Musik

So music used to be a large part of my life. Playing it, anyway.
It's been out of it for a long time, even while it was still there physically haha.

Anyway, I might bring something back into my life that was gone for such a long time. I am confused, and happy at the same time.

I haven't picked up my bass guitar in such a long time. I need to practice.

And I miss Blink 182. They are so awesome.

Holidays!

So I had to come back to school today because of class on Monday.
It is so dumb that there is class on Monday - it is inconvenient. I can't imagine what people feel like that don't live so close.
Anyway, I brought my car back so I can leave on my own time and not wait for the LIRR. That's cool.

One problem: you need a parking pass and mine might not come until Tuesday. So I have to watch out for parking police. I think they should handle this week differently assuming most students are going home this week after tomorrow - and expect a large amount of cars that aren't normally registered.

I'll just write a note in my car window and make that work.
Well, I finished writing a 5 page paper - ehh I only made it 4 pages so I gave up.

Home

I will be going home in an hour. Excited? I am not really too sure.

New Grant Proposal Idea

Here is my new premise idea. I don't know where to go from here for the film. Please leave me comments with suggestions!

My premise deals with how society thinks we should continue our education outside of the classroom while still being enrolled in a college or university. It is a model that is recommended, but not pushed fully to students, but that is changing. In the early beginnings of school, they were just monesteries in which they just were buildings where one would learn information. Then they became factory-like in the way where people would be given specific information and placed in the real world to replay everything they learned at the school. Now, the lifestyle – life outside the classroom – is being pushed as a learning experience. Sometimes, this experience is one that will help us enormously continue on after we have all graduated. At Stony Brook University, students tend to go home as soon as the weekend hits because of the transportation system. However, other colleges in the United States don’t have such a closeknit system – and much of their weekends are filled with activities for students to enjoy. SBU has taken on new programs to keep students here as well. Though success in the programs isn’t fully known, the action has taken place.

My film is going to bring together the history of the classroom, inside and out, and how students may become better in real-life because of their (hopefully) positive experiences.

Super Stressful

I have approximately one and a half hours until I am off duty for this weekend.
I been stuck in my room since Friday at 7pm.
I have gone crazy.
Or close to it.

I need to do work.
But I been locked in for so long I just cannot function.

I studied.
I did work for Media.
I have a 5 page paper due next Monday for another class.
I am wiped out.
Save me.

Full Bright

Well I have began shooting for the film, and I got some pretty cool shots on Friday during the rush for the train. There is still another shot I would LOVE to get but I didn't have enough time to get - I really want to get a ton of people either with their rolling bags to the station or students getting off the university bus.
I am going to upload the videos and such in a little bit - maybe tomorrow.
However I am trying to figure out how I want this thing to come together, I am thinking of focusing on a couple of events on campus - including next week's football game - that are geared toward keeping people on campus.
I know this is a short film - we didn't discuss if it were to be funny or not - I want to make it factual actually.

Anyway, I started looking at the Full Bright page. I am going to write the essay tomorrow - but I can't apply until next year. Technically I am a senior, but I am graduating Sp 2010. I am on the site and just seeing who I can talk to. There is a person on campus as well that I am able to speak to. Word.

My Grant Proposal....Part Uno

Dear Sir or Madam,
Hello my name is Anthony Dobrini from Stony Brook University in Long Island, New York. I am inquiring about your grant in regards to a film I am doing for my Media and Film class. My professor and a group of students have come up with a whole grant group to find how to reach out for assistance when making out films. After searching on cos.com I came across your grant information and it seemed like something that could work with my film.
My premise is following the idea of education here on this campus as along with most other universities dealing with what society wants us to take out of it our education beyond the classroom. Originally universities were monasteries for us (just buildings that became place of learning) but then suddenly changed to a factory - where we were produced purposely to learn information. But now, the lifestyle aspect of campus is very important. However, many students tend to go home to mom and dad as soon as the weekend hits. So are we taking living on campus and our outside learning for granted? Here at SBU we are so closely associated with the NY transportation system, thousands of students go home on the weekends. I have an interesting idea with taking the different eras of education and how it will affect us as we enter the workforce.

Now I need to change a lot of things in that ....so I am going to work on that tomorrow. I will post a brand new update with what it should come out like. I got some good ideas from Curtis in class. Siiiiick!

