Posts Tagged ‘web’
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011
With fifteen seconds remaining in overtime, forward Tricia Chase ’12 threw the winning shot bringing the Mount Holyoke Lyons to victory against Wellesley College with a score of 48-46. It was an intense game where neither team led by over six points; overall there were eleven ties and lead changes. This win allowed the Lyons to reclaim their name after a 56-31 loss against Wellesley earlier this season.
“This win was very important to us [the team] because of our previous setback this season,” said Guard Angelica Pascual ’13. This was also the team’s third New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference win.
Highlights of the game:
Angelica Pascual ’13 scored the most points with a total of 20
Tricia Chase ’12 (above) received the Lyon of the Week award for Jan. 24-30
Total Rebounds: Mount Holyoke 54, Wellesley 30
Turnovers: Mount Holyoke 30, Wellesley 24
Assists: Mount Holyoke 11, Wellesley 12
Ties and Lead Changes: 11 ties and 11 lead changes
During the first half, the Lyons were winning with a 14-12 advantage. The game began heating up during the second half, when both teams refused to give up, taking turns being in the lead. With 12:45 remaining on the clock, Wellesley sophomore Forward Becca Kimball gave Wellesley the edge by shooting a three-pointer, giving them a score of 29-23. The Lyons responded by scoring seven points in the next three minutes, for a total of 30-29 points. With five minutes remaining, Wellesley took the lead 39-37. However, during the last 39 seconds, Chase was able to put both teams in a tie at 41-41.
Pascual shot a three-pointer in the early seconds of overtime giving the Lyons the lead at 44-43. Wellesley junior Guard Elisha Orama attempted rival that shot, but a layup by Pascual tied both teams once again, this time at 46-46. Guard Emilie Methot ’11 set up the last and winning shot of the game so that Chase could score, leading the Lyons to victory at 48-46.
Pascual shot three three-pointers throughout the game, tallying a total of twenty points. Mount Holyoke guard Christine Chancy ’12 finished with ten points while Chase tallied a total of ten points and ten rebounds.
The Lyons will play the following games this week:
February 3, 2011 Mount Holyoke vs. Smith College at 7 p.m. (Smith)
February 5, 2011 Mount Holyoke vs. Clark University at 1 p.m. (Mount Holyoke)
Tags: web, web exclusives
Posted in Sports | No Comments »
Sunday, December 12th, 2010
I went to Tea Party organizer Keli Carender’s talk on Thursday with my Conservatism class and professor, not sure what to expect. I came in with an open mind, but knowing full well how I felt about major policy, fiscal and social issues. Nevertheless, I was excited to hear someone speak whose views differed from my own, but who also was a woman who sparked one of the most influential political movements, without a leader, that we may have seen yet in American history.
Carender brought up a fair amount of things she was concerned about, skirting around policy and mainly sticking to how it feels to think differently from most people, and the hurtful words that are often thrown around in the debate. She made a couple key points about conservative female politicians being dehumanized and objectified in ways I hadn’t even thought of, and I was sickened by it. She also focused on the importance of not immediately absorbing every caricature you may be presented with on TV, and in other avenues of the media. I found this interesting: apparently, the term “Tea Party” is not trademarked, so there are many “factions” of it and politicians who adopt its name—many of whom Carender says she would never support.
Students held a rally outside Chapin Auditorium protesting some of the Tea Party’s policies. While, as Carender said, the use of free speech is one of the greatest exercises of our freedoms we have, I wasn’t sure what the rally was actually saying. I felt that, perhaps, it was protesting Carender being there. And whether or not I’m right in thinking that, it led me on another train of thought that I’ll finish with.
I think Mount Holyoke did everything right in bringing someone like Carender to speak, given the College’s championing of safe spaces for open dialogue and debate. After all, that is what college should be about. I support asking tough questions, but I’m not sure I support a rally that implicitly questions the speaker’s right to be there. She was very respectful and answered questions with surprising poise and patience, all things considered.
During the Q&A after the talk, some people behaved appallingly. I have never been so uncomfortable in an academic or debate setting before. Students were, as one professor put it, approaching the microphone with the assumption that they were actually intellectually and morally superior to Carender. A few were even shouting into the microphone at this woman, who had been grilled all day, and they didn’t seem to have substantive questions, let alone follow up questions. But they still managed to spew syllables back here and there as she tried to answer the questions until James Harold, the moderator, had to intervene.
Really?
This woman is not the president. She represents a part of the electorate that may have views different than your own, but that doesn’t warrant yelling into a microphone or being sarcastic to the point of being mean, especially in front of peers and professors. Unfortunately, I had friends with great, well thought out questions who weren’t able to speak because those who let passions triumph over reason took up the air time. Frankly, they didn’t raise the bar—just my blood pressure.
While I don’t agree with most of the Tea Party’s stances, I learned a lot from this lecture. I do not for one second think Mount Holyoke should keep out speakers because they may disagree with a good portion of the student body. Having someone come to speak who agrees with you on everything is boring and, quite frankly, a waste of time.
That night was a great learning experience. Thank you, Mount Holyoke College, for doing your job right.
Tags: web
Posted in Opinions & Editorials | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
Mount Holyoke College is renowned for its culturally diverse student body and globally integrated community. Relevant statistics have already been made very familiar to us: 20% of the students are international students and 28% of domestic students identify themselves as African American, Asian American, Latina, Native American, or multiracial. However, do the students take the college’s outstanding dedication to diversity as an opportunity to perceive other cultures? Do students from different backgrounds interact with one another enough? Does the existence of diversity actually help us to crush stereotypes as opposed to promoting segregation? The Taboo Dialogue on Wednesday, Dec. 1 allowed students to reflect and talk openly about this issue, respectfully and genuinely.
Coordinated by the members of this semester’s intercultural dialogue the event took place from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday for eight successive weeks. The four coordinators for this event were Martina Pittius ’11, Chelsea Wurm’13, Song Ge ’13 and Meghan Guptill ’14. The participants, were distinctive in their cultural background, but we shared views on international domestic issues such as identity, social circles and the role media plays in engendering national images.
Donna Van Handle, the Dean of International Students, was invited as a special participant. “I am very glad that I can be part of such a sincere dialogue that talks about an important issue on campus,” Van Handle said. “I do think that there is a lot to improve to make a more integrated community, especially given the fact that on Mount Holyoke Confessional, the very abusive and provocative hatred is hurting the college as a whole.” There were about 15 students in attendance, including domestic and international Mount Holyoke students, and one Five College student.
During the dialogue, many agreed that language is a big barrier to promote integration at Mount Holyoke. As English is the dominant language on campus, international students may feel it challenging to use English as proficiently as domestic students both in and outside the classroom. Some domestic students added that international students gathering at dining hall usually involves speaking in their native language, which segregates themselves from other students who do not speak the language. However, from the international students’ perspective, they sometimes feel it exhaustive to use English every second; speaking in their own language is a way of expressing nostalgia.
The dialogue group also discussed whether cultural organizations on campus have formed a barrier for people outside that particular culture. It was agreed that distinctive cultural organizations have made enormous contribution to our diversity; especially in terms of the events they organized, such as Korea Night, China Night and Variasians. The participants agreed that the clubs should be more open and inclusive, welcoming anyone interested in that theme to join.
In creating a more integrated community, getting to know neighbors who live on the same floor or residence hall is important. During the discussion, Van Handle recalled that Mount Holyoke used to be more residence hall oriented, where every residence hall included a dining hall and each student was required eat in their respective residence hall. This regulation seems strange compared to how Dining Services is in Mount Holyoke now—since many different menus and choices in distinctive dining halls are offered for students every meal. Participants also talked about hall activities, about which many agreed that not many students show up and regard the activities as a meaningful way to get to know the people surrounding them. Some participants admitted that it feels more “comfortable” to talk with people within their safety zone. At some times, reaching out can be challenging and unsafe; yet informative and fun at the same time. Through interaction with someone different, students can expand their networks and cultural knowledge.
Even though the Taboo dialogue covered many social topics not typically acknowledged, it is still difficult to involve all the aspects of the issue. However, it is a good thought initiator to influence social actions later on.
Tags: web, web exclusives
Posted in Features | No Comments »
Monday, December 6th, 2010
My heart was in pieces on Monday. My dad had just left after a phenomenal family weekend, and my throat was red and raw with allergies. I walked around aimlessly in the rain for thirty minutes or so, until I finally trudged across to the Frances Perkins house, thinking that maybe someone would be there to hug me. I saw the glow of the kitchen light through the door, and when I walked through the entry way, I could smell that one of us was cooking chicken soup. “Hello?”, a soothing voice called from the kitchen. “Thank God,” I smiled, “it’s Lisa.”
Lisa Wells Welter of Arlington, MA, first came to Mount Holyoke College as a freshman in September 1986. She lived in Porter during her freshman year, and began a self-designed major of architecture. She tells good stories of what Mount Holyoke was like in the eighties, the parties, and the buses full of boys. One time, a bus load of Harvard boys showed up at a Porter party, and the women at the door turned them away. “But we are from Harvard,” they said. And the Mount Holyoke students responded, “We have reached our fire limit.”
It was at that same party that Lisa met her husband Ron, whom she married in Abbey Chapel on October 4, 1987, just two months before Lisa walked away from Mount Holyoke College for twenty-three years. She had gotten pregnant, and wanted to keep the baby, a decision that her Mount Holyoke peers found incomprehensible. Back then, Lisa told me, over the pot of chicken soup, pro-choice meant abortion. “A lot of the girls told me that I was throwing my life away.”
While many of the Mount Holyoke Students of the 1980’s did not want to understand her decision, there were some in Lisa’s sophomore year dorm who were open to it, and even sat around at M&Cs asking questions, and prodding her belly. There was a circle of biology majors living in 1837 then, and Lisa demonstrated to them where her baby’s bottom was, and where his feet were, and told them if they pressed in certain spots, he would kick back.
He was called Nicholas Welter, born March 1988, at 8 lbs 4 oz. Lisa became a mother when her friends were in their second semester as sophomores at Mount Holyoke College, 94 miles, and twenty-three years away. “I always told Kay and Carolyn that I was coming back,” she said, when we both had finished our cups of soup. “It was just a matter of when.”
Kay Althoff and Carolyn Dietel, who are still the leaders of the Frances Perkins Program, had back then offered Lisa a spot as an FP, even though she was two years shy of the minimum age. “I couldn’t take it then,” she said, “Sadly. I had to wait for Nick to graduate.” And graduate, he did, last year from Wheaton College.
The proud mother of one college graduate, and two undergrads, Lisa Wells Welter, has finally come back to Mount Holyoke College as a history major and architecture minor. And every time I walk through the door of the FP house, (chicken soup or not) I smile, and think to myself, “Thank God.”
Tags: web, web exclusives
Posted in Features | 1 Comment »
Thursday, November 18th, 2010
Afghanistan is a country with much potential. Natural resources are in abundance and the people are down to earth. But civil unrest and natural disasters are obstacles to its progress. But how has this impacted the health sector and general wellbeing of the people? In a conversation with Dr. Qudsia Huda, risk reduction and emergency preparedness specialist, from World Health Organization (WHO), she explains the state of health of Afghanistan.
MHN: What is the current situation of the health sector in Afghanistan?
Dr. HUDA: There are quite a number of vulnerabilities challenging Afghanistan’s health sector. Conflicts as well as natural disasters are some of the challenges. In addition, Afghanistan has a large displaced population that has and continues to contribute to the spread of communicable diseases. Some of the most prevalent diseases are Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) and Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD). These vulnerabilities are not only a threat to the general wellbeing of the people but have become a burden on the national population.
MHN: Your specialty of work is on disaster management and risk reduction. Apart from the political conflicts, what kind of natural disasters affect Afghanistan and what are the health risks associated with it?
DR. HUDA: Most common natural disasters are flood, earthquake and landslides. Avalanches and cyclones happen too but not as frequently. The health risks or rather health hazards that follow are an increase in waterborne diseases such as AWD, high occurrences of measles and skin infections, various injuries and also snakebites. But the most threatening hazard is lack of access to health facilities. As a result, malnutrition and food security adds to the problem. So, the mortality rate of the population increases too.
MHN: But aside from natural disasters, have the conflicts and active fighting contributed to the growing list of health hazards?
DR. HUDA: Definitely. Our research shows that protracted conflict and active fighting is the foremost cause of health hazards because it exposes 50% to 60% of the total population to all kinds of vulnerabilities. Lack of access to health care, limitation of mobile health activities and even the quality of health services are some of the difficulties Afghanistan has been trying to cope with. Due to the extremity of the circumstances, health care providers are most of the time unwilling to work. The Afghan youth are at particular risk in this situation. Eventually, it leads to the large internally displaced population.
MHN: So has the Afghan government, including the WHO, taken measures to tackle the deteriorating health situation?
DR. HUDA: Regarding health management in Afghanistan, the Afghan government has been extremely positive about changing the health situation for the better. But it is not just the government or the WHO but the stakeholders besides the UN such as donors and NGOs are cooperating as well. They are giving their full support to the government towards developing capacities for health management.
MHN: Would you like to elaborate on that?
DR. HUDA: Well, to begin with we perform a hazard analysis and a vulnerability analysis. Recently the analysis has been used to launch a comprehensive program to increase the structural capacity and better facilitate the functioning of health facilities in cases of emergency. In other words, we are trying to boost health preparedness and policies are being made to increase the readiness of health emergency management. Then the stakeholders, as I have mentioned before, will have the chance to start their work in Afghanistan once the program has been well established.
MHN: How successful do you think will this cooperation between stakeholders and Afghan government be?
DR. HUDA: I have confidence in the fact that the Afghan government is fully committed to developing the institutional capacity for health emergency management. In terms of social barriers, it is only a matter of trust and behavior at the population level because there tends to be some skepticism within the general population at first. I feel that that community being the first responder should build resilience, which is important in identifying the vulnerabilities of the communities from both natural disasters and man-made hazard alike.
