Spring Break

There comes a point in a young man’s life, when the spirit of adventure sparks a light in his mind – and until that spirit has been appeased, all of his conscious mind is bent upon that light. Such was the case with the first fleeting moments of March – and so too was that spirit appeased in the days that followed.

BELOIT COLLEGE, my alma mater, was the destination of choice – and since many of my dearest college chums were staying on campus for their Spring Break, this vacation-deal was made only sweeter. A week of frolicsome merriment ensued: and while I would love to transcribe the exact and entire sequence of events, I will only include a few notable adventures in the interest of brevity.

Ben Hartzell & Sara Pace were our gracious and beneficent hosts, and with some minor bed trappings pilfered from nearby Ham House, and a few select jars of assorted chocolate and peanut butter spreads, their apartment became a home-away-from-home for two wandering graduates – (Mr. Zach attended as well, proving to be a handy sherpa and travel companion on our venture East.)

On one of the first nights of our stay, Zach and I were treated to a hilarious game, simply coined ‘Picture-Telephone.’ Hilary Dixon, Ben, Sara, Zach, & I (and in a later game, Mr. Michael Williams) sat in a circle, and alternatively drew small line pictures, passed these to the right, wrote a summary caption for what we saw, and passed these (again, to the right) to be illustrated once more. Suffice it to say, like its namesake Telephone, the original subject matter gets terrifically distorted as the game goes on.

Here is one such example. (Original image by me, caption by Zach, digital recreation by Sara.)

While in Beloit, I was fortunate enough to (finally) see The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which was, for lack of a better word, Fantastic. I know I’m late to the bandwagon with this one, but for those of you who haven’t had the chance yet, PLEASE see this movie. It’s charming, quirky, witty, and full of heart – and as far as adaptations of written source material, was genuinely impressive! Kudos to the filmmakers all around; this was a treat to see! 

Michael shared his copy of the Cthulu-inspired Arkham Horror, wherein six residents of New England (played by Sara, Ben, Hilary, Zach, Michael, and I) took to the streets of Arkham, armed with Tommy-guns and Pistols to do vicious battle with Cultists, demons, and ultimately the Elder God Nyarlathotep, (whose finale can be found HERE, courtesy of Ben). Imagine noir-type gangsters, and purse-swinging psychologists firing blindly into otherwordly portals, and you get some idea of the MIRTH this spawned.

Through Sara Pace, my attention was drawn to an incredible book, titled simply The Arrival by Shaun Tan. It is the hauntingly beautiful story of an immigrant to a foreign land, trying to make ends meet in the midst of strange new languages, customs, and creatures. It is a picture book first and foremost, but every single one of these pencil-wrought drawings captures a life-like surrealism reminiscent of Chris Van Allsburg at his best. Magnificently done, the reader is treated to a photo-essay documenting the protagonist’s departure from the Old Country, Ellis-Island-esque customs, and the incredibly mind-boggling experience of going to a brand new place to seek one’s fortune. An imperative read for anyone who’s ever left home, this is a story I won’t easily forget.

A day-trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo transpired, where Sara, Ben, Hilary, and I were chauffeured by a graciously obliging Michael down to Chicago-town for a day of animal watching. Upon our arrival, we were treated to the sonically impressive roars of the Lion and the Bengal Tiger in the Great Cats building – man, those creatures are LOUD! Evidently, it is customary for lions to sound their presence roughly every 20 minutes or so in the wild – just in case anyone nearby had forgotten who the real King of the Jungle is.

The entire Beloit Adventure was an exercise in awesomeness, but perhaps the crowning achievement for the entire trip was the inception, planning, and filming of a brand new [variaBILM] – TROIS – The Final Hour.

Sort of a faux-French character-driven action-adventure movie, TROIS was made in a very similar style as SPORES: no script, no story-boarding, and only the barest of an outline for the plot. This time, the triumvirate of Pierre (french cat-burglar me), Lips (microwave mutant Zach Burke), and Rourke (silent steampunk baron Michael Williams) must join forces with their spunky assistant Sprocket (Sara Pace) to defeat the villainous Mayor of Sharqueburg, Throttlebark (Ben Hartzell) and his fearsome Receptionist (Hilary Dixon) once and for all. Follow the post-production process on Ben’s Blog (he’s doing nearly all of the after-work himself! HOLY CROW!) and watch for updates!  

In short: an excellent trip, rife with hangouts w/Elise Wall (glass-blowing sympathist), Jenny Posh (Internet fashion maven), Claire Whitmore (muralist and illustrator extraordinaire), and a cameo of Robin Zebrowski (cognitive-science champion, and the future cause of the robot-uprising) – I am INFINITELY grateful for having had the opportunity to see some folk I hadn’t seen for a year, and may not have the opportunity to again soon, given their approaching graduations.

There. I blogged. HOPEFULLY MOAR AGAIN, SOON (P.S. I love you guys! And thanks again for the epic epic EPIC times. )

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