The Department of Forgotten Blogs

hello out there

2007-08-10T10:27:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Just a quick update today - consider it a prelude to a bigger update coming up early next week. I'm heading up to the Miramichi with some friends for the weekend, so I should have plenty of pictures and tales to tell all of you in blog-o-land. Before I go, here are some things to amuse yourself with.

- The Simpsons Movie is finally out, and it did not disappoint. In celebration, some of my favorite Simpsons clips, courtesy of the magic of YouTube.

(Oh Adam West, what can't you do?)

And, a few of my favorite songs to tide you over:

Spoon - "The Underdog"

Animal Collective - "Fireworks"

A shaky but awesome live clip of U2 and Arcade Fire performing "Love Will Tear Us Apart".

And that's all for now - see you soon!

a summer wasting

2007-06-11T20:11:00.000-07:00

So, it's been nearly a month since I last posted, and I'm pleased to report that nothing much has changed. Summer - though it technically isn't even summer yet - is ambling by surprisingly quickly, leaving in its wake a trail of long and humid days working indoors, the gentle heat of early evenings and a pleasant sense of aimlessness in everything. There have been a few attempts at writing a new post, but nothing really seems to have worked, so I just went back to square one. There are, however, some things that have been happening lately that are worth mentioning, so here goes. In point form:

-Every summer I try - or at least, try to try - something different. This summer, I'm working on an off-the-cuff musical project with four of my friends - two of whom can actually play an instrument! We're trying to craft an original album based on the things we know best - bargain DVD bins, garden gnomes, and a minivan with a giant Chinese food restaurant ad on the side called the Bamboomobile. We recently started recording, and so far it sounds like the love child of Sgt. Pepper's and The Chronic as raised by OK Computer and Master of Puppets and nourished by the tears of a thousand Cure fans. For those interested, here's the original, all covers record from 2005 (back when Chuck Norris jokes were the exciting new thing). I'm not in it (and thus free of any blame), as I wasn't around for the one-night recording session. Anyway, I'll post tracks as the new album nears completion. Sure, we may be musically challenged, but we can't be any worse than this.

-This week's most exciting development: the strange and unexpected appearance of a blender in my kitchen. This may not seem earth-shattering development to you, dear reader, but my family has, until now, never owned a blender. Thus, before I knew it, the whole hierarchy of my kitchen has changed. Grapes, bananas, kiwis and berries are no longer, delicious and juicy sources of important nutrients, but the building blocks of a delicious breakfast smoothie. These fridge dwellers are now frothily mixed with stuff from the freezer, the cupboards and, on occasion, the liquor cabinet. My normally boring and reserved kitchen is now an anarchical mess of delicious treats. If we get a waffle iron my world might explode.

- So, who else caught the Sopranos finale the other night? It seemed to be going along, building to something cathartic and horrifying and then it just

(More updates shortly)

See? I can't even think of a title.

2007-05-15T17:20:00.000-07:00

Writer's block sucks, but blogger's block is even worse. For the past few days I've been racking my brains trying to think of something to write about. Problem is, nothing of note has been happening lately. True, I did start work at the tourist bureau last week, but so far the job has consisted of answering the phone, moving boxes and pointing people who want to pay bills to the Payment Center around the corner. Not exactly Dickens, is it? I've been hanging out with some friends, but it's kinda hard to go anywhere with that. I've been walking and reading and watching TV but come on, you can do most of that right now. So what is a blogger to do?

That's where you come in. Yes, you. I know you're out there, reading this blog - otherwise I wouldn't be here. I want you to help me help you, but heading to the comment section and posting something. I don't care what it is - a word, a sentence, something you just made up, whatever - just post it and I'll use it as a starting point for a blog post. Go ahead, do it. It's simple and you can think of it as your good deed for the day. Or you can listen to me rant about what's wrong with today's young people for the rest of the summer. The choice is yours.

The summer wind, came blowin' in...

