My 2nd Annual Live Coverage of the Academy Awards

This is today’s blog post. I hope you enjoy reading through it.

1. My live coverage begins NOW. #theOscars

2. Like @ebertchicago, I’m switching between ABC and E! for #RedCarpet coverage. #Oscars

3. Can’t forget to put #Oscars in my tweets.

4. The announcer lady on ABC just mentioned Iron Man 2. Now it’s my turn to mention that Iron Man 2 #sucked. #truestory #Oscars

5. RT @FabFourFacts: In 1970, the Beatles’ classic “Let It Be” won the Academy Award for the Best Original Song Score. #Oscars

6. This kid is from Modern Family. I’ve only seen one episode, but it was hilarious. #Oscars

7. I’ve never been much of a Matthew McConaughey fan. Go away. #Oscars

8. Never seen anything with Annette Bening in it, but apparently she was really good in The Kids are Alright. I doubt she wins, though. #Oscars

9. Just so you know, I will be giving my predictions before the announcing of every award. #Oscars

10. Annette’s husband is old and codgery. He completely didn’t answer that question. #Oscars

11. I’m more interested in what Anne Hathaway has to say than in what this designer dude’s saying. #Oscars

12. Back to E! during commercial break. I just saw #JEFFBRIDGES! #Oscars

13. Pizza Lunchables are the perfect #AcademyAward-watching food.#truestory #Oscars

14. I wish that I was famous just so I could attend the #AcademyAwards. #Oscars

15. RT @NewYorkTheater: All these publications “live-blogging” the Oscars! Just tweet. I don’t want anybody talking about a dress for more than 140 characters.

16. Just remembered that Anne Hathaway is one of the hosts for the #AcademyAwards this year! I’m really excited for the opening ceremony. #Oscars

17. I’ve never seen Mark Wahlberg in anything…at least I don’t think so. He’s gonna star in the Uncharted movie though. #excited #Oscars

18. Is Mark Wahlberg really that short, or is that black lady announcer (forgive me) a giantess? #Oscars

19. Geoffrey Rush looks different that he does in movies. #Oscars

20. Only ten minutes until opening ceremonies! #Oscars

21. Remember last year when James Taylor sang an awesome rendition of the Beatles’ “In My Life” during the montage of dead people? #Oscars

22. I think that Reese Witherspoon is really attractive. #Oscars

23. Why did this lady attribute Robert Downey, Jr. with Tropic Thunder instead of some actually good? #Oscars

24. Robert Downey, Jr. seems lovely. @Lord_Voldemort7 #Oscars

25. Natalie Portman is super attractive, too, even when pregnant.#truestory #Oscars

26. I don’t care what people are wearing. Talk about their movies more. #Oscars

27. Who else is attractive? Helena Bonham Carter, but in a darker kind of way. #Oscars

28. I wish I had seen Black Swan. And the King’s Speech. And the Fighter. And True Grit. #Oscars

29. I’m watching the same Natalie Portman interview from two different angles thanks to ABC and the Oscars Backstage Pass app for iPad. #Oscars

30. Oh, and I wish I had seen 127 Hours as well. #Oscars

31. I enjoyed Justin Timberlake in Social Network. Not a fan of his music, though. #Oscars

32. RT @TheConnMan21: James Franco has to be a little drunk.

33. @TheConnMan21 Most likely.

34. Sandra Bullock is definitely great. I enjoy her films. I recently saw Speed for the first time, with Keanu Reeves. #Oscars

35. I agree with the statistics. Colin Firth will probably win Best Actor for King’s Speech. #Oscars

36. Woah, who are these people? Whoever they are, this guy’s a shorty. #Oscars

37. I want someone to respond to the question “what are you wearing” with “a pretty dress I found at JC Penney’s”. #screwfashion #Oscars

38. Christian Bale is a great actor. He’s the best Batman I’ve ever seen. If he wins tonight, I see it as honoring his Batman as well. #Oscars

39. Apparently the short guy was Keith Urban. #shorty #Oscars

40. I like Christian Bale’s beard. #donthate #Oscars

41. Commercials don’t give me much to tweet about. #Oscars

42. Aw, Tom Hanks! I love Tom Hanks! I’ve been told I look like him. #Oscars

43. I’m pretty sure the only movie I’ve seen Halle Berry in was the Flintstones with John Goodman and Rosie O’Donnell. #Oscars

44. In response to my last retweet: I #totes knew that Christian Bale was British. #Oscars

45. RT @tonithetiger012: I’m not watching the #Oscars right now, but thank goodness I have @chadadada to keep me updated! I always enjoy your tweets!

46. Ceremonies are about to start! #excited #Oscars

47. Besides my TV, this is how I’m watching the #AcademyAwards/#Oscars: http://twitpic.com/44jx7x

48. That was a really cool montage before the awards started. #Oscars

49. Hahaha, placing Anne Hathaway and James Franco (+Alec Baldwin) in all of the best pictures is hilarious. #Oscars

50. RT @RottenTomatoes: Having people inserted into these clips is a bit like those DirecTV ads, amirite?

51. “Um…I loved you in TRON.” – Hahahahahahahaha. And then Morgan Freeman narrates? #awesome #Oscars

52. RT @RottenTomatoes: OK, this is kinda funny.

53. “Alec likes for me to narrate his dreams because I have a soothing voice.” #Oscars

54. “You just got INCEPTIONed!” #Oscars

55. OMGOSH #BACKTOTHEFUTURE on the #AcademyAwards! #Oscars

56. For the record, I recognized that #BacktotheFuture was about to come on from the music before the video even started. #irock #Oscars

57. Anne and James have charming chemistry between the two of them. #Oscars

58. RT @ebertchicago: FYI: Geoffrey Rush had to shave his head for a play.

59. @TheConnMan21 is right. James is totally at least a little drunk. #Oscars

60. RT @WereGoingBack: Okay that was a cool BTTF intro at the Oscars.. so did you catch it?

61. I’ve never seen Gone with the Wind. Don’t know if I wanna. #Oscars

62. Hey look, Tom Hanks again! I love him. #Oscars

63. I need to get the Titanic soundtrack. James Horner has some good stuff, and the Titanic theme is beautiful. #Oscars

64. My prediction for Achievement in Art Design – I’m really hoping it goes to Deathly Hallows Pt. 1, but I’m guessing it goes to Alice. #Oscars

65. CALLED IT! Outstanding achievement in Art Design – Alice in Wonderland. #Oscars

66. RT @MuggleNet: Deathly Hallows – Part 1 did not win Best Art Direction at the Academy Awards.

67. Hey everyone: note how similar the music to Alice in Wonderland sounds to EVERY DANNY ELFMAN SCORE EVER. #truestory #Oscars

68. I’ll admit, I enjoy his music, though. #Oscars

69. Didn’t have the time to tweet my prediction for Cinematography. Goes to Inception! Glad it walked away with something. #Oscars

70. I would like to remind the Academy that they should be ashamed that Christopher Nolan isn’t nominated for best director…AGAIN. #Oscars

71. Let the people clap, jerkbag. That was rude. #Oscars

72. Wow, Kirk Douglas is ancient. #truestory #Oscars

73. #BTW, it’s partially because of him that One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was adapted for film. He was the first RP in the play. #Oscars

74. Kirk Douglas is awesome, but it’s very difficult to understand what he’s saying. #Oscars

75. What’s next? Best supporting actress? Prediction: Helena Bonham Carter. Though that seems like the obvious choice. #Oscars

76. Animal Kingdom? Never heard of that film. #Oscars

77. RT @ahous91: Anne Hathaway is absolutely gorgeous…and I forgot to unfollow @Chadadada for the day…crap.

78. Just looked it up: Kirk Douglas is 94. #ancient #Oscars

79. And the best supporting actress Oscar goes to: Melissa Leo! Wow, didn’t see that coming! #Oscars

80. I still can’t get over how beautiful Amy Adams is. #Oscars

81. HOW DID THEY JUST CENSOR THAT?! Isn’t this LIVE?! #shenanigans #Oscars

82. Sorry family and friends, but the #AcademyAwards are more important than Words With Friends. #Oscars

83. Mila Kunis is cute too, but I don’t have much to say about that. #Oscars

84. Best animated feature? Toy Story 3, of course. DUH. #Oscars

85. “I’m sure they make an app for that.” Yay! #Oscars

86. Shrek has some great music too, courtesy of Harry Gregson-Williams. #Oscars

87. Oh, Best animated SHORT film? Day and Night is my prediction. #Oscars

88. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT? DAY AND NIGHT DIDN’T WIN? Went to “The Lost Thing” instead. #whatthefrick #Oscars

89. RT @ebertchicago: Is the microphone emitting sleeping gas? Kirk Douglas has had the highest energy so far.

90. That wasn’t okay. At least I take comfort in knowing that Toy Story 3 will win best animated picture. How did something beat PIXAR?! #Oscars

91. RT @RottenTomatoes: We apologize for anyone that used our Oscar picks in a pool. We’re 0 for 4 so far. Apparently we don’t know sh**.

92. Though Toy Story 3 will win, How To Train Your Dragon deserves best animated picture as well. #justsaying #greatfilm #Oscars

93. I must confess: I have Toy Story 3 on #Bluray and haven’t watched it yet. #Oscars

94. RT @RottenTomatoes: Congrats to Lee Unkrich for Toy Story 3!

95. I betcha you didn’t know that Steve Jobs was involved with Pixar back in the day. I DID! #Oscars

96. It seems a bit sketchy that Toy Story 3 is nominated for best adapted screenplay for using characters based on those from TS1/2. #Oscars

97. Still disappointed that Day and Night didn’t win best animated short film. Again, at least Toy Story 3 won. #Oscars

98. best adapted screenplay prediction: Social Network? It has to walk away with something tonight. I doubt it’ll be Toy Story 3. #Oscars

99. RT @RottenTomatoes: We shouldn’t be surprised that Sorkin can make an impressive reference to Network, but we are.

100. Prediction for best original screenplay – the first to go to King’s Speech. #Oscars

101. Though Inception deserves it as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if it snuck up from behind and won. #Oscars

