Tag Archives: princeton

Princeton Record Store Day 2012: Reflections

They say that Christmas comes just once each year. Maybe this is true. But I urge my reader not to be boxed in by Decemberistic definitions of that magical gift-giving day. For once every April, there comes a glorious day for audiophilic vinyl junkies and music snobs alike. I speak, of course, of National Record Store Day. It’s exactly what it sounds like, folks. A celebration of that obscure, hole-in-the-wall record store in your hometown that you’ve probably heard of but never actually seen, much less ventured into. On this day, the best of indie acts and classic rock figureheads put out exclusive vinyl releases and other novelties priced too high yet seemingly so valuable in the right hands. On this day, devoted fans line up outside their favorite local record store, sometimes camped out all night, to get their hands on that ever-elusive RSD-only release. I can only liken it to the sort of crazed Star Wars fans of the ‘70s lining up outside the movie theater, some decked out in full costume, waiting for the premiere of the next movie. Jack White’s Third Man Records in Nashville represents the ultimate Mecca for many record lovers, with such Willy Wonka-esque creations as the liquid filled record and the record-within-a-record. But for those who can’t travel to Nashville every April 21st, there’s always some bud of hope popping up just north of campus this time of year.

For those of you who think that this article, and Record Store Day itself, belong only to those whose favorite book and movie is High Fidelity, I implore you to consider the weight that Record Store Day carries with it. In so many ways, RSD represents the national celebration of the underdog. A gathering of perhaps otherwise unrelated Average Joe’s championing the small business, the homegrown, close-to-the-heart sort of tradition that runs like a vein somewhere through American cultural consciousness. In the most perfectly timed spring awakening, we get to be like the kids in the candy store yet again, celebrating with complete strangers what may as well be the thrill of the chase, the grabbing of that elusive record and blowing your allowance in one morning. There is no trampling of fellow patrons like Black Friday. No, instead there is a sense of sanctity, respect, and just plain fun that culminates in the happenings of National Record Store Day.

I myself looked forward greatly to participating in this year’s Record Store Day, in a new environment, with new places and faces. I had spoken briefly to Princeton Record Exchange general manager Jon Lambert about the “big day,” and there was nothing short of sheer enthusiasm and excitement in the conversation between the two of us. He of course spoke of “the big day” with a sort of business owner’s professional excitement that can only come when fandom and work intersect. Added he on one email, “The [release] I am most interested in is the Flaming Lips double LP “The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends” featuring Nick Cave, Erykah Badu, and a slew of others.” With all this anticipation in mind, I ventured over to the Princeton Record Exchange on Saturday afternoon and found that very familiar sight of a long line snaking through the stacks of CDs and records. Outside sat other devoted representatives such as the great WPRB and the ever popular “free stuff” table, and the general hustle and bustle surrounding PRex was clearly a very welcome sort of heavy traffic for a Saturday.

I waited in line with my girlfriend, pointing out various albums that I enjoyed and cool album artwork that we saw, all the while hoping to convey to her, an eager rookie to the magic that is Record Store Day, the excitement that surrounds this glorious occasion. With an excited thumb-twiddling anticipation, I awaited my turn to pick through the coveted RSD-only releases, everything from elusive box sets to crazy vinyl collaborations to otherwise unattainable B-sides from everyone’s favorite bands. When I got my chance to look into the great trove that Prex held, a lot had already been picked through, I guess by those truly devoted vinyl-heads who camped out at 6:00am, but the search was nonetheless rewarding. To use yet another Willy Wonka analogy, it felt something a little like Charlie Bucket ripping open countless Wonka bars to finally find that golden ticket, a sort of Golden Fleece kind of find that is well worth the year long wait. I came out of there with a couple solid 7” records (one Jack White, the other Mikal Cronin) and one oldie 12” (the Byrds’ Greatest Hits), but I could have easily emptied my wallet and more in there.

