1959-2009: 50 YEARS OF WTUL

the VOX: The Uncontrollable

Urges Issue

A Publication of: are you?

FREE
• Top Ten Mad Musicians
• Interview with Uke of Spaces
• Tom Connor deletes 101 Facebook Friends in Fall 2009
Deleting the Social Contract
wtulneworleans.com
 WTUL’s 2009 Special Gift Catalog
WTUL New Oreans 91.5 FM is New Orleans’ only free-form non-commercial radio station. We’ve counted on you for 50 years to make donations.

Make a Donation to WTUL. Get a gift.

Your donation helps to keep WTUL going. The more you donate the more you receive.
Get the total package of everything WTUL for only $150.

(donate at least $50.00 to be eligible for this gift +

Compilation CD)
(Donate at least $25.00 for this gift)
WTUL 2009 Marathon T-shirt
WTUL Songs from the Basement,Vol. 7 Compilation CD This year’s Marathon t-shirt reflects 50 years of WTUL
Our annual local compilation - this year featuring: Clint Maedgen + 9, Good Guys, Impenus, Spickle, and is on an asphalt colored American Apparel t-shirt
Good Guys, One Man Machine and more!!

(donate at least $150.00 for this gift + old school block

(donate at least $100.00 for this gift + marathon logo shirt + marathon t-shit + compilation CD)
t-shit + compilation CD) WTUL Looking Back on 50 years Coffee Table Book All orders over $50 will also receive
WTUL Old School Block Logo Photos, stories, etc. collected from alum and current WTUL buttons and bottle openers
White Logo on Blue T-shirt WTUL staff compiled in full color 7x7 coffee table book

Contribution form:

Name: ____________________ Phone: ____________________

AMOUNT CONTRIBUTED:
Address: ____________________
☐ $500 ☐ $250 ☐ $100 ☐ $50 ☐ $25
____________________

Please send to: The Vox

WTUL New Orleans 91.5 FM ☐Other: ____________
Tulane University Box 5069
New Orleans, LA 70118

Or Donate online @ wtulneworleans.com

 Letter from the General Manager PEOPLE
Dear Vox Readers –
Sponsors
WTUL is a slow moving beast of a machine. If you love WTUL, than come out to these Andrew Bizer, Attorney at Law
It’s always lumbering on, but not always at shows! Maybe you’ll finally meet that elusive
Fresco
the right speed. This year however WTUL Hunter who does the surf show, or you have
will be lumbering right into some of your fa- desperately wanted to drop off your cd. This New Orleans 8th Annual
vorite venues and partnering with other proj- is your chance! Come be a part of your local Book Fair
ects around the city to bring you more of the community radio station. This year, we’ll be
progressive radio you crave. We presented coming out before Marathon. So watch out. The Mushroom
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of
SLAP
Dead at the Republic, we’ll be working with Patrick Townsend
One Eyed Jacks to bring you such shows as General Manager
Telefon Tel Aviv, and Japandriods. We’re WTUL New Orleans 91.5fm
Contributors
also bringing Wavves for your listening plea- Stacey Balkun
sure! If there is a concert or festival in town,
we want to be there right along side of you. Tom Connor

Deborah Dixon

DJ Babybat

Ray “Moose” Jackson

Letter from the Editor
Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Tumblr…all forms
of communication at your fingertips. This is the
way of the future so called “media experts” tell
us. But I find there is nothing like going for a
cup of good coffee at your local coffee shop and
stumbling across an interesting publication that
can’t be done anywhere else. This is why I still do
the VOX in print rather than shut down our print
publication and open up a blog account – I want
the individual reader to come across the VOX’s
interesting individual voices that are unlikely to be
heard anywhere else. Although the production of
the VOX is often a painful and frustrating process,
the feeling I get when I get to the printer and pull
the first copy off a stack is immeasurable. So as
Robert Kuhn
you sit there and drink your coffee, or eat you
lunch, or watch your wife/husband shop please re-
Brian Zeigler
alize that holding this singular issue of the VOX in
your hand is a moment you won’t ever have back.
Thanks for picking us up. Associate Editor
Perrey Lee
Oh, and if you would like to meet the VOX edito-
rial staff in person. Assistant editor Mynra L. En-
amorado’s books will be on display at the Babylon Assistant Editor
Lexicon show at Yuki on November 7th and I
Myrna L. Enamorado
will be manning the WTUL table, and selling the
WTUL coffee table book, at the New Orleans 8th
Annual Bookfair, November 7th (see ad page 6). Editor-in-Chief
- Kyle B. Kyle Barnett

Corrections Address
In the Summer issue of the VOX the
WTUL New Orleans, 91.5 FM
“Rat Hair” artwork on the cover was the
Tulane University
work of Otto Splotch, not Myrna Enamo-
New Orleans, LA 70118-5555
rado as it was credited.
Office: (504) 865-5885
Studio: (504) 865-5887
www.wtulneworleans.com
voxwtul@gmail.com

Tells us what you think. Send comments to voxwtul@gmail.com.

(Cover Design by Myrna Enamorado from her book Awaken by the Light of the Morning.)
 Table of Contents
2 - Merchandise Page (Please support us!) 10 - MyBestMixCD
by DJ BabyBat
3 - Letters from the General Manager and
Editor - List of Contributors 11 - What’s that Smell?
by Kyle Barnett
5 - Top 10 Mad Musicians
by Myrna L. Enamorado 14 - Becoming a Traitor
by Stacy Balkun
6 - “Lead Us Not Into Temptation...”
by Deborah Dixon Neurosis at its Finest
by Robert Kuhn
7 - Interview with Uke of Spaces
by Myrna L. Enamorado 15 - Bitter Ink (cartoon)
by Ray “Moose” Jackson & Brian Zeigler
9 - Deleting the Social Contract
Local Artwork
by Tom Connor
TOP TEN MAD MUSICIANS by Myrna L. Enamorado
10. Townes Van Zandt (b. 3/7/44- d. 1/1/97) – Manic Depressive. Un- 3. Phil Spector (b. 12/26/39) — Bipolar producer and recording artist.
derwent insulin shock therapy which erased his long term memory. He Once threatened Leonard Cohen with a crossbow. Also held up the Ra-
abused heroin and alcohol. Sometimes on stage he was so drunk, he mones with a gun so they wouldn’t leave his home. Convicted of killing
forgot the words to his songs. Besides shooting up heroin, he also shot up a woman in his home and is currently in jail for that. Produced many girl
cocaine and rum and coke. He heard voices. Played beautifully mellow groups in the 60s including the Ronettes.
music.
2.. Keith Moon (b. 8/23/46- d. 9/7/78) — a.k.a. Moon the Loon. Was
9. Wesley Willis (b. 5/31/63- d. 8/21/03) —Schizophrenic artist and musi- called “Retarded artistically. Idiotic in other respects,” by an early teacher.
cian. Greeted people with a head butt. Tried to stay out of prison by “not His wife married his roommate, Ian from the Faces one month after he
hitting people in the streets with bricks.” Played extremely bizarre songs died. Destroyed so many hotels he was banned from many of them around
about popular culture. the world including Holiday Inn, Sheraton, Hilton Hotels, and The Wal-
dorf Astoria. Also destroyed his friends homes and threw his own furni-
8. Daniel Johnston (b. ture out of high windows. Most notorious for flushing explosives down
1/22/61) (pictured to the the toilet total costs estimating $500,000. Played with one of the best rock
left) – Bipolar Artist and and roll bands of all time, The Who.
Musician. Once convinced
a woman to let him into 1. GG Allin
her apartment and pushed (b. 8/29/56- d.
her out of her window. 6/28/93) (pictured
Plays innocently child- to the right)—
like songs about Satan and Borderline Person-
unrequited love. ality Disorder and
bipolar. Known
7. Brian Wilson for extreme antics
(b. 6/20/42)—Cocaine on stage where he
user. Diagnosed as defecated and rolled
Schizoaffective. Detached in his feces. Also
from people. He under- ate excrement and
went therapy that secluded injured himself
him from his family and his therapist went on to lose her license. Plays while performing.
beautifully lush wall of sound compositions, and uses his voice as the most Once raped and
beautiful instrument in the Beach Boys and in a solo career. His daughters tortured a female
also play beautiful music with gifted voices as Wilson-Phillips. acquaintance. He
cut her, burned her,
6. Axl Rose (b. 2/6/62) —Abused as a child. Once bit a hotel security and drank her blood.
guard’s leg in Stockholm and broke a lobby mirror while drunk. Incited Played crazy punk rock.
several riots during his performances. Plays angst ridden loud rock and
epic ballads with Guns and Roses. In her book, Touched with Fire: Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic
Temperament, Kay Redfield Jamison describes the link between insan-
5. Roky Erikson (b. 7/15/47) —Schizophrenic who pleaded insanity when ity and art by doing in depth character sketches of composers, authors,
caught with a joint and consequently endured electroshock treatment. He and artists who suffered from manic depression, most of whom are now
spent hours poring over junk mail and wrote to solicitors and dead celebri- dead artists including Lord Byron, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Vincent
ties. He also picked up his neighbor’s mail and taped it to the walls of his Van Gogh. There have been many retrospectives of great artists who had
room leading to a charge of mail theft. Plays great quirky music with the mental diagnoses in museums around the world including the American
13th Floor Elevators and has an extensive solo career. Folk Art Museums who featured the works of Henry Darger and Martin
Ramirez. It seems that in some cases the crazier you are the more famous
4. Syd Barrett (b. 1/6/46- d. 7/7/06) —Schizophrenic abstract painter and you become. After all a tragic story lends itself to the stuff of legend. In
former member of Pink Floyd who also had a solo career. Once kept his this short list, you learned about the wildness that comes with a musician’s
girlfriend under lock and key for 3 days and fed her biscuits under the lifestyle and the crazy things creative people are sometimes known to do.
door. Beat another girlfriend with a mandolin. Spent his final years as a These are extreme cases and it is not to say that all artists are crazy, only
recluse in his Cambridge home. Played epic stoner rock in Pink Floyd and some of my favorite ones. I hope it will challenge the stigma that mental
echoey amazingly written songs in his solo career. disorders carry in society by recalling the names of these musical genius-
es.
“Lead Us Not Into Temptation...”
Another Journey Into the Alarmingly Random Mind of Deborah “Lady Iyann” Dixon
I think I know a little about temptation. I’ve been tempted far more times
than I care to admit, being a fairly devout Christian. The difference being, I
am a very odd person, and so have very odd obsessions. Interested? Read on,
dear reader; venture with me into my den of iniquity.
Sugar. My boss once hypothesized that if sugar had just been discovered
today, it would be a controlled substance. I’m sure several of my fellow DJs
have seen me walking around with a bag of Skittles or Fruit Gummies. Ah,
sugar, you underappreciated, marvelous muse, representing all that is good
and worthy in this world!
Unfortunately, dear reader, my days of Skittle hoarding are over. My doctors
have placed me on a strict hypoglycemic diet. No pure sugars; no foods with
high glycemic indexes- white bread, french fries, and Cheerios, to name a
few. (Another former addiction: those Honey Nut Os of joy.) Jealousy gleams
in my eyes as I watch my friends down Butterfingers and Cokes with such
youthful abandon, while I pick at yet another bowl of Kashi sticks ‘n’ stones
and a glass of unsweetened iced tea (which really, really ticks off my British
sensibilities).
What else? I am also extremely, woefully, and irreversibly obsessed with the
music of Sergei Rachmaninoff. (Yes, I am a Classical dork; you knew this.)
Also on my list of obsessions are John Coltrane, Hugh Jackman, Keri Hilson,
a duck named Lewis, getting mail, bodies of water, stuffed animals, fuzzy
things, purple things, and fuzzy and purple things.
But why are you frowning, dear reader? (I can see you.) Oh, you wanted to
read something juicier? I guess I’m just not that exciting a person- I have no
stories of criminal mastery or sexual audacity to tell. Though I will admit that
there is a DJ at the station whose voice sends chills up my spine and makes
me think naughty things. But that is neither here nor anywhere else.
I suppose I should make some sort of speech about how resisting temptation
helps me lead a healthier, less stressful life. Well, the truth is, I am healthier,
but life without sugar sucks. Life without a certain person is going to suck.
Which is why I’m hanging on to Rachmaninoff and my other harmless ad-
dictions like I’ll never have them again. What is a guilty pleasure, anyway?
Should I feel guilty for constantly playing Rachmaninoff pieces on Morning
Mood, even if I (and my listeners) gain happiness from it?
Now, I am NOT saying you need to jump in bed (or wherever you like it)
with the girl or guy of your dreams and have wild and passionate unpro-
tected sex with her or him, like my upstairs neighbors are apparently doing.
What I am saying is that there is a fine line that everyone should define. On
one side are the acceptable things, like gloriously fuzzy stuffed hippos. On
the other are the harmful ones. Whether they are worth the risk is up to you.
Personally, I don’t feel like going into an insulin-induced coma, so while I
will continue to lust after those blissful Cheerios, I’ll make do with those off-
brand shredded oats. If I concentrate hard enough, they almost taste like my
cherished honeyed Os. Almost.
 Interview with Uke Of Spaces
Hi Amy, Hi Dan,
Thank you so much for agreeing to do this inter-
view for the Vox. I really love your music, and
I remember the first time I ever saw you play at
Nowe Miasto and I thought Amy had the most
beautiful voice I had ever heard. Then, my friend
Cassandra interviewed you two
on her radio show and you sang
Let’s Go, so I feel like your mu-
sic has really been represented in
this city and definitely on WTUL.
DB: Dan Beckman
AMOS: Amy Moon O-S
1. Do you ever feel any uncon-
trollable urges to do something
that you cannot control?
AMOS- I would say that both
getting pregnant and deciding to
have a natural birth at home arise
from “uncontrollable urges to do
things that I can not control,”
DB- The urge to jump off a tall
rock into crashing waves, in the
winter.
AMOS- I like performing un-
written songs,
DB- I like the parts in playing
music where things are out of
control,
AMOS- When you have to work
through stuff immediately, no setting it aside for
later.
2. What are all the names that Uke of Spaces has
recorded under?
DB- Uke of Phillips, Uke Off Phillips, Brother
Ballads, Uke of Phillips, Full Gallop #9.
AMOS- (Uke of) Spaces Corners County, Uke of
Spaces Corners, UKOP, UOP?
DB- That’s probably enough.
3. You both played with other groups that have a
distinctly different sound than Uke of Spaces like
Impractical Cockpit and BeastHead. Is it more
natural for you to go for the noise or what led you
to use this folk outlet?
DB- Uke of Phillips started about the same time
that I.P.C.P. did, about 11 years ago. Uke has
mostly been a way for me to consistently do mu-
sic, while Impractical Cockpit has always taken
months or years off from playing formally as a
band.
Whereas I.P.C.P. was our take on punk, Uke is our
take on folk music, so I’d say the noise aspects
in the Uke stuff are more subtle or subdued. In
music and in my life in general I prefer an element
of chaos or randomness to be at play most of the
time, so I’d say it is natural for me to go for the
noise, whatever the creative outlet may be. Long
live Eris, the goddess of discord.
AMOS- Our friendship started in New Orleans
AMOS- I grew up around folk music. My parents around Halloween of 2000 through connecting
by Myrna L. Enamorado
hosted potlucks every Friday, and people would
bring stringed instruments and take turns teaching
everyone else their songs. My mom used to write
songs on the dulcimer, with lyrics about her life
and family. She recorded two full-length cassettes
in ’79 and ’81.
So I would say playing and singing
folk music comes naturally, but I do
think of the kinds of punk and noise
music we play as folk music. We’ve
learned to play from our friends and
family and from experimentation.
Our bands, no matter how noisy,
have all had plenty of singing, with
lyrics about our experiences and
perceptions.
4. What genre do you feel best repre-
sents your musical background and
the feelings you try to convey?
DB- Gutter Country, or I suppose
now more appropriately, Septic
Country, or Watershed Country.
Maybe Neo-Pagan Martian Folk, or
even Now-Pregnant Folk!
5. Do you feel like your sound has
changed since you moved from New
Orleans to Maine?
DB- Yes, I suppose it has. Since
moving away from New Orleans 3
years ago we have played 100 some
shows, and recorded 3 albums. So
things have changed just because of
that. Also, I think sound wise we’ve
stretched out a bit. The songs are longer and there
is more room for things to open up.
AMOS- We have made more time and space to
focus on our voices. We have been getting better
at writing and singing vocal harmonies. So maybe
our sound is becoming more harmonious.
6. You recently got married and are expecting
your first child. Congratulations! Did you fall in
love after playing music together for some time or
did the romance come first?
about music. We played together occasionally for
half a year before we realized that we were falling
in love with each other.
DB- Although we individually had quite a bit of
experience singing before meeting each other, I’d
say we really started to find our voices singing to-
gether on Harmony Street in the Irish Channel off
of Tchoupitoulas, around the fall of 2002.
7. Could you tell us why you chose to release your
records with Corleone as opposed to any other
labels?
DB- Corleone has been very supportive of every-
thing our band has done for the past 4 years. We
have a great relationship with Brian, he’s been a
great friend and collaborator. He also does a really
good job of getting our music out to places that we
might not be able to reach, as Corleone is distrib-
uted by Caroline. He is down with us working
with other labels too. Since working with Corleone
we have released records on our own label, Turned
Word, as well as with Friends and Relatives, Isle
of Mann, Don’t Trust the Ruin, Bring Back the
Magic, and Goaty Tapes.
8. Dan, you also started the Trd Ward label that
operates out of your home in Maine, what kind of
music do you represent and what are some of the
artists on that label?
AMOS- Really our whole household runs the
label.
DB- Amy, Andy Neubauer, and I actually started
Trd Ward Records in New Orleans in 2002.
Since moving to Maine we changed the name
to TURNED WORD RECORDS. We primarily
release Cassettes and LP s of experimental Folk,
Noise, and Plunger Punk. We’ve done 5 LP s for
Impractical Cockpit, a Johnny Corndawg record,
The Shep and Me LP, 3 Uke of Spaces records, the
new Bone Rattle LP, 2 Flak Mask records, and a
few others like County Z, Group B, and an endless
stream of cassette releases including BeastHead
and Sword of the Ancient. Coming out soon is an
LP by Drew Ryan- C-Section 8, from New Or-
leans which we’re all really psyched about. We
just released a new Impractical Cockpit LP called
“FACILIDAD,”, which I think is one of the most
interesting records Impractical Cockpit has re-
leased to date.
9. Where can your fans find your music in New
Orleans?
DB- Best place to find our music in New Orleans
on LP and cassette is Domino Sound Record
Shack.
AMOS- Domino Sound Record Shack on Bayou
Road is one of the best record stores in the world.
DB- Hear ye!
10. You both also work for Waterfall Arts Gallery
in Maine. Does art play as much a role in your
lives as music?
DB- I like making paintings and setting them on
fire! I get frustrated with “the art world.”
AMOS- Making visual art is as essential for my
mental health as playing music is. When I don’t
draw daily, I get irritable and lose my sense of self.
Making marks on paper is endlessly entertaining
for me. Drawing allows me to delve unselfcon-
sciously into my own subconscious. I am often
surprised by what I find. Most of my drawings
stay in books and piles in my room, but I do pub-
lish some drawings with our band’s releases and in
my own little booklets.
DB- Ultimately, all kinds of personal expression
are extremely important. I grew up in a pretty
repressed culture where people who expressed
themselves creatively were mostly considered to
be selfish or in need of attention and cast in a neg-
ative light because of this behavior, which I think
is pretty sad. Everyone deserves to have a voice in
this world and I think that art and music are great
communication tools. Not to say that I always like
what everyone has to say.
11. What’s coming up next for Uke of Spaces?
AMOS- This week we are recording some songs
with our roommates Andy Neubauer and Caethua
up in my room.
DB- I like to think of our next album as a long
term project. We plan to record it all at home
and all analog. As we get batches of 2 or 3 songs
together, we’ll record them. I suppose an album
will surface about this time next year, but we don’t
want to rush the process at all.
AMOS- Starting two weeks ago, we are taking a
break from performing to write new songs, record,
and to have a baby. I have no idea what this kid
will be like but we are hoping to continue doing
short tours soon.
DB- Coming up in the next few months Domino
Sound Records of New Orleans will be partner-
ing up with Mississippi records of Portland, OR to
re- release our first LP Peppermint Bird House Tea
Shanty Shack in an edition of 500 records.
12. Any parting words?
DB- Much love to our friends and family in New
Orleans, the greatest city in the US.
AMOS- I love Rose McBurney.
DB- Check out her paintings, she produces in-
credible work! Oh yeah, check out our new CD/
LP on Corleone Records titled, “ Flowers in the
Night,” we’re really happy with how it turned out.
 Deleting the Social Contract: A Young Man’s Trial and Triumph when Tasked with Deleting 101 Facebook Friends
by Tom Connor
Ironically, the basis for this project came from Facebook itself
when a buddy of mine pointed out that, with over 400 people
on my “friends list”, there was no way I was actually “friends”
with all of them. This had never occurred to me before, but
it did make sense: I knew I was friends with a lot of people I
don’t talk to regularly and probably even a few I don’t talk to at
all, so tidying up seemed like a good idea. After all, what ben-
efit is there in keeping someone if they aren’t an actual friend?
Aside from that, there was the appeal of going against the grain
and fighting what seemed to be the meaningless digital social
connections I’d collected since Facebook came to Tulane in
2003. I was never into collecting baseball cards, and keeping
people on my friends list whom I don’t really care about seems
like it’s in the same realm, so with that in mind I sat down to
see if I could get rid of 101 friends, or about 25% of the list.
I approached the first round of friend removal with a plan – it
seemed that the easiest thing to start out with would be to sim-
ply go through my friends list and clear out people who I really
didn’t care about anyway and, with any luck, that would knock
out a majority.
Things went smoothly from the beginning. I found two friends
who each have two profiles for some reason, so for each I
picked one and got rid of it. Along with those were two guys
from high school I hadn’t spoken to since 2003 and Really-Hot-
Girl –I-Used-to-Ride-the-Bus-With (since if I was going to get
a date with her it would have happened by now). Moving fur-
ther down, I deleted two guys with the same name (who wants
to keep track of that?) and TA-from-My-7th-Grade-English-
Class (for no other reason than that his name is impossible to
pronounce). My life was feeling simpler already!
Still, I ran into a problem when I reached the end of the list: I
had only deleted 16 people.
It was apparent that my original estimation of the ease of this
operation was not entirely realistic. I decided to start over, from
the top, a decision which drastically changed the tone of what
I was doing by making it a sobering exercise in acceptance.
Since I had already deleted all of the obvious choices, I was left
only with people that I at one time had some level of fondness
for. Still, I was already into the process and couldn’t just stop.
I had to choose someone, so I got back to work and focused on
those whom I may have wanted to keep originally, but hadn’t
spoken to in a long time.
It started with several former acquaintances, including
Girl-Who-Was-Cool-Until-She-Went-Off-the-Deep-End-
with-Her-Sorority, Coworker-Who-Stopped-Talking-to-Any-
one-After-She-Started-Med-School, and a Rockabilly-Chick-
I-Ate-Lunch-With-a-Few-Times-During-Katrina. I clicked the
gray X next to a few exes of friends as well, and a few girls I’d
had less than platonic relationships with too: specifically, Girl-
I-Made-Out-With-by-a-Christmas-Tree, and Girl-Who-Got-
Really-Drunk-and-Wanted-All-Her-Friends-to-See-Her-Naked.
Call me crazy, but I feel like once you’ve seen someone naked
or had your tongue in her mouth while standing within eight
feet of a nativity scene a Facebook friend request is just com-
mon courtesy, like a kind of digital chivalry, or a tip you give a
waitress. Anyway, after those fine ladies I also removed Friend-
Who-Got-Way-Too-Far-Into-Drugs along with Frighteningly-
Religious-High-School-Friend.
Name after name scrolled by, and each time I saw someone I no
longer had an IRL connection with I deleted them, giving me a
little pang of regret. I don’t know why – I wasn’t actually losing
anything appreciable in my day-to-day life, but I think that little
pinprick was a result of admitting to myself that, though I may
have liked a given person, the fact is that our entire relationship
today exists via a Facebook database and they probably won’t
notice I deleted them anyway. On some level, this is what my
friend was referring to originally, and after deleting around 20
more people I was ready to admit he was right.
Still, there was a bright side: the connection I had with these
people was gone so I had deleted them instead of using Face-
book as a conduit to re-establish that connection, or at least
look at their page and see what they’ve been up to. My first re-
action was to terminate the connection instead of going through
the motions of re-establishing it, and I was elated to realize I
had discovered the internet equivalent of pretending not to see
someone in public.
With about 65 people left to delete, however, things got harder
still as I entered into a bizarre calculus as to who should stay
or go. As I started back at the top of my list, deleting people
was no longer a matter of breezing through and getting rid of
those that met a certain criteria, but more like putting together
a softball team consisting of people I don’t talk to that often – a
group which still had a pretty strong showing on my friends
list.
Should I get rid of Girlfriend’s-Cousin-Whom-I’ve-Never-
Actually-Met, or should I keep her and get rid Awkwardly-Self-
Depreciating-Girl-Who-Makes-Terrible-Life-Decisions? Maybe
keep them both and nix WTUL-DJ-Who-Carried-a-Blanket-
Around-With-Her-All-the-Time (what the hell was that about,
anyway)? Who’s worth more to me as a virtual friend? I kept
the girlfriend’s cousin for relationship political reasons, but got
rid of the other three. I felt like that sort of balanced things out.
Tall-Guy-I-Sat-Behind-In-Physics or Blonde-Girl-Who-Was-
Married-Before-College-Even-Ended? Friend’s-Ex-Girlfriend
or Coworker-Who-Used-Her-Breasts-as-a-Cupholder? The
decisions were tough, but soon I noticed that certain names
brought up oddly visceral reactions, and after a short time I
realized why. Although I’d never noticed before, there were
people on my friends list I didn’t even like. The next step
became clear.
Ardent-Supporter-of-Proposition 8 was the first on the chop-
ping block (screw that guy), followed shortly by Guy-Who-
Claims-to-be-a-Contractor-but-is-Really-Just-Unemployed.
Sarcastic-Bitch-from-my-Shakespeare-Class was gone as
soon as I saw her name pop up, as was Irritating-Wino-Who-
Screwed-a-Mutual-Friend-Out-of-Rent-Money. After those
deletions I relished in the removal of Classmate-Whose-Only-
Ambition-in-Life-Was-to-Become-a-Housewife (who the hell
goes to college for that?).
Suddenly the difficulty was gone. I was really starting to won-
der why the hell I was friends with some of these people. An
interesting new aspect had introduced itself – the schadenfreude
that came with the deletion of people that I didn’t like was deli-
cious and any tinge of regret I had felt before surrendered to the
shallow feeling of my own social power. It no longer felt as if
I was breaking some ephemeral link, but rather I was deem-
ing people unworthy of my digital company and dismissing
them. By the time I reached the end of the list for the third time
I was the doorman to my own awesome online party, even if
that party consisted largely of me sitting quietly in front of my
computer in my boxers with a smug little grin.
After resting for a few days, I relapsed somewhat when I
stumbled across a good friend from elementary school and sent
him a friend request. I guess that sort of defeated the purpose of
the whole thing: after all, I should have been deleting, not add-
ing, but beyond that in the back of my mind laid the nagging
knowledge that I would probably just end up forgetting he was
on there anyway. On some level the happiness of having recon-
nected with someone overpowers all that. It’s what Facebook is
based on: even though I haven’t spoken to this guy in years, I
was genuinely happy to have found him and to see what he was
up to.
I still had to proceed with the removals, however, so I opened
up my friends list and got started. Not many people of note left
the list at first; just more former coworkers, RA-from-Fresh-
man-Year, and Lush-Who-Enjoys-Graphically-Describing-the-
Vivisection-of-Rats, among others.
I suppose I could be melodramatic and claim that with the ego
boost from the other night I had somehow numbed to the fact
I was facing how many atrophied connections make up my
friends list, but the truth is that the ease I found was born of a
realization I had during my break: since most of these people
probably wouldn’t notice I had deleted them, I could always
just re-friend them later and they wouldn’t know the difference.
That emboldened me, but at the same time it made me feel sort
of like a drug addict trying to quit by deleting his dealer’s num-
ber from his phone even though it’s tattooed on his forehead.
What I had done could easily be undone, and more than likely
would be.
As an aside, during this time I also noticed that a few people
I swear I deleted earlier were back on my friends list, which
introduced two disturbing possibilities: either I had been
sleepwalking over to my laptop and re-friending people in the
night or Facebook had become conscious of what I was doing
and was trying to stop me for its own nefarious and disturbingly
unclear reasons. I can’t be sure which, but I unplugged my
modem before I went to bed, just in case.
The next day I sat down to finish the deleting, having taken out
a total of 83 people since the start, but I failed to see the point
and simply stopped. The social connection that exists between
the names on my friends list and I is elastic to the point that my
public acknowledgement of its presence isn’t necessary. Even
if I remove the link, the new social contract is flexible such that
I can come back at any time. I can get rid of Friend’s-Former-
Roomate-With-a-Really-Weird-Nose today, but if I go back and
re-friend her later, the only real requirement of her accepting is
that she recognizes my name. It doesn’t matter that we don’t
have any commonality now, we’ll always have Facebook, and
it’s not my friends list that’s trivial, it’s my denial of the way
things are.
And beyond that, I’ve realized I’m genuinely interested in the
people left on my friends list. It really might be fun to look
back on later, not just to see who has married whom and who
had kids and who vacationed where, but because however
trivial the connection between myself and a person is now, it
was significant at some point, and my removal of that person
(essentially the tacit denial that the connection existed) doesn’t
change the fact it was there, and does even less to change the
fact I can un-deny it at any point. My social rebellion has gone
down in flames before my eyes.
In the end I had to just accept Facebook for what it is – a giant,
constantly updated yearbook that I might as well just enjoy.
That’s not to say I trust it though, because I can’t forget those
people just showing back up on my list – that shit’s just creepy.
MyBestMixCD: Growing Up At WTUL
by DJ BabyBat
WTUL has always been a part of my life. I’ve been a DJ on
WTUL with my dad from the time I was born until I first had my
own show in Spring 2007. This rather short Mix CD is filled with
songs I first heard in the original WTUL basement studio and I’ve
loved throughout my life.
World Cup Fever by Air Miami – This song
was released in 1994 most likely as a tribute
to the World Cup held in the United States that
same year. I still like it now but the repetitive
“She’s got it – world cup fever” lyric drives
me nuts.
Song Against Sex by Neutral Milk Hotel –
Released in 1996, this song is off their album
“On Avery Island”. The Avery Island they’re
referring to is, of course, the island in Louisi-
ana where Tabasco is made. I love this song
now because of the somewhat depressing
lyrics set to upbeat music. I don’t remember
why I liked it as a child but it probably had something to do with
the lyric “kissing foreign fishes.”
Little Babies by Sleater-Kinney – I used to
walk around the house singing “Rock the little
babies with one two three yeah”. I liked the
song then because of the chorus. The chorus is
still the main appeal today.
The Equator by Tortoise – It still baffles me how
I liked this as a child. Again, not sure what the
appeal was but it was probably had something to
do with my father’s obsession with the band. This
reminds me of space elevator music.
You can see this issue of the VOX and past issues on our website at wtul.fm
While I’m Still Young by Death By Chocolate
– The ridiculously catchy lyrics and tune of this
song was the hook. I love this song now be-
cause it sounds like it belongs in the sixties but
the album came out in 2002. This was one of
the last songs I heard in the original basement
before they started construction on it.
On Parade by Electrelane – My father got a
Boston Terrier named Nibbles in 2003 and when
we would go to the station we’d take the dog
with us. One day we noticed this particular song
caused the dog to turn her head constantly with
the music. At the time I loved the song for the
reaction the dog had to it but now Electrelane is
one of my favorite bands.
Sadie by Alkaline Trio – By the time I heard
this song I was old enough to read into lyrics.
This was released in 2005, right after I had just
ended an obsession with cults. This song is
about Susan Atkins who took place in the Man-
son Family murders in the 1960s. This song
singlehandedly turned my fascination with the
Manson cult to disgust at what they had done.
No Children by The Mountain Goats – This was
the first song I got hooked on after we moved
back into the basement. I was a few years late
on this one as it first came out in 2002. I like this
because in many ways it mirrors much of what I
saw in the relationships of adults around me as a
child.
If you would like your best MixCD featured in the next issue of the
VOX please send the playlist with brief descriptions of the tracks/artists
in the above style to voxwtul@gmail.com or to:
the VOX
WTUL New Orleans, 91.5 FM
Tulane University
New Orleans, LA 70118-5555
Offfice: (504) 865-5885
 What’s that Smell? by Kyle Barnett
In the Fall of 2007 I was trying to get my first job in New Orleans. I was ner-
vous because it was my first real job interview following graduation. I woke up
early the morning and took a long shower, scrupulously washing every part of
my body. I brushed my teeth a little extra, I combed my only suit, and looked in
the mirror to make sure there was not a part of my appearance that wasn’t out
of place. It was raining outside, one of those early tropical Fall squalls that run
through the area. When it was finally time to go, I walked out the front door and
stepped straight into a rain soaked pile of dog feces. Preoccupied with thoughts
of the interview, I didn’t notice my mishap until I was already in the car head-
ing to the interview, too late to turn back. This was an important moment for me,
I thought; as I wiped the dog leavings off the bottom of my dress shoes with a
leftover napkin from a fast food restaurant. After getting as much of it off my
shoe as possible, I walked into the boardroom, which was ringed with a panel
of career journalists. I gave one of the most horrible interview appearances of
my life. I didn’t get the job, and although the dog crap sticks out for me as bad
omen, it was really me that lost it.
You know, I really wouldn’t want to pick up the poop of an animal either. So I
don’t, because I don’t have a pet (OK that’s actually only half true, I live with
a pet, but it was my girlfriend’s idea so...). And the number of people who have
dogs in this compact area of the city, Riverbend, is truly astounding. Late at
night we are often awakened by dogs who start barking in the yard behind our
apartment, inciting our other neighbor’s dogs to loudly join in. It is hard to walk
out of the house without running into one of these dogs and their owners and
harder still to find the ones who are letting their animals defecate as they please
- I started paying attention after the interview fiasco. I am assuming that most
dog owners see the poop their animal has just deposited and then look up to see
if anybody else sees the poop. I am sure that they aren’t leaning over to scoop
that stuff up if no one is looking and the problem is not just with one dog owner.
Nearly every block has at least one piece of poop (as an aside I went to Bou-
logne, France about 5 years ago and our problem is nothing compared to theirs)
per block, however, particularly active spots like the strip of grass between the
street and the sidewalk in front of my apartment look like minefields. And then
comes the rain, and then come neighborhood children to play, and then I go to
another big interview, inciting yet another ugly and annoying chain reaction.
So I was well aware of the problem, and was looking out for the offending own-
ers for a confrontation, when I saw the first note as I was walking to Tulane one
day. In bold block type it read “SHIT IN YOUR OWN YARD.” I was perplexed,
especially so because the small image was laminated. It is one thing to write a
note, but to write a note and laminate it means it is meant to withstand the ele-
ments and perhaps even be reused. After I momentarily focused on the note, one
could even say relishing in it, I kept walking. I was caught in a quandary. Was
this simply the work of a lone neighbor sending a message to neighborhood dog
owners or a living art project? The care put into the lamination of the note was
perhaps my biggest wonder. Why did the writer want to keep the note from be-
ing soiled? Weird.
Visit WTUL New Orleans 91.5 FM online at
- WTUL’s free webstream - News - Top Weekly Song Picks - Archived Playlists - DJ Bios -
Apprenticeship Info (How to become a DJ) - WTUL History - Videos - Sponsorship info - Contact info (email addresses) -
Events Calendar - Continually Updated Playlist -
Vox archives from the past 26 years up until this issue - Online donation information
