I Fell off the Face of the Earth!!

...but I'm back now! :)

Watching the News...

I'm watching a news story about the California woman who had octuplets... All eight of them are doing well, and so is she. Here's the catch: the news is all up-in-arms about the fact that she had eight kids at the same time. Actually, many specialists are going so far as to say she was morally wrong to have that many. She concieved all of them through in vitro fertilization, and when she didn't want to terminate any of them, she decided to keep them all. Yeah, she was only meaning to have one, but if she has decided to raise them, why is it "ethically wrong," according to some, that she didn't abort the rest?!! Who are they to tell her she's wrong to have kids if she wants to?? This gets me upset!

Casting! (and other bits of news, too)

After getting a much anticipated callback after Grease auditions the other night, we were sent the cast list! Lo and behold, I am Doody (please tell me nobody really names their kid that, or that anyone really uses that as a nickname for that matter), one of the T-Birds! Apparently, my character is goofy, has speaking lines (definitely a plus! lol), and sings some bits of solo stuff! Mind you, this is what I've been told, as I have not yet laid eyes on a script...

In other Bryant Players news, rehearsals for our two short shows are going well... We perform Rumors of our Death and High School for Dummies on February 6, 7, and 8, so be sure to come out and catch the shows at some point next weekend! They are a lot of fun!

So I am enjoying myself here. Kinda feels like I've been here longer than I have, but I guess that's just the way it goes... I joined the campus newspaper (The Archway), as well as the Bryant Singers, so I'm keeping busy.

Other than that, I am getting ready for my Spring Break trip to New Orleans! I am so pumped for KRUP! Basically Katrina Relief Urban Plunge is a week-long project that is what it sounds... apparently, over three years later, there is still a lot to be done, so I'm really excited to go help. I know that God is doing some great things in everything involved with the trip!

Well, I'm tired... I guess nobody bothered to mention to me that you don't sleep much while you're in college. ;)

Until next time,
Coburn

"Defiance" Review

Haha! After my movie (not-)seeing adventure that I previously posted about, I finally went with some friends to see Defiance last week. So I'm posting a short review.

Defiance tells the true story of the Bielski brothers, who, during WWII, saved over 1200 Jews from the German armies. Amazingly, they built an entire community hidden away in the European forest, where they lived for over two years!

Let me put it simply: this movie is phenomenal! Daniel Craig (best known as the "new James Bond") does a terrific job as the oldest brother, Tulia, while Jamie Bell, Liev Schreiber, and the rest of the cast also really elevate the movie to the plane it's at. The weight of the subject matter is handled in an admittedly Hollywood-esque way, but it definitely does not affect the movie's quality, as the film still draws you in and makes you forget that it runs for nearly 2 and half hours; thankfully, the pace does not drag. Best of all though, the story is a great portrayal of triumph and hope in a very dark time in history.

I highly recommend Defiance. Director Edward Zwick (Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai) has crafted a movie that is suspenseful, emotional, powerful, at times brutal, and incredibly inspirational!

Grease Auditions!

I haven't written in a while! Yikes!

Anyway, this is just a short post ot say how pumped I am for Grease auditions tonight!! I have spent all day trying to pick a song, and I have narrowed it down to a few choices... I think I'll just write them all down and them pull a random name out of a hat when it comes time to sing!! ;)

I'll write again with more goings-on soon!
Coburn

Back to Bryant

Well, I'm back... I've been back for about two and a half days, and I already know this is going to be a great semester!
Class update: I've been introduced to all of my classes for this semester now, and aside from the through-the-roof prices of class textbooks, I like them all! While most of my professors seem cool, that can be deceiving later in the semester... lol. On a better note, I like all the people I ended up on a team with in my accounting class and it seems like the group project will be fun! Most exciting, though: I found out that my literature class is going to Trinity Rep to see "The Importance of Being Ernest" when we study it... it's one of my favorite plays/shows!
Speaking of plays, I am at rehearsal right now! We are doing "High School for Dummies" (yay!) and "Rumors of our Death" (yay?), so come to Bryant and see them on February 6th, 7th, and 8th! (Sorry, that was just my little promo for our shows... I'm done now. lol) While rehearsal sometimes get long, especially when we have them 4 nights of the week, they are nevertheless a blast, and being with the awesome Bryant Players never gets old!

I want to write more, but I will have to later, because right now I'm being yelled at for not paying attention. LOL (when wasn't I paying attention??)
Coburn

Winter Break Comes to a Close

Well, this is it... winter break is over, and I'm off to Bryant again tomorrow! I'm so excited! Don't get me wrong, I love being on vacation and chilling with family and friends at home. However, I'm so happy to get back to school and tackle all the fun and pressures of a new semester!

Tomorrow, I will move back into Hall 15 and start another three months of long papers, lectures, and walks to the classrooms in the Unistructure. But it will also be three months of hanging out, having fun, and starting some new things!

Undoubtedly, my favorite part of last semester was joining the Bryant Players, meeting some pretty amazing people, and acting in a couple of awesome plays! And becoming part of the team at Bryant Christian Fellowship and making some great friends there also made for an incredible semester... and it will only get better this semester! Because I had 7 (yep, count 'em, 7!) classes last semester, I was too busy to do much else, but I only have 5 this semester, so I'm looking forward to joining a few other clubs and having just a liiiittle bit more fun, too! We'll see what that means! ;) WhootWhoot!

I'll next be writing from Bryant!
Coburn