A Big Thank You To All My Fans... or at least the ones willing to deal with me.

Wow guys,

So as many if not all of you know, I have been a semi-finalist in the Microsoft Winter Olympics blogging competition over the past few weeks. Although it was quite the shock to get the phone call a few weeks ago announcing that I was one of 5 semi-finalists in the nation, what has really surprised me is the amount of support that has followed me. I have always known that my family and friends have adored me (I mean who wouldn't right?) but the sheer number of people willing to help a goofy college kid is outstanding.

Now with the voting portion of the competition over all we can do is wait and hope. Honestly though, I feel that no matter if I win or lose the support I have seen from loved ones and strangers is enough for me. Don't get me wrong going to Vancouver and the Winter Olympics would be amazing, but I just want you all to know how grateful I am to have people like you in my life. So thank you to all of my righteous readers for the support you have shown me.

Sappiness aside, we'll just see what happens. From here the top three voted bloggers will be judged on various criteria and a winner will be chosen. I'm not sure when I'll find out, but I will be sure to let you guys know.

Thanks again,

Dylan Derryberry

Disaster Strikes CMC... well kinda.

Holy Cow am I behind with posts. Worry not though righteous readers, I'll be rocking a few out over the next couple days. So be sure to keep checking.

With over two hundred people living together in one place it can be guaranteed that a few of these unique individuals will make silly (putting it lightly) mistakes. These mistakes tend to spiral into much more in a college environment such as this. An example would be a student who has left a candle (which are not allowed in the dorms) lit in his or her room which then fell and erupted into a fire that burnt down the dorms. Another example would be if this student had a carbon monoxide tank in his room which burst, causing a leak of poisonous gas into the wings of Sopris Residence Hall.

Sure that last example is highly unlikely, but you can be sure the CMC's higher ups have taken no risks with the safety of their students. This past Friday the school's safety procedures as well as the forces of the Valley's Emergency Response teams were put to the test in the form of the Mass Casualty Incident (MCI). The MCI works as a way to practice the school's emergency procedures in a steady, safe environment as well as giving fire fighters, EMTs and other response teams a chance to understand and practice these procedures.

So at 8 am that morning, alarms went off forcing students (who were very unhappy at the wake up call) to exit the building in a timely fashion. Of course all students were warned in advance of the event and some even volunteered to be "ill" or "injured" victims to the scenario. As the students (and myself with a video camera) made their way outside, it was revealed that there had been a carbon monoxide leak in the building and that 911 had been called. Assistant Coordinator of Student Life Laurie Corwin ran around with a bright yellow vest and walkie-talkie and began to throw around orders to an organized group of people (what I like to call the Justice League of CMC) to deal with the situation.

Now I won't lie, because this was a learning experience it was really, really SLOOOOOW. Thankfully creepy music and certain cuts really sped up the video, so it's still interesting. While time crept by and one by one fire trucks and ambulances drove up, I sat in what could have possibly been the coldest day of the year. Then again I'm from Texas and the Colorado Falls (and sometime Springs) match our summers. As the firemen finally geared up to "rescue" students from the poisonous building I prepared to follow them into the dangers of the hall. With a final check the fire fighters took off (slowly mind you) into the building and I was hot on their trails; then I was stopped.

Pretty dramatic huh? Well with a restriction on the (fictionally) quarantined residence hall I took my journalistic skills elsewhere and investigated the ill. Interestingly enough, the gymnasium was filled with not only (fictionally) sick residents, but also Dylan Derryberry fans. Well maybe not exactly fans of me, but readers of my blog. Obviously an activity involving the emergency rescue teams of the Valley would bring in a lot of press and public relations to the school, so the people who actually write professionally were running around witnessing the events. Oddly though a few of them actually came up and commented on my blog. Although I may be one for attention compliments still send me into an embarrassed frenzy, so we'll just leave it at that.

