Last night was interesting.
First was a pretty intense Icarus' Mother rehearsal, which included crying and long conversation about urinating into my open wounds, a concept that I vehemently protested. I didn't sign up for that crap.
Afterwards, we went over to the usual Theater party central. I have to tell you, I feel sorry for the four seniors that live there. There are random people there pretty much every single night. I think I would start throwing stuff if I lived there. Everyone uses their cups and drinks their booze and plays their Wii, it would suck after awhile. Oh well, at least they can't say they can get bored. And I've severely pissed off the proprietors of that household on a few locations, but I think they are cool with me now, sorta.
Anyway, while we there, three of my friends drank vials of synthetic mescaline that they bought earlier. I didn't have any, and didn't realize they were tripping until I noticed their pupils were the size of dinner plates. We walked around outside and played out on the beach. One of my friends, Chris, decided he wanted to walk around the streets, so I thought I should look after him. We had a long talk about life, acting, dream girls, and clouds. It was semi-insightful. We'll have to do it again sometime. Or maybe not. I thought they might jump over the pier and into the lake. Uh-oh.
We went back to the Theater apartment, drank, and then walked around campus. I figured I might as well leave now. And so I did. There it is. Life.
Dude,
Barry
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay
Earlier today, I watched a sheep sacrifice in my anthropology class. That's an image that is going to linger.
Here is my latest journalistic exploit, a review of this spankin'-new funky-weird acid jazz CD by Steve Reid and Karin Hebden. Thought I'd key you in.
LINK!!!
http://media.www.loyolaphoenix.com/media/storage/paper673/news/2007/03/28/Diversions/Hebden.Reid.This.Duo.Speaks.In.tongues-2808118.shtml
Huzzah! I just got ahold of the newest 'Fountains of Wayne' record last night. It's pretty tight.
Peacer,
Barry
Here is my latest journalistic exploit, a review of this spankin'-new funky-weird acid jazz CD by Steve Reid and Karin Hebden. Thought I'd key you in.
LINK!!!
http://media.www.loyolaphoenix.com/media/storage/paper673/news/2007/03/28/Diversions/Hebden.Reid.This.Duo.Speaks.In.tongues-2808118.shtml
Huzzah! I just got ahold of the newest 'Fountains of Wayne' record last night. It's pretty tight.
Peacer,
Barry
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Hmm. Radical Transparency. Yes.
Yesterday I went out and bought the most recent edition of 'Wired' magazine. Why? The cover story is about "Radical Transparency", a spankin'-new evolving business theory which is near and dear to my heart.
Not.
However, the cover features Jenna Fischer (Pam from 'The Office') naked. Pretty cool. I thought I would get it for my "Office" memorabilia collection. Again, this is strictly for the historical record and not for my own enjoyment. Yeah, I spent 5 dollars. I'll put them up here for free for you guys. Douchebags.
Here's what the cover looks like from the newstand:
Here's what you get underneath the plastic transparency thing:
It's like a magic trick, only naked!
Oh yeah, this is from the actual article:
Although you could get into a big feminist tirade about how a woman who plays a receptionist should not be naked on the cover of a business magazine, I still kinda like it. I'll save arguing morals for people who can buy expensive porn.
Thought you should know,
Biz-arry.
Not.
However, the cover features Jenna Fischer (Pam from 'The Office') naked. Pretty cool. I thought I would get it for my "Office" memorabilia collection. Again, this is strictly for the historical record and not for my own enjoyment. Yeah, I spent 5 dollars. I'll put them up here for free for you guys. Douchebags.
Here's what the cover looks like from the newstand:
Here's what you get underneath the plastic transparency thing:
It's like a magic trick, only naked!
Oh yeah, this is from the actual article:
Although you could get into a big feminist tirade about how a woman who plays a receptionist should not be naked on the cover of a business magazine, I still kinda like it. I'll save arguing morals for people who can buy expensive porn.
Thought you should know,
Biz-arry.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Icky's Mom Has Got it Goin On
Can I just put something out there? I love ellipses. A lot. I was just thinking about it, and I wanted to pluck it out of my brain and put it on earth as a memorial to me. Thank you.
Anyway, it's been awhile. How's you? Better question: Who cares?
