Politicking Hip-Hop

From left, Free Flowin, DJ H2O, Cuttz, Latin and Decora


Smooth-talking students renovate the community with spoken word.

Turnout for the "Politics of Hip-Hop,” an open forum discussing the state of hip-hop culture held at SUNY New Paltz, was predominantly comprised of women, some as young as 16-years-old.

Profanity-free, the poetry and music speak out against the disrespect of women – factors that set it apart from the recent mainstream counter image of hip hop.

"We're just as hard as the dudes and we can rock on the same stage," said Free Flowin, a 23-year-old spoken-word artist and member of the RedNex Poetry Squad. One of the organizers of the event, she represented the “female perspective” on a panel of scholars and artists invited to share their opinions of hip-hop. “You don't need g-strings and stilettos in the back of a video,” she said.

"We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. I know it's going
to be positive and each one of us will be able to say ‘I did something
good'."

The "Politics of Hip-Hop" is one of many community-serving initiatives led by spoken-word group the ReadNex Poetry Squad. Five young artists – Cuttz, Free Flowin, Decora, Latin Translator and DJ H2O – have made it their mission to renovate the image of Hip Hop and support the community with their gift of gab.

ReadNex Poetry Squad began their crusade while students at Orange County Community College. Already active in the community, they focused their energy into the poetry group that they called ReadNex because they were the next poets to be read.

"We left off the ‘t’ because it would take time for you to hear about us," explained Latin Translator, 24, a senior at SUNY New Paltz with a major in psychology and minors in women’s and Caribbean studies.

The "Politics of Hip-Hop," like most of their “campaigns,” included spoken word performances and music spun by 22-year-old H2O, a computer science student who's been spinning professionally since the age of 15.

Profanity-free, the poetry and music speak out against the disrespect of women – factors that set it apart from the recent mainstream counter image of hip-hop associated with the genre.

In addition to just getting "read" about, the group's work is being studied in college classrooms.
Professor Margaret Wade-Lewis, chair of Black studies and director of linguistics at SUNY New Paltz, analyzes the ReadNex Poetry Squad's CDs with her "Rap and Spoken Word" class.

"It is very politically aware subject matter," said Wade-Lewis. "They are consciously attempting to put their material in a format where young people will hear it and enjoy it and yet they clearly have messages that are intended to help make young people more politically aware and also aware to their responsibility to society.”

Professor Wade-Lewis also complimented the quality of the musical accompaniment, the diversity of the group and the poetic ability of the performers.

"It's rap, it's spoken word, it's African influence it's Latino, and there is a woman in the group," she said. "They have an awareness on many levels that translates into their presentation."

"Each of us puts it into our own perspective," said Latin. "This allows us to reach many people in different ways."

For their latest album "Social ISsUe," the group interviewed 100 people from various backgrounds to find out what cultural topics they found most pressing. The results are reflected in the content of the songs that focus on topics like gentrification, sexism and racism. The album that, according to the group’s Myspace, sold 200 copies in the first week of its release, is described by Free as a “plastic package with a universal message.”

"It's for a music lover," said Free. "It's not just poetry."

The title is spelled out to pronounce this universal message. “Social ISsUe” is pronounced “Social Is-You,” meaning change begins with yourself.

On top of performing and organizing "campaigns" like the "Politics of Hip-Hop,” the group members run after-school poetry programs in Kingston and Newburgh, feed the homeless and help victims of Katrina.

With their 2007 London tour, “Bridging the Gap,” ReadNex Poetry Squad raised funds to buy books for a Nigerian school.

"It's good for people to see what we're doing," said Cuttz. “They can do this."

Cuttz, a New Paltz senior, came to N.Y. from Columbia when he was 6-years-old and uses both English and Spanish in his performances. He is writing a play “in verse” while DJ H20 and Free run a radio show on WBNBD. Free also works with an anti-gentrification program in Brooklyn.