They Might Be Giants perform outside the Princeton Public Library on Record Store Day

With a few precious records and a couple free posters (the “free stuff” may be the best part of RSD), I headed back to campus to catch a quick nap before the fun continued that evening. Any respectable local record store usually has some live music playing as part of Record Store Day, and the Princeton Record Exchange was no exception. The plaza outside Princeton Public Library was graced with the presence of Grammy-nominated jokesters They Might Be Giants, and what a spectacle it was. Sure, the stage was tiny, and the underwhelming sound system got lost in the outdoor atmosphere, but, ah, to see so many people come together, seemingly out of nowhere, to unite on this day of days for the Average Joe and his average little passions! I didn’t even know that many people lived in Princeton, but the sight of grown men, bobbing and singing along with their young daughters on their shoulders, struck a chord that really summed up the whole glorious occasion. Record Store Day has been, is being, and will continue to be. The small business, the average Joe, and the music junkie have cause to celebrate. Because maybe, just maybe, Christmas could come again in April.

Responding to reports by WPRB News, Princeton provides information on BAE investment

Princeton University says it “no longer owns” bonds of BAE Systems, a controversial British arms supplier, that WPRB reported yesterday were purchased in 2001. This disclosure appears to represent a departure from the University’s stated policy of not discussing investment holdings.

In an e-mail sent to WPRB Wednesday evening, University spokeswoman Cass Cliatt wrote:

A case in point is your inquiry related to BAE. While we do not disclose specifics of our investment portfolio, I can confirm that your inquiry relates to a fixed-income account that was widely diversified, but since mid-2003, the University no longer owns those securities.

BAE Systems has been criticized for dealings with, among others, Suharto’s Indonesia and Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe and has been investigated on charges of alleged corruption on multiple occasions.

Additionally, details surrounding the foreign financial account or accounts held by the University in Zimbabwe, first revealed by WPRB on Tuesday, have yet to be disclosed.

In her Wednesday evening e-mail, Cliatt instead suggested that:

members of the campus community with interest in these issues typically would not need to know whether the University is invested in Zimbabwe today to know whether they feel the University should be invested in Zimbabwe. And looking at a list of investment holdings on a given day can’t tell you what we’re invested in today. It tells you only what we were invested in at the time the list was published.

Tomorrow afternoon, at the invitation of the University, WPRB will sit down with Andrew Golden, the president of the Princeton University Investment Co. (PRINCO), to discuss how the University makes and monitors investments, why Princeton has stopped disclosing printouts of investments–as was a standard practice during the late 1990′s up until 2002–and why consideration of non-economic factors in investment appear only to be considered after concerns are raised by the campus community.

[Editor's Note: If you have questions you feel WPRB should ask Mr. Golden, send them along to tips@wprb.com before 1:30 PM tomorrow]

Our full program on Zimbabwe, and on Offshore Financial Centers (OFCs)– where companies, individuals and foundations can invest funds at very low tax rates, usually at the expense of their home nations’ tax revenues– aired this afternoon and will be posted online tomorrow evening. Roughly one third of Princeton’s declared foreign financial accounts, as of June 2007, are situated in OFCs.

WPRB News: Princeton invested in arms supplier

In 2001 Princeton University purchased bonds in British arms supplier BAE Systems, essentially giving a $1.5 million dollar loan to a company whose dealings with regimes like Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe have come under repeated scrutiny from investigators, journalists and activists, WPRB has learned.

In Zimbabwe, BAE has been tied to alleged efforts by arms dealer James Bredenkamp to supply the government with military equipment, potentially in violation of sanctions. Just days ago Bredenkamp, who The Guardian claims “acted as BAE’s agent in southern Africa”, had his assets frozen by the United States Treasury Department for his close relationship with Robert Mugabe’s regime.

For years BAE supplied military equipment to Zimbabwe, a relationship that began in the 1980’s when the Zimbabwean Air Force acquired 12 fighter planes from British Aerospace, BAE’s predecessor.

