women - THE RECORD

The Dried Baby Organ Dispensary

Welcome to the Dried Baby Organ Dispensary. Here at the D.B.O.D. we pride ourselves on collecting and recommending only the freshest of jams to smoke your babies to.

Telepathe- Farewell Forest EP
[ The Social Registry :: 2006 ]

In the dead of night, deep in the forest; in the shadiest of groves, the neglected, lost souls of this earth gather and cause a mighty din. And not in an A.A. meeting kind of way. This is sheer debauchery, a feast of sin even. It is urgent and sensual, incomprehensibly dark and devilishly alluring. Like swimming through the folds of the velvet blanket of night, and drowning, and sinking into it, endlessly…… And then waking up inside of a jack-o-lantern. Awful, demonic creatures are dancing around you in circles and laughing beautifully. Everything seems fluid and starts to blur, and you find yourself lost but comfortable, and the shadows creep over your mind like a coma. And then you wake up again, alone in the rain. The wind is blowing and the leaves are falling and you are staring at the face of eternity. It looks kind of like movement stuck inside of an aging polaroid photograph and…. then it’s gone. That’s it, party’s over. The way the details of a dream slip away from you as you watch the sun drift up over the horizon, it just goes away.

Fujiya & Miyagi- Transparent Things
[ Tirk/Word and Sound :: 2006 ]Fully krausened. Chic and funky enough to turn David Bowie’s head. I have a creeping suspicion that these people work at the cloud factory.

Boards Of Canada- Trans Canada
Highway EP [ Warp :: 2006 ]

There’s this Mogwai song that says that if stars had sounds then they would sound like Mogwai. Eh. I’m going to disagree and say that I think that if stars had sounds then they would sound like Boards Of Canada. Really though, it sounds like stars; stars exploding, or stars making love, you know, all that general kind of star stuff that stars do. I had a vision one time when I was tripping that in the future I would mate with a very tall, purple alien woman who could float. I mean, you know, it probably wasn’t a woman at all, I mean it was an alien and all that. But you get the idea. Anyways, I love Boards Of Canada. Although the music is almost exclusively digital, there is something about it that is more organic than dirt. Vibrating, breathing, neon tinged dirt. All over you. It sizzles and glitches like a robit in an acid bath as it interfaces with the hardware of your soul, and it will teach you the songs of the stars. Two thumbs up.

Time-Tested Quality Blends
White Magic- Through The Sun Door
EP [ Drag City :: 2004 ]

Some strange pastoral romance, written in blood and scattered about the plains for the wind to find. The wind found it, and recited it to the hills, and sang it to the sky, and screamed it across the deserts. And someone just happened to be there with a recording studio. It’s like magic and shit! The music on this album conjures the feeling of a train swaggering across some green, vast expanse. These are songs of love, transfiguration, and departure. Think Joni Mitchell worshiping Baphomet for roughly ten years and smoking just enough punk rock to get really dirty in it. Really an absolutely remarkable album. Straight-forward enough to be widely accessible and crafted with enough innovation and skill to please even the most pretentious of ear drums, I feel like I see most people enjoying this recording. I’d also like to use this space to plug White Magic’s forthcoming first ever full length release, “Dat Rosa Mel Apibus�?, available November 14th. Don’t worry, you folks at Drag City can just send me a check later.

Ivan Knows Best….

OOIOO- Taiga [ Thrill Jockey :: 2006 ]

Wood Pipes:
It’s raining candy in the jungle, and all the tigers are turning neon colors like fruit stripe gum. But, really though, who the shit is this crazy fucking Japanese woman and why does she keep screaming?! Is it Lisa Frank? Does she have any opium? No silly, it’s just Yoshimi P-We from the Boredoms. And as to what the shit she is screaming about, I have no idea, I think it’s Japanese. But regardless of what language it is it’s wild and I think that I like it a lot. I feel like Hansel and Gretel at the same time on some crrrraazzzy rainforest spaceship made out of candy. Is Yoshimi some kind of wicked witch or something? Maybe, but whatever, this spaceship tastes hell of good. So where are we going, anyway? Well, to the funky rainbow colored dancehall built on clouds and reggae. Duh……..

Ivan:
This ceedee attracted my attention immediately given the fact that it began with an actual staccato of drum beats; this almost caused me to actually move somewhat on my seat. Quickly, however, came the horribly sad whining high pitch voice of a young woman. This complaint, though short, was immediately overwhelmed by two to four lines of response by strong low voiced women.

