The day I lost my best friend.

I still can't believe my baby girl is gone.



She was the best dog in the WORLD.

Freckles Marie Carson
Age 15
May 24th 1994 - March 31st 2010

3 Things I Learned Today

1. Always let the ones you love know how much you love them every single day. You never know when you won't have that chance anymore.

2. Vermont has no venues.

3. I am NOT a troll.

4. Do NOT sleep with your co-workers.

Alvin Ailey: The Best of 20 Years & Revelations

Although I have never been a dancer for even a moment of my life, attending modern dance shows is not something I am entirely all that unused to. My younger cousin, Cortland, has participated in all styles of dance…jazz, ballet, hip-hop and many others…for as long as I can remember. I have always felt that she could dance before she could walk, making her one of the more kinesthetically graceful people I know. But race has never crossed my mind when thinking about what she does. When Reggie came before us, discussing topics of racial stereotyping, pigeonholing & internalized racism, millions of thoughts came rushing to my mind, newly formed ideas that made me think about dance and my cousin in an entirely different way.

My cousin Cortland’s parents had always struggled. With her mother being white and her father being black, in the very beginning her parents had faced a lot of challenges many interracial couples have had to deal with in the past just because they did not marry within their own race. They were seen as different and, often times, even by family…their own blood, not “normal”. Since she came from two differently-raced parents, Cortland, as a result, is both races, and with that, she has to (at least by societal demands) live up to her highest potential in both worlds.

Reggie talked a lot about this in his presentation. Since he is black and had always dreamed of being a classical ballet dancer, two things that do not always easily coincide in the minds of members of a very unfortunately racist society, he has had many struggles, too. He discussed how many people often pigeonhole African American individuals, particularly the strong, very muscular males, to be highly athletic in sports. However, since he wanted to do classical ballet, Reggie had to push his way through these stereotypes and discover how he alone could break the barriers in many people’s minds about what it takes to do just that.

After hearing what Reggie had to say, I really started thinking about how hard it must be for Cortland to follow his same path. Even though she was “blessed” – at least to the ballet world – with her mother’s long, slender limbs, she was also given many of the same African American attributes which Reggie told us were not easily accepted in the ballet community. Regardless, Cortland gets up on stage for every dance performance and dances just as beautifully as all the other more stereotypically “accurate” Caucasian dances. And just to add, she is actually one of the top dancers at her academy. So this just shows that it does not matter what you look like, black, brown, green, orange or yellow, if you want to dance, you should be able to and should be proud of your accomplishments to boot.

The performance of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was absolutely spectacular. The space in which they performed, The Auditorium, was breathtakingly gorgeous. From the moment you entered the seating area, all you could see was immense, open, gold leaf-trimmed space. The gold curves with twinkling lights that framed the golden curtained stage to the two large semi-circle murals on the left paired with the one atop the stage depicting the seasons, life’s journey and life and death brought deeper thought into the building. Golden, engraved decorative elliptical arches with an argyle-like pattern of connected diamonds with lights sprinkled intermittently glistened above us as our eyes were drawn to the names of the great classical composers at the front of the theater. Louis Sullivan (with the help of Frank Lloyd Wright, of course!) was a genius. And that is putting it lightly. His architecture – his art – always has a way of taking you to other places and transcending the immediate moment to remind you there is still beauty in the world. To say the least, he “done good.”



“Best of 20 Years”, the first portion of the 2-hour performance, was very similar to the types of dance pieces I have seen in the past. The compilation of upbeat, energetic songs with bright costumes and crazy dance moves contrasted with slow, delicate, sweeping movements set to graceful, smooth and flowing melodies was nothing out of the ordinary. It was nice to have variation between different dance styles and song tempo to keep things moving throughout the night.

If I am going to be honest, I was not really a fan of the large ensembles nor the solo artists for this portion of the show; I much more preferred the middle area of the spectrum with the duets and smaller group pieces. The only exception I would have to this individually set “rule” per say in this portion would be the piece entitled “Frames”. In this instance there was one man performing alone. He was wearing nothing but a small, tight pair of red spandex shorts (mind you, this was not the reason I liked it!) with his only dance partners being a white chair and a small bouquet of red flowers. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance because I felt it spoke the most to me. The text addressed ideas of racism in a metaphor by likening blackness to loneliness. I know I cannot personally, racially identify with this statement, but it was the combination of his bending, contorting, graceful movements set to the words of his accompanying song that really moved me. I felt that his dance performance really drew me into his world and helped me to understand how it feels to think that black is equivalent to lonely.

The other portions of “Best of 20 Years” would have to be the pieces entitled “Shelter” and “Lettres D’Amour.” “Shelter” was a piece performed by six men. I thought that this portion was incredible because the rhythm with loud drum beats were reminiscent to that of real African drum beats. Then paired with animalistic movements and an overlaying text describing how people (I think it was talking about African Americans?) are an endangered species always searching and needing to thrive, it was sure to be an amazing thing to watch. On the other hand, I enjoyed “Lettres D’Amour” because of its sultry, seductive, feminine vs. masculine messages. It was just a fun watch.

On the contrary, the pieces I did not enjoy as much were “Bad Blood,” a solo piece done by a man that involved a lot of contorting, rolling around and squawking that I did not understand and another solo piece done by a woman called “Grace”. These two pieces were very hard to watch. I just felt that the fast, awkward, spastic movement set to slow music did not really fit in my brain. Regardless, I applaud the two individuals for their great effort as I know I could never in a million years make my body move like that let alone do something so physically tasking. I am sure that those two, with their strangeness, were meant to make me think…and they did. Even though I did not fully enjoy watching those moments or really understand what they meant, I appreciate the performers to the fullest for sharing it with me; although I did not connect with them, I felt enlightened somehow just by watching and being a part of it.

“Revelations,” the second portion of the show, was definitely my overall favorite part to watch. I am not sure if this was because it had more of a theme, because I enjoyed the music more or because of its world-famous status. Ultimately, I am sure it was a combination of these. One thing that really struck me throughout the entirety of this performance was the way the audience reacted to the pieces. Many people clapped, hooted and hollered and danced in their seats. Now, it is not that they did this -- as I found it hard to not do it, too – it was that they were in The Auditorium Theater, laden in gold with an opera house feel clapping, hooting and hollering and dancing in their seats in a manner that would be entirely looked down upon by the owners and employees of a real opera house. It was interesting just to notice, absorb and be a part of that contrast.

I loved everything about “Revelations”. I loved the earth tone colors of the costumes. I loved the colors of the backgrounds – especially the sun/moon during the “Move, Members, Move” section. I loved the dancing. And I loved the props used. I liked the “Pilgrim of Sorrow” section most for its slower, soulful music and movements all cloaked in brown costuming that focused on togetherness. I felt they really emphasized the idea of the “group” that we would have seen during the slave era; it was getting to the core of the emotion behind gospel music. I absolutely loved the piece entitled “Fix Me, Jesus” with the two individuals dancing together. Yes, they performed something similar to traditional classical ballet, but they really showed their pure, intense talent. With the girl’s strong, arching legs as she held herself up with one and put another straight up in the air as she bent her body backward and the man’s strong arms as he held her above him – this truly made for a great show.



The “Take Me to the Water” section was my favorite of the three. I loved the use of white and blue scarves, white umbrellas, white costumes and white streamer-like sticks as props. The way they stretched out the long, shiny blue and white fabric truly did make it look like water. My favorite song performed was “I Wanna Be Ready,” even though I did sing “Wade in the Water” in high school, and it gave me a bit of a flashback. Again, I break my own rule here by liking a solo performer, but this guy just had so much talent as he danced alone to such an intense song.



As I previously mentioned, I really feel like it was the combination of music, color, props and dancing that made this large gospel and earth-themed piece work. And yes, even though I said I loved everything about it, you have to have a least favorite part about everything. The section entitled “Move, Members, Move” was great with its bright red background, vivid yellow costumes and humorous fan/chair/hat combo, but I just was not feeling it as much as I was the other pieces. That was until after it ended and a never-ending audience applause led to a more upbeat encore of “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham.” I really felt that this encore, with me jumping to my feet and clapping and swaying along, was what made the final section worth it. I am almost certain that the members of Alvin Ailey knew the audience wanted to get up and rock out with them, so I was glad they allowed us to let go and dance along with them.



This performance by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was enriching and filling to the fullest. After it ended I wanted more, not wanting it to stop. This show and Reggie’s discussion helped me to understand a part of my family – my life – a bit more than I had in the past and for this I will be eternally grateful. I have already told Cortland to check out Alvin Ailey and I can only hope that one day I can attend a concert with her and just see her glow with excitement, elation and relief in the knowledge that she is not alone.

A little diddly on an ensemble called the William Ferris Chorale

Words like “crescendo”, “andante”, “a capella”, “pianissimo” and “vibrato” have almost always been in my vocabulary. Such music theory terms were a big part of my every day life first when I played the piano starting at the ripe age of six; more recently, however, they began to form an even more important role in middle school through high school. This is because I joined my school’s choir. But contrary to what I thought when I graduated high school, I did get to put on my alto 1 mixed choir girl ears and listen to the William Ferris Chorale and the Spirito! Bravura singers in the same way I would have listened to other schools at state music competitions and festivals.

Even though I do come from such a musical background, it is still very difficult to sum up the beauty and wonderful sounds I hear at choir concerts, especially when they are coming from a very musically talented group like the William Ferris Chorale. It has always been such a simpler task for me to write up my thoughts about a bold, marble sculpture or a gorgeous painting made from oil on canvas, or to spill my thoughts of why certain lighting was used on a set or what the deepest meaning and interpretations of a plot line in a play could be. But for some reason it has always been a feat for me to capture things like how warm, rich and round some note or vowel sounded or the way a certain run of staccato notes or lines of dissonance made me feel. To me, music is something that has to be there right in front of you (or behind you on a chapel organ balcony as the case may be) for you to truly feel it and to express your emotions on it. It is really hard to go back a day later – or even an hour really – and say something like, “Oh, I really liked the tone or vowel shape was on page 3, bar 57 in such a such a song.” Regardless, I will try my best here.

