Preserving the Legacy
by Rick Brown

When I was in the fifth grade sitting in class bored out of my mind one afternoon, I decided to start a newspaper. So … there I would be, pretending to be paying attention and all the while I'd be setting up this little one-page newspaper. I called it The R.B. Journal. (Clever huh?) I'd put funny short stories in it … cartoons I'd draw … anything that struck my fancy really. When I was finished "publishing" it I would oh-so-subversively pass it around the classroom desk to desk to desk. Every week or so I would come up with a new issue and send it on its way. Before long it became obvious to me that I was getting a lot of attention from my tiny journal. The other kids really liked it. I was happy.

Then one day the teacher inadvertently noticed a student passing the R.B. Journal to a classmate. My heart sank. I was sure she would be very angry. Much too my astonishment she actually picked it up and began reading it. "This is wonderful Mr. Brown," she chirped as she strolled to the front of the room. Then she had the bright idea that the whole class should be involved in a newspaper. "We'll put it on the bulletin board and change it every month" my teacher exclaimed. And so it was to be. I was unanimously elected … running unopposed … as the editor of the new fifth grade newspaper. The new name escapes me now.

I think we put out a couple months' worth of "issues" of our bulletin board paper. I missed my subversive little R.B. Journal … the secrecy with which I put it together … the sneaking it from desk to desk. I missed the thrill of creativity on the fly. I was no Citizen Kane when it came to bulletin boards. In a nutshell … it sucked. Big time. I lost interest. I was not happy. It was at this timely juncture in my development that I forged a theory … a theory I adhere to even now. It states simply, "When something gets too organized … gets discovered … it's ruined." Religion is the perfect example of my maxim. There are too many others to list.

As I look back on the past year of this wonderful creation known as Naked Sunfish (see the explanation under the fish) I don't feel anywhere near what I did all those years ago. I'm happy once again. The website was a 50th birthday gift to me by life long pal … and Webmaster … Dan Eley. To him I am eternally grateful. And to my soon to be life long pal Ted Kane …who encouraged me to write and asked me to join his Crapshoot! Webzine … I will always remember. To all the writers who have contributed this past year … Cory, Ted, John, Johnny, roberto, Matt, Amanda, Amelia, Karl, Patrick … I say "thank you". The diversity and interest generated has come largely from your input.

Our readers … and I'm not sure who all of you are … deserve a big thank you for the support you have shown. My sister Kathy along with Sarah, Lois, Andy, Becky, Craig, Suzanne, Amy, Rick, Kristina … there are too many to name. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It's because of all of us together … a virtual community of sorts … that is what makes Naked Sunfish remind me of the little R.B. Journal. As author Jon Katz has so graciously said of our endeavor "you are a part of the new media". Who'd a thought? Not my fifth grade teacher that's for sure. I'm sure she meant well. But with Naked Sunfish I answer to no one. Mr. Katz has also referred to the Internet as "The New Enlightenment". By this he doesn't mean we're all so smart or intellectual. Rather, that ideas ... both bad and good … are being put out there without scrutiny … censorship … and that pure actual communication can happen without the filters of today's media … politicians … religious leaders. Sure it can be scary. But anything worth taking the risk for is scary. In light of the fear … paranoia … and control agendas, authority figures seem to peddle everywhere, I'm proud that Naked Sunfish puts some kind of alternative out there. One of the very few authority figures I have ever trusted … in my entire life … Director of Libraries for the Ohio State University Joseph Branin has said of Naked Sunfish that it is one of the "new media publications". So don't let anybody tell you otherwise writers. You're published. Got it from le grand fromage librarian himself.

So let's celebrate our delirious anarchy. Politics, religion, food, music, art … goofy stories … whatever it may be … let's continue our efforts to make Dionysus revel with joy! Let's continue the legacy of the R.B. Journal! "Onward and upward!", as Dr. John Bennett would say. Just don't let the teacher see you pass it over to the kid at the next desk.

But it was the wonderfully ridiculous lust of The Art of Sex that I delighted in most in this second half. A guy who is dragged off to a modern art museum when he would rather be home having sex with his woman eventually enrages her so much she storms off after he interprets a painting as a couple having sex between two refrigerators. Maybe they were ON the fridge…I don't recall. Matters not. Soon after the woman stomps off an elderly museum guide…played dead on by Pam Callahan…approaches the baffled man to explain that he is looking at one of their most controversial paintings…a painting depicting a couple "fucking between two refrigerators" Ms. Callahan aptly provided the visuals. I'm no longer a young man. I'm not old but I'm closer on the scale. And believe me after watching TV commercials and gag in the mouth Wal-Mart ads, making older folks look like trite sickening dweebs it was extremely liberating to see an elderly woman portrayed in such a delightfully devilish light!

Pam then stormed up on the bandstand and played percussion on a soulful, stirring version of Boston's "More Than a Feeling" never breaking character. Wow! I covered Boston on their first tour for a long defunct local rock rag. I saw them at the old Agora what seems to be centuries ago. Believe me this version (which featured Noelle Grandison on vocals) was far superior to the original. The dynamics were incredible. It wasn't the best song BillWho? played all night…but it was arguably the best musical performance of the entire show.

Many people probably assume Shadowbox Cabaret to be an acting troupe…and they are. But this company is so much more. Their shows incorporate rock music, drama, comedy…you name it. And you might be waited on by some one you saw perform on stage minutes earlier. I cannot say enough about the band. I've witnessed plenty of rock shows with smarmy posturing being passed off as sexual appeal. BillWho? can put several singers out front who seduce you with their animal magnitude because there is an underlying playfulness that makes it all believable. It works the same for the skits. Candid playfulness is sexy. Big hair and spandex aren't necessarily. (Have you ever felt attracted to a stranger and later realize it was their CLOTHES you were hot for? C'mon…fess up.) Bandleader and bass player Gabe Guyer will not only convince you to "Love the One You're With" as well as Steven Stills but he's a fantastic comic actor. And get this…he is none other the Shadowbox's Webmaster!

In this repressive era of "abstinence" as a sad metaphor for sexuality, education and birth control (like frat boy W. abstained right?) it was great to see such unabashed sensuality and bawdiness! To be honest…I never thought there was anything this good in Columbus, Ohio. And as much as I disdain Easton Town Center (a phony "town" featuring unnecessary merchandise) I'd gladly trudge across the tundra (vast parking area) in the freezing cold to see Sex at the Box 2003 anytime. Because it may be cold outside…but it's HOTTER THAN HELL at the 'Box! That…and I am gratefully no longer a virgin.