Underdog

“You got no time for the messenger
Got no regard for the thing that you don't understand
You got no fear of the underdog
That's why you will not survive”

         “The Underdog,” Spoon

The animated series “Underdog” ran on NBC during the mid-1960s and subsequently in syndication.  Underdog always spoke in rhyming sentences, as in “There’s no need to fear, Underdog is here!”  The superhero’s alter ego was humble Shoeshine Boy, a cartoon dog.  Wally Cox, star of the Fifties sitcom “Mr. Peepers,” supplied both voices.  Underdog gained his powers by taking a red energy pill; in time that sparked fears kids would emulate Underdog and ingest medication. Therefore, virtually all pill references got stricken from reruns.

The new Spoon CD “Hot Thoughts” is not bad and has a neat, surrealist cover, but my favorite Spoon song, “The Underdog,” came out a decade ago on “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.” Band member Britt Daniel called the album title a Dadaist term.  I heard Spoon’s “The Underdog” on my way to the Munster “Art in Focus” program about the Chicago Imagists, who like the Dadaists employed surrealism, and, at times, shocking images taken from popular culture.  While students at Chicago’s Art Institute, they frequented Maxwell Street flea market and discovered purchased exotic items, such as African masks.  They grooved to the vibe of fabulous street performers, some with outrageous costumes and tattoos that became grist for the artists’ mill. Their Windy City forerunners, the so-called Monster Roster, were World War II veterans who went to art school on the G.I. Bill.  Some gravitated to gruesome and mystical figurative work of a surrealist nature.

In the Art in Focus program Jillian had written: “Forty years later, its funk and grit inspires artists from Jeff Koons to Chris Ware, making the Imagists the most famous artists you never knew.”  Introducing a 2014 documentary entitled “Hairy Who and the Chicago Imagists,” Jillian Van Volkenburgh explained that the mid-century Second City art scene was initially scorned by East and West Coast art snobs.  During the 1970s, Imagists enjoyed popularity among NYC gallery owners but then faded from prominence.  Prior to the film, Jillian quipped that she was nervous because her boss just walked in, causing John Cain to chuckle.  When the screen remained blank after the sound track came on, she claimed, looking my way, that she needed a tech assistant, “like when Jim Lane makes presentations.”  “Never,” John Cain shouted, drawing laughs from the audience.  Jillian quickly remedied the glitch.

 by Gladys Nilsson

by Ed Paschke

by Suellen Rocca

by Jim Nutt

Hyde Park Art Center director Don Baum, himself linked to the Monster Roster, curated a six-person show featuring Karl Wirsum, Art Green, Jim Nutt, Jim Falconer, Suellen Rocca, and Gladys Nilsson, under the campy moniker Hairy Who.  Intrigued by surrealistic images prominent in comic books, they published several “hairy Who issues themselves. Perhaps the most prominent Imagist was Ed Paschke, whose work I had seen exhibited in a Hyde park gallery, thanks to Corey Hagelberg.  Virtually all are still alive and creating art pieces, causing Jillian, an artist herself, to declare that if one is a true artist he or she cannot stop working.

Miranda and Sean stayed overnight because of a “Hops Against Hunger” fundraiser at Greenbush Brewery in the village of Sawyer in Southwest Michigan.  Sean works for Feeding America, which will receive a dollar for each beer purchased. 90-degree weather curtailed plans for a Lane contingent to attend, but Sean and Miranda reported that it was a success, with live music and a brat-grilling competition.  Sean left at noon Saturday to attend a cookout along Division Avenue in Grand Rapids. On one side of the street is a working-class neighborhood, while the other side is largely gentrified.  Guests include police officers.  Nice idea!  I told Sean about Studs Terkel’s oral history “Division Street: America” (1967) about Chicago’s race and class divisions during the turbulent Sixties.

photos by Samuel A.Love

Over the weekend, Calumet Artist Residency volunteers spruced up the abandoned Heat, Light and Water Building at 900 Madison a Gary landmark.  Budding comedienne Maya Ettienne kept everyone, including AmeriCorps VISTA workers Alex Koerner and Sam Salvesen, in stitches.  Like at Emerson School, the group placed inspirational poems on boarded up windows.

 Laura and Bill Cairns as Alice and Tony

  “You Can’t Take It with You” at Memorial Opera House, written by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart in the mid-1930s, seemed dated so far as the main plot was concerned – young Alice dates Tony, the boss’s son, and worries the two families will never get along.  By the third act, however, the oddball characters have transformed into more than stereotypes. Tony’s snobbish parents, the Kirbys, were played by Chicago Street Theater veterans David Pera (George, in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?”) and Barbara Baker Malangoni (Mrs. Robinson in “The Graduate”).  Their initial discomfort as dinner guests of what playwright Moss Hart labeled a “slightly mad family” was palpable.  The play conveys the message that enjoying life is more important than material success and that people should accept others for who they are rather than attempt to change them.

 Garrett and Netnapha Mahlan

I am no longer undefeated in Fantasy Football. Nephew Garrett Okomski’s duo of QB Tom Brady (36 points) and running back Todd Gurley (32 points) scored more than my entire team. I didn’t play Kurt Cousins nor Jordan Howard because they combined for just 11 points last week; yesterday they each racked up 26. On the bright side, my three favorite teams, Eagles, Bears, and Redskins, all won despite being underdogs. The big news involved how players would act during the National Anthem, much sound and fury over nothing of consequence.

Alissa and Beth are in the Smoky Mountains.  Toni and I took Alissa there more than 20 years ago, and she was fearless jumping from rock to rock and going over a waterfall.

I had forgotten about the welcome reception for Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Vicki Roman-Lagunas until I spotted library staff with pieces of cake. With an hour still to go, I got to chat with the guest of honor and chow down a steak kabob, bean dip salad with chips, and cantaloupe.  I talked shop with historian David Parnell, Education professor Matthew Benus, Dean Mark Hoyert, Performing Arts chair Bonnie Neff, and Emeritus professor DeeDee Ige.

Irline Holley’s memorial service was heart-wrenching.  I gave to her sister Caroline and brother Joe a copy of the History of Portage Steel Shavings that Irline helped me put together 25 years ago. It mentions that she was a founder of the Portage Historical Society.  On the prayer card was a poem Carolyn wrote the day after Irline died when a flatbed truck carrying cement blocks plowed into her vehicle.  Here are its last four lines:

While the grief and tears of sadness are many

May memories of our loved one linger just a moment longer

Joyfully, may the treasured moments spent together

Reside forever in our hearts.

Former co-worker Lori Millikin Creasy wrote on an online guest book:

  I am heartbroken to hear of Irline's passing. She was a mentor and wonderful co-worker to me at Portage Public Library. She cut and arranged the slices of my wedding cake in November 1977. Irline could always see the silver lining in a dark cloud...a wonderful lesson she taught me. Rest In Peace lovely Lady.

This from Mary Kay Rzepka from Golden Living:

  Irlene was the sweetest lady I have ever met. I loved when she brought the puppies in. She would pull them in the wagon and they were so cute! Loved when Gertie would come behind the nurses’ station looking for a treat! Little Bruno, too. God bless you, sweet lady. Rest in peace.

Steve and I assembled a window display highlighting the newest acquisition of the Calumet Regional Archives, CRA #501, the District 8, Unit 154, American Contract Bridge League Papers, featuring Barbara Walczak’s Newsletter, interviews I conducted, and student papers.  Barb is collecting additional items to augment the display.  At Chesterton Y, where Dee Van Bebber finished fourth (winners were Rich and Sally Will), tender-hearted Helen Booth said she could not stop thinking of Puerto Ricans in need.