Students at home Pg. 4Comic Culture Pg. 10Japanese Fashion pg. 16Losing a Legend Pg. 20

Hello Friends,

When I signed up to be Editor in Chief of City Magazine, I didn’t know the challenges that awaited our crew. For a while it seemed we were a sinking ship in an angry ocean. Then the magazine seemed to right itself when

the correct crew was assembled.In the fall semester, the class started with nine writers

and ended with six. It seemed as if every month another stu-dent was jumping ship. I was already frustrated with some of the students, so when they left, I wasn’t sad. It was one less person to nag about getting their drafts in by deadline.

Being the editor was starting to feel more like being a babysitter, so dropping the dead weight was great. Little did I realize the struggles we would face by having a smaller crew and then having our design and editors classes can-celed by the college.

Luckily, we had adviser Cindy Frye at the helm, fighting for us to continue into the spring to complete the magazine. The magazine crew merged with the newspaper students to keep the magazine afloat for the editing process in the spring se-mester, while the design team worked during its own time for no class credit.

Thank you for that Cindy. I didn’t want my maiden voyage as editor to suck! I am so grateful for Brandon E Richard-son for jumping on board to help with the magazine. Brandon, thank you for your dedication to perfecting the graphic de-sign and passion to keep the magazine alive. I really enjoyed the group texts that kept everyone on their toes, including me.

For the magazine to have the awesome layout and graphics, we called in backup. City Magazine alums Katie Cortez and Je-sus Hernandez, thank you for stepping in on your per-sonal time to design pages.

Now for my writing and photography crew; I have enjoyed the last year creating this mag-azine with you. It could have been a shit show, but I’m glad we rallied together and got this banged out.

I’m proud of the publication we creat-ed and hope to make previous award-win-ning City Magazine staffs proud. It was a very memorable year and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Peace out,Susan Usas, Editor in Chief

Editor In Chief:Susan Usas

Staff Writers:Hayley HartFantacie JacksonMelina ParisBrandon E RichardsonSusan UsasGeorge Zuniga

Editors:Hayley HartMelina ParisGlen StarksGeorge Zuniga

Photographers:Kiralynn Lemus BecketCharles BelvinAujainai CroffBrenda EstrellaHayley HartJerick E. LeBlancDenise JonesIrinia NizotsevaKassandra CastilloYesenia SanchezNicholas SteeleMirian Vaal

Art Director:Brandon E Richardson

Designers:Katie CortezHayley HartJesus HernandezJoshua Miller

Advisers:Cindy FryeKevin SullivanChris ViolaPatrick McKean

Printed byQueen Beach Printers, Inc.

Contact City MagazineLBCCCityMag@gmail.com

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SanctuariesCollege students’ personal space

Page 4

Alumni AthletesWhat do they do now?

Page 8

Of ink and magicThe culture of comic books

Page 10

Nurse TechNew building, new technology

Page 2

Japanese StreetwearFashion Show photo essay

Page 16

Partyman Prince: a legend lost

Page 20

Table of Contents

More stories atmedium.com/citymag

The Great AwakeningA personal Essay

Page 14

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Story by Hayley HartPhotos by Brenda Estrella

He did not eat for three weeks. Doctors said he wasn’t allowed food by mouth. Matthew Cohen, a LBCC alumnus, was diagnosed at 7 years old with Crohn’s Disease during the three weeks he was at UCLA

Medical Center under the strict orders of no food.When the order was finally

lifted and Cohen was allowed to eat, it was late at night and the cafeteria was closed. Cohen’s “favorite nurse at the time,” Maggie, somehow found eggs and scrambled them herself. He said, “It was the best tasting eggs ever.” Maggie is proof nurses do more than give shots. They also offer support to their patients. The same support they gain while in school.

The licensed vocational nurse and registered nurse programs are in high demand at LBCC. Sigrid Sexton, the interim program director and department head of the nursing program, said one

application period a year is scheduled in March. Sexton, a registered nurse with a master’s of science and nursing, and an FNP, said the program can get up to 300-400 applications, but only can accept 80—40 in the fall and 40 in the spring. She said the limits are to keep a low ratio of students to teachers. It allows teachers to focus on each of the students who are learning the complex and intensive profession.

