Sarah Who?

Upon beginning our Friday morning feature writing class, Will informed the uninformed (me) that Republican presidential nominee John McCain had chosen his running mate: Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska. Politics had always put me to sleep, but this election, arguably one of our most historic, has kept my attention. Which is why I was surprised when I heard McCain's choice: I had never heard of her! I wondered, had everyone else heard of her and this was payback for all those years I didn't bother to inform myself? I was relieved when others also hadn't heard of her. Two thoughts come to mind on the subject: 1.) Somewhere, Hillary is angrily stomping on every one of her pantsuits, and 2.) If faced with the presidency, could the inexperienced Palin handle the enormous responsibility? Palin's political experience pales in comparison to Obama's running mate's, Joe Biden. It seems like you made a boo-boo, McCain! To read more about Palin, click here

Welcome back Students

After spending a semester here and being back in my dorm for a week, I do feel apart of the college community but it’s a rough welcome back. With the dorm internet issues, daily construction, renovations, and the over crowding; how are we expected to get settled in and ease into our personal routine? I understand that all of these changes are temporary and show signs of the college thriving but it is indirectly causing us as student to search and create for familiarities and comfort, few of whom pay little regards to other student by blaring their favorite songs out their dorm room windows during the day or jamming outside with their hooked up guitars. I only mention these things because not only does the construction start at 6:30 during the day with the construction workers hollering banter back and forth in front of my window but also now my fellow peers have also become a source of disturbing my studying habits. I am not crotchety by any means I love music and play guitar as well. I just don’t feel welcomed back.

A new kind of single-issue voter.

This might be a little dated at this point, but I thought the story(http://www.sadlyno.com/archives/10322.html ) revolving around this (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121755336096303089.html?mod=hpp_us_inside_today) story was pretty interesting.

Essentially a reporter (Amy Chozick) asks a Yahoo! message board if Obama's thin figure might be off-putting, since Americans are apparently barely-mobile bags of seething, jealous adipose. Before everyone starts mocking Chozick, she manages to snag a couple of choice quotes ("Yes I think He is to skinny to be President.Hillary has a potbelly and chuckybutt I’d of Voted for Her.I won’t vote for any beanpole guy") and runs with it. Vigilant bloggers call her out, and now there's a minor correction at the bottom of the article.

The whole saga kind of sums up a lot of the problems people have with the journalism relating to this election cycle, and it shows the growing role bloggers seem to be having in news. Just something I thought was kind of neat.

Small Towns, Big Artists

After reading this article in Roll magazine, I now have two new wishes: 1) to be Lilian Porter, or 2) to at least play with all of her toys.

Written by Roll's editor, Ross Rice, "The Secret Life of Figurines" is two profiles in one; part of the article describes Lilian Porter, the artist, and the rest of the article profiles her work (which really doesn't need much of a profile because photographs of her collection speak volumes). Porter is an artist who collects art, repositions it, and creates new art in the process. (NO! This has never been done before!!!....) She does so by arranging small figures she has found in antique sheds and shops around the world, but the messages her creations send are new takes on old pieces. What's more, the messages are spontaneously and unexpectedly funny, cute, warm, human, clever, and everything else that delineates such handiwork from the cornier messages of oh, say, a Hallmark card.

What did I like most about this article: Rice's writing or Porter's art? I have no answer to that question. The giddiness from both factors was overwhelming (hey, good expressive craftmanship from this area is something to be celebrated). Heading Roll magazine in Rosendale (right next to New Paltz), Rice profiles quite a few local creators, and his writing is always cozy, familiar, but grateful to its subjects. And Porter, well...look at the whimsy in her portfolio, and you'll understand why Rice wasted no time covering her.

Check out more of Roll's articles on their website, which shares a generous portion of the magazine online. The staff has also instituted a "virtual e-magazine" segment to the site, where you can flip through every physical page of the past two issues. Enjoy!

