Tag: Show

Pre-Chip Journal

navraj22Leave a comment

This Monday. 10 Am. Ojai Valley School. The last conference room on the right. It’s going down.

I will be orchestrating the show of the century via my video podcast. Myself, my co-host, and my newspaper’s editor will be eating the world’s spiciest chip. On camera. It WILL be the highlight of my year or the reason I get violently ill and have to leave school.

Going into the new year, I needed new ideas for my budding podcast. To be honest, my coverage and predictions about Omicron were shaky to say the least, some would even say disastrous but hey you live and you learn.

ANYWAYS, a ton of planning has gone into this. I had the idea on a crisp Thursday morning at 7:15 am on the toilet browsing Tik Tok. I saw this random old dude force feeding himself for views on tik tok when I saw him down 4 or 5 very spicy chilies, some daused in the world’s hottest hot sauce, followed up by a shot of vodka and him spraying WD-40 down his gullet. The funniest part is he starts with this cute little gag accent which slowly transitions into him moaning, whining, and crying as he forces himself to eat them (attached his so-called highlights at the bottom). Truly enthralling stuff. When I got to Journalism that day, I was instantly bombarded by my teacher and editor about not doing enough during my time between episodes (true but no way I would admit it).

“I’m gonna make my editor eat something so hot, she doesn’t have a tongue to tell me to slack off less,” I thought to myself.

It’s a pretty great plan if you factor our the fact that I will be torturing myself and my co-host for a gag/to see my editor’s face when she eats this chip.

I have created a whole show around the one spicy chip which I will outline:

First, we will chat around for a second, maybe get a cameo on the fourth mic from our teacher, get some other Journalism students to chime in and what not, setting the stage for the main event. Then, we will spin a wheel to determine the order in which we eat the chips. Then, another wheel will be spun to determine how much of the chip will be eaten: 60% for 1/3, 35% for 2/3, and 5% for 3/3. You are gonna hear “another wheel” a handful more times throughout this blog. Get used to it. After this spin, we will eat the chip, and film our reaction for 3 minutes. We will then all play Family Feud while handling the heat. The winner will get first dibs to spin two wheels that are mostly filled with things that help heat like milk and carbs, but also some negatives like tonic water and an onion. The other two will spin this wheel in the order of their points in Feud. After this, we will have a spelling bee, something my editor is impossibly terrible at. After this, we will probably wrap up, and that will be our show.

I am pretty excited, but I hope nobody gets a stomach ulcer leading to me getting sued. I’ll attach the podcast to my next blog so stay tuned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp61FEZyO48
VC: TikTok Legend

The Realization of Equestrian

maydaygaskarthLeave a comment

Sometimes things don’t go the way we planned.

Over the weekend, I went with my school to a Pony Club mega rally for the first show of 2018. I was so excited. I’ve been riding my horse, Time, for weeks in preparation, and every single time I jumped he had been a saint.

This weekend was different. It shattered any self confidence I had in my riding skills when Time threw me off over a simple cross rail in the warm up arena and bruised my back so much that it currently hurts to breathe as I’m sitting here trying to do my homework after waking up at four am every morning this weekend to get to the show grounds.

I had fallen off just the day before when my horse stopped right in front of a jump. Now, I have to admit that it was my fault that I was in two-point way too early, but that’s besides the point. Not a single scratch was on me, and I shook off the dirt from my helmet, got back on, and finished the course I was set out to do.

Photo Credit: Jerry Mohme Photography

However, that was not the case on Saturday. When I hit the ground, I was certain that if I moved even just an inch my body would shatter into pieces and I’d be sent to the hospital in an ambulance. I couldn’t get up for minutes, until I was rolled onto my back, then I stood up, and I slowly walked foot by foot back to my stall without even getting to do that course.

I almost thought I wouldn’t be able to ride the next day either, and that weeks of training would’ve gone to waste. But the next day I ended up getting back on my horse and started jumping, and though my entire body was shaking every time I thought my horse would refuse a jump, we ended up clearing both courses.

But I guess there’s both pain and pleasure in horseback riding. There’s the sense of accomplishment when you jump a new height or when your horse comes to say hi to you and nuzzles his nose into the palm of your hand when he thinks you have treats. But there’s also the hours of pain whenever you fall off or when a horse steps on your foot. There’s the moments of self-degradation whenever you see a person with better position or better clothes, and the constant thoughts that plague your mind thinking that you’ll never be as good as them.

I’m not going to lie and say that my confidence in my jumping is back, because it’s not, and I don’t think it will be anytime soon (or, at least, until all the bruises go away), but it was a learning experience to some extent.

I’m going to fall off, and probably more times than I wish, and I’ll get back up, and fall and get back up, and that’ll keep happening, but I’ll still continue riding until I no longer can.

Los Angeles Art Show

mushuooLeave a comment

https://i0.wp.com/d2jv9003bew7ag.cloudfront.net/uploads/LA-Art-Show.jpgLast night I had the pleasure of attending the opening night of the Los Angeles Art Show to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

I have been to a few art shows before, but none compare to this one.

There was historic and contemporary art, the historic was romantic and detailed,  while the contemporary was polished and fashionable.

Although I had a rough go-of-it in new shoes that I had not worn previously to this event, I was mesmerized by the thousands of painting, sculptures, and sketches covering the walls.

