I was just reading a little about other peoples' off contract experiences and wondering why everyone talked so much of alcohol. I've been having so much more fun with my tobacco. My best friend Matt introduced me to the CAO Go tonight, and it was fabulous.
It's a large gauge cigar that received a 91 rating from Cigar Afficianodo(sp?). The thing started off bold, roughing up the back of my mouth a bit. But after I got through about an inch, it settled down some and got a bit smoother. Great flavor, great odor, great addition to friendly chatter.
Cigs have been nice too. I've gone through a few Camel Turkish Golds and several Djarum Bali Hai cloves. Cigs can still give me a nice buzz sometimes, but I must say the cloves can leave your chest with an icy fire sometimes. Don't use those too much.
Oh, and I did have a littel alcohol this weekend. Anyone ever had Blue Moon beer? It's a Belgian white beer made from...uh...I think it was wheat. I had one on Thanksgiving and it was really good.
See you all soon folks. Oh I can see the shackles coming back now
G out
So after church today I began to reminisce with a very dear friend about all the very weird and wonderful and crazy things that have happened to us since coming to college. So far we're up to our top 45 events, and that's all still in our freshman year. I think this is therapeutic in some way or another, especially in light of what I wrote earlier this month about being sad in light of graduation and leaving and stuff. At any rate, it's a fun little game.
Oh, and just for a laugh, the word reminisce itself makes me reminisce back to 7th grade. My English teacher asked the class what the word reminisce meant, and for some reason no one would answer. So my friend Eric speaks up, and--I've never figured out if he was trying to be class clown or really, truly meant this--says, "doesn't that mean to make love?"
Yeah, so I figured out how to change backgrounds and whatnot on my stylesheet and I think things look pretty sweet now. I probably won't leave this picture up very long since it is someone else's. I've got plans...big ones...for how this blog's gonna look. It'll be nice.
Oh yeah, I watched Training Day tonight. Very good, very violent, very disturbing. Just the way I like it (ie. Kill Bill) One of my favorite endings in a movie in the last several years.
Just a quick note to anyone waiting for issue 4 of the Bagpipe:
I have laid out about 80% of the content for this issue, and hope to finish the rest tomorrow so that it can be published on Wednesday. It's a somewhat sparse issue news-wise, but there's a lot of pop-culture and other stuff goin' on this issue. Here's hoping my mind will be creative and artistic tomorrow...
mcGee
Hey peoples.
I've decided that each week I will modify my "
mcGee
Yeah, so like my description above says, I really doubt that I will update this thing too terribly much, but I probably should enough that I'll feel vindicated in having it.
Uhmmm...so I went to see 11'9'01, September 11 last night...oh wait, that's already been talked about by several (ie. Kornstar and Linnea). Yeah, I liked it to for the most part...ditto what they said.
Uhmmm...then, oh yeah. I bought Coldplay's Parachutes last night at McKay. I'd been wanting it forever, and it contributes to my perhaps never ending quest to own a commercial copy of every mp3 song I own. I figure if I listen to 'em enough to keep them on my computer for over, what, 7 years now (I downloaded music @ underground websites long before the advent of napster or kazaa. Did anyone else do this?), that I could probably show a little appreciation to the artist by buying the actual disc. Plus, there's just something majikal about owning the real cd with jewel case, cover art, and cd art. Something cool happens there.
Oh right, so back to Coldplay for a second. All I really have to say is that they have an absolutely incredible show that I went to in Cleveland over the summer. The visual fx were the best I have seen at any show ever. Oh that too...Their live album came out this week, but it's not just an album. They include a DVD and computer features too. So I'm excited about buying that on half.com sometime when I actually have money...
Alright, so that's enough.
Now lambast me for my stupidity in refusing to pirate and whatnot anymore...
G
So it's not quite 2 o'clock yet, which means I don't quite feel like I can go to bed yet. Something keeps me up until around that time most nights.
So I read Emily's post on being a senior over @ Academic Prostitution and found her thoughts very similar to some things that struck me over the weekend. During the folk festival on Friday night, Jeanne began her set by saying that it was her first and last folk festival. The latter part about it being her last really struck me because it made me realize just how many things are going to begin being the last for me as well.
I don't relish coming to that day when I realize I'm making my last trip up and down the mountain. I don't relish the day that I will say good bye to so many of my relationships here. Thinking of finals is somewhat bittersweet, considering that I will be taking my last one here in several months. It's sad that things must have an end.
On another note, why does graduating college mean we have to move into adulthood? I realize that for we'll have this degree thing and that we might shoulda do something with it, but does doing something with a degree mean we are adults? Does being adults mean that we all of a sudden become dull people with far less exciting lives than those we've had here in college?
Maybe it does, but I would rather think that that's not what it's all about. There's no binding need to give into social pressure to perform, no real reason that one should feel like a failure for not becoming a professional. I for one don't feel like I've come to a point where I want to start a real career yet. I still want to get more education, learn new things, and figure out what I want to do with my life. Of course, half the 50 year olds I talk to still don't know what it is that they want to do with their lives for sure.
Life doesn't end just because I graduate college and leave everything that I know for sure, or at least I'd like to think it doesn't. It just makes a drastic change in direction and focus. I hope we can learn to do this with some grace...
For my Senior Integration Project I came up with the genious idea of writing on Jesus in film. I figured by doing this, I would be able to knock out both my SIP and my Christology papers for the semster in one fell swoop. Of course, at the time I didn't really think of how boring some Jesus movies can be.
Then there's also that thing about how ghastly hard SIP's can be on your stress levels because of their darn importance. One damn paper is worth the same as a whole semester's worth of lectures and tests in another class. I hate this thing.
But, getting back to the subject at hand, at this moment I'm sitting here watching Monty Python's Life of Brian as a light hearted break from all of the other Jesus movies I've been watching. Earlier tonight I finally finished watching Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth; this epic biography of the life and times of Jesus was originally a very long TV miniseries. By very long I mean like 5, maybe even 6 hours of story, nearly 1/3 of it focusing on Jesus birth and the events before his birth.
Basically I just didn't like this film. Most reviewers seem to think that it is really good for some reason, but I found it quite unflattering. The camera work in the film is horrible--extreme closeups that let you see people's nosehairs, "wide-angle" shots that are totally washed out by the overtly surrealistic lighting, and dissolves that make you wonder if you've actually moved on from the shot before. Other problems abound: There's the creepy, greenish-bluish eyed Jesus that's apparently anorexic; there's the fact that Mary is Olivia Hussey (maybe that's not so much a problem, but she is really, really hot in it); there's all the added stories added to the Gospel accounts, including a really extraneous one that gave James Earl Jones the opportunity to be one of the wisemen; There are several points where words are put into Jesus mouth...
I guess I did like a few things about it though. The added scene detailing how the Sanhedrin came to plot Jesus's death was very interesting (Lawrence Olivia plays Nicodemus), as was the addition of a fictinal scribe named Zara who seemed to be behind every plot against Jesus. I had trouble dealing with the portrayal of Jesus as a detached being with a supernatural glow, but there were times where I enjoyed him.
On the whole though, I think I like Life of Brian better...
I know I like J.C. Superstar and Last Temptation better.
Defying the Description that I attached to my blog, I will once again give a short composition...
Hmm...upon looking at what I wrote last night, I realize that it was quite the unusual first post for someone presenting themself into a community. I'm doubting that anyone really cares anyway, but I'll give a little info.
I'm William McGee Lapish:
4th year senior @ Covenant, major in Sociology (and now regretting it), minor in Youth Ministry (I'll never regret that), 1 of only 2 people on the campus from Lexington, Ky and 1 of only 3 from that whole state (for goodness sakes Kentucky, Washington state has more people here). These things make me somewhat of a rarity on the campus--there's probably only like 8 total guys in the sociology major, and I'm the only male from Kentucky (I miss you Pnut).
I live down in the student apartments as 1 of 3 RA's in the whole complex. There's no RD this year, as there didn't seem to be enough money in the budget. That's all a plus if you ask me though.
I've done all kinds of drama stuff at Covenant; I was in Gospel Choir for a semester; I tried to sing in a Barbershop quartet for a while, but that's hard to do without reading music.
This year, my life is being eaten by the Bagpipe. I'm the layout editor for the print edition, and it can often make life a living hell. Mmmm...I hate you Bagpipe, yet I love you so much.
Well, thaz me in a few words (I always hated that "here's me in a nutshell" joke).
Now you know, and knowing is half the battle...
Roll out Autobots,
G
...for the first time, and I thought it was wonderful, as did my roommates. Kornstar (Christ Kornman) loved it for it's artististry and creativity (the cinematographer also worked on the Indiana Jones Trilogy and Fiddler on the Roof, which is the only other musical that Chris enjoys). Lance thought that the Jazzy 70's rock was impressive. I agree with them both, and must say that I was thoroughly impressed by Tim Rice's lyrics on this effort. He's impressed me much more here than he did in Aida (now playing on Broadway), but that could just be because this music was Rock and Roll.
Two scenes of special note: After the troupe has unloaded the bus (a scene of no little beauty in itself), Judas begins the Jesus story with a song that just blows today's music out of the water. You've gotta hear this guy's voice, and the music supporting him was just as good. Wow. The shots of Judas looking down on Jesus walking far below him are exquisite.
Secondly, I think Kornman and I watched the scene where Jesus prays in Gethsemane 3 or 4 times. This sequence incorporates a lot of religious art of the crucifixion as Jesus attempts to show God what this death will feel like. Very powerful and very well done. Incredible.
That's all...
mcGee