Moving on with the Project

Today we made Vlogs in class! It was a lot of fun, and I am going to buy a new webcam - because mine is old and crappy ( I believe it was from 2000!)

A new point was brought up about my topic. Why do we pay so much money for colleges over here? "The masters is the new bachlors" is what Prof Baldwin said today. And he is very right. I don't have hopes in even attending graduate school - but now I might have to rethink that.

I almost went to Hofstra University. However, their tuition was closer to $25K a year! That is a ridiculous number for one year. It really makes me wonder what parents do when their children fail a class - or are on the seven year plan!

It really bothers me to find that someone goes to a school that is more 'prestigious' and pays all this money but they are really getting a similar education anyway you look at it. It's bullshit that universities can deny you - yet you are the ones paying the money. Doesn't everyone have a chance at the same education? Unfortunely not in this society.

Reaction to Hurricane

Well we had our own hurricane last week, and it was a letdown (in a good way - nothing serious.)
However, Texas hasn't been so lucky with Hurricane Ike.
The storm looks like it devestated many of the cities and although the amount of people that have officially been dead because of the storm is still low, which is a good thing, the amount of damage is ridiculous. I'm curious to see what they are going to come out with the actual price range on Tuesday.

It is a eerie reminder of Hurricane Katrina when it hit New Orleans. The storm wasn't dealt with for days, weeks, months later. However, it being Texas, Bush's homestate, the storm relief is already planned for tomorrow and Tuesday, not including who has been there since the storm was going on.

It also is super suprising to see the amount of people that stayed in their homes, even after the many evacuation warnings. It really annoyed me to find one man that stayed in his home, even after authorities risked their lives to get to him to get him out. I understand if you want to be with all your belongings and those that believe it is there time to go, but when someone comes out pretty selfish like that, when other people's lives are on the line, it's a sick darn world.

Weekend Ketchup (haha)

GRANTS GRANTS GRANTS! I need to find these grants. Unfortunately I haven't had much luck yet.

This idea has been spiraling in my head in regards to this wicked project for this class.

However, my plans this past Thurs-Fri didn't work out with taking photos due to the rain - I couldn't chance getting the camera wet and such.

I have been uber confused in regards to this grant writing thing going on. :-/

However, I had a really nice weekend.
I got amazing steak yesterday.
Didn't party, but went to one. It was nice!
I am exhausted. I need to do a lot of work - yeahhhhh man.

Day 10 - Rain rain...go away...come again...never.

Commercials are weird.

Do people sit at home and watch them and go - "wow that really interests me I am going to buy that!"

A lot of them try to have some sort of umph about them - so they tend to me funny - or terrible jokes.

These companies spend millions of dollars for just a couple of seconds, and they trust that customers will come to them just because of it. I guess I don't understand the way it fully works - but it is super weird.

I am just talking about now, nights that have major events: all star game, superbowl, etc., the price rises ridiculously.

It was also funny to see washed up actors in the commercials. Funny because they have nothing else ahaha.

Day 9 - 9/11

So today is the day that changed America seven years ago.

I debated wheather to address this in the blog, but I suddenly have this strange sense in me.

I still, like many, remember exactly where I was that day. I was in a brand new school - I had just come into 9th grade at Island Trees High School. I believe I was in biology class that year - and there was news on the loudspeaker that something had happened.

I was dumb - and maybe didn't understand right away. Well, soon enough I found out and I was glued to the TV right after. There were many conspiricies and other rumors and I followed tons of them.

I may have not (directly) lost someone in the attacks, but many friends had family members - some uncles, cousins, and some even lost their parents.

It was a scary time for me - being 15 and witnessing one of the largest attacks on a country. I am finally becoming more polical-savvy and really understand what everything was about and what direction the country took since then.

It's amazing to see how the Bush administration had covered up so much from that day, and attempted to ease Americans into making them feel safe. This coming election is going to be something super-important for all of us. The fate of the country depends on it.

God bless all those who lost someone in the attacks, overseas, or because of the attacks (those who caught sicknesses at the site count).

And hopefully, one day, America will become safe again.

Day 8 - Procrastination is Key

Does time really go by quicker when you are having fun? Or is just quicker when you are doing things?

I try to think what will make time go quicker, but when I do that - it goes slower.

In classes all day, if I stay attentive, the time will speed up. If I keep checking my phone for emails, texts, or just surfing the internet, time drags on.

I love being busy. This semester will be really cool - hopefully - because I am going to be busy all the time. With the RA job, radio station, paper, classes, booking, social lives, etc.

My only short-term goal, though, is to become more organized. I get things done - but sometimes last minute because I realize they are due almost the day before.

Day 7 - The Idea is moving forward!

It is time to begin my project for Media 403.

One of the social contradictions that I have talked about loosely a couple days ago was students who choose to go home on the weekends (and live here during the week). It's almost no surprise that the campus is considered 'dead' on the weekends. In recent times, Red Hot After Hours and such have attempted to keep students on campus a little longer for these special events.

Maybe little effect is seen, for now. One of the reasons I feel like nothing has changed was that one day on the LIRR. I am going to be [creepily] waiting at the train station on some of the important times (hopefully 4/5pm on Thursday, 12-4pm Friday) to see how many people are actually on the platform - and when they get there too. I want to conduct some interviews to see what their reasoning of going home - also how long the commute is and where they are going to (Bronx, NYC, upstate, etc.).

I will finally use the Flickr account too - and I will be sure to add some photos on here!

Day 6 - The beginning of the week

The week has officially began.

So, I need to go get some newspapers and stay up to date with the news again. I feel out of the loop as of recently because I read the Times everyday last two semesters and Newsday all over the summer. Now I need to get in that habit.

I am going to begin political ranting eventually, hopefully soon. I got some interesting ideas for this blog to take different turns then expected.

I also signed up for all of the other accounts for this class. Twitter - I am not too sure how I feel about it since I told one of my friends that has it she is a lameo. Now I am the same way!

Secondlife, doesn't make too much sense to me. Flickr, eh I hate yahoo. Yahoo should just give up. They had cool commercials "yahooooooooOOOooo" years ago. Now its all about google. Does Yahoo even have a word in the dictionary?

Day 5 - a failure in the making

So I spent most of the weekend in my hometown. It wasn't anything special.

Anyway I ran a show today at Vibe and unfortunely lost more money yet again.
The local music scene has died.
It's been dead for a long time, I and others have attempted to revive it.
Tickets are a necessity nowadays.
You can't have a show for less than $10.
Touring acts always ask for more then $100 per band.
It is almost impossible to have a successful show.

It is very sad, because this is something I grew up with and now no one will experience like I was able to experience it years ago.

As a music promoter, I almost feel like I am failing. It isn't my fault. I promote. I let the people know there is a show. I put on mostly known locals rather than first timers now, but still - a small amount of people show up (by small I mean 65 - I am used to 150+.)

My profession may not exist much longer. :-/

Day 4.5 - The end of summer

So look at this. Second post in one day. I am uber-proud.

So the hurricane is passing over and is a reminder that summer is on its way out (for those of you that argue it still is going on!) and autumn already beginning.

I love summer, I love seeing everyone and traveling. But the hot air really gets to you eventually. Fall, is pretty, but is an eerie reminder of the coming months of cold - winter. Spring is actually my favorite season. However, fall reminds me of a time when I used to be in a band and travel to different states, usually the northeast - meeting friends that I have made and new ones.
It also is a time when school begins and people you are close with go away for a while because everyone goes seperate ways. This isn't high school - people have different interests or different paths.
I'm not sure if this makes too much sense - but life can sometimes be very similar to a hurricane, like the one outside.
Life can be real calm at times, we can enjoy it while having a good time with people we love. But withot notice, without a warning tons of things can happen to you in a matter of minutes and everything comes crashing down - or at least in a spiral of emotions.
Of course, when it comes time for cleanup (i.e. hurricane relief ha) you get to reallly see where everything is positioned in your life.

Now its my time to figure that out and see what I could do differently.
My life isn't truly a mess at all - but the direction I have headed is slightly confusing. It has taken me 21 years to finally realize how to control my emotions and fix anything I have broken.

On a related note - I highly suggest listening to Jack's Mannequin's new record: "The Glass Passenger".

"Currents will drag us away from our love. Just keep your head above and swim." - "Swim" by Jack's Mannequin.

Day 4 - the end of the world is near

In approximately one hour will begin Hurricane Hannah [Montana]'s wrath on Long Island.

It's going to be quite interesting to see how much the weather predictions are accurate, whether less or more then expected. I got to see a lot of rain last night on the drive back from SBU.

