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Pong 001
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// // pong issue #001 november 10, 1995 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _\\ \\
// // pong is an affiliate of dto productions. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _\\
'you show me 15 americans out there that can distinguish their colon
from their anus, and i'll show you some unaverage americans.' - shadow tao
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> pong #001 intro
>> written by murmur
hello out there from tv land! this here is pong. lap it up.
alright, mister, what the heck is pong? i'll tell you what pong is.
this is pong. and what is this? this is an alternative publication to what
we might typify as 'standard' college publications.
what need is there for an 'alternative' (don't you hate that word?) to
'standard' college publications? well, it's pretty simple, really. first,
i'll split it up so i can individually address the two types of people
liable to read this.
number one: you attend illinois wesleyan university. our college
newspaper is adequate at news coverage, sports coverage, and more or less
the coverage of campus events (who can be entirely competent on a campus
like this? surely no one we know..) yet it is limited in several major
ways. the 'wesleyan bubble' is rarely burst and when it is, it rarely
extends to any meaningful level. even things in the immediate community are
considered of little importance (and, perhaps, rightfully so, for the sake
of the paper in general.) but this leaves a critical void in certain
respects. the disadvantage of having a college newspaper be for all intents
and purposes the sole form of publication on a campus is that there are
other formats of publication (newsletter, magazine, etc.) which offer
differing levels of stories, opinions, and simply differing topics, and
these divergent notions have (arguably) little or no place in a campus
newspaper. therefore, pong has been set out with the intention of filling
some of those gaps by allowing multiple and varied columnists, a much more
free-form publication style which allows for practically unlimited
maneuverability, and an outlet for certain types of stories/features/general
ideas of interest that have a difficult means of filtering their way into a
college newspaper.
number two: you don't attend illinois wesleyan university. perhaps
you're still aware of the general notions of wishing to expand upon the
basic level of the college newspaper. but chiefly, you're reading this
through the electronic format as an extension of having read other similar
e-zine type publications (and publication is used loosely here, since you're
not actually in possession of a 'published' form.) what does this offer
you? we're hoping this offers you a fresh and different form of e-zine.
instead of the level of e-zine now popularized by our greatly esteemed dto
(doomed to obscurity) where angst meets sarcasm in bubble gum format (by the
way, that's sarcastic in and of itself), with pong we hope to have a more
stylized approach. you'll find columns and music reviews in here that
perhaps would fall into the realm of the standard zine; but perhaps not.
we're not out to be some fancy free form zine where we talk about what we
think and what bands we like and are interested in shoving our ideas down
your throats. no, no, no. we want to get fresh ideas and fresh opinions
out, and we want to get them out in a fresh new way. the fact that you're
reading this suggests that we've become at least mildly successful in doing
so.
so, in a very large nutshell, you all know WHY pong. but exactly WHAT
pong? this is perhaps the greatest beauty of pong; the sheer flexibility.
you'll find in this first release a varied form of opinions and the
like, perhaps some informational pieces, perhaps some outright humor. i'm
only now developing the pong prototype, you see. this informational bit at
the front, this is developed prior to the remainder of this first issue, so
we can get an idea where we want to go. and we have set our sights on going
places with this.
pong, by the very nature of the audience we intend to reach, and by the
very nature of the format and style we fully intend to use and stick with,
is therefore limited only by the actual quality of the pieces that goes into
it. what does this mean? this means that so long as you've got something
valuable to say and you find other soap boxes somewhat lacking in the sense
of how you could best present yourself, pong is here. gather a general idea
of what we're about by reading on. you'll probably find it to be so
flexible that you'll consider what you might like to see in pong in the
future.
