Black Betty is not Racist

For many seasons up until 2006 the UNH men's hockey team used to skate onto this ice during the playing of Ram Jam's version of the classic song "Black Betty." But during that year the NCAA banned the song, ruling that it was "theoretically racist" since it was originally a traditional African-American work song and therefore unfit for a college sports environment.

You decide: Is this song too inappropriate  to play at college areas?

Whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)

Whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)

Black betty had a child (bam-A-lam)

The damn thing gone wild (bam-A-lam)

She said it weren't in er mind (bam-A-lam)

The damn thing gone blind (bam-A-lam)

Said whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)

Whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)

Whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)

Whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)

She really gets me high (bam-A-lam)

You know that's no lie (bam-A-lam)

She's so rock steady (bam-A-lam)

And she's always ready (bam-A-lam)

Whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)

Whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)

Whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)

Whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)

She's from birmingham (bam-A-lam)

Way down in alabam' (bam-A-la)

Well she's shakin' that thing (bam-A-lam)

Boy she makes me think (bam-A-lam)

Whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)

Whoa, black betty (bam-A-lam)

For a little while UNH would play an instrumental version of the song, but it was later scratched completely. Now we get Dave Matthews' "Two Step." I mean what type of hockey team (or any sports team for that matter) uses Dave Matthews as entrance song?

Black Betty has been recorded by dozens of artist dating back to the 1930s. Some students have called that UNH losing Black Betty has cursed our hockey team. Combined that with the possible new curse of the Maine Lobster and I'm not too sure about our teams future. The song was banned in 2006 and UNH has not reached the Frozen Four since 2003. But for now, I stand by my claim: Black Betty is not racist.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

PS: Check out this new music blog started by a few blog readers. They read my blog so I figured I'd link them up. 

17 Years...

Kurt Cobain died when I was barely four years old, but he is still one of my all-time favorite musicians. I often wonder how his music would have evolved if he was still with us. 

Winning back that Party School Rep

Disclaimer: This column is only meant for the eyes of those who are 21 years of age or older. If you are not 21, please stop reading immediately. If you are 21, sit back and enjoy.

More serious disclaimer: Seriously, stop reading. Okay, now that you have agreed to the terms of condition, that you are indeed 21, we may continue. Although, I must add, please note that this column is for entertainment purposes only. I (and TNH editorial staff would probably like that I include them too) do not hold any responsibility for any of your actions that may result from what you read below. I just wanted to clarify that so Health Services does not report me to the conduct office for encouraging excessive alcohol intake like UNH Dining did last year for "encouraging" students to steal.

Now, let us begin.

A few weeks ago I wrote about a challenge that was basically the idea of "pay it forward." It is important for humans to act kindly towards one another, but I do not want to forget about one of my earliest mission statements. While it is nice to have more serious and intellectual columns and discussions, I like to stay true to my roots that developed way back as a freshman in good old Williamson. That mission statement was to help UNH regain its position toward the top of the best party school list.

I have developed and modified a few old and new drinking challenges for the individuals of UNH to help us regain our past status. Such as with anything that happens out in the real world, the best progress is usually made in large cohesive groups, but like I said a few weeks ago, one person can make a difference simply by setting an example.

For starters, we have all probably heard of shower beers. A nice cold beer (or two or three) during a hot shower is a terrific way to start off a night (*cough* or late morning *cough*) of drinking. I have created an even better challenge; I call it the shower growler. Growlers are half-gallon glass jars that consist of about four beers. I highly doubt that you can get a growler of Keystone Light, so you will probably have to make your way over to Red Hook to stalk up.

Another well-known drinking challenge is "beat the clock," which takes place at certain bars. The idea is to drink as much as you can while bars have cheap drink specials. It is a fun and cheap way to get drunk with a few friends. But what happens if you find yourself bogged down in homework and you cannot make it out? I have created my own version. It is very simple; all you have to do is casually drink while doing homework, preferably something simple like reading. The idea of the game is to read as many pages as possible before feeling the affects of the alcohol. It is a win-win situation because you either get all your work done, or you end up buzzed and ready to go out.

This next one is a little risky and I cannot say that I have actually done it (at least I have not done it yet). You will need some hard alcohol, a flask to keep said alcohol in and a meal plan. I think you can figure out where I'm going with this, but if you need it spelled out, sneak the flask into a dining hall and pour it into your drink of choice. It can be a nice way to sample mixers before buying more at a store. If you don't have a flask, nips will probably work just as well, if not better. But you did not hear this from me. (Dining, I'm not serious, remember my disclaimer!)

Those are just a few simple ways that you as an individual can help UNH regain our past reputation. My roommates and I have one rule in our apartment: No one drinks alone. We call it the domino effect because if one person grabs a drink at least one other must follow. Set the example and be the change. These simple challenges will also help you improve your tolerance, which will then improve your party stamina. If we take it one drink at a time, one party at a time, UNH will return to glory.