Landlords Not Only Take Your Money, but They are Also Huge Jerks

        So I got back to New Paltz today after a short trip home to find that my landlord and his girlfriend, whom I share a house with, decided to call it quits somewhere in the past forty-eight hours..... The last I knew, which was Friday, they were making wedding plans; but it turns out a little twenty-one year old "hussy" got in the way; I'm adding that little epithet in for my poor friend who would never even kill a fly let alone call her ex-boyfriend's mistress a slut. Now, as we all know, breakups can either be civil, or completely barbaric. In this case it turned out to be the latter. There currently boxes strewn across every surface of the house, along with tension thick enough to cut with a butter knife. She is taking it surprising well considering the jerk gave her a week to find a new place to live and she has four hundred pages of reading to do by Wednesday for her grad class; not to mention she had to find a place to bring her beloved dogs while she figured out where she was going to go. 

       All of this got me thinking, why do some break ups happen when we least expect it? It can seem like everything is going just peachy and then one morning, out of the blue.... Wham! Like being hit by a truck, a person's entire world can come crashing down around them. All of the plans, and goals, and dreams of the couple just age in the matter of one conversation, to the point where they seem so out of date and jaded that all but the shadow of them disappear into nothing.

      So, does that mean there are clues in relationships to figure out if perhaps, possibly, kinda- sorta-maybe, there's a chance it will all end in fire and brimstone?

      In the case of my landlord and his ex, I guess there could have been clues. Websites offer a myriad of dating and relationship advise, to find out if he's cheating, or if he will cheat, or how to be a good girlfriend, and what not to do. The list goes on and on. But really, there can't be any sure way to tell, because no one can predict the future, and no one can even comprehend how crazy and erratic some people can be. Dumb decisions are made every day. And maybe even though she feels like the world could end any second, tomorrow is another day, and maybe along with the next sunrise, she will see new insight... Or then again, maybe they will be back together again, remaking wedding plans and just looking at it as a bump in the road. For now though, I'm gunna hide in my room until its safe to come out.

What is going on with the t.v. and internet in new paltz

About three weeks ago I moved up here to New Paltz. At that time my roommates and I were in contact with Time Warner Cable to set up T.V. and internet. The appointment they originally assigned was for September 9^th. How would a house full of 5 students be about to survive and do school work without access to the internet, since many classes require the use of online material. After pleading our case to the cable company the thought we had a valid reason to request a better date. Today Sunday the 31^st we have internet and now my work will be easier to handle. When the installer was her we had a small conversation in passing. August and September he said are the busiest times of year. When the students come back and require all the services at the same time the get backed up and work really hard to get everyone set up as soon as possible.

Tips for Temps

I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I, for one, still feel nervous about finding a job when schooling is over. Having tried to break into the print industry after graduation, I've experienced how hard the job search can be. But I can also say that not giving up is completely worth it. If any of you face the least bit of resistance when you apply for jobs in the "real world," consider temping (especially if you are a PR major - this is the way to go). That being said, plan for the occasion. Interpersonal relationships, hierarchies, and office politics are just the tip of the corporate iceberg. Don't let that scare you. To do any project, all you need is some research (and a portion of moxy). This article, written for temp newbies, provides much-needed clues to survival at the bottom of the full-timers' totem pole. Maybe I've lost a little credibility in suggesting a Yahoo! article to you. So be it. Anne Altman knows what she's talking about. I've just got one suggestion:

Heed number 4 with a grain of salt. Sometimes, the notes you take might need to be accurate, regardless of who is or isn't watching you doodle in your notebook. Of all the notes I've taken, "KILL ME NOW" is the only phrase I remember...but it did not help when I got into some of my biggest jams. With that correction added, enjoy the tips, folks.

P.S. - It may not be what we want to hear, but sometimes temps are seen as equivalent to interns. If you're planning on doing an internship, this advice can apply to you, too, which is a good thing. Let's take the freebie of counseling while we can get it!