we'd like to point out a couple of stylistic themes we're using as
well. first off, you'll find that throughout pong we do not use our real
names but instead choose to use 'handles'. there are a couple reasons for
this. first off, i'll say that it's *not* because we're afraid of putting
our name with our work. my name is phil huckelberry, my handle is murmur,
and i have every design of standing behind my work wholeheartedly. the
reasons we employ use of handles are number one: pong is directly
affiliated with dto productions. for the sake of continuity in the zine
world, we feel that using our handles would be a much more relevant way of
communicating since we stand behind handles (or at least perhaps not our full
names) almost everyday on the internet (e-mail, irc, etc.) plus, we don't
want a sort of bulky format that says "written by murmur/phil huckelberry".
we prefer to be direct and say "written by murmur". also, there is a matter
of personal preference in using handles. it adds another level and makes
pong less like a standard publication. we are rigorous in saying, however,
that if you wish to contact any pong writer, you will not have any trouble
doing so. information on contacting myself or other pong writers is
included at the end of the issue.
so far as the strict text format and not using graphics or any fancier
fonts; this is done for convenience and for approach. it is highly
convenient because to release the electronic format, we can't really do it
much of any other way. plus, we're looking at creating an executable viewer
to be used with issues of dto and pong as well. for approach we choose the
strict text-based format because it exemplifies what we stand for:
simplicity. we're not trying to take over the world and we don't need
propagandist fonts to do so. we're trying to get opinions out, talk about
things, maybe let people in on things they could be missing out on. what we
stand for are the words we write, and not how they come across.
and, just in case you were wondering: sometimes there will be all lower
case and sometimes not. this is writer preference, and as you'll see in my
work specifically, writers prefer different things at different times. read
the words, not any twisted symbolism that doesn't really exist.
frankly, this informational introduction has already gotten a little
bit out of hand as it's reached over 90 lines already. therefore, without
further ado, i encourage you to read on and experience what is: pong.
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> pong #001 table of contents
>> written by murmur
>>> pong #001 intro
>>>> written by murmur
>>> pong #001 table of contents
>>>> written by murmur
>>> Stupidity
>>>> written by Reverberator
>>> give us a break
>>>> written by murmur
>>> The Threat
>>>> written by Reverberator
>>> The Drovers
>>>> written by murmur
>>> walkin' on down the road (the last of the Jayhawks?)
>>>> written by murmur
>>> pong #001 epilogue
>>>> written by murmur
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> Stupidity
>> written by Reverberator
I am against stupidity. This blanket statement says nearly nothing.
What is stupidity? Why am I against it? These questions are more
interesting and challenging to answer.
I am not against people who have low cognitive ability: people who
read a paragraph and have difficulty assigning a meaning to what they have
read. This type of problem may be hereditary (_The Bell Curve_, king of the
questionable regression, is the new bible for this opinion) or may be
developmental. That argument is not appropriate here, as I know nearly
nothing about it. I *am* against those who read in confusion the
aforementioned paragraph and *do not care* that they do not understand it.
I abhor these people.
This type of stupidity is not so much in the action as in the reaction.
It is an acceptance of an undesirable status quo. It is a fear of learning,
of improving. It is a rejection of the self. An example will illustrate my
opinions.
Some weeks ago, in my campus' esteemed weekly newspaper, a column was
written. I forget the argument -- something to do with unnecessary
violence, I believe. The column said nothing inventive or inspiring, but
one part (unfortunately) took a firm hold in my mind.
The author's point revolved around beating up other people. He wrote,
late in the column, "this chastising must end," or some such line. Though I
am uncertain of the exact argument and the exact quote, the key word
"chastise" remains clear in my memory. It is obvious that this writer
wanted variety in his column; he wished to avoid overuse of the word "beat".
So he whipped out his handy-dandy thesaurus and found a savior in
"chastise". And he used it. He did not bother to look up the word, to
discover that in a column eschewing unnecessary violence, "chastise" made
little sense.
This is an example of stupidity. The action itself -- using an
incorrect word -- is disappointing, but not worth hating. We all make
mistakes. The reactions: not verifying the word's meaning, allowing the
mistake into publication -- these are the reprehensible actions.
What would cause this to happen?
The writer and proofreaders are accustomed to accepting what they see
as truth. They are a result of a passive learning system, where
questioning is ostensibly encouraged but rarely practiced; they have thus
far lacked the motivation to break free of this passiveness. They are
accustomed to fear at discovering their own faults, thus they fear the
learning that will expose these faults. Nobody instinctively wants to
acknowledge their faults. But this is a necessary, conscious step for
improvement; we must know what needs fixin'.
Passive acceptance and a refusal to question the self are certainly two
sides of the same problem. They both lead to the conclusion that the self
is being rejected, since the ultimate self cannot be achieved until
awareness and realization are developed.
This stupidity in the reaction hampers development of the self and
creates a society of apathetic faux awareness. Thus it must be stopped.
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> give us a break
>> written by murmur
The following is, verbatim, pulled from the Illinois State University Daily
Vidette, Wednesday, October 25, 1995, as a letter to the editor:
> pong
Editor,
I was chained by my hands and feet. I was drug into the hull of a
dark, damp, rat-infested ship where there was barely enough air to breath
and no light. I was bound to my brothers who, through the trauma of being
enslaved, has passed away months earlier. I lay in a pool of my own urine
and feces, not knowing my future. At night all I could hear were the
screams of dying men. I still hear those screams.
Upon arrival to this new land, I was put on an auction block like an
animal. I was bought by George Washington, that great American whose deeds
have been immortalized by placing a monument on the same spot they sold my
brothers and sisters just decades earlier.
On the plantation, I worked my fingers to the bone from can't see in
the morning to can't see at night, with no compensation. I'm sorry, there
was affirmative action. Master Washington affirmed that I would be beat to
death if I didn't spring into action. Don't get me wrong now, master
Washington and I were very close. He even allowed me to sit and watch as he
savagely raped my sisters and mother.
Today we are still in slavery. The weapons of war have changed but the
effects remain the same. [Daily Vidette columnist] Jeff Jurgens and Michael
Magee [who also wrote a letter to the editor] are entitled to their
opinions, and I'm entitled to my leaders. [Jurgens asked the question "Why
does Farrakhan hate me?" in his weekly column earlier.] Farrakhan doesn't
hate Jurgens, but should he?
James Mason
senior, elementary education
> pong
He sure as hell shouldn't. Nobody should be in the game of hating
anyone else. Yeah, everyone's got their own reasons for disliking/hating
someone else, but not someone they've never met, and solely on the basis of
their skin color.
James Mason, who the fuck do you think you are? I hate to break this
to you, but you're *not* in bondage somewhere doing my bidding. The
Washington Monument was erected in the 1950s, for your information; this
means either "just decades earlier" in your mind equates to 150 years or you
actively believe the slave trade was alive and well during World War I.
Ooops. You're wrong! And I suppose you have overriding historical evidence
of George Washington's days of rape and plunder? Give us a break.
Racism *is* a problem. No one's going to deny this. But racism rears
its wretched face in more than one way, and you, Mr. Mason, have created
what I feel is the most hatred-infested racist abuse of the English language
I've seen created in the last five years.
I didn't enslave anyone. My parents didn't enslave anyone. My
grandparents didn't enslave anyone. My great-grandparents didn't enslave
anyone. My great-great-grandparents, many of who came to America from
Europe, didn't enslave anyone either. Do you, Mr. Mason, seriously believe
that the acts of some four or five or six generations ago constitue
authority bestowed upon yourself to vent rage against the white populace? I
have always hoped that I'd never confront serious, bitter, overblown hatred.
I have now, today, in 1995, from you.
What's potentially saddest, Mr. Mason is that you are, in fact, an
elementary education major. That you could be in a position to spread your
wretched views to a younger generation is unthinkable to me. That any man
or woman, black, white, hispanic, or whatever, could be in such a position,
is a travesty to our nation, and a travesty to humanity itself.
I don't hate you, James Mason, and I shouldn't, either. Nor should you
hate me. But I hate your attitude. I loathe it and feel completely
justified in loathing it. It's not the person, it's the attitude. We can
only hope that people like you wake up and realize that you're the problem,
and nothing you spoke of in your letter will ever come remotely near being
part of the solution.
