Various clips from the Stony Brook Press
May’s the Time to Move Away
Stony Brook Press, April 2005
Along with thousands of other students on campus I will be graduating this May. Students move back home, some move for a job or to follow a love, a few may have never left home, several may be backpacking Europe, the soulful brace themselves for the open road, and others pop the zippers stuffing their suitcases with plans of moving some place new for no other reason because we can and because wanderlust is stifling. We may discover the ‘grass isn’t always greener’ or alternatively that ‘change is good.’ In all the excitement that anticipation arouses it is easy to focus on all the benefits of a new locale and belittle the negatives. What one may expect to be the Garden of Eden may really be the Garden of Egads.
If given the opportunity to move anywhere in the United States…where would you go? According to recent Frommer’s travel books and many an Internet search engine, a few locations were granted the status of “Best Place to Live.” Long Island is on there too, but let’s think outside the box.
A Handful of Places to Live (in no particular order):
Florida
First thing you think of: Mickey Mouse.
First thing you want when you arrive: Air conditioning.
You’ll need the entertainment parks when the fresh squeezed orange juice and slow drivers turn sour. The cost of living is cheaper, but then again the salaries aren’t as high as in New York. The beaches are beautiful, but you’re shark bait. You’ll never have to shovel snow, but you won’t have to clean your home either when a hurricane huffs and puffs it to the ground.
California
First thing you think of: gold (please don’t say Sideways—I didn’t see it yet)
First thing you want when you arrive: To see the Pacific.
Surfers and So-Cal chickies make the beaches hot, and brush fires turn areas inland into charcoal landscapes. You may have better odds of making it on MTV’s Pimp My Ride, but with car theft rates on the West Coast you’ll be lucky if your car is waiting for you. While you enjoy mudslides at a bar you could be covered with the real thing. You’ll have sun all the time, but San Andrea’s Fault could swallow you up under the bluest skies.
Nevada
First thing you think of: “Vegas, baby! Vegas!”
First thing you want when you arrive: To not lose money gambling.
You can have a cheap wedding and a pricy divorce—and no one would know (because what happens in Vegas…). Supposedly you don’t feel the 90+ degree heat because there is little humidity, but with citizens trying to grow grass in the desert and installing irrigation systems the barometer is being challenged.
New Jersey
First thing you think of: Garden State
First thing you want when you arrive: To drive through as fast as possible—because it stinks!
Contrary to the commoners’ belief that Jersey is all I-95, it’s actually mainly farmland. Some beaches too. The abyss is fictional. So while you’re milking a cow on the Jersey shore, think of me.
Arizona
First thing you think of: Grand Canyon.
First thing you want when you arrive: To find Area 51.
Area 51 is in New Mexico, Agent Mulder. You can combine the low cost of living, the sunny California-esque weather, and the urban culture of Phoenix with gargantuan desert beetles and rattle snakes. Shake out your shoes in the morning for scorpions. Enjoy the palm trees and the sand with NO OCEAN.
So, where would you go?
I’ll be in California searching for a job. Even though my dermatologist says that I “have skin that should never see the light of day” I brace myself for the California sun. I can at least spend the summer covered in high SPFs painting light bulbs on the beach and playing guitar while people pay me not to sing; or more realistically join the Hare Krishna. I like to travel. They must travel a lot; I always see them at airports.
In my life there is a routine that becomes crushing at times—but it’s more tolerable when irreplaceable conversations decorate my days. I question if leaving Long Island will satiate my desires. I begin to doubt it will, and I think I will just find the same routines, drones and aggravations as would be found anywhere. If this is so, so be it. Some place new is at the very least—out of the ordinary. What it might not be is extraordinary. I see it my mission to determine this.
A girl, fellow Long Islander, I went to college with during my spell in Rhode Island talked for the sake of talking, and only one piece of wisdom I took from her. She believed that Long Island is a bubble and the people who live here believe they have the best, and that even if you want to leave, the bubble traps you in. You’re safe from mudslides, tornadoes, tsunamis and the yeti. The most dangerous thing on Long Island is driving with so many deer. Back to the point, you can’t leave this island unless you drive over a bridge, onto a ferry, take a train or plane, or do the Andy Dufresne and tunnel your way out like Shawshank.
But if you are fortunate enough to break the seal and make your own bubble some where else, how far would you go? The great thing about bubbles is that some get pretty far before they pop.
Twixters, I’ll Have None of That
Stony Brook Press, February 2005
Surprised I was that there was not an article in the last issue of The Press responding to Time Magazine’s January 24, 2005 issue featuring a cover story about today’s youth. More specifically—those in their mid-twenties.
Lev Grossman’s synopsis of this cross section of society touched upon new statistical findings and psychological research and other yawn factors that deter most people from optically consuming the entire article. For those who missed this, Grossman provided examples of indecisive young adults who aren’t conforming to society’s standards. Instead of bear hugging a thirty-year fixed rate mortgage, tackling the 9 to 5 and sporting a sexy Osh-Kosh diaper bag, today’s youngin’ aims at keeping this on pause—or have already decided to never hit play.
As much as I don’t take a fancy to the addition in America’s vernacular, the term “twixter” has been coined to describe the college student/graduate who has not accepted the rites of passage like parenthood and employment. We do live in a lazy society—and Jesse Gaccione wrote a piece in Newsday proposing the notion that we create this inactivity ourselves. Gaccione used the new Blockbuster “No Late Fee” policy to show how society further induces and encourages people to hold off on responsibility. It’s surfacing in more and more aspects of life.
Time’s article debunks the stigma revolving around the college demographic’s fickleness. Grossman covers almost all grounds in his article regarding twixters, I will avoid summarizing, and turns the Lazy American into a misunderstood, intellectual deviant. Grossman writes “…what looks like incessant, hedonistic play is the twixters’ way of trying on jobs and partners and personalities and making sure that when they do settle down, they do it the right way, their way. It’s not that they don’t take adulthood seriously; they take it so seriously, they’re spending years carefully choosing the right path into it.”
I think this may be creating an excuse for those in colleges; optimistically hoping that we will fill the shoes of those before us. A symptom of denial perhaps. What’s acknowledged is the reality that our society makes it easy for the college crowd to take our time, rack up debt through loans—some destroying credit scores nixing the ability to purchase a house if so desired, enjoying ourselves and appreciating it more knowing what the future has in store for us. I am not including myself in the collective as I don’t fit the twixter stereotype, so by “us” I am referring to the twixters that Grossman has under the lens.
