture of fear needed for waging war. For anyone who sees beyond the simplistic rhetoric designed to maintain a constant state of fear, the frustrations transform into a thorn in the side. We are constantly being reminded of the vaguely defined and always-threatening “enemy,” who has been dangerously looming since 9/11. The name of the new enemy is constantly reinforced in indirect and direct ways, but not all of us live in the black and white reality that the Republican Party is dedicated to. It is a shame that in too many American minds, Islam has become synonymous with terrorism. Observing the effectiveness of this mass of problematic assumptions, the frustrations at times explode into silent fury fueled by impatience, but they ultimately fade into cold disappointment and cynicism. The cynicism may be more potent than the frustration. Cynicism ultimately stems from the notion that the root of the problem goes far beyond personal political griev-
ances, or the idea of the mass media is the only culprit in a deterministic and diabolical plan. The dismal heart of the problem is much deeper and complex than that. The “war fever” that infected us after 9/11 and continued to ail us into 2003 with the invasion of Iraq is a symptom of a much more serious cultural condition, one that aches with apathy and reeks of ignorance. Our consumer culture is sick at the core, the sickness already deep in the bones of the creature that seems doomed to a tragic state of underlying deterioration, like a terrible and sickening rust. Of course, this sad condition facilitates easy manipulation by political elites and will perpetuate the unquestioned assumptions that underpin the current power relations dictating the absurd course we are now on. Is this vision of society an exaggeration? While I think such a dark vision is painfully apparent at times, I realize that my view may be harsh and dismal compared to others. After blowing it in 2004 presidential elections, Americans elected a number of Democrats, many running on anti-war jargon, in the midterm elections. While this is a good sign of shifting public opinion, we should remain skeptical that these are mere superficial political maneuvers and do not guarantee any major changes. It is important to keep in mind the traditional lack of debate with regards to foreign policy in American politics; the handful of inevitable global dilemmas, including a global energy crisis; and the vulnerable position of the American “empire.” And with all that considered, I think we can assume that major shifts in the global order are soon to come, so look forward to more turbulent times no matter which party has political power. The anxiety of this apocalyptic vision can leave one in a perpetual freefall of worry and doubt. Maybe my biggest concern is the lack of social and political consciousness on campus, where you find a cold complacency as easily as anywhere else. The future is obviously uncertain, and I am filled with frightening doubt over our generation’s will to face today’s problems. Considering the imminence of such global challenges, it is especially terrifying to see the minds of our generation being limited in such pathetic ways. A ruthless responsibility should drown over us, as we are facing some enormous challenges, but it seems that the main concerns of the student body are getting fucked up on weekends, media-driven spectacles and all other worthless aspects of a hopelessly distracted youth culture. But what should we expect? Surely, there is potential for progressive action at the U. Not many people support the war, while at the same time students are reluctant to participate in any oppositional political activity. This suggests that cynicism is widespread beyond cultural critics like myself. There is an overwhelming sense of powerlessness surrounding political issues; many are against the war, but they are also against the romantic idea of struggling to try and stop it. This feeling of powerlessness renders dead the potential for action and encourages a retreat into the Playstation, the shopping mall or the bottle. It seems that apathy is a consequence of exclusion in contemporary politics. There are no easy solutions. Maybe Neil Young has some, because I don’t. All I know is that doubt, anxiety, frustration and cynicism are constant companions for those who see beyond the shallow wartime propaganda necessary in our violent moment. With the war turning bloodier each day and our globalized world appearing closer and closer to the edge of total catastrophe, living in a privileged culture of distraction is depressing, frightening and exhausting. We must ask what our role is as individuals in such a filthy configuration.