Tuition for the nursing program is no different than other programs at LBCC, despite its high cost to run. Even before applying, students must have a number of prerequisites completed including human anatomy and biology and general microbiology. Future nurses can start the Licensed Vocational Nurses program, and once licensed, can transition to the RN program.

When in the program, demands on students’ time and abili-ties are high. Each semester, a math test must be passed with 93 percent or better. Students, Sexton said, are given a second chance to pass, but if they fail a second time, they are out. The 2-year

N u r s e t e c h

From the 39 students who began the program, only 24 finished in the two years that it should have taken them to do so, said Sigrid Sexton, nursing program director.

In their newly renovated building, nursing students are enjoying more advanced educational equipment.

3program is so intense and demanding that the percentage to graduate in that amount of time was 38 percent. Meaning, Sexton said, that of the year that statistic was taken from the 39 students who began the program, only 24 finished in the two years that it should have taken them to do so. Some students, Sexton said, leave for personal reasons, others due to academic reasons and others find it might not have been the right fit for them.

Future nurses begin working with patients early on in their training. Alicia Kozachenko, 47, an LBCC RN major, is in her first semester and at five weeks in will soon start her clinical work or real-world training. Kozachenko said the students will work with patients from day one. They will be overseen by teachers and will start with taking assessments and vital signs of patients.

Support in the intensive programs, for a profession with such a demand for responsibility, is thankfully abundant for the students. The nursing students have access to the learning center, the skills lab, the simulation hospital and the Nursing Student Association to get help and sup-port from employees and fellow nursing students.

The learning center is a study place where expensive textbooks can be checked out, videos of various procedures can be viewed to supplement classroom learning and various tests can be taken. The skills lab, Mary Johnson, RN, MSN said, is a place for students to practice everything from giving shots to taking blood pressure. Johnson said all of the employees’ main focus is being there to support each other and the nursing students.

The simulation hospital, run by the simulation hospital lab coordinator Kathleen Mais, RN, MSN, gives students real-world scenarios in a safe classroom environment. The simulation room consists of hospital beds with bedside machines displaying heart rate and other vital information of the “patient.” All around the room are various equipment and supplies one might expect to find in a real hospital. That’s the point. Students practice in the simulations to think through reality based situations with “patients” who cannot be harmed.

The “patients” in the real hospital beds with the real medical monitors beside them are high-tech, life-sized mannequins. Across the room, a mannequin’s chest can be seen rising and falling. Placing a hand on a mannequin’s chest, one can feel the

“heart” beating. They can speak with the aid of the teachers. They can even blink. Students can practice inserting catheters, hooking up IVs, taking blood pressure, listening to breath sounds and much more with their “patients.” The simulations make the students, who are placed in groups of four to five, care for one of the “patients,” having to think on the fly. Different prob-lems are presented and they must figure out what the best or quickest solution is to help the “patient.”

During the simulations, students also practice other necessary tasks, such as getting consent forms, calling the lab for results, speaking with doctors (played by the teachers) and sometimes dealing with faulty equipment. Another aspect of the simulation hospital is that during the

scenarios, the students’ role-play as the primary or secondary nurse, an observer, or a loved one. The role-playing gives the students a first-hand view of everyone involved when they deal with real-world patients.

The Nursing Student Association, offers academic support and shares personal experiences with its peers. Kozachenko is a club member and said many of the fourth-semester students give her support, even being told by one member to call her any time. The club also runs blood drives, allowing students to use their skills on living people.

A nurse will touch everyone during life, at birth, during a routine doctor visit, in an emergency or when you’re 7 and hungry late at night.

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Sanctuaries

Kiralynn Beckett-Lemus, 16, a psy-chology major at LBCC, sits in her room with her laptop in Lakewood.

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Nelson Lewandowski, 21, an LBCC student, sits in his anime-adorned room in Lakewood. He shows off his manga collection and pet lizard.

Photos by Irina NizovtsevaIntroduction by Brandon E Richardson

Often times when feeling the stresses of the world, people will retreat into their bedrooms. They are a safe place. An escape. But everyone’s room is different. Some are messy, some are clean. Some are large and spacey, others small and cluttered. Books,

video games, TV, posters, art, everyone’s sanctuary is different.Long Beach City College magazine photographer Irina

Nizovtseva decided to explore various rooms of students. Each of the students invited Nizovtseva into their personal space, as it is, and allowed her to capture them in their most private element.

A lot can be learned about a person by looking at their posses-sions, what they really value and what they do in their spare time.

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Right:Alexandra

Puckett, 22, a communica-

tions major at LBCC,

checks her phone in her

room inLakewood.

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Left: Tyler DeSisto, 18, a chemical engineering major at LBCC, puts his feet up and reads in his home in Lakewood.

Below: Christian Perkins, 22, a business management major at Cal State Long Beach, plays video games in his dorm room on campus.

Left:MadisonPuckett, 19,an Englishmajor at LBCC and Alexandra’s sister, sitswith herlaptop in her room inLakewood.

Former football defensive back Jeff Severson was the last player drafted at LBCC in 1967, and he wasn’t even in the first team photo.

During the first game, he painted his shoes white like Joe Namath did. He attended LBCC in 1967 and 1968 before moving on to Cal State Long Beach. At Long Beach State, he had 15 interceptions his senior year, a NCAA record.

After dominating his senior year he decided to head to the professional level of football. He was drafted by the Wash-ington Redskins in 1971. He was with the Redskins when they went to Super Bowl VII in 1973 against the Dolphins. Unfortu-nately, they lost and didn’t get the Lom-bardi Trophy. After the Redskins, he went on to play for the Houston Oilers, Denver Broncos, St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams. In 1980 with the Rams he reached the Super Bowl once more, only to have his hopes dashed again this time by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

When he wasn’t sacking quarterbacks to the ground, he was investing in real estate. At 21, he purchased his first apartment building with fellow LBCC alumnus Jerry Scanlan, creating a business partnership that remains strong today. When he be-came 23, he received his real estate license. Smart investing created a comfortable life for Jeff today. In 1977, when he wasn’t buying investment property, he found the time to act in “Semi-Tough,” a parody about professional football starring Bert Reynolds. The role prompted Severson to get his Screen Actors Guild card, which also led to another football movie, “North Dallas Forty” starring Nick Nolte in 1979. After that, he decided to hang up his acting hat and put his cowboy hat back on. He enjoys riding horses with fellow cowboys and rancheros on Catalina Island and in Santa Barbara.

One of his other passions is playing mu-sic, specifically country. On the cover of his self-titled album, he has his cowboy hat,

guitar and National Football Conference ring glinting in the light. He writes, sings and plays guitar on his album. He also has another band, Los Caballaros Boys, and members enjoy touring and riding horses together like cowboys roaming the range. Severson likes to say, “My life is as busy as it’s ever been but it’s all fun stuff now.”

While Severson had success in football, another LBCC alumni excelled in the pool as a professional swimmer. Susie Atwood is a former Olympic medalist who attended LBCC in 1971. She trained with the men’s swim team at LBCC because the Vikings didn’t field a women’s team at the time. She first went to the Olympics in 1968 in Mexico City while she was still in high school. Atwood quips, “I got an incomplete in PE because I was at the Olympics!” Un-fortunately, she was eliminated during the 200-meter backstroke at the 1968 games.

During her time at LBCC, she went to the 1972 Olympics in Munich. This time she won big. Atwood earned gold in the

Story By Susan Usas Photos By Charles Belvin And Hayley Hart

Life after college sportsthletes

Jeff Severson, former LBCC football defensive back, sits in the bleachers at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Alumni

8

Suzy Atwood, former Olympic swimming medalist and LBCC student, sits beside the LBCC pool.

Barry Barnes, former LBCC basketball player, poses in the Hall of Champions at LBCC.

4-by-100 medley, silver in 200-meter back-stroke and 100-meter backstroke. Atwood won three Olympic medals before turning 20 years old.

After coming back to LBCC, she decid-ed to attend the University of Hawaii for a few years and finished at Whittier College, graduating in 1977. She went on to Ohio State University for graduate school. She became the first women’s swim coach in the Big Ten Conference, which includes such universities as Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Nebraska, Michigan State, Rutgers and Purdue.

