Who would’ve thought that the more concerts you shoot (Rockapella, Rick Charette, Bumstock, Guster, ZOX, etc.), the better you get?
[pictures of Vague Valentine, Headstart, and As Fast As last night at Rock Against Rape]
Tonight’s music pick: “In the Waiting Line” from Simple Things by Zero 7.
(Thank Garden State for this one; it provided the background to an amazingly well-shot ecstacy party scene.)
As promised, I attended the Edwards rally today on the Mall in front of the library. It was very well attended, and I was able to see a lot of my friends there (nice to have Democratic friends, I guess). Introduced by Stephen King and Maine governor John Baldacci, he spoke surprisingly well and seemed to hit most of the talking points raised throughout the campaign. You can read about it on some of the major news outlets.
But…
…that’s the problem.
As someone interested in photography, media, and possibly some form of journalism, I looked over what will probably be the event with the widest coverage at the University for a while.
My first stop was at a USA Today [AP] article detailing the event. First of all, that picture isn’t from UMaine. Edwards took off his coat the minute he stepped on stage. Second, though the video is supposedly focusing on Edwards’s talk at the University, it includes no actual coverage from here. Third, it wasn’t a completely student audience. In fact, many faculty and community members from around Maine attended the event.
The Miami Herald’s take on the AP story fared a bit better. It seemed to include more accurate coverage of the speech’s content, especially with details like Edwards’s “the Bush administration is the first in 75 years to post a net loss of jobs.” It also accurately noted the (small) group of Bush supporters in the back of the crowd. It did not mention, however, the one student who walked through the audience holding his flip-flops in the air while slapping them together.
Those seem to be the two AP articles circulating right now. I can only hope that in time photos will find their way to the stream (as well as video).
Call it action/reaction.
This evening John Edwards (”our next vice president”, if I listen to the Democrats driving around campus with a car and a loudspeaker) will be speaking/rallying/propagandizing near the Library at UMaine. I’m headed there to see it - just like I would for any semi-major political figure - and hopefully get some pictures, unless the confiscate my camera. Apparently people have already been around with chalk (on both sides, I’ve heard)… and apparently facilities has already been around with a pressure-washer.
Afterwards, I’ll be headed to the Maine Center for the Arts to see the Capitol Steps mock everything I just heard near the Library. Hopefully they’ll do some of my favorites along with some new tunes fresh for the election year.
This should be an interesting evening. I wonder if the Steps know that Edwards is around. That could be fun.
‘Twas the night after Labor Day, when all through the room
The laptop was silent, the mouse did not zoom;
The router was hooked to the wall jack with care,
While downloads of legal stuff float through the air.
The student was covered, all nestled in bed,
While visions of redesigns whizzed through his head…
Oh, no, not again.
I went to Quiznos with Matt, Sarah, and H for dinner. I’d heard some good things, so I was happy I had a chance to try it out. My overall findings:
- tasted pretty good (tuna special with lettuce, onions, and a vinegrette)
- Coke instead of Pepsi (bad)
- expensive (at least moreso than Subway)
- two types of bread vs. Subway’s 5 or 6
- hair on my plate
- no apparent recycling of bottles
- good bundt cake
So probably a 3/5. I’d probably go back every once in a while, but it won’t be considered my favorite place to eat for a while.
It’s been one week since I moved into the apartment here at UMaine. It’s really incredible to see how much I’ve learned over the last week, for example:
It’s awesome to be around friends, especially ones who care about you. It’s great to hear, “You want to go outside and play with the ball?” or “You want to come to Wendy’s with us?” Two-way relationships are really the only way to go.
Having your own room rocks. It’s so great to have a place of your own to come back to after a day of classes and work. It’s also nice to just have a place to crash when you need to be by yourself (I have some times like that… just part of my personality, I guess).
Swimming and biking are great. I went swimming earlier this week, and I biked over 6 miles today. Both are a heck of a lot more fun than just sitting on the computer, and you get to see people while you’re doing them.
You can have more free time at school than at home. It sounds weird, but I really feel like I have more time to myself now that I’m back in classes. Must be the less-demanding work schedule or something.
It’s possible to make something out of even the smallest room. Nobody in the apartment had any idea how I’d find space in my small apartment room with the furniture provided by the school. Amazing what a little rearrangement can do.
A 12-credit schedule is very nice, especially with no classes before 10:30.
Sleeping is nice. I’ve had a couple of 9-hour sleep nights. It’s a lot better than getting up at 7 to head to work at 8.
It’s good to get outside. The latter half of the week has been beautiful, and I’ve loved biking and walking around campus.
You can’t cook together in a 4 sq. foot kitchen. Everyone thought shower schedules would be the problem - they’re really not. It’s nearly impossible to cook together in our little kitchen area at once, so that makes eating together difficult if everyone has different meals.
Planning meals takes a lot of work. Shopping is fun, and we handled the “who buys what” conundrum quite well. Deciding what to eat out of what you have is the difficult part.
Digital notes are easier than paper ones. I haven’t taken a single note on paper in classes this year. I type more accurately and faster than I write; it just makes more sense to bring the laptop, especially since the whole campus is now (ideally) wireless.
LCDs really do save space. I love the LCD monitor I bought; it was worth the price to save the space my old 17″ CRT took up.
They Might Be Giants + Homestar Runner = Experimental Film
(see what I get for not watching Homestar over the summer?)
