The Murray State News Blogs

I love movies. Although, I haven’t always been a movie buff. My love for movies started about 3 years ago. Now, I’m at the point where I watch about 3-5 movies a week. I have no particular genre that I watch more than the others but I do enjoy a great horror film. This blog will take you to the movies I recommend. Some I will love; some I won’t. I’ll start off with the Top 5 movies (in no particular order)  I think you should watch right now. So, go hit up Netflix or your local movie store.

1. Waitress- Keri Russell (of Felicity fame) stars as a unhappily pregnant waitress in the South. This movie moved me. The opening cinematography is excellent. It’s a very creative film to say the least. Also, one of my favorites.

2. The Dark Knight-If you haven’t seen this already, you must literally live under a rock. The best Batman thus far.

3. Kung Fu Hustle- Set in the 1940s, a wannabe gangster decides he wants to join the notorious “Axe Gang.” This has highly choreographed kung fu mixed with supernatural powers. Think Heroes meets Enter the Dragon.

4. East of Eden- James Dean stars as a son that feels that he needs to compete with his brother for the love of their father. This is James Dean at his best.

5. Nosferatu- This is my favorite horror film of all time. This is also the first vampire film that’s been made. An interesting rumor about the movie is that Max Schreck, Count Orlok, believed he was really a vampire.

Buttered Popcorn and Cookie Dough Bites,

Misty

Here’s the deal. Some of you may have expected full Derby 135 blogging coverage from me throughout the weekend. I’m sorry if I DISAPPOINTED anyone, but there was a (legitimate) reason. I had nothing positive to say about my experience this weekend. And since I wanted this blog to showcase and highlight the best of the best - in a positive light - , my sadness led to extreme writer’s block. Last night and the night before, I contemplated what to write, or to write anything at all. I had to cool down first. Ha! After all, I was voted most dramatic at staff awards tonight. I’ve been hyping up my extreme passion for the Derby for such a long time, and I was DISAPPOINTED. Okay, I was not DISAPPOINTED at the actual race itself, but rather deceived and manipulated by people in charge of public relations for both Churchill Downs and the Barnstable-Brown party. This is what happened:

First of all, the Murray State News press credentials for Derby day access were denied. The themes of disrespect and lack of accommodation acted as shining themes throughout this past weekend. Misty and I jumped hurdles to try to obtain these coveted credentials. After receiving no email stating “yes” or “no,” we came to the conclusion of how college media should NOT be treated. Paris Hilton was treated better than us! Anyways, life went on …Who would have thought?! … college media? What? Who? Huh? Oh, those little people who don’t matter. What happened to reaching the voice of the “next generation?” Looking back, I understand that two college newspaper editors don’t compare to reporters from the New York Times or ESPN, but PR personnel should think more logically; horse racing has become more and more popular with college students, and college media is a huge RESOURCE to make this happen. Look at all the college students who come out to opening day at Keeneland! If I’m not mistaken, more college students attended opening day this year at Keeneland than did middle aged people.

And for me, I want to pursue equine journalism. A few years ago Churchill offered a college experience program for covering Derby day. What happened to this? Budget cut, I assume.

Misty Hays (the photography editor for Murray State News) and I dressed up in our glamorous dresses and high(est) heels and headed to the Highlands area to the Barnstable House. Granted, we did not have press credentials for this particular party because no contact information existed to get the credentials in the first place. We parked on a hill, marched down under a spitting sky and waded through casually dressed spectators to arrive at the media tent. After explaining our situation to the PR “gentleman,” he preceded to inform us that college media was a joke and no one EVER representing a college paper would be allowed in his pretentious media tent. So, we left and headed downtown to Main Street where the Mint Jubilee was taking place. Lucky for us, Mint Jubilee PR folks accepted our press credential request. At this point our feet were hurting EXTREMELY BAD. We were grumpy. Enough about our feet … We caught a few stars arriving late. Valerie Bertinelli, Weight Watchers spokeswoman, graced the red carpet with a lovely gold metallic dress. She even took a picture with me! Me and Misty enjoyed complementary mint juleps and headed home.

The next day, we watched the televised version of the Derby via the local Lexington news channel, Channel 6. After learning I Want Revenge (Derby favorite) was scratched from the board, I cried a little. But then, I respected the ultimate decision from removing the horse from the race: Earlier in the day, trainers noticed a hot spot on his leg, and then conducted an x-ray. The x-ray turned out OK, but the horse’s overall condition was not satisfactory. Thus, the owners, trainer and jockey made a classy decision of not risking I Want Revenge’s life.

This decision made me happy. Mind That Bird came out of no where on the final turn, and kicked up wet dirt. Maybe it was the down economy, or maybe it was bad luck, but all I can say is I hope next year’s Kentucky Derby season creates more fond memories for me.

 I spent my first Derby with some pretty high expectations. I even rode my first horse on Derby Day. Overall, it was a good learning experience and I was happy to have the opportunity. Here are some of the highlights.

