CESIUM m a g a z i n e Issue 5: Maturity Purchase Print issues of issue 4 and 5 are available for purchase Editor-in-Chief on www.cesium-online.com through Lulu.com. Back Adam Moore issues of Issues 2 and 3 are also available; please send an email to [email protected] to inquire. Assistant Editor Please visit and make a purchase – you can help support Emily Berregaard independent publishing. Contributing Editor Sales/Advertising Brian Tambascio Issues of Cesium are read around the world, both in print and online, serving specific niches. Please direct any Art Directors sales or advertising inquires to cesiummagazine@gmail. com. Media kits are also available. Andy Evans Wesley High Submissions Main Office Submissions are always welcomed, but must fit the Cesium style. Please read previous issues of Cesium at 102 Clapp Street www.cesium-online.com before submitting. Submit as a Iowa City, IA 52245 .DOC attachment to [email protected] 319-210-0951 [email protected] Cesium Magazine is published quarterly, or as often as we find time. Website ISSN 1933-4281 www.cesium-online.com We would like to thank the University of Northern Iowa proudly hosted by Angelfire Department of English and Department of Art for their support. Copyright 2007 by Cesium Magazine. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Print issues are produced in the United States and Spain. Please support independent publishing. (table of elements) from the editor 3 contributors 4 nightlife 36 Boyfriend 6 Fiction by Grant Tracey. Growing up, long-distance. Raisins 10 Essay by Susan Hodara. Love and raisins. audibles 12 Brian Tambascio reviews albums from The Feeling, Bloc Party and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. mixtape 14 A look at the music you should be listening to. cinema 16 Rebecca Hay takes a critical eye to Wonderland. interview: Giants 20 Emily Berregaard talks with the instrumental group, Giants. In Defense of Cheap Booze 29 Essay by T.J. Washington. Forget premium - drink cheap. Scenes from an American Protest 30 Essay by Adam Moore. Discovering the lost art of raising hell. (from the editor) “You may find yourself in a nuanced view of the world than I had before. I don’t do beautiful house, with a beau- half of the stupid shit I used to do – although any former tiful wife, and you may ask girlfriends would love to debate that. I don’t listen to Dash- yourself, how did I get here?” board Confessional anymore. I am responsible. Kind of. Wiser words than I could ever And so, as the editor and the staff grow up, we’re celebrat- come up with, spoken by a true ing Cesium’s awkward adolescence as well. This issue social poet. Attentive readers marks one year of publishing for us, and in that short span may recognize this quote and of time, we’ve gone through some changes, some big and the associated band, and as small. Perhaps one of the most exciting additions is in the ridiculous as it may be to use Cesium family; I am honored to have my dear friends and ‘80s art-school punk as the crack designers Andy Evans and Wes High join up, and basis for any serious musings, you can expect some sweet graphics to come of it all. I’ve recently found quite a bit We’ve got a new cover look, and even a new page size. of truth within the beautifully resigned, “Once in a Lifetime.” We’ve also spent some late nights and plenty of alcohol on updating the webpage (now a shiny Flash application!), As David Byrne intelligently pointed out on the 1980 and now you can get your Cesium in any number of ways milestone, Remain in Light, maturation is a funny thing. It you’d like – from reading it online, downloading a copy you always creeps around in the shadows, hanging over your can print out or buying a nice, shiny version to hold in your shoulder. You never can seem to see it coming. And all of hands. the sudden, like an unwelcome houseguest, it shows up, carrying a full-time job (with benefits), utility bills and car Of course, the content isn’t going to change too much. payments. Perhaps the most ironic part of it all is that I This month we’ve got some fiction from Grant Tracey, an don’t really feel any older – society just says, “sorry dude, interview with great instrumental band, Giants, a report but it’s time.” from the January antiwar march in Washington D.C., plenty of cool photography and a defense of cheap booze. What Of course, our personal maturation is happening simul- else could you ask for? taneously within a broader growing-up, which