I'm curious how many people are dumb enough to attempt to go swimming in the ocean. Most, if not all the beaches are closed, yet people still 'sneak' onto the beaches to brave the storm. Screw that!

The weekend is on its way to being over already - and it just started! It seems exciting though because school is a lot of fun, and this semester will be really good.

I am very glad that this class requires the blogger, because I love writing but sometimes I feel lazy or almost embarrassed to publish my thoughts on the Internet - but no longer!

Day 3 - The damn LIRR

Today marks the first weekend at Stony Brook with all the students finally relaxing and enjoying being back. However, I had to go home to attend a show in the city (one that I actually didn't make it to...)
I went down to the train station on campus to catch a 2:40 train because I missed the 12:40 because I went to lunch at Jasmine with a friend of mine. Big mistake getting to the station at 12:30. The line for tickets was at least 60 people long. The platform was filled with more then 100 students.
I have heard that lots of kids go home on the weekends, I myself have done so when needbe to run a show which I am also doing this weekend, but that is it. I saw probably the biggest amount of kids leaving the campus and it really suprises me.
Maybe this is the one and only time they will go home to just grab last minute stuff? I don't know - but regardless I feel like it has to do with many of the freshmen that might be new to the campus and are still not ready to leave home for long. Why pay room and board if three of the nights of the week won't even be spent on the campus?
I could definitely be assuming otherwise but the behavior was suprising. Don't even let me start about getting on the train itself - people selfish for seats and pushing to get through. Those gaps that the LIRR said they'd fix could have easily killed some people. Even when the train was coming people ran across tracks just to 'make it.' Weird.

Day 2/3

So in my last post, I briefly mentioned the question of dealing with what we desire and what we need, and the many differences in-between.

Almost everyone I know - young and old have different desires and often put them ahead of things we need. I know I am certainly one perfect example of this.

Academics, to a certain point, is a need. As we enter college and officially graduate, it becomes a desire. There are tons of reasons why people won't continue on with college - some include parents, money, time, lack of interest. However, if someone truly does want to be successful they desire the education (no matter how much they complain while taking care of it!)

Social lives, is a mix between need and desire. The balance of the two is different from person to person. I know from my own beliefs that I find being social is a lot more of important then other things i do. Because of that, for me personally I have really succeeded in some of the work that I do.

A couple other examples of desires include sex, relationships, riches. All of these are sometimes necessary but in bulk they become desires. Some people can live with only a small amount of these, others choose to live with just a small amount. Others believe that without a large amount they cannot live appropriately.

As humans we must be able to choose wisely with how we will balance the two. I have a tough time putting some things behind others, but I like to make sure I evenly space out what I do to really touch on many of the necessities and perks of life.

Day 1 - Social Contradictions

School has begun again, though it was easy to get through because I have already been here for over three weeks due to RA training. It's depressing to find that my summer was cut short so abruptly.

Anyway, I have done blogs in the past, and I have never caught up with them. This time I hope to do so, mainly since this one is for a class.

Today in our THR 403 class, we talked about social contradictions we find in our lives. I know they exist, explaining them could be the problem. I am going to list them with a short explanation (because some were said in class!):

1. My parents are very modern-friendly, yet they disagree on some things. In particular, since I have been at school, I have pretty much paid for everything else I need while I am out here. When I go home my mom asks me if i need money but I refuse to take it even when she insists. My dad, however, will disagree and say that I should pay all my bills. As of now I agree - and I would much rather but I often have a harder time telling my mom not to give me more money.

2. One guy in the class mentioned buying a car. Buying one shows you have tons of responsibility, but doing so will put us in so much debt. I personally believe that I wont buy a car until I absolutely need one. I live on campus. When I am home I have rides available or I ride my bike. Why spend the money when things could be a lot cheaper, especially in a time like this.

3. Another contracticdition deals with relationships. I haven't been in one for over two years, but when I was dating a girl for three years a lot of people put pressure on you because of such a long relationship at a younger age. I'm afraid at this time a relationship of that matter would be putting even more pressure on me to move forward with life.

4. Tattoos and piercings are something I very much enjoy. Employers despise them, parents usually (with the exception of mine) hate them. However, they have become a lot more common nowadays, so the big deal doesn't make too much sense.

There are several other contradictions that for some reason aren't setting in my head correctly so I will edit this later.

A second question I will answer on tomorrow's blog will be: What is the conflict between what we need and what we desire?

This could get very interesting!