Today was my first Intro. To Media Production Lab, and I must say that I am very excited to be able to finally have access to a computer with final cut pro and all kinds of other crap.
It was also fun because I got to listen to Pete Chvanny rant and rave. But I must say, he made me feel really good because he said that we are the best kids because we are going to the best film school in America (he says that there are a couple of exclusive european acadamies that are a little better) and if you know Pete, he tells you what he really thinks with no sugar-coating at all. And I know it's silly but I long for constant reassurance from authority figures. Honestly I think it stems from my father leaving when I was young, I never got the developmental support from a male that I needed growing up and I now long for it from other male authority figures.
Stop me before I get any more fruedian. But I really think it may be true, because I don't really care what my peers think. I don't know. Who cares.
I also found out that I got a radio show on WECB, the smaller of the two campus radio stations with Jonathan P. which is going to be really sweet.
I also got my re-imbursal form signed by 2 out of the three people I need to sign it, so I will soon be getting my 58 dollars and change back.
AND I found out that I was asked to do graphics for the Gentleman's Club (Operating the Chyron)
AND I have been asked to edit a package for Ladies Room. So I am very busy now, and that's just the way I like it, dang it.
So hopefully I'll have lots more entertaining stories to tell as I continue to progress at this wonderful institution.
After my Media Production class me and the guys from Suite 724 walked about 1.5 miles to Newbury Comics on Newbury Street, to buy some posters for the suite common room. The posters they bought were: "Many Faces of Homer Simpon" (Showing different characters Homer has been on the series, "Miles Davis" (The singer) "Yes, God is a Man" (Beautiful woman laying in her undergarments on a bed) "Scarface" (Say hello to my little friend shot) and "Abbey Road" Beatles poster (which is HUGE about 6ftx4ft)
Aside from walking so far and getting really cold, I had a pretty sweet day.
Monday, January 31, 2005
Church, Common Room, Chatting
Well today I woke up at about Noon, and I got up, showered and ate a nice bagel and cream-cheese with some grapefruit juice for breakfast. Deliciously toasty.
Then I went upstairs, checked my e-mail got ready for church and left for Cambridge at 1:30pm. Dean and I hit the trains just right, so we got to church on time, and enjoyed a shortened church session, as the third hour was cancelled. The reason was because their was some sort of fireside starting at 4pm. I think it is bad form to pre-empt other peoples church with your event.
It was alright by me though, because I wanted to get home and started on my reading. As I walked back to the Harvard T stop, I enjoyed warm, bright sun on the snow. It was beautiful and comfortable. When I got back to the dorm, I changed, did some of my reading and popped downstairs to check in with my friends in Suite 724.
We chatted for a while in the common room of the suite, and I noted to my friends that they should really do something to spice up their common room. "This is the most undecorated, unlived-in common room on campus, you realize this don't you?"
So anyway, I went back upstairs and did some more reading, checking my e-mail and chatting with John P. from the 5th floor. Joe appears and tells me that he was "sent to fetch me" to get me to show me something.
They had decorated the common room with big black catering plates and smaller black plates, as well as put Jasons TV in the common room with an X-Box. Needless to say, we played Ball Monkey and Mario Kart on game cube long into the night, stopping only briefly for some Chunky Monkey Ice Cream.
What a glorious life, this staying up late. Except when I have to get up in the morning and I am kicking myself in the FACE.
P.S. After talking to Joe and Jonathan, I have decieded that two projects I would like to make in the future are a movie/short film about "your" town being nuked, and you not being able to do anything--a film which tries to capture that feeling of dread and fear before the end comes. Secondly, I want to make mock news reports which make fun of the "Is Your Child At Risk" sensational news media stories.
Wish me luck!
Then I went upstairs, checked my e-mail got ready for church and left for Cambridge at 1:30pm. Dean and I hit the trains just right, so we got to church on time, and enjoyed a shortened church session, as the third hour was cancelled. The reason was because their was some sort of fireside starting at 4pm. I think it is bad form to pre-empt other peoples church with your event.
It was alright by me though, because I wanted to get home and started on my reading. As I walked back to the Harvard T stop, I enjoyed warm, bright sun on the snow. It was beautiful and comfortable. When I got back to the dorm, I changed, did some of my reading and popped downstairs to check in with my friends in Suite 724.
We chatted for a while in the common room of the suite, and I noted to my friends that they should really do something to spice up their common room. "This is the most undecorated, unlived-in common room on campus, you realize this don't you?"
So anyway, I went back upstairs and did some more reading, checking my e-mail and chatting with John P. from the 5th floor. Joe appears and tells me that he was "sent to fetch me" to get me to show me something.
They had decorated the common room with big black catering plates and smaller black plates, as well as put Jasons TV in the common room with an X-Box. Needless to say, we played Ball Monkey and Mario Kart on game cube long into the night, stopping only briefly for some Chunky Monkey Ice Cream.
What a glorious life, this staying up late. Except when I have to get up in the morning and I am kicking myself in the FACE.
