Following Bill Reed with a Minor Detour

When I pitched the idea of following Bill Reed from University Events, I did not realize how active it would be for only 7 hours.  Not only did I realize how much can occur before 9am on a Saturday, but I never expected to be raising the scoreboard or driving a golf cart.

Thanks to Bill Reed, Perry, Billy, and Michael Minor for letting me follow them around for the morning!

Here's the video of me raising the Scoreboard!




View Doin' Work: University Events in a larger map
(The map starts at the Chiles Center and Finally ends at university events.) The Descriptions make it easier to read.
The path(because it is hard to tell): Chiles Center, University Events, Chiles Center floor, Chiles Center Mezzanine (2nd floor), BC 12, Detour: BC 163, Mago Hunt, 3rd Floor Franz, Commons, BC 12, Mago, Chiles for Meeting, Hall of Fame Room, Mehling Ballroom, BC Auditorium, BC 12, Commons, Commons Boardroom, St. Mary's Murphy Conference Room, BC Auditorium, Mago, Chiles Center Marketing for soccer, Events, outside Chiles to get golf cart, events.

Mr. Corrado and Mr. and Ms. Shipstad: a Tale of the Tape

Despite plenty of events occurred this week including the Minute to Win It Pilots After Dark event, the Fields Hall Spring Spectacular, The Upright Citizens Brigade Traveling team visit Mago Hunt Recital Hall, the Pilot Dance Team Spring Showcase, Fish’s Dodgeball tournament, and the Battle of the Bands in the Anchor, I am paying off the teases made last week about Mr. Corrado.

Mr. Corrado over the last few years has followed Mr. and Ms. Shipstad and usually has been viewed as the tamer version of the dorm-based competition until this year.  The final round of Mr. and Ms. Shipstad for the last several years was called "How Bad Do You Want It?"

Predictably within a college environment, some contestants were creative by crafting Astor Roth's College into an ode of the building, getting a tattoo of the Shipstad logo (an S overlaid over an anchor), or swallowing a goldfish.

Despite efforts from the coordinators to tone down the segment, contestants have branded themselves with an "S" for Shipstad, lick salt and hot sauce off their RA and tried to drink a gallon of milk while being pelted by cherry tomatoes.

In an effort to rebrand the event, the Shipstad Hall council, in conjunction with Staff and the office of Residence Life, dropped the round and replaced it with a series of Minute to Win It-style challenges in which contestants have to complete a given task within the allotted time, all in minute increments.

How similar are these two events that rely on the stereotypical export of residence halls, people willing to make a fool of themselves? Here's a hopefully objective comparison of the events.

Year of Origin:
Mr. Corrado- 2004

Mr. & Ms. Shipstad-1999

Number of contestants (2011): 
Mr. Corrado- 6
Mr. & Ms. Shipstad- 6 (3 male, 3 female)

Rounds:
Mr. Corrado- "Cribs" Video, Talent, Underwear, Question and Answer (Q&A), Tug of War

Mr. & Ms. Shipstad- Evening Wear, Talent, Q&A, Minute to Win It (formerly How Bad Do You Want It?)

Sample of Talents:
Mr. Corrado- Singing “A Whole New World”, singing and playing a montage of songs, dancing to a country song, solving a Rubik’s cube
Mr. & Ms. Shipstad- Singing an opera song, sing and dancing to “Singin’ in the Rain" with an umbrella, "Accents from around the World," an informal Q& A with a Scotsman, Tiffany from the South, and Svetlana from the Motherland.

Question Asked of a Contestant:
Mr. Corrado-If you were a zombie, which contestant would you bite first?
Mr. & Ms. Shipstad- If you were Hall Director for a week, what would you do?

Perspective of previous winners on this year’s event:

Mr. Corrado 2010, Ben - "I was amazed so many people chose singing as their talent. I was also pleased at how well the guys pulled off the opening routine.”

Mr. Shipstad 2010, Kyle- “It’s hard to compare to last year because this year did not have How Bad Do You Want It, but it was good. Some of the talents were interesting.”

Ms. Shipstad 2010, Lara- “Fun, entertaining, and showed that How Bad Do You Want It is not necessary for Mr. and Ms. Shipstad to be successful.”

Co-host view on the event:

Mr. Corrado- “Well organized by the Hall Council. Closing the doors brought a sense of anticipation to the event.”

Mr. & Ms. Shipstad:-“This was a great two-hour period where the building was able to come together.”

Qualifications:
Mr. Corrado-Male resident of Corrado, raise $50 for the Holy Cross Charity
Mr. & Ms. Shipstad-Resident of Shipstad

Prize for winner:
Mr. Corrado-Trojan helmet and plunger

Mr and Ms. Shipstad "Crowns"

Mr. & Ms. Shipstad- (Mr.) Hat  (Ms.) tiara, earrings and ring 

Perceived Core Audience:
Mr. Corrado-Corrado residents and female inhabitants of the West Quad
Mr. & Ms. Shipstad-Shipstad residents, East Side Quad inhabitants

Mr. Corrado 2011 Crowd awaits fun

Crowd size:
Mr. Corrado-close to 300 people
Mr. & Ms. Shipstad-close to 150 people

Location Held:

Mr. Corrado-Buckley Center Auditorium

Mr. & Ms. Shipstad- Shipstad First Floor Lounge

2011 Mr. and Ms. Shipstad Crowd awaits a retooled event

Overall, both events pleased their audiences with the exception of those who might have had high expectations, thought the talents were lackluster, or technical miscues compromised parts of the events.  No event can satisfy everyone, but these events allowed their respective dorms to allow a small section of the UP community to become a part of the dorm community, at least for two hours.

Have you been fortunate to ever attend either event?  If so, what did you think? 

Week in Review part 4: Interview with the Electric Acoustic Groove Experience

I should have included this within the JPFW post, but I actually forgot about it while writing the post.

Table offerings. Taken by Steven.

Saturday night of Junior Parents and Families Weekend, CPB presented a coffeehouse featuring Eric E, an acoustical guitar artist armed with some loop machines and recording devices that allowed him to layer his voice to assemble melodies.

He was able to mix in some original songs into his request style allowing the crowd to offer a year.  Eric would then play a hit song from that year. 
This tactic allowed the small crowd to hear among others, a string of 1998's "Thank You" by Natalie Merchant, 1968's "Sittin on the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding with audience participation on the whistling verse, and 1990's "Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty. 

To prove his musical diversity, he was able to play country (1986's Randy Davis's "Forever and Ever Amen") and jazz (1955's "Autumn Leaves" by Andy Williams.) 

Stay patient over the next few weeks for video from his performance.

After the concert, I was able to interview him before he left.

bs: Why the stage name "eric-e?"

eric-e: Well, my last name is Engerbreston and people kept mispronouncing it, so I decided to shorten it to save people the struggle.

bs: How wide is your repertoire?

eric-e.: I can play songs as old as "The Entertainer" to recent hits (he played Train's "Hey, Soul Sister" as the 2010 request.) I was actually surprised I did not get requests for years older than 1955, because I could have played some great jazz and blues standards.

bs: What is your view on music radio and the music industry as a whole?

eric-e: Radio has been damaged by the ipod and Itunes. When I was young, I could only afford 15 albums. I was able to listen to albums all the way through and get the true meaning of songs only after listening to them  several times.   Music is not album-oriented anymore.  Since people do not listen to albums as much anymore, some people are not able to understand songs that fit within the context of an album.

bs: Why did you refer to you final song, Kansas's "Carry on, my Wayward Son," as your favorite Top 40 song of all time?

eric-e: It is a great rock song and has a good message.  I enjoy playing songs that have a message to them.

bs:  You have a diverse amount of songs in your repertoire. Are there any songs that you have proud to have mastered?

eric-e: I had trouble mastering "Carry on, my Wayward Son" due to the complicated nature of the song and  I was originally not able to sing that high.  Over the years, I developed the ability to sing high enough and managed to learn the difficult parts.



Eric-e used to travel all over the country, but now stays around the Pacific Northwest partly due to the economy, as proved by his driving around in his family minivan that can hold all his equipment. 

Coffeehouses are open to everyone, so try to stop by their next one!

If you need music to accompany your wedding, party, or social gathering and your event will be taking place in the Northwestern states within a relatively short drive from Idaho, (Wash., Ore., Idaho, Mont., Wyo.), consider eric-e!

This coming week is midterms, so events should be light.  The next few posts might not be great, but we'll see how it goes. 

Hopefully you readers will be able to get enough sleep and not let your brain melt!