I'm not fitting in at my college

[Eupher6]

Indeed. Yet but another example why Rick is the Resident Genius.

I'll buy that. We've exchanged a pixel or two at TubaEuph back in the day.

[windshieldbug]

Okay, I wasn't trying to make it sound like I was bragging but, I guess I am...yeah, I'm good

OK, WHO LET THE TRUMPET PLAYER IN HERE!?

[djwesp]

Okay, I wasn't trying to make it sound like I was bragging but, I guess I am...yeah, I'm good

OK, WHO LET THE TRUMPET PLAYER IN HERE!?

He's not a trumpet player... he's a really nice guy, it just came out the wrong way both times he said it.


He's a solid player (i've only heard him twice)... and he's pretty shy, so I doubt he's bragging too much. He's one of the best Arkansas has, virtuoso--- eh, haven't heard enough of him to agree or disagree with him... but he's not a snob.


He's an upper level musician and a much better person. Too bad we didn't end up together at some point, would have made for some nice duets, practice sessions, critiques.


Maybe you'll meet him at an ITEA event and he'll change your mind.


He could hold his own last year (as a sophomore, i think) while playing Three Furies and pieces about that level--- pretty well. I'm sure he's only gotten better, and has started to get those butterflies that plagued him, out of his stomach.



As for the comments about Phi Mu Alpha only being an organization. I can promise you, at UCA, it is very, VERY fraternal. Those guys promote music, act as brothers in any social fraternity would, and contribute a lot to the atmosphere at UCA (even if other things do not).

[circusboy]

I'm truly sorry to have offended my open-minded/-hearted colleagues in the red states.

Our original poster stated quite clearly, to my mind, that race may be a factor in his current situation. It was the first thing he mentioned. I don't think that ignoring his own beliefs on the matter is the way to go in responding to his predicament.

Yes there are racist people in all parts of our fair country--sad, but true.

I've lived in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New York, Missouri, and California. I've spent significant time in Georgia, Florida and Massachusetts as well. Taken person-by-person, you'll find all kinds in all places. However, I have experienced a cultural tolerance for racism in the South and Midwest that I have not witnessed in the West nor Northeast. Confederate flags--and don't deny what they symbolize--seem much more acceptable to display in those places.

All I was thinking was that if this young man was a student at UCLA, the Berklee College of Music, Stanford, or SUNY New Paltz, I sincerely doubt that his race would have been the first thing he mentioned to explain his situation.

I wish him only the best--and sincerely hope that race is not a factor.

[windshieldbug]

Who is Brain Bowman...??

Isn't he that guy in SpinalTap??

[Arkietuba]

He's not a trumpet player... he's a really nice guy, it just came out the wrong way both times he said it.

He's a solid player (i've only heard him twice)... and he's pretty shy, so I doubt he's bragging too much. He's one of the best Arkansas has, virtuoso--- eh, haven't heard enough of him to agree or disagree with him... but he's not a snob.

He's an upper level musician and a much better person. Too bad we didn't end up together at some point, would have made for some nice duets, practice sessions, critiques.

Maybe you'll meet him at an ITEA event and he'll change your mind.

He could hold his own last year (as a sophomore, i think) while playing Three Furies and pieces about that level--- pretty well. I'm sure he's only gotten better, and has started to get those butterflies that plagued him, out of his stomach.

As for the comments about Phi Mu Alpha only being an organization. I can promise you, at UCA, it is very, VERY fraternal. Those guys promote music, act as brothers in any social fraternity would, and contribute a lot to the atmosphere at UCA (even if other things do not).

Thanks, yeah that time you heard me play the Three Furies was definately NOT my best performance...I wasn't trying to sound like a trumpet player...I was trying to be funny but it's hard to get that across in only words.

[circusboy]

Doc, I hear you. Thanks for the well-reasoned reply.

And you're right about my use of the short-cut "red states." I didn't mean to be political there, and I've seen maps of the last election done county-by-county, rather than state by state; most states look pretty purple. At the same time, it does--crudely--define a part of our cultural geography

With all due respect--and I think plenty is due in your case--I'm still gonna have to disagree with you on the stars-and-bars. While I understand that it can mean different (often positive) things to different people, I think most people are aware of a political statement they're making when they stick one on their car or house. That was certainly the case when I lived in the capital of the Confederacy.

Let me put it another way: The swastika is a sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, but I think the Nazis co-opted it to a point where NO ONE could walk around with one on their t-shirt and expect anyone to buy it as a reflection of their Eastern spirituality.

It's why, when I'm having a happy, cheerful day, I don't walk around telling everyone "I'm gay!"--because people wouldn't understand my archaic use of this politically co-opted word.

[djwesp]

Thanks, yeah that time you heard me play the Three Furies was definately NOT my best performance...

That's okay Doctor Young, you, and me were the only ones that knew the difference.

[Rick Denney]

I've lived in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New York, Missouri, and California. I've spent significant time in Georgia, Florida and Massachusetts as well. Taken person-by-person, you'll find all kinds in all places. However, I have experienced a cultural tolerance for racism in the South and Midwest that I have not witnessed in the West nor Northeast. Confederate flags--and don't deny what they symbolize--seem much more acceptable to display in those places.

The worst displays of racism I have ever seen have been in the Northeast, by far.

What you perceive as cultural tolerance for racisim might be described differently by someone with another point of view. It might be that there is so much cultural mixing of the races in the South (where minority populations are larger and more integrated), that southerners have a more mature understanding of the true cultural differences between racial and ethnic groups. In the north, however, there is much less cultural mixing. I've never seen segregation in the South like I've seen in Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, DC, Baltimore, and Boston, where I've done enough work to be able to make personal observations. But the intelligentsia in those cities give eloquent lip service to the symbolism of integration, and they are part of the power elite who controls a lot of the public conversation in the U.S. In the South, there is less of this pretense, and frankly the races are much closer by my observation.

I've seen Klan activities in the south, but relatively few skinheads and neo-Nazis compared to other parts of the country. How you perceive the difference depends on your gut-level reaction to, say, Klan visibility versus neo-Nazi visibility.

And I think many people purposely give meaning to the appearance of the Confederate battle flag that corresponds to their particular point of view. For southerners, it is a means of establishing their own identity separate from northerners, who they generally distrust. It's a "thumb in your eye", not to black people (and certainly not to black individuals) but rather to what they see as the northeastern power elite who are not sensitive to their needs or perspective. Certainly, some do it just to annoy the black community, but then they don't have the corner on that market. Mostly, they do it to annoy the power elite whom they mistrust.

For a black person to automatically assume that someone waving the Confederate flag is specifically anti-black is no different than a white person automatically assuming that a person wearing a Malcolm X T-shirt is specifically anti-white. I once read a T-shirt on the son of a colleague that said "Whatever it takes" under a silhouette of Malcolm X. How is that not to be interpreted as a challenge by any white person? Yet such displays usually attract no comment.

Of course, the boy wearing the shirt had nothing against me or any of his other white acquaintances and friends. At the worst, he was making a statement against what he perceived as the white power elite. Mostly, though, I think he was expressing himself culturally, which is a fancy way of saying that in his circle of close friends a shirt like that is cool. He probably perceives grimaces from white people who read his shirt as racial prejudice, but I don't think that's quite fair for him to do so. That's what I meant by my statement that when a person perceives a racial component to their relationships, it may be real, but it may be real because people are reacting to the person's projection of his own perceptions and issues. Both are possible, so when we perceive prejudice, we have to be quite analytical and honest with ourselves to interpret things properly.

There is certainly far more genuine politeness between the races in the south than in most parts of the north, by my direct observation. And if I was black, I'd far rather live in Dallas or Atlanta than in Boston or Philadelphia, particularly if I'm in a middle class situation like the families of most college kids.

But I'm not sure Arkansas is the best example of the South in any case. People treat the South as being monolithic, and that is, of course, just as false as treating the black community as being monolithic.

Rick "calling it like he sees it" Denney

[ZNC Dandy]

I thought the "eastern swastika" was reversed from the symbol used by the Third Reich? I though the symbol they used came from the SS Lightning bolt, because if you cross that symbol it becomes the swastika. May be that way...or the other way around, not sure. Sorry, may be a little off topic... I feel like I need a bath right about now for knowing that... :roll:

There is such a wealth of good life advice in this thread...it has provided some guidance for me, and I didn't even know it. thanks guys.

[greatk82]

My interest was also peeked and I came across this article:


http://www.intelinet.org/swastika/swastika_intro.htm

[MartyNeilan]

When I was in Jordan, I saw the archeological excavation site of an early Christian church. The mosaic floor tiles had swastica patterns in them.

[tubatooter1940]

I wonder why so many these days are so obsessed with race hatred.
Your skin color is beyond your own control so why not concentrate on things you have the power to change.
If racism is a problem, there are legal tools available to combat it. So many assume that this is happening when it may not be the case.
I live and work in the deep South. I hired a black sax player for my bar band and many people predicted trouble to come. Booking was never a problem and he did a great job for me. We were well recieved every where we played and we're still friends after all these years.
I slugged up as the only trumpeter and white face in a nine piece black soul band in Mobile, Alabama. I never had a moments trouble because I wasn't looking for it. I was well treated and well paid because I worked my butt off and had a great good time on stage.
My experience tells me that the perception of racism is sometimes skewed by expectations.

[Michael Woods]

Is it me or are this dudes posts starting to get a little weird?

Not to mention the collection of horns.


Is this a joke, seriously?

[sc_curtis]

Is it me or are this dudes posts starting to get a little weird?

Not to mention the collection of horns.


Is this a joke, seriously?

I believe this is the million dollar question at hand...

[iiipopes]

Counseling always helps.

[MartyNeilan]

Counseling always helps.

Perhaps a Vocational Guidance Counselor
http://urielw.com/refs/montyvgc.htm
or
http://www.jumpstation.ca/recroom/comed ... /lion.html

[djwesp]

Come on. 2+2=5? Troll.

He is real.

[Arkietuba]

I was unaware that there were any minorities in Arkansas...

You know, this is something that gets brought up quite often when someone from up north visits Arkansas. Arkansas is just like any other state...we have a large spectrum of each race in the state. I went to high school with several exchange students from Africa, Korea, Vietnam, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, Bulgaria, India, Laos, Micronesia and various other parts of the world. More often than not, their families move here b/c the people are very welcoming.

[Arkietuba]

Duh... you didn't think I knew there were minorities in Arkansas? It's called sarcasm. Thanks for the education. The color is green. The greener you are the better you live.

Sarcasm is very hard to detect on a message board, genuis...