In 2000, the British government imposed an arms embargo against Zimbabwe, yet replacement parts for BAE-manufactured planes arrived as late as 2001, in apparent violation of sanctions, according to a UN report. Those components were allegedly supplied by Bredenkamp, who received £20,000,000 between 2003 and 2005 from BAE, The Financial Times reported this July. The payment served as “the first detailed evidence of a financial relationship” between Bredenkamp and the company. Both have both repeatedly denied violating sanctions. Continue reading →

WPRB News: Princeton and Zimbabwe

As the United States and members of the European Union condemned the Zimbabwean government and considered strengthening sanctions, Princeton University chose to invest in Robert Mugabe’s troubled African nation, according to tax filings obtained by WPRB News.

The investment, placed between July 2006 and June 2007, was made despite Zimbabwe’s highly publicized political and economic upheaval and disreputable human rights record. Questions as to the size, nature and current state of the investment remain unanswered at this time.

Princeton spokeswoman Cass Cliatt told WPRB News in an e-mail this evening that “as a matter of policy, the University does not disclose the specifics of its investment portfolio or its return drivers.”

“The University in 1997 adopted guidelines for socially responsible investment under which action is taken after “considerable, thoughtful and sustained” campus interest and widespread consensus that action should be taken. The first step in that process is for the issue to be raised by a segment of the campus community and to my knowledge, the process has not been initiated,” Cliatt wrote.

What internal standards, if any, Princeton employs in selecting and vetting investments in corporate stock or foreign assets were not addressed by Cliatt.

Mugabe’s rule has drawn harsh international criticism ever since a violent policy of land redistribution plunged Zimbabwe into severe food shortages and economic crisis in 2002.

In 2005, the United States government called Zimbabwe an “outpost of tyranny” on par with Burma and Iran, the Zimbabwean government implemented an urban “clean-up” plan that the United Nations estimates left 700,000 people homeless and, by year’s end, the UN’s humanitarian chief had concluded the country was “in meltdown”. Conditions in 2006 and 2007 worsened with inflation reaching all-time highs and widespread imprisonment of union leaders and political activists (several of whom alleged they were tortured while in state custody).

This summer Time reported that, in the run up to Zimbabwe’s June elections, Mugabe’s “brutality before the vote resulted in the deaths of about 100 Zimbabweans, the detention of some 2,000, injury to 10,000 and the displacement of more than 200,000.” Just last week, The Guardian reported that the country was on the “brink of collapse”.

Stay with WPRB as we prepare additional reporting on the subject to be aired this Thursday on 103.3 FM and on the web at www.wprb.com at 5PM. Among our guests will be Andrew Meldrum, who wrote for The Guardian and The Economist about Zimbabwe for 23 years until he was kicked out of the country in 2003.

Perhaps the best sticker we'll get all year…

…came from listener Jay McPhillips, and immediately went on the front door of our studios, right above the glittery radio sticker.

He also included an equally awesome t-shirt emblazoned with the above image for me, instantly making me the envy of the rest of the WPRB staff.

Thanks, Jay!

Transformers 2 Filming on Campus (Shia Labeouf to Guest-DJ on WPRB… jk)

Transformers 2 arrived in Princeton last Sunday evening, and have been filming a 3-day shoot here on the Princeton University campus. According to the Daily Princetonian, three of the main stars (Shia Labeouf, Megan Fox, and Ramon Rodriguez) were all on location for the shoot. Pictures and video below the jump.

From what this reporter could gather, director Michael Bay was calling the library a “classroom” and the University chapel a “dorm.” Nevertheless, here are some shots of the on-set action, on Monday.

Youtube clip of first take of Shia/Sam walking out of Firestone Library scene:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCfm5EbcBTs]

Some random shots of Shia Labeouf, as well as one of Shia walking with director Michael Bay, as they discuss that oh-so-difficult “rushing out of the library/classroom and looking confused” scene::