Mid-Week: SLEEEEEEEP ZOMBIE!

Sunday was all business. Prior to the show, I edited a few bits of my column before turning it in. It's viewable here. After that, I Skyped with one of my many new friends, Belle, and IMed with the Chatters. They're all fantastic people. The show went well. The podcast is up on the blog. I finished up writing the obit on my grandpa for my Journalism class after the College Humor Live show, which was cool.

The Pappys, the campus improv troupe, were hilarious as usual. Streeter and Jeff, two of the main CH people were quite good. They lectured the audience on the 3 rules of submissions (I don't quite remember the title they gave it.), which were embarrassment, pain, and shame. ... Or something like that. They proceeded to show some photos and videos as examples. This, which I found to be quite hilarious, was one of them. The stand-up comedian, Dan Levy, was cool, but his material wasn't as ... forceful? ... passionate, maybe? ... as someone like ... George Carlin, so I was kinda passing in and out. After he was done with his set, Streeter and Jeff came back on and had dare giveaways. They would show something on the screen (like a picture of "Weird Al" Yankovic or Miley Cyrus) and ask if someone in the audience could do a deed that went along with the picture (like name 5 "Weird Al" songs or sing a Miley Cyrus song). I stood up on my chair and quoted Gandalf the Grey. My prize? A "Viva La Evolution" shirt and College Humor's Guide to College. I think that that cements my geek status. Yes? No?

Monday was good. Cinema was okay, but I felt kinda neglectful because I was lacking a bit in the sleep department. I got a few more details for the obit, finished the darn thing and got it ready to hand in. I got to class with everyone else. The prof wrote the numbers 1 through 3 on the board. Item 1: Turn in obits. Item 2 remained blank. Item 3: Read 2 chapters in the textbook. He then went back and wrote in item 2, "Go and enjoy the rest of this Indian Summer evening." Thanks a ton, Prof! Just the relaxation I need!

After a bite and a short bit of chill time, I went to do some more phone banking for the Beyond Coal campaign. I was feeling out of it, so I left after about an hour or so of calling, in hopes of taking a short nap before rehearsal, but I got a slight bit sidetracked. What? It happens. Rehearsal was ... exhausting. But we almost got all the way through the pantomime. *phew* The only bad thing about the day, besides the not being fully there, was missing a new episode of House. Thank God for the internet.

Tuesday was, for lack of anything else, BUSY! In the morning, we had a Beyond Coal rally/news conference in front of the administration building to get the university president's attention to switch from coal to cleaner forms of energy. It went well, but it was a bit chilly, so my fingers started to look a bit like those of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. Long ... spidery ... yeah. A bit later, I had the chance to register for classes. Didn't get into two of my first choices, but I was able to find 2 temporary placeholders. If I can petition into one class and get one of the internships I'm hoping for, then those two are going goodbye.

Both classes were good. In Music, we discussed the beginning of the folk revival with Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and Joan Baez. And the prof can do a humorous Dylan impression. :D I'm hoping to stop by his office hours to chill and get his opinion on a few groups that I've gotten into over the last year or so. Just to see what he thinks. We finished discussing Grave of the Fireflies in English and I got a look at the script for the faux infomercial that we'll be shooting. It looks good and I might have a trick or two up my sleeve as to how to find a certain person for a certain role. I won't say anymore about that now. After a bite and some more down time, I went to the showing of Coal Country, which was an interesting documentary, despite the fact that I had decent knowledge of mountain top removal coal mining. After a bit more down time, I made my way to rehearsal. There, we finished and ran through the pantomime. *phew* Hallelujah!

Now, if you'll excuse me, my bed is calling. I think that I need to heed its call a bit more. Enjoy the following video (which I got linked to by my mom. I love getting these chain-type e-mails from family. So touching!)!

Half Done with the Weekend: Non-Motivation

Hanging around the radio station for a handful of hours on a Saturday isn't the best way to be productive.