Another portion began with the unmistakable sounds of a galloping horse, followed to the best of my imagination by those of a screeching frog. Then some clear rhythms managed to catch my attention, basically the line sounded DA DA DEE DEE, DA DA DEE DEE, DADADEESEE, DADADEEDEE…The rapid succession of rhythmic sounds eventually compressed and produced in me a feeling of confinement and resentment. I was expecting the DA DA DEE DEE, to become as expected DA DA DA, DEE, DEE, DEE…DADEE, DADADA…But this expectation was for nought. This cede did certainly make an effort to communicate something important to its audience, unfortunately I could not begin to understand what that might have been.

Having thought a few minutes since this last sentence I do come to the conclusion that such a ceede’s raison d’etre might indeed be to demonstrate to educated and long-lived listeners that they are clearly unable to cope with evolution in the musical world. I, however, intend to expose myself further to such art in order to determine exactly what these shiny round objects intend to do to our civilization.

“Bring me some cereal”
– Wood Pipes

A New Acronym: CSKC Prepares to Open its Doors

By Madeline Helser

Coretta Scott King once said, “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members…�? and it holds true today, especially when applied to our institution.

Construction is slated for completion on the Coretta Scott King Center for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom, designed to enhance knowledge and awareness about cultural identity in our community and beyond. It aims to educate future generations about cultural struggles and focus on how, as a community, to increase the unity among the different cultural identities.

The CSK Center was the notion of Bob Devine and Team 7. Team 7 was part of the renewal plan for Antioch College given to us by the Board of Trustees. The idea for the center was motivated by an essay written by Dr. Everett Freeman on some of Dr. King’s writings on community. Dr. Freeman was then on the Board of Trustees, and is now the President of the University of Indianapolis. It was in the renewal plan that Team 7 would articulate some sort of center for cultural and intellectual freedom. Out of the plan and the mind of Team 7 and Bob Devine, The CSK Center was born.

After a few weeks on the project, Bob Devine resigned, and Beverly Rodgers became the chair of Team 7. Team 7 was one of the most diverse teams working on the renewal. The team had good community representation; students, staff, and faculty were all represented in a very diverse manner. The team created job descriptions for Diversity positions within the administration.

The positions created were Director/ Diversity Advisor to the President of the College and Administrative Assistant/Diversity Advocate. “The position of Director is loaded with responsibilities, including fundraising, which will be important to the Center’s programming and future staffing. The new director will also need to be visionary, and carry out projects and ideas to better inform and engage the community. They will also serve as a special assistant to the president on institutional diversity; this is crucial to the retention and recruitment of faculty, staff, and students of color. We are a very white campus, especially in the upper-administrative positions, and the Director will hopefully be able to assist with this problem as they sit in the President’s staff group and bring in resources to support faculty, staff, and students of color.�? Says Lauren Hind, an upperclassmen working for the Center. As of now, they are in the process of interviewing and hiring an administrative assistant and are in the last steps of hiring a director, which includes visits to campus and talks given by the three candidates in the Inn during Lunch.

When Steve Lawry was hired as President, things were not flowing together very smoothly, so Beverly Rodgers was asked to step in as Interim Director for the Project. Beverly’s job is to oversee the entire renovation of the building that used to be used and known as the G-Space and Security. From overseeing the installation of the carpet to the programs hopefully being set into place, Beverly deals with it all. The main part of Beverly’s job as Interim Director is to organize. She is to get all of the little things out of the way so when the Director starts in early January, the little things will be out of the way and the director will be able to start their job right away. She also has staff meetings with the people that are going to be occupying the new offices in the CSK. Until now, the groups to occupy those offices have had no direct supervision. She is also to get a handle on the budget for the CSK Center. The CSK Center, until just recently, has had no direct monetary support.

The As far as physical changes to the building, the laundry equipment was removed, which included the floor having to be leveled, the electricity taken out, and the walls needing to be repaired and painted. The rest of the building was carpeted and painted as well. It is now being wired for Computers and Internet Access. There are new doors on the front and main entrance and the fireplace is being replaced from a wood burning type to one with gas logs. There are going to be 8 offices set up. The director, the administrative assistant will occupy two of the offices. The other offices will be for the Bonner program, the Makeit program, Vista Americorps, and the community engagement office. The office furniture has already been ordered and should be in by the week of October 16. Once the furniture is in the building, everything should be set within 2 weeks. The Lounge furniture for the common room, formerly known as the G-Space, won’t be in, however, until the middle of November.

