irsday • December|
sday • December 1, 1994
The Battalion • Page 3
1TITCHING A NATION TOGETHER
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1:
■' ■
Mi
They Might Be Giants
Band to rocket into Rudder Monday
razos valley families contributing
1 panels to national AIDS quilt
Tim Moog/ I
ter
nanding OfficerofE-l
Margaret Claughton
u- Battalion
I t hrough painstaking stitches and seams,
^ families and friends everywhere sew
■ I with a common purpose. They weave to-
^Rther their memories of loved ones lost — lost
^■one of the country's leading killers, the AIDS
a^Mrus.
' I r l’hey make panels (5 feet by 3 feet, painfully
^■irroring t he measuretmmts of a grave. 'These
|||mels eventually form an A1DS quilt that de-
Bcts their pain, love, admiration and devasta-
A quilt that threads together symbols of
lany lives, all taken by a single disease.
I Families all across the nation have created
fie national AIDS quilt which is now comprised
of 27,730 panels, according to the Houston
Volunteer, GrantSjfAMES Project.
Since AIDS affects every corner of the coun-
even the Brazos Valley will soon be a
gart of this national memorial. Tonight, 11
grazes Valley families will share with the corn-
unity the panels they plan to contribute to the
national quilt at 7 p.m in the MSC Forsythe
gallery.
Each panel is personally made by families
rom the Brazos Valley area and represents a
loved one lost to AIDS.
“All the panels vary,” said Suzy Griswold,
golunteer coordinator for AIDS Services of Bra-
:os Valley. “Each one is special. These families
put a lot of love into them.”
The exhibit is part of World AIDS Day 1994
nd will follow a candlelight vigil dedicated to
ihose who have died from AIDS.
Brian Thurston, program director for AIDS
ervices of Brazos Valley (ASBV), designed a
panel in rpemory of a homeless man he worked
gith at the center.
I Thurston said he and the staff became partic-
I llarly attached to the man, Robert Mullins, be
cause of his incessant will to keep fighting.
I “This particular individual was extraordi-
lary,” Thurston said. “He had such a difficult
|ife. He was homeless and brain damaged, but
|e never gave up, he always fought.”
Using Thurston’s design and the help of staff
nembers at the ASBV, they sewed a panel in
said. “It’s a great,g
exas A&M but fori
as well. In I997,tli
le to enjoy the fruit;
ccurred today.”
irgaret Rudder, wifi
A&M presidentGi
er and longtime cor’
; University, said fe!
ane of the greatest
las happened to AM
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thing,” Rudder sail
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pate great things."
Regent
honor of Mullins after his death in 1993.
“He was such an independent spirit,”
Thurston said. “Most of the others we work
with had families to make them one. He didn’t
have anyone to make a quilt.”
Although the panel is a loving tribute to the
person lost, Thurston said making the quilt was
therapeutic for the staff.
“I have to admit, a lot of it was for us,” he
said. “It is a healing process, a process of grief.”
Thurston said seeing the quilt drives home
the devastating effect AIDS has on American
families.
“If you understand what one panel meant to
you and then see 20 or 100 others, it’s com
pounded,” he said. “You see the loss of what is
going on with this disease — how young people
get cut down.”
Sharon Drumheller, assistant health educa
tion coordinator for Student Health Services,
said the quilt has an intense way of getting
through to people.
“It alone is a really powerful message to
send,” she said. “It brings it home with a more
personal touch that perfectly normal American
families are affected.”
Drumheller said this kind of personal touch
may be the only way to get through to people
who still don’t believe AIDS is a problem. In
addition, it may open the minds of those who
condemn people with AIDS.
“It’s a way to really foster understanding and
empathy,” she said. “It’s not a disease that re
quires us to banish. People with AIDS need
care, not to be ostracized.”
The AIDS quilt was started by a man named
Cleve Jones in 1984. Jones had AIDS and led a
group in San Francisco that initially pasted to
gether papers with names of those who died
from the disease. This reminded him of a quilt
and in 1986 the group began sewing. The first
quilt was displayed in 1987 and had only 1,920
panels.
Today, the national quilt is too large to be
displayed in one place. The sewn memorial has
grown to be as big as 11 football fields and
weighs more than 32 tons.
And with Brazos Valley’s addition, the quilt
will number 27,741 panels and growing.
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rage.
By Rob Clark
The Battalion
T hey Might Be Giants, per
forming Monday in Rudder
Auditorium at 7 p.m., just
might be the most interesting
band to grace the Texas A&M
campus in years. And guitarist
John Flansburgh proved to live
up to this title in a phone inter
view.
When Flansburgh first heard
of the A&M gig, he said he was
impressed with the University’s
size. “Big, very big,” he said.
“My uncle lives in that area and
I’ve been told many times of how
many people are there. A really
big campus. F—kin’ huge.”
But Flansburgh and longtime
chum/lead singer John Linnell
won’t be the only giants to take
Rudder by storm Monday. For
the band’s latest album “John
Henry,” the duo decided to ex
pand to a full band.
“It was something that started
as kind of an experiment,” Flans
burgh said. “We’ve always played
a bunch of different instruments
in the show. And for a little
while, I was actually playing the
drums on a few songs in the show
and it was strange because I’m a
really bad drummer. But it was
going over really well.”
But after inviting guest drum
mers and bass players on stage
during select performances, the
idea of expansion became a realis
tic one.
“It sort of made us realize peo
ple dig the sound of the live
drums and there’s just something
very exciting about a live rhythm
section,” he said.
Flansburgh said the rhythm
section has electrified the band.
“The best explanation I can
give is we’ve tied a giant booster
rocket onto the They Might Be Gi
ants space capsule. We haven’t
changed our direction, but we’re
seriously changing our velocity.”
Direction has always been one
of the most intriguing aspects of
the band. The quirky rhyme
schemes, creative topics and un
usual instrumentation make the
Giants like no other.
But many times the band is ac
cused of being too bizarre and
weird. Flansburgh said this is an
unfair label.
“I never really thought our
music to be so strange,” he said.
“I think people make a big deal
out of our songs being so
strange, but I think it’s very
easy to understand what a lot of
our songs are about. Even ‘Par
ticle Man’ — I don’t think it’s
any weirder than a Dr. Seuss
story. A lot of our songs are
ludent finds strength in the sound of music
[ Haley Stavinoha
; Battalion
LION
or in chief
Texas A&M student is spread-
g her message of love and
ie with her own album that
iwcases her gifted voice.
’oni Ruffino, a junior speech
.unications major with a mi-
»}• in music, has dreamed of
ging ever since she was young.
She said that she puts God, her
oily and her close friends first
— i her music second.
“The people close to me are my
^porters and inspiration for
UgJffij ging,” Ruffino said.
What has started out as a
am has now become a reality
Ruffino.
But it wasn’t always a smooth
fed.
Jin junior high, she began to
MAGEE, Opinion ediw Nve problems with her throat
T MILNE, Photo editor v |en she sang. Ruffino was told
'INDER, Sports editor ft she needed to have an opera-
\RK, Aggielife editor f 0n on her vocal chords that could
feep her from ever singing again.
I “At this point, I left my life up
;mann, Stephanie Dube, An^to God,” Ruffino said. “I truly be-
Srmth and Kan Whitley lieve God worked through the doc-
Shafi Islam, Tiffany Moore-m- g ”
[But the risk paid off, and with a
tcessful operation, her voice was
d as new.
Ruffino said music is the heart-
it of her life and she is thankful
Jat everything turned out the
|&y it did.
Besides singing around town at
lurches in Bryan-College Station,
, Je has started singing in Heame,
y through Friday during m ldwell Belton and Houston,
ng the summer sessions^ ■ ’ . . . , ,
ilversity. Second class^ She als o enjoys singing at wed-
gs, banquets and for groups
ch as Fellowship of Christian
hletes.
“I like to sing at a different
jdents at Texas A&M :hurch every Sunday,” Ruffino
artment of Journalism. E [gja
'T@TAMVM1.TAMU.EDU T A . mno r, «-
■ At a convention m 1993, Rufti-
• met Jeff Nelson, a Christian
>onsorship or endorseir'e |11 « cor( l producer, and he asked her
for him.
■ Stunned by her performance,
■elson told Ruffino a future
each Texas A&M stude' 1, ■
$20 per semester, $40p e! B
asterCard, Discover or A; *
Stacey Cameron, BlakeGr#
ason
en and Haley Stavinoha
ew Diener, Stewart Doreen
Henderson, Erin Hill, jerem^
asr, Elizabeth Preston, Ge™ 1 *
>uatro Oakley
id Michelle Oleson
!30 Reed McDonald!
are in 015 Reed McDofl'
Fax: 845-2678.
singing career was a real pos
sibility.
Making an album was the
first step. Entitled “Only For
You,” the album was released
Nov. 11, and is available at Bra
zos Valley Christian Book Store
and Scripture Haven.
One Houston radio station,
KSBJ, plays Ruffino’s music on
the air.