can fre- quently confuse things. Our culture and society continue Thanks to all of you who continue to grow with us. I hope to change, some ways positive, and others negative. The to hear from you all. media continues to push envelopes and see where the lines are – if there are any at all. The Internet continues to mature and move to a level of sophistication unheard of only a few years ago. We are rapidly trying to keep up, to acclimate to the new levels of hyper-information, now available with a click. Adam Moore Editor-in-Chief Of course, none of this is meant to cast maturity in a dis- paraging light. Maturity has brought me a broader, more The brilliant writers and artists who give us (contributors) something to publish. Grant Tracey wrote “Boyfriend” and teaches creative writing at the University of Northern Iowa. His second collection of stories, Playing Mac and Other Scenes, was recently published by Pocol. He also edits the North Ameri- can Review and enjoys listening to the Ramones. 1-2-3-4! Susan Hodara wrote “Raisins” and is a writer, freelance journalist and editor, and who has been writing memoirs for more than 15 years. Her articles have been published in the New York Times, Communication Arts, House, West- chester Magazine, salon.com, and more. Her memoir pieces appear in several anthologies including The Westchester Review, I Wanna be Sedat- ed, My Heart’s First Steps and Surviving Ophelia. She calls Westchester County, NY home. Elliot Carlin photographed “Scenes from an American Protest,” and is currently pur- suing a degree in Political Science and Economics from the University of Iowa. He plays the drums in his spare time, and is spending entirely too much time on his debut EP. T.J. Washington wrote this issue’s essay on cheap alcohol, and why he continues to drink it even though we all know he can afford the good stuff. He is currently managing the day shift at Blockbuster, and would like to remind all renters to be kind and rewind. Michael Roach contributed photos for our issue. He has recently published his first book of photography, entitled Street Photography of New York’s Capital Region. His work has also been on display in a variety of group and solo exhibitions around the New York area. Emily Berregaard interviewed the band, Giants, and is a UNI student, majoring in English with a creative writing minor, although she wishes to be elsewhere. She’s into making plans that she won’t follow through with and doing things she always said she would never do. She enjoys making music and clothing, reading poetry, independent films, and writing. She someday wants to travel to far away places and help people who need it. 15th ann ual student textile and appa rel runway show vy n e lust y n to lut iven g ath g r er been so sexy ave nev w eadly sins h even d ide the s r unfor p eed r g sloth vy n e ust l y n saturday, april 14th / 8pm o t ut l lang auditorium / uni campus g general seating /free admission ath r w ide reception to follow in the r p center for multicultural education eed r g sloth vy n e ust 7l Fiction by Grant Tracey The bus was leaving Iowa City in forty-seven minutes and and depth than I ever could. I’m just good on a stupid, Brian Hagopian wanted his daughter Sophia to have time standardized test,” he said one evening over fried chicken. alone with Eli Fletcher, her first ever boyfriend. “I’ll just Brian just wished the kid wasn’t bisexual. walk around. Maybe go to the bookstore,” he said. “I’ll be The tips of Brian’s ears ached as he walked back before the bus leaves.” through a construction site, passing scarred plywood “Sure, Daddy.” Sophia leaned against the shoulder and scattered bricks before fronting on a courtyard. A of Eli. He was brushing hair from her eyes. His own hair fountain fanned water. Brian was so hot that he walked was black and braided. right through it. Spots formed on his glasses. He enjoyed a Outside, the afternoon was a bright, heavy curtain. world thus arrayed. Brian sought spots of shade, but his shoulders tired as Last year’s high school boys liked Sophia but heat shivered through the thin branches on sidewalk trees. never asked her on a date. A mother of one of Sophia’s Brian wanted to like Eli and he did. female friends referred to Brian’s daughter as “that Jewish- Eli had an amazing ability to listen. In the midst of looking girl.” Sophia’s “exotic” looks were courtesy of a conversation, he’d pause, chin raised, eyebrows peaking Dad, a mix of Lebanese and Armenian.