SUNY Oswego’s Production of Grease

Last night, I saw Grease at the Waterman Theatre and was fairly impressed. The production was definitely pretty to look at, as it was very colorful and visually appealing (with the smoke on the stage and what not). The actors/actresses were very talented, but I do have my slight issues with it. The actor who played Danny and the actress who played Sandy didn’t really fit into their roles, and I didn’t think there was any chemistry between them. The actress who played Rizzo was utterly flawless, though; she couldn’t have done a better job, and I thought that she nailed Stockard Channing’s portrayal right on the head. I have only ever seen the film; this was my first time seeing a stage production.

Because I had only ever seen the film before last night, I wasn’t aware that the musical lineup was different on Broadway than it is in the film, so some songs were in slightly different order and were even omitted, songs that I would argue (again, based on my sole experience with the film) are crucial to the story, such as “Hopelessly Devoted to You” and “You’re the One That I Want.” The play is also missing “Sandy” and instead has the song “Alone at the Drive-In” during that scene. Also, there are two different versions of “We Go Together” in the stage production, one right before the end of Act 1 and then a reprise at the very end. My favorite musical number was probably “Those Magic Changes,” and the actor who sang that song did so beautifully, and I also really liked “Freddy, My Love.” Another crucial difference between the stage production and the film is that in the stage production, Sandy doesn’t go to the dance and sings “It’s Raining on Prom Night” in her bedroom, while in the film, she attends the dance.

It’s definitely a much different experience than the film, that’s for sure, and while I couldn’t have been happier with some of the cast members, there were others that I was not so happy with. I also feel that with the way some of the songs are ordered and with the lacking of “Hopelessly Devoted to You” and “You’re the One That I Want,” the stage production is a lot choppier than the film and doesn’t flow as well. Lastly, I couldn’t help but look at the story through a different lens this time, since it has been quite a few years since I have seen the film, and looking at it from a feminist perspective, I couldn’t help but feel really disappointed. Throughout the story, Sandy and Danny just don’t click regardless of how many times they try. He keeps abandoning Sandy for other girls, and when they do make attempts to sustain a relationship (the drive-in scene is what I am referring to in particular), he tries to take advantage of her. Only when she submits to his will and conforms to his style do they finally work, so not only does it do away with the “be yourself” idea, it provides an example of a relationship that only works after the female realizes that if she wants to be with the male, she is going to have to conform, which echoes quite a few Disney films. I had a great night, though, and it was fun to watch.

The unique path along our life journey


It’s easy to give up on life when everything may seem like they are not going as planned. Life is a journey down a long road. I have decided to talk about life’s journey because of a comment from one of my supporters. The unique thing about life’s journey is that it is never ending. At times you may encounter bumps along the road. Everyone is faced with obstacles daily, it’s not the obstacles that are unique, it’s the way you handle them. It is about the lesson you learn that enables you to walk happy and ready for the next thing life throws at you. Have you ever been faced with the same obstacle? And wonder why this problem keeps occurring? Look back and analyze what the possible life lesson may be. Do you think you have carried that lesson with you? Did this event have an impact on your personal growth? You might answer no to those questions, which would explain why they keep appearing. You can think of this as a reminder that you are going down the wrong road. There is something you must change at this point in order to get back on track. How much are you willing to put up with before you take charge of your journey of life? It is important to take time to look at things from another approach when you are at a point of struggle. Although your ride may be bumping and not smooth, you are worthy of that smooth road to your destination. You just have to BELIEVE, ACT and EXPERIENCE. I am on a journey of self discovery; I am in the process of getting my communion. Despite all the negativity it’s important that I stay focused on growing and strengthening my relationship with god. I know with this, I will be re-directed onto the right path.

Here is a link to a very inspirational soul lifting blog http://www.thedailylove.com/ You should all subscribe to. Love and Light to ALL!

