Dorm Xmas Tree

I'm a Christmas junkie, so as soon as Halloween ends the holiday season starts for me. The ritual has usually been pretty simple. I'll throw on a Christmas movie, this year it was Christmas Vacation, and I'll put up my plastic tree. It'll be up until mid-December when I take it down and head back to my parents house for Christmas. A tree is a great decoration though, and it certainly sets my dorm apart by making it feel more comfortable, relaxed, and home-like.

Here is a quick little video of me putting up my tree last year. There was really no sense in making a new video because the process and the look are pretty much the same every year anyway. It may only be me and the department stores setting up this early, but here's a little dose of Xmas to get you counting down too.

My First Lip Sync Vid

I thought since I was going for variety on my YouTube channel and blog it was about time that I did a lip sync video - just jumping on the bandwagon, y'know? I chose the song Army by Ben Folds Five because I think I relate to it somewhat, but mostly it's just a fun song that I already knew all the words to. Not much else to say I guess, so enjoy me making a fool of myself, haha.

Welcome Week & Sam Roberts Concert

There's a positive vibe around campus, but this is familiar territory for me. To be honest, because I didn't have to move into a new room, because most of my classes didn't even start this week, and because the weather was mild at best, it's easy to say that it has been a stale start to my last year of university. Not that it's been bad or anything, it just hasn't been all that riveting either (concert excluded). 

I guess to an extent you expect life to throw some bookends or defining moments at you because it seems like it's the right time. Well, maybe it's too early or I just haven't been looking hard enough.  Probably a bit of both.

I've got high expectations for what this year will mean, but I'm also fighting against the reality of what I'll do next. I'm ready to move on, but it's funny how much you feel like clinging to nostalgia at this point. Where did the guy I was in first year go?

I guess the obvious highlight this week was the Sam Roberts concert on the green, although the beer gardens was a big draw too. There have been numerous talks of back to school celebrations for several weeks, and it seems we've had 3 false starts (good times that didn't go as planned). Oh well. I guess most note-worthy is that Brother Down by Sam Roberts sticks in my head as one of those songs that takes me right back to first year. It was really his big break, and I guess there's some poetry in that he was here singing it.  I actually met Sam Roberts briefly when he performed with the Tragically Hip a few years ago.  We went to see them arrive and he came out to chat with us for a bit.  It was especially cool now that he's even more popular.

Next week school is officially in swing, and as the old adage goes 'good things come to those who wait'.  Maybe I'm trying to look for too much meaning, but then again I am an arts student. I guess that was the point of all those classes.

Back to Film School

It's officially September now, and a final year of classes is but days away. If I'd have gone home for the summer I would've moved back into College West (residence) yesterday (Aug. 31). I was lucky to escape moving, not just between home and school this time around, but within residence itself. 

I put up with a headache back in April when the residence office had me move ONE room over. Still no good reason for that decision. After another ordeal about a week ago (proof that the squeaky wheel gets the grease) I was allowed to keep my current room. It wasn't so much that I put up a huge fuss, I just begged and pleaded. Pitiful that I have to fight to NOT move when I'm already living here, but at least it worked.

To some extent there is a lot that I could say about how I'm feeling at the start of this year, but mostly it's just the same feelings I've had every year at this time. I'm excited, anxious . . . really I'm used to it all. School is still several days away so it's too early to say what's good and what's bad, but I will share with you my back to film school tradition.

Back in September 2002 I came to the University of Regina to start my first year of post-secondary education. The Buick (which wasn't mine yet) was packed to the brim with my stuff, and I was incredibly nervous. I didn't know anyone in Regina, but it felt great to finally be stepping out on my own. 

The first thing I did when I got to my dorm room was set up my TV and DVD player to watch a flick while I unpacked. September '07 marks the 6th year in a row (ya, time to graduate I know) that I've started off by watching (what has now become) my back to school movie: Dazed and Confused (1993).

To be honest, I think I chose to play this movie when I first moved in because I figured it would make me feel less nervous to realize that there was no way things were going to be as bad for me as they were for Mitch Kramer (one of the incoming freshmen). Dazed and Confused is a comedy about "the last day of school at a high school in a small town in Texas in 1976. The upperclassmen are hazing the incoming freshmen, and everyone is trying to get stoned, drunk, or laid, even the football players that signed a pledge not to". -IMDb

What can I say? Another year of school can leave you pretty damn Dazed and Confused, so I figured I might as well just start out that way. That movie helped me with my educational transition at the beginning, now it's helping me at the end. It's great for a laugh, and no, it's probably not the best message to live by. But, it is a good time and that's what I'll be looking for in my final year of university!

Friday Scenes

At times I find myself being fascinated by the simplest things. Moments of essentially little consequence, that only in the right frame of mind seem to trigger reflection or inspire me to think out a scene for a screenplay I haven't written yet. I doubt that this is uncommon as we all have moments that are conveniently entertaining, but I've discovered that the more I can absorb these moments the happier and more self assured I become.

For instance, today I was at Walmart and overheard someone say 'I have no idea where my car is, I parked somewhere out in the boonies'. I started to laugh because I refer to the 'boonies' all the time, and until hearing this other guy say it I thought to myself that I have no idea what that means. I guess it's just slang for the middle of nowhere, but still, boonies? When did that catch on and where did i pick it up? Pointless, I know, but there are a lot of dumb sayings that I've embraced over the years.

Also, today the temperature reached a new record high in Regina, beating a previous high from the 1920s. It was 37 degrees Celsius, the kind of hot and humid weather that makes you feel like you just got out of the shower and can't seem to dry off. The dorms are pretty good, I have AC in my room. My one roommate though, or person who also has a dorm here (roommate sounds like we know each other) insists on opening the windows on a daily basis (which leaves me following behind to close them). His reasoning for this could be to let out the smell of his cooking or maybe he likes fresh air, but all I can think about is that the work it took to cool off the place is lost in 5 minutes. Not to mention all the energy it wastes. Plus, how does 37 degrees feel good unless you're on a quest to turn your shoebox of a room into a personal sauna?

My history in residence is full of stories like this that both irritate and entertain (after the fact). There is enough material here for numerous seasons of a residence based sitcom. I'm a white guy in College West (the dorms) which puts me in the minority to a largely Asian population (especially during the summer when most Canadians have gone back to live with their parents or whatever). The cultural differences can be vast. Although, what I may justify as cultural differences is more likely the general stupidity of a select few.

I've learned to deal with residence life so when it came to the open windows on one of the hottest days of the year, I was once again cheerfully shocked as opposed to angry. In contrast, I've experienced everything from the routine loud music and roommates, to people using the toilet as a garbage disposal, cutting their hair in the kitchen and leaving it, and cooking food that smells like the sewer backed up. It's far from glamorous, but it's the kind of fodder and abuse that breeds creativity. No doubt, building character in numerous ways too. Any how, I've left a note on the windows, hopefully we can save some AC now.

The cherry on top of the day was getting a Slurpee (or technically a froster) at macs. With it being so incredibly hot, the machines were overworked and some of the Slurpees were pretty runny. A kid came up, maybe 8 or 9, and as he turned the lever to fill his cup a rush of liquid just sprayed all over him (clearly inexperienced). Noticing the obvious shock of the kid, and trying to hold back laughter myself I turned and said what anybody in that situation would say, 'that sucks'. Probably actually cooled himself off anyway, so, lucky kid. Not that I thrive on the bad experiences of others or anything, but it's the hiccups that keep things interesting.

Sometimes it doesn't take much to make a good day.