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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 , 2013
Celebrated poet Komunyakaa speaks Becca Friedlander Cynic Correspondent
AVERY LAVALLEY The Vermont Cynic
Poet Yusef Komunyakaa reads a poem at the John Dewey Lounge Sept. 20. The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet’s poems are in free form.
End near for Walt, Jesse
TIM BUTLER
nal scene of “Granite State,” “Breaking Bad’s” penultimate that Walter White has never truly cared about his family, and that he continues to only care about himself. Observe: his family won’t accept his money, and cuts him off completely. So he gives up, calls the DEA, and has one last drink. Except Walt’s story doesn’t end there, because of course it doesn’t. He sees Grey Matter publicly slandering him on Charlie Rose, and he’s off, full of prideful rage. whirlwind is nothing more than anger, embarrassment, and pride. Walter White is a troubled man. In this moment Walt realizes that with his family effectively disowning him, there’s nothing holding him back anymore. He did what he could, and now he moves on, desperately trying to save the one thing he still can: his name. Jesse’s in a bad place; I know he’s the only character many still root for, but I honestly would have rather seen
him killed last week, instead of being forced to experience the torture he’s currently enduring. I mean, I know they’re neo-Nazi’s, but geez. Other things happened, but there’s no point summarizing for you. You’re watching this story unfold just as the rest of the world is. The next step would be laying out possible endings of the show and then calculating the odds of how likely each outcome is to actually be what happens. But I think this is pointless too. Why bother? In four days there will be no more “Breaking Bad.” I think at last we’ve earned the privilege to just sit back and wait. Let’s enjoy watching the conclusion of this horrifying, epic story. What matters more than nal hour of “Breaking Bad” doesn’t matter nearly as much as what the show has already accomplished. Much like “Lost” before it, there will never be a show like “Breaking Bad.” If you aren’t watching with the rest of the world, you’re missing out on something you can never experience again. AMC transformed a pilot no network would greenlight into a cultural phenomenon, miss television.’ There might be better shows out there, but right now, if you miss an episode of “Breaking Bad,” you’re missing a historical moment in time.
The John Dewey Lounge gerly listening to the beloved works of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa on Friday, September 20. Komunyakaa read several poems and then held a question and answer panel with UVM English Professor Major Jackson. Many of Komunyakaa’s poems feature historical landscapes close to him, such as the Vietnam War, which he served in from 1969 to 1970, as well as the rural Louisiana landscape he grew up in. Komunyakaa’s poems vary in imagery, contexts, and tone. However, they do have one thing in common: they are all in free form. “I’ve taught those traditional forms and conceits. I still think one has to rehearse them,” Komunyakaa said. “Well, one has to know what the rules are before you can break them. I sort of come to the edge of form, and break it.” Another similarity between Komunyakaa’s works are the short lines of his poetry. As he read his work, Komunyakaa often paused and
let the words sit in the air for a moment before continuing. “I’m conscious of the line. I’m also conscious of the music of the poem.” Komunyakaa said. Komunyakaa studied Psychology at the University of Colorado and went on to earn two masters degrees at both University of California, Irvine and Colorado State University.
“One has to know what the rules are before you can break them. I sort of come to the edge of form, and break it.” Yusef Komunyakaa Poet His accomplishments in poetry include the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the William Faulkner Prize, the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, the Thomas Forcade Award, the Hanes Poetry Prize, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets as well as many
others. Many of Jackson’s students were present to hear Komunyakaa speak. In fact, Komunyakaa has only been writing since he was a little older than many of the students. Much of the panel began to be swtich gears toward the audience as the afternoon progressed. “If you’re a young writer, an aspiring poet, how does one attain and get close to language?” Jackson asked. “Do you read dictionaries?” Komunyakaa laughed as he answered. “No,” Komunyakaa said. “I would say trust your ear. Read you work aloud. Another thing is to write longhand. I have a reason for it. The human brain would be an entirely different thing without the hands to accompany it.” Komunyakaa’s most recent work is “Testimony, A Tribute to Charlie Parker: With New and Selected Jazz Poems.” He currently teaches at New York University as the Distinguished Senior Poet in the Creative Writing Graduate program.
Social life of food exhibited
Student-designed ‘EAT’ opens at the Fleming Musuem Alana Smith Cynic Correspondent The Fleming Museum has opened its doors to hungry visitors ready to consume its latest exhibit: “EAT: The Social Life of Food.” “EAT”, launched Sept. 17, is an exhibit designed and curated by the students of an Honors College class offered by Jennifer Dickinson last Spring semester titled “Introduction to Museum Studies.” “EAT” attempts to capture the social, spiritual, and political import of food across the world and through time with a wide variety of artifacts and artistic pieces. The exhibit includes some of the rarest and most unique artifacts the Fleming has in its collection. Religious relics like an Egyptian offering slab from 1660 B.C.E exemplify what the exhibitors frame as the “elevated” nature of eating, what raises the level of eating above the quotidian act of bodily nourishment. A whale-shaped Potlatch tribal leaders is indicative of Native American tribes and the U.S. and Canadian ofmeetings to dissuade alliances between tribal groups. During the 1862-63 year Charles Wainwright of the 12th Vermont Infantry wrote his mother a letter on a wafer of Union issued hardtack.
IRENE SUE The Vermont Cynic
A student views art on display at the Fleming Museum Sept. 18. “EAT” is an exhibit designed by students of an Honors College class. The premise behind the artifact is that a mere cracker can represent the interperThe exhibit also reminds the attendee that the kitchen was once a place to breach class boundaries. With the advent of baking soda and Redware, clay ceramic pieces that appear red peratures, decadent cakes and embellished dishware were no longer reserved for the upper echelons of society. The collection, which will be housed in the Wilbur Room of the Fleming Museum until May 18, boasts more than just carbonized corn and 17th century eating utensils. Pieces from famous arists
such as Andy Warhol’s “Table Setting” (1980) and Harriet G. Miller’s “Extravagance of French Bread” (1937) are also featured prominently. “‘Introduction to Museum Studies’ is one of the only classes where I have been able to see the results of my work,” said tour leader Madison Moran. The design of the space allows the unique opportunity to walk through history and between cultures to examine the implications of eating disparate groups and now visitors alike.