November 6, 2006
C?Q*
By MUOKML MBM9HT
Staff Reporter
MBAI33ePSU.EDU
The Street Dogs are back to remind
fans they are a staple in the punk
rock scene,
Even though the band is only three
years old, the members of The Street
Dogs are no strangers to the stage.
Front man and main songwriter,
Mike McColgan, began his career as
the lead man of the classic punk rock
band Dropkick Murphys.
Bassist, Jonhnny Rioux, has been in
countless underground bands, most
notably playing with The Bruisers,
alongside Mike Ness of Social
Distortion as well as Roger Miret.
Drummer, Joe “The Kid” Sirois, is
best known for his work in the ska
band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.
Joining these punk rock veterans are
relative newcomers to the scene Tobe
Bean and Markus Hollar on guitar.
The Street Dogs’ Fading American
Dream, was released Oct. 24th on the
band’s own record label, Brass Tacks.
As the title implies, the band has a lot
to say about the current trends in the
United States.
In keeping the style with
McColgans history, as a former
soldier, former Boston firefighter,
and current taxpayer, he tackles such
issues as workers’ rights, lying and
deceitful corporations, and of course
the ever hot topic of the war in Iraq.
The 13-track album nears 40 mins,
of blasting, political-laced, real punk
rock. Each song engages the listener
to question that which is given to you
and to not accept what is forced on
you, whether it be from peers, bosses,
or the government.
The album begins with the half
spoken-word, half battle cry track
Common People, introduced with
McColgan stating, “I’m sick of
American socialite culture, God, it
makes me sick,” and punctuated with
a blaring declaration to those who
oppress us. If this kick-off track does
not set the tone for the rest of the
record, nothing could.
The next track, Not Without a
Purpose, Not Without a Fight is the
first acknowledgement of the band’s
thoughts on the Iraq war, suggesting
that it is pretty clear a civil war
has broken out in Iraq after the
current administration used WMD
propaganda to explain the reasons
for invasion,
Taking a break from political
themes, the album moves into a cover
of a legendary Boston punk band,
Mung. The song, Fatty, details the
schooldays of a young person who is
overweight and bullied.
The song pulls at one’s emotions as
it explains the beatings of the young
character and asks, “How many times
did you want to die?”
Perhaps the standout track on the
entire album is another cover. This
one by the folk singer Billy Bragg
titled There Is Power In a Union.
Oddly enough, the original version
is the introduction track played at
shows by McC'olgan’s former band,
Dropkick Murphys. Originally
performed by Bragg as an acoustic
song, The Street Dogs turn this
amazing protest anthem into a full
rock n’ roll piece with altered lyrics
to add modem v iewpoints.
The album continues to touch on
a few' personal issues from a band
member’s alcoholism to taking on
issues of heroin addiction.
The album later returns to political
views with the title track Fading
American Dream and the song Final
Transmission where a soldier’s last
letter home is recounted.
The record is finally punctuated
with Katie Bar The Door, a song
that speaks out against the current
popular move of large corporations,
outsourcing to foreign countries.
So do yourself and your mind a
favor and pick up Fading American
Dream. Throw out any other
mainstream CD you own because
this one should keep you singing
with your fist pumping in the air for
a long time to come. Check out The
Street Dogs at http://street-dogs.com,
THE CAPITAL TIMES
Start screaming at Field of Screams
By LAILA DIDEBAN
Staff Reporter
SZDI23@PSU.EDU
Check out some of Pennsylvania’s
Hayrides and Haunted attractions
next Halloween season and visit
The Field of Screams in Lancaster.
It has been an old standby of
haunted attractions for awhile now,
and we always enjoyed our trips into
the Amish laden depths of Lancaster.
But this time we had to be critical,
was FoS a worthy adventure?
Set in farm country, Field of Screams
boasts 3 attractions; 2 buildings and
| a hayride, and they keep with the
“carnival” atmosphere that we have
come to expect (and enjoy!) as part
| of the modern haunted attraction.
| Several food carts offered a small
! variety of foods, and from the picnic
tables one could find a number of
entertainment choices.
So myself and about a hundred
Penn State students took on a
night of horror. Read on for the
full story...
First up was the official FoS
Haunted Hayride. “Each skit in
the hayride has a special “scare”
designed to get the old ticker ticking
at a good clip,” says the Lancaster
Intelligencer Journal. I agree with
this remark, however, there are a
few issues I have with the hayride.
Problem number one is that, to
our knowledge, the hayride hasn’t
changed in a long time. Same as last
year, same as the year before.
The second problem is you are
essentially just driving through
a path cut through a cornfield,
which in terms of atmosphere
doesn’t compare to other hayrides
that take you through the woods.
You get eye level com stalks and
wide open sky, sometimes you
can even see neighboring houses
and corporate buildings that dot
the area.
The production is pretty standard
with billowing fire, actors that
hop on the wagon, and what
hayride would be complete without
◄ Geek's Corner^
By LISA STONE
Staff Reporter
LCSI67@PSU.EDU
‘Tis the season. Or at least that
is what the Christmas decorations
the stores have started selling and
decorating with inform me of.
1 will spare you my rant regarding
Christmas coming into season
before Thanksgiving.
I will even spare you the tirade
about people going into Christmas
mode before Halloween has even
been enjoyed to its sugar-high
twitchy goodness.
I like holidays, 1 really do, and we
are most definitely approaching the
holiday season, but all this holiday
cheer got me wondering, what about
geeky holidays? What holidays do
the geeks of us out there get into?
When I looked into this, I was actually
a little surprised at what 1 found.
There are actually several holidays
out there, bo
and small,
geeks enjo;
along with the
rest of the
population.
