Review:

Mansions, The Front Bottoms, Bluebird Midwest, Look Out Loretta

The Smiling Moose, Tuesday 1/24

The upstairs room at the Smiling Moose on a Tuesday evening is not the most crowded place in the world. People have work and classes, and not many care to come out to see a show. Those who did come to the venue last Tuesday at around 6:30, though, were in for quite a treat. The dimly-lit little room became the backdrop for a very enthusiastic night of indie-punk music featuring local acts Look Out Loretta and Bluebird Midwest as well as touring headliners The Front Bottoms and Mansions. All-in-all, the show was dynamite.

Upon arrival, there were only maybe 5 other people there. The air smelled faintly of smoke and sweat and there was equipment piled by the stage. By the time the first band, Look Out Loretta, came on, the number of people hadn’t even doubled. The band played a good set full of Wonder Years-style pop punk, complete with strong harmonies and loud guitar playing. The band was a bit stiff at first, but managed to loosen up by the end – by which time there was a decent addition to the crowd.

After they finished and got offstage, one man got up there alone with his acoustic guitar. Tall, awkward-looking, black-haired, and wearing a very interesting black shirt featuring a grizzly bear, the man sat down on a stool and checked his microphone. Roger Harvey, member of local punk rock band White Wives, played an emotionally-charged acoustic set under the name Bluebird Midwest. His solemn voice, reminiscent of Conor Oberst’s, was powerful and soft all at once, floating from melody to melody effortlessly. The songs were powerful, and he even did a cover of Woodie Guthrie’s “Deportee”, a song that Harvey described as “the saddest song ever written.” The crowd clearly enjoyed his set, though by the end everybody seemed to be ready to move around to some faster, more energetic music.

Thankfully, The Front Bottoms were on next and they certainly delivered. For a band with only two members, they really rocked out. Their energy was owed in part to drummer Matt Uychich, who also operated a slew of pre-programmed beats, horn sections, and other various odds and ends on a Macbook perched next to his drumkit – a very interesting addition to the songs that brought a lot of fun to the tunes. Most of the audience at least nodded their heads along to the driving beats, which is a lot to say for a standard concert audience. It seems even the most droll, statue-like crowd members couldn’t resist the Front Bottoms’ punk-pop jams, all of which have fantastic lyrics as well as being packed with ferocity. The band closed with their ridiculously catchy “Maps”, even calling up a second drummer to play a second drum kit for some extra percussive power.

The second drummer turned out to be the drummer for Mansions, the headlining band. Featuring primary member/creative mind Christopher Browder on vocals and guitar as well as a bass player and aforementioned drummer, Mansions spat out an extremely raw and inspired set that showcased some of their best musicianship. The punk rock/emo band also occasionally indulged in some stage banter, such as when they got into a conversation with an audience member about the board game Sorry!, in which they had apparently competed against The Front Bottoms members the night before while hanging out.

“Who won?” asked the audience member.

“They beat us in Sorry!,” replied Browder. “But we beat them in watching The Bachelor.”

“I can’t believe you just brought that up,” said the band’s bass player as she shook her head and smirked.

After bantering and playing a set full of some of their best songs (including the spirited “Seven Years”) while the crowd jumped and cheered, two of the band members left the stage. Christopher Browder remained onstage alone, and closed out the evening with a solo rendition of the snappy, bitter “The Worst Part” from the album New Best Friends. It was the perfect, calmer resolution to a high-octane night in the upstairs room of a South Side bar on a Tuesday night.

You let us know who you liked and here are the results. Thanks for voting!

 The Ears of PJ Best Music Show

What's Good, Point Park? (with Liz Layhew & heather Spirik)

The Ears of PJ Best Talk Show

The WPPJ Morning Show (with Wayne Weil & Nate Zerambo)

The Ears of PJ Best Sports Show

The Last Word (with Kevin Calhoun, Aaron Cooney, Andy Schacht, and Patty Dixon)

The Ears of PJ Best DJ

Kevin Calhoun (host of the Last Word and Point Park Sportsbeat)

The Ears of PJ Best Overall Show

The Last Word (with Kevin Calhoun, Aaron Cooney, Andy Schacht, and Patty Dixon)

It has been a great semester bringing you the latest in all things Point Park Sports here are Point Park Sportsbeat.

On last week’s show Kevin Calhoun was back to talk Point Park Sports with Matt Desmond.

The guys started out by discussing Point Park Men’s Basketball and the road ahead. They broke down T.J. Heatherington (who leads NAIA Division II in points per game) and the game winning shot he hit to defeat Fisher College. The team is currently 7-5 on the season and do not play again until early January.

The next topic up for discussion was the Point Park Women’s Basketball Team and their road ahead. The team had just won an 80-56 contest over Fisher and Kevin and Matt focused on Ashley Campbell who was making her season debut after being on the Point Park Volleyball team during the fall sports season. Campbell led scorers with 11 points in the game. Currently the team stands at 5-4 on the season and next play tomorrow against Carnegie Mellon University.

All in all the fall sports season was a great one.

The volleyball team finished 36-6 and made it to nationals for the first time in their history. Their matches in the Student Center were the first to be played on campus by a sports team, and helped raise awareness for Point Park sports. The team will lose only two seniors and will largely return led by AMC Player of the Year Lindsey Oberacker as well as right side hitter Brittany Lhota, All-AMC setter Tayler Pugliese and a defense which includes Amanda Ardinger, M.J Gillooly and libero Alyssa Hall.

The men’s soccer team finished 12-5-1 good enough for first in the conference. Their ability to host the AMC Tournament was great in helping to establish an identity for Point Park sports. Among those expected back are midfielder Alex Sala who has made his mark with consistent play, and Lucas Silva and Wendelin Hobel who led the team in goals and assists.

The women’s soccer team finished 4-15 but performed better than their record indicates. They made the playoffs in Head Coach Mark Platt’s second year and their future looks very bright. The team will lose senior Lauren Evans but otherwise return all of their starters who were either freshmen or sophomores. These include Kristina Stammer, Kileigh Williams and goalkeeper Anna Shaw.

While both cross country teams lost their lead runners to injury early in the year, it allowed for Keri Rouse and Dylan Grunn to become leaders on this team, something which should continue in fall 2012.

Lastly, both the men’s and women’s golf teams experienced several milestones. For the women, they achieved their best team score ever, and in their last tournament, October 15^th in Grove City, the team won their first ever tournament. The team from top to bottom made great contributions, but freshmen Caroline Collins consistently scored lowest for the team. For the men, it was a great season and they won a 36 hole tournament in Mount Union which took place September 25^th and 26^th.  Austin Elder was the leader of the team and won two tournaments.

All in all, it was a great fall sports season and it was great to get to make WPPJ history by having the first ever all Point Park sports radio show. We hope you enjoyed tuning in each week to get your Point Park sports fix and hope that you tune in again next semester. Thanks so much for your support.

Val Pal from 11/7/11

Val Pal from 10/24/11

To Val Pal’s offical Facebook page just click here

• Listeners will be prompted to like/comment on a certain post on the WPPJ Radio page on Facebook for a chance to win a pair of tickets to go see Anti-Flag at Mr. Smalls in Pittsburgh during the Saturday November 26th, 2011 show (at 6:30pm).

https://www.facebook.com/wppjradio

• Two winners will be randomly selected

• WPPJ is not responsible for lack of Internet connection, inability to log in to Facebook, or any other technical problem that prevents you from posting a comment.

• Winners will be contacted about how to pick up their prize.

• WPPJ is not responsible for the cancellation of the concert, nor refund if the tickets are lost or stolen

This contest is brough to you by Reybee Production

WPPJ GENERAL CONTEST/SWEEPSTAKES RULES

I.    Eligibility 

1)      Unless otherwise stated, contests/sweepstakes are open only to  students, alumni, faculty, and staff of Point Park University. This includes Undergraduate, Accelerated, and Graduate students both full time and part time.

2)      Students include both commuters and residents.

3)      Any student who has been an active WPPJ member within at least the last semester of the current one is NOT eligible. Being an WPPJ member includes holding a Board or Executive position within the station or working under at least one of the departments: On-Air, Sports, News, Production, Music, and any other department that may become necessary to add to the organization’s structure in the future.

4)      The immediate family, which includes spouses, siblings, parents and legal guardians, children and legal wards, grandparents, grandchildren, including “in-laws”, of an active WPPJ member  as described is also not eligible to participate.

5)      A winner may only receive ONE prize per semester and is NOT eligible to enter a contest/sweepstake until that time frame is complete.

II. How to Enter. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. 

1)      Listeners will be prompted to either to call the On-Air studio at (412) 392-4723  or register for the contest /sweepstake online at WPPJRadio.com.

2)      Announcements will be said on-air detailing instructions on how to enter the contest. Specific details on the contest/sweepstake rules will also be posted on the WPPJRadio.com website.

3) Some contests/sweepstakes will require listeners to actively participate in social media sites, including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube. Participants will be expected to own account for the appropriate site.

  III. Contest Entries

1)     Late submissions will NOT be accepted – no exceptions.

2)             All contest entries will become property of WPPJ Radio. The original creator will receive credit but not ownership over the entry.

3)     Entries will be critiqued by members of WPPJ Radio, – in other words, by participating in a WPPJ hosted contest you accept  the fact the WPPJ staff will play the role of judges.

4)     Entries cannot and will not be returned.

IV. Prize Pick-Ups

1)     Prizes must be picked up within 30 days at the WPPJ studios located on the 2nd floor of Lawrence hall (office hours are subject to change – the official hours are posted on the website) after the announcement of the winner. Failure to do so will result in forfeiting the prize.

2)     WPPJ is not responsible for lost, damaged, or stolen items that were originally given out as prizes. Furthermore, WPPJ holds no obligation for injury that results in the use of the product won.

3)     Winners cannot receive replacement tickets to a concert that were cancelled due to the artists’ decision or bad weather.

4)      Prizes must be picked up and will not be delivered. Winners will be asked to show a photo ID during the pick up.

5)     Prizes are non-transferable  or exchangeable and cannot be substituted.

V. Contacting WPPJ During a Contest/Sweepstake

1)         WPPJ Radio will not be responsible for errors, problems or delays in the mail or telephone systems that may prevent callers or entries from reaching WPPJ Radio.

2) If caller gets disconnected for any reason before their name and phone number have been recorded, another call will be taken for the prize.

1)     WPPJ Radio is not responsible to any technical failures (software, hardware, loss of network connection, etc.) that may limit a person’s ability to participate in an online contest.

VI.  Other Rules

2)     Any contest in which listeners are directed to “be the first caller when you hear a song” by a specific artist (or a specific song), clips of songs played as part of a promo or commercial, or as a bed, that contain music from the designated artist WILL NOT count. Only full recordings of specific songs or songs from a specific artist will qualify.

3)     The odds of winning varies depending on the number of eligible entries.

4)     Only ONE entry per person is allowed per contest/sweepstake, unless otherwise stated.

5)     WPPJ deserves the right to cancel any promotional contest/sweepstake while the contest/sweepstake is still ongoing. WPPJ also deserves the right to disqualify any entry due to lack of eligibility.

6)  The above rules are subject to change. Changes may take place without warning and will be posted on the website as soon as the change is effective.

    Kevin Calhoun was away covering Point Park Men’s Basketball in New York, so I took his spot as host alongside Matt Desmond.

We spent the first segment discussing the PPU Men’s Soccer. The team went into the AMC Tournament ranked first and receiving home field advantage for the tournament. While they ultimately lost in the finals on Saturday, we broke down the tournament and what the team needed to do to win.

The second segment was spent discussing PPU Women’s Soccer and their matchup against top ranked Houghton. While they ended up losing the match, Matt and I broke down the tournament and what was the tough task of beating the ranked Houghton team.

We then switched into a little PPU Volleyball and previewed the match on that day, Senior Day against Houghton and also AMC Tournament which was played at the Student Center.

We then spent the last segment previewing PPU Men’s and Women’s Basketball and the keys to success for both teams in a wide open AMC Conference.

Today’s show promises to be a good one, as likely topics of discussion include the end of the PPU Soccer seasons, PPU Volleyball winning the AMC Tournament and how the PPU Men’s and Women’s Teams have fared so far. Add that in with maybe a sprinkle of national sports and you might have this week in Point Park Sportsbeat.

Be sure to listen to Point Park Sportsbeat Fridays from 2-3 PM on the voice of Point Park 670 AM WPPJ Radio.

Point Park Campus News 11/7 – 11/13

Members of The Body Christian Fellowship are inviting students to participate and give thanks for our many blessings at a Thanksgiving Prayer Breakfast. The event will take place at 7a.m. on Thursday, November 10^th in 701 Student Center. Space is limited, so reserve as spot by RSVPing to Katherine Sikma at ksikma@pointpark.edu

Do you wish you knew about your creative career? On Friday, November 11^th you could find out. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Carnegie Mellon University, students of majors such as Performing Arts to Advertising and Marketing can learn about their future through Keynote Speakers, Panel Presentations and a Networking Reception with all panelists.  Students even have the ability to win a 1 on 1 informational interview with a professional of their choice! Admission price to the event is $10 and free shuttles will be provided to Carnegie Mellon. For more information on the panelists or to register for the event, go to http://sites.google.com/site/creativecareersseminar. Or you can email Career Counselor Amy Bittner at abittner@pointpark.edu.

With Spring scheduling right around the corner, Communication Students have a brand new opportunity available for them. Six classes are coming together to create a new multiplatform media initiative, as a part of the Point Park News Service. These classes will work together all semester to produce stories in a multimedia way. Classes will work both inside the classroom with the teacher and outside of the classroom with a team of students. Completed projects will be published to the Point Park News Service website, making them available for local and national publication opportunities. Participating classes include JOUR 260 DA – Reporting, JOUR 280 DA – Multimedia, JOUR 306 DA – Social Media, JOUR 314 DA – News Service, JOUR 315 DA – Photojournalism, and JOUR 329 DA – Video Production II. All courses meet on Tuesday and Thursdays.

Point Park IT Services sent an email out this past week in response to false emails being sent. Another fake email message stating it is from the Point Park IT Services has been circulating on campus. These messages usually state something about expiring accounts or upgrading systems and then request your password or other personal information. Emails like these are not messages from the IT Services or Point Park University. The IT Service staff will never ask you to send your passwords or other confidential personal information. If you receive one of these messages, the IT Services recommend you do not respond and that you delete it immediately. Questions and concerns can be sent to the Computer Help Desk at 412-392-3494 or by email at helpdesk@pointpark.edu.

On Wednesday, November 9^th, United Student Government will be holding their semesterly forum. This semester’s theme is Nostalgia night, focusing on what it was like to be a kid growing up in the nineties. The event will feature classic games from the 90’s, television shows we all grew up with, and a taco bar that will be completely free. The intentions of the event are for students to meet and greet with members of USG and to voice their concerns about what could be changed here at Point Park. USG stated in their bi-weekly newsletter, “This is the only way that we can start to make real change. It all starts with the student voice. Without you, we have nothing. The administration listens to us when they believe we have your support. We need you behind us to make anything happen.”