Seriously, though, I've been pretty good. I sincerely apologize for not letting you into my life the past few days. I promise to make it better.
I'll start kinda at the beginning. The weekend after spring break, I went back to the 419 for SJJ musical, Children of Eden. It was a crazy experience being in the audience instead of on-stage, and brought up more than a little nostalgia. Anyway, the production was pretty good. The set was so so, and after having even only a semester's worth of collegiate theatre experience, I can tell you most of the acting was close to atrocious. However, for a high school production, it was swell. I was pretty impressed. Afterwards, I went to BG and got smashed. Totally. I threw up a bucketload (read that "three bucketloads"), which has never happened to me before. Apparently, I passed out, but I'm skeptical because I clearly remember getting into the bed where I woke up. The only evidence to the contrary are little photo comments on facebook. Overall, though, it wasn't my best night. And now I'm a little wary of my first love, hard alcohol. I should maybe slow down anyway, considering I drink close to every night now (don't make any judgment calls yet, Billy Graham, I rarely get truly smashed). We all need to be addicted to something, right? Am I right?
If I am an alcoholic, I'm at least a productive one. Right now I'm Assistant Stage Manager for our production of "Icarus' Mother," this bizarre little play by Sam Shepard. We started rehearsal last Tuesday, and this probably the most fun production I've ever been a part of. The director, one Mike Fagin, is close to the most passionate person I've come across, and rehearsals are like cool fun times (a little ambiguous, I know). There is somewhat of a tension, though, because the SM and myself aren't really sure if we are going to hit certain marks on time. However, I think (or at least would like to believe) there is some method to his madness and everything will end well. We shall see. This takes me to the end of the school year, so I'll be talking about it a lot.
Last night, Mira and myself went downtown without much of a plan. I thought it'd be good if we actually went somewhere, because we hadn't been on a true date since early February. Anyway, we ended up going to the Devon Seafood Restaurant place on Chicago, which is incredibly good. It's also ridiculously expensive, if you get entrees. However, if you can withstand looks from the waitress, the appetizers are more than filling.
After that, we tried going to the John Hancock building wit it's fancy outdoor viewing deck, but were accosted by the guy selling tickets because the visibility was so bad. "I cannot believe that someone would spend $20 on going up when the visibility is 0 to 4 miles." He was pissed. I was convinced. So we ended up going to the Ghiradelli store (screw you, Italy and your hard to spell names), which was a good choice. This is because the group next had a bet going that this one guy could not eat the "EARTHQUAKE" in under 4 minutes. Let me explain. The "EARTHQUAKE" is this giant, 15 scoop ice cream platter-o-rama costing over $24. He didn't get under 4, but was done in under 20 minutes, without even vomiting. It was riveting. The highlight of the evening, pretty much. If only that could happen every day.
Then we went back to this one girl's dorm and had some nasty Margaritas. If there is one thing I hate more than contemporary Christian rock, it's crappy tequila. We started to watch High Fidelity, a Chicago classic that I have yet to see, but everyone was about to fall asleep besides the Barry, and so they stopped the movie before it was finished. I was bummed. C'est la vie, as someone says.
On a sidenote, I've noticed that I've had some pretty close to perfect days so far this spring. Like the one day it was gorgeous outside and there was free sushi in Rambler Room, or last night when we watched the guy engorge on ice cream. I think, just maybe, the universe is pleased with me. Hopefully this lasts for awhile.
Anyway, in celebration of so many good times thus far, I present you with this. Enjoy.
--Barry. Outtie.
Anyway, it's been awhile. How's you? Better question: Who cares?
Seriously, though, I've been pretty good. I sincerely apologize for not letting you into my life the past few days. I promise to make it better.
I'll start kinda at the beginning. The weekend after spring break, I went back to the 419 for SJJ musical, Children of Eden. It was a crazy experience being in the audience instead of on-stage, and brought up more than a little nostalgia. Anyway, the production was pretty good. The set was so so, and after having even only a semester's worth of collegiate theatre experience, I can tell you most of the acting was close to atrocious. However, for a high school production, it was swell. I was pretty impressed. Afterwards, I went to BG and got smashed. Totally. I threw up a bucketload (read that "three bucketloads"), which has never happened to me before. Apparently, I passed out, but I'm skeptical because I clearly remember getting into the bed where I woke up. The only evidence to the contrary are little photo comments on facebook. Overall, though, it wasn't my best night. And now I'm a little wary of my first love, hard alcohol. I should maybe slow down anyway, considering I drink close to every night now (don't make any judgment calls yet, Billy Graham, I rarely get truly smashed). We all need to be addicted to something, right? Am I right?