To begin, the atmosphere of the Madonna della Strada Chapel at Loyola University was just absolutely breath-taking. Now, to be honest, the chapel colors themselves were a bit off for me. The gold, sacred images along the sides of the chairs and behind the altar were stunning and beautifully done and the stained-glass was great to look at. As I sat there listening to the gorgeous music I wondered to myself what it all looked like during the day. Is it brighter? Shinier? Even more colorful? On the other hand, the white ceiling, walls and rest of the building were just a tad too much for me; I have never been a big fan of lots of white in any space, chapel or not. However, I do feel that the acoustics of the room more than made up for it. With the William Ferris Chorale being a much smaller ensemble that I am used to, it really surprised me as to how big they sounded with the amplification of the chapel’s acoustics.

In having been in choirs in the past, I know personally what a challenge it can be for the singers to maintain strong diction and to not get off beat-wise with one another – as well as with the organist and other string instruments – when you are in such an echoey space. Both the William Ferris Chorale and the all female high school Spirito! Bravura group did an amazing job with this difficult task. I applaud them greatly for their efforts.

It was wonderful to hear a Requiem again; I have not heard one in quite a while. Each of the movements within the piece complimented one another beautifully. It was interesting to hear the progression in mood change that was reflected by different volume increases and decreases as each part was performed. The baritone soloist for both the Offertory and Libera Me sections, Michael Brown, was just extraordinary. He had such beautiful tone and his subtle use of vibrato went along nicely with the smooth sounds of the stringed instruments. Along with this, to my great pleasure, the acoustics of the room really picked up his gorgeous voice and amplified it to the perfect volume as it floated atop the accompaniment.

The Agnus Dei section was by far my favorite movement of this requiem. It had a great use of crescendos and decrescendos at such pivotal points in the music that had their way of making my spine tingle and stomach float up into my chest as the happy butterflies within tried to escape. I also felt this part was just that much better than the rest because it was the William Ferris Chorale section sung just after the Spirito! Bravura girls sang the Pie Jesu section on their own. Now I do not mean to speak poorly of these high school girls, but compared to the William Ferris Chorale their voices were just not as mature. They seemed breathier, lighter and quieter than the full-diaphragm, round, solid and mature voiced of their elders. They had beautiful tone and diction for a great majority of their time on-stage, they just did not seem as confident and solid; their lack of enthusiasm in their facial expressions and posture definitely did not help their case either. Overall, though requiems are meant to be masses for the dead, these chorales made them seem very full of life and left me dying to hear more (haha).

The high school girls group, Spirito! Bravura, could definitely hold their own as they sang from behind us in the balcony William Ferris Chorale-less. They have a very strong alto section as a base to their sopranos’ floating melodies and their overall sound was very rich and nicely blended. I absolutely loved when the up-beat rhythms of “Ain’t no grave can hold my body down” came from behind. The instant their voices belted out that first perfectly staccatoed “Ain’t” the entire audience turned around in their seats to capture the soul that was bursting from above. I even clapped along a pit to help cheer them on. That piece was definitely a needed one to liven things up and really get everyone interested. What I enjoyed most about listening to this group though was that since they were not directly in front of us, I could look in front of me at the gorgeous murals of Jesus and the Virgin Mary and see the messages in the songs come to life; that was definitely an added bonus I was not expecting.

The part I most enjoyed about the entire concert was probably the section of poetry turned to song composed by Eric Whitacre that was performed by the William Ferris Chorale. The sustained, round, warm notes in “Lux Aurumque” made my heart jump, the interesting intertwining mix of fast and slow sections with crescendos in “With a Lily in Your Hand” and the great difference between happy, warm chords and dissonant chords and the hard-to-tell-if-it-would-ever-end ending in “Sleep” kept me on edge the entire time and were very fun to listen to. But my absolute favorite part was definitely the piece entitled “i thank you God for most this amazing day.” Never in my life have I heard such a cool way to adapt a poem into song. The words were not sentence-like, but the music just flowed so perfectly. It made me remember that sometimes the lyrics of certain songs are not supposed to be the most dominating, important part of the song. In some cases, the music that is going along with the words is really amplifying the overall message the piece is trying to convey. Each word flowed into the next with no real sense of punctuation, making it difficult to understand sentences, but the music and voices themselves (with the help of the amazing chapel acoustics) amplified certain words with crescendos to show that they were more important than others.

On the other hand, the piece that I did not like as much was “See, the conqu’ring hero comes.” It was a nice piece, it just did not make sense in the place it was sang on the line-up of the show. This piece, sang to the tune of the hymn called “Thine Be the Glory” just felt anti-climactic being placed after the gorgeous Whitacre composition. Regardless of placement, I still enjoyed it to the very end, happy to applaud as loudly and long as I did.