- Current Show & DJ Schedule
Anyway, over the next few weeks the notes started popping up everywhere
within the neighborhood. From Carrollton to Broadway and even further up
Freret. Meanwhile, I began talking to people, my girlfriend first – who had seen
the notes as well, other DJs at WTUL, and law students at Loyola. At first it was
always the same “SHIT IN YOUR OWN YARD”, but as time went on the mes-
sages seemed to be more exasperated.
By the time I found one that said “DOG SPREADS DISEASE” I had been mak-
ing sure to keep my eyes to the ground anytime I walked in the neighborhood,
so as to see the notes or maybe even the person responsible for them. Eventually
though, I ended up spotting more dog feces than notes resulting in the thought
that I should join the cause and produce my own laminated notes. When I found
the new message I felt the stakes had changed. First, this note connoted a sense
of health whereas the other had focused more on propriety – of keeping in one’s
own space. Additionally, it used the singular “dog” where the plural “dogs”
should have been used. “Dogs spread disease” perhaps would have been more
correct, however, this was not the case. The person must be a non-native English
speaker I thought.
Weeks later my suspicions were supported when I spotted another note “DOG IS
A MENACE.” This new note also used “dog” in the singular whereas the plu-
ral ‘dogs’ would have been more appropriate and, in addition, used the unusual
word ‘menace.’ My image of a menacing dog isn’t one hunched over, averting
eye contact; a dog about to drop something seems pretty vulnerable to me. Per-
haps it is the owner who is the menace. In my mind, the word seemed as if it had
been ripped out of a pocket translator. After this came “DOG SHIT SPREADS
ROUND WORM.” This was an even more health-conscious message given the
specific problem cited. So it was confirmed that basic cleanliness and a fear of
germs was probably this person’s angle. Over the remainder of the semester the
notes came and went. I would see old ones with their laminate worn to separa-
tion, moisture-torn on the inside; and then one day I quit seeing them. In the
ensuing four months, I haven’t seen anything and perhaps won’t again. Quite a
mystery.
The most unsettling part is that I don’t know if the messenger was success-
ful in getting through to the dog owners. In my case, the grass strip in front of
the apartment was dug up and the area dogs had to go somewhere else for a
few weeks in the beginning of the summer. Although it was replaced with sod,
the disruption of the dogs’ pattern must have been enough for our area to be
disabused, but as I trek through other areas of the neighborhood they are just
as dirty as ever. Even yesterday I went to the Rite-Aid at Broadway and St.
Charles, and as I was parking my bike out front I saw a line of donut hole-sized
poop nuggets nearly inside the front of the door. As the traffic on St. Charles
rushed by I looked around at the various people walking by, a dog walker in
the neutral ground, and then cashier through the window. I looked down again
hesitantly stepped over the poop and went inside borne through with a feeling of
injustice.
wtul.fm
where you can find:
Becoming a Traitor by Stacey Balkun
It’s three years now I have been living
within these city walls.
I have studied neon, brake lights glowing
in the night, the damp scent of river hidden
beyond a wall of graffiti.
I want to smell the fresh paint
I want to feed small birds french fries
and study their wings, delicate.
I want to find the sunrise, always hiding
behind tall buildings and haloed by ambulance both scrub. Usually, we did these chores at dif-
sirens bleeding into the dawn.
I dream of leaving this loud
behind, I wish to wake in a place
where good mornings are welcomed.
I consider escape, a break free
from the sidewalk grids, but I will never forget thing. Depending on the place, I’ll even wipe
the smells of recycling mornings,
I will not forget my soft arms lifting bags of
trash
to the curb.
I remember sitting on train tracks
at sunset, scratching lotto tickets.
I will remember to always have hope.
I used to dream of trains, of letters
outweighing bills in the mailbox,
whole envelopes of words from you.
I am standing on this city wall
watching the flickers of highway
below, ready to go and holding open
a door for anyone to join me.
Neurosis at its Finest
I have mild OCD. I’m neurotic. I’m moody.
I’m blunt. To those that know me, I’m sure this
comes as a great shock. I carry around disinfec-
tant wipes with me in my man-purse and hand
sanitizer for those moments that a sticky child
may touch me or may attempt to. Between Bri-
an and I, am not sure who scrubbed the board
more with the wipes. We had classical and I
was PD. Between the two of us, we had time.
He took out the trash, I would dust, we would
ferent times. Together, we’d sound like an old,
married gay couple. (He is a dreamboat though)
Having worked in a coffeeshop during
my stay in New Orleans (ps miss you love you
kay?), I now ask other baristas to rinse their
cups in scalding hot water. I’m not risking any-
down the table.
I don’t like bugs. I’m not a critter per-
son. I’m also no longer allowed in the local
Starbucks as one lady had a bug on her face
and I smacked her with my book. Luckily, she
didn’t press charges. I am, however, banned
from the establishment. A shame, really. Now
someone has to drive there for me or if I want
to experience a coffeeshop, I must have some-
one take me to Chattanooga, a good 30 minutes
away. Sorry lady. I was only looking out for
our well-being.
One place I feel like I should worry about
by Robert Kuhn
germs is the hospital. I’ve had five surger-
ies and I’ve had MRSA twice but no, I don’t
care. I am careful about latex as I’m allergic
to it. (As a side note, that makes getting con-
doms difficult.) A cute male nurse came in
and accidently missed the “NO LATEX” sign
on my door and slapped on some latex gloves
to remove a foley catheter. If you don’t know
what that is, Wikipedia it. He went to remove
it and my skin started to swell and got itchy. I
didn’t do anything about it and just blushed.
He blushed. It was out and we were feeling
awkward. It looked like I was mildly aroused .
After explaining the case, I got some drugs in-
jected into me and a nice painkiller. And given
a valium. I never saw the nurse again. Damn
shame.
I carry around mints and gum. I can’t
handle bad breath. If you have it, I will get you.
Warm toilet seats bother me. Toilets in
general bother me. I’m afraid of them. If a toi-
let seat is warm, I will run out of the bathroom
in tears. No joke. Someone once thought there
was a spider. No. It was worse. It was a warm
toilet seat. My mom now warns me. “Honey,
it’s warm.”
Even with my five mood stabilizers, I’m
a mess. My psychiatrist thinks I’m a) a lost
cause and b) going to be as good as I’ll ever get.
And yes, I do take five. They keep me from
burning the house down because I saw a dust
bunny.

