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This was originally written to iustify a *ound project I proposed for the Bureau far Open Culture's Audihle Dwellings. /f s an attempt ta frame an obsession with relaxing drones and harsh noise coming from the city in an academic art world context. In the end I managed to canvince CCAD to give me money ta walk around and recard drones in the city. "'fhe unpitched whir of distant busy night trighways is one af lhe msst beautifitl sounds"and there'sn{} one way ta pinpoint one "individual" source. It'san acr:identalcollabaration. Haw often when yoLtilre riding on a highway da you think ahout hrsw the saund you &re making is blending with the other vehir:les? dnd Inw aften do we ransider that same*ne might be listeningat a distance and HEARthosesounds that yau' ar* all making as ane c:ompositewhale?- - Ryan lewell : The sonic environment in any large city is a chaotic mesh of unmusical sounds,some coming fromsources you're able to pinpoint, such as power ; transformers,air conditioners or electric lights,and ;i some lesseasy to pinpoint, such as the wash of white noise coming from highways audible from almost any where in a maiar city. Most peoplenaturally tune out this meleeof : environmental soundr Our brain$ can only pracessso much stimuli at a time, and if a sound has few ; conventional musical qualities (rhythm, melody, harmony),we are liketryto stop hearing it Yet these soundsare important windows into flows of energy, information and commerce,and they have musical value. Thesesounds are a side effect of the processes that keepour societyafloat - the generation of the "Drone" continued on page 4
Not yotrr average month By CabotGirl,' fake had iust moved into a loft apartment on CarnegieAvenue near East 55th Street; a real nice place in the middle of the hood. To me it seemedlike the least likely area tc begin gentrifying on the Eastsidebut whatever, I iust parked under a streetlight and put my CD case in the trunkfvtygirl friends always seemedto luck out with lake. Usually it involved lots of Steel Reserve and a good party in Shaker Heights I was surprised he called me on a weekday night to come hang out with him at his new apartment.|ake was such a babe, He did great impersonations, l l always had weed and PlaYedguitar went l and sang in the hand everyone to see at The Pit on Loraine Avenue. I was immediately iealous upn walking into his huge loft space.It had i shiny, new hardwood floars with various instruments and recording equipmenl scatteredin its corners. I sat down oq the couch and walched him pack a bowl while he comPlained about missing Portland. He asked if I liked Of Montreal and if he could put them on. I lied and said Yes. Then I fett it between mY legs. If i you're d female*bodiedwomani You "Month"continuedon Page3-'
ur try martin weedsteeler word. you guys arent off the hook with me yet. weedsteeler nyc office (bk)... right? right. blowing on that alec bradley..- the whore and daddy daniel blowing that loud Pack.
word? yeah,sour diesel and i iust finished some tommy shit for that greek god (vp now, nah mean?!) turn up prensado.nah mean?! word? yeah,cuba bruh (shouts to mallard on that middle school loud we about to be bespokebruh*. holler at that man mr. ned). rewind. killed in action LP recording sessionsera columbus-"lilzach,""doubler H,"(aint talking rocken republic.fuck that dragon lady. what was her name?and tnit goddamndog that was chewing on my leg a week after i graduated and was asking for 8o stacks not in front of puutic housing but in culver shitty pushing the chrysler iu*e color as pepsi blue.talk about f word bruh...felln myselfdoh.),"the warden," "pfofessorweed and his friend prll'urroa weed,""sk","a *aic," "lil e," "tran-n*nem," ;inverted rass aka the scientist,""bsa-n-nem,"the list goes an bruh but BR couldnt make it that day for the shoot' o*le-do-it!!! everybodyis feeln the shit outta colurnbus.fuck that big city haircutshit. say word? new york city for the new millenium-n-shit.feeln ourselves setting the tone for what you read on the blogsnow you feel me? mmmyyeeeahhh! right. fast forward past us inventing white peoplelike you know them like i said above. huh.
09/0t0. o-le-do-it!!! were doing our eggs,michaelvick and walking to work. fuck a whip unlessits the 0-ll charger.still aint seenone in this bitch but i seen this one at the super bowl iump off last niSght. not mad,might touch it. fuck a whip unlessits a metro card. yall see that stem freight back in the 90s with the metro card fill shit was like waaay sick when i was 14rewind...camp david...bump that depalmahood classic...not weedsteelerbrandons copy other brandons copy.-fuck you and your gaye manners...everyday that quote holds more and more weight (not like clipse)with me. that shit still insults us...i mean thats why we were felling columbuslike it was S.l.E.is like it is right now? cuz like we didnt have to deal with the big-city attitude fram some nobody who didnt offer anything who couldnt even drop half a name not that we would have given a shit when they did. remernberwhen those big city liberals came to town to help us win? rememberwhen they acted like they had a hx of biscuits?remember when they got stompedon some pre pbi shit? fotii more yeirs"briy*ryr and yall lookn mad foolish I to me with your gaye manners. rewind from now/fast forward from above. the thing is there are two kinds of people. word? yeah. the first are peoplethat cant make it where theyre from and like needa&ig placeto hide their mediocrityin. youre still no one here and this restaurant is on par with the rcssi at best dear...so nah your fancy manners.dont .,u impressme cuz youre not t.rn.(not thug mayor aka dr.royarnaka kevin loveschili) and that outfit is "mall"at best and copablein the midwest and its not all black and it doesntlike iust kinda hang off of you cuz like the smallest size totally isnt quit small enoughlike so im totally hoping that attitudecomeswith a p.didy-sizedtip. and the secondis me im just in the kitchen makingthat guac bruh avacodoslike it was pounds in the trash can marty do the dishes. but nah i dont work retail and i dont do dishes.
"Month" continued from Pagel' know what I'm talking about. [t's unexpectedand startling. I went to the bathroom,pulled down my Dogpile stretch jeans and began ta pee.After finishing I looked into the toilet to find a dark red trail slowly dripping down into the bowl. Fuck. Vhat was I going to dc? Obviouslythere'weren't any tamponsin fake's.bathroom. I{e lived alone.I didn't cariy a purse, it just wasn't my style.In my mind I searchedthrough my car, hoping I had a box of tamponsin the trunk. I,folded up sometoilet paper to temporarily plug my cunt, pulled up my Dogpilesand decidedon my plan. I'd tell fake that I forgot my wallet in the car. Next, I'd insert my tampon in the car becauseit would definitely look weird if I grabbed it, came back in and went to the bathroom again. Vhen you're 16,super high and hangingout with an I older guy you have a crush oD,you don't want to tell him you need to find a tampon ASAP.Nor do you want to go to the bathroomtwice in 15minutes,giving him the impression you have diarrhea or something.The car option was my only choice. Thankfully fake was on the phone when I told him. I went out to my car, opened my trunk and frantically threw around some clothes.Hell yeah, sup€r absorbencytampon box! I sat in the driver seat and inserted the tampon,cursing myself for buying such tight pants.I put the bloady applicator back in its I wrapper and stuffed it with other trash in the side of the door. Feelingrelieved,I smokedhalf a cigarette and went trackup to fake'sloft. The huge open spacesurprisingly still reeked of weed and this time some other garbage indie band was playing out of his new Mac. I don't remember much of our conversationthat night, but I remember feeling like stoned fake in his apartment was very different from the much*loved party fake at shows.We weren't really hitting it off butapparently I had hit someone. "Is that blood on your hand?' he said, laughing."Did you punch someonetoday?' I felt my face flush and rny stomachknot. I quickly stood up and walked to the sink. "Oh shit. No,tlut that does loqk like blocd doesn't it," I said as I rubbed and washed nbrvously."[ was dying Sarah'shair this ugly dark red today.I didn't have any gloves.'" I don't recall his responsebut I rememberfeeling fucking stoned and horrified. Nothing happened between us tha{ night. I'm pretty sure I left early becauseof the dreaded cramps that usually set in the day I receivethe rnonthlyvisitor. ilo you have a shocking, gross, horrible, hilarious or awesame period stury? If so, please contact mickeymocnik@grnail.com and submit to my zine! Comics and artwork are also welcome and submissions fram all genders are encauraged.
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? "Drone" continued from Page l. lhe machinery thal the we breath, or that circulale air systems the ventilation way of life, electricity lhat powers our construcls and sustains our buildings and infrastructure. Theseare processesthal mosl of us will not oflen think about during their daily lives, but they directly alTeclus. Likewise,listening closelyto these sounds is somethingthat most of us (if we can help it) will not do. They don't fit in with our illusions of the way the world should be,and competewith our internal processesand communication.However, consciouspâ‚Źrceplion of these soundscan increase awarenessof the systemsthat sustain us and our relentlessconsumption of energy,and lead to a new appreciationof lhe possibiliriesof sound and music.The Chord of Columbus,a collaboralive proiectbetween myself and Sarah Cowles,with help from Learning Sile and the Bureau for OpenCullure, attemptsto harvest and extract the meaning from these infrastructural and environmental sounds. Almost exactly between A sharp and B, and two octavesbelow middle C, the mains hum is a tone heard by most people in mapr US cities every day, often contihuously,without notice.The mains hum, also known as 60-cycle hum, is caused living by an electrical phenomenonlnown as magneiost clon. Magneticmalerial changesshape.slightly when exposedto a magnetic field, and transformers consist of conductive material wrapped around a magneticcore. Thesemicro changesin shape manifest in this 60-cycle-per-secondvibration and subsequenthum. The primary tone audible in lhe United Slatesis around 6O Ha dependingon local electric uliliiy configuration.However' its visible spectrumof harmonacsranges from I to at least 10,000He meaninSthousandsof individual lones lie underneath and abovethe immediatelyaudible 60 Hz The tone lurks in lhe infrastructure ofour cities,and surrounds us as we venture fofth in our lives. Emanatingfrom sewers,power transformers,electric lights,and home applianceslike refrigerators,il is a seeminglystatic tonq a relentless, uncompromisingdrone. The mains hum could have been the world's first electronic music performance,being performed live all over the world since the advent of electricity.No doubt,it can be seen as a worldwide minimalist drone sound installation.
"Thereare many soundswe tend to ignore that can have implicationson our environments." psychological Drone music has roots in many ancient traditions, such as Indian classicalmusic (which usually makesuse of the Tambura.a four stringed instrument used solely for droning), Australian aboriginal didgeridoo music,Mongolianthroat singers and Scottishbagpipemusic.Drone has also emergedin many zoth-century composer'swork, such as La Monte Young,Terry Riley and Brian Eno,German kraui-rock bands from the sixties and sievenliessuch as Tangerine Ilream, Popul Vuh and Neu!, as well as man conlemporary underground experimentalmusicianssuch as Emeralds,NauticalAlmanacand fames Ferraro. La MonteYoung,widely regarded as the first minimalist composi:r,claims lo have been fascinatedby the sound of stepdown power transformers and telephonepolesas a child in ldaho, as evidenl in many of his later compositions.In 196?he wrote 'The SecondDream of the High-TensionLine StepdownTransformer." Not all sounds in lhe city are a static drone. There are many soundswe tend to ignore that can have implicationson our psychologicalenvironments.Air conditionert ventilation units and fans producea huge whir of sound.Sometimesstrange high:pitcbed frequenciesare emanatedin addition to the soundsof motors and moving air. Inside any mairr building, such as , i'ibra.y, hospitalor ot{ice, the hum of the centrd air conditioning or heating unit is easily noticeableonce perceived.Building and neighborhooddesignerstake these sounds into consideration,and sound researchershave developedequations calcularingthe amount and nature of the sound producedby fan filtration units. Gasmeters send out the oscillating whoosh of natural gas flowing through. The soundsof highways are taken into considerationin urban planning. Huge sound barriers have been designedand installed along many malrr highways in an attempl to bloct the sound,which is aclually a quile calming wash of white noise.Inside a city bus is a malfunctioning ventilation unil.producing a hiSh pitched or overly loud frequencycan create an irrilable or soothingenvironment,dependingon the sou d and how it is perceived.Many televisions, radios and electronicsproduce an extremely-high frequency,around 2O kHz when turned on. This is often causedby the flyback transformer,which converts low voltagesto high voltages,and can be irritable and confusing.The soundsof daily "* human life, such a vacuum cleaner in the apartment above you, a chainsaw or iackhammeratâ‚Ź distant construction site or even a motorcycleor car engine a few blocksaway, all produce soundsthat we attempl to tune out' Awarenessof these soundscan take someconcentralion.They are nol always easy to notice. Pauline Oliveros devefopeda therry of "Sonic Awareness"in hnic Meditationsdescribedas "lhe abiliry to consciouslyfocus atlention upon environmentaland musical sound,reguiring continual alertnessand an inclination towards always listening-"Using a sensitivemicrophoneand a pair of niie headphonescan help as well Onceone truly begins to focus on the audible landscape' one begins to notice iusl how thick the sonic environment of a city, even an emply one, really is. The Chord of Columbusis an invesligation of these sounds.Il galhers,analyzes,condensesand amplifies them,creating a sonic map of the city. The chord, a compositionconsistingof all rhe tones collected,is proiectedthrough Learning Site's L
Attdible Dwelling,a combination loud speakerand dwelling locatedin a parking lot in downtown.T'he tonesare analyzedto determinefiequencyand intensity and proiected visuallyonto the exteriors and interiors of Audible Dwelling.The proiectedsound waves combinewith the soundsas well as a map of all recording sites to create a visual and aural cross sectionof the urban experiencedrawing to the strrfacethe subtle urban soundscapes that continuallyand often unknowingly affect our everyday life. Visitors are encouragedto walk around and inside the AudibleDwellingto'find different listening points,and are welcometo lay down and assumea state of relaxationduring the performance.The Chord of Columbusis the first of what could be an ongoing proiect to analyze infrastructural and environmentalsoundscapesin cities,industrial landscaps, urban environmentsand communitiesaround the country and world, presentingthe idea that they can be given musical value and serve as windows into thesepulsesof energy,commerce,and transportation.
