This is how we work see? We forget about the blog for the first half of the month and then make up for it with a flurry of posts at the very end. Honestly, though, this isn't going to be much of a post. I just wanted to give you all a link to what I believe is the greatest news report in the history of the world.

Check it Out

Here, ladies and gentlemen, is the post I promised yesterday. Incidentally, it's also the 270th post on this blog. That's quite a few, but it seems less impressive when you consider the fact that we've been operating since 2003. There were certainly some lean times over the years, but I believe that we have at least one post for every month of our existence, which probably puts us in the top percentile of functioning blogs, considering the countless numbers that are created every day and subsequently abandoned. I've gone ahead and added another link to the "cool people" section, but it's up to you to figure out who's responsible for the interesting posts that wind up there. Anyway, on to the business at hand.
Pat, Peter, and I went to see "Tsotsi" at the fine Lake Theater in Oak Park this past Wednesday. The movie had recently won the Academy Award for best foreign language film. I can't really comment on whether or not it should have won the award, since I am not familiar with the other films in the category, but "Tsotsi" was certainly enjoyable, if not a little unusual.

It takes place in South Africa and follows the experiences of a young thug whose life takes a bizarre turn when he accidentally abducts an infant during a carjacking. This, of course, changes him, as his amoral attitude is shed and his basic human nature comes through. The film seems to suggest that all humans are basically good, or have some sense of "decency" as one character might say. It is our basic human-ness which becomes and equalizer. The two main female characters are exemplary of this. Both care for their children over themselves and you could not claim that one is a better mother than the other. Neither woman is immune to tragedy. The poor woman's husband was killed and the rich woman's wealth cannot prevent the crimes committed against her. Ultimately, the film's conclusion tells us that although we may be united through our human-ness, we must all account for our transgressions sooner or later, as this is the only way to preserve a crumbling society where basic human nature is often clouded.

All in all, a quality film.

Keep it real, folks.

So now that Pat’s atoned for his neglect of the blog, I figure I must do the same. After all, there comes a time in every good blogger’s life when he realizes just how severely he has forgotten about the dang thing. He then vows to turn over a new leaf and post several times per week, if not every day. This lasts for exactly 1-2 days until something shiny catches his attention, and the cycle begins anew. Friends and colleagues, consider this the point in the cycle where I vow to turn over a new leaf. Don’t get your hopes up, though. I go back to school in a week, where there will doubtlessly be a plethora of shiny objects.

Anyway, since Pat recapped his spring-break week, I will do the same (though I swear I came up with the idea before I saw that he had done it). Grinnell, being the fine establishment that it is, gives its students two weeks for their spring break, which means that I’ll probably be bored out of my mind next week, as everyone else has returned to school. Still, the past week was interesting.

It began with a trip to The Jazz Showcase down on Clark and Grand last Sunday to see the James Carter Organ Trio. That was highly entertaining and the band was certainly having a good time. Most of the songs (especially those with the auxiliary percussionist) were based around the band getting into a groove and then building up and breaking down the intensity around the soloists. Carter was quite impressive, getting a number of different sounds out of the three different reeds he played throughout the show, and also sampling from different styles of jazz during his solos. When he quoted the horn line from Bill Cosby and Quincy Jones’ classic “Hikky Brr,” the drummer just laughed and shook his head, as did I. In conclusion, nothing beats a good matinee jazz set.


Now...on to other developments. I was accepted into the International Sri Lanka Education Program, which means that from the first week of August to the middle of December, I’ll be studying abroad on an island of the Southern coast of India. Wacky, huh? I’ll be staying with a family there, so that should be interesting. I’ll also be taking conversational Sinhala, though it’s my impression that nearly everyone there speaks English. Then there will also be classes ranging from subjects such as Buddhism (the majority religion in Sri Lanka), to the environment there, to socio-economic class structures. It should be quite the experience and hopefully I’ll get enough periodic computer access to make an international post or two on this hallowed blog.


That’s all to report for now. Stayed tuned for tomorrow’s update, in which I share my reactions on the Academy Award winning film “Tsotsi.”

Neglect? Oh, right, neglect. Well, this is what happens when I’m either actually busy or have nothing to do. Blogging results from procrastination, which requires “sort of busy.” Also, I have fewer bizarre oblique observations on my emotional state. Which is probably good for me, but bad for the blog. Does that count as one? Anyway…

Spring break week has been eventful and highly recuperative. Have seen everybody who’s around at least once. And now I prepare for Season 2, Episode 3 of our long running series Pat Goes to College. Also, I hear there are fascinating developments in the next episode of Alex Goes to College. Which reminds me that everyone I’ve shown Undeclared to has loved it.

You know what’s a great musical combination? Irish punk. I saw The Tossers at the Metro just before break (St. Patrick’s Day, conveniently). And it was awesome. Also the first concert I’ve been to with attempted moshing. Our resident Mohawk-crested punk rocker Kelsey says that was sub-par, but I got knocked around fairly enthusiastically, so I was impressed. I was also impressed by the ridiculously long set they played, and by the amount of beer people were willing to hurl about. But there’s nothing quite like coming back from a concert at 2 AM, finding that your natural tone of voice is “Irish smoker” (I did a lot of shouting), and running into a friend who leads you to booze. Quite the night.

Opening band assessments:
The Saps: saps. Musically under-skilled (especially the drummer. Lots of monotonous thumping), kind of emo with the worst lyrics I’ve ever heard. There was a song about middle school. Although they did pull it together for two pretty catchy numbers in the middle, at least.

Westbound Train: Reggae/Ska/Soul band. They pull it off rather well. Lots of energy, lots of, er, soul. I don’t know what to say about them, but they were fun.

By far the most productive evening of this week was Sunday, which saw the production of a fabulous short film, which may or may not be called Demons! I leave such decisions up to esteemed director Martin Sweeney. I was just Key Grip. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how I’m going to pull this footage off of my camcorder, thanks to Sony’s quirky insistence on there being one and only one program to do so. Camcorders, much like demons, are MILDLY irritating. But I’ll have to figure out something, as Tim and Dave are great in their roles as Door-to-Door Demon and Confused College Student. Coming Soon to a website near you, hopefully.

And then:
-Someone stole a baby.
-Someone played mini-golf.
-“Unfortunately, your boat absorbs water.”

This blog is suffering from some serious neglect. I can't help but feel partially responsible. Here's a picture: