Bye, Cincy

 

 As all good things come to an end, the time has now come for me to say goodbye to Cincinnati, the city that has been my home for the past six months. Even being the travel-addict that I am, saying goodbye to places and people that I have come to love is always hard for me. Therefore, the last few days before leaving a place are also the most stressful— not because I have to prepare for my trip or pack my suitcase, but because there are always still so many things that I just HAVE to do before I leave (with so little time). I leave Cincinnati in five days to fly back to Germany, and I have only worked my way through half of the things on my to-do-before-I-leave list. There are still so many restaurants that I haven't tried, so many museums that I haven't had a chance to see, and so many places to visit in and around Cincinnati that I simply won't be able to get to before I take off. On the other hand, I realize just how many wonderful things I have done in Cincinnati in only six months: I have eaten my way through most of the local chili parlors, I have enjoyed many many nights of great live music, I have been to a baseball game for the first time in my life, I have discovered Frisbee golf as my new favorite sport, I have shot a potato gun, I have tried some original Kentucky bourbon, I have learned how to navigate the streets of Cincinnati (and how to avoid the holes in them), I have come to know quite a bit about the city's German heritage, and most importantly, I have met some wonderful and delightful people that will always have a place in my heart, no matter where I go. However, my Cincinnati experience hasn't always been smooth. There have definitely been some bumps in the road. Especially during my first few months here, I had a hard time adjusting to the Midwest lifestyle of Cincinnati. I hated the oppressive heat outside and the freezing air-conditioned rooms inside; I hated the fact that I had to drive everywhere and couldn't just take a bus or walk as I had done for the past five years; and I hated that everybody always seemed to talk about sports and I was the only one who didn't have a clue. I was desperate: “How am I going to make it through the next six months?!” My friends tried to cheer me up: “Give it some time! Cincinnati is a city that grows on you. You'll see!” In the end, they were right! The longer I stayed and the more of the city's hidden charm I discovered, the better it got. Cincinnati not only grew on me, it won my heart. Now, six months later, I wish I didn't have to leave so soon. A friend I met traveling once said to me: “Don't be upset about all the things you didn't manage to do in a place. See them as an opportunity to return.” In this spirit I can only say: Farewell, Cincinnati. Thank you so much for the wonderful time, and don't worry – I'll be back!

Cincinnati's favorite mascot: Pigs

The GWAR experience

It was a rainy afternoon in Santiago, about 2 years ago, when my boyfriend popped the question: "Have you ever heard of GWAR?" - War what??? That was all he needed to hear and before I knew it, I was watching GWAR videos on Youtube, one of them was of a giant spider/ant/space alien sitting on a chair and talking to Jerry Springer about rock concerts and blood. What had I gotten myself into??? Turns out that GWAR is a metal band from Virginia and they have been around since the mid 80s. Wikipedia calls them "a satirical" metal band, probably because their trade mark is to dress up in fantasy animal costumes and spray fake blood into the audience. I guess that's what the British might call a bloody show ...
Fast forward two years. It is the year 2013, I am in Columbus, Ohio. I am surrounded by metal aficionados (most of them male, and most of them have longer hair than me), and we are all waiting for one thing: GWAR. Admittedly, I am not the biggest fan of cookie monster music (although it has its moments), but I sure love a good show, and after all the YouTube videos I have seen, I REALLY want to see GWAR live and in concert! Since everybody knows that we are all going to be spray-painted, most people are wearing white (come to think of it, this is probably the only metal concert I have ever been to where I have seen more people wear white than black ... or any white at all).
And here they come, the one and only, the mighty ... GWAR. From a more objective perspective, I am seeing a bunch of people on stage dressed up as giant insects. They yell something about attack and aliens (I think...), and then the (g)war already begins: The giant insects play their instruments as if their life depends on it. In the course of the concert, they dissect and kill various other creatures, and spill their "blood" into the audience. I am trying to stay close enough to the stage to catch some "blood" and get a cool pattern on my shirt, and at the same time I want to keep my distance from the mosh pit. (My tip: If you want to get a piece of the action, but not be torn INTO pieces, the safest place at a heavy metal concert is the couple corner, where the boyfriends want to stay close to the pit, but still form a wall to protect their girlfriends.) While GWAR is screaming and shouting and rocking it out on stage, people are going wild in the audience. I am not sure which show is more entertaining: the giants in costumes on stage or the massive show the fans put on that involves screaming, jumping, pushing, shoving and spilling beer all over me. Everything is happening at once. It is loud, it is massive, it is metal, it is GWAR. It is awesome! The only thing I didn't like is that with everything going on on and off stage, it is hard sometimes to pay attention to the music, which is a shame because, dramatic show effects aside, GWAR knows how to make good metal music! Oh well, I guess, I just have to throw myself into the metal madness and the only thing I can tell you for sure after the concert is that I am one colorful, beer smelling, but somehow ecstatic and happy mess!

