CSBYS FEBRUARY ISSUE

JANUARY "RIOT ISSUE" OF CSBYS ALT MONTHLY

The fourth and best issue of Columbus Sucks Because You Suck monthly is out. Its theme is the history of riots in Columbus, which is a surprisingly fertile topic. Contents include Brian Deller's recount of streetcar labor riots in the early 20th century, Wes Flexner giving a slice of riotous memoir (written on a phone!), Martin Weedsteeler's avant-garde poetry, Miles dishing on media, a new Constance Taylor comic, illustrations from Troy and Ana, a poster by Ryan Eilbeck, a firsthand account of the 2002 Michigan game riots by Bret, a how-to on mastering recordings by Adam from Columbus Discount, some unfortunate, xenophobic rumours about Ali Baba and a recount of the 1970 OSU riots I posted here a few months ago, now complete with photos.

Whole issue after "the jump."

20 Years of ROY G BIV

From Mark Van Fleet's 2008 show at ROY.

ROY G BIV recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, staying alive through a period of time which saw the Short North go from child prostitution central to "used to be cool five years ago" affluence. ROY saw it all and showed everyone in the process. It remains exciting and incredibly valuable to Columbus due to its actual openness to showing actually new artists. The next season's lineup - top secret of course - piqued my interest. Surprises abound. And Cassie has a show there in February with Daniel Hoffman. Here is what my show there looked like in July.

Interview MP3 with Daniel Work, a founding member of ROY and former director, here.
Interview MP3 with Justin Luna, the current director of ROY here.

I wrote the story below for The Lantern (Lantern version here. Somehow gentrification becomes "Arts District" - just like the real world!) It's after "the jump."

A.A. Bondy Story

I was assigned a story about A.A. Bondy. This entailed talking to a real live music publicist who told me my admittedly long email address "wasn't making it easy for anyone." I'm lucky in the sense that Bondy isn't Red Wanting Blue or any of the more typical OSU bar bands the Lantern seems to cover. On the other hand, why I am writing public relations material for someone I really couldn't care less about? The whole practice of writing stories based on press releases and publicity contacts seems like a rather evil collusion for news organizations, even for the quasi legitimate stories of an "Arts Reporter." Bondy used to be in a pretty trite grunge "alt" band in the 90's called Verbena - here is the video for their big play into the mainstream.

I normally love (<3) nineties alternative music. But Verbena strikes me as hack work. Much the same can be said for Bondy's newer direction, that Dylan pose punk rockers often strike as they turn 30. There are some songs on his new album that I felt were good-ish... but it seems, like Pitchfork basically says, a soulless recapitulation of a genre's motifs. When that genre is punk, okay maybe, when it is "roots, blues, country influenced, Americana, singer-songwriter folk," no. Definitely not. I haven't retired to the land of NPR and concerts for the DNC quite yet.

I do manage to mention Merge Records and Thomas Function as well as make an allusion to This Bike is a Pipe Bomb.

After "the jump" is the story I turned in.
And the Lantern version.

Recent Interviews

Ryan Agnew, Jamie Boyle, Herb Vincent Peterson, and Aimee Sones on their project space "13 E.Tulane."

Lindsey Gibson on the feminist activist group Women and Allies Rising in Resistance, or WARR.

Former OSU student on the 2002 Chittenden riots after the Michigan Game.

Lisa Dent, contemporary curator at CMA, on the Dale Chihuly show.

Tim Cummiskey, a jazz guitarist, in the worst interview I've ever conducted.

The Lantern story about Tim Cummiskey.

Media Spin

This is so good.

Lessners talk Dirty Frank's Hot Dog Palace

Thom Lessner talks childhood nostalgia, gallery vs. decoration, and his upcoming show at the Mahan Gallery.       

Thom Lessner Interview MP3.

Lantern version of the story.

Email interview with Elizabeth Lessner, the owner of Dirty Frank's, after the jump.

DIZZY HIPS

MP3 of my interview with Aaron Hibbs.

Pre-edit Lantern Story after "the jump."

And the Lantern version.

Short Interview with John Porcellino

You started out self publishing comic zines, what has the transition to working with publishers and in the book form been like?

Well, it has taken some adjustment on my part, mainly from having done all the work, both creatively and business-wise, on King-Cat for so long.  But, you know, I love books--  that's what got me started in zines in the first place, my desire to make books of some sort, so I'm very happy that this material is available in that form.  And working with a publisher like D+Q--  it's a good fit--  they understand where I'm coming from.

I think one of the distinctive things in your work is the line quality, the sparseness of it as well as the playfulness. Is it a conscious style decision or something that developed organically? What does it help you achieve in terms of content? Whose work do you look at in terms of that?

Mostly I think it was just an organic, natural evolution.  It was kind of a continuation of the way I drew comics as a kid.  Of course it's a lot more refined than what I drew as a kid, but I do see it as a progression that's been going on for most of my life.

This was never really a conscious intention on my part, but I think the sparseness of the comics lends a kind of universality to them, as well as putting people at ease when they encounter them.  Which are both objectives of mine.

As far as what work I look at, I read all kinds of comics and look at all kinds of art.  I can appreciate it all.  I wouldn't want to limit myself to only being exposed to certain types of work.  It all comes together in my head, and I draw inspiration from a lot of disparate sources.

Do you enjoy book tours? How does it relate or contrast compared to touring with a band?

The tours are great--  it's cool seeing new cities, and traveling, meeting new people and seeing friends I haven't seen in a long time.  It can be a little grueling, but that's a small price to pay for all the awesomeness...  Books tours are very similar to band tours, at least the way I do them, except that with book tours I'm usually on my own, or with a different artist.  I loved playing in bands because of the interaction between the members of the group, but at the same time I appreciate the "solo gig" kind of mentality of comics--  it's just me up there sinking or swimming.

CSBYS NEW ALT MONTHLY

Columbus Sucks Because You Suck now comes with a legitimate alternative monthly, filling the void in our city for writing that doesn't make you regret living here. Brian Deller heads up the publication as he has the flyer. All the usual suspects have pieces in this: Martin of Weedsteeler, Bret from Black Cloud, Max of Biff Boff Barf, and some sundry other individuals. I have a piece in it about ways people come up with names for Punk houses and what naming those houses mean. I posted it on this blog here.

Here is the scanned in, out of order, magazine. Cover first then more after 'the jump.'

LU C TU Y MANS

PRE-EDITOR EDISH:

Major museum retrospectives usually occur in the last years of an artist’s life or the first years there after. To be the subject of one as a “mid-career” artist is a rare, honorable distinction. But for Luc Tuymans, it seems overdue.

Tuymans, born in 1958 in Belgium, is a pre-eminent European painter informed by post-war politics, the language of cinema and the photo-paintings of Gerhard Richter. His work demands high prices on the international art market and high regard in critical journals.

Over 70 works of his are on display, filling up each gallery of the Wexner Center for the Arts on campus.

In a reductive sense, Tuymans’ work drives to undercut the authority of the image. His paintings aim to make clear the tangle of ideology underneath the innocent façade of a skier or a rabbit, a wax seal or an empty room.

But once one realizes the empty room is a gas chamber or that the blank skier is the Third Reich’s favorite architect, the inner logic of the show is unlocked and each subsequent piece becomes less surprising. Around the third gallery listless apprehension sets in; no longer can you comfortably rest in the nook of an intriguing color scheme or contemplate a minimal composition. These paintings become impossible to process aesthetically since the question of what they actually represent is continually brought to the surface.

This discomfort is due to Tuymans' success in raising difficult questions about how we negotiate the meaning of Western civilization’s baggage. What isn’t questioned is the life of these paintings outside of his concept and aesthetic: Is producing a representation of an atrocity to sell for millions of dollars ethical? Is it still ethical if one’s buying audience is of the same ruling classes that initiated the colonial and genocidal policies he seems to condemn?

These objects, if they are regarded with the skeptical eye Tuymans asks us to put to his blank rooms and skiers, become like trading cards or postage stamps of humanity’s worst moments made to be exchanged among the affluent.

Artistically, Tuymans only runs into problems when his references are too obvious. His portrait of Condoleezza Rice is too direct to lead the American viewer into a dialogue. Likewise, when he introduces collage or text to his muted oils an element of mystery is lost, it becomes too clearly connected to the outside world.

He is at his best in a series concerning the colonial past of the Belgian Congo. Dueling portraits of rival leaders, one ruling on behalf of Belgian interests and the other a symbol of anti-colonial independence, set off a room of incendiary associations that plays like the visceral imagery of a film trailer.

Following soon after crowd pleasing exhibitions of Andy Warhol’s Marilyns and William Wegman’s Weimaraners might lead to a perception of this show as being inaccessible or severe. But with a little patience, a little context and some discussion, the rewards of Tuymans are likely to be more nourishing.

Co-curated by Madeleine Grynsztejn and Helen Molesworth, the Wexner Center’s former chief curator of exhibitions, the show will travel to San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago, and Brussels, Belgium at the end of its run here January 3^rd.

The review at the Lantern.

Times New Viking - Born Again Revisited

This is the pre-editor edition of my Lantern review of Times New Viking's 4th lp, Born Again Revisited.

On the back cover of their new album for Matador Records, Times New Viking provides a chart that claims their physical state has consistently deteriorated since their first album, while their spiritual state has consistently elevated.

While the entirety of the record seems to belie that sentiment, that overtone of career summation fills this album, fittingly titled Born Again Revisited. The title is a mix of oblique references to Charles "Chuck" Colson’s memoir Born Again, Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited, and, possibly, the “B.A.R” on North Campus that has been at the center of their evolution, Café Bourbon Street.

The record design also revisits the past; there's the horse from their first seven-inch for Columbus Discount Records as well as the cursive font and the Don’t Look Back Dylan from Dig Yourself. The childlike peace signs on last year’s Rip It Off reappear on a burning flag from Woodstock 1999. These icons return Xeroxed out of recognition, darkened, sullied, or as photo negatives. They are no longer pure and fresh - they are revisited, recapitulated, and looked back at from an older age.

TNV has a history of playing with the motifs of the hippie counterculture with song titles like “Let Your Hair Grow Long” or drummer Adam Elliott’s insistent peace sign he waves to the audience while playing. Their co-optation of these signifiers has never been without a certain detachment – the knowledge that the optimism and political convictions of that time are nowhere to be found in today’s hip youth who seem content with commodified indie culture and establishment politics.

The generational difference between these two youth cultures, and the current impossibility and displacement of those past ideas, is the album's base metaphor. This is made explicit in “2/11 Don’t Forget” where Elliott and singer Beth Murphy lethargically intone, “It’s not that I don’t like what you do, it’s just been done through and through.”

Born Again Revisited’s lead single is the mournful “Move to California,” a song whose halfhearted chorus, “move to California, hear you’ll have a better time,” is the world weary opposite of other California songs like “California Dreaming” by The Mamas and Papas, “California Girls” by The Beach Boys, or more current fare by Phantom Planet. For TNV, the California that usually stands for optimism and possibility is both Haight-Ashbury and Altamont, both Mario Savio and Sirhan Sirhan.

Musically, TNV is still a noisy Beat Happening with all that entails: boy/girl vocals, pop melodies, and short songs that are deceptively simple. And yes, the production is still their fourth member. They wisely dodged the overwhelming sentiment that they should record cleaner by delivering the master recording for the album to their label on a videotape. As a joke or not, TNV claims the record to have 25% more fidelity. But with the double meaning of 'fidelity' this could either mean they have 25% cleaner production or that they held onto their original concept even tighter.

Why tape fuzz has been the overriding preoccupation in their critical reception is mystifying but it underscores how adrift sites like Pitchfork are from independent recording and the context of do-it-yourself punk rock. Unfortunately for Times New Viking, their interjection of blown out recording into the mainstream indie rock world has launched a parade of disciples from California's Wavves to New York’s Vivian Girls, which has made TNV’s tape hiss ubiquitous.

This trend has put TNV in an impossible situation: keep making records in the same style of the crowd or drastically change by cleaning up their recordings and be berated for bowing to critical pressure. This is why the theme of Born Again Revisited is so strange, since it is a summation of a career too young to sum up. It leads one to wonder if they are saying this is their last album in this style or if they will, as they say in “High Hopes” - do it again.

BUTTONS

I made some new ones, including a series of famous dicks.

I have a predicament with these buttons. I want to start selling them at more venues besides the Wexner Center Store and the Columbus Museum of Art. To do that though, I need some sort of name to call them, a "brand." And unlike my really good band names (I Wish I Was Dead) I can't think of anything to call it. I used to call them "Jimi Baby Buttons" as a pun on Jimmy Buttons proper but that would be unseemly and overly confusing if I started selling them in a variety of places. This is especially important since literally anyone can do what I do - all you need is a button maker and some spare time. The difference, I guess, comes from the type of references you highlight - most of mine are a lot like my "artwork," lots of politics, art history references, recontextualization of visual ephemera, etc. But if you put those in a bowl next to some others, it's admittedly hard to tell the difference. My plan is to get little circle stickers with the name of the "company" and attach them to the pin backs. It makes sense too since each of these pins are one of a kind to attach them to a bigger concept. IDEAS? Also, if you want some of these, let me know. You can see more on the Deviant Art page I actually have.

AUSSI:
Amelia gets two show reviews; second 'seems' written by "Hipster Runoff," I feel. : One.  Two.
I've made it into Quimby's!
Stealth advertising campaign for "THE ROAD" on Weedsteeler.
The Lantern stole Vitamin Water's "look."
Sort of content with our Senator?

CURE-TOR NO-TE

For this recently put together publication:



















Which the gallery is selling for $5.00. I plan to release all of its written content in the following weeks on this blog. First, the curator's note I wrote:

"THIS IS A COMIC BOOK CURATOR'S NOTE

Rene Magritte’s “This Is Not a Pipe” tells us we are wrong about something we know we are inherently right about. This is a Comic Book does the opposite. It tells us we are right about something we inherently know is not true.

Representations (like a page unstuck from a comic book) activate all conceptions one has about the “real” object (and its platonic form). But amputation, decontextualization, and museumification serve to separate us from objects even as they allow us to physically be close to them. In the case of comics, the platonic form is the comic book: 32 pages, glossy cover, stapled, newsprint, and if possible, with slight yellowing. But that’s not what we get at exhibitions about comics. That would be too simple. In this paradox is a metaphor for the shedding of meaning that occurs to objects that have been ripped out of their historical, cultural, and physical roles and inserted into any one of the hundred of thousands of white-walled rooms across the world (some of which are inside buildings that used to serve an idiosyncratic, functional purpose in their society. Now: gallery).

Viewed as if it was not the product of an unreliable narrator, This is a Comic Book amply presents examples of several divergent paths comics have followed since the boom in independent, individual viewpoints (as opposed to collaborative creations from large companies) occurred in the late 60s(and mid 80s (and late 90s))). This includes work in abstraction, “art-school” comics, autobiography, genre re-imagining, mini-comics published independently, and web comics – as well as work that negates any discernable classification by entirely challenging what we think makes up a comic book.

But that is not “A Comic Book.” Or even representative of the majority of the comics industry; it’s barely representative of the “Indie” and “Arty” comics that typically interest the New Yorker/Book Forum stereotype. It is instead a selection that touches the lines, jumps the gutters, and succeeds in contradicting itself over and over again. We see things as new which are deeply ingrained in tradition (Dorothy Gambrell, Phonzie Davis) and things as old which break new ground at each successive turn (Chris Day, Conor Stechschulte). We see the mastery of “technique” in Nate Powell’s work but also the mastery of “technique” in Anders Nilsen’s. We are challenged by initially inscrutable narratives but also enveloped inside worlds that seem so much like our own. In other words, the selection is scattershot: just like the meaning and practice of comics.