Stay classy, not UMassy,

That's no ordinary rabbit!

Okay, seriously. What is up with all these spray paint tags popping up all over campus?  This rabbit is on the second floor door at Dimond Library. I've seen Charlie Sheen, Abe Lincoln, and gorillas among others. What does it meeeeaaaan? Is it a protest? Is it symbolic? Is it gonna nibble your bum or is it just a harmless little bunny? Or is it simply some kids with nothing better to do. Needless to say, UNH is gonna be pissed and I'm interested to see if this tagging is really apart of something bigger.

In other news, VP Joe Bidden visited UNH today. I saw a few snipers chilling on the roof of the MUB. You know... normal UNH shit. 

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Update:

PS: It could also be a squirrel... but I couldn't reference Monty Python with a squirrel.

Update 2:

PPS: Upon further review, I'm really starting to think it is probably a squirrel. I swear to drunk I'm not God.

Meh?

 

This is a rabbit.                                        This is a squirrel. 

Gogol Bordello Broke the Spell

Warning: Non UNH post. This is basically a concert review that I just want to share for any other members of the Gogol community who might stumble across this.

Last night Gogol Bordello set the Boston House of Blues on fire with an unreal performance that lasted about two hours. Forro in the Dark got the night started with about 45 minutes of their Brazilian reggae sound, but when Eugene Hutz of Gogol took the stage to singalong with Forro's "Nonsensical" (the song that gave me the title idea for this blog) you knew that the night would be all about Hutz and his captivating stage presence.

Different concert obviously, but a similar performance:

Gogol took the stage right at 8 p.m. ripping of hits new and old beginning with "Tribal Connection," "Not a Crime" and "Wanderlust King" before the band transitioned into their latest album playing "My Companjera," "Raise the Knowledge," "Last One Goes the Hope,"Pala Tute," "Immigraniada," "Break the Spell," "Sun is on my Side" and perhaps the best performance of the night with "When Universes Collide." The band also played "Mishto," "American Wedding" (while a fan proposed to his girlfriend on stage) and an almost hip-hop esq version of "Start Wearing Purple" that had the entire house jumping and screaming. (Well, actually the entire house did that all night.) The band took a quick break before performing an encore of "Think Locally, Fuck Globally" and an extended version of "Sacred Darling." The band then stood across the stage and took their bows. Hutz gathered his band of immigrants and gypsies around him for a quick chat before saying to the audience "we got an early start tonight, so we're gonna do a few more." The crowd went nuts and Hutz introduced their next song saying, "we just just got back from Ireland and we were there for St. Patrick's Day so we'd like to take that spirit back with us" and they performed and awesome version of the Dubliners "Dirty Old Town" (made famous by the Pogues) and they finally ended their set with a great version of their old hit "Alcohol." When the concert finally ended my brother turned to me and said something along the lines of "No one else in Boston had as much fun as the people at that concert" (including the members of the band). - I may have missed a few songs, I'm writing this off memory.

This is from a different concert, but it is the same final two songs as last night:

In short, Gogol Bordello may be the best live band around. Adjectives like "energetic" and "charismatic" don't even begin to describe their performances. I've seen them 8 times since my senior year of high school and I wouldn't have done that if it wasn't worth it (including twice in Philly - a 7 hour drive-  and twice more in NYC). If you consider yourself a fan of live music in general then do yourself a favor and see Gogol the next time they roll by your town. You won't regret it.

Day drinking in Boston!

Going down to Boston for some day drinking and then seeing Gogol Bordello. Best live band ever... and I think I'm still drunk from last night. Yay college.

Snow Day!

So all week I had been brainstorming different joke posts for today. Last year Corey and I wrote a couple each and we had planned on it again, but it's just been to crazy lately I never got around to it. Then TNH beat me to it this morning (let's just say I was at the bar when we got the UNH text alert last night and it quickly turned from casual drinking to a rager into the wee hours of the morning.) TNH did a great job with their stories, they are definitely have a deeper meaning behind the jokes. Yesterday I had settled on the idea that I was going to post that classes had been cancelled and the text alert system was down, especially once the storm came... but then classes really did get cancelled. Fail.

So, now I'm just sitting in my living room and it is too late now to pull a good blog joke so I'm going to go in the opposite direction and open up a little here. Now that I am 21 I feel more comfortable writing about certain things. I've always wished to have my name out there. Being anonymous only hurts my credibility. So here goes nothing... I am a junior, I live in the Gables, my favorite color is green, my favorite beer is Newcastle Brown Ale (PBR when I'm poor), whiskey is my favorite hard alcohol although I do love Tenure Polish Vodka and Sailor Jerry's Spiced Rum, baseball is my favorite sport (I played all through high school) and I also love skateboarding and skiing. My name is Pete Zorbrist. Don't believe me? Try facebook.

Stay classy, not UMassy.