The set-up was stunning. A labyrinth of walls glowing with spotlights throughout an entire floor of the LA Convention Center was filled with hundreds, if not thousands of people.

After strolling around the maze of artwork for a few hours, my friends and I went home for the night.

I cannot wait to attend next year’s show.

 

BMS!!!!

backinphillyLeave a comment

Blue Mountain State, or “BMS” for short, is probably one of the greatest shows I’ve ever watched in my entire life. I’m not a big TV guy. I only watch a few shows. I watch “How I Met Your Mother” with my girlfriend, “Boondocks”, which is arguably my favorite Adult Swim cartoon, “Family Guy” which is arguably my favorite cartoon of all time, and BMS.

Unfortunately, BMS only lasted for three seasons, and I’ve finished all three in one week. I’m disappointed to have already finished the show, but it was great while it lasted.

The show revolves around football teammates who play college football at Blue Mountain State. The teammates and pals engage in college high jinks, ranging from drugs, alcohol, sex and partying all together. The show clearly appeals to a teenage and college demographic. In other words, I would not show this to my parents. Maybe my father, who tolerates this kind of stuff. But my mother would not be pleased to say the least. There is frequent innuendo and occasional implied nudity. There are never any private parts revealed. It leaves the rest up to imagination. But that’s not even why I would enjoy a show like this. As many would find easy to believe, I watched the show expecting a football comedy. I got that, with the college twist along with it. I loved the combo.

Like many TV fans, I chose a favorite character from the beginning. My man was the running back Craig Shilo. Unfortunately, Shilo’s actor went to prison following the first season, and left the show. I was VERY disappointed to not see him in the second season. But, it was ok. The show did not suffer.

As the show continued, it seemed like I was laughing a little bit less, but the show was beginning to have more meaning as the characters went from freshman to senior year.

Upon conclusion of the show, Alex Moran, the main character, was only a junior. This begs the question, “Will they ever have a season 4?” According to reports, the show has already been cancelled. So most likely not. Alex Moran will forever be an unfinished story.

I’m upset to finish the show. But maybe I can find a new one.

Caution!!!! Anything pertaining to Blue Mountain State should not be viewed by young children. I recommend 13+ at the minimum. Don’t say I didn’t warn you all. Everyone loves Scarface, so I see no reason to say no to something like BMS. There’s all sorts of inappropriate things in both. Don’t be a hater.

Festival of Talent

rangerthecatLeave a comment

This Friday was my 3rd and last time performing in the annual Festival of Talent for school. My sophomore and junior years I sang a song with my friend Maddie and this year I sang a song with my friend Serry.

This year, we had a hard time choosing which song to sing, because there were so many good ones that we had in mind. We finally came to the decision of singing a song called “Meant to Be” by Melissa Polinar.

Since I first discovered it, it has been one of my favorite songs and thankfully it fit both of our voices well. We only had a few practices, but it came together really quickly. Music teacher Mr. Boyd was amazing at figuring out the guitar on such short notice and with no tabs (THANK YOU!!).

I usually get extremely nervous about singing in front of a crowd, and I was nervous when I went on stage, but for some reason when I started singing this time my nerves died down. I think it’s just the fact that it was such a bittersweet moment, my last talent show and probably the last time I will be singing in front of people.

There were SO MANY other awesome acts in this show. To start us off we had an amazing robot-like dance by Jack Liu that was just phenomenal. It was so entertaining and it was obvious he spent a lot of time perfecting every move and that he has such a natural talent for dancing. There were a lot of other singing acts and a really awesome piano battle with 2 extremely talented pianists. The acting group the Spud Factory had 2 very cute short films, one that was dedicated to the senior class that was very sweet and thoughtful of them. It was so entertaining and I think that everyone there had an awesome time.

I will definitely miss performing in front of people and seeing all the other talent that the school has to offer. Thankfully, I get to perform one last time at the concert before graduation, my very last hurrah at OVS. I can’t wait to sing with chorus and the most amazing voice coach Mrs. Boyd one last time.

The Musical!

rangerthecat1 Comment

Well, this week has been a big blur of practicing for the musical. It has been very busy and very, very hectic. From sorting costumes to remembering cues, it has been a very challenging feat for all involved. But, tonight, it all payed off in our opening night performance of Utopia in America.

We have been preparing for so long now, but I still didn’t feel extremely ready in the beginning of the night. I was extremely nervous, but we had run through it quite a few times, so I was confident that everyone else knew what they were doing; it was just me I was worried about, because I’m so air headed sometimes.

Musicals are so stressful and time consuming, and get me really nervous. I mean, we’ve been practicing since a few months ago, and our directors have worked harder than ever to make this perfect, and everyone in the cast wanted to make it nothing less than that for them.

There were some extremely funny moments, some moments where we messed up a bit, and some moments where it was more perfect than I ever remember it being in the past. Even though it was very hectic and busy, it was still extremely fun and, in the end, not as stressful as I had thought.

I’m just glad to have the first performance out of the way, so everyone is even more prepared for tomorrow’s two showings. And, everyone that watched it said they liked it, and I think they genuinely meant it. Overall, it was a very solid first show and I couldn’t have hoped for anything better.