One problem I found with Time is the encouragement of parents to avoid a twixter fate for the children by not taking vacations. I don’t agree with sheltering people to create a fixed future for them. Let people see what are world is about and let them decide for themselves.
With that aside, upon first skimming the article I thought Grossman would discuss more about our (college students’) future with Social Security—how people may want to enjoy themselves more now and detain the norms of society because there won’t be any Social Security checks coming our way (due to the predicted deficit). Time’s article grants one sentence to this possibility.
Michael Patrick Nelson wrote a satirical piece in The Long Island Press addressing this new demographic, and I agree with his theory that the “twixter” label is created in a marketing conspiracy—to influence today’s college group and give them a brand to include themselves in. At first I thought the candy company was trying to make Fat America fatter by prescribing the college demographic a love for Twix.
From Nelson’s own experience as a thirty year old suffering from twixter symptoms I find some truth in Grossman’s findings. Other than this one example, and several I know on a personal level, it all seems to be a farce. A stereotype created to describe members of society and criticize them for not striving for the American Dream. This reminds me of an essay on criticism by Matthew Arnold. Arnold believes that (I’m paraphrasing) great works are produced in epochs. That a “man and the moment” is required. Aside from the patriarchal undertones, this asserts that a person requires the right moment in history (or in the future) in order to be received favorably. The only level I can agree upon is a new way of life, a way of thinking, of living, and it seems that this is the time for it.
Not to continue filling the article with other people’s thoughts (even though they provide a complementing discourse), but a quote from Waking Life (Richard Linklater, 2001) underscores the nature of the world we live: “This is the most exciting time to be alive than any other point in history. Whatever you do, don’t be bored.”
A Guy and His Guitar
Stony Brook Press, December 2004
The opening act in Farmingdale on December 7, 2004 was Matt O’Brien. Matt’s performance at the Downtown was a hard act to follow being that his impressive guitar compositions and bittersweet lyrics resonated intimidating talent. Aside from myself, the audience consisted mainly of impressionable high school girls.
A week prior to the show during my entertaining interview with Matt, I was informed that a great many tickets were sold to a local high school, making the juvenile spectators only redeeming quality: more parking spots for me! Towards the back of the Downtown, parental units milled around the bar, walking the line of their children’s mandatory circumference of coolness that must be maintained when attending such a “mad” and “chill” shindig.
If I were an anal individual who classified her own audio collection by genre instead of artist, I’d place Matt O’Brien’s music in the Easy Listening niche. I’m sure others would say the John Mayer Double, but Matt isn’t running through the halls of his high school screaming at the top of his lungs. His lyrics express emotion, as well as an extensive vocabulary. I heard “sedentary” used in one of his songs—and it worked!
Appearing slightly nervous at first, Matt quickly collected himself and compensated by delivering an amusing and pleasant performance. Being that Matt is “averse to clichés,” he almost successfully avoided them by not asking the crowd where they’re from, not having the audience clap along, and not plugging his CD (see end of article for demo listening information) every two and third seconds.
During his transitions, Matt took his time sliding the capo up a fret, alluded to his home life in Pennsylvania, his experience at Berklee College of Music, and his current employment at the Huntington Village Waldbaum’s. He recanted days of penning songs in Pennsylvania, and in an attempt to warm up the audience—which he achieved—Matt described his typical day at the supermarket: stocking tampons. Nonetheless, Matt explains how he doesn’t blame women when they turn the other way as soon as they see him stocking said tampons. A cute play on the stereotypical self-consciousness of women, and a girl’s menstrual cycle, and the high school-age audience giggles and blushes. One of these days Matt will realize he’s already stocking something he can stick in the ladies.
Matt’s songs didn’t exactly slice through the mumbling side conversations that the audience sustained during his vocals. Upon recommendation of a random audience member, it would have been nice to have an a capella section in a song or three to turn a head or three.
The bad did not outweigh the good of course, and for the minimal price of $7 and an evening of new talent, this Tuesday night was well spent.
Buyers and Sellers: Beware
Stony Brook Press, November 2004
Is business more exciting than dating? Or have sex/love become business transactions?
If one were to attend a business school, or own a business, there are specific elements that are beneficial to understand in order to be successful. In writing and in business it is repetitively preached to “know your audience” in order to maintain effective communication. Without knowing your audience how can you satisfy their desires and give them what they want or need, or keep them coming back for more, or make them a customer for life?
It may be considered that there is little humanity present in the corporate world. White collar, walking suits, the 9 to 5, I need not list the banal characteristics. When taking into account the intimate relationships we form throughout our lives, there is more of an essence and enthusiasm attached to them than what one may feel for investment banking and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Do we spend portions of our day fantasizing about sex or about Disney stock? However, where is the difference between the two? There are so many similarities…
Marketing has a core based on what are referenced as “The Four P’s.” In no specific order: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Products are to be purchased and then consumed, usually after the item’s features are compared to that of its competition. Do you buy the computer with the CD burner or the DVD burner—or both? Or do you have a suppressed sentimental attachment to your Commodore64? Similarly when someone chooses to form a personal relationship there is a comparison taking place. Whether it is conscious or not, the advantages of one person over another are analyzed as well. Honesty, loyalty, and excitement in people are qualities that add value and a certain guarantee that cold, heartless, impotent people can’t offer. This is a good time to have a competitive edge, unless of course the buyer has brand loyalty and will always go after a similar type of person.
Pricing doesn’t necessarily need to string along the monetary connotation. If it were, there would be the cost-oriented and competition-oriented pricing approaches, maybe even a payment plan with low introductory APR. A person may appear affordable, yet the fine print reveals that an exorbitant balloon payment will be required down the road. Maybe this person will become a distressed former lover who slashes your tires, cha-ching! In matters of interpersonal relations there are emotional and temporal exchanges as well. Is the person carrying bumper-stickered baggage of depression? Or are they invasive and overly cheerful like those folks concocting your latte in Starbucks? You may find yourself thinking that you have better things (people) to do while in their presence. In some areas this may be diagnosed as Buyer’s Remorse! Keep your receipts, keep your receipts.
Place represents the venues of distribution: is the product easily accessible? Some people just emanate that unattainable glow. When a product is overly available, it seems everyone has one, like IPods and downloadable ring tones (which most people download the same tones, defeating the purpose in differentiating themselves). In this instance, products become mainstream: you know what you’re going to get. There is a definite product life cycle. When you purchase a gallon of milk—you know it’s not going to taste better in a month. On the flipside Twinkies have a longer shelf-life, yet they’re not made with anything real. What a conundrum. Additionally, with distribution in mind, there are certain values associated with points of purchase. Meeting someone in a bar or at a barbecue sheds a different light on their character. Consumers feel more confident making a purchase where their money can get the most for its value. We all have what’s called a “perceived value” of products and stores, and in other people. Hot Topic isn’t perceived at the same value as Dolce & Gabbana. In a similar respect, people who shower are favored over those who don’t.
Promoting, or in its early personal stages—flirting, requires the most investment in the majority of situations. Singles on the prowl may utilize the services of personals advertisements in newspapers or on the internet. These are obvious means of advertising and promotion that are too logical to outline; almost more commonsense than conceptualizing supply and demand. What can be garnered here is the ability to understand how other people are promoting themselves and then keeping ahead of the competition. For a girl, wearing a tube top may milk the attention of a guy by accentuating an individual’s distinguishing attributes. This is a superficial example.
Before an investor will endorse a company, a business plan must be created and it requires a description of the business. Mission statements must be composed, competition analyzed, examination of the strengths and weaknesses must be completed. Much research and development takes place to accomplish these objectives. As individuals, an equivalent of an investor, we describe ourselves to other “investors,” do some “research” by asking a friend if they know so-and-so, and pros and cons are tallied in deciding whether or not the investment will produce a favorable return. Furthermore, everyone has their own personal history of “research” between the sheets, which can make or break a relationship for some people.
The similarities between the way business is conducted and how we in a way, “solicit” sexual relationships, are not few at all. It leaves the possibility that our sex drive is directly proportional to the stock market. Okay, that would be going too far. But not in jest, there appear to be innate patterns mirroring each other in the formation of intimate connections with people and in the rigid structure business of functions. One is more of a pleasure source than the other, yet both operate under the same logic.
We may each be individual businesses, sole proprietorships searching to form a partnership, or in some cases a corporation. There are advantages and disadvantages to these forms of ownership as well, but that sounds like another article.
Reality’s “Reality”
Stony Brook Press, September 2004
Have film and television turned people into unconscious voyeurs? I asked myself this question after reprimanding my sister (on frequent occasions) for impolitely “staring” at people, after I noticed myself more concerned about the person’s life in the car next to mine than about the road, after I spied my neighbor spying on me, after I couldn’t pry myself from a stranger’s cell phone conversation, after the man pumping my gas undressed me with his eyes and didn’t think I noticed. Being inundated with these “signs” makes it difficult to not question the degree to which film affects lives involuntarily.
In a television arena where “reality” is watching people who pretend the cameras aren’t there, and then during specific segments directly address the camera, an environment is constructed and accepted by masses. One in which we live under the pretense that our actions go unnoticed, but then it’s okay to acknowledge later that we knew about being the victim of someone’s gaze all along. In reality I find myself and others pretending we’re not being watched, but knowing that it is occurring. It’s not polite to stare, but it’s free uncensored entertainment at times.
Audience interaction in American Idol for example, allows us—those not on the show—to submit our opinions that potentially affect the outcome of the show. Recently, strangers have decided to cross this line in reality and begin conversations with me while I’m at a stop light or ordering food, offering their personal ballot in hopes of securing their own happy ending. Maybe this would occur without the presence of this form of television; however manners appear to be continuously obscured. We all participate in the watching, and this makes it unavoidable to not be watched. What I feel television has done, is erased the judgment in the minds of its audience that distinguishes what is acceptable social voyeurism (overhearing conversations in restaurants, or seeing the hands-free cell phone violators driving), and what is rude (not breaking a gaze for over ten seconds at a couple fighting that you’ve created your own, more dramatic, internal dialogue for, or becoming so enraptured in a child’s crayon antics at an adjacent Friendly’s table that you forget to chew).
It has been said in the past that our society sways between life imitating art versus art imitating life. From here on I use the term “art” loosely to encompass television, film, print advertisements, and other familiar constituents of the media realm. As reality television spurs neverending spinoffs and studios continue to produce formulaic, predictable films, our perceptions become accustomed to these products. We expect television to disappoint us and we can be optimistic enough to hope for the happy endings in our own lives.
In the case of imitation, it’s safe to say that the controversy of the big bad “violence in the media” would be a typical course of discussion. However, beyond the violence, a not as commonly debated issue needs to be addressed. This concerns the dynamics of communication in our everyday relationships.
Will people be forever imprinted with this acceptance of “reality” and continue to unknowingly live reality that mirrors what is absorbed from television and film? Perhaps if television produced a solution in a form capable of affecting people in the same fashion this problem would conveniently solve itself.
Laugh Out Loud Instead of LOL
Stony Brook Press, September 2004
My previous Press article reviewing Theatre Three’s Friday Night Improv show foreshadowed the future of the Players troupe. I expected the comedians to make it to Broadway someday and on August 17th that day had arrived.
Caroline’s Comedy Club on Broadway housed the local comedy act, which charged only $3 and a two drink minimum for anyone who made reservations. Not too unreasonable for a world famous comedy club. The all-male group successfully maintained their comedic quality, even to the extent of marketing their night: “Yes, it’s Friday Night Face-Off on a Tuesday.”
The Friday night show in Port Jefferson of the weekend prior to their Broadway debut suffocated any doubts about their performance in New York City. The Olympic theme was due to it being the opening night of the games in Greece. The evening opened with a movie by the comedians documenting the traveling of the torch through various cities that all conveniently resembled downtown Port Jeff. It was damn creative and the “LIVE” flashing at the bottom of the screen as one of the Players entered the Second Stage with the un-lit torch (fire codes) introduced an evening of impressive comedy—yet again!
Having seen a couple dozen Friday Night Face Offs I can decently gauge the tension in their performances. Watching them trying to enjoy their opening comedians, all of who failed to rise to the caliber of the Players, was amusing as well. Realizing that that they had opening acts instead of being the opening act impressed me further, not to mention the ability to see their intimidation of this professional opportunity was priceless. They intelligently chose the most popular skits to showcase their best talent, and this made it all the more obvious that these little fish knew exactly how to make it big.
Jeffrey Sanzel, an actor/producer/director/jack-of-all trades genius man, has become the host of the Friday Night Face Off show during the past year. His jokes in between skits add to the witty experience each show delivers. At Caroline’s, Jeffrey Sanzel’s Joke of the Week was something along the lines of, “A chicken and egg are sitting in bed smoking cigarettes. The egg turns to the chicken and says, ‘Well, I guess that answers that question.’”
The different audience interactions of every show make each show just that—always different. Even the three really bad shows out of the approximately fifty that I’ve been to were funny in their own unfunny way. From the audience during the Caroline’s show the Players were able to take a college girl’s day at orientation, who was majoring in Library Science, and make it funny. Library Science = funny? The Improv can make it that way.
As previously mentioned, Friday Night Face Off is every Friday. Instead of staring blankly at your computer screen feverishly typing an L-O-L into an Instant Message, try going out and laughing for real (where do those Instant Messages go when their closed anyways?). Starting the first weekend in September all the way through to October 29th they will be there. Check out their website www.fridaynightfaceoff.com for any information about theme nights and whatnot and you’ll see you should be there. It’s not every week you can spend $10 and laugh for nearly two hours—oh wait—it is every week.
Black is Back—It Was Never Gone
Stony Brook Press, September 2004
Getting back into the swing of classes sometimes has its surprises. A discussion had been generated in a Stony Brook University literature class concerning the potential expiration of the African-American right to vote in 2007. This was prompted from an email the professor had received relaying information that the 1965 Voters Rights Act isn’t a fixed legislation. This was due to a 25 year renewal policy instated during Ronald Reagan’s term. Along with the class, I was shocked and didn’t know that the United States would still question a citizen’s right to vote based on a discrimination factor. I would imagine the NAACP and other activists would have been resolving this issue being that it would affect the next presidential election. After Googling pieces of information thrown around in class I came across David Emery’s analysis of this same scenario.
Emery is a writer for About.com’s “Urban Legends and Folklore” pages and clearly explains the 2007 expiration of the right to vote is a hoax. The site is dated December of 1998, and I was surprised again that word of the email inaccuracy is still surfacing almost four years later.
A potential message that Emery posts on this site is most likely an email that one would receive. It is as follows:
Emery continues to explain that the 1965 Act holds the only truth in the above and that “the basic right of all Americans to vote, regardless of race, is guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and can’t expire with the Voting Rights Act.” In April of 1998, the United State Department of Justice affirmed in the “Voting Rights Act Clarification” that “the basic prohibition against discrimination in voting contained in the Fifteenth amendment and in the Voting Rights Act does not expire in 2007—it does not expire at all; it is permanent.”
Personally, I would not have pursued this information because it wouldn’t affect my right to vote. Perhaps that’s wrong of me, a form of ignorance, but with the question still plaguing my mind a week after it was first discussed in class I decided to investigate.
The professor has stressed daily how important it is to check your sources and to “question authority” and I am curious if the proposition of the 2007 expiration in class was a way of illustrating the importance yet again. Or maybe this is a reminder to practice what is preached before it is teached (err, taught)?
Sunrise Falls to Sunset
Stony Brook Press, August 2004
There are films directed by men, and there are films directed by “the man.” He is Richard Linklater. For those who missed the captivating tale in Vienna ten years ago, complete with witty conversations between Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy), another opportunity awaits across the pond in Paris that will not disappoint in the least.
Before Sunrise(1994) is a film that captures the unexpected moment of boy meets girl. This pair being Jesse and Celine; fortunate enough to meet on a train to Vienna and enjoy one night together, never exchanging any means of communication, and promising to return six months post-magic moments.
What lends itself to be the basis of Before Sunset (2004) is one of them (Celine) doesn’t hold up her end of the promise. Figures, the fickleness of us women. But no, there were unprecedented circumstances that caused their reunion to be postponed. In present day Paris, the instance of boy meets girl is visited yet again. Jesse and Celine meet at his book signing in Paris at what coincidentally is Celine’s favorite bookstore. Jesse’s book just so happens to be a written account of their only passionate night together. Objectively these characteristics have commercial Hollywood connotations, however the realistic conversations and under-acknowledged acting create a film that does what films are meant to represent: life.
With Before Sunset, Linklater forms another piece of film that cohesively maintains the directorial quality employed in the first. The most prominent characteristic that I can distinguish between the two films is in the opening of Sunset and the closing of Sunrise. Linklater poetically introduces Sunset with a similar directing pattern. He boasts the ability to present what are common establishing shots with latent facets (describing the details would rob potential viewers of their enjoyment).
What is most impressive about Sunset (and Sunrise as well) is the dialogue. The conversations emanate such a natural and realistic tone and pace that it matches the fluidity of the directing, creating what should be recognized as one of the most poignant films written and directed about the fate of love. It is not enough to provide examples of the characters’ banter because it would not deliver an adequate portrayal; both films need to be seen in their entirety.
I felt cheated at the end of Sunset—at first. Not to destroy the ending (because in this movie’s case I would file that under the Mortal Sin category), but it is just as indefinite if not more vague and open than Sunset’s closing. But after the film is absorbed, the ending fits; making Linklater even more of a master at his art, especially when considering the film is in real time. Knowing that Jesse is to leave in an hour and twenty minutes for his plane is truly the time you are watching unfold. This only adds to the realistic representation of life.
In most reviews of the film I have read as of late, many refer to the films as “chick flicks.” Before I had seen either I expected that as well. From what I have seen I feel it would be wrong to labelSunrise and Sunset “chick flicks.” Both films are mature accounts of relationships that I should hope most would relate to, and these films deserve an audience. Currently, Before Sunset is on limited release and is most easily found in New York City theaters. The characters have dealt with a lot of waiting, and now the film is waiting to be seen. Linklater has created characters who know not when they will see each other again. Having seen both films in their entire length only once, I’m left with the same uncertainty: when will I see them again? It can’t be too soon.