My Calendar Shouldn’t Say April

Tomorrow I’ll be ripping out the March page from the calendar that hangs over my desk, and I’m sure you will be too. I’m not gonna lie, I STILL have a slight memory lapse when it comes to what time of year it is. I feel like I’ve been stuck in November and that Winter Break never happened (it blends into the fall semester since I took a WinterSession course and came up to Oswego 3 weeks early). Not to mention, that infamous Oswego weather never ceases to disappoint. 4o degrees and rain sounds like November weather to me. Sigh.

Anywho, my good friend Tim reminded me in class today that I haven’t updated in a while (thanks) so here I am. There’s been a Post-It note on my wall for about 3 weeks now that says “student blogging” and I’m glad I can finally rip it down. But in its place, a million different assignments are going on up on my wall this week. Myself and fellow blogger Kayle have utilized our Village bedroom walls as visual planners: we slap up a Post-It note of something that we need to do. When it’s complete, we get the rush of ripping it off the wall like tearing off a band-aid when the wound has healed. When will this madness end? Oh right…. May something-or-other? But then if I get one of the internships I applied for this summer (fingers still crossed…) things will be mostly non-stop from the beginning of June until August, and so begins my final semester at Oswego.

Oh sorry…. must have dozed off there. End dream sequence.

Back to the weather for a hot second. I’ve come to realize that the environment in Oswego needs a bit of help in the early spring when everything begins to thaw out. Trash is strewn about like a sick and twisted Easter egg hunt, finally reaching the ground after being fossilized in snow and ice. Everything seems to be dirty, no? All the sand, salt and displaced soil from plowing over the winter have taken an aesthetic toll on the beautiful Oswego I know and love in the warmer months. Thankfully, April showers bring May flowers…. and Mother Nature washing away what seems like caked-on makeup after a wild night of partying.

So bring it on, April. I’m not scared of  your so-called “showers”… my jacket has a hood. 😀

2011 Miss Black and Gold Scholarship Pageant

The Miss Black and Gold Scholarship Pageant is a program of Alpha Phi Alpha which is done all over the country. The first national Miss Black and Gold Pageant was held in 1976 in New York City. Miss Black and Gold recognizes and awards women who exemplify superiority in academics, leadership, community service, and talent. But places a strong emphasis in scholarship and scholastic achievement.

The winner of the Ms. Black and Gold Scholarship Pageant has the opportunity to got to the Regional Pageant and then move on to the National Pageant! Winning the pageant brings a young lady scholarship funds, and high recognition, amongst peers and faculty as well as presenting a great opportunity for networking as well.

The brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated recently held one here on the SUNY Oswego Campus. We had 5 beautiful, intelligent, hardworking young women who competed in the pageant. They’re names are Tiraya Conyers, Maame Hayfron, Taquisha Dingle, Brandi Wilson, and Ashley Freeze.

All of these ladies did an amazing job and I am very proud to have been a part of this pageant. Congratulations to our runner up Brandi Wilson, and to Our Miss Black and Gold winner Maame Hayfron who will compete again on a larger stage with the opportunity to win even more scholarship money. For those of you who were not able to attend there will be more to come! Look out for the Next Miss Black and Gold Scholarship Pageant.

I took some time off, Now im back better than before

I know I have been missing in action from the blog world, but I am back and I am wiser than I was before. They say every obstacle makes you stronger, teaches you a lesson and is for your own good. I have been through a lot of ups and many downs but despite the negativity I do believe there was a good reason for it. Once in a while you are put through a test from the universe (God) that measures your character, strength, determination and passion that lies within your heart. As I mention in one of my previous blogs, everyone is put in your life for a reason. Even that person you don’t know or have never said a word to, there was a reason you recognized their presence when you did. It’s hard to stay positive and focused when all you are surrounded with is people who want to see you fail, who want to break you down. But, the most important thing is to try to remove yourself from those situations whenever you feel the need too. The most powerful thing is your mind. The reason I say this is because your mind is the creator of everything in life and if you are always thinking about your struggles, your hardships, and negativity than that is all you are going to be faced with until you change it. The only way you can change this is by changing your thoughts about whatever it is that is happening, and that’s without focusing on the negative. Now that’s a hard thing to do because we tend to do this the wrong way. When we don’t want something to happen we focus on the negative things that we don’t want. For example if are saying “I DON’T want to be UNHAPPY” in all reality you are saying “I want to be UNHAPPY” because UNHAPPINESS is what you are focusing on. Instead your thoughts need to be, “I WANT TO LIVE HAPPY”, “I WILL LIVE A LIFE FULL OF HAPPINESS.” Once again this is a difficult thing to change for most people but it is all about practice, “PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Good Weather, Good Times

The weather today is amazing! reasonable. So much so that I opted for the 10 minute walk to campus over my normal shuttle ride. Albeit while wearing my coat and a hoody but still. Who knows how long this “good weather” is going to last  next week it may snow again sending me into an emotional spiral(knocks on woods). However for today I’m celebrating this sunshine and semi-warmth. Warm weather makes everything better, afternoon naps,walking from one class to the next, trips to group meeting in the library. They all seem shrug worthy when the sun is out and shining. If you can’t tell Kwame is in a good mood B) Hmm , might even make a trip over to Freshens for a Smoothie!

-Catch Me in the Sun

Too Much Homework!

Does anyone else feel the same way? The semester is nearing an end, so everything is beginning to come an end, and it’s pretty overwhelming. There is simply too much to do as you look at your semester agenda and realize that April and May both mean that a lot is due, and no matter how hard you try to stay on top and get it all done as soon as you possibly can, you find yourself frustrated because the amount is simply too high to successfully accomplish that. You get something done with ten other assignments still ahead of you. That’s how I feel, anyway.

I am doing a relatively good job, mind you. I got a great deal of work done over Spring Break, work that wasn’t due until April, but to help exemplify my point, I still did next to nothing this past weekend except a lot of homework. I worked most of my day yesterday (Saturday) and all of today so far, and I’m still not done. There are so many papers and so many reading assignments. It just gets so tiring.

On a good note, April is almost here, and while that does serve as foreboding for me in a sense (since it means summer is approaching, and I don’t want to not be here), it means that warm weather is on its way. I was expecting weather in the 50s and 60s already, since it’s near the end of March, but instead, the weather has been really cold, which has been kind of ridiculous. Ray and I still really have not explored the town on foot, and that’s something that we really want to do. I can’t wait to walk into town, just take a day to explore the town and visit shops, go see a movie, and so forth; that’s why I can’t wait until April. Also, April 13th will mark two years that we have been together.

Right now, I’m just trying to get through as much of this work as I possibly can while still enjoying myself. I can’t really say that it’s a challenge, because I do love being here, and I love this campus, but I am definitely ready for Spring. I do know of some crazies who love Winter, but I am not one of them (I am here, to make a long and repeated story short, because I didn’t have much of a choice, but don’t get me wrong – I love Oswego). I find Winter to be so exhausting and numbing, and I’m sick of it. Luckily, calendar-wise, it’s gone. I will be writing again soon.

Enjoying the Good Weather

Am I the only one who is really happy that Spring is pretty much here? With any luck, we won’t get any more snow in Oswego, because I hate Winter and really love Spring, especially in Oswego, as Oswego is simply beautiful in the Spring. A really close friend of mine came to visit last year, and he was here from April 1st to April 11th; during that time, it tended to be pretty hot during the day, usually in the 80s, and that’s not too far away at all, so I’m keeping my head up and my fingers crossed.

I have, for the most part, enjoyed my break, but I really can’t wait to get back to school. Now that I have my boyfriend Ray here, I am so happy to be in Oswego, because I can have the best of both worlds. My break got off to a rough start, but it quickly got a lot better, and I also got a considerable amount of work done; I figured (as did Ray) that I have nine days away from everything – I’m going to take advantage of that and get work done, so I actually got work done that isn’t even due until mid-April or so. The more that I get done now, the more relaxed the rest of my semester will be, and relaxed is always a good condition when the weather is beautiful.