Holidays such
Like A Pirate
derivative Swi
A Sailor Day, ai
amusing, thoi
less well-kno 1
exa m p 1
of holidays that
geeks celebrate.
Pi day, Day of the Ninja, or
Hobbit Day are other examples of
vague holidays with geek themes
to them in some way, shape,
the chainsaw but unfortunately
that’s part of the problem.
Next up was the Den of Darkness,
which is just a fancy name for
the haunted house. “The Den of
Darkness [is] three stories and
Photo courtesy of Googfo Imago*
One of the scarecrows in the cornfield riders are taken through on the hayride.
The hayride is one of the three main attractions at Field of Screams.
twenty-five minutes of grabbing my
friend’s sweater!” wrote the York
Daily Record.
I do have to give FoS credit though,
their Den of Darkness has always
been one of the better ones in
the area.
One of the coolest things is
when they make you get down on
your hands and knees and crawl
through a fireplace to enter a pitch
black crawlspace, which has some
or form
These days are often some of the
strange ones out there, depending
on how far
decide to go,
definitely unique
What is perh;
of the biggest
holidays of thei
all is Winter
een-mas. Being
a webcomic
devotee, I have
known about
this one for
quite a while, but
I can understan
if some of you o
there still have
heard of it.
Celebrated
25th - January 31st, it was
started by Ctr-Alt-Del webcomic
writer and artist Tim Buckley. It is
a celebration of video games in all
heir glory.
Personally, 1
ighly enjoyed
he idea when I
ones you and your
friends make yourselves. It can be
something as small as your weekly
gaming group or something as big
as a huge Magic Draft Tournament,
but they are something special to
many
across it, so at
east my family
/k at me oddly
try when I begin
iem a Happy
Winter-een-mas.
Then, of
:ourse, there are
lose unofficial
fake bodies strewn about for you
to stumble over.
It seems like they’ve made some
additions since last year. Some
rooms seemed to be a bit more
dressed up then usual, and there
were not as many “actors” randomly
popping out of the walls for pure
shock value. It’s not re-inventing the
wheel, but the Den of Darkness is
the best thing FoS has going. I only
wish they had caught us on film. It
had to be better than any of those
awful pictures theme parks take of
you on their roller coasters.
Another thing to check out is the
Frightmare Asylum in 3-D, which
you astute readers will notice
you, something you approach
certain mindset.
So doesn’t that in
holiday? Or, if you
define a holiday by being
something a bit bigger, what about
convention seasons? Are they like
holiday seasons?
1 don’t know about you guys, but
come summer time, I start making
my convention plans. Gen
Con, Otakon, and a whole host
of others that 1 would love to attend,
but trifles, like money, interfere and
are a definite part of those summer
months to me. Much the same way
that Christmas defines a sizable
chunk of November and almost all
of December.
Or another geeky habit is applying
your own nerdy traditions to the
big holidays like Thanksgiving,
Christmas, or New Years.
Come Thanksgiving, a contingent
of female family members make
their battle plans and assault the
requires the use of 3-D glasses.
This, in theory, could be one kick ass
attraction. Especially since the idea
conjures up thoughts of 3-D horror
classics like the original House
of Wax, Friday the 13th Part 3, or
even old William Castle gimmicks
like “Emerg-O” used in House on
Haunted Hill. Sadly, this is not
the case.
What you end up doing is walking
through a pretty mundane version of
the Den of Darkness that has been
splattered eveiy which way with
fluorescent orange, pink, yellow,
and green paint.
People, there is nothing scary about
fluorescent orange paint. Along with
the haunted houses and hayride,
What people said about
"I'll say my ten dollars was well spent just to
see the people next to me freak out."
- Manheim Township High School Newspaper
stores for their Black Friday sales.
My geeky strike force and I make
similar plans, but they usually
a single store raid,
involving some form
with a
a way
ictivities on the
lidays. So it isn’t
the new, strange
/s that geeks
the old favorites
enjoyed a
certain geeky twist.
So, I guess it all
comes down to what
makes a holiday? Are
these geeky holidays
valid? Personally, I
think so.
small
If holidays
such as Boss
Appreciation Day
or Groundhog’s
Day can make
it onto the
holiday
list, then 1
definitely
don’t see
anything
wrong with
celebrating
holidayssuch
as Talk Like A Pirate Day
or Winter-een
If holidays really are all about
Field of Screams:
"We have been to haunted places all
over the Tri-State area, and we found this
one on the internet, and this is by for the
number one best place!"
- Bob Schultz, York
"Field of Screams is an innovative and
carefully choreographed production
that provides its visitors with nefarious
chills and thrills."
-Lebanon Daily News
"The Field of Screams in Mountville
puts the 'awe' in awesome
Halloween attractions."
- The Patriot News
lectronics.
>y a long afternoon ol
enjoying the new item
and playing some
computer games.
Almost every
geek I know can
describe a similar
;et of family
FoS has a bandstand which features
events such as a Rap battle, DJ
turntable contest, pudding wrestling
(OK, that one’s not so bad), and the
Field of Screams Idol contest.
Am I missing something here?
Isn’t this a horror attraction? If you
run one of these things your number
one job is to provide an atmosphere,
get people in the mood to be
frightened, and channel the spirit
of Halloween.
Hip Hop showdowns and the like
do nothing but drain every last shred
of remaining atmosphere.
You are a horror attraction, please
don’t forget that. Although I will
say that they definitely had this
lady screaming.
honoring an event or the spirit of
something, then why not? Video
games are definitely something, and
1 can tell you there are some friends
1 have that 1 would never have met
if it wasn’t for games in one of their
some other geeky hobby
habit I have.
In the end, 1 dec;
to sit back,
my whining ai
Christmas cot
so early, and ei
the ride. A
all, enjoy
is what
holidays are
aren’t they?