Save the Cheerleader...

As I'm sure you've assumed, this is the final stretch here at Suffolk University, Fall - '07. It is around this time that a moment of clariety sweeps over each and every student, follwed abruptly by a series of moments flooded with panic, and if your lucky, a second wave of calm hits, for you realize that every semester it gets done, and every semesterit gets done well.

This process came upon me two nights ago, and since then I have been dilligently (or as dilligently as a philosophy student can work without getting distracted by his own ramblings) working on final papers and my thesis. All is well, like I said, life is good when you realize that the work is pleantiful, but so is time, I don't know why everyone keeps saying there's never any time!

After Eastern Philosophy, a buddy and I spent two hours playing the Japanese board game Go. If you've never experienced Go, it is a game played on a grid of 20x20 squares with 361 stones, 181 black and 180 white. Unlike most games, where the goal is to capture the opponenats pieces, the objective of Go to perserve space. You do get points for captured pieces, but instead of building an army, the stratagy is to build a castle with moveable walls. It was my friends first time, we played for two and a half hours, and did not even finish a game. It was quite intense, but the time flies, and it puts you in the perfect state of mind for a night of writing papers.

After Go, we had a wonderful dinner with all the tour guides at a little place in the North End. After a hearty serving of pesto with fettucini, it was a full evening of mental excersize.
With a class canceled today, it's a bit of work followed by paper #1, dinner and ending the evening with a little paper #2.



Things to come, a visit from my uncle who lives in Southern California. He'll be here on business, and I'll have two nights to show him around the city, an excellent way to end the semester! And also...the final episode of Heroes! I have kept my love for this show out of this blog for way too long! I could not be more excited for next weeks episode, unless of course it wasn't the last one of the season! Regardless, it is going to rock my socks, guranteed! I am a big fan of the online graphic novels, and I hope they continue to produce those, like they did over the summer in between seasons. If only Lost was starting!!


Current Song -- I Believe in Love -- The Pioneers

Chi-town - Bean-Town and everything in between...

Ahh the post holiday, get back into your groove day...nothing else like it. I hope you all enjoyed your holiday/long weekend...Mine was fantastic, and even a little longer than expected.
After closing down the dorms on Wed, I made a quick stop at the comic shop to get some reading materials for the plane. The flight to my parents houses in Chicago was easy as cherry pie, I even got on an earlier flight!

I spent four days enjoying good company, watching stellar cinema and catching up with family, friends, and most importantly, my English Springer Spaniel -- Harley! My first night home, a good friend of mine played a show downtown, so it was a great welcome home! (Shameless plug #1 -- www.myspace.com/snowsera --those are the dudes, above) I was scheduled to flight out Sunday mid-day, and I should have knowen that I was jinxing myself by reading about Camue's Absurd in the terminal, for a two hour delay turned into a cancled flight, and I wasn't able to fly out until Monday night! Luckily I wasn't missing class, just work, and it ended up that I was able meet a fellow tour guide, who had graduated last year, in Chicago for lunch.

After lunch I rolled through Ikea, which is always a treat, my deminer was a mix between kid-in-a-candy-store and deer-in-the-headlights. It made me want to buy an old brownstone and turn the inside into a Sweedish haven for high end (though low cost!) interior design!

And now that I'm back, it's time for finals! Finals week for a philosophy student starts three weeks before the actual "finals week" and ends right before the designated test time-span. No tests, just papers. Good times ahead, it's good to be back! --enjoy life...

Current Song -- Money -- Apollo Sunshine

Two Days Till Turkey Day...

Good afternoon...I write today with a smile on my face...a smile with one and only cause...I woke up to a sea of snow outside my window...and I can not be happier! Ignoring the lack of snow sticking to the ground, it was a lovely walk to work- watching all the snow flakes sticking to my p-coat. While my stomach rumbles for burritos, I'm looking back on the past few days, and man...good times were had.

After a rockin Open House on Sat (1200 people!!!) where I was able to talk the crowed at the info session and escort the creative types to the fine arts school, I had a spell on the couch, and enjoyed a relaxing night catching up with friends over North End pizza (Ernesto's, the only place for a decent slice) and beverages.

Sunday was filled with visions of Vietnam and chinese food...I spent the day working on my research paper for American Cinema, which focused on Vietnam Films. After watching Apocalypse Now, Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, I rocked a ten page analysis on the genre of Vietnam War films.

In the mists of that (which was successufly completed at 2:30am this morning!) I supplied my floors with a Pot Luck Thanksgiving Dinner...complete with over a hundered dollars worth of chinese food! (Hsin Hsin, the only place for a decent ragoon) After dinner, we transformed the lounge into a haven for Mario Kart 64 racers. 20 contestants were narrowed down to 9, of which the top four competed in the finals. You will be happy to know that after a narrow win in the Wild Card race, your's truly took the championship race, claiming the title! This was a step above my second place last year, fists were raised and pride was seccured. Two programs, chillin with over 50 people, can't beat it for a Sunday night.