Tags: web
Posted in Perspectives | No Comments »
Thursday, November 11th, 2010
On November 15th, “MMMBop” sensation Hanson will take the stage at Northampton’s Calvin Theatre. The group will be releasing a live DVD box set on November 30th called 5 of 5 and is currently on tour with Jarrod Gorbel promoting Hanson’s most recent album “Shout It Out.”
Isaac Hanson, the oldest member of this teenage pop sensation talked to The Mount Holyoke News about their influences, childhood and raising his own children.
MHNews: Has there been a favorite artist you’ve gotten to tour with over the years?
Isaac: Well we’ve met a lot of people over the years- not necessarily toured with all of them but you have people like Billy Joel and Paul McCartney…that you get the opportunity to shake hands and say hello to at different events and passing’s to talk to for a few minutes…
One of the more significant musical things for us, is we’ve had the horn section from The Blues Brothers movie and who were in the band and made the records with [John] Belushi and [Dan] Aykroyd. They played with us a bunch of different times with the promotion of this record…We grew up watching that movie. It was that movie and oldies radio and stuff from the late 50s/early 60s as far as R&B, rock and roll, Chuck Berry, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin- that kind of stuff. So to get the chance to play on stage with those guys and talk to them- especially Bones Malone, who is a primary arranger and coordinator of the horns section, whose absolutely a gentleman and a really great guy to talk to.
It’s been really big for us and we covered, amongst other things, we covered “Gimme Some Lovin’” and the song “Shake Ya Tail Feather” which are both in The Blues Brothers movie. We actually originally knew those songs from the movie first and then discovered the original versions as well as recently recreated a scene from The Blues Brothers movie for this single ‘Thinkin Bout Somethin’ off this record. So are The Blues Brothers love has sort of come full circle [laughs] and I’ve had the opportunity to work with those guys, play with those guys…
The movie itself was inspiration for the video. The scene where Ray Charles breaks into song in the music store and then the whole Blues Brother Band and The Blues Brothers themselves start singing and the next thing you know a spontaneous dance party in the street happens and basically we recreated that scene with our own little twists here and there…It was definitely inspired by that movie and our love for that song, as well as the feeling that that particularly scene and that that song from that movie caused. So we felt like it was representative of what the song ‘Thinkin Bout Somethin’ made people fun and so it seemed appropriate.
MHNews: Did Hanson collaborate and talk to the director about it? Or did they bring it to you first?
Isaac: It was definitely our idea (laughs). Interestingly we were talking about video ideas- that idea came up in passing and we we’re like, ‘Oh that’d be real cool,’ and then Taylor was looking at video stuff online and he pulled up this scene from The Blues Brothers movie…[he] realized that the song just totally clicked- it made sense…They might as well have put this song in the movie it totally work. So then we went down the road of figuring out how to recreate that scene. We ultimately built the set for the music store inside our office and then found a downtown street in Tulsa, OK which is where were from, and filmed it all there. So it was pretty fun- pretty cool.
MHNews: What was it like growing up in Oklahoma and then being able to travel all over the country?
Isaac: “We’d lived as young kids in Arlington, VA and also for about a year had traveled in South America because our dad was an accountant for an oil company and took the opportunity because I think amongst other things he was brave enough and ambitious enough to kind of take an usual job opportunity…We’re originally from Oklahoma. Then my dad worked for the [U.S. Government Accountability Office] in Washington and then moved back to Oklahoma. Then that oil company that he worked for, we spent right about a year in South America because of that job after he’d been there for a couple years…
Tulsa is a small town but it’s not quaint and rural- the metro area is about a quarter of a million people, but by Northeast standards it’s not particularly large but it’s not a small town…Interestingly it’s very similar in size to Kansas City.
MHNews: What was it like growing up in a family with so many siblings? Was there ever any jealousy?
Isaac: Well when we first started we were so young that I think the only one of our siblings that would remember us not doing music is my sister Jessica, who is 22; so she might have had a few years of memory where we weren’t doing music but…by my sister Avery was one we were already playing concerts. So pretty much everybody only knows us – {laughs} I don’t know if there’d be any jealousy particularly one thing my parents have been really, really good at – and I think we are evidence of that – is filling a lot of individuality and self confidence in their children and the rest of the kids in my family have no lack of self confidence or willingness to kind of be themselves and in a lot of ways ambitious too. There’s definitely not any kind of jealousy particularly, I mean sometimes I feel a little bit weird because you know we created almost like two separate families…because we’ve done so much and being on the road and all that kind of stuff.
MHNews: Would you ever encourage any of your own children to be interested in music?
Isaac: {laughs} It’s funny because I think our modern culture- We were talking recently, we were in San Francisco, [CA] in a beautiful theatre that we were playing…it was built after the 1906 Earthquake in San Francisco…we’re in this beautiful theatre looking around and there’s all this molding and carving and it’s just ornate and beautiful and we were talking about how unfortunately it seems like a lot of those traits have been lost in American culture in the last hundred years. In a lot of cases those were family businesses that passed down skills, you know acquired, applied knowledge.
So in a lot of ways it’s not unreasonable to think that some of our children would be musically inclined, or at the very least extroverts. But it’s too early to tell on that one. On the one hand we know the pitfalls and the insanity of being a musician, so in that sense I think you could be helpful to your kid. But at the same time they are going to have an unusual set of circumstances going into it being the children of musicians. So I don’t know, that’s going to be up to them. I hope that I instill enough confidence in my kids- or as much confidence in my kid’s as my parents did and hopefully- I’m sure they’ll find their own way.
MHNews: Is there anything else you’d like to accomplish outside music?
Isaac: It’s funny because music is both a hobby and a job. It’s the best job you could ever have and it’s both an the most all consuming hobby you could ever have. You know it’s one in the same in a lot of ways because it’s your love and it’s also your job, your work… My hope is with the constantly evolving state of the music business right now, my hope would be that in some form or another because of some of the unusual circumstances that we’ve been in over the years, that we might have an opportunity to help people, help other sort of aspiring musicians out… That we’ll have opportunities to help fuel creative endeavors outside of our own band.
But you know, on some level or another once you’ve been doing this as long as we’ve done, you kind of have a masters degree in life experience, in some form or another and it would be kind of a shame to not dedicate your additional free time to some of that stuff too…I don’t really think that aspirations outside of the music business really would have much barring besides maybe writing a book or taking a vacation. Which I’m not very good at taking vacation…also a lot of musicians have an inflated view of being offered to [write a book]. I think a lot of artistic types go. ‘You know what would be really cool? (his voice gets low and husky) Just to like sit down and write a book.’ …It would be nice to take an opportunity to write some stuff down but it’s hard and write now I’m just really excited about the record and about touring and getting back through the northeast and playing this new music…I’m looking forward to keeping the record alive and keeping that into next year.
Tags: web
Posted in Arts & Entertainment | No Comments »
Sunday, November 7th, 2010
Performing at the House of Blues tomorrow night in Boston, MA are the pop-punk rockers Motion City Soundtrack. Famous for hits “The Future Freaks Me Out” and “Everything Is Alright,” the band released their fourth album “My Dinosaur Life” earlier this year on January 19th.
Bassist and singer Matthew Taylor recently made time for a phone interview with the Mount Holyoke News.
 Photo by Pete Yang MHNews: You recently had an open casting call for the music video “A Life Less Ordinary,” how did that turn out?
Matt: “It was really good; it was a whole lot of fun. People in the Minneapolis area that Justin [Pierre] had networked with previously, this was the director, the crew for the video. Then we just posted a message saying, ‘Come be in the video and dress like this if you can.’ Tons of people showed up and we had to turn people down unfortunately since we had such a good response to it.
MHNews: Was there a story or theme for the video?
Matt: “No, that was what made it so fun- we kind of get away from the whole story thing this time…That was just visually interesting: it’s slow motion, it’s just one take and it took place and an empty, inground pool. We just wanted something that reminded us of back when we grew up watching videos in the 90s; alternative bands doing really weird stuff that doesn’t necessarily make sense but is just fun to look at. So that’s just kind of what we were going for.
MHNews: Who are some of your personal hero’s?
Matt: All the Radiohead guys for sure. Trent Reznor [of Nine Inch Nails]…We were at some Tony Hawk foundation/benefit and he was there. It was kind of was like a creepy satellite going around him, so that was interesting. I would say Thom Yorke I would probably just cry and run away.
MHNews: If you could collaborate with anyone dead or alive on a song, who would you choose?
Matt: 50s era Paul McCartney, I just think that would be really fun: to sit down and let the song grow and be done in three minutes. I have a huge amount of respect for his song writing- and John Lennon too. It would be fun to just actually be a fly on the wall when those two guys got together
MHNews: Did you ever have any other professional aspirations outside music?
Matt: “In first grade I wanted to be an astronaut and then I discovered a drum set…A kid can dream but music made more sense. You know my dad did music, my granddad played music – I just kind of fell into it. I respected them and I loved going to hear music live. I just had a feeling from it at a very early age that, you know, I wanted to have that kind of a power-just being that loud and having that many people pay attention and sing along and dance along…
MHNews: Have you seen any good movies lately?