Overall, this was an absolutely wonderful performance. The order of songs fit together nicely for most of the show and all of the performers – vocalists, director and instrumental musicians included – put a lot of effort into making it a truly memorable night. Anything that allows me to smile back on the high school years of ore (?) is worth my time. I was very happy to use the rusty listening skills I had not brought out in a while and the William Ferris Chorale and Spirito! Bravura ensembles were definitely the groups to do it do. Bravissimo!



http://www.williamferrischorale.org/

Encounter #2: The Sleeping Concert

“I’ve been here before,” I thought to myself as my roommate and I entered the dark, crowded, energetic music venue. It was just past 5’oclock PM on a Sunday evening – on the evening of Valentine’s Day to be exact – and rather than being out on dates or having a fun girls’ night out to celebrate, we decided to do things a little more on the unconventional side. When one thinks Valentine’s Day, they usually think of flowers, hearts and soft, romantic music, not hundreds of skinny jean-wearing mid-pubescent teenaged boys and with dyed black, long hair, swinging their arms and legs around and moshing with the loud, harsh sounds of metal/hardcore rock music surrounding them. Regardless, this is what I decided to do to encounter the band The Sleeping for a second time, Valentine’s Day or not.

Located near the South Side of Chicago on South State Street, adjacent to Chinatown, Reggie’s Rock Club is one of Chicago’s fairly popular rock music venues. It is a rock concert venue that both allows audiences of individuals who are 17 years and older as well as shows for all ages. Most of the music showcased at this venue is alternative or harder rock music, but more recently has been the hit venue in Chicago for the metal and hardcore rock genres I was searching for. With its downward sloping floor that allows for great views of the bands onstage and 80-person balcony, this venue was surely created to keep fans coming back for more.

Before arriving at 2109 South State Street I had in mind what I should be expecting. I had been to several concerts in my lifetime, some of which included harder rock and even metal shows. I knew the music would be blasting from the speakers, the fans would be throwing their bodies everywhere as they moshed to the music and the alcohol would be flowing from the tap at the bar as if it were water flowing from the famous Victoria Falls waterfall in Africa. And all of this was true for this encounter.

Upon arrival to the venue we gathered along in the long line that stretched halfway down the block. Most of the fans in the queue wore some variation of tight, holey skinny jeans, tight band t-shirts, a bandana around their dyed black and side swept, long-haired heads and some brand of chunky skater shoes or Vans brand flats. Now I am not one who is quick to generalize, but my description here is accurate; at least 90% of the gathered fans wore something along the lines of this. In the music world a person who shows up to concerts (regardless of who is performing) wearing tight skinny jeans and shirts and has that stereotypically “emo” or “hardcore” hairstyle is considered to be a “scene” kid. This means that they are not really there because the music is all that great; they are only there because they want others to see them there – they want to look “cool” by going to a concert. However, I should not generalize in saying all of these young fans were scene kids. I am sure at least some of those hundreds of people were there because they really love bands like The Sleeping or Scary Kids Scaring Kids.

The line-up of the four bands went in order starting at 6 o’clock (shows always start at least an hour after the doors open…no clue why bands cannot be ready by that time) and ending after 11; the band order was Rosaline, Eli, The Sleeping and Scary Kids Scaring Kids. Though my main focus in attending this show was to see and fully experience The Sleeping live in concert, it is important to take a minute to understand how the other bands in the line-up compliment them. Rosaline was more of a lighter “screamo” genre, and Eli was just plain hard rock, while Scary Kids Scaring Kids was post-hardcore and harder “screamo”. I felt that by steadily progressing from lighter rock with a little bit of screaming to ending with very hard rock music combined with harsh screaming and bellowing growls, the fans were given time to easier adjust to the vast difference between silence and loud metal music, as well as to get more and more pumped up about the louder, harsher music that lay ahead.

After listening to The Sleeping’s music on iTunes and really hearing and understanding their lyrics, this concert meant a lot more to me. In the past when attending similar shows, I had really struggled with connecting to the music and with the artists who created it. However, since I closely paid attention to the lyrics and what they were saying, I felt much more connected to The Sleeping’s band members as people and better understood and appreciated the messages they were trying to convey with their music.

With this, in the past it was difficult for me to just simply attend concerts similar to this. That is because at metal or hardcore rock concerts, a mosh pit is generally formed. In mosh pits, fans either move around together in a circular motion – a “circle pit” – pushing and shoving one another, or swing their arms and legs around (often hitting each other) while doing something called windmill dancing or two-stepping. While doing any of these types of “dancing/moshing”, many individuals get hurt – breaking legs, getting black eyes or getting serious bruises – something that I really do not want to do while I am at a concert. When I go to shows I am there to experience music, not get beat up by reckless teenage boys.

However, since I really wanted to encounter this band to the fullest, I figured I had to at least stand on the outside of the mosh pit, which I did. Terrified I would get my nose broken or ribs bruised, I braced myself at the outer, left hand edge of the mosh pit, shoving person after sweaty person as they hurled their swinging bodies into me. I stayed here for the entirety of The Sleeping’s set and luckily I emerged unharmed.

Looking back on things, I probably had too many preconceived notions and judgments about metal/hardcore rock concerts. Before I went to this concert I felt that metal/hardcore rock concerts were dangerous, scary and difficult to listen to. However, I am really glad that I decided to just let go of my worries and fully experience the concert as if I were experiencing it for the first time. Since I was totally open to the experience, I was allowed to understand it without having any judgmental or close-minded ideas before really encountering it.

Surprisingly enough, I really enjoyed this experience. Because I was open to do anything and really let the situation take me wherever it led me, I learned to appreciate the experience for what it was. I truly feel that experiences like this are crucial in the process of learning to appreciate things we do not understand or connect with. This concert was exhilarating to me and I absolutely plan on taking more opportunities in the future to experience other art and cultural events in this way.

Where's your head at?

It did not hit me that I wanted to go into music promotion until about a year and a half ago. And even then I figured I would end up working at a small music venue, alongside small bands or even for a totally un-related company that just deals with event planning and advertising without having the slightest bit to do with music. I never in a million years thought about working for a record label. I mean, yes, it has crossed my mind that once bands get good enough they sign on to labels, but I never really thought about me being the person who promotes them and helps to sell their product once they do so.

After getting this internship at Victory Records I have done a lot of thinking about what this means for my future and where my life is going to go from here on out. Victory has helped me to open doors to so many future job opportunities that I did not even realize were out there. Much like how I never thought about working for a record label, I never thought about working for smaller inter-linked companies, such as record stores, bars, universities, or even comic book stores, that help to promote different artists and the music they create; I did not originally realize how much networking is done within the sales and marketing department – or even in the entirety – of a record label. Having this small bit of extra knowledge has really reassured me in that I do not have to necessarily work for some huge corporation to promote music; I can work for a smaller, more people-friendly company and still get the same goals accomplished. Knowing this has really got me thinking about all of the different types of jobs I could have that I would have never thought of if it were not for Victory.

On a different note, something that crosses my mind on a daily basis while interning at Victory is the question of “What is professional?” Victory has no real dress code, everyone on the staff wears t-shirts and jeans on a daily basis, and with that it has no language code. That is, unless you were to count swearing as a code in the English language. About 90% of the workers there shoot out f-bombs 5 times a sentence while other various curse words are strewn throughout what they say; I have certainly learned the diversity of certain words since starting this internship. Yet at the same time when these individuals are making phone calls or making business propositions with retail stores or what have you, they are continuing on with this harsh verbiage. Regardless, I think that some of the recipients of those calls or propositions are dealing out the same sort of speak.

But like I previously mentioned, all of this casual dress and profanity is really making me question the difference between being professional and not. In my past jobs professional meant uniform clothing, whether this be a literal uniform you would see in a food services job or the uniform dress of business casual seen at an office job, and “professional” language, meaning all employees speak clearly, confidently, intelligently with no slang or profanity. So after delving through this definition I now am left wondering does this mean Victory is not professional?

After thinking it over for a while, I have come to my own individual, personal agreement that the word “professional” is applied differently to each company. Each company is its own culture; it has its own language, its own style of dress, its own way of doing things. It is funny that I would come to this conclusion too, as I just took a Communication Studies course to fulfill my major entitled Communication in Organizations. The extra funny part is that we discussed the cultures of organizations and that they differ depending on each diverse organization. I guess that class really did pay off in the end.

Even though Victory has its own definition of what it means to be “professional”, I still find myself acting a bit up-tight, making sure I always speak formally and politely, even though the culture at the record label does not require me to do so. My biggest fear is that if I were to stop acting this way for some reason, I would lose my ability to act “professionally” and end up making myself look like an idiot in future workplaces or “professional” situations. I do not really feel that companies mean to have a certain “code” for how to do things; the employees there construct their own definitions of things and truly make the culture what it is based on how they do things. So I suppose what should happen if you are new to a company is that you should just interact with people in the organization, see how they do things and how they talk and dress, and sort of mimic them. If everyone at the company has a unified understanding of how things are run within that company, it seems as though things will run more smoothly and the individuals will feel more connected.

But these things do not really matter much to me. I try not to focus all of my time worrying if what I am wearing will be socially accepted by my 30-something supervisor who curses like a sailor and dresses like most laid-back college students. What really matters to me at Victory is that I absolutely love it there. I love the people. I love the atmosphere. And most importantly, I love what I get to do. When did I ever think that I would be the person putting together marketing plans for bands at a real life record label? I never could have imagined that! Furthermore, it makes me feel SO important that everyone at the company looks at these plans that I have created AND they think they look amazing! While I see so many people in this program groan when they have to drag themselves out of bed and pull on a pair of business slacks, I spring out of bed, pull on a pair of jeans and happily sing to myself on my way to work. I have never been so excited to wake up in the morning and start my day. It brings me such joy and personal pleasure to be able to…to be honored to…do the job that I get to do. You know you have finally found just exactly what you want to do with your life career-wise when you come to the point where you would rather be at work than at home.

We'll bring the noise.

"It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

An Irish Night

Celtic music has always been a very important genre in my life while aging. I began listening to it at a very young age, particularly after gaining an increasing interest in traveling abroad to the United Kingdom. At that very young age I knew the type of music traditional to the United Kingdom was Celtic music, as the Celts were some of the first inhabitants of the area. After learning this, I remember asking for my first Celtic music compact discs as early as 10-12 years old and wore them out as soon as I got them. My love for this genre has lasted just as strong every since.

In having a long-lived love for the genre of traditional Celtic music, attending the Old Town School of Folk Music for some traditional Irish folk music felt just like home to me. Patrick Finnegan’s intro in class with his different versions of flute got me really pepped up to what we would hear later that night. Just hearing the gorgeous staccatos his fingers made as he blew through his wooden instrument gave me shivers, taking me back a year ago when I stood on the green, rocky, sheep-filled Aran Islands Patrick described as he gave us our talk. I closed my eyes as he played through his Jigs, Slip Jigs and Reels and reminisced on what life is actually like in the beautiful land of Ireland.