Decora, a 24-year-old sociology student who lives in Newburgh but says "my home is Hip Hop," will accompany the Universal Zulu Nation to a Pan-African Conference in Venezuela.

How does the group manage to juggle so many events on top of school?

“We’re learning to sleep with our eyes open,” Cuttz said.

"It's a family network," Latin said. "Each one of us keeps us going."

The ReadNex Poetry Squad's performances include the "Speak and Dance Tour," which are "open mics" followed by dance parties reminiscent of the community block and house parties of hip-hop's past. H20 will spin a mix of Latino, funk, soul, house, and old school hip-hop for the party.

"We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. I know it's going to be positive and each one of us will be able to say ‘I did something good,’" Latin said.

The group credits their producer, Charles Graham of Volume 8 Musik, for their success. Their tour in 2008, "Frontlines of Hip-Hop," will travel nationwide and visit 43 cities. Events can be found at www.myspace.com/readnex.

Riding That Train

Traveling the Empire State's Metro Muddle

“Stand clear of the closing door!”


Whether you’re taking the Long Island Rail Road or suffering down below on a New York City subway, it is almost impossible to ride a train in New York without hearing that phrase at least twice. Or be forced to stand due to lack of seating during your journey at least once.


For New York City’s five boroughs and Long Island, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is the circulatory system that keeps life moving and people connected. Everyday, New Yorkers spend a significant amount of time on the train, commuting back and forth between work and home.


However, in most cases, it is not an expedition taken with enthusiasm, which is evident by the jaded expressions on the faces of daily commuters.


“It’s not the best way to start your morning,” said Gabriella Padilla, 22. “Everybody would be more pleasant if they did not have to experience it. By ‘it’ I mean the anger inducing experience that is commuting the MTA.”


Padilla is a graphic designer and a Brooklyn native who commutes from Williamsburg to Midtown Manhattan at least five day a week. She is one of those commuters who, having spent much time waiting on a crowed platform, truly appreciates when the train stops and the doors open right in front of her by chance. Being one of the first to board the train greatly improves her chance of getting a seat.

"If you're not gonna move fast then get out of the way."

“When you combine rude, smelly, pushy, angry New Yorkers in what seems like a sardine can, it’s not refreshing. And don’t forget the men rubbing up on you in a crowed train—and sometimes women,” she said.


However, don’t think that it is New Yorkers alone that makes train travel miserable. The dreaded tourist is a commuter’s worst nightmare. They are easily recognizable, especially since they are prone to be the only people elated and smiling during peak travel times. They can usually be spotted in large groups wearing bright matching t-shirts (often neon in color), carrying NYC souvenirs, or gazing up toward something apparently fascinating and inevitably slowing down everyone attempting to bustle around them.


“If you’re not gonna move fast, then get out of the way,” Padilla said.


In addition, the train ride is rarely aesthetically pleasing. “You will see advertisements for storage partially covered up by an ad for experimental diet pills or penile implants,” she said.


SUNY New Paltz senior Jordan Yue, 21 has a less hostile outlook on commuting. He rode the train frequently this past summer while completing internship.


“I mean, it wasn’t that bad,” he said. “Although the prices have gone up, when I was younger, it was worse.”


It is not difficult to imagine how the experience could be terrifying for a small child, since it often proves to be rather grim for adults. Yue also said that the weekend service is especially bad, since there are fewer trains running and one can expect to be left waiting longer than anticipated.

The LIRR has a slightly different feel than the subway—starting with the music provided by those situated at random nooks and crannies in Penn Station. The tunes include amateur covers of Brian Adams, Bob Marley and songs from the Titanic soundtrack. Courtesy of these starving artists (or just starving people in general), played out melodies are often the first thing you hear when walking through the LIRR’s main concourse. That is not to say that you can escape the subway without having to experience the torment of a musical interlude of similar nature. From guitars to drums, people have found ways to scrounge change in the underground concourses while riders seek to exit or transfer.