\Voices Photo Poll
by Heejin Han
What is your opinion on sending more troops to Iraq? It is a necessary evil. We may not benefit from the increase but we owe it to 25 million Iraqis who we put in jeopardy by invading Iraq. ETHAN SCHWENKER
Political Science Junior
The United States presence in Iraq is inappropriate. Any extension, including the increase of troops would be detrimental to long-term stability in the region. We really need to leave. LORA WICHSWER
German and Physiology Senior
Too late to turn back withdrawal could be dangerous for the future. We should send more troops until the situation stabilizes. HONG LEE
Political Science Sophomore
I don’t think sending more troops to Iraq is needed. There’s enough people being killed and if this goes on, the war would be ongoing and more people would be killed. NAOMI P. JOESOEF
Psychology Senior
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Feature/
Ethan Stark
Curling … Not Your Father’s Tuesday Night Bowling League By Nick Gerhardt Throwing rocks down a sheet of ice may not seem exciting to most, but at the St. Paul Curling Club it’s all the rage.
Sitting at the bar upstairs, the rest of the group introduces themselves. There’s M.O., Blue, Big Al, Scott, a pitcher of beer and a bottle of whiskey.
Joe “Splash” Cloutier explains that curling is a really friendly game. The loser usually buys the winner the first round after the match, and they talk about the game over a few drinks.
“Everyone has a nickname here,” says Blue aka John Carey. Everyone except Scott anyway, and they try to come up with a nickname on the spot, but nothing sticks, indicating why he’s never had a nickname.
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The club has the feel of a north woods cabin with fireplaces upstairs and downstairs, thick Minnesotan accents, wood floors, outdoor decor and moustaches, but this is St. Paul. Splash says the game is like horseshoes because the team with the rock closest to the center wins the point. From there the game becomes more complicated.
“It takes about a year not to look like an idiot,” “It’s chess on ice,” says Big Al. Each team consists of four players: a lead, second, third and a skip, the strategist. All players shoot a rock, but the skip typically shoots the last two of the match. The match consists of eight ends with eight rocks per team. At each end, each team shoots two rocks and then switches ends. A point is scored for the team with the rock closet to the tee, or the middle. The skip calls shots from the other end of the ice and decides which shot the team will play according to the placement of the rocks. As the rock is delivered two sweepers brush the ice to create a Zamboni effect that allows the rock to travel farther and straighter. The team will either attempt to knock out the opponent’s rocks or place their rock near the tee. “The rock goes its own way so you need to turn it one way or the other to get it where you want,” Splash says. Curling started during the 16th century in Scotland. Eventually immigrants brought the game to North America, where it first appeared in Canada in 1759. In 1832 the game surfaced in America, and there are now over 125 curling clubs in the U.S.
The sport has been growing in popularity since it first appeared as a full medal game at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.
“Bonspiels are a huge part of curling because it’s where you meet other players and get to reconnect every year,” says O’Neil.
The St. Paul club has existed since 1888, and the building has been there since 1912. It is the largest club in North America, with over 1100 members. “Ten years ago we had 600-800 members and struggled for members at times, but the last five years we’ve seen an explosion,” says Mike “M. O.” O’Neil, club president.
“One-third of the game is drinking and hanging out,” adds Carey. He says there is a team from San Diego that hasn’t won a game ever, but comes to experience the camaraderie. “Every game begins and ends with a handshake,” says Splash.
Carey, the young guy of the group, says he picked up the game after watching it during the Olympics with friends. “It takes about a year not to look like an idiot,” he says. The club offers clinics geared towards new people where they learn the basics, etiquette and strategy. From there the new players can begin playing in novice leagues on Sundays, or if they know a member they can become part of a team. In the metro area two clubs have recently sprouted due to the popularity: one in Edina and one in Burnsville. A huge part of the curling experience is found in the tournaments, or bonspiels. Club teams from around the nation travel to compete against other clubs, and players get to meet new people and form new friendships across the country.
“There’s a tremendous cross-mix of people here, from blue-collar guys to corporate executives,” says O’Neil. The blue-collar guys and other members of the club volunteer during the off-season to help with the upkeep of the club. “Tuesday nights a crew comes down and fixes whatever needs fixing,” says Scott. The club received national media attention this past Vikings season during Monday Night Football. The Vikings played the New England Patriots and Monday Night Football aired a 21-second clip of some people curling at the club. “It’s a game you can only play, you can’t beat it,” says Big Al. The St. Paul Curling Club is located at 470 Selby Ave. in St. Paul. Membership is currently at capacity.