Chord of Columbuswill include live performancesand demonstrationsduring the first week of March in the Audible thvelling located in the parking lot ar rhe corner of Long and Washingtonstreets. For more information, visit bureauforopenculture.org and johnalsobennett.blogspot.com.
PERSONAL 28Y0 ATeditorIS0contributors for alt monthly covering theColumbus DIYscene. Notpickywhenit comes to conlent. Becreative. Ve'ye alreadyhadeverything fromjournalism, opinion,fiction, photos, comics, reviews, drawings...you nameit.
Notatlsubmissions areguaranteed to run,Toincrease yourchances, submit quality wqrkDIYis not synonymous wfthhalfassed. Forwriting,please includehigh-resolution graphics (the"* largerthebetter!). Turnoffs- shittalkingon theInternetandcontentwith thestatusquo.NSAor LTRaccepted. If interested contact blackcloudpublishing@gmail.com. WAA. Deadlines arethe25thof eachmonth.
Holding the feet of Columbus'media to the fire by Cru foneo Enter The Slammer Yo, man, that shit's fucking ignorant " said the dude working at I4-0 Carryoul one of my favorite High Street philosophers.'They're like printing shit of people that aren't even guilty. Like people who were arguing with their girl in public." Holy fucking shit. CSBYShas heard rumors of the infamous Slammer but to see the Feb.26 issue in the flesh. Yeah, holy fucking shit. While Web sites like The Smoking Gun and TV shows in the vain of "World's Dumbest Criminaf' have long popularized the idea of making fun of criminals, The Slammer slays the forrnerly mentioned. If you have a mugshot fetish, The Slammer will get your rocks off each and every week for iust $1.I mean, I'm not sure if they publish every single Franklin County mug but it sure seems like it. When I showed it off at a small gathering af friends one of us even got the secret prize of "Oh, fuck, I know him!" Do you really think a periodical this shamelesswould stop at iust photos of those incarcerated? Oh no. They even organize them into categories such as "Sleepytime pals"" "say what?!,"and "fight club" (you guessed it, mug shots of people who were visibly beaten tup).I'll admit, occasionally I laughed out loud, but I instantly felt guilty. As a iournalist, I'm proud that we have unprecedented accessto our government's media, but that doesn't mean we should satisfy perverse voyeuristic interests all in the name of a cheap laugh.
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Alt weeklies killing it You know your paper's shit when it always seems like the main contents involve a reader's poll. Didn't they iust have one an issue or two ago? Anyways, mo$t punks, including mysell aren't on the same wavelength as Alive readers in this Feb.'2Aissue, but I feet they accurately represent the feelings of the city. For better or worse every reader's selection I either understood (maybe accepted?) or was completely outraged. There was no middle ground. The one category I liked this year that I've never noticed before is best place to breakup - The Short North Tavern. I always get pissed when they blow up my favorite spots but now I don't have to worry: [{ow many people still read Alive? Best article of the month: In the Line of Fire by $teph Greegor 'the best article of the week, probably the frantrunner for article of the year, was 'fhe Ather Papef s article "ln the Line of Fire" about the shooting range suicides at the AimHi New Albany Shooting Range The content is served well with an excellent cover by one of rny favorite local photographers,feffry Konczal (too bad all those other crap images are on there). ; fust when I thought it was about to get anti-gun, touchy feely, Steph Greegor pulls it back to be truly fair as well as thorough. Sy turning two local incidents into a national issue,the awards will be raining down on this article.
Vorst artlcle of the moDth: Swingers Prepare for Valentine'e Oay by Kilty Mcconnell For Valentine'sDay, TheOther Papels go to girl for all things swinger strikes out-. miserably even by her standards Ve1l give her creiit, the swingei ingle in the Feb.12issue is an interestioS take on VD (Yatentines'Daynot Yenerealdisease, perv) but Kitry'swriting is so dull I can't imaginea sinSlepersonin the entire ciry readingthe whole thing' Comeon, Kitty, swingerscan't possiblybe that boring. FreeClubPrincetonmembershipto the first readerwho brings the headof this hacl writer on a sticl so we can disPlayit Headquarters. permanentlyat the CSBYS
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Texasschoolboardhijinks
By fosh Hoey
During high school,I didn't nolice that lhings happeningaround me could have powerful political meaningsand consequences. I remember exaggeratingthe importanceof insignificant high schoolrhings. Maybeit was iust me, but structural underslanding was still a few years off. Could structuralism be helpful to high school kids trying to ground their experience in something olher than random chance? (fexas school board member Don Mcleroy shakes head.) No? OK, lelt iust move on to lhe inrelligent design unit then. I ate hamburgersand fries every day. Vhy? Causethey're delicious,I guess.fusl the way it was. Now we know aboul schoollunch politics' role in the obesity epidemic.Apparently there were folks advocatingfor feeding me fruits and veggies and stuff even back then. I wish ld known, even factoring in rhe risk of being pickedon for eating broccoli.D,on'tworry though - there are plenty of tater tots and subsidizedsammichesto go around. I don't even rcmember the sex educationcurriculum, but I think some peoplewere laughl to keep it in their.espective ' panls, while others were instructed to cut loose. If there is one aspect of American life that would seem to demand reasoned, clear-eyed scientific rigor, my vote is for the things - facts, burgers, genitals, eic. - that we put inside our children. The idea of a central authority with unlimited power over American schools is repellent to a range of cultural critics - see Glenn Beck's bloviating about pseudo-President Barry's messagelo kindergarteners. Local school boards seem like an effective bulwark against top-down management - except in this case, which is iust the opposite. Russell Shorto's article in tlrc New York Times Magazine (Feh. Il) reveals the rvorkings of the Texas State Board of Education'sprocedure for altering their curriculum. In an u[fofiunale instance of local elections'influence reaching far beyond the locality - see also the Massachusetlsspecial election earlier this year - Texas' curriculum pretty much determines every olher slate's. They buy 48 million textbooks every year, which goes a long way toward determining the t)'pe of textboots that are being produced and eventually adopted by other state t oafds. Vanl to Suessthe religion/polilical affiliarion of peoplewho win local elections in Texas,and hence decidewhat all children living in the United States are.taught in school? D,onMcleroy is on lhe board. He was chairman, unlil his unsuccessful push to include the 'strengths and weaknessesof evolution (codedanti-sciencelanguage)alongsidehis belovedintelligent design/crealionism.Don Mcleroy thinks the earth was created less than 0,(XlO years ago. (Vho cares how old the earth is? h's pretty old. The universe is way bigger, older, and more interesling) But anyway, the earth is way more than (),fi)O years old and there is no way a rational person could come to any olher conclusion. So afier pushing hard for this scary, delinilely incorrect, dangerous, and completely illogical thing, he was demoted. He's slill on the stupid board, and is one of seven (out of 15lotal members) deeply commitied Christian conservalives who vote as a monolilhic bloc- They only need to convince a single colleague to vote with then and, boom, global warming and all our other environmental problemsdont matler becausethe earth is young and unchanging,This example could have affected virtually every school district in the country. This time, Don Mcleroy and his associateswarmed up by striking Ted Kennedy from the curriculum and adding 8Os conservalive icons such as the Moral Maiority, Contract With America and the ever-entertaining NRA.They also decided we live in a Chrislian nation because the people who wrote the forrnding documenls were, in facl, Chrislian. There's a lot of room for honest debate about the inlentions of the 'founders" fefferscn's "wall of separation," while ! originating in a private letter, seemsto capture his intenl at least But the thing is, none of those peopleare around today.So why would I care what they thoughr?Il's like a commercial I remember from the Soda Vars Pepsi cited a survey thal suggested that something lile 55 percenl of