So as I scanned across the (fictionally) sick residents I heard a call for my name. I quickly raced outside of the gymnasium to a group of my friends telling me to watch Mike Bernacchi as he was carried out of the building. I slowly waited for a sign from Mike and as the EMTs moved in to put him on a stretcher, her began to have a seizure. Now obviously there is nothing funny about seizures, but seeing a good friend of yours shake like crazy, then stop, open an eye and look around for viewers before going back into the shakes is kinda humorous. So the EMTs moved Mike's no still corpse into the ambulance and took off for the hospital. I thought about riding along with them, but due to my Theatre Production class, I had to stay back at school.

Although the Incident took a very long time and was a bit of a slow process, the school and emergency services seemed to gain a lot from it. It's good to practice these procedures in a non- life and death instance, that way if you have a few slip ups, it's not on someone's life. I know I appreciate the work the school has put in, even if we did have to evacuate the building at the crack of dawn on the coldest day of the year thus far (I may be over exaggerating). I would love to say "that's about all for now", but this semester is coming to an end and we're all running around trying to get things finished up before we all leave. I should have another couple of posts coming out soon, so stay tuned.

Until next time guys,

Dylan

"Everybody has a camcorder now, and they exploit these incidents and blow them all out of proportion"

- Jim Fowler

Send Dylan to the 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS

Alright guys.

So I have recently been informed that I am one of five semi-finalists in the nation for the Microsoft Winter Games Blogging Competition. The winner of this contest will not only be sent to an Electronics Conference in Las Vegas for three days, but will also be sent to Vancouver to cover the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

I don't think that I need to go into too much detail about how AWESOME this would be, but this stands as a great chance for my journalistic career. If I were to win I would be on site, working alongside big name journalists and networks and covering the games for seven days.

I found out about the contest through a link on Collegehumor.com and noticed that two of my favorite writers of the website, Jake and Amir, were judging the competition, so I decided I'd give it a shot. In order to enter you had to have had a blog for at least three months (check) and then write and essay on "Why you think you should be selected". Now I don't want to bash on my fellow competitors, but upon investigation of their blogs I have noticed that they all seem like a bunch of sports fanatics. Although I do enjoy sports, I choose to write about events and experiences instead of play by play mumbo jumbo. I was sure to state in my essay that I could offer another side to the Olympics, and could describe these events as if they were new to me in a way that people who aren't fans of the sport could understand.

It had been very late one night when I applied for the contest and had pretty much forgotten about it a few weeks later. When I actually got the call Friday night informing me of my achievement, I almost didn't pick up. I didn't recognize the number and figured it to be a telemarketer. When I answered and Ashley Van Slett, Specialist of Fulfillment Services of GMR Marketing congratulated me on being a semi-finalist in the competition, my first thought was; "Really? You couldn't find anyone better?". I have definitely gained a new boost in the confidence of my work on this blog over the past year and a half.

So I have made it this far based on judges views on my blog, but now I need all of my righteous readers to help me. Right now is the online voting portion of the contest and I need as much help as possible. If you could help spread word to go to https://www.officewintergames.com/vote.aspx and vote up to once a day every day until November 29th, that would be awesome. The top three semi-finalists with the most votes out of the five will be considered finalists and will go on to another judging panel and then a winner will be chosen.

It's up to you guys now and thank you so much for the support,

Dylan

The Art of The Ninja: Chasing People In Masks.

So this Saturday began the semester's run of Ninja Strike. The very serious game has gotten off to quite the start and you can bet that I have become very involved. But before I get too far ahead of myself I should probably tell this story chronologically.

One year ago, first semester freshman Dylan Derryberry became a part of the Ninja Strike program hosted by then RA Kristin Dyer. The rules of the game were extensive, but more or less you were given a target and had to "eliminate" or "assassinate" them by marking them on the hand with a marker. Paranoia took over the life of the residents and screams of loss and victory rang throughout the halls. I myself did fairly well. I had taken out a couple of targets and even managed to escape my own attacker once. But alas, the moment I let my guard up, Ninja assailant Carin Reeter took me out moments before the time cut off. She laughed at my misery as I struggled to pull out my phone and check the time. 9:54. Six minutes until 10 pm. If I had stood strong at the bowling alley that fateful night for a mere six minutes, I could have escaped death another day.

One year and hours upon hours of not-training later, I found myself signed up and ready to begin the games once again. This time the program was hosted by the Residence Hall Association, Lyndie to be more exact, and I was prepared for victory; I couldn't be beat. Then I got out first round. It was actually kind of crappy actually. I was at my door, preparing to open it, with five bags of groceries on my arms. I didn't even see it coming. Chris Mullen took me out with ease. Crap.

But as fate would have it I was rewarded a second chance. Due to a mistake on Lyndie's part, three assassins were given the same target and chaos ensued. Because of this hiccup, RHA president Steven Castro took control of the game and restarted it the next week with new assassins, new rules and new targets.

So here we are now. As I was sitting at the desk on duty this past Saturday, Adam Bullock received his target. After I convinced him to let me know who it was, we devised a plan to take down Natalie Maes. Within minutes of Adam's mission update, Natalie cam storming down the stairs. As a friend and classmate of Miss Maes I let her know that her new target was in her mailbox. She went back to retrieve the slip of paper and Adam prepared for the showdown. I took the chance to help Adam out and shouted for Natalie to come to the desk and then continued to ask about the homework in Biology, Adam took the moment to spring on her. Shocked and really really pissed, Natalie began to verbally abuse me and Adam. What happened next has stirred some controversy.

Unsure of the exact rules, Adam asked if he was supposed to get her to sign the paper. Observing that he had little knowledge of certain rules, Natalie replied that she would sign it later. Unfortunately Adam did not realize that an attack had to be turned into Steven by 10 o'clock that night. So Adam didn't get her to sign the paper and did not turn in her name on time, thus Miss Maes was allowed back in the game and was now aware of her attacker's identity.

Later that night, in an attempt to scare Natalie of her impending fate Adam, Cory Hargove and Joe Grounds grabbed an air mattress and pressed it against Natalie's door. They knocked and as she opened the door she was met with a sign saying "I'm coming for you cheater". Natalie began to beat the mattress and tried to escape her prison. Laughing hysterically, the trio took off down the hall and Natalie began to scream that she wasn't a cheater and wouldn't be taken down. Then she saw me and started to yell at me. Sure it may have been my idea to air mattress her, but I wasn't involved in the act. I was just an innocent bystander. Jeez.

Ironically enough, as Adam was running down the hall with the mattress, his attacker (who shall remain anonymous for now) marked his hand. Unaware of his "death" Adam went into Cory's room. The attacker then went and knocked on the door asking for a signature. Adam then realized the mark on his hand and went into a temporary crisis mode before realizing that the rule that had damned him was now his savior. He let his attacker know that she had to turn in the slip by ten and it was well past the limit. Annoyed with the discovery of her identity, the attacker took off. By knowing his target (even if she knew him too) and his attacker Adam was in a sweet spot. Then the next morning he died.

Waiting for the lunch room to open, Adam didn't watch his back carefully enough and was slashed across the wrist by his attacker. Fortunately for Nerf guns, black jackets and equally crazy friends, this was not the end of Miss Maes' torment.

At approximately 9:20 pm on Sunday night Adam, Mike Bernacchi, Jared Kennedy and myself ran to Walmart and purchased four nerf pistols, one nerf shotgun, three Halloween hockey masks, three Halloween axes and a Halloween sword. We raced up and made it to campus at 9:40 pm. 20 minutes until quiet hours. The squadron loaded up, threw on our masks, taped our axes to our backs and Adam taped a marker to the end of his sword. Whether she knew it or not, we were about to attack Miss Maes and make her think we had assassinated her.

We crept up the stairs into third central and then quickly and quietly discussed the plan. I then ran down to get my fellow RA Jess Blosser to lure Natalie out of her room. Unfortunately, Jess is terrible at keeping a straight face and Natalie, having been tricked once) was not going to fall for it again. I realized that there was no way she was going to come out, so (with a choice word) gave the call to storm the room. The four of us, with Mike filming) opened fire on the target who simply took the shots to the back. Just as ammo began to become scarce I called to get her out of her room and jumped into the bathroom and fought for my life.