P.S. After talking to Joe and Jonathan, I have decieded that two projects I would like to make in the future are a movie/short film about "your" town being nuked, and you not being able to do anything--a film which tries to capture that feeling of dread and fear before the end comes. Secondly, I want to make mock news reports which make fun of the "Is Your Child At Risk" sensational news media stories.
Wish me luck!
Friday, January 28, 2005
Fire Drill!
Ironically, the same day that Thad has a firedrill in his dorm (and as the RA gets to pull the fire alarm), Our 12 story dorm in the heart of Boston also was evacuated--and based on the rapidity with which we were let back into the building, I can only assume it was either a drill or an accidental triggering of the alarm.
Oh well, it's still rather interesting. I'm still up at almost 2 in the morning today, because I am downloading "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story" from Illegal-Art.org. It's something we started to screen in Intro. To Media Production, where the creator used Barbie dolls to tell the story of Karen Carpenter (of The Carpenters musical group) and her issues with Anorexia. Quite a fitting body type if you've ever seen a Barbie. Apparently both Mattel AND the Carpenters sued to get the video stopped...but thanks to the internet, it lives on. I'd recommend watching it for a serious laugh. (And when I say serious I mean serious, it is a serious topic, but the fact that it's barbies is really funny at first) but since it is filmed in the same style the scene would have been filmed with real actors, you find yourself forgetting that they are dolls. It's weird.
So the other thing that I am doing is getting some files in order on the compy while that downloads, as well as collecting some songs that I don't have--like Whitesnake: Here I Go Again and Bleu: Sayonara. Basically some songs I've remembered that I should have.
Earlier this evening there was a Casino Night at the Tremont House Hotel, where you were given 50,000 dollars in chips (red chip=1,000; blue chip=5,000) and you got to play roulette, craps, texas hold'em, and of course, blackjack, until you either ran out of money, stopped, or the night came to a close. Anyway, I mostly played Blackjack, losing almost everything, earning up to 100,000 dollars, losing 30,000 on ONE GAME and then ending with a modest 20,000 dollars. (4 blue chips) Each 5,000 dollars was redeemable for one raffle ticket. I got 4, and of course, won nothing.
I guess that could be expected--but I had a good time!
Oh well, it's still rather interesting. I'm still up at almost 2 in the morning today, because I am downloading "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story" from Illegal-Art.org. It's something we started to screen in Intro. To Media Production, where the creator used Barbie dolls to tell the story of Karen Carpenter (of The Carpenters musical group) and her issues with Anorexia. Quite a fitting body type if you've ever seen a Barbie. Apparently both Mattel AND the Carpenters sued to get the video stopped...but thanks to the internet, it lives on. I'd recommend watching it for a serious laugh. (And when I say serious I mean serious, it is a serious topic, but the fact that it's barbies is really funny at first) but since it is filmed in the same style the scene would have been filmed with real actors, you find yourself forgetting that they are dolls. It's weird.
So the other thing that I am doing is getting some files in order on the compy while that downloads, as well as collecting some songs that I don't have--like Whitesnake: Here I Go Again and Bleu: Sayonara. Basically some songs I've remembered that I should have.
Earlier this evening there was a Casino Night at the Tremont House Hotel, where you were given 50,000 dollars in chips (red chip=1,000; blue chip=5,000) and you got to play roulette, craps, texas hold'em, and of course, blackjack, until you either ran out of money, stopped, or the night came to a close. Anyway, I mostly played Blackjack, losing almost everything, earning up to 100,000 dollars, losing 30,000 on ONE GAME and then ending with a modest 20,000 dollars. (4 blue chips) Each 5,000 dollars was redeemable for one raffle ticket. I got 4, and of course, won nothing.
I guess that could be expected--but I had a good time!
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
RSS Feed?
I've heard of this type of thing before....how do I set up a feed? Where do I get an account? Any recommendations?
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Just Out Of Curiosity...
I'm just wondering who is still reading my "awesome" blog. Please post a comment on this post just to check in.
Yeah. Okay, that's wierd.
So I was browsing the network for cool music, and I decided to do a search for "Ezra" just for fun.
Obviously I got the obligatory "Better Than Ezra" hits, but one result startled me--It said "rupert and weston - ezra". What could this possibly be? Out of curiosity, I downloaded it and listened to it. It was hilarious! It was funny because the sound quality bit and they were always off key!
Obviously you want to hear the song, so here it is:
Rupert and Weston - Ezra
Dial-Up Recommended:
0:30 Second Clip
High-Speed Recommended:
3:40 Full Track
So it turns out that the song was recorded by a musician at Emerson, and I wanted to know if I had anything to do with the creation of this song. So I IMed him and he told me that it was based of a poem he wrote to emulate Ezra Pound. Hence it was "[His] Best Ezra Poem is that: / Some kids like to wear it / but you don't seem the kind" The second verse is the one you heard in the 30sec clip "if love was in a bucket / you'd be the first to look"
HILARIOUS!
Obviously I got the obligatory "Better Than Ezra" hits, but one result startled me--It said "rupert and weston - ezra". What could this possibly be? Out of curiosity, I downloaded it and listened to it. It was hilarious! It was funny because the sound quality bit and they were always off key!
Obviously you want to hear the song, so here it is:
Rupert and Weston - Ezra
Dial-Up Recommended:
0:30 Second Clip
High-Speed Recommended:
3:40 Full Track
So it turns out that the song was recorded by a musician at Emerson, and I wanted to know if I had anything to do with the creation of this song. So I IMed him and he told me that it was based of a poem he wrote to emulate Ezra Pound. Hence it was "[His] Best Ezra Poem is that: / Some kids like to wear it / but you don't seem the kind" The second verse is the one you heard in the 30sec clip "if love was in a bucket / you'd be the first to look"
HILARIOUS!
Snow Day, or Service Day?
Well, today was a snow day, and I had a wonderful day.
Last night I got an e-mail from a guy at my church asking for people to show up the church at ten am and shovel snow. I readily agreed.
I know some people might think "Why would you waste your snow day shovelling snow when you don't have to?"
Two reasons: One, I feel like it is my responsibility as a church member to maintain the building; and two, I haven't shovelled snow in a LONG time, and I needed an excuse to get outside and do something productive.
Anyway, so I got up in the morning, showered, dressed, and went across the street to do the morning tape change. Right outside the door, I bumped into a man begging for money, and he said he was really cold and did I have any money. I said "I'll tell you what, I only have a 5 and I need to buy two T tokens, but I'll come back and give you the change." Not particularly odd--but as I crossed the street to the T station, he said "Thank's a lot, I love you man." It kinda suprised me, because it's such an unusual thing for a person to say, let alone to a stranger.
Now if you'll bear with me, I'll explain why this sticks in my mind. The scriptures teach that we should love our fellow men, and that anything you do for one of your brotheren, however humble, you are doing for God.
There is a "Scripture Scouts" song that has a lyric: "What could I give to the one who has everything, what could I give to Jesus?" Jesus doesn't need my pathetic $2.50 or anything else I have--he gave it all to me in the first place. But by living the teachings of the scriptures; "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto on of the least of these my bretheren, ye have done it to [Jesus]" (Matthew 25:40) I can show my love every day.
Ironic that it happened as I was going to spend my whole morning shoveling snow. Anyway, I took the T (another 2.50) and rode out to Harvard Square in Cambridge. As we crossed the Charles River I saw all the beauty, the frozen river covered in snow, the clear bright sky after the days of snow and wind. It was amazing. I just felt great.
Once at the church, my shoveling skillz came back to me pretty quickly, all the techniques and tricks that I had learned while living in Maine, and I had a great time.
Upon returning home, I chilled out organizing and uploading music on my computer, and then I did my homework. YEAH!
Sorry if my posts aren't as interesting as they used to be. That's life.
Last night I got an e-mail from a guy at my church asking for people to show up the church at ten am and shovel snow. I readily agreed.
I know some people might think "Why would you waste your snow day shovelling snow when you don't have to?"
Two reasons: One, I feel like it is my responsibility as a church member to maintain the building; and two, I haven't shovelled snow in a LONG time, and I needed an excuse to get outside and do something productive.
Anyway, so I got up in the morning, showered, dressed, and went across the street to do the morning tape change. Right outside the door, I bumped into a man begging for money, and he said he was really cold and did I have any money. I said "I'll tell you what, I only have a 5 and I need to buy two T tokens, but I'll come back and give you the change." Not particularly odd--but as I crossed the street to the T station, he said "Thank's a lot, I love you man." It kinda suprised me, because it's such an unusual thing for a person to say, let alone to a stranger.
Now if you'll bear with me, I'll explain why this sticks in my mind. The scriptures teach that we should love our fellow men, and that anything you do for one of your brotheren, however humble, you are doing for God.
There is a "Scripture Scouts" song that has a lyric: "What could I give to the one who has everything, what could I give to Jesus?" Jesus doesn't need my pathetic $2.50 or anything else I have--he gave it all to me in the first place. But by living the teachings of the scriptures; "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto on of the least of these my bretheren, ye have done it to [Jesus]" (Matthew 25:40) I can show my love every day.
Ironic that it happened as I was going to spend my whole morning shoveling snow. Anyway, I took the T (another 2.50) and rode out to Harvard Square in Cambridge. As we crossed the Charles River I saw all the beauty, the frozen river covered in snow, the clear bright sky after the days of snow and wind. It was amazing. I just felt great.
Once at the church, my shoveling skillz came back to me pretty quickly, all the techniques and tricks that I had learned while living in Maine, and I had a great time.
Upon returning home, I chilled out organizing and uploading music on my computer, and then I did my homework. YEAH!
Sorry if my posts aren't as interesting as they used to be. That's life.
Sunday, January 23, 2005
SNOW FRIGGIN' ROCKS!
Oh man, sometimes I wish that I had a digital camera so I could take pictures of all the amazing things around me.
Overnight, it has snowed between 24-30 inches in the greater Boston area. Early this morning, high winds with up to 50mph gusts have created drifts everywhere. There are piles of snow on every windowsill. The north/south streets have had much of the snow blown away, while the east/west streets remain piled high with drifts. A real winter-wonderland. In fact, there is so much snow being swirled around in the air that you can't tell whether it is snowing or not, and visibility is down to probably about 1000 feet or less.
Like I said, it's beautiful, and I love it. It gives me a lot to reflect on. As I sat eating my double-toasted bagel smothered in cream cheese, and a cup of hot cocoa, I thought about what a major disaster something like this would have been to the early settlers. Now, we don't consider mother-nature much more than a nuisance.
Our cafeteria was understaffed this morning, and that was the biggest problem this snow created for most of the people in this building. Howe blessed we are to have central heating, electricity, the internet, refridgeration, foodservice, all in spite of horrendous weather conditions. I don't have to worry about survival, instead I can do homework, read, or play video games.
The only thing that makes me uneasy is that someday these systems will fail, and we won't know how to handle it. We won't be able to handle it. The support systems we have in place are the only thing holding this system together. When they are gone, so are we.
That said, I love snow, and it is so wonderful and mysterious. I will try to get someone with a digital camera to take pics so I can post them. Toodles.
Overnight, it has snowed between 24-30 inches in the greater Boston area. Early this morning, high winds with up to 50mph gusts have created drifts everywhere. There are piles of snow on every windowsill. The north/south streets have had much of the snow blown away, while the east/west streets remain piled high with drifts. A real winter-wonderland. In fact, there is so much snow being swirled around in the air that you can't tell whether it is snowing or not, and visibility is down to probably about 1000 feet or less.
Like I said, it's beautiful, and I love it. It gives me a lot to reflect on. As I sat eating my double-toasted bagel smothered in cream cheese, and a cup of hot cocoa, I thought about what a major disaster something like this would have been to the early settlers. Now, we don't consider mother-nature much more than a nuisance.
Our cafeteria was understaffed this morning, and that was the biggest problem this snow created for most of the people in this building. Howe blessed we are to have central heating, electricity, the internet, refridgeration, foodservice, all in spite of horrendous weather conditions. I don't have to worry about survival, instead I can do homework, read, or play video games.
The only thing that makes me uneasy is that someday these systems will fail, and we won't know how to handle it. We won't be able to handle it. The support systems we have in place are the only thing holding this system together. When they are gone, so are we.
That said, I love snow, and it is so wonderful and mysterious. I will try to get someone with a digital camera to take pics so I can post them. Toodles.
Friday, January 21, 2005
I'm Friggin' Awesome
I don't know why I titled that post that way, it was just the way I felt like titling it.
Anyway, today was pretty dull, mostly because (as I said) things have not yet gotten rolling along. It's only the first few days of classes, so most of the clubs have yet to begin meeting, etc. So I've been left to fiddle around on the computer, the omni-present distractor. Now I have turned on the Emerson Channel to watch "Anchorman" as it is airing and I have heard that it is a funny movie.
Other than that, I have been looking around at Newegg.com fantasizing about what I would buy for my computer if I could really afford it. Oh man, the little accessories I would buy!
I'll try to keep posting, but right now, like I said, nothing has happened yet.
Anyway, today was pretty dull, mostly because (as I said) things have not yet gotten rolling along. It's only the first few days of classes, so most of the clubs have yet to begin meeting, etc. So I've been left to fiddle around on the computer, the omni-present distractor. Now I have turned on the Emerson Channel to watch "Anchorman" as it is airing and I have heard that it is a funny movie.
Other than that, I have been looking around at Newegg.com fantasizing about what I would buy for my computer if I could really afford it. Oh man, the little accessories I would buy!
I'll try to keep posting, but right now, like I said, nothing has happened yet.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
My Horrendous Experience In Trying to get to Boston
So we left my house in Harrisonburg, VA at about 2:30pm on Sunday, and we arrived at Washington-Dulles at about 4:45pm. I say goodbye to my parents and use United Airlines EasyCheck-In to get checked in and over to my gate.
My flight is scheduled to leave at 6:15pm, but at by 6:00pm, the plane wasn't even at the gate yet. It finally arrived, but we had to wait while they fixed a problem with the Air Conditioning. Anyway, we probably took of around 7:15-7:30pm. We tryed to make up time in the air, and we made it to the airspace above Boston, where there was some snow and bad weather. Now, we were circling because the weather had backed up the landing aircraft, which are landed on a first come, first served system. However, our plane was running low on fuel, so we diverted to WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK.
We landed in NY, and waited for about an hour to be refueled. During this time, they won't let us off (because we are not at a gate), so everyone is trying to get to the bathroom. Finally we are fueled and we go taxi out to the runway to return to Boston.
Then they tell us that a groundstop has been declared on all flights to Boston, because "poor braking conditions" had stopped ALL landings into Logan Airport. However, they were going to contact our plane again within 40 minutes. So we wait on the runway, ready at a moments notice to take off. Forty minutes later, they tell us that we are NOT flying to Boston tonight.
Now, it is about 12:00am (midnight) by now, and for those who know White Plains, it is home to "Westchester County Airport". It is a commuter airport, so it was all but SHUT DOWN when we got off the plane and were told to "get our bags". Because this wasn't a major airport, we all started wandering around to try and find some one who could tell us what the heck we were supposed to do!
Finally we find a security guard (Not a TSA member, Security was closed) who finds a United Agent in the back, and the United Agent tells us that United Airlines will put us up in a hotel tonight, but we need to make our own reservations on a flight to Boston tommorow by calling the reservation 800-number.
So I put my name down on the list to get a hotel room, and I call the number. Fortunately, I pretended to have a rotary phone, so I spoke with an agent right away.
"I'd was on flight 7200 that got diverted from Boston to White Plains, and I need to rebook on a flight to Boston in the morning."
"Okay, I've got a 6:30am flight to Boston, but you have a layover in Dulles"
(Awkward Silence)
"Sir? Would you like to book the flight?"
"You, um, are telling me that you don't have a direct flight to Boston?"
"That's right sir, we don't fly White Plains to Boston."
Okay, so now I'm frustrated. I HAVE TO GO BACK TO WASHINGTON D.C. TO GET TO BOSTON? I decided that since it was MLK day and I really didn't have any responsibilities, I would just get a full nights sleep and go on the 10:20am flight.
They shuttle us all to the "Welleseley Inn" on the hotel shuttle (which takes two trips, I'm on the second trip,) and I check in and fall asleep by 1:30am, Monday morning.
My wake-up call is for 7:45. I get up, shower, grab a danish and a cup of hot cocoa from their crappy continental breakfast, and take the 8:30 Shuttle over to the Airport. When I'm there, because it is such a small airport, I end up being through security and waiting in the terminal by 9:00am. So I read the complimentary copy of the USA Today that I recieved from the hotel, and at 10:20, my plane has yet to be boarded. Great.
They do board eventually, and we take off around 11am, and arrive in Dulles at 12:35pm, which is about 15 minutes after they were scheduled to start boarding my flight to Boston, which was scheduled to leave at 1:00pm. I wasn't too worried though, because based on their record so far, all my flights had been late. Sure enough, I made it, and the flight got off late, and we were put into a holding pattern again outside of Boston, pushing our arrival time to about 3:30pm, Monday.
So I got my bags, took the crappy airport shuttle to the crappy T (subway) changed to the crappy green line, lugged my 100 pounds of baggage up a buttload of stairs, finally plunking my suitcases down in my room at about 4:30pm.
Gee, only about 20 hours after I was supposed to be there. Great.
Oh, and the best part of all was that the first thing I say was a notice saying that I had failed to pay a fine with a certain period of time so they had doubled it.
As you can see, it's taken me a while to restore normality to my mind. Anyway, sorry for the lengthyness of this post, but I will try to remember to post more regularly in the future. Have a great second semester everyone!
My flight is scheduled to leave at 6:15pm, but at by 6:00pm, the plane wasn't even at the gate yet. It finally arrived, but we had to wait while they fixed a problem with the Air Conditioning. Anyway, we probably took of around 7:15-7:30pm. We tryed to make up time in the air, and we made it to the airspace above Boston, where there was some snow and bad weather. Now, we were circling because the weather had backed up the landing aircraft, which are landed on a first come, first served system. However, our plane was running low on fuel, so we diverted to WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK.
We landed in NY, and waited for about an hour to be refueled. During this time, they won't let us off (because we are not at a gate), so everyone is trying to get to the bathroom. Finally we are fueled and we go taxi out to the runway to return to Boston.
Then they tell us that a groundstop has been declared on all flights to Boston, because "poor braking conditions" had stopped ALL landings into Logan Airport. However, they were going to contact our plane again within 40 minutes. So we wait on the runway, ready at a moments notice to take off. Forty minutes later, they tell us that we are NOT flying to Boston tonight.
Now, it is about 12:00am (midnight) by now, and for those who know White Plains, it is home to "Westchester County Airport". It is a commuter airport, so it was all but SHUT DOWN when we got off the plane and were told to "get our bags". Because this wasn't a major airport, we all started wandering around to try and find some one who could tell us what the heck we were supposed to do!
Finally we find a security guard (Not a TSA member, Security was closed) who finds a United Agent in the back, and the United Agent tells us that United Airlines will put us up in a hotel tonight, but we need to make our own reservations on a flight to Boston tommorow by calling the reservation 800-number.
So I put my name down on the list to get a hotel room, and I call the number. Fortunately, I pretended to have a rotary phone, so I spoke with an agent right away.
"I'd was on flight 7200 that got diverted from Boston to White Plains, and I need to rebook on a flight to Boston in the morning."
"Okay, I've got a 6:30am flight to Boston, but you have a layover in Dulles"
(Awkward Silence)
"Sir? Would you like to book the flight?"
"You, um, are telling me that you don't have a direct flight to Boston?"
"That's right sir, we don't fly White Plains to Boston."
Okay, so now I'm frustrated. I HAVE TO GO BACK TO WASHINGTON D.C. TO GET TO BOSTON? I decided that since it was MLK day and I really didn't have any responsibilities, I would just get a full nights sleep and go on the 10:20am flight.
They shuttle us all to the "Welleseley Inn" on the hotel shuttle (which takes two trips, I'm on the second trip,) and I check in and fall asleep by 1:30am, Monday morning.
My wake-up call is for 7:45. I get up, shower, grab a danish and a cup of hot cocoa from their crappy continental breakfast, and take the 8:30 Shuttle over to the Airport. When I'm there, because it is such a small airport, I end up being through security and waiting in the terminal by 9:00am. So I read the complimentary copy of the USA Today that I recieved from the hotel, and at 10:20, my plane has yet to be boarded. Great.
They do board eventually, and we take off around 11am, and arrive in Dulles at 12:35pm, which is about 15 minutes after they were scheduled to start boarding my flight to Boston, which was scheduled to leave at 1:00pm. I wasn't too worried though, because based on their record so far, all my flights had been late. Sure enough, I made it, and the flight got off late, and we were put into a holding pattern again outside of Boston, pushing our arrival time to about 3:30pm, Monday.
So I got my bags, took the crappy airport shuttle to the crappy T (subway) changed to the crappy green line, lugged my 100 pounds of baggage up a buttload of stairs, finally plunking my suitcases down in my room at about 4:30pm.
Gee, only about 20 hours after I was supposed to be there. Great.
Oh, and the best part of all was that the first thing I say was a notice saying that I had failed to pay a fine with a certain period of time so they had doubled it.
As you can see, it's taken me a while to restore normality to my mind. Anyway, sorry for the lengthyness of this post, but I will try to remember to post more regularly in the future. Have a great second semester everyone!
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
I'm Back!
Well, I've hit the ground running, back at Emerson College.
I've already started working, opened a new savings account and checking account with Bank of America, deposited my paycheck, bought my textbooks and attended my first class.
There is a lot of stuff coming up right fast, too.
I'll update more later, because I really want to tell you about my disasterous trys at getting here via United Airlines.
Maybe more tonight...
I've already started working, opened a new savings account and checking account with Bank of America, deposited my paycheck, bought my textbooks and attended my first class.
There is a lot of stuff coming up right fast, too.
I'll update more later, because I really want to tell you about my disasterous trys at getting here via United Airlines.
Maybe more tonight...
Friday, January 14, 2005
Risk Party, Tonight, My Place
BE THERE, OR BE SQUARE!
Seriously, if you're in the neighborhood, stop in and say hello tonight at 7pm (Charles? This could mean you...)
Seriously, if you're in the neighborhood, stop in and say hello tonight at 7pm (Charles? This could mean you...)
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Is the Ezra A. Horne Memorial TV Studio in the future?
Well, today certainly was an awesome day. I really had a great time.
To start off, I work up at about 9am after having gone to bed at around 11pm, and for once in the last few weeks I didn't really feel sore, and I felt really well rested! I then got up, reheated the leftover stir-fry in the Wok and then hopped in my Toyota Pickup for a spin around the 'Burg.
Anyway, as I drove around, I thought about going and opening a checking/savings account with Bank of America, because I currently have two checking accounts, (one with a Maine Bank and one with a Virginia Bank, niether of which have branches in Boston.) and my one savings account closed automatically when I drained it to pay tuition for Spring semester. Anyway, BoA has branches in Boston, Virginia, and Maine, PLUS they have an ATM in the lobby of my dormitory for fast, easy, fee-free cash. But I couldn't find the branch in Harrisonburg. I knew there was one, I knew I'd seen it, but for some reason I couldn't find it.
So anyway at about noon I park in the faculty lot of Harrisonburg High School and walk into the building heading back to the Library to say hi to my old friend and forensics coach, Mr. Walton. On the way over, I passed by the Choir room, and talked with my choir teacher for a couple of minutes and met up with my sister. I finally got to the library, saw some old friends on the way, said hi to Mr. and Mrs. Walton, and then headed on down to the tech lab to meet with Mr. Stratford to discuss the New TV Studio that they are going to get in the new High School!
The best part was that my sister and I got to go and see the new High School today, before almost everyone else, even though it is not done, most of the finishing work is done, it's just little things here and there. And I will tell you, I can't describe how COOL this High School is going to be. Not only is the tinted blue glass in the soaring stairwells and hallway skylights just beautiful, the layout is simple and easy, the views and natural light are PHENOMENAL and the facilities are AMAZING. The school boasts a darkroom comparable to my COLLEGE'S darkroom. Plus, the new TV studio, obviously.
Anyway, we looked at the space, which I couldn't believe that they had been given space at all, let alone that much AND a budget to put it together.
So I went back to his office at the old high school, and we drew out plans regarding layout, firgured out what we NEEDED and what we wanted on the top. Hopefully we will get everything we ask for, because if we do, it will be a nice little amatuer studio. One of the things we tried to do is eliminate the use of tapes whenever possible, so what we wanted to get was a machine called the Firestore, which encodes your video to a firewire harddrive as you make it, so you don't have to record it to tape an then upload it. We'd still have a VHS and a MiniDV deck, but this way we shouldn't have to invest in a DV-Cam deck, which would be much more expensive. I pointed out to Mr. Stratford that the goal here was to create a working studio, and lower video quality is not a big deal, because the studio is for a closed-curcuit system that will probably rarely get watched anyway. It's more important that we can afford to keep up with it (DVD-R's are WAY cheaper than DV-cam tapes) and that the kids can learn on the system.
So I think we came out with a great design, and he's going to keep me updated. As we wrapped up I jokingly said that as a fee for my "consulting services" they should name the studio "Ezra A. Horne Memorial Studio" he laughed, but I saw him write something down and he didn't say no. He instead pointed out that they kids who were building the gazebo for the courtyard were getting a plaque with there names on it.... Who knows?
Another benifit is that he might be able to hire me in the Spring to put the system together--a great thing to have on the resume, especially since I will probably know how to do it by the time I am done this year at Emerson, and I'll have my first industry related job!
*Sigh* Anyway, moving on with the day and this rather long, but hopefully interesting, post.
So we made homemade pizza tonight. It was good, but not as good as it could have been, I think. But since I made the dough, and it was my first time, I thought it was fine. Then John came over, and we decided to head downtown and enjoy the cool evening air on Court Square, (the grass around the downtown court house) It was about 55 degrees out, (it'd been up to 65 during the day) and we started glancing into the windows of the courthouse, looking at the moldings and stuff, because it is a beautful old building. And sure enough, within a few minutes, cops showed up, and (politely) told us that they had gotten a call about two kids looking into the windows. I said that was us, and we were just looking around. He asked if we had ID's, I said yes, would you like to see them? He said yes, called the station, gave them our licsense numbers, we checked out okay, they politely told us that technically this area is closed after sunset, and we all went on our merry way.
By the way--as we were standing there chatting with the cops, I noticed that the Bank of America was right across the street. I'd driven right past it earlier in the day.
Ah, life is entertaining.
To start off, I work up at about 9am after having gone to bed at around 11pm, and for once in the last few weeks I didn't really feel sore, and I felt really well rested! I then got up, reheated the leftover stir-fry in the Wok and then hopped in my Toyota Pickup for a spin around the 'Burg.
Anyway, as I drove around, I thought about going and opening a checking/savings account with Bank of America, because I currently have two checking accounts, (one with a Maine Bank and one with a Virginia Bank, niether of which have branches in Boston.) and my one savings account closed automatically when I drained it to pay tuition for Spring semester. Anyway, BoA has branches in Boston, Virginia, and Maine, PLUS they have an ATM in the lobby of my dormitory for fast, easy, fee-free cash. But I couldn't find the branch in Harrisonburg. I knew there was one, I knew I'd seen it, but for some reason I couldn't find it.
So anyway at about noon I park in the faculty lot of Harrisonburg High School and walk into the building heading back to the Library to say hi to my old friend and forensics coach, Mr. Walton. On the way over, I passed by the Choir room, and talked with my choir teacher for a couple of minutes and met up with my sister. I finally got to the library, saw some old friends on the way, said hi to Mr. and Mrs. Walton, and then headed on down to the tech lab to meet with Mr. Stratford to discuss the New TV Studio that they are going to get in the new High School!
The best part was that my sister and I got to go and see the new High School today, before almost everyone else, even though it is not done, most of the finishing work is done, it's just little things here and there. And I will tell you, I can't describe how COOL this High School is going to be. Not only is the tinted blue glass in the soaring stairwells and hallway skylights just beautiful, the layout is simple and easy, the views and natural light are PHENOMENAL and the facilities are AMAZING. The school boasts a darkroom comparable to my COLLEGE'S darkroom. Plus, the new TV studio, obviously.
Anyway, we looked at the space, which I couldn't believe that they had been given space at all, let alone that much AND a budget to put it together.
So I went back to his office at the old high school, and we drew out plans regarding layout, firgured out what we NEEDED and what we wanted on the top. Hopefully we will get everything we ask for, because if we do, it will be a nice little amatuer studio. One of the things we tried to do is eliminate the use of tapes whenever possible, so what we wanted to get was a machine called the Firestore, which encodes your video to a firewire harddrive as you make it, so you don't have to record it to tape an then upload it. We'd still have a VHS and a MiniDV deck, but this way we shouldn't have to invest in a DV-Cam deck, which would be much more expensive. I pointed out to Mr. Stratford that the goal here was to create a working studio, and lower video quality is not a big deal, because the studio is for a closed-curcuit system that will probably rarely get watched anyway. It's more important that we can afford to keep up with it (DVD-R's are WAY cheaper than DV-cam tapes) and that the kids can learn on the system.