102. Called it again! Best original screenplay goes to King’s Speech! Darn it, I have to go see that! #Oscars

103. I might raid the dollar theaters over spring break to see all of these best picture nominees. #Oscars

104. Fun fact: the screenwriter for King’s Speech discovered that his uncle went to the same speech therapist portrayed by Geof. Rush. #Oscars

105. Watching a commercial for Mars Needs Mom. One of the stupidest film premises I’ve seen in a while. #Oscars

106. That’s the second time tonight Anne Hathaway used the word “jacka**”. Interesting. Not what I’d expect from her. #Oscars

107. This is funny, though. “He stuck his retractable claws into my heart”. #amusing She’s also got a great voice. #Oscars

108. James Franco in a dress and makeup? Um…..#lolwut. #Oscars

109. Yay, Russell Brand! He’s awesome! “I happen to like ketchup on my face because it’s good for the skin!” #Oscars

110. Gonna take a stab at best foreign language film: Biutiful. #Oscars

111. Yeah, I had no chance at getting that correct. Congrats to “In a Better World” from Denmark for best foreign language film! #Oscars

112. I like it when people are genuinely emotional in their acceptance speeches. #truestory #Oscars

113. Prediction for best supporting actor: tough one. I’m guessing Christian Bale, though Geoffrey Rush stands a good chance as well. #Oscars

114. RT @Lord_Voldemort7: “Who Shall Not be Named.” Hathaway needs to stop name dropping me in musical numbers. Bellatrix is in audience, she won’t take it well.

115. And the award goes to: Christian Bale! I’m right again! #Oscars

116. RT @RottenTomatoes: I want to hear Reese say “and the award goes to Christian Bale and his beard”

117. In my opinion, this award covers his work as Batman as well. Way to go, Christian Bale. #Oscars

118. I think it’s amusing that Bale just alluded to the tape of him cussing up a storm. It’s good to know he’s passed that. #Oscars

119. RT @RottenTomatoes: Great speech from Bale, but he should be doing it in the Batman voice.

120. Hmm. Prediction for best original score? This is a toughie as well. I’m thinking it’ll go to Alexandre Desplat for King’s Speech. #Oscars

121. However, Social Network stands a good chance as well. Personally, I’d love for How to Train Your Dragon by John Powell to win. #Oscars

122. RT @laurrren: You are my favorite day.. #AcademyAwards

123. Let me clarify: my official prediction is for Alexandre Desplat, King’s Speech for best original score. #Oscars

124. RT @C_J_A: @Chadadada I think Desplat is going to win best score also! #socialnetworkgtfo #oscars

125. Cool flashback to early film. #Oscars

126. STAR WARS THEME! IS JOHN WILLIAMS REALLY THERE CONDUCTING? LKAJSD;LKFJAS;LF #Oscars

127. ET #Oscars

128. WEST SIDE STORY #Oscars

129. I don’t think that was John Williams conducting, though. #Oscars

130. Yeah, it wasn’t. #Oscars

131. I wonder if they’re gonna do lame interpretive dancing this year. #Oscars

132. Film clips are much better than interpretive dancing. #thankyouAcademy #Oscars

133. Hans Zimmer said himself that he wasn’t going to win because Inception’s music was derived from his other stuff. He admits it! #Oscars

134. ddddddddddddaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww It goes to Trent Raznor for Social Network. At least it didn’t absolutely suck. #Oscars

135. What’s next? Best sound mixing? Prediction: I honestly have no idea. I’m just gonna guess Inception. #Oscars

136. Yay! I got another one right! #Oscars

137. Oh, to confirm: Inception won best sound mixing. #Oscars

138. Prediction for best sound editing: I wouldn’t be surprised if it went to Inception again. Maybe TRON: Legacy? Probs Inception. #Oscars

139. I am GOOD. Oscar goes to Inception for best sound editing! #Oscars

140. I think I read somewhere that there’s going to be a Back to the Future montage later. I sure hope so! #Oscars

141. Next award is for best makeup, and I’m not familiar with any of the films. Just gonna guess: Barney’s Version? #Oscars

142. It went to the Wolfman. That seemed too obvious for me. Oh well. I’ve still predicted 7 awards correctly. #Oscars

143. Next is best costume design. Prediction? I’d be surprised if it didn’t go to Alice in Wonderland. Tim Burton’s got good costumes. #Oscars

144. Dur da dur! I’m right again! Alice in Wonderland for best costume design. #Oscars

145. I must admit, Danny Elfman’s music is super catchy. It’s fun to listen to. Just the same throughout most of his movies. #Oscars

146. Is best original song next? How wonderful would it be for Randy Newman to walk away with an oscar for We Belong Together? #Oscars

147. If AR Rahman steals best original song from my pick again this year, #imabepissed. #Oscars

148. I can’t help but post this video as Randy Newman performs:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK-p3mtyhRc #Oscars

149. I dunno, Alan Menken is good stuff too. He did music for all the best Disney films. I’m still rooting for Randy, though. #Oscars

150. It’s pleasant hearing Jeff Bridges voiceover 3/4ths of the commercials in between the Academy Awards segments. #Oscars

151. I really enjoyed Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince of Persia, though it wasn’t the greatest film ever. #Oscars

152. Best documentary – short subject goes to Strangers No More. would have guess that one wrong. #Oscars

153. RT @RottenTomatoes: Bale says that weight loss for roles isn’t a gimmick, but that he’s getting too old to keep doing it.

