Vitameatavegamin

"I Love Lucy" is one of the most beloved television shows in history. One of my favorite episodes is when Lucy attempts to film a commercial for Vitameatavegamin. Lucy doesn't realize this "health" product is 23% alcohol and with every take she has to have swig of the Vitameatavegamin. After a few rehearsals she is completely plastered and can't recite any of her lines correctly. If this were a real ad, it would definitely go under the category of advertising gone wrong, but it sure is funny!

Serenity

An unexpected feeling came over me as I was walking to class this morning. It was a bit windy, but nice as I strolled past McFarlin Auditorium. I was on my way to Dallas Hall, but I was a few minutes early for class so the campus was empty and very serene. All of a sudden like lightning it hit me. I felt completely at ease. At that moment I realized how much I love SMU. I love the layout of the campus, how I always see at least one person I know when I am walking to class, how my options are limitless here. Although I have valued my almost two years at SMU, I have never had a feeling quite like that. I am so lucky to be able to go to a University like SMU. I love Dallas, I love the school and I love the people. I wouldn't change my experience for the world.

Just Dance

My Dad and his friends found this video on YouTube and passed it along to me. The video became a bit hit in their office. It is hilarious! This cowboys definitely has some moves...

Sisters for life

"The Road"

I know of a road paved with
Wine and silver blue,
It's walked by the likes of angels,
Whose hearts are tried and true.
The toll that you pay is one of devotion;
Devotion is an arrow which
The founders set in motion.
The path of the arrow is
The road of wine and blue,
You too will walk this road,
And I will walk with you.

My Pi Phi big sister, Rachel (top picture), gave me this poem in my bin the night before the big sis reveal. It is special to me because it expresses the unique bond between sorority sisters and it is something that we can continue to pass down in our family. I knew having a sorority big sister would be special, but I had no idea how strong of a bond we would build as sisters. Rachel is one of my very best friends and always will be.

The time has now come to expand our family again and pass the torch onto another sister. A few weeks ago, we had big sister week, which is one of the most exciting weeks of the year for all the freshman and sophomores. I was thrilled when Brittany (bottom picture) became part of our family! My big sis has been such an incredible big sister, I only hope I can be the same for my little.

Despite all the stereotypes, sororities bring together a group of girls and make them family. It is an incredible bond that cannot be broken. There is nothing else like it.

"It's not a shampoo bottle anymore!"

The 81st annual Academy Awards turned out to be a big night for Kate Winslet and Slumdog Millionaire. I was really pulling for Kate and was so excited when she finally won best leading actress for her role in "The Reader." This was Kate's sixth Oscar nomination, which makes her the youngest actress to receive this many nominations in history. Who knows, maybe she will catch up to Meryl Streep one day. Her other Oscar nominations include:

1) Sense and Sensibility (1996)
2) Titanic (1998)
3) Iris (2002)
4) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2005)
5) Little Children (2007)
6) The Reader (2009)

Kate has been given the nickname as "the queen of this years awards season." Not only did she win an Oscar for her role in "The Reader," but she also won best actress at the BAFTAS, The Screen Actors Guild Awards, The Golden Globes (she won best supporting actress for "The Reader" and best leading actress for "Revolutionary Road,") and had numerous other nominations and wins. I do think she and Leonardo DiCaprio were snubbed at the Oscars for not receiving Oscar nods for their roles of Frank and April Wheeler in "Revolutionary Road." Although it is a very solemn movie, it is very well acted.

The underdog, "Slumdog Millionaire," took home eight Oscars including:
1) Best Picture
2) Best Director
3) Best Adapted Screenplay
4) Best Original Score
5) Best Original Song
6) Best Film Editing
7) Best Cinematography
8) Best Sound Mixing

I haven't seen "Slumdog Millionaire" yet, but I have heard nothing but good things about it. I was really excited for Danny Boyle and the cast because this was such a big win for them. It is always nice to see the underdog prevail. The other big winners of the night were:

Sean Penn for "MILK" (best actor in a leading role)
Penelope Cruise for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (best supporting actress)
Heath Ledger for "The Dark Knight" (best supporting actor)

Heath's win was of course bitter sweet, but his family gave a very nice acceptance speech on his behalf. Overall, I really enjoyed watching the Oscars this year. Oscar Sunday has been a favorite of mine ever since I was little. It is always such a glamorous evening and reminds everyone of the magic of the movies.

