Belmont East

the subway

2010-05-11T22:13:00.000-07:00

...is an interesting place. mostly i throw on some headphones and zone out. but every now and again you see something worth.. sneakily photographing.

this post is dedicated to all the lovely subway creatures.

gotta love 'em. hey, it's public transportation. we're all on the same train. literally.

Club Free time

2010-05-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

Club Free Time is a handy little site that lists free events going on in NYC. It's free to view the listings, but you have to be a paying member to view the locations of the events.

If you like random little adventures, join. I joinged in March (just $7 for 3 months), and so far I've seen a dozen or so off broadway plays and movie screenings including...... 666, where i was pulled onstage.. so fun. mark twain's last stand, psycho beach party, 39 Hands.

hmm..also, in case you're wondering..here's a sideways tour of our rooms at UP.

What's a Tree?

2010-05-11T19:56:00.000-07:00

I eventually ended up with a small soft spot for NYC but I hated the place for the first three months I was there. I’m not kidding, I literally hated it. I found something wrong in everything that made New York, New York! Then the snow melted, and New Yorkers came out of their hiding places and filled the streets. People were (for the most part) smiling on the streets instead of scowling. I finally opened my eyes to the melting pot of people riding the subway and saw it as miraculous instead of crowded. I tried as hard as I could to resist my growing passion for NYC but in the end I couldn’t fight it any longer. NYC holds a piece (a small piece) of my heart.

I’ve lived in Nashville, LA, and London and loved all of them. So it seemed only natural to me that I would like NYC. But when I arrived to me NYC was simply unnatural. It literally is a concrete jungle. If not for central park I would assume that people walk around asking themselves “what is a tree?”

I looked back through the time I spent in each city and asked myself if there was a common denominator to connect my love for them. What I discovered was surprising-the parks (Centennial, Griffith, Hyde, Central). I’m from the suburbs of Cleveland Ohio. I’m not a huge fan of the outdoors. So why do I love parks so much? Why was I so in love with Central Park?

Central Park was the one place I could go to in the city and feel like I’d left NYC. Once I was far enough inside where I could no longer see the skyscrapers, but instead saw baseball games, wild life (aka squirrels and ducks), a zoo, beautiful gardens, horse trails, biking trails, massive ponds and people. I finally saw families acting like families, instead of smashing their strollers onto a subway and yelling at their other children not to poke the homeless. Central Park felt like the most natural place I could find in a city of crazies and concrete. Central Park made me fall in love with the city.

Leftfield Pictures-My New York Home

2010-05-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have seen the lovable yet oh so intimidating men in this picture before. They are the Reality TV Celebrities of History Channel’s “Pawn Star$.” I spent the semester familiarizing myself with Rick, Corey, Chum Lee, and Old Man via transcribing at my internship with Leftfield Pictures.

Leftfield Pictures is the creative genius and Production Company behind this cable reality TV show hit. They are also in the process of producing and developing projects for A&E, Animal Planet, History Channel, Versus, MTV, and many others. It’s located in tourist central-right down the street from Madison Square Garden and only a few blocks from Times Square.

Once upon a time I swore I would never work in Reality TV. What I didn’t know at the time was how much fun it is to create Reality TV. I didn’t realize how amazing the people were who worked in this field. With Reality TV Production you can watch the entire process of a show life unfold before your eyes and know that you had a hand in making it.

I was fortunate enough to stumble upon Leftfield Pictures at the end of January. They welcomed me into their closely knit family with open arms. I could not have asked for a better internship this semester. Having already completed my degree in the fall (but being unwilling to graduate early) I was able to dedicate myself to this Production Company full time and then some.

My first day of work was during the worst snow storm NYC and seen in quite a few years. There were about 18 inches of snow on the ground. None of my previous three internships required me to work as a part time messenger/courier service, so I was slightly shocked when I was sent out into the snow for three runs on my first day. I hadn’t dressed properly. I was wearing black pants and black cotton boots. I looked very “corporate.” I’m sure my supervisor thought I’d been abducted when it took me almost an hour to find the post office that was no more than 4 blocks away. I spent the day soaking wet up to my thighs. I called my parents on the way home and told them that I was pretty sure I’d just been hazed by an entire TV Production Company.

Leftfield is a company that is not afraid to take risks on their interns. During the course of nearly four months with them I was given the chance to work in every branch of the company. I did everything from casting “little people” to decorating an entire floor, transcribing for countless shows (and for countless hours) to going on an overnight shoot as a PA and everything in between. It was painful to say goodbye to the friends and family that I made there. I’m truly blessed and so thankful for the opportunities and people that I met there.

CHARLIE KAUFMAN

2010-05-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

Charlie Kaufman and physicist Brian Greene were at the Rubin Museum of Art on Saturday, March 6th; and I got to see them. They spoke about time travel, black holes, free will, etc. To be honest, I was surprised that I could keep up. I guess understanding conversations about the philosophy of physics is just one perk of dating nerds exclusively.
Afterward, a woman I know from my internship introduced me to Charlie! He was very nice and pointed out that he and I were wearing similar shoes.

These pictures were not taken by me, because...

That's totally me sitting super close.

SEIZE THE MUSTARD

2010-05-11T07:08:00.000-07:00

The Colbert Report writers do improv at UCB every other Thursday. Their show is called Seize the Mustard. On April 22nd, I went with a few other interns and it was amazing. My only exposure to improv before was theater class in middle and high school; where only a handful of the weirdest kids (this means me) in each class would run from their desk to interject usually what amounted to a sloppy pun. In Seize the Mustard however, they began with a story and built characters on the fly that were better than most in today's written comedies. One member at a time walked to center stage and told an anecdote, which would set off another to begin a new scene. The entire evening was much like a usual day at my internship -- most of what I remember is clouded by laughter and the best part was getting to talk to the writers once they finished.

The Funniest, Smartest People on the Planet

BONUS: Great Interview

Birthday Dinz, NYC

2010-05-02T14:06:00.000-07:00

The past few months have been crazy. Ive been trying to pick out some of my best moments here in New York and after narrowing it down, one of my best memories in would definitely have to be my 23^rd birthday. All the roommates, some UP friends and some friends of Josh’s were in town and we all went to dinner in Little Italy. It is one of my most favorite parts of the city. Just one small street filled with so many Italian things and if you know me, you know I love Italian anything. Seriously. Geek status. It was so amazing to spend my night with all of these people in such an amazing city, in my favorite part of town.

We ended up at De Generro. The food was beyond great. The atmosphere was fantastic. And it definitely didn’t hurt that all of the waiters were prettttttty attractive. It definitely tops the list of most favorite restaurants. The most memorable/embarrassing moment was when the entire restaurant surprised me and erupted into “Happy Birthday.” Large scale. Strangers sang. It was pretty epic. And we got a cake out of it!

After dinner, we ended up at the Belmont for a while and then broke off into groups. I spent the rest of my night roaming the streets of New York and loving my life.

I am so blessed to have had these experiences and to be surrounded by the people here. Thanks for the rad night, guys.

My "Bucket List"

2010-05-01T18:46:00.001-07:00

Hello Hello

New York is an incredible city with an eclectic array of sights, events and people. To visit New York as a vacation will merely just touch the surface on what the city offers. As of today, I've lived in New York for 4 months and I feel as though I haven't even scratched the surface on things to do and see here. To try and experience everything possible, I created a mental list of sights and events I had to experience. I researched, inquired and scoured materials on New York and came up with my own list of things I needed to do; my "bucket list."

Of course, the first sights I needed to see were the typical ones like Time Square, Madison Square Garden, Central Park, Wall Street, etc. These also happened to be the less expensive and more obtainable sights to visit, so I had no trouble seeing them. As I looked down the list, one event stuck out in my mind - I must go to a SNL show, and this past weekend, I did just that.

