Two Weeks From Today!

A lot has happened since I last posted, but school and extracurricular activities have got in the way. It's all good though, because in two weeks I will officially be done with my freshman year of college. This has definitely been the best year of my life. I can't put into words the amount of amazing experiences that I have had at LMU. I just finished reading the Princeton review on LMU for fun. It certainly doesn't do the school justice. Sure, it has one of the prettiest campuses in the U.S, the happiest students, and the small class sizes and friendly professors are great. What I think many people fail to realize is the amount of students here that are inspirations to each other. I feel that I have phrased that wrongly. I will attempt to elaborate. I have so many peers that are the most genuine people I have ever met. They have strong convictions and they stand by them. Many of my friends have done service in Africa, shot documentaries in Asia, and built schools in the Philippines. Countless people at LMU go on the De Colores service trips to Mexico, tutor children at local schools, work for social justice, and nitiate environmental programs on campus and off. The list goes on and on, but I won't bore you with it. My point is that, even though the Princeton review says that the "skinny, rich-beyond-belief blonde girls whose version of 'scrubbing it' is wearing their Juicy Couture sweatshirts with their Manolo Blahniks" are everywhere on campus, LMU is so much more. I think that Loyola Marymount is one of the most grounded and conscientious schools in L.A and it shouldn't be recognized as a refuge for bratty rich kids.

P.S Tomorrow I will be marching with hundreds of other LMU students for immigration reform. We will march from 3rd Street to McArthur Park.

Samarkand is Tomorrow Night

"For one evening Loyola Marymount University’s Sunken Garden will undergo an elaborate transformation into a world market, based on the work of Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka. With the Pacific Ocean, Los Angeles and LMU’s Sacred Heart Chapel as backdrops, “Samarkand” will be a uniquely memorable performance. “Samarkand” was written in 2002 and takes its cue from the ancient Yoruba saying that “the world is a marketplace.” It is choreographed by London-based artist Peter Badejo. “Samarkand” celebrates the primal sanctity of man in the context of rites and rituals old and new. "

Apparently Danny Glover, Mel Gibson, and Michael Learned from The Waltons are going to be there. I'll be selling Marians t-shirts and organizing the performances in Sacred Heart Chapel. It should be really neat. I'll try to take pictures and post them on Sunday.

I Ate Martha Stewart's Dog

And it was delicious. A group of fellow dorm buddies and I traveled up to the world famous Pink's Hot Dogs on Melrose Ave about two weeks ago and had a great time. The weather that entire week was very unusual for L.A as it was raining non-stop, but we felt that Pink's would be well worth it. We left at rush hour and spent about 45 extra minutes on the 405 North while rain was pouring down on my friends rinky dink Chrysler convertable (The back window was being held to the car by duct tape). After missing the exit onto La Brea and trying to use a broken navagation system that told us we were going South West the entire trip, we finally we made it to the small but cozy location that Pink's has been at since the 1940s. It was still raining and I think that was a good thing because the usually packed hot dog stand had a very small line. I guess nobody was as desperate as us to clog our arteries with a 1 1/2 foot long polish sausage and about a pound of mouth watering toppings in the stormy weather (Chris Farely would be proud). I got in line and squeezed myself under the awning. After placing my order-"One Martha Stewart Hot Dog Please"- I walked around the counter and was quickly given the most disgustingly beautiful meal I had ever seen in my entire life. I ended up asking for the Rosie O' Donnell Dog after I polished off Martha's.

The inside of the establishment is covered with the autographed pictures of hundreds of celebrities including William Shatner, the Cast of House, Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Cher, Gene Simmons, Steve Martin, ect. Some celebrities had multiple pictures... (they are either incredibly full of themselves or just really love Pink's) I am sure it is the later. My friend and I want to go back during the middle of the day and hand the manager our signed headshots to see if he takes them. We thought it would be really sad if an actual celebrity wasn't recognized and they refused to take their picture. Anyways, here are a few pictures our sinfully delicious hot dogs and Pink's itself. It's definitely a famous landmark in L.A and rightfully so. The food is great.

Juno: 99% Sure That It Was Better Than Little Miss Sunshine...