2007-05-06T16:31:00.000-07:00

What a difference a month makes. 4 weeks ago tonight, I was sleepy and unshaven, gorging myself with caffeine and dreading exams. Now, I'm relaxing back at home in Saint John, chipper, beardless and enjoying the sunshine. I've got more than three months to myself. Which begs the question - what now?

After undergoing an intensive exam rehabilitation period, including a shaving, lots of naps and a caffeine detox program, I set about finding ways to waste my time. I started by finding ways to waste my time. I started with video games, of course, rotting my mind with Dead Rising (mindless zombie-killin' - yes!) and Crackdown (like Robocop, if Robocop could leap over tall buildings and throw dumpsters at people - very yes!). Next is TV - as far as new stuff goes, I'm into The Office, 30 Rock and The Sopranos, and I'm rewatching Arrested Development on DVD. Of course, I'm not just turning my brain into mush - I'm also catching up on some reading. Currently I'm in the middle of "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer, and I'm planning on tackling "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy next. I also worked a temp job last week, interviewing people about motor vehicle registration. Also, I saw a squirrel one time.

If all this seems a little boring, well, it's pretty hard to convey relaxation in an exciting way. But all that will change. I'll be updating this very blog every Monday for the entire summer, so stay tuned for rants and musings about current events, exciting adventures or whatever else I can think of. 'Til then, get out and enjoy the summer (yes, I know it's still spring, but still) and I'll see you next week.

It's The Final Countdown (do do DO do...do do DO Do do)

2007-03-29T16:55:00.000-07:00

As of today, there are three days of classes left. That's...50 minutes times 15, carry the 2, take the differential, triangulate the vectors...um, not much time left to go. Here's a sampling of what's going on at the end of year one:

- Back in early March, I was elected president of Bigelow House (woo), so now the student exec is planning next year's events. So if any of you high school people out there decide to come to Mount A and are placed in Bigelow...you've got quite the Frosh week ahead of you. I would highly recommend bringing old clothes that you don't mind getting dirty. Also, some Silly Putty. It won't be used, its just a lot of fun to play with and I don't have any. A Slinky would also be nice.

-On Tuesday I performed in a live play reading at the Owens art gallery as an assignment for my Introduction to Drama class. I had a choice between that and an essay...which is like choosing between an adorable kitten and being run over by 1996 Toyota Camry sedan while lying on a bed of nails listening to Kenny G (I'd choose the kitten, by the way). It was great fun - the play, called The Optimists by Morwyn Brebner, was a bittersweet, funny play about two couples visiting Las Vegas. Two are about to get married, the other two are dealing with a marriage on the rocks. I got to play Chick, one of the prospective newlyweds, a guy who wants to wear sweatpants to his wedding, which meant that I got to perform unshaven and wearing sweatpants onstage. And sing a few bars of "I Feel Pretty" from West Side Story. And make ample use of the sailor-worthy profanity. I would like to take this opportunity to say hello to my mother. Hope you're enjoying the blog.

-Exams start the 9th. I would write more but my tears are short-circuiting my keyboard.

That's all 'til next time (which is tomorrow, what with the delay and all), but to tide you over, here are some YouTube picks that have been keeping me from doing anything valuable with my time.

300 is finally opening in Sackville tomorrow. I'd post the trailer with all the violence, gore and nudity, but some of you had to go and be under 17 and ruin the fun for everyone. Oh well...enjoy this quite hilarious PG-rated version instead.

Here's seven minutes of one-liners from David Caruso, who plays Horatio on CSI Miami. I've never been a fan, but after watching this clip, I've started wearing sunglasses, just so I can take them off and put them back on again to punctuate a sentence.

Also, in the next few days I'll be adding a few snazzy new features to the blog. I don't want to use hyperbole hear, but they'll change your life in ways you can't imagine.

A Slight Delay!

2007-03-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

Well, the title pretty much says it all...the latest post will be up tomorrow. Sorry for the delay, everyone.