If I am an alcoholic, I'm at least a productive one. Right now I'm Assistant Stage Manager for our production of "Icarus' Mother," this bizarre little play by Sam Shepard. We started rehearsal last Tuesday, and this probably the most fun production I've ever been a part of. The director, one Mike Fagin, is close to the most passionate person I've come across, and rehearsals are like cool fun times (a little ambiguous, I know). There is somewhat of a tension, though, because the SM and myself aren't really sure if we are going to hit certain marks on time. However, I think (or at least would like to believe) there is some method to his madness and everything will end well. We shall see. This takes me to the end of the school year, so I'll be talking about it a lot.
Last night, Mira and myself went downtown without much of a plan. I thought it'd be good if we actually went somewhere, because we hadn't been on a true date since early February. Anyway, we ended up going to the Devon Seafood Restaurant place on Chicago, which is incredibly good. It's also ridiculously expensive, if you get entrees. However, if you can withstand looks from the waitress, the appetizers are more than filling.
After that, we tried going to the John Hancock building wit it's fancy outdoor viewing deck, but were accosted by the guy selling tickets because the visibility was so bad. "I cannot believe that someone would spend $20 on going up when the visibility is 0 to 4 miles." He was pissed. I was convinced. So we ended up going to the Ghiradelli store (screw you, Italy and your hard to spell names), which was a good choice. This is because the group next had a bet going that this one guy could not eat the "EARTHQUAKE" in under 4 minutes. Let me explain. The "EARTHQUAKE" is this giant, 15 scoop ice cream platter-o-rama costing over $24. He didn't get under 4, but was done in under 20 minutes, without even vomiting. It was riveting. The highlight of the evening, pretty much. If only that could happen every day.
Then we went back to this one girl's dorm and had some nasty Margaritas. If there is one thing I hate more than contemporary Christian rock, it's crappy tequila. We started to watch High Fidelity, a Chicago classic that I have yet to see, but everyone was about to fall asleep besides the Barry, and so they stopped the movie before it was finished. I was bummed. C'est la vie, as someone says.
On a sidenote, I've noticed that I've had some pretty close to perfect days so far this spring. Like the one day it was gorgeous outside and there was free sushi in Rambler Room, or last night when we watched the guy engorge on ice cream. I think, just maybe, the universe is pleased with me. Hopefully this lasts for awhile.
Anyway, in celebration of so many good times thus far, I present you with this. Enjoy.
--Barry. Outtie.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Spring Break '07 (aka This is Blue Earth) Pt. 3: Alone in the Big City
Well, sort of.
We got back Tuesday night, and it struck me that I was the only human being on my floor. Mertz was dead for a week. I could listen to music loud, throw stuff in the hallways, maybe walk around in a dress, it was my week. However, I spent a lot of it over at the skanky house of a theater friend, where there was quite a bit of boozing and...enlightenment.
Wednesday I decided to finally go out and see the Shedd Aquarium, which has been one of my goals since coming to Chicago. Let me tell you, it's freaking amazing. I think I might even become a member. If you ever come over, I'll take you around. Then I came back and saw "Zodiac," which I strongly recommend. I was bummed out that the killing ended within the first half-hour, but how can anybody not like Robert Downy, Jr. Compared to the "Unsolved Mysteries" Zodiac killer reenactments I've seen, this movie was bomb diggity.
Thursday I tried out the Merchandise Mart, which turned out to be mostly boring office buildings. I did try Jamba Juice for the first time, and now I know what happiness tastes like. I also went, on suggestion of my mother, to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It is free; that is cool. It reminds me of the Toledo Zoo back in the day, when we thought animals couldn't be happier walking back and forth in steel cages. It had a really vintage feel, and a really zoo smell.
