On Thursday March 22, I went to BU Central’s BU For Show, an open mic night hosted on the third Thursday of each month.  That night, 12 acts signed up to perform, but a BU Central general manager Reese Lichtenstein, told me that the most acts they’ve ever had is 28.  She said that when there are 28 sign ups, they stay until everyone has a chance to perform.  They’ll cut the performers time slots from six minutes to four, but even so, they’ll still end up staying until 1 am to hear the final performance.  Though there are a few regulars, most of the performers are new every week, which made me realize how many talented BU students there are. 

 

But it also seemed strange to me.  At least in my high school, people tended to know what other students were capable of.  Many of us had known each other since elementary school, so we knew what talents people had because we saw them develop those talents.  In college, people have usually already developed their talents, and unless they perform with a BU organization (and as a result have a wardrobe filled with hoodies, t-shirts and sweats), you wouldn’t even know.  I have a friend Pratik who I’ve known for two years, and just found out he ended up at BU because he received a full ride for playing the violin.  I didn’t even know he could play the violin!

My point is, that I don’t think people are proud enough of their amazing talents, and I’m really happy that BU For Show and other Open Mic Nights are available around campus.  The night I went, I was shocked by how talented everyone was, and even more impressed by the fact that they were able to get up on a stage and do their act to a full audience.   Not all were great performances, but I loved that the performer’s confidence seemed to grow from the experience rather than diminish.   I think a lot of that had to do with the audience, too.  I was honestly expecting a heckler or two in the audience, but every person in that audience was supportive of the person who was on stage, which is just incredible. 

The first two performers were Kevin Liang and Gabe Chin, both rappers, both Asian.  Yes, the audience seemed a little skeptical at first, but as soon as they started the audience just went nuts. These guys were both incredibly talented and the amount of applause they received was well deserved.  Four comedians performed including Sameer Farooq, James Sutton, Synyoung Li and Jon Gaudet.  I didn’t think all were hilarious, but each one had their moments.  I think stand up is incredibly challenging: how do you make a room of strangers laugh?  So I still respect all four for having the courage to get up on stage and perform. Two bands performed and one featured a cajon, which is a percussion instrument you sit on.  I'd only seen it once before, and was excited to see it again.  

Everyone was so talented, but there were three gems of the night for me.  The first was Rose O’Connell-Marion, who played guitar and sang, though because of her tiny voice I couldn’t hear her say the name of the song she was performing.  The reason I loved her performance was that she’s a coworkers girlfriend who I have seen plenty of times this year, and I had no idea she could sing or play guitar.  It’s always exciting for me to get to see someone in a new light.  Second, was Rich Rakowski who played the accordion and told me that he’s only been playing for six years because he’s Polish, but his older brothers could play so he never had to know how to, but after his brothers left for college his family needed someone else to entertain them at parties so Rich had to learn.  He played a tango and Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up. "And last, but certainly not least (no, seriously, this girl was my favorite of the night), was Ilana Berman, who rapped about WWI.   Over 6 ft., she’s slightly awkward, but when she started rapping she began to exude something that could only be described as swagger. 

Overall, I think people’s talents should be acknowledged and displayed, and I think BU For Show is an amazing outlet for that.  

Want to attend a BU Central performance? Check out their calendar!  It's usually free and includes free food!  http://bucentral.wordpress.com/calendar/

I know I already wrote about this, but I just want to revisit James Cameron's journey to the deepest part of the ocean, because on Monday March 26, he actually did it!  And he broke a world record for the deepest solo dive.  Pretty amazing.

Here's the video from the NatGeo website:  http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/environment-news/cameron-deepest-dive-record-vin/

He went to The Challenger Deep, which is a small part of the Mariana Trench that's 50 times bigger than the Grand Canyon.  Even as someone who has never been to the Grand Canyon, I know that's gigantic.

Another interesting thing from that video, Cameron says that the entire sub he was in shrinks 3 inches under water because of all the pressure, and that he could actually see the walls pushing in towards him.  I can't imagine having a wall move towards me for 20 minutes, let alone the couple hours Cameron was in that submarine.

Today, the Christian Science Monitor called him a "Modern Day Jules Vernes," in a story discussing Cameron's remarkable journey and also the possibility of making this journey available as one day adventures for scientists or even commercial passengers with exceptionally deep pockets.  One ticket would cost as much as $250,000, which is more than my college tuition.  The company trying to make this happen is Triton Submarines in Vero Beach, Florida, and they're working on a reality show focused on their progress.

The article also quotes the company's VP Marc Deppe, who says "We want kids carrying submarine lunchboxes to school, wearing submarine shirts.  When you're a kid and you see something cool, that's what sells the dream." Not sure how I feel about that quote.  Of course I'm all for kids dreaming, who isn't?  But exactly which dream is he trying to sell?  I'm sure the company's all about exploration, but they're main goal has to be profit, and it just seems a little wrong to be selling kids the dream of getting in a submarine, when they're planning to charge $250,000 per trip.

James Cameron's Deep Sea Challenge

I'm a big James Cameron fan for one reason, and one reason only: Titanic.  But after reading a profile on him in the New Yorker called "A Man of Extremes," I've had mixed emotions on him.  True, he's a genius of visual effects, but he's also one of the most arrogant men I've ever read about.

Today, National Geographic reminded me why I love him so much.  Sure he's arrogant, but lets face it.  He has a right to be.

Cameron, an Explorer in Residence since 2011, is teaming up with National Geographic for a deep sea dive that hasn't been attempted in 52 years.  His project is called the Deep Sea Challenge (LINK!), and for it, Cameron is going to be diving in a submarine that he and his team built to the deepest point in the ocean, the Marina Trench 7 miles below.  Just to give some perspective, if you put Mount Everest at the bottom of the Marina Trench, even the tip wouldn't be visible above water. 

It's a 1-man sub that's outfitted with 3D cameras, because of course, he's making a movie on it which will air on the National Geographic Channel.  I can't wait! Although I am slightly disappointed I'll have to watch it on my 18 inch tv instead of the big screen.

In addition to filming, Cameron also says he's doing it in the name of science, since the species that live that deep in the ocean aren't well understood (how could they be?  the last time a human visited them was in 1960), and he hopes to shed some light (literally) on the subject.

He's supposed to make the dive in a couple weeks.  No where on the website does it say specifically when he'll be leaving. 

But lets talk about the website, because it's absolutely incredible.  The coolest part in my opinion is the moving background.  On the sides of the screen are measurements of how deep into the ocean Cameron will be diving, and as you scroll, you go deeper and deeper.  But in the background is a photo of the submarine that travels down with you.  So cool, I just scrolled up and down for a while.  What's also cool is that as you travel down, the animal life changes as well, from typical fish, to jelly fish, to the weird glowing fish.  I'm not sure scientifically how accurate that is, but I think its safe to assume that since its National Geographic, it's pretty accurate.  Just look how great the design is:

Here's another link to a video of Cameron talking about the dive: James Cameron to Dive to Ocean's Deepest Point. 

This is definitely a story I'm going to be following.  I hope all goes well and I can't wait to see the finished product! 

Freshmen perform at Warren Towers Open Mic Night

A Day in the Life of an RA, Simon Maharai on call

This week I decided to wander away from the National Geographic home page and into the travel section of the webpage. 

In the travel section there's a page called "Top 10" which provides a variety of top 10 lists including "Top 10 Food Road Trips" (featuring the Vermont Cheese Trail, Pumpkin Patch Harvest Days in Pennsylvania and the best peaches in Georgia), Top 10 things to do in Japan, and top 10 elevator rides.

The great thing about these top 10 lists is that they integrate so many parts of the National Geographic Company.  While you can definitely see the entire list and get information and a link for each place, the site also lets you know that its an excerpt from a National Geographic book.  In addition, each list has a main photo attached to it which is almost always attributed to a National Geographic reader as a "Your Shot" photo.  Like this one in the Top 10 Elevator Rides page.  

The Top 10 list that most caught my eye though, was Top 10 Places for Chocolate.  Happily, I've actually been to one of the places on the list!  Max Brenner's in NYC is #3 on the list.  I went to the one on Boylston St. in Boston, but I've heard from people who've been to both that they are practically identical.  I had a three-part dessert: hot chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate fondue.  That was all in one dessert.  And it was glorious.  There's a place on the list called Chocolate and Churros in Madrid Spain that sounds incredible, but I think the next place I'll hit up on the list is another NYC location called Magnolia Bakery, which has actually been featured on Sex and the City and anywhere that's okayed by Carrie Bradshaw, is okay by me.