Nick Fusco, 21, commutes via the Long Island Rail Road every day into Manhattan to get to Wizard Studios where he works as an event coordinator. Some days, he takes the train up to four times.


“It sucks,” he said. “The trains are always leaving on time but never arrive when they are supposed to get there.”


Fusco also has other concerns regarding the train. “The pricing in not terrible, but the service should be better,” he said. “It’s not like the train is a new technology, they should know how to keep it running when the tracks get a little wet.”


He is referring to the fiasco this past summer when some heavy rain and flooding caused mass-transit to shut down for a few hours resulting in long delays and many people calling in late to work. With talk of price hikes in the upcoming years, one can only hope that this will improve train service and frequency.


Despite all this, safety is one area that warrants no complaint from a seasoned commuter—or even a green one. With the current “if you see something, say something campaign” that was launched after 9/11, travel security is at its height and most likely discouraging criminals.


“I will say this though, I’ve never been mugged or assaulted on the subway,” Padilla said, which is some-what comforting in retrospect considering the stigma of danger still attached to city life.


She has however had to experience discomfort caused by other riders who possess no sense of personal space. On various occasions, she has jumped out of the way of a running commuter desperate to catch a train.


“At this point in time, commuters themselves are the most dangerous part,” she said, implying that while she may have had the good fortune to never have been robbed, getting knocked down by a frantic commuter is nevertheless an unwanted experience (among others like sewer rats and dripping underground water) that remains perilous to train travelers.

The Fluctuating Face of Facebook

Users continuously find new purposes for the social networking site

You’ve recently been poked, invited to be a zombie or vampire, had some photos of yourself tagged or your wall has been written on. Confused? If so, you’re one of the few people who haven’t become part of the fastest-growing social networking site today known as Facebook.

Facebook got its start when Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg decided that his classmates needed something to help ease the process of socializing in a place he described as “unfriendly.” The use of Facebook has grown into something much larger than a Harvard socialization tool.

After it proved to be a huge success, Facebook was then opened to a few other universities, then all colleges, then all students. Today anyone with an e-mail address can create an account. The current number of users rising to over 39 million shows how much of a success the site has become.

“If I’m at a computer, I’m on Facebook.”

While Facebook is still used for basic socializing, people are finding new uses and benefits of it everyday. Facebook is good for event planning, starting discussion forums on any topic you’d like, selling or buying items online and more. It has even been credited for helping people find their “soul mates,” distant or lost relatives and crime suspects.

CNN reported that after someone was attacked near the Georgetown University campus this past September, the victim took it upon himself to search Facebook, find who he believed the attacker was and took the name to police. Police then investigated, using Facebook as well, and the suspect was arrested and charged.

CNN also reported another story of a Canadian woman who had been searching for her son who she put up for adoption years before. The woman decided to take the suggestion of some of her friends and search for him on Facebook. She typed in his name, searched through a few pages of profiles and found him almost immediately.

SUNY New Paltz is no exception to the Facebook phenomenon and the bizarre situations it creates. The network currently has over 8,000 members and it continues to grow daily.

“If I’m at a computer, I’m on Facebook,” said Matthew Barone, a junior elementary education major and self-described Facebook addict. He further explained his addiction saying that he usually has about four “poke wars” going on, checks his friend’s updated pages constantly, and updates his status regularly. He is also one of the people who somewhat credits Facebook for the beginning of the relationship between him and his girlfriend.

“We knew each other within a group of friends, but not really personally at all,” he said. “After seeing each other a few times, we started poking each other and posting on each other’s walls and it just kind of grew from there.”He’s not the only one who had an unexpected surprise thanks to Facebook. Another SUNY New Paltz junior, Stephanie Falcon, was able to find a relative of hers using Facebook. Falcon is from Long Island and had lost contact with her cousin from Panama for a few years.

