Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, November 18, 2004
“I do not believe in democracy, but I am perfectly willing
to admit that it provides the only really amusing form
of government ever endured by mankind. ’’
H.L. Mencken I Journalist
■ In my opinion
RYAN MURPHEY
MR. SOPHISTICATION
Pissed off
rock music
emerges from
presidencies
It’s been two weeks, and many people are
still reeling from the Nov. 2 broadside. The
fact that a relatively untainted democratic
election resulted in a sweeping ban on gay
marriage and another four years of Cowboy
George comes as a disheartening blow to
those who would rather not let the Midwest
make their moral decisions for them. The sad
truth is that this is the will of the people, and
there is nothing anyone can do to change
that until 2008. The only thing left to do is to
look on the bright side and hope that it can
carry you through the next four years.
All right, so the bright side is not so easy to
find this time around. The economy is bad,
our civil liberties are being threatened and
most of the world thinks we’re a bunch of
losers, but there is one good thing that has
come out of most bad presidencies: angry
political music.
During the Lyndon B. Johnson and
Richard Nixon presidential one-two punch
that spanned from 1963 to 1974, LBJ set the
bar for modern civil rights violators in the
U.S. government, then let Nixon step in and
make sure that any iota of faith remaining in
our democratically elected officials was oblit
erated. The actions of these presidents and
their political contemporaries forced a latent
counterculture to the surface that changed
the course of history. Musical artists such as
Bob Dylan, Edwin Starr and Janis Joplin
brought a defiant new face to the American
musical culture with songs such as “Blowin’
in the Wind” and “War (What is it Good
For).” Even British pop sensations The Beat
les were affected by this culture, departing
from their early dulcet jangle to the more or
chestrated, psychedelic sound that resulted
in one of the greatest albums of all time. In a
way, “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club
Band” is the blue ribbon tomato that grew
out of the 1960s presidential manure.
In contrast, the relatively uneventful
Carter years yielded a sickly crop of catchy
but fairly mindless dance hits in the States.
The fumes of American punk rock were waft
ing through the air with groups such as the
Ramones, Television and the New York Dolls,
but the spark that set the scene ablaze was
yet to come.
In 1981, a terrible thing happened to the
United States, but a wonderful thing hap
pened to music: the Reagan years. The gung
ho conservatism of the Reagan administra
tion provided the vitriol needed to bring
American hard-core into fruition. This era
marked the birth of the pissed off rock band.
Reagan was a favorite target of punk satirist
and Dead Kennedy’s front man Jello Biafra,
who’s mock anthem “Kill the Poor” paid a
sneering tribute to the economic tendencies
of the Gipper & Co. Black Flag, Minor Threat,
Mission of Burma, Hiisker Dii and Sonic
Youth are all products of this angst-ridden
period, which gave way to the rise of grunge
during GW1.
The Clinton administration didn’t seem to
MURPHEY, page 6
Tim Bobosky | Photographer
In an
environment
free from
smoke and
alcohol, Jim
and Barbara
Walker do
a little
ballroom
dancing at
Staver
DanceSport
Nov. 11.
Ballroom Fever
Staver DanceSport provides an alternative setting
for dancers of all ages and experience levels
BY DAHVI FISCHER
PULSE REPORTER
Those who cannot fit a Uni
versity dance course into
their schedule or those who
simply want to go dancing virtu
ally any day of the week can go to
the newly-opened Staver DanceS
port. Opened in September, the
studio, which offers a plethora of
dance options, can be useful, edu
cational and fun for people of all
ages and experience levels.
“What we offer as a part of our
studio is we teach people ball
room dance, smooth and stan
dard dance and Latin and rhythm
dance,” said Linda Staver,
PRO/M Instructor, Certified Ball
room Dance Instructor and
Certified Adjudicator registered
with the National Dance Council
of America. “We also have a ball
room dance teacher’s college that
trains people to become certified
ballroom dance instructors recog
nized by the National Dance
Council of America. It is the only
one in Oregon.”
The smooth and standard
dance classes offered at the studio
are tango, quickstep, waltz and
fox-trot. The studio also offers
rhythm dances featuring swing,
cha-cha, rumba, samba,
mambo/salsa, bolero and the
meringue. The daily dance sched
ule changes each term. Dance
classes typically last anywhere
from four to eight weeks and add
up to approximately $10 per week.
A full calendar of the dances
offered this term can be found at
www. staverdancesport. com
“Ballroom dancing is a terrific
relationship tool,” said David Ol
son, a ballroom dancer of 15 years.
Olson said that ballroom
dancing is a fun activity that
allows he and his wife to enjoy
quality time together. Olson,
who has been training to be
come a professional ballroom
dance instructor under Staver’s
instruction, has noticed a popu
larity rise in ballroom dancing
within the Eugene population.
He said ballroom dancing is
especially welcoming because it
has levels that are social and
fun, but it also has levels that
are competitive and athletic.
“Ballroom dancing is a won
derful option for people of all
ages to come together and enjoy
one another’s company,” Olson
said, referring to his 6-year-old
son, who has taken up the hobby.
The studio also provides private
dance lessons with eight types of
lessons to choose from, including
one where students can design
their own program.
Friday and Saturday nights at
Staver DanceSport provide a vari
ety of special opportunities with
all-ages dances. Specialty dances
are offered twice a month, featur
ing an upcoming Tlirkey TVot (a
lot of Fox-trot and a mini dance
lesson), Friday, and the Big Band
Ballroom dance, Dec. 3.
Saturday night ballroom
dances, typically attractive to
students, feature classical and
oldies music played by a DJ.
Dances cost $5 per person, last
from 8:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. and
provide an alcohol/tobacco
free environment.
The people who work at
Staver DanceSport each con
tribute a lot to making the
studio as successful as possible.
Herman Reyes voluntarily helps
DANCERS, page 7
Nicole Barker I Photographer
With a variety of indulgent bath and body products, Bubbles, in the Fifth
Street Public Market, offers a taste of the metropolitan in Eugene. The
store carries such exotically scented soaps as Sex on the Beach, Sushi
and Sugar Cookies, as well as many hemp-based soaps.
Beauty
“lthe Bubble
Local beauty fiends can now find trendy fragrances,
bath products in Eugene where they couldn't before
BY NATASHA CHILINGER1AN
SENIOR PULSE REPORTER
Beauty products featured in
InStyle magazine and on the
television show “Oprah” are
now obtainable without going on
line or venturing to a big city. Bub
ble, a new bath and body boutique
in the Fifth Street Public Market,
offers items that appeal to cus
tomers’ senses and satisfy their
need for quality.
The one-room shop appears to
nearly spill over with scented
soaps, bath bombs, fragrances, lo
tions and the like, from brands like
Demeter and Silk Spa. Owner
Jamie Leaf, who opened the store
in August, said her goal was to
bring products to Eugene that lo
cal beauty fiends couldn’t find in
town before.
“You’ll see stuff from fashion
magazines and some customers
will see things they’ve seen on
line,” Leaf said. “It was a personal
passion of mine; I wanted to bring
these products to Eugene. ”
Leaf said one of the more popu
lar brands in Bubble is Demeter, a
BUBBLES, page 11