******

Thursday mostly contained going over notes for my Music test, which went pretty well, except for one or two identifications. We finished watching Grave of the Fireflies in English. The Pop meeting in the evening went well and I met another cool apprentice. And I learned about media advisories and releases for my new position in the Beyond Coal campaign on campus. :D And I made it back in time for the new episode of Fringe! Alright! People turning to dust! Licorice! Oh, and Jon Stewart did a fantastic and hilarious job lambasting Glenn Beck on The Daily Show. XD

Friday was decent. I took care of the usual Friday chore, as well as making a new video (involving Jack, the pumpkin I carved about a week and a half ago) and doing a few pieces of station business (the weekly PR meeting and making a promo for the Pop Department). The evening brought the station post-Halloween Halloween party/mixer. Costumes were optional. But people still dressed up and it was quite fun. I went as The 10th Doctor again. And I won "Most Fitting Costume". :D And I did catch most of Army of Darkness. ... With riff tracks provided by station members. I'll catch it in its entirety sometime soon.

Well ... here we are. This post has come full circle. So. Today. Yeah.

I spent roughly 5 and a half or so hours chilling in the radio station. I listened to a handful of CDs from the New Bin, looking for stuff to play on tomorrow (well ... today, now that you think about it). I ended up taking another listen to Wolfmother's new album (Cosmic Egg), which is good, but doesn't quite have the hard driving 70s sound that their debut album had. The new Weezer (Raditude) is okay, but then again, I haven't heard a whole lot of Weezer, just a few songs here and there. I haven't heard much Flaming Lips either, so their latest album, (Embryonic) isn't as accessible to me as it probably would be to a dedicated listener. But I did find the new Carbon Leaf (Nothing Rhymes with Woman) and the new Noah and the Whale (The First Days of Spring), both of which sound quite cool.

While there, I chatted with the members of the Chat, who are a fantastic bunch of people. I also Skyped a bit with 2 wonderful web friends, Michelle and Alisdair. This is honestly why I love Skype. You can talk instantly with friends in all parts of the world for free, as long as they have an internet connection and a computer. And a webcam for face-to-face chats never hurt.

The rest of the night was dinner, a bit of Dirty Jobs (one of the recent episodes in which Mike went to Hawaii to do window washing), more time in the Chat, some column writing (maybe I'll pound out the rest of it before turning in), and a bit more researching for the obit I'm writing for my Journalism class.

And SNL, which was a bit better, but still ... meh. The Fox News cold open was well done, except for the fact that Shepard Smith was portrayed as more in the favor of the other anchors and personalities at the channel. While I'm not a fan of Fox News by any stretch, I do applaud Shepard for being more rational than, say, Greta Van Susteren or Glenn Beck. ... But then again, anyone is more rational than Glenn Beck. As for Kristen Wiig's character Penelope ... she's just dull and not humorous. Like Jean K. Jean. I just don't find them funny. Maybe it's a difference of opinion. Or sense of humor. Meh. Taylor Swift did a good job hosting and performing, though. Maybe I'll check out some more of her stuff.

Also, during the day, I came up with a new idea for my final project for my Cinema class. All I need now is the camera. Which I'll most likely get tomorrow. Then, I'll need to reach out to a whole lotta web friends ... and some IRL friends, too. What's coming? You'll see ... eventually. ;)

******

*yawns* Okay, it's late. I'm beat. Let's see if I can quickly wrap this thing up and hit the hay so I can be awake enough for a Skype call, my radio show, and the College Humor show tomorrow.

Allons-y!

(Note, I didn't take this photo. I found it here.)

Mid-Week: BUSYBUSYBUSYBUSYBEE!

You know that your day is off to a good start when you wake up to your alarm, get ready to get out of bed, then look at the clock again to see that somehow it jumped ahead by 50 minutes and you have to rush to get out and on with the day. [/sarcasm]

So ... on with things, shall we?

*****

Monday:

We got back our 1st Super 8 projects and I was one of the few to present. I got some good feedback on mine. And I'm trying to find a way to record it to post it to the webs. That might take a little time.

We discussed obits and life stories in Journalism. Nothing really special, except for one or two humorous anecdotes. And we have to write on for Monday. On a real, dead person. Not a real living person. Not a fictional person. Not a fictional dead person. Just an ordinary dead person. Someone who you wouldn't see too often on the news. So no Michael Jackson or Billy Mays or Farrah Fawcett or anyone like that. I'm most likely going with my grandpa.

Paper-machéing at Beyond Coal meeting. God, I haven't paper-machéd since ... 7th grade? Mr. Lima's Social Studies class? Wow ... that seems like such a long time! Anyway, we started working on a paper-maché coal plant to bring to media events and such. My hands got quite sticky and hard awfully fast. ... Get your minds out of the gutter! Christ! ... But at least we got to listen to a fantastic Beatles playlist while working. The Beatles make anything better.

We actually got start rehearsing on stage for "Noises Off!" And the pantomime, which we

started, is making more and more sense ... logistically ... I think. It basically looks like organized

chaos. And we went late. :P

Tuesday:

The lecture topic in Music today: THE BEATLES! ... That's all, really. All you need to know

about The Beatles in an hour and 15 minutes.

We started watching an Japanese animated flick called "Grave of the Fireflies". I think that

the new topic in class is differences between war in the US and in Japan. But sadly, the prof had

to leave early to get a chest X-ray. She hasn't been feeling that well over the last two or so weeks.

And we went late again. But at least we got farther along in the pantomine! ... But I was SOO

TIRED. :P

Wednesday:

We learned about splicing and developing film. Kinda simple and methodical. Nothing exciting.

I hung around the station for a few hours today, took care of some stuff possibly for next

semester (maybe an internship), as well as listened to some new CDs, including Wolfmother's

newest album "Cosmic Egg." It's a cool CD, but I might have to take another listen.

I met with most of the group that I gathered for the "Robby's Kill Box" short film project for my English course. We tossed around a few ideas. I threw in what I have so far, which is a re-working/adaptation of sorts of the story for a college level. I don't know if we're planning on going with it. It sounds like we're going with an infomercial angle. Should be interesting either way. But I'll keep working on it as a contingency plan.

During each semester, the dining halls have theme nights throughout the months. Tonight was California themed food, including mako shark steak, fish tacos, crab cakes, and potato risotto for some of the main dishes and Ghirardelli chocolate cake for dessert. The shark steak was ... dry-ish? Tough? Not too flavorful? It didn't come apart as easily as something like swordfish. Kinda disappointed me. The crab cakes were decent, but then again, I haven't had crab cakes in a while. And as for the chocolate cake ... it was dry. And I might've tasted a hit of Ghirardelli chocolate. But then again, I haven't had Ghirardelli in a while.

We wrapped shooting for the 2nd episode of the current campus TV show that I'm on that's

not on hiatus. It's called "This Isn't Gonna Work". It's kinda like Seinfeld/It's Always Sunny in

Philadelphia. But on a college campus. It's alright. We've shot 2 episodes and we're hoping to

shoot a 3rd soon before we begin actually editing them.

We were split into two groups in the ever-dwindling film club to adapt an old poem about a butcher who takes a neighbor's sheep and returns it in various ways to his neighbors, like a sheepskin coat, a nice meal, etc. I haven't read through it yet because of all this other stuff I've been busy with ... maybe this weekend, if I'm not too busy.

Well ... we had only about an hour today. :D One cast member was out because he was feeling under the weather and the director decided to end early so we all could catch up on sleep and stay healthy and all.

... Which brings me to ask the question ... why am I still up this late writing this? It's almost 1:15, according to the clock. Well ... I don't have class until mid-afternoon tomorrow. ... FINE.

Night, readers. Sleep tight. Stay warm. Get enough sleep. Eat your fruits and veggies!

Allons-y!

This was taken on the 25th on the way to the station. ... I might post more of these nature shots either as posts or at the end of posts. You guys like the idea?

The Weekend Past: ♫ This Is Halloween ♫

What a whirlwind weekend! Let's start, shall we?

Friday:

Friday was essentially an "Under The Weather" Day. The morning was fine, except for a slight sore throat/cough. The PR meeting was non-existent. As the day wore on, I started feeling a bit headache-y and such. Not necessarily a good sign. I then found out something about a friend that

I didn't know beforehand ... and it kinda brought me down a bit. I won't go into the details. I talked it out with another friend and it made me feel a bit better, like I got a bit of it off my chest.

I was feeling well enough to make my way over to the Nosferatu-Shadow of the Vampire double feature that the Cinema Department was showing as part of a semesterly film series. Nosferatu was interesting, primarily because of the similarities to Dracula, which (as you can so tell) it is based off of. The character of Knock showed similarities to the novel's Renfield. Hutter and

Ellen, his wife, showed similarities to the novel's characters of Jonathan Harker and Mina Harker. And Count Orlok ... yeah, that's a no-brainer. However, the detractor was that we saw a more or less fully restored version, so the overall color kept changing from yellow to a bluish tint to a red-ish/grey-is

h tint. And it seemed to drag on. And it also seemed to stray away from the vampire tropes, which I found intriguing. The two main points: traveling over water and invitations. One of the pivotal points of the film is Orlok's travel by boat to Wisborg. According to vampire lore/trope, vampires can't cross moving bodies of water (i.e., rivers, oceans). This, well, confused me a bit. And the other point is at the end of the film. Orlok enters the house of Hutter and Ellen to feed on Ellen, who sacrifices herself to save the town. And again, according to vampire lore/trope, vampires must be invited into a person's place of residence. Again, this did not happen. Shadow of the Vampire was also an enjoyable look at a "What if?" situation regarding Nosferatu.

I noticed it on one of the 7 or so HBO channels we get on campus a month of so ago and didn't think more of it until I saw it again on Friday. I didn't expect to see Eddie Izzard and Cary Elwes in it, honestly! They were warm surprises. Malkovich was also good, but his accent seemed to falter a bit. And

Dafoe essentially disappeared in the role ... although you could slightly tell that it was Dafoe under the makeup and prosthetic ears.

... Moving on! Enough of that vampire talk! Got back to the dorm after the flicks ended, got a Tempa Dot thing or two from the flu station in the RA office. Apparently, the campus couldn't get seasonal flu shots this year. :P Glad I got mine mid-October! I didn't have a fever, thankfully. I brewed myself some tea (which I've been doing for these last few days) and sat down to relax with some good friends. Overall, a decent Friday.

Saturday:

I woke up feeling slightly better. The cough and sore throat were still there and the headache was on the

back burner. Regardless, I soldiered on through the day, dressed as The 10th Doctor.

... The current incarnation of The Doctor. ... Are you still scratching your head? I hope to God not. ... *facepalm*

Okay, ever heard of a show called Doctor Who? ... Yes? Good!

Well, if you DIDN'T happen to know this, the show was revived about 5 years ago and it has been going

strong. The show is currently on it's 10th incarnation of the character, soon to be the 11th. That's who I went as.

I was recognized by ... around 10 people. 5 or 6 of them were Nerdfighters (People who fight for nerds and to

decrease world suck. And who would love to have puppy sized elephants.) who I met at the Wrock (wizard rock,

for those uneducated in the genre) show on campus.

Prior to the Wrock show, I hung around the dorm and the radio station, entering a costume contest at the book

store for a small shopping spree. Between that and the show, I went to a Halloween party in an adjoining dorm

building, where I met up with some friends, including a good buddy of mine, Jared, who went as a demon with a

Siamese demon named Bill (who was a puppet).

At the party, I also met someone dressed as House (minus the scruff and a bit of the essence of the character)

and someone dressed as Sherlock Holmes (minus the hat, the pipe, and the *coughcough* paraphernalia).

Candy count for the day: 1 small Hershey's bar, 1 small 3 Musketeers (my favorite), 1 Tootsie Roll, 1 Reese's,

and 1 Milky Way (Also a favorite. And a favorite of my grandpa's. He enjoyed his a bit frozen.)

Sunday:

The main focus of my Sundays, as it has been for the semester, was my radio show. I was originally planning on interviewing Stephanie, the main member of the wrock group (Tonks and the Aurors) that performed on Saturday, but plans kept changing, so we decided on a phone-in interview.

Then, while attempting to air the soccer game, I discovered that the phone section on the control board wasn't working. So we didn't air the game. So I kept my regular time slot, instead of taking what would've been the remaining hour of mine and all of Ari's show. This meant that the interview was essentially off because of timing and such. But thank God for e-mail and text interviews. I'll get on that tomorrow.

Anyway, the Halloween show went well, except for the fact that Thriller and The Sorcerer's Apprentice were SKIPPING! GRRRRRRR! I should've checked them beforehand! :P Oh well. It happens.

The rest of the evening was good. I made my way to the weekly meeting for the media arm of the Beyond Coal campaign that we're running on campus. Today was phone banking. I made ... 20 or so calls, reaching 2 friends from home who go here and one person from the Film Club, I think. All in all, a good night.

But before I head off for the night, folks, a few things (WHAT?! HE HAS MORE TO SAY?!?!). 1) Don't underestimate the power of a good cup (or cups) of tea! 2) Value the time you spend chatting with your friends. 3) Don't OD on candy/sugar/chocolate. You WILL get cavities. ... Unless you practice good dental hygiene. That includes flossing, too, mister!

