My Own Little World

I've decided recently that I want to get a music streaming subscription. I know that I've been opposed to them in the past because they don't pay the artists well, among other reasons; however, I've seen that it might be a more cost-effective approach than buying my own music. Over the course of the next few weeks (or possibly months), I'll be posting some reviews of the different major streaming services. First up: the giant, ubiquitous Spotify.  When Spotify came to the US, nearly every single person I know signed up for it because it was something radical for the time: a legal way to listen to unlimited amounts of music for free  (if you were OK with advertising, that is). It also allowed you to share music with your friends on social media, because, well...why shouldn't social media be involved in everything? I remember thinking that Spotify was the greatest thing since sliced bread when I first got it. That being said, the way I listen to music h...

I wanted to see The Walk  ever since it was announced. I love the story of Philippe Petit's high wire crossing of the span between the Twin Towers, and I love Robert Zemeckis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's respective talents. Yet, I never expected the film that I got. I expected a somewhat standard biopic with a slightly more serious tone. Instead, I got what felt like a fast-paced heist film. That is why The Walk  is one of the best films I've seen so far this year: it can deftly balance between the more expository narrative of Petit's life and the intense high wire sequences that drive the film's heart. Zemeckis as a filmmaker excels at this. He has proven in two of his previous films, Forrest Gump  and Flight , that he can bounce back and forth between two distinct tones and make an amazing film out of them. In Forrest Gump , it was between romance, drama, and war; in Flight , between dark comedy, thriller, and courtroom drama. In The Walk , we get some ver...

I know I’ve missed the past few weeks of College Life, but I’m pretty sure the reason will come out in the words that follow. I’m changing the style to more of a recap of the week instead of a list of tips, as I feel that stories are a better way to do things. This week was Broadway Revue. For those of you who don’t know, it is a show put on by the theater club, Green Room, here at Olivet. We did several numbers from a variety of shows, including “No One Is Alone” from Into the Woods, “In My Life” from Les Miserables, “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler on the Roof, and “Pandemonium” from The 21st Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. This was a blast to put on for our audience, and we all had a great time rehearsing the show for this past week. That being said, as you probably could have guessed, it sucked out a lot of my time. Every week before we got into the auditorium, I spent six hours a week in rehearsals. During tech week, it was that much a night. Yeah, it was a lot of time. I h...