Orange Bliss

You never forget your first love, especially if you were three. It all started like this... “We must finish our plans for the wedding. We need to get my orange dress and your orange tuxedo and pick out all of the orange tulips.” Ah, what imagination Chad and I had as three-year-olds planning our big orange wedding. From the day we first met in Mrs. Bass’s class at Little Folks Day School at Park Cities Baptist, or as I liked to call it “shopping cart Baptist” because it was next to the Tom Thumb, we were inseparable.

My parents often regale us with stories of Chad and my big orange wedding plans when we are together just to spite us. Everyday in Mrs. Bass’s class, Chad and I would sit on the rainbow mat and make detailed sketches of every aspect of the wedding- from the orange dress and tux to the orange carpet and limo. School of course came second to our extraordinary plans and we both weren’t afraid to let that be known.

As our constant distraction from the class grew and our focus on our “orange utopia” prevailed, Mrs. Bass became more and more impatient. Finally, one day, Mrs. Bass gave us our final warning that if we did not spend some time apart and refrain from our wedding plans and rehearsals then we would be permanently separated. Of course, we were basking in our own “orange world” and were much to “in love” to listen.

The next day after calling our parents, another faculty member came for reinforcement and physically carried Chad out of the classroom to be placed in another class. My cries, I’m sure, could be heard throughout the day school as I attempted to run after Chad with my arms wide open, like in a scene from The Notebook. Alas, my hysterical pleas to be reunited with the three-year-old love of my life fell upon deaf ears, but dreams of our idyllic orange wedding continued until at the advanced age of seven, the absurdity of our prospective orange wedding set in. It was then that we realized that lime green was definitely a more elegant way to go.

Wicked

There is something magical about broadway shows. The lights. The orchestra. The enchanting theater. The costumes. Everything. When i was little, I used to go to Fair Park Music Hall to see all of the shows. Of course the only ones I wanted to see were the Disney Shows like Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King (they are still two of my favorites). Not only would I watch the musical, I would also buy the broadway recorded version of the soundtrack and memorize every word (if I didn't know them already). I dreamed of being up on the stage one day; of course as a naive seven-year-old, I didn't realize that it requires actual talent to be on Broadway.

When I was 13, I went to New York for the first time with my parents and my little sister. I was thrilled about finally seeing a Broadway show on Broadway. What did we see? Beauty and the Beast of course! I wouldn't dare see anything else (even though this was at least the third time I had seen it). A few years later, I heard a lot of buzz about a new musical call "Wicked." Everyone who had seen it said that it was great so I decided to go see it when it came to Dallas. I absolutely loved it! It is by far my favorite musical of all time. Wicked is the first broadway show to exceed the Disney Shows on my list of my favorite musicals.

"Wicked" is based on a novel and is the untold story of the witches from "The Wizard of Oz." After seeing Wicked, you will never watch the Wizard of Oz in the same way. It ads so much to the story. I have seen it four times in Dallas and New York. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, it's a must see! Here is a preview of the musical...

Don't mess with Texas

In case you were wondering, here are some interesting facts about Texas:

ORIGIN OF NAME: From a Native American word meaning "friends"

ENTERED UNION (RANK): December 29, 1845 (28)

MOTTO: Friendship

TREE: PECAN

FLOWER: Bluebonnet

BIRD: Mockingbird

OTHER: Fiber and fabric: cotton; small mammal: armadillo

SONG: "Texas, Our Texas"

NICKNAME: "Lone Star State"

RESIDENTS: Texan

LAND AREA: 261, 914 square miles (678,358 sq km)

HOME OF: NASA, in Houston, the headquarters for all piloted U.S. space projects

CAPITAL: Austin

LARGEST CITY: Houston

ABBREVIATION: Tex.

POSTAL CODE: TX

*Info from TIME almanac 2004

She's back...

The infamous Britney Spears kicked off her "Circus" tour last night in New Orleans. It has been five years since her last concert tour. She has been under fire the couple of months, as sceptics wonder if she will be able to pull off another tour, especially since she ended up canceling her last concert schedule because of an "injury." Hoping it would bring her good luck, she started off her tour in Louisiana, which is her home state. Personally, I think Britney Spears is a complete train-wreck, as do most people I know. However, there is something about her music that keeps people coming back for more. She is coming to American Airlines Center in Dallas on March 31! It will cost you though...tickets are running between $100 and $4000 dollars. Here is a clip I found of her singing her #1 song Womanizer at her concert last night in New Orleans. If you are going or are thinking about going to the concert, you should check it out:

10 things I've done that I never thought I would do

It's funny how things in life happen that you were never expecting. Here are 10 things that have happened in my life that I was definitely not planning on:

1) Scoring twelve 3-pointers in one game for a total of 36 points in one of my eighth grade basketball games
2) Hosting/fill in DJ for the radio station 106.1 KISS FM for an hour when I was thirteen
3) Dancing with Paris Hilton at the Caribou Club in Aspen over Christmas break this year
4) Having three surgeries in three years (tonsils, appendix and oral surgery)
5) Surviving a two week backpacking trip in Colorado (85 lb. backpacks, 10 miles a day uphill, no tents...i was 14)
6) Hanging out backstage with Jesse McCartney for three hours after his concert in Dallas last month
7) My friend totaling my car on Central Expressway while I was in the passenger's seat--we hit the ramp wall at the Mockingbird exit)
8) Riding an elephant
9) Going to Disneyland Paris instead of Versailles
10) Spending time on the set of one of my favorite shows, Gilmore Girls

Emily Anderson

Enthusiastic
Magic
Imagination
Lucky
Young

Artsy
Nosy
Dedicated
Edgy
Reserved
Spontaneous
Original
Nice

Photography

Photography has been one of my passions for many years. I was very involved with photography in high school and my senior year culminated with a "Senior Show" where all of the AP Photography students gave a lecture about their work. This is a copy of my artist's statement and a few pieces from my concentration:

It is difficult to pinpoint the precise inspiration for one’s photographic images, although many people consider their photographs to have a deeply symbolic connotation. I, however, find a more simplistic connection. Even though there are some exceptions, I feel my greatest inspiration derives from traveling. When I travel, I am really able to immerse myself in a certain location and capture a special moment which I will forever be able to cherish and remember through the image I take.

My favorite place in the world, which I consider to be my second home, is Aspen, Colorado. I feel a deep emotional connection to this unique mountain hide-out. Every time I am there, I feel almost as if I am in a magical and idealistic place where I have created some of my fondest memories with my family and friends. This love I have for Aspen led to my AP Concentration. I am attracted to nature photography and of course, in Aspen, the beautiful Rocky Mountains are breathtaking in every season. A particular subject that has been a focus of mine is the white-bark Aspen trees that line the town with their glimmering green leaves. My favorite photograph of this compilation is an image shot on Independence Pass in a forest of Aspens just after a summer rain shower. I particularly like this image because the damp bark enhances the lushness of the photograph. I also try to capture the town, people and activities from unique perspectives as in my picture, Water Balloon. This picture captures a favorite activity for children in Aspen where they place colorful balloons in the fountains and watch them rise above the water. I used my telephoto lens to zoom in on the balloon at the top of the fountain where the individual droplets of water cover the image.

I consider myself to be a simplistic photographer in terms of the equipment I use and minimal manipulations I perform on my images. The first two years of photography at ESD I primarily used my Canon Rebel SLR camera with 35mm black-and-white film and developed my images in the darkroom, which I still do today. However, in the past year or two, after receiving a Digital Canon SLR, I have begun to do more and more digital work. I still consider myself to be a traditionalist though, because I am not a huge advocate of manipulations in Photoshop.

This past summer I attended a photography workshop at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, Colorado instructed by a former assistant of Ansel Adams. This workshop was a wonderful experience in which I learned the process of turning digital prints into black and white negatives and then developing them as contact prints in the darkroom. The class consisted of classroom instruction as well as field trips with specific shooting assignments which really helped me broaden my mindset as a photographer. This mindset compliments another form of photography that I love to create, which are portraits. Perhaps my favorite portrait, which has received awards, is a portrait of my grandmother titled Grandmama. It is a simplistic portrait in which only her face is shown, but through her vivid eyes her inner emotions are revealed. I feel this portrait portrays my emotional connection to my grandmother.

The techniques and experiences I have gained over the past four years in photography are innumerable. Photography has become a passion of mine and something that I will be able to pursue for the rest of my life.

iPod then and now

October 23, 2001 was a day that changed history forever. Just hearing this date probably means nothing to you, but this was the day that the first iPod was introduced. Can you imagine life without an iPod? I certainly can’t. Groundbreaking at the time, the first iPod had 5GB of memory and could hold up to 1000 songs. It was white with a mechanical scroll wheel and had a black and white display. The next “big thing” in iPods was the iPod photo (4th generation iPod) that had a color screen display and had storage for photographs as well as music. Following the iPod photo came the Nano, Shuffle and the newest model, the iPod touch. The iPod touch remarkably has 32 GB, which can hold 7,000 songs and 40 hours of video; quite a step up from the original that made its premiere eight years ago. Not only does the iPod Touch hold music and videos, but also video games and provides access to the Internet. Still, it is one step behind the greatest invention yet, the iPhone. The iPhone was introduced to the world on June 29, 2007 and it combines all of these features and more. I thought it would be interesting to compare the very first iPod commercial with one of the most recent commercials to see how much it has changed. Here they are:

At 17 I went to prison for murder...

