among friends

On Tuesday, March 24th, Harrell will eat breakfast in the Coop, after which he will go on the Blue Bus with Peter Sturtevant, go to the Baldwin School with Jessie Taylor, play laser tag with John Muse’s class, present his past work in Stokes Auditorium, have dinner at John Muse’s house, and go to Walmart. Read the rest of this entry »

Some information about our upcoming event, as recently posted on the Haverford GO! boards:

In ET^2, we will trace the stories of two E.T. figures: Spielberg’s fictional E.T., who reached te American consciousness in 1982, and real life Emmett Till, whose violent death by lynching shocked the American consciousness in 1955. Although at first their two stories may seem entirely without connection, upon closer inspection the emotions that define these narratives draw them together.

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After countless hours of preparation, Jane and I finally had our karaoke party Saturday night. At 9:15 there was one small huddle of people in the center of Lunt basement; we were nervous that not enough people would come or want to sing. We need not have worried.

By 9:45, Lunt was filling up; we played a clip of Nao singing Hero, and our mashup performers took the stage. They were fantastic. Meanwhile, we were overwhelmed with requests to sing karaoke. Our biggest problem was too many people wanting to go.

Jonah Loeb and Mike Gelberg got "Hot in Here." And I guess Zach Weiss was a surprise ghostbuster (the song playing in the background of James's mashup)?

Jonah and his friend Didem had signed up for “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson, but it was the only song Mike Lipsitz, Fossi and the Lloyd 70s guys could agree on. In a great moment of compromise (Haverford style), the two groups agreed to sing it together. The audience cheered.

Genna Cherichello and her cohorts waited not-so-patiently to sing “Umbrella” by Rihanna, starting to chant the chorus every time a new performer went up. When it was finally their turn, they rushed onstage and sang their hearts out. People kept going up and joining them to the point that there were as many people onstage as in the audience.

Everyone was singing and dancing together, to the words, “Umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh.” Therisson screamed, “This is bigger than Punk or Prep [the dance at the squash courts]!” The Haverford inner-rock star was released. For a night we were, as the poster Jane created said (stolen and reformatted from a Carnival Cruise ad at the R100 station), “Karaoke Gods.”

Jane and I think we have tapped into a desire that has been pent up. We get to see Indie bands synthesize their sounds at Lunt every other weekend, but when do we ever get to sing, and sing the songs we like? Sam Kaplan said he is planning to host another karaoke party in April. We hope that karaoke turns into a regular tradition. We’ll sure go to the parties.

Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons:

Of Nigerian descent, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons was born and raised in Cuba in the small sugar plantation town of La Vega in the province of Matanzas.  In 1976, she enrolled at the Escuela Nacional de Arte in Havana and then studied at the Instituto Superior de Arte, also in Havana. She first came to the United States in 1988 as an exchange student at the Massachusetts College of Art and settled permanently in Boston in 1991. Since 1997, she has taught at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  Campos-Pons sometimes uses her own body as a subject. Variously painted, marked, or otherwise adorned, she draws upon the traditions of Yoruba and Afro-Cuban religious ritual in the exploration of the rootedness and rootlessness of her displaced identity.

COME HEAR MARIA TALK THIS THURSDAY 4:30PM in CHASE AUDITORIUM!

Update: we are meeting tomorrow at 9 p.m. in Lunt Cafe to discuss field trip plans. Join us if you’re interested!

Harrell has settled on a project for his week at Haverford in March: like his recent project in Kansas City (see above photo), he wants students to lead field trips to interesting places, and we want to pay you $50 to organize one. Read the rest of this entry »

“among friends” is bringing twelve high school and post-high school bands to Haverford on February 27th. This is a picture of Square Wave, the band that’s playing first. We have some crazy “among friends”-style stuff planned, which you will find out about if you come to the show. Read the rest of this entry »

Daniel Kojo came to Haverford today. This matters because he has a painting series called “Afronauts.” Black aliens? Ok, the connection to Pope.L’s impending ET^2 performastravaganzathon is too uncanny not to mention it here. Why is this such a money metaphor right now? I like it, but I don’t know if this Kojo guy makes it work for me beyond the cool sound of the word”Afronaut,” which Slate tells us is a big deal in music now. I can’t decide if this is a trendy fantasy that’s about to get played out or if it will stick around.

Lil’ Wayne on rap rivals: “I just eat them for supper, get in my spaceship, and hover.”