Then I saw the midnight showing of 300, which is definitely awesome. I don't think it's the best movie ever, but it definitely was fun. And no, my first thought after seeing it was NOT "Wow, those guys were ripped." Although they were. My favorite part was probably these grenade launching magicians with long, silver-chain beards. They tickled me.
Friday I helped out at a homeless shelter with my Blue Earth buddies, and then kicked it with them. Saturday we went to a Pow Wow at Joliet Junior College. Not gonna lie, it was a little on the janky side. But I did get to try Indian tacos. And today I just got an e-mail saying that they are going to redo the trips in May. I think this story might have a happy ending after all.
Tomorrow I wake up early and Megabus it back east. I am seeing my high school's musical, "Children of Eden." We'll see how this goes; maybe I can finally show up Damian with my college theater experience. And, while I'm speaking about random crap, wasn't the weather beautiful Wednesday? Everyone was happy and dancing and laughing. We ended up throwing sand at each other on the beach. It got in my mouth. Not cool.
I swear, I'll have pictures up soon. Stop crying.
Killer with the beat I know killers in the street,
Barry
We got back Tuesday night, and it struck me that I was the only human being on my floor. Mertz was dead for a week. I could listen to music loud, throw stuff in the hallways, maybe walk around in a dress, it was my week. However, I spent a lot of it over at the skanky house of a theater friend, where there was quite a bit of boozing and...enlightenment.
Wednesday I decided to finally go out and see the Shedd Aquarium, which has been one of my goals since coming to Chicago. Let me tell you, it's freaking amazing. I think I might even become a member. If you ever come over, I'll take you around. Then I came back and saw "Zodiac," which I strongly recommend. I was bummed out that the killing ended within the first half-hour, but how can anybody not like Robert Downy, Jr. Compared to the "Unsolved Mysteries" Zodiac killer reenactments I've seen, this movie was bomb diggity.
Thursday I tried out the Merchandise Mart, which turned out to be mostly boring office buildings. I did try Jamba Juice for the first time, and now I know what happiness tastes like. I also went, on suggestion of my mother, to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It is free; that is cool. It reminds me of the Toledo Zoo back in the day, when we thought animals couldn't be happier walking back and forth in steel cages. It had a really vintage feel, and a really zoo smell.
Then I saw the midnight showing of 300, which is definitely awesome. I don't think it's the best movie ever, but it definitely was fun. And no, my first thought after seeing it was NOT "Wow, those guys were ripped." Although they were. My favorite part was probably these grenade launching magicians with long, silver-chain beards. They tickled me.
Friday I helped out at a homeless shelter with my Blue Earth buddies, and then kicked it with them. Saturday we went to a Pow Wow at Joliet Junior College. Not gonna lie, it was a little on the janky side. But I did get to try Indian tacos. And today I just got an e-mail saying that they are going to redo the trips in May. I think this story might have a happy ending after all.
Tomorrow I wake up early and Megabus it back east. I am seeing my high school's musical, "Children of Eden." We'll see how this goes; maybe I can finally show up Damian with my college theater experience. And, while I'm speaking about random crap, wasn't the weather beautiful Wednesday? Everyone was happy and dancing and laughing. We ended up throwing sand at each other on the beach. It got in my mouth. Not cool.
I swear, I'll have pictures up soon. Stop crying.
Killer with the beat I know killers in the street,
Barry
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Spring Break '07 (aka This is Blue Earth) pt. 2: Valley of Darkness
Who doesn't love Psalm references? And today was a beautiful day. A few friends and myself got a little tipsy, went down to the beach, and I ended up with a face full of sand. But I have to finish the story I've started.
So we ended up in Blue Earth, Minnesota.
We stayed at a pretty decent Super 8, had some dinner at Pizza Hut, and basically relaxed. And then we found out that the Patrick, the head guy of the ABIs here was not letting us go any further. No chance. We were staying until Monday, and then driving back home. Now I can understand this course of action for the other group, considering their freakin van flipped, but everyone in our group wanted to go on. We were very disappointed, not even gonna lie. I barely slept that night--I was pretty angry. I have yet to write my strongly worded e-mail, but I might get around to that someday.
