Really bad pictures of Daniel Radcliff and New York

Here are my New York Pictures!

This is Daniel Radcliff signing autographs


This is the crowd waiting across the street to see Daniel Radcliff

EQUUS!

So, I saw Equus and it was amazing. The play was awesome. Unfortunately Richard Griffiths couldn't perform but his understudy was great and most definitely the standout performance.

Daniel Radcliff was very good. He wasn't spectacular but he was very good. Part of the problem was that he is just too recognizable, although after a while I most definitely lost sight of Harry. Radcliff was especially notable in the more intense scenes where the crazy of the character had to be super evident but when he had to be a little less intense it wasn't as great.

Now...to the nakedness. I find Daniel Radcliff to be quite attractive, however, it was a little too much of the money shot for me. He was fully naked for almost 5 minutes and seemed to be facing directly at our seats. I felt a little uncomfortable after the first two minutes.

Overall, the show was amazing. I would recommend it to everyone but it's closing in February so you'd have to rush.

Afterwards I did not get a picture with him or an autograph because I got there late and only the people in the front got their stuff signed. But I did see him and get some very bad pictures of him.

I'll post my Radcliff pictures and other pictures from the trip up soon.

Africa isn't just a sad place with only suffering people who need to be saved

So I was listening to that "Feed the World" Christmas song which pretty much says that Africa needs our help because everything is going horrible there, and don't get me wrong people should be helping out more, but after going to Africa and taking classes about Africa, I resent the idea that Africa is just a big group of people in deplorable conditions that can't possible be happy.

As much as those kinds of feeling generally mean well, there is something inherently arrogant about it. The Western world seems to assume that people can't possible be happen in situations that aren't necessarily as nice as ares and what exactly defines a nice situation. I mean, it is hard to believe that starving people without access to nice medical care are in a perfect situation, that shouldn't be all we see.

I went to Ghana, which is admittedly a fairly well off country where I may not have seen the worst of the worst situations, but there were certainly not as many luxuries as I'm used to, but there was also a happiness that I rarely experience here. I taught school in the small town of Hohoe and people seemed to be genuinely happy and appreciate what they have. I taught the kids questions and answers in English and one of them was "What is your favorite food?" and they would say things like rice and yams. Things that they ate everyday but there remained an appreciation for them. They loved what they had.

People also depended on and supported each other. It was the rainy season and whenever I would get stuck in town when it started to rain, without fail a shopkeeper would invite me into the back of their shop to sit with them and get out of the rain. Most would even invite me into the back room to sit with their family and make conversation.

One day there was a child sleeping on the floor so I asked the woman if it was her son and she said "No but I didn't want him to be cold," and I was just swept away by that kind of thinking.

Once again I'm not saying that there aren't situations that need to be fixed and worked on and there aren't many things we should do to help, I'm just saying that to assume the people in Africa can't be happy in the situations they are in is shortsighted and a little ignorant even if it comes from good intentions.

Just a thought

EQUUS!

I'm seeing Equus on Sunday. I'm sure all of you and by all of you I mean the three people who read this thing, are all jealous. I'll give a full report after I've seen it.

I'm not just seeing it because Daniel Radcliff (Harry Potter) will be naked because I think it will really be a good play. I can't lie though. It's a factor.

Want to hear something gross?

In what world is it OK for a college student to spread fecal matter around on a toilet seat? In fact, in what world is it OK for anyone over 2 to do that.

Seriously someone spread it out. Not just accidentally got some on the seat, but took the time to spread it out. WTF is that.

Oh college

After working at the ACLU this summer I find myself pondering more and more about civil liberties and why they're important. And I have realized just how many you can give up when you walk onto a college campus.

It's not anything criminal per say. College official can't strip you down in the middle of campus and send you to jail but they can search your room for no reason or punish you for things even if there isn't a whole lot of proof.

It can all be seen in the college handbook. Think of that handbook as a kind of constitution or bill of rights. When you agree to go live on a campus and attend a school you are basically agreeing to follow their rules. If a college decides that you broke them they can punish you, as long as it is in the rules you agreed to.

For instance, at my school, if you appear drunk or even if you appear sober but are walking with someone who appears drunk, you can be written up. They don't demand any proof. There's no breathalyzer. They just write you up and move on.

Now, admittedly, most of the people written up are drunk but that's not really the point. People deserve fair trial even if they're guilty.

On to the room thing. In the real world, police need a warrant and/or your consent to search your house. When you live on campus, however, you are technically on college property and therefore your room can be searched for any reason by campus safety or the police.

It just seems a little fucked up.

Thanksgiving Review Part 1

Well, as usual it was a fantastic Thanksgiving full of loving sarcasm, shopping, competitiveness and of course eating.

First and foremost on the awesome scale was the place card contest. The premise of the contest was to make a place card consisting of life savers, glue or tape, the ingredients of cole slaw and the container they come in. Admittedly mine was horrible. I did it the morning of the contest and did it in 10 minutes.


Other people made awesome ones though.