Portman Goes Gangsta Too?

Warning: This video is not appropriate for small children or Cedarville Students!

I'm sure many of you have already seen the Natalie Portman rap from SNL (above) and have laughed "OL" at it. I also enjoyed this video and found it an interesting topic for many reasons. (and yes, I do know this is old news) This is a pretty different persona for Natalie to take on after her better known roles in Star Wars, Closer, and Garden State. She's probably wanting people to know her also for her tougher persona in movies like V for Vendetta and upcomming (rumored) Indiana Jones 4. This is definitely a popularity boost for her. Obviously SNL/NBC is trying to recreate the popularity of the Chronicles of Narnia video titled Lazy Sunday but they suck so bad at the viral video thing. They pushed the video off YouTube (the most amazing website for free promotion) and are trying to keep it just to their site. Well NBC, the viral video thing doesn't really work like that! Of course you can't do anything like posting their video to your blog or anything so basically nobody cares when it's on their site. But despite all this, I find the most interesting thing about it is that this is just more proof how easy (and stupid) rapping is in general.

London Bridge is Falling Down

Two things...you know those people who know every song on the radio...and why is hip hop so stupid/confusing?

1. I am baffled by the fact that you can sit in a car with 3 other people with the radio on, and they all know every song that plays. And I do mean every song, from the rap/hip hop to the adult contemporary. Is the radio really so lame that it's possible to learn every song that plays on it. And I'm not just talking one station, we were hopping from station to station and the other people in the car sang every song annoying me the whole way. By my estimation, there can be no more than 50 different songs that play on all radio stations in an area throughout the day.

2. What the heck does it mean if someone makes your London Bridge fall down, of if you happen to be caught "Riding Dirty"? Ok, I could probably assume what most of these metaphors mean, but they're sooooo stupid! There is some rap and hip hop that I do listen to, but how can you really enjoy these overly vaugue, pointless, poorly written lyrics?

Despite my hate for it, however, I cannot deny the crazy for these catchy lyrics and decided to get in while I can. You can expect to see my hit "I'm Steamin' Like a Sauna, Ladies Get On Me ®". I know it's a bit crass, but that's the biz. You gotta Roll Deep and Ride Dirty...

The Streets

I forgot to mention before the weekend that I was leaving to be homeless until 5pm on Sunday. That's probably why I had 7 missed phone calls and some voice mail. But it was a pretty thought provoking time.

I am supposed to not give anything away because everyone should take Intro to Urban Ministry with Dr. Cook and you can also have this experience, but I will say a few words on how it effected me. I was not surprised that it wasn't all that physically challenging since it was only a weekend but when I think about living like that all day every day, it seems quite overwhelming. Living with nothing, having no pupose, and pretty much nowhere to go...can you imagine the feeling of worthlessness?

Like I said, I can't give too many details but hopefully I will have something more to say on this later. I need some time to process everything but I know I see it all a lot differently now...

SURPRISE!

And I was none the wiser! Yesterday was just supposed to be a normal day, I was going to go to Sonshine Club, go to class, and go running. Not the case at all. First, I decided to skip my class since it was the day after my birthday (and I went to all 3 of my classes yesterday) and play some ESPN NFL 2K4 (way better than Madden games). Well this threw off certain plans of secret people's scheming against me.

So Derek and Phil convince me that we need to immediately leave and go get stuff from their storage unit in Xenia. Frustrated, I gave in and drove them to get the stuff with Phil talking on the phone nearly the whole time. Little did I know, he was coordinating the most dastardly surprise party ever.

When we got back, still having no idea what was awaiting me, I burst through the door and am instantly hit with a confetti of "SURPRISE!" and little pieces of paper. Needless to say, I wasn't thinking about ESPN anymore. It was a great party and we had lots of good times, thanks to all who came and Phil (my roommate), Danielle (my sister), and Annemarie* (my sister's roommate) who planned it as far as I understand.

*I apologize, because I was not aware Annemarie was also part of the planning comittee therefore I amend this post

Prove It

For some reason, movies about math geniuses are really really captivating. There's something about the mystery of mathematics and the exciting prospect of having things figured out that have never been figured out before. This movie really is awesome though and I would like to share a small excerpt from it. The most amazing equation ever written:

"Let X equal the quantity of all quantities of X. Let X equal the cold. It is cold in December. The months of cold equal November through February. There are four months of cold, and four of heat, leaving four months of indeterminate temperature. In February it snows. In March the Lake is a lake of ice. In September the students come back and the bookstores are full. Let X equal the month of full bookstores. The number of books approaches infinity as the number of months of cold approaches four. I will never be as cold now as I will in the future. The future of cold is infinite. The future of heat is the future of cold. The bookstores are infinite and so are never full except in September..."

Frustration Sets In

I am a very laid back person, but I'm not going to lie to all of my trusted internet friends. I have been very stressed out lately! There's been few times in my life when I've really been stressed...very very few...like 3 times ever...and the weight of all these things on my mind is building.

I would have to say a lot of it is coming from the media team...or lack thereof. For anyone that doesn't know, I work part time for my church as Media Director. This is in no way a part time job! Usually we've had a "Media Team", a group of volunteers to come in and help me get stuff done and ready for service. Well, this team has nearly completely deteriorated with some people changing churches, some people taking time off, and some people being busy. Last week is was just me and I was there all day. I have had no creativity the last couple weeks and I need help.

I am not blaming anyone for this. I know a lot of things have added up to this frustration...I just needed you to know...

No Sleepy Time

I really could not sleep last night. It could have been the ultra bright blue LED's on the side of Sam's supercool custom PC lighting up the entire room. It could have been that my right nostril was strangely filled with snot causing uncomfortable breathing patterns. Or it could have even been the excitement of knowing that I was coming to chapel today...and they're doing The Lion of Judah! That's right you heard it here first. If you don't know about this incredibly strange Cedarville tradition...please skip chapel this morning so you may live without said torture.

But if you do come...know that this song will (unfortunately) never ever die.