After giving up her flip flops for boots and cold Ohio winters, Atwood decided to come back to California. She started her own State Farm insurance agency and has been successful for 24 years. In her office only two blocks from home there is a large watercolor painting of Naples that adorns the wall, and orchids sit on her desk. With her blonde hair and tan skin, she looks like a California beach girl. But you’d be wrong. She loves to travel, especially to the Northwest and Carmel. Atwood took her Olympic training and became a coach and a successful insurance agent.

Another athlete who parlayed his basketball training and education is Barry Barnes, who is familiar with Long Beach, having grown up in town with his 10 siblings. There was always competition in the house, hopscotch games being won and lost and they analyzed games on TV. He played basketball for Lakewood High then came to LBCC in 1982 until 1984. He majored in physical education and played for the basketball team. After LBCC, he went to Biola University and played bas-ketball while majoring in physical educa-tion. He finished at Cal State Dominguez

Hills in 2002. After taking some time off to get married, he decided to come back to his passion of coaching. Barnes coached basketball at Long Beach Parks and Rec-reation for four years. He coached under Gary Anderson before becoming the head Viking basketball coach, which is the posi-tion he occupies today.

Currently, the statistics for college athletes to get to the professional level are pretty low. According to the NCAA only 1.6 percent of college football athletes get drafted, 1.2 percent of men’s basketball players get picked as compared to only

0.9 percent of women’s basketball players. For swimmers hoping to qualify for the Olympics, the numbers are low as well. The L.A. Times reports, “Of the roughly 1,850 swimmers entered in the Olympic trials, about 50 will qualify for the U.S. team.” Severson and Atwood had the talent and drive to make it to the peak of their athlet-ic careers and still have success off the field and out of the pool. Barnes has parlayed his competitive siblings and education to become a successful basketball coach.

9

10

Words ByGeorge Zuniga

Photos By Jerick e. LeBlanc

Comic books.When we hear those words, our minds instantly imagine supermen from other worlds or caped cru-saders under the cover of darkness. But comic books

have more to them than meets the eye. Starting out as lighthearted adventures and humor in the 1930s,

the medium has developed a massive following worldwide. It is these brave souls who venture into the tales of bravery, glory and wonder on a daily basis that have become the heralds of such a magical medium. It is these men and women who guide us through the mystical rivers and channels flowing through the body of the graphic novel. They are the ones who show us, the uninformed, the way to a new world.

But what is it about those vigilant souls who proudly display their allegiances to those who print the incredible tales of heroism and

OF INKAND MAGIC

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courage? What about their own adven-tures and journeys? What’s their story?

The journey began with a trek to Pulp Fiction, a hub for the fanatics of inks, pen-cils and shading. The temple of graphical knowledge sits at the Long Beach intersec-tion of Clark Avenue and Atherton Street, only 3.1 miles away from Long Beach City College’s Liberal Arts Campus. There, a seasoned veteran of the comic book realm waited outside a cluttered storefront plastered with comic book posters and superhero artworks.

Towering overhead was Derek Easley. Easley, 34, is a tall, strong-built bearded

man that boasted enough confidence to make Thor himself rattle and shake. An employee of Pulp Fiction, he was kind enough to discuss his life and how he found himself drawn into the world of art and text.

“Comic books are a huge part of my life,” Easley said. “I think I’ve always related to Superman. I just love the idea of truth, justice and the American way.”

The stoic, burly Easley continued on about how he got himself started. “In 1986 or 1987, my cousin’s best friend hooked me up with ‘Justice League #1.’ I got into col-lecting comic books with my brother and

it was the first business I started.” With a sibling-founded, lawn-mowing service, Easley had begun meticulously cataloging and organizing his treasure hoard.

But aside from bright, shining, utterly radiant heroes, there are the constantly questioning, philosophical characters one might meet at a library or coffee shop. In this case, it was Eric Bryan, 28.

“When I grew up, my dad was a sci-fi and fantasy guy, like novels that were 1960’s and 1970’s pulp stuff. I’d read comics every now and then, since he had a bunch of old ‘Conan’ and ‘Red Sonja’ and stuff lying around and so I’d do that.