Like independent music in the mid to late 80s, comics are in the midst of a creative revolution. And when the major labels came calling for that music, typified by bands like The Butthole Surfers, The Replacements, and Sonic Youth, they morphed it into a stultifying something else altogether, “Indie.” That co-optation by the major tastemakers denuded what was interesting about independent rock – namely its independence. Like punk rock, which loses all meaning when it is shrink-wrapped and footnoted, the immediacy of these comic visions is obscured against the white walls of the gallery. But this work, like the independent bands on SST and Subpop in the 80s, is undeniable. It calls out for public scrutiny and art world acknowledgment, not despite its “low” art pedigree but because of it. That relationship, the tenuous line between acceptance and co-optation, is at the heart of this exhibit and its accompanying catalog. We hope you enjoy it.

Jimi Payne & Colleen Grennan"

SEVERAL REVIEWS MY ZINE HAS RECEIVED

Though my zine, PUNK ZINE, came out a year ago I just received two new reviews of it. The sentiments which seem to unite the reviews include, A: My Zine is big. B: There is a "cut and paste" aesthetic. C: The name of it "is already taken." D: It is hard to read.

I say bullocks.

NERVHOUS RECORDS from Malaysia SAYS:

Punk Zine –the Art/History issue (A3/English/copied)
This is my first experience having and reading an A3 size zine, it feels like reading a tabloid but the font size is humongous. So, the first page is where the editor James Payne tell us about why he do an art/history issue and why he named his zine ‘punk zine’ and why he choose to focus on his town, Columbus. He made great interviews with Phonzie Davis (zine and comic artist), Johnny Rattail (punk artist-mostly flyer art/design) –cool art!, Andy Hinton (another active flyer designer), Geoff Hing (one of the key members of Defiance, Ohio) one of my favorite folk punk band, Jason of The Neil House (a house hosting many-many punk shows) and Matt Reber (New Bomb Turks). Most part of the interviews is about the good old days, history, punk before internet existed, and Columbus scene. A review of The Evens’ show at Chop Chop gallery, some more writings and some reviews on comics and records complete the zine. This zine is rad, and punk! Dig this if you’re into folk punk, poppunk, bike punk and punk art. James Payne 115 W.10th Ave (The Monster House), Columbus, Ohio 43201 USA or aj_payton@hotmail.com or myspace.com/totallysweet


GIVE ME BACK SAYS:

PUNK ZINE - The Art History Issue - 11 x 17 - 48pgs - Free

This is huge! It has a good and sloppy cut & paste style that works on this scale - occasionally I was like "ok, this maybe doesn't have to be this big" because it was like pixilated or something, but who cares? Overall it looks awesome. I can't believe it's free. I think it was like a college art project, like with funding or something. Anyway, I enjoyed the narrow, local focus - all the interviews and features seem to all be connected with their native Columbus, OH. There are interviews with flyer makers, historic punk house dwellers, and band members. The editor admits in one interview to it being their first time, but if that has any impact on these interviews, it's not a hinderance. I especially appreciate the scope of the interview subjects, not being limited to bands or celebrities, yet narrowed by local revelance. You might guess from the name, that there is a certain amount of arrogance to this project. There's a little of that, but I like it when young punks decide that it's time to reinvent shit. This scene gets stale fast and can always use some shaking up, you know. In the intro, they criticize the review sections of zines like ours, basically saying that in trying to review so much, we over simplify descriptions and force things into boxes. I agree with that, and I hope their zine inspires more local punk zines. I look forward to an issue two. Highly recomended. FIL.


RAZORCAKE SAYS:

PUNK ZINE
three stamps and mailer, 17” x 11”, copied, 46 pgs.

By Keith Rosson
Thursday, August 21 @ 00:00:00 CDT

Man. So obviously a labor of love and so totally unreadable. Turns out that having twenty-some individual 11” x 17” pages stapled on the edges—again, there’s no spine here, we’re talking a stack of pages stapled together—makes this fucker nearly impossible to open, much less read. Still, it’s got a nice cut and paste aesthetic, gloriously sullied halftones and a lot of passion. Focusing almost entirely on the Ohio scene, this one’s subtitled the “art/history” issue, which is apt. There are interviews with various Ohio institutions of yesteryear (tenants of seminal punk houses, dudes from bands like New Bomb Turks, etc.) and kids actively doing stuff today (dude from Defiance, Ohio, punk artist John Rattai,), tons of old scene reports, newspaper articles, etc. All in all, it’s a terrific homage to a scene and locale, and again, the love is apparent. Still, I’d definitely suggest halving the page size, having a spine to staple, and actually making the goddamn thing, you know, functional. Also, call me crazy, but I think Punk’s already been taken as far as fanzine monikers go. –Keith Rosson (James Payne, 115 W. 10^th Ave., Columbus, OH43201)

BLACKCLOUD SAYS:

When I first heard Jimi was making a punk-themed zine, I was worried. It’s difficult to write about an abstract topic you’re apart of and it tends to turn out … well, cheesy.