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Campus/
New Art at the Regis Center Asks the Question of Difference Critical Translations presents social and political work about our current condition BY AMY FINk On the landing of the steps outside the Regis Center for Art, atop a trailer flatbed sits a large, red “A.” Part of the “A Project” by Minnesota artist Peter Haakon Thompson and a component of the current exhibit inside the Katherine E. Nash Gallery this month, the “A” symbolizes a system like that of Scruff McGruff—the Crime Dog and pal—but for artists. Instead of posting a sign in the window to indicate that a house is safe for kids, the idea is for artists and art supporters to display a window sign with the red “A” (provided in the exhibit), in an effort to tighten the connection between and among artists and community. Two years after writing a grant proposal to the University of Minnesota’s Graduate Research Partnership Program, curator Rachel Breen posed questions about how art creatively expresses social issues and how audiences react to these visual statements. These questions resulted in an impacting multimedia, multifaceted exhibit on the West Bank. Breen says she wanted to show that political art could be compelling without being “pompous, preachy or narrow.” “Together the work expresses urgency, insight and incredibly thoughtful examination of issues and media,” Breen says about the exhibit. Critical Translations is a collection of national and local work showing from January 16 to February 15, put together by curators Breen, Christine Baeumler, and Alexis Kuhr. Through diverse social subjects, the exhibit asks us to look inside ourselves for empathy, for a solution, and for a response to the tragedies that face our society. As one walks through the door of Regis and towards the gallery, the first sound one may hear, besides the occasional roar of the coffee makers at Java City, is
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the crinkling of paper. On a flat screen by the entrance loops Shana Kaplow’s video Group, part of a series in progress which includes two oil on canvas portraits on large panels that appear later in the exhibit.
with a 2-channel video projection called Endurance. What seems like a simple representation of an individual placed in the center of both facing screens is actually a complex project with multiple purposes and messages.
“As a white, Jewish woman,” Kaplow says, “I see from both the inside and outside of the mainstream in U.S. culture. I am interested in the ways that we are trained to act.” Part one of the video, called “A Training Process,” resembles a “Gap ad gone bad,” according to Kaplow’s artist statement. In front of a plain white background, people in pairs or singles struggle with each other or themselves as they force their limbs and facial expressions into gestures that serve as metaphors.
The 2003 project by artist team and interracial couple from New York, Jacqueline Tarry and Bradley McCallum, is a video of a 25-hour performance in which 26 homeless Seattle youths took turns standing quietly still, looking directly into a camera on a busy street corner for an hour. The project received financial support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
“I am less concerned with a message,” Kaplow says, “than I am with creating a space for people to contemplate a sensation of discomfort or empathy they may have when viewing my work.” As a process that begins in struggle ends with an individual successfully trained for assimilation in the group politic, the sound of crumpling paper changes to an industrial sound effect. Part Two, “A Conversation,” portrays a similar situation of rebellion, frustration, and fear. Towards the beginning of the exhibit is New York artist Martha Rosler’s c-prints from the series Bringing the War Home: House Beautiful, an update on her previous work about the Vietnam War. The three images in the exhibit “Election,” “Hooded Captives,” and “Lounging Woman,” pinpoint a more specific social context, like some others in the exhibit. Iraq war images from American newspapers and lifestyle magazines are fluidly collaged with comfortable depictions of individuals at home, sheltered and hopelessly immersed in a different world.
Through diverse social subjects, the exhibit asks us to look inside ourselves for empathy, for a solution, and for a response to the tragedies that face our society. In the video, people and traffic pass, unaware of the cameras placed across the street, while the manipulation of the video, by use of a time-lapsed effect, gives the illusion that these frantic surroundings are moving at super speed around the virtually invisible subject.
The finished work amounts to two hours, each real-time hour compressed to five minutes. Before an individual’s performance, they were interviewed, so for the five minutes of screen time, the silent unmoving figure rambles of stories and insights of street life into a voiceover, until that individual is replaced by the next. The project has two purposes. The first is a dedication to the memory of friends who died from life on the streets, including two participants who died of separate causes just months before the performance. The project is also a passive act of civil disobedience in opposition to Seattle civility laws that make standing or sitting motionless a crime. Ultimately it shows that street kids aren’t that much different from everyone else. One performer points out that “a lot of the junkies are kind of stuck here, like on fly paper,” while at the same time articulating that not all of them are junkies. Another reminds us that they weren’t always homeless, “At one point, we were just like them.” “Art can often exist in a bubble,” Kaplow says, “separate from what most people consider to be the pertinent issues. But art is really a place that can approach difficult questions of our time in a very human way – with subtlety, variety, ambiguity, poetry, empathy, or unflinching honesty.”
Some pieces, like Harrell Fletcher’s The American War, address occurrences that have been further suppressed by a lack of media coverage. In this piece Fletcher displays his digital photographs of images and text from the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City to reinforce that perceived history varies across cultures. Other pieces are more abstract. Behind a center room housing a large, interactive glassine installation by Ed Pien is a room
christine lenzen
\ Campus
Things Start to Add Up at the New College of Design The Architecture + Graphic Design exhibit places emphasis on the merging of disciplines BY janessa dohse Rapson Hall is hosting an art exhibition starting January 16 and running through February 17. Architecture + Graphic Design boasts a collection of work that blends the boundaries between two different disciplines. The exhibition is sponsored by WPA in Seattle. The show is located in the HGA Gallery in the commons outside of the Dean’s office in Room 101. Along the front and back of a long row of panels are brightly colored signs in various shades of primary colors. On theses panels is a compilation of 48 photographs of buildings and structures that demonstrate the work of WPA, Inc. and similar design firms.
“A building can wear its graphics like a garment that may be changed to suit different users...” The phrase “Flexible and Adaptable Permanent and Integrated Democratization of Information” is written across one side of the panels. Twenty-four of the 48 photographs are displayed on this side. Each photo is accompanied by a small caption that lists the name of the structure, who made it, when it was created, and where it’s located.
abbey kleinert
On the other side of the panels is the phrase, “Topographic Architecture Constructing a Narrative Shhh … this is
graphics and architecture.” This side holds another 24 photographs that demonstrate topographic architecture and other buildings and structures that combine interesting elements of graphics and architecture. Most of the structures presented in the exhibition were designed by WPA, Inc. a Seattle based firm focused on environmental design and architecture that incorporates different mediums. There are several structures that weren’t designed by WPA, Inc. from different cities in the United States, such as Reno, Nev., and from countries such as Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany. Among the outliers, there is a photograph of Temple of Medinet Habu in Luxor, Egypt that is best known for its complex design and the inscribed reliefs on the walls, it dates back to more than 2000 years (to around 1175 B.C.). One of my favorite buildings featured in the exhibition is the Caltrans District 7 Headquarters in Los Angeles. It was designed by Morphosis of Santa Monica, Calif. A large, rectangular building made out of metal and glass, the design is sleek with jutting corners that give it a very modern aesthetic. At the front of the exhibition, there is an introduction that reads: “A building can wear its graphics like a garment that may be changed to suit different users, different programs and different eras. The indelible architecture beneath gains emphasis by contrast, acquiring an opposing point of view. The permanent and flexible each create an ever possible new whole.” As well as lending insight into the art exhibition, it speaks the focus of WPA, Inc. and their goal of evoking new understandings of individual, community and environment through the merging of architecture and graphic design.
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Athletics/
Peyton Manning’s Final Ascension to the Throne By Nick Gerhardt So the football analysts and pundits finally got what they needed in order to crown Peyton Manning the greatest quarterback of all-time. Yes, he still must win the Super Bowl, but as soon as he does the talk will begin.
the Patriots. That is a huge advantage for the Colts coming into the grand finale. Rex Grossman looked decent against the Saints because he didn’t make any big mistakes, but with Grossman you never know which Rex will show up.
Manning finally decided to step up and play the game rather than whining about non-calls against his wide receivers. He led his team to victory like the quarterback we came to know during the regular season. The feat he accomplished should not go unheralded, because his team looked flat in the first half. Whatever somebody said in that locker room certainly made the Colts get their shit together quickly, because they came out like the team that ought to have shown up in all the previous playoff meetings against the Patriots.
This Super Bowl will look ugly in the early going unless the Colts can rush the ball. The Saints were unable to do so against Chicago and got stuck passing. The offensive line of the Colts did little to quell the Patriots pass rush, so the run game will need to be established early for the Colts to be effective.
The Bears, on the other hand, looked like the Bears. During the NFC Championship game, their offense did just enough to win while their defense dominated as usual. Yes, they put up a lot of points, but they came well after the game was decided and against a Saints defense that had been on the field way too long because their offensive line couldn’t give Drew Brees any time.
Don’t be surprised if Manning pulls this one out of his ass … The four turnovers by the Saints did not help their cause, but their defense held strong against the Bears, holding them to field goals early. It could have been a great game until the Saints gave up the safety. The Bears remain an enigma because they find a way to win when it matters, so this Super Bowl will be an interesting match-up. We all know the strengths of each team coming into the game, but it will be fascinating to see how the weaknesses of each team play out. The Colts defense did not look as good as they did in the previous rounds, but they limited the run game of
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The plan for the Bears should remain as it was against the Saints, not only because it worked, but also because the game is out of Grossman’s hands. The Bears must have their running game working like it was against the Saints in order for the Bears to have a snowball’s chance. Their offensive line must dominate and take advantage of the tendency of the Colts’ defensive line to over pursue. Look for the excitement to begin during Prince’s halftime show, especially if he decides to go raunchy. Let’s all hope he does for the sake of entertainment. The second half should produce some good moments if Manning exploits the Bears’ secondary, but we’ll be stuck watching field position for much of the game. On paper this looks like a push with a great offense against a great defense, but let’s not forget this is Peyton’s game. Football often looks like some cheesy Hollywood movie with all of the drama surrounding the hype and some player finally receiving the ring he so richly deserves (e.g. John Elway, Steve Young, etc…) so don’t be surprised if Manning pulls this one out of his ass like the AFC title game. This way we don’t have to listen to Berman, TJ, Ditka, Jaws (I’m purposely excluding Irvin because I’ve never heard anything resembling an intelligent thought come out of his mouth) and all the other windbags go on about how Manning is a choke artist. Final score: Colts 27, Bears 13.
Jeremy Sengly
Literary/
Literary Events
Sestina #2: Oportunidad Perdida
January 31st-Feb. 6th, 2007
By Breanne Subias He couldn’t teach me how to be a Mexican, The Spanish sticky sugar in my mouth. It tasted sweet, but never would roll off, Just stuck there, caramelized, a latent thing That I would never really speak, just hear From my father’s fluent foreign tongue.
Who: Whose America is It? A Policy Discussion on Economic Migration and the American Dream. What: Panelists discuss the Minnesota Opera’s production of ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ When: Wednesday, January 31st, 7 pm. Where: Cowles auditorium, Humphrey Center (U of M), FREE, call 612.333.6669 to register
I looked a bit like him, but my own tongue Was my mother’s, Minnesota’s. Mexicans Made beautiful “R’s,” like the sound you hear From a contented cat, but my own mouth Produced the sound like lawnmowers, snow blowers, things That I grew up with and could not shut off. It would seem only natural to be put off, Frustrated, shaming myself for my tongue, An un-exotic, bland and stubborn thing, Refusing to assume a Mexican Stance—would form domestic O’s with my mouth, Like “boat” like “snow,” like endless roads I’d hear, Not the beautiful staccato there to hear During telephone conversations to far off Places, to people who helped create the tongue That could barely say “I love you,” the mouth That stayed shut, eyes that burned. When Mexican Abuelitos said “Te Quiero” I never said a thing. “Lo siento” was one of the only things I could actually say, and when I’d.hear It, I’d want to cry for myself, for Mexican Aunts with gorgeous tans, on or off The beach, and with an obedient tongue, That didn’t have to say “I’m Sorry.” A mouth With more than four words in it. A mouth I envied wholly. I envied their everything. My mother said I didn’t need a tongue For such things. I was not born there, but here, An American. I didn’t have to go off And learn to be a Mexican. Mouth closed, I hear frowns in my father’s words. It’s hard to get a thing like that off your American chest Without a Mexican tongue.
Who: June Cross, Samuel Freedman, & Annette Konack What: ‘The Making of Memory’ authors read from recent works When: Wednesday & Thursday, January 31st and February 1st, 7:30 pm. Where: Wednesday: Weisman Art Museum & Thursday: Nolte Hall (U of M), FREE
Who: Stephen Burt What: Poet reads from recent work When: Thursday, February 1st, 7 pm. Where: Hamline Midway Branch Library, FREE Who: Roger Penrose What: Physicist discusses ‘The Road to Reality’ When: Friday, February 2nd, 7 pm. Where: Coffman Bookstore (U of M), FREE Who: Elizabeth de la Vega What: Author discusses ‘US vs. Bush’ When: Friday, February 2nd, 7 pm. Where: Macalester College Weyerhaeuser Chapel, FREE Who: Jude Nutter What: Poet reads from ‘Curator of Silence’ When: Tuesday, February 6th, 7:30 pm. Where: Magers and Quinn booksellers (3038 Hennepin Ave S), FREE Who: Mellon Fellows What: Black Progression in America When: Tuesday, February 6th, 7 pm. Where: Macalester College Weyerhaeuser Chapel, FREE
I like short stories. Have any that you would like to share? How about 7501,000 words? Don’t be shy. jduellman@wakemag.org HOW TO submit to the Literary section: Submitting is easy! Send your poems, short stories or suggestions to jduellman@wakemag.org Attach your work using Microsoft Word and also include your piece in the body of the e-mail. Any accompanying illustrations must be sent at 300 DPI. Still have concerns? We are also available to meet in person to workshop your creative work. Just send an e-mail to set an appointment. We don’t bite... hard
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\ Continued “Spider,” continued from 5
but his turned up nose and welcoming smile are the same I’d seen in the photographs from the ‘60s. The bar owner, Tom Sullivan, welcomed him and handed over two envelopes containing both his and Glover’s money for the show. Koerner proceeded to stuff the two envelopes halfway down the front of his pants. I let out what I thought was an inaudible laugh. I found this greatly amusing. Koerner looked over and gave me a small smile and a nod. This was my kind of guy. The conversation was lively and bounced from topic to topic. I asked what kind of songs they would be playing tonight. “Same as always,” he assured, “about three quarters traditional folk, the rest is our stuff. Some of ‘’em as old as 40 years, some just 10.” On the topic of his history with Glover, he said they started off playing, “southern black guy type stuff.” This comment was an overstatement of epic proportions. They are often credited as some of the first white guys to tackle the blues and their first album doing so, Blues, Rags and Hollers, was a land mark recording. Out in the summer of ‘63, it would open doors and influence the minds of many of the most heralded musicians for decades to come. Seemingly out of nowhere, the topic jumped to the fact that his cable provider had recently dropped two of his favorite channels. “Sons of bitches took clear out of the blue. I can’t watch too much