Fall 2008: A Retrospective

Saint Anthony's Feast, North End

Winchendon, Mass

Harvard Square/Central Square 

Annual S.L.U.T draws large crowds

At Kells an orgy of twenty-somethings converge on the dance floor like some wild version of a junior prom dance. In the background two girls dressed as buckeye hunters arrive and a rowdy group starts a pizza fight. The drunks roar around us as people continue to pour in. Offically its nuts.

This past Saturday was the 11^th annual Sparhawk Liquid Urban Tour pub crawl and S.L.U.T (as it is affectionately called) is one of the most notorious-and completely unadvertised- events in Allston, Mass. With an atmosphere of an intense mating ritual, the Sparhawk pub crawl boasts of a thousand participants all rocking the rainy weather with straw hats, grass skirts and shell bras.

To those that have never experienced such drunken debautury, a normal pub crawl consists of one or more persons taking a tour of bars in a single night, often consuming one drink for each destination. The Sparhawk takes it one further by introducing a full itinerary of bars from 2-8p.m with DJs, balloon artists and free pizza at Kells. Jim Lawler says of this years event, “There’s always a theme. [This year] its like Brady Bunch Hawaii."

The people behind Sparhawk Liquid Urban Tour are seven friends who named the crawl after their Sparhawk Street apartment building they shared after college. David Smith-Hause says of their history, “It all started off as all friends and kept growing."

In fact this year, the pub crawl boasts one thousand participants. Their pub crawl success is all pre-internet world of mouth. The majority of participants are friends of friends of the original crew, often resulting in a hilarious serendipity of random meet-ups.

Chris Eicher, one of the crowd at Silhouette says “Every year I have a crazy story from the pub crawl. This year I met up with this kid, I haven’t seen him since high school. Last year I hung out with a different high school friend and her mom.”

Dave Smith-Hause, one of the participants says“One rule is if you meet your future wife or husband at pub crawl you have to give Kevin a bottle of Wild Turkey. He’s gotten eight bottles so far."

Despite numerous interactions with drunk folk, I don't find a love connection. Instead I get a couple rounds of free beer from perfect strangers. In the slew of random interviews one guy snatches my pad and pen away and starts reading my observations about the pub crawl.

“What does that mean?” he asks pointing to my chicken scratch. “I have no idea, I’m drunk.” I say and he writes down my quote on the piece of paper with a laugh. “That’s got to go in the article” he says handing the pad of paper back to me and he’s right, because that really sums up the night; everyone’s night at the Sparhawk pub crawl.

Day of the Dead: Photo Retrospective

Election Day!

The Dead Come Alive at Forest Hills Cemetery

Except for colored lanterns, Forest Park Cemetery is pitch black, figures in mass walking down the road, their shadows complementing the surrounding tombstones like living-dead ghosts. Ahead of us is a giant bonfire and the wafting of incense. Around us, the church bell tomes in the dark.

November 2ed is the Annual Day of the Dead Ritual at Forest Park Cemetery. For 19 years, surrounding families have come to replicate the Mexican and South American ceremony and the numbers of participants has grown.

“It used to be five families and now it is fifty. Some come from curiosity, some to honor the dead. They come through word of mouth.” says one participant Frezza Herrera. She is handing out cups of hot chocolate and popcorn as offering for the dead and living alike.

“My grandmother loved chocolate and corn. I bring it for the memory of her.” Says Herrera

The Day of the Dead Ritual in its basic form has been celebrated in Mexico for perhaps 2,500-3,000 years, although in its modern incantations was created with the Aztec calendar. Typically the festival lasts for two days, November 1^st for deceased children and November 2ed as the Day of the Dead. During this time, people bring pictures, food and flowers for the dead to enjoy.

“We are inviting our dead relatives to come.” Says Juan Gonzdez, head of the fire ceremony.

Great wafting incense emits from pots and surrounds us with its sweet smell. Apples, candles, popcorn, dried and fresh flowers decorate each of the four corner tables.

Every detail of the Day of the Dead is enriched in symbolism. From the incense that represents the transformation from physical to spiritual to the bouquets of flowers that represent the short lifespan of mankind.

We have been working since 8:30 this morning-just to have this moment,” says the organizer Rosaba Soies. “It all has to do with math, everything here has a reason.”

At the Alter, atop of which is a glowing blue skull, Pan de muertos, bread of the dead, has been left for the departed, the thought being that the soul of the bread is eaten by the deceased that visit. People come to stand in front of the alter in awe, others to pray.

Most crowd around the bonfire, the mood solemn. One man closes his eyes in prayer while Juan Gonzdez begins to burn photographs of the dead.

“Listen to the fire and you may have some communication with the dead” He says.

Juan Gonzdez has been doing these fire ceremonies for twenty plus years, but he has been learning these ceremonies since he was a boy.

“It is our way of life, this is how we relate to creation.” Says Gonzdez.

Frezza Herrera comes to the fire and bows down before it. Taking incense sticks she makes the sign of the cross and meditates in front of the fire. Everyone breathes in deep as Gonzdez burns sage and other herbs into the fire, surrounding us in a giant cloud of humid smoke that chokes out the frigid air.

“We are creating an experience. An experience different than your everyday life." Says Gonzdez.

The fire dies slowly as the bell tomes again, the embers spilling out thick gray clouds of smoke into the dark. The sweet smell of incense and hot chocolate follow me back on the train home.

Shoot Like a Militia Man: A Photo Retrospective

Shoot Like a Militia Man

More than two dozen people lay out on their bellies to the marked line, guns ready for the signal to load and fire. The signal given, a stream of pops and booms resonated from the rifles to the target: a redcoat. After 13 rounds the instructor barked out, “Cease Fire! Cease Fire! Cease Fire!”

We are at the Appleseed project in Winchendon Massachusetts, a weekend retreat at the local Rod and Gun club. Sponsored by the Revolutionary War Veterans, the Appleseed Program aims to teach both history of the American militia and marksmanship skills. No muzzle loaders here, but a parade of modern riflry.

In my hands is a Ruger 10/22, a so-called Liberty Training Rifle with a sight, altered trigger, bolt release and magazine. We are firing thirteen, twenty, forty rounds into these targets.

At one point an instructor takes out a revolutionary style baronet and holds it high as an example. “You got to protect your family, the red coats are coming and if you don’t get them now, they’re going to be rushing at you with one of these. And the red coats move fast.” Says Nickel, an instructor.

Despite the intensity of these moments, the weekend Appleseed course is novice friendly and free for women. And yet, despite these incentives it is still a predominately male crowd. A fatigue wearing, rough neck, testosterone man’s man with some Boston city-kins to add to the mix.

Before we start shooting, me, the men’s men and the city-kins stand in a circle and sing out of tune, “SAFETY RULES: Keep your FIN-ger off the TRI-gger until your target has been sighted.”

“We make them sing it back because it imprints in their subconscious” Says Nickel.

Garrison, one of the most enthusiastic instructors adds, “I tell my nine, ten year old kids ‘keep your booger hook off the bang switch.”

Nickel, Garrison, Schnider and the rest of the Revolutionary War Veterans are volunteers, all unpaid, running the program on a shoestring budget.

They symbolize the new wave of gun enthusiasts, those that use the Internet and gun forums to arrange marksmanship training in large magnitudes, up and down the New England countryside.

Despite these technological advancements, The American Veterans are delightfully old school. ‘April 19, 1775, militiamen defended the area against the redcoats. Two thousand people mobilized without email, cell phones. How many could you rally if your life depended on it?” asks Nickel.

The Revolutionary War Veterans are adamant about putting guns in civilian hands. For them, this is the best way that a citizenship can control the government. [Project Appleseed] reminds people of their rights. That the government is put in place for US.” Says Ross Schacher.

The Revolutionary War Veterans are not a militia per se, as one member Rob Schacher says, “You got these survivalist nuts in the woods giving militias a bad name. The militia is the people. Because of Women’s liberation, you and I, 16-60 are part of the militia.”

However part of the national milita I may be, I experience real troubles when I stand up to shoot. “Too tense, you’re leaning way off balance” Says Schacher. Have you ever played a sport?

“I ride the subway.” I offer.

"Yes, exactly!" Says Schacher. "It’s exactly like riding the subway! You need to absorb the shock.”

Taking the advice, the next round my accuracy increases. The instructors come to look at the target and nod their heads in encouragement.

“By the end of the day you’ll be shooting good and you’ll be signing up for your license,” says Schacher.

One of the younger women who have already gotten her license, Laura Leland says, “I’ve been going 2-3 times a week. Since I got my license I’ve been kind of obsessed.”

Perhaps the most alluring thing about the weekend is the possibility of buying a discounted gun. Buying a gun through the Veterans, scores many gun lovers a rifle worth double the price. One that could fetch for thousands of dollars at gun shows. This deal is one of the ways Revolutionary War Veterans hope that they can put inexpensive rifles in civilian hands. Their program works through a government sponsored program called the Department of Civilian Marksmanship.

Of course, there are two conditions to get one of these coveted discount guns, participate in a marksmanship course and be part of an affiliate club. The guns that are sold are WWII and Korean War relics often with the arsenal rebuilt.

John Mudy, one instructor, says about his own rifle, “ I do wonder what theaters my gun has played in.”

The sun setting at last, we fire our last thirteen rounds. This is the last Appleseed in the Boston area until spring but they are hopeful about the growth of their program.

“We are trying to double our events every year.” Says Nickel.

As for me, come April for the next Appleseed gun course, I’ll be there.

For more information on future Appleseed events go to : www.appleseedinfo.org/

Happy Halloween!

What a crazy night!   My friend got a drunken piggieback ride by my soon-to-be BF, and when he tripped, a gang swooped in and chanted, "WIPE OUT WIPE OUT!" 

 On the subway, a crazy assortment of characters, a blood covered woodsman, an asian freddy krugger, and a sexy-something girl passed around a bottle of wine on the B line train to Boston College.  I kept tripping up on one of the many empty beer cans on the ground of the car.  Me and my soon-to-be BF debated whether or not to wake up the passed out girl wearing a sexy trekkie outfit.  

All I got out of the night was this picture.  

Let Me Down Easy: A Meditation on Broken Heartedness

The stage has been set as a stranger’s living room loft, surrounded by a barrier of shrubs and grass. Jazz plays and Anna Deavere Smith has changed costumes once again.

She has transformed into another character, Asgher Rastegar, a physician. She says through his words, “They miss the fact that hopes and dreams are being ravaged by disease. We are treating people. Sometimes we forget it.”

In the pitch black of the audience there is a dark silence and the audience soaks this in. Anna Deavere Smith has become our professor on life and we-the audience-are sponges.

Anna Deavere Smith's newest one-woman show, “Let Me Down Easy” is an exploration of the concepts of regret, death and largely grace through her interviews with real people. From Evangelicals to Harvard professors, Hurricane Katrina survivors and Buddhist Monks, Smith's subjects are a grab bag of people from around the world. The result is a mix of the everyday tragedies-and triumphs- people face and their philosophies that guide them through moments of hardship.

By far the best segments of the play came from the unraveling of complex characters. These moments occurred when a monologue fleshed out the person to reveal deeper layers of human existence and the sometimes-universal aspects of their woes. One character in particular- Ann Richards, a former Texas Governor undergoing chemotherapy-showed an incredible sense of humor in the face of disease and mortality.

A more somber moment involved Kiersta Kurtz-Burke, a physician working at Charity Hospital during Hurricane Katrina. Her experience feeling abandoned by the government was an individual encounter that hinted at the universality of an unfair world.

At one point Kurtz-Burke says, "That was the first time it happened to me...That was new for me being abandoned. For them, it was just one more thing."

Truly heartbreaking.

These were the shining moments-when Anne Deavere Smith's characters break beyond the surface of convention.

Yet oftentimes, however diverse Smith's characters appear to be, they remain a blend of stereotypes. It was neither surprising nor riveting to hear the opinions of a cascade of preachers-from Hazel Merrit an Evangelical, to Peter Gomes, a Reverend-talk about grace when for them it all reflected back to God and faith. To think if these were in fact interviews, she may have gone deeper to the underground truths of these people or perhaps something far less conventional for these characters, instead of treading on the shallow waters of well-established paradigms of religious leaders and professionals.

One of the largest oddities of the play came from Elaine Scarry, Professor of English and Aesthetics and her monologue about flowers. It had absolutely nothing to do with the subject of grace or any other theme in the play. It was jarring in its lack of relatedness to the rest of the performance and was far too banal to be considered meaningful in content. Overall, a real mistake in judgment.

As well, throughout the performance Smith seemed to be chasing the costume changes, the result being that they sometimes detracted from the performance. And although her transformations have been said to be dead on, I found them at times to cross over to parody-and not always at the funny moments either. Her impersonation of Henrietta Mutiuacoarba, a tour guide at the Genocide Memorial, crying was an example of bad overacting and made me feel uncomfortable in its simple terribleness. Both in her application and of her decision to extend it was in painfully poor taste.

"Let Me Down Easy" the title of the play is uttered at the climax of the rendition, as Smith's theologian character associates it with broken love and broken heartedness under disappointment and tragedy.

Indeed, the play speaks about these subjects at length but asks more questions than answers and is unable throughout the performance to properly fuse these thoughts together into a cohesive piece of work.

Sigur Ros in Concert

Keep a candle lit on this one Indie rock aficionados. Sigur Ros has still got that special weirdness you can't quite touch.

Desolate and hopeful, the songs can be both overwhelming depressing and inspiring without even understanding a word of the vocals. They are that good.

For their live show, Sigur Ros translated their unique music into a stage performance with an intense simplicity. The venue set with bursts of color as dazzling as a fireworks display, wafting in on great clouds of blues and purple lights, bathing the light of the venue in sea greens and deep persian indigo.

The best concert I have ever been to by far, Sigur Ros is expert in drawing out primal emotion in its contemplative requiems. Strumming the guitar with the bow of a violin, the lead singer went into several minutes of silence, while the band took its time building the momentum of each song. The chemistry between the band and audience was electric, the audience giving into spontaneous claps at one instance of accelerating beats. And while the lyrics were indistinguishable, the mood of each song was clearly illustrated in the primal nature of his voice, the presentation of music and the rhythmic methodology of the leader singer's movements on stage.

Lantern Festival: A Retrospective

Exhibition in Cambridge Denounces Psychiatry

A haunted house in design with black walls and frightening imagery, a traveling exhibition called “Psychiatry: An Industry of Death” has come to Cambridge. Run by the Citizens for Human Rights Commission, their exhibition has traveled to Boston and is focusing on the overmedication of children for ADHD and other psychological disorders. Kevin Hall, the New England Director of the Citizens Commission for Human Rights says, “We are trying to wake people up to what is going on.”

With the mood of a funeral parlor, giant posters scream ‘The Masterminds of Destruction” and “Redefining Man as an Animal”.

A picture of Hitler adorns the wall and the room is decorated with a cornucopia of poster board children zombified on psychiatric medicine.

“At the international office in California we have a permanent museum with ice picks and cages.” Says Hall.

Despite the shocking imagery, many that viewed the exhibit agree with the overall message. One such visitor, Lauren O’Neal says, “I think we need to reexamine certain things about psychiatry.”

Nicholas Jacob, a member of a pharmaceutical company, agrees that psychiatric medicines are overprescribed for children.

“When Ritalin first came out anyone who could get diagnosed for ADHD did, whether or not they needed it.” Says Jacob.

Elaine Burke, another member of a pharmaceutical company adds, “ Now they have patches for children that are too young to swallow pills. Kids that are like five years old and don’t know how the drug is affecting them. They’re too young to know if a drug is making them feel weird or off.”

However, both are skeptical of the exhibition because of the organization that has been running it. The hosting institution, the Citizens Commission on Human Rights is itself as a non-profit public organization. However, the organization was founded by the Scientologist Church and accepts donations from Scientologist private donators.

Daniel Preston, 37, has been demonstrating in front of the exhibition for three days because of the Citizens of Human Rights Commission ties with Scientology. He says, “I protest because they tell half truths.”

Preston is part of an organization called Anonymous, which rallies against Scientologist organizations like the Citizens of Human Rights Commission.
According to Preston, between four and twelve people have come out to hold posters and warn people that the exhibition is part of the Scientologist church.

Preston says, “There is nothing that says ‘brought to you by Scientology.’ The majority of people that go in do not know that this is a Scientologist organization.”

Indeed, on the outside of the exhibition there are no mentions of its ties with any religious institution. Instead, signs on the outside of the building call the event “A Public Awareness Exhibition”

Preston believes differently. He thinks that the organization is a front to lure people into the Scientologist church. He describes people being roped into the exhibition by Citizen’s of Human Right Commission members and being misinformed about how the information was in fact part of the Scientologist philosophy.

Despite his opposition to the exhibition, Preston does agree about the over drugging of children on psychiatric medicines.

“I was overmedicated as a child. I was on Ritalin until the age of 12 and I took myself off of it against my parent’s wishes. I could have long term medical problems like kidney damage from taking such high doses.”

His main disagreement with the Citizens of Human Rights Commission is their zero tolerance approach to psychiatric medicines. “Maybe some kids need to be medicated and some don’t. They say they are going after the cause but they aren’t. They are going after the whole.” Says Preston.

Jacob agrees, “Faith and science should not mix. I am a very religious person and I work in a scientific field and so I have to deal with the conflicts of the two. Religion should stay away from science and the two should not be intertwined.”

Some panels of the exhibit are extreme in their attacks against psychiatry. One particular panel links experimental psychology with totalitarian governments like Nazi Germany. Another depicts Freud defining man as a creature without a soul. Dan Itsy, one volunteer says, “We want to show that psychologists think that you’re a bunch of genes, you are just a mind, just an animal.”

Despite the opposition from such groups as Anonymous, Kevin Hall says that they have seen a rise in attendance, and a positive attitude in relation to the material.

As for the shocking images of the exhibition, Kevin Hall says, “Why we are showing what you call horror? Its hard to show our message with daises.”

Bubble Tea with Moot from 4chan.org

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