Breakin'

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

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!

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...

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)

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.

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

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.