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6 • The Red and Black • Thursday, July 19, 1990
Boomerang bounces back
Artist’s designs expand,
include animals, Elvis
By DAVID WILLIAMS
Entertainment Writer
Pat Cardiff is a familiar sight around town even
though most people don’t know his name. This
barefoot, elf-like man can often be seen wearing
leather jerkins without a shirt and carrying an
elaborately carved walking stick. He is prohabl)
best known, however, for hit handcarved boome
rangs which have been displayed in such venues as
the Downstairs, Figaro's and Funkadelia.
Cardiff was given a boomerang five years ago
and after playing with it, he decided to make one
himself. It worked and the artist was hooked
“I had been a painter and a wood worker for
many years, so I couldn’t just make one and stop
there. I tried to see how far the shape could be
changed and still work," Cardiff said as he painted
a but boomerang on College Avenue.
Cardiffs designs have taken some radical turns
Animals, mermaids and fairy sprites are just some
examples Possibly Cardiff’s most original idea, an
Elvis boomerang, is in the works.
"Elvis returns!," he said with a laugh
One of the first questions people ask Cardiff is
whether or not his boomerangs actually work The
inevitable answer is “yup.”
"I work on the design with a wood rasp and a
coping saw and then I take it out and throw it If it
comes right back to my hands, 1 figure that it
works and then design the paint job," explained
Cardiff
Cardiffs Kximerangs have become a popular
tern He started out selling them for about $10
each around town. Now, the Ann Jacobs Gallon in
Atlanta sells them for between $35 and $70 fcut
Cardiff finds some of the appreciation for his work
annoying.
"All of these people are buying my boomerangs
ar i refusing to throw them 1 throw them all of the
rime and the) come back without a scratch.* he
said
l irdiff graduated from the University in 1955
Pat Cardiff: The txjomerang as an art form
is booming
with an M K A 1 le hopes to eventually teach on the
"1 would love to teach at a college, but it’s hard to
g»>t a college teaching job without having at least
three years experience tunless you’re nationally
knowrri 1 intend to take the nationally known
route " he said
Car.. ' spends most of hit time working. Occa-
siona !\ he takes a break to go to the Botanical
Cardens but even then, he takes his work with
eisure time at the ‘Bot,’ I take my paints
* sketch pad with me because the more you
paint, o! write, or whatever, the more you learn
about w hat's right and what’s wrong,” Cardiff said.
As Cardiff was talking, he asked Joseph
Howard. a friend who was passing by, to describe
i: Cardiff has a really high energy level. He’s
he»" working steadily for the last 5 years ... he
doesn : soem to go into slumps. It’s as if his hands
can’t work fast enough to keep up with his brain,”
said Howard.
It seems as though Cardiff would still be selling
his boomerangs as quickly as he finished them,
even if his hands amid keep up with his brain.
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majors welcome.
The Red & Black
Jack is back on vinyl
Kerouac treasury treats fans
By DAVID WILLIAMS
Entertainment Writer
The late ’50s and early ’60s were
relatively tranquil times. All
knowing fathers, mothers resem
bling Donna Reed, and clean-cut,
obediant teenagers were the norm
and suburban life was just coming
into vogue.
However, there was a darker
side behind the white socks and
even whiter teeth. Many teenagers
turned away from the lifestyles of
their parents, embracing bebop
jazz, casual sex and substance
abuse.
Writer Jack Kerouac called this
diverse group of poets, hoodlums
and madmen the ‘ioeat generation”
and becnme a reluctant spokesman
for the group.
Kerouac is most famous for his
novel “On the Road,” a manic trav
elogue fueled by cheap wine and
Benzedrine which documents the
events surrounding several cross
country trips. “On the Road” was
published in 1957 and soon made
Kerouac a symbol of nonconfor
mity.
In 1959, Kerouac recorded three
albums of his poetry. These al
bums, which were released on Dot
Records, have become collector’s
items. Over the years, die-hard
Kerouac fans have either had to
pay high prices for the few that
still exist or settle for hand-me-
down bootlegged copies which are
almost as rare.
Rhino Records recently offered
some relief from this situation
when they re-released the albums
in a boxed set appropriately called
‘The Jack Kerouac Collection.” The
set also includes a recording of the
speech on the beat generation Ker
ouac gave at Brandeis University
as well as readings from his books.
Kerouac’s performance style is
very unusual. Spontaneity re
places the stiff, formal posturing
which characterizes many poetry
readings. Kerouac reads his poems
matter of factly in his tough,
Northeastern, working-class
drawl.
‘The Jack Kerouac
Collection’ is a very
good resource for the
Kerouac enthusiast.
Many of the poems in
the set have never
been released in print.
The set also includes a
31-page booklet with
essays by fellow
beatniks Allen
Ginsburg and William
Burroughs, as well as
Kerouac’s daughter
Jan.
Pianist, comedian and commen
tator Steve Allen accompanies Ker
ouac on the first album, “Poetry for
The Beat Generation,” which they
recorded in one take without any
rehearsals.
For the second album, “Blues
and Haikus,” Kerouac performs
with tenor saxophone players Zoot
Sims and A1 Cohn. Together the
three create duets between the
saxophones and Kerouac’s voice.
The poet seems more confident in
this session and his reading is
more polished. He even sings on a
piece called “Hard Hearted
Farmer.”
“Readings By Jack Kerouac on
the Beat Generation” is the third
and best of the recordings. Kerouac
reads without any accompanist,
but this reading is more musical.
His voice is smooth and he reads
the long staccato phrase from his
poems in a sing-song manner. He
also reads a passage from his book
“The Subterraneans.”
The fourth album, “The Last
Word” includes readings from “On
the Road” and “Visions of Cody,” as
lari’s
Jack Kerouac: A collection
of his poems is now avail
able on Rhino Records.
well as the speech Kerouac gave at
Brandeis Univerity.
The Jack Kerouac Collection” is
a very good resource for the Ker
ouac enthusiast. Many of the
poems in the set have never been
released in print. The set also in
cludes a 31-page booklet with es
says by fellow beatniks Allen
Ginsburg and William Burroughs,
as well as Kerouacs’s daughter
Jan.
The Jack Kerouac Collection”
will sell for about $30 and will be
available at both Wuxtry and
Downtown Records sometime in
the near future.