“Isaac Fitzgerald has been a firefighter, worked on a boat, and been given a sword by a king, thereby accomplishing three out of five of his childhood goals.”

Wow! That is definitely something I could not do and I would envy anyone who is able to achieve the same!

The reading started promptly, at 6pm. Saeed Jones, a very friendly, poetry enthusiast opened the show. He is one of those people, whose face shows their passion, in his case, poetry. He introduced Isaac Fitzgerald, whom he credited for changing his life, and being there when he most needed a friend. He also introduced Alice Sola Kim, who is Fitzgerald’s fiancé. After introductions, he handed over the stage to Fitzgerald.

Isaac Fitzgerald is a very talented guy. He brought us an essay he had written which was pretty interesting. The essay started off by talking about a little boy who is fat, and the world telling him that he is fat. Soon, we get to know that it is no one else’s story but his. He talked about how fat he was in his childhood, and how everyone’s comments engraved this message on his young, benign mind. He talked about an incident where his mom pulled up his t-shirt and slapped the layer of flab, which actually touched the listeners’ hearts.

The underlying message of his reading was that some events in our lives take place in a way that they leave a very deep mark on our minds, a mark that’s inerasable no matter what. In his story, he continued working on his weight loss, and eventually even became thin, but not to where he could call himself thing. Thirty years later, when he saw a picture of himself, he could tell how skinny he actually was at that time. But still, when he looked at the mirror, he could see his mother slapping the flab on his belly.

Alice Sola Kim graciously shared the beginning of her upcoming novel. Her novel begins by talking about a teenage girl, who does not get accepted into a college, but goes anyway! This really grabbed everyone’s attention in the room and she received a huge cheer. In the story, this girl is helped by an Asian family. Though the story started off well, somewhere in the middle, the track of the girl’s story is lost and many other characters are introduced. She was able to keep the audience’s attention consistently throughout the start, but could not do so towards the end.

Saeed Jones was the last one to read an expert that inspired one of his favorite poems. The excerpt talks about a sexual encounter he had when he was young. He was in Chicago as a friend of his had called him to help them be the judge at a high-school speech competition. After the competition he would engage with other men to have sexual relations and write about it. The rest of the story described his experience with a white man, who always liked to be the dominant one.

This makes him recall and recollect on various experiences from his past, where he was dominated upon by other people. At first, he was enjoying it and the writer in him kept reminding him to stay put. However, later he realized that he was just being used and being dominated upon, as his hands and feet were tied. This is when he resisted and said ‘no’.

Jones has a very unique and interesting way of narrating his story. He actually gets the audience to feel what he felt which is something only a handful of people are able to do! However, I would question if this style actually made the story interesting. The sexual encounters he describes are far too intense and his oratory skills get the audience to relate to his experience and actually “be there”, which could be too strong for some people.

However, Saeed’s way of writing does intrigue me and definitely makes me feel like reading a few of his other works.Saeed pointed out a very interesting pattern in the series of narrations—Fitzgerald told the story of a high-school boy, Kim about a college going girl, and Saeed about a young man.

The Mill happened to be a great place where these readings happened. The entire audience had a place to sit and the stage was located right in the middle, so everything was clearly visible.

The post Mission Creek: Isaac Fitzgerald, Saeed Jones and Alice Sola Kim @ The Mill 4/8/2017 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Independent book publishers and independent magazines from across the country took to The Mill, on April 8, 2017, as a part of the Mission Creek Festival. What better place could there be for book publishers and literary magazine writers to hangout, other than the only UNESCO City of Literature on the Western Hemisphere, Iowa City? This was the 8^th year in a row, when Iowa City had the honor of hosting the most exciting works of the most creative writers across the US.

The fair began at around 11 in the morning and was supposed to go till 6 in the evening. I showed up at The Mill at around 11:30, and I did not realize how fast time flew by. I spoke to various book publishers, who themselves were as interesting as their works were!

