FDU Alum Reads at Open Mic

RACHEL YECCO

Senior Editor

Published in The Pillar: Feb 25. 2011

On Feb. 14, students gathered in the Bottle Hill Room for an Open Mic event that celebrated Black History Month, Valentine’s Day and the works of FDU alum H. Lloyd Weston.

The event, organized by Katie Singer, featured a poetry reading from Weston. He read from his new book, “Many Silences of Love: Contemporary Love Poems.”

Before Weston began the reading with his poem, “Be My Valentine,” he said, “Love comes in so many forms and guises.”

Weston also read a selection of short love poems including, “Hi-Tech Love,” a poem about modern-day romances, “Because I Love You,” and “To Be in Love.”

According to the Editorial Review on Amazon.com, “Many Silences of Love: Contemporary Love Poems” is “a compelling new collection of poetry that brilliantly captures the subtleties and heartbreaks of love in our digital age.”

Weston’s book combines old-fashioned literary passion with modern-day humor to create a bubbly book, perfect for his Valentine’s Day reading at FDU.

Weston’s readings of his poetry reflect the passion in his book.

“As you can tell, he really enjoys what he is doing. It’s really inspiring,” said Singer. “It’s so clear Mr. Weston has a story he wants to tell us.”

Weston graduated from FDU in 1974 and began experimenting with  the written word and contemporary expressionist art.

Before his success a writer, Weston was an established painter.

His paintings of New York and his native Jamaican landscapes have been displayed in galleries all over the world, from New York to London and from Tokyo to the walls of FDU.
Weston’s work even landed him the opportunity of a lifetime in 1989, when he presented one of his paintings to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, at Grosvenor House in London, according to Weston’s website.

Following the Open Mic event, Weston was available for a quick book signing.
Working within the theme of Black History Month, as well as Valentine’s Day, FDU students were given the opportunity to read their own works of poetry, or the work of other artists, to celebrate African-American history.

Students read the poetry of famous African-American poets such as Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks and Maya Angelou, in addition to others.

African-American music was also a large part of the day, with one student sharing the song, “Black Butterfly,” by Deniece Williams, and another student’s reading of Notorious B.I.G. lyrics.

There were also passionate readings of student poetry that touched themes of love, the taming of a girl’s hair and heart, and what it is like to grow up African-American.

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The White Stripes Duo Calls it Quits

By Rachel Yecco

Senior Editor

Published in The Pillar: Feb. 17, 2011

Photo courtesy of starpulse.com

Musical powerhouse duo Jack and Meg White of the Detroit, Mich., underground alternative music scene called it quits on Feb. 2 after an incredible 13-year career as The White Stripes.

The news ended an era that can only be described as one of “De Stijl” (translated to the name of their second album, “The Style”).

Known for their chalky white skin, jet black hair and red accents, The White Stripes birthed six beautiful records between 1998 and 2007.

These albums included songs such as “Fell in Love with a Girl,” “Seven Nation Army” and “Blue Orchid.”

The news hit the web via The White Stripes’ website through a letter written by the pair to their fans. They wrote that they “hope this decision isn’t met with great sorrow.”

Also in their letter, they said, “The reason is not due to artistic differences or lack of wanting to continue, nor any health issues.”

While Meg focused only on The White Stripes, Jack explored options outside of the duo.
In 2004, Jack White contributed to the soundtrack for the movie “Cold Mountain,” winning a Grammy for his work. He also formed the alternative band The Raconteurs in 2005, who are also from Detroit. Though Jack expanded his music capabilities outside The White Stripes, he and Meg continued to make music during this time, releasing “Get Behind me Satan” in 2005 and “Icky Thump” in 2007.

The White Stripes first gained acclaim at the 2001 South by Southwest Music Festival in Texas.

It wasn’t just their peculiar appearances, Meg’s cymbal explosion, or Jack’s hypnotic guitar riffs that caught the attention of the music world.

Rather, it was the attitude of their song “Fell in Love with a Girl,” which jolted them onto the Billboard charts and into the public eye.

As their success spread like chicken pox, rumors began to surface of Jack and Meg’s relationship; rumors stretched from brother and sister, to married couple, to a brother who married his sister. But the brother-sister myth was put to rest in 2001, when their 1996 marriage was uncovered, along with their 2000 divorce.

The duo won a surplus of awards during their career, which they describe as “intense and incredible.”

Among their awards included three from the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards for their contagious song, “Fell in Love With a Girl.”

Their album “Elephant” earned four Grammy nominations in 2003 and won Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Song. Their albums “Get Behind Me Satan” and “Icky Thump” also won Grammy Awards for Best Alternative Music Album in their respective years.

Over their 13-year career, Jack and Meg White collected a total of 14 awards from 50 nominations for The White Stripes.

With a music era at its end, Jack and Meg left on their website last wishes for their fans: “The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore. The White Stripes belong to you now and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is that it can last forever if people want it to. Thank you for sharing this experience. Your involvement will never be lost on us and we are truly grateful.”

Jack continues to make music with his band The Raconteurs, but the future music plans for Meg are not known.

What is known is that the legacy of the White Stripes will certainly inspire current and future musicians in all genres for decades to come.

For more articles, visit www.fdupillar.com

MTV Program Shows Too Much 'Skin'

By Rachel Yecco

Senior Editor

Published in The Pillar: Feb. 10, 2011

The MTV show “Skins,” based on the U.K. program by the same name, follows the fictional secret lives of high school kids. According to the show’s MTV website, “ ‘Skins’ is an emotional mosh-pit that slams through the insanity of teenage years.” Though teenage years are generally nothing more than an awkward encounter with peer pressure and social defiance, the image this new MTV series advertises is not one of the average American teenage life, but a lifestyle revolving around sex, drugs, and alcohol.

