Lovin' it up in the bubble: a topic we can all talk about

This week, Arts Editor Michelle Chang went into the kitchen with two of Oberlin's freshest radio personalities, Mike Kabakoff and Dan Spalding. They are the hosts of "I Love My Bubble," a show about the trials and tribulations of life at Oberlin College, a topic we piss and moan about all the time. Like a session on their show, our topics du jour were sex, crushes, friendships and whatever else sprang up.

Michelle Chang: So why is the show called "I Love My Bubble" and what's it about?

Mike Kabakoff: Right. We were trying to think of something, Oberlin's kind of like a bubble; it's kind of like Barter Town in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, it's kind of like the Thunderdome itself. And everything within Barter Town was like an insular occurrence and Oberlin is like that, and we were trying to come up with a tongue and cheek description of the show because this place is really insular so, how much more masturbatory can you get?

Dan Spalding: Our first show was actually about abortion and AIDS and how those two things affect Lorain County. It was my Winter Term Project from 96 to 97-

MK: Cut it out. That wasn't it at all.. We've never covered that topic. Our last two shows have been about crushes and Take a Chance Week. Our first show was about the Kevin McShane cartoon getting pulled and that was like gangbusters, we got all these callers who were psyched about our show and then the next week we tried to cover Clinton and Monica Lewinsky-

DS: And then we proceeded to go through another seven subjects because nobody called in.

MK: Yeah, it was a bomb.

DS: It was defnitely a humbling experience.

MK: So we realized that the only way to make the show successful was to talk about things that were going on within the bubble. Because that's all people know.

MC: So what are the hot topics in the bubble?

MK: Sex.

DS: Crushes and failed crushes.

MK: Failed crushes, crushes, sex and Toupydoops.

DS: Sex and crushes. Mostly sex and crushes.

MK: - and Toupydoops.

DS: - and Kevin McShane.

MK: Having crushes on Kevin McShane that fail.

DS: Fail to have sex with the author of Toupydoops, Kevin McShane.

MC: Why is sex and dating such a problematic thing at Oberlin?

DS: I think it's by no means unique to Oberlin College. But it's also by no means disputed that Oberlin students get laid less frequently than students at any other colleges. Help me out here, Mike.

MK: It's a small school, you're afraid to get into a relationship because if it doesn't work you're gonna see that person right around the corner, they're gonna sit next to you at the Feve, in the DOS lab, and it's a really big risk to take. I mean, that's the general feeling that I get. Our callers are either gung ho about crushes or they seem like they can't possibly even make contact or break the ice. That's my predicament, and then Dan is like the Evil Kanieval of dating.

DS: I might be the Jacques Cousteau of dating but by no means do I ride a rocket motorcycle off the Grand Canyon of relationships.

MC: Why did you feel like Take a Chance week was a necessary thing?

MK: A friend and I came up with Take a Chance week because we were having crush dilemmas as usual. At first it was Take a Chance day, because we needed a day to have guts because we didn't have guts. Needless to say we didn't take our chances, so it turned into Take a Chance week. I am actually curious to know how many people knew about Take a Chance week.

DS: Well, Res. Life says that they're going to work it into their college program next year.

MK: Yeah, it's in the schedule, in the course catalog.

DS: I saw something about it in Oberlin Shorts. Yeah, I think it was something that really hit home because obviously on this campus it's small enough that you see everybody, but not so small that you meet everybody. You need an excuse to go up and introduce yourself to that person you see in the reserve room everyday.

MC: What brought you guys to talk radio?

DS: What got us on a radio show is the fact that we have this great rapport coming from knowing each other and being really good friends for the past two and half years.

MK: Dan and I were roommates our first year here and I was so petrified that I was going to have to live with Dan Spalding. He was extremely courteous and everything but I thought my god, what have I gotten myself into! But we became very tight and we still are to this day. And now we can finish each other's sentences and things like that.

DS: We can. The fact is that we work that into our show. We have these great anecdotes that we have in common. Various little things that happened in fifth grade when he tried to impress this girl and a dog ended up peeing on his leg.

MK: Dan can- he skirts the edge a lot, I mean he's not like "extreme," you know, he doesn't go around insulting people while slammin' the Dew but he frequently says more than he should. So when I'm around him, I try to keep him at an acceptable level.

DS: Yeah, that's actually probably the most important function that my friends serve, playing damage control.

MC: Do you think that people at Oberlin make friends early on and stay in cliques?

DS: I don't know if anyone actually makes a Quaker. I think Friends really, you have to be born under that culture. You can go to a Friends Society meeting, but that's not really a-

MK: Oh, he's punning on you. See, that's another thing about Dan. Every week on our show he'll tell like at least one big lie under the guise of a story.

DS: The importance of friends is that you learn more from your friends then you do from any other influence and so to a degree, it's very intentional who you hang out with and who you don't.

MK: Right, if you want to learn about bongs, you know, it's a different crowd then if you want to learn about...

DS: Bikes.

MK: Yeah.

DS: Ooh, we just finished each other's sentence. It's cute.

MK: This year I've been trying to hang out with the people that I know I like but I've never really hung out with. Because everybody has this experience of talking with someone that you like but then you never develop a friendship. So I've been trying to figure out how to connect with people that I've never hung out with. And it's been astoundingly successful.

DS: If you make some small effort, you can definitely get to meet like, you know, the rugby women or the field hockey team-

MK: Quite a team.

DS: One of the best teams on campus.

MC: What do you make of the high Oberlin inmarriage statistic, 60 to 95% or whatever it is?

MK: That's pretty incredible whatever it is. I think it's because we all know the bubble and maybe we have this fond recollection of our bubble here where it's this really ideal time in our lives where we knew everybody and it was kind of like a womb like experience that you want to get back to...If you meet someone from Oberlin after you graduate, you'll have so many stories to tell. You'll share the same appreciation or dislike for architecture on this campus, etc, etc.

DS: I also think there's a sort of closeness of personality that develops here to the point where you feel that same bond with anybody who graduates from here. There's a real visceral connection with everybody who's gone to Oberlin in the past, you can relate to them on an almost primal level.

MK: Liz Phair and I are tight.

DS: And this is true: back in the 50s, people used to call people Oberlin the "Wolf Pack" after they graduated from here because everyone was so tight with one another.

MK: Right. Just call me Romulus.

DS: And I would be Remus. Ugh, I'm always Remus.

These guys go on and on; just tune into their show. "I Love My Bubble" airs on Wednesdays from 7 to 8 p.m on 91.5, WOBC.