April 13th will be two years that I have been with Ray, and there is so much that I would like to do with him on that day, so hopefully, it will be all shine, no rain. I would definitely like to walk into town, get food somewhere (which might be tricky, seeing as how we are both vegetarians), visit the river, and so forth. It just sucks that it is on a Wednesday, not only because that’s a school day but because it is a really rough day for him (he has class until 7:45 p.m. on Wednesdays), but I really don’t have a problem celebrating the following weekend.

I don’t want to say that I can’t wait for the semester to be over, as that is far from the truth. I love being in Oswego; I just don’t like all of the work. Some people say that they work well under pressure, and that just isn’t me. I need to feel relaxed to produce good work; pressure makes me feel very chaotic and tends to make me focus more on quantity, not quality, that is, consider it more important that I get an assignment done than that I do it well, and that’s certainly not good, but I usually manage. For now, I need to run, but I’ll be writing soon – next week at the very latest.

Review of Goodbye Lullaby, the New Album by Avril Lavigne

For me, Goodbye Lullaby, Lavigne’s fourth album, has been one of the most highly anticipated albums of my lifetime, as I have ultimately been anticipating it for seven years. While The Best Damn Thing was released in Spring 2007 (which was still quite a long time ago), I was not too thrilled with that album (save a handful of songs), and Under My Skin was released in Spring 2004. Many months ago (it was, in fact, close to a year ago), I read that this album would be a closer return to Lavigne’s earlier work as opposed to The Best Damn Thing, and I can agree with that.

While Goodbye Lullaby is not at all “heavy,” as some of the tracks found on 2002’s Let Go and 2004’s Under My Skin are (such as “Losing Grip,” “Unwanted,” “Take Me Away,” “Forgotten,” etc.), it is far from being the “cheerleader pop” (for lack of a better term) that The Best Damn Thing is, and Lavigne, with a majority of crisp melodies layered on top of simple acoustic accompaniment that is Goodbye Lullaby, affords her fans (such as this one of almost ten years) a very pleasant, refreshing experience. I do know quite a few people who loved The Best Damn Thing, so I apologize to them if I offend, but that certainly does not change my opinion.

In regards to The Best Damn Thing, Lavigne seemed to have retrograded, moving from a sophisticated, alternative style to adolescent high school craze with an array of songs that one might expect to hear at athletic games (such as “Girlfriend,” “The Best Damn Thing,” “I Don’t Have to Try,” etc.), and for that reason, I was very disappointed with the album as a whole with few exceptions (such as “Runaway,” “When You’re Gone,” “Innocence,” etc.). Goodbye Lullaby attempts to break away from that, painting a much more serene picture.

I purchased a physical copy of the album, so I have the benefit of seeing all of the graphics included in the package, and it is really beautiful; I consequently find myself quite impressed with that, as well. However, I also find myself in opposition to only one (rather trivial) feature; Lavigne, on the album cover (which, mind you, I do find very beautiful), looks rather morose, while the album’s content is primarily very relaxed and gleeful, dealing with lyrical themes such as being in love and enjoying the beauties that life has to offer. I reiterate, however, that the artwork (meaning all photographs, designs and additional art) is very beautiful.

The album opens with the very short (only 1:34) “Black Star,” and most fans should remember this from her Black Star fragrance commercial, in which a small portion of the song is featured. While I am slightly disappointed with the fact that the song is so short when I had been expecting it to be full-length, “Black Star” is one of my favorite songs from the album, as it is an incredibly beautiful, simple song accompanied by a simple but catchy melody composed of very high notes on the piano. The song sounds very much like a lullaby and would serve as a good introduction if it didn’t make such a rough transition into “What the Hell.”

“What the Hell,” the album’s first single, is the closest that the album comes to The Best Damn Thing, and, because of that, it, with the risk of using a cliché, sticks out like a sore thumb. When I first heard the song, I didn’t like it a whole lot, but when I began to find it consistently stuck in my head, it really began to grow on me, and I do really love it now, even though, again, it really doesn’t belong on this album. Next, we hear “Push,” a song that sounds a lot like Alanis Morissette’s style. I really like the song, especially with the male vocals, which I am assuming are Evan Taubenfeld’s, since he co-wrote the song with Lavigne.

The fourth track is titled “Wish You Were Here,” another one of my favorites on the album. “Wish You Were Here” operates as Goodbye Lullaby’s “When You’re Gone,” since it is nearly identical thematically (while it reminds me melodically of “Innocence”), and I am sure that it will be a single. “Smile” is a fast-paced song with attitude but is still a great deal of inches away from nearing The Best Damn Thing territory; “What the Hell” is definitely closer. “Stop Standing There” and “I Love You” are both mellow songs about being in love, and “Stop Standing There” is possibly the closest the album comes to Let Go, while “I Love You” is, for lack of a better description, an adorable song about loving someone for exactly who that person is, having no desire to change him or her. It is definitely a stand-out track, sounding a bit like something that would fit on Under My Skin, and it may just be me, but I think I hear a mandolin in the song.

The eighth track on the album is titled “Everybody Hurts.” Yes, when I first learned of the album’s track-listing a few months ago, I wondered if the song would be an R.E.M. cover, which it is not; it is, however, nearly identical thematically; “Everybody hurts some days,” the refrain advises. “It’s okay to be afraid. Everybody hurts; everybody screams. Everybody feels this way, and it’s okay.” It would seem to me like Lavigne draws inspiration from the R.E.M. song and attempts to recreate it for her generation. The song sounds a lot like something from Lavigne’s days prior to Let Go having been released.

“Not Enough” is nothing special, definitely not making any attempt to stand out on the album. However, like “Everybody Hurts,” it also reminds me of Lavigne’s “demo” era, reminding me especially of “Get Over It.” The tenth track, “4 Real,” has a beat and a melody that are guaranteed to stick with you, and while I definitely love the song, it sadly loses a bit of credibility due to its use of the number “4” in place of the word “for.” I am not amused when artists do that, especially not ones for whom I have a lot of respect. Pay mind to the fortunate fact that you are not Kesha (or should I say Ke$ha?), Avril.

Next on the album is “Darlin,” and I love this song because of how positive it is, seeming to be an attempt to cheer the listener up, reminding him that the world is a beautiful place in which he is loved. “Darlin” was written when Lavigne was only fourteen or fifteen years old, which is another reason that I love it. “Remember When” and “Goodbye” are slow, beautiful tracks with very similar stories; they are both memorandums in which the speaker apologizes for having to temporarily leave her lover physically but reminds him that he is very loved, while explaining why. I love “Goodbye,” because lyrically, it has sentimental value to me. I only wish that “Goodbye” had ended the same way as “Remember When,” that is, included a band at the end of the song. “Goodbye” seems to lack a component without that, especially since I expect it, but the strings are beyond gorgeous.

The album closes with an extended version of “Alice,” including an additional verse in between the original first and second verses. Fans will remember the song being featured on the Alice in Wonderland soundtrack last year, titled Almost Alice, and if one did not know that the song has ties to the film, either the title or the line “I found myself in Wonderland” should give that away. The standard edition of the album ends at this point, but the deluxe edition (the one that I purchased) includes acoustic versions of “What the Hell,” “Push” and “Wish You Were Here,” as well as the cover of Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” and a bonus DVD. Overall, I am very happy with the album; it was worth the wait and definitely worth the money.

NOTE: Please excuse a lacking of italics where they are necessary; this was copied and pasted from a Facebook note, and the formatting was not transmitted correctly.