Monday, August 28, 2006

Chorus, by Mirandum Pictures

This was overall a good movie, although I was really confused for most of it. The plot ran around itself and kept throwing in a few more twists, but that's part of what made it good, even if it was confusing...

The producer was Dr. Patrick K. of Christendom College, the director was Colin M., the script writer and assistant director was Mike P., and the man in charge of sound was Nick M. These four men had a vision, and their vision looked great. :) The future of Mirandum Pictures looks bright.

Anna S. did an amazing job of freaking me out. She has this look in the movie that could make your blood run cold, if you can figure her out. Otherwise, she looks innocent enough. I spent most of the movie trying to figure her out...

Laura S. also did an amazing job. Her character was great -- her portrayal of stress, of commitment, of, well, her entire character was very well done. I was very impressed.

Annie C., Joe. P., Julian A., Mike P., Colin M., and everyone else in the movie also did a great job. I was really impressed with the quality of everything for a low-budget independent film. I'm looking forward to their next full length motion picture.

I should make one small addendum: everyone did a wonderful job, except this one crazy lunatic driver. I mean, good gravy, he couldn't even keep his eyes on the road! I hope I never have to be in a car with him...

Jake's wedding and Chorus Premiere

What else is new?

Saturday was Jake's wedding. I went down to Front Royal late on Friday night, and hung out with Sarah, Ken, and Alaina. I spent the night at Ken's house, and at 4 AM, we got up. We arrived at the parking area just after 5 AM, where Bob T. and Sam P. were waiting for us. We drove out of Front Royal just after we loaded up our stuff, and then got on the road. We got to Asheville, NC, at 10:30 AM, three hours ahead of schedule. Traffic on good days rocks...

The wedding was awesome. Jake and Laura were married in the same church where Mike and Liz were married last year. It was cool going back in there and sitting downstairs instead of singing.

All the Christendom guys were in one pew, and all of us were in suits. We were all on Jake's side of the church. In the first two pews, there was the family. From the beginning, it was obvious who were Catholics. The entire first two rows, with the exception of Jake's father and the groomsmen, were all seated throughout almost the entire Mass. Before Mass began, they were turning around and chatting with each other.

Third pew from the front, right in front of the Christendom guys, was Therese O. and her family. Obviously good Catholics, so I don't need to say that the difference between the second and third pews was monstrous. Behind them, to quote Ken, "was a wall of suits." And it's true. Every Christendom guy was dressed in a suit. And we were studly...

When the wedding began, Jake and the groomsmen came out from the front of the church. The wedding procession began, and everything got underway.

The music wasn't so great, I'm sorry to say. The organist sounded nervous -- I know he's really good, so I really noticed his little slips. When he stopped and the violins started, from the first note, I could tell that they were amateurs, so giving them credit for their level of experience, they were really good.

Further on in the wedding, Jake had me cracking up in my pew. When he and Laura were listening to the sermon, they looked at each other and grinned a couple times. It got me laughing, just seeing how happy they were. Shortly after that, at the presentation of the gifts, Jake and Laura were standing at the front of the church, waiting to receive the gifts, and then, in turn, hand them to the priests. While they were standing there, Jake was singing along with the Offertory hymn. That got a big smile out of me, and then Sam started cracking up next to me. I looked up, and Laura, who had been quietly singing along, had stopped and turned a little red. Jake turned to her and smiled (while continuing to sing). She tried to continue singing, but couldn't. I about died laughing.

I should point out that as much as I laughed in the church, it was all under my breath. As difficult as it was sometimes, I kept it as quiet as I could...

Now, for the priests: Father Buddy, from Florida, gave the sermon. His first words were, "I can feel the presence of the Lord rockin' and rollin' in this room!" My jaw hit the floor. But his sermon only got better. It ended up being a very good sermon, considering the poor start...

The sign of peace was also interesting. I should insert a comment before continuing that there was a little Asian woman in the congregation. I didn't see her, but Ken watched her. You know how some people are very active with their hands during Mass, i.e., raising them during the Our Father, doing other interesting things when they say, "And also with you," etc. Here's what happened:

Father Buddy was the concelebrant. The primary celebrant announced the sign of peace with the words, "The peace of the Lord be with you all." She responded with the usual, "And also with you," but she made a motion with her hands that looked like she was pushing the "peace" back to Father. Or throwing it back. I didn't see it, but that's as well as I can describe it here without the motions. This was followed up immediately by, "Let us offer each other the sign of peace." At this point, Father Buddy raised his right hand in the air with the "V for Victory" peace sign to the congregation. That was the second time my jaw hit the floor...

After the wedding, several of us went to Wal-Mart to pick up supplies for Jake's car. We arrived at the reception, and at a good distance away, we prettied up his car. When we were done, there was shaving cream all over it, as well as white soap/paint all over it.

When we were finally done, we caught the tail-end of the toasts, just before the dancing. The reception was a lot of fun. I danced to the Electric Slide, and that's about it. I was having too much fun chatting with everyone else.

We managed to pull Jake off the main floor, and got him outside with all the Christendom guys. We had some pictures taken with him, and then Sam and I carried him back inside on our shoulders to the dance floor. As we were passing people, I heard the question, "Where is Jake, anyway?" And people looked around, and laughed. I hope it was as fun for Jake as it was for all of us...

Ken told me that Jake wanted to have the guys sing Red is the Rose for him and Laura as they left, so we rounded up all the guys who knew the song. We ended up with a group of about ten guys, and it sounded really good -- at least to me, it did. Jake said it sounded good, but I think he was just saying that...

The drive back to Front Royal was uneventful -- we got back about 1 AM. This time we had Bob and Michael C. with us. We dropped Bob off at his car, and drove Michael back to campus. We almost hit a deer about ten miles from Ken's house...

Today was the day for the premiere of Chorus, the film by Mirandum Pictures. I sang at Christendom on Sunday morning, had the select choir practice, and then hung out at Eric's for a while. Colin O. was there, and we signed into X-Box Live, and got whaled on in Halo 2. After this, I helped out Catherine B. by setting up speakers for the reception following the premiere. I put on my tux and drove to the theatre for the showing. After Chorus, went to the after-party, where I got a lot of, "Hey, aren't you that driver? What happened to you? Are you OK?" At about 11 PM, I decided it was time to go. I changed at Dane's, and went home.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

V For Vendetta

Wow! It was a great movie, but it was slightly disturbing. I'm not really sure what I think about it. I had some valid points, but at other times, it was very far fetched.

It was very sweet, as far as spectacle goes. :) And, no, I did not recognize the actor who played V until I watched the special features...

First weekend of the semester

That is for Christendom students, not me. I had to take advantage of this, and go down to Front Royal to visit everyone. Alex and I drove down in the morning, him to see Ashley and me to go to choir practice in preparation for the first Mass of the semester with Bishop Paul S. Loverde. After practice (which was about two hours), Alex, Ashley and I headed back out to Herndon, where we fired up V for Vendetta. About 6:20 PM, I headed out the door for Holy Transfiguration, so that I could sing at Vespers.

When I got there, Vespers was over. It did not start at 7:00 PM as I thought it did, but at 6:00 PM. I felt like such a fool, but it wasn't my fault. I just got the times mixed up.

Well, I headed out of there after grabbing a quick bite to eat, and went to confession at St. Veronica's. Then I went back to the apartment. I should have gone to sleep right then, but I didn't. I stayed up late doing who-knows-what again.

I regretted this the next morning, when I woke up and barely had time to get everything together before choir practice began -- not to mention the fact that I still had to drive from Herndon to Front Royal. I didn't get there until close to Mass time.

After Mass, I had brunch with Draper, then a large group of us went outside and sang for a while. It felt good to do that, especially after a summer of only Gregorian and Eastern Chant.

After that, I went to the guy's apartment (Guardian Angel: Dane, Jon, John, and Paul) and hung out there for a while. Dittert and I drove out to Ken's place for a barbecue, and then to the barn dance to mingle with the newcomers. After that, we went back to the apartment, where I fired up xXx for John, Jon, Dane, Paul, and Breanna. I really enjoyed that movie. Others didn't so much, because of the music. I can understand. I love all kinds of music, whereas almost everyone else there prefers much nicer music...

I arranged to spend the night there and work from the apartment on Monday. Just as I planned, I got up and worked very smoothly. At 11:00-ish, I went to Christendom to attend the Memorial Mass for Will Davulis. The church was almost packed.

That afternoon, when I finished with work, I went to the store and bought ingredients for spaghetti, alfredo, and some beef to mix in there. Yeah, I cooked dinner, and no one has died -- yet...

After that, I took off for home, after swinging by Dr. Poterack's office to see if he had any music for me to practice for next week. He didn't, so I went home, and went to sleep.

Friday, August 18, 2006

xXx: State of the Union

Not bad. Ice Cube played his role well, but he just wasn't xXx, the way that Vin Diesel was. It's a good thing, too, because it just wouldn't seem right, with them acting the same.

The stories are largely different. In the first, Vin Diesel goes undercover in a foreign country. In the second, Ice Cube goes ghetto on American soil.

One thing I'll say about both xXx movies: their vehicles are AWESOME. The one car in the first was an old muscle car. That theme carries over into the second, where Ford seems to be the primary manufacturer -- and I don't have a problem with that. There's a very sweet '67 GTO in the beginning, as well as a super high-rise F-350 (which I want, complete with everything, because we all know I'll drive it through buildings), as well as two Shelby's. Oh, wow.

That's about all I can say. The cars made the movie in this one.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Season 1, Volume 1

Wow...

Nope, no other comments...

"By the power of Grayskull! I have the power!!!"

