Cheap Food and Jazz Carry Mardi Gras

This last week was the final week of Ordinary Time, and Campus Ministry and the Jazz band continued to amaze with their Mardi Gras activities.

King of the Napkins!

Friend of the blog, Will Lyons covered the Mardi Gras Celebration for the Beacon this week.  He had a good article covering the community's approach, including a block party the previous Saturday on Lombard.  The only error was misquoting Maureen Briare's statement  this was the Jazz band's first year history at the event because I remember one of their conductors, Teige Weidner, having to leave a Hall Mass early in order to play last year. Other than that, the article did have a good analysis of the event. 

Low-priced food in the Commons? This must be a special occasion!

Unlike most nights, the Commons offered non-Grill food beyond 8pm. As the photo shows, those who complain about food prices were pleased for at least a night.  Chicken and waffles, oyster shooters, and biscuits and gravy at around half of their usual prices obviously lead to longer lines.

The Jazz band performed to varying crowd sizes, the norm for late night events, but when I swung by, there were about 20 people taking in the musical stylings.  As shown, the members enjoy their craft, but understand hard work is needed to flourish.  In this video, the band is playing the jazz standard "G'Day Mates," Luckily I had my camera at the ready. Despite some stabilization tactics, the video does have some shaky moments.  The sound should still translate and entertain, so do not worry.


Lent leads to an interesting time on campus.  The Commons has now included meatless options with their usual fare after years of students complaining that the school should not be making everyone subject to meatless Fridays even if they are not Catholic or as devout as their pastoral residents or Bib Trad professors.  Though UP is a Catholic university, allowing students to err on meat abstention or their Lenten promises by still offering chocolate and other temptations is proof Bon Appetit, the parent company operating the Commons, Cove and Anchor,  listen to students and are able to change to meet concerns.  Maybe they can expand their warm food options after 8pm the rest of the week...

Maureen Briare, one of the event coordinators, said she was "giving up complaining and am going to try and do more silent prayer" for Lent. I am going to seek more personal time for reflection and discernment because I have spent plenty of time investgating and helng others. If I can sharpen my own skills, I should be able to better help others.

What do you plan to do for Lent?  If you are not celebrate Lent, what do you wish to improve about yourself?

Week in Review part 4: Interview with the Electric Acoustic Groove Experience

I should have included this within the JPFW post, but I actually forgot about it while writing the post.

Table offerings. Taken by Steven.

Saturday night of Junior Parents and Families Weekend, CPB presented a coffeehouse featuring Eric E, an acoustical guitar artist armed with some loop machines and recording devices that allowed him to layer his voice to assemble melodies.

He was able to mix in some original songs into his request style allowing the crowd to offer a year.  Eric would then play a hit song from that year. 
This tactic allowed the small crowd to hear among others, a string of 1998's "Thank You" by Natalie Merchant, 1968's "Sittin on the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding with audience participation on the whistling verse, and 1990's "Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty. 

To prove his musical diversity, he was able to play country (1986's Randy Davis's "Forever and Ever Amen") and jazz (1955's "Autumn Leaves" by Andy Williams.) 

Stay patient over the next few weeks for video from his performance.

After the concert, I was able to interview him before he left.

bs: Why the stage name "eric-e?"

eric-e: Well, my last name is Engerbreston and people kept mispronouncing it, so I decided to shorten it to save people the struggle.

bs: How wide is your repertoire?

eric-e.: I can play songs as old as "The Entertainer" to recent hits (he played Train's "Hey, Soul Sister" as the 2010 request.) I was actually surprised I did not get requests for years older than 1955, because I could have played some great jazz and blues standards.

bs: What is your view on music radio and the music industry as a whole?

eric-e: Radio has been damaged by the ipod and Itunes. When I was young, I could only afford 15 albums. I was able to listen to albums all the way through and get the true meaning of songs only after listening to them  several times.   Music is not album-oriented anymore.  Since people do not listen to albums as much anymore, some people are not able to understand songs that fit within the context of an album.

bs: Why did you refer to you final song, Kansas's "Carry on, my Wayward Son," as your favorite Top 40 song of all time?

eric-e: It is a great rock song and has a good message.  I enjoy playing songs that have a message to them.

bs:  You have a diverse amount of songs in your repertoire. Are there any songs that you have proud to have mastered?

eric-e: I had trouble mastering "Carry on, my Wayward Son" due to the complicated nature of the song and  I was originally not able to sing that high.  Over the years, I developed the ability to sing high enough and managed to learn the difficult parts.



Eric-e used to travel all over the country, but now stays around the Pacific Northwest partly due to the economy, as proved by his driving around in his family minivan that can hold all his equipment. 

Coffeehouses are open to everyone, so try to stop by their next one!

If you need music to accompany your wedding, party, or social gathering and your event will be taking place in the Northwestern states within a relatively short drive from Idaho, (Wash., Ore., Idaho, Mont., Wyo.), consider eric-e!

This coming week is midterms, so events should be light.  The next few posts might not be great, but we'll see how it goes. 

Hopefully you readers will be able to get enough sleep and not let your brain melt!

Diversity Dialouge Week: Breaking Down Misconceptions with Humor, Food, and Discussion

This week, UP hosted Diversity Dialogue Week. The week featured different ways to understand those of different backgrounds from their perspective. Luckily, I had my camera ready to document the fun.

For full disclosure, I am of Western European descent and have not left the Western Time Zone, so my experiences are rather limited in terms of being a racial minority. I might be a numerical minority on campus, but societal norms dictate otherwise.

I started my excursion into cultural understanding at the Cultural Edition of Mythbusters on Monday afternoon in the International Student Center Lounge, located in the basement of Christie Hall.

This discussion, taking place during one of their biweekly "Coffee Hours",  lacked individuals in berets or a dummy damaged for the sake of science, however, the quick hour allowed for some myths to be busted while the few gathered enjoyed banana chips or Japanese cookies with their coffee or tea.

Thanks to Ibrahima Kone or "Ibie", one of the International Club Campus Connectors, originally from the Ivory Coast, American society is not full of opportunities to get shot and the Ivory Coast has a nightlife that goes far beyond 2 am.

From Ona Goloka, the other Campus Connector, American by birth, but occasional visitor to Poland, the group learned Poland is a country on the rise and not a backward civilization that is struggling to understand modern society.

Want to answer some of the questions yourself? Give it a try!:

The event also allowed me to explore the International Student Services Office setup.  The offices are decorated with items from the homelands of International students, like a Mirror from Tunisia or a gong.

Gongs are better than bells

Wednesday Night allowed me take on a different role of fashion show photo/videographer, an interesting experience. I was not able to catch the entire show, but I got to record their final walk, which will be posted soon.  The best outfit of the night? According to Haley Barrick, the honor went to a green ensemble not shown in the picture because the wearer had opted to wear several outfits and had changed out of the outfit by the end of the show.

Those able to honor their culture at the Espresso UP fashion show

My cultural investigation ended Thursday night with Black Students Union's (BSU) discussion about "good hair" and the documentary of the same name.

This is Marshawna illustrating a weave

After watching clips from the Chris Rock Documentary on Youtube, specifically the trailer, some perspective on perms, the cost of maintaining one's hair style, and a potentially vulgar clip pointing out the black male's view on touching a black woman's hair (NNSFW/C, not necessarily safe for work/class,) members of BSU explained the efforts needed to maintain their hair, some basic elements like what makes hair nappy (the inability to run your fingers or a comb through the hair) weaves, perms and relaxing (the straightening of one's hair through chemical means).

The atmosphere was conversational and honest, just like the rest of the week. This style worked well for David Bauders, who attended the event for an event review for SOC 436, Race and Ethnic Relations. David thought the conversational style helped him learn a lot about hair care products and maintenance because he or others were able to ask clarifying questions and feel like a real conversation instead of a lecture. 

The week allowed me to become a little more informed about people not like myself.  The programs were so successful, I wish I would have gone to previous events because the events possess tremendous amounts of effort to help people learn about other cultures. By no means, do I think I can do anything abroad as an expert, but I know this week was a start in the right direction.

Keep an eye out for Diversity Dialogue Week next year and do not hesitate to spend some time outside your cultural identity.

Things to ponder: When was the last time you were the outsider in a situation?  If you have studied or traveled abroad, how has that experience shaped your view of other countries or even America? If you have not been able to get out of the country, what culture would you most like to explore?