Think Fast!

During the final stretch of the semester at Shepherd University, they brought in a live trivia game show for students to participate in called "Think Fast!" Some friends and I got to attend the event and even though we did not get to go on stage, it was fun just sitting and participating in the audience. The questions that were asked referred to a wide variety of pop culture references which really made this even fun for students. There was a lot of energy at this event as people in the audience were screaming and trying to help out their friends who were on stage. One of the coolest parts about this was that some of the questions they were asking referred back to some of our earliest childhood memories. For example, some of the questions asked you what a specific song was, and in some cases it was the theme song from a cartoon that was popular when we were growing up. That being said, this event was not only referring to recent pop culture, but to things that are nostalgic to the student body. In the end, the match was extremely close with the person who came in second only being one question behind the winner. The contestants got a variety of prizes just from participating, and the winner actually got a pretty hefty cash prize which is pretty awesome! With the stress of finals week creeping up, this event was definitely a great opportunity to get out, clear your head, and just relax and have fun.

A Night at the Movies: Horrible Bosses 2

I had the pleasure of being able to take a trip to the movies and see Horrible Bosses 2 the other week. Since this is the second installment in the series, I was a little bit skeptical about going to see it. The first movie was absolutely hilarious due to an extremely diverse and well picked cast. When I first saw that this movie was coming out I had no idea what they could possibly use to make a story possible. After watching, I was completely satisfied with the sequel and thought that they did a fantastic job on it. The movie was just as funny as the first movie and the original cast was brought back along with some new characters as well. Not only was the movie hilarious, but it was beautifully shot. The cinematography was awesome and they even had some really well edited sequences throughout. Like the first movie, the strongest aspect was the cast. Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day all work so well together. With the additions of Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Chris Pine, and Christoph Waltz, this movie hosted a cast full of stars. If you are a fan of the first film, I highly recommend that you go see this movie and get some good laughs out.

Conservation Film Festival

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the American Conservation Film Festival right here in Shepherdstown, WV. I only got to attend one of the blocks of the festival, which was hosted by the opera house in town. During the time I went there were four films that were shown, all having a nature theme to them. The first film was about a paleontologist who talked about some of the parks across the country that are great locations for digging. While this film was very entertaining, it was my least favorite out of the four that were shown. Secondly, we saw a movie that was about a wildlife photographer who traveled to different parts of Alaska to experience the natural beauty of the state. The film was broken into five different parts that corresponded to each area that he was filming at. The camera work in this film was incredible and some of the shots that he was able to get were amazing. We saw everything from bears playing to glaciers that were hundreds of feet tall. The third film that we watched was about a couple who had met through the National Park Service and through a mutual love of the outdoors. It begins by the couple explaining how they met in a specific park in Wyoming and ends with their wedding in the park they met in. While the film also had a lot of great camera work throughout, the story behind it was extremely heartwarming and that had a really powerful effect on the tone of the film. Lastly, we watched "Sticky" which was an animated short film about a type of stick bug that went extinct on an island off the shore of New Zealand. While many scientists believed it to be extinct, there was one group of scientists that visited the island and found a group of the insects still alive, the last of their kind. The film was extremely informational and taught me about a type of bug that I didn't even know existed. In addition to that, the animation in the film was flawless and extremely visual. After attending this film festival I felt inspired and even had some new ideas for ways to edit my final video. If you ever have the chance to attend this film festival I would definitely recommend it!

Artists Inspiring Artists

In September I also attended the Shepherd University Art Department Faculty Show. This was a great experience simply because looking at other people's art is what helps you become a better artist. Since I have a minor in Photography, it was great to see what some of the faculty in the art department was producing since a lot of them have been instructors of mine. This event was held partially in the library and another part was displayed in the new art building. Not only did I see some great pieces in the gallery, but some of them were incredibly inspiring. Some of my favorite pieces were done by Mike Mendez, who made photo-grams using different objects. The textures and compositions of his pieces were very intricate and interesting to look at. I was lucky to attend the gallery on the one day that it was open. Even the free food was great!

Hypnosis!

In the beginning of this semester Shepherd hosted an event that was really awesome. They brought in a hypnotist by the name of Kevin Hurley. I was immediately interested once I saw the posters going up for this event. In the beginning of the show he brought up a couple different students from the audience and sat them down next to each other in rows. As the show went on his was slowly hypnotizing them without them even knowing it. I will definitely say that the show was not what I expected at all. This guy really knew what he was doing and had mastered the art that is hypnotism. He even taught us a little bit about hypnosis as the show went on. The best part by far was seeing some of our fellow students fall asleep on each other and just acting goofy overall. He even has videos online where you can hypnotize yourself just by listening to them and following his instructions. Pretty neat stuff though!