Fortunately Punk Zine is more of a recent history, some of the last 10 years, of Columbus punk and not a this-is-why-punk-saved-my-life type of tribute. Thank god.

The history is not definitive, but appealing because the events discussed are still relevant, but beginning to yellow with age, unknown to most of the younger crowd. Does your typical youngster know the Legion of Doom stopped a war? That Defiance, Ohio once lived in Ohio?

The zine’s greatest strengths are its diversity in subjects and the balance between the history of Columbus punk and Jimi’s own personal history. The latter I enjoyed more because Jimi has been someone on my get-to-know-better list for a while now (yes, I really do have mental lists like that.)

Through question-and-answer interviews, he focuses on everything from local comic book writers and artists, to punk-house leaders and old-time rockers from a different era.

Some interviews drag on, but his humble style creates a depth that makes it worth wading through the murk to see what’s discussed later.

Reviews, which make a small portion of the zine, are the weakest link. For the most part, Jimi chooses media he likes and patronizes it. Much of the writing is academic sounding which is too bad because he has an engaging and personable voice when interviewing.

One review where he is objective is The Evens show at the Chop Chop Gallery in 2006, and he talks about Ian Mackaye signing autographs.

“I would equate (Ian Mackaye signing autographs) to walking in on your parents having sex,” Jimi writes. “As the product of their sex you know they must have previously had sex and probably still do just as you realize someone at some point has asked for Mackaye’s autograph.”

Not only does Jimi take on a punk icon (rightly so), we also learn about Jimi being a “product” of Mackaye’s music.

The style is very zine-like – cut-and-paste, flyers, photo copier art, ect. – yet still original. The layout is clear and easy to navigate. While that sounds like a backhanded compliment, it’s sincere because too many zines read like choose your own adventure books.

One judgment issue I have is the size of the zine. It’s fucking huge at 11” x 17”! While the size makes the zine stand out (more like dominate any helpless normal-sized zine that happens to also sit on top of your toilet), it’s cumbersome to read, kinda like a newspaper.

Getting your hands on a copy might be difficult. Jimi said he’s only printing 200 copies and I’m sure most, if not all, have been distributed. Not sure why he’s setting a limit. The diversity of subjects will create a demand and get his work in the hands of more people than your typical zine.

Looking forward to the next issue, but don’t skimp out on copies of this one: it’s a keeper, one of the best of the year … if you’re from Columbus.

You can order it from Microcosm. If you feel so inclined after all this. I think I am making a new one in the fall.

BIG ASS KNIFE

Troy & Bobby of fav Columbus bands Heath Deadger and New Creases (New Creases Dental Dams, what's up David Leighty!) have a newish venture that was sorely needed. Much like Eric Metronome and his repeatedly mentioned house show recordings from the Neil House, BIG ASS KNIFE is keeping aural track of our bullshit. Maybe they will catch a future Oscar nominee in action and end up a footnote in some trash printed (posted) under the (digital) fold. Maybe I'll be negative even about things I'm posting that I like!

Anyway, Troy is recording these shows on something I swear looks like a taser/cow prod. He's talked about making bootleg CDRS and desperately needs someone to show him how to properly post the MP3S. It's already a pretty sweet collection of bands.* Right now AMELIA's 2nd show is on BIG ASS KNIFE'S myspace which I think Troy told me he didn't really want people to know about. Also Troy is now Stymie's roadie.

My recollection of this show includes imbibing because I was depressed, asking Austin if I could still use his bass even if I was inebriated, and then trying very intently to not mess up just to prove I could still play bass drunk. Joke's on me because I can't even play bass sober. Somehow I didn't do too poorly. Trivia: the last time I drank before playing music I was in Hot Date.

