This week on MK’s Corner I was happy to have entertainment journalist Adam Bernard on the show to talk about music, pop culture, journalism, Hurricane Sandy, WVOF and anything else that happened to pop into my head. He showed up wearing a cool band t-shirt and a smile, ready to talk about anything and everything I wanted to. “It’s your show,” he kept saying. “You call the shots.”
I first met Adam during a news writing class at Fairfield University where he came in as a guest speaker to talk to journalism students about what it’s like to be an entertainment writer. He talked about a variety of things, ranging anywhere from the various artists he’s met, to the roller coaster nature of being a freelance writer, to the fun and unique lifestyle that comes with being a full-time journalist. I ended up writing an article about his thoughts on blogging and how his blog, Adam’s World, has helped him land jobs throughout his career.
Anyway, when I had Adam on the show last night I didn’t want it to be an interview (which was kind of a selfish move, because I already knew way too much about him and didn’t want to be bored.) Instead, I wanted it to be a general discussion between two people who both happen to love music and writing. When it got down to it however, we talked about way more than just music and writing.
While it would be impossible to recall every topic that came up, the ones that come to mind are bedwetting PSA’s and why they are a thing, Nick and Nora-esque NYC adventures and how everyone should have one, an upcoming event in Brooklyn that Adam’s a part of called Remixing the Fan Experience and exactly what it takes to be considered a boss on Twitter (“blue check or bust, yo”).
Unfortunately, due to my lack of technological savvy and propensity to get flustered by flashing lights and wires, I was unable to record last night’s show. That said, I’m going to try to figure it out and once I do, I’ll start posting them on these post-show write ups. That way people can enjoy MK’s Corner anytime, catch up on old episodes, listen to songs I’ve played, etc. How fun, right?! Right.
Several Fairfield University students made a major decision regarding their academic future yesterday.
Some made a minor one.
The academic choices came during the first official Fairfield University Majors/Minors Information Fair that took place in the Oak Room yesterday afternoon.
Students of all grades were invited to walk around the room from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., stop by the different tables that were set up by various departments and learn about the various majors and minors offered as part of Fairfield’s undergraduate curriculum.
“I liked the way it’s set up,” said sophomore Connor Kelly, who is an undeclared business student. “Very easy to see all the majors offered and choose which one you want.”
While the event was cosponsored by several different academic organizations around campus including Undergraduate Academic Planning, Exploratory Academic Advising and FUSA, the people working the actual event were primarily administrators, students involved in the New Student Leaders program and professors from the various academic departments.
One of the administrators helping to coordinate the event was Suzanne Solensky, the Director of Undergraduate Academic Planning.
“I think the fair is going wonderfully well,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of enthusiasm on the part of various departments participating.”
One of the most notable features of the fair was the fact that the university’s Registrar Office had a table set up where students could not only ask questions regarding core requirements and recommended classes, but could also sign up for their desired major and/or minor on the spot.
“We thought it would be convenient to take one more step out of the process,” said Jessica York, the Director of Exploratory Academic Advising and one of the administrators helping to answer student’s questions.
Several students, such as Grace Janizewski, a Theatre major who was working at the Theatre table, thought this event was beneficial to students, especially those who are undecided or unsure of what academic path they want to pursue.
Janizewski described an experience she had with an underclassmen student who happened to wander by and eventually stop at her table. The student was a Management major in the business school who, upon learning more about the Theatre department, decided that he wanted to add a minor in Theatre.
“He wouldn’t have known he was interested if he hadn’t met a couple of us,” Janizewski said. “The fair is a nice way to cross paths and include everything that you need to in your education.”
Undergraduate nursing student Grace Lessard, who was hoping to add a Spanish minor, said, “I was really glad to hear they were having an event like this… I’ve been meaning to officially declare a minor for a while.”
While this is not the first time the university has hosted an event purposed to educate students about the various majors and minors offered at Fairfield, this was the first year that all major and minor options, regardless of their specific college affiliation, were represented at the same event.