Is Facebook simply a supplement to our social lives, or is it in fact changing the way we interact?

“My sister and I were talking because she’s taking a trip to Panama for school, and we started reminiscing about our trips before and how much we missed Alvaro,” she said. “So, on a whim, I just said ‘I wonder if he has Facebook.” She typed his name into the search box, had to search through a few pages of “Alvaro’s” and then found a picture that she immediately recognized as her cousin.

Falcon says that she probably could have just asked her father for some way to contact him, perhaps a phone number, but that she feels more comfortable approaching the situation like this after so many years of separation. She says they definitely speak more frequently now, using Facebook messages or wall posts to keep in touch. However, she was also able to learn that in Panama MSN Messenger is used, so she has since downloaded that and uses it to speak to him almost daily.

The stories continue across campus. Emma Jerome, a senior theater major, was going through some problems in her relationship, like everyone does, and logged onto Facebook one day to receive a message that her boyfriend had canceled their relationship status online. When she confronted him about this she found out that he didn’t want to end their relationship in person or over the phone, so he simply canceled it online hoping that would be enough.

These stories raise the question of whether or not socialization in the presence of Facebook is a new kind of socialization altogether. Is Facebook simply a supplement to our social lives, or is it in fact changing the way we interact?

Before social networking sites a person was required to have a conversation with someone in order to find things out about them, such as their hometown, religion and interests. Now, as long they have a person’s name and both accounts are in the same network, they can learn those things about someone without ever interacting with them.

The process of getting to know someone is now less active and certainly less personal. Why put any effort into getting to know someone new when a "news feed" will do all the work for you? It creates a community where everyone knows about each other, without ever actually having to talk about anything.

Surely the site does help its users, such as helping people get in contact with one another, like Falcon did. Even though she could have looked up a phone number and called her cousin, her first instinct was to go through Facebook. That feeling is representative of many young people these days.

At the same time though it is somewhat unsettling to see just how much people depend on the ease of the impersonal way to interact through Facebook, as represented in Jerome's experience. Could her experience be indicative of the use of social networking sites continuously changing, appearing in new aspects of our lives we did not anticipate?

It doesn't seem as though Facebook will fizzle out anytime soon, so we are only left with these questions while devoted users continue to log on everyday. How large will this phenomenon grow?

Creeping Casino, New Yorkers Concerned

Artistic rendition of what the proposed Indian casino would look
like. Image courtesy of Empire Resorts.

Red tape, growth and outrage over the proposed Indian casino in the Catskills

Red Tape

Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s accord with the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe to build a casino at the Monticello Gaming and Raceway may have overwhelming support from state government and officials, but some groups, and it seems the federal government, still believe a casino in the Catskills is not a good fit for New York.


In February the Tribe reached a formal agreement with Spitzer to build the casino with prominent officials, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, in full support.

But before the Tribe can begin the highly anticipated construction on their casino, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne must approve their application to place roughly 30 acres into trust for the project.


Kempthorne has yet to act on the Tribe’s application.


On Halloween, the Tribe filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Washington, D.C., against the Secretary. The Tribe’s lawsuit charges that the Secretary has “acted with undue delay and bad faith” with respect to their application. They hope the lawsuit will serve as a “motion to compel” Kempthorne to take action and make a decision.


Growth

The decision to construct the $600 million, 766,000 square-foot, two-story casino has been fully endorsed by Spitzer and the Tribe, who claim the casino will boost the Catskills’ already pitiful economy and create some 3,000 full-time jobs.


“This agreement is 10 years in the making,” said Leslie Logan, spokeswoman for the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. “It’s not only the right time but it’s overdue,” she said, pointing to the casino’s broad base political support on the state and local levels.


“Sullivan County has been left in the dust,” Logan said. “This casino is a ripe opportunity to generate jobs and create economic development.”


The casino will make an estimated $300 to $400 million its first year, with 20 percent of its revenues going directly to the state, according to Logan.