Here Comes the Sun, and Copious Amounts of Rock and/or Roll.

2007-03-23T11:14:00.000-07:00

At last, at long glorious last, spring has arrived in Sackville. Today is easily the warmest, sunniest day of the year thus far: people are out playing hacky sack outside, while others are walking through the waterfowl park in shorts or biking through the quad. It's like a recruitment brochure come to life.

It's certainly a far cry from last night's rain and at 40-5o km/h winds, which I had to walk through twice. You see, I turned 19 on Wednesday, so the bars of Sackville are now officially my playground. My boozy, licensed playground. I decided to celebrate by taking one of the biggest concerts to hit George's Roadhouse this year - Constantines, with opening acts Jon-Rae and the River and local heroes Shotgun and Jaybird. I went down to George's in the middle of a windstorm that was ripping branches from trees and pulling sheet metal from roofs. I arrived, showed them my ID which had just been done that morning (the photo on which makes me look quite, ahem, chemically enhanced), and I got in. Shotgun and Jaybird hadn't gone on yet, so I had a glass of Clancy's and chatted with some friends. That's when the music started. Suffice to say, the show was awesome, lasting until around quarter to 2. I'm working on a full review for the Argosy, but for now I'll give you a taste of the rock through the magic of YouTube.

Here's a clip of Constantines performing "Hotline Operator" in 2005. I couldn't find a clip of my favorite song, "On to You," but you can get it here (click to listen, right click and hit 'save target as' to download - don't worry, it's legit).

Here's Jon-Rae and the River, performing in Toronto during a January snowfall. Watch for people on stilts.

One of my favorite moments of the night was when Jon-Rae and the River played a great cover of The Replacements' glorious "Bastards of Young" at the end of their set. If you've never heard it before, check the music video here:

And finally, here's Sackville's Shotgun and Jaybird during the PEI leg of this tour. The song is "Two and Two is Four".

So that was the show. Tonight I'm going to check out Jazz at Jennings, a jazz band concert at our dining hall. Aside from playing the usual jazz standards, there will also be covers of the Beatles, Billy Joel and Bjork (!). As for the rest of the weekend, I'll be rehearsing for a live play reading and getting ready for the end of the year. Hope you have a good weekend, and I'll see you Wednesday.

2007: An Improv Odyssey: Part Two: The Wrath of Khan

2007-03-21T18:46:00.000-07:00

Before I begin the epic conclusion of our improv odyssey, I would just like to announce that from now on, things are going to be a little more consistent around here. Blog updates will be posted every week on Wednesdays and Fridays. So, if you were having problems scheduling blog-perusing times, hopefully this will help.

Now, onto the exciting conclusion! Faithful readers will remember that the final event of the weekend was the actual competition. Here's how it went down. Two teams would be called onto the stage, and one would challenge the other to a game. The challengers had three minutes to play the game, and then the challenged took a stab at it. The judges (Eric Davis, who did the workshop, and Scott Brison, MP) would pick the best, and give them a point. As you might expect, the team with the most points walks away victorious.

Now, I'll admit it, my memory of the proceedings is a tad foggy, so I'll just give you the highlights of the evening's entertainment.

- Scott Brison, Member of Parliament for Kings-Hants, Nova Scotia, as an improv judge, was a bizarre and beautiful thing to witness. He offered punny advice to the teams as they were judged; nuggets of advice like "in the world of the blind, the one eyed man is king" after a game where someone ended up blind. My favorite moment, though, was the response to a skit where a man accidentally (and repeatedly) ran over his son with a lawn mower. He said something to the extent of, "I don't see why the father couldn't just accept his son's sexual orientation." Odd, yes, but definitely funny. I hope he comes back to judge another year.

- Whilst on the subject of judges, they decided to institute a penalty system. If you're too rude onstage, or if you break an improv rule, you'll get a penalty. Some penalties included; presenting your scene through dance, being silent for the scene, or portraying a Disney character.