It was a relaxing day in the Res Life office yesterday, but the highlight of Monday was definatly my screening of Full Metal Jacket. I've seen my share of Kubrick films, but never this one, and I was not suprised in my utter enjoyment of this film. Kubrick's ability to present his subjects in a surreal environment, where everything seems natural, and even the most extreme events somehow find their place, puts this Vietnam focused film above the rest.

After class this evening, I will be celebrating the long weekend with some philosophical banter spiced with pop culture interludes and sprinkled with a wide aray of musical analysis (Revival Ska and 80's hair metal have the topics of conversation as of late) while frequenting The Public House of Brighton. Cheers...to the sublime and the beautiful -- enjoy life...

Current Song -- Well Respeted Man -- The Kinks

Wed...when day?

Good evening...this afternoon finds me relaxing away the mid-week break. It was a successful weekend here in the city, and I'm gearing up for a crazy Suffolk weekend to come. The highlight of the weekend came in two waves...Saturday night I passed out at 11pm, well deserved, but not after watching the Dynamo take out the Wizards in the MLS Western Finals. The 2-0 final score was not a surprise, but the threading goal from Houston to seal the victory was much more satisfying than the Rev's bicycle kick last week. So Sunday is game day, MLS finals, Revs vs. Dynamo!
But not before the Suffolk Open House on Saturday! This will be my seventh big admissions event, and I must say that nostalgia is setting in, as after this year these eight hour fiesta's will be no more!
And before that...the first Senior Event is taking place at the Bell and Hand on Thursday! After watching most of my friends enjoy all the Senior Events last year, I am most definitely looking forward to a year of cheap outings! So until I have wonderful recaps for all the events this weekend...it's time to hit the books as to fully enjoy the days to come! Enjoy midweek...

Current Song -- Free Time -- The Aggrolites

Lars and the Real Girl

Good morning...As I get my day going, all I can think about is Lars and the Real Girl. If you're from around the city, and haven't been to the Landmark Theater in Kendall Sq. - check it out! It is a tiny little theater tucked behind the square, and surrounded by cute little pubs and restaurants, perfect places to discuss film...and meet crazy dudes.

If you've seen the preview, you know that Lars orders a life-size doll to be his girlfriend, and while you kind of get the psychology behind it, nothing prepares you for how tragically romantic and heartfelt Ryan Gosling's character is. You forget that it's a doll halfway through, because you realize that before you can love anyone else, you have to truly love yourself, and that's what this film is about, Lars learning to love himself. On top of Gosling, Emily Mortimer (Matchpoint) and Kelli Garner (Thumbsucker) offer a strong matriarchy that is key for this film to work. As the friend of mine who saw the movie with me said, it was surprising to see so many strong women throughout the film (there were more than just these two). It was as if the female population of this back woods Wisconsin town knew how to tend to Lars out of instinct, while the men, including Lars' brother, could only come at him with confusion, resistance and mockery behind his back, all with the exception of an incredibly endearing priest. Anyway, go...see it...

While I was out after the movie, discussing it and other things, a curly-haired gentleman came over and asked if he could take pictures of me for some sort of artistic research. He took about five pictures, and claimed that he hadn't seen anything like it (me) since he was in Brooklyn two weeks ago. He asked me what I did, and we got into a little talk about post-post-modernists and their obsession with linguistics after I told him I was a philosophy student. After he left, my friend asked me if that happens to me often, and I was quick to say not really, but thinking back on it, I have been a slue of characters throughout my days in Boston and elsewhere, and it truly has become second nature to talk to fellow wanders, cause I've realized, you do not need to be on the road to wander, in fact, you may do your best wandering in your own backyard. And no matter how many characters I meet, they always leave me with a subtle feeling of "odd" just to remind me that I am at least somewhat aware of social normality's, but more so, an overwhelming feeling of hope, hope that leads to an excitement for tomorrow.

There are tacos in the cafe today, lets eat!

Current Song - Kilroy was Here -- The Move

Movies. Movies? Movies!