Listening to live, traditional Irish folk music with fiddles, tin flutes, Bodhran drums, wood flutes, mandolins, Ulian bag pipes and song on Saint Patrick’s Day was more special to me than I could have ever asked for. Not only was it an important event because of my love for Celtic music and that it was a traditional Irish holiday, but it was also very special to me because it helped to take me back to a place where I actually was exactly one year ago; I have always felt that music has quite the sneaky way of taking us to places – whether it be through memories, spiritually, mentally or emotionally – and this musical experience really helped to take me back to a place in memory (which evoked strong mental images and emotions) that I have needed to be since I left. I have missed the United Kingdom every day since I left, so this performance truly helped to at least take me back to my love in some sense.

The Old Town School of Folk Music was an extremely interesting place. The large building surprised me upon arrival; I did not realize how large it would be, especially how many floors it would have. It seemed as though hundreds of musicians of all age, stature, skill and instrument poured out of the building while we Chicago Semester students were trying to enter. That first impression was very impacting to me. It showed me several things. First, it taught me that anyone of any age can learn music. It does not matter how young or old you are when you pick up an instrument. All that matters is that you are doing it and loving every moment. Second, it showed me that what I was going to hear would be good. If that many people knew about the school who were just students, it meant that the talent there of experienced individuals had to be immense. And finally, it reminded me how all different types of people enjoy all different types of music. Sometimes it is hard to remember that not everyone follows the stereotypes set before them. It does not matter your race, age or appearance – if you are black, brown, purple, 75, 32, 5 – you can love creating music, and folk music at that, just as much as the next person.

The show itself was exhilaratingly wonderful. I felt that starting off with high school students really emphasized what Patrick had said about very young people picking up their instrument of choice and accomplishing a lot well before their peers with other genres of music; traditional Irish folk music really is something that runs in families and is picked up by children at a very young age. I enjoyed clapping along to the several jigs, slip jigs, reels and polkas this group performed. It was also very neat when all 45 of the people got up on stage and played together with all of their different types of instruments; seeing that tin flute and those bag pipes really got my heart racing.

My favorite instrument played was definitely the wooden flute. Fiddles and drums come in at a very close second, but for some reason the flute has always had my heart. I just love how it floats so effortlessly and quickly with sliding (possibly made up/not by-the-book) trills atop its fellow melodic fiddles with its higher range and warm, whistling tone. Because of this, my favorite portion of the performance was when the one high school boy played his set of songs with the one male drummer as accompaniment. But when it comes down to it, to really get the hoot-n-hollerin’, perfect traditional Irish sound, all of the instruments together is really necessary for the best, most realistic sound. I also very much enjoyed hearing the one woman sing her piece that was both in English and Gaelic. This was probably my second favorite portion of the performance. It is not often that you hear a soloist sing Gaelic a cappella music 30 feet in front of you. I think she did a beautiful job, even though she was very, very nervous. I found it very interesting that the singing she did reflected that of the flutes, and thus the bag pipes, in that she used lots of staccatos and sliding notes. It was very beautifully done, and I wished she could have sang more.



Now I need to be perfectly honest. I ended up leaving right at intermission so that I could attend The Tossers’ concert at Metro at 10:30 that same night. The Tossers is a Celtic rock band that is on Victory Records’ label, and it was highly encouraged by my supervisor that I attend, especially because it was just three other girls and me that really promoted our hearts out for the cause. I also felt that by attending that concert, I got a heightened sense of accomplishment because I was able to stand there amongst the 900 people there and say “I did this.” I was one of three other individuals who did all the work to attract 900 people to one single event. That is just amazing to me.




However, I did get to apply some of my newfound knowledge to this concert that I had previously only thought I would be able to apply to the traditional Irish music. Patrick taught us all about jigs, slip jigs, reels, tin flutes, fiddles and many other things. Well, not only did we get these at the Old Town School of Folk Music, we also got these exact SAME things at Metro, a famous rock and roll venue in the heart of Wrigleyville, Chicago.

I had never analyzed a rock and roll concert so closely until I went to this show. Acting as a human metronome, I listened very carefully for tempo and time, seeing to what type of song the majority of The Tossers’ songs were. The results concluded that about 90% of their songs were 4/4 reels, followed by a close second of slip jigs of 6/8 time with regular jigs bringing up the rear. I deduced that the reasoning behind having so many songs with the exact same time signature and style was that it is just honestly simpler to put words to music that is in 4/4 time and in the reel style.

Some other comparisons I saw were the type of instruments used. The main vocalist played the mandolin, which Patrick told us was a common accompaniment instrument. There were also two regular guitarists and one drummer on a drum set – which are not out of the ordinary of any other rock band. However, the two main instruments that stood out were the fiddle and the tin flute. Yes…all one musician played was two different tin flutes for the entire performance. However, something that bugged me throughout the entire performance was that he had his hands in the WRONG place! Or at least in the wrong place as to what Patrick told us was the right way. This musician had his right hand on top of his left rather than the other way around. I wondered if this was because he was never formally taught and is left handed so it just made sense at the time, or if he is just left handed and decided he wanted to be different. Regardless, he played his staccatos and trills just as beautifully as anyone we heard with the more traditional music. The female fiddler was probably my favorite piece in the band though because she just played so smoothly; I definitely felt that, much like Patrick, she had picked up the instrument at a very young age in some bar in a suburb of Chicago. Very good!

So what types of conclusions have I come to after all of this? Irish music is the same at the very heart of things. It all revolves around the same styles – jig, slip jig and reel – and it requires the same instruments, such as fiddle and flute, to sound what we think of as “Irish”. Even more so, they both evoke the same exact reactions from people. In both venues beer was widely accepted and encouraged (much like it is in the real country), and audience members reacted the same to each style, clapping along, yipping, cheering, shouting and dancing.
I feel very blessed that I had the opportunity to go to both shows and really learn for myself what Irish music means to people – both audience members and musicians alike – and delve even deeper into a culture I was already so enthusiastic about. I have so many more thoughts about these events that words truly cannot describe, so hopefully there will be time in class for me to enlighten the class a bit more about what I learned. All I know is that I love both of them through their differences and similarities, and it was definitely the best way I know possible that I could have spent my Saint Patrick’s Day.

No person is ever truly alone

No person is ever truly alone.
Those who live no more,
Whom we loved,
Echo still within our thoughts,
Our words, our hearts.
And what they did
And who they were
Becomes a part of all that we are,
Forever.

Uncle Jim

James D. Corwin

Born: September 16, 1932
Died: March 02, 2010

Iowa CityJames “Jim” D. Corwin, 77, of Iowa City died at his home Tuesday, March 2, 2010 following a brief illness.Memorial Services to celebrate Jim’s life will be at 11 am, Monday, March 8, 2010 at Coralville United Methodist Church with Rev. Doug Williams officiating. Inurnment will be in the columbarium at Oakland Cemetery. Visitation will be Sunday from 5 to 7 pm at Lensing Oak Hill, 210 Holiday Rd, Coralville, where a Masonic Service will be held at 6:30pm. Memorials may be directed to the Coralville United Methodist Church or to Camp Courageous.Jim was born September 16, 1932 in Marion, IA, the son of James and Blanche Remington Corwin. He was raised in Anamosa. Jim received his bachelor’s degree in speech from the University of Iowa. Jim lettered in fencing at the University of Iowa. From 1953 to 1955 he served in the US Army. On June 2, 1963 he married Barbara Becvar in Marion, IA. Jim and Barbara were longtime residents of Monticello, where Jim was a cashier at the Monticello State Bank for 37 years. In 1995 he and Barbara moved to Iowa City. Jim served on the boards of the Monticello School System and Junior Achievement. He was past president of the Jones County I Club, the Monticello and Iowa City Lions Club, Jaycees, past treasurer of the Camp Fire Girls, and member of the Monticello Masonic Lodge and Order of Eastern Star. Jim was a volunteer at the Iowa City Senior Center and played in the New Horizons Band and Swing Band. He served on the University of Iowa Board of Women’s Athletics “Iowa Plus Board” and the Speak Up Program. In 1997 Jim received the Governors Award for his volunteerism.Jim was an avid supporter of University of Iowa athletics. He especially enjoyed football, wrestling and all women sporting events.Jim is survived by his daughter, Janelle (Christopher) Roberts and granddaughter Cortland “Coco” Roberts, all of Iowa City; his sister, Bettymae Ketelsen of Marion; nephew, Kim (Susi) Ketelsen and niece, Jana (Ray) Carson, both of Marion. He was preceded by his parents and his wife, Barbara in 2004.Online condolences and memories may be directed to www.lensingfuneral.com

ARGH!

I'm so TIRED of feeling like a number!

When am I going to MEAN something to these people with whom I interact!?

You're my school...my place of higher education...my institution...my home for 4 years.

So WHY must you treat me like I do not matter!?

You don't know me. And I feel like you're happy to get rid of me.


STOP

sending me e-mails of events I cannot go to because I am not on campus.

STOP

disregarding the specifics I tell you in my e-mails.

STOP

sending me housing information as if I'm staying there another semester or year.

Just STOP

I am NOT insignificant.