- Now, onto the games themselves. I'll be frank, the games we played didn't really have too many bloggable moments. Until, that is, the final game. A game we had never played, entitled "Family Sitcom." Basically, it takes the situation from a sitcom like "Full House," only each character has an unusual trait. For this game, Dan and Randy - the two oldest members of the team - both smelled really bad (not really, just in the game). Justin (improv enthusiast with the uncanny ability to...well, you'll see) was given the task of impersonating a character from Disney's Aladdin. I was told to express myself by singing Abba, and Luke...well, I kind of forget. Sorry man. Anyhoo...the scene begins. I warble the choruses of "Dancing Queen," "Waterloo," and "Fernando" while Dan and Randy go around smelling bad and Luke...does his...thing. All in all, it's a pretty good scene. Then, Justin comes on, and proceeds to recite the whole opening scene from Aladdin - you know, the one where the merchant of Agrabah sets up the story? Yeah, that one. Word for word. And that's how we won the hearts of the Aladdin fans in the audience.

Well, the time came to tally up the votes, and lo and behold, SUSHI wins! We get a nifty wooden trophy with a plastic sword driven through it, and we are free to celebrate with our fellow improvisers. The celebrations include pool, shuffleboard, loud music and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (my triumph for the weekend was remembering the level select code - simply go to the sound test screen and select 19, 65, 9, 17, then hit start, hold down A and start a new game).

After a night of celebrating, we awoke and said goodbye to Wolfville in style - by rolling down the car windows and blasting "The Final Countdown" while rocking out in unison. An epic end to an epic weekend.

I hope you've enjoyed this little peek at one of Mount A's underappreciated activities. When you come here, give SUSHI a shot, or just come out to a show.

'Til Friday, keep fit and have fun!

2007: An Improv Oddyssey: Part One: A New Hope

2007-03-15T14:23:00.000-07:00

So, the AUIC (that's the Atlantic University Improv Challenge, for those not in the know). It's a friendly little competition, held annually around the Maritimes. This year, it was held in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, and attended by teams from Acadia University, University of Cape Breton, King's College and, of course, Mount Allison.

Our trip begins on Friday the 9th, as we depart Sackville with a Ford Explorer full of luggage and a pocketful of dreams. It's about a three-hour trip to get to Wolfville, and we arrive shortly after sundown. Wolfville, as it turns out, is a lot like Sackville; a small, picturesque little town with a small movie theater, a few bars, shops and restaurants and a lot of university-related events on the social calendar. After navigating the treacherous maze of the university roads in the dark, we hopped out of the car and made our way to the Improv Showcase, where each team puts on a 25 minute set, just for fun. We didn't go on until the end, by which time most of the audience had left. You see, a member of another team went on stage drunk, and pretended to rub his crotch, bleed, vomit and vomit blood during his scenes. With kids and families in the audience. Needless to say, the place was pretty much cleared out by the time SUSHI went on, but it was still a good show. After that, I went with Luke to see the Jimmy Swift Band at a local venue (they were awesome, by the way) before heading to our place for the night. We were put up at the house of Tom, a superb host and our guide to all things Wolfville.

The next day, we arose early to search the mean streets of Wolfville and find some breakfast. In case the suspense is killing you, yes, we found some breakfast and yes, it was delicious. We make our way back to the Acadia Student Union building where, there's a farmer's market happening in the lobby. I buy some delicious natural apple juice and SUSHI regroups to begin practicing. We start warming up, and we're quickly joined by some other teams and some small children who are playing in the same room - it's like that old commercial about teaching the world to sing by buying everyone a Coke, except instead of Coke, it's ice cold Improv refreshment. After a free pizza lunch (three of my favorite words, especially when used together), the improv workshop starts. It's taught by a local improv guru named Eric Davis, who has us run through a few exercises to build up our improv game. Here they are:

1) "Yes, and.": You get a suggestion for a scene, and you act it out. Thing is, every line after the first one has to start with the words "yes and", which forces you to build on the last sentence to improve the scene, instead of just dilly dallying. It works like a charm, but the words "yes and" will be seared into your brain for weeks.