Outrage

However, some, including various coalition and community groups, do not see the casino as a simple venue for growth -- a big-time employer and moneymaker -- but as a terrible burden with drastic consequences.


These groups, including Casino-Free Sullivan County, Orange Environment, Inc., and the Natural Resources Defense Council, feel the state government has failed to assess the casino’s adverse effects, such as pollution, traffic, and crime, on the surrounding community and environment.


“The state may benefit because of these revenues, but the host community certainly does not benefit,” said Joan Thursh, president of Casino-Free Sullivan County.

Thursh said the casino is not right for New York, pointing to the extremely negative effects the casino would have on her community.


“There are economic consequences, social consequences, environmental consequences … studies have shown traffic would become unbearable … a disaster for the community,” Thursh said.


Michael Edelstein, president of Orange Environment, Inc., said nobody really knows the impact of the casino because the consequences have not been fully studied. “We know the consequences are adverse,” he said, “but we need to be able to express their full impact on traffic, pollution, the economy, and quality of life.”


Jenny Powers, spokeswoman for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the state government has failed to identify the casino’s effects and propose measures to mitigate them.

“And until we know what they are,” she added, “We can’t do anything to solve them.”

* * * * *

Knowing Their Roots

Out of the bakwoods

The long drives were tiring, yet the spirit inside of them was constantly alert, kept unwearied by a passion that would shape the coming years of their lives. They were both entering their final semester in college in the spring of 2003. With graduation in sight, thoughts of the future were becoming the forefront of conversation to fight the boredom of the open road.


For Matt Roy and Chris Maffeo, a two-week cross country tour with Roy’s brother’s skate company, Movement, would be the roots of a business known today as Bakwoods.


“We decided that it would be a good job,” Roy said. “We didn’t want a nine-to-five.”
“The main focus was skateboarding and snowboarding,” Maffeo said.

“It all started with the movies we made. We filmed local kids in the New Paltz, Poughkeepsie area.”


Trial End Error was a collection of footage that Roy and Maffeo had gathered and decided to make into a movie. They held a release party at Mcgillicuddy’s in New Paltz, which hundreds of people attended. From this, Bakwoods was set into motion.


“The first movie was eye-opening for us,” Roy said. “People were really excited about what we were trying to do. We decided right then to do another film.”


Roy and Maffeo started making T-shirts to help promote Bakwoods as well. They set up shop in Roy’s bedroom at the time. Maffeo had experience working for a professional silk-screener in Kingston, N.Y.. This would prove to be valuable.


“If we were going to do it for ourselves we wanted it to be as professional as possible,” Maffeo said.


In a short amount of time Roy’s bedroom became too small for their growing business. A closet with one rack had become a house with many, all stacked with out-going orders thanks in large part to the success of their online store.


“We started creating our own clothing after the first movie,” Maffeo said. “Our intentions were to make films, but then we decided to get some T-shirts out there, which basically led us into getting our own silk-screening equipment.”


Today Roy and Maffeo run Bakwoods out of a house in New Paltz complete with a dark room, an office and a printing room. They live amongst friends that are more like family, which they say has been the dream all along.


“This company not only employs us,” Roy said, “but it also employs our artistic and creative friends as well.”


They are a tight circle that has been a strong foundation for Bakwoods since the beginning. With Senior photographer Todd Martin, photographer Anthony Aquino, web designer Joe Sturges and friend Corey Willis, Roy and Maffeo are working in an environment they have always hope for, and the future looks promising for all involved.


“If Bakwoods is continually going forward,” Roy said, “then there is no point in stopping.”


Relative to Reality, their second movie, was released in the spring of 2005. But it was 2006’s Horseshoes & Handgrenades that they are most proud of.


“Horseshoes and Handgrenades, in our minds, is our first real skate video,” Roy said.
It is a constant cycle full of hard work and travel. When one season ends, another one begins. This keeps them constantly working, for when one project is nearing its completion, another one is already in the works.


But the hard work is paying off. Productivity, exposure and overall business are increasing. Roy and Maffeo are working with more talented riders in each new project. They are currently working on their first total snowboarding movie and are expanding their financial opportunities. The clothing line has expanded with the addition of women’s products. The online store is very successful and Bakwoods is being sold out of stores across the northeast. For them, the experience is irreplaceable.


“We get asked all the time, ‘when are you going to stop?’,” Roy said, “but there hasn’t been a point in time where we’ve been at a standstill. If this ended today there would be no regrets.”


And with the dynamic between them, working together for Roy and Maffeo has been their greatest advantage. They aren’t afraid to speak out and push each other forward. They believe this is what made Bakwoods grow so fast, and what will make it continue to grow.


“With the determination we both have,” Maffeo said, “there is a great future ahead of us, that I am certain of.”

For more information please check out Bakwoods.com.

A Poughkeepsie Hot Spot For Entertainment

(Fred Mascherino of Taking Back Sunday and The Color Fred at The Loft on October 31, 2007
Photo Credit Tara Quealy)



From Harry Houdini to Godsmack, The Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie has lent its stage to some of the biggest names in entertainment. The theater has even been named best music venue in the Hudson Valley by Hudson Valley Magazine three times in a row.

The Chance Theater originally opened as a vaudeville theater in 1912, called The Dutchess Theater, hosting acts like The Three Stooges. The theater closed down from 1945 until 1970 when it was re-opened as a film and live entertainment venue called, Frivolous Sal’s Last Chance. Later the venue became known as The Last Chance and then The Chance. Some of the security staff at the venue claim that the old building is haunted and say that they have seen ghosts on the surveillance tapes.

Two other smaller venues were added onto The Chance making it an entertainment complex. The Loft, which can hold 400 people and Club Crannel, which can hold 250 people have shows about two or three times a week. The Chance Theater holds 750 people and has a show about four times a week. The Chance Theater with a bar on each floor, has two floors for fans to view and enjoy whoever is performing on stage. The Police, Judas Priest, Third Eye Blind and Fall Out Boy have all played there The Chance before. Mostly local, smaller bands play the two other venues.

“It’s a good venue because if a show sells out at The Loft we can move it to The Chance,” said intern Chelsie Friedman. “We never lose a show.”

Not just used for live acts, every Saturday night The Loft is used as a night club. Located directly above The Chance, The Loft will occasionally ask reality television celebrities to make appearances; the most recent star being Steven from The Real World Las Vegas.

“I love The Loft,” said Fred Mascherino of Taking Back Sunday and The Color Fred after playing there on Halloween. “I would definitely come back here and play.” Mascherino who is in a number of different bands has also played The Chance and liked playing there as well. “I played at another place in Poughkeepsie with my other band, Breaking Pangea, which was not so great.”

“Not just one type of band can play there,” said Steven Viola a junior education major at Marist College. “Smaller local bands can play at the Loft and Crannel, and bigger bands can play at The Chance.”

Viola also noted the convenient location of the venue. “If The Chance was not here, I would have to go all the way to New York City or Albany to see a show,” he said. “That is where the next closest venues are.”

The Chance Entertainment Complex is an overall favorite with bands and fans a like and it is a great part of Poughkeepsie’s culture.

Fans Don’t Mind Spending the Weekend in this “Office.”

Cast members Ed Helms, Angela Kinsey, Brian Baumgartner
and Kate Flannery (L-R), took the stage at the Scrantones concert.
The concert took place Saturday, Oct. 27 at Lackawanna
Community College.

Fans of "The Office" came to Scranton, Penn., to spend the weekend with cast members.

Because of an awesome opportunity to receive press passes, I attended NBC’s “The Office,” convention. The convention gave an opportunity to fans to meet cast members as well as fellow fans. It was held in Scranton, PA, which is also the shows setting. Now in its fourth season, the show has a large enough following to successfully hold this event.