A combination of Saturday Night Live's rich history and excellent cast make tickets very difficult to get. Each August, SNL holds a raffle online where any person in the U.S. can insert their name into a lottery and if they are picked, they get an allotted amount of tickets for each show that season. Of course, this means that anyone in the U.S. could get tickets, so those New Yorkers who don't get tickets can expect a few people not to show up for each show meaning that their are stand bye tickets available.

The stand bye tickets process is extremely cruel and harsh. For some reason unbeknownst to me, SNL hands out stand bye tickets at 7 a.m. Saturday morning. To have a decent place in line, you must arrive at Rockefeller Plaza the evening before, preferably 6-7 p.m. Friday night. Then, you wait all night, enduring the outside conditions as you try to sleep on the concrete sidewalk. After 12 grueling hours, NBC gives each person a number. At this point, the number is meaningless, except for the fact that the lower the number, the better.

If you received a ticket for the "Dress Rehearsal", you come back to Rockefeller Plaza that evening and get back in line. A half hour before the rehearsal, SNL determines how many empty seats their are in the studio and if your number is low enough, then you get to go in.
With the Live Show, it works in a similar fashion. I return to the studio at 10:45 and when SNL has determined how many seats are available, then that many people are allowed in. It just so happened that 15 seats were available for the show I attended and I was #7.

Gabourey Sidibe, otherwise known as the lead character "Precious" from the Oscar Nominated film Precious, (a film based off the novel Push, by Sapphire) was the host with musical guest MGMT. She exceeded my expectations in hosting SNL and it proved to be a fantastic show.

Although I may not have visited or experienced everything NYC has to offer in my time here, I feel as though I have done a sufficient job in checking off my "bucket list".

Subway Shenanigans?!?

2010-04-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

I like to people watch and since the start of the semester, I had been noticing the oddballs that ride the subway. So after a few of these encounters I started keeping a list in my iPhone of all the rando things I happen to see while riding the subway.

1. 1. 5000 pant-less people (of which, half of the roommates were a part of)

2. 2. Pan flute band

3. 3. Break dancers

4. 4. Gospel singers

5. 5. Michael Jackson reincarnated

6. 6. Man with chainsaw

7. 7. Mariachi band

8. 8. Kid with a guitar and amp having band practice.

9. 9. A man changing clothes on the subway platform

10. 10 .A fight over the volume of someone’s iPod

11. 11. Human beat boxer

12. 12. Rats

13. 13. A stranger actually offering a small child candy

14. 14. An old, old man who talked to me the entire ride up town and then offered me cough drops (I didn’t eat them)

15. 15. Caribbean drum band

16. 16. A very old woman who STRONGLY resembled the crypt keeper

17. 17. Cowboy Band

…. To be continued

Broadway

2010-04-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

I may have been the only one who didn't know this but Broadway shows are not always the best of the best. The idea that I had when I arrived here was that Broadway was the holy grail of stage acting and for that reason every show was worth the $60 ticket and your socks would be knocked off every time. I’m sorry to burst any bubbles but that is just not the case. I have seen six or seven shows on Broadway already and three Off-Broadway and in many of these cases I am very happy that I did not pay for the ticket.

The original theory was blown very quickly because the first show that I saw on my first full day in the city was Bye Bye Birdie. This show was star cast with John Stamos and a few other semi famous people. Obviously my hopes were high because this was my first show on Broadway but it took less than 15 minutes to realize that John was not in this show because he was the best at the part or because he could sing, he was there to sell tickets. His acting performance was rather boring and his singing, even worse. Even after saying that you can look at the $80 face value of my ticket and the nearly sold-out house and see that he was doing his job. The theatre was beautiful and there was not a bad seat there and we would know because these $80 tickets got us seats in the very last row of the balcony.

Before you go thinking this is all about bashing Broadway just hold on a second because this first show was motivational for me. Motivational in the sense that when I get in the producers seat I will make it my job to provide that best possible show for the audience. I realize that just because it is a great show though it doesn’t mean that it will make money. The great thing is that there are stars out there that can act and sing and deserve to be on Broadway. The job of the producer is to decide how to provide the greatest show possible and to get as many people to see it as they can.

I have seen two other star cast shows and they have been two of the top shows in my experience. The first was Chicago with Ashley Simpson playing the lead role. Don’t judge me for seeing this or for paying the crazy prices for fifth row seats on her last day in the role. Ashley actually made the show for me. She was energetic and performed her role nearly perfect with great singing, dancing and acting. Granted Chicago does not have an intense plot and is more about the song and dance, but this played right into her hand and the rest of the cast was also unstoppable. The producers at this show decided to take a huge risk by putting her in the show and in my opinion it paid off greatly. The second show was God of Carnage. This was the 2009 Tony Award winner for best play and I again paid to sit up front. This cast only has 4 members and all of them were top film and theatre actors. Lead man Jeff Briles led them. After I got over the fact that the show was made for middle-aged married people with children, the play was awesome. The acting and directing left the audience rolling with laughter at times and amazed/speechless at other parts.

I will leave you with one more downer before I go. The Million Dollar Quartet is a new jukebox musical on Broadway. It is about one day in history when Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins all were in Sun Studios together and had an impromptu jam session. When my boss asked me if I wanted tickets I jumped at the opportunity to see some of my musical hero’s in action on stage. I love Elvis and own every song Johnny Cash has released so this to me had to be one of the greatest shows. Well the quartet tripped over itself and fell flat on its face. I took a dear friend with me to see it and to give a fair opinion she knows much less music history and much more about theatre and is also an aspiring producer. We both left the theatre wondering if that was really it. It was under cast and over dramatized. Elvis could not dance at all and was very pitchy at times and Jerry Lee was the best of them all with his great piano skills but had half the vocal range of the real Jerry. The real jam session between the four greats included mostly gospel, blues and bluegrass songs but thinking that couldn’t sell tickets the show contained only one of these songs and a dozen of the greatest hits. This is only talking a little about the music and we will have to save the lack of a plot for the next time.

After all of these theatrical experiences and several more to come in the next few weeks I am excited to be entering this crazy wonderful world. The funny thing is Million Dollar Quartet will make someone rich and the actually good musical down the street may never even be heard. There is still a fine line that we all are trying to walk.

The Other Side of New York

2010-03-24T20:53:00.001-07:00

When I say the word Chinatown, what comes to mind? Food, Mandarin, Stolen/knockoff items, and probably NYC. The Chinatown that many tourists have come to know and love in NYC is located in lower Manhattan, and despite the name, is very much Americanized. Yesterday, some friends and I visited Flushing Meadows, Queens and as I walked up from the subway, I entered a world completely different of that from Brooklyn and Chinatown Manhattan.
Our goals in visiting Flushing Meadows included seeing Arthur Ash Stadium where the U.S. Open Finals are held, Citi Field where the Mets play, and walking through the 1,255 acre park, known as Flushing Meadows Corona Park. (Side note, Central Park is arguably the most well known park in NYC, yet it is far from the biggest park in NYC. In fact, it comes in 5th at 843 acres.)

However, before reaching any of these sites, we walked right into Chinatown Queens. Massive amounts of Asian people, signs predominately in Mandarin and discount, off brand products made it obvious that we were in Chinatown. After exploring up and down Main Street, we walked into the City Hall building and read about tigers and their prominence in Chinese culture. James, a fellow friend and intern, began to color a man/dragon/tiger picture with crayons and did so with a preciseness to be envied by any boy or girl who calls coloring a hobby. Unfortunately, James's coloring extravaganza was cut short due to our hunger and a lunch recommendation given by the receptionist. Being that we were in the heart of Chinatown, we thought it only fitting to eat at an authentic Chinese restaurant, so we visited the "Little Pepper". O yea, did I mention that the receptionist, an Asian man, said with little concern the restaurant was a "little" spicy.