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Baby B.'s Baptism

I went to Holy Transfiguration on Sunday morning for the baptism of little Daniel Athanasius B. I had been trying to convince Ryan O. that he's gotta com to Holy T. at some point, and so he finally decided that he was going to come today. Quite a good thing, too, because he got to witness a Baptism, Confirmation, and First Communion all in one day for one person. :)

Ryan and Maria showed up at the apartment early in the morning, and we drove out to Holy Transfiguration together. After the liturgy, Ryan drove back to the apartment, and then he and Maria took the Acura out for a test spin. They liked it, so it's pretty certain that Ryan will be buying the Acura. Now I need to get a couple things done to it before I can sell it, and then fix up the Nissan...

After hanging out at the apartment for a while, I drove down to Front Royal. The family was holding a party for their baby's baptism, and I was invited. I showed up bearing gifts of cookies and other things that are yummy, but I'm sure aren't as good for you as one would hope. But, hey, it's a baptism party! Live it up!

I went back home fairly early, actually getting back before 10PM. Sweet! I crashed early...

Saturday, August 12, 2006

xXx

I just watched it for the first time. It's so awesome!!!

Vin Diesel is one of the most talented actors that I've ever seen. The movie seemed to be written with him in mind. To me, it seems that this movie defined him as an actor, especially as an action movie star.

I have no real comment on it, except that I'm really impressed with the number of stunts that were real. There was obviously some CGI, but not as many as you would think...

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Will Davulis

I'm sure you know by now, but a fellow student of mine, Will Davulis has passed away. Please remember him and his family in your prayers. The family has to deal with the loss of two, because seven hours after Will died, his younger brother Dominic passed away as well.

The following are a list of posts from fellow classmates as well as other bloggers about this.

Will to Learn
Will Davulis
Family Tragedy in Dorcester, MA
Tragedy strikes Catholic family (sad story)
People to pray for
It makes you think...
Brother killed hours before tumor takes his sibling's life
Devout family loses two sons within hours
An Italian Existence

The original article:
Tragedy strikes family: Brother killed hours before tumor takes his sibling’s life

Orbituaries:
Dominic Thaddeus Gabriel Davulis
William Joseph Gregory Davulis

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.

Talledega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby

This was the funniest movie I've seen in a while. I saw it was Alex, David, Paul and Lynn. We were laughing almost through the entire movie. We even laughed at the subtler humor that the rest of the people didn't pick up on. I won't tell you the jokes. Go see it yourself. Yes, you can see it. I give my my stamp of approval.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Busy weekend

Late on Friday night, I went to the girls house, and chatted for a while. On Saturday, I drove Jonathan D. out to pick up his new car, a 2000 BMW 740IL. It's a very sweet car -- I'm actually thinking about getting one, even though I've been sold on Caddy for some time -- thank you, Uncle Nelson...

I did some car searching: I looked around the same lot where I brought JD, and I also went to Carmax. I was still looking around for an FJ or a Prius, but I was wide opn to other options. I saw a few cars that basically sold me, but since I was in no position to buy that day, I kept the cars in mind, and thanked the gentleman for his time.

I then went to Aunt Carmen's for dinner. I had spoken to her earlier in the day about what she and Barry were doing later on. I went to her place, and gave her a picture of Dad. Then we sat around and talked for a while, had dinner, and watched television. Once we got started on the Discovery channel and prehistoric creatures, I was hooked. About 11 PM, I finally said that I really had to go, in spite of the fact that there was another prehistoric creature show on...

On the way back, I called Mom. We talked for about 45 minutes or so, and I told her about all the "fun" things that I'd been doing recently.

On Sunday, there was the first Tridentine Mass at St. John's in Front Royal. It went well. Dr. P. directed Draper and myself in the schola, and that also went over rather well.

I then went out to Winchester for Josh & Leslie's marriage affadavit. While I was waiting for the priest to show up, I spent some time in the perpetual adoration chapel. It was really nice getting away from everything for a few minutes. :) When I left, Father still wasn't there, so I walked to the rectory and delivered the affadavit.

After that, I went to the girls' house, where there was a party going on. Christine, Carissa, Sarah, Alex, MikeE, Ken, Alaina, Paul E., and Dr. P were all there. Before it got too late, though, I drove back home, got there about 11:30 PM, just in time for me to go to bed and start a new week...

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

John Tucker Must Die

This little teeny-bopper movie actually wasn't that bad. It was, in my opinion, extremely humorous, except some people I know would call a lot of the humor in it "inappropriate". In spite of that little fact, it's a hilarious movie. The guy who played Jogn Tucker is a very good actor. The bitter girls are also acted well. I think that since John Tucker is a lot like me (in his popularity, in his studliness, in his ability to impress all the ladies like there is no tomorrow, in the fact that I'm lying my big blue pahookie off right now about these similarities), I actually began to feel sorry for him. Not that he didn't deserve it -- I think he deserved everything that he got.

However, the fact that he was able to play off everything made me like his character that much more. Along the same lines, I also like the main girl who knew that she was going too far and eventually backed off, even though by that point it was too late.

I'd recommend this movie to people who enjoy teeny-bopper movies. If you're not sure, give this movie a shot, anyway. You might be surprised...