According to Solensky, this new event came about for two main reasons.
The first is that an event which had typically been held every October called “Core Unmasked”, which gave undergraduate students information about the core curriculum and different academic departments, was unable to be held this year due to lack of funding.
The second is that administrators thought it would be a good idea to take each of the various major/minor informational fairs that are hosted by each individual college within the university and consolidate them into one event.
Solensky explained that this new all-encompassing Majors/Minors fair is almost entirely built off of the largest informational fair held at the university, the one for the college of Arts and Sciences, which is typically held every spring.
As students left the information fair, they were encouraged to fill out a survey about their experience and what they would recommend to improve it.
“I didn’t declare a major or anything but it was fun to shop around,” said freshman Brianna Relihan. “Now I have a lot to think about.”
While most soldiers consider family pictures and cigarettes to be some the most valuable things one can have while on tour, Afghan veteran Colin Halloran said he couldn’t live on the battlefield without his collection of books.
Halloran, who has published a new book of war poems titled “Shortly Thereafter”, said that’s one of the reasons why he was “not your typical grunt”, a line featured in one of his poems titled “Footlocker”.
Halloran, who served as a US Army soldier fighting in Afghanistan in 2006, read several poems from his book aloud to an audience gathered at the Fairfield University bookstore last Friday night.
He explained that he wrote the collection of poems based upon the experiences and memories he gathered when he was fighting overseas and how they impacted him once he returned home.
The various poems in the book deal with several different topics and emotions, ranging anywhere from the sardonically comical account of nicknames people used to call him, to the sad reality of sitting through a boring college class after you’ve returned home and you know there are soldiers still out there fighting.
Before Halloran took to the podium to read aloud from his book, Dr. Michael White, Program Director of Fairfield University’s MFA in Creative Writing and personal friend of Halloran, stood before the audience and introduced him.
“I think he’s a wonderful poet, very mature,” White said. “He has developed a great deal.”
According to White, the men met for the first time about 4 years ago in a small coffee shop in Durham where they talked about poetry, the war in Afghanistan and Halloran’s interest in pursuing a creative writing degree. One year later, Halloran enrolled in the Fairfield University’s Creative Writing program and proceeded to study under White.
While at Fairfield, Halloran worked on several of the poems featured in “Shortly Thereafter” and used most of them in his thesis.
When asked what the most valuable skill he learned from working with the Fairfield creative writing program he said, “Figuring out my voice. As a writer, you have to know where you’re writing from, not just what you’re writing about. Through workshopping and close work with mentors and countless drafts I was able to kind of peel back the layers and get to that core of who I was.”
Although the book was only released on October 12th, 2012, it has already garnered some public attention and critical acclaim. So far, the book has been recognized for winning the 2012 Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award.
In addition to writing poetry, Halloran also spends time traveling to schools throughout the Northeast where he works with students and teachers to teach them about the benefits of using literature in the history classes as well as how to analyze the ways in which poetry can inform various portrayals of war.
When asked about her thoughts on the reading, Brigitte Duffy, a friend and colleague of Halloran through the MFA program, said, “I was impressed by his depth of emotion and the way he described his experiences.”
During a Q and A session after Halloran was done reading, a member of the audience asked why he chose to write about his thoughts and experiences of war through poetry as opposed to other forms of writing, such as fiction.
Halloran replied, “Poetry gets down to the bare-bone essence of what you’ve been through…it is able to access that kind of emotional pull you experience and boil it down. That’s what I try to do.”
This article was published in Fairfield University’s school newspaper The Mirror
Sitting in a booth at the Levee, occasionally being interrupted by the voice over the intercom informing people that their chicken turnovers were ready, the indie-rock band The Alternate Routes sat back and enjoyed a beer as they talked about music, making it big and how it all began at Fairfield University.
Several of the band’s members have graduated from Fairfield University, including lead vocalist Tim Warren ‘03, leadguitarist Eric Donnelly ’01 and drummer Kurt Leon ‘07. It was through their connection at Fairfield that all of these musicians met each and eventually came together to form The Alternate Routes.
“You know what’s funny, Tim, I don’t think I ever even told you this… The first time I ever saw you play was actually here at the Levee,” Donnelly said.
The two officially met a few days later after a friend of Warren’s walked up to Donnelly at a townhouse party and said that she was going to give his number to Warren. While Donnelly was mostly just confused as to how the girl had his number, Warren ended up reaching out to him a few days later and the two played together for the first time at the Quick Center during the spring Pops concert.
By the time both men had graduated from Fairfield, they had plans to move to Bridgeport where they would continue making music together and work on their first EP, which was released in 2003, titled “This is When”. They have released several albums over the last decade but are convinced that the best is yet to come.
“You always think the thing you’re doing is the best thing you’ve ever done or else you wouldn’t do it,” Donnelly said.
The Alternate Routes are scheduled to play on campus at the Quick Center this coming Friday, October 19th in celebration of Alumni Weekend. Tickets are currently being sold at the Quick Center box office. Tickets are free for Fairfield University students, $20 for alumni and $25 for the general public.
The band is excited not only to revisit the very stage where it all began, but also to continue to show fans and people who have never heard of them before the hard work, dedication and genuine passion that comes standard with every song.
“We’ve bet the last 10 years of our lives on the fact that people will like it… it’s something worth seeing,” Warren said.
Currently, The Alternate Routes are working on producing several individual singles that continue to showcase the band’s hearty, homegrown sound and thoughtful lyrics. Most recently, they have released a song called “Rewind” on their official website, which they worked on and produced in Nashville, Tennessee. They hope that these various singles will eventually culminate into their next album.
In addition to producing more songs, the band is also taking a step back and assessing some of the unmusical aspects of the music business that may reveal why they are still relatively unknown.
On the subject of making it big, Warren said, “We’ve been so close to being one of the bands that everybody knows about but, you know, we aren’t. We are friends and contemporaries with a lot of bands that you do know and we’ve seen that happen.”
Donnelly said, “It’s like a puzzle. You just have to figure out how to put all these things together and what makes something click and what makes something stand out. You never know. What we’re trying to do now is just own those details a little more.”
The Alternate Routes are currently trying owning these various details by themselves, as they are currently self-managed and working independently without a label. The band is quick to qualify that both of these decisions are by choice and that they feel working independently is the best decision for them at this time.
“You don’t need a publicist to communicate directly with your fans…you don’t need a label to make the people who like you happy,” Donnelly said.
One of the ways that The Alternate Routes communicate with their fans (other than their music of course) is through their social media presence. Like many bands, The Alternate Routes appreciate the opportunities and publicity a strong identity on the Internet can yield, especially given the technological tendencies of modern music fans. Donnelly said that he is in charge of the band’s social media presence, which he manages namely through their official website, Facebook and Twitter.
Even though The Alternate Routes have yet to take off in the way that they would like, they are far from being some unknown band from Connecticut. Throughout their career thus far they have toured all over the world, performed on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and been interviewed on BBC radio. They have also had several songs appear on popular TV shows, such as their song “Please Don’t Let It Be” which was featured on an episode of MTV’s The Hills.
Despite the confusing and multi-faceted nature of today’s modern music industry, The Alternate Routes remain optimistic that their time is coming soon.
“I’m not a cynic,” Warren said. “Guys succeed everyday at it and it’s a weird combo of…I don’t know what yet. It’s that combination that all the people in our business are looking for.”
While The Alternate Routes keep meandering down this long winding road to success, fans are invited to tag along and enjoy the ride as the band continues to deliver the heartfelt music that has helped pave their way thus far.