So I think we came out with a great design, and he's going to keep me updated. As we wrapped up I jokingly said that as a fee for my "consulting services" they should name the studio "Ezra A. Horne Memorial Studio" he laughed, but I saw him write something down and he didn't say no. He instead pointed out that they kids who were building the gazebo for the courtyard were getting a plaque with there names on it.... Who knows?
Another benifit is that he might be able to hire me in the Spring to put the system together--a great thing to have on the resume, especially since I will probably know how to do it by the time I am done this year at Emerson, and I'll have my first industry related job!
*Sigh* Anyway, moving on with the day and this rather long, but hopefully interesting, post.
So we made homemade pizza tonight. It was good, but not as good as it could have been, I think. But since I made the dough, and it was my first time, I thought it was fine. Then John came over, and we decided to head downtown and enjoy the cool evening air on Court Square, (the grass around the downtown court house) It was about 55 degrees out, (it'd been up to 65 during the day) and we started glancing into the windows of the courthouse, looking at the moldings and stuff, because it is a beautful old building. And sure enough, within a few minutes, cops showed up, and (politely) told us that they had gotten a call about two kids looking into the windows. I said that was us, and we were just looking around. He asked if we had ID's, I said yes, would you like to see them? He said yes, called the station, gave them our licsense numbers, we checked out okay, they politely told us that technically this area is closed after sunset, and we all went on our merry way.
By the way--as we were standing there chatting with the cops, I noticed that the Bank of America was right across the street. I'd driven right past it earlier in the day.
Ah, life is entertaining.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Oh man, I am L-A-Z-Y
Wow, I know it's break and all, but it's not as if I have been doing SO MUCH that I couldn't drop a couple of lines every other day. I guess it's just such a hassle to deal with my computer here, not having high-speed internet and all.
Oh well.
Anyway, we took down all of our Christmas stuff today, and our tree is now sitting forlorn on the side of the street, stripped of all its glory except tinsel. *Sigh* It's always kinda sad. Our house and our living room looks so baren and depressing now.
I made stirfry in an electric wok today, and I think I did pretty well, considering I had no idea how to do it and had never done it before. We put peanuts, garlic, bean sprouts, snap peas, water chestnuts, cabbage, carrots, celery, garlic infused soy sauce, oil, ginger and hamburger.
It sounds kinda gross, but trust me, it actually turned out really well. Electric woks kick butt. If you see one at a yard sale or something, you should buy it.
Let's see, what else.... I got my window regulator fixed, which allowed my truck to pass inspection. I shouldn't have to worry about it until January 2006. All right!
Other than that, I've just been doing lots of odd jobs around the house, playing Super Nintendo classics like "Super Mario World" "Mario Kart" "Family Fued" "Donkey Kong 2" and "Sim City". Oh man, I want a nintendo soooo bad. But my sister won't let me steal the SNES away to college.
I've replaced 3 recessed incandesant lighting fixtures in the basement with flouresent tubes, (including mounting, wiring) and installed a brand NEW flouresent like fixture in the back of the basement storge room. You can actually see now! Additionally, I replaced the shower head in the upstairs bathroom, the faucet handles in the downstairs bathroom, and I ran wiring through the attic and down through the wall to install a BRAND NEW electrical outlet in the hallway so we could plug in our answering machine and cordless phone. I'm a regular Mr. Fixit.
Of course, I also got the computer working, needless to say.
Well, I think that's enough for tonight, I might go to bed... or I might not. The world may never know....
Oh well.
Anyway, we took down all of our Christmas stuff today, and our tree is now sitting forlorn on the side of the street, stripped of all its glory except tinsel. *Sigh* It's always kinda sad. Our house and our living room looks so baren and depressing now.
I made stirfry in an electric wok today, and I think I did pretty well, considering I had no idea how to do it and had never done it before. We put peanuts, garlic, bean sprouts, snap peas, water chestnuts, cabbage, carrots, celery, garlic infused soy sauce, oil, ginger and hamburger.
It sounds kinda gross, but trust me, it actually turned out really well. Electric woks kick butt. If you see one at a yard sale or something, you should buy it.
Let's see, what else.... I got my window regulator fixed, which allowed my truck to pass inspection. I shouldn't have to worry about it until January 2006. All right!
Other than that, I've just been doing lots of odd jobs around the house, playing Super Nintendo classics like "Super Mario World" "Mario Kart" "Family Fued" "Donkey Kong 2" and "Sim City". Oh man, I want a nintendo soooo bad. But my sister won't let me steal the SNES away to college.
I've replaced 3 recessed incandesant lighting fixtures in the basement with flouresent tubes, (including mounting, wiring) and installed a brand NEW flouresent like fixture in the back of the basement storge room. You can actually see now! Additionally, I replaced the shower head in the upstairs bathroom, the faucet handles in the downstairs bathroom, and I ran wiring through the attic and down through the wall to install a BRAND NEW electrical outlet in the hallway so we could plug in our answering machine and cordless phone. I'm a regular Mr. Fixit.
Of course, I also got the computer working, needless to say.
Well, I think that's enough for tonight, I might go to bed... or I might not. The world may never know....
Thursday, January 06, 2005
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