Boulder and the rest of the Earth

I've been having a really interesting week and have learned so many things I'd like to share with anyone reading this blog.

I watched Food, Inc at a meeting of the CU Going Local club and for my Nutrition, Health, and Performance class. I thought it was a really well-made documentary about the food industry and really has me thinking about the food I and others around me choose to consume. I recommend it if you haven't seen it.

I started reading David Halberstam's The Fifties, a really comprehensive book about the entire decade, for my Film of the 40s and 50s class. The book covers so much ground - in just the few chapters I read so far, I learned about Levittowns, GM, Eisenhower, McCarthyism, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, and on and on.

And then today, in my Astronomy lab, I took measurements which allowed me to calculate the circumference of the Earth - all without traveling past Baseline (a road on the edge of campus). I learned that Baseline used to run directly along the 40th Parallel (Boulder's latitude), something I didn't know, even though I've lived in Boulder for so long. I say used to because it has since been reconstructed to curve a bit away from that line, but parts of it are still exact. It's confusing to get into all the details of our lab experiment, but if you Google Eratosthenes Challenge, you'll get a good sense of what we were doing.

Pretty cool! It still amazes me the kind of ground we cover in all my classes week by week. Having a class last only 15 or 16 weeks is so different from having full-year courses like in high school. And learning about things like astronomy, history, health, film - all at a college level? Well, that's why I'm here!

If you're a student (or even if you're not), what's something you learned about this week that really struck you as interesting? I'd love to hear in the comments!

It's almost Friday. The Boulder International Film Festival is happening here this weekend. I plan to at least go to one of the short film events, which I really enjoyed last year. I encourage you to check it out if you're at all interested in film, particularly the independent or international type.

Cheers! :)

Do We Wanna Grow Up?

Sometimes it's the little things... moments that make you step back and think, quite simply, whoa, college is cool.

These moments have been happening on a weekly basis since my discovery of my dorm's Disney Movie Night. In the past few weeks, I've seen Hercules, The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and now Pocahontas. These are the movie of my generation's childhood, the movies we will never grow out of, even, as it seems, by the time we are in college. And as I'm sitting here, surrounded by students in their PJs, with their homework, semi-sleep deprived -- and yet totally enthralled by animated characters in a story they probably know by heart. They're almost always singing along, completely knowledgeable of every single tune and, well, it's in these moments when I can't help but think that I really do love being at CU.

These weekly movie nights have taught me something: that the most important part of college is shared experiences, both experiences we create while in college, and those from our past, that can bring us together. I feel it's pretty safe to say that most of us saw and loved these films when we were little, and there are clearly many students who feel similar to myself... I think Disney movies are incredibly creative, fun, beautiful works of art, and were great entertainment to grow up with. Now, I could have been feeling stressed one weekend and decided to treat myself to a Lion King night, but it wouldn't have been the same as sitting in this room with a group of students, and doing so on a weekly basis.

As a film student, I can't help but think about these movies in a larger context - as I find my mind working about numerous topics since I've started college. (More on this in a future post.) What is it about these films that is so timeless? I will argue with my last breath that kids who grow up on movies like Shrek are missing out. These films merely make fun of the classic fairy tales, they aren't made of wonder and magic like the older films were. Classic Disney is the way to go, and when you have a room full of 18+ year olds LOUDLY laughing out loud, I think this point is proven beyond doubt.

So, this is totally unrelated to college, but I'm going to ask that timeless question: Favorite Disney movie? Or top three favorites? (I know I can't choose just one).

Anyway, that's it for now... Cheers! :)

This blog is sponsored by the CU Book Store.