Happy Tuesday! I hope this finds everyone enjoying a rainy New England day! It's been a relaxing week on my end, though I have successfully written the introduction to my thesis! It's time to get to the meat of paper, but first there is much training to be done. The date is set, The Mario Kart 64 Kick Asphalt Tournament will convene on Nov. 18th. This is an event that I held last year at Miller Hall, where we had 16 racers, two TV's and a whole bunch of pride that was given out and taken away. I personally made it to the final two last year, and will be making a run for first! I lost it on Choco Mountain last year, so Peach and I are training daily until the 18th. This year we will be securing four pu-pu platters for the event, my crab rangoon obsessed psyche is just a tad bit excited.
You gotta love when there is a film screening on campus, that you have to go to for class. James Carroll is a Scholar in Residence here at Suffolk, and there is a film adaptation of his novel Constantine's Sword screening in the C Walsh theater in three and a half hours. On top of that, I have a film class at 5:30, for movie number two of the day. This rain lends itself to a perfect movie watching day.
And just in case I don't watch enough movies before 9:50, I am making my way to the Landmark Theater in Kendall Sq. for Lars and the Real Girl! I'm a huge Ryan Gosling fan, ever since The Believer. I've never been to the Landmark Theater, so it'll be a nice little mid-week adventure.

I'm expanding past the screen into the realm of live theater tomorrow night, as a friend of mine is staring in the one-woman show "The Yellow Dress" here at school.

Super exciting sports news that does not revolve around football or baseball....

REVS vs. FIRE Thursday night for the Eastern Conference Championship!!!! I'm trying to get a ride out to Gillette Stadium for the game, old home town vs. new home town -- too awesome! Reason number 36 that soccer rocks, tickets for the Eastern Conference Championship...$18 : ) enjoy life...

Current Song: Radio -- Rancid

It's been November for Thirteen and a Half Hrs...

Good afternoon! It's a cloudy Nov 1 here in Boston...a good day for some mid-afternoon studying followed by late-afternoon, early-evening and late-evening video game playing. You see, I'm on duty this evening, which means I have to stay in, do rounds, and make sure all is well at Miller Hall. These evenings are always well suited for key relaxation time...especially after a week such as mine.

It was an exciting Halloween weekend, filled with tricks and treats...I settled on the Wolverine costume in case anyone was wondering, and I kept my eye out for a worthy Super Villian all night, but it seems they we are all much too fearfull to make their presence known.

The Student to Student Info Session went off without a hitch. We had around 125 prospective students and parents on campus, we battled some early morning rain, but it turned into a nice fall day by mid-afternoon.


There was the obvious excitment of the Red Sox Penant victory on Sunday. I was on duty, but it was still good times, and the parade strolled right through campus yesterday! I had a nice view from the library window. It has always interested me how the city has embraced the Dropkick Murphys as The Red Sox Band for occasions such as this. Don't get me wrong, it's great, most places in the country don't embrace the local music genres until they've become "classics" and Dropkick deserves the credit. Personally, I prefer Do or Die, old Dropkick, or if we're talking Boston bands, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones had to be one of the best third-wave ska acts around. Lately I've been reverting back to bands such as The Animals, The Kinks, ooooooold Rolling Stones and so on, very refreshing stuff...you can't get much better than a chorus from The Animals, you just can't.

One of the best part of my RA job is planning programming for the building. I'm cookin up the second anual Mario Kart 64 tournament as we speak, and yesterday we executed an event for over thirty neighborhood kids to come and trick-or-treat in the dorm. There were over 90 residents participating in having their rooms available forthe kids to come and get candy. And one of the quads even turned their whole corner into a haunted cave, strobe lights, Exorsist music, black trashbags and fake blood...there isn't much more I have to say about that.


Now...I hope there is some Midwestern representation in my reader pool, or at the very least, I hope there are some salivating tounges out there when I type the word Chipotle...

I understand that Chipotle is big on the West Coast as well, but it's a darn near institution in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, and they have just opened one in Davis Sq.!!!!!!

My buddy and I made the Red Line treck to Somerville and stuffed out costumed faces with tasty tasty burritos. If you have never enjoyed a Chipotle burrito, do your self a favor and find the nearest branch and proceed to order a steak burrito with pinto beans, hot salsa, sour cream, guac, cheese and just a touch of lettuce...you will not be disapointed.

While I'm on the subject, also check out Burritos on Fire in Allston, to put it simply, a mom and pop burrito heaven.

On my way back from Davis Sq. I got off the T a stop early to make my way through Beacon Hill, so I could see all the kids trick-or-treating! Kids and Halloween may be one of the greatest things ever. The best cosutmes were defiantly the alligator, Supergirl, a two year old Elmo and father-son team of Draculas. As I passed the State House, I came by a slue of tractor-trailors and movie equipemnt. They were shooting Pink Panther 2 in and around the State House! Ever sense Fever Pitch, there have been so many movies filmed in Boston, and around Suffolk specifically.

The set of Matt Damon's character's apartment in The Depareted was built ontop of our law school. And the sequal to The Bachelor was filled inside the law building. Now we've got the Pink Panther 2, who knows whats next!

On that note, it is back to GRE studying, as my second attempt is scheduled for Monday! Purhaps the antonyms and analogies will up my vocab and I'll impress you with my stellar diction in next weeks post!

Current Song: Eve of Distruction -- The Turtles