An Apology from the Modern Day Prophet

It has been almost a month since I have last blogged on the Modern Day Prophet. I did not expect a week-long break to turn into a hiatus. To be honest, I was going to warn readers that there was not going to be any posts during spring break, but midterms, essays, and exams bogged me down so much that I had no time to blog any news about UMD or Maryland politics. That means that my coverage of the Maryland General Assembly was a bust. I must still take full responsibility for the lapse of updates because I sometimes procrastinate. I seem to wait for the right time to do my assignments, often doing them the week before they’re long due; meaning that if the due date for a paper is three weeks, I do the paper seven days before the due date. So again, I’m sorry.

But here’s what I did during my hiatus:

Spring Break—I mostly stayed at home, surfing the web, watching television, reading books.

Roosevelt Institute at UMD—I attended the opening session of the Roosevelt Institute early last March. It’s a student run progressive think thank. The speeches there were uninteresting but the concept is awesome: student-written reports instead of rich conservative AWASP-written reports (read: Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute). I’m considering writing as a fellow next fall. Proposed paper? Expand Public Transportation by Zeroing-out Highway Funds. Their website is also nice too, with all sorts of interesting writings from student fellows. Unfortunately, their database is under reconstruction (for over 6 months!)

Ctrax—For those who have not already know, is for all intents an purposes dead. Access for Terps has been closed down 15 days before the planned closedown on March. I already kissed my Dead Kennedy’s and Hip Hop collection good bye. Speaking of music, I went to the “This is Her Story, This is her Song” 3 day symposium for a class assignment. While the first day was more Gospel than general music, I enjoyed the concert. Although I attended only the first day.

As for the book I’m writing, which is approaching its fifth university, I finally know the term of the one year hiatus and the on-off working of the book: “Research Hell”. It’s no different from Production Hell that movie producers want to avoid as much as possible. I realize that the university has all I need to complete my book. This means: UMD + McKalden Library + Research Port = Research Hell. (And that the Book final copy is pushed back to Fall 2007)

Films—I went to see Grindhouse on April 6. It was my first double feature I have experienced, and it was fucking awesome. Especially Planet Terror which is basically a send-up of the zombie horror genre. Nasty and crazy scenes a plenty, including one where Cherry blows zombies with an M-16 attached on her amputated. Death Proof was a bit slow, but it does have its moments, like the three-on-one fight scene near the end. On the other hand I saw Shortbus on April 3 2007. Great film, especially this is because this is the first time ever seeing gays as characters, real characters, not stereotypes. I recommend it. (If I can pick one memorable scene from this film it would be this: The Gay Threesome reciting a song in the privacy of a apartment. But I still consider garden variety-heterosexual threesomes just as nasty as well.

So that’s what I did during my hiatus. Right now, we have about three weeks before final exams week. As for the rising seniors that are told by Res Life that they will have to find housing off-campus, it’s shameful that they have to inform seniors that weeks before final exams week. The fact that the College Park Council hates its own residents (which are mostly Terps) and the Maryland General Assembly decides to play politics when it comes to providing housing for its flagship university, really shows how much they really care about the University: as long as politicians benefit. I have one piece of advice to freshman accepted into the university, if you can commute there, please consider that option, do it for the seniors.

Regular blogging will gradually resume this week. One more question: Why has it suddenly winter during spring?