154. Best live action short film random guess: Na Wewe? Bahahaha, I have no idea. #Oscars

155. Oscar goes to God of Love for best live action short film. I almost picked that. #Oscars

156. #WTFRICK happened to best original song? #Oscars

157. I AM LOLOLOLOLING SO HARD RIGHT NOW AT THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 AUTOTUNING. #Oscars

158. AND TOY STORY 3 OH GOODNESS STOP IT #Oscars

159. AND SOCIAL NETWORK LOLOLOLOL #Oscars

160. RT @C_J_A: Lmao this Harry Potter spoof!

161. RT @TheConnMan21: Lol 2 HP Autotune.

162. Oprah, what you doing on my favorite award show? Get out. #Oscars

163. RT @C_J_A: Good to know the #Oscars have a sense of humor. #autotuning

164. Outstanding documentary random guess: Gas Land? It sounds important. #Oscars

165. #crapdangit, that was my first guess again! Best documentary goes to Inside Job. #Oscars

166. Bathroom break, guys. Live coverage to resume soon. Listen to Jeff Bridges voiceover this car commercial in my absence. #Oscars

167. I’m back, and so is the show! #Oscars

168. I think Billy Crystal’s a pretty cool guy. “Mike Wazowski!” #Oscars

169. Billy Crystal quote – “You rush a miracle man you get rotten miracles.” #princessbride #Oscars

170. Super cool flashback to 1953 awards with Bob Hope hosting is super cool. Passover joke was amusing. #Oscars

171. That was cool. They just pulled a Forrest Gump. #Oscars

172. Best Visual Effects is a toughie. I think it’ll go to Alice again, but I’d LOVE to see it go to Deathly Hallows Part 1. #Oscars

173. Who knows? Maybe it’ll go to Inception. We’ll see. #Oscars

174. Well, there you go. Inception deserves it too. #Oscars

175. Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 – I have a job for you. You have to win at least 1 award at next year’s #Oscars

176. Prediction for best film editing – Black Swan? #Oscars

177. Oscar goes to Social Network for Best film editing. I haven’t been guessing too well these past few. #Oscars

178. I betcha I can get the four major awards correct, though. We’ll see. #Oscars

179. I’ma fix a cup of coffee. #thegoodstuff #Oscars

180. James Franco – You’re amusing. “How to Train Your Dragon…that’s disgusting.” #Oscars

181. Don’t you tick me off, Rahman. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry. #HulkChad #Oscars

182. That song wasn’t anything special. It sounded nice, but it wasn’t “We Belong Together”. Come on, Randy! #Oscars

183. I must admit, though, Gwyneth Paltrow doesn’t sound half bad. BUT STILL. I WANT RANDY TO WIN. #Oscars

184. …AND HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOOO………….#Oscars

185. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS RANDY NEWMAN WON! #Oscars

186. You’ve done me proud, Randy. #Godblessyou. #Oscars

187. RT @C_J_A: Aw Randy Newman is such a cute old man! I want him to be my grandpa #Oscars

188. Randy Newman is super funny. I’m enjoying his acceptance speech. Congrats again! #Oscars

189. RT @RottenTomatoes: Randy Newman wins. Another one we got wrong! #wedontknowada**thing

190. Part of me wishes that the real Randy Newman was like the MadTV Randy Newman. Just because that would be ridiculously amusing. #Oscars

191. RT @hasanahmad: @RottenTomatoes norm: “by the time the dead guy montage starts kirk douglas will be in it”

192. Who’s singing during the dead person montage this year? James Taylor singing the Beatles’ “In My Life” last year will be hard to top. #Oscars

193. This is a good song, and Mariah Carey has a good voice. “When there are clouds in the sky you’ll get by if you smile.” #Oscars

194. RT @WereGoingBack: Watch the Oscar 2011 intro, with BTTF reference, here! http://fb.me/SIBYMcSe

195. Lionel Jeffries died this past year?! He was Grandpa Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! #CCBB #Oscars

196. Remember when Michael Jackson was in the dead guy montage last year? I love Michael, but that was kinda BS. He’s not from movies. #Oscars

197. I’m loving Mariah, but I still think that James Taylor was better last year. The song was more fitting too, in my opinion. #Oscars

198. Wow, I don’t think I even knew that Dennis Hopper died either!#outtatheloop #Oscars

199. My dad corrects me: That was Celine Deon, not Mariah Carey. I get them mixed up for some reason. #Oscars

200. RT thehogshead: Video for the “Tiny Ball of Light”! http://fb.me/suGIqiRP

201. We’re down to the main awards now. The big ones. Good luck to all nominees. #Oscars

202. Prediction for best director: David Fincher? If I get any of these wrong, it’s this one. #Oscars

203. And the oscar goes to – Tom Hooper, King’s Speech! Pleasant surprise! #Oscars

204. Now, prepare for me to be right on these last three (hopefully). #Oscars

205. You know, I wish they had kept the best picture nominees down to 5 instead of 10. It’s like they’re giving false hope. #Oscars