The awning above the restaurant had only Mandarin characters, with a little pepper man eerily smiling at any visitor that dared to enter and brave the Asian cuisine. We sat down and instantly noticed that we were the only Americans in the restaurant. The waiter poured us tea as we perused the menu and i eventually noticed that almost every dish ended saying "with chili pepper", or "hot pepper sauce". I blame our ignorance, but we each quickly realized after one bite the huge mistake we had made. Most notably, my good friend and fellow intern Nathan ordered Lamb coated in seeds from some type of hot pepper and within 5 minutes, was profusely sweating from his face. To put this in perspective, Nathan is a football player at Truman State University. If i were to guess, he stands 6' 3'' and weighs about 270LBS. If anyone could handle this food, I would guess it to be Nathan, so when I saw the extensive sweat on his face, I knew i was screwed. Despite the intolerable spiciness, Nathan cleaned his plate and proved his manliness to each and every onlooker.
Another note about the Little Pepper. The waiter did not give us water, not did any other table have water. We had hot tea, and that was the extent of our drinks. I'm not sure if this is standard with authentic Asian cuisine, but that changed quickly. Within minutes of eating our meal, the woman at the register noticed our misery, began laughing and brought us an entire picture of water. We swept through 2 of these for lunch, making this one meal i will never forget.

After lunch, we visited the newly built Citi Field where the lesser known and arguable less talented New York Mets play. The field was closed, so we were only able to look in through gates, but look forward to photos from a possible future game i attend.
Next, we visited Billie Jean King Arena where the U.S. Open is held each year. We walked through the maze of courts, mainly focusing on Arthur Ash Stadium where the final match is held. I believe i even included a picture of us with Arthur Ash and little children.
From here, we wondered the enormous park, visiting such sites as the Unisphere that you may recognize from the popular blockbuster hit Men in Black along with the concrete saucers, built for the World Fair NYC hosted in the mid 20th century.

After a full day of exploring new cultures, foods and architectural wonders, I gained a new appreciation for the other side of New York. The side off the the beaten path, away from 5th avenue, Central Park, Rockefeller Center and Time Square. Not to say these aren't great places, but I think most people tend to forget that their are 4 other boroughs within New York with just as much to offer and if you happen to take that leap of faith in exploring one, you might just be pleasantly surprised.

This is Nate, saying "Repetition breeds familiarity".

Spring Break

2010-03-21T11:22:00.001-07:00

When you think of college spring break, the first thing that comes to mind is Cancun for a week in the sun. Not for Mike and I here at Belmont East. Just because colleges get the week off does not mean that the companies we work for just shut down for the week. So after putting in my 40 hours at work Mike decided that we should go to Philadelphia for the weekend. It was supposed to be the rainiest and windiest weekend that we have had up north. So we went anyways. On friday night we got very little sleep and work up at 7:30 Saturday morning to start our journey. First was the 45 minute subway ride up to midtown Manhattan and then the wait for the Bolt Bus, followed by the just over 2 hour ride to the city of brotherly love. when we get there it is pouring down rain with the wind blowing us sideways. Neither of us had an umbrella, not that it would have helped anyways.

Mikes friend Rachel picked us up at the bus stop and we started our tour of the city at a little french restaurant. I had a really great lamb sandwich with french bread and some awesome french fries. After the filling lunch and a nap that promptly followed, it was time for our walk around the historic city where a vast majority of our nations history takes place. Still pouring rain and sweet wind gusts we walked through all the old sites. We walked down South street and through Washington Square, past the liberty bell and over to the location where Washington crossed the Delaware. Even in the rain we saw a lot of the living history of Philly taking place through thousands of green clad people filling the streets and the pubs. Mike and I learn quickly of the Irish history here after seeing a huge statue showing the many Irish immigrants starving in Ireland and their journey here and getting off the boat in this great city. The best part of this Saturday night was the cheesesteaks. We were told to order it "wiz-wit". This means steak on a hoagie bun with cheese- wiz and onions. Fantastic! Cheese-Wiz never tasted better than it did that night.

Sunday after sleeping in a little longer than we had planned Rachel drove us down town and dropped us off. We walked right around the corner and found ourselves in the middle of the biggest St. Patrick's Day Parade I've ever seen. We just started walking with the parade and saw dancers, Irish bands, clubs, teams and many people that had been drinking before i thought about getting out of bed. We walked with them for a few miles, all the way up to the Rocky steps. Of course we could not resist walking up them and taking pictures of the steps and parade and the statue. (side note: this is the only real statue of a fictional character that I have ever had the please of seeing) Mike wanted to go into the museum at the top which was having Picasso exhibit. We were told that it was free on Sundays so we went in only to find that it was free on first Sundays and this Sunday was a $20 entrance fee and being the very poor college students we are, we left. The rest of our day in town was filled with wandering and looking for food to eat. Yes we did some other cool thing and I may discuss them later, but as far at this post goes, we hit up a random taco bell near where we were staying and headed back to the bus. The bus took two and a half hours to get back into the city and when we got off Mike and I looked at each other and both said that Philly was really cool but we were really glad to be back in the real city. New York continues to be the best city in the U.S. You can argue but you're wasting your breath.

Who Shot Rock & Roll

2010-02-04T14:42:00.000-08:00

The pictures above are from the Brooklyn Museum. The museum had a really cool exhibit entitled "Who Shot Rock & Roll" that ended this past weekend, so a few of us ventured out to see the exhibit before they took it down. Although the exhibit was packed and had me feeling claustrophobic at times, it was definitely worth the time to experience these historical photographs. The pictures above include a statue outside the museum, and a bench/gate in the subway station. If you can guess who the groups are in both pictures above, you get serious props. Enjoy!

Knicks!

2010-02-01T05:32:00.001-08:00

Hello Hello,

This past Sunday, myself and three other interns ventured out on a cloudy and bleak day in NYC to Madison Square Garden to support our New York Knicks. I knew I wanted to eventually experience the Madison Square Garden building, so when my friend Kevin mentioned going to a Knicks game at MSG, I instantly agreed, not to mention that the tickets cost only $8!
Now, although we sat in the nosebleed section of the stadium, the seats were not all that bad and we had a great view of the court. However, we had some real characters sitting around us. First off, a man no older than 30 was sitting a few rows in front of us, and despite the fact he was wearing a NY hat, he kept cheering for the mavericks! I wanted to walk up to him and say,
"Um, excuse me sir, but your rooting for the wrong team. Do you need me to explain how this whole basketball thing works."
Seeing him root for the opposite team was just to fun though.
Also, a man sitting one section over from us starting shouting "J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets" midway through the 3rd quarter. I'm not sure if he had drank to much, forgot where he was and mistook MSG for the Meadowlands or was somehow related to the man wearing the NY hat and rooting for the Mavericks. Nonetheless, he created some great entertainment as we witnessed the beat down the mavericks gave us. Above, you see a picture of the halftime score, and then of the 3rd quarter score. I was going to take a picture of the 4th quarter score, but at that point, I was to embarrassed to be at MSG rooting for the Knicks.
All in all, it was a great experience.
O and did I mention John McEnroe was sitting court side at the game.

Just Another Day in NYC

2010-01-28T07:08:00.000-08:00

"People of Earth"

I realize it has been a while since I last blogged, but life has been busy. Let me update you on the weeks happenings.
On our first Sunday here, Jan. 10, I along with 5,000 other brave New Yorkers embarked on the 9th annual "No Pants Subway Ride". This event is spearheaded through a New York based group called Improve Everywhere. Their slogan is simple, "To cause scenes of chaos and joy in public places."
This year, to accommodate the large amount of people, we met in 6 different locations throughout the 5 boroughs. We then all rode separate subway lines, eventually all meeting together in Union Square. My group met up at Prospect Park in Brooklyn. We estimated about 400-500 people at this specific location. After debriefing us, the group broke up into 10 different groups. Each group would get on a separate subway car, placing about 50 people per car. At each stop, more and more people would de-pants, then get off at that stop. So at the 1st stop, 2 people would get off, then 4 at the next stop, then 8 at the next stop and so on. When the next subway line came by, it would look as though more and more people with no pants were getting on the subway at each stop. Our final destination in Union Square was the most epic experience of my life. Imagine 5,000 people with no pants in the middle of Manhattan performing human pyramids, playing duck duck goose and dancing in the windows of the 3 story DSW, all while it is 25 degrees out. I will try to find pictures of myself with no pants on, but in the meantime, check out the pictures at Improve Everywhere. http://improveverywhere.com/

I had a very odd and humorous experience on the No Pants Subway ride. As my stop approached, i prepared mentally to take my pants off in front of numerous people. I figured that it would be best for everyone if I took my pants off standing up. At the time, i didn't realize this, but i was standing right next to the bench, where a middle aged man was sitting. When my stop approached, I pulled my pants down with confidence, and they hadn't even reached my ankles when i felt a tap on my shoulder. At this point, my life paused for what seemed like minutes. I thought to myself, O geez, here we go. As i lifted my head, my pants still at my ankles, the man looked at me and said,
"Excuse me sir, where did you get your side bag?"
I paused and thought to myself, are you serious? My pants are at my ankles and your asking me about my side bag? Nonetheless, i replied, "Macy's, I think."
By this point, i am putting my pants in my bag,
But the man goes on.
"Do you know what brand it is?"
I replied, "McKlein"
The man then thanked me and went about his day saying nothing of my pantless state. I guess New Yorkers are use to seeing absurd things.

After the Union Square party, a group of us went to the Belmont Lounge, coincidentally enough, and reminisced of the days events.

New Semester!

2010-01-11T18:27:00.001-08:00

Well, its COOOOOLD here in NYC! We are very excited to meet this new group of students, it's going to be a great semester! We will miss our fall 2009 Belmont Easters, but are anxious to meet the new spring 2010 students on Wednesday.

Stay tuned for lots more blogging and fun NYC adventures!
Beka

Meeting Cool People and Doing Cool Things

2009-12-06T17:56:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to blog for a while! I've been waiting on the photo here of me with my coworker and Jordin Sparks! Cherry Lane just signed to publish all of Jordin sparks writing. I have to admit that although I don't listen to her music that much Jordin Sparks was an amazing young woman. She was so sweet and down to earth.
Cherry lane has had a lot of activity recently besides Jordin. We had a small acoustic show by Jeremy of Days Difference and we had meetings with Keke Palmer of Akeelah and the Bee!
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity, thanks to a really cool friend! He invited me to the SNL after party!! It was a great night even though later we found out that it was the after after party and most of the famous people are already in bed asleep. We did hear that the members of Dave Matthew's band were walking amongst us, which was cool I suppose! Haha
Last Wednesday for class we went to go see Wicked on Broadway, which is one of my favorite shows! It was incredible as always! After the show we schlepped through the rain to the Rockefeller Center to see the big tree all lit for the first time this year. It was very pretty! Things are winding up here so fast... It is amazing, I feel like I just got here! NY has been an incredible experience.

I recall Central Park in fall.

2009-11-24T17:58:00.000-08:00

So I just realized that I have not posted something on here in quite a while - time just got away from me! You know what they say, time flies when you're having fun. Everything has been pretty standard since the last time I wrote, interning and classing, going out in the city and just living in NYC. My best friend was here this past weekend for a little visit and to celebrate her 23rd birthday. It was awesome! We went to a show for one of the band's represented by Stunt Co. Wild Light and it was stellar. They put on a great show and the guys are super nice, so it made for a perfect b-day celebration. We hung out in Central Park on Sunday, which I have discovered is my favorite place to be in the fall. It is gorgeous, I could sit there all day and take pics of the autumn colors everywhere.

I am STOKED for this week because my family is making the 10 hour drive to spend Thanksgiving with me. This year is a bit different because "my family" includes my parents and their best friends, Steve and Carla, and their two sons Chris and Matt. I am so happy for everyone to be here and to spend the holiday together! The other great part of this week is my 22nd birthday on Saturday!! I am sure it will be fantastic since I will be journeying out to Long Island with my boss to see one of my all-time fave bands, Brand New. I cannot wait, especially since this is their hometown show AND it's at the massive Nassau Coliseum. So, I will be sharing my birthday with a bunch of hardcore LI kids belting their lungs out to their hometown heroes. I honestly can't think of a better way to turn 22.

Only 2 and a half more weeks! WHAT?! Where has time gone? I want to stay.

Quick Update

2009-11-18T11:21:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been awhile since I have updated you all on my life.

The past few weeks have been pretty exciting. A few weeks ago, I was able to attend one of the Rock n Roll 25th Anniversary concerts at MSG for free! The show lasted about five hours and was packed with amazing performances. Some of the performers included Aretha Franklin, Jerry Lee Lewis, Annie Lennox, Lenny Kravitz, Sting, ZZ Top, Ozzy Osbourne (my personal favorite of the night), Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, the Black Eyed Peas, Mick Jagger, and U2! A great experience for sure.

On Monday night, Amy and I went to see Luke Bryan at the Bowery Ballroom. Nashville came to NYC and we couldn't have been happier! He put on a great show. We've missed the south and country music. While we were there, we met some new friends who graduated from Vandy last year and now live in the city. Small world.

My internship at AMO couldn't be better. I'm sad that I don't have many days left. This was the perfect internship for me. I have learned so much and have gotten to know so many people. I feel like I am a part of the company. They always involve me in everything as much as possible. I have also gotten to attend all of our artists shows when they come to town. I've helped prepare for these shows all semester and it's fun to be able to see the final product. On top of all that, I have been able to help with some special events for our artists. I love special events and event planning so I enjoyed every minute of it. Two of our artists have a show tonight, so I am going on a field trip to CAKE BOSS with one of the girls from the office to pick up cake (obviously) for the evening. I'm not going to lie, I'm excited about the little adventure to New Jersey.

My mission this weekend is to go out and experience more of NYC! I'll hopefully hit up the Brooklyn Flea Market as well (this is the last weekend for it).

Until next time...

Shannon

P.S. I have located the Chick-Fil-A in NYC for all of you who are missing it!

Parent Weekend!

2009-11-16T13:08:00.000-08:00

This weekend my parents came into town to visit me! It was great to see them, but we had a pretty tough time meeting up. First their flight was canceled and then there were issues with the F train, which made it difficult to get to their hotel in Midtown, but it was done.

I took them to some of my favorite hangs in NYC and Brooklyn, including Tom's Diner in Prospect Heights (if you ever go to NYC you HAVE to get breakfast and a milkshake at this place) and we spent a lot of time around Rockafeller Plaza, which is probably my favorite touristy area in NYC. The Rockafeller Christmas tree was recently brought in, and it still has scaffolding around it, but I look forward to being around to see it lit up.

Unfortunately the weather was less than desirable because of a hurricane/tropical storm thing that brought cloudy skies, a light rain, and a lot wind, so we weren't able to go to the Top of the Rock, which has the best view in NYC. We ended up going to MoMA, which was great and we saw the play A Steady Rain which has the actors you may know as The Most Recent James Bond, and Wolverine. It was fantastic, and it was just the two of them, but the way they told the story it made you feel like everything they were talking about was actually happening on stage with them.

Anyway, it was a nice short visit and I got to do a lot of things that I normally wouldn't have gotten out to do.

Also, I just thought I'd mention that it's November 16th and yet it is 60 degrees outside. Wow.

This is Sirius.

2009-11-16T09:09:00.000-08:00

Better late than never.

Well I'm pretty slow to jump on the blogging bandwagon even though so many amazing experiences have happened to me up here in NYC. Belmont East was one of my major reasons for coming to Belmont University and I'm happy to say it has not left me disappointed.

I am interning at SiriusXM satellite radio and I have learned so much. I have gained education on many different systems, a great knowledge of how to trouble shoot a network with over 40 studios, hands on physical maintenance from the studio gear to cables. I spend most of my days following around the Engineer on Duty (EOD) responding to maintainence calls as well as the day to day upkeep. Some of my other days I am working in BNOC- Broadcast Network Operations Center. It is essentially the command center for SiriusXM. And when things are getting to technical I pop my head into to studios and work with Studio Operations. I've worked on live recording sessions with some amazing artists as well as really famous people such as: Oprah, Dr. Phil, Barbra Walters, Howard Stern, Smokey Robinson, Queen Latifa, NeedtoBreath...and many more (those were just my favorites).

I've had a great time at Belmont East and believe it has not been just my internship. I feel like I always have exciting weekends, and compared to the ones I have during the summer in Fayetteville, Georgia they can't even compare. This weekend I saw two shows and spent very little money. I saw Tourdant at the Metropolitan Opera. But the more amazing part was I was able to "stub-in" and see 2/3's of the show in $222.50 seats for free. This was an amazing experience. The show was phenomenal and the setting was more breathtaking. But this was only half the weekend. My roommate Jake and I had been trying to win a ticket lottery for a Broadway show for a while, and after six failures we found great success. We landed Box seat tickets for the show "Next To Normal" for $25 each.

My weekends continue to impress me, and I constantly don't know what to expect from my random adventures around The Big Apple.

Patrick Griffin

Macy's

2009-11-12T14:27:00.000-08:00

If this group were any luckier it'd simply be unfair. unfair.
So far we've gotten random free dinner, free tickets to opening nights and final dress rehearsals, free tickets to pro football games....and the entire time in GREAT seats, btw. and now - Balloons.

All you kidz out there who want to attend Belmont East should go to church on Sundays. Why? So you can meet peeps with the hookup to Macy's Balloon Fest.
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - it's a nationally televised event. You'd think it'd be super easy to get to become balloon handler - or to find out when the testing happens for new balloons, right? WRONG.
The Macy's Balloon people are a tightly-knit, super secret, initiation required society. It's like a sorority, but without rush.
(Think the Amherest society in the TV show 'Greek')

Anyways, thanks to Church, I met a young man, whose name must be withheld, who scored me and 4 friends free tickets to the Macy's Balloon Fest - an event for sponsors of the parade and new balloon handlers to come out and test the new balloons.

We all got free breakfast, sweatshirts and a chance to walk Snoopie around a large parking lot for an hour an a half.

So much fun.
The photo is us in front of spider man.

I mean, you're right. it's unfair.

This is the greatest experience of my life.

TuneCore - Tyler Bryant

2009-11-12T09:22:00.000-08:00

I've gotta show my face sometime, huh? :)

New York has been a fantastic experience - it's been a lot of fun hanging out with the Belmont crew (Tori, Ashley, Emily, Shannon & Amy - yes as one unit, Jessica, Patrick my roomy, Ian, & Matt.Dowd). Shannon & Amy live below Patrick and I...and they've had to suffer a lot of unnecessarily loud and obnoxious noises from us over the past few months. Let me publicly apologize for that :)

TuneCore

While I've been up here, I've been interning at a digital music distribution company called TuneCore. TuneCore distributed independent artists' music to all the major digital stores, including iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Napster, Shockhound, eMusic, etc... They handle about 150,000 artists' music on iTunes (that's a rough estimate). I'm their only intern and I've been treated just like a new member of their team, helping put together content for their newsletter and exploring different marketing strategies. I was originally given the task of finding articles for the newsletter, but soon found it was easier to write them myself than to track down other people to write them... Sooo, you can read a few of my articles here if you want:

Talk the Talk with Your Sound Engineer by Jake Hartsfield
The Producer's Checklist by Jake Hartsfield
Stay Hot in Online Marketing by Jake Hartsfield
Inside EQ - Keys to a Great Mix: Part I by Jake Hartsfield
Keys to a Great Mix: Part II by Jake Hartsfield

Tyler Bryant

Another large part of my existence this semester has actually been spent in various cities around the US, touring with an artist out of Nashville named Tyler Bryant. I'm currently his tour manager and front of house engineer (and marketing guru, online techie, graphic designer, etc..) I'd fly in to California, meet the band, run front of house sound for a few shows, hang out, then fly back to New York... I did this every weekend since I got up to NY until about 3 weeks ago when we all got a little break. But guess how many classes I've missed this entire semester? Only 3! :) Two of my good friends at Belmont actually started playing for Tyler back in March before they got me involved - Caleb Crosby (drums, junior at Belmont) and Calvin Webster (bass/vocals, junior at belmont. I started running Front of House sound for Tyler earlier this summer, and we toured along the west coast, down south, and on the upper east coast, opening for B.B. King, Styx, REO Speedwagon, and Heart, among others. My role with the band grew into tour manager as the summer progressed, and we're all just one happy little family now :)

Obviously, I wouldn't have been able to do any of this if it weren't for the Belmont East program. I may have had a stranger, more hectic, experience than most, but it really is what you make of it, and New York is a fantastic city to be a part of.

Peace,

Jake Hartsfield
jakehartsfield@gmail.com
http://jakehartsfield.com

October Re-cap

2009-11-11T18:48:00.001-08:00

Sorry that it's been a while! No need to state the obvious... been busy! I guess I will tell of the month of October collectively. It was amazing. October is probably my favorite month no matter where it's spent, but it has definitely been my favorite in NYC. I had friends visit for 3 of the weekends!!! Three of my good friends from Belmont got to come for Fall Break and we all stayed in a hotel in Manhattan, so it was good to get out of Brooklyn for a little weekend. Then, another good friend from Alabama came for Halloween. We had a blast. I loved Halloween in NYC. The weirdest city in the world gets even weirder for one night. It's crazy. Although, having creepy people in masks on the subway and wandering around makes the probability for crime much higher... In turn, I was nervous all night. But we dressed as flappers and had a fun night people watching! But I must say the best part of the weekend was the day we spent in Central Park. I had been awaiting fall in CP since I've been here. It was pretty spectacular.

Life at Atlantic has been good, working hard and learning a lot. Nothing super exciting to speak of lately. Just a valuable experience on the good days and bad, and I'm really grateful for the opportunity. I went home this last weekend to see my little brother's last football game, and it really made me realize how much I miss life in the South. So I can't wait to get back to Nashville in December! I need a job!!! :) Roommate Shannon and I are embarking on accomplishing serious NYC To-do's that we've neglected all semester so I'll keep you posted on what's to come... -Amy

Pumpkin Carving and my first backflip!

2009-11-06T08:10:00.001-08:00

One of my biggest challenges at Belmont East (and college in general) has been the time spent away from my family. My roommate, Ashley, is a dream of a roommate and knowing this, invited myself and some of our classmates to her home in Philly for the weekend.

We had a Harvest Party, complete with Pumpkin Carving, tours of historic Philly and of course, Philly Cheese Stakes. I've never gotten along so well with such a small group of people. We're becoming fast friends and I have this trip to thank for that.

The bigger news is that I learned how to do my first backflip. It was kind of amazing - i'm not going to lie. You can watch the video here.

:)

2009-11-05T16:55:00.000-08:00

I believe that this picture just captures the essence of NY. I just experienced my first NY Halloween and let me just emphasize... you won't find anything else like it in the U.S. Although the crowds were massive and there were a few riots on the subways, it was great! A few of us sported garden gnome costumes and we got several friendly high-fives and we even got a hug from a fellow gnome on the streets.
It still amazes me that so many New Yorkers are really friendly and will go out of their way to do you a favor. My amazing friend and roommate Tori and I received a free bus ride from an MTA bus driver! We were even treated to a comped dessert at Max Brenner's all chocolate restaurant, just for being involved in the Music industry!
Unfortunately New York is full of amazing food, so my friends and I must come up with creative ways to work off all the goodness we eat. One of our favorite activities after Beka and Ben's class is to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge! The view is breathtaking at night and is a little over a mile walk. Ben and Beka teach the Entertainment Industry in NY class. I have to say, that I have learned so much about the music industry from their experiences. I feel like I am able to apply everything I've ever learned at Belmont in this class. I am able to discuss and strategize effectively about the music industry. Another great thing about the classes at Belmont East is that we get to have amazing guest speakers and field trips! But I’ll give out more details the next time I blog!

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

2009-10-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd post about the Late Night taping! Before the show started a comedian came out to get all of us laughing and ready for the show. He quickly explained how things were going to happen and next thing I know The Roots make an entrance and start playing some songs for us. The show began shortly after! The guests on this evening were Artie Lange, Olivia Munn, and Chef David Chang. Oh, and Susan Sarandon made a surprise visit!

Here I am! Along with my friends John, Greg, and Kendal.

Matty D

Busy Week!

2009-10-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

In the last two weeks or so I've made it to many shows!

10/15 - I went and saw a band we (The MuseBox) work with called Hey Ocean at Piano's.

10/17 - Saw a band from Missouri called The Bottle Rockets. Great Alt-Country Band. The show was at the Mercury Lounge.

10/21 - We (The MuseBox) put on a free showcase for two bands called Parlovr and Little Fish. This show was at Bowery Electric.

10/22 - The MuseBox put on a CMJ showcase for several bands we work with at Webster Hall. I really enjoyed the group called Bottle Up And Go.

10/23 - I volunteered at CMJ.

And tonight I am going to a live taping of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon!

Should be fun!!!

Matchooo

Memphis opening!

2009-10-20T11:46:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody ~

Last night I worked the opening night of the new musical, Memphis. The red carpet was not very spectacular, but getting to got to the after-party at the Hard Rock Cafe was pretty sweet. I escorted the cast members through the crowds to the press line for photos as they arrived at the party. After the photos were over, I got to just hang out at the party.

Tori and I saw the show over the weekend and really enjoyed it. The music and choreography were really tight, though the plot was fairly bland. The story takes place in segregated Memphis during the 1950s. A white DJ named Huey Calhoun finds success playing ''race'' music and finds himself falling in (forbidden) love with a black singer named Felicia Farrow. The original music was composed by David Bryan, keyboardist and a founding member of Bon Jovi.

Nostalgia.

2009-10-19T22:05:00.000-07:00

For about the past two weeks, I have been getting random intense feelings of nostalgia. Maybe it's the changing seasons or something, but what I know for sure is there are some days I want to go back in time. This all started when I was looking through old documents at my internship and found a tour press release for Motion City Soundtrack and The Format. These two (fantastic) bands toured together in 2006 and three of my best friends and I took a super-fun road trip to Cleveland, OH for the show at the Agora Theater. It was a date featured prominently on the release - March 31, 2006. The fourth time I would see Motion City Soundtrack live in less than a year. (For those curious minds out there, to date I've been to 8 MCS shows. Great times!)
As I was reading this press release and as The Format was serendipitously pumping through the speakers in our office, I could not help but remember my former self, a girl from suburban Ohio, about to graduate Catholic school and head south to a Baptist university with a music business program that no one I knew had even heard of. If you would have told me then I would be interning with the publicity company for these bands who made music I listened to on repeat while driving in my car, I would have laughed. But here I am.
Tonight when we were at Island Def Jam, I had another bout of intense nostalgia. Erik brought up Fall Out Boy and the fact that their strong internet fan base was a tipping point in their success at a major label. I instantly remembered sitting in my den after school and streaming From Under the Cork Tree on purevolume.com. This was in February and that album dropped in late April. I remember hearing "Sugar, We're Going Down" and thinking "WOW." I had been listening to FOB for almost a year and my love for the pop-punk GEM that is Take This to Your Grave led me to become a total fan girl of Pete Wentz and Co. Needless to say their impeding massive success story turned me away from them for a while (it's SO not punk to like mainstream bands), but they always have a place in my heart--and my CD player.

I think it's important for all of us to remember that we are music fans first and formost. The sole reason I got to this place in my life is that I lived for this music, these bands. Recently, the business side of music has made me a little jaded. The hunt for the next big thing, the next way to make a buck off the emotions of song annoys me from time to time. I don't know about you but the second I forget about being "Jessica who blasts pop-punk at top volume everyday" or the moment I don't feel a sense of longing to just be the girl driving around listening to Motion City and singing along from the front row of a show in Cleveland, is the second I leave the industry. I'm doing what I'm doing so that other kids across the country who are like the teen I was can connect to the music that so changed my life.

Luckily, I haven't reached the point of total cynicism just yet and the new MCS single makes me just as happy as when I heard them for the first time :)

A Little Joy

2009-10-18T07:17:00.000-07:00

The last time I wrote I talked about getting into free concerts because of my internship, and that's exactly what I'm going to write about now.

This past summer I discovered a band called Little Joy, and their debut album quickly became my summer jam. One of my best friends and I would always put it on when we were cooking dinner or driving around aimlessly. I'm awful at describing music, but it's great pop with a Brazilian feel.

I had no idea that they were part of Beggars until I started working at the office and saw one of their posters on the wall, and when I found out that they were playing a show at Webster Hall I decided that I HAD to go, so I got myself on the list before it filled up and did my best to prepare myself for the awesome rock that was about to occur.

The concert was great, as I expected it to be. Devendra Banhart was a secret guest opener. I had never really listened to his stuff, and I probably won't start, but some of the stuff he did was pretty cool. He was dressed like he was at Bonnaroo, totally druggy and greasy, but oddly enough after his set I saw him in the VIP section and he looked clean and had changed into a suit. Weird.

Anyway, Little Joy did not disappoint. They played pretty much their entire album (I didn't notice if they missed any songs) as well as some new tunes and covers. I sort of got my dance on during the encore, and after the show a fellow Beggars intern and I attempted to pass out stickers for a new band called The xx and flyers for a different show the next night, but the people at Webster Hall didn't seem too into it. At the Yo La Tengo show most people took the flyers that I was handing out, but at the end of the night I still had a ton of stickers and stuff.

As much as I loved the show it did make me a little homesick, as it made me miss my friend who would have loved to have seen Little Joy with me. It's sort of rough in NYC. It can be hard to make friends. At least, it's harder to make friends than it is in Nashville, where it's really easy to meet new people, at least for me. I always took that for granted. I mean, I love NYC and all that it has to offer, but people who live here, people who walk down the street, a lot of them seem really lonely. You know, it probably doesn't help that most of the other interns where I work are 25.

Should Have Seen it in Color...

2009-10-14T19:05:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since, I've blogged (Sorry Ben and Bekah!) Let me re-cap about all of the exciting adventures I've been on lately.

I'd like to start out by thanking the Lord it is no longer disgustingly hot. I love fall! Shannon and I went to see the Braves and the Mets play in Queens! I'm so glad the Mets are terrible so that college kids on a budget can pay 15 bucks to see them get beat. (It really was like watching little league.) Go Braves!!

We finally got to go on the Circle Line Cruise on Belmont's tab. It was worth every penny Bob Fisher paid. It was such an amazing day and the perfect way to usher in this Fall season. Later that night, we went to Williamsburg in Brooklyn to have dinner with Anna and Emily (BU alumnas). I think it's worth mentioning we made smores over a fire fueled by the pages of last month's Rolling Stone.

My best friend from home came to visit this weekend! Yay. I needed a familiar face because I was getting a little homesick! We had a great weekend complete with a lot of Nashville events. On Friday night we saw a country concert at the Bowery Ball Room (Jamey Johnson and Randy Houser)! We were exhausted but decided to go because some one gave us free tickets. I didn't expect many people to be there, but we walked into a packed house! And to my further surprise, when Jamey Johnson played his hit song "In Color" the entire house sang every single word and Jamey really only joined in on the chorus. It was a crazy NYC experience! To further the Nashville feeling (that I miss so much), we went to a West Point football game on Saturdaay to watch Vandy! West Point is beautiful and so was everything about the hour train ride it took to get us there!

So, that's what I do when I'm not at my internship. I guess I should touch on what I've been doing at work in the publicity world. I've been working hard and learning A LOT. I like being busy; time flies. I have been doing a lot of tour market research looking for press outlets. I've also tried to organize stuff because our office is a mess! We threw out a lot of old magazines and we're sending them to charities. We also sent some to certain artists on the label who are currently in prison (hard to say with a straight face), and I know of one who is going to be very excited we got rid of a bunch of old Playboys and Penthouses.

PEACE AND LOVE.
amy

2009-10-12T10:02:00.000-07:00

Hello!

NYC has been amazing! Some of the standout moments so far include being treated like stars at the restaurant B. Smith’s, seeing a Yankee’s games while they played my hometown team the Kansas City Royals, and a tour on the ferry.

Last weekend I went to the Lucinda Williams concert and this weekend I believe I will be going to an NBA game!

Mateo Dowd

Mary Poppins on Broadway

2009-10-11T12:10:00.000-07:00

Jessica and I have been wanting to see Mary Poppins on Broadway since we arrived. On Thursday night, we finally found the time to go. We went to the TKTS booth in Brooklyn to try and score discounted tickets. We were able to get 16th row orchestra seats for half price! Pretty sweet deal! I definitely recommend going to the TKTS booth in Brooklyn over the one in Times Square, because there was no line. The show took place at the New Amsterdam Theater. The theater was beautiful and it was packed with people of all ages. The set was amazing. I always wondered how they were going to pull off Mary Poppins on a stage, but they did. The show was great- very entertaining and almost went right along with the movie. Jessica and I felt like we were reliving our childhood! If you grew up watching the movie, this show is a must see!!

Shannon

A Steady Rain - opening night!!

2009-10-07T14:18:00.000-07:00

Hey kids,

So I got to work the opening night of A Steady Rain - even got to meet and congratulate Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig between the performance and the after-party. Before the show I worked on the red carpet outside the theater making sure the celebrity guests knew where they were going and keeping the swarming crowds away from them. Some of them included: Jerry Seinfeld, Naomi Watts, Liev Schreiber, Whoopi Goldberg, Matthew Broderick, Matt Morrison, Jeff Goldblum, Regis Philbin, Jeffrey Wright, Darren Aronofsky, and Rupert Murdoch.

During the performance, I helped set everything up for the post-show press junket at the Harvard Club. Following the press conference (check out the photos), the stars went to the after-party and everyone from my office went out to Joe Allen (right next to B Smith!) and it was really good. A Steady Rain runs until Dec. 6th and is grossing over $1 million per week.

Daniel Craig, writer Keith Huff, director John Crowley, and Hugh Jackman)

(Daniel Craig, his girlfriend Satsuki Mitchell, Debra Lee-Funess,
her husband Hugh Jackman, and my boss Michael Hartman)

(My fellow intern Joshua and I)

Some other interesting things from this week:

I bought the new Paramore and Relient K albums and I'm enjoying them very much. The Amazon Exclusive track that came with the Relient K album sounded strangely like Owl City - so I looked up the track producer and it just happens to be Adam Young! And word on the street is that Adam Young and Matt Thiessen are looking to embark on a collaborative project called "Goodbye Dubai". So if you've ever wondered what techno-Relient K would sound like, we may find out very soon!

Until next week -
izh

Journeys...and BLINK!

2009-10-06T19:38:00.000-07:00

First things first, my internship was crazy busy and awesome last week because Brand New's album Daisy debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200. WOW. It is pretty phenomenal considering the entire album leaked about 2 weeks before its release and was available for free stream on MySpace for 2 days. It just goes to show that having a rabid fan base--and BN fans are hard to the core--can be a major determinate for an artist's success. You can check out some Brand New songs here. (I recommend the title track "Daisy"... so goood!)
This past weekend, I ventured to Grand Central Station in the wee hours of the morning to board a train to New Haven at 7:07 AM. It was ridiculous. I was going there to watch my friend Jess' school flag football team play Yale Divinity School's team. Even though it was cold, muddy and super early for a Saturday, I have to admit it was sweet to see Yale, and where I could have been a student if only I focused on academics instead of going to see bands.
Which leads me to my next exciting adventure: seeing blink182 at Madison Square Garden! AMAZING. I saw the show back in August in Cincinnati, but there's no way I was going to miss them at MSG. Keep in mind that blink182 was my obsession in life from like 2001-until ...ummm now. Let's be serious, they're still my fave :)
This date was supposed to be the final date of their "reunion" tour but due to DJ AM's untimely death, (he and blink drummer Travis Barker were great friends and played insane shows together with Travis drumming to live beats), a few dates had to be re-routed for this week. But the show was still incredible. One thing is for sure about blink182--they want you to have the best time ever at their shows, have a FUN life in general and never take yourself too seriously. I love it. Not to mention, Travis' drum solos are worth every penny of outrageous Ticketmaster fees. Plus, Mark and Tom do things like hug each other, talk about the early days of the band and how inane the "indefinite hiatus" was. Things that make chicks like me practically cry with 'happiness that they are back together. I could go on and on, but I'll spare you anymore blink details.
Up this week: More music publicity and wandering the streets of NYC. Sounds good to me.
Unitl the future. . .

Free shows galore!!!

2009-10-05T20:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally found the post inviting me to this fabulous blog, so I'm going to blog about something that I know: free stuff.

Working for Beggars Group has some incredible perks! I can have almost any Beggars release that I want and on top of that I get VIP seats (when available) to any Beggars show.

My first free show was Yo La Tengo on September 25th at the Roseland Ballroom. Let me tell you something - the Roseland Ballroom is SWANKY. I mean to say that it is a nice place. That Rose Bar is something what I imagine when I think of bars that I will never see.

Anyway, Yo La Tengo was amazing. I've been listening to their new record (which I got for free) on the subway a lot, so I was really pumped for the show. What I didn't realize was that there was going to be a cool light show. Now, I don't mean laser lights or stage lights sweeping around and whatnot, what I mean is there was a screen behind YLT, and a group of people manually created the light show by reflecting lights and mirrors and whatnot onto the screen. Since I was upstairs in the VIP section I could actually walk behind the screen and watch them work, which I was cool. Here's a picture:
And here's a video:

The bottom line is that I have the best internship ever, and I plan on taking full advantage of not only the perks, but working with a real indie label. I'm often disappointed by the lack of discussion concerning the indies in classes at Belmont, especially since many of the professors have made it clear that they believe that major labels are, for the most part, dinosaurs.

Sunday's Adventure

2009-10-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we all went on the Circle Line Cruise. We couldn't have asked for better weather. We arrived at the port around 11:20am - barely making it on board. We had train issues that morning. When we got there, Emily Bines and Anna Pandorf were waiting on us with our tickets. We stood on the bow for mostly the entire trip, which provided us with a wonderful view.

After the cruise, we all headed to Juniors in Times Square where we filled up on huge meals and tasty desserts. To end our day, we went over to Emily and Anna's apartment for dinner. They made us delicious chili and cornbread. I think we were all ready for a home cooked meal! The night got interesting when we decided to make s'mores on a mini grill in their backyard. After many failed attempts, we used an issue of Rolling Stone Magazine to start the fire (You know you go to Belmont when you use Rolling Stone Magazine to start a fire). We still had some problems, but I am pretty sure we all got to enjoy at least one s'more. It was a perfect day and a great way to end (or start) the week.

Shannon

Talking to Strangers

2009-09-23T07:52:00.000-07:00

Last night the class was taken to a NARIP (National Association of Record Industry Professionals) discussion of licensing for film and television. This is why it feels entirely appropriate that on our way back to the subway we came into contact with a big television guy - Dan Gasby.

While searching for a cheap burger joint we found ourselves crossing the street with a really tall and really well-dressed man who asked where we were heading. I told him we were looking for a good place to eat and to our surprise he said, "Well, how 'bout you guy come to my restaurant and I'll buy you a round of drinks."

A round of drinks turned into a round of appetizers and desserts like Bono's favorite bread pudding.

Want to be really jealous of our good luck? Click here to visit the B-Smith website.

The photo is of us at the restaurant.

I love New York.
-tori

Rock of Ages // Owl City

2009-09-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody!

So last night Patrick and I went to see Rock of Ages, the musical featuring all 80s rock songs. I admit it is not the most intricate or moving plot, but it sure is one of the most enjoyable shows on Broadway. Excellent singing and choreography and it keeps you constantly laughing. We noticed how the audience was made up of mostly middle-aged women who quite enjoyed singing along and swooning over Constantine Maroulis. Overall, a very entertaining show leaving you with several songs stuck in your head.

Also, since we all love to discuss Owl City - this week I found out about their ground-breaking deal with Universal. Normally artists receive bonuses when they hit a given benchmark of album sales. And since albums simply aren't selling like they used to, very few artists ever receive these bonuses. However, Owl City's lawyer negotiated that their benchmark be counted in downloads of the album's single. I believe the details are that at 1,000,000 downloads, Owl City gets a $100,000 bonus from Universal. Their single "Fireflies" has already been downloaded over 400,000 times and we expect them to hit the 1 million benchmark by Christmas. As we've discussed in class, everything is negotiable, so here's an example of how an artist can actually put their leverage to use.

Until next week -
izh

N-Y-C! N-Y-C!

2009-09-16T20:44:00.000-07:00

So, we're approaching the one month mark of being here and oh how time has flown. One second it feels like I've been here for a day and the next it feels like a lifetime. Either way, the time has been amazing. It feels great to be able to say I love living in New York, considering it has been my dream since the first time I visited in June of 2002. Plus, my internship is everything I ever wanted and everything I have been working toward since I decided to come to Belmont all those years ago. In addition to the magical feeling of being a resident of NY and the incredible internship, one of my best friends, Jess Reuter-BU Class of '09-is going to school in Chelsea. Basically I have to pinch myself on a daily basis because it all is just too good to be true! I once heard that you have to be very lucky to come to New York and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

Since Owl City always ends up coming up in our Wednesday discussions, I thought I'd include this photo I took from his show at Bowery Ballroom. Adam was working the crowd with that hand clap. Taylor Swift was a dancing fool in the balcony. I was cracking up at the ridiculous awesomeness of the whole sitauation. Hardcore Nashville meets New York moment.

Anyway, my friend Alex (Wendkos, a belmont east alum!) is here this week, my mom and her best friend Carla, also know as my second mother, are coming this weekend with Carla's mom, sister and another friend. AND Jess' golden birthday, 22 on the 22nd, is Tuesday. Needless to say, living it up with great friends and family in Manhattan will undoubtedly take up most of my time for the next six days. As soon as I put in a hard day's work at my internship tomorrow, of course :)

A little more local.

2009-09-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

When I arrived in NYC, I felt like I was walking around with words on my forehead announcing the fact that I was a newbie and completely out of my comfort zone.

Now, I walk around with a little more confidence. I think I've cut back on the number of times I apologize for being in some one's way each day. (I've come to realize no one really cares that your sorry for bumping into them.) I even have mustered up the strength to shove people out of my way in certain situations, which really makes me feel like a New Yorker.

As for life in the City... It's pretty much Best Case Scenario. My internship is actually exactly what I wanted, even though I sometimes complain about its intensity. I wanted to come and work hard, to learn a work ethic. My intern experience in Nashville was way to low key to equip for a real-life, big-girl job. With graduation just around the corner, I wanted to be challenged... And that is definitely what life at Atlantic is providing me.

Now, I just need to work on my stamina... these 14 hour days of work then straight to classes are KILLING me!

Peace and Love.
Amy

Feeling like a New Yorker

2009-09-16T09:19:00.000-07:00

Well, New York is starting to feel like home. My room is a mess, laundry is overflowing, and I have down daily routines. I am also learning what my favorite places are around the city. Park Slope, Brooklyn is one of them. I am sure everyone has gotten off at the 7th Ave stop on the F train at least once since we have been here. The area is so peaceful and full of new shops and restaurants to explore. Amy and I discovered Dizzy's Diner. If you come up from the subway by 8th Ave and 9th Street it's right there on the corner. The food is amazing. It is a "finer diner" so they have non-diner food at reasonable prices ($10-$15 meals). The atmosphere is cool. At night, all the tables are covered in brown paper for you to draw on and have flowers and candles on them. Sometimes they even have live music. One night we decided to write notes on the table to send to our family and friends on our phones...

We need to take a BE group trip there soon. What are everyone else's favorite places to eat here?!

Shannon

East Side!

2009-09-15T13:28:00.000-07:00

It's week 3 in New York City and it feels like it's been a semester!

The group's done and seen so many things already. I thought when first arriving that this trip would be mostly composed of school work and my internship with limited time in the city - but I could not have been more wrong!

Ben and Jake goofing off at the Hershey Store in Time Square.

A late night stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge after our Wednesday night class

When the subway gets too crowded, it's good to know we'll make room for each other

Though most of my day is spent at my internship or studying for class, we have a lot of time here to really immerse ourselves in the city. Not only do I spent a lot of time with my Belmont East classmates, but we've also made friends with some characters who live in our apartment complex. Together, a whole bunch of us find ourselves staying up late for regular "explorer" nights were we find new places to eat, new areas to tour and new shows to see.

I've never had more fun in my entire life. For the first time school doesn't feel like school - it feels like life - and a good one at that!

-Tori

A Steady Rain

2009-09-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

Hey Belmont East!

So I got this really cool opportunity this past Wednesday night that explains my absence from class. My internship at the Hartman Group PR secured a third-row seat for me to see the final dress rehearsal of A Steady Rain. The drama is about two gritty Chicago cops played by Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig. Apart from the occasional vulgar joke, it’s a very serious show with an ever-escalating plot.

Both Daniel and Hugh pull off incredible Chicago accents, considering they are from the UK and Australia, respectively. Daniel Craig was not very Bond-esque – his voice was higher and completely unrecognizable, plus he was sporting a creeper mustache with a comb-over. I probably wouldn’t have recognized him if I didn’t see his name in the playbill. Daniel and Hugh exhibit great chemistry onstage. Both men are amazing actors and put on a very heavy and moving performance.

Now A Steady Rain is in previews at the Schoenfeld Theatre on 45th Street. It is set to open on Broadway September 29th and will run until December 6th. I would definitely recommend seeing the show – student rush tickets are only $31.50. And it’s Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig!

izh

Classes have started!

2009-09-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

Well, the first week has gone by and everyone has moved in and started their internships, which seem to be going great so far. It's finally feeling more like fall here in NY and I am once again reminded of why this is the greatest city on earth! There's nothing better than walking outside with a great cup of coffee when the air is a bit chilly :) We (Ben and I) are very excited about this semester.....everyone seems very excited and optimistic, which is EXACTLY what this industry needs! We'll be posting blogs and pictures a lot this semester so everyone can see how much fun we are having....oops, or should I say, how much we are learning!!

Looking forward to a great semester and a beautiful fall!~
Beka

Move in weekend!

2009-08-28T15:07:00.001-07:00

Belmont East alumni with 2009 Belmont Easters!