In the most recent episode, aired Jan. 31, viewers follow Chris (Jesse Carere), a male enhancement pill-popper whose mother abandoned him. Chris deals with the abandonment by popping more pills, throwing a party and flirting with his high school psychology teacher, Tina.

Those feelings of loss are where the realistic portion of the show ends. Later in the episode, Chris gets locked out of his house, naked, by a homeless man and decides the most logical thing to do next would, of course, be to break into Tina’s car and ask if he can stay with her. Because it’s the world of  “Skins,” Tina accepts.

But it’s not the male enhancement pills, or Chris’s storyline, that has viewers up in arms, but rather the vulgar language, unnecessary nudity and glamorization of substance abuse and sex, which can be persuasive to the show’s 1.2 million viewers under the age of 18, said Examiner.com.

“Skins” also fits the definition of child pornography, which is “the visual depiction of minor children under the age of 18 engaging in sexual acts, such as sexual intercourse, masturbation, or oral sex.” The show’s youngest actress, Eleanor Zichy, is only 16 years old, and four other actors are 17. With themes like sex and masturbation of minors, “Skins” could be considered the first airing of child pornography on cable television.
Characters Stanley, played by Daniel Flaherty, and Cadie, played by Britne Oldford, are both underage on and off the set. In “Skins,” they pretend to have sex with each other to fit in with their group of friends.

According to the Huffington Post, “The show is littered with sexually suggestive poses and half-exposed breasts.”

One scene from episode three shows Michelle, played by Rachel Thevenard, asking quiet and shy Stanley what he thinks of her “tits,” utilizing word choice not preferred by the parents of the show’s young audience.

Underage drinking is also a major player is the show’s controversy. When Chris realizes his mother is gone, he spends all the small amount of money she left for him on a lavish party.

Since this takes place during high school, all characters are under the age of 21. Off the set only one actor, Ron Mustafaa, who plays Abbud, is over the legal drinking age. At this party, all the characters are holding onto some alcoholic beverage. Cadie walks into the party with a bottle of vodka, countless others with cans of beer.

Though the episode airs on Mondays at 10 p.m., it can be viewed 24/7 on MTV’s website, where viewers can also watch streaming video diaries of the main characters, and unseen footage.

The partial difference between watching “Skins” online versus on television is that the website requires a date of birth verification that the viewer is over the age of 18.


For more articles, visit www.fdupillar.com

Senior Writing Project Crunch Time

The first thing they teach you about writing, is to write what you know. Figures, most people will have some common knowledge and be able to relate. That was my logic at least when I began thinking about my senior writing project, to write what I know and cross my fingers that someone finds my work readable.

So what do I know? I know I’m 21. I know that after nine years of piano lessons, I play mediocre version of “Desperado” by The Eagles, which I am very proud of. I know, I’m not the neatest person, but granted, few emerging 20 year olds are. And I know I can bake the meanest cupcake, this side of Mount Laurel, NJ has ever seen. However, none of this is engaging enough for the required 70+ page thesis. Delicious, though. 

I thought about drawing 70 smiley faces with happy words written underneath like “babies” or “Jimmies.” “Sprinkles” for those who cannot accept that “Jimmies” do exist. If you visit the Kohr Brother’s at the Ocean City Boardwalk, it’s written blue as day, “Jimmies: $.75.”  It would be creative and isn’t that what I decided to major in? Creative writing.

I took a lot of heat for declaring creative writing as my major. I catch myself still mumbling it under my breath when people ask me what my major is. It isn’t the most, what’s the word? It isn’t the most secure career path to enter, especially considering most college students don’t pick up one of the x number of books that cost them almost $500.00 to buy each semester. If young people can’t pick up a book required for class, why would they do so for their own enjoyment? I guess part of me wants to change that in young people, seeing as I am a young people and would be depending on their love of reading to fund my future electric and water bills. I want people to read. Specifically, read my books at a Twilight-like pace. And make them into Lifetime movies, maybe big screen movies, staring Emma Stone and Penn Badgley because she’s corky and endearing and he’s, quite frankly, grating cheese on those abs and I haven’t met a cheese I didn’t like, especially with a face like that.

I think people still want books because stories are one of the only things in life that are permanent. Though I hate to admit it, 50 years from now, Lifetime channel may be taken over by Oprah and she’ll be too busy airing episodes of her dogs bathing in gold that no one will know gems like, “The Pregnancy Pact” or “The Boy She Met Online” ever existed. However, 50 years from now, Harry Potter will still be in the hands of every child because it is the “new classic.” It is the new “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Both started off controversial, both being banned form schools and libraries, but both still finding their way into children hands and hearts. Stories can’t get cancelled because they don’t have enough viewers. Stories can’t get censored by the FCC because someone described a little nip slip during the Super Bowl. And stories can’t get lost in the abyss that is the Internet.

I’ve derailed a bit. I have five days before I need to come up with something I know and present it as a strong start to a thesis. I thought strong, timeless and relatable. I thought Poppy. My Poppy was nothing but strong. His life, nothing but the timeless story of an American boy. And his attitude, nothing but what any person should hope to relate to. He is too good for Oprah and Lifetime, and the Internet, but he is perfect for the shelves that hold Huck Finn and Harry Potter.

So I chose Poppy. Maybe someday soon, what I write about Poppy will be on the New Arrivals table at Barnes and Nobel. Maybe a girl, who thinks she hates reading, will pick it up before vacation and while sitting poolside, discover that she loves reading. Maybe a boy will come back to school one September and have written a book report on it. I like to think that maybe I can change the way people read if they read about a person as enjoyable and relatable as Poppy. And it is only natural as humans to want to relate to something.