Well it's supposed to be!
But the only thing truly newsworthy about this video is that it's awesome.
Sorry Steve.
Hump De Bump by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Our video featuring the oh soo talented CreComm band.
Shot by myself (of course) and Adam Smitzniuk.
Enjoy!
Broadcast J music video from Alexa Lacroix on Vimeo.
December 8, 2010
March 23, 2010
We've got to save Ginny Weasley from the Basilisk
There are some things that words just can't describe.
They give you a feeling, a sort of warm tingly, well, warmth in your heart.
Harry and the Potters is my warm heart.
Seriously. I discovered for myself HATP around 3 years ago as a nerdy, nerdy, again, nerdy teen trying to find myself in lame music and various trends. I'll have to admit, if I had one regret it's that I didn't try out WRock, aka Wizard Rock.
Groups such as:
Draco and the Malfoys
The Whomping Willows
Ministry of Magic
Roonil Wazlib
The Neville Longbottom Experience
Ginny & the Heartbreakers
Potterwatch
and
Lord Voldi and the Darkmarks
are only a small taste of what the WRock world has to offer us, and what they've got to offer is something quite unique.
although filled with plenty of incredibly nerdy Harry Potter references, this stuff is actually quite enjoyable for the light Harry Potter fan as well.
In closing. Here is a gift from me to you. Trust me when I say. This is good stuff.
They give you a feeling, a sort of warm tingly, well, warmth in your heart.
Harry and the Potters is my warm heart.
Seriously. I discovered for myself HATP around 3 years ago as a nerdy, nerdy, again, nerdy teen trying to find myself in lame music and various trends. I'll have to admit, if I had one regret it's that I didn't try out WRock, aka Wizard Rock.
Groups such as:
Draco and the Malfoys
The Whomping Willows
Ministry of Magic
Roonil Wazlib
The Neville Longbottom Experience
Ginny & the Heartbreakers
Potterwatch
and
Lord Voldi and the Darkmarks
are only a small taste of what the WRock world has to offer us, and what they've got to offer is something quite unique.
although filled with plenty of incredibly nerdy Harry Potter references, this stuff is actually quite enjoyable for the light Harry Potter fan as well.
In closing. Here is a gift from me to you. Trust me when I say. This is good stuff.
March 17, 2010
When One Takes A Picture Of Oneself
Is there like a picture taking etiquette?
If I happened to have a set of rules, I think this would be mine, although I'm probably guilty of breaking at least one of these rules.
Here we goo:
Do NOT take a picture of your eyeball and use it as a profile picture.
Do NOT try to CONTORT your body to take a photo from a certain angle and fit your whole self into that photo, it's not pretty.
TRY not to give us a clear shot down the cleav girls, a little bit is whatever, do your thing, but really? I don't want to see your stomach through the top of your shirt.
PLEASE if you're taking some form of mirror photo, try to keep the camera out of the shot. This is only forgivable in group photos.
WEAR PANTS.
Try not to get your whole ARM in the photo, we understand that you are holding the camera, mainly because your elbow takes up 2/3 of this picture.
...WEAR PANTS
Do not CRY, as you take photos of yourself.
Check to make sure that whatever's in the background isn't completely embarrassing or something of the sort.
and again, I would like to stress, a long plaid shirt that barely covers your behind is not a dress. WEAR PANTS.
signed, me.
February 13, 2010
Facebook vs Twitter
I don't know if that's even a fair comparison.
I mean there's a HUGE difference between the two.
FACEBOOK
An online network of QUADRILLIONS of people with profiles, photo albums, chat, written notes, wall to write on, message sending capabilities, fan pages, groups, events, and thousands of applications to customize your Facebook experience to they way YOU want it.
Facebook is a place where you can find almost everyone under the age of 21 these days. This is how the youth of today talk to eachother, make friends, keep friends, stay in touch and just generally entertain themselves.
My mom, however, uses Facebook to get back in touch with her old grammar school friends who still live in London, and my aunts use it to say happy birthday to me when they can't make it in town.
Facebook connects people in a way that feels so personal you don't realize the distances that sometimes seperate them.
TWITTER
Twitter is a long list of updates from a list of people you should choose to follow. People can choose to share links and links to pictures.
the max length of each "tweet" is only 140 characters.
Now all of this closely resembles what is called the status update on Facebook.
Twitter is also largely used by people to follow people like celebrities and news sources, which to me seems to be the only real use for Twitter, as a news source.
I personally have found that the only people who enjoy Twitter are people with iPhones or some sort of way to stay permanently in contact with Twitter, or else, what's the point?
I think in this round of Facebook v. Twitter, Facebook wins.
