Since I like to walk around with my camera, I thought it might be interesting to take photographs of some of the people and random coolness that see on my travels across campus. This first one is going to be short since I just came up with the idea (and since I technically do not have my boss’ permission for this little endeavor yet). Enjoy!
This past Tuesday at 11:00, I filed into Edmunds with the other lucky students who had managed to get a hold of tickets to the CEP. Like many students, I wasn’t thrilled about giving up valuable sleeping or homework time, but I figured that I could attempt to do those things anyway. I mean, Cantus? A men’s vocal ensemble? Yeah, like that was going to be entertaining.
Well I was wrong. Those guys are wickedawesome (yes, I had to go there and use some “Northern slang” because in the South we don’t have a word to describe how fantastic these guys were). The group is made up of nine men and is based out of the cities Minneapolis and St. Paul. The small sample of music that we were treated to, I believe just scratches the surface of their ability. By that I mean, this is one of the only CEPs in my three and half years that I wanted to go longer.
One of their first songs was called Lux Aurumque and is composed by Eric Whitacre. It was written to sound like the wind blowing through the mountains and it is beautiful. I closed my eyes and felt like I was in some new version of Fantasia. Another song, Mountain Nights, I by Zoltán Kodály and the men were transformed into a choir of angels. As dopey as that sounds, its true. These two songs were then followed by a song that can only be described as adorable. Little Potato by Malcolm Dalglish, is a song that was rearranged to be played on the toy piano. So, Cantus played it on a toy piano. If you ever wanted to see Schroeder play in real life that was your chance. Later, they played a song with only Boomwackers. (I have included a YouTube movie below for your enjoyment). The group showed that they are talented and playful, serious and slightly immature… and maybe at least one of them is a big enough Star Wars fan to play with a Boomwacker like it was a light sabre.
Check these guys out. Don’t be turned away just because they were a CEP. They are on YouTube, iTunes, and Facebook. Check out their webpage and download some music. Do it. All the cool kids are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icH7CANY4EY (Boomwackers YouTube)
Playing on the Toy Piano
Playing with Boomwackers
Last Saturday, amongst the rain and cold, our PC lacrosse team beat the opposing team of Belmont Abbey with a score of 9 to 4.
The game started at 1:00 p.m. and began with an interesting practice technique in which the players utilized both sides of the field. One side of the field pitted PC’s offense versus the opposing team’s defense while the other side was Belmont Abbey’s offense versus PC’s defense. After playing this way for the better part of an hour, the real game began and I, being such a big fan, decided to endure the icy wrath of mother nature in order to watch.
That being said, I was having a bit of bad luck that day. While I was able to take a lot of stunning photographs, I missed actually seeing most of the goals being scored. Much to my chagrin, I always looked up the split second after the ball actually went into the net. What I do know, however, is that our team has the teamwork aspect down pact. There is nothing like watching an opposing team’s coach arguing with his players over teamwork while your team keeps racking up points.
Be sure to come watch the Women’s Lax scrimmage this Saturday at 11:00 a.m. Come support your team!
Photos by Akeem Favor
Spectrum, which you may or may not know, is the organization on campus that is dedicated to closing the chasm between heterosexuals and homosexuals as well as promoting the fair and equal treatment of members of LGBT community.
So saying, Spectrum would like to announce that it will be having a movie night both this Thursday (January 28th) and next Thursday (February 4) at 7:00 p.m. in the CIH classroom featuring the critically acclaimed miniseries Angels in America. This Thursday’s portion of the movie will feature the series’ first part “Millennium Kingdom” while next Thursday’s will feature the finale entitled “Perestroika.” The film focuses on “…several individuals struggling through the ’80’s with the shadow of AIDS hanging over them.”
