Dave Barry came out of retirement this year in order to cover the Presidential primaries, and here is what he writes about dear old New Hampshire.

Everybody in this race, Democrat and Republican, is now officially for Change. They get more fervent about Change every day; it's only a matter of time before they start calling for tactical airstrikes on Washington. I'll be honest with you: I'm getting tired of Change. I think it'd be nice, for a change, if a candidate came out against Change, maybe with a catchy slogan like, 'Remember: It Could Get Worse,' or 'Hey, At Least You're Not Dead.'

Here in Nashua, I watched Mitt ''Mitt'' Romney call for change.... Also at the event was U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, who is a Romney supporter. Greenfield and I were complaining to him about how the New Hampshire hotels jack up their prices for the primaries....  Sen. Gregg was not moved by Greenfield's and my complaints. His response was, quote, ''Make sure you stop at the liquor store before you leave.'' New Hampshire makes bales of money from state-run liquor stores. One of them is located -- I am not making this up -- in a turnpike service plaza, apparently for the benefit of motorists who are, for whatever reason, running low on gin.

 
Actually, there are two of them, right across the highway from each other, so that you can stock up no matter the direction in which you are headed.  They're both gigantic red-painted barn-type buildings, filled with aisles and aisles of not-really-all-that-cheap booze.  If only New York City were so considerate, then I would be able to order hard liquor on SeamlessWeb, as I sit in my cubicle getting fat.  Ah, this is the good life (could be better with booze).  Ok, back to work.

It's snowing in NYC right now. And I walked to work just 2 hours ago without a jacket and I was fine. Nice.

[EDIT] And by snowing, I mean it's coming down in huge chunks.

Now is pretty much the first chance that I've been able to carve out of my schedule to update. I actually should be studying for my midterm on Monday, but I like things in sectioned-off chunks, so I said, dinner at 5:20, library from 6 until 1 a.m. I like planning stuff out. And I like when stuff goes according to plan.

So, I just got back from the river, from the infamous Tubestock weekend. Here's a little sample of what it was like:


That's from the Class of 2005 Tubestock weekend, but it looked pretty much the same. Beautiful weather and everything.

Last night, I went to the SAE champagne event, and I met a few guys from UPenn, who were friends with a brother there. It was really interesting that they remarked on how our Greek system is so predominant on campus. Something like 50-60% of each class is part of the Greek system (I think... it's a pretty significant amount), but I didn't realize that it was so different from other schools. So while I was in the shower just now, I was thinking that maybe there is some Dartmouth-specific reason to our Greek system. Despite the administration/trustees' efforts, it may actually be impossible to get rid of the Greek system, because of the D-plan (the quarter system that has people taking off of school at random terms throughout the year).

The D-plan is pretty bad for relationships, romantic or otherwise. I've heard all sorts of stories, and I've even experienced the weirdness of coming back to campus after an off-term, though I can proudly say that I am still friends with all of my close friends from freshman year. We've distanced a bit, but we still hang out and manage to grab lunch or dinner once in a while. Junior year will probably be worse, as I will be off-campus for 3 of the 4 terms, so we will see how that goes.

Back on topic, when I was first admitted to Dartmouth, I came up for a visit, and sat in on one of those admissions officers' introductions. He said that one of the great (maybe not quite the right term, but he said it anyway) things about Dartmouth is that our D-plan allows us to build up a really strong base of friends. Then he went on to describe why, and it didn't sound great at all. He said that at least once in a student's Dartmouth career, he or she will feel like he or she has no close friends on campus, because the friends are off-campus or abroad, or whatever. That sort of feeling happens to everyone, and actually makes the individuals stronger, in that they step out of their comfort zone and are forced to develop even more connections.

That's why I'm thinking the Greek system is great for Dartmouth, because, when a situation like that does happen, there's always the house to turn back to. I'm not saying that everyone in a house is best friends with everyone else, but there's a solid base of common experiences to bring people together. So, even though the administration has shown that it wants to get rid of the Greek system for alcohol reasons I'm sure, it would actually be detrimental to students' mental health if that happened.

Hmm... this would have been a good topic for an opinion piece. If I weren't on the D news staff, I would totally write it up... if I didn't have a midterm on Monday too...

Ok, so I didn't end up updating too much, but I will post this before it gets too long. I will update later in another entry. Maybe tonight, when I take a break from studying.

So the hype for the new RENT movie begins. After months of waiting, the official Rent trailer was debuted on Access Hollywood last night. The momentous occasion was mirrored in the online world. The official trailer was finally made available online. No more bootlegged trailers, thank you very much. The official website has also been launched. There's not much on it yet, besides some information that I'm assuming most people who care already know. It does feature a minute-countdown until November 11 (U.S. Veteran's Day, incidentally), when the movie comes out.

I'm not sure I can stomach all this anticipation. I never knew that trailer debuts could be so exhilirating. It was only a few months ago that I impatiently sat through an impossibly long The O.C. in order to see the Star Wars trailer.

It's a little crazy how fast this movie is being filmed. Idina Menzel left Wicked in mid-January to start work on the Rent movie. It's only been about 5 months since they started filming - and they already have a trailer, and are set to release in another 5 months. That's what's so great about Rent. It doesn't take all that much, as long as you have a great story.

And for those who have already seen the Rent trailer 50 times, try reading the official blog for more stuff to memorize. It's updated twice a week, I believe. I've already read Idina Menzel's post close to a million times.

We must have shot "La Vie Boheme" 723 times today. That's a lot of mooning for me. For any of you that are new to the show, Maureen tries to embarrass Benny in front of these investors by dropping trou. Needless to say the crew is well acquainted with my ass...Those actors playing Maureen and Benny can't keep their hands off each other. Something must be going on with those two. - Idina Menzel, May 25, 2005

Try to stay away from blog comments though. I'm not sure anyone can stomach 355 versions of "OMG ur SO KUL!".

I think the best decision for this movie was to use the original Broadway cast. We wouldn't want another fiasco like My Fair Lady. Julie Andrews, who played the leading lady in the Broadway version was bypassed in favor of Audrey Hepburn, who was more famous, but unfortunately, didn't sing. And to show them, Julie Andrews went to Disney instead, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for Mary Poppins that same year, while Hepburn didn't even receive a nomination. Moral of the story: stick with the original Broadway cast.

So the question remains - will the Rent movie be as good as the show? Personally, I think the answer will be yes. Same story, same actors (!), same music (!!), new director. The variables all point to a resounding yes. I wonder if Rosario Dawson can sing though. Has she been in another musical?

And just so Star Wars doesn't feel neglected, The Darth Side is an excellent chronicle of Darth Vader's later years. I spent all of last last week reading the blog in its entirety. I recommend downloading the pdf, as that is nicely laid out in chronological order, and you won't accidentally read the last entry first, and ruin everything. It's my favorite entry. You won't be disappointed if you save it for last.

Honestly, for once I'd like to see a movie in which the camera zooms up to a dropped object, a missed clue, a dead body, with foreboding music playing in the background - you know, the scenes where the audience is clued in on part of the plot that the main character doesn't know about. I'd like for once to see a movie with that kind of scene... and then have the main character figure it out immediately after. For once, I'd like to see that foreboding crap be not such a big deal. Just once.

Horror movies suck.

And sometimes I wish I would be clued in on where I left my keys or my remote or my paper. For you, the audience of my life, can you clue me in please?