Hap-Hap-Happy Trip-Dancing Time Roundup

Wow! So much stuff has happened since I last posted. Tomorrow marks the very last day of class, so my mood is automatically improved just by that fact alone! Since last we met on Ramble On, I have:

• Participated in an open casting call with Gina and Sarah M., for the remake of War of the Worlds starring Tom Cruise and directed by Steven Spielberg. Apparently, they're filming part of the movie in nearby Rockbridge County, so when Gina saw the casting call for extras was going to be close by, she convinced Sarah and me to go. It was mostly anticlimactic, because after standing in line for two and a half hours in the freezing cold, all we really did was hand over some pictures and measurements. We never got a call back, so we have to assume we didn't make it. So much for my 2.5 seconds as a random guy running away from some Martians. The trip was ultimately worth it, though, even with the long hours, because the three of us had a grand time laughing about the craziness of it all.
• Got to watch the Hokies trounce Miami for the second year in a row, this time on their own turf at the Orange Bowl, no less! We've proven that we're a solid team with an outrageously good defense and a solid leader in Bryan Randall (who will soon hopefully be announced as ACC Player of the Year). The win in Miami secured our trip to the Sugar Bowl (ahem, sorry, the Nokia Sugar Bowl) in January, and by golly, I'm going! A group of us have already reserved the hotel rooms, after a couple of confusing phone calls on Saturday night. Why don't hotels just post numbers that let you talk directly to the hotel, instead of some guy in a call center 1,000 miles away that has no idea what he's talking about? Anyway, the hotel should be nice. Now we just have to trust that the VT Ticket Office won't screw up the ticketing process. Consider my fingers duly crossed.
• Got a little sick and woozy thanks to my sinuses and the completely out-of-whack sleep schedule that followed the casting call trip, but I managed to get back on the saddle over the last few days of class to complete all my projects and stories. I now get to coast through the rest of the week before exams start.
• Helped out in a 30-minute ultrajam at the end of band practice tonight. I'd actually already left to wrap up a few things and grab some dinner when I heard Fred, Jonathan, Travis, and Tom all playing and screaming over these four chords that were reminiscent of "All Along The Watchtower" or the end of "Stairway To Heaven." I realized immediately that my assistance was needed on the rock organ, so I ran up and powered up the keyboard to key in a blistering organ solo. After a while, Tom and Travis ran out of random lyrics pertaining to procrastination, so it turned into sort of a meta-jam of epic proportions. Lots of screaming and crazy drum fills, soaring organ effects and frantic switching from guitar to bass. Good times, fellas, good times. Next time we'll hit the record button.
• Played the ultra-addictive recent release for the GameCube, Donkey Konga, tonight. Thanks, Mohana and Jania, for letting me play! If you know anything about the DDR craze, you'll understand this game, because it's like that ... except with these bongos that connect up to the GameCube and serve as your controller. It sounds simple enough, but when you add fun songs and complicated beats to the mix, it's addictive as crap! I love playing the bongos...

While I was checking out the info on Donkey Konga, I also noticed these hot screenshots of the next Legend of Zelda game for the GameCube. I think it's high time Nintendo heeded the call of its Zelda fans for another realistic game on the order of The Ocarina of Time, instead of the cartoonish graphics of The Wind Waker. If these screenshots are any proof, it's gonna be a beautiful game. Maybe even enough to get me playing again.