After a broken bus and a plane ride, we pulled back into Murray around 7 this evening. The trip was fantastic and well worth it. I think many of the performers (me included) are still buzzing about it. It is, without a doubt, the highlight of my performing career. How often does an opportunity like this come up? It was also a great way to end my performing career at Murray State. Last night’s performance was my last-and certainly the best.

Thank you again to all who made it possible. I and the entire wind ensemble appreciate everything you do.

I’ve included a few of my favorite photos from the experience. Enjoy!

~Emily

Amazing. That is all I can say about this entire experience. Everything seemed to fall into place when we pulled up in front of the building, unloaded the bus and saw our names in print on a poster out front.

We sounded incredible and gave probably one of our best performances ever. After hearing the first chords echoing through the hall, I knew it was going to be fantastic.  The crowd gave us a standing ovation immediately after our final piece-”Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.” Dr. Baker’s solos were gorgeous and, without a doubt, a crowd favorite. I think we all had more fun playing “Journey to the Center of the Earth” tonight than ever.  And of course, “World Projects Fanfare” by Matt Hightower was fabulous. The piece was actually written for the occasion for the World Projects group (the organization that helped make this trip possible). Tonight we presented the CEO with a copy of the cover of the score to commemorate the event. 

I think the familiar faces I saw in the crowd made the concert mean a lot, also. President Dunn and his wife, Ronda, Provost Gary Brockway, Vice President for Institutional Advancement Jim Carter, Chair of the Board of Regents Alan Stout and Regent Vickie Travis, Dr. Park and Dr. Garfield as well as numerous other officials and professors were in attendance. Their support and encouragement mean so much and we are so thankful for their presence.

But this all wouldn’t be possible without our conductor, Mr. Dennis Johnson. He did so much work planning and organizing the trip, picking the music and putting up with us in rehearsal every day. His support and guidance have meant so much to all of us. I know that we have learned and grown from this experience, and that is largely due to him. Thank you so much for your hard work and dedication.

Thank you also to Mr. Fannin for coming on the trip with us, making sure we got to where we needed to be at the right time, putting up with all of us on a 4 a.m. bus ride and holding on to our plane tickets so we wouldn’t lose them. Thank you to the World Projects organization for everything they did to get us here and make the entire experience enjoyable. They did everything from help us with baggage at the airport, to help us get equipment together for rehearsal. And also, thank you to Matt Hightower for letting me use his computer to blog!

I will write more tomorrow–and (hopefully) include pictures!

~Emily

Today is finally the day! We’re all very excited and anxious for the concert to begin. Everyone is trying to relax, and get in the zone for our big debut. I think we all realize that we have one chance to get this right because this is probably the only chance we have to play at this hall. We are crossing our fingers that we have no equipment malfunctions, everyone gets there and that everything goes well. The hall is supposed to be great and we are looking forward to playing for everyone.

Right now we are all starting to get into our concert dress as we have to be in the hotel lobby by 2:45.  Then we are off to the Kennedy Center for a spot rehearsal and to get our picture taken. Then we get a break for dinner before we are back to the hall to listen to a band from Old Dominion University. Then it is our turn to play!

More later! Wish us luck!

~Emily

I swore I wouldn’t act like a tourist today, you know, walking around gawking at everything, taking pictures of all the sites and constantly having a map in my hands. But after I realized I had taken roughly 22 pictures of the US Capitol Building, it hit me that I was a tourist today. But there was no reason not to be. All of those sites were things I had seen only in books and on television and of course, I had to take pictures of them all, and we got lost once or twice.

We had a short rehearsal where we ran through each one of our pieces. I don’t think any of us can wait until we get into the hall tomorrow, where the acoustics will be MUCH better.

We were soon on our own for the entire day. Some of our stops included:

National Archives

Our first stop was the National Archives where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution are housed. It was so interesting to see both documents, however the Declaration is pretty hard to read because it is very faded. I wanted to include pictures, but there is no flash allowed, so all of my pictures turned out as big orange blobs. 

US Capitol Building

We then moved on to the Capitol Building. It was so picturesque, it was hard not to take a zillion pictures of it.

Smithsonian American History Museum

Our next stop was the Smithsonian American History museum. Because there was so much in the city that we wanted to see, we decided to focus on a few exhibits we wanted to see. Of course, the musical instruments were at the top of our list. It was interesting to compare the three-keyed clarinet to the ones we use now. I loved looking at the Stradivarius stringed instruments, with their intricate designs and craftsmanship. We also got to see the original flag. It was truly incredible. I didn’t realize how big it actually was; it could easily fill an entire room. It was so visibly worn, with some sections even missing, it is amazing that the bulk of it is still in tact. Our last stop in that museum was the exhibit with the inaugural gowns past First Lady’s wore. Some of the prettiest were worn by Martha Washington and Mary Lincoln. I liked seeing how fashion has changed over the years. I also think you can tell a lot about the personality of each first lady.

Old Post Office Tower

We met my friend’s aunt here for dinner. She works for the FBI and knows tons about the city. We went up in the tower of the building, which has one of the best views of the city. 