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> The Threat
>> written by Reverberator
Recently I read in a major publication of an existing threat to the
world. November 13, 1995, at 6:35 PM EST, the 1.4 billion residents of
China are going to jump up and down. This, of course, will send Earth out
of its orbit and hurtling through space, away from the light and heat of our
sun. The only question is whether we'll crash into another heavenly body
or if we will die of coldness as the sun grows more distant each day.
Our fate is not determined, though! Loyal Americans are being called
upon to thwart this nefarious Communist plot. As they did in 1991 and 1993
(the times of the first two attempts by China to dislodge Earth from its
orbit), the citizens of America are to organize into counter-jump groups.
They will jump simultaneously with the Chinese, thus counteracting their
force and preserving the earth's tenuous grip on its path through space.
I am organizing a counter-jump here on my campus, and have been pleased
to receive support from my dorm council. But my campus alone is not enough
to save the world. We need all campuses, all organizations across this
verdant land of ours, to unite in an enormous counter-jump.
Do not be discouraged by the fact that America has but some 270 million
to China's 1.4 billion. As one astute counter-jumper here pointed out,
"They're really small." [ed. -- plus, we have Wisconsin!]
This November 13, America has the opportunity to be truly united for
the first time since the Second World War. Since that era, distrust of the
government, distrust of corporate America, and distrust of one another has
led to multiple schisms throughout our society. But the time is ripe for a
ubiquitous gathering together. The Million Man March is indicative of this
ripeness; we cannot let is pass us by.
So November 13 at 6:35 PM EST, join forces with your brethren far and
wide in this land, and jump up and down. It will be both a jump to save
this land as well as a jump to celebrate its rediscovered unity.
[ed. -- We at pong deeply apologize for the tardiness of our first issue.
We deeply hope that we have not compromised the fate of our good world
through sheer laziness. However, we are invigorated with the knowledge that
once again, those fellow countrymen of ours that have come into the know
will jump for what is right, for what is good, for Earth. Twice the
diabolical plans of the Communist Chinese have been foiled; let us make it
the third.]
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> The Drovers
>> written by murmur
In what I hope will be the first in a series of interviews with the
prominent and not-so-prominent individuals in music today, the following is
my interview with David Callahan (vocals/guitar/bass) of the Drovers, an
'Irish-rock' band out of Chicago that's been around since 1992. Callahan
and bandmates Mike Kirkpatrick (guitar/vocals), Paul Bradley (drums), and
Sean Cleland (violin/mandolin) deliver a formidable live show, uniquely
featuring Cleland's signature Irish fiddling and anchored by Bradley's
fabulous drumming. Callahan and Kirkpatrick create an unusual-seeming
rhythm section that sets the flow beautifully while Bradley drives with one
of the most impressive live drum shows I've ever had the privilege to see.
As Callahan would comment, the Drovers can't be pigeonholed, and they
prefer it that way. Imagine a four-piece rock band with such technical
precision as to play what sounds like the most beautiful outtakes from the
_Last of the Mohicans_ soundtrack and with the range to follow it up with
music that makes you dance.
_Argus_ reviewer Jason Carlson points out the Drovers are long overdue
for a major label contract, but for the meantime their records are available
on their own label, Tantrum (distributed by Feedback). Their latest effort
is entitled _Little High Sky Show_ and may be difficult to find outside of
Chicago, but not impossible. To contact the Drovers, write to:
The Drovers
4611 N. Seeley
Chicago IL 60625
> pong
pong: If you could, how would you describe yourselves, musically?
Callahan: I wouldn't...until I can find something convincing to say that
I can read. It's a lot of things, a lot of different influences;
it doesn't lend itself well to verbal descriptions. It makes it
less fun to listen to to, reading the artist talking about the
music. I never believed anything I've read, anyways. I'd rather
have people come up with their own interpretations.
pong: When do you know you've done a really good show?
