8 I The Behrend Beacon
Behrend student finds thereputic release in writing
By Chris LaFuria
editor in chief
Ross Zambanini has always
lived his life breaking stereo-
types. The 22-year-old
International Business and
Marketing major with a steady
job and many
different skills
may seem like
the least likely
candidate for
publishing a
hook of poetry
and short sto-
lies. However
the senior from
Ridgeway has
too many com
plex thoughts
and life expert-
ences to not
share with the
wor l d
Recently
Zambanini pub
lished a collec
tion of his
works from the
last four or five
years, a compi
lation of these
thoughts and
experiences.
"It was thera-
peutic for me, a
release. It was
the encourage-
ment of my
friends who
said I should
put together a
book,'
Zambanini
In his anthol
entitled
A I I
Look for "All Apologies
Zambanini explores his life.
being a student and living on
two different continents. trac
ing his thoughts and goals in
110 pages of genuine, some
times incomprehensible events
that have shaped his life. From
poems about his friends to his
thoughts on Erie, even to his
thoughts about text messaging.
Zambanini leaves no aspect of
his life out of this collection.
"There are some 'love and lost'
poems in this book, but I write
from my head to my hand, and
most writers don't do that,"
says Zambanini.
According to Zamban in i.
who is in his last semester at
Behrend, thoughts do not stop.
He spends about an hour each
day recollecting his thoughts
and emotions, and depending
on the story, writes his ideas
down somehow, whether in a
journal or on a napkin. "My
brain just does not shut down. -
he says. "I usually only sleep
four hours a night just because
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my brain refuses to quit...
In his v riting. Zambanini
emphasizes that it is the impor
tance of the ideas and not the
words that make good poetry.
While some poets focus on
elaborate metaphors and end
less analooies. he focuses more
SAM DH. VERNE I com
available online in print
on the messages. "A lot of
poets use big words and phras
es to convey their messages and
don't talk about what's real.
like alcohol, drugs. strippers.
and hangovers," he says. A rea
son for his style of writing is
that sometimes it's difficult to
stand in the way of a train of
thought. He says that he gets
rapid streams of thought that
would be compromised if inter
rupted by form and punctua
tion. That is why some of his
poems do not follow conven
tional shape and form.
While he respects the works
of Robert Frost and Maya
Angelou. Zambanini feels that
there are other poets Out there
who are more real. One of his
influences is Aaron Smith, who
publishes through university of
Pittsburgh Press. Smith's poet
ry won the 2004 Agnes Lynch
Starrett Poetry Prize. His
release "Blue on Blue Ground"
catapulted him onto the scene
of noteworthy local poets.
P[J.DEi II Li
" Aaron Smith is one of those
'Head to Hand' poets who
aren't very eloquent, like Frost
and Maya Angelou, but still
send a vets , good message," he
says.
When publishing his hook,
Zamhanini took extra time to
untitled poem in
which he writes
RIBUTED PtioTo
or online. about the people
who seem to have
all the answers and, sometimes,
then are the ones who are at the
biggest deficit. He writes,
"Those of us who seem to be in
the know have holes in their
souls that grow and grow."
According to Zambanini, many
of the people that seem to know
everything about everything are
the ones who need the most
help. Even when he
approached people with a back
ground in English and
Literature, he was turned down
for having poetry that was
"self-inflated, immature and
amateurish." But that is one
reason why he feels people
should read his work. "The
poetry is amateur," he says.
- But it's real. It's genuine."
"All Apologies" is available
to download for $9.99 or to
order a printed paperback copy
for $11.99. It is available by
following the link
http://www.lulu.com/con
tent/753539 or by contacting
Ross Zambanini.
make sure every
intricate detail
was exactly how
he pictured it.
On the cover of
the book is
Zambanini on the
ice dunes at
Presque
overlooking
placid, frozen
Lake Erie. In the
publication
Zambanini uses
the name Ross
Michael
Romandetti, as a
tribute to his fam
ily. The memo
ries and thoughts
of his family are
some of the
things Zambanini
says helps him to
write his poetry.
"Many people of
the Romandetti
family have
either died or
married off." he
says. "That's why
I use this name to
keep the family
One of his
favorite entries in
the book is an
Bright Eyes brightens up
By Joshua Lane
student life editor
The first three minutes of Bright Eyes' new
album Cassadaga will make you think you just
accidentally purchased the soundtrack to 2001: A
Space Odyssey. There are weird dissident chords
that sound like someone is randomly hitting an 80s
Casio keyboard. In the background are the ram
blings of a psychic, "Just because you get the death
card doesn't mean you're gonna die!" The song
takes a turn as it slowly breaks into a fully orches
trated down-tempo piece that is melodic and unhur
ried. To some fans, this can seem like a bit of a dis
appointment. For others it feels like Bright Eyes'
Conor Oberst has never hit his full potential. It
seems that he overworks his songs just slightly past
the point of absolute greatness and maybe he
should just leave a great
song alone. Luckily for
these fans, it only takes
these three minutes for
Oberst to get this out of
his system and concen
trate on just doing great
The rest of Cassadaga
is pure magic. Oberst is at
his full potential begin
ning with the second
track, "Four Winds,"
which is an unapologetic
alt-country, alt-rock mas-
terpiece. It's almost
unrecognizable as a
Bright Eyes song. It's not
until Oberst's unmistak
able vibrato hits that you
realize it may be the great
est Bright Eyes track...
that is until you hear the
next one.
The album is much
more up-beat than 2005's
I',n Wide Awake It's
Morning and, to be hon- CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
est, it's much more corn- Conor Oberst brings his best alt-rock stuff on new album Cassadaga.
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mercial. Oberst finds the balance between writing a
catchy song without selling out. In the song "If The
Brakeman Turns My Way." Oberst writes his
thoughts on bullet trains and opium dens and ties it
all together with one of the catchiest choruses he's
ever written.
This is certainly the most complete album Bright
Eyes has done. It is also one of the simplest. Aside
from the first track, there isn't a whole lot of ran
dom noises and layer upon layer of useless sounds.
It is also easily the best album Bright Eyes has ever
done, and the best album of the year. Pick up
Cassadaga: it may be the best thing your ears hear
all year.
Cassadaga: