Fall 2011 (Vol. 5 Issue 1)

FALL 2011

Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF College life is intoxicating and not just because of the alcohol (for more on that aspect, however, check out page 12). It’s intoxicating because at some point in our experience we realize two things. 1. This will probably be the most exciting four-year period of our lives. 2.

Those four years will be gone before we know it. That realization is the driving force behind what makes OU beautiful. We are all devoted to making every possible second of these four (or more) years matter.

Alec Bojalad

MANAGING EDITOR ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR

Alex Lubetkin

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Gina Edwards & Kim Amedro JUNIOR ASSOCIATE

Shannon Miranda

Another byproduct of becoming aware of this life cycle is that we now want to share our magazine with you more than ever and in every possible way we can.

We’ve revamped our website to be more colorful, user-friendly and all-around more Backdrop. We’ve started a weekly podcast so we can let you in on our process and other current events that interest us. And in a collaboration we’re incredibly excited about, we’ve joined up with Flare Code. Flare Code was started by several OU students, including former Backdrop editor, Niklos Salontay, and will provide you with even more Backdrop content. Whenever you encounter a QR code on a page of the magazine, use a bar code scanner on your smart phone to scan it and you will be guided to exclusive extra content from that story.

COPY EDITOR

Previous generations have paid for this magazine with late nights at the library, days spent passing out magazines in snow and rain and jeopardized GPAs. We plan to honor them by keeping this thing running at full speed and we hope you join us on this, at times rough, but always-exciting ride.

Scan here to see Backdrop’s FLARE page.

FEATURES » 19

Douglas Bair

Maybe it’s because we’ve just come to that realization ourselves, but quite a few of our stories this issue deal with the awareness of these four to five-year college life cycles that govern us all. There is Alex Lubetkin’s profile of the band First Street Heat and its members’ realization that despite all their talent and popularity, their impending graduations may send them all off in different directions. Alexander Menrisky’s profile of Lost Flamingo Company’s Rocky Horror Picture Show production shows how the group has kept the show going for nine years (which is two college life cycles by my count), while Kim Amedro’s hunt for an elusive piece of Athens history reveals how interesting stories can get partially lost in the college life cycle shuffle.

We are now in year five of Backdrop’s existence and this issue represents the first time that no current Backdrop member witnessed the birth of the magazine back in 2007. Thankfully we have a large staff (seriously, look at the masthead) of people who are very good at what they do. I have no doubt that we’re up for the challenge but it’s never easy to ask a graduating class to hand over its baby.

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ASSISTANT EDITOR

Daniella Limoli

ASSISTANT COPY EDITOR

End of the Street College bands come and go.

But for this 12 member troupe, the breakup is a complicated divorce of side projects and a final headline act that could define their careers.

24 Queen of Hearts

This drag queen is taking philanthropy to a whole new level with his generous heart and outward compassion for the community that calls him a son.

CONTRIBUTORS Alex Lubetkin, Alexander Menrisky, Angela Igansky, Carli Pappas, Curt Chapkowski, Daniella Limoli, Gina Edwards, Hannah Croft, Kelsi Bowes, Melissa Thompson, Shannon Miranda, Ashley Ferrell

Tessa Dufresne

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ON THE COVER Cover photo by Loren Cellentani Cover design by Rohan Kusre

Kelsi Bowes

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Brittany Thomas DESIGN DIRECTOR

Rohan Kusre

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24

12

34

19

16

ASSISTANT DESIGN DIRECTOR

Skye Gould

DESIGN TEAM Alexander Martinez, Cassandra Sharpe, Chelsea Leasure, Emilee Kraus, Katherine Smidansky, Olivia Reaney, Staci Resler, Stephanie Rumph

PHOTO EDITOR

Loren Cellentani PHOTO RETOUCHER

Amanda Puckett Alec Bojalad

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CONTRIBUTORS Amanda Puckett, Corey Reeb, Greg Bodwell, Laura McDermott, Loren Cellentani, Meghan Shamblen, Patrick Dunn, Steven Turville, Susannah Kay

FALL 2011 » VOLUME 5 ISSUE 1

DOT Check us out online at backdropmag.com

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Get Involved! b SECTION HEAD

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b ENTERTAINMENT »

Come To Meetings For Student Speakout

Every Wedensday 7:15 pm Walter Hall Room 235

Come To The Student Senate Office

the walls and disintegrated the tables, but Magic has brought this card playing community back to life from the ashes.

Any Time Baker Center Room 305

Alexander Menrisky BUSINESS DIRECTOR

Katie Mefferd

SEX & HEALTH »

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

Cruisers 30 Campus Skateboarding has come full

Molly Schneider

circle from its rebellious angst stereotype with this local skater who has merged his hobby with the green movement.

ADVERTISING ASSISTANT

Adrienne Krueger

MARKETING CO-CHAIRS

Brenda Evans & Lauren McGrath EVENTS DIRECTOR

M 32 Vitamin Bob Marley is the newest face of energy drinks, and as expected, it’s chill till the last drop.

Hannah Croft

PR/SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR

Bethany Cook

MARKETING TEAM Alex Lubetkin, Angela Ignasky, Anne Marie Chiodi, Ashley Ferrell, Caleb Robinson, Cameron Scheetz, Carli Pappas, Jessica Nath, Kelsi Bowes, Molly Schneider, Rose Troyer, Shannon Miranda, Tara McCarthy

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H4T » Laid Back Lookers

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Cribs » Office Space

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Jim Crocky

the Ashes 14 From Flames may have scorched

PUBLISHER

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Off the Beaten Path

Break away from Ping’s treadmills and beyond the bike path with Backdrop’s treasure trail run through Athens.

TABLE OF CONTENTS We bring you two hotties from the humanities who know how to kick it at the end of the day.

Peeking in on some swagged out offices of two Ohio University professors.

Crocodiles and alligators trump any ghost sightings at the Ridges as Backdrop discovered in our historical search for the truth behind a photo.

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Exhibit A

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RR&R » It’s Whatevs

Backdrop’s very own art gallery.

English just got cut, literally. Abbreviations are chopping away at the language of Shakespeare, Poe and the Brits.

WEB EDITOR

Ryan Joseph ASSISTANT WEB EDITOR

Shannon Miranda & Sandie Young WEB COPY EDITOR

Tasha Webber

WEB PHOTO EDITOR

Kate Alexander MEMBERSHIP & DISTRIBUTION DIRECTOR

Krystin Ratliff

Interested in working with us?

Stop by one of our weekly meetings, Tuesdays at 8 p.m. in Scripps Hall 111

New expanded menu featuring locally produced items!

Jackieos.com 592-9686

FALL 2011 » VOLUME 5 ISSUE 1

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Mountain

HOT 4 TEACH

lookers LAID BACK

BY CARLI PAPPAS PHOTOS BY GREG BODWELL

From their relaxed morning routines to their humility, these professors are chill about being hot.

Kevin Mattson Connor Study Professor | Contemporary History Were you aware that you are a hot teacher?

No.

And what was your reaction?

Fear and trepidation.

What are your daily grooming habits?

I will usually take a shower, trim my beard, and brush my teeth. And that’s pretty much it. I don’t use deodorant if that’s what you’re asking.

Would you say your hair is touchable?

I touch it.

Who are your people?

The kids who are at the coffeehouse, reading stuff outside of what they have to read for class, and people who are getting petitions signed and doing political stuff.

Who do you think is the sexiest historical figure?

I would say Marilyn Monroe. She was not just physically attractive and not just sexually flirtatious in the way that she was on screen, but she had that sort of weird, dangerous, bad background. What made her sexy was that you knew there was stuff behind the surface. It wasn’t just her appearance on screen.

Thomas Vander Ven Associate Professor | Sociology How do you feel about being chosen hot for teacher?

I’m totally taken by surprise. I don’t think that my students feel that we’re peers, but I think they get the sense that I like them, and I’m speaking their language.

LaureL

Gifts 25 S Court Street

What’s your favorite YouTube video?

I love “Greatest Freak Out Ever.” There’s this kid, Steven, and he seems to have anger problems. His brother appears to be a sociopath and creates situations to get him to lose it. I use it to talk about conduct disorder, low self-control, stuff like that.

What is your favorite love song?

One is Ben by Michael Jackson. It’s about a rat, his pet rat.

That’s pretty powerful to love a rat—something that spreads so much pestilence.

What’s the subject that has seduced you the most—that you’ve had a sort-of love affair with?

Well my area within sociology is criminology. The films that I like, the books that I read, a lot of them have been about crime and deviance. “Reservoir Dogs” is a good example. I like well-articulated violence.

Who are your people?

People who have a good sense of humor and who just really don’t take themselves or life too seriously.

Where is your favorite place in Athens?

I like the Smiling Skull because I will never run into anybody I know there. They have a good jukebox and there are interesting people. And it’s cheap. My wife and I have our own table there.

Jewelry, accessories, leather, candles, toys, pottery, soaps & lotions, speciality foods, & more

Has a student ever hit on you before?

No comment.

What’s the subject that has seduced you the most—that you’ve had this sort-of love affair with?

Recently, I have become intrigued and drawn into American literature. I love the way people tell stories.

Why are you passionate about history?

I think the past can teach us about the present. It teaches us that in the past, people are sometimes smarter and more interesting. It kind of humbles you.

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The first Jack O’Lanterns were actually made from turnips.

CONTACT vandervt@ohio.edu mattson@ohio.edu

The word “witch” comes from the Old English wicce, meaning “wise woman.”

open Mon ‑ Sat 10aM ‑ 6pM Sun 12 pM ‑ 5 pM48

www.mountainlaurelathens.com

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CRIBS

Office

SPACES

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CRIBS

Superhero Shine Wagner isn’t afraid to display his ongoing love for aspects of his childhood— like superheroes. This poster showcases such characters, including one of Wagner’s favorites, Batman. He’s especially fond of Frank Miller’s work.

BY GINA EDWARDS AND ASHLEY FERRELL PHOTOS BY COREY REEBS

For this issue, Backdrop explored the little academic havens of “the others” on campus. The professors, that is. Both Dinty Moore and Carson Wagner bring unique aspects of their personalities into the décor of their “office spaces.”

1 Classy Cubicle

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Moore’s office is part of a vast labyrinth of cubicles on Ellis Halls’ third floor. The dividers-as-walls offer some difficult design challenges.

Moore responds by loading up his desk and walls with curious artifacts, old photos and strange structures. The black and white photo on the right wall is of Moore and entertainment legend Bob Hope.

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Toying Around Wagner likes his office to reflect his personality, from its tidiness to superhero figurines to political souvenirs. After jaunts in Pennsylvania, Colorado and Texas, the self-professed “small town guy” has built his nest here in Athens.

Buckeye Buddha Perhaps the most bizarre item in Moore’s office is this small model named “Buckeye Buddha.” “I don’t know exactly what that is,” Moore said. “It seems to confound people.”

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Creative Corner The elongated corner office of Scripps gives Wagner a dual view of the surrounding amphitheater. Inside, the hodgepodge of Vikings memorabilia, Transformers and 80’s collectibles reflect his youthful spirit. He even has a “Devo” tattoo.

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Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween.

The movie Halloween was made in only 21 days in 1978 on a very

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ENTERTAINMENT

HISTORY OF

BY THE

S R E B M U N G N I Y PART IN FO G R APH IC

BY BRITTANY

TH O MAS

44 DISORDERLY BY INTOXICATION

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f you’ve been anywhere near the Internet in the past four months you might have come across the information that Ohio University is now #1 in the nation in a certain ranking. Whether you think this is a great honor or a dubious distinction, the fact remains unchanged: this university loves to party. So here are some visual representations of just how much it does.

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Side note: We understand that the Princeton Review rankings are wildly unscientific, but a #1 ranking is a #1 ranking. If Ohio University had been ranked #1 in toenail clippings, you’d best believe the next page would be filled with images of toes, toenails and toenail clippers.

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TOP

PARTY SCHOOLS

UNDERAGE CONSUMPTION & AGE INTOXICATION RESPECTIVELY

6 OPEN CONTAINER 3 ASSAULT OF OXYCONTIN 2 POSSESSION & FOR OBSTRUCTION COUNTERFEIT MONEY, 1 TRESPASSING, POSSESSION OF HEROIN RESPECTIVELY

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1 #2

HALLOWEEN

#“LOTS OF BEER”

CHAOS

1976 1977

ORGANIZED

IF YOU CAN’T BEAT ‘EM

How widely is beer used at your school?

South Green Council invented “Halloween — the Night You’ll Go South” to eliminate overcrowding on Court Street .

ATHENS ON ITS BEST BEHAVIOR

1982 1983 1984

Police called the crowd “generally well-behaved.””

SAFETY FIRST

Athens’ businesses formed the Athens Clean and Safe Halloween Committee.

IT’S OFFICIAL

The Athens Clean and Safe Halloween Committee finally closes down Court Street and officially sanctions the Halloween festival.

FROZEN TUNDRA

Revelers are pelted with snow and freezing rain in one of the coldest Athens Halloweens.

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1990 1993 1997

MARDIS GRAS OF THE NORTH

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The Princeton Review

No beads were involved that we know of but 1997 saw partiers baring their flesh all the same.

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1974

Athens City Council passed a resolution closing the street and endorsing an “official Halloween celebration.”

How widely is hard liquor used at your school?

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THE PARTY BEGINS More than 500 people partied on Court Street, while police arrested 15 participants.

“LOTS OF HARD LIQUOR”

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1. Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 2. University of Georgia, Athens, Ga. 3. University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss.

4. University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 5. University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, Calif.

6. West Virginia University, Morgantown, W. Va. 7. Penn State University, University Park, Pa. 8. Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla. 9. University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla. 10. University of Texas, Austin, TX.

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BREAKDOWN OF ARREST CHARGES ON HALLOWEEN 2010

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RIOT!

2003

THE BEER GARDEN OPENS

2008

WHO KNOWS? YOU TELL US.

2011

Stabbings, attempted thefts and riots on Mill, Stewart and Palmer streets made this one of the most violent Halloweens since the tradition began.

Now 21 year olds finally had a place to safely drink in public.

9 Information provided by The Athens News, Ohio University Police Reports & NBC News Reports

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ENTERTAINMENT

FROM THE

ASHES After losing $100,000 worth of merchandise in a mysterious 2007 fire, Universe of Superheroes owner Todd Grace had only one option: to rebuild.

BY GINA EDWARDS

PHOTOS BY LAURA MCDERMOTT

T

he Universe of Superheroes had fallen.

A blazing fire ravaged the little gaming shop on West Washington Street, incinerating every comic book, Magic card and figurine on the shelves. By the evening of June 24, 2007, the store was a charred cave.

Owner Todd Grace, a local attorney, salvaged what he could—which proved tragically little.

With $100,000 in merchandise lost, no insurance and no explanation for the fire’s ignition, the store’s future seemed bleak. Todd weighed out the options, unsure if rebuilding would even be financially feasible.

But then, persuasion came from a 6-year-old advocate.

“My son really wanted to have it there as a place where he could play games,” Todd says. “And that was enough. I said, ‘OK, I’ll do what it takes to rebuild.’”

Soon, a sign outside the door read, “I assure you, we will be back!”

As if the bat signal had lit up the sky, the Athens community swooped down to the rescue. Community members, customers and friends donated their time and money to the reconstruction project. Luke Potter Photography, a business next-door, offered rent-free space. As the landlord repaired the

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“

It’s fun to hear everyone coming in.

Each little game or each part of the universe of the comics will have its own little culture.”

Todd Grace, Store Owner

shop for over a year, Todd funneled what money he could into rebuilding his wares. He used donations from customers and personal contributions to replenish the merchandise.

Across the comic message boards and Myspaces — it was 2007, remember — the lamented cries echoed. Loyal customers and avid fans of the shop wrote posts like “Save the Comics!!!” and “Curse you cruel fates!” Despite the obvious inconvenience, they remained true to the Universe.

“Rather than going online and getting their stuff, [customers] were patient with us as we rebuilt,” he says.

Now, over four years after the tragic event, the shop thrives—with its faithful community that has reconstructed itself right alongside it.

Todd has been running the store since 2007 after Tom, the other coowner, left to become a tattoo artist.

His law office, Grace and McGee, Attorneys-at-Law, sits right next to The Wizard’s Guild, the store’s current name. For Todd, it is a labor of love. The shop has not turned a profit in the years he has managed it, with all earnings going right back into the products.

Through Todd’s evident devotion,

Boston, Massachusetts, holds the record for the most Jack O’Lanterns lit at once (30,128).

the shop has fostered a community for gamers and comic lovers alike. “It’s fun to hear everyone coming in. Each little game or each part of the universe of the comics will have its own little culture,” he says.

One of these groups especially shines on Friday nights, when the shop stays open late to let them work their Magic…literally. Elementary to middle-aged players stuff the room to wage war against one another in a trading card game akin to Pokémon.

However, “Magic: The Gathering” requires higher levels of strategy and complexity. Players spend the evening battling, eating, joking and learning from each other’s style and approaches.

Since its reconstruction, the shop now offers more space to house events like Friday Night Magic and other tournaments. Before the fire it could only hold 16 people, whereas now it fits upwards of 50.

At these Friday Night Magic events, the spirit of competition pulses through the air. Old friends smirk at one another as they shuffle their decks, and strangers exchange pleasantries across their play mats.

Todd has achieved his goal of making the environment laid back.

But some imbalances still exist, as the men vastly outnumber the women. Although a majority of men participate in tournaments now, he emphasizes that all sorts of people come in, from OU students to locals to doctors, teachers and lawyers, including women as well.