I just got back from screening Juno, a movie written by Diablo Cody, directed by Jason Reitman, and starring an amazing cast including Ellen Page, Jennifer Garner, Rain Wilson, Michael Cera, Jason Batemen, JK Simmons, and Allison Janney. Everything about the movie was absolutely amazing, from the unbelievable soundtrack, to the opening animation sequence of Juno walking through town. Nearly every scene in the film was either very touching or absolutely, incredibly funny. The writing was incredibly unique and very blunt (I guess that's the write word). The delivery of lines by the entire cast was flawless, but Ellen Page, who played Juno, stole the show. She is a twenty year old from Canada who starred in Hard Candy and played Kitty in X-Men 3. If Abigail Breslin was nominated for an Academy Award last year for her performance in Little Miss Sunshine, there is absolutely no reason that Ellen Page shouldn't be nominated for her performance in Juno. Her comedic timing was exceptional and really allowed the work of Diablo Cody to shine. The movie, in short, is sort of a comming of age story about a girl who finds herself pregnant as a junior in high school. Her boyfriend, played by Michael Cera (Superbad) is an awkward quirky track runner who never quite knows what to do in the situation. Her parents, played by Allison Janney and JK Simmons, are supportive but don't mind telling her that she is an incredibly hormonal, fat, stupid idiot. In nearly every scene I was crying from laughter and that goes for everybody that was in Mayer Theater. The fact that Juno was a huge fand of 1977 Punk music made me love it even more. Bands like Sonic Youth and Television were mentioned just to name a few...it made me happy. When the credits finally rolled the movie received a standing ovation from everyone. The film premieres Dec. 5 in NY and L.A and opens around the country in the subsequent weeks. Please go see it, you will definitely be missing out if you don't.

Hmmm....

The reason I haven't been updating in a while is because things have been pretty quiet around here. A lot has happened since I last wrote, but nothing to big. I guess I will just start from the first big event I can remember since October 15th.
During fall break the fires were a pretty big deal. I'm guessing everybody caught the 24 hour news coverage on it so everything I might say would just be a little repetative. The closest fire to LMU was in Malibu about 20 miles away. When I got out of mass Sunday morning I went to sit on the bluff like I always tend to do. I noticed that the mountains where Malibu was situated were especially smokey. There was a huge billow of smoke that was hanging right over the beach. I had never seen anything like it before so I didn't think anything of it. A few hours later I was watching the news and sure enough Pepperdine Univeristy was being evacuated along with much of the Malibu area. By Tuesday the air quality over L.A was horrible and it was very hot and dry. I think the humdity was about 10%, nothing like Alabama. Everytime I went to class there was always a very ashy smell in the air and many people got sick because of asthema and other lung problems. Everything is pretty much settled now so that's good.
I also had the chance to go see Cirque du Soliel "Corteo" and had a blast. I had already seen it in Chicago but a lot of my friends were going and our dorm covered ticket costs so I thought, "why not?" If you haven't had the chance yet to see any of these performances they are really spectacular.
I have also participated in the Monday Night Series that the Film School puts on. Nearly every Monday night the dean, Terri Schwartz invites a group of professional individuals from the industry that have recent work to screen. After we watch their documentary, tv show, or movie, we have the oppurtunity to ask them any questions that we might have. Usually about 30 people show up so it really gives us a chance and the guests a chance to really interact. The first guests were from Participant Production Company. They produced Inconveniant Truth, Darfur Now, and the upcoming Doc about Jimmy Carter. The Doc that they screened for us was called Angels in the Dust and was really amazing. The producer and two other representatives of the company were there to talk about their experience. This past week the creator, executive producer, and lead actress of the show Greek came and talked about working in television. That same day they were participating in the Writer's Strike along side Steve Carrell and the writer from the show My Name is Earl. They talked to us about the future of writers and what the strike really meant to them. It was a great opportunity to get some information from successful people in the biz. I actually got to talk to the executive producer after the session for about 5 minutes, I was very excited.
Tonight a comedian is coming to the "Living Room" to do stand up so I hope I will get out of class in time to go. His name is Nick Thune and he has been featured on Jay Leno, Comedy Central, and MTV. Can't wait.
Well that is it for now. Be back soon!

Disneyland, BANGARANG!

