Student Zone

Hey Bud! I enjoyed reading all comments on this page. You views of this world are refreshing. Thank you for coming down to see Pistol Pete. A small correction is necessary however. Pistol Pete is the the guitarist and singer, and one hellstorm he is! Geoffrey Lowe is the bassist, I know, because he's me! Thanks for all the wonderful comments and observations. It's beautiful to see our own brand of music appreciated in so many ways. For the record, Pistol Pete is no ordinary blues band. He's one of a kind and a Chicago treasure. You won't hear another band like us. We do things our own way. Thanks for listening. Thanks for all the great words. -Geoffrey Lowe (Bassist)

I attended an open-mike at the Heartland Café, featuring poetry, music, and short stories. Each performance varied in length, averaging about 5-10 minutes per performance. Most of the performances consisted of poetry readings, however three people also sang original songs accompanied by acoustic guitar. Most of the poetry seemed related in some way to the theme of love, which is a common poetic theme. Another common theme in the poetry was power structure and economics, through money and jobs. One poem referenced “yuppies and their SUVs” quite frequently; another questioned the connections people place between their job and their self-worth. Structures of the poems varied; some were highly intricate, using strict meter and rhyme, some were written in a free verse style, and some used rhythm and rhyme to accentuate certain points. To be honest, the quality of poetry varied drastically from one person to the next. One minute I was enraptured by unique and original imagery, and the next minute, I found myself stifling a snicker at an overwrought cliché. The best poet of the evening by far was a woman named Rachel Flood. She is a beat poet from Vancouver who was conducting a promotional tour of certain cities in Canada and the United States. It was hard to tell whether I enjoyed her actual poems or the way she recited them, but I think when it comes to beat poetry, both the words and the recitation are relevant. She read three poems, and it seemed like she was one of the featured poets of the evening. The structure of her poems seemed to be fairly similar: she would begin each poem with a seemingly paradoxical statement, followed by an extended metaphor explaining the logic of this paradox, then delve into a series of images and scenarios exemplifying the extended metaphor. Inevitably, the poem would end up back at the paradox, with the listener having taken a sojourn through the mind of the poet, and arrived at the end with a new perspective. Her first poem dealt with codependent love, comparing it to a physical addiction, not unlike crack or junk. Her second poem, entitled “Interrupting”, explored the idea that chronic interrupters are more than just rude people; they are reflective of the self-centered and egocentric attitude present in American society. Her third poem had something to do with employment, but I did not listen to it all the way through because, by this point, I had imbibed much alcohol and had to go to the bathroom really badly. However, I liked her poetry so much that I decided to buy one of her CD’s. Go me.

In response to whether or not I feel that this is literature, I would have to answer that I do believe this is literature, simply because I think poetry is literature regardless of whether it is performed or read. Personally, I do not think that literature has a concrete definition. I think trying to define any concept as ambiguous and dynamic as literature is ultimately an effort in futility. However, in order to argue whether or not the aforementioned performance is an example of literature, a definition of literature is required. So, out of necessity, I have come up with a feasible definition of literature: Literature is anything written that can be designated as art. This definition is fairly vague, but it is logically sound (it also works in reverse – anything written and designated as art is literature), and it is the best that I can come up with. Since the performance consisted of written poems and songs, which have been designated as “art” by both the creators themselves and the organizers of the Heartland Café open-mike session, then the performance meets both criteria and thus, is literature.

On Saturday, May 21st, 2005 I have seen “Natural Affection” by William Inge. The play was directed by John Mossman. The play was performed in The Artistic Home at 1420 W. Irving Park Road.
“Natural Affection” is a drama about a woman who has a son. She did not raise the son because she did not have money. The father of Donnie, left the mother before the boy was born. Donnie grew up in an orphanage, later, he was sent to the boarding school.
Meanwhile the mother made a career, had a boyfriend, and generally led a good life.
She invited Donnie for Christmas, and then all the problems started. Donnie did not like his mother’s boyfriend. He was jealous of him. On top of that hatred toward the man, he himself fell in love with his mother. Many things happen along the Christmas week. Donnie does not want to return to the boarding school, Bernie mother’s boyfriend) does not want to keep Donnie. Sue, the mother does not want Donnie to leave her. She feels guilty that she would send him away again. Now she has the money to keep him. On Christmas Sue gets to know that Bernie was cheating on her, with the girl next door.
The whole life of Sue is devastated. All she wanted in life is taken away from her. Donnie is the cause of the entire problem. Sue leaves the scene when Donnie kisses her lips. A girl guest from the neighboring apartment comes in to Sue’s apartment. There she sees Donnie, and she wants to make love with him. Donnie is not interested in her. Donnie id not interested in any other woman than his mother. He stabs the girl to death.
This is how the play ends.

I enjoyed the performance a lot. I think the play touches on a problem that is real. Some boys do fall in love with their mothers, and probably, just like Donnie, ruin their mothers’ lives.
The actors were great. The tears, the screams, the laughs were real. The whole scenery was very real. All happened in an apartment. The actors seemed not to pay attention to the audience, to give it a look that there is nobody else in that apartment, but them. It was a great experience, and as I already mentioned it, the problem is real. The play opened one more view of mine upon some family tragedies that may happen, or happening around me, without me realizing it. It was educating drama performed by very good actors. I am glad that seeing a play was one of the assignments. Otherwise I’d probably never see it.

Im not sure why the photo didn't turn out. It's being hosted on www.photobucket.com, I'll try again.

LCD Soundsystem @ METRO 5/19/05

Yes! The infamous LCD from my music presentation is back. I had the utmost pleasure of seeing him, (James Murphy) and his backing band last week. Aside from being one of the best shows I’ve attended, one of the songs resonated with new meaning after reading Junot Diaz’s “Drown.” I’m going to correlate LCD’s song, “Too Much Love” with Diaz’s short story “Drown”.

Here are the lyrics for “Too Much Love”

What will you say when the day comes
When it's no fun
When it's all done
When it's no fun

What will you say when the time comes
There's a dry run when it's undone
And there's no one

When it's too much love
Too much love
Too much
It's too much love
Too much love
Too much

What will you do when you wake up
Fatten you up
Fasten you up
Fatten you up

No memories to get cloudy
To get cloudy when you can't see
What you can't see

It's all the same when it's morning
And you're boring
Still ignoring everything

No memories to remind you
Of the old you
Nothing for it
Just keep it up, keep it up

With no memory
With no memory
With no memory
To keep you up at night

Here is a photo from the concert:

This hit me over the head as a parallel between Beto and Yunior (I realized know the character might not actually be Yunior, but for the sake for the essay I’ll refer to him as such). All the lyrics capture the aftermath of Yunior’s expulsion of friendship with Beto. They also capture the fact that Yunior chose to forget, or disregard the fact that he and Beto do indeed have a history, as a means of getting over the potential trauma. As the end of “Drown” leaves Yunior wallowing in his personal “Ghetto;” he refuses to better himself education-wise like Beto. Connectng the first verse:

What will you say when the day comes
When it's no fun
When it's all done
When it's no fun

What will you say when the time comes
There's a dry run when it's undone
And there's no one

…with Yunior’s description of his days now, “I deal close to home, trooping up and down the same DEAD-END street where the kids drink and smoke [my emphasis].” These punks joke with me, pat me down for taps, sometimes too hard,” perfectly captures the despondency he’s thrown himself in. In the latter portion of the song, you can make a strong case that this could be Beto writing to Yunior; questioning his motivations. Beto tried to reach and help Yunior, but to no avail. There was a definite interese and belief on Beto’s part in Yunior. In the beginning of the story, Yunior tells the reader that, “He [Beto] hated when I knew something he didn’t.” He further reaching out to Yunior he urges him to “learn how to walk to the world,” and that “there’s a lot out there.” Beto manifests this advice in a book he gives to Yunior as they exchange goodbyes before he leaves for college. Yunior consciously refutes Beto’s attempts though, saying, “He handed me a GIFT, a BOOK, and after he was gone I THREW IT AWAY, didn’t even bother to open it and read what he’d written [my emphasis].” So the last portion of the song:

It's all the same when it's morning
And you're boring
Still ignoring everything

No memories to remind you
Of the old you
Nothing for it
Just keep it up, keep it up

With no memory
With no memory
With no memory
To keep you up at night

...I took as Beto driving his point home, with an almost-conscious understanding of Yunior’s decision to accept none of his help. The final paragraph in the story in my opinion is Yunior conceding to Beto’s lecture/animosity, as if he could hear him reciting the song. Yunior admits this when his mom tells him to “check those WINDOWS [my emphasis],” and he says, “I promise I will.” So if Diaz extended the story with an efficient, jabbing poem to Yunior regarding his cowardice, this would be it.

I went to see the band for hire “Pistol Pete” at the Chicago Blues Bar at 2500n Halstead, with Geoffrey Lowe, on the lead vocals and lead guitar, Bret Sleamen, on the drums and Mark Oaut, on the Bass. I got two dollars off the cover and they had $4 dollar Jaeger bombs and $1.50 Jaeger shots all-night. Geoffrey Lowe is originally from Rockford IL, but he plays with his drummer and different bass players at all the Blues Bars all over Chicago. I spoke to a few people outside the bar; they told me “Pistol Pete” was kind of like a Jimmy Hendrix band. Being that they also sample Jimmy’s music and play with it singing their own lyrics, I can see what they meant.
After that I got myself a seat and had a couple shots. “Pistol Pete” blues performance, was pretty cool, it had grooved out baselines, electrifying guitar strings, and hammering drum tracks. “I was drinking all-night till my eyes got read” were some of the lyrics from a “Pistol Pete” song. They played a song about downtown Chicago; it was about civil unrest, social disorder, and struggles of class, that’s what I got out of it.
At the same time, I was chilling out; the crowd was mesmerized like they were in a trance, yet their drinking and dancing with all eyes and ears on the stage. The adrenaline rushes from the instruments and voice through your body and soul. The music radiates into your skull and travels like a Gypsy Band trough your brain. You get the feeling of a local government being over thrown by a electro robot. I feel it’s a fight for freedom, a social revolution the dawning of the Age of Aquarius or something. Seriously color lines are broken race markers are stepped and ethnicities are mixed.

On the other hand, there is no standing class present for a moment it’s just people art, music, and culture. Experiment on the minds ability to evolve in to the past; to shed light on the primitive existence of music and cultural traditions that people had in their lives, before us. Art, language, culture, and literature used to express views with feelings to the maximum extent of human capability. It’s a rebirth or resurrection of “encounters of the blues” says Geoffrey Lowe of “Pistol Pete.” “Shake your body girl show me what you’re working with” G. Lowe sings in a laughing tone, while his sample plays with the band.
To add a point the musicians along with most of the audience and bar crowder’s are black or white. Where is the brown? With reference to Rodriguez “The Triad of Alexis de Tocqueville,” you hear the black voice shouting injustice, crying out pain, and demanding changes, of social systems controlled by global capitalism. The black voice of the north with a down south accent is what I hear. The voice behind “Pistol Pete” is getting louder and angrier, but it calms down after the realization of empowerment and victory over the systems bull crap!!!
In addition the “Blues Bar” on the inside, looks like and old bar in Louisiana. It has history all over it, pictures, in black and white, of all the greats that played their, such as; Eddy Clear Water, Jimmy Johnson, Koko Taylor, Big Time Sarah, and BB King. It’s a nice plays to have a drink if you got the blues.
Response:
I liked the music. I have to give credit to the musicians. They displayed very talented abilities of instrument skills and song playing techniques. They kept me entertained all-night with a mellow buzz. The music is so good; you forget its blues and supposed to be poignant. The history of Chicago blues is incredible, I can walk into a bar a go back in time. The overall message I got was customs, culture and music were needed in the past to give people identity to life. We still need this to day if we lose culture, literature, and music we for get how to communicate with reality, like loosing our languages we can’t speak. All that for what modernity, socialism, or technology?
Question: Where would people go when they feel down if there was no blues?

I saw an suburban version of open mic at the Kafein cafe in Evanston. I wouldn't recommend it as the atmosphere was anything but. Don't get me wrong, there were performers, and readers (one guy reading from his novel-the name was dubbed over with "Oh MY GOD!"), and an older man who had poems that I think were inspired by Area 51, however, I can't be sure as people were being incredibly obnoxious and loud, and disrespecting the fact that there were presenters.

When I did hear, I heard boys souls pouring out of acoustic guitars, and unplugged renditions of Oasis, and a young girl of about 15 doing a knock-out version of the misfits. Now, granted I wouldn't consider all of the show a literary experience, but in relation to the theme that I so redily accepted in Lit 126, the idea of the misfit, I saw a young one born on that stage. The girl was was tiny with died black hair done up in a half mohawk, dressed like a weezer member. Her voice was like a woodsprite out of some children's cartoon, and she sang the Misfits song gelling over "I ain't no goddamn son of a bitch" like the words were candy.

This is of course not to discredit her. I thought she was the best part of the entire open mic. Everyone did, they were quiet for a moment, most laughing at her for her display, but I think that she will probably rock out in a few years laughing at all of them.

Overall, I would prefer next time to go and see a true open mic, preferably with the suffix of "spoken word" or "poetry". I think many people jump at the idea of pulling out the 6 string. I had a hard time after doing the oral presentations in class, regarding the music as literature. Especially some of the silly songs that were sung on Monday night. I feel like music is a whole different category and oftentimes i feel like it as its own subgenres are a separate entity. In some of the songs, the words only pushed the music rather than the music pushing the words. So where do I draw the line?

I visited the Heartland Café located in Rogers Park for my assignment. To say the least it was interesting. The audience was mainly white people around 18-30 yrs old. A few older listeners were there. The crowd was very interactive either booing or cheering on their favorite performers. Of the seven performers I experienced 2 of them were first timers. “Jesus died in a rave in New York last night” was a regular, Charles open liner. He discussed a lost generation that rejects religion and government. A couple of the reoccurring themes that night were rejection towards religion, the government, and societies values. “Big brother has wired tapped my asshole” was another memorable line from a first timer Ryan. He talked about cosmic crashes; to be honest he spoke so fast I couldn’t really make out what the hell he was talking about. Which brings me my first point, after some consideration I don’t think open mike session should be considered literature. Unlike a novel it all happened so spontaneous and fast, I couldn’t digest it. The presentation is what distinguishes it from traditional forms of literature. I could reread writings until I feel I have a handle on it, but when watching a performer I have a limited amount of time to take everything in. This experience reminded me of my feelings for Gomez-Pena. If I was “experiencing” him as a part of his audience, I would definitely say great performance artist, not literary writer. Gomez-Pena and the open-mike participants had great poetic imagery and verbal rhythms. However would they be able to write those same feelings down and still express those emotions on paper? I think that performance art is a branch of literature but not like Raymond Carver or Junot Diaz.

I went to see the Def Poetry Jam at the Chicago Theatre. This show originated in New York and then went on tour. The show became so popular that HBO picked it up and made it into a series. The series has rapper Mos Def as the host and a sometimes performer on the show. Also Russell Simmons who is the CEO of Def Jam comes out and says a few words at the end.
Def Poetry Jam is a showcase of spoken word artist. The poems span a variety of themes. The poems are funny, serious, introspective, political, and everything in between. Most of the poems are performed by a single person. A few of the poems were performed in groups.
The show opens with a DJ spinning some tunes to get the crownd amped. Then it goes to the poets.

One of my favorite poems was called "This Type Love". The poem was about an ideal love. It's about a love that makes you happy and excited to love and makes you want to love more.
It's cool cause it gets goofy while still getting the message across. Another one called "Attention Shoppers" makes satire out of the American condition. It speaks on how everyone can be bought and sold.

Both poems make you think while you are laughing. They examine a simple idea and expand on it. It's modern language at itts best hip-hop with an internal beat. These poems have heart and it exudes much soul. There were so many great moments all throughout the show that its hard to just name a few moments. Also to take a line out of the context of the poem would take away from the essence of it. So all I can say is that you have to see it for yourself.
I know that when i had access to cable I would watch the show on HBO and though it's good, it's better live. It's much better in fact. The show was really fun and it allowed the crowd to get into it. All in all it was definitely a good time and I know I would see them again next time they are in town.

I went to see the Def Poetry Jam at the Chicago Theatre. This show originated in New York and then went on tour. The show became so popular that HBO picked it up and made it into a series. The series has rapper Mos Def as the host and a sometimes performer on the show. Also Russell Simmons who is the CEO of Def Jam comes out and says a few words at the end.
Def Poetry Jam is a showcase of spoken word artist. The poems span a variety of themes. The poems are funny, serious, introspective, political, and everything in between. Most of the poems are performed by a single person. A few of the poems were performed in groups.
The show opens with a DJ spinning some tunes to get the crownd amped. Then it goes to the poets.

One of my favorite poems was called "This Type Love". The poem was about an ideal love. It's about a love that makes you happy and excited to love and makes you want to love more.
It's cool cause it gets goofy while still getting the message across. Another one called "Attention Shoppers" makes satire out of the American condition. It speaks on how everyone can be bought and sold.

Both poems make you think while you are laughing. They examine a simple idea and expand on it. It's modern language at itts best hip-hop with an internal beat. These poems have heart and it exudes much soul. There were so many great moments all throughout the show that its hard to just name a few moments. Also to take a line out of the context of the poem would take away from the essence of it. So all I can say is that you have to see it for yourself.
I know that when i had access to cable I would watch the show on HBO and though it's good, it's better live. It's much better in fact. The show was really fun and it allowed the crowd to get into it. All in all it was definitely a good time and I know I would see them again next time they are in town.

As my Chicago drama/poetry assignment I went to the public poetry reading. It took place as a part of the “Myopic Poetry Series” at Myopic Books on 05/15/05. It was a one-man show created and presented by the Columbia College undergraduate poetry program director, Tony Trigilio. The author read his own work from old and new collections of the published as well as less popular pieces. Some of the works that captured my attention were about the current local or political issues. For instance, the poem “In the Intersection” talked about the construction site on the corner of Jackson and State streets in Chicago; the author used many references to the city workers, industrial tools, noise, traffic, and urban settings. What added to the overall effect of this piece on me was the fact that we were all crammed in a second floor apartment room that was converted into a bookstore full of shelves; such set up is typical to the big city conditions rather than rural areas. Additionally, as Tony Trigilio stood in front of the window and read “In the Intersection”, the noise of the outside traffic, people, and car-alarm sirens provided a perfect back drop for the topic of the poem. Another piece that caught my attention was titled “I know you can’t buy these at the post office”. It referred to the visual art expo that took place couple of months ago and stirred some rumor among the homeland security agents. The poem talked mainly about the post-stamp shaped poster of George W. Bush with a pistol pointed to his head; this image was displayed at the exposition. The author mentioned U.S. foreign policies, Rumsfeld politics, Abu Ghraib prison’s victims, and the attorney general. The piece was criticizing the Patriot Act-type of politics but in a very subtle and indirect way by allegedly focusing on a post office and the necessity to buy stamps.
All together, I can’t say that I would purchase any of Tony Trigilio’s collections, but I must admit that these poems that captured my interest were worth waiting for. I also think that the fact that the author presented his own work allowed him to place it in a context and introduce each poem to the audience. It made my encounter with his creations much more comprehensible and emotionally accessible.