There’s acomic

book out there for everyone

Jonathan Chaplin-Durrie at home in Hollywood with part of his comic book collection.

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My best friend and former guitar player handed me a stack of ‘Hellboys.’ I was probably around 14 or 15.” He read those and he was hooked.

When asked about what might make a person a comics fan, Bryan responded with, “There’s something for everyone. I think what it is, is there’s a personal element to reading a comic. You pick up a book, you read a novel and you create images in your head. There are images to represent movement, but any movement you’re perceiving is completely illustrated

by you. That allows you a much more active role in reading it. You’ll find stories in comics that you won’t find in anything else. Even with comics being much more popular now, there’s still not nearly the readership that there is for most other written mediums, certainly not for visual mediums, and so they still exist in this ‘nobody’s looking so why not’ perspective. And I think that when you have that, you are much more personally related to it. Because it seems like a labor of, if not love, at least unusual interest.”

But what about those who’ve seen the effect of this medium on a deeper level? Bursting through the frames is Jonathan Chaplin-Durrie. The quiet, yet eloquent 45-year-old previous student of Los Angeles City College lives in North Hollywood, a few blocks from Amoeba Music and the North Hollywood Metro Station. The apartment, cluttered with paraphernalia regarding the legendary rock band Queen, gave a warm, sanctu-ary-like feeling.

A fraction of Jonathan Chaplin-Durrie’s collection of comics, movies and toys.

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Eric Bryan, 28, shows off his “Dark Knight Returns” tattoo.

“My older brother got me a copy of ‘Batman Family #9’ in late 1976. I was almost 7, learning how to read and everything. I was interested in the art, I was interested in the melodrama. Shortly after reading comics, they brought a character back into the ‘Justice League’ called the Red Tornado, who had low self-esteem. All of the other Leaguers, he thought, wouldn’t like him because he’s an android. I identified, because I had low self-esteem.

“And then, he found Wonder Woman, I got to see her as a human being,” Chaplin-Durrie said. “She’s also responsible for me learning how to draw. She was just so genuine with ‘This is good. This is how we do good.’ As I got older and realized I didn’t conform to the gender specifications as ordered by society and some guys like that will gravitate toward a strong woman. Instead of taking a pop diva or an actress, I focused on the one that could pick up a Volkswagen.”

These are the stories of those who looked into the realm and felt it look back. Comics aren’t just books. They aren’t simply words and illustrations on paper to take you away from reality. They’re portals to something beyond literature and film. They aren’t a fantasy or a dream, but a new frontier, still vastly uncharted.

There’s a personal

element to reading a

comic.

I don’t know why things happen in life. Some people say it’s fate. Others might say it’s consequence. Perhaps it might even be a result

of karma. For me, I don’t know why a lot of things happen. It could be a result of all three. The unexpected always happens. There’s oftentimes an unex-pected variable that goes unaccounted for. Two things I didn’t see coming happened, and I’m not sure whether they were supposed to.

As many might say, I can remember a specific point in time as if it were yesterday. I recall fluorescent lights, the smell of Lysol and hand sanitizer sting-ing the nostrils. The sobs of my family echoed in my ears, and I could feel the cold, unblinking stares of doctors and nurses alike. This is the death of my older brother. A personal shot in the heart to both my family and myself. A harsh loss, to say the least.

I’d like to say it was quick and pain-less, as painless as the shock of slowly falling into a vegetative state might be for someone who was previously conscious and aware. To be stuck in a perpetual dreamless rut is a nightmare beyond comparison. To imagine your thoughts swirling down the drain of coherence is a damnation and a half. It was at this point that I saw it all crum-bling. Simply getting in the car with my father told me of how bad things would be. I’d decided I would stay with my mother for a week.

Things had begun to fall apart. I was falling. They say depression is like being swallowed by darkness. It was more than that. It was suffocating. I was drowning in it. I couldn’t swim. I couldn’t reach for an edge, a handhold, something to pull me out of the abyss. I sank. My lungs filled with black, the vile, sickening black that flooded my heart and my mind. I was sick and I was diseased. For some, people say that there’s a light that never goes out inside them. My inner-candleflame was blown away. Snuffed. Nothing was left but a burnt wick and a thin ribbon of smoke.