I have met some really fun, cool, and genuinely nice people at LMU. At first I thought that the one hard thing about going to college in Los Angeles is that the people are going to be really rich, stuck up, and inconsiderate. You know what they say when you assume....anyway I was totally wrong. Everyone I have met and have become friends with are really great people, of coarse there are still probably those mean people out there but I haven't seen them. Anyway, Bree, Mallory, and Kathleen are three really fun girls that I met on the First Year Retreat. This weekend for Bree's 18th birthday we went to Disneyland and had a blast. We left LMU in a Limo, ate at a wonderful breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen, took pictures with Peter Pan, Aladdin, Pluto, Goofy, Chip and Dale the chipmunks, and many other fun characters. We wen't on the Dumbo ride, Star Wars ride, Farris Wheel, Nightmare Before Christmas haunted house, and many other really cool attractions. The entire day was so much fun. We got back from Disneyland at around 10:00 p.m and we drove back in the Limo also. Disneyland is only about 45 minutes away from campus so it is a place that many students go to for a fun weekend. I have been writing so much these past few days for essays and midterms so that is why this post is really short and boring but I just wanted to let you know about my first time to go to disney land.

"Just Make The Budget Work!"

This weekend I worked on a student film entitled "Trystan." It was really fun, unbelievably exhausting, and a great learning experience. On Friday I went to the Film Society meeting right after my pre-production class. For my pre-pro class I have to work on a set and write about my experience, job, and overall observations. During the meeting Natalie and Spencer the A.D and Director came in and asked if anyone wanted to work on their film. Immediately raised my hand and signed up. Boy was I in for an incredible time. Every Friday and Sunday I work on a ROAR Network show called "LMU's Next Top Ridiculously Good Looking Person". Basically it is a spoof on America's Next Top Model and it is really laid back and simple compared to "Trystan."
Saturday I got up at 6:00 in the morning and was picked up by Natalie to go to Tommy's house in Westchester where we were filming for that day. During the day I unloaded the very full equiptment truck. did makeup, wardrobe continuity, set up craft services, set up lights, wrote about 1,000 sticky notes for a scene, dressed sets, yelled "camera rolling", and tried to stay out of a lot of people's way. It was exhausting. By 10:00 we were done shooting and I had to help pick up all of the equiptment (ex. dollies, tracks, gaffing, cords) and put the house that we used back the way it was. This included moving beds and desks, putting doors back on their hinges, and rewiring computers. We got back to campus around 11:30 p.m. The next day I had to wake up at 7:00 and we drove to Torrence where we were shooting at a different house. I did basically the same thing but a lot more because I felt more comfortable and learned most of the lingo that is used around sets. Natalie, the Assistant Director, was incredibly funny and really kept everybody laughing while also keeping everybody moving. At one point during a break Spencer (Director) was talking to Tommy (Producer) on the phone trying to get him to bring everyone lunch.
"Do we get vegetarian stuff?"
"Of coarse we get vegitarian stuff we are in California!"
"Wait if we get veggies we can't get cookies"
"Get both"
"We don't have enough in the budget"
"Tommy just make the budget work"

It was an incredibly funny interaction and there were tons of them during the 2 days of fiming. Natalie was talking to Bren the actress that Spencer hired. Bren asked "Can I go to a smile?" Natalie said" Go to a smile....Travel to it" in very dramatic voice like she was in the theatre. It was hilarious. By the end of the second shooting day I was exhausted. We didn't start loading up the truck until 12:00 a.m and We didn't get back to campus until about 2:00 a.m I still had a paper to write that was due in roughly six hours at 8:00 and so I had to pull my first all nighter after a total of 35 hours of working on a film. It was hard and I spent the rest of the remaining hours sitting in a really uncomfortable chair in the Whelan study room. After finishing classes on Monday at 2:00 I went go take pictures of a location in Venice for my pre-pro class. I got back at 4:00 and went to bed. I didn't wake up until 6:30 this morning. I think that was the longest I have ever slept. Overall this weekend was defintely worth it. I got actual experience outside of the class room and a small glimps of what production is actually like. This weeked I am working on a thesis film Friday, Saturday, and Sunday so I now have an idea of what I am going to be doing. It is going to be tiring but it is really worth it in the end and I love doing it no matter the amount of sleep that I don't get. Well that was what my weekend was like. These are a few pictures that I took while on the set.