CAMPUSS!

Yesterday was definitely free day on campus. Under Faner free "Attitude Designe" shirts were being given out, and also by Parkinson and the bridge, there was free tie-dying available for students. It was from the Visual Arts commitee and they supplied the shirts and dye. It was pretty cool, especially during these last stressful weeks to get a chance to do something fun on campus for free.

There are plenty of things going on these last two weeks, like tomorrow night at the student center, there is a stress buster event. A lot of clubs here at school are providing us with a lot of things to do to help us out at the end of this year. So definitely everyone should take advantage and find those things you are interested in.

Spillway

last Saturday me and all my friends headed up to the spillway. This is one of the most beautiful places around siu. Since it was a nice day, the sun was out everyone was out there. There were many different kinds of people there are all gathering and enjoying the weather. It is a very nice place to go hike and clear your mind..i really suggest checking it out next time it is a nice day. There are places to BBQ and you can swim if you don't mind the cold water right now.

Tie Dye!

Today I was at the Rec. center working out when natalie gave me a call. She told me how they had a whole tie dying section set up by the bridge. I decided to go over there and meet her. The club was giving away free shirts to tie dye and we got in line. This was a real fun activity going on campus for free. Once again just by keeping your eyes open, there is so much going on. It was a fun way to enjoy being outside while making something great that you can wear!

Irish Fest!

This whole weekend there was a big fest going on in carbondale. The fest was called Irish Fest and had lots of activities going at it. So many people went to go socialize, while others just go to eat a good meal. Beisdes, everyone knows that fests have the best food ever. There was also lots of different events going on. It was a beautiful weekend for this and really got people outside. It was also a great way to start up someones summer and get them ready for the hot weather coming our way!

softball

Today my friends and I were sitting around bored. We heard somthing outside and saw out the window that a softball game was going on across the street. We decided to walk over and go watch a little bit of it. Being at the softball game for a little bit turned into most of the game. We enjoyed watching SIU play so much that we stayed until the end. It made me realise how much I enjoy going to the different sports around campus just to cheer on Southern. Even though SIU lost the softball game it was fun and brought back memories of when I use to play. I hope to go to atleast one more softball game before the end of the semester.

FOOOOOOD!

Today, in the student center the RSO Black Student Council held an event that served many different traditional African foods. The foods that they had were from all over African so there were many types to try.  Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this due to my schedule. But this is just one example of activities involving food. For anyone interested in multicultural dishes, I am sure that this would have been a great experience. I wish I was able to go, but I am sure there will be other opportunities to try different foods.

Sigma Lambda Beta

The Sigma Lambda Beta fraternity is holding its own Greek Week this week. Yesterday, April 22nd, we had the chance to stop by at their BBQ and activity night. They had free food and blow up games. It was a lot of fun to stop at and meet a bunch of new people. Also, tonight there is free bowling, and tomorrow is meet the frat night. 

I think for anyone thinking about joining the greek system here at SIU, it would be a great opportunity to get in and see what type of things the chapters do, and talk to people about the lifestyle. 

BBQ!!!

Today I was walking with a few friends back from the campus lake and when we got closer to the bridge we happened to pass somthing going on. The Sigma Lambda Beta frat had a BBQ going on with some blow up activities. As we passed by they yelled to come over and have a bite to eat. We went over an enjoyed a delicious cheeseburger. These are the type of fun things that just randomly pop up when you are walking around campus. By this going on, we were able to catch up with some friends we don't normally see while having a great dinner. We were also able to watch the people on the blow up activities and it was very entertaining. To top it all off it was a beautiful day outside. All in all these are the type of fun events that happen all over carbondale, and they usually are free for everyone.

Relay for Life

Relay For Life is an organization that helps to raise more for the American Cancer Society. The events usually consist of camping out at schools, sports fields, and other popular areas. The event consists of different teams, each raising their own money. Each team must have one member walking the track at a time. The walking on the track symbolizes hope for those with cancer, and for those lost to it, that idea that they will never be forgotten. It is a truly amazing event to be able to partake in, knowing you have done something good.

Coming up in four days, is the Jacksonville Carbondale Relay For Life. It will be held at Carbondale High School. Various teams from SIUC have raised over $1,000.00 for the event. This event would be so inspirational for anyone battling cancer, dealing with a loved one who is going through a sickness, or for anyone who has lost someone to cancer, it is a time to remember and let others help you cope. 

For anyone interested in attending there is little time left to sign up. www.relayforlife.org has more information

Prince Achmed

The Adventures of Prince Achmed was offered to us in Alternative Media as a way to earn extra credit. All we had to do was go watch the silent film, and write a response. I think all of us that attending the viewing got much more out of it. 

First off, the film is a silent film that the SIU Improvisation Unit and the Sometimes Orchestra created an original score to go along with the program. It was cool to see how the music really worked with what was going on in the film and brought so much more feeling to it. 

Also, the movie is all hand cut. Meaning, it is made up of a bunch of figures, buildings, settings, all hand cut from paper. It was really really crazy how detailed the movie was seeing as it was all done by hand. This image is actually from this film and shows how precise and detailed all of the figures were (http://www.siffblog.com/achmed.jpg)

I think it was awesome to have this opportunity to go see something amazing like The Adventures of Prince Achmed. It was totally different, a little creepy in a way, but awesome. I think anyone interested in silent films, or different forms of animation would have loved it.