206. “And the moral of the story is, ‘listen to your mother’.” …Yessir. #Oscars

207. Geez, how many commercials does Jeff Bridges voiceover now? #ridiculous #Oscars

208. My prediction for best actor – Colin Firth, King’s Speech. #Oscars

209. My prediction for best actress – Natalie Portman? If not her, Annette Bening. #Oscars

210. And the Oscar goes to – Natalie Portman! Told you I’d get it right. #Oscars

211. Now let’s see how my guess for best actor goes – Colin Farrell! Here’s hoping. #Oscars

212. Natalie, I love you, but you’re supposed to give a speech, not read your new book. #Oscars

213. Twitter, this is an awful time for you to have problems. #Oscars

214. It’s interesting to see a nominee for best actor from a foreign language film. Has that happened before? #Oscars

215. D’oh, his name is Colin Firth. Thanks, Dad. Anyway, I got it right. Best actor! #Oscars

216. And finally, Best Picture. My prediction? King’s Speech. #Oscars

217. Yeah, Colin Farrell is definitely NOT Colin Firth. My mistake. #Oscars

218. Twitter is getting on my last nerve. Darn you, Twitter. Darn you. #Oscars

219. Jurassic Park theme! #Oscars

220. Steven Spielberg is looking super old tonight. It’s cool that he gets to present the best picture award though. He’s a legend. #Oscars

221. It was very appropriate of Steven to point out that even the “best movie ever made”, Citizen Kane, didn’t win Best picture. #Oscars

222. Is Colin FIRTH (got it that time) voicing over the rest of the films not hint enough that King’s Speech wins best picture? #Oscars

223. And Best Picture goes to – THE KING’S SPEECH! I WAS RIGHT! Congrats to all involved. I can’t wait to see it myself. #Oscars

224. That was the last award, but the ceremony isn’t quite over. I’ll stop when I hear this children’s choir sing. #Oscars

225. RT @TheConnMan21: TOY STORY 3 WON BEST PICTURE! #InMyHeart

226. Bring it on, kid’s choir! #Oscars

227. I think it’s cute that the kids’ voice parts are listed on their shirts. #Oscars

228. That was really sweet, and it made me tear up a little. It’s great to see kids as young as them blessed with such great talent. #Oscars

229. And that wraps up my 2nd annual live coverage of the #AcademyAwards! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. #Oscars

230. Kinda upset that there wasn’t a #BacktotheFuture tribute somewhere in there, but it was cool enough that it made the intro. #Oscars

231. I’m digging the closing music for the #Oscars. Good mashup of some awesome film classics.

Goodnight, everyone.

Chad

P.S. – Queen song of the day – “Doing Alright”.

Best Day Ever…Again

I slept the first half of today away, not getting out of bed until about 1:35. It was lovely. I then went and played Quidditch for an hour and a half from 2 to 3:30 in preparation for the A&M tournament next weekend. I’m super excited! It should be lots of fun.

And now to the best part of today – The Rock & Worship Roadshow, headlined by my favorite Christian band, MercyMe. It was an INCREDIBLE concert. My roommate Andrew went with me, and we both had VIP tickets to get us in early with free t-shirts and VIP passes, and we also got to meet MercyMe before the show. I’ve been joking around on Twitter these past few weeks about how Bart Millard, the lead singer of MercyMe, was going to get to meet me today, without really being serious about anything. However, when we went to meet the group before the concert, it went something like this:

*shake hands*
Bart – “Hey, I’m Bart.”
Me – “Chad!”
Bart – “Oh, so YOU’RE Chad! I’m finally meeting Chad! Chadadadadadada!”
Me – “:O…..:D!”

BART MILLARD KNOWS WHO I AM.

Meeting the band alone would have made today one of my top 10 best days, but the fact that Bart knew who I was an remembered me made this day tie with the other best day ever, when I met Christopher Lloyd. It was such a cool experience.

As for the concert itself, it was a blast. It opened with a group called Anthem Lights, which I really enjoyed, and then the first official band to play was the Afters. I hadn’t really listened to them before (MercyMe was the only group here that I was previously familiar with), but I really enjoyed their songs. I’m going to have to look them up some time in the future. Next was Matt Maher, who just sang a bunch of standard worship songs, but it was great in its simplicity. After Matt was Thousand Foot Krutch, which I didn’t really like at all. I posted this on Twitter – “Thousand Foot Krutch hurts my eyes/ears. But it’s about Jesus, so I’ll scream and raise my hands anyway.” In truth, I just couldn’t wait for them to leave the stage. They were too loud for my taste, and I just didn’t like their style of music. After Thousand Foot Krutch was Lecrae, a Christian rapper. Now, I’m not a rap fan at all, but he was lots of fun onstage, so I enjoyed it. Next in line was Jars of Clay, which was alright, though I didn’t care for them much either; definitely better than TFK, though.

And then, finally, it was MercyMe’s turn. Wow. I had only seen Mercyme live once before…sorta. It was at a concert called Celebrate Freedom, which was actually a compilation of SEVERAL Christian groups, so it wasn’t anything special. Plus, I wasn’t sitting five rows behind the front of the stage then, so this was a much better experience. Most of the songs they sang tonight were from their newest album, The Generous Mr. Lovewell (these aren’t necessarily in order):

Move
This Life
Alright
God With Us
Beautiful
Word of God Speak (chorus only)
I Can Only Imagine (/obligatory)
All of Creation

A great lineup of songs, in my opinion. Of course, I could stand and listen to MercyMe sing all day long and not tire of it. I love them. If you ever get the chance to see these guys live, don’t miss it. You’ll be missing out on an outstanding opportunity.