2) This one didn't have a name, so I think I'll call it "A Sea Lion Named MacGyver.": You act out a scene with a partner. But you can't look at them. A useful tool indeed, and it resulted in a hilarious scene where one person was paddling a boat, while the other did a large hit of heroin. Weirder still, their suggestion was "pantry."

We left the workshop, ready for the final event; the actual improv challenge. Were we victorious? Defeated? Befuddled? Tune in tomorrow: same blog time, same blog channel!

Back to the Sack.

2007-03-02T11:04:00.000-08:00

Well, March Break has come and gone, and now it's time to get back to business. Though the second half of the semester is still young, there's still lots of cool stuff going down. Here's the scoop:
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-As the last hurrah of the break, I got to see the Barenaked Ladies in concert at Harbour Station in Saint John. What a great performance; the musicianship was flawless, which brought some of their so-so new songs up to the level of their classics. Speaking of which, they played through some of their biggest and best: "If I Had $1000000," "What a Good Boy," "Pinch Me," etc. Best of all, though, they were extremely funny and charismatic, breaking out into choreographed dancing and fights during the set. They also played a couple of improvised songs and made a few Saint John jokes. All in all, a great show, especially since they were one of the first bands I remember hearing as a kid.
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- I decided to run for Bigelow House president on Wednesday, and I'm now in the middle of getting posters, slogans, and other campaign paraphernalia. It looks like a fun race, and I have a lot of plans for next year, which I can't really go into detail about here...
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- You may have noticed that there aren't any visuals on my blog. I know I certainly have. So, over the next few days, I'm going to try and update the blog with photos, pictures and maybe some other cool stuff. Stay tuned.

Current music: The Avalanches - "Since I Left You"
I missed out on this album when it came out back in the early years of the millenium. But this track is pure genius - a collage of samples taken from God-knows-where, and stitched together into four minutes of sunny, crackling pop bliss. Perfect for a cloudy day like today.

Breakin'

2007-02-22T16:32:00.000-08:00

Ah, the simple pleasures of March Break. Sure, it's technically called "reading week," but there's no doubting what it really is. I've been home in Saint John NB (represent) for almost a week, and I'm proud to say I've accomplished nothing. Oh sure, I've done some reading and socializing here and there, but mostly I'm recharging my batteries and getting ready for the last month of classes. Here's what I've been up to:

- Watching movies: Babel (excellent), The Departed (ditto), Marie Antoinette (pretty good), The Science of Sleep (ehhhhh...not so much).

- Getting caught up on reading The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins for my prose fiction class. It's a superb mystery told from multiple perspectives that laid the foundations for modern thrillers.

-Played FEAR on the Xbox 360 'til my eyes bled.

-Updated this very blog.

-Checked out all my old haunts, and took in an evening of one-act plays at my old high school.

- Singlehandedly brought down two crime syndicates, a racketeering ring, a money laundering operation and a Tim Horton's that gave me a stale Timbit. In one day.*

- Challenged Kiefer Sutherland to a game of gin rummy, and totally almost won. It was really close.**

...I think I'm ready to go back now.

*Not true. But if we had a crime syndicate in Saint John, I would definitely bring it down.
**Also not true. But shouldn't you be out enjoying your March Break?

Might as well Jump

2007-02-15T11:23:00.000-08:00

If you recall my last post, I had some unfortunate backspace key-related issues which kept me from mentioning the JUMP campaign launch. If you don't, just scroll down a bit. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Up to speed? Excellent. Anyway...yes! The JUMP campaign. Basically, Mount Allison wanted to start a ten-year fundraising campaign (the 'quiet phase' of it started in 2004) with a bang, so the town closed off the streets to attempt a new mass-participation jump rope record. Whether or not the university will make it into the Guinness Book of World Records is up in the air, but the JUMP launch afforded me the opportunity to make a fool out of myself in front of hundreds of people. You see, I am a tall person - six-foot-something, to be exact. The skipping rope I used for the jump rope portion was made for someone much shorter than I. As you can imagine, the skipping didn't go too well; the rope would smack me on the back of the head, get tangled in my hood or feet, and even hit another, more successful skipper.