Americans preferred their brand to Coke.Is anyone going 1o change their behavior based on this stalistic? If you like Coke,as I did, you're iust one of lhe ,15percent and that's fine. This is an interesting bir of fivia - iust like what lhe "founders' thought the role of religion in America should bâ‚Ź. lt's also a distraction from what our role as citizens should be. The Don Mcleroys and their counterparts are missing the point. Their premise seems to be that we should stick to originalism. I am not sure why anyone lhints rhis would be possible,much less desirable.The country isn't rcally a thing - it's '. a concept.lt is whatever we want it to be. Vhy handicap efforts toward very real reforms - grounded in stuff we've learned over the past 230 years - lhal would lead to a more perfect rea-lizalion of our idea of America? By relying on opinions and judgmentsmade centuries ago in a very different context we are focusing on all the wrong details.Vas the US intended to be a Christian nation? I know what I think the role of religion in government should be. Unlike Vashington or lefferson,I'm alive and able to vote in the myriad of ways in which we vote. Noihing screams"pleaseteach our'children to think c.itically" like an unelected(by the great maftrrltyof Americans) panel dictating which dubious facts becomeconventional lunchroom wisdom.Children should be taught to recognizewhat has value, and what is ideologically-drivennonsensewith no intellectualriSor or greater purposelo back it up.
switches trains By famesPayne Milton steps outside the "Loop" when the doors open. Transit is generally pleasurable when Milton reads a book Reading a book means Milton is looking at a booL Leaving the "Loop" train, Milton sticls his book underneath his arm. Vatting from the'toop" to the first escalator toward rhe Pink Line, Milton passesa coufle who are aging badly. They are fresh from Ouare with baggagein tow. They dont know where lhey are going and Point in different directions. Closer to the escalalor a woman much younger than Millon excoriates herself under her breatL hked' She has a style of iacket on that, while kempl, seems temporally dislocated She krows exaclly what Milron will say before Mihon says it as others have a way of saying the same. She asls Mihon for money to make a connection. On the escalator Milton iust sort of stands there. Over rhe Public Announcement system a voice alerts Millon to something he has already been alerted to: Nine express bus routes will be eliminared February 12(his son's birthday). All other train and bus routes will be reduced. At an op€n area belwe€n escalators, a group of Europeans solicil lhe help of a CTA employee' They can't fiSure out the pay mechanism on the ticket machine and stand huddled behind the turnslile. Blackened windows afiow Milion td see outside. it is snowing. He reflects back to the past weel" when it lasl snowed, and whether his footwear held up suflicienlly. Milton passesa silver government sign nailed into the wall tile: "A:nerican Recovery and Reinveslment Acl" for the llearborn Blue Line. Milton calmly takes note. No one is around really. And no one has looked at this sign before. On anolher escal,atorMilton lools into his reftection on the blackened windows. Mihon is nol sure what his IooL is anymore. Milton comes to the end of the last escalator and pass€s an unpopulated hallway. Milron loots down it. Milton sees a man asle€p,leaning into the wall lile with hls legs far out in front of his body. Milton lools again and confirms thal this is what he is looking al. Turning away, Milton pass€sa huddle of young people stafing inside to wait for their trains. Milton goes outside and finds one of the enclosed areas. lt is three pieces of metal with a heat lamp. The heat lamp is orange. It looks warm and yet it is not warm. A young woman standing acrossfron Milton proiectsa quiet maturity, like she is too young for a responsibilitythat has been sprung on her butphe has acceptedit and wears it with an equablepride. Milton watches the badly aging man from O'Hare walk to the edgeof the tracks. He flicks his cigarette I overemphasizinghis movements.The action seems . planned.His only audienceis the young woman with : equablepride, Milton, the man's badly aging wife and their baggage. fiue pigeonsin front of Milton engage/the remnants of a pizza crust. Fcur gray piSeonsblock out a light:brown pigeon.One gray pigeon tussleswith the largestchunk- It is too big for one gray pigeon to ever hope to eat. fhe planksof wood underneath Milton's feet are also gray. Milton remembersthat they were originally light brown. Greenpigeonexcrement,masticatedby heavy heeledChicagoans,transformed the color, texture, feel, face,smell,soul and idea'of the wood. The grain is now more shit than dead tree. Milton thinks "is this what this is." Milton stepsinside the "54th/Cermak':when the docrs open.