Matt: I’m the one guy in the band that rarely watches movies for some reason; everyone else is like everyday off they go and watch a movie. I can’t even remember the last movie I saw. Is that ridiculous? I seriously cannot tell you the last movie I saw. Actually the last movie I remember seeing in the theatre was Inception.
MHNews: What do you with your free time?
Matt: Well, Xbox for sure and recording. I love to record about weird ideas and it’s just fun and productive too, which is good. I’ll just sit down and make something on a keyboard and then later it’ll be there; I may not even remember recording it but I have a library that I’ve made, so I can go through whenever I’m looking to work on a new song…I get to learn how to use programs more and just be creative. It actually benefits [the band] in the long run.”
MHNews: Any memorable fan experiences?
Matt: People have had us sign very strange things. I remember signing some bodies car…I was like ‘Are you sure you want me to do this? You’re sure? You’re sure? You’re sure?’
MHNews: Was there a specific place they wanted you to autograph?
Matt: Anywhere we wanted on the outside of the car on the paint. Pretty wild…It wasn’t like a Bentley or anything but you know it’s still a car.
MHNews: How was it working with Mark Hoppus on “My Dinosaur Life,” your most recent album?
Matt: It’s like hanging out with your friends, you know? and getting a lot of work done at the same time. We have a lot in common with him, musically and just humor wise as well. We grew up in the nineties listening to similar stuff, and we definitely share the same kind of, immature at times, sense of humor. It was fun that’s why we back to him- we worked with him on [our] second record [“Commit This To Memory”].
MHNews: Do you have any new songs in production right now?
Matt: We have so many ideas going right now. We have a couple demo’s going, but yeah we are really excited about them and are trying to, by the end of this tour which is less than a month away, we [want to] have a handful demo’s ready to ply for people.
–
The band will continue touring with Say Anything and Saves the Day until their last performance on November 21 in Austin, TX. After that the band will go on a brief tour break until January 19th, when Motion City Soundtrack is scheduled to play Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Tags: web, web exclusives
Posted in Arts & Entertainment | No Comments »
Sunday, November 7th, 2010
Kansas, the 70s rock band known for hits “Dust in the Wind” and “Carry On Wayward Son,” performed November 5th at the Calvin Theater in Northampton, MA. The band has recently completed a series of collegiate symphony concerts after collaborating with the Washington University Symphony Orchestra on their DVD, “There’s Know Place Like Home,” in October 2009.
“Were right now in the process of adding 20 more to the tour next year…We really enjoy working with the symphonies and the college kids- it’s very rewarding,” said guitarist Richard Williams in a recent interview with The Mount Holyoke News.
From bowling, outrageous fans, and meeting The Rolling Stones, Williams was no stranger on the phone.
 Photo by Chipster PR MHN: Why did the band decide on the name ‘Kansas’?
Richard: “That was a long time ago…There was a band named Kansas that had [been] started back in Topeka, where we got our start, and some members who are in Kansas today were in that band. Back then you’d be in a band for six months, you’d go on to another band and that band kind of mutated for a while. Then some of those members starting another band: we were called White Clover. Well White Clover got a record deal… [Then] Kansas just broke up…Most of the members of Kansas were now in White Clover and we just changed the name…it just suited us.”
MHN: Did you have any professional ambitions outside music?
Richard: Well before I started playing in a band- my life was about being a professional bowler. Then I moved along – thank god- and went into music instead…A bowling alley was built near my home and I went down there and started up moving up in the junior leagues, and I worked one summer in a bowling alley and I got good at it…There wasn’t that much to do, back then there’s three channels on T.V.- As I said our life was hanging around the bowling alley, whether we were bowling or not: that’s where we met after school, that’s where we did everything.
MHN: Do you still bowl in your free time?
Richard: “Oh very rarely anymore. I used to play a lot of golf, but you know both of those is something you have to do all the time. Every time I go out to bowl or play golf, I remember doing it fairly well- so I’ve had it. It’s embarrassing now and I just don’t really have the desire to put that much effort into where I once was. It was fun but it’s just frustrating now, it’s just kind of taken all the fun out of time.
I used to fish a lot and back in 1990 Kansas had been off the road for over a year and we weren’t really sure if we’d go back. I was spending every winter in Florida fishing and in 1990 I spent three months there. I had friends who were professional guides down there. One morning I was hanging around this tackle shop where these guys work, and I got an offer to stay and be a guide and it was tempting…Then Kansas got back on the road again and I’ve been doing that ever since.
MHN: If you could collaborate with anyone dead or alive on a song, is there one artist in particular?