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

This museum was full of fossils, bones and tons of information about different cultures, past and present. I loved seeing the dinosaur bones and the aquarium. We weren’t able to see everything because it was about to close.

The Monuments

We decided seeing these at night would be more interesting. At dusk we started our walk to the Washington Monument. We then walked through the mall and on to the World War II Memorial. It was amazing: full of fountains and a very reflective atmosphere. Then we made the long walk to the Lincoln Memorial. By that time, we were pretty tired, but the long walk was well worth it. It was just like I had seen in pictures. It was interesting to see both sides of Lincoln up close. One side was the stern, serious side - where his hand was clinched in a fist, while the other side was more relaxed. This is how they describe his presidency.

So our day was full, that is for sure. We got to see and do a lot of cool things. Tomorrow is the big day, though, and I am probably equally (if not more) excited about that. The concert should be amazing, and I can’t wait to see the Kennedy Center and play in the hall. This is when all of our hard work will finally pay off. 

I hope to include some photos soon. Keep checking!

~Emily

We’re here! We pulled out of Murray a little after 5 a.m., hopped on a plane in Nashville, Tenn., and finally landed in Baltimore around noon. After another short bus ride, we were in the big city.

At first, the city was not what I thought it would be like. I expected it to be busy, with bumper-to-bumper traffic and people yelling at each other, like you see in the movies. We actually didn’t encounter much traffic until we got closer to the hotel, which is pretty close to the middle of the city.

My favorite part of the trip so far was driving into the city when, to the right and partially hidden behind some buildings, was the Capitol Building. I had seen it so many times in movies and on television. It was truly incredible and I think I would classify it as my “Welcome to DC’ moment.

After a little bit of relaxing, we all went off to an hour-long rehearsal, where we just went over a couple of sections in our pieces. Afterwards, we all split up to get dinner. A group of us decided to take the metro further into town to get something to eat. The metro was an experience in itself, for me at least. I have never been on a subway before. I couldn’t believe how fast it actually went.

We ate at a restaurant near the Capitol and we had plans to actually go look at the monuments at night, but it was raining, so we decided to wait until tomorrow.

 Tomorrow should be a blast. After practice in the morning, we have the entire day to roam the city and check the sites.

More later…

~Emily

We’ve got only a week left until the Derby. But, it seems many people - news outlets, especially - are too caught on which celebs are deciding to pencil in May 2 on their to-do list. Way to go Paris Hilton for taking off precious time from humanitarian work in Africa to come to Kentucky. And, let’s not forget Kim Kardashian who is missing a Play Boy photo shot in order to spend some “down home” time in Louisville. Will her reality show cameras come with her? Of course we will treat them (and the other frivolous stars who know NOTHING about horse racing) with underserving, unwarranted hospitality. Okay, fine. Maybe I’m exaggerating a tad. They will receive unlimited bourbon, free Derby hats and (worst of all) instant gratification from all the culture-obsessed Kentuckians. I don’t care about them. Where has the focus of the Derby drifted? If I’m not correct, the Derby is SUPPOSED to be about one main event (with a few smaller ones in between) - a two-minute horse race with the best darn Thoroughbreds in existence.

Louisville should be one proud city and thank it’s lucky politicians for building Churchill Downs in the first place. What if the Derby originally ran in Lexington in which would make a heck of a lot more sense? Celebratory activities including Thunder of Louisville, the great Steam boat race and the Balloon Glow may have never existed.

Then I think … why on Earth would someone decide to build a huge (somewhat lacking in the charm Keeneland posses) racetrack in the middle of Urban America? Answer: $$$ And, this is the answer as to why the Derby attracts West Coasters with bottomless, designer wallets and purses.

First of all, thank you to everone who attended our concert Thursday. I think the ensemble performed very well and your support means so much to us. I am confident we are ready for this trip and will represent Murray State well while in Washington.

Speaking of ready. (after a last-minute trip to Wal-Mart for batteries, toothpaste and granola bars) I am now all packed. I hope. Now I just have to try to get a little sleep–which will be kind of hard because it is already 12:30 and we have to be at the music building, ready to go at 4:30. A lot of us are banking on getting sleep on the bus and in the plane. I’m just afraid of going to sleep now and sleeping through my alarm, therefore missing the bus. That would be bad.

All that aside, part of the fun of this trip (aside from the music) is picking the destinations and attractions to see while in DC. I’ve never been before, so the experience will be an adventure for sure. My friends and I have compiled lists of places we plan to go.  

We for sure plan on checking the monuments: the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial (check out page 2a of this week’s Murray State News. Great job on the ad Eli!) and probably Jefferson Memorial. There is a sculpture garden that looks really interesting and we might stop in an art gallery or two. The Smithsonian Institution has (seemingly) a trillion different museums, which would be great to spend a couple hours in.

And of course, The White House.  I don’t think a trip to DC would be complete without looking at it. What would make it even better is seeing Barack Obama.  Keep your fingers crossed!

I plan on updating at least once a day, so make sure to check back to read about some of my excursions and (hopefully) see some pictures.

~Emily