2nd BIG NEWS STORY: This one is reverberating around the Monster household, riding a wave of delight following the COKE BUST** show at the Legion of Doom. It has to do with one, Tall Rob, and one, annoying mosh bro. Tall Rob did a head palm, knocking the kid's Boston Red Sox hat three rows back to where Christian and I were standing, and then gave mosh dude a large middle finger while mosh dude stood and gazed, caught in a sublime awe, rendered inert by Tall Rob's benevolent mosh pit patrol. Thank yous abound.

*penis geyser
lotus fucker
nukehammer
painkiller
heath deadger
revolta
kurt russell
maryn jones
the boy who could fly
toby foster
amelia
ryan starinsky
delay
heathers

** Unlike VILE GASH you could have arguably called Coke Bust "Vice Core" on the CSBYS flyer.

AND FIN

A STORY OF REFUSE:

It is a post-apocalyptic type of contraption. Bags tied to bags tied to a grocery cart with several amendments made to its figure. It has the presence of a ramshackle tank as its owner slowly pushes it down the shuttered alleys of the Ohio State campus in search of… something. And whatever. It’s a bit open-ended. But mostly the setup is for gleaning a bit from the plentiful crop of beer cans.

The man behind the bags is John Scott, or Leroy as he asks to be called. One of his “road dogs” is working a dumpster nearby, his upper body plunged deep within. His name is Popeye.

Scott is middle-aged, perhaps a bit more. He retired from his state job a few years back after being moved from the fairgrounds to the markedly more uptight atmosphere of a downtown office building. As he explains,

“We shoveled shit…you basically know what the fairgrounds does. You got cattle, sheep and all this; you take care of the buildings and everything. In the summertime we cut the grass and painted and all that. Then they sent me down there and I started to have to wear a white shirt and a tie… Oh no man. And no tennis shoes.”

But the retired life has worn thin for him as it does for many. Scott often complains, in a comic tone, of living with his children. “I’ve got 30 people in my house, and most of them are kids. I don’t need it.” Collecting cans is often his excuse to get out and enjoy the day.

And it is good he gets enjoyment out of collecting because it has become increasingly difficult to get any money out of the practice. Recycling centers give out less than half of what they did last year for Aluminum scrap, down from the halcyon days of 80 cents to just 30-35 cents on the pound. This reduces the value of one can’s worth of aluminum to something less than half a cent.

“I can’t make ten dollars with it,” Scott says in reference to the 30-40 bags he accumulates on a good day.

But there are other benefits to cleaning up after buckeye debauchery. “I go up there and get a chance to look at the pretty women, good conversation, they give me beer and things like that. After a good party, if you come out here at night time, hey, they leave you the rest of the beer and alcohol.”

And as far as the “culture of rioting” and “drunken orgies” that former OSU president Karen Holbrook infamously derided, Scott doesn’t mind. “It’s college. If I went to any other college it would be the same. I’m an old man now but you guys are still young.”

And it seems the arrangement works out for the students on campus as well. William Nelson, a junior majoring in Communications who lives on W. 10th Ave. is quite familiar with some of the 30 or so regular can collectors on campus. After describing several of the more colorful characters (“Cornbread” “the guy in the suit” and “the guy with the hair”) Nelson explains: “We’re that house. We always party. But it’s one of those things that, like, if the bums didn’t pick up the cans, we wouldn’t throw them in the yard. But as soon as we notice the bums picking up the cans, it’s like why not?”

Nelson goes on to say that they are don’t mind the collectors until they begin to ask for beer. And usually he and his roommates don’t even know at what time they come.

“We wake up and the yard is clean. Who knows?”

Nelson feels the relationship to be symbiotic. “We’re giving them money, they’re doing something for us. So there it goes.”

For Nelson and his roommates, who are all transplants from suburban enclaves throughout the state, living at the house has been their first interaction with the underground economy that Scott thrives on, or at least finds enjoyment in. And accordingly their attitude towards the situation comes off a bit cavalier. But to Scott, that’s fine.

“That’s how I get cans.”