Blogger or journalist, entertainment writer Adam Bernard doesn’t care which word you use to describe him as long as you remember to put the word “great” in front of it.
Bernard informed a Fairfield University journalism class last Tuesday night that unlike many other journalists, he is not overly concerned with what his official job title is. He said that he has been introduced and described as both a journalist and a blogger before, stating that the difference in title usually has to do with the context of the situation.
When asked how he feels about the variation in his job title he said, “Most people think when you say ‘writer’ that you’re not serious anyways… It doesn’t really matter how you sugarcoat it- writer, journalist, blogger- there’s always going to be a little bit of a red line underneath it asking if that’s real.”
While many journalists today tend to shy away from the words “blog” or “blogger” due to the negative reputation they have of not earning any money, Bernard insists that blogs are one of the most effective ways that journalists can find work.
In fact, it was his blog, Adam’s World, that landed him one of his dream jobs as a columnist for the Fairfield County Weekly. After trying to get in touch with them for years, he finally got a call saying that they wanted to hire him after reading some of the stuff he’d written on his blog.
He said that this experience is a perfect example to prove that although blogs by themselves typically won’t put food on the table, the opportunities they will help you find most certainly will.
He went on to say that he believes every journalist should have a blog because they act as a great place to publish syndicated work on subjects that journalists want to write about. He said that posting on personal blogs is an easy and effective way for journalists to establish their own unique “name brand”, which is essential in the competitive world of journalism.
Adam started establishing his own brand as a music journalist shortly after he graduated from Hofstra University in 2000. This was the same year that he started his blog, which helped him gather experience and gain many opportunities as a young journalist. He has been featured in music magazines such as The Source and XXL, contributed to Substream Music Press and 101Distribution.com and is the Interviews Editor at RapReviews.com
When asked if he thinks that blogging has given him more opportunities as a journalist he said, “The blogging has definitely given me more opportunities. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s seen by more people, but more so that I have the freedom to write about what I want to write about and sometimes that connects with more people.”
Whether she was referring to presidential candidates slipping in the polls or the advice her mother gave her after a rough day early on in her career, renowned broadcast journalist Lesley Stahl expressed her firmness in the belief that no situation is a truly lost cause.
During the speech she gave at the Quick Center on Fairfield University’s campus last night, Stahl addressed a wide array of topics ranging anywhere from politics and modern journalism to her personal life and how it has coincided with her career throughout the years.
Stahl talked about how she got her start in journalism, a start that she said came later than it does for most journalists, seeing as she was 30 years old by the time she was hired for her first job.
“I think my story should give a lot of young people who don’t know what they want to do hope,” Stahl said. “I know a lot of kids who search for a long time and there’s nothing wrong with it. You have to find it, though. And if it takes you a little longer, so what?”
When Stahl graduated from Wheaton College with honors in 1963, she went on to attend graduate school at Columbia, where she thought she would pursue a degree in zoology. It was during her mid-twenties while working on New York City Mayor John Lindsay’s speech-writing team that she realized she wanted to pursue a career as a journalist.
When talking about the moment when she discovered that journalism was her true calling she described it as, “…a thunder bolt. I just plain knew.”
She ended up getting hired by CBS around the time when affirmative action started being enforced. As a rookie reporter, she caught her first big break after being assigned what would eventually become one of the most newsworthy stories of all time, the Watergate scandal.
After establishing her reputation as an exemplary reporter, Stahl started to ascend the ranks of CBS, most recently and famously as the co-editor and host of the popular news show 60 Minutes.
Stahl has received many accolades throughout the years including several Emmy awards for her work on the CBS programs 60 Minutes and Face the Nation, the Fred Friendly First Amendment Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence in Television and the esteemed Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award.
Regardless of the fact that it took Stahl a little bit longer to figure out which career was right for her, she made it clear to the audience that she made the right choice.
Just before the audience started their final applause of Lesley Stahl, her last line of the night was, “I love my job… Love it.”
MK's Corner 