The VOX is seeking contributions for the Winter issue, due out January 2010. We
publish submissions from aspiring writers and artists throughout the city, as well as frequent contribu-
tions from WTUL staff and DJs. The VOX is looking for writing interesting enough to be
memorable. Although we mainly serve as a conduit for relaying the voice of WTUL, anything works:
misconnexions, show reviews, interviews, album reviews. And any other views including “My Best
MixCD,” photographs, feature articles, anecdotes, jokes, poems, short stories, creative non-fiction,
short plays, political and cultural satire, comics, photos, art slides, etc. Really anything that can be
viewed 2-D or smashed under the hood of a scanner or photocopier to
make it 2-D. Anyway, when you find out what it is that you want to do send it to:

voxwtul@gmail.com.
 Bitter Ink by Ray “Moose” Jackson & Brian Zeigler
Bitter Ink is born of an aberrant gene
shared by two cousins, both exiled from
Detroit. One went to the land of good gro-
ceries in Vermont and the other to New
Orleans. Mostly Brian draws the pictures,
mails them to Moose and he comes up with
the goofy aphorisms. Except when they’re
together, downing pints and passing notes
back and forth and giggling like schoolbus
drivers on acid. A recent compilation of
Bitter Ink has recently been released by lo-
cal publisher Press Street. The book can be
purchased on their website:

press-street.com

Local Artwork

Adrian Price - part of “Great Tower in Flatland”; Upcoming shows: Kathy Rodriguez - “Craboculars”; Upcoming shows: 2nd Saturday in
2nd Saturday in October at Antenna October at Universal Furniture and 2nd Saturday of November at Front Gallery

Why don’t you quit staring and buy an ad already?

contact us @ voxwtul@gmail.com