Changing Vibes

On a late Sunday afternoon, March 23, 2008, BART took me into San Francisco to see indie-rock band Vampire Weekend play at the Rickshaw Stop. This was my third show at the venue, and I had by then been familiarized with its easily identifiable traits.

On the outside, there exists no real signage marking its location to the random passersby. On the inside, the place has a charming, albeit slightly dirty, dive bar ambiance. It's small, no more then 500 people could comfortably fit inside. Upon entering, a mad dash must be made upstairs to secure an invaluable spot on one of the old sweat-stained couches. Actually enjoying watching concerts inside of a cramped, stuffy and occasionally smelly place probably seems unnatural to some. The general sentiment amongst the young and pretentious hipster contingency that pack in there every single night is that the Rickshaw Stop is the only place to see your favorite band's gig.

This band, during that time, happened to be a favorite of mine. Vampire Weekend was formed Feb. 6, 2006, by lead singer Ezra Koenig. Shortly after their signing onto XL Records and releasing their self-titled debut album Jan. 29, 2008, the band started to obtain a fair amount of commercial success. Vampire Weekend's album peaked at 17 on the Billboard Top 200 and reached 15 on the UK Top Albums Chart. All the unprecedented popularity they garnered from having their singles played on the radio meant one thing in particular; they were too big to play at a venue like Rickshaw Stop ever again.

A great deal of the more pompous crowd at Rickshaw probably lost all interest in the band after having broken the mainstream barrier. There's no point in calling them sell-outs, Vampire Weekend were successful right out of the gates. Having a couple new groupies isn't detrimental as long as the music stays the same. Apparently it has, given the success of their recently released sophomore album, Contra. The tour that the band is doing to promote the album comes to venues that are appropriate to their new status, thus, Rickshaw Stop isn't on the agenda. As chance would have it, a friend approached me with extra tickets to see Vampire Weekend live at Berkley's Greek Theatre last Saturday.

The Greek Theatre in Berkley is a unique venue, to say the least. One of the first major differences is the fact that it's outside, which creates some weird acoustic effects, terrible echoing being one of them. It gives the impression of being a huge colosseum, a place that you're more likely to watch gladiators battle to the death then wimpy indie-rockers perform. Sizeable concrete slabs stretch out from the area in front of the stage to 50 feet behind it, and are built to seat a large amount of people. Even further back than that is a slippery slope covered with grass, comprised of people comfortably sprawled out on picnic blankets and lawn chairs.

Vampire Weekend played well, much in the same way that they did at the Rickshaw. The only problem caused by their mark of fame has been the change of venue. In a venue like this, the intimacy is non-existent. The sheer distance between the concert-goer and the band breaks down any sort of connection. It makes it harder to be genuinely interested when the stage is blockaded by a sea of greasy hair and dancing hippies. Half of the people were more engaged in talking, texting, and getting inebriated in one form or another then actually listening to the music. The crowd of Rickshaw may not be the most pleasant group, but at least they're interested.

The music hasn't changed, but the presence of screaming girls holding up signs with, "I HEART U EZRA!" scribbled on them could potentially be an adverse effect of all that recent attention.

Portrait of a Mexican Crime Scene

Mexico, a place where criminals rule the streets, crime goes unpunished, and the only authority you can rely on is the bullet in your gun.

Thinking of Mexico as this last standing remnant of a wild west makes it seem so much more exciting, doesn't it? I'll be the first to admit that I'm guilty of perceiving Mexico as being a place where crime runs rampant. There's no helping it, the stereotype is everywhere.  The last film that I watched that even bothered to portray Mexico was Sin Nombre. The entire movie revolved around the Mexican criminal gang Mara Salvatrucha and their cruel methods, needless to say, there were killings galore.

So, is there killings galore? According to Carlos González Gutiérrrez, Sacramento's Consul General of Mexico, there isn't. During the speech Gutiérrrez gave in Sacramento State's University Ballroom on Monday, he claimed that the violence that stems out of Mexico's criminal activities effect only a small portion of the population. Out of a recent sample taken of 100,000 Mexican citizens, 10 deaths are labeled as homicides each year. Much lower then Columbia, another place known for its troubles with crime, especially drug trafficking. In Columbia there are 48 murders a year for every 100,000 citizens.

"The Mexican government has been successful so far in their efforts in stomping out crime," Gutiérrrez said with a seemingly confident tone.

It is something worth being concerned about, as Mexico has had an extremely aggravating time in dealing with crime in the past, and it continues to. According to the Mexican Crime report of 2009, the unreported crime rate could be as high as 85 percent. Organized gangs and drug cartels in Mexico still account for most of the heroin, cocaine and marijuana brought into the United States. Political corruption has only recently been a problem brought to the surface, and has adversely effected the way crime has been dealt with in Mexico.

And with border security remaining just as high, apparently our government still perceives there being a threat on the other side.

As bad as it may be, it's good that somebody is at last trying to fight back. Before Monday's speech, I was just another one of those stereotypical people that believed that the place was just letting criminals run amok. Gutiérrrez gave me a more accurate picture of the modern Mexico, and how they've been just as fed up with the problem as how they've been pigeonholed. Assuredly Gutiérrrez knows how difficult fighting back crime in Mexico will be, and that's why it's especially important for people to know that its being fought.

During his speech Gutiérrrez said, "As the levels of violence go up, our efforts to prevent it increase as well." He continued on to mention how conflict, and bloodshed, was inevitable. There is a war raging between criminals and law enforcement right now in Mexico. If Mexico's authorities are being as vigilant as they'll need to be to put an end to crime in Mexico, then this certainly isn't going to bode well for the Mara Salvatrucha.

Sac State's Annual Kool-Aid Acid Test

When Monday's Column Writing class turned out to be attending some unexplainable, seemingly outlandish event going on in the University Union, the balloons and confetti that I found littering the campus made more sense. The uncharacteristic amount of people flooding into and out of the Union made more sense as well.

There were students that were giggling, damn near frolicking coming out of the place. Students would enter in looking only to eat score some quick and greasy food, but come out of the other side looking like they just got back from the carnival. No one is ever this excited about the Union. I followed a trail of cheap jungle decorations and discarded balloons to investigate.

As I enter into the Union, I find myself beset by the over-saturation of bodies crowding and blocking the pathways of the first floor. This loud, unmovable mob had faces filled with expressions of child-like glee. Some of the heads jutting out of the crowd were adorned with extravagant balloon hats, which were being worn with a reasonable amount of pride. After squeezing through the crowd, I come face to face with a gentleman that appears to be sporting a lion's mane on his head. Its right about then that I think to myself, "Okay, this just got trippy."

Above me, little inflatable monkeys and artificial vines hung low enough to brush through my hair. Blown-up balloon flowers and balloons with animal prints were spread throughout the room. There were desks set up in awkward positions, nearly all of which had people clamoring around them. Students were rushing around, having their "game card" stamped at every notable location in the Union. Signs promised prizes for completing a game card, expensive items like video game consoles, iPods and mountain bikes.

All of the chaos was distracting me from the task at hand, I had to remain focused. I came to be a journalist, it was time to ask questions. My first thought is to find the culprit behind all of this sensory overload. Surely enough, in the middle of the room I find a man vigorously twisting and tugging at balloons, forming them into peculiar shapes. His placement in the room made him the center of attention, so it seemed only natural to get his story.

The problem was, the man had a line that stretched across the room. All students eager and willing to patiently wait for a chance at one of those extraordinary balloons. So I, not wanting to rudely interrupt the delicate art of ballooning, waited in line as well. It gave me the opportunity to observe his work, and realize just how incredible it really was.

Students were asking for their favorite characters and animals to be reinterpreted as balloons. I watched in awe as he created the most intricate balloon version of a Ninja Turtle you could ever imagine. Most the people in line were discussing how impressive his stuff was. However, some things requested by students didn't seem to translate well into balloon art. A textbook, for example, does not make for a good balloon.

I reached the front of the line after what felt like a lifetime of watching air being blown into rubber. The balloon artist was Richard Jimenez, who turned out to be an extremely friendly guy. The answers to my questions would come slowly, only between breaks he took from breathing into the balloon. Apparently he has been perfecting the craft of balloon art for a long time, over 15 years. Jimenez also entertains at parties as a disk jockey, and no, he doesn't do clown stuff.

What balloon did I ask for? Well, I figured to commemorate the occasion I would get the fishing pole that Phlagleblast's Sasquatch-like mascot was holding. It was only one of the estimated 3,000 balloons Jimenez made that day.

I entered into Phlagleblast with absolutely no expectations to speak of, which may account for why I left feeling so enlightened. More strange and random things need to be going on at the campus, I approve of this.

Questions That Arise From The Second Saturday Shootings

One man was killed, Victor Hugo Perez Zavala, 24, and several others were wounded in midtown, on J and 18th street. This was Sunday, Sep. 12, when multiple shots were fired in a crowd of people outside of one of midtown's bars, The Streets of London.

This unfortunate mob of people was just a small part of the 15,000 people that are brought to midtown the second Saturday of each month. Second Saturday was originally created to be an event for artists to showcase their work in galleries and to attract customers to the local businesses of the area. The "Art Walk" has been a staple of Sacramento's culture for years.

It took this shooting for the city to start asking the question; what has Second Saturday become? According to many Sacramento residents, the purpose of this art walk has been corrupted over the years. What was once a festivity to celebrate art and music, has over time become an opportunity to glorify boozing to your heart's content.

But, what is really to blame? Through reading the article written on the event, the general sentiment was that it was the ever-changing crowd that Second Saturday brings in that is causing all of the chaos. Running the risk of sounding completely politically-incorrect, it seems like the elephant in the room is the growing "young and ghetto"conglomerate in midtown.

If that really is the problem, then most people would say the solution is to bring in more law enforcement. Devoting our resources to doing things such as: Setting up checkpoints, disallowing open bottles and cans on the street, and breaking up large groups and fights. These things would help, that I have no doubt of. What I have doubts of is whether this would really stomp out the wildfire that spreads during Second Saturday.

The real problem lies in the design of the event.  As the article itself explained, earlier then 11 p.m., there was no problems really worth speaking of. This is when Second Saturday is supposedly already over. Which means that after that, once all the party poopers have gone to bed, an unrelated but entirely intoxicated event begins. An event that involves an excess of alcohol, big egos clashing together and the inevitable aggressive behavior that follows. What do you expect to happen when you mix these things together into one big alcoholic concoction?

Second Saturday has spawned a completely different calamity, and it has had detrimental results. Obviously, bars and other businesses that stay open for the belligerent party-goers appreciate the profits. On the other hand, the victims of this shooting and the neighborhood are suffering due to Second Saturday's evil twin. With the vast amount of people that flock to midtown, from Sacramento or elsewhere, there is bound to be public safety issues.

Maybe it's time to give the city a break, and keep Second Saturday limited to its original intent, art and music. There is a time enough for getting smashed, save the partying for St. Patricks Day or New Years Eve. However, is the city willing to sacrifice all the extra business that generates from selling alcohol in order to the peace of our city intact?

When Kevin Johnson says that he wants to preserve Second Saturday, my question is, which Second Saturday is he referring to?