Richard: “There’s so many people that would’ve been good to work with. I’ll tell you who would’ve been fun to play with for a night, that would’ve been ACDC. Just what a fun band. I’d love to sit there and count those riffs out with those guys- that would just be fun. In a collaboration situation anybody of our period, like Genesis. [Anyone] from that era of progressive rock would’ve been fun to work with on a collaboration to work with. Actually we did do one album with Andrew Howell who did the Allan Parson Project.”
MHN: Did you ever felt star struck when meeting artists throughout your career?
Richard: “One time. We were playing in Boulder, CO at the college in the football stadium which is I don’t 80,000 people. It was a concert so the whole football field was [filled with] people…After us was The Rolling Stones and we were sitting at a little tent area in the backstage area with all the dressing rooms. I was just warming up and looking up I see here comes [the Stones] entourage…
All of a sudden Keith Richards and Mick Jagger walk into our dressing room; they’re dressed in an English gentleman way and they’re very proper. They were just like ‘Hey guys! Do you need anything back here? Did we tell you were big fans? We’re glad that you’re [at] the show. If there’s anything you need just let us our people know.’ I just didn’t have anything to say; I just kind of stood there slack jawed. It just caught me surprise.”
MHN: Do you have a favorite place to perform?
Richard: “I know where I don’t like playing is home – it’s two places: Kansas City and where we’re based out of now, Atlanta, Georgia. Just because there’s too much pressure. There’s way too many friends and the guest list- everybody you haven’t seen or talked to over the years is suddenly calling and wants tickets and backstage passes…You don’t get 200 tickets for your friends, you usually get 20. So all you do is disappoint everybody…All the band would agree that playing [hometowns] is just too much stress.”
MHN: What’s the craziest fan experience you’ve ever had?
Richard: “Well the first one that pops in my head is some [married] woman [who] for years was just obsessed with Steve Walsh our singer. She was convinced that they were soul mates, that they could get together, writing all this stuff and sending him letters, wrote this book-it was never published of course. Just on and on and on. Even her husband had contacted us and just said, ‘Go on, just sit her down with Steve and explain to her that this fantasy and it’s never gonna happen because she’s crazier than a shithouse rat.’ Of course Steve wanted nothing to do with that at all- which I don’t blame him. Six, seven, eight years ago we were on a bus] and she was following us, kind of erratically. We were trying to get to the hotel and she side jumped in front of us and sideswiped us and then just took off like a bat out of hell. She did some damage to the bus…
For me there was up in the New England area a Richard Williams impersonator. The reason I found out about this was because his girlfriend had contacted a website with an online obituary…because the guy had died. In order to post it they had to make sure I was in fact dead and they contacted us. I talked to them and said ‘I assure you I’m fine.’ And so I started doing some background into this. The guy had for years, this was in Connecticut, had been pretending he was me and had been hanging around the bar signing autographs, getting free drinks and picking up girls. The reason he didn’t performance anymore was because he had arthritis and he couldn’t play, and that was always his excuse. [When people asked why he didn’t wear an eye patch he would say,] ‘Well that was just a stage prop.’ He had a different name, well Richard Williams was he stage name. He had the bar, a girlfriend of three or four years or more, all these people completely snowed. Then he died and that’s when it all came to pass- Fox News in Boston actually went out to interview all these people and did a show on it locally. Come to find out that the guy was pretty disturbed. He was a Vietnam veteran…come to find out that was all bullshit too. He was never in the service, he’s not a vet – just a total nutcase…I would’ve pursued someone more interesting I think.
MHN: What’s next?
Richard: We just finished a symphony collegiate tour, which we’re doing to help raise money for college music programs-football, basketball they got all the money, they just sweep by every year. Some of these colleges that we’ve worked with, they didn’t know if they were going to be able to finish the year….The sponsor D’addario, the manufacturer for any string instrument, they gave scholarship money and donated a lot of products to the schools and that was a great time.
MHN: How did the symphony tour come about?
Richard: “We had a DVD come out called ‘There’s Know Place Like Home,’ and we had done an album with the London Symphony Orchestra a decade ago and ever since we’ve been playing selective dates with local symphonies. We really enjoyed doing that but it’s kind of a tough nut to crack, it’s not like a rock and roll thing…we filmed [the DVD] with the Washington University Symphony [Orchestra]…So we tried to work out something with college symphonies, it’s something nobody else has really done. This is our first year of that and it was very successful. Having the DVD out we have a product we can hand to the symphonies and say, ‘Here’s what we do; lets come and do this with you.” This year since it went so well, we have 40 schools on board that wanna do it next year, and we’re hoping that half of those come through.”