My viewing experience of a performance poetry presentation took place at the 2005 After School Matters Closing Celebration ceremony held on the evening of April 25 at a Chicago public high school. Five after school programs, including art mural, digital cinema, performance poetry and health and fitness, put on a showcase of their talent. I teach a technology based digital video production program through the After School Matters organization. Although I am very proud of the music videos and documentary pieces my students created, I have to say the raw fresh talent of these young poetry performers blew me away.

The performance poetry program is taught by an amazing organization called Kuumba Lynx. My former high school locker partner and friend, Jacinda Hall Bullie, started this political and artistic organization in the Uptown community of Chicago. Her organization gets young people to come to their after school programs at Clarendon Park. They have programs and groups that paint murals, organize protests, teach turntablism and a new urban style of poetry through Hip-Hop music. Kuumba Lynx hosts an event every on the first Friday of every month called “Open Mindz.” According to their website, "The event usually features performances by local hip-hop DJ’s, breakin’ crews, poets, and musicians. These emerging and established artists mix their love of Hip-Hop music with stories of urban culture, spiritual and self-empowerment, juvenile justice, and cross-cultural dialogue."

The showcase that I watched was like a lyrical journey through dance and poetry performance. 20 students took the stage and broke off into 3 groups. The first group of young people performed some break dance moves, while a young black boy spewed lines of rhymes in the mic. Each student in the group took a turn at the mic, after tearing up the dance floor. One girl got up and rapped, “My words are my life, and my pen my sword.” This program also teaches the kids the power of their voice and these performers were strong. The next group was more like spoken word. They even had little emcee names they go by like Synergy, Un-Spoken and Obi. Un-Spoken says: “My words are not spoken until I speak & because I speak I have been chosen, God Speaks through me." Obi says, “My music is like food to a starving ear & water to a dried up heart, my poetry reflects a man who has seen a lot, and not afraid to speak about it.” The last group wrote their own poems. One was about taking care of a blind brother. And while they read their poetry other members of their group acted out the words. Some of the performance were silly and fun, but the poems that told their stories were reflective of their culture. Needless to say, these young people are hot and a force to be reckoned with. They took ownership of their work and are very empowered by their talents. Check them out! www.kuumbalynx.org

The show I went to see is called, “It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues,” that is currently being performed right now at the Northlight Theatre in Skokie. Initially I had intended to take my son to see, “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind for Kids,” but we did not make the show, so I suppose this was my fallback. I am very lucky to have friends that teach in the drama department of a high school, because of that I frequently chaperone shows, although the shows could be very hit or miss, and this show, like the other plays that I have chaperoned this year, was also full of hit’s or misses. There were some phenomenal scenes in the show, but overall it seemed to lack vision in trying to get its message across. This show can be a fun time out, but if you are not a fan of musical theatre you may not want to put this on your list of things to see.
The show is basically a retrospective of Blues music from its roots to the present day. It starts out with the cast entering the stage doing a tribal African dance, singing what I assume to be a traditional African song. From there the characters slowly move into a sort of introduction of the origins of Blues. They spoke and sang about times of slavery and how within that period this form of music was born. They highlighted the careers and stories of different blues performers most notably, Robert Johnson, who as legend has it, sold his soul to the devil for he ability to play the guitar. That being said the most interesting thing about the show was how they incorporated stories of the underprivileged white class with the stories of the African-American struggles. They took a look at country music and tried to show how it was akin to the blues. The point being, that despite class there is something universal about the human sprit as it revolves around poverty. Whether or not that is valid, I don’t know. I had to remember that this is being performed in Skokie and not Chicago, and because of that I suppose things have to be made to have a certain degree of inclusion. It didn’t really seem to work very well in this case, especially when you consider that the grand finale of the show was the song, “Strange Fruit,” a song about African-Americans being lynched in the south. Of the six members in the cast two were white, it seemed kind of strange that they would sing that song. I don’t know if that had to do with my overall feeling for the show as much as it had to do with our readings in class over the past couple of weeks. Either way it felt somewhat inappropriate.
Despite that the play, or rather musical was fun. I don’t know that I would ever recommend it but it if you like the blues you can do a lot worse then see a show like this.