Until Twitter has the amount of users that Facebook has amassed, it really won't be competition.
I mean there's a HUGE difference between the two.
An online network of QUADRILLIONS of people with profiles, photo albums, chat, written notes, wall to write on, message sending capabilities, fan pages, groups, events, and thousands of applications to customize your Facebook experience to they way YOU want it.
Facebook is a place where you can find almost everyone under the age of 21 these days. This is how the youth of today talk to eachother, make friends, keep friends, stay in touch and just generally entertain themselves.
My mom, however, uses Facebook to get back in touch with her old grammar school friends who still live in London, and my aunts use it to say happy birthday to me when they can't make it in town.
Facebook connects people in a way that feels so personal you don't realize the distances that sometimes seperate them.
Twitter is a long list of updates from a list of people you should choose to follow. People can choose to share links and links to pictures.
the max length of each "tweet" is only 140 characters.
Now all of this closely resembles what is called the status update on Facebook.
Twitter is also largely used by people to follow people like celebrities and news sources, which to me seems to be the only real use for Twitter, as a news source.
I personally have found that the only people who enjoy Twitter are people with iPhones or some sort of way to stay permanently in contact with Twitter, or else, what's the point?
I think in this round of Facebook v. Twitter, Facebook wins.
Until Twitter has the amount of users that Facebook has amassed, it really won't be competition.
February 10, 2010
We Interrupt This Broadcast
To inform you of just what is required to write a radio drama.
Hours and hours of thinking.
Writing a radio drama isn't as simple as you might think. You have to come up with a story and characters that are interesting enough to entertain without visuals, that are going to be complex enough to come across many different problems episode after episode and not become repetitive. Not every story translates into a workable radio play.
When writing a character, you have to remember that no one can see what your character looks like, walks like, or what their physical mannerisms are. You have to convey all of this audibly. If your character walks slowly, you can show this by giving them a slow, dragging low voice. If they walk rapidly, you can create a higher-pitched more scattered speech pattern. Basically, with creating a character for the radio, you really exaggerate characteristics to create a feelings that can be conveyed audibly using sound effects and dialogue.
When coming up with a story, you have to leave room for progression, change, and new problems. At the same time, your story has to have elements of consistency, from familiar characters to settings and the speed at which time passes.
There are plenty of parts involved in writing a drama that are only increased in difficulty with the radio drama, but the work is well worth it and a radio drama can last anywhere from a ten minute segment to a series that will last for ages.
over and out
Hours and hours of thinking.
Writing a radio drama isn't as simple as you might think. You have to come up with a story and characters that are interesting enough to entertain without visuals, that are going to be complex enough to come across many different problems episode after episode and not become repetitive. Not every story translates into a workable radio play.
When writing a character, you have to remember that no one can see what your character looks like, walks like, or what their physical mannerisms are. You have to convey all of this audibly. If your character walks slowly, you can show this by giving them a slow, dragging low voice. If they walk rapidly, you can create a higher-pitched more scattered speech pattern. Basically, with creating a character for the radio, you really exaggerate characteristics to create a feelings that can be conveyed audibly using sound effects and dialogue.
When coming up with a story, you have to leave room for progression, change, and new problems. At the same time, your story has to have elements of consistency, from familiar characters to settings and the speed at which time passes.
There are plenty of parts involved in writing a drama that are only increased in difficulty with the radio drama, but the work is well worth it and a radio drama can last anywhere from a ten minute segment to a series that will last for ages.
over and out
February 5, 2010
TGIF finally makes sense.
Another long week for the CreComms.
LOONG week.
I mean at this point I don't have anything interesting to post on here..
I've got bloggersblock.
yep.
I got a disease, the only cure..
well maybe some sleep.
I'd like to add that the mac and cheese has not been up to par lately in the crafé. not, up to par.
sub par.
below my expectations.
I think I'm slowly losing my mind.
What if I turn into one of those crazy old people who drink like an inch of scotch like constantly. The glass never seems to empty.
And well, I guess that's usually men.. but ignore that for now. just imagine.
...
Man, I can't wait to meet me in fifteen years. What a piece of work.
This is starting to turn into one of those useless diary blogs...
damn it.
owell, maybe that will at least be interesting.
I'll call it...
The Deterioration of a Glorious Mind.
or something like that.
ehn. I'm out of steam. I need CARBS and SLEEP.
to hell with you fitness!
it's too cold out there to take extra warmth for granted.
Auf Wiedersen.. :)
LOONG week.
I mean at this point I don't have anything interesting to post on here..
I've got bloggersblock.
yep.
I got a disease, the only cure..
well maybe some sleep.