Nevertheless, Sunday was a blast. We went to Wal-Mart (boo) and then visited the Jolly Green Giant. We also played around in the giant mounds of snow, and I got really cold and wet. At one point I stepped into snow all the way up to the waist. It was really hard climbing up the snow mountains. I felt like a tortoise that some punk kid put on it's back. At one point I actually was on my back, and couldn't figure out how to get back on my feet. Whatever. It was a "good time" as they say. Then we made dreamcatchers with some stuff we bought at Wal-Mart, which kinda gave the whole thing an Indian feel sort of I guess.
And then we found out some more news. Apparently, the plans had changed. The passengers of the van that flipped had to use Amtrak to get back, and they were going to make everyone in both groups (mind you, we were totally separate groups with totally separate purposes) drive up and stay a night in the Twin Cities (those are Minneapolis and St. Paul, in case you didn't know). Bummer.
So we headed north out of our way two hours bright and early Monday morning to St. Paul. They forgot to mention our hotel was in the hood. Oh well, at least we could go to the Mall of Americas, or the world famous flour museum....psyche. Apparently, those aren't in the ABI spirit, but bowling is. How this was still considered an ABI I'll never really know. Really, I'm not knocking bowling, but I rather sample some of the local flava then do something I could do anywhere. But, everyone found my bowling technique amusing. Very amusing.
At night, our group had a little reflection which consisted of saying something about the trip that made us mad and punching a pinata. Then we played Apples to Apples (or "Ashes to Ashes" as someone kept calling it).
Tuesday we headed home. We missed the SPAM museum. That was a sad part. We arrived in Chicago at 6:30.
Thus concludes Part 2. Coming Soon: SB07 (AKATIBE) Part 3: Alone in the Big City.
Don't let this go to your head,
--Das Barry
So we ended up in Blue Earth, Minnesota.
We stayed at a pretty decent Super 8, had some dinner at Pizza Hut, and basically relaxed. And then we found out that the Patrick, the head guy of the ABIs here was not letting us go any further. No chance. We were staying until Monday, and then driving back home. Now I can understand this course of action for the other group, considering their freakin van flipped, but everyone in our group wanted to go on. We were very disappointed, not even gonna lie. I barely slept that night--I was pretty angry. I have yet to write my strongly worded e-mail, but I might get around to that someday.
Nevertheless, Sunday was a blast. We went to Wal-Mart (boo) and then visited the Jolly Green Giant. We also played around in the giant mounds of snow, and I got really cold and wet. At one point I stepped into snow all the way up to the waist. It was really hard climbing up the snow mountains. I felt like a tortoise that some punk kid put on it's back. At one point I actually was on my back, and couldn't figure out how to get back on my feet. Whatever. It was a "good time" as they say. Then we made dreamcatchers with some stuff we bought at Wal-Mart, which kinda gave the whole thing an Indian feel sort of I guess.
And then we found out some more news. Apparently, the plans had changed. The passengers of the van that flipped had to use Amtrak to get back, and they were going to make everyone in both groups (mind you, we were totally separate groups with totally separate purposes) drive up and stay a night in the Twin Cities (those are Minneapolis and St. Paul, in case you didn't know). Bummer.
So we headed north out of our way two hours bright and early Monday morning to St. Paul. They forgot to mention our hotel was in the hood. Oh well, at least we could go to the Mall of Americas, or the world famous flour museum....psyche. Apparently, those aren't in the ABI spirit, but bowling is. How this was still considered an ABI I'll never really know. Really, I'm not knocking bowling, but I rather sample some of the local flava then do something I could do anywhere. But, everyone found my bowling technique amusing. Very amusing.
At night, our group had a little reflection which consisted of saying something about the trip that made us mad and punching a pinata. Then we played Apples to Apples (or "Ashes to Ashes" as someone kept calling it).
Tuesday we headed home. We missed the SPAM museum. That was a sad part. We arrived in Chicago at 6:30.
Thus concludes Part 2. Coming Soon: SB07 (AKATIBE) Part 3: Alone in the Big City.
Don't let this go to your head,
--Das Barry
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Spring Break '07 (aka This is Blue Earth) pt. 1: Humble Beginnings
I've decided to break my story into a few parts this time, because there is a bunch to say. Also, my computer finally came back (rejoice if you must), but, joke's on me, they forgot the power cord [trombone "wah wah wah" noise here]
Anyway, for spring break I was supposed to go to Mission, South Dakota on an Alternative Break Immersion at an Indian Reservation. It was going to be a great time--horse back riding, these yummy food things called Indian tacos, rocks--all that fun stuff.
