THE RADICALIST
a newsletter of humankind
Issue 1: March 14, 2001
published by Nick Budniewski and Matt Mendolera
THIS ISSUE'S CONTENTS
1. Introduction--by Nick Budniewski
2. A Blessing at Our Birth--by Chris J. Handley
3. Notice Regarding New Column--by AmethystRose
4. Tales from Sherry Drive--by Nick Budniewski
5. Education: Public vs. Private Schools--by AmethystRose
6. Left Crying--by AmethystRose
7. Procession of a Maypole Hymn--by Zebulon Yabroson
8. Being in Control--by Isaac Mandrela
9. Scream!: Its Easy as One, Two, Three to See that the Jackson's Presence is a Thriller--by Matt Mendolera
10. The Closing
**Not bad for a first issue --Nick Budniewski
Click here to view our glorious first issue! --------------------------
THE RADICALIST
a newsletter of humankind
Issue 2: March 17, 2001
published by Nick Budniewski and Matt Mendolera
THIS ISSUE'S CONTENTS:
*1. Introduction--by Nick Budniewski
*2. A Letter--Mrs. Kimmel
*3. Remembering the Television of Childhood: "My Brother and Me" --by Nick Budniewski
*4. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Immediate Danger: Act Now! --by Amy Kimmel
*5. Daddy's Little Girl --by JAQ
*6. Myself--by AmethystRose
*7. To the Man Not Having Seen the Sunrise and Sunset at the Sea--by Timothy Autresia
*8. Tales from Sherry Drive--by Nick Budniewski
*9. A Seaman's Tale: Chapter 1--by Balkin Polaris
*10. Quote of the Week--by JAQ
*11. The Closing
Click here to view the second fantastic issue! --------------------------
------------------------- THE RADICALIST
a newsletter of humankind
Issue 3: March 21, 2001
published by Nick Budniewski and Matt Mendolera
THIS ISSUE'S CONTENTS:
1. Introduction--by Nick Budniewski
2. Remembering the Television of Childhood: Funhouse--by Nick Budniewski
3. Notice Regarding New Column--by AmethystRose
4. Family Life--by AmethystRose
5. Finalmente--by JAQ
6. A Song--by Zebulon Yabroson
7. Tales From Sherry Drive--by Nick Budniewski
8. Quote of the Week--from JAQ
9. Closing
Click here to endulge in the third example of diversity and creativity! -------------------------
THE RADICALIST
a newsletter of humankind
Issue 4: March 24, 01
published by Nick Budniewski and Matt Mendolera
THIS ISSUE'S CONTENTS
1. Introduction--by Nick Budniewski
2. Drift Away--by Zyumia Dzuzhezhvsky
3. Confirmation Has not Yet Been Confirmed--by Malenky Slovo
4. Anti-Socialism Activist--by JAQ
5. Remembering the Television of Childhood: Hey Dude--
by Nick Budniewski
INTRODUCTION
by Nick Budniewski
*Madison1751@aol.com*
Welcome to our forth edition of The Radicalist! Today we remember television's Hey Dude, enjoy a poem, hear a call to an imaginative utopia, and contemplate religion. Keep sending contributions. In order to make quality issues, we need them. Do not forget that you can send, as members of our universal staff, anything and everything at any time. The Radicalist is now a forum containing forty people and counting. We encourage all to use this opportunity to share and be heard. One of our fundamental goals is to remove the annoyance of restrictions, and this we are able to do because of the open mindset of the publication and unlimited space. Nothing is too silly, trivial, or strange. Send it, and we will print it. I am going to Bingo tomorrow for the first time in several months, so I will be reporting on that experience. Both Matt and I adore Bingo, so, as an idea, we would enjoy being able to print some great Bingo stories, for everyone has many of these. So, in conclusion, send things, for we need them to keep this publication strong, interesting, and in accordance with its original purpose. But, of equal importance, enjoy reading it! Now, onward we move!
