Condition: Red, Report to Battle Stations!

The klaxons are blaring, people are scrambling, and an atmosphere of rising stress begins to saturate the air...

Classes started today. Fortunately, I had only one and it didn't start until 2 PM--History of International Cinema, Post WWII. Having taken the "Prior to WWII" version of the class previously, I felt I had a good idea of what to expect and was sure that this would be a go-with-the-flow, easy-as-pie Critical Studies class. While it remains to be seen if I was totally wrong, I quickly discovered that this class will not be the cakewalk that its predecessor was. The lectures aren't based from PowerPoint slides, so my attention will be required; there is an additional film that must be seen outside of class per week; four unannounced quizzes based upon the readings of which three will count for a quarter of our grade; and if today's film was an indicator, a series of slow and unrelentingly pretentious films to be watched. I give the Italians props for what they attempted to achieve, but that doesn't mean I found watching a man and his son search for his stolen bicycle for an hour and a half to be entertainment, especially since you know that, because its a "neo-realist" film, that they won't find it.

I was also privy to some potentially unnerving information regarding our week's assignment for 290, which I have no doubt shall be the most unforgiving class I've taken yet at 'SC. I'll leave more specific thoughts about that for when I've heard the poison straight from the source--which ought to be tomorrow--but it sounds like this weekend could be the beginning of all the "F-U-N."

My condolences go out to all the Buckeyes fans out there. While I'm not exactly scarlet-and-gray myself, I do have to say that it was a bit sad to see them take such a beating when they were supposed to be the clear favorite. Makes me wonder about a Trojans VS. Buckeyes match-up all the more, and what might have been.

Also, the love for my Xbox 360 continues to blossom. Oblivion is awesome, if a bit daunting, and Gears of War is a perpetual explosion of tension from checkpoint to checkpoint (though I admittedly am terrible on my own; props and thanks to Chris for the co-op session last week). I also saw David play Twilight Princess on his Wii today, and was somewhat disappointed. Granted that I wasn't playing, so the immersion factor was non-existant, but the graphics were somewhat of a let-down (seemed very washed out) and the presentation just seemed lacking. I hope to give it a try in the future, and I'd still like to give the Wii a shot, but I no longer have any qualms whatsoever about my decision on getting the 360. Plan on catching up and getting Knights of the Old Republic soon.

I heard from Neil today, and will be seeing him and DeSilva tomorrow after classes. We'll probably go out and get a bite to eat, which will be a nice change of pace for me as I've already grown tired of my groceries (because they're the same thing I was eating last semester!). Looking forward to catching up with them.

Lastly, I've been trying to get back into Lovecraft recently and coming up with story ideas similar to his stylistically. I'm not too sure when I'm going to have enough time to work on any such ideas, but they keep creeping into my head and fit perfectly with my sensibilities. As far as Lovecraft himself is concerned, his prose can be dry and his style repetitive (e.g. "The abomination was horrible beyond measure, such that any sane man, upon catching sight of its wicked flesh, would descend into madness..."), but his stories can be quite evocative in the right doses, and his mythos is interestingly creepy. Possibilities, I guess.

I suppose this'll do for now. Have to get up at 9 AM, which is early for the average college student, and certainly for this one.

See ya tomorrow. Same blog time, same blog station.