Kate Winslet is my favorite actress and when I was thinking about our discussion on intertextuality, I immediately thought of the American Express commercial she did a few years ago. This is a very clever ad in which she references six of her previous movie roles. I have seen all of her movies, so when I first saw the ad I was immediately able to figure out which movies she was referring to and now am able to grasp the intertextuality between them. The script goes as follows:

1. “At 17 I went to prison for murder.” Heavenly Creatures
2. “By 19 I was penniless and heartbroken.” Sense and Sensibility
3. “I almost drowned at 20.” Titanic
4. “My mind started to go at 24.” Iris
5. “Then I had my memory erased at 28.” Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
6. “And by 29, I was in Neverland.” Finding Neverland
“My real life doesn’t need any extra drama. That’s why my card is American Express.”

This is an example of vertical intertextuality because it is linking Kate Winslet’s personal life to each of the characters she has played in these six movies. Kate Winslet’s dialogue in the ad takes on a completely different meaning for those who have seen these movies and for those who have not.

Celebrity Sightings in Aspen- Christmas 2008

My family and I spend every Christmas and summer in Aspen, Colorado. Over the years we have had many celebrity encounters, but this Christmas was unlike any I have seen before. Aspen certainly lived up to its reputation as a “celebrity playground,” this year. Stars came in droves to the “Rocky Mountain paradise” to experience a brief escape from the imperious paparazzi in New York and LA. Over the span of ten days we saw over fifteen celebrities, some of which we saw up to five times:
1) Goldie Hawn
2) Kate Hudson
3) Mariah Carey
4) Nick Cannon
5) Lori Loughlin
6) Hilary Swank
7) Ivana Trump
8) George Hamilton
9) Steven Spielberg
10) Paris Hilton
11) Nicky Hilton
12) Kathy Hilton
13) Rick Hilton
14) Shia Leboeuf
15) Rachel Griffiths (Brothers and Sisters)
16) Terry O’Quinn (Lost)
17) Seal
18) Heidi Klum

Aspen has an inherent appeal for Stars because there is a certain code of silence that everyone follows when it comes to the rich and famous.

#1—never ask for someone’s autograph.
#2—don’t stare.
#3—don’t go up and talk to a celebrity unless they initiate the conversation.
#4—no paparazzi allowed (well most of the time)

It is of course exciting to run into a People Magazine cover star, but having had this experience several times has really made me think about our culture’s obsession with celebrities. There is no doubt that our nation is infatuated with celebrities. But why? They are normal people fighting the same battles as everyone else. It’s ironic how celebrities escape to places like Aspen because they crave normalcy in their lives, while wannabes come to Aspen to imitate this glorified celebrity lifestyle.

Is this really college?

I have seven family members that live within 1 to 10 mins from SMU, so I definitely know what it is like to go to college in the same city that you grew up in. Here are some of the pros and cons I have experienced with this setup:

PROS
-Free laundry service
-Escape from dorm room/apartment/or sorority house
-Double the closet space
-Home-cooked meals
-Get to see your dog!
-You know how to get everywhere…most of the time
-Have lots of connections in the city
-There is always something going on
-If your computer crashes—no worries! You have a backup at home
-You know what the weather is like year-round
-If you are sick you can go home and surround yourself with much needed attention
-Someone always available to bail you out of trouble
-Get to hang out with your siblings

CONS
-Constant phone calls
-Mom’s constant knowledge of your whereabouts
-No spontaneous roadtrips
-Obligation to attend every special family dinner
-Always the designated driver
-Occasional carpool duty for younger siblings
-Don’t get to experience complete freedom
-You don’t get any special attention during breaks (i.e. presents or special dinners) like the kids do that are returning home after spending 6 months away

As you can see, there are some good and bad things to being this close to home, but overall I am really happy that I stayed!

In the Blink of an Eye

I admit when I first signed up for Intro to Creativity, I was a bit hesitant. While staring at the ambiguous title on Access, I questioned whether I was “creative” enough to be in a class with the word creative in the title. My roommate, who is now in the creative program and also an art major, took the class last semester. One night, I remember walking into the dining room to see what she was doing. She told me that she was brainstorming ideas for her first creative project, which was to create a mindmap. She told me that you start out by thinking of a central idea that will serve as the anchor for the rest of the assignment. The next step is to think of four related subtopics. From there, you fill the page with words, phrases and pictures that branch out divergently from the center of the page. My first reaction was, “wow, I sure am glad that I don’t have to do that.”

Fast-forward one semester and I find myself sitting in the same chair in our dining room brainstorming for the same assignment. ...Where to begin? I started by scribbling down multiple topic ideas ranging from “Places I’ve Been and Wanted to Go” to “Ocean,” but nothing seemed quite right. All of a sudden it came to me like an epiphany… “In the Blink of an Eye.” I used the same method to come up with four subtopics and I ultimately went with: Snapshot, Vertigo, Kidnapped, and Rainbow. Once I discovered my topic, I ran with it. All uncertainty went out the window and it became a really enjoyable assignment. Despite my initial hesitation, I ended up loving this assignment. It took me out of my structured comfort zone and allowed me to stretch my imagination. It is so interesting to look at the finished product and connect all the dots.

Google 2008

People around the world conduct all of their searches on the Internet through Google. I recently looked up the top ten Google searches of 2008 in the United States on Google Zeitgeist. Here are the results:

1) Obama
2) Facebook
3) Att
4) iPhone
5) YouTube
6) Fox News
7) Palin
8) Beijing 2008
9) David Cook
10) Surf the channel

The top five Google image searches in the United States for 2008 were:
1) Sarah Palin
2) Obama
3) Twilight
4) Miley Cyrus
5) Joker

It is so interesting to look at these results because they reveal so much about our culture. It isn’t surprising to see that Obama and Palin were in the top ten because this was an election year and there was a lot of intrigue and controversy surrounding both Barack Obama and Sarah Palin. However, it is surprising that five out of the ten top web searches were about new technology. This goes to show how much technology like the iPhone and YouTube has impacted our lives. I admit I have never heard of Surf the channel before I saw it in this list, but I looked it up and it is a website that provides links to millions of videos through different websites and TV channels. David Cook being in the top ten exposes how much of an impact American Idol has had on our culture and how celebrities are idolized. Despite the recession and harsh economic times, surprisingly nothing about this appeared in the top ten web searches. The image results are similar. Sarah Palin and Barack Obama are featured again in this list. The last three consist of celebrities, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart from Twilight, Miley Cyrus and Heath Ledger who plays the Joker in Batman. Clearly, we live in a celebrity obsessed society and crave for new technology and change. I wonder if this trend will continue? Who knows what the results will be for 2009?

Unleashed

On my way home from SMU I drive down Central Expressway to get back to my apartment. Recently, my two roommates and I began to notice a peculiar billboard. At first, the background of the billboard was all white and featured a rough, black silhouette of a dog that appeared to be leaping off the right side of the board. This was it. We were curious as to what this ad was referring to because there was no copy on the billboard at all. About a week or two later, another element appeared on the billboard. Nothing had changed except now there was a solid black leash on the left side of the billboard, but it was unattached to the dog. We again pondered what this meant, but still had no clue what the purpose of the advertisement was. As I was driving by a couple of days ago I looked up and was shocked to see the ad completed! It turned out to be an ad for UNLEASHED Indoor Dog Parks. After doing a little research, I found out that Unleashed is a new indoor dog park in downtown Dallas that features a “doggy daycare,” grooming salon, shop, café, lounge area and hosts all sorts of special events like “mixers” for owners and their dogs. Although a little odd, I felt like this was great advertising because it really caught my attention and I’m sure most of the people who frequently drive down Central. There was a sense of intrigue and it left people guessing.

"The Magic of Macy's"

I recently saw this Macy's commercial on TV and loved it.  I think this commercial will resonate with almost everyone who sees it because so many generational connections can be made.  Like the commercial says, Macy's has been around for 150 years, making it the third oldest retailer in the United States behind Brookes Brothers (1818) and Lord and Taylor (1826).  Our culture has always had a fascination with movies and television and to see such respected actors from Lucille Ball in "I Love Lucy" to Jerry Seinfeld in "Seinfeld" praising Macy's helps validate the company's strengths.  Also, the commercial gives you a sense of history and American pride.  Despite a world of change that has occurred in our country between 1858 and today, the love and respect for one store has remained constant.  Not only has Macy's created a legacy for its retail business, but also for the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which has become a Thanksgiving Day tradition for families across the country.