The Second floor of the Student Center has four new additions to the exciting floor. With the help of USG, four touch screen computers have been installed. The hope is to draw even more students to the center by enticing them with recreational computers and to give students a chance to get away from reserved computers for academic work to a place that will be there at their leisure. USG stated in their bi-weekly newsletter, “Student government has been working to find ways to try and get more students to use the lounge on the second floor of the student center.” Even though the computers are installed and working, the formal unveiling will be at the Fall Forum on November 9^th.

The senators of USG have big decisions to make when it comes to the bus subsidy cuts. At the beginning of this semester $18,000 out of the USG budget – which consists of 11 percent of the total student activity fee monies – was recommended for the bus pass subsidies. Business At-Large Senator Jon Morgan along with several other senators proposed that the allocation be cut by $5,000 due to statistics revealing that many students were not buying the passes in recent semesters and the program only benefits a limited number of students. On Monday, Jon Bucci asked the senators to provide three different proposals that the Finance Committee will discuss during their Friday meeting concerning changes to the bus pass subsidy program. The first proposal is to put the bus pass subsidy back to the $18,000 that was originally allocated due to the fact that clubs don’t use as money in the spring semester. And the third proposal was to create a compromise between the first two proposals, or to push the funds to the Office of Commuter Affairs. USG is working with Port Authority to determine how Point Park can have a transit agreement like local schools such as Pitt and Carnegie Mellon. The current agreement with the Port Authority is actually a gift. To get access to free buses like Pitt, Point Park students would have to start paying a transportation fee. Each Pitt student pays 90 dollars each semester, equaling 6 million dollars a year. USG’s Legislative Body will put these proposals to a vote this Monday at 3 p.m. in room 701 of the Student Center.

The lawsuit filed against Point Park University, and set to go to trial, was settled late Monday on confidential terms, as reported in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Betty L. Davis, a former senior director of Student Financial Services, accused Point Park of inaccurately distributing federal student aid and was fired because of her knowledge. The university denied these claims. The Globe previously reported that Davis filed the claim 14 months ago, and it was given the go-ahead for trial by U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab on Oct. 17 since Davis provided evidence supporting her allegations. As of Tuesday morning, both Davis and the university have yet to approve a stipulation of dismissal.

On Tuesday November 8, The Global Cultural Studies Lecture Series will continue with the lecture of the month. Dr. Robert Ross, the assistant professor of global cultural studies will be speaking about “Waiting for War (and other Strategies to Stop Gentrification): The Case of Ras Beirut.” Each of the presentations of the series will take place in JVH Auditorium in Thayer Hall at 6 p.m. The event is open and free to all.

]]> http://wppjradio.pointparkjournalism.com/blog/point-park-campus-news-by-elizabeth-layhew-5/feed 0 http://wppjradio.pointparkjournalism.com/blog/what-happened-during-the-31st-rock-a-thon http://wppjradio.pointparkjournalism.com/blog/what-happened-during-the-31st-rock-a-thon#comments Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:31:55 +0000 Coral Pragier http://wppjradio.pointparkjournalism.com/?p=2487 Continue reading]]> What happened during the 31st Rock-A-Thon?
In case you missed it, here’s a small recap of the highlights during the 67 hours of Pure College Radio Insanity:
• Kevin and Andy (our Last DJ Standing competitors) went from totally pumped to totally pissed off to totally “I don’t care” to totally passed out.

• Getting hit by a Nerf Dart became as common as blinking.

• Arguments were settled with foam noodle duels.

• Whipped cream stains were left on the walls for days

• Professional Air Guitarists were born

•The Rock-A-Thon (yeeeaaaah!) theme song became scarred in our brains. Permanently.

• Andy enjoyed a fancy date with Wayne

• Aramark didn’t complain about us being too loud because it, quote “ looked like [we] were having too much fun”

Oh and we raised over $400 for The Early Learning Institute! Thank you everyone for your continued support throughout the years during this annual fundraiser!