I'd like to add that the mac and cheese has not been up to par lately in the crafé. not, up to par.
sub par.
below my expectations.
I think I'm slowly losing my mind.
What if I turn into one of those crazy old people who drink like an inch of scotch like constantly. The glass never seems to empty.
And well, I guess that's usually men.. but ignore that for now. just imagine.
...
Man, I can't wait to meet me in fifteen years. What a piece of work.
This is starting to turn into one of those useless diary blogs...
damn it.
owell, maybe that will at least be interesting.
I'll call it...
The Deterioration of a Glorious Mind.
or something like that.
ehn. I'm out of steam. I need CARBS and SLEEP.
to hell with you fitness!
it's too cold out there to take extra warmth for granted.
Auf Wiedersen.. :)
January 29, 2010
Speaking of Musicals...
Here's one that I did one year with a couple friends.
Musicals are fantastic, can you blame us for wanting to be a part of the magic?
Musicals are fantastic, can you blame us for wanting to be a part of the magic?
January 20, 2010
Enter The Chamber At Your Own Risk
Friday night, there's a slight chill outside as sixty-something CreComm students enter the Rachel Browne Theatre for a night of entertainment. Little did they know what they were in for.
This year, the In The Chamber series put out a show called Last Men. The show consisted of two pieces, the first, called The Last Man in Krakendorf, and the second, The Last Man in Puntarenas. Both pieces were one man performances, centered around men having an identity crisis.
The show begins with a peculiar and seemingly completely unrelated scene as we witness a couple in bed fighting over the covers which leads into one of the most awkward handjob scenes I could fathom. After about a minute and a half the "woman" exits the room and we see actor Steven Ratzlaff fighting a disembodied voice as he screams from the bed that he still has chaos in him.
The first play starred Gordon Tanner as a frustrated businessman as he works through confused feelings talking to a video camera. Tanner's character is going to send this video to his boss if he doesn't get arrested first and so the entire time he battles between not bothering to finish recording, and finishing in time.
Tanner delivers a passionate speech about the treatment of hogs on hog farms and about the business system in general, presenting us with the idea of a new and old system. Both systems consisted of sections, the old system; Who Fucked Up? You Fucked Up. You're Fired. and the new system consisted mainly of we all fucked up together, why did we all fuck up together, and what did you do to cause us all to fuck up together.
Another idea that Tanner offers us is one that his character claims to be the drive behind human error, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Both funny points and well explained, however, after this point in the play Tanner slowly lost my attention.
In a well acted and interesting performance Tanner's energy doesn't let down once, but one can only take so much. The entire play was a monologue and after a while begins to sound preachy. I think it definitely could've been a little bit shorter and it would've been more successful.
The second performance starred Steven Ratzlaff, and to be totally honest that's probably the most I can tell you. Ratzlaff as well delivers a well acted monologue.. that seems to never end. He gets into terms far too complicated to continue to hold the attention of the average audience member. Ratzlaff is giving a speech to collegues at a sort of dinner party and can't seem to stay on topic or within the boundaries of typical politeness.
Ratzlaff talks about the loss of his son, as well as his wife leaving him and their relationship's deterioration. He talks, well, a lot really, and by the end of it all I wasn't really sure what exactly to take away from what I'd seen.
Both actors did a superb job performing, and their energy was fantastic, you could feel their words as they spoke, however, their words began to lose effect as we drew closer to an hour in each monologue. I wasn't a huge fan of the production, but I would have to say I would see those guys act in another play anyday.
This year, the In The Chamber series put out a show called Last Men. The show consisted of two pieces, the first, called The Last Man in Krakendorf, and the second, The Last Man in Puntarenas. Both pieces were one man performances, centered around men having an identity crisis.
The show begins with a peculiar and seemingly completely unrelated scene as we witness a couple in bed fighting over the covers which leads into one of the most awkward handjob scenes I could fathom. After about a minute and a half the "woman" exits the room and we see actor Steven Ratzlaff fighting a disembodied voice as he screams from the bed that he still has chaos in him.
The first play starred Gordon Tanner as a frustrated businessman as he works through confused feelings talking to a video camera. Tanner's character is going to send this video to his boss if he doesn't get arrested first and so the entire time he battles between not bothering to finish recording, and finishing in time.
Tanner delivers a passionate speech about the treatment of hogs on hog farms and about the business system in general, presenting us with the idea of a new and old system. Both systems consisted of sections, the old system; Who Fucked Up? You Fucked Up. You're Fired. and the new system consisted mainly of we all fucked up together, why did we all fuck up together, and what did you do to cause us all to fuck up together.
Another idea that Tanner offers us is one that his character claims to be the drive behind human error, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Both funny points and well explained, however, after this point in the play Tanner slowly lost my attention.
In a well acted and interesting performance Tanner's energy doesn't let down once, but one can only take so much. The entire play was a monologue and after a while begins to sound preachy. I think it definitely could've been a little bit shorter and it would've been more successful.
The second performance starred Steven Ratzlaff, and to be totally honest that's probably the most I can tell you. Ratzlaff as well delivers a well acted monologue.. that seems to never end. He gets into terms far too complicated to continue to hold the attention of the average audience member. Ratzlaff is giving a speech to collegues at a sort of dinner party and can't seem to stay on topic or within the boundaries of typical politeness.
Ratzlaff talks about the loss of his son, as well as his wife leaving him and their relationship's deterioration. He talks, well, a lot really, and by the end of it all I wasn't really sure what exactly to take away from what I'd seen.
Both actors did a superb job performing, and their energy was fantastic, you could feel their words as they spoke, however, their words began to lose effect as we drew closer to an hour in each monologue. I wasn't a huge fan of the production, but I would have to say I would see those guys act in another play anyday.
January 17, 2010
So I'm Predictable.
But I can't help but be excited for the upcoming Sex and the City sequel.
Especially as I'm sitting watching the original SATC movie you can't help but love the four girls in their never ending quest for love.
Especially as I'm sitting watching the original SATC movie you can't help but love the four girls in their never ending quest for love.
January 8, 2010
April Fools' from Taco Bell
After spending some time researching what one would call the pseudo-event, I have realized that I don't know what to believe anymore.
A pseudo-event in a nutshell is an event or stunt put on for the sole purpose of promoting something or someone.
I would have to say that from what I've seen so far in this field, Taco Bell seems to know what to do to get the public's eyes on them.
On April 1st, 1996, Taco Bell placed full page ads in 6 major American newspapers announcing that they had purchased the Liberty Bell renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell.
The ad read:
Taco Bell Buys The Liberty Bell
In an effort to help the national debt, Taco Bell is pleased to announce that we have agreed to purchase the Liberty Bell, one of our country’s most historic treasures. It will now be called the “Taco Liberty Bell” and will still be accessible to the American public for viewing. While some may find this controversial, we hope our move will prompt other corporations to take similar action to do their part to reduce the country’s debt.
In a press release, Taco Bell claimed that the bell would be dividing its time between Philadelphia and the Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine. Taco Bell compared their purchase to adoption of highways by corporations. Taco Bell's arguement was that they were “going one step further by purchasing one of the country’s greatest historic treasures.” The company continued, “Taco Bell’s heritage and imagery have revolved around the symbolism of the bell. Now we’ve got the crown jewel of bells.”
Later that day after being "hammered" by phone calls, the company issued a second press release admitting to the huge hoax and instead saying that they were donating 50,000 dollars towards the upkeep of the bell. According to Taco Bell’s marketing department, their sales increased by over half-a-million dollars during the week of April 1st, compared to the week before.
Success? I think so.
This isn't the only prank Taco bell has pulled.
You can read about this prank that Taco Bell pulled in 2001 here.
Crafty buggers.
A pseudo-event in a nutshell is an event or stunt put on for the sole purpose of promoting something or someone.
I would have to say that from what I've seen so far in this field, Taco Bell seems to know what to do to get the public's eyes on them.
On April 1st, 1996, Taco Bell placed full page ads in 6 major American newspapers announcing that they had purchased the Liberty Bell renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell.
The ad read:
Taco Bell Buys The Liberty Bell
In an effort to help the national debt, Taco Bell is pleased to announce that we have agreed to purchase the Liberty Bell, one of our country’s most historic treasures. It will now be called the “Taco Liberty Bell” and will still be accessible to the American public for viewing. While some may find this controversial, we hope our move will prompt other corporations to take similar action to do their part to reduce the country’s debt.
In a press release, Taco Bell claimed that the bell would be dividing its time between Philadelphia and the Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine. Taco Bell compared their purchase to adoption of highways by corporations. Taco Bell's arguement was that they were “going one step further by purchasing one of the country’s greatest historic treasures.” The company continued, “Taco Bell’s heritage and imagery have revolved around the symbolism of the bell. Now we’ve got the crown jewel of bells.”
Later that day after being "hammered" by phone calls, the company issued a second press release admitting to the huge hoax and instead saying that they were donating 50,000 dollars towards the upkeep of the bell. According to Taco Bell’s marketing department, their sales increased by over half-a-million dollars during the week of April 1st, compared to the week before.
Success? I think so.
This isn't the only prank Taco bell has pulled.
You can read about this prank that Taco Bell pulled in 2001 here.
Crafty buggers.