There were some brilliant poetry publishers, and independent poetry writers, whose works I enjoyed going through the most. One of these was the POETRY Magazine which I came across. I had some previous knowledge about the POETRY Magazine and was hoping to know more about it and after going through their poems and publications, I am totally driven to subscribe to the 100+ year old Chicago based organization.

Another very interesting publication I came across at the fair was the Black Ocean. Originally based out of Boston, Chicago and Detroit, they bring together a spectrum of influences from fields of music, poetry and silent film to produce books. The most interesting book I came across at their book sale, was a book called ‘With Deer’, which is written by Swedish poet, Aase Berg and translated to English by Johannes Göransson. I don’t think I understood her poems at my first shot, but they did make me deeply interested.

Apart from the poetry publications there was the Two Dollar Radio and UNESCO City of Literature. The Iowa Review was one of the biggest crowd pullers at the fair! The University of Iowa’s very own Ink Lit Mag was also at the fair.

I stuck around at the Lit Mag and Small Book Fair till about 1:30 pm. The Mill was an ideal location to host the event. Its size, and layout was ideal for the fair. Yes, there were times when it was feeling too small and too cramped up, however, that gave the entire event a cozy and homely feeling. It was a wonderful event and it brought a lot of creative and talented individuals to Iowa City! The event made me feel privileged to be associated to the Iowa City community and it was great to see budding publishers and authors being given a chance to showcase their talent.

The post Mission Creek: Literary Magazine and Small Press Book Fair @ The Mill 4/8/2017 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

What a wonderful day to finally welcome spring with open arms by heading down to The Mill and checking out the American Short Fiction 8^th Annual Literary Magazine & Small Press Book Fair.

Ranging in all forms of literary genres, once again, American Short Fiction banded together to advocate creative work by not only established voices but emerging ones as well. Taking a leap of faith to present the public with a mixture of fresh and conventional creations, once again, the event was successful and worth noting.

From the beginning to the very end, the book fair was lively with a diverse crowd, which luckily brought about an atmosphere that was more than welcoming. Each booth provided a variety of information either about an up-in-coming author, publishing house, or opportunities for the public to partake in. It gave everyone in attendance a chance to learn something new and even broaden their horizons by expanding their literary preferences.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to talk one-on-one with either authors and publishers. It provided me and everyone else the chance to actually engage with the literary world and get an inside perspective on a world that usually for the general public is unattainable. It was heartwarming to speak with both authors and publishers in regards to how open they were in sharing the stories of their journeys throughout their participation in the literary world. By being able to simply talk to them and be in their presence, you could actually feel the love and passion they have for the literary world and it was something that words can’t describe.

It was love and passion in it’s purest form.

What was more intriguing and worthwhile than anything else was the simple fact that the book fair was not solely centered on authors and publishers native to Iowa but opened to fellow authors and publishers from across the Midwest. It was nostalgic to see literary events that I participated in back in my hometown Chicago in attendance at the book fair. It left an everlasting impression that the literary world has no bounds and is truly opened and meant for everyone.

Overall, the American Short Fiction 8^th Annual Literary Magazine & Small Press book fair was a success in my eyes. It was amazing to see how full circle the literary world comes in regards to how they open their doors to the public and remember where they came from. Taking a moment to go back to the beginning and speak with people who share the same love and passion for the literary world as themselves, the authors and publishers that attended the book fair are more than simply being inspirational and motivational characters.

They are role models for our youth.

If I was to give the show a rating, it would be as follows:

Overall: ★★★★☆

Interested in checking out American Short Fiction on your own? Check out the links below!

American Short Fiction: Home Page

American Short Fiction: About Page

American Short Fiction: Online FIction

The post Mission Creek: American Short Fiction @ The Mill 4/8/2017 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

When I first walked in the back of Blue Moose around 10 the crowd was nearly non existent, with just a few groups milling around the area. At 10:15, Owen Bones began. I was a little confused at first because Bones set up his stage in a way I had never seen from a DJ before. He had a screen placed in front of him that covered floor to ceiling, and displayed visuals of a man dancing and/or djing. At the beginning of his set he was only playing cliche hip hop and rap songs so I

wasn’t even sure if he had come on stage yet. It didn’t take long to figure out that he had, and that he would be remaining behind this screen for the entirety of his set.

Bone’s entire set consisted mainly of various popular hip hop and rap songs from Chance the Rapper’s “Mixtape” to Sage the Gemini’s “Gas Pedal” and Kendrick Lamar’s “M.A.A.D City”. While these are of course jams that the whole crowd can get down to, it seemed a bit boring to me. Bone’s did not play any of his own music until the last two songs of his set. He has a very differentiated, calm electronic that coupled very well with his visuals.

The Cool Kids took the stage at 11:10 and started the night with their song “Connect Four”. I couldn’t help but instantly notice their sense of fashion. Mikey Rocks was dressed in a half zip sweatshirt and blue jeans, while Chuck Inglish was wearing a black Death Row Records jacket coupled with gray sweatpants and a camouflage bucket hat. The casual fits matched well with their chill personalities and vibes they projected.

The Cool Kids were unbelievably skilled at interacting with the crowd, specifically Chuck Inglish. As a typical Iowa City show, majority of the conversation focused on beer and weed, according to Inglish “Iowa has the best weed” which brought a good laugh from the crowd. Inglish also shared several cans of beer with people in the front row who he “didn’t like seeing without a beer in their hand”.  I’m not sure if it was due to me being close to the stage, or due to their incredible personas but the set made you feel as if The Cool Kid’s were your friends and you were just there hanging out with them.

Among the many songs they played my favorites were their newest single “TV Dinner” and a single from 2016 “Running Man”.

Both members of The Cool Kids and Owen Bones are Chicago natives. I didn’t know this going into the show but once I discovered this it was an ‘ah that makes sense’ moment. I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Chicago native artists, especially ones that are in the hip hop scene. I have found that Chicago artists across the board bring a sound and passion that can only be formed in Chicago. Not to mention, Chicago artists always have a killer fashion sense.

I came into the night only knowing a few of The Cool Kid’s most popular tunes. Here it is the next day and I have already added many of their songs to my playlist. Overall, the show was great and I look forward to see where The Cool Kids go from here.

Want to hear these artist’s for yourself? Check out The Cool Kid’s Soundcloud and Owen Bone’s Soundcloud.

The post Mission Creek: The Cool Kids @ Blue Moose Tap House 4/7/2017 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Tonight, I walked into The Mill expecting to listen to music that was far outside my own preferred genre; however, I was shocked by the performers that took the stage and practically stole my heart. From the two openers: Dickie and The Feralings; to the star of the show: Pieta Brown; all were amazing in their own way; however, some more than others.

Starting from the top, Dickie was an interesting combination in itself. A talented mid-forties gentleman, paired with a young mid-twenties violinist, worked magic together to create a collection of dark and gorgeous songs that you could only imagine listening to when it’s dark and storming outside.

At first, I was skeptical and weary about the strange musical combination but after hearing them perform together I started to move my body along with the interesting melody and soon found myself humming and truly enjoying the music. It was as if their music had the capability to pierce your chest and weave their way into your heart and make a home. It is something that is hard to put into words because words cannot amount to the emotions that Dickie brought about. Throughout the entirety of their performance, I was entranced and left wanting more.

After listening to Dickie for an hour, I had high expectations for the second openers: The Feralings; however, I can’t help but admit that I was not moved by their performance on the same level that I was with Dickie. From their opening song, I knew we weren’t going to have a wholehearted relationship, but something different altogether. Possibly due to it being an interesting combination, or rather a branch, of Christian Rock music, it simply did not peak my interest and wasn’t my cup of tea.

The transition of melodies from Dickie to The Feralings was so dramatic and different that it, unfortunately, left the latter a little unattainable and confusing. I do want to clarify, that I am not saying that The Feralings is a band that should not be noted and held in high esteem, but rather, for the environment that they were in, it was not appropriate and did nothing to aid them professionally. When I think of The Feralings, I imagine sitting around a campfire just relaxing and looking up at the night sky, not red brick walls and the lingering smell of cigarette smoke. The Feralings were good but not as good as I hoped.

When it comes to enjoying a relaxing evening, whether listening to soothing music or unwinding in other ways, the atmosphere plays a crucial role. For those who prefer a modern twist on relaxation, considering top-rated HazetownVapes.com might be a great option. The juxtaposition of enjoying quality music with a premium vape experience can create a unique and enjoyable atmosphere. Just as The Feralings’ music might be better appreciated in a more fitting environment, so too can finding the right setting enhance other experiences.

With my emotions on edge, The Feralings bid their final thanks and welcomed Pieta Brown to the stage. Having it be the first time that I have ever heard her name, I was beyond interested in what she was bringing to the table. Already having been entranced by Dickie and set off by The Feralings, I was more than skeptical at what she was capable of. Waiting for her to begin was torture in itself; however, once the sound of her voice hit my ears, it was all worth it in the end.

The physical form of nostalgia stood before me in the form of a woman in her early forties with a fondness for folk music. It was as if the stage was made for her and she knew it. From her first song to her very last, it was amazing to watch her lose herself in her music and express herself in the purest way. Her music was sincere and literally left everyone wanting more. Not ready to say goodbye, the crowd urged, or rather begged for one more song, and like the angel she is, she delivered and it was too good to let go that when she bid the crowd her last farewell, you couldn’t help but feel the longing left in the crowd.

Overall, Dickie, The Feralings, and Pieta Brown brought about an experience that is literally something you would only experience once in a lifetime. I am more than happy, maybe even appreciative, that I attended Mission Creek at The Mill, for if I hadn’t, I would have missed out on music that I was desperately in need of.

If I was to give the show a rating, it would be as follows:

Overall: ★★★★☆

Dickie: ★★★☆☆

The Feralings: ★★☆☆☆

Pieta Brown: ★★★☆☆

Want to hear them for yourself? Check out the links below!

Dickie
The Feralings
Pieta Brown

The post Mission Creek: Pieta Brown @ The Mill 4/7/2017 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

It’s lit.

That was a common thought that kept entering my thoughts when three talented and powerful artists took the stage. They were Meka Jean, Flint Eastwood, and Mykki Blanco.

The night began with Meka Jean who immediately jumped right into singing her songs. She was quite impressive and I definitely enjoyed listening to her. She performed on the floor in front of the stage instead of actually on the stage which in turn created a great atmosphere but terrible video angles. Below is her music video for her song, “Too Good For You.”

After about 10 minutes, Flint Eastwood took the stage and brought back the energy left by Meka Jean. Their style of play was like a genre of rock and pop. I could be totally off but that’s what it sounded like to me. Let me tell you though, Flint Eastwood had one of the greatest stage presences I’ve ever seen live before. I found myself captivated not only by her presence but by her passion.

It’s pretty easy to tell when someone has passion for something and it’s even easier to see when someone doesn’t have that passion. Flint Eastwood, like Meka Jean and Mykki Blanco, had amazing passion and it made me enjoy her songs even more. One thing that I thought was endearing was that after every song she performed, which was like 6 or 7, she would say “Thank you” to the audience. One of my favorite lines from the night was when Flint Eastwood told the audience to purchase some merchandise but if nobody did then she understood because “we’re all broke, so fuck it, let’s have fun.”

This lead into her closing song which really brought some high energy into the Blue Moose Tap House. It was a great song to end on. Listen to Flint Eastwood’s song “Queen” below.

After Flint Eastwood finished her set, people were buzzing and ready for Mykki Blanco. However, it wouldn’t be until about 40 minutes later that Mykki Blanco arrived on stage. The audience didn’t mind one bit. When he ran on stage, he was meet with loud cheers and applause. Blanco’s entire performance had me saying, “it’s lit” and “I’m shook.” I didn’t know what to expect when I entered the venue but I was surprised and awed.

The energy that Mykki Blanco created was insane. It was something that I had never been apart of and I loved it. It felt amazing. What was even more amazing was that Blanco was trying to get a point across. To speak about queer issues in a way that doesn’t immediately turn people off. My favorite quotes of this evening were said by Mykki Blanco. They were:

“Happiness and compassion are birthrights.”

“It’s 2017, educate yourself.”

“Protect trans woman, Protect Black children.” (This line was said twice. Because that’s how important it is.)

Mykki Blanco was nothing like I expected and it was perfect. Listen to Mykki Blanco’s song, “High School Never Ends” below.

All three created an atmosphere with so much energy and passion that I didn’t know what to do with it but enjoy it and be happy to be in the presence of these talented and powerful artists. I would highly recommend checking these artists out because all three were straight-up badasses who gave zero fucks.

To look at the Mission Creek Festival schedule click here.

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***Warning*** Explicit/vulgar language used in this article. Reader discretion is advised. It’s Margaret Cho, what else would you expect?

To put it simply: one of the most well-known headliners on this year’s Mission Creek Festival lineup did not disappoint. Yup, we’re talking about the one and only Margaret Cho. Where do I even begin?

Perhaps we should start with the opening comedian, yeah? Selene Luna strutted on stage with all smiles and waves. Selene, who is a 3’10” woman living in the heart of Hollywood, is described by her website as a “small package with a big presence”–there is no denying that. Her vulgarity mixed with her intersectionality of being a disabled Mexican female, and her stance on satirical issues had the entire Englert theatre in laughing fits.

She touched on issues in today’s society, starting out with Donald Trump. “This is a college town, right? So I won’t get in trouble for saying ‘Fuck Trump’?” was followed by whistles from the audience. She continued to talk about Trump and how ridiculous she thinks it is to build a wall. “I’m not the first one to say this, but… they’re just going to dig tunnels!” Her sense of humor and stage presence is what really made it feel like a comedy show, as opposed to feeling like a political rally.

Of course another key subject she talked about was little people. She told a story of when a director asked her if she knew any other little people that he could cast in a new show. “It’s ridiculous! I don’t go up to people and say ‘Hey, do you know anybody with acne?’ People have no filter around little people!” This progressive style of comedy was hilarious, yet also shined a light on how ridiculous people sound when they ask intrusive questions.

Selene ended the night on a good note, talking about a memory foam mattress that her and her fiancee had just bought. I’m not gonna say anything — just watch it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh8MrK0fFwA

The crowd whistled and hollered when Margaret Cho took the stage. Immediately, Margaret talked about how crazy it is that Donald Trump is the president, and how she was rooting for Bernie at the beginning. She mentioned how the election came down to misogyny, because Hillary Clinton was the most qualified person to be running for office.

Of course, because she’s Margaret Cho, talk of Donald Trump transitioned into sex. She expressed sadness for Melania, “just knowing that she has to fuck him everyday…” which then turned into Cho saying that “his jizz is probably as orange as his body”.

“He doesn’t know how to blend his under-eye concealer! Like go to Sephora, they’ll help you out!” (@Trump seriously, go to Sephora.).

Cho joked some more about sex, STDs, and hooking up with rockstars (“I won’t name names, so lets just call him… Ozzy”). Cho talked in detail, with hand motions and everything, about the importance of the girth of the penis (hey, I warned you that there was explicit content!).