To put the icing on the cake, Bart replied to one of my tweets, the one saying how I hoped he had enjoyed meeting me as much as I had enjoyed meeting him – “great to finally meet ya.” How cool is that? Like I said, best day ever.

Let me explain something. I wouldn’t be who I am today without MercyMe. I’m not saying I’d be a bad person, but I am saying that my faith in God is definitely stronger due to me becoming a MercyMe fan at a young age. They’re Coming Up to Breathe album is what really hooked me; that album has such powerful songs on it, I re-dedicated my life to Christ (not that I had drifted too far away, but rather to re-affirm my beliefs) after listening to it. So in the random chance that any of MercyMe reads this, all of you: thank you for making me who I am.

Anyway, it’s late, I’m tired, and I want to go to church in the morning with Conner, so I’m off for tonight. Goodnight, everyone. Academy Awards tomorrow! Don’t forget about my live coverage on Twitter.
@Chadadada’s Twitter Feed

Chad

P.S. – Queen song of the day – “One Vision”.

A Good Day

This morning I woke up with plenty of time to make some coffee before class, which was wonderful. Had some hazelnut coffee. Class went fine; we played a review game of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which I did fine with. Afterward was music theory, which wasn’t anything special, and neither was music history. Today was quiz day in calculus, and, since I did my homework last night, I feel relatively confident that I passed this quiz. Oh happy day! We’ll see on Monday, though.

During my lunch break, I fixed a cup of hot sweet tea (it was about time we used some of those Lipton tea bags; we’ve got a box of over 100 teabags) and ate a Compleat Chicken Alfredo meal. Band was lots of fun (relatively speaking) because of it being the first time for me to use my new horn in a full ensemble setting. 🙂 I love my new horn. It’s wonderful.

After Matador Singers today, we had auditions for a select group we’re calling “Matador Lite”, a small vocal ensemble that does a bit extra outside of class. Prof. Dent picked 15 guys to be a part of this, and I was chosen to be a part of it as a bass, for the first time since high school (I sing baritone in choir now). I’m really glad I made it; we should be singing some really fun songs.

And then I was done for the day. I initially had plans to go running again today, with Andrew this time, but Andrew had something come up and I didn’t want to run by myself, so I decided to take a nap instead. A great decision. As you may recall, the last time I took a nap I slept for about four hours longer than I intended to, so I was careful to avoid that mistake this time around. I set several alarms in fifteen-minute intervals from 7:30 to 9:30 after lying down at 6:30, with the plan to be awake by 9 (the last two alarms were for safety). I also recruited my Twitter followers to bombard me with tweets after two and a half hours had passed, just to make sure I woke up. I actually ended up waking at around 7:30, sending a couple of texts, and then going back to sleep. However, when I woke up at this time, for some reason I got up from bed and put clothes back on (I had changed into sleeping clothes); maybe I subconsciously thought that it was 7:30 in the morning, so I was “getting ready for school”? Who knows. I woke up at 9:30 all fine and dandy, but, this time, I made a conscious decision to go ahead and go back to sleep; with no plans for the first time all semester on a Saturday morning, staying up late wasn’t going to be a problem. I woke up with Andrew’s return from a movie night with friends after midnight, which I was perfectly okay with. I didn’t have anything productive to do tonight anyway.

Tomorrow consists of sleeping late (thank the Lord), Quidditch practice (tournament next weekend!), and the MercyMe concert (<3). I'll let you all know how that goes tomorrow! Goodnight, everyone!

Chad

P.S. – Queen song of the day – "Hammer to Fall".

At Least I Tried

/One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (movie)

Hello, all. I hope you had a great day.

Woke up this morning a little late-ish this morning, along with Andrew; normally, he’s gone a lot sooner than he was today, so I didn’t have that little bit of extra time to wake up and get myself ready. Not blaming him at all; not like it was a big deal anyway. I made it to class earlier than I have been the past few times, so that’s great. Aural skills went fine, and then afterward I had my hour-long break before piano. As mentioned in previous posts, my brand-new horn was to arrive today, so I spent most of that hour staring at the eBay won/purchased items page, refreshing the page every couple of minutes to check for progress, to see if it had been delivered or not. It didn’t come before piano, during which we just played some more of the usual stuff. I rocked my playing quiz today, and my teacher was very complimentary. Hecks yeah!

The time between piano and band was spent much the same with, except with the addition of spicy chicken sandwiches, waffle fries, and sweet tea. Still no luck before band though; my secret desire had been for the horn to arrive before band class so that I could use it with the full ensemble, but no such luck. Oh well. Band seemed to stretch on forever today, worsened by my impatience with both the awful piece-of-junk horn I’ve been playing on since the beginning of last semester and with the delivery of my new one. I survived, though, and then I was done for the day, voice lessons having been canceled and moved to tomorrow.

Once I had gotten back to the room around 1:45ish, I finally got the notification from the downstairs lobby that I had a package waiting for me. I eagerly rushed down and got my package: a GIANT cardboard box with my horn inside, as well as what appears to be a lifetime supply of bubble wrap. Oh yeah. The horn itself is beautiful; for those of you interested in technicals, it’s a Conn 11D double horn, yellow brass, medium fixed bell. As I mentioned previously, I’m getting the bell cut (so that it screws on and off) over spring break, so I bought the case I’m going to use after that today, a nice one. It’s great. I also bought a hand strap for my horn to keep my hand from slipping when it gets sweaty and such, and hopefully my new mouthpiece won’t take long to get here. Anyway, I practiced on my new horn for a while (it’s wonderful), and then I met up with Andrew to go to Subway (HIS IDEA THIS TIME, I SWEAR; I had mentioned Chipotle!) for dinner, followed by a trip to Walmart for milk and a few other small items.

We came back to the residence hall at 8ish, with Andrew going down to the lobby to watch a friend in an improv show while I resigned myself to homework for the night; however, I didn’t plan on Conner contacting me to hang out, which he did. We had originally planned to have a movie night last night (Wednesday night) after running and other nonsense, but plans fell through, so tonight made up for it. He came over and watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest with me (which he hadn’t seen before) while I kinda-sorta worked on homework. After the movie, we had a brief music exchange, during which I took all of his Broadway recording files and I gave him copies of all of my film soundtracks, with a few other treasures thrown in on the side. He left around 11ish, which is when I hardcore tackled my homework, INCLUDING calculus! I was proud of myself; I feel relatively confident in my abilities to pass tomorrow’s quiz. Bring it on.

And now, I’m off to bed. I could talk about a couple of other random things, but I’m having trouble keeping my eyes open. Bed after a quick workout. Goodnight, all.

Chad

P.S. – In lieu of my “Queen songs of the day” coming to an end, these last few days are going to be repeats of my favorites by the group, starting with the powerful “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

Rocks My Socks

MercyMe Does. /Yoda speak

No pictures in this one, but I’ll try to be thorough.

Woke up this morning later than preferred, so I didn’t have time to make coffee or make my bed, but I made it to class on time, which is what really matters. We played a few short review games in there (it’s my education class), of which I won two, winning two large-sized Hershey kisses. Afterward was theory, during which I discovered that I had read the revised syllabus incorrectly and had completed the wrong homework assignment. No worries, though; I talked to the professor about it at the end of class and he’s letting me turn in what was supposed to be due today on Friday since I had already done Friday’s homework. Cool. However, I also realized that I hadn’t printed something off for my music history class, which didn’t really matter since our printer is out of ink anyway. I ran back to the room anyway just to give it a try, but no luck. Instead, I emailed the professor and told him that our printer was having problems, asking for permission to turn in the printed copy later today, which he was fine with. I turned it in later, so it also wasn’t a big deal. No worries.

I got an 80 on Monday’s calculus quiz! Definitely a sight for sore eyes after seeing some of my latest grades in that class; I’m really gonna try a lot harder in that class now that I have more free time in my evenings (almost an unbearable amount of free time; free time = snack time = bad idea). Things have definitely gotta improve, and I plan on working on it. I SHALL PREVAIL OVER YOU, CALCULUS. After calculus had finished, I went to McClellan Hall to print from the honors college study room, which was a fruitless effort since they were already out of paper for the week, and then went back to the room for more of my mom’s spaghetti for lunch. God bless her.

Band and choir were satisfactory (meaning they weren’t awful). Speaking of band, my brand-new horn is on its way! I should be able to hold it in my hands tomorrow afternoon sometime. I’m unbelievably excited; I’m ready to NOT be playing on this piece of awful school-owned Conn 8D that I’ve been renting. No bueno. I’m ready for a decent horn to play on. There will be pictures of it once it’s in my possession!

After choir, I went back to the room for a while to grab a change of clothes for running later and to just relax before sectionals at 4, which weren’t bad. We finished pretty early, at which point I changed into a pair of shorts and a trademark sleeveless shirt for running with Conner and, a new addition, Josh Purrington, who was the other half of the spy partnership with Conner in CCBB. He’s a junior in high school and a pretty cool guy. We ran/speedwalked another 2.6 miles today, though this time with a twist: I was wearing Shape-Ups because I had forgot to switch to my more-athletic sneakers, which ended up being a bad idea. Shape-Ups are meant to work your calves when walking, not while running, so it hurt a lot, and I almost rolled my ankle once toward the beginning. I had to stop more often and for longer today than on Monday because they were just killing my calves. Not cool. Mental note – always switch to tennis shoes when running. Hopefully, when we go running again on Friday, things will go a lot better and I won’t slow Conner and whoever else might join us up as much.

After running, I changed back into my jeans and Beatles t-shirt for my first vocal lab with my voice teacher, Ashley. We were performing a rough version of one of the songs we have been working on so far this semester, and I did really well. I had stayed up late last night working on memorizing it, but he let us use our music, so I took it with me to use primarily as a safeguard. Once I had finished my song, Ashley kept me in front of everyone to have me sing something again to demonstrate how well I do a couple of technique things. Cool.

