Band brings bright lights, colorful confetti and powerful music to Rams Head Live

OK Go put on an exciting show for all ages in Baltimore on Sunday night.

Over 100 eager music lovers stood in the dimly lit club at Baltimore’s Rams Head Live on April 12. Promptly at 9 p.m., a white, mesh fabric fell from a bar on the ceiling that surrounded the stage. Though some were puzzled by the fabric, many grinned and pointed at the stage. They knew it was time.

A few people pulled out their phones, ready to snap a picture of OK Go as they walked into sight, while others chorused a loud hurrah as clips from famous movies were projected on the mesh screen. This montage of movie bits showed multiple characters saying “okay go.”

The collage of clips ended with Kermit the Frog introducing the band as they took the stage and started playing “Upside Down & Inside Out” behind an abstract video of their faces on the screen. Lead singer Damian Kulash and bassist Tim Nordwind displayed a fearless energy in the way they moved with their instruments to the song. Small cameras situated next to their mics displayed distorted, close up images of their faces on the two screens behind drummer Dan Konopka.

Most of the audience sang along to the new anthem, putting their hands up and dancing under the colorful lights, while respectfully avoiding collision with their neighbors. The audience was a mix of teenagers and older, middle-aged fans.

During “The Writing’s on the Wall,” OK Go’s first single from their new album Hungry Ghosts, the crowd erupted with laughter as confetti canons released colorful slivers of paper around the club. The vibes only got better when, in the course of performing “This Too Shall Pass,” Kulash jumped off of the stage and onto the barricade. He reached out and touched hands before carefully maneuvering himself onto their hands to crowd surf.

After returning to the stage for “There’s a Fire,” Kulash made his way back into the crowd for an intimate, acoustic performance of “Last Leaf” where he performed especially for the older audience viewing from the balcony level of the club. Eyes were glistening with tears by the time Kulash made his way back to the stage.

Nordwind’s lighthearted question and answer session, the third of the night, had everyone cheerful again in no time, though. A steady stream of laughter filled the club when he agreed to go to prom with a girl in May.

A memorable part of the show was the band’s rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog,” in which Kulash put down his guitar so he could move around. With red light projecting directly onto his face, he whipped the mic stand around a couple of times before singing into it with his eyes closed in concentration.

Following the cover was, according to Kulash, the last song of the night, “Turn Up the Radio.” However, the show came to a close when the band performed “Here it Goes Again” from their sophomore album Oh No. This time, along with confetti, neon-blue bubbles danced in the void before poetically popping on fans’ heads, signifying the end of the night.

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Liz Lerman presents “An Artist’s Life at the Border”

During her stay as a researcher here at UMBC, Liz Lerman shared her thoughts and stories in the hopes of inspiring and opening the minds of others.

Instead of different fields of study, such as art and science, working separately, Liz Lerman questioned how they can work together. Lerman is a choreographer, performer, writer, educator and speaker. On Thursday, April 16, she gave a talk titled “An Artist’s Life at the Border” in the library’s gallery.

In 1976, she founded the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, an intergenerational company of artists that strives to create unique dances, and engage others in embracing the arts. One of their goals is to break the boundaries between the stage and audience. Lerman has passed on her role as the director to Cassie Meador, who is also a choreographer, performer and educator.

“[The Dance Exchange] is interested in who gets to dance, where the dance is happening, what it is about and why does it matter,” said Lerman. Altogether, the organization hopes to collaborate with different fields of study and bring ideas into action. Today, Lerman is pursuing new projects while working on campus with the Imaging Research Center.

Lerman is interested in developing a new way of thinking about existing information with a special focus on information and methods that derive from practice. “I am working on an online system that would allow users to find creative tools to help them achieve whatever they are trying to do,” she said.

Shortly into the talk, it became clear that she places a high value on nurturing one’s inquisitive nature. She wonders how our own ideas are sharpened when we extend ourselves outside of our disciplines and comfort zones.

“When we wander outside of our home or our refuge, I wonder what happens to us and how are we able to contribute to things differently in the world,” said Lerman. She believes in exploring what’s out there and collaborating with others in order to gain a sense of a world of possibilities.

“I want people to think and I want them to realize that there is more than one way to reach their own goals. I want them to realize that creativity lives at the borders between worlds, ideas and methods,” said Lerman. She stresses the significance of letting one’s imagination go wild and straying away from this belief that there’s only one right way to do something.

Anthony Alberti, a freshman English major, said, “I really liked hearing about her past, especially her theatre company. I enjoyed her ideas about creative research and how art and science intersect and aren’t totally different worlds.”

The talk was sponsored by the Dresher Center for the Humanities. The Director, Jessica Berman, said, “I thought the talk was a wonderful example of what can happen when scholars, artists, or researchers think beyond the borders we set up between disciplines or practices.” She asked Lerman to share her stories.

One of Lerman’s interesting stories was about visiting Japan with her dance company. During a conversation with a Japanese man, she learned that he didn’t want any more American influence in his country. By turning the man’s statement into a question, Lerman then began to wonder when and why we want to, or don’t want to, accept an influence.

“I came to Japan in order to be influenced, but there have been times in my life where I didn’t want that,” Lerman said. With this, she questions when it is okay to be open to influence and where and when do we observe the influence within research.

Immediately after Lerman concluded her talk, a line of students and faculty members formed, all seemingly eager to share their thoughts with Lerman and hear more of her inspiring words.

Photo Credit: Patrick Alejandro

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Dedicated group of students meets weekly to talk and share tea

In the process of becoming an official student organization, Tea Empire has been meeting weekly for several years. The growing group recently moved into the Harbor Cafe, where they are devoted to sharing a few friendly moments over a hot cup of tea.

In the Harbor Cafe, half a dozen tea drinkers mingle around a table. One guy is playing something on the piano. He doesn’t seem to be part of the gathering, but the relaxing chords add a nice touch.

Three plastic bags perch on the table in the center of the room, each of them full of tea. There are pouches of loose tea leaves, metal tins in different shapes, and a still-sealed box of Lipton that expires in a month.

Maxwell Weinberg, senior computer science major and the current “tea emperor,” stands at the table with a mug in his hand. It’s black, with “meh” written in white. A small rubber man reclines on the edge of the mug, holding the loose tea leaves that are steeping in his cup.

Weinberg has been serving as the Tea Emperor for the past three semesters. When the old leader stepped down and left UMBC, Weinberg was promoted. “[The old leader] said, ‘Since you show up the most, you might as well,” said Weinberg. “So he gave me a lot of teas and some mugs and teapots.”

The impressive spread of tea leaves on the table goes back to this time. “About a third of this stash was donated by the previous Tea Emperor,” said Weinberg. “Another third was donated by me, and the remaining third was donated by club members.”

According to Weinberg, Tea Empire has been going strong for years. “I can’t say exactly how long it’s been around, but our Facebook page has pictures as old as Spring Semester of 2006,” he said.

The group has also had its on-and-off periods. After Weinberg became the head, Tea Empire initially died off. “Then I got a bunch of angry emails asking me, ‘Is this a thing still?’” said Weinberg. Since its revival, the organization has been meeting more regularly.

However, despite its history Tea Empire is not an official student organization. Weinberg says that it was a registered club at one point, but he’s not sure when it lost its status. Under his leadership, the group will regain its official recognition.

“We actually submitted the form last week to be a legit organization … with officers and everything,” said Weinberg. “When school starts back up again in the fall we’ll actually be a thing and have our own little table at Involvement Fest.”

Part of Tea Empire’s resurgence has been fueled by new support from Residential Life. Thanks to Harbor Hall Community Director, Joshua Belice, Tea Empire is able to meet in the Harbor Cafe every Thursday afternoon.

The Retriever Weekly has reported previously on Belice’s free coffee initiative, which provided students with a cup of joe on their way to class. Weinberg and Tea Empire are familiar with the program, and they fill a different niche in the community. “[I’ve talked to Josh] a little bit, mostly to congratulate him, because it’s really popular,” said Weinberg.

In giving the Cafe to Tea Empire for their meetings, Belice has helped both the community and Weinberg’s student organization. “Josh has been doing a lot to make Harbor the best dorm on campus,” said Weinberg. “That’s why he did the coffee thing, and that’s, I think, why he reached out to us to give us this room.”

With its new space and its upcoming status as student org, Tea Empire still has a basic mission: to bring people together over a cup of tea. “You took a cookie so you have to stay and do an icebreaker,” Weinberg said. That’s the group’s goal — to build a community on campus.

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Take Back The Night, an event in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month organized by the Women’s Center at UMBC. Photos taken on Thursday, April 16th, 2015.

Photo Credit: Patrick Alejandro

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Renetta Tull, associate vice provost for graduate education and postdoctoral affairs, was interviewed as part of a global webcast featuring women in data. The webcast was hosted by O’Reilly Media, which published a report on Women in Data in February that also featured Tull.

In the interview, Tull spoke about resources for women in tech from underrepresented backgrounds and mentioned programs such as the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Bridge to the Doctorate at UMBC. Tull was joined by Michele Chambers, president and COO at RapidMiner, Laurie Skelly, data scientist at Datascope and curriculum developer and instructor for the Data Science bootcamp at Metis, and Alice Zheng, director of Data Science at Dato.

Click here to watch the webcast.