Moving forward, Cho spoke candidly about “whitewashing” in Hollywood, which basically means that white actors are being cast as different races. Specifically, Cho talked about some beef that she had with Tilda Swinton, who was cast as the Ancient One in Marvel’s “Doctor Strange”.

Cho has been very vocal about whitewashing in Hollywood — a simple Google search pulls up dozens of articles and videos of her talking about the subject.

The show took a more serious turn towards the end where she talked about Bill Cosby and the fact that 52 women have come forward. She spoke very candidly about her own rape, which was perpetrated by her uncle from the ages of 5 to 12 years.

“Predators thrive in the shadows. I’m here to shine that light on them,” Cho stated. That was the loudest applause from the audience all night.

Selene Luna joined Margaret on stage where they bowed and the audience gave them a standing ovation. It was a night full of laughter and enlightenment, aka the best of both worlds. If you missed this show, I’m sure it’ll be on Netflix soon enough — and not to worry, Cho mentioned she has been doing comedy for 34 years and is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon.

The post Mission Creek: Margaret Cho and Selene Luna @ The Englert 4/6/17 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Ghostface, who found considerable success not only in the seminal collective he was a leading member of, but also in his subsequent solo career. He’s known for his dynamic flow and surrealistic storytelling style. Tonight, him and his crew almost tore the roof off of the Englert.

Before that, though, local hip-hop heroes AWTHNTKTS opened the show. Made up of three rappers and a DJ, they brought a surprising amount of energy and were a great start to the night. At this point, though, the house wasn’t completely filled yet, and I had no idea what was in store for later.

Each rapper in the group had a distinct flow, and they all had good stage presence and a synergy that translated into a very fun performance.

Up next, and unknown to me, was Free Murda, a Wu-Tang affiliated rapper. He didn’t stay for long but performed a few of his songs to hype up the energy for Ghostface. I don’t know if the rest of the crowd knew him either, but they ate it up either way.

The Englert isn’t the first place that pops into your head when you think of a rap concert, but the energy from the crowd bounced around the room and electrified every performer. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the genre fit the venue, and how it completely turned my expectations upside down.

Once Ghostface finally arrived on stage, the place went wild. I mean this was an actual member of Wu-Tang right in front of us. These guys practically defined hip-hop for a very large period of time, and their influence still rings true today. At this point, the theater was absolutely packed. I don’t know if it was sold out; there were almost no people in the balcony area that I could see, but the main floor was fuller than I’d ever seen it. Whatever the numbers were, it felt like it was bursting at the seams.

The experience of seeing Ghostface Killah is hard to put into words. It’s wild. The crowd was rapping along to a lot of the songs, as he performed many of the Wu-Tang hits that made him the legend he is today. Songs like “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Protect Ya Neck” had the crowd rapping along and jumping in the air, waving their arms around and just out right yelling.

For the latter song, he invited some crowd participants to come on stage and rap the verses by other Wu-Tang members, but only if they knew the verses well and could rap them to his crew before coming on stage. The process took a long time, finally producing one person who actually pulled it off and drove the crowd wild, and another drunk, bumbling man who was really there for comic relief. Overall it was cool to see them interacting with so many people.

At another time, they invited a whole bunch of girls from the crowd to come dance on stage. Things got…well, you can probably imagine. I won’t go into details about it. But it was fun to watch.

Ghostface kept driving in the point that whatever energy the crowd gave to them, they would give back. It made us all get louder and jump higher, resulting in an incredible performance from the crew. I would say he wasn’t let down, and maybe even go as far to say that he was surprised at how much Iowa could turn up. He mentioned it being his first time in Iowa City, but he also mentioned he could have been wrong about that.

After the show, he stood on stage awhile signing shirts and taking photos, then took a whole bunch of girls backstage to drink. After Andrew Bird last night and Tennis on Friday, this Mission Creek is shaping up to one of the best yet.

The post Mission Creek: Ghostface Killah @ Englert Theater 4/5/2017 appeared first on KRUI Radio.