Encounter #1

I had listened to metal/hardcore rock music before, but never with the intentions that I had in this case. It was all a former ex-boyfriend of mine would listen to, so before this encounter, I had only listened to the genre in a forced way, or at least not really by choice. To me, this genre of music has never really made sense; metal/hardcore rock music is loud, angry and people tend to beat each other up (and even bleed!) when they go to the concerts and join in the mosh pit. And after that break up with my ex this style became even more repulsive to me, so there really has not been much luck for it in my life. However, I have decided to give it a shot. My internship is at Victory Records for the semester and, ironically enough, about half of the artists we carry on the label are of the metal or hardcore rock genres. So, for my three encounters I have decided to really delve into this type of music so I can better comprehend why I do not understand it and hopefully learn how to better appreciate it.
I chose to first encounter this genre by listening to a band on the Victory Records label called The Sleeping on iTunes. The Sleeping formed near Long Island, New York in 2003 when founding members Salvatore Mignano and Cameron Kym wanted to try something new and different with their sound. In doing this, they began drifting from conventional music and now bring to their Victory Records audience furious hardcore post-punk and melodic indie-rock.
The album I selected to listen to is their newest release entitled What it Takes that debuted just over a year ago in February of 2009. It has 12 songs total with such fan favorites as Bomb the World and You’ll be a Corpse Before your Time. The first song on the album, You’ll be a Corpse Before your Time, instantly got me excited and turned on to the record because it pulls you in with a fast guitar riff which is soon followed by a speedy drum riff; the husky, almost hoarse melodic vocals of front man Doug Robinson with occasional screaming (literally) vocal moments by the other band members break in on top really making a tough, yet enthusiastic sound.
The third song on the album and another popular tune called Bomb the World starts off slower but builds with so much intensity, even including the chorus lyrics stating “We can chase down all our enemies, bring them to their knees. We can bomb the world to pieces, but we can’t bomb it into peace.” It then goes on to say “Violence brings one thing - more, more of the same. Miliatry madness, the smell of flesh and burning pain . . . and I sing power to the peaceful, love to the people y’all.” These lyrics really spoke to me. They are talking about real things - good things - like being peaceful and loving everyone. Listening to the lyrics was hard at times because there is a lot of screaming, but once I looked them up and now that I know what they are describing, I really enjoy and better appreciate the things these guys have to say. Their lyrics are powerfully emotional covering evocative yet incredibly interesting and heart-snaring topics such as chronic frustration, death and even bad acid trips finding their way into the songs. This band is already truly making me reconsider the former misconceptions and stereotypes I had about metal/hardcore rock music. I plan on looking up the lyrics of all of their songs, as well as the lyrics of other artists’ songs of the same genre, and I bet I will be pleasantly surprised.
Overall, this band has a really raw and passionate album on their hands. Listening to them has taught me that metal/hardcore rock music is not just all about murder, hell and suicide -- it is truly good at the heart of things. After listening to this album, I really want to go see The Sleeping live. For my next encounter I plan on seeing one of their upcoming shows and I absolutely cannot wait.

Mrs. Caliban (2-25-2010)

Is it all real or is it a figment of Dorothy’s imagination? This is something I have been wrestling with in my mind since I left the Lifeline Theater Thursday night after seeing the production of Mrs. Caliban. Regardless of all of this, I do realize what was real in this play: the messages it was sending. It really was not about a green man from a different land; the main points of the production were swirling around within messages of racism, the invasiveness and cruel judgment (even lies) of the media and the constitutions of traditional marriage where hints of notes on gender roles could be seen.



In using magical realism, Rachel Ingalls, the author of the original novel in which this play was based, seems to be criticizing American culture. Larry’s character is presented as someone who is “different”, being different, having a different “world” and having different ways to communicate. And even further than this, he is a person who is neglected by the “normal” people of the world, even considered a monster and savage creature. With this I felt that Ingalls was giving social commentary on racism and how we should not waste our time separating ourselves from others. We are all the same at heart - although Larry may not see it – just as Dorothy and Larry were very much the same on the inside, if not on the out.
The marriage between Fred and Dorothy mirrors the marriages of so many people in America these days. I feel that so many people try to stick to the conventional, traditional marriage, but instead find themselves struggling to even take a moment to look one another in the eye or touch each other to show that they are alive and have feelings. It is hard to tell where the marriage between Fred and Dorothy went wrong. Was it when he had that first affair? Was it when their son Scott died or when Dorothy miscarried? Who knows? Regardless, they are stuck in what seems like a never-ending cycle of a passionless, empty domestic ritual and loveless life.
And again we come to the question of whether or not Larry is real (or if any of the other characters are real) or if they are all different facets of her imagination…or even if they are all different parts of Dorothy herself in a sort of schizophrenic way. So many things point to yes while others point to no.
I personally believe that we are not truly supposed to know the answer to this question. I feel that what Ingalls really wanted to do was put her social commentary in a situation that seems believable but yet at the same time it really does not. Because really, topics such as racism and traditional marriage bring up questions of what is real…what is normal…what should and should not be. It is a representation of human truth -- what is real and why are humans so needy to know the answer of this question? So if I truly had to answer this, I would say that all of the characters could be in Mrs. Caliban’s head -- they are not just figments of her imagination, but they are parts of who she is and the life she may have wanted. They are symbols, each a piece in the pie that makes up human genuineness.



I really believe that the message trying to get across is that this world -- this situation with Larry in it -- is solely one human’s escape from the unacceptable reality around her. The end really highlight’s this idea in a surreal way in which everything, fact and fantasy, tumbles together and unravels; you truly cannot tell what is real and what is not. Like with the topic of media -- we never can honestly tell what is real and what is fabricated; we only have ourselves, our minds, to decipher what is true and what is not. Do we as humans dare to live as we want, unconventionally? Or will we be tied to a vacant, meaningless existence forever? I think it is up to us.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this play. I really loved having to think things through and sit there contemplating if it was real, if it was not and what it all meant at the heart of things. There are just so many things to think about -- the death, the commentary on present-day American culture and the effects of magical realism and symbolism. I cannot wait to discuss this performance as a class and to hear what everyone has to say in their perspectives, understandings and interpretations of the play.