Miss Maes has quite the grip. I tugged and tugged at her legs, but she refused to let go of the towel rack and screamed until I finally ripped he away. Yes; we had got her. Oh, but wait. She then grabbed onto the door frame and the tugging again ensued. As I finally pulled her out of the safety of her room (you can't attack someone if they're in their own room) Mike shot a final round at her and she spun out of my grip and took off down the hallway. I followed to the best of my abilities and went to slide in front of her and the door way and get a shot off to distract her. Well oddly enough my body mass doesn't slide as well as I thought and I was out of ammo. So she just flew past me with Adam hot on her trail.

I jumped up and we made our way down the stairs and into the second south floor. We passed many stricken faces and Miss Maes quickly flew down another staircase into the main lobby. As the race went on I began to discover her plan. Assassinations were prohibited in the Intensive Study Wing, so she thought we would give up on her if she made it there. Sadly she was wrong.

As she sat down in the intensive study wing with a wicked "Hah I beat you" grin on her face, I called for the assistance of Jared and we carried her out of the safe zone. Probably not legal to the rules of the game, but Adam was already out. So who cared? As we threw her to the floor Adam snagged his target and hit her hand. I didn't notice this though, so as she stuck her arms into her sweatshirt I picked her up and began to spin her. After narrowly missing the ledge of the front desk, I realized that she had already been killed and put her down. As she refused to show Adam her mark, I confronted her with a truth.

"Ya wanna know something funny?" I said while gasping in breaths of air.

"He's already out."

Natalie stormed around in a rage for a bit and had some choice words for me, but all in all it was an awesome time. I will say though, in her defense she totally gave the out of shape college ninjas a run for their money. I may stay active, but good lord did she run fast.

It should be noted that although this attack was a scam, I still have an actual target of my own and I plan on using the awesome skills of the Ninja Assassination Squad, to acquire this. And in case anyone is in need of the skills of NAS we are up for hire and are willing to throw together an awesome plan that has no room for error, even if it means chasing the target down and holding them hostage.

Well that's about all for now. Ninja Strike will continue forward and hopefully I can do alright. Also be sure to come check out the first CMC Ice Hockey game this Friday at the Glenwood Community Center. The game will start at 9:15 pm, so bring a warm jacket and cheer the Eagles to victory.

So until next time guys and gals,

Half-Bear (My Ninja name)

"Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you assassins."

-Unknown

Monster (or Macho) Mash Bash

Hey there Ghosts and Goblins (Yes. I know. Corny holiday humor.)

So another night of goofy costumes, goofy music and goofy dancing (I realize this describes a good portion of my nights) has come to an end and what a glorious Halloween weekend it was. Actually when I say it was a good Halloween weekend I mean that Thursday was a good night. I was on duty for the rest of the weekend.

But the prime cause of Thursday's greatness was the annual CMC Halloween Dance. Now anyone who has been following my blog long enough (which narrows it down to my bosses and my parents. Thanks guys!) will remember that last Hallow's Eve I was Ace Ventura and led the students to a night of awkwardly bad dancing. Well as the year has gone by I have practiced these dance moves at clubs and my room late at night as well as preparing what I see as the best costume ever. You see over the year I have found a group of friends who, although not to the same level as myself, are willing to be goofy and not care what people think about them, so getting the guys to join me on my costume was no problem. Thus the Village people were (re)born.

With an indian (Mike Bernacchi), a cowboy (Adam Bullock), a biker (Jared Kennedy) and myself as a construction worker, we flambourized (my word for making something very flamboyant) our costumes and prepared for the night ahead. If the goofy costumes were not enough, myself and Mike had previously spoken to the DJs of the night and had arranged to have a Grand Entrance. So at 8:30 the opening to the Village People's 1989 classic "YMCA" began and we marched our flambourized selves out to the center of the dance floor. Little did the crowd before us realize that in the little free time we all had, we had choreographed a dance to the well known song.