Callahan: [One thing is] when you don't hear the audience yapping through
the soft tunes...the audience being attentive and the band being
focused are [usually good signs].
pong: How did the band get together? When did you all meet?
Callahan: We met through the musical circles of Chicago, not all at the
same time. I met Shawn and Mike separately about seven years
ago. [About four years], Shawn was working full time, and
[wanted to devote his efforts to music]. Of course, not too many
bands in Chicago were looking for an Irish fiddler, so Shawn
started calling around; he called everyone up, [and here we are.]
pong: What other things are you listening to yourself?
Callahan: Just about anything; the Cocktails, Tortoise, Bjork, Victoria
Williams. I work in this coffee shop and they've got some CDs;
I usually bring in some of my own but we're supposed to play
theirs. They're mostly [pretty bad], but there's two really
good ones, one of them is a CD of [Claude] Debussy. He wrote
Clare de Lune, and this CD's pretty cool.
> pong
heh. Like I said, the *first* in what I hope will be a series of
interviews. Many thanks to David Callahan. Hopefully next time I'll have
one of those little handheld recorders.
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> walkin' on down the road (the last of the Jayhawks?)
>> written by murmur
According to American Recordings, Marc Olson has left the Jayhawks.
Although I personally haven't called American Recordings to verify this,
several recent posts to the Jayhawks mailing list would seem to confirm that
indeed Olson has left to pursue other interests. Although there is no
official word from the rest of the band, it would appear that the Jayhawks'
final notes have been played.
This is perhaps the most unfortunate thing to happen to the music
industry since the death of Kurt Cobain, excluding the latest Candlebox
album. Olson and Gary Louris have established themselves as perhaps the
finest songwriting duo in the world today. The Jayhawks' brand of
country-rock will be sorely missed, to be sure.
Don't be surprised if what happened to Uncle Tupelo happens to the
Jayhawks. Jay Farrar left Uncle Tupelo and the remainder of the band, not
wanting to hang it up, became Wilco. Farrar formed Son Volt and both
released fine albums this year.
No matter what lays in store for the Jayhawks, the three reasonably
available studio albums they leave behind are as fine as any band could hope
to accomplish. Their style becoming more and more rock-oriented through the
three albums, Marc Olson, Gary Louris, and Mark Perlman released _Blue
Earth_ (Twin Tone) in 1989, a heavily country-influenced album. The
followup _Hollywood Town Hall_ ((Def) American) spawned the successful
"Waiting For The Sun" and established the Jayhawks as, as the Village Voice
put it, "The only country rock band that matters."
_Hollywood Town Hall_ would go on to win the prestigious Edison award
(Netherlands' equivalent of the Grammy) and further solidify the Jayhawks'
position. The much-anticipated _Tomorrow The Green Grass_ was released on
Valentine's Day, 1995, and is easily one of the best albums of the year.
Standout tracks include "Blue", "I'd Run Away", "Two Hearts", "Real Light",
and their cover of the Grand Funk Railroad song "Bad Time".
If you appreciate _Harvest_-era Neil Young in the slightest, you should
easily appreciate the Jayhawks. It's a terrible shame to see the apparent
end of the band (luckily I caught them live in Milwaukee this July), but at
least we have their strokes of genius to remember them by.
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> pong #001 epilogue
>> written by murmur
well, hey, there's pong #001 for y'all. hope you enjoyed. don't
worry, we have every indication of a better pong #002. apologies go out to
sweeney erect, who wrote a fine piece about cynicism (it figures.) for #001
that i managed to entirely lose.
drop us a line or something, hey?
epilogues are dull. this is the last epilogue i write for pong. whee!
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pong issue #001 november 10, 1995
pong is an affiliate of dto productions.
pong wholeheartedly welcomes correspondences, critiques, and submissions
please send all pong correspondence to: phil_huckelberry@ccmail.iwu.edu
call ihop, the official bbs of pong, and an official dto and jonas site.
ihop: (309) 556-2579,,,,#11,#11,#11
m y h e a r t i s m a d e o f g r a v y .
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