Although insanely small and creepily exclusive, the PC bubble is indeed mobile. How can we be so sure? This past weekend, several of us students scooped it up and moved it over the state line for the college’s annual Winter Conference. The event was held in the beautiful little mountain town of Montreat, North Carolina, which serves as a conference center for all kinds of church groups. Over 100 PC students attended the conference and stayed, played, and ate in the cozy Assembly Inn which overlooks Lake Susan. Goofy-in-a-good-way energizers were performed, Powerful songs were belted out by the extremely talented band full of PC’s own, and inspiring speaker Lucy Cummings shared her thoughts on faith. The weekend theme was Creation, but Cummings touched on different ideas each day. One relative and interesting issue was how sites like Facebook and Twitter are disconnecting us and making real life contact “awkward.” She encouraged everyone to take a chance, look someone in the eye, and legitimately ask and care how they are doing. What a frightening, but genius suggestion.
On Saturday night, a delightful talent show was put on full of music, dancing, comedy, and dramatic readings. The awesome madness ended with Lee Catoe and Ellison Cavedo’s acoustic version of Beyonce’s hit “Halo.” Overall, the weekend was a nice getaway with no painful popping of our precious bubble. And hey, all attendees got rockin burnt orange t-shirts out of the deal too. Jealous a little?
Palmetto lanes is offering up one dollar games and one dollar beer on Wednesday nights. They’ve also redone the interiors. It’s a nice looking place and a good way to blow off all that unnecessary homework. Bored on Wednesdays? Try your hand at bowling. He did. 
The Bluestocking wishes to welcome Benjamin Hathhorn Parson into the world. Congratulations to Dr. Molly McGehee and her husband Daniel Parson, some of the best people in the world on their beautiful baby boy. He was born on January 18th and weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and is 21 inches long. We love you Dr. McGehee and are so excited for the joys that will come with your darling baby. 
Looking around campus, I have noticed that most student organizations have t-shirts or bags publicizing their group. Sports teams, Greeks, SVS, and many more student affiliations all have or need shirts, bags, or caps to unify their group as a whole. That’s where Carolina Headwear comes into play. You want it? They’ll do it. Carin Fletcher, Carolina Headwear’s owner and founder, runs the business out of her home. Service is impeccable and the products are beyond compare. They can print or embroider an existing design, or create a design or logo to your liking. Being a Carolina Headwear employee, I have seen designs that range from simple and classic to elaborately detailed. Their main priority is meeting customer’s wants and needs, therefore one hundred percent satisfaction is guaranteed.
Items that can be printed include (but are not limited to):
Items that can be embroidered include (but are not limited to):
To contact Carolina Headwear, call 1-864-621-8060.
To see brands, designs, or to get more information, visit www.Totebags4less.com or www.carolinahw.com.
“What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Germany?” –Mary Ellis
“Hitler.”–Student
This simple quote started off last night’s CIH event which confronted the issue of cultural and national stereotypes with a light-hearted approach. To be fair, other words were tossed around too, such as beer, Oktoberfest, and pretzels, before someone mentioned Hitler, but I digress.
The country specific stereotypes confronted last night included: German, French, Irish, American, and South Korean.
Mary Ellis started off the event with a slide show presentation on Germany and an amusing video of the famous song “Springtime for Hitler” from Mel Brooks’ The Producers. Following the introduction was a surprising amount of statistical information and facts. For instance, did you know that the Tuetons, an ancient tribe in Germany, used to consider beer a significant offering to the gods? Another interesting fact about Germany was that statistically speaking, almost every German male owns a pair of lederhosen , but only wears them during significant cultural events?
Gwen, our own visiting French student, prepared a presentation on her very own country. Imagine how shocked I was to see the first slide of her presentation: a frog wearing a beret accompanied by a block of cheese and a glass of wine. I was so shocked in fact, that I missed taking a picture of it (which says a lot to people who know me).
Among other things, including a crash course on how to cook escargot, Gwen discussed the characteristics regarding the typical French stereotype. Interestingly enough, the infamous beret was originally worn by French fishermen before fashion designers decided to make it a mark of high fashion. In regards to the French’s love of cheese, Gwen had this to say: “Cheese is France! I’m not ashamed to say it!” As for the stereotype that the French are always having sex, ( and if not, at least always thinking about it), Gwen with a laugh and a wink said that this one stereotypical characteristic was “true”. To get to the heart of the matter, she ended her presentation with a clip of everyone’s favorite amorous French skunk, Pepe Le Pew.
If anyone reading this knows Conall (our international student from Ireland) personally, then you know his presentation on the Irish stereotype was one of great amusement. Before formally starting his presentation, Conall took advantage of having everyone’s attention to call the French football (soccer) team “…a bunch of dirty cheaters.” Apparently this is a recurring inside joke between him and Gwen regarding a previous football match between Ireland and France in which, I suspect, that France emerged victorious.
Conall went on to examine the stereotypes regarding the Ireland and its people, from the belief that the country looks like a postcard wherever you go and that all the Irish have red hair. The latter was confirmed to be false on two accounts: Conall obviously does not have red hair and that Scotland actually has the highest percentage of redheads. One stereotype that I was previously unaware of was that people think that the Irish are addicted to potatoes, which seemed strange to me. However, Conall was quick to enlighten us: “I love potatoes. I complain about American potatoes, because there is something off about them. They. Just. Don’t. Cut. It.” Conall also confirmed that the Irish do indeed like to drink and ended with a clip from Family Guy in which Peter visits his father in Ireland.
Jordan Anderson took on the task of dealing with the stereotypes of Americans among the international community. In order to find out exactly what these stereotypes were, Jordan interviewed the international students living in CIH. Apparently we are described as being greedy, lazy, ignorant of foreign culture, and uncaring about the environment. Jordan combated these stereotypes by presenting facts and relevant statistics.
Finally, Mary Ellis wrapped up the program in an interesting way. Although she wanted to do a presentation on South Korean stereotypes, she was intrigued to find out that there were none. So instead of giving a presentation on South Korean stereotypes she gave one on South Korean facts and statistics. Did you know that the martial art known as Tae Kwon Do originated from South Korea or that South Korea has the 13th largest economy?
We also learned the reason for why South Koreans ask that guests remove their shoes when entering a house. First, and most obviously, it makes the floors dirty. Second, there are heaters in the floorboards in Korean homes, so the floor is warm and comfortable. Finally, South Koreans believe that if you wear your shoes for too long, your feet begin to stink. Therefore, they encourage the removal of footwear as often as possible to prevent “the stink.”
All in all, I had an awesome time attending the event. So saying, I would like to take this time to put in a plug for upcoming CIH events which will be announced as their corresponding dates approach. Do your part to disprove the stereotype that Americans don’t care about foreign culture by coming to at least one CIH event this semester.
Remember, only you can disprove stereotypes.
Links:
Photos by Akeem Favor
This semester, an Improv class was added to PC’s courses. Because it isn’t a typical type of class where you sit down, take notes, and listen to a lecture, it is one of the most entertaining classes available to PC students. Cristian Bell, PC’s Improv Troupe leader, teaches the class with an open mind and a willingness to embrace people who have no improvisation abilities, like me.
This semester, class is on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:00-2:45. We start class by playing warm up games to stimulate our minds. Though they seem completely out there, the games help keep everyone’s mind sharp and keep us on our toes, literally. Games include, “Zip Zap Zop,” “Zoom Schwartz Profigliano,” and my personal favorite, “Whiz Bong.” After brain exercising activities, we work on the art of Improv. Thus far, we have learned how to establish the “where” and the “who” in skits. Although acting on impulse in Improv skits can be fun and incredibly entertaining, establishing a “who, what, when and where” within a matter of minutes can be nerve racking and stressful.
PC’s new Improv class is very fun, but also very useful. It teaches how to think quickly and react honestly to any given situation. It also helps to develop creativity, which is useful in most areas of life. If the opportunity arises, taking Cristian’s Improv class is highly recommended.
