Dream Wedding

These two weddings are so fun and original!! Like, seriously who wouldn't want to dance down the aisle, as opposed to the traditional somber walk to "here comes the bride" so lammmeeee! And have cute dancing men preforming "Thriller" at the reception? Awesome! Although they didn't do the best job i've ever seen the idea is still cool. So that's pretty much my dream wedding, dance down the aisle like a fool and then have people preforming dances to cult hits at the reception! If only i could find Mr. Right now.......

oh and by the way these videos took a while to load on my computer so let them fully load and then watch them, the overall affect is better rather than pausing throughout the clip.

Rap Documentary

The Rap/Hip-hop music documentary we watched in English today was really interesting and actually made me kind of upset. It was very eye-opening and weird i guess to hear from people who weren't afraid to say how they really felt and explain just how bad things for them were. I was astonished to hear how much black/people and minorities hated Ronald Regan. I had always thought he was a really decent president just from what i heard from my parents and from what we are taught in school. I had no idea how oblivious he was to poverty in our country and how poorly treated blacks/minorities were. I was also kind of shocked because i am taking criminology and we are just now discussing the war on drugs and the drug problem in general. A lot of the statistics about prison sentences for crack and cocaine possession i had already read but what the people in the video made me realize is how much white people distort the truth. Seriously, blacks make up the majority of people busted for possession of crack but now that makes more sense because a lot of them are living below the poverty line and crack is a lot cheaper. So many upper class and white people are getting away with possessing cocaine because there is not as much patrol assigned to upper class neighborhoods and that throws statistics way off, making black people look like huge drug users in comparison to whites when its probably pretty equal. I was just amazed at how different history is portrayed by two opposite sides of society. I loved when President Bush senior was like "we live in a time of peace and prosperity" and blacks were like ummm HELLO were like dying from drugs and poverty and being mistreated and life basically sucks and the government was just either totally oblivious or didn't care. I was just really blown away by this video and now I'm really excited to analyze some rap music and i kinda just want to listen to some "old school" rap. I don't like rap music, especially modern rap because i do think its very degrading to women and just not necessary (as was hinted at in the video) but i would like to listen to some original 80's rap because i think it had a lot more meaning and had some very valid ideas in it and really gets the problems of that time out there, instead of sugar coating them like the government did. So I'm reallllly anxious to see the last bit of that movie!!

I'm stilllll sick :( I got better for a while but then after the football game on Saturday went rapidly downhill. I guess getting up at 7 am and marching for most of the day isn't the best thing when you have a cold. Nonetheless the game was still really fun, i played tunes in the stands and screamed until my already sore throat was raw. Totally worth it because we completely killed Dartmouth. I believe the score was something like 40 (us) to 14 (D-mouth), we dominated those Harvard rejects! I really hope that the team keeps it up because if they make it to playoffs the band gets to go to Tennessee, which would be SO cool! So yeah, then after the game my parents took me out to eat in Portsmouth and then we went to Rite-Aid to get some cold medicine. Which has helped a little, so I'm on my way up, thank god, because colds just suck, especially when you have tons of work to do. But things will get better and next weekend i get to go to Maryland to play at the UNH v. Towson game, and that will be a blast! Hope everyone had a good Monday!

Football!!!

So as some of you may know tomorrow is football versus Dartmouth!! Should be a great game, but for those of you not really into football you should totally just come for the Wildcat Marching Band, because they are awesome! And I'm not just saying that cause I'm in it..cough, cough..No but seriously we are going to be great, we have not only our pregame show done but we have a FULL half time show as well. Last game we only had one song for half time but now we have two full length songs and shorts snippets of about 8 others. The show is called "Don't Touch that Dial" and its basically supposed to be a radio show. We have, like i said the short snippets of popular radio songs and then some radio hosts talking in between (like your scanning the radio) AND we play two full length songs. Both songs are pretty popular and I'm sure everyone would know them but i wont tell you what they are, i don't want to ruin the surprise. You'll just have to come to the game tomorrow and see for yourselves! I promise you it will be great, so even if you don't like football come for the band because we will also be in the stands playing some awesome stand tunes and getting the players and fans riled up so we can BEAT DARTMOUTH!!! So be there! Or else! I will find you! Not really..but BE THERE!

Soup

I'm a big fan of soup, its just great when you're sick or just want something warm and its perfect in the fall. So i was really disappointed with the roasted butternut squash i had today at HOCO. I'm not sure if it was the way they prepared it or if it just wasn't my thing, because I've never had it before. I really thought it would be good though because i absolutely love butternut squash so i though, hey, why not have it in soup. Its not that it was utterly disgusting or anything and i had to spit it out, it just tasted wrong. Like the first bit i put in my mouth i was chewing, it was good and then all of a sudden there was this weird and off flavor. I cant even describe what it was, it was kind of bitter, i guess but not really, it wasn't anything i had never tasted before. It just tasted like it didn't belong in the soup, so maybe it was the seasonings in it or some bad squash. I don't really know but i was sad. All the other soup I've had at HOCO has been really good though so i will remain a loyal patron to their soup bowls.

Blah!

Alas i have finally been struck by sickness...sigh. I have been so good about washing my hands and have been using hand sanitizer up the wazoo but apparently that still wasn't good enough. So i went to Rite Aid and bough some cough drops and Ramen noodles, so that should fix everything. I really have nothing to talk about. I feel tired and stressed and sick, isn't that just the best combo ever. I will probably be up all night studying for my Anthropology exam tomorrow so that certainly isn't going to help. How about losing power today though? That was weird, but hey, i got out of psych half an hour early so i wont complain. Then i went back to my dorm and slept until we got power back and then i turned my computer on. Big mistake. I have my battery out of my laptop because i always have it plugged in, and that kills the charge the battery holds. So twice my computer has not shut down "properly" so I'm pretty sure it hates me now. And I'm pretty sure anyone reading this hates me too, so i apologize for this being the most boring post ever. Hopefully i will feel better tomorrow and hence have something better to say.

The Resistance

So as i mentioned in my earlier post i bought the new Muse album this weekend and now i have finally had time to listen to it! And let me tell you it did not disappoint! They took on a bit of a different sound than on many of their previous albums, it still had the kind of electronica feel that is the trade mark of many of their singles but they incorporated many other genre's. Matthew Bellamy used a bit of a different vocal range too in my opinion. Usually he sings in a pretty high octave and all the notes are very smooth and flow together, but on this album he used some some lower vocal ranges, and broke up the notes more, which was a really cool change. I found that a few of the songs really took on a very Queen-like feel. Especially United States of Eurasia and Resistance. They would start off slower and softer and then get really loud and have classic rock sounding guitar riffs and it reminded me a lot of Queen really. Then the last three songs of the album, Exogenesis symphonies parts 1, 2, and 3...wow! There are some really beautiful piano solo's and you'll just have to listen to the songs to really be able to appreciate just how hugely talented they are and their amazing ability to incorporate classic rock and electronica and classical music and other genre's to make an extraordinary album. I Belong To You was by far probably my favorite song, it has a very jazzy feel, believe it or not and then Matthew Bellamy sings in french and it is veryyyy sexy! Oh and there's a really cool clarinet solo, which is awesome because that's what i play! I really don't have the time to talk about this album because i probably could all night, its just that good (and Muse just happens to be my favorite band) so you'll just have to go out and BUY (not download) the CD and see for yourself!

Portsmouth

Had a really fun afternoon in Portsmouth today. My mom and my Aunt came to visit and it was the first time my aunt had seen my dorm so she was really excited! We went to the Gas Light for lunch which is one of my favorite places down there. When we got into town there was a bike race going on and there were all these adorable little kids on their bikes trying to make it up this little hill and they were just so cute! Then later there was a men and women's race, I'm pretty sure this is the bike race that Professor Glasson mentioned in class the other day, i had forgotten all about it but it was fun to watch for a little while. I must say though all the shops and boutiques in Portsmouth are sooooo expensive! It makes sense though, Portsmouth is a big tourist attraction in the summer and all the stores are pretty exclusive and unique. Window shopping is still fun though! I went into this shoe store (i forget the name of it) and i tried on theses really cute black heels that you could just slip on and the back was open, in the sale section and they were still around 200 dollars! It was ridiculous, they were so comfy and stylish but waaayyyy out of my price range. Trying on expensive shoes is a blast though, and plus at the end you don't have anything to feel guilty about. Because, c'mon girls we all know that those 4 inch black leather boots you "just had to have" will only get worn once and then will get shoved in the back of the closet. But hey, that's what girls do! So afterward we went into Macro Polo, which is the funniest shop ever. It kind of reminds me of Spencer's but in a more unique and less vulgar way somehow. There were these hilarious note pads that said "Mood Alert" on them and listed were a whole bunch of things and you just checked off what applied to you. For example there was "My Day was:" a) horrible b) great c) mediocre etc..and then "You should:" a) stay out of my face b) give me a hug c) take cover under a rock etc...and then there was "I need:" a) a glass of wine b) a hug c) time to relax etc....You get the point, it was just really funny and i was really tempted to buy them for one of my friends but i was worried she would be a little insulted. It was such a beautiful day to walk around down there though, it was nice and sunny with a little breeze and it was really perfect fall weather. Shopping in general is fun no matter what but when its a nice day and you can be outside and walking it makes it all the better. I can't wait to go back and have another girls day out!

Awesomenesss

Just got back a little while ago from seeing Angels and Demons. It was really good, a lot better than the Da Vinci code i think. It was quite graphic with a lot of people burning and being branded and such. Not really a lot of blood but just a lot of unusual ways to die. Tom Hanks was great as usual, his wit and charm commanding the stage. The plot line had a lot of twists in it, and basically you hate the wrong people the entire movie. I don't feel too bad giving away stuff because this movie did come out like 4 months ago so most people reading this probably already saw the movie (if they care that much). The guy that plays Bootstrap Bill in Pirates of the Caribbean (Stellan Skarsgard) played this really uptight head of the Vatican security. Personally i found it weird to see him without starfish and barnacles all over his face. This movie just felt a lot more real and...dangerous, i guess than the Da Vinci code. This is perhaps because the Da Vinci code was mostly just about trying to solve a puzzle, no one was really in great danger, not compared to in this movie at least. The Pope was dead at the beginning of the movie but other important figures (4 cardinals) and various members of the Vatican were in danger throughout the movie making it more action packed and definitely more suspenseful. The architecture was beautiful as well. I realize that most of it must have been re-created for the movie but the statues and areas of the church and the Sistine Chapel and St.Peter's Square were all very beautiful and makes me want to visit Rome so bad! Im sure this is super boring to those of you who have already seen the movie but if youre still reading this then this next tidbit is kind of funny. On my way back from the movie i walked by a guy riding his skateboard up a hill and just as i passed him he took a huge fall, flat on his face and sent his skateboard flying in the other direction down the hill. It was hilarious, and then he stands up and turns to me and is like "im way to drunk to be riding a skateboard!" It was pretty comical, i mean this guy went down hard and his skateboard went flying, but luckily his friend was able to catch it for him. So that was completely unrelated but i thought was worth sharing. But all in all i had a very fun night and i though the movie was great, just let me say Ewan McGregor played a great part, he was all beloved and noble..and then he broke my heart. Those of you who have yet to see it will just have to watch and find out. So i will definitely be buying this when it comes out on DVD, hopefully by christmas!!!

Angels and Demons

First off whoever wrote in their blog that they set their blog to their homepage, great idea! I think I've forgotten to blog twice now but the homepage thing should fix that, so thanks! Anyways..Im really excited to go see Angels and Demons tomorrow at the MUB. Me and a couple of friends are going and I'm just sooo excited because Ive been wanting to see it ever since it came out and just never had the time. The Da Vinci code was pretty good, i thought it was a little slow but i enjoyed the puzzle element of it. I like the kinds of movies where you have to put the pieces together and essentially keep guessing to the end. A and D looks a lot more action packed than the previous movie though. I think i remember from the previews (like 3 months back) that there were some explosions and maybe a shoot out? My friend and i were also discussing how amazing it was that they recreated St. Peters square, i mean what a huge project that must have been. Obviously a necessary one thought, i highlt doubt the Pope would be ok with them running rampage through the square just to shoot a movie. Even better is that Ewan McGregor is in it. HOTTIE! And a good actor but essentially a hottie! Tom Hanks is an amazing actor so I'm geared up for an awesome movie! Not to mention that's its only, what, 2 dollars to see a movie at the MUB? You cant get much better than that.

Tennis

Just played a rousing game of tennis with my room mate! It was really hot despite the wind though and after only an hour I was so tired. The wind was really obnoxious as well, it kept blowing my ball just outside the line. Otherwise a fun time though. The courts here are really nice, they're not all cracked and lumpy like the ones I used to play on back home. Its also nice having so many courts, I believe there are 12. When I was down there the boys and girls tennis teams/clubs were having practice and there were still some courts open. I only wish that they were closer, I live on main street which is quite a hike but I suppose people further in on campus have it even worse, so I shouldn't complain. If the weather is nice like this all week hopefully I can play a couple more times this week before it starts getting too cold. Between tennis and hitting the gym 4-5 times a week I should be able to avoid the dreaded freshman 15..or is it 50, I've heard both, the latter seems a bit extreme though. U-day activities are starting soon, its a great day for it! I cant wait to check out all the clubs and organizations. I had wanted to do to Tennis Club for a while but I read online they play D-1 teams from other school and personally that's way beyond my level, so I decided just to avoid that. Luckily one of my room mates loves to play so I have someone at my level to play with. If anyone else likes to play let me know and maybe we can get another couple people and have a doubles match sometime!

Sickness!

I'm starting to get really concerned with what appears to be a sudden outbreak of sickness on campus. I've had multiple people tell me they're sick or getting sick and yesterday one of my classes was cancelled because my professor was sick. I know that may not sound like a big deal but apparently a lot of schools down south have been stricken with H1N1..oh no the swine! Which the severeness of the swine flu is debatable but still i would just rather avoid it. Pleasssse everyone wash! wash! wash! those hands and don't share drinks/eating utensils and cover your mouth when you sneeze/cough! Common sense people! I'm sure that i hate sickness just as much as the next person so for those of you out there that are already suffering please do the rest of us a favor and stay away!! Just kidding but really practice good sanitation! Being sick just sucks in general but i personally think it sucks even more when you're away from home and cant sleep next to the toilet. So i will definitely be doing my part to stop the spread of germs so if everyone else does as well we can hopefully avoid a school wide outbreak of the cold..or worse.

Parents and Texting

I'm sure I'm not the first person to notice that parents and texting don't really mesh. I think its due to a combo of not understanding how to do it and just thinking its plain stupid. Take my parents for example. My Mom: "honey I tried texting you the other day..it took me about five minutes to type out 'Hi, I hope you are having fun, i miss you' and then when i finally went to send it, it said 'Messaging Error: Not Sent' I was sooo mad..that's the last time I try that!" And then you have my Dad: "You better not try to text me because I wont respond. It's so stupid, why don't you just pick up the phone and CALL!" I can see their point to an extent; the other day I had a very lengthy texting conversation with my friend and and I was so absorbed in it and it took me forever. When I was finally done talking my mom looked at me and was like "you know i bet that would have taken way less time if you'd just called her." Thinking on it I bet she was right but texting just seems so much more convenient, and in some ways it is but definitely not in all circumstances. But back to the parents thing. I don't really understand their opposition to texting. I mean back when there weren't any telephones and people just wrote letters I don't think anyone was opposed to the telephone when it was invented. I don't think anyone was like "phones are just stupid, why would anyone want a faster and more convenient way to talk to people?" Provided you cant send naked pictures of yourself over the telephone, so there's a point to the parents. But really texting can be very convenient is some situations..like in class when you really need to talk to your friend...i mean..just kidding. But seriously when you just want to send someone a quick message or see if your friends want to meet up. Plus you don't have to wait for them to answer the phone and you wont get off on a tangent or have to engage in frivolous conversation. I suppose not all parents are totally against it and i should be lucky my parents even let me have it on my phone. Who knows maybe one day there will be texting revolution and parents will succumb to the evils of T9 Java Powered texting. Until then let there be peace between the flying fingered teens and their cord wrapped parents (but hopefully by now they've at least upgraded to cordless).

To Eat or Not to Eat

Today I ate sushi for the first time. Well I suppose that's not entirely true..it was vegetable sushi, there wasn't any actual fish in it. I just couldn't bring myself to eat raw fish, I don't particularly care for fish in the first place so I couldn't really see myself enjoying it anymore raw. The vegetable kind was quite delicious though. The outside was white rice and the inside had a thick layer of what looked like the veggie cream cheese you can get at Dunkin Donuts. The filling was very smooth and had chunks of red pepper and carrots in it. I put on it this "spicy mayo" sauce. It wasn't really all that spicy though, I think tangy would be a better word. It looked a bit like mayo that just had a little red food coloring in it, giving it a pretty salmon color. It had more chunks of red pepper in it, which made for a lovely presentation atop my "sushi". It made basically an alternating pattern of white and pink. Sushi is a very pretty food..even the fish kind. I just love how the rice or seaweed wrapping binds everything together in this neat little package..they're just perfect finger food or for chopsticks. Who'da thunk it, eating sushi with chopsticks?! The Chinese must have had that in mind when they invented sushi. Maybe next time I'll try real sushi. They did have a tuna sushi roll...hmmm i do enjoy tuna. Well that's all for now but maybe some of you would like to share your sushi stories or know a good sushi bar? Let me know!

House of Flying Daggers

All I can say is WOW. Honestly, I am completly awed by House of Flying Daggers. I was never one for martial arts movies but to call this movie simply a martial arts movie would be an understatement. My friend recommended this movie to me after seeing it with her dad and was highly impressed by the soundtrack and costumes. Being a bit of a music junkie I watched some clips of the movie online just to hear some of the music. After watching a few sequences I found not only did I really enjoy the music but the movie itself seemed quite enthralling. Let me tell you my high hopes were not let down either. The premise for the movie is that its set in 859 AD and with the Tang Dynasty in decline many rebel groups have appeared, one of them being House of Flying Daggers. Two deputies are charged with finding their leader and to do so they manipulate a believed member of this group and follow her in hopes that she will bring them to her leader. Many trials ensue along the way and there are just so many twists and turns in this movie you might just fall out of your seat. I thought the movie was going to end about six different times before it actually did and not until the very end of the film do you really get to see the true colors of each of the 3 main characters. There were so many unique and beautiful shots in the movie. One of my favorites is from the fight scene at the end. The two rivals are fighting in this huge meadow of white flowers and the background behind them is just blooming with color. The immense forest behind them is filled with trees changing color and the contrast between the white meadow and oranges and reds and greens of the trees is absolutely stunning. After doing some research I found that the director of this film, Zhang Yimou, is known for his strong use of colors and in this movie that certainly holds true. In another scene, in a bamboo forest, just about everything on the screen is green, the costumes, the forest, everything. The sets and costumes in this movie are no exception to the quality of the rest of the film either. In the beginning of the film one of the deputies visits a brothel to obtain information and the women there are all dressed in beautiful silk robes and the building is covered from floor to ceiling with beautiful chinese paintings that the director used to depict the era in which the movie was set, adding to the authenticity of the movie. If your still not convinced you should see this movie you should know its not just a martial arts movie, as i said before. There is also a pretty involved love story occuring at the same time, which is said to be unusual for this genre of movie. Know also that this genre of movie, called wuxia, is also known for never having happy endings so be ready with a box of tissues...but dont jump to conclusions either, as i said before nothing is really ever what it seems. So the action is great, the love story is touching, the set and costumes are amazing, and the soundtrack is unbeleivable. Whats not to like? I certainly loved it but you be the judge.

The Big Lebowski

So I have a new favorite movie...The Big Lebowski! Now for anyone that hasn't seen it a good description would be a mix between Dumb and Dumber (to the extreme) and Dude Where's My Car, plus a lot of swearing and naked women..that pretty much sums it up. I won't even bother giving you a plot line because in all honesty there is none. For those who have seen the movie you'll know who I'm talking about when I refer to Walter. Walter is the MAN! He has...um lets say "emotional problems" meaning he says the F Word every second and pulls a gun on his friend when they get into a dispute about bowling. Yeah pretty epic. I can't even begin to imagine how this movie came into being, the person who wrote the script in all honesty must have been on drugs because nothing in the movie ties together. So why would I like such a disgraceful sounding movie you ask? Well just the pure hilarity of it is reason enough but honestly I can't really explain why I enjoyed it so much. It was just a great representation of creative movie making at its best and worst at the same time. It just goes to show that just about anything will fly in Hollywood. So I highly suggest this for anyone that just wants a good laugh or wants to see Jeff Bridges head shoved down the toilet multiple time, whatever your reason, check it out!