T.V. anyways; I get bored like an… whatdya call it… attention deficit stuff kid.” Koerner leaned, arms folded over the bar, squinting his eyes in an attempt to decipher the brands of beer he was working with. He decided on a Red Stripe but was nursing a small glass of something else besides. His mannerisms were reserved, yet he always seemed amused by something. His face would light up in excitement whenever the next topic arose. I asked Koerner about a show he had played in my home town when I was a kid. “Well, ummm, I don’t doubt that I played it. To be honest it’s all kind of a blur at this point.” After 10 or 15 minutes of conversation, I was really feeling relaxed, talking openly about whatever came about. It was at that moment a daniel corregan buzzing of chatter spread throughout the bar. A short man of approximately Koerner’s age appeared beside bar owner Tom Sullivan. I knew instantly who it was from the old photographs I’d seen on the Koerner, Ray, and Glover albums. His jaw was as hard set as it had been back then, accented by the very same scowl. He eyes bore no semblance of intrigue at anything being said. “What the hell do I say to this guy?” I wondered frantically. But I couldn’t let the opportunity pass. “So was it while you were attending the U of M that you and John met?” His head was resting on his hand with his elbow up on the bar. His gaze was straight forward, and his eyes were that of a man both bored and slightly annoyed. After several seconds I thought he would neglect to answer entirely, but then it turned out much worse. “I was never in school.” He responded, barely at an audible level, devoid of any enthusiasm towards continuing the conversation. “Ohh, sorry, what was that?” I hadn’t heard and tried to show I was clearly embarrassed to have to ask again. “I said,” turning his eyes towards me for the first time, “I was never IN school.” This time with bit of snap,
and a stronger notion of annoyance. “Wow,” I thought, “I need to change the subject immediately.” Luckily this has always been a strong point of mine. “I was reading that Elektra Records re-released your album in ‘64 and…” I was cut short. “It’s Elektra Records … Elektra.” Despite the fact that I’ve read several books on The Doors and claim knowledge far above average on the obscure topic of this very record label, it had somehow come out as “Electrica Records,” or something to that effect. “0 for 2,” said the critics in my head, as I watched Glover turn his gaze lazily back towards the bar.
“Sons of bitches took clear out of the blue. I can’t watch too much T.V. anyways; I get bored like an… whatdya call it… attention deficit stuff kid.” Things did get better. He was always aloof in his responses, but he started to tell me some stories. When I told him I was here on behalf of a student magazine, he told about the first interview he and Koerner had ever done. It was for a U of M publication called the Ivory Tower in 1962. He told me of how his writing career started with a simple suggestion to a friend. His two buddies Paul Nelson and John Pankake had started a Folk periodical called the Little Sandy Review. Glover had suggested that they start covering some blues, to which Nelson replied, “Man, we don’t know shit about the blues. Why don’t you write it?” He stayed close with Nelson and wrote for many of the same publications. He was one of the first writers Rolling Stone approached when they were starting out in the late 60’s. He told me stories about Jac Holzman, the Elektra Records founder who had signed them. He described Jac as an, “Ivy league type. Preppy sort of guy, real smart business man though.” The story was about an incident in which Jac had been continuously cutting wires in the elevator at his record company so he wouldn’t have to listen to the Muzak. When they installed some heavy duty wires, Jac responded by going onto the roof and “disabling” the antenna. We had just started talking about some shows they’d played at the Guthrie Theater, opening for the likes of Miles Davis, Led Zeppelin, and The Who, when it was time for them to take the stage. I thanked him as he walked off. I could have listened for days. As they’ve done a countless number of times, Koerner and Glover took the stage and began to settle in. Koerner would handle all the vocals, as well as all explanations and occasional wise cracks. He started off by explaining a little about their music. He said that the songs he played were often found in old books of taken from records. “The thing about ’60s bar style is that you don’t know who the authors of the songs are. It’s more of a reflection of the culture than it is of the person.” And with that, they hit the ground running. They barreled through several of their traditional favorites. I can’t say with an honest heart that folk’s a genre on which I claim expertise. I can say, however, that the lyrics and the accompanying spirit are relevant to us all. The Woody Guthrie number, “More Pretty Women than One,” holds great pertinence with any U of M attending fellow with a working pair of eyes. The
