frats

[andrew in philadelphia]

Andrew in Philadelphia, you should check out the Pi Lam house at 3914 Spruce Street in West Philly.  I saw some really great shows there while I was a college student--it's a the co-ed, self-described "punk rock" frat with a conscience.  That might sound insufferable, but many friends of mine were in it, and each year they sponsor the Human Barbeque, which is a really fun all-day music festival.  I've seen Dalek, Kid 606, the Trolleyvoxx, the Walkmen, the Liars etc. there.

I'm not sure if it was their first show, but Psychotic Norman definitely played there in the mid-80s!

i was just about to mention something about that place. a longtime pal went to Upenn and we used to go to some of the frats when i'd go visit him. not to socialize, but cause we were underage and they had free booze. went to a couple parties at Pi Lam and the folks we met there were all pretty down to earth and cool. frightening house though - i was convinced that place was gonna collapse any second. never saw any shows there, but a friend was present when man or astroman? played there and the giant, tin foil-covered tesla coil (or whatever it was) they had on stage caught fire. good times..

[andrew in philadelphia]

I was in a fraternity for a couple of years, and only left because of time constraints. Rather enjoyed my time there, so it's a shame to see that most people seem to have a single "all frat guys are date-rapists" perception.

weird that the "all frat guys are date-rapists" perception reminds me maybe of some of the same herd thinking we're quick to accuse frats of. i have to say that i'm probably guilty of that too. when i think of frats, i can't help but be reminded of all of the mean-spirited jerks who gave me a hard time growing up - which is unfair because i hardly know any frat folk. yes, i have a chip on my shoulder - but didn't mean for this to be a "bash frats" thread. i've only met about 3 or 4 fraternity people in my life and all were either comic book nerds or weird stoners. all nice folks.

[Susannah]

Andrew in Philadelphia, you should check out the Pi Lam house at 3914 Spruce Street in West Philly.  I saw some really great shows there while I was a college student--it's a the co-ed, self-described "punk rock" frat with a conscience.  That might sound insufferable, but many friends of mine were in it, and each year they sponsor the Human Barbeque, which is a really fun all-day music festival.  I've seen Dalek, Kid 606, the Trolleyvoxx, the Walkmen, the Liars etc. there.

I'm not sure if it was their first show, but Psychotic Norman definitely played there in the mid-80s!

i was just about to mention something about that place. a longtime pal went to Upenn and we used to go to some of the frats when i'd go visit him. not to socialize, but cause we were underage and they had free booze. went to a couple parties at Pi Lam and the folks we met there were all pretty down to earth and cool. frightening house though - i was convinced that place was gonna collapse any second. never saw any shows there, but a friend was present when man or astroman? played there and the giant, tin foil-covered tesla coil (or whatever it was) they had on stage caught fire. good times..

Yeah, the house was actually condemned from 2003-2005, but has since been renovated and is much nicer than it was before.  Of course, I haven't seen it since mid-2006, so some of the squalor has probably returned.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=124344040

For a time, the house's motto was "Pi Lam: Heroin Free Since 1998," but I can't vouch for that anymore either. I am old.

[andrew in philadelphia]

For a time, the house's motto was "Pi Lam: Heroin Free Since 1998," but I can't vouch for that anymore either. I am old.

wow. that's actually pretty apt since we always referred to the place as simply "the drug frat." i didn't know the name until years later.

[mokin]

and! a frat was shut down when it was discovered that they had instituted a points system for sexual acts with fellow students when one of their scoring sheets was found on the floor of a meeting room that they shared with a sorority.

Did you go to the same college as Veronica Mars?

[Fido]

You're going to be sorry you asked . . .

The candidate we liked for president--who had a sort of funny radio show called "The Street Drunks" (terrible music but worth it for the jokes, especially the weekly wine and cheese report)--won the election but then had his title removed (his VP was kicked out as well).  The reason?  The people within student government in charge of reviewing the election--who favored the runners-up--decided that an ad broadcast on the college TV station that he had made using college equipment should be listed in the budget at the price it would have cost had it been made professionally, which pushed his budget over the limit allowed for campaigning.  Pissed off, my sister and I got hold of the new pres's budget, reviewed it line by line, and found that he had overspent by $40 (!!).  There were emergency senate meetings galore.  Attempts were made to conceal and then fudge the records.  I was accused of being an outside agitator who was pulling my sister's strings (she was a student; I wasn't).  Senate meetings were scheduled, canceled, then rescheduled a few hours later in the hopes that we wouldn't attend them.  It was all very sleazy.  In the end, the runner-up who became president was ousted because of the budget screwup.  Oddly, though, his VP was allowed to ascend to the presidency, even though both the legitimately elected president and vice president had both been booted for the overage in the president's budget.  We were pretty sure this was rigged in order to keep the guys who had come in third--a Somali and an Iraqi--from taking hold of the reins of power.  But by then we were worn out and the semester was over, so we gave up the fight.

It was a very strange hobby.  All I have left of it is a vague memory of Robert's Rules of Order, which I enjoyed poring over for the wherewithal to make obscure objections during sessions of the student senate.

I am prone to brief, violent passions, rare oases in an otherwise neutral desert of exhaustion and indifference.

Note:  gravy boat, I don't agree that vomiting in someone's closet is grounds for a beating.  Annoyance and disgust, sure.  Bruises, no.

Now that's a helluva story. I almost got choked up when I read it. We're proud, Sarah.