A year or so went by, give or take. The year itself was filled with pain, the memories in my head wrapped in razors and barbed wire as I recall them. I don’t like to look back on those days. I might even liken them to the Dark Ages in terms of the clouds of depres-sion that hung over my head. But then

The greatawakening

14

Personal essay by George Zuniga | Photos by Jerick E. LeBlanc

15I’d thought about something. I made friends within that year. I grew closer to some, even closer to fewer. And so I made a decision.

On one fateful day, something strange happened. I flipped through the contacts on my phone, curious to see how everyone was. A few calls went out as the night went on. So I made contact with a friend of my brother’s, like many who would also become friends of mine, Danny Payares. A cool guy, I’ll admit. Danny was a drummer. After a brief exchange, I sealed my fate. “Hey, man,” I said over the phone. “I know this is kinda weird. It’s been about a year since we’ve talked. But, uh… do you wanna jam? I’m still playing bass.” I was promptly replied with a strong, “Hell yeah.”

Within minutes, I was outside with my weapon of choice and it’s ammunition. I sat in front of my mother’s house, awaiting the arrival of this friend of mine. I had a strange feeling in my chest. Butterflies, perhaps. It felt like a Roman candle was going off. My skin felt electrified, and I was awestruck with my anticipating excitement. I didn’t know how this was going to go.

Danny’s truck pulled up in front of my house. The smell of gasoline curled in my nose. We exchanged greetings as I loaded my stuff up into his truck. I was unaware of how close he actually lived to my moth-er’s home, which at the time was my current place of residence. We talked about the recent year. Similari-ties popped up in our conversation. It wasn’t easy for either of us. Christ, I don’t think it was easy for any of us. I’d be damned if I said otherwise.

I don’t know exactly how we started. I plugged my bass in and I started to play. Fingers plucked at strings while the others danced upon them. My bass hummed and sang, while Danny crashed about behind the drum kit. A brotherhood of sound was heard within his room, as we played together in a manic fashion. I could see it in front of me. It was a growing storm, a thunderous mass of clouds bringing heavy rains down on the world. As they always do, the clouds cleared. The sun came up in the sky and our instruments sang it true.

I’m not sure how to describe it, really. It was a breakthrough. It was the rope that pulled me out from the depths of hell, at least enough so I could finally breath. It was a renaissance, a great awakening for my heart and my mind. The jam session wasn’t a beautiful experience coming from a spontaneous phone call. It wasn’t just a jam. The moment was me finding myself and embracing a larger part of my life. Music. Music really became a part of my life that day, in a way only a musician could understand. It lit the fire in me once again. I wasn’t just a bass player any more. I wasn’t just somebody who could play a guitar. I became an explorer. A sage. A wanderer into the great unknown.

If there’s anything that can really be said about that night, it was that it happened for a reason. I’m sure of it now. Something keeps telling me I was meant to play my heart out that night. I know that one thing’s for certain: I’ll never look at music the same way again.

Scan code for a video slideshow containing more images from story.

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Kana Ye and Ruoyi An wear Day Dream Carnival Jumperskirts from Angelic Pretty duringPacific Media Expo on Sept. 9, 2015.

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Beacarlie (left) and Joinie (top right) Vasquez, pose on the fountain in the T Building at LBCC in their Japanese fashion of choice.

Japanese StreetwearA glimpse at some of Japan’s most popular styles found in Southern California

Photos by Kiralynn Beckett-Lemus

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Kana Ye’s shoes stand out at the PacificMedia Expo fashion show on Sept. 7, 2015

Kawaii(Cute!)

Daisuki(I really like it!)

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Kana Ye models for Vierge Vampur in the Pacific MediaExpo fashion show on Sept. 7, 2015

Samantha Winnen poses in her favorite Japanese fashion, Decora, during the International Harajuku Fashion Walk in Little Tokyo on July 26, 2015.