------------------------- DRIFT AWAY
by Zyumia Dzuzhezhvsky
Cast aside this encompassing reality for a little while! It is so limited, drab, and undying; these, our hands are regular failure against a physical force so grand, demanding one smith be all mankind to reform what ages have made of the world's now twisted collection of matter. But know your senses are but small part of a glorious being, in which rests so many lands, fantastical journeys, and wonders of every imaginable kind. And all is imaginable; all is within the realm of transcendent self that may save us from any grounded state of grief or misery of superficiality, giving us a drifting boat, perhaps a set of liberating wings. And so we are permitted to fly or sail, straight to where two endless blues one another greet or to up where rivers slither through insignificant vales below, as matchstick houses shelter but insects on the toyshop floor. In these travels, longings are satisfied and weary hearts resurrect the unharmed vigor of dreams dismissed in youthful days. We are yet young; let us nurture them and fail to bury what we wish would be, for within these coalitions of mind and purest spirit is salvation. There, within, is the liberator to cut these various chains of physical being and the time traveler to wipe clean the slate of human doing. Then he hands you the pen and shows a canvas that is only yours. All darkness and frustration is overthrown; you are creator, rivaled by not one. Shed all influence of days and paint as a primal, thoughtless one! Paint as a child, divine in ignorance! Then let yourself be known and show your masterpiece in whatever form you will! Let your picture be your self-portrait! Let us bring the wonder of visionary quests to the present world so that all, regardless of how torturous or brutal the situation, might see the way out of the present condition and live in the joy of existence beyond these mortal frames! What we cannot do as laboring smiths, let us do as the thinkers of a grand, unshackling tomorrow, lived in glory to which eyes are blinded! It can and will be so.
------------------------- CONFIRMATION HAS NOT YET BEEN CONFIRMED
by Malenky Slovo
Well, those of you who know me are probably afraid of what I have to say about religion. But this isn't what you'd expect from me. Besides, I don't criticize religion as much as my sister does, but that's a whole other story, although I might mention her in this. Anyway, I just bored you with my introduction, so I'll have to make some sort of snappy second paragraph.
I am still horribly confused about where I'm going with my religion. You Jesuit boys have become a bad influence on me. I'm half Catholic, half Pagan, half deist, half animist, half atheist. I realize that five halves is greater than one whole; therefore, I have too much religion. This confuses me even more because of the lack of effort put into me being a Catholic, the religion in which I was baptized, reconciled and "communized", my own word for "received my first communion".
When my parents were kids, they were confirmed right up front, like before high school. The parents said, "time to get confirmed", and they learned (memorized) their catechism from religion class or Sunday school. The last time I had real religious instruction was in 4th grade. 5th grade I believe was the last time I went to "Sunday school", ironically held on Wednesday night. Yet I go to church every week partly of my own free will. Mostly I do it out of respect for my religious family.
And that's another obstruction of religion in my little world. If I don't get confirmed, or even worse, if I fall away from the church like my sister Anna did, how will my family view me? Because I obviously know how they viewed Anna. If I don't get confirmed, how am I supposed to get married in St Casimir's, or OLV Basilica?* On the other hand, if I do get confirmed, what or who am I doing it for? My family? God? My husband? And what will Anna think of me? Will she shun me? Will she not want to attend family gatherings because I'll be there as well? The painful thing about her is that we grew really close when she moved to the Big Easy, and I don't want something as petty (sorry if anyone's offended by that adjective) as religion mussing up our friendship.
But back to the non-familial reasons I shouldn't get confirmed. I respect followers of Catholicism, I don't get in their face about how I don't think God is all-powerful & all-knowing. I don't look down on Jews because they believe in the Old Testament. I am an extremely liberal Catholic, and if I was forced to be a confirmed Christian but could choose my sect, I would probably become Episcopalian because I used to sing in the Ascension Episcopal Choir** and therefore I'm a little familiar with what goes on in the religion. I feel that if I were to be confirmed, I would go against what I truly want in life. I am neither forced nor eager to fully join the Catholic church. Being somewhere in the middle creates many doubts and theories, and although I love skepticism (I occasionally attend lectures at the Center For Inquiry on the UB N Campus) and logical theories, I'm afraid of what I could end up thinking, and what could result from it.
~Claire Lydia Chojnacka, Malenky Slovo
* - St. Casimir's is located in the Polish part of Buffalo, known as Kaisertown. Most of the Polish side of my family (my father's, grandfather's, and great-grandfather's generations) grew up there, and for the past few years I've had an immense desire to get in touch with my Polish heritage as much as I can. Our Lady of Victory Basilica is in Lackawanna (this is where Father Baker resided, for those of you who know who he is). My father's cousin got married there in September. Both churches are incredibly huge, so they can hold lots of people. Also I've been told it's very difficult to have your wedding held at the Basilica.