The original plan for tonight was to meet up in my room for a movie night (Conner and I at first, but then Josh decided to join as well), but the two of them ended up getting tied up with other things, so we’re going to move it to another day. We’re probably gonna watching One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest because neither of them have seen it, and it’s honestly one of those movies that you’re just required to see before you died. True story.

The rest of the night was spent eating the rest of my mom’s spaghetti (sad face), watching Family Guy/Whose Line is it Anyway?, and snacking on Honeycomb cereal. I really need to ease up on this whole snacking all the time thing if I expect to get weight-loss results from working out and running. I’m not saying “diet”, I’m saying “don’t eat all the time food is within arm’s reach”. I’ll get right on that.

As far as the MercyMe concert goes this weekend, one of my friends (Camie) who had also bought a VIP ticket realized that she couldn’t attend, so she left me in charge of the ticket to give to whoever I can find to go with me. I think it’s cursed. Out of the 4 or 5 people I’ve asked, all had other plans and couldn’t make it. So Andrew’s going. I’ve been playing MercyMe on a constant shuffle to familiarize him with some of their music before the concert so that he’s not completely lost. I’m so excited. This is gonna be such a great concert, and meeting the band (especially lead singer, Bart Millard) is just icing on the cake. I’m trying to come up with a way to convince Bart to follow my Twitter account (I follow him, and he’s hilarious; such a cool, great guy). I’ll let you know how that goes.

Anyway, that’s pretty much it (finally got back up to my 1000 word count! :D). Goodnight, everyone!

Chad

P.S. – Queen song of the day: “Need Your Loving Tonight” from album The Game…which you just lost.

P.P.S. – If you don’t know what “The Game” is (I’m no longer talking about the Queen album), here you go:

You're welcome.

Celebratory Comeback Post

I’m baaaaack!

Felix is happy too!

Woke up this morning with plenty of time to make it to class early. I made my bed, made some coffee (Breakfast blend with Irish cream instead of the usual vanilla; I liked it!), and headed off to class feeling pretty good. Class went great; turned in my homework and paid attention in class, which didn’t involve anything stressful. After aural skills, I had my hour break before piano, during which I finished playing through the first episode of Back to the Future: The Game on my iPad (I’ve already played through 1 and 2 on my PC, but I just had to get it on my iPad too!).

So many levels of awesome.

Also during this time I made a complaint on Twitter. You see, last week I decided to buy a new French horn off of eBay (from a band company that my professor knows, so no worries), so I hit the “buy” button and expected to have the transaction completed in less than 5 minutes. However, I didn’t plan on Paypal being so complicated. First, I had to wait a day for it to connect with my bank account. Then it still wasn’t working right, so I had to transfer the amount I needed directly from my bank account to my Paypal account so that I could then purchase the horn with my Paypal account (in retrospect, I’m almost positive there was an easier way, but oh well). This transaction took 6 days, finally going through today; Paypal withdrew the money from my bank on the first day, and then the other six days were all “processing”, so my money was just floating around the Internet. Not okay.

Even Optimus facepalmed when I told him.

It’s funny; within 30 minutes after I complained about this mess on Twitter, I got an email from Paypal saying that it had finished processing. Lesson of the day: complain on Twitter to get what you want.

But keep it a secret!

Piano went well too, though there’s nothing special that happened today. Oh, we did get chords for John Lennon’s Imagine, though they’re REALLY dumbed down. I’ll probably try and figure that one out on my own on the side. We’ll see. I haven’t played on the piano in a few days. After piano, I had more free time, during which I ate lunch and practiced on my horn a bit before band class and lessons afterward, which both went well. During lessons, Prof. Smith and I spent the whole time talking about my new horn, trying out an 11D (the kind I’m getting) he already had, and trying out a few different mouthpieces that work better with the new horn. I also talked about getting the bell cut later (so that it screws on) and getting a new case for the horn with a cut bell. Geez, music is an expensive profession.

The rest of the day is pretty much history. After lessons, I went back to the room for a while, where I talked to Andrew for the first time since early yesterday (since I was asleep when he got back last night and I woke back up after he had gone to sleep), snacked on some Cap’n Crunch Berries (yes, just the berries; isn’t it wonderful?!), and just spent some time on the computer. Then horn studio, and then back to the room, and here I’ve been since. I even finished my homework for tomorrow by 9:30! That’s a plus. And this is definitely the earliest I’ve ever typed up this blog. You should all be proud.

Pats for Patrick!

Now, I’m about to eat dinner (spaghetti, brought by my awesome parents this weekend when they came to see CCBB; they know it’s my favorite), and then the rest of the night is mine to spend watching TV, doing my workout, and sleeping. Should be in bed fairly early.

That all being said, that’s all for now. Goodnight, everyone. Have a great week! 🙂

Chad

P.S. – Queen song of the day: “Cool Cat” from Hot Space.

So much for that…

I accidentally fell asleep while playing around with my iPad, and I just woke up. I’m still very tired, so I’m just gonna do my workout and take a quick shower.

Darn you, unexpected naps!

Goodnight, everyone.

Chad

P.S. – Queen song of the day – “The Hero” from the Flash Gordon soundtrack.