Details of Samantha Winnen’s makeup highlighted from the Pacific Media Expo on July 27, 2015

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PartymanBy Brandon E Richardson

Ever since I was young, Batman has always been one of my favorite things in the world. I grew up watching “Batman: The Animated Series,” along with other similar superhero cartoons. I loved them. Then, around age 6 or

7, my parents finally let me watch Tim Burton’s “Batman.”I was so excited. It was my new favorite movie, second only

to Michael Jackson’s “Moonwalker.” The part of “Batman” that I enjoyed most? Jack Nicholson’s Joker defacing the museum, of course. It was fun, it was lively, there was destruction and they were dancing—to Prince.

See, this was my first introduction to Prince. His music was never geared toward kids my age, so, naturally, I never heard it. But with that scene, with one song, I fell in love with his music. Though, at the time, I didn’t even know who he was.

Fast forward to my pre-teen years when I first watched “Purple Rain” and I couldn’t believe my ears, or eyes for that matter. Aside from the fact the movie is clearly for adults, from “Darling Nikki,” to a rough home life for the Kid, to love, to pelvic thrusting, my young mind just couldn’t make heads or tails of the story line, but the music was utterly mesmerizing. Which is probably why the

1958 2016

Another music legend dies too young, but this one

takes me back to my childhood,which is kind of odd.

soundtrack won two Grammy Awards and an Academy Award for best original song score in 1985.

In 1993, when I was 5 going on 6, he changed his name to a fucking symbol. Who does that? The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, that’s who. That is such an insane power-move, which, of course, made it the coolest. There is even a joke on “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” where Ashley brings a boy home and intro-duces him to Uncle Phil. When asked what his name was, the kid pulled out a business card and Uncle Phil says, “This is a stick with a snake wrapped around it.” The kid responds, “It’s a symbol, like, Prince.” To which the only response we could expect from Uncle Phil was, “Prince who?” Of course, Prince would eventual-ly change his name back in 2000.

This was not the only reference to Prince on popular children’s programming while I was growing up. On “Animaniacs” there is a surprisingly explicit joke where Dot confuses “fingerprints” for “finger Prince,” while holding a caricatured version of the pop icon.

Now, being 28, I can appreciate Prince for more than his roles in the things I loved as a child, even the “Chapelle’s Show” basket-ball skit. I can appreciate him for the incredible musician and

Photo courtesy of John Leyba/The Denver Post

21

person he was. He was humble and kind, and often very private. He truly loved

music and people could see the joy it brought him during his performances. We should all be so

lucky to find something to be that passionate about. He was a true showman and also a bit of a showoff at times,

but he earned the respect of so many around him.Several reports have been made that Eric Clapton was

asked what it was like to be the greatest guitar player alive, and he responded, “I don’t know. Ask Prince.” Eric Clapton—the guy who wrote “Tears in Heaven,” “Wonderful Tonight” and “Layla”—said Prince was the greatest guitar player alive.

And let’s not forget the fact that even Mother Nature loved Prince. Watching him perform “Purple Rain” during the halftime show of Super Bowl XLI in 2007, while it was actually raining? Well, that was just pure magic.

But aside from his musical genius, he was also known as a sex symbol, for his outlandish, yet somehow trend-setting, fash-

ion (let’s face it, Seinfeld didn’t make the puffy shirt famous), the fact that his hair could do anything and he was a great talent scout.

Prince always had a way of surrounding himself with extreme-ly talented musicians, either as a backing band for himself, or as a

group that he put together and sometimes write for. From The Revo-lution, to Vanity 6, to The Time, Prince assembled some phenomenal musical groups.

The Purple One was also known to write songs for other artists un-der various pseudonyms, such as Christopher, Alexander Nevermind and Joey Coco. He wrote songs for Stevie Nicks, Alicia Keys, Sinead

O’Connor, Madonna, Chaka Khan, hell, he even wrote The Bangles’ “Manic Monday.”

Carmen Electra, or Tara Leigh Patrick as she was known before Prince signed her to a record deal in 1991, said in a statement, “He gave

me my name, he believed in me and he has inspired an entire generation. I will always love him. ‘Sometimes it Snows in April.’”

Prince was, and always will be, an inspiration and he will always be loved. No one can contest that Prince won at life.

“Game, blouses.”

Students at home Pg. 4Comic Culture Pg. 10Japanese Fashion pg. 16Losing a Legend Pg. 20