Some Music and a Whole Lot of Noise

There is music, and then there is noise. At least that's what I thought until very recently. But apparently, things have changed in the 2.0 world and now noise has become music. If you are thinking of noise music as groups  of young men that perform with wooden sticks on garbage can on the streets, you got it all wrong. According to Wikipedia, in noise music NOISE is the primary aspect of the sound and this includes pretty much anything, such as:

...live machine sounds, non-musical vocal techniques, physically manipulated audio media, processed sound recordings, field recordings, computer generated noise, stochastic processes and other randomly produced electronic signals such as distortion, feedback, static, hiss and hum.

So while noise might seem to some like a bunch of people who don't know how to play an instrument or sing, but want to be musicians, to others it is actually a sophisticated musical style.

Dear reader, if you know ask yourself: "Why the hell is she theorizing about noise music??" I am trying to set up a theoretical, sound background because from here on, it's going to get craaaaaazy, (well, somewhat) and I always feel that it helps to help some science to hold on to when the world is going mad around you.
Let's beam ourselves to Dayton, Ohio on a late summer night. What seems like a small, sleepy town will become the Pungent Dungeon. Literally, because that is exactly the name of the place/house/basement where we are headed. WE includes: my boyfriend and me, our friend G - who is actually going to perform at the noise concert - his dog Guapo (imagine an overly eager BIG and HEAVY puppy riding in the back with you, and ON you, while occasionally spreading his saliva all over you) and two other friendly fellows, C. and A, who are by the way BOTH allergic to dogs. Finally at the Pungent Dungeon, WE humans and the dog are probably equally happy to get out of the car and into the (drum roll): dark dungeon! Dark because the first thing I see is 6 guys, sitting on the couch, all dressed in black. Pretty soon it becomes obvious that is is the way to dress and look at a noise party, if you are male: long, messy hair; facial hair is a plus, biker jeans and a jeans vest (!!) and a black T-shirt with some obscure band name written on it. If you are a girl, at least at this noise party, it seems you're there because of your boyfriend. I spot a total of maybe 20-30 guys and about 4 girlfriends (including me). We are all standing, sitting, lounging around in a Christmas lights lit basement (the infamous Pungent Dungeon) and everything is slightly foggy because this place is clearly an all-smoking zone. Everybody's waiting for the noise to start.
G. is the first one up - and I am actually impressed. He manages to mix sounds from a tape recorder, feedback, his voice on a loop and drum beats to a very entertaining musical experience. Unfortunately, this is already as good as it gets. G's act is followed by the probably most boring use of distortion pedals I have ever heard, only to be exchanged for the most disturbing use of distortion pedals that I have ever heard. There seems to be some unwritten law though that you cannot leave during a performance. Not because it might seem impolite, mainly because it's interpreted as weak. You cannot show that the noise, as much as it might hit the most sensitive nerves in your ear, got to you and you gave in. You just have to listen through it. Luckily, I have this really bad habit of looking through people's drawers in the bathroom, and here I find: ear plugs! At this point, I am ready to glorify and worship the person who invented ear plugs. With the help of my little friends in my ear, I actually make it through the rest of the concert. On the way out, I run into another girlfriend. She seems really upset: "My boyfriend's in there, doing what he loves most - talking about himself. So I left." I am not sure what to say, we seem past the point of saying "hi", introducing ourselves and exchanging basic information. So I simply ask: "That sucks. Which one is your boyfriend?" She explains: "The one with the jeans vest, the black T-shirt and the beard." "Ohhh, HIM!" Luckily, our little group has gathered around me, including a ready-to-roll Guapo, and saves me from having to guess which one of the 20 guys that fit the girl's description is the egocentric boyfriend. We are ready to leave the world of noise music.
Well, Pungent Dungeon, it was a pleasure, thank you for the musi... NOISE! I am not quite sure what kind of experience it was but it was definitely an experience! One, I wouldn't want to miss!

Interested in the obscure sounds of the Pungent Dungeon? Check out this short clip: