Monday, April 10, 2006

The following post shall be entitled: Improv and Propaganda.

At exactly 1:39pm EST, The Hek handed in his last ever assignment and in the process completed his University career. Now, I wait for the marks and graduation in June. Meanwhile, to put it simply:

I AM DONE!!!

And it feels good too. Now for those who were wondering, my assignment was about the mass media's coverage of wars and conflicts. In order to prove my thesis (which was basically that the media throws objectivity out the window during War-time coverage), I needed some help from Noam Chomsky. I used two articles that he wrote as sources; 1988's Manufacturing Consent and, a 1992 article entitled "The Media and War. What War?"

To clarify, here are The Hek's thoughts on Noam Chomsky:

He's extreme and sometimes goes way off the deep end. I mean some of the stuff is really out in leftfield. Think about it. He called the 1991 Gulf War a terrorist attack by the United States. Now to me, both sides had casualties and fought each other; that sounds like a war to me and let's face it, shit happens. He's a bit outrageous with his claims. NOT THAT THERE IS ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT. Chomsky's theories are debatable but he has built quite the following and has been quite successful and that, I think is pretty darn good. The only thing I hate is that for the last four years, I have had to interpret theories like his and by the time the last paper comes around, you're pretty much sick and tired of him. At least I can take solace that I don't have to worry about him anymore.

Now on to other things....

On Saturday, the folks and I that make up the Carleton Improv Association, put on our last show of the school year and it was fantastic! We packed Mike's Place and everyone had a great time. This was also a special show for me because it was my last show with the CIA. Before it started, I was a bit nervous that I would not have a good performance and that's how people would remember me. However, I am happy to report that the audience was laughing with me and not at me, most of the time.

This year for the CIA was extremely important. After the disasters we faced last year (i.e.: only six members, 12 audience members and getting screwed around by Carleton's Housing office), Noel and I wanted to make sure that the team was in excellent condition when it came time to take our leave (Noel was also great on Saturday as was the rest of the team). We had four goals: Bring in new members; Do more shows; Get back to Montreal; and, try to see if we had what it took to do shows at Mike's Place. Without a shadow of a doubt, I am happy to say we were successful on all four parts. Our rookies were some of the most talented people we have ever had on the team and it was also great to see veterans like Dave, Will and Owen stick with us. This year we did more shows then ever before including two great shows at Mike's Place. We also set up a great relationship with the wonderful people on the McGill Improv team. It is my hope that this relationship continues in the future.

I'm really going to miss the CIA. This may sound pathetic, but it was really the highlight of my weekend. There are so memories that have occurred over the last four years and I will always remember the respect and kindness of my teammates. It was through the CIA that I got to meet Noel who, was instrumental in getting me on the air at CKCU. I could write every single favorite moment but I would be here for awhile.

Instead I'd like to share a quote from Saturday's show. If any CIA members are reading this, feel free to add your favorite moments and quotes to the comment section.

During a game of "Life is Like." Suggestion: McDonald's

Will: Life is like McDonalds. It's where you lose your virginity in the bathroom at age fourteen.
The Hek: Life is like McDonald's. You go to the bathroom and there's some fourteen-year-old losing his virginity.

The Hek

4 comments:

Blake said...

You indeed deserve any and all kudos for a superlative final improv show of the year. Very enjoyable. You went out with a bang, my friend! You should be very, very proud of what you've accomplished (and that goes for successfully finishing your university career, too)!

As for Chomsky, may I direct all readers to my comment on the previous blog entry...

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!

And yeah, I get that Chomsky's writing can be kind of dense, and pretty far out. But he's still an important intellectual, and the father of modern linguistics, so hate is not an emotion I can personally take toward him.

If you get a chance, go check out the Nationals of the Canadian Improv Games (http://www.improv.ca). I *might* go watch Montreal's team on Thursday night...

Billy Ruffian said...

Life is like McDonalds: The secret sauce is 63% disobediant third world workers.

Anonymous said...

Life is like McDonalds... its full of nothing but cooks using books?


Signed:

Totally not Steve in Japan who would've loved to have seen the Hek's last improv show at CIA.(totally not steve)