Me, before the actual jumping started (Photo from JUMP website)

But, I managed to get through the skipping without maiming myself or anyone else, so even if we didn't break the record, it was a huge success.

Witty Blog Title!

2007-02-10T00:10:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. Sorry for the delay - posts will be ridiculously frequent from now on. As much as I'd like to say I was off saving the world from imminent destruction in that time, truth is I was just in a wild frenzy of midterms, papers, etc. However, that doesn't mean nothing exciting has happened...here's a taste of life since the last entry.

- There is now a small skating rink on the lawn in front of Bigelow and Bennett House, the brainchild of some very dedicated Bennett residents. "Bennettonian Square Gardens" is the site of a weekend-long 3-on-3 hockey classic that's drawing plenty of spectators and players - and even media attention; a CTV cameraman was filming it all. Kudos to the rink masterminds - they were out at 4 am some nights, just keeping it in order.

- I've got a little part in a movie being shot for the annual Sackville Film Festival, being written and directed by a fellow Bigelonian. It's great - I get to wear a suit AND play a character with the same name as my favorite Baldwin brother (Alec, of course). Speaking of which, the suit I get to wear was a $7 Salvation Army find that might be the most comfortable suit I've ever worn. Plus, it's a nifty shade of dark green - it's like being Mr. Green in a life-size game of Clue. But I won't go off on a suit related tangent now...the movie is tentatively titled Sinny and it will rock your socks or any other footwear you prefer.

-Sitting down to an essay midterm based on 170 fact-packed pages of a textbook and tons of different material from lectures, and finding out that the two questions are on stuff you actually know really well = the best feeling in the world. It's like opening up a toxic waste barrel to find delicious premium ice cream.

- The backspace key just fell off my laptop keyboard. I don't know how to put it back on. I think I'll wrap things up, or else I might sxtart makeing typpoz.

Current Music: Yo La Tengo - "Let's Save Tony Orlando's House"
Apparently the name of this song comes from a Simpsons episode. And I didn't get the reference. Congratulations Yo La Tengo, you have stumped me on Simpsons trivia. I shall now retire to my bed in defeat.

Oh, it's good song, too.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road...

2007-01-27T20:21:00.000-08:00

Ten great things about Garnet and Gold's production of The Wizard of Oz:

1) The Yellow Brick Road is portrayed by two people in yellow shirts helpfully pointing the way.

2) The little house that was lifted off the stage during the twister scene.

3) The Lollipop Guild.

4) The use of a gigantic pipe organ to represent the Emerald City.

5) The Great and Powerful Oz, as created by some nifty lighting tricks.

6) Flying monkeys.

7) Great costumes - including a hefty dose of silver paint for the Tin Man.

8) Smoke machines!

9) Being able to walk out of the theatre telling people you have classes with Munchkins.

10) The whole cast and crew.

Kudos to the G&G society for a job well done.

Current Music - The Flaming Lips - "Suddenly Everything Has Changed"

Everybody's Working for the Weekend (and weekdays)

2007-01-24T19:42:00.000-08:00

Ah, work. Over the holidays, as I played Xbox 'til my eyes bled, you seemed so far away. But now, its time to buckle down and get things done. Starting with the Political Science midterm on the 31st, it's one test/quiz/assignment/paper (collectively known as a twizzingmestaper) after another. Can't complain though - the great thing is, all the material is, well, interesting. I'd rather be learning about Victorian England in Dickens' era or ancient Greek drinking songs then, say, deriving the derivative of a cosine or pinpointing something on a microscope slide (no offense to math or science fans). The next few weeks will be like an everlasting gobstopper of education - tough, yes, but delicious all the same.
In other news, the Garnet and Gold production of The Wizard of Oz starts this Thursday, and the midnight movie this Friday is Primeval, the touching tale of a man-eating crocodile. Looks like a good weekend.

