Page 16 - PINE CREST 2000

The

Vn-PC

—by Paul Kowalski

We watch our favorite actors and listen to our favorite rock starts, and we follow. We
see what clothes, what car, what instrument, what philosophy our idols have, and we emu­

late. We create our perfect woman formed as a result of mental concoctions of millions of
perfect tens sprawled out on magazine covers. Our colloquialism is born in worlds far re­
moved from our own, a product of popular literature, music, and films. Individuals con­
stantly strive to achieve these illusive materialistic plateaus, and often do not stop to ques­

tion their validity. But if you look, sound and feel like one of the many, and have no qualms
with life, do not fear - you will be safe.
There are those, however, who derive no pleasure from being comfortable in their

existence. Rather, they desire constant struggle and enjoy activities and styles that are far
removed from the norm. They are the genuine few at our school who are often disregarded
as strange, foreign or simply not fitting the PC mold, and have spent their high school days

quite happily shunned by the masses.
Daily clad in raggedy boat shoes and a Hawaiian shirt, Mike Gelety, cofounder of the
infamous Cheese Club (with Charlie Honderick and Fuzz), has been PC since pre-kindergar­

ten. Maybe the anomaly of his contrasting ways is testament to the inborn nature of talent
and the artist’s gift, and the nonexistent role environment plays in conforming the individual.
Mike plays the trombone, bassoon, piano, and blues harp, but none with as much passion as
the guitar. He plays a rare MV Pedulla, and does so at every public occasion possible. Go­

ing under the names Lumpy Gravy, Rockin’ Rasputin and Blues Bolsheviks, Mike has
played classic rock with bassist Mark Cartwright, organist Dave Lammermeier, and drum­
mer Steve Shannon for almost three years now. The band covers songs from Mike’s favorite

acts - the Who, Tower Power, Johnny Winter, and Frank Zappa among others.
Perhaps the thing that sets him most apart is owning one of the two cars in the lot that
stand out from the others like sore thumbs. “My parents bought the Checker Cab a while

ago and it was sitting in the garage,” explains Mike, “’til I fixed it up and started driving it in
10th grade. By the way,” says Mike, “can I use this as an opportunity to say that I’m not
from Cleveland?” No problem, Mike.

That other car is a white, convertible 1974 Cadillac El Dorado, and its owner is a good