So, the snow’s back. Not a whole lot, but it’s there.

I admit, sometimes I get picky about the weather. I know I shouldn’t, since I come from Oregon and it rains a whole lot there, but sometimes sudden changes get… annoying. Most of the blizzard snow was already melted, the sun was up and the cute fuzzy animals were out and about, and then we get more snow and slush to worry about. No yay. Spastic weather gets on my nerves, like you’re waiting for something and it immediately changes and you’re just like “Aw, come on!!! :(”. I like things to be straightforward; if you say something is supposed to happen, I accept that it will happen, but if you change it on me at the last instant I am not going to be too happy. The weather just doesn’t seem to understand that… meh, I probably shouldn’t complain; it isn’t snowing right now, and most of it is melting away.

Just wish it would stay away.

In other news, we’ve got one last play coming up for this season. It’s based off of the movies of Charlie Chaplin, which means that aside from live music and whatever sounds the actors make there will be no dialogue. At all. The Little Tramp never spoke, so why should we who will be emulating him? I think this is a further example of how great Wabash is; we push the limits of what we do, and we are not afraid to try new, exciting things. I for one am really looking forward to this play, whether I get in or not, because I know that with the skill and passion that our directors and actors have that it will be an amazing performance. And a play with no dialogue? That sounds pretty cool, and I’m sure it will be fun.

I will have last BLOOD!

…

Okay, explanation time.

Last night I saw the production of Macbeth (it’s written and not in a theatre, so curses don’t apply), and I have to say I enjoyed myself immensely. Not to say that I thought it was going to be bad; I know we have a bunch of incredibly talented actors and directors here on campus (and off campus too. Not all of our actors are guys). But you see, I am an actor myself, so seeing a school-type play that I am not in is a newer experience for me, especially one like Macbeth.

I’ve seen Macbeth before back when I think I was in middle school. It was being performed at a college where my dad was working as a financial advisor, and they had changed things up a bit by moving it from Scotland to Japan, so they were dressed in Japanese style clothing and had katanas instead of claymores. This is not a bad thing; directors often choose to move the action from one place to another, so they can go for different viewpoints and aesthetics that would be unachievable in a traditional performance. This gives the play a unique feel to it, and we get a much more satisfying viewing experience. Personally, I performed a version of Much Ado About Nothing that was set in the ‘20s, and I think it went pretty well.

Anyway, the play; so, Macbeth is a general who goes out and kills things, and one day on his way home from killing things he meets three witches that say he’s going to be king. He blows them off at first, but begins to consider their prophecy when everything starts going good for him. So to show his gratitude to the current king, he kills the guy in his sleep and proclaims himself king.

Yay.

After that, Mackers starts getting increasingly paranoid, killing off his friends and his potential enemies’ families to make sure his position is secured. The exiled prince and England don’t really like that, so they dress up like trees and go attack Scotland. MacB thinks he’ll be okay, since “no man of woman born” can hurt him, but Macduff was born via C-Section, so he doesn’t count. Macduff kills MacScottish Dude and the exiled prince becomes king… at least until Banquo’s son overthrows him and becomes king in the sequel (if there was one).

Yay.

The actors in our production were superb, portraying enough emotions and psychopathy to give the characters plenty of depth. The set itself is beautiful, dark enough to give off a haunting atmosphere yet detailed enough that it keeps your attention. And they did not rely on a lot of flashy lights and stuff like that; just enough red and blue to keep the haunting atmosphere… well, haunting.

So for Wabash types that are reading this, go see Macbeth. For those of you that might come to Wabash, we’ve got cool stuff that you should go see. For those of you who can’t come to Wabash… ha ha.

You know what the best kind of drinking games are? The ones where you don’t actually drink anything and spend more time trying to screw over your opponents.

Before you get the wrong idea, let me explain; last night, Dork Club collaborated with shOUT for a gaming night. I might not agree with some of the things shOUT represents, but that doesn’t matter; what does matter is that we are a bunch of Wabash men getting together for a couple of games, some soda and pizza. I think that’s another thing I like about Wabash; we are polite and intelligent enough to set aside our differences long enough to have some fun and do productive things with one another. We exchange cards instead of ideologies, dice rolls instead of insults, and the worst arguments we get in are over whether or not Card A interrupts Action B. On the gaming table, everyone is equal (except for heretics and xenos. All shall burn in the light of the Emperor).

I spent the first few minutes just milling around, eating pizza and drinking soda. Afterwards, I settled down for a few rounds at The Red Dragon Inn, and that’s where my introduction comes into play.

Red dragon Inn is a pretty fun game. The premise is that you take the role of an adventurer in a fantasy world (think Dungeons and Dragons), however the adventure is already over and you and your buddies decide to go to the local tavern for drinks and games. Using your abilities and a pile of cards representing the bar, your goal is to drink your opponents under the table without passing out or going broke in the process.

Understand, this is all in good fun, and nobody actually gets hurt. If anything, we spent more time making Monty Python jokes than anything that could be considered rambunctious.

Anyway, the first round saw me as a Wizard (and his rabbit familiar named Pooky). I was still getting used to the game, so after losing most of my gold in a gambling match I had to work very hard to not get knocked out. Fortunately for me, the dwarf in our party had worse luck than me and had to bow out on account of having no money, followed later by the bard who had a severe case of “being targeted by the other members”. Sadly, my luck ran out and I lost the last of my money and was forced to leave the table. I took the time to finish setting up my Space Marines as a bit of a showpiece, while back at the table Professor Porter’s Half-Ogre ended up winning the round (yay for him).

With that round finished, and after a brief pause for snacks, we started a new round. I chose to play as the Elven Priestess (because you can’t argue with Elves), and did my best not to repeat the mistakes of my last round. I think I did pretty well, choosing to convert a few people and pray rather than gamble, and I did help knock the Thief out of the round. However, the Priestess is not very good at redirecting her drinks, so I ended up passing out towards the end of the game (although I did much better than I thought I would. Once again, Professor Porter won (this time playing as a human Warrior/ Barbarian) and as it was getting rather late I packed up my things and headed back to the house.

I think that when different clubs and groups can mingle with one another, we really get a chance to grow. Wabash is all about moving beyond normality and embracing new things, and it’s about being a gentleman and acknowledging that there are people out there that might not agree with you on some issues, but are willing to come together for food and games. Connections are what make people, and if we start connecting with one another then maybe we wouldn’t have so many disagreements.