Up From ‘Super Sweet 16’ and Into the Real World

If anybody has ever seen the show, "My Super Sweet 16" on MTV I'm sure we'd all have the same reaction to the behaviors and attitudes of the girls portrayed. They are extremely rich girls who typically get whatever they ask for from their parents and are essentially spoiled because of the way their parents treat them. In an article in the New York Times,it states how the parents have finally gotten fed up with their daughters’ behaviors and would like some kind of change to occur, once and for all.
For one week of “re-education at the hands of the Masai in Kenya,” the former stars of the show get sent to live with a Thai family, while learning about how they live off tourism money and Andean llama herders, while living day-to-day based off of if they are going to eat and drink or not. This act of sending these girls to learn about circumstances other than their own materialistic worlds has become a TV show called, “Exiled!” on MTV. This show has great potential to do well because of its purpose. It’s believed to, in a way, modify the minds of these girls and transform their ways of thinking about how life should be lived, and how nothing should be taken for granted. They are set out to learn about everyday Thai life, more specifically, about water sanitation, malaria nets and child trafficking -- topics they most likely know little about because of their sheltered lives. This show helps generate the idea that not everything is about "you" and there are more important things in the world to discuss, rather than hair, makeup, or your appearance.
This is honestly going to be an attitude changing type of TV show, mainly because unlike most of the shows on MTV, this show is actually an attempt at making young adults want to become better human beings.

To check out the article try this-- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/arts/television/23mtv.html?ref=television

Kingston keeps it local, later in the season

A Kingston local, I've managed to take a stroll through their Farmer's Market a time or two. The beauty of the Kingston Farmer's Market (besides the fact that it is a two-block walk from my apartment) is that it is open 6 months out of the year, more than any other Farmer's Market in the area. In fact, it is open through the brisk Fall months until November 22nd. Besides vegetables and fruits, be sure to stop by and pick up a loaf of Bread Alone's homemade rye bread. There are about 28 local vendors that take over a block of Wall Street in Kingston from 9am though 2pm every Saturday. Just a twenty minute ride from New Paltz, this market is worth it.

Medeski, Martin and Wood to host Charity Concert

Medeski, Martin and Wood are performing at the Bearsville Theatre, in Bearsville NY on Sunday, September 28. They are a band of three from New York that plays keys, bass and drums. You will hear no lyrics or singing of any kind but I assure you, you will be pleased with the music that you hear. They have built a reputation as one of the most inventive jam bands of the 90’s and can entertain a vast audience through their appealing sound.


There is also a good cause backing up the $38 ticket price. The Hopi are Native American people that live on the Hopi reservation in Arizona.The Black Mesa Trust is a Hopi, grassroots non-profit organization that is about the issues of land, water and life from the Hopi perspective. The ticket prices will be going towards helping the Hopi restore their water and land on the Black Mesa.

"The Name Game" A Response

While searching though that latest posts on the site  I came across Allison Summers post about the effects of having an unusual name. Allison's article argues that traditional "white" sounding names are the most beneficial names to have by means of social status and employment.  Upon reading this article I was reminded of another piece, of a similar nature that was sent to me by a friend who has for years talked of naming a son, if he is ever to have one "Achilles Healey."

This article that my friend sent me about a month ago takes a different view than the one previously mentioned. Arguing that a name only matters when thats all you know about the person, i.e. add a strong resume or a picture and a strange name is far less likely to to sway a potential employer. In fact the article makes the point that most people with strong names have a stronger sense of self and self control.

Battle Over Death Toll in Afghan Village Airstrike

The New York Times has a reputation for being a reliable source for news however, like anything else, mistakes will be made.  One thing that bothered me recently about the New York Times was because of two different articles, written on two separate days by two different journalists, about the same event.

Wednesday August 27, 2008, on page six of the New York Times, there was an article entitled "U.S. Killed 90 in Afghan Village, Including 60 children, U.N. Finds".  This article caught my attention and I read in detail about the blunders made by the United States military in the last week and all the findings of the U.N. to support such claim.  However disturbing, this article was turned into a joke the following day, Thursday August 28, 2008, when another article, this time on page twelve, came out entitled "U.S. Officials describe Afghan Airstrike".  This article, about the same events from the previous day had something very different to say.  This article, instead of being U.N. findings, was a description of the events through a United States military standpoint and completely negated the article from the day before.  This article described the attack as a successful one that killed at most four civilians.  These numbers are so far off from the previous day's that this became almost more disturbing than the article itself.  Leaves me to wonder what information can really be trusted.

The Grateful Dead Reunites for Obama

Turns out after 13 years apart The Grateful Dead's remaining members will perform sometime in October to raise money for Barack Obama. Although they broke up so long ago this won't be the first time playing since guitarist Jerry Garcia died. Apparently bassist, Phil Lesh, met Obama a few months ago and was told he listened to them on his iTunes.