We never came close.
I woke up at 4:30 AM last Saturday, grabbed my bags, and we left at 5. I decided I would be the "el Navigator" and keep Paul, the trip leader and driver at the time, awake and jolly. We drove through Illinois (I finally saw that "Medieval Times" everyone keeps yelling about) and Wisconsin. That's when we suspected something was going down. The roads were pretty decent, but every few minutes a cluster of cars would be seen that had slid off the road and into giant mounds of snow. They must've been all from last night or something, because nobody was inside and some had police tape around them. "Meh," we thought, "only idiots drive off the road." We couldn't have been more wrong (or right, if you want to be mean about it).
We crossed the giant Mississippi River, which I've never seen, and started into Minnesota. The snow was huge. It wasn't snowing, but the roads were still sort of bad from a few days before. We got about an hour into the state and were looking a place to eat. Supposedly, all ways into SD were closed. Bummer. And then it happened. We were all talking and having a gay ol' time, and then, WHOOPS!, WHAT THE??, WHOA!! We slid off the road and into the snow. Crap. We collected ourselves and then started calling insurance. They were none to helpful, but some guy driving a plow saw us and called a tow truck and the fuzz. And it was freaking cold outside. Anyway, the tow truck came and gave us a "winch" (and I learned a new word), and we were on our way after about an hour. We slowly made our way to the next town, went to Subway, and decided what we should do.
There was another group going to another part of South Dakota. They were going the same way, though, and we thought we'd give them a heads up and see if they wanted to meet us. "Nah," they said, "We're going to the border, at least. We're already ahead of y'all. Blah, blah bl--silence." One of their vans flipped. Someone on one of these trips must've had pretty bad chi...
We decided we were going to stay for the night at the town where we were eating. Where were we?
Blue Earth, Minnesota. Home of the largest Jolly Green Giant statue and the Eskimo pie.
More to come,
Barry
P.S. Never fear, reader, I'll have pictures up soon
Anyway, for spring break I was supposed to go to Mission, South Dakota on an Alternative Break Immersion at an Indian Reservation. It was going to be a great time--horse back riding, these yummy food things called Indian tacos, rocks--all that fun stuff.
We never came close.
I woke up at 4:30 AM last Saturday, grabbed my bags, and we left at 5. I decided I would be the "el Navigator" and keep Paul, the trip leader and driver at the time, awake and jolly. We drove through Illinois (I finally saw that "Medieval Times" everyone keeps yelling about) and Wisconsin. That's when we suspected something was going down. The roads were pretty decent, but every few minutes a cluster of cars would be seen that had slid off the road and into giant mounds of snow. They must've been all from last night or something, because nobody was inside and some had police tape around them. "Meh," we thought, "only idiots drive off the road." We couldn't have been more wrong (or right, if you want to be mean about it).
We crossed the giant Mississippi River, which I've never seen, and started into Minnesota. The snow was huge. It wasn't snowing, but the roads were still sort of bad from a few days before. We got about an hour into the state and were looking a place to eat. Supposedly, all ways into SD were closed. Bummer. And then it happened. We were all talking and having a gay ol' time, and then, WHOOPS!, WHAT THE??, WHOA!! We slid off the road and into the snow. Crap. We collected ourselves and then started calling insurance. They were none to helpful, but some guy driving a plow saw us and called a tow truck and the fuzz. And it was freaking cold outside. Anyway, the tow truck came and gave us a "winch" (and I learned a new word), and we were on our way after about an hour. We slowly made our way to the next town, went to Subway, and decided what we should do.
There was another group going to another part of South Dakota. They were going the same way, though, and we thought we'd give them a heads up and see if they wanted to meet us. "Nah," they said, "We're going to the border, at least. We're already ahead of y'all. Blah, blah bl--silence." One of their vans flipped. Someone on one of these trips must've had pretty bad chi...
We decided we were going to stay for the night at the town where we were eating. Where were we?
Blue Earth, Minnesota. Home of the largest Jolly Green Giant statue and the Eskimo pie.
More to come,
Barry
P.S. Never fear, reader, I'll have pictures up soon
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