Now perhaps it was the flambourized costumes, or the odd dance moves, but somehow we wound up looking like male strippers. So much in fact that we actually did strip at the end of the night. Perhaps we took advantage of the DJs love of the Village People, but we convinced her to play "Macho Man" at the end of the night and we threw our various articles of clothing into the crowd of screaming (and perhaps groaning) fans. You are welcome CMC.

Besides the Village People, there were a number of interesting costumes brought forth by the CMC students. I won't go into too much detail due to the fact that there really were a lot. I will give some of the winners of the costume contest though. Sadly (although we entered every category) the Village People did not win anything, but luckily we (at least I do) have egos the size of hot air balloons and that was enough for us.

Those fortunate enough to win included:

Sexiest:

Mae Jackson as A Revealing Officer of The Law

Most Creative:

Taylor Sprague as Max (from Where The Wild Things Are)

Funniest:

Michael Dold as Captain Condom

Scariest:

Zach Atencio at The Misfits Fiend

So a common theme to Halloween is scary fog. Thus, it only makes sense to include a fog machine for a Halloween Dance. Oddly enough, the DJs became a little trigger happy with the smoke and soon the whole room was filled with it. Enough anyways to set off the fire alarm. Now it is school policy to exit a building when a fire alarm goes off, but come on; It was Halloween (kinda). As officials began to check the scene, the DJ was required to turn off the music. This wasn't going to stop the hordes of dancers though and everyone began to dance to the sound of the buzzing fire alarm. Oh yeah.

This went on for at least 15 minutes before the music was finally turned on (although the fire alarm didn't get turned off for 2 hours) and the merriment continued into the night. Now I believe this shall be the moment that I stress to you the fun times of school run functions. Yeah a costume school dance may seem a little "high school"ish, but who cares? If you have fun with it and can act silly, then why put a label on it? You can say I'm a fool all you like, I know it and admit to it. All I know is that I have fun, so you should too.

I seem to have a hard time filming dances. I personally love to dance so I find myself dancing more than filming. SO this would be a thank you to all who wielded the camera for me. I think it turned out well. I have included two videos this week. One is the overall Halloween Dance, while the other is the choreographed "YMCA" dance of ours. I would strongly suggest watching both. On a side note, let me take a moment here to plead with all aspiring musical artists. I searched far and wide for a good, upbeat, fun Halloween song that wasn't "Thriller" for hours upon end. I came up with nothing. So it is my urge for all talented musicians to create a good Halloween song that Dylan can use. As of now it is "STARSTRUKK" by 3OH!3. Oh well, it works.

Well that's about it for this post guys. I hope everyone's holiday weekends were fun and safe.

Until next time,

Dylan (still steering clear of the unsuitable pseudonym. Perhaps Capt. Awesome would work...)

"A grandmother pretends she doesn't know who you are on Halloween."

-Erma Bombeck

"Whaddya Makin'?" with Mae Jackson

So the busy-ness has finally subsided.

Pride and Prejudice has come to an end and what a great experience. Although the amount of time that went into it is a little disgusting (at one point we had gone 14 days straight) hearing the audience's reactions to all of our hard work made it all worth it in the end.

This all being said, it has taken up A LOT of time. Thus I have had quite a bit of trouble getting to other events. So instead of blowing off another week of blogging I did what all great leaders do; I made someone else do it. Now this wasn't a cruel slavery sort of thing, but I simply asked my friend and fellow RA to film an event for me that way I could experience the program through my camera. So with this I introduce "Whaddya Makin'?" with Mae Jackson.

Now for those of you who do not live in the dorms or eat cafeteria food every day, let me fill you in on a little common knowledge; it gets really old. Now this isn't meant as a way to bash the cafeteria food, it's just that after eating three meals a day there for over a year and a half, you kinda get tired of eating it. If that weren't enough, as college students we tend to stay up very late and at times our body's request a 4th or 5th meal. Unfortunately for the insomniatic snackers The Valley's fast food places also close fairly early and driving down to 7-11 isn't the *** way of getting food. So what do you do when the hunger takes over and the inability to go to town becomes apparent? Well that's where Jenn Laughlin's Progressive Food Night comes into play.

This past Wednesday various students came down to JIII to show off their dorm room cooking skills. As each resident concocted interesting, yet slightly appetizing, dishes including cheap easy to store items Mae made her video rounds and inquired what each person was making. Thus the title "Whaddya Makin'?" came about. Now Mae is a friend of mine and she makes fun of me just as much as I'm about to make fun of her, but she is a goofy, goofy girl. The interesting thing about watching the video of an event I wasn't at is that I get to see and hear all of her unique comments. I believe in the video files alone she used the title phrase over a dozen times. So what am I to do? Just leave her alone and not poke fun at her? Yeah right.

As can be seen in this week's video, I had some polite comments of my own in repsonse to Mae's. I'm sure I'll get a swift kick to the butt for doing this, but oh well; It wouldn't be the first time. So what exactly did these interesting dishes consist of? Well although I didn't get any exact recipes, I managed to get a feel for how most of these dished consisted of.

Mel Ross' Cube Steak

So Cube Steak is a type of steak, but by soaking it in eggs, covering it in flour, salt and pepper and throwing it on a George Foreman grill can give you quite the tasty treat.

Matt Miller's Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs

Oh yeah. They're exactly what they sound like. Wrap up the hot dog in bacon and throw it in the microwave for a few minutes and Voila! you have a heart attack waiting to happen. It's actually REALLY good.

Dale Loverro's Ramen Noodles with Eggs

Dale's twist on the classic (and cheap) dorm food, adds a new flavor to an easy snack. Just crack in egg in the water when you boil the noodles and chow down.

Sarah Schwab's Puppy Chow

The snack is quick, easy and tasty and if you make enough it can last quite a while. Throw chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butte into the microwave, throw in some vanilla after the melt and put it all, alongside some Chex cereal and powdered sugar, into a large plastic bag and shake.

Steven Castro's Trail Mix

We live in the mountains and their are a lot of great hiking spots around here. So what better snack in hiking than trail mix? Well the delicious snack can be used even in the hiking off season (waaaay too cold) by just mixing up a bunch of pretzels, nuts, raisins, chocolate and whatever else sounds good mixed together.

Mae's Peanut Butter and Oreos

The videographer at the time took a moment to brag about her own contribution to the night and went on to speak of the nutritional values of Oreos dipped in peanut butter. I then went on to tell her she was wrong.

Josh Laydon's Quesadillas

Now these work a lot better with a quesadilla maker like Josh has, but a microwave works good too. Just throw cheese in between a couple tortillas and nuke it.

Jenn Laughlin's Chinese Tai Salad

I have no idea how to make this, but man oh man was it good. From what I can see in the video their appears to be carrots, lettuce and chicken alongside ramen noodles, but as far as the cooking part goes, your guess is as good as mine. I would suggest asking Jenn about the recipe; it's worth it.

So I'm sure there were some more treats running around throughout the night, but the list of unique, cheap and easy dorm recipes is endless. When the food doesn't look too appetizing in the cafeteria, run to the grocery and stock up on the ingredients of some of these surprisingly good (maybe not good for you) snacks. Well that's about all for now, I just want to throw a thanks out to Mae for filming and with that I will catch you guys later.

Until next time,

Dylan (I decided to drop the unsuitable pseudonym)

"I refuse to believe that trading recipes is silly. Tuna fish casserole is at least as real as corporate stock."

-Barbara Grizzuti Harrison

Pride & Procrastination

So I know it's been a while, but man oh man have I been busy.

For the past 6 weeks I have been taken over by the Theatre Department's production of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. As a member of the cast, you can be sure that I have been immersed deep within all work I could to help speed up the production. This being said, I am sorry to say that after rehearsing from 6:30 to 9:30 four days a week (7 days the past week) I didn't get to go to a whole lot of other activities on campus. That and I was super tired... I mean I may be a dedicated blogger, but come on; I still procrastinate. Fortunately, I believe that the hard work and time that has gone into this play will pay in the end. The all star cast we've formed alongside great lighting and design elements, really make this a spectacle worth checking out. The journey, although near it's end, has been quite the ride.

So, for those of you who are male or a female who has no heart, P&P is known as one of the greatest love stories of all time. I don't know if I necessarily agree with that, but then again I prefer movies with guts and blood, not tears and kisses. The story is based in 1810 England and follows the lives of the middle-classed Bennet family and their experiences with love. Jane the eldest, Elizabeth the story's main protagonist, Mary the socially awkward, and Kitty and Lydia the youngest and wildest of the bunch alongside their tired, witty father and obnoxious mother make up the Bennet Family. With no male heir to take over the family's estate (no matter how small it is) the only way for the girls to live a happy life after their father's death is to marry a "man of good fortune". That's where the warm, friendly Mr.Bingley and the cold, put-offish Mr.Darcy come into play. If you want to know how it ends, come see the play.

Now I am not really an actor. Yeah, I've gone through a few acting and theatre appreciation classes in my time at CMC, but I do not consider myself a serious thespian. the last time I was on stage was my 8th grade production of Oliver Twist in which I played Mr. Bumble and forgot the words to the song I sang. So acting isn't really my deal. I prefer directing much more and as a hopeful film producer/director, I figured I should probably get a feel for the other side of the camera (or stage in this instance). Thus I auditioned and was awarded the roles of Colonel Fitzwilliam and Sir William Lucas. The two smaller parts turned out exceedingly well for me (little line memorization) and gave me just enough of a job to have a great time with a great group of people. It was very interesting playing the two roles and trying to distinguish enough between them for the audience to realize THEY ARE NOT THE SAME PERSON. I guess we'll see if I succeeded.

Acting, although a very important part of the production, wasn't my only role in this play. In an attempt to snag a Theatre AA at CMC I enrolled in the theatre production class, which works very intimately with the season's productions. So I somehow managed to get myself sucked into building and painting the set (so if it collapses during a performance you know who to blame) alongside hanging and focusing the dozens of lights used in this production. This stuff was confusing... Now I have a slight background in construction due to my father's use of cheap labor (my brother and I) in our home remodel over the past six years, but the lighting kind of blew my mind. There were sooooo many different lights, gels (colors), circuits, chords, dimmers and more technical mumbo jumbo. I won't go into too much detail on all of this (mainly due to the fact that it still confuses me) but it was definitely a learning experience.

As I said, I'm not much of an actor and compared to some of my cast mates on the stage, this is a fact. I don't want you guys to think that just because goofy Dylan managed to sneak on stage a few times that CMC's theatre is a joke, because there were some very distinguished actors as a part of P&P. Two such actors were the two leading ladies, Leigh Rogers (Elizabeth) and Laetitia Leon (Jane). The two girls, as well as being sisters on stage, are good friends who have spent the past two years in New York City studying acting at New York University (Leigh) and Fordham University (Laetitia). Laetitia is an aspiring film actress in Los Angeles while Leigh is spending her time in The Valley as well as teaching an improv class for the school.

Have I mentioned that I'm not much of an actor? Or about my urge to be a director? Good. Just making sure. This being said, while most of my fellow novice actors (such as my classmate Michael Bernacchi and CMC alum Nick Garay) looked to the more experienced thespians for acting advice, I watched director Wendy Moore and Stage Manager China Kwan for some ideas on how to bring a script to the stage. Wow. There is so much work that goes into the blocking alone in this production. When you see the play (which you will) I want you to realize that every step and movement an actor takes, was first planned out by the two of them.

Now although I am no actor, I must say that acting like one (haha get it?) was/is quite the experience. Tonight is opening night for the show and I expect anyone who reads this, to be there. But, in case you cannot make it today, the show runs October 15th-17th, October 22nd-24th at 7pm and October 25th at 2pm in the CMC New Space Theatre, located at the CMC Spring Valley Center. To reserve a ticket please call 970.947.8177. We have all worked very hard on this production and I speak for the cast, crew and producer Gary Ketzenbarger in saying that we would love to show off to you.

So until next time,

Mountain Man (The still unfitting pseudonym that now takes on an english accent, knee high boots and a creepy mustache)

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

- Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice

PS. Here is a trailer I put together from dress rehearsal clips. Enjoy.