May’s the Time to Move Away
Stony Brook Press, April 2005
Along with thousands of other students on campus I will be graduating this May. Students move back home, some move for a job or to follow a love, a few may have never left home, several may be backpacking Europe, the soulful brace themselves for the open road, and others pop the zippers stuffing their suitcases with plans of moving some place new for no other reason because we can and because wanderlust is stifling. We may discover the ‘grass isn’t always greener’ or alternatively that ‘change is good.’ In all the excitement that anticipation arouses it is easy to focus on all the benefits of a new locale and belittle the negatives. What one may expect to be the Garden of Eden may really be the Garden of Egads.
If given the opportunity to move anywhere in the United States…where would you go? According to recent Frommer’s travel books and many an Internet search engine, a few locations were granted the status of “Best Place to Live.” Long Island is on there too, but let’s think outside the box.
A Handful of Places to Live (in no particular order):
Florida
First thing you think of: Mickey Mouse.
First thing you want when you arrive: Air conditioning.
You’ll need the entertainment parks when the fresh squeezed orange juice and slow drivers turn sour. The cost of living is cheaper, but then again the salaries aren’t as high as in New York. The beaches are beautiful, but you’re shark bait. You’ll never have to shovel snow, but you won’t have to clean your home either when a hurricane huffs and puffs it to the ground.
California
First thing you think of: gold (please don’t say Sideways—I didn’t see it yet)
First thing you want when you arrive: To see the Pacific.
Surfers and So-Cal chickies make the beaches hot, and brush fires turn areas inland into charcoal landscapes. You may have better odds of making it on MTV’s Pimp My Ride, but with car theft rates on the West Coast you’ll be lucky if your car is waiting for you. While you enjoy mudslides at a bar you could be covered with the real thing. You’ll have sun all the time, but San Andrea’s Fault could swallow you up under the bluest skies.
Nevada
First thing you think of: “Vegas, baby! Vegas!”
First thing you want when you arrive: To not lose money gambling.
You can have a cheap wedding and a pricy divorce—and no one would know (because what happens in Vegas…). Supposedly you don’t feel the 90+ degree heat because there is little humidity, but with citizens trying to grow grass in the desert and installing irrigation systems the barometer is being challenged.
New Jersey
First thing you think of: Garden State
First thing you want when you arrive: To drive through as fast as possible—because it stinks!
Contrary to the commoners’ belief that Jersey is all I-95, it’s actually mainly farmland. Some beaches too. The abyss is fictional. So while you’re milking a cow on the Jersey shore, think of me.
Arizona
First thing you think of: Grand Canyon.
First thing you want when you arrive: To find Area 51.
Area 51 is in New Mexico, Agent Mulder. You can combine the low cost of living, the sunny California-esque weather, and the urban culture of Phoenix with gargantuan desert beetles and rattle snakes. Shake out your shoes in the morning for scorpions. Enjoy the palm trees and the sand with NO OCEAN.
So, where would you go?
I’ll be in California searching for a job. Even though my dermatologist says that I “have skin that should never see the light of day” I brace myself for the California sun. I can at least spend the summer covered in high SPFs painting light bulbs on the beach and playing guitar while people pay me not to sing; or more realistically join the Hare Krishna. I like to travel. They must travel a lot; I always see them at airports.
In my life there is a routine that becomes crushing at times—but it’s more tolerable when irreplaceable conversations decorate my days. I question if leaving Long Island will satiate my desires. I begin to doubt it will, and I think I will just find the same routines, drones and aggravations as would be found anywhere. If this is so, so be it. Some place new is at the very least—out of the ordinary. What it might not be is extraordinary. I see it my mission to determine this.
A girl, fellow Long Islander, I went to college with during my spell in Rhode Island talked for the sake of talking, and only one piece of wisdom I took from her. She believed that Long Island is a bubble and the people who live here believe they have the best, and that even if you want to leave, the bubble traps you in. You’re safe from mudslides, tornadoes, tsunamis and the yeti. The most dangerous thing on Long Island is driving with so many deer. Back to the point, you can’t leave this island unless you drive over a bridge, onto a ferry, take a train or plane, or do the Andy Dufresne and tunnel your way out like Shawshank.
But if you are fortunate enough to break the seal and make your own bubble some where else, how far would you go? The great thing about bubbles is that some get pretty far before they pop.
Twixters, I’ll Have None of That
Stony Brook Press, February 2005
Surprised I was that there was not an article in the last issue of The Press responding to Time Magazine’s January 24, 2005 issue featuring a cover story about today’s youth. More specifically—those in their mid-twenties.
Lev Grossman’s synopsis of this cross section of society touched upon new statistical findings and psychological research and other yawn factors that deter most people from optically consuming the entire article. For those who missed this, Grossman provided examples of indecisive young adults who aren’t conforming to society’s standards. Instead of bear hugging a thirty-year fixed rate mortgage, tackling the 9 to 5 and sporting a sexy Osh-Kosh diaper bag, today’s youngin’ aims at keeping this on pause—or have already decided to never hit play.
As much as I don’t take a fancy to the addition in America’s vernacular, the term “twixter” has been coined to describe the college student/graduate who has not accepted the rites of passage like parenthood and employment. We do live in a lazy society—and Jesse Gaccione wrote a piece in Newsday proposing the notion that we create this inactivity ourselves. Gaccione used the new Blockbuster “No Late Fee” policy to show how society further induces and encourages people to hold off on responsibility. It’s surfacing in more and more aspects of life.
Time’s article debunks the stigma revolving around the college demographic’s fickleness. Grossman covers almost all grounds in his article regarding twixters, I will avoid summarizing, and turns the Lazy American into a misunderstood, intellectual deviant. Grossman writes “…what looks like incessant, hedonistic play is the twixters’ way of trying on jobs and partners and personalities and making sure that when they do settle down, they do it the right way, their way. It’s not that they don’t take adulthood seriously; they take it so seriously, they’re spending years carefully choosing the right path into it.”
I think this may be creating an excuse for those in colleges; optimistically hoping that we will fill the shoes of those before us. A symptom of denial perhaps. What’s acknowledged is the reality that our society makes it easy for the college crowd to take our time, rack up debt through loans—some destroying credit scores nixing the ability to purchase a house if so desired, enjoying ourselves and appreciating it more knowing what the future has in store for us. I am not including myself in the collective as I don’t fit the twixter stereotype, so by “us” I am referring to the twixters that Grossman has under the lens.