As far as programs in the future, Beverly has positive outlooks. “Antioch has a lot to offer our community. But sometimes we get very hidden under a bushel basket. Let’s look at how privilege plays out in the outside world. We need to continue dialogue about it. It’s an important facet of education.�? A goal is to be able to have a good developed program for next term. A positive step was bringing Allen Johnson to campus, as he opened up the arena for discussion on topics of cultural identity on a new level.

She has in mind a program educating about Youth Urban Violence, specifically in the Dayton area. It would be for volunteer work or for co-op. Beverly believes that it would be a wonderful way to expand students’ ability to connect with the area.

Another possible program would be focused on immigration. “ I feel like immigration is something that people just do not know much about,�? said Rodgers, “we have so many opportunities to interact and focus on what we already have.�? The aspects of things like availability of healthcare, work, and ESL courses are important to the immigration issue. There are so many struggles associated with it that it is very much linked to cultural and intellectual freedom. Beverly remarked, “Allen provided good grounds for discussion of that once again. To be able to express culture freely and respectfully, you have to be empowered. It doesn’t necessarily have to be regional or national, but we can look at it on a smaller level, because in some way, it all connects.�?

Overall, The Coretta Scott King Center for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom is headed in the right direction. “I went to Atlanta to talk to Mrs. King, and I feel we have a serious responsibility that we do honor her name. She expanded on Dr. King’s ideology with the fight for the rights of women and gay’s as well as supporting HIV research. She was courageous and forceful, yet elegant. A truly amazing person,�? said Beverly.

There will be an opening celebration for the center sometime in the spring of next year. The orchestra will play and alumni will flood Kelly Hall. It will be a celebration of cultural freedom and diversity. As Beverly said, “We may be small, but we’re pretty mighty!�? We can accomplish anything we put our minds to, and the King Center is solid proof of that.

Rage Against the Regime

By Jeremie M. Jordan

We caught a few middle fingers but mostly honks of support.

In over 230 cities nation-wide, October 5th was a day to let the people’s voice be heard. Around 15 Antioch first year students took to the streets of Columbus in support of the cause. The World Can’t Wait organization called for people across the United States to walk out of school, call off work, and pour into downtowns and city squares with a single simple statement, “No! This Regime does not represent us! We will drive it out!�?

At 10:00 AM there was a media conference at the Franklin Board of Elections, arranged by Military Families Speak Out, Fair Trade, local activists, Mark S. and Victoria P., and Bob Fitakis (Free Press Editor and Green Party Candidate for Governor) and of course World Can’t Wait. Only one radio program reporter was there; one indie reporter.Though little press coverage was offered, the demonstration was a call to peace that did not fall on deaf ears. When we first arrived around 11:00 AM there were only a handful of demonstrators present, but by mid-day the number grew significantly. We were joined by women in business suits on their hour lunch break. Though the weather may have deterred some, it failed to damper the spirit of resistance.

Many communists, anarchists, fed-up working class unionists, pissed off city-dwellers, students, and radicals were in attendance, but our number was nearly matched by Mennonites, who were comparing the Bush Administration to the Anti-Christ, and were more concerned about saving souls.
The timing of the protest was in direct correlation with the Bush regime’s most recent installment of curtailment on human rights. I heard more than one person say the passing of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 was the catalyst for their outrage, which coincidently was approved by Congress the same day of the protest. I talked to one person who felt that the country was being led into theocratic authoritarianism, and who was also deeply disturbed by the growing unrest in the Middle East.

Following the Patriot Act, the preemptive war in Iraq and the ensuing regional chaos, pulling out of the Kyoto Agreement, turning economic surplus into the largest accumulating deficit, and now attempting to justify torture and suspend Habeas Corpus, as a society, allowing these trends to go unchallenged is utter compliance.

Signs of condemnation, and cries for peace and justice, were in orchestration as we marched from Courthouse Square to the State House. We screamed at the top of our lungs and laughed with each other as we turned the afternoon into our own avenue of opposition in which we could express our displeasure in unison and bond in our common purpose.

There were a few stunned suits and ties, but there were multitude of supportive gestures and sympathetic cohorts showing their frustration with the war and the vulgar attitude of the administration.

Luckily for the first years, a few of whom were marching in the street for the first time, the police presence was actually rather miniscule. Perceived threat of legal repercussion was minimal, though we were warned that if we were to step off the sidewalk we could be arrested (and hauled away to a secret detention center).