“These games can appeal to a wide range of people,” Todd stresses. “They appeal to strategists and people who want to spend time…outside the game, thinking about it and trying to figure out how to get the most out of what they’re doing.”

He even invites those who have never laid a hand on a Magic card to the Wizard’s Guild. “We like to spend time with other people that have the same interests or are potentially going to have the same interests…A lot of people will find something here that they will enjoy.”

A regular tournament player and customer of the Wizard’s Guild, Ben Hivick, could not agree more. “More so in Athens

than anywhere I’ve been, no one fits the stereotypes,” he says.

Ben originally found the shop during his freshman year when looking for a Magic prerelease. He’s played, shopped and competed in tournaments ever since. To Ben, it’s Friday Night Magic events feel much more personal and welcoming than the larger statewide tournaments.

He laughs while recalling memories he’s made at the Wizard’s Guild. “One time I got beat by a nine-year-old in a tournament,” he chuckles.

Ben and his buddies from the shop bond over such funny happenings.

Mutual player camaraderie and respect make the Wizard’s Guild more than just a gaming shop, it’s a place to find and make friends.

This sense of kinship is paramount to the shop’s success, as the Wizard’s Guild relies almost entirely on wordof-mouth marketing. Currently, one of the employees is developing a website for it to centralize and publicize its information.

But until then, its customers—or perhaps more aptly—its friends, will ensure its place in both Athens and gaming/comic culture. Through their fervent loyalty, praise, and infectious zeal for their hobbies, the customers and employees of the Wizard’s Guild will continue to reveal the inherent excellence of one understated little shop tucked just off Court Street.

And as it always has, the Wizard’s Guild will keep depending on this heroic community—the one that helped it rise from the ashes.

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ENTERTAINMENT

S E R U T A E R C THE F O HT G I N KY EN RISKETT Y M R ANSK E AN D SM I D A PU C

EX ND NE

BY AL OS BY AMA Y KATH ERI PH OT RATI O N B T I LLUS

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ehind the stage hangs a virginal, white curtain, soon to be stained by the projector’s warm glow of sin and sex. And it’s only a rehearsal for Athens’ annual Rocky Horror Picture Show.

The rehearsal is fast-paced and raunchy, and obscenities are launched at the actors as they try to synchronize their movements and words with images flitting across the screen behind them in a Bentley Hall classroom. Actors and actresses in the small, principal-cast audience alternatingly yell “Slut!” and “Asshole!” at two women chasing after each other and singing a seemingly-innocent musical number. One of these women is playing a man. An observer sings over the performers: “Dammit, Janet, I wanna screw,” a typical Rocky call-out.

In years past, Rocky Horror has been an Athens’ Halloween week staple. Onstage, guys and girls alike dress in corsets and fishnets, grinding each other against pillars and nudging butts, breasts and everything in between. The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a cult classic film that has been playing in theaters with a faithful and rowdy audience since 1976, has reached its ninth year of performance in Athens, and is as glitzy and sensual as ever.

“It’s all about being entertaining and putting on a good show. And a bunch of drunk people at a bar love being entertained, especially when titties and beer are involved,” says Adam Bialek, the director of Rocky who “handles all the creatures of the night.”

But Rocky in Athens isn’t just about the booze and the boobs. Adam stresses a more important role for the show: an opportunity to bring not just the audience members, but Athens itself, out of its shell.

Athens’ own Rocky Horror show is casted, produced, directed and performed by Ohio University’s Lost Flamingo Company, whose leaders decided nine years ago to bring something new, exciting, flashy—and cheap—to Athens’ stage. LFC is an entirely studentrun theater company: they build their sets, choose their actors, design their costumes and perform their shows totally independently and pride themselves on being active in the community. They’ve found that, with Rocky, their presence in the Athens’ community can be even greater.

Rocky follows the story of two innocent fiancés, Brad and Janet. A car accident leaves them stranded in the home of Doctor Frank-N-Furter, a racy mad-scientist dying to get his hands on Rocky Horror: the slab of muscle who is his latest creation. In the course of a night, Brad and Janet’s innocence is put to the test through a course of nighttime misadventures and a score of ’70s era musical numbers.

Audience members join in the fray through an unbridled Around 50% of adults in the U.S. will dress up for Halloween.

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“

…a bunch of drunk people at a bar love being entertained, especially when titties and beer are involved.”

Adam Bialek Director of Rocky Horror

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b FEATURE

system of callouts triggered by in-show cues and drag showstyle dress. The call-outs are irreverent and often timely, testing the range of obscenity from traditional Helen Keller jokes to cracks at Michael Jackson’s death.

LFC is kind enough to outline the meager rules at the beginning of each performance, displaying enormous signs warning against pinching, yelling at and groping the cast members. Other than these skimpy limits, the verbal abuse is anythinggoes. Add in the fact that the show is hosted at a bar, and you’ll find that freedom of speech is joined by alcohol in drowning newcomers’ inhibitions.

The scanty dresses certainly don’t hurt, either.

“Two years ago when we were moving into the space, we had cast members walking up and down Court Street in their costumes passing out flyers,” Adam says. “As an advertising major I can say that’s a

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pretty effective way to do it; just put a bunch of people in heels and corsets and have them hand out a bunch of papers. That’ll get people’s attention.”

The cross-dressing, gender-bending Halloween escapade finds its venue —upstairs at the Union Bar on Union Street—packed with audience members, men and women alike, sporting the sluttiest attire they can get their hands on, from torn fishnet gloves to tighty whities to skimpy black corsets (with lacy red trim for maximum suggestive-cleavage, or chest hair for the men). Those who have never seen a live performance of the show before are branded “Virgins” and subjected to an initiation—but nothing too raunchy.

Adam welcomes Virgins with open arms. “I’m like, ‘Wow, this is your first time seeing a live show, you’ll remember this,’” he says. “I remember my first time, so hopefully their first time will be awesome.

That sounds really weird saying, ‘Oh, Virgin,’ and ‘First time’s awesome,’ but whatever. It’s Rocky.”

Most students who enter the fray -- actors and audience members alike -- are unfamiliar with Rocky at first.

“Before I auditioned for Rocky, I wasn’t really that familiar with it,” says Ana Gomez, a cast member of the 2010 show. “I’d been in Blockbuster and seen the cover of a transvestite man lying on a pair of lips, and I’m like, ‘Wow, that looks interesting.’”

These stories of discovery and comfort-zone pushing are exactly what Adam likes to hear.

“I kind of think of Rocky as a way to bring people out of their shells,” Adam says. “That’s what happened to me. My freshman year I didn’t know anything about Rocky pretty much, and I went into it and loved it and made a bunch of new friends from it and had a lot of really interesting first-time experiences. And so I love it every year, and I love to get to share that with people. ... It’s like a big party. We’re just like a bunch of weird kids having fun.”

The Rocky Horror Picture Show starts its 2011 premiere at 9:00 p.m. at the Union on Tuesday, October 25 and continues (same place, same time) through Thursday, October 27.

Over 35 million Halloween cards are given every year.

street END OF THE

BY ALEX LUBETKIN PHOTOS BY PATRICK DUNN

Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here

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There can’t be 12 people in the band. We’re not gonna make money… you need, like, eight people at the most.”

Jack Gould, Manager of The First Street Heat

T

he stage brings them together. Eric Turner tickles his guitar strings while jumping in unison with the drummer’s beat. Jack Gould closes his eyes while unleashing a gust of wind that bellows through his saxophone. A thick, hanging fog gives life to the green, red and yellow projectors hanging from above. Hands rise and sway as fans clamor for more. First Street Heat owns The Union Bar’s stage for two hours with a thumping fusion of funk, jam, hip-hop and ska.

FIRST STREET HEAT SIDE PROJECTS WITH FIRST STREET HEAT NEARING THE LAST NOTE OF ITS FOUR-YEAR CAREER, SOME MEMBERS WILL BE BRANCHING OUT INTO NEW GROUPS TO KEEP THE FUNK ALIVE.

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backdrop | Fall 2011

After the show, the band staggers away in different directions outside, moving on to the next phase of their night. They walked onstage unified, but by the end of the night they leave divided. After a run that dates back to 2008, the 12 members of First Street Heat are headed in different directions.

First Street Heat is that friend you met during precollege that you still see walking down Court Street.

Even if you don’t know them, you know them.

First Street Heat started in a way that one would

ALL THE ABOVE EDEN LEE - VOCALS DAVID YOUNG - KEYBOARDS

A mix of covers and originals that will cover alt rock, classic rock, funk, R&B and top 40 pop tunes. Play every Tuesday night at Red Brick at 10 p.m.

Haunted house attractions bring in about half a billion dollars annually.

expect: jamming. Jack Gould and Eric Turner, saxophone and guitar/vocals respectively, met in 2008 when they were freshmen living in East Green dorms. While their beginnings were relatively humble, Jack knew what he wanted from day one.

“We started kicking some ideas around in the fall, when I met Eric,” Jack says. “I lived in Johnson and he lived in Lincoln, and he was always out on the steps jamming with his acoustic guitar, and I had my saxophone. I had come to school wanting to make a big band...I wanted it to be a big funk band with rappers in it. And Eric was down with that.”

Zack Stewart joined First Street Heat later that year. “I see this group and I think to myself: ‘man, if I had a group arranged just like that we could play a lot of music, and I would like to cover Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up”.’

And then I heard them play that tune at a show, and I was so delighted.”

Through mutual connections, Zack jumped on board, and he’s been providing trumpet and guitar ever since.

Other members have come and gone; the size of the band waxing and waning.

“We started off with kind of a hoshposh group of people,” Jack says. That first year was largely trial-and-errortrying out different people at various positions while they played free afternoon shows on East Green.

It wasn’t until David Young, a keyboardist who Jack met through the Honors Tutorial College, got on board

that the band started making a name for itself.

“That was when shit really started to gel,” says Jack. “By the fall of 2009, things started coming together better.

We were becoming a real band.”

Their vision was a daring one: First Street Heat occupies a space in music in which few other bands tread. On paper, the ingredients to their recipe read like a randomly generated group of artists that accidentally met, besides the usual suspects—guitar, drums, bass and keyboard— the band features a brass section and two rappers.

A fire builds in the chests of the crowd as Turner’s guitar races against Chris Mack’s bass chord before the talented brass section takes over. Horns elevate the level of excitement attainable at a live show. Every performance is an assault of eclectic, vibrant energy; their musical arsenal as diverse as a Swiss Army Knife. Proud, booming horns, elastic bass chords and, yes, spitfire rap converge onstage for a party that leaves the audience moving and smiling for hours, well after the band steps offstage.

“Right now we’re at a point where things have come together. There are a lot of opportunities. There’s a future, but,” Jack pauses, staring at the floor. “I dunno… there’s just a lot of differences.”

What began as a fun, laid-back experience that 12 members could conceivably be a part of has evolved into something more important.

As graduation nears for many of the members, the individual takes

precedence over the whole.

“We’re at a point where we’re like, ‘Shit, I kinda wanna do this as my job after I graduate,’” Jack says. “There can’t be 12 people in the band. We’re not gonna make money… you need, like, eight people at the most. Seven people. Six people.”

The group isn’t “breaking up” in a messy, cinematic manner. But reality needs to be faced, and right now, a 12-piece outfit like First Street Heat isn’t feasible for much longer, differences in taste are combining with financial limitations.

Before the 2011-2012 school year started, the band sat down to discuss the future. The final verdict: split the large band into smaller projects, reuniting as First Street Heat occasionally.

“I’m very excited to keep working with the group,” Zack says. “Obviously, it’s not profitable considering the size and that, if we wanna get bigger, we’d have to travel. We’re gonna branch off, but when we do get back together there’s gonna be great chemistry.”

It’s a relationship in the final session of therapy, and closure is close whether each member is ready or not.

“I definitely have mixed feelings about the whole thing, like, ‘ending,’ because this is really a step toward that. Two years from now everybody’s gonna be scattered all over the place,” Jack says. “It’s interesting because we’ve spent our entire college careers building this band.”

A part of Jack and Eric seems to

SASSAFRAZ Eric Turner - Vocals Jack Gould - Saxaphone Zach Pontzer - Guitar

These three early First Streeters haven’t nailed down their style yet but will be unleashing their new creation on Athens in early 2012.

Illinois produces more than 90% of all U.S. pumpkins.

MBANZA! BEN KAIN - VOCALS

Will play a mix of songs from Africa and the Appalachian winter. They plan to play a string of house shows throughout winter quarter. backdropmag.com

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FEATURE

lament over the entire project ending in such a manner.

“Me and Jack came into this believing that people knew that I was the composer and Jack was the manager,” Eric says. “And we weren’t trying to be super-hierarchal. We just thought that people understood that. But we didn’t make that clear from the beginning, and that was our biggest flaw.”

“When you get down to it, it’s like political philosophy here,” Jack adds. “It’s like the same as democracy versus totalitarianism, and which one is more effective. You can look at it on a macro-scale, and say ‘Look, China’s kicking ass right now because they’re in control of what’s going on.’”

His conclusion is that the best way for a band to work is with defined leaders.

Like so many other college bands before them, First Street

Heat’s journey seems ready to conclude before it can reach its desired destination.

Papadosio, an Athens-based jam-band that has been riding a hype train gaining momentum, survived college graduation. Their success represents the “best case scenario” for bands like First Street Heat.

“More than anything, patience,” says Rob McConnell, Papadosio bassist and vocalist, when asked about what it takes for a college band to make it. “You’re gonna have to play 150 dates a year, and for those first three or four years, 100 of them are gonna be shitty.”

“Honestly, I think the core group’s gonna go out and do awesome things,” McConnell adds. “But you get a group of 12 people together, you gotta get everybody on

DYSFUNKTIONAL FAMILY JOE ARGIRO - DRUMS HILL HACKWORTH - RAPPER RYAN SCWARTZ - RAPPER NICK WECKMAN - TROMBONE, SYNTH, AND GUITAR

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backdrop | Fall 2011

A live band that honors the golden era of Hip Hop with Appalachian influences sprinkled throughout. Will be the house band for the new Hip Hop Shop.

PAUL ELISHA BAND Jack Gould - Saxaphone Plays pop and R&B baby-makin’ music every Tuesday at the Union for free from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

More than a third of Americans say that they believe in ghosts.

the same page. That’s a lot of money when you’re on the road, that’s a lot of mouths to feed. Twelve people, at this point, it’s something you almost have to build into.” He doesn’t seem surprised in the slightest at the direction the band is headed.

First Street Heat dropped an album in November 2010, titled Say What You Wanna Say. “We kind of patched it together through different sessions at the O.U. studio and also at different home studios,” Jack says. “That’s worked out very well for us.

We’ve gone through over 500 copies.”

“It was like a year’s worth of ridiculous time and effort,” he says of the album. “We recorded the first seven tracks, and then we fucked with those, and then we re-recorded, and then we recorded three more tracks, and then we did tons of over-dubs in the closet in our house.”

The album, although a major notch on the band’s collective bedpost, wouldn’t make a difference if it weren’t for a strong fan base that has grown since 2008.

While they can often be found playing tocapacity crowds vying for space on the sticky, adhesive flooring of the Union, the band has also made somewhat of a name for themselves in Florida, Georgia and

parts of the Midwest.

Florida, in particular, has proven to be a hotbed for First Street Heat support. the band made two separate road trips to the Sunshine State in successive years. Jack, who used to live in Florida, admits that the experience was a mixed bag.

“We went down there because I had hook-ups and places to stay, and we stupidly just kind of drove to Florida,” he says of their first trip to Florida during spring break 2010. “It was just a ton of gas money, and there were 12 of us. Here’s the weird thing about it, though: we actually made money.

After all of the gas and expenses, we made $250.”

Bands, especially less-tenured ones, tend to lose money when they tour simply because income from playing rarely outweighs travel costs. That the band made beer money, Jack says, “is kind of crazy”.

The band followed up their Florida trip with a second southern tour, which occurred over winter break of 2010. The second tour featured stops in Georgia in addition to a return trip to Florida.

The tour was two and half weeks, and featured a run-in with Paul Diaz in Atlanta. Owner of Tree Sound Studios, a recording spot in Atlanta that has seen the likes of Lil Wayne, Outkast, Aerosmith and Elton John grace the booth, and noted producer, Diaz was in attendance at one of FSH’s shows; the two parties met afterwards.

“He was at our show, and he really liked it. And then I was just chiefing cigarettes with him by a dumpster afterward, talking about random bullshit, and he invited us to stay. We were about to leave and drive back to Ohio… and we ended up staying,” Gould says. “He really dug it. We

THE RAT FACED BASTARDS A back alley-style punk ERIC TURNER - GUITAR & VOCALS ZACH PONTZER - BASS

band that that looks to turn the bar floors of Athens into raging mosh pits.

Actress and OU alum Piper Perabo was born in 1976 on Halloween.

stayed over, went to the studio, he gave us a tour. Afterward he said, ‘I’ll record you guys for free for a couple of days.”’

Diaz generally keeps to himself, and is rarely seen out and about in the Atlanta scene. Call it good fortune, call it destiny—whatever the case, the fact that First Street Heat caught Diaz’s attention to the extent that it did speaks of both the talent of the crew and the miles covered on their journey, which started as a bunch of friends “just dickin’ around,” as Jack describes it.

“Athens was pretty much solidified at that point,” Jacksays in regard to the band’s hometown popularity.

They’ve made an effort to expand their Ohio fan base, playing in venues like Skully’s in Columbus, a concert that was performed in front of over 700 people.

This past summer the band played a number of music festivals as well, playing alongside bands like Papadosio.

“We’ve been getting into the hippie thing a little bit,” Jack says.

Their journey began on the concretelaced patio of Washington Hall.

Freshmen and sophomores, curious about the spectacle of the 12-member band, hovered around First Street Heat’s first live shows, attempting to digest the scene. Now, three years have passed and a headliner performance for Athens’ 2011 Halloween celebration awaits them.

But, the real-world clock is ticking, and the sheer size of the band is causing the plug to be pulled before it ever reaches its prime. This fuel that once made the band move, is killing it in its tracks.

“I’m actually a fan of the philosophy that it was our differences colliding that created this very unique sound,” Zack says.

&

GO DO Use a bar code scanner on your smart phone to check out more videos and photos of First Street Heat in action! The band will also be a mainstage performer during this year’s Halloween festivities. backdropmag.com

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FEATURE

ueen

Q

OF HEARTS

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backdrop | Fall 2011

BY DANIELLA LIMOLI PHOTOS BY LOREN CELLENTANI

H

“

oney, your hair looks adorable like that. Now, where’s Joe?” Lady Gaga says, adjusting his bustier. His rhinestones flash in the sparse light of the servers’ alley at Abrio’s Brick Oven on East State Street. Tonight, everything is exaggerated from big hair to big lips to big boobs. Servers scramble out of the way in the restaurant’s makeshift backstage while the buttery scent of warm rolls floats from the kitchen. Shania Twain belts out his last notes as Lady Gaga is announced, his towering platform heels clicking away on the floor.

This is Roger’s Stars of Illusion, a drag show headlined

by Roger Wells. Roger stars as Lady Gaga, among other divas, for the night. The entertainment is dazzling, but the audience isn’t made up of mere ticket holders— they’re his closest friends. Over 150 seats are packed with hairdressers, homemakers and husbands all lip-syncing while flashing crisp dollar bills at the ladies.

“It’s talent, it’s art, it’s theater,” he says while sipping water in a booth at Abrio’s the following week after the glitter and glam has been swept away.

“I’ve never done it because I want to be a woman, believe me. I’ve just done it because I could have a good time with it, and I could help raise money.”

While he may not have thousands of dollars to hand out, he can put on an unforgettable show for charity. To date, Roger says that he has helped raise approximately $500,000 for the AIDS Task Force, My Sister’s Place and other charities.

It was Roger’s powerhouse presence that garnered him enormous recognition two decades ago in Nashville, Tenn. This notoriety amplified in Athens, where he turned his beloved craft into a fundraising endeavor. Anyone able to snag tickets to one of his soldout shows at Stuart’s Opera House in Nelsonville has Magician Harry Houdini died on Halloween in 1926.

“

It’s not just a job. He takes it to a personal level. His clients are his friends.”

Terri Johnson Hairdresser

witnessed the powerhouse working the aisles. His custom wardrobe flaunts beautifully beaded gowns, Beyoncéstyle one-pieces and everything in between.

“I just feel like it’s something I could give because the community has been so good to me here. And the people have been so loving and just like family,” he says, rapping his knuckles on the table for emphasis.

Having styled hair at Attractions Hair and Tanning Salon on Court Street for the last 18 years, his community has come to include friends and clients like Susan Elson.

“He treats everybody fabulous,” she says during a haircut. A towel wraps around her neck like a scarf to prevent the cold drips of her hair from running down her shirt.

“It’s not just a job. He takes it to a personal level.

His clients are his friends,” hairdresser Terri Johnson chimes in.

This week, Roger is watching a friend’s house on

DRAG

AWARDS Roger is a drag show champion. After years of competing in competitions, he has claimed the high prize numerous times. These are some of his titles from over the years

Mulligan Avenue while she vacations in Florida. Last year, when a client fell, he made the one-and-a-half-hour drive to Ohio State University Medical Center nearly every weekend to style her hair. And when he walks into Kimes Nursing Home in Athens the women know him by name.

So when Roger was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease two years ago, hoardes of ladies visited while he was recovering at O’Bleness Memorial Hospital after his first stomach operation. Within 12 days, 150 women bombarded the hospital with a flood of well wishes and money. A year later he finally became so ill from a leak in his stomach that he had to receive a second operation, this time at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus.

His client Ann Wilhelm came and walked laps with him through the hospital each of the four days of his admission when he was down to a frail 147 pounds. He calls her his surrogate mother to this day.

Miss Queen Bee

Miss Parkersburg

Miss Tri-State All Star

Miss West Virginia Pride

Count Dracula has been portrayed onscreen by over 160 actors.

backdropmag.com

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FEATURE

Photo by Amanda Puckett

“That’s why I go do things for these clients—because they’re not just clients. They’re like my family,” Roger says. Although he lives in Parkersburg, W.Va., he sees 200 clients a month at Attractions.

Before he found a professional home in Athens, Roger was a chubby redhead growing up in Clarksburg, W. Va. Once Roger graduated from Fairmont State University, in Fairmont, W. Va., in 1980, he worked his way to become a training assistant in charge of installing ordering systems for a chain of West Virginia-based discount department stores. He plugged along for a decade, learning how to handle different personalities and please customers. “You learn people that way,” he explains.

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backdrop | Fall 2011

Later, when his roommate told the 27-year-old of an opportunity to enroll in the Valley Beauty School in Marietta, Ohio, he decided to take a chance. He got rid of his car, his job and most of his possessions and headed back to school. His parents thought he had lost his mind, but Roger was offered a job at Attractions before he had even earned his degree. The women at the salon quickly grew to know and love the colorful new character cutting and gossiping away beside them. And while Roger says he defines himself by his profession, his over-the-top drag shows have gained him recognition far beyond Athens.

In fact, Roger’s entire performing career began on a dare. During a spring break nearly 30 years ago, two of

The Silence of the Lambs is the only horror film to ever win a Best Picture Oscar.

“

his friends ribbed Roger until he shaved off his mustache and dressed as a woman. That Sunday, they hit the town in second-hand dresses his friend had purchased at thrift stores from several Halloweens of dressing in drag. The trio sauntered into a Parkersburg, W. Va., bar called Castaways where local gay men—especially hairdressers—would go to see drag shows.

“Oh my God, did I look like a man in a dress,” he says, shaking his head.

His friends somehow persuaded him to dress in drag one more time. When they arrived at the bar that Sunday night, he discovered that his buddies had given a friend named Kevin Radcliffe a cassette tape of a song that Roger knew by heart. As they announced a surprise special guest and beckoned to Roger, he thought “I can either sit here and look like an idiot or get up and get this over with before I throw up.” After his debut, Roger said, “I will never do that again. I will never put this shit on again. I’m growing my mustache back as fast as I can.”

But his friends coaxed him on, and the performances snowballed as he grew into an entertainer.

So when Kevin told him of a job opportunity in Nashville performing in drag, Roger left his salon chair at Attractions and headed to Tennessee where he relocated for 17 years. He played such icons as Lori Morgan and Loretta Lynn and was once featured on a 50-foot billboard as the latter. He worked with country star Martina McBride and even filmed a segment for Entertainment Tonight with the legendary Reba McIntire.

In 1993, Roger returned to Athens to reclaim his salon chair at Attractions, regaining his entire clientele in a matter of weeks. Twenty-five years later, Roger is still donning heels, painting his face and drawing a crowd to give back to the community that has supported him unconditionally.

He talks about the reciprocity of life. “Somebody might need to take care of me someday, give me a little curly perm in the nursing home,” he says with his hearty laugh.

His youthful eyes shine and his high cheekbones leap up his face with each chuckle. This passionate son of Athens has blossomed into the community’s Queen of Hearts.

I’ve never done it because I want to be a woman, believe me. I’ve just done it because I could have a good time with it, and I could help raise money.”

Roger Wells

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FEATURE

The Stain

BY HANNAH CROFT

PHOTOS BY SUSANNAH KAY

that

Sti

Purple Chopstix owner Ed Fisher toiled away in the culinary world for years until he finally created a restaurant as eccentric as he is.

E

d Fisher was hard at work preparing food in his cart on Union Street, his fifth foray into the culinary world, yet this one still didn’t have a name.

“My daughter was stirring some grape juice concentrate with a pair of wooden chopsticks and they turned purple, and she said dad, how about purple chopstix?”

The name stuck but this buggy still had a long way to go. Over twenty years later Purple Chopstix is a restaurant located at the bottom of the Summit on Richland Avenue. The only restaurant where you can eat in a creek served by a waiter wearing rubber overalls, Purple Chopstix definitely offers an experience unlike any other.