The event ran Oct. 26-28. Fans from all over the world came out to spend the weekend in the “Electric City.” The cast in attendance were Leslie David Baker, Andy Buckley, Brian Baumgartner, Creed Bratton, Kate Flannery, Melora Hardin, Ed Helms, Mindy Kaling, Angela Kinsey, Oscar Nunez, Craig Robinson, Bobby Ray Shafer, Michael Schur and Phyllis Smith.

Events throughout Scranton were held all weekend, in which the cast made appearances, both scheduled and unscheduled, to mingle with fans.

I got to bring a friend along with me, which was awesome because I don't think it would have been as much fun had I been there alone.

As I was walking across the Scranton University campus (which is a very confusing place, by the way) to “The Office” street fair, I began to hear live music. “I got the hots for you,” was the lyrical peak the band reached. I really couldn’t expect the best of entertainment yet since it was still so early. Much to my dismay and enjoyment, I walked up to the stage and saw none other than cast member Creed Bratton, who plays Creed on the show, singing. The band playing was The Scrantones, who perform the show's theme song. They were also in the episode “Booze Cruise.”

"I believe the way it works is for every one month we are on strike, three episodes will not be written,”said creator Greg Daniels on the writer's strike.

I stuck around for a while. I got to hear Craig Robinson, who plays Darryl on the show, cover Radiohead’s “Creep.” The concert started winding down, and I headed to the press conference.

The aforementioned cast members and creator Greg Daniels spoke at the conference. Many different issues were covered. An interesting one brought up at the conference was the then-impending writer's strike. At the time of the convention, the strike was not yet in action, although it is now, and there currently is no end in sight.

"I believe the way it works is for every one month we are on strike, three episodes will not be written,”said Daniels.

Mindy Kaling, writer/producer/actress on the show, talked about her character Kelly's evolution.

“The transformation of what Kelly used to be in the first season to now is one of the great scam jobs ever been done on network television,” said Kaling.

Kaling's character Kelly used to be conservative and quiet, and is now known for being exactly the opposite.

Daniels and the rest of the cast were pleased to see what the real Scranton looks like, and meet fans.

“Fans were surprised I didn't have a drink in my hand. Actually, they were surprised I wasn't drunk,” Flannery said in reference to her character on the show.

Once the press conference was over, the cast talked and was interviewed by the NY Times, LA Times, VH-1's Best Week Ever, and many other noteworthy publications.

At this point, I was asking myself what I was doing here. I was surrounding by prestigious press, and there I was, reporting for a blog that wasn't even up and running yet.

I got a chance to meet Ed Helms. I got a picture taken with him and he even asked what I was reporting for. Andy (Helms' character) from “The Office” now knows that The Gunk Gazette exists. Score.

Later on that evening, a look-alike contest was held. The cast helped judge the contest, and more specifically their own characters.

The contest ended and The Scrantones took the stage. Many “surprise” guests came on stage. Flannery played keyboard while the band played the theme song. She also covered “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” dedicated appropriately to Carell's Michael Scott, who hit her character with a car in a previous episode.

Robinson made another appearance, covering the Gnarls Barkley song “Crazy.” Helms took the mic to sing “Werewolves of London,” and cleverly changed it to “Werewolves of Scranton.” Hardin came on stage to sing a few of her own songs, and cover The Pussycat Dolls' “Buttons.” Baumgartner sang The Police's “Roxanne.” Bratton returned to sing a few of the Scrantones songs. The last song played was the theme again, and the cast thanked everyone for coming out, and danced as the song ended the evening.

Fans undoubtedly left satisfied and more enthusiastic about the show.