One problem I found with Time is the encouragement of parents to avoid a twixter fate for the children by not taking vacations. I don’t agree with sheltering people to create a fixed future for them. Let people see what are world is about and let them decide for themselves.
With that aside, upon first skimming the article I thought Grossman would discuss more about our (college students’) future with Social Security—how people may want to enjoy themselves more now and detain the norms of society because there won’t be any Social Security checks coming our way (due to the predicted deficit). Time’s article grants one sentence to this possibility.
Michael Patrick Nelson wrote a satirical piece in The Long Island Press addressing this new demographic, and I agree with his theory that the “twixter” label is created in a marketing conspiracy—to influence today’s college group and give them a brand to include themselves in. At first I thought the candy company was trying to make Fat America fatter by prescribing the college demographic a love for Twix.
From Nelson’s own experience as a thirty year old suffering from twixter symptoms I find some truth in Grossman’s findings. Other than this one example, and several I know on a personal level, it all seems to be a farce. A stereotype created to describe members of society and criticize them for not striving for the American Dream. This reminds me of an essay on criticism by Matthew Arnold. Arnold believes that (I’m paraphrasing) great works are produced in epochs. That a “man and the moment” is required. Aside from the patriarchal undertones, this asserts that a person requires the right moment in history (or in the future) in order to be received favorably. The only level I can agree upon is a new way of life, a way of thinking, of living, and it seems that this is the time for it.
Not to continue filling the article with other people’s thoughts (even though they provide a complementing discourse), but a quote from Waking Life (Richard Linklater, 2001) underscores the nature of the world we live: “This is the most exciting time to be alive than any other point in history. Whatever you do, don’t be bored.”
A Guy and His Guitar
Stony Brook Press, December 2004
The opening act in Farmingdale on December 7, 2004 was Matt O’Brien. Matt’s performance at the Downtown was a hard act to follow being that his impressive guitar compositions and bittersweet lyrics resonated intimidating talent. Aside from myself, the audience consisted mainly of impressionable high school girls.
A week prior to the show during my entertaining interview with Matt, I was informed that a great many tickets were sold to a local high school, making the juvenile spectators only redeeming quality: more parking spots for me! Towards the back of the Downtown, parental units milled around the bar, walking the line of their children’s mandatory circumference of coolness that must be maintained when attending such a “mad” and “chill” shindig.
If I were an anal individual who classified her own audio collection by genre instead of artist, I’d place Matt O’Brien’s music in the Easy Listening niche. I’m sure others would say the John Mayer Double, but Matt isn’t running through the halls of his high school screaming at the top of his lungs. His lyrics express emotion, as well as an extensive vocabulary. I heard “sedentary” used in one of his songs—and it worked!
Appearing slightly nervous at first, Matt quickly collected himself and compensated by delivering an amusing and pleasant performance. Being that Matt is “averse to clichés,” he almost successfully avoided them by not asking the crowd where they’re from, not having the audience clap along, and not plugging his CD (see end of article for demo listening information) every two and third seconds.
During his transitions, Matt took his time sliding the capo up a fret, alluded to his home life in Pennsylvania, his experience at Berklee College of Music, and his current employment at the Huntington Village Waldbaum’s. He recanted days of penning songs in Pennsylvania, and in an attempt to warm up the audience—which he achieved—Matt described his typical day at the supermarket: stocking tampons. Nonetheless, Matt explains how he doesn’t blame women when they turn the other way as soon as they see him stocking said tampons. A cute play on the stereotypical self-consciousness of women, and a girl’s menstrual cycle, and the high school-age audience giggles and blushes. One of these days Matt will realize he’s already stocking something he can stick in the ladies.
Matt’s songs didn’t exactly slice through the mumbling side conversations that the audience sustained during his vocals. Upon recommendation of a random audience member, it would have been nice to have an a capella section in a song or three to turn a head or three.
The bad did not outweigh the good of course, and for the minimal price of $7 and an evening of new talent, this Tuesday night was well spent.
Buyers and Sellers: Beware
Stony Brook Press, November 2004
Is business more exciting than dating? Or have sex/love become business transactions?
If one were to attend a business school, or own a business, there are specific elements that are beneficial to understand in order to be successful. In writing and in business it is repetitively preached to “know your audience” in order to maintain effective communication. Without knowing your audience how can you satisfy their desires and give them what they want or need, or keep them coming back for more, or make them a customer for life?
It may be considered that there is little humanity present in the corporate world. White collar, walking suits, the 9 to 5, I need not list the banal characteristics. When taking into account the intimate relationships we form throughout our lives, there is more of an essence and enthusiasm attached to them than what one may feel for investment banking and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Do we spend portions of our day fantasizing about sex or about Disney stock? However, where is the difference between the two? There are so many similarities…
Marketing has a core based on what are referenced as “The Four P’s.” In no specific order: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Products are to be purchased and then consumed, usually after the item’s features are compared to that of its competition. Do you buy the computer with the CD burner or the DVD burner—or both? Or do you have a suppressed sentimental attachment to your Commodore64? Similarly when someone chooses to form a personal relationship there is a comparison taking place. Whether it is conscious or not, the advantages of one person over another are analyzed as well. Honesty, loyalty, and excitement in people are qualities that add value and a certain guarantee that cold, heartless, impotent people can’t offer. This is a good time to have a competitive edge, unless of course the buyer has brand loyalty and will always go after a similar type of person.
Pricing doesn’t necessarily need to string along the monetary connotation. If it were, there would be the cost-oriented and competition-oriented pricing approaches, maybe even a payment plan with low introductory APR. A person may appear affordable, yet the fine print reveals that an exorbitant balloon payment will be required down the road. Maybe this person will become a distressed former lover who slashes your tires, cha-ching! In matters of interpersonal relations there are emotional and temporal exchanges as well. Is the person carrying bumper-stickered baggage of depression? Or are they invasive and overly cheerful like those folks concocting your latte in Starbucks? You may find yourself thinking that you have better things (people) to do while in their presence. In some areas this may be diagnosed as Buyer’s Remorse! Keep your receipts, keep your receipts.
Place represents the venues of distribution: is the product easily accessible? Some people just emanate that unattainable glow. When a product is overly available, it seems everyone has one, like IPods and downloadable ring tones (which most people download the same tones, defeating the purpose in differentiating themselves). In this instance, products become mainstream: you know what you’re going to get. There is a definite product life cycle. When you purchase a gallon of milk—you know it’s not going to taste better in a month. On the flipside Twinkies have a longer shelf-life, yet they’re not made with anything real. What a conundrum. Additionally, with distribution in mind, there are certain values associated with points of purchase. Meeting someone in a bar or at a barbecue sheds a different light on their character. Consumers feel more confident making a purchase where their money can get the most for its value. We all have what’s called a “perceived value” of products and stores, and in other people. Hot Topic isn’t perceived at the same value as Dolce & Gabbana. In a similar respect, people who shower are favored over those who don’t.
Promoting, or in its early personal stages—flirting, requires the most investment in the majority of situations. Singles on the prowl may utilize the services of personals advertisements in newspapers or on the internet. These are obvious means of advertising and promotion that are too logical to outline; almost more commonsense than conceptualizing supply and demand. What can be garnered here is the ability to understand how other people are promoting themselves and then keeping ahead of the competition. For a girl, wearing a tube top may milk the attention of a guy by accentuating an individual’s distinguishing attributes. This is a superficial example.
Before an investor will endorse a company, a business plan must be created and it requires a description of the business. Mission statements must be composed, competition analyzed, examination of the strengths and weaknesses must be completed. Much research and development takes place to accomplish these objectives. As individuals, an equivalent of an investor, we describe ourselves to other “investors,” do some “research” by asking a friend if they know so-and-so, and pros and cons are tallied in deciding whether or not the investment will produce a favorable return. Furthermore, everyone has their own personal history of “research” between the sheets, which can make or break a relationship for some people.
The similarities between the way business is conducted and how we in a way, “solicit” sexual relationships, are not few at all. It leaves the possibility that our sex drive is directly proportional to the stock market. Okay, that would be going too far. But not in jest, there appear to be innate patterns mirroring each other in the formation of intimate connections with people and in the rigid structure business of functions. One is more of a pleasure source than the other, yet both operate under the same logic.
We may each be individual businesses, sole proprietorships searching to form a partnership, or in some cases a corporation. There are advantages and disadvantages to these forms of ownership as well, but that sounds like another article.
Reality’s “Reality”
Stony Brook Press, September 2004
Have film and television turned people into unconscious voyeurs? I asked myself this question after reprimanding my sister (on frequent occasions) for impolitely “staring” at people, after I noticed myself more concerned about the person’s life in the car next to mine than about the road, after I spied my neighbor spying on me, after I couldn’t pry myself from a stranger’s cell phone conversation, after the man pumping my gas undressed me with his eyes and didn’t think I noticed. Being inundated with these “signs” makes it difficult to not question the degree to which film affects lives involuntarily.
In a television arena where “reality” is watching people who pretend the cameras aren’t there, and then during specific segments directly address the camera, an environment is constructed and accepted by masses. One in which we live under the pretense that our actions go unnoticed, but then it’s okay to acknowledge later that we knew about being the victim of someone’s gaze all along. In reality I find myself and others pretending we’re not being watched, but knowing that it is occurring. It’s not polite to stare, but it’s free uncensored entertainment at times.
Audience interaction in American Idol for example, allows us—those not on the show—to submit our opinions that potentially affect the outcome of the show. Recently, strangers have decided to cross this line in reality and begin conversations with me while I’m at a stop light or ordering food, offering their personal ballot in hopes of securing their own happy ending. Maybe this would occur without the presence of this form of television; however manners appear to be continuously obscured. We all participate in the watching, and this makes it unavoidable to not be watched. What I feel television has done, is erased the judgment in the minds of its audience that distinguishes what is acceptable social voyeurism (overhearing conversations in restaurants, or seeing the hands-free cell phone violators driving), and what is rude (not breaking a gaze for over ten seconds at a couple fighting that you’ve created your own, more dramatic, internal dialogue for, or becoming so enraptured in a child’s crayon antics at an adjacent Friendly’s table that you forget to chew).
It has been said in the past that our society sways between life imitating art versus art imitating life. From here on I use the term “art” loosely to encompass television, film, print advertisements, and other familiar constituents of the media realm. As reality television spurs neverending spinoffs and studios continue to produce formulaic, predictable films, our perceptions become accustomed to these products. We expect television to disappoint us and we can be optimistic enough to hope for the happy endings in our own lives.
In the case of imitation, it’s safe to say that the controversy of the big bad “violence in the media” would be a typical course of discussion. However, beyond the violence, a not as commonly debated issue needs to be addressed. This concerns the dynamics of communication in our everyday relationships.
Will people be forever imprinted with this acceptance of “reality” and continue to unknowingly live reality that mirrors what is absorbed from television and film? Perhaps if television produced a solution in a form capable of affecting people in the same fashion this problem would conveniently solve itself.
Laugh Out Loud Instead of LOL
Stony Brook Press, September 2004
My previous Press article reviewing Theatre Three’s Friday Night Improv show foreshadowed the future of the Players troupe. I expected the comedians to make it to Broadway someday and on August 17th that day had arrived.
Caroline’s Comedy Club on Broadway housed the local comedy act, which charged only $3 and a two drink minimum for anyone who made reservations. Not too unreasonable for a world famous comedy club. The all-male group successfully maintained their comedic quality, even to the extent of marketing their night: “Yes, it’s Friday Night Face-Off on a Tuesday.”
The Friday night show in Port Jefferson of the weekend prior to their Broadway debut suffocated any doubts about their performance in New York City. The Olympic theme was due to it being the opening night of the games in Greece. The evening opened with a movie by the comedians documenting the traveling of the torch through various cities that all conveniently resembled downtown Port Jeff. It was damn creative and the “LIVE” flashing at the bottom of the screen as one of the Players entered the Second Stage with the un-lit torch (fire codes) introduced an evening of impressive comedy—yet again!
Having seen a couple dozen Friday Night Face Offs I can decently gauge the tension in their performances. Watching them trying to enjoy their opening comedians, all of who failed to rise to the caliber of the Players, was amusing as well. Realizing that that they had opening acts instead of being the opening act impressed me further, not to mention the ability to see their intimidation of this professional opportunity was priceless. They intelligently chose the most popular skits to showcase their best talent, and this made it all the more obvious that these little fish knew exactly how to make it big.
Jeffrey Sanzel, an actor/producer/director/jack-of-all trades genius man, has become the host of the Friday Night Face Off show during the past year. His jokes in between skits add to the witty experience each show delivers. At Caroline’s, Jeffrey Sanzel’s Joke of the Week was something along the lines of, “A chicken and egg are sitting in bed smoking cigarettes. The egg turns to the chicken and says, ‘Well, I guess that answers that question.’”
The different audience interactions of every show make each show just that—always different. Even the three really bad shows out of the approximately fifty that I’ve been to were funny in their own unfunny way. From the audience during the Caroline’s show the Players were able to take a college girl’s day at orientation, who was majoring in Library Science, and make it funny. Library Science = funny? The Improv can make it that way.
As previously mentioned, Friday Night Face Off is every Friday. Instead of staring blankly at your computer screen feverishly typing an L-O-L into an Instant Message, try going out and laughing for real (where do those Instant Messages go when their closed anyways?). Starting the first weekend in September all the way through to October 29th they will be there. Check out their website www.fridaynightfaceoff.com for any information about theme nights and whatnot and you’ll see you should be there. It’s not every week you can spend $10 and laugh for nearly two hours—oh wait—it is every week.
Black is Back—It Was Never Gone
Stony Brook Press, September 2004
Getting back into the swing of classes sometimes has its surprises. A discussion had been generated in a Stony Brook University literature class concerning the potential expiration of the African-American right to vote in 2007. This was prompted from an email the professor had received relaying information that the 1965 Voters Rights Act isn’t a fixed legislation. This was due to a 25 year renewal policy instated during Ronald Reagan’s term. Along with the class, I was shocked and didn’t know that the United States would still question a citizen’s right to vote based on a discrimination factor. I would imagine the NAACP and other activists would have been resolving this issue being that it would affect the next presidential election. After Googling pieces of information thrown around in class I came across David Emery’s analysis of this same scenario.
Emery is a writer for About.com’s “Urban Legends and Folklore” pages and clearly explains the 2007 expiration of the right to vote is a hoax. The site is dated December of 1998, and I was surprised again that word of the email inaccuracy is still surfacing almost four years later.
A potential message that Emery posts on this site is most likely an email that one would receive. It is as follows:
Emery continues to explain that the 1965 Act holds the only truth in the above and that “the basic right of all Americans to vote, regardless of race, is guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and can’t expire with the Voting Rights Act.” In April of 1998, the United State Department of Justice affirmed in the “Voting Rights Act Clarification” that “the basic prohibition against discrimination in voting contained in the Fifteenth amendment and in the Voting Rights Act does not expire in 2007—it does not expire at all; it is permanent.”
Personally, I would not have pursued this information because it wouldn’t affect my right to vote. Perhaps that’s wrong of me, a form of ignorance, but with the question still plaguing my mind a week after it was first discussed in class I decided to investigate.
The professor has stressed daily how important it is to check your sources and to “question authority” and I am curious if the proposition of the 2007 expiration in class was a way of illustrating the importance yet again. Or maybe this is a reminder to practice what is preached before it is teached (err, taught)?
Sunrise Falls to Sunset
Stony Brook Press, August 2004
There are films directed by men, and there are films directed by “the man.” He is Richard Linklater. For those who missed the captivating tale in Vienna ten years ago, complete with witty conversations between Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy), another opportunity awaits across the pond in Paris that will not disappoint in the least.
Before Sunrise(1994) is a film that captures the unexpected moment of boy meets girl. This pair being Jesse and Celine; fortunate enough to meet on a train to Vienna and enjoy one night together, never exchanging any means of communication, and promising to return six months post-magic moments.
What lends itself to be the basis of Before Sunset (2004) is one of them (Celine) doesn’t hold up her end of the promise. Figures, the fickleness of us women. But no, there were unprecedented circumstances that caused their reunion to be postponed. In present day Paris, the instance of boy meets girl is visited yet again. Jesse and Celine meet at his book signing in Paris at what coincidentally is Celine’s favorite bookstore. Jesse’s book just so happens to be a written account of their only passionate night together. Objectively these characteristics have commercial Hollywood connotations, however the realistic conversations and under-acknowledged acting create a film that does what films are meant to represent: life.
With Before Sunset, Linklater forms another piece of film that cohesively maintains the directorial quality employed in the first. The most prominent characteristic that I can distinguish between the two films is in the opening of Sunset and the closing of Sunrise. Linklater poetically introduces Sunset with a similar directing pattern. He boasts the ability to present what are common establishing shots with latent facets (describing the details would rob potential viewers of their enjoyment).
What is most impressive about Sunset (and Sunrise as well) is the dialogue. The conversations emanate such a natural and realistic tone and pace that it matches the fluidity of the directing, creating what should be recognized as one of the most poignant films written and directed about the fate of love. It is not enough to provide examples of the characters’ banter because it would not deliver an adequate portrayal; both films need to be seen in their entirety.
I felt cheated at the end of Sunset—at first. Not to destroy the ending (because in this movie’s case I would file that under the Mortal Sin category), but it is just as indefinite if not more vague and open than Sunset’s closing. But after the film is absorbed, the ending fits; making Linklater even more of a master at his art, especially when considering the film is in real time. Knowing that Jesse is to leave in an hour and twenty minutes for his plane is truly the time you are watching unfold. This only adds to the realistic representation of life.
In most reviews of the film I have read as of late, many refer to the films as “chick flicks.” Before I had seen either I expected that as well. From what I have seen I feel it would be wrong to labelSunrise and Sunset “chick flicks.” Both films are mature accounts of relationships that I should hope most would relate to, and these films deserve an audience. Currently, Before Sunset is on limited release and is most easily found in New York City theaters. The characters have dealt with a lot of waiting, and now the film is waiting to be seen. Linklater has created characters who know not when they will see each other again. Having seen both films in their entire length only once, I’m left with the same uncertainty: when will I see them again? It can’t be too soon.