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Drummers sure take a beating : smim CHARLES TOMLINSON GAMECOCKMIXEDITOR@HOTMAIL.COM Q: What do you call a person who hangs out with musicians? A: A drummer! This brand of humor, known as the drummer joke, elicits uncon trollable laughter, especially among guitarists, bassists, piano players and the like. Drummers have likely suffered as the butt of such jokes since the day of primi tive man, who likely used woolly mammoth bones to play dinosaur skin drums. Ugaba: Hey Thag, what you call person who hang out with musi cian? It’s undeniable: a big part of drumming is all about a primal urge to smash objects with brute force. Thag: Me not know. Ugaba: Drummer! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Thag: BONK! (Takes mammoth bone and hits Ugaba over the head.) See, those of you who play melodic instruments should exer cise care when you make fun of drummers. They have the advan tage, even in modem times - espe cially the ones who play with mal lets. But then I have presented an other issue: the conception of drummers as small-brained imbe ciles who bash their instruments. Q: What’s the best way to con fuse a drummer? A: Put sheet music in front of him. Q: What does the average drummer get on an IQ test? A: Drool. But the jokes get more and more brutal, especially the ones about screwing in a lightbulb. Q: How many drummers does it take to screw in a lightbulb? A: One, as long as the roadie sets up a ladder and puts the bulb in the socket for him. The pedestrian function of a drummer is to act as a timekeep er: to keep a steady beat for the band without speeding up or slow ing down. When a drummer fails to maintain a constant rhythm, other musicians make even more drummer jokes. Q: How can you tell when a drummer’s at the door? A: The knocking speeds up. Great irony exists behind drummer jokes, however. A stereotypical idea of a comedian involves a drummer in the back who, after each punchline, plays the obligatory, “ba-da, ching!” Maybe they’d quit if the comedi an started cracking on drum mers. But overall, drummers seem to have the ability to laugh at them selves instead of taking them selves too seriously. It’s undeni able: a big aspect of drumming is all about a primal urge to smash objects with brute force. While it’s fun to play like a jazz drummer and dance around the drums with finesse, sometiihes drummers just have to smack the drums as though they were ready to knock someone’s head off. And drummers can also laugh at their own peculiarities. The drummer of Rush, Neil Peart, is envied by drummers everywhere for his unparalleled technique. Even when playing original mu sic with a band, drummers often wonder, “How □ would Neil have ^ played this song?” *This obsession has even inspired another drum mer-lightbulb Nen Kean, i°ke drummer Q: How many for Rush drummers does it take to screw in a lightbulb? A: Five: one to screw in the lightbulb and four more to sit around and talk about how much better Neil Peart would have done it. Some drummers try to combat the idea that drummers are just brutes who only know how to beat on things: They pick up the guitar or piano and learn how to play and write songs. But this path seems to only lead to one of the cruelest, and maybe the truest, drummer joke. Q: What’s the last thing a drummer says before he’s kicked out of a band? A: Hey guys, why don't we try one of my songs? Tomlinson is a third-year print journalism student. His column appears Wednesdays in The Mix. Big names in hip-hop community mourn Jam Master Jay in Queens BY MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Pallbearers wearing white un laced Adidas shoes carried the body of slain Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay from a funeral service Tuesday. Bandmates Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniel eulogized their friend, whose real name was Jason “Jay” MizeE, as a great man and ground breaking musical force. “Jason helped build hip-hop, and his job is finished/’ said Joseph Simmons, now an or dained minister, wearing a broad brimmed black hat and clerical coEar. The funeral came six days after Mizell was shot to death in his Queens recording studio by a masked assaEant. No one has been charged. A who’s who of hip-hop attend ed the service. LL Cool J; Chuck D of Public Enemy; Queen Latifah; and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, the brother of Joseph Simmons, were among the mourn ers. Many in the church and among the crowd outside wore the white Adidas and black leather that Run-DMC turned into a fash ion trend in the 1980s. McDaniels brought the over flow crowd of 2,300 to its feet with his eulogy, getting in a dig at any one who would call the slaying just another example of rap violence. “Jam Master Jay was not a thug,” McDaniels said. “Jam Master Jay was not a gangster. Jam Master Jay was a unique in dividual. ... He was the embodi ment of hip-hop.”. Surrounded by more than a dozen funeral wreaths — includ ing one in the shape of twin turnta bles — McDaniels then rapped from the band’s song “Jam Master Jay,” with the audience joining in at the end to shout out the slain DJ’s name. Mizell was married with three children, and had campaigned against drug use. He was a role model for many in the neighbor hood where he grew up and met Simmons and McDaniels, and his violent death puzzled family and friends. “Let’s try to work for the good that Jay was working toward,” McDaniels said. "Peace for every body.” Among the group’s hits were a collaboration with Aerosmith on . a remake of “Walk This Way”; “It’s Tricky”; and the sneaker homage “My Adidas.” Mizell’s body had been brought to the church in a white, horse drawn carriage encased in glass. After the 90-minute service, it was taken for burial at a Westchester County cemetery. PHOTO BY RICHARD CORKERY/KRT CAMPUS Run-DMC, from left, Darry McDaniel (DMC), Joseph Simmons (Run) and Jason Mizell (Jam Master Jay) were pioneers in the hip-hop genre. Salmon CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 what you do to keep going out on the road for as many years as we have.” Don’t let the statement about short tours fool you, though. Leftover Salmon is packing 12 shows into 16 days on its current tour. The tour is taking the band from Colorado down to Florida and back out to Illinois, with many stops in between. Fans of grassroots music, or just good music in general, should have Senate Park on their list of places to go Wednesday night. Leftover Salmon has de veloped an intense live perfor mance that has been cultivated during 13 years of playing to gether. Fans of the band proba bly need no extra incentive to at tend the show. But for those who .haven’t heard these guys before, get some bluegrass culture by coming down to Senate Park and seeing Leftover Salmon. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com Leftover Salmon’s “Live” is a tribute to banjo player Mark Vann, who died of cancer this past March. Executive News : Announcements from Student Body President Ankit Patel: • Patel has released a final version of the new Student Government Constitution. A final meeting will be held November 6th before being brought to the floor of the Student Senate. • Patel met with the NCAA officials at a reception on Sunday, November 3rd in regards to the re-certification of the University. • Patel has contacted the disability services Committee an the Campus Planning and Construction department to adress the needs for improved accessibility in the Russell House University Union. Announcements from Student Body Treasurer Becky Floyd: • Campus Organizations are encouraged to check their account status reports each month in the Student Government Office. • Organizations are also reminded to plan ahead for their events and allow sufficient time for expenditure documents to be processed by the University. • Organizations should also remind their members not to spend personal funds for organizational needs with the anticipation of reimbursement. Freshmen that ordered the Freshman Record can pick it up in our office Monday through Friday from 8:30 until 5:00. If they are not sure they ordered one they can call us and we will look on our distribution list. The Freshman Record is a yearbook of the incoming fresmen - many of the freshmen submitted a picture and information about their interests to be included. SENATE NEWS! Legislation update from Wednesday, October 30: No new legislation introduced. Committee Reports: Academics - no report Athletics - no report Finance - no report Judiciary -finds SBL (02) 066 constitutional. CSJC meeting for meeting next Wednesday has been cancelled Minority Affairs - no report Powers & Responsibilities - no report Rules - Sens. Cordova, Wright, Thompson, Wade, and Shipman absences have been excused. SBL (02) 066 is placed on the docket for today s meeting. Student Services - no report •The Student Senate asks that any student who has concerns or ideas regarding ledislation to be brought to the floor, please contact his or her senator with those ideas - the Senate is here to serve the Student Body! The Senators' contact information can be found at the Student Government website or by calling the Student Government office (777-2654). Also, please remember that the Senate meetings are open to the entire student Body and held on Wednesdays at 5:00pm in the Russel house Theatre. Cabinet News : The Director of Campus Relations, Haley Smith, would like to remind the student body and freshmen living in hotels that the next student organizationinformation fairs, part of the "Campaign for Carolina," will be held on Wednesday, November 6th, at 6:00pm in the Clarion hotel, and 8:00pm in the Addam's Mark. Representatives from campus organizations, Freshman Council and other branches of Student Government will be present to answer any questions. Smith encourages any organizations that would like to participate to email her at smithhs@gwm.sc.edu. Student Body President Patel has created six councils to better serve the student body by uniting leaders from various campus organizations to discuss common concerns and goals that can be adrossed and possibly aided by Student Government. The Inlerfaith Council exists to promote tolerance and understanding of ail religious traditions and the nature of religion itself, to educate the campus about different religious traditions, and to initiate and facilitate interfaith dialogue on campus. ^ i Announcements from the Interfaith Council Chairwoman, Rachel Rosansky: •The Interfaith Council would like to organize an Interfaith Text Study, to meet about once per week for about an hour in which we'd explore numerous different religious texts, with one or two members serving each session as experts on a particular text. This idea is rooted in the belief that a lot can be gained from religion and it is in its purest form when being considered from the very texts in which it is based. Anyone interested in joining and Interfaith text study group should contact Rachel Rosansky at rosansky@gwm.sc.edu •We have a consistent membership of about 15 people, with about 7 or 6 different religions represented. We are always looking for new members. We have meetings bi-weeldy in the Russell House in the third floor lobby. The Service Council exists to unite all service organizations on campus to discuss, reflect, and improve our community and campus service. Announcements from the Service Council Chairwoman, Abey Coker: •The Service Council has met and decided to donate $500 of its budget to the Habitat Build . on Campus and $500 to the Christmas Tree lighting that takes place on December 4th at 6:00pm. •Any organization or individual interested in filling a unristmas stocking for a needy child can £ pick up the stockings now in the Office of Community Service and return them to the same office when the stockings are filled. These stockings will be placed under the Christmas Tree for the tree lighting. •On November 16, the Office of Community Service will be sponsoring a sleep-out starting at 7:00pm on Davis Field called "A Night without a Home' to raise awareness about the homeless. Students will eat soup meals and build cardboard houses to sleep in to get a taste of what life is like to be homeless for the night. The registration fee of $5.00 will go to the Habitat Build. For more information, see the Office of Community Service for details. The International Affairs Council exists to strengthen the unity among international students and enhance the interaction between international and American students at the University of South Carolina. Announcements from the International Affairs Council Chairman, Rohit Bhatia: •All students interested in the Student Association of Latin Americans (SALA) are encouraged to join its listserv to receive information about upcoming events and news of interest to the SALA community. If you would like to join the SALA listserv or are interested in participating in the organization, please send e-mail to latin@gwm.sc.edu. •The International Student Association is holding its first ever ISA Formal on Saturday November 16th. The event is open to everyone. Come down and enjoy a night of International music, including salsa, latin dance, bhangra, arabic, european, and of course r&b and hip-hop. For information, please email: isa_usc@yahoo.com •International Education Week is from November 18th - November 22nd. Watch this space for more information on events during that week. •The Indian Student Association will celebrate the Indian New Year on November 10th in the Russell House Ballroom at 6:00pm with information, dancing, and other Indian traditions. Want to find out more about what's going on in Student Government? Please visit us at www.sg.sc.edu!_ Student Government exists to act as a liaison between the students and the administration of the University of South Carolina. _|