The Sunrise of Cinema

Lately I’ve found a new fascination with old films. I’ve been watching some Lumiere Brothers’ 50-second flicks, which are some of the earliest films we have. I’ve also been watching some of the early works of Georges Méliès. Both of these film makers were French, and began producing short movies in the mid 1890s.

The cinematic lens began to be explored not only in France, but simultaneously in Germany and America as well. Today I watched a wonderful film by F.W. Murnau, a German director who was very influential in the silent film genre. His movie “Sunrise” was produced in 1927. It has an excellent story, and can still strike an emotional chord even three-quarters of a century later.

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School’s in for Winter!

Alright! It was my first day back at Penn State, and the first day back is always great. The primary reason is probably having something to fill your mind with after a few weeks of boredom. That, and the light amount of homework that is due for each class .

First up was Jarrett’s COMM 150 at 10:40am. Aside from the excellent starting time (not too early, but gets you out of bed at a decent time), the classroom was amazing! There were actual theater seats instead of the boring classroom desks that creak and wobble. For those of you who like to catch a few winks during class, I highly recommend taking classes in PAC 114.

After lunch, I had two back-to-back CAS (Communication Arts and Sciences) classes: effective speech in group settings and rhetorical theory. The first was taught by Dr. Kaori Ishida and looks to be a promising “comfort-zone-breaker”. I’m not accustomed to discussing issues with my peers and doing much of my work in a group setting, so it will be a new experience.

The second CAS class was Dr. Jane Sutton’s rhetorical theory. This was probably my favorite of the day, for many reasons.

1. Dr. Sutton is a great CAS teacher – I had her last semester for 201
2. I know a few of my classmates from 201 and even a kid from elementary school
3. The material is extremely interesting and I can easily take notes on the concepts

So, first day back: success. Now to decide on a major…

Premiering this Tuesday…

Tuesday, January 16th will be a pretty eventful day. Not only is it the first day of the spring semester at Penn State York, but it is also my mother’s birthday. I plan to get her a Flogging Molly CD, since she really enjoys the style of music that they play.

I also plan to do better at staying on top of my college this semester. While this will probably be a goal that I’ll continue to renew each semester until I graduate, I hope that each time I can actually do better. Due to bad time management and general laziness, I abandoned my 43 folders and forgot they even existed around the beginning of the semester last fall. I may leave them again, but a few things are different going into this semester:

1. I now own a weekly planner
2. My room has been surprisingly clean since the beginning of the year
3. I have grown up significantly even since the last post on this blog

While these are not necessarily a recipe for success, I believe they will help me have a better semester overall. I would like to say in regards to number three that I am not a full-fledged adult, and part of my “growing up” has actually been realizing that there are many others who know better than I do in many areas of life. I am setting a goal to give my education this semester the best shot that I can. And I’m not talking about straight A’s, I’m talking about managing time, asserting responsibilities, and working hard – the whole ball of wax.

Good luck to all who are starting or have started their spring semester.