Current Music: The Shins - "Sleeping Lessons"

Hmmm...Methinks I could use a few of those. The Shins' new album Wincing the Night Away is superb, judging by what I've heard. (Fair warning: expect further expressions of music geekery in future posts, as 2007 looks to be one of the best years in music ever)

News Flash: Canadian Music Cool, Film at 11.

2007-01-20T23:50:00.000-08:00

With a song in my heart and a ringing in my ears, I have returned from the Annual Stereophonic All-Ages show at Struts Gallery. Stereophonic is Sackville's annual music festival, put together by the extremely cool people at CHMA. Their logo is a pheasant, known far and wide as the most rocking of birds. But I digress. Tonight's show was a cavalcade of rock, starting with The Annex and West Ave, two promising high school bands. The next act, The Damnsels, is a three-piece punk band straight outta Moncton NB, whose show is pure, unadulterated energy; like a swimming pool filled with Red Bull and electric eels. The final act was Halifax's Jon Epworth and the Improvements, a veteran outfit who unleashed a hook-filled rock and roll attack on a packed house. Their banter was some of the evening's most memorable (particularly when Epworth compared himself to a mother hawk). A good time was had by all on this, the closing night of Stereophonic. Here's to 2008!

Other updates:

Saw Pedro Almodovar's Volver at the Sackville Film Society on Thursday. A well-acted, soapy comedy-drama about secrets, lies and murder. Great acting and direction, even though the script was a little uneven. Still, great fun, and there are many more great movies coming to the 'Ville.

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I became part of the 'core' SUSHI group this week, which is lots of fun. SUSHI - the Sackville Underground Society of Housebroken Improvisers - meets twice weekly, once to practice and once to put on a show. If you're ever in the neighbourhood, stop by Hesler Hall Friday nights at 9pm and watch - its like Whose Line is it Anyway?, minus Drew Carey.

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Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple Computers (!) and the inventor of the personal computer (!!) lectured at Mount A on Tuesday. He basically spoke about his life up until about the invention of the Macintosh, and then fielded questions. Not quite what I was expecting, but it was fascinating for someone whose knowledge of Apple is limited to iPods and those "I'm a Mac" commercials.

I think I can just make out someone knocking at my door over the ringing in my ears, so I think I'll stop for now. 'Til next time...

The First Three Months: A Look Back

2007-01-17T18:48:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe its January already – it seems like only
yesterday that I was sitting in Convocation Hall with hundreds of
other newbies in black robes. Since then, I like to think that I
accomplished quite a bit here at Mount A. I directed a short film,
performed in a SUSHI show (that’s the improv team, for all you
non-Mounties out there), wrote a few articles for the Argosy,
permanently altered my sleeping patterns and, most importantly, met
some fantastic people. This year looks even better – I’ve got five
great classes in a row on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays, leaving
me Tuesdays and Thursdays to do all my reading. Of course, the new
year means making resolutions and occasionally keeping them. Here
are a few of mine.

1) Start going to the gym – More than twice a month. Maybe.

2) Get a radio show – This was supposed to happen much sooner,
but I was side-tracked by some other projects. Given my love
of music, comfy headphones and the sound of my own voice,
this could be right up my alley.

3) Get to know more people in other houses. – My experience thus
far has been pretty Bigelow-centric. I love it – like the cheer
says, we win all the games – but there’s so much of campus I
haven’t seen. Plus, I’ll be able to triple my amount of Facebook
friends.

It looks like its going to be a busy week – Two all-ages
Stereophonic shows to go to, the Steve Wozniak lecture, a SUSHI
practice and show and a film society screening of Volver Maybe
I’ll be able to schedule in some time for sleeping, eating and
bathing. I guess we'll see.