SEB Karaoke Night: Simple Silly Fun in the Commons CADVC Presents

The RetrIever Weekly 10.09.07 ARTS 15 CADVC presents Green Space/Refl ective Space Ammad Khan the park (otherwise known as “The Stelt, along with others, took up STAFF WRITER Graveyard” because of how the large the challenge to continue his work. stones jutting out of the ground look They created the park at UMBC six Last week, a program was held at like headstones), including its his- years ago and, since then, the trees the Joseph Beuys Sculpture Park to tory and what inspired it. have grown twice in size. exhibit the natural site and to en- According to Stelt, "The Grave- But according to Stelt, the park courage UMBC to have more spots yard" was inspired by one of the isn’t there just to be a beautiful and like the park. The Beuys Sculpture projects of Joseph Beuys. In the early natural site. It is there to be a place Park, a site of thirty trees with large eighties, Beuys saw that many of the of connection for people, especially rocks next to each of them that was trees in Kassal, Germany were gone, students. At the park, a yellow jour- created six years ago, is located next destroyed during World War II. In- nal is attached to a bench and, from to Administration Drive. stead of making an art piece for an time to time, it gets written in by Inside the large tent present at the exhibit, he decided to make a social students who come to the park to sit site, which seated dozens of people sculpture, or something that could down and relax, or just think. “This eating the lunch offered there, the be cared for by everyone. The idea site is important because no matter Students for Environmental Aware- behind the 7,000 Oaks Project was what your politics, you have to ad- ness promoted upcoming events and to plant 7,000 trees around the city, mit there are environmental changes current causes, such as Baltimore each with a large rock next to it. The in our lives,” said Stelt. “The best giving out free trees to be planted, advantage of placing a large rock place to start getting in tune with as well as the Center for Art, Design next to a tree is that, as the rock be- the environment is our own univer- and Visual Culture (CADVC). Chairs gins to decay, the minerals that leave sities.” were set up outside the tent in prepa- it can actually help nurture the tree. To find out more about the ef- ration for the speakers and President Beuys started the project in 1982, forts of the CADVC, visit umbc.edu/ Freeman A. Hrabowski III. but unfortunately it ended in 1989, CADVC. Renee van der Stelt, Museum two years after his death. He died as IRESE WONG — TRW Educator for CADVC, was able to a result of exhaustion in his effort to Ammad Khan can be reached for > Speakers at the ceremony stressed the importance of having a relaxing place to refl ect and connect with other people. give background information on get people to plant more trees. comment at [email protected]. Dashboard Confessional get back to their roots with their new album, The Shade of Poison Trees Liz Omberg handful of the songs are longer than what a mouth hemorrhage or a fever CONTRIBUTING WRITER three minutes. It felt rushed, like once dream is, but both sound like diseases I would get into a song it would be you can catch in a foreign country, Dashboard Confessional is the defi - over. The acoustic guitar that is Dash- rather than good song material. nition of an emo band. Their songs are board’s signature appears in all of the Even though this album is full of re- chock full of acoustic guitar riffs and songs and, in the song “Clean Breaks,” petitive lyrics in short-lived songs, it is their concerts full of fans wearing tight a piano is brought in for a short time, a catchy album that brings Dashboard jeans and black plastic glasses. Dash- which gives a refreshing sound to the back to their roots. The acoustic guitar board is often cited as the band that album. riffs are calming in “Clean Breaks,” and brought emo music to the mainstream The lyrics in the album are pretty in “Keep Watch for the Mines,” the scene. In Dashboard’s new album, The much like in any Dashboard album. fi rst chord is the same as in their fi rst Shade of Poison Trees, front man Chris He has his heart broken and writes hit, “Screaming Infi delities.” I would Carrabba and his band return to the an album as his therapy. In the song, recommend this album to anyone who style that made them famous. “Matters of Blood and Connection” likes the older Dashboard and who is In this album, Carrabba goes back Carrabba sings, “I know everyone in the need of a good album to sing to the original sound that Dashboard does their own reinvention/But yours along to. created in 1999 when he started the has a taste that's hard to swallow” and Dashboard is in the middle of their one-man band. In Dashboard’s last in “Little Bombs” there is a classic nation-wide tour, which started here album, Dusk and Summer, the band Dashboard line, “I know you and your in Baltimore. In Chris Carraba’s blog progressed their melodramatic and sins.” Carrabba’s garage band voice on the band’s website he wrote, “The acoustic sound to be catchier and more makes the songs work, though, and it offi cial start of our tour was in Balti- mature. It was a step in the right direc- makes an excellent break-up record. more, the audience at Rams Head Live tion for the band. To the distress of the Unlike other albums, some of the was great, the show was the best fi rst band and their record label, the album lyrics were confusing and made me show of a tour that we have ever had.” did not sell many copies and the band feel like I had missed something. In Baltimore liked what they heard with did not get much radio play. Since the the acoustic melodramatic song “Thick this new album and hopefully so will last album, where they tried a new as Thieves,” the line, “there is a hemor- you. sound, fl opped, this new album went rhage in your mouth” made me rewind back to their old sounds and old lyr- a few seconds to make sure I had heard Liz Omberg is a Contributing ics, which I think is no coincidence. it right. Also, in the catchy “Fever Writer for the The Retriever The more I listen to The Shade of Dreams” Carrabba sweetly sings, “fe- Weekly and can be reached for Poison Trees, the more I like it. At fi rst COURTESY VAGRANT RECORDS ver dreams they can only haunt you/ comment at [email protected] > Frontman Chris Carrabba depicted enjoying his band’s massive success I was a little put off by how only a Till the fever breaks.” I have no idea and popularity. SEB Karaoke Night: Simple silly fun in the Commons Sarah Evans Somehow, the microphone gets into oke is a lot of fun. But it’s a curious well that everyone will end up acting singing with a free breakfast spread. STAFF WRITER your hand and you’re standing, star- thing, karaoke. Why do we have such like an idiot. So why do people go While the waffl es were not even close ing blankly at the screen as you think, a fascination with people getting on- to karaoke? That is something to be to the pre-made ones in the dinning Walking up to the small stage in “Is there anyway I can get out of this?” stage to sing songs they know they explored, but in the meantime, I just hall and the eggs left something to be Flat Tuesdays, two microphones on But no, there is no way out, as you are can’t possibly sing, laughing with have a good time going on the Fridays desired, the home-fries weren’t too either side of a computer screen that committed to the song you had cho- them and probably a little bit at them, that SEB puts on karaoke nights. bad and the idea of serving breakfast projects song lyrics, your heart begins sen out of a book and written down as they enjoy making a fool of them- Last Friday, the tradition was con- was cute. But the food is not why the to pound and your palms begin to as your choice, for karaoke. selves. We get together with friends, tinued with Breakfast and Beat Box die hard karaoke regulars show up; sweat as you realize that you are about Actually, its not quite such a trau- some prepared to sing and some (a karaoke preceded weeks ago by > see KARAOKE [17] to make a complete fool of yourself. matizing experience; in reality kara- adamantly refusing to do so, knowing a Tunes and Tacos night), a night of .

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