There were several marches from Courthouse Square to the State House Republican Headquarters, and Columbus Dispatch demanding that we be heard.

Jen-e Johnson, first year protester, remarked on the authentic spirit that brought us all together, “The variety of people experiencing camaraderie on the street was exciting and inspiring,�? and “I realized the inter-generational aspect of the people involved in the movement and found it intriguing.�? One of our favorites Marni ‘Moo’ claimed “I love marching in demonstrations but often times when everyone marches, they’re really just walking, the knees say it all. Marching is the shit.�?

A Diebold Ballet Box and ballets to impeach the Bush regime were passed around, and at the final tally there were naturally 0 votes not to.

My personal favorite sign belonged to an older, extremely enthusiastic, man that read “Jail that Skeeza Condoleeza.�?

Others included “Draft Bush Supporters, Support our Oops, Solidarity, Bush Step Down but “The World Can’t Wait�? posters were most numerous with a picture of a burning world. There were also various Orwell references like “Freedom is Slavery, War is Peace, and Ignorance is Strength.�?

In this era of magnified propaganda, lies, deceit, and manipulation it can be a daunting task to wake the sleeping minds of the masses to the urgency of our plea, but I feel that the power of information is our greatest weapon. We found that a frighteningly large percentage of “passers-by�? knew very little about the Military Commissions Act and what its contents will mean for the future. The most beneficial thing we could do was encourage even the slightest amount of curiosity to bringing awareness to the disturbing reality that is typically ignored.

Creativity was utilized in bringing attention to the message in the various chants “Hey hey! Ho ho! Bush and Cheney have got to go!�? “Silence is support,�? “One, two, three, four, we don’t want your fucking war! Five, six, seven, eight, we don’t want your fascist state,�? and the frequently used “Bush step down.�?

The size of the Columbus demonstration was not as ample as some of the ones taking place Chicago, New York, and San Francisco, but was well organized with hundreds of signs, flyers, and posters.
From around four to seven o’clock people played guitars and drums to keep every one’s spirits up, which was much appreciated by those who were beginning to feel exhausted. Though it was a long day the energy was kept high and people stayed dedicated to the end.

By and large the manifestation of commitment to change that occurred, and is occurring, is quite positive, and with any luck an indicator of what is possible as we lurch toward Election Day. In case you were someone who needed to be reminded, the struggle may be slightly under the radar but it is still very much alive. See you next time. Peace.

Generation to Generation: Dealing with the F*** Word

Each generation has words, phrases, and terms that upset the previous generation. It is a right of passage to find and use language that sets you apart from the generation before you.

For my parent’s generation (now in their 70+ years) I suspect it was words like “fool�? and “mess�?. I’m serious. They talked about “fooling around�? or “messing around�?. Also “I’m a mess�? “I’m a fool�? “Don’t mess with me�? “Don’t try to fool me�? “S/he is a mess/ fool�? “The world is messed up�? “I got messed up Saturday night�?.

My generation (now in our 50+ years) delighted in using “screw�? around our elders. “Let’s screw�? “Let’s screw around�? “Don’t screw with me�? “S/he screwed up�? “I’m screwed up�? “Screw you�?. I can still remember my parent’s wincing, trying to correct me, all to no avail. I still use “screw�? in many ways to convey many meanings.

The catchall term now is “fuck�?. “Let’s fuck�? “That’s fucked up�? “S/he fucked up�? “Don’t fuck with me�? “The world is fucked�? “Fuck you�? “Fuck�?.

I believe that part of my wincing when I hear the term (and yes upon rare occasions I have been known to use the term) is that I was taught early in the women’s movement (1960s-1970s) one origin.

As I understand it, fuck in the United States dates to the pre Civil War days with prisoners carving their names and offenses on the cell wall during incarceration. Lengthy offenses were abbreviated; somewhat like what you hear on the crimes shows today. Breaking and entering becomes B & E, and Felonious Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (the official term for rape in those days) becomes FUCK.

The dictionary list several origins including fucken (Middle English, derived from Germanic verb) and fokken (Middle Dutch). For both these the meaning is the same: to strike quickly, to penetrate, to copulate.

So FUCK enters into the culture as a term for rape, and stayed more or less underground for decades (although frequent in pornography), a vulgar term understood by all and used by few. As with other terms it made the jump to mainstream culture, with more ease into youth, alternative and alienated cultures. I remember the days when fuck was first being used more often and publicly, and it was always a word to attack, to harm, to embarrass, to verbally rape.

I know that when fuck is used today it is a catchall word, having lost its offensiveness to many. Yet, those who use it frequently have to understand why some of us still flinch, or get offended when it is directed at us.

Can’t wait to hear what the next generation says to you that makes you flinch. And the beat goes on…….

Linda Lee Sattem, Director, Counseling and Wellness Center

Broke

by Marjorie Jensen

As tautological as it may sound, Chicago is an expensive city. Between only the most essential groceries and envelopes marked “Antioch Business Office,�? unexpected bills found me miles from my “current mailing address.�? My pithy checks signed by the President of the Newberry don’t cover half of these costs. I had to find a second job. I wasn’t surprised.

The second store within a few blocks of my apartment with a “Help Wanted�? sign offered Caitlin and I jobs moments after turning in our applications. I am now an exhausted employee of Jimmy John’s sub shop. In fact, I have to leave for work in exactly two hours. Do I like it? It offers me something that the Newberry doesn’t: working-class people.

Now, I’m not implying uneducated. Some of the kids go to various colleges in Chicago. Most are just refreshingly down-to-earth. Take Kenny, one of our delivery drivers (read bike messenger with subs), informing us about where the elastic in his boxers had begun to separate from the rest. Davorah, our manager, asked him to clean the lower racks of the cold table (where we make our subs).

“I told you about my underwear,�? he replied, unwilling to bend over. It breaks up the monotony.

JJ’s is open late on the weekends (by late, I mean until 5am) and we are on Division Street (read one of the most expensive bar districts in Chicago). My Friday nights are spent listening to the mantra of my manager, Matt: “bathrooms are for customers only,�? to the rich, drunken “douchebags�? with popped collars. He changes the CD to Mindless Self Indulgence and sighs as they ignore him.

These are the kids who couldn’t afford to take most of the “public�? programs offered at the Newberry. We have a master schedule in the Development Office’s ‘S’ drive in the computer network. The ‘Sacred and Profane: The Art of the Tale’ workshop that I would love to take is 8 sessions for $160. I couldn’t afford it. I’m only at Antioch (and the Newberry) thanks to lots and lots of financial aid.

I invite my fellow Fellows to visit me at JJ’s. Some do, bringing me cigarettes and hugs. They are sad that I can’t go out with them. But they understand and are encouraging, calling my JJ’s uniform sexy. I appreciate that white lie. Caitlin is a riot to work with. We dance in the ‘back of house,’ as it were. Others are reluctant.

“I didn’t know if you would feel comfortable with me visiting you at work; seeing you in a subservient position like that,�? said Laura from Beloit.

Really, it’s okay. I’m used to it. I’ve been working-class all my life. It does make for a strange relationship with the academy. Higher education is generally run by and for rich, white men. I chose Antioch, in part, to try to escape the elitist mentality of many institutions. Even our radical, left-wing haven has its literati and men earning drastically more than women. A microcosm, truly.

My Wednesday nights belong to the events at the Newberry. We held a pleasant reception for the Book Fair Volunteers. John Notz, the chair of the Fair that has been going on for twenty years, spoke briefly. He was proud of the work they had done- theirs was the only program that reached out to Marx’s proletariat. He hedged around that term, instead calling them:

“Those people who come to buy their year’s worth of romance novels for a few dollars.�? Not the educated elite. Not those who have the money or cultural capital (as Bourdieu would say) to attend most of the events. Not those who receive Gala invitations with themed giving brackets (ie. Lords and Ladies being higher donors than the Knights and Damsels at the Elizabeth event).

The following Wednesday held the opening of ‘The Aztecs and the Making of Colonial Mexico’ event. I have been preparing the RSVP list, name-tags, signs, and various other internish projects for over a month now. The names on that list include the General Consul of Mexico, many members of the Board of Trustees and friends (read large donors) of the library.

I sat behind the check-in tables, anxiously awaiting 323 people that RSVP’ed. We didn’t make enough name tags. Many not on the list arrived, complaining about their name not being in the alphabetized collection spread out in front of us. We put out more chairs frantically. Eventually, David Spadafora, the President of the Newberry, took the mike to introduce the General Consul.

“We have not had sufficient contact with the Mexican-American community of Chicago,�? he began. He continued, explaining that this event was an attempt to bring much-needed diversity to the library. The first step in solving any problem is admitting to it. The second is discussing it. I encourage students to come to the library, be part of the program and part of the solution.