OCR Text |
Show LIFE 1\G 'Uprising: The Paint Fig! PAT Masses, music and mayhem, a journalist's behind the scenes diary of all the action By Melissa Lindsey Assistant Life Editor Iindsey.mml@gmail.com The Conspiracy Santa Clause and romance are societies biggest lies By Tiffany Thatcher Life Editor dancertiff@gmail.com I was a little slow with the Santa Clause thing so it's not a surprise, but I am finally beginning to think that romantic songs and chick flicks are based on lies. I hope that you have also realized there is never a suitor outside the window when you hear a sound at night. Romance is a conspiracy. Oops, I guess I was supposed to go along with it since I have been given the authority of this dating column, but I am going to sacrifice it all for the greater good and if I turn up in a ditch next week, you will know why. L7 L7 Have you ever noticed how things never go the way they do in the movies? This is because it is very easy to write a romance... but creating one is not possible... All of the music artists and directors who perpetuate this lie probably get a kick out of what they keep alive. Maybe romance used to exist but the way I see it, romance is the dead old bird under the tree outside your parent's house. You don't live there so you don't know it's dead and your family, who you trust, is lying to you about it. Have you ever noticed how things never go the way they do in the movies? This is because it is very easy to write a romance, or even act one out, but creating one is not possible since romance has to develop on its own without being too forced. Sometimes after a date I think through a moment I had. If turned into a scene, it would have played out differently. A realistic and true version of the story: my date helps me down from the tree we climbed, we look into each others eyes for half a second... then he walks me home. Hardly chick-flick worthy, but realistic. If it were a chick-flick, then I would have grabbed his hat and ran, he would have chased me and accidentally tackled me to the ground, where for a moment he would want to kiss me. This is proof of the conspiracy. See how easy it is to write a romance, but how reality doesn't exactly work out the way it does in the movies? Children get to the stage when they begin to doubt that Santa Clause exists. It happens around the time they realize the shadows outside the window are not the boogieman. I am getting to a new stage as well. The sounds and creeks that used to be the boogieman don't scare me any more, because society has actually turned the boogieman outside the window, into prince charming and the worst part is—we still believe in him. The Uprising Paint Fight, a Dan Swiss event, was held on Nov. 16. The night began at 8:30 p.m. with an admissions line backing out the door into the cold night. Although the party was only to begin at 9 p.m., there was a $5 discount advertised via Facebook and flyers for arriving early. I pushed my way to the front of the line, got my "press admission," and watched mayhem ensue. Marcus Wing, the DJ for the event, then yelled at everyone to back up outside the building doors. Like a confused herd of cattle with nowhere to go, people got pushed up against the walls and against each other. "Hey man, I can't back up anymore, there's nowhere for me to go," said party attendee Ky Jansson. "Dude, back up! I've dropped guys like you for less," Wing said I then proceeded to watch as event workers pushed the line out the door into the cold rain until 9 p.m. so no one could receive an early bird discount. Wing stood on a counter and yelled that everyone better "be cool" to his family running the entryway process or else everyone is going to get kicked out. Once everyone was allowed in the venue, people danced and waiting for three hours to pass before the paint would be distributed. During this lull, I contacted Mike Ellsworth, PR representative for Dan Swiss. Ellsworth showed me around backstage, explained logistics of the event and introduced me to some of the event coordinators. While backstage, my friend snapped pictures of Rubbermaid tubs filled with paint guns, oversized balloons and one of Wing telling us not to take pictures. Finally, staff handed out water guns filled with paint to all attendees. Accepting this to be an invitation to shoot, random guests began to do just that. Some wayward shots traveled up near Wing's equipment on stage. "Dude not yet! Only when I say so," yelled Wing from the stage. "You're a douche, dude. Hey everybody! 'Boo' that guy, he's an idiot!" After being sufficiently verbally i)" Uncontrollable at first, the crowd lightens as the paint fight ensues. harassed, we were allowed to shoot off the guns. Paint flew everywhere and covered the guests' all-white outfits. The neon paint brightly glowed on the faces of happy partiers. The gathering evolved into the party that the guests had anticipated. Music blasted and finally the mood was lifted. The room glowed and people danced and pelted their friends with neon paint. There was more than enough paint to go around, so when students ran out, they simply found another full paint gun. The crowd danced until the party was over, and everyone left soaked in Jackson Pollockesque patterns. Ellsworth provided me with Wing's phone number so I could have a phone interview about the event. Wing never returned my call. Overall, Uprising the Paint Fight seemed like another remarkable Dan Swiss party organized by gracious and helpful people, but overshadowed by a DJ with an ego problem. I would absolutely attend another Dan Swiss party, just as long as Wing is not the DJ. IMP PHOTOS COURTESY OF MILES MORTENSEN DJ Marcus Wing performs for a sold out crowd at Uprising: The Paint Fight. Students create a new way to learn a new language A group of UVU students are taking the guesswork out of learning a language. Blahblah.co creates in interactive learning experience PHOTO COURTESY OF MILES MORTENSEN By Melissa Lindsey Assistant Life Editor Iindsey.mml@gmail.com One of the best ways to become fluent in a new language is to be fully submerged in the particular culture where you are constantly speaking and hearing the language. This is not feasible CONNOR ALLEN/UVUREVIEW Blahblah.com creators from L to R: Eliecer Trillos, Thulio Frota du Ponte, Emigdio Niquet and Daniel Niquet. for many people. It is difficult to leave behind life's responsibilities and relocate to a new part of the world which prevents many people from becoming completely fluent in foreign languages. A new website called blahblah.co has created a solution to this problem. There are many language websites available but blahblah.co is unique because it facilitates foreign language learners' conversations. It is also not expensive for users and it provides a good conversation structure with native speakers. The blahblah.co team is comprised of four members: Cofounder, Emigdio Niquet, student, cofounder, Daniel Niquet, web developer, COO, Eliecer Trillos, UVU graduate and CMO, Thulio Frota da Ponte, student. Each member of the team has contributed to the development and progress of the website. There is now a Facebook page, a Youtube video and several press articles dedicated to promoting the website. Users of the website are paired with speakers who are learning the other's native language over video chat. Each pair is given five minutes to speak in the foreign language they are learning, and then five minutes to speak in their native tongue. "In doing this," Emigdio Niquet said, "they grow from basic to more experienced fluency in conversational skills by sharing parts of themselves and their culture with others around the world and vice versa." The website also offers helpful tools such as dictionaries, books, music, television clips, flash cards and computer games. The passion that Emigdio Niquet has for languages and business and the hard work of each team member has helped this See LANGUAGE, B4 Student heads up the development of new family history app Locating every gravesite via your smart phone just got a lot easier By Tiffany Thatcher Life Editor dancertiff@gmail.com Tom Hester is a UVU student who has been working on an app that would eventually make finding the grave of anyone in the world, very easy. This free app is called BillionGraves. "There are two parts to it," Hester said. "One for those with picture phones and one for those who want to do indexing." The indexing part is avail- able on desktops as well as smart phones. Indexing is when someone transfers the information from just a picture of a document, to searchable text, which makes it easy to access and sort through. The app was started by a company that went out of business, so the app went into hibernation for a period of time until it was picked up by the owner of New Skin. Hester has followed the app since the beginning, his title, support project consultant. "In 2008 it came out, then died and came out not available for windows, only android and iphone," Hester said. See APP, 84 PHOTO COURTESY OF STOCKXCHNG Users chip in to locate all gravesite throughout the entire world. |