PRINCE ACHMED

4/20 at 730 pm i went and saw The Adventures of Prince Achmed. The Southern Illinois Improvisation Unit and the sometimes Orchestra performed live during the showing of Lotter Reinigers "The Adventures Price Achmed" The film was interesting. It was a silents film accompanied by the orchestra. At first I thought this film would be hard to sit through, but to my surprise it kept my attention the whole time. It was amazing how she create a film from hand cut figures and lighting. The live music only added to the experience. They performed very well and complimented the film perfectly. This film was written in German which was interesting to see something from a different culture. Gender was represented in this film also there were a few provocative scene with women.

The Adventures of Prince Achmed!

This event is somthing that all of us MCMA students had a chance to go to. In class Dr. Michele Torre informed us that we could go to Altgeld Hall for extra credit yesterday (April 20th). A few of us decided to go because we thought it would be interesting and give us somthing different to do. It also would give us somthing great to blog about and share with everyone. The show was called The Adventures of Prince Achmed. It lasted about an hour and wasn't like anything that I have ever seen before. This show was performed by the SIUC Improvisation Unit and the Somtimes Orchestra. The film that was shown took a few years to create and consisted of hand cut outs. Each cut out was moved during every short clip to become one long film. The music was done by the Orchestra and really fit the film well. This was a great work of art put together that took time and effort. I'm happy that I ended up going because there won't be many chances to see such a great creation such as The Adventures of Prince Achmed.

POETRY AT MELANGE CAFE

Thursday Nights at 7 pm there are poetry and literature readings at Melange cafe located on the strip. Every time i got i have a really good time. Each time there is a different theme to the night and people read their poems,plays,short stories or a passage from a novel that relates to the theme of the night. This last Thursday was themed; The Birds and the Bees. It was funny because this theme was looked at in two different ways, animals and love and intimacy.

The night was fun i went with another freshman student at siu, who i met in English class, we both share the same interest in literature and poetry,which is we really enjoy it but we are new to the scene. We saw both of our English teachers there who had material that they were going to read. Also we saw alot of the people from the English department there, which is an obvious place to find them. The night was fun one lady read poem about the wolves she worked with then had trivia facts for everyone to answer after. Every one there was having a good time and i would suggest going, the cafe is a cute quiet place until all these rowdy poets come and enjoy company of people who share the same interest.

Lectures!

A few days ago i attended a lecture that was located in the Student Center here at Southern IL University. This lecture included a few different people reading books that they have written out loud to the audience. Lectures just like this or even completely different are often held in the student center and I find them to be interesting. Not only are they fun to go to for your own pleasure, but teachers often offer extra credit for going to them. This is yet just another event that is free and offered here at the SIU campus. Keep your eyes and ears open and they will pop up at random places.

MOCKTAILS!!!

Tonight there was an event that was held at Schnieder Hall. The even was right in the back of Schnieder Hall on the patio. The scene of this event consisted of drinks and some snacks. They had different tables set up and each table had either rootbeer, non-alcoholic jello shots, non-alcoholic champaign, chips, or strawberry daiquiris on it. Beside this event having some yummy food and drinks, it also had a live band playing. Around the band was chairs for the audience to sit and listen while enjoying some refreshments. When Caitlyn, Natalie, and I went we decided to get a strawberry daiquiri first and then some chips. After this we sat down to enjoy some live music. It was calm, relaxing, and soothing to just sit there and listen. To top the event off it was really nice outside. This event was free of charge and just right outside of a dorm hall. It was one of those events that are heard of through word of mouth or by flyers hung around the campus. Keep your eye out for these flyers and your ears open for the word of mouth. These types of events are always fun to go to with friends. This even was good if you just needed a break from homework or somthing to do with your friends. It was also a good thing to go to if you do not drink because all of the drinks were non-alcoholic. Overall go to these events, they are fun and a good time.

ALL THAT JAZZ!

Tonight Schneider tower hosted "MockTails" which was imitation non-alcholic drinks. This was to get the students of Schneider tower down stairs to socialize and listen to some live music. Also There was a person from the wellness center informing student about drinking.

The music was very relaxing and brought a crowd of people who usually wouldn't go and part take in learning about the risks of drinking. The band was Jazz/Jam. The drummer happened to be one of my friends friend. The drummer was also in a local band that plays a local bars. The music was defiantly the best part.

There was a lot of the RA's there helping out, there we fake jello shots, margaritas and root beer and the combination of food, music and education brought a little bit of everything for anyone.

Jazz!!

Schneider Tower hosted Jazz night tonight. It was a totally fun, different night for me. 

The night started off with "Mocktails". Of course the dorms have to refrain from serving alcoholic beverages to the always "Thirsty" students, but there was more to this theme. The night was full of fun drinks and a jazz band that played out on the back porch. The jazz was a little different from the music that I listen to but I really enjoyed it. It was more of a rock/jam jazz than classic jazz and blues. It was really cool to get to relax and listen to a great band.

Also, the night was geared towards drinking. Obviously, not promoting it. There was a presentation afterwards talking about the dangers of binge drinking and underage drinking. They talked about all the effects on the body, as well as dangerous encounters.

The night gave all students a chance to listen to some really good jazz music (whether they previously liked it or not, it was awesome). And it gave those students who are not caught up in the college drinking scene... (unbelievable seeing as this is SIU lol). It was a interesting, informational, and fun night that was really fun for everyone. 

Little Grassy Fest.

Last week was the Little Grassy Lit. fest April 2nd and 3rd. This was very interesting to go to, there was one women poet who wrote about silent films in Italy. in her poems she described the women featured in the films, her poem where quite different than the males poet whose name was Robert Wriggley and his book of poems was titled "Lives of Animals" this was actually contradicting to what all of his poems where about which the topics of the poems were about deceased animals. His poems were very good but very sad at the same time, but overall the reading at the fest portrayed differences when it was either a women or man reading and their background changed what the poems were about.