next song bore the chorus “Irene goodnight, and goodnight Irene. I’ll see you in my dreams.” Is there a soul among us who hasn’t dreamed of the unattainable love? The tune after touched on the age old dilemma of, “Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em.” “And that goes for both the gentlemen and lamarc norberg dies out here tonight,” added Koerner. The song ballooned to its final line of, “Ohhh but when you get lucky, whoa man, reality won’t be unkind.” The two crafty vets then tore into their respective instruments, adding a playful series of “whoops” and “hollers” over the top. Koerner also played the title track off of the solo album he made in the ’60s with Willy Murphy entitled, Running, Jumping, Standing Still. Glover then picked up his guitar and sang an old blues number by Sonnie and Brownie. He had a strong, bluesy voice, which was as well maintained as Koerner’s. Their on stage banter was hilarious, making odd observations and tossing out random facts and quotes. At one point Koerner began to play morse code in to his Red Stripe bottle in an attempt to see if their were any ham radio operators in the audience. During a stretch of three originals, Koerner started with his “sweetest song,” and followed with his “meanest song.” The first was true to form: an intimate tale voiced in a tone of true serenity. The “mean song” was indeed a polar opposite. Crisp and biting lyrics sung over a vibrant guitar, Glover swooping in to steal the stage midway through. Just before he did, in a display of partnership only 40 years of playing could produce, Koerner cried out, “Look out man!” It proved a deserving warning as I was nearly knocked on my ass. His harmonica took hold and wouldn’t let go; high and fast it flew up over the top, jittering madly, out of control yet still a perfect accompaniment. They stood to resounding applause, but they couldn’t stop yet. We wanted more. Glover started to pack things up while Koerner bowed comically. Koerner would eventually sit back down and grab his guitar, with a reluctant Glover to follow. They played two more together, and then Koerner closed it out on his lonesome. The song was “Rattlesnake,” a tune fans of the HBO series Deadwood might recognize. Koerner sang with an impassioned country howl evoking images of quick draws and whisky bottle brawls. Aided only by the stomp of his foot, he quickly created an aura of complete captivation. I didn’t think things could get any better, and then it happened. It was nothing short of a Folk induced miracle. The members of the audience, a solid showing of over-the-hill, white Minnesotans mind you, found the rhythm. They began to clap in unison, adding their shouts of delight. They then started to clap off beat as well, but to an undeniably, sound-enhancing effect. My mind was blown. Koerner and Glover will be playing every Thursday night at the 400 Bar at least through the first two weeks of February (likely further). Watching this show, I’d never felt closer to the incredible musical heritage our city claims. I’d invite everyone who has a chance to get out and feel the same.
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Photography/
brennan vance
Photo contest Win a Holga
18/31 January–06 February 2007
Send submissions and questions to Ethan Stark at estark@wakemag.org by Feb 8th
Arbitrary Awards Best handicap stall slang: Cadillac stall Honorable mention: Wheeler Washer Wrinkliest: Bob Dylan’s face Honorable mention: R.U. Ballsac Best cure for venereal disease: Penicillin Worst cure for venereal disease: Baked beans Best form of birth control: Diaphragm
WEBSITE OF THE ISSUE
Honorable mention: World of Warcraft
http://www.fellowlike.com.tw/en/
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The Liminal, a literary journal sponsored by The Wake Student Magazine is now accepting submissions. We welcome everyone to please send poetry, prose, short fiction, creative non-fiction, art & photography to Liminal@wakemag.org. Submissions should be 2,000 words or less. Art & photography must be sent at a resolution of 300 DPI. In addition, we have free copies of past issues of the Liminal available in the Wake office. If you would like a copy, please send us an e-mail so we can make arrangments for receiving.
Deadline for Submissions:
March 9th, 2007 Liminal@wakemag.org
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