Sunday, I attended the 'Writers Block'. Fans had a Q&A with the writers of the show. BJ Novak, writer/actor for the show, made a surprise appearance. First, questions submitted over the Internet prior to the event were presented to the cast, and then the floor was open to the audience. Much to my surprise, Kaling wrote one of my favorite episodes, “The Injury.” Daniels was asked who on the set did the most improv, and not to anyone’s surprise, he answered Steve Carell.

“I feel that improv sometimes can even work better than the script. Sometimes you just don't feel comfortable saying what is in the script and it just works better when you say what is more natural to you,” said Daniels.

Fans were excited to hear that Stephen Merchant, writer/creator of the original series, will be directing an episode that will air in December. Also, Joss Whedon, creator of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” will return this season to direct another episode. The writers said how much fun it is to work with each other, and it is rare to have set of writers that click as well as they do. The writers also revealed that writer Paul Lieberstein, who plays Toby, is a lot like his character on the show. They concluded the Q&A by giving the audience a treat and presenting the first part of an upcoming episode.

The weekend was a blast. I am still amazed and thankful that I got to be a part of this. Fans undoubtedly left satisfied and more enthusiastic about the show. Everyone got a realistic view of the cast that portray their favorite television characters. The convention is rumored return to Scranton again next year. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

New Paltz Speaks

The poetry culture around campus can be found in two organizations: Rap Poetry Music club, RPM, and the Poetry Association, also known as the SUNY New Paltz Slam Team.

Spoken word, freestyle, beat-boxing, guitars, singing, MC battles, banjos, poetry and more banjos are what one would hear on Tuesdays in the Shango Hall Kitchen at RPM where a gathering of a diverse group of students comes out every week to perform or listen or both. Anyone can perform whatever they’d like, whether it’s original or not. With an atmosphere that’s lax and inviting, the floor is open for anyone to jump in. There is no set structure to how the meeting goes; it just flows like the poetry.

But usually the poets “spit”, say, their pieces first and then, towards the end, those with musical talent take the stage. The meeting will most likely close with a collaboration of the artist in the room through music, beat-boxing and free-styling.

Sophomore Megan Falley explained RPM’s atmosphere as, “inspiring, creative, diverse, beautiful, welcoming, gorgeous, love.”

Falley, whose neighbor brought her to RPM in her freshman year, currently holds the first place spot on the SUNY New Paltz Slam team.

The slam team is a competing collegiate poetry team with six members and one coach. New Paltz’s slam team received third place in the national collegiate competition in Texas in 2006 and 2nd place in the regional competition in Oneonta in 2007. They will be competing for the national title in New Mexico this upcoming April.

"Spread the Spoken Word"- Megan Falley

In order to make the team, the poets have to perform in a qualifying slam. In a slam, a spoken word competition, the poets must perform original pieces that are no longer than three minutes. With every ten seconds that they go over three minutes, there is a time deduction from their score.

The judges are picked randomly from the audience and they score from one to 10. Out of the five scores, the highest and lowest are dropped. The three middle scores give the poet his or her final score. The number of rounds the poet performs in depends on the structure of the slam.

“I personally don’t care much for slams for the simple fact that I don’t think spoken word should be judged,” said Carmen Mojica, past alternate and coach for the slam team. “Although I can say that seeing the caliber that other poets are at has made me step up my writing game.’

Falley agrees. “I don’t really care about the scores, and I’m not offended if a judge low-balls me,” said Falley. “I like to write, I like to perform and I like to connect with the audience. If I feel that I have done that successfully, then the scores are really insignificant.”

Both RPM and the Poetry Association have different poetry events on and off campus. They sponsor open mics and secure poets from the other schools like Oneonta and UCLA to come perform. The Poetry Association also brought Saul Williams, a well-known spoken word artist, to campus two years ago.

Even so, both Mojica and Falley feel that not enough people go to poetry events.

“I think when people hear poetry reading, they judge it immediately, but the few who have given it a chance usually always come back,” Falley said. “Spread the spoken word.”

Photo taken by Barbara Baez