This will be the first time the band has performed on behalf of a Presidential Candidate. Many speculate that this might be the beginning of a major tour for The Dead. This article goes into detail on the celebrity following Obama has gained.

Deadheads for Obama

What Lies Beneath?

If you thought that the Muslim traditon of veiling women was somewhat oppressive, think again. This interesting feature article offers fresh perspective from Muslim women themselves, who see their veil as a means of sexual empowerment.
Perhaps less isn't always more when it comes to sexuality.

Organic Karma

I didn't realize there was an all-organic restaurant in New Paltz until I stumbled upon Karma Road: Food for an Inspired Planet. I found an article that was in Chronogram Magazine last February. Karma Road offers an all-vegetarian, all-organic menu and even the "Best Smoothie in the Hudson Valley 2007" so it might be worth checking out.

Even The Judicial System Thinks Axl Rose Is Nuts

So, to start off my Journalism I (and even Arts Criticism) blogging adventure, I have found an entry from Rolling Stone's Rock Daily blog about the court arraignment of Kevin Cogill, the guy who leaked a bunch of Chinese Democracy tracks onto the internet.

Now, I can understand Axl getting pretty fired up that tracks from his almost Sisyphus-like album were released without his permission to the masses. But, fired up enough to seek $50,000 bail for Cogill?

To you, Mr. William Bruce Rose, Jr., I say "You're Crazy"



And yes, I do feel clever.


-Tyler Gomo

Wild Boar Meat

Here's a slightly gruesome feature about eating on a wild game farm in upstate New York that ran in the NYTimes on Weds.

Yum!

Who is Sarah Palin?

We were just wondering....

REALLY, WE WERE WONDERING!

Here's a piece about her in the NY Times....

Obamarama

Good article in NY Times last Saturday about
Joseph Biden and the road that led him to being selected as Obama's VP running mate.

I'd forgotten about how gaffe-prone he is. Then again, that didn't seem to hinder George Bush's rise to power...

Also, in the NY Times Sunday magazine, a timely and lengthy article about Obama's economic vision --- the thing pundits say is going to be THE big issue in November. The magazine's piece on "post-racial" politics in the Obama era ("Is Obama The End of Black Politics?") a couple of weeks ago was also eye-opening.

I really think the NY Times magazine is one of best general-interest magazines out there---maybe the best, in terms of reader-friendliness and visual pizazz. (Full disclosure: I write for the Times on occasion. But still.)

Great jazz concert

If you're into jazz - or even if you think you're not - you might want to check this all-star trio this Thursday or Friday (August 28 + 29): Metheny/DeJohnette/Grenadier at Bearsville Theater

Metheny is one of the most fiery, exciting jazz guitarists alive, and Jack DeJohnette (who honed his expansive style playing with Miles Davis electric band in the 70s) is one of the giants of jazz drumming. (Bassist Larry Grenadier is no slouch, either.)

It's pricey, but it's a good cause: it's a benefit for the Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, Karma Triyana Dharmachakra (KTD), and Family of Woodstock, a service agency providing food, shelter, advocacy and counseling in Ulster County, NY. And it's at the Bearsville theater, a recording studio-turned-venue that's one of my favorite places to see music anywhere.

Arts on campus

You might want to pencil this into your calendar, especially if you're new to SUNY New Paltz and want a taste of the arts scene on campus. Details and locations apparently TBA:

ARTS ALIVE! 2008
an introduction to the arts on campus at SUNY New Paltz on
Friday, September 5th from 7:30 pm til midnight.

TOUR the museum, PLAY games, MAKE music and art,
PERFORM and/or WATCH theatrical performances,
WIN prizes and DANCE at The Arts Ball!

Juicy

Wow. The Sunday New Paltz Farmers Market has been beautiful the past few weeks. Black raspberries. White peaches. Green-striped heirloom tomatoes. And some guy from Beacon selling cucumber-mint popsicles (trust me: they are AWESOME). Check it out soon, before we're left with nothing but apples and acorn squash...

FYI, New Paltz has become a center for progressive farming. Check out the Rondout Valley Growers site for a taste of what's going on in the region. And support local agriculture!