Nelson produced the album,
and Ruffino wrote three of the
songs and co-wrote two others.
She hopes within two years
she will make another album.
“People tell me that they love
the album,” Ruffino said. “I
hope the next one will please
people just as much.”
Earlier this month, Ruffino
won grand prize in the Nation
al Association of Christian
Artist and Song Writers Annu
al Seminar.
“I was shocked to find out
that I made the semifinals,
much less to win first place,”
Ruffino said.
Ruffino won free production
at Rivendell Studios for record
ing of the same song she sang
in the competition. The award
also included production of a
music video.
But despite such success,
Ruffino said she avoids music
hype, and concentrates on
continuing to travel with her
message.
“If God opens the door
worldwide, I walk through it,”
she said.
Pastor Lonnie Green from
the Church of the Nazarene in
Bryan, said they have have been
blessed to have Ruffino sing for
the church.
“Toni’s music is very inspi
rational and has an impact on
everybody in the room,” Green
said.
Through her music, Ruffino
said she hopes to reach as many
people as possible.
Father Mike Sis of Saint Mary
Toni Ruffino sings in the All Faith’s Chapel.
Catholic Church said he thinks
Ruffino’s music inspires her fellow
students because of her own strug
gles in life.
“She is a person of prayer, not a
performer,” Sis said. “Her lyrics
are powerful (and) touch the
heart.”
Ruffino said she tries to write
from the heart about her experi
ences so her songs will be easy to
relate to.
Clockwise from top: Tony Maimone, John Flansburgh, John
Linnell and Brian Doherty of They Might Be Giants.
about hating your job, feeling
frustrated with the world.
“I don’t know, what are Nine
Inch Nails songs about? Why are
we the weirdos?”
One of the quirkiest of Giants
songs occur at the end of their
“Apollo 18” album — a series of
10-15 second songs with lyrics
ranging from “I’m having a heart
attack” to “What’s that blue
thing doing here?”
Flansburgh said while the
mini-songs seem random, there
was a clear idea behind them.
“It was kind of inspired by the
collection of songs that you see
advertised on late-night TV,” he
said. “A lot of time it will be like
a collection of songs from the ’40s
and ’50s, a set of songs you’ve
never heard. So it’s like a
stream of unrelated musical
blasts.”
The Giants began in the mid-
’80s as a local band in New York.
Since getting their first record
deal in 1986, things have moved
pretty fast.
“I have to say the biggest
transition, the biggest challenge
was going from being a local
band that basically had to beg for
a gig to being essentially a na
tional touring act. And that kind
of happened in pretty quick suc
cession.”
The success of their first hit
single and video “Don’t Lets
Start” greatly increased the
band’s exposure.
“We were on tour when the
video started getting played and
the size of our audience just dou
bled in a week,” Flansburgh said.
“It was pretty good because 10
people looks a lot better than
five.”
As Flansburgh reminisced
about his (Jays in New York with
Linnell, begging for gigs, he said
he never expected to achieve such
success.
“Bands like us usually don’t
get a big audience,” he said. “I
feel very lucky and happy that
we’ve been able to get the kind of
exposure that we have.”
The legions of fans that follow
the band have a true dedication
to the music, Flansburgh said.
“I feel like when people have
the opportunity to really check it
out and hear a whole record of
ours, they become initiated into
something that if they like it,
they’re going to like it for a
while,” he said.
As for Monday’s performance,
Flansburgh said he wanted a
house full of A&M students.
“I want to see them all,” he
said. “I want people stacked
three-high in that auditorium.
We’re going to tear the roof off
the place.
“Bring your earplugs and
your crash helmets.”
Blake Griggs / The Battalion
Frank Black
Frank Black set to open for TMBG
By Rob Clark
The Battalion
H ot off the success of his second solo album “Teenager of the
Year,” Frank Black will perform at Rudder Auditorium Mon
day night as the opening act for They Might Be Giants.
Black is perhaps best known for his role in The Pixies* a post
modern alternative group that scored with albums like “Tromp Le
Monde” and “Bossanova.” The sound of The Pixies has been de
scribed as “sardonic nursery rhymes” and “a rock ‘n’ roll corollary
of a David Lynch movie.”
But Black isn’t the only success story spawned from The Pixies.
Former Pixie Kim Deal left the group to start up The Breeders,
who scored with “Cannonball” last year.
Black’s solo songs include “Whatever Happened to Pong?,”
“Speedy Marie” and “Headache.”
In his self-penned biography press release, Black said “I de
clare to all of you to look up and behold that pie in the sky. Hope
you like the record.”