Oh! Also! I'm one of 5 finalists in a video contest! You can view my video here and vote here. It'd mean a lot if you slipped my name in there!
And last, but not least, a joyful video to end the weekend!


The Return from Iraq - More free videos are here

From Neatorama

I'll be back on ... Wednesday with more. And I'll hopefully have the Halloween show up on the radio blog by the end of Monday.

Allons-y!

3 More Days: The Last Mid-Week of October

You know it's going to be a good day when you walk out of the dorm, oblivious to the fact that your fly is down and you only notice it when you are walking back from getting 2 beverages from the dining hall. You feel a slight breeze. Something is ... well ... chilly. You look down. The zipper head is hanging out, not holding anything up. ... Yup, good day ahead.

That was what happened to me this morning.

So ... Where do we start? Tuesday, right?

Tuesday:

- Only had my music class, which was still interesting. Part one of two of a lecture on Soul. The topic: Stax Records. Quite interesting! And we had the second of four music quizzes. Piece of cake! I totally pwned it. ... Did I just say "pwned"? ... I guess I did.

- English was off because the prof was out with pneumonia. :(

- And rehearsal went well.

- Found out that I did well on my 2nd Cinema project and my midterm grade was good, too.

- Missed another Dirty Jobs. :(

- Also, (I most likely mentioned this earlier, but) I have a new column out.

Wednesday:

- Cinema was good. We learned how to use an 8mm projector. Piece of cake.

- Went to a hall/building pre-Halloween costume contest and pumpkin carving contest. I tied for first in the pumpkin carving contest with my carving of Jack Skellington. The prize? A can of color hairspray. ... No thanks. ... And as for the costume contest, nobody knew who I was ... and I lost to someone in a most likely store-bought French Maid outfit. GAAAAAAAAAAAH! HOW IN THE WORLD DOES *INSERT COSTUME HERE* LOSE TO A FRENCH MAID?!?! MY COSTUME IS WAY MORE FAMOUS AND WELL KNOWN BY A WIDESPREAD COMMUNITY THAN A FREAKIN' UNORIGINAL FRENCH MAID! ANYONE CAN GO AS A FRENCH MAID! I COULD ... but that would look really freaky. MINE WAS ORIGINAL, NOT STORE-BOUGHT, AND I PUT FREAKIN' EFFORT INTO IT! [/end rant] But here's Jack for your viewing pleasure. He looks better lit up.

- Good Film Club meeting. Borrowed Sunshine from one of the club members. Haven't seen it yet, but it's on my list.

- Good rehearsal. We've begun rehearsing the pantomime. :)

- Missed another Mythbusters. :(

- But on a brighter note, my long-awaited Scott Pilgrim poster arrived! Thanks so much to John and Amanda, two made-of-win people!

Thursday:

- Picked up my ticket for the live College Humor touring show that'll be on campus in about 2 weeks. Pretty excited for it!

- Took care of some Dailybooth duties (my photo and subbing for another Boother).

- Took care of collab channel video making duties.

- Had both classes today. Finished up learning about Soul (and Motown) in music. Discussed sound and its importance in films and how it affects what we think of songs (or which song covers/versions we prefer). And we're going to be starting a video project based on a short story we read called Robby's Kill Box. I have a few choice ideas for scenes that I'll be discussing with the group that I guess I'll be heading come this Wednesday. Hopefully, it'll turn out well.

- Went bowling with a few station members, which was quite fun. Haven't bowled in a while. A few years actually. And I feel that I did well. 2 spares and 1 strike with an end score of 86. Maybe the Dude was watching over me.

- Watched the first episode of Supernatural in a while (since the season premiere or the 2nd episode of the season). Quite enjoyable, as usual. I quite enjoyed old Dean. ... In a humorous way. Seriously, people.

Also, video-wise, I got 3 new videos up on my channel, for those interested (both those who are reading this on the blog or on my Facebook). The first is my 2nd Cinema project. The second is a response to a scientific study type video. The third is the first of three live They Might Be Giants songs from when I saw them back in May.

See you on ... hrm ... Saturday, maybe? Nah ... Sunday. Oh, and don't forget about my radio show! It'll only be an hour this week because of ANOTHER soccer game. *grumblegrumble*Ruining my master plans for world domination.*grumblegrumble* Check the show Twitter and blog for more info.

Be safe and have a happy Halloween! Allons-y!