Fisher sports a modern day Dumb-

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backdrop | Fall 2011

ledore-esque scraggly beard paired with twinkling eyes, and in the kitchen he works a magic all his own. Somewhat of a local legend, Fisher has dabbled in everything from the late-night carts of Union Street to an upscale eatery on Court Street. After hitting some hard times in San Diego during the 1970s, he and his children moved from the big house on the hill to a 16-foot school bus near the beach.

Soon after, his friends heard of a party in Athens called the Festival of the Hills, so they packed up and headed east for the weekend. On Sunday, Fisher says, “My buddies got ready to go and I said, no, I’m staying. So I stayed.”

Fisher’s first venture into the restaurant business was a tostada cart he opened with friends on Union Street.

“It was just a barbecue on wheels, but we made fresh tortillas, fresh salsa and we were buying local ingredients and doing that thing that hadn’t yet become a thing. Now it is the thing, but we were doing it then,” he says.

They started in September, but by November the nights turned colder and another businessman in town offered to move their cart indoors.

So came Casa que Pasa, or House that Happens, the ancestor of today’s Casa Nueva.

After this venture, Fisher moved across the street where he opened The Strawberry Patch, Athens’ first entirely vegetarian restaurant, ironically located where the gourmet hot dog shop, O’Betty’s, is today. Fisher opened The Strawberry Patch during

In 2010, Athens police made 78 arrests during the Halloween block party.

a time when he says, “there wasn’t even a vegan known. No one had heard of them yet.”

Fisher continued onward, opening another eatery with his business partner, Corky Lillick, called 2 Beards Catering, named after the two bearded men who owned it. The venture became an upscale restaurant and catering business located where Stephen’s is today.

“It was white hats and coats and harp players,” describes Fisher. Lillick and Fisher parted ways a few years later when Lillick left for New Mexico, which left Fisher falling back with his first love, the cart business.

Fisher built his own four-wheel cart to join with the rest of the thriving buggy business of the time on Union Street. As the cart that rolled out egg rolls, Purple Chopstix quickly gained popularity thanks to those grapestained wooden chopsticks.

Before Purple Chopstix opened its doors on Richland Avenue, the building was Harpoon Wally’s Fish Deli.

“They sold fresh seafood and it was all counters and coolers and stuff in here, and I fixed the Purple Chopstix food out of the kitchen because they didn’t use it,” Fisher says. Soon the corporate lion Kroger forced Harpoon Wally’s Fish Deli out of business, and Fisher was forced to decide whether he was willing to expand and head back to the restaurant business or just stick to the familiar cart.

Now the restaurant has been operat-

ing for 22 years. Usually open Wednesday through Saturday beginning at 5 p.m., it is also open for a locally famous Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

It’s hard to pinpoint one influence among the varied cuisine on the menu at Purple Chopstix. From Greek pizza to Indian curry to nachos, Fisher says it’s just a kind of conglomerate of the best things from all his previous restaurants. Maybe it’s the variety that has kept Fisher from selling and moving on to leave yet another ancestor of an Athens restaurant, but Purple Chopstix isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

From the Buddha at the entrance prompting you to “please ring the gong to be seated,” to the old black and white picture of The Strawberry Patch above one of the cozy booths, an aura of endless love fills the place. With the bright art of Passion Works lining the

It is said that the Athens population doubles every Halloween weekend.

walls and the colorful mismatched furniture, it feels more like dinner at your eccentric aunt’s house than a night out at a restaurant.

This all, of course, goes back to Fisher. His kids grew up around this place and his youngest son, Gabe, still works in the kitchen today.

“It’s in my blood, it just comes so naturally to me,” says Gabe. Walking through the kitchen, four big black and white portrait photographs of Fisher’s kids when they were young hang on the wall opposite the big industrial size stove, emphasizing the familial atmosphere.

Gabe learned to cook from Fisher, who learned in the Air Force, where he swore he would never cook again.

He also swore he would never open another restaurant. Now, Fisher says, “I’ve learned not to swear.” backdropmag.com

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SEX & HEALTH

RECYCLE, REUSE, CRUISE

Deck

Kramer Ditty uses old skateboard decks and transforms them into sleek mini cruisers. He uses everyday objects, like coke bottles, as sources of inspiration.

Wheel Bearing

Scan here to see more pictures

Truck

ramer Ditty is taking the green initiative to the streets by recycling something few have before: skateboards.

Ditty, a native of Ashland, KY., and owner of skateboard recycling business, Campus Cruisers, is a man of many talents.

Some of these talents include rollerblading, video production, rowing, DJing and, of course, skateboarding. Ditty was first introduced to the world of extreme sports through ice skating with his dad during his childhood.

“I really got into tricks when I was eight. My dad and his brother built me a six-foot half-pipe so every day there’d be like 30 kids at my house. It was a real small town so there was nothing else to do,” Ditty says.

Originally, Ditty’s passion for extreme sports was used simply as a means to cure boredom. However, he has turned his pas-

SEX & HEALTH

THE CRUISER ANATOMY Hardware

BY CURT CHAPKOWSKI PHOTOS BY STEVEN TURVILLE

K

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Grip tape

sion into a business, taking old, thrashed skateboard decks and transforming them into sleek, colorful mini cruisers.

First, Ditty strips the old grip tape off the top of the deck and decides what pattern he will cut the worn skateboard deck into, using everyday objects like Coke bottles as sources of inspiration. Next, he proceeds to drawing the shape of the new deck on the top of the old deck, carefully measuring out each angle and side length to ensure that the board is as symmetrical as possible. After the board has been prepared for further work, Ditty cuts the new deck out of the old deck, then paints the bottom of the board. When the paint has dried, he sands the top and sides of the board with an orbital sander to smooth out any rough cuts he may have created with the jigsaw. Finally, clear grip tape is applied to the top of the deck, new trucks and

big, soft wheels are fastened to the front and back of the board, and he has himself a mini-skateboard.

Although Ditty loves extreme sports and is a big advocate of the green initiative, what really inspired him to begin Campus Cruisers was his love of videography. After graduating from Ohio University with a degree in video production, Ditty was looking for a way to get shots from all angles with his video camera and needed a form of transportation that would be easy to travel with as well as capable of getting the continuous, varying-angle shots he desired. He had tried using mini cruisers to capture these shots before, but the boards he had used in the past were too flimsy and did not perform well. Ditty’s dissatisfaction with these crummy boards led to the creation of his own personal

line of mini cruisers as well as the creation of a potentially lucrative business that benefits the environment.

“Why buy a cruiser board when I can just cut my own out?” Ditty says. “When you sand it, re-grip it, and put new wheels and trucks on it it’s in perfect condition. It became like a green project; just recycling old boards into new.”

As for the future of his business, Ditty would like to move south to Miami, Fl., where he plans to operate a rollerblade and skateboard rental store and sell his cruisers alongside his good friend, Taj Boyd.

“This is changing my life, and I know it can change other people’s, so every board is like a chance to do something awesome.”

THE PROCESS Measures angles and side length.

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backdrop | Fall 2011

The new deck is cut.

Sands the top and sides.

The correct spelling of Halloween is Hallowe’en.

A new grip tape is then applied.

Wheels are added to finish board.

In 1964, Helen Pfeil of NY was arrested for handing out arsenic-laced candy.

Kramer with his finished mini cruiser.

backdropmag.com

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SEX & HEALTH

SEX & HEALTH

STEP 9 You will be running along a busy road, so when you see

STEP 8

STEP 7 At the end of Elliotsville Road you will come to a fork in the road. You will see a white house

Follow this road to its end. When you reach

the main streetlights get to the sidewalk. Once on the

the stop sign, turn right onto West Union

sidewalk you will continue to the bike path.

Street.

diagonal to the fork on the right. Turn right towards

STEP 10 The bike path entrance is right by

the house.

e h t f f o

N E T BEA

H T PA

the red Habitat House. Once you are along this path you are headed back to the Bingham House. You

STEP 6 Continue down Elliotsville Road and you will go along a very sharp turn. Make sure to stay in sight to oncoming cars.

ON A TH O M PS N

BY M ELISS M EG HAN SHAM BLE

Y PH OTOS B too. running, ng ur mind ri o e y d n e a v a w h er will all? Try e hidden iv it R n e se d e un ink you’v discover th Look aro p n to run? or even the Th the beaten path to Athens. Backdro o ti a v ti o ff ss ll g e o a in tn H eed m d fi n n e r u o surro Mort will se ide you at Baker, campus and you Athens beauty es you to step outs ss traveled… on But alleng path le sidewalks ents for 5k runs. risp fall af- ch ne and take the ut it. c m p ti e u a c ld ro n n u u o o o ann 18ation rost w be inspir ason, the Robert F itself can egardless of the se e Hocking as th R ternoon. bike path along ic mile scen

N

will pass O’Bleness Memorial Hospital, the soccer field and the

5RUN

track. Look for a ramp; it will be before the bridge. At

MILE

this ramp you will go from the bike path onto the road that leads back to the Bingham House.

STEP 5

STEP 4

After the second

Continue down the road.

You will run past the Dairy

small hill, you will see a stop sign. At the stop sign turn right onto Elliotsville Road.

STEP 1

Barn Arts Center and up two small hills. The path will revert from pavement to brick while passing these checkpoints.

STEP 2

T& R A ST ISH F IN

Begin stretching right at the Bingham House. The house is located across from Peden Stadium; it is the brown log cabin beside the Convocation Center.

Next, head down Richland Avenue. This route will take you through the roundabout. Watch out for oncoming traffic.

STEP 3 Turn right onto Dairy Lane. There will be a blue-framed sign with blue lettering for the Dairy Barn Art Center. If you pass the Ohio University Inn, you have added some extra mileage. No worries, just backtrack a little bit.

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backdrop | Fall 2011

In England, it is actually believed that white cats are bad luck, not black cats.

In 2009, October costume sales exceeded $6 billion.

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SEX & HEALTH

M

vitamin

b

The cans may look like standard energy drinks, but what’s inside will make you feel anything but energetic.

BY SHANNON MIRANDA

ILLUSTRATIONS BY BRITTANY THOMAS

I

n gas stations and grocery stores, shelves of energy drinks resemble a jumbo bag of smashed Skittles. Row after row of students in classrooms are nursing Red Bulls, Monsters, 5 Hour Energys, Rockstars, AMPs, Noses, Full Throttles—the list goes on and on.

With deadlines, meetings and bills to pay, it’s no surprise that college induces stress. And these energy drinks may be the fix for that last minute paper or late-night meeting, but could a drink help a user relax in a similar and easy way?

Many companies have honed in on this consumer need and are investing in the beverage industry. These products are sold in bottles and cans with vibrant colors, and they pack a similarly vibrant punch. Concerns over their ingredients, packaging and effects are on the rise, especially due to the use of the substance melatonin, a hormone that is naturally made by the body for the sleep-wake cycle and is medically used to treat sleeping disorders.

Gas stations and grocery stores aren’t the only places that sell these beverages containing this synthetic hormone—Ohio University markets do, too. Marley’s Mellow Mood was first sold on OU market shelves in spring 2011, according to Mohamed Ali, director of retail operations for Culinary Services at OU. “(Marley’s Mellow Mood) has seen a consistent increase in sales. It is carried by other universities in the state of Ohio,” he said.

34

As more people discover these new products, some have questioned their safety. An article by Catherine Saint Louis in The New York Times quotes Dr. Charles A. Czeisler, the chief of the division of sleep medicine at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, as saying “It’s a colossally bad idea to put melatonin in food.”

Are these drinks on the shelves of the markets safe when the consumers are sleep deprived college students who may overlook labels?

The packaging states that mixing with alcohol isn’t suggested and that the drink will cause drowsiness and that two servings should not be exceeded.

At first glance, the bottles and cans look identical to an energy drinks with bright colored red, green and yellow packaging. The only aspect that sets it apart from actual energy drinks is found in the small print ingredient list—and of course Bob Marley’s face.

Marley’s Mellow Mood was created by Bob Marley’s family and Viva Beverages LLC in 2010 with the goal of providing a “100% natural relaxation beverage designed to reduce stress and relieve tension, while calming the soul and easing the mind,” Robert Nistico, president of Viva Beverages LLC said.

“In addition to being sold nationwide in the United States, Marley’s Mellow Mood is now available across Canada, the United Kingdom, and is rapidly expanding worldwide, including, but not limited to, a variety of European, South American and Caribbean countries,” Nistico said.

Inside both the carbonated canned beverage and the tea, an exotic blend of all-natural botanical ingredients lingers. Chamomile, valerian root, passionflower, melatonin, rose hips and lemon balm all aid in calming the body while reducing stress—something that all college students crave.

Despite Viva Beverages’ high hopes, the Food and Drug Administration recently issued “warning

letters” to companies with similar products. Drank, a beverage, and Lazy Cakes, a brownie, were recently issued warnings because of their use of melatonin, Douglas Karas, FDA spokesman said.

“Melatonin is not approved as a food additive or as GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) by FDA. Any item that uses it as an additive may be subject to regulatory action,” Karas said. “Manufacturers must use ingredients pre-approved as food additives, or the ingredients must be considered as ‘GRAS.’” Karas further states that a company can “self-certify” an ingredient that it wants to use as “GRAS.” Nevertheless, that will not remove the FDA from interfering, because if this is done, and the substance is not pre-approved as a food additive or not GRAS, the FDA can step in and challenge.

As of right now, Drank is the only beverage that has been issued a warning letter. Since the case is ongoing, the final decision will be released at a later date.

Particularly with “Lazy Cakes,” the issue lies within the fact that these brownies are conventional food items, not a dietary supplement, and marketed next to other snack foods. Therefore, this makes confusion easy for children and those who skim over labels and packaging. The website of this company even states that the product has “the same ingredients your mother uses to make brownies.”

When OU student Robert Schleuter first discovered Marley’s Mellow Mood, he found the drink placed next to Lipton Tea products in a gas station. Robert found this placement of the product slightly bizarre.

“I just figured it would be regular tea,” he says. “The warnings on it were practically invisible and I didn’t even know you weren’t supposed to drive after drinking it until I was half an hour away from home during a daily hour and 15 [minute] commute. The manufacturer needs to reconsider the label.”

b

What makes it work?

PASSION FLOWER

Reduces anxiety

CHAMOMILE FLOWER

HOPS

Promotes relaxation & inhibits adrenaline

VALERIAN ROOT Promotes relaxation without drowsiness

LEMON ROOT Enhances mood, alertness & calm

MELATONIN H N

N H

backdrop | Fall 2011

Halloween is the 3rd biggest party day of the year, after New Year’s Eve & Super Bowl Sunday.

86% of Americans decorate their homes for Halloween.

SEX & HEALTH

Relaxes muscles backdropmag.com

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b

b PHOTO ESSAY

PHOTO ESSAY

“What we have, you cannot buy.”

Photographer Megan Roussos documents how a family survives the simple life.

Forest, 12, works on some homework and Eli, 10, sits on the couch, while Smiles types new song lyrics he wrote into their laptop, and Space cuddles Simon, 8. “This bus really makes us a close family, not just because we have to be around each other all the time, but because we want to be around each other,” Smile said.

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backdrop | Fall 2011

Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here

Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here

backdropmag.com

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b PHOTO ESSAY

B

efore More Smiles and Space Cadet met, they lived in parallel childhoods. Both their parents divorced when they were five.

Each had a very close grandparent die when they were eleven.

Drugs consumed their teenage years. In pursuit of love and freedom both began separate journeys, hitch-hiking around the country. Ten days after they met, their hearts were changed, and they realized that they shared a passion for the love and freedom found in Jesus Christ. They surrounded themselves in his love, together.

The Welch family lives in a school bus. After 12 years of praying for land to call their own, Smiles and Space gathered everything they had, including their three sons, Forest, Eli and Simon

38

backdrop | Fall 2011

and moved across the country from sunny California to Ohio.

They live in a dense forest filled with natural springs, deer, and a simple school bus. There is no running water or electricity. Forest, 13, attends public schooling, while Eli, 11, and Simon, 9, are still home schooled by Space.

Their simple lifestyle reflects their desire to preserve the land and live a slow-paced life. They want to try to provide a place for everyone in need to come and feel welcome.

The land’s name is The Refuge.

According to the definition, a refuge is a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble; something providing shelter. Smiles and Space are living their dreams, dreams of peace and contentment. As they learn, they want to teach and give.

Some Halloween traditions date back to 4,000 B.C., making the holiday over 6,000 years old.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Forest swings on a vine in their front lawn by the bus.

Space reads a comic book while Simon hangs on her and Eli brushes his teeth.

The boys play in their pond.

Forest stands on a tree that is bent over into the pond they jump off of.

Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here

backdropmag.com

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b

PHOTO ESSAY

The

Center for

Student

Legal

Services

is your best friend on campus!

Eli plays with cattails by their pond.

TOP Space gives Simon a hair cut. The boys are allowed to have their hair as short or as long as they want to.

“Whenever they just want a hair cut, they just tell me and we try to find some scissors,” says Space, “but, during baseball season, they are all wanting to have it shorter.”

The Welch family plants its first fruit tree on the farm. “The first of many,” Smiles said. “We want people to come here in future years and know they can pick fruit to eat.”

MIDDLE (Foreground) Forest and Simon fly through the air by their driveway. The brothers always find different games to play with each other on the land.

LEFT Eli walks back to the bus after swimming in the pond, while goats follow him.

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backdrop | Fall 2011

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b

b

ON THE WEB

THE CURIOUS CASE OF

JIM CROCKY

BY KIM AMEDRO PHOTOS PROVIDED

Our new feature “On the Web” will take a recurring blog or section from our website and bring it to the magazine. For this issue, we present to you a magazine-exclusive post from Kim Amedro’s blog, “Then and Now,” which discovers interesting stories from Athens past.

As Kim discovered, The Ridges used to play host to more than just doctors and patients.

CROSSWORD

1

All answers to the clues can be found in this issue’s stories.

5

3

2

QUIZ

4

6

DOWN 7

1 The alligator who once called the

Ridges home was called ____ ____

2 First time audience members of

Rocky Horror are referred to as ____

8

4 Campus Cruiser entrepreneur,

9

Kramer Ditty, is majoring in ____ ____

6 First Street has ____ members 9 It’s ____

10

11

ACROSS 3 Queen of Hearts, Roger Wells, once ap-

12

peared on a billboard in ____

5 Attorney Todd Grace opened The Wiz-

I

had become the gator girl after a week of researching. After many interviews, I arrived at my last resort over this “legend.” Everyone seemed to remember it, but no had witnessed it first hand. The aptly named Jim Crocky was an elusive target that I was just about ready to write off as lost history…until that chance encounter with Tom. “Oh that alligator?” replied Tom Burcher, a volunteer at the Athens County Historical Society and a former employee in the wards and nursing of the Athens Insane Asylum for 31 years. “What was its name?”

“Jim Crocky” I triumphantly reply—it was the only information I had on this damn reptile.

“Jim Croce?” queries Tom. “Operator…” he begins to sing the songs of the late singer.

“No, that was the crocodile’s name,” I insist.

“No, the singer? We used to call him that…but it had another name…oh what was it?”

Finally, I just asked him the simple question: was it really there?

“Yes, of course it was there,” he says.

The name mix-up was shortly solved. There were a couple alligators that lived in the fountain. According to a quote by the Athens Mental Health Supt. Don Chesser in

42

backdrop | Fall 2011

the Messenger in 1987, “The late superintendent took to vacationing in Florida with several other staff members.

The group went in late winter and returned with one or two alligators.” Other articles add to the story that one became too large and was taken to the Columbus Zoo. However, there are only photos of single alligators. One such photo, in the University Archives dates back to 1921 via a scrapbook of one Luella Pearl Pemberton.

“Some visitors would feed it. They had a sign up, Don’t feed the alligator,’” Burcher recalls. “Oh they fed it bread and hotdogs; it loved hotdogs.”

In fact, this reptile enjoyed good ol’ Americana food so much that it go a blockage in its bowels and was taken to the vet. Tom points out the alligators protruding stomach as it lay belly down on its basking square.

However, Tom doesn’t quite know when Bill got the boot. But, his best guess is when “a very liberal minded fellow” came and took over in the ’60s.

For those daring or willing to track down more people able to come forth as witnesses that Bill or Jim lived in that fountain, give me a ring. But, for now I can solidly confirm that multiple alligators—or crocodile—lived in a fountain that proudly stood in front of the administrative offices of the Ridges.

About 67% of adults will attend a Halloween party or go trick-or-treating with their children.

SUDOKU

ard’s Guild as a meeting place for enthusiasts for this card game.

7 Where does the Off the Beaten Path run

All answers to the clues can be found in this issue’s stories.

begin?

8 ____ helped Ohio University reach the #1 party school ranking.

10 Where is Hot for Teacher Thomas

6

Vander Ven’s favorite place in Athens?

1

11 The ____

8

____ was the first vegetarian restaurant in Athens

5

7 3

2

7

12 Hot for Teacher Kevin Mattson thinks

____ ____ is the sexiest historical figure.

3

CROSSWORD SHUFFLE

4

Rearrange the letters in the gray box to reveal the answer!

Where does the Rocky Horror Picture Show take place?

H

5 5 8

2 7

3 6

9

4 6

8 3

2 6

1

2

5

7

b

EXHIBIT A

UNTITLED

BY BARBARA JEWELL

UNTITLED

BY PAULA WELLING

WALK-IN

STRETCH AND NOTICE

BY EMMA HELDMAN

ADVISING

Stretch out your body and you make room for more.

You open up to dirt on the ground and stars in the sky,

MONDAY

and eventually begin to notice how the birds sing confetti and how the cauliflower likes to dance to country songs.

THROUGH

FRIDAY

Keep your feet grounded in the grass, and you begin to listen: to hear the loneliness

1PM-4PM

of the birds flying without other birds and of the cauliflower who dances alone.

Let your head dream dreams as high as the clouds.

NO APPOINTMENT

NECESSARY!

The confetti floats in the nighttime below the stars.

Even when the birds forget to sing it is clear they are still alive somewhere making confetti.

And what stays on the ground and what stays in the sky all become one:

OFFICE OF OAD EDUCATION ABR

HATE WORDS

BY JENNIFER BRANCH

cauliflower float in the sky and confetti covers the dirt on the ground.

&

STUDY

LOVE BUGS

ABROAD

BY AUDREY KELLY

EXHIBIT A CONTINUED...

Check out even more submissions to Backdrop’s own art gallery by using a barcode scanner on your smartphone

101 TUESDAY 5PM-6PM FREE PIZZA! SPONSORED BY

WALTER INTERNATIONAL

44

EDUCATION CENTER backdrop | Fall 2011

The iconic mask Michael Myers dons in Halloween is actually a Captain Kirk or William Shatner mask.

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www.ohio.edu/educationabroad

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RUTHLESS RANT & RAGE

it’s

“totes”probs”whatevs” totes”probs”whatevs”totes”probs”what evs”totes”probs”whatevs”totes”probs”whatevs”totes”probs”te vs”totes”probs”whatevs”totes”probs”whatevs” totes”probs”wh atevs“totes”probs”whatevs” totes”probs”whatevs”totes”pro bs”whatevs”totes”probs”whatevs”totes”probs”whatevs”totes ”probs”whatevs”totes”probs”whatevs”totes”probs”whatevs” totes”probs”whatevs” totes”probs”whatevs” totes”probs”wha Unnecessary abbrevs r making 1 Backdrop writer totes crazy tevs”totes”probs”whatevs”totes”probs”whatevs”totes”probs” whatevs”totes”probs”whatevs”totes”probs”whatevs”totes”pr obs”whatevs” totes”probs”whatevs“totes”probs”whatevs” tot

“whatevs”

BY KELSI BOWES When did Webster give the thumbs up to the English language to go all Weight Watchers and drop syllables left and right? Call me old-fashioned, but I refuse to use “text language” in texting, let alone in every day conversation. I am aware that because of this it takes me approximately 0.2 seconds longer to spit out a sentence than my syllable-counting contemporaries, but that is a sacrifice I am more than willing to make.

If I felt like it, I could try to list all the inane new abbreviations, I’m sorry, “abbrevs,” that people have come up with, but I have neither the time nor the patience for such an undertaking. Plus, I would more than likely fill this magazine with them all. However, there are three culprits that have recently entered the lexicon whom I particularly despise: “whatevs,” “probs” and “totes.”

First of all, is it really that difficult to pronounce all three syllables of “whatever,” “probably” or “totally?” I understand that it is an exhausting THREE whole syllables for each word but… really? Are people that lazy?

They have turned slang into slang. There has to be some kind of law prohibiting these fallacious crimes.

The second thing that boggles my mind: where does the “s” at the end come from?

I thought the whole point of shortening the words was to make them less complicated. I can almost rationalize that… almost. But then

46

backdrop | Fall 2011

this “s” comes from out of nowhere. I know I’ve never heard someone say “whatevers,” “probablies” or “totallies.”

I can remember the first time I ever heard the word “probs.” I was walking up the Richland Avenue Bridge when the offender blurted out, “I’ll probs be doing that. Yeah, I’ll probs call you tonight. Definitely, yeah. Oh, yeah, probs.”

My I.Q. dropped 10 points each time she truncated the adverb formerly known as probably. Even as I walked past, the offender continued to drop the “p-word” for as long as she was within earshot. I had to have heard it at least a dozen times before my ears were a safe distance away. It was a painful experience, almost making my ears bleed.

Still the question remains: why are people perpetuating this horrendous trend?

In my opinion, it is because there is an overabundance of slackers in America. It’s faster, easier and more convenient to throw out a couple of letters, smash what remains together and call it a word than to formulate the actual word. It probably takes less brain cells, too.

I’m not asking for that much. No one has to go back to Ye Olde English, I just want English P.T. (Pre-Texting) back. I don’t know how much longer I can take it before I get into a verbal smackdown at the sounds of “whatevs,” “probs” or “totes.”

As someone with a deep love for English language and grammar, I feel it is my duty to try to stop this horrendous abuse to the language. So please, for your sake and mine, think before you speak. You never know who might overhear your conversation and write an article about it. But then again you might just shrug and say “whatevs.”

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Underclassmen should contact Jessica Jones, OU Campus Campaign Coordinator, at jj306508@ohio.edu.

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