Tags: web, web exclusives
Posted in Arts & Entertainment | 1 Comment »
Sunday, October 31st, 2010
“Peasant and family farmers are able to and want to feed the populations of their countries. ‘Just give us a chance! Just give us a chance!’ ”
Peter Rosset has the knowledge of a scholar and the heart of a true activist. The passion with which he presented facts such as one describing how Mexican farmers earn a quarter of what they earned in 1982 because of free trade and the sarcasm with which he states corporate food covers all the essential food groups “salt, sugar, starch, fat, various carcinogens of pesticides…” are testimony to his interesting personality that definitely keeps his audience engaged. He brings to light important questions such as who is reaping the benefits of industrialized agriculture and “are we getting better quality food?”
Among many things, Rosset is a researcher in the Center for the Study of Rural Change in Mexico, a leader for the Land Research Action Network, a leading advocate of La Via Campesina and he holds a PHD in Agro-Ecology from the University of Michigan. Being introduced as “incredibly prolific” and a “true global citizen” seemed very apt for him as he took an interest in noting that Mount Holyoke College was truly international and appreciated that it meant the student body would be, in his words, “conditioned away from American Provincialism.”
Within an hour and a half, Rosset managed to explain a great deal about how economic globalization in agriculture had produced a negative impact on the lives of many. Food prices are low and, in fact, below production costs because the US government subsidizes farmers. When these low priced agricultural products are exported to countries such as Brazil farmers simply cannot match the low price offered by US multinational companies. Thus, an exodus of farmers from rural areas to cities has begun. This has resulted in greater poverty as many of these farmers end up living in slums.
Furthermore, Rosset explained that during the food crisis of 2008, when food prices rose dramatically causing governments to be anxious, as food riots are a serious threat to stability, the food and agriculture crisis was presented as something new. When in reality for the last thirty years “before the crisis of high food prices, the rural world was already in crisis (low price crisis)! Crisis was a way of life [for farmers].” He continued to explain many problems such as privatization leading to less services and help for family/small-scale farmers as he states “Everything has progressively been put out of their reach.”
Another major problem he describes is the “spillover of the American food consumption pattern.” “Globalizing the American way of life is globalizing the American way of death,” as shown by the fact that as Mexicans are compelled to consume American products 63% of adults have experience adult onset diabetes, making it a national epidemic when this was “something unheard of thirty years ago!” Thus, he concluded that farmers need their autonomy back, as they can provide healthy fresh food. “Peasant and family farmers are able to and want to feed the populations of their countries. ‘Just give us a chance! Just give us a chance!’ ”
Rosset manages to, in Kirsten Hansen’s words, “take a sensible approach in understanding the complexity of this issue and he strongly believes in his solution.” This solution is presented very well in his book Food is Different. Having read this book myself and reflecting on his public lecture, one really comes to the question why the world cannot come together and get rid of the corporate food that kills us when it is known fact that “Our food choices make a difference.”
Tags: web, web exclusives
Posted in Features | No Comments »
Saturday, October 23rd, 2010
Comedy goddess Margaret Cho will be performing her stand-up act and a selection of songs off her debut album, “Cho Dependent,” at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston, Mass. on October 28th. “The Cho Dependent Town” tour will feature songs she co-wrote with numerous musical talents including Tegan and Sara, Rachel Yamagata, Patty Griffin, Ben Lee, Andrew Bird and Ani DiFranco.
“It’s mostly a standup show. It’s hard for me not to do that [since] I still feel like such a stand up [comedian],” said Cho. “Ben [Lee]’s going to join me for some shows…He supported me so much through the whole process, taught me a lot and I learned a lot from him,” said Cho.
Growing up she loved listening to the 1970’s comedy and musical collaborations of Steve Martin and Cheech and Chong. Inspired to put out her own record, she spent a year and a half writing and producing the album starting in 2008. In traditional Cho-humor she toyed with “Guitarded” and “Banjovi” as album titles, while writing lyrics for a variety of genres including hip-hop, pop and country.
Her first single and music video off the album is the song “I’m Sorry,” a murder ballad about a former crush who worked with her on the set of her ABC sitcom All-American Girl. 17 years after she’d last seen him she decided to Google his name one day and discovered he had killed his wife. “He bludgeoned her to death and stuffed her body in the attic for a month until it had partially mummified,” said Cho in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Shocked and taken aback, Cho wondered if that could have been her fate and wrote a song about it.
“It’s a rhythmic work, [both] trying to find words that make sense that will fit in a certain framework and also are funny…If you’re good at one you’re probably good at the other,” says Cho on comedy versus song writing. “[It’s] a lot more challenging to actually write songs and then sing them. You know to become an instrument, and be in the song- it’s really hard to be a singer.”
Click here to read The Mount Holyoke New’s full interview with Cho.
Tags: web, web exclusives
Posted in Arts & Entertainment | No Comments »
|
Doug Keller