** - Freshman year I sang for 5 months. I was the only singer under, uh, let's just say 35. I found out I was a great singer, I felt comfortable around people who wouldn't criticize me, and I appreciated religious music even more.
------------------------- ANTI-SOCIALISM ACTIVIST
by JAQ
she sits alone
in a crowded
coffeehouse,
elegantly sipping
a mochaccino
or cafe latte
with half a sugar
and some cream
quietly observing
the crowd around her
while half reading
re-reading
the worn book
she carries with her
every week,
every saturday night
she is found
in this crowded
coffeehouse
the waiter
approaches her
cautiously
knowing the slightest
disturbance
could mean pure hell
the crowd
seems to forget
her presence
or ignore it
and as she
blankly stares
at the pages
unturning
she hears everything
the loving couple
at the next table
the lonely heart
at her own
but she
will continue her
statement
knowing full well
how strong a
woman
it takes to sit
alone
in a crowded
coffeehouse
sipping coffee
on a saturday
night
and pretending
to be content
------------------------- REMEMBERING THE TELEVISION OF CHILDHOOD: HEY DUDE
by Nick Budniewski
When I was young, Nickelodeon was immortal. Yes, it has since conquered itself with short-running programming scrapped almost as soon as it is put on the air because of undesirably poor results; but then, many years ago, the youthful world was its realm, and Hey Dude was its greatest champion-the stallion that galloped triumphantly as the awestruck children watched, threw aside their second-rate entertainment, and followed. I followed this stallion every day; I watched the saga unfold with an adoring passion that endures although the object has vanished from my television screen, now inadequately filled with empty programs that cannot fill even a measurable portion of Hey Dude's canteen of rugged salvation. One word adequately describes this godsend of a program: purity. The setting was pure, the characters were pure, and the moral lessons were pure. Nickelodeon's greatest programs were those that not only featured characters, but friends and peers. Ted, Brad, Melody, Danny, Buddy, Lucy, Jake, Mr. Ernst: they were not fictional and fantastical to us; we knew and understood them, for their personalities were crafted to mirror our own. The show was our own existence on television. Those characters were representations of ourselves and those we know; the situations were those of our lives. When we watched Hey Dude, we were watching life from without our own bodies and mindsets. We were viewing ourselves on stage. And, most importantly, we were laughing. We were at lighthearted peace with our own faulted selves and all those we knew. As I said, Hey Dude was pure. There was nothing infallible, untrue, or unrealistic about any of the characters, and so we would not idolize or despise them, but identify with them. Each repeatedly erred and crumbled, and yet they were good. Ted was good. Brad was good. Melody was good. Mr. Ernst was good. And yet each had gaping weaknesses of character. Which one of us does not? Hey Dude was real for it expressed to us exactly what we are: humans. Each of us has peculiarities of character, and sometimes we engage in rather silly conflict, but there is forever that bond of basic caring and shared affection that binds us, hand in hand, for all our days and never perishes with temporary strife or parting. Remember when Ted left the show? They still loved him, and he still loved them. Although we may not always see it, that is the way we, as the Ted's, Danny's, and Melody's of a world separated from the Barnone only in its physical actuality, really are. Whatever might seem, we are Hey Dude in true existence. Although imperfect and naturally prone to disagreement, we are eternally held in comfortable commonness by goodness and affection for all others of our kind. This connection shall never fail, regardless of what roads we choose to follow. As Alyosha Karamazov said in the final great speech of The Brothers Karamazov, "And even though we may be involved with the most important affairs, achieve distinction or fall into some great misfortune-all the same, let us never forget how good we once felt here, all together, united by such good and kind feelings as made us." It is now, and ever shall it be so, as we follow the stallion that guides us into new, glorious understanding of our triumphant selves.
For next issue, I will keep the program a surprise for the purpose of creating excitement. Feel free to share any memories of Hey Dude or any other show. For now, so long, dear friends!
------------------------- THE CLOSING
Thank you for reading this issue. Feel free to send contributions, comments, and whatever else you might have, with the notable exception of death threats filled with foul language. The addresses are:
Madison1751@aol.com
Mattmendo@aol.com
We hope you enjoyed the issue. Expect another within the next few days, and no later than Wednesday. Have a wonderful weekend!
Click here and you shall be shown the majesty of issue 4!
