A Renaissance Man's Daybook

Saturday, February 28, 2009

My Bests of the Month

February was a month full of action in many different areas – both good and bad. While we saw two athletes at the top of their games caught for cheating, we witnessed a speedster (in a car anyway) jump off the fringe back into NASCAR stardom, an under-dog movie sweep the Oscars, a superior actress remind us why she truly is the best, and one of the best rappers alive win big at the Grammy’s. Here are my bests of the month.

The Director: Danny Boyle
The star British filmmaker of the year’s Cinderella movie, Slumdog Millionaire, took home an Oscar for Best Director at this months Academy Awards. His earning was just one of the eight awards the movie took home that night.

The Driver: Matt Kenseth
NASCAR Sprint Cup driver, Matt Kenseth shot out of the gate this month, winning the season’s first two races, including the Daytona 500 and last week’s race in California. In doing so, Kenseth has led a combined 91 laps and has made new crew chief, Drew Blickensderfer, look like a genius. The challenge for Kenseth will be maintain his triumphant rebound from last year’s “trying” season, in which he finished 11th.

The Crazed (But Successful) Rockstar Rapper: Lil’ Wayne
Lil’ Wayne, the most prolific man in music, put his stamp on 2008 with his incredible release, Tha Carter III. All he needed was the hardware to go with his uncanny popularity and this month he received just that. Weezy earned four Grammy Awards, including Best Rap Album, Best Rap Solo Performance for “A Milli”, Best Rap Song for “Lollipop”, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for “Swagga Like Us”.

The Designers: Dolce & Gabbana
Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana went back to their roots for their show at New York Fashion Week this month. The show was my favorite of the Fall/Winter 2009 clothing lines, as many of the outfits were chic, slim-fitting and clothes I can see myself in.

For the show Dolce and Gabbana wanted to emphasize the importance of close connections in hard times. The collection had an Italian Rat Pack feel to it; the clothes appeared to be fit for the chic nightlife.

Take a look at the full fashion line here.

Best Magazine: INside Magazine
Okay, so I am Associate Editor for the magazine based here on IU's campus, but our Arts Issue that came out this month was truly the best issue we’ve ever done. The entire staff worked very hard in putting together a great, informative issue. Learn about a film geek, where to see great art, how to dress better, and how to create homemade art in our four department articles. In the features read about an incredible artist on campus and find out what inspires student artists (painter, composer, photographer, dancers) to create.

Local Store: Andrew Davis Menswear
For the second month in a row this chic menswear store takes the cake in my local area. This weekend the store facilitated a trunk show by Coppley, a wonderful menswear store located in Hamilton, Ontario (yes, Canada). Coppley Vice President, Dennis Wilson was in town to not only showcase his store, but he also did custom fittings for men who signed up. I signed up for my fitting and Dennis took all of my key measurements for a sleek black suit that will be made with ultra torto fabric. I had never heard of this fabric before my fitting. It doesn’t wrinkle and it’s very light weight, making it great all year-round.

In addition to the fitting, ADM gave out free ties (I chose a burgundy-ish maroon-ish colored tie by Private Stock) and free lunch, consisting of sandwiches, chips, cookies, and bottled water. The guys were great to talk to and after a while Esquire Writer At Large, Tom Chiarella came through for his fitting. I picked his brain for close to an hour before the fellas broke out a bottle of wine by Robert Talbott (yes, the same guy known for designing luxury ties). ADM store owner, Andrew Mallor was very generous and showed me all of the deals they had available. You better believe I’ll be back there frequently.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Unlikely Inspiration

I just returned from Edgewood High School where I spoke with coach Mark Deal to a classroom of special needs students. When Coach Deal asked me to speak to the kids I jumped at the opportunity, for I’ve always enjoyed speaking to people and attempting to motivate them.

In the class, Coach Deal and I were asked a series of pre-determined questions by his daughter, Carrie Deal, who is doing her student teaching at the school. The theme of our message today was hard work. In speaking to the class I spoke about my experiences as a student athlete, my home life and how I grew up. I talked about how I went through high school with my priorities out of order; after school it was nothing for me to turn my attention to video games instead of homework. Now, I know what’s important and my priorities are in line.

I related everything to what the kids go through on a daily basis in school in addition to using examples from my own life. I let the kids know that, though they may not know it, they’re an inspiration to many because many people have told these kids that they couldn’t learn or that they were too dumb to understand anything. I encouraged them to believe in themselves and not to let anyone tell them what they couldn’t do.

Coach Deal and I also encouraged them to always be appreciative of those who help them on a daily basis, including everyone from their parents to the faculty who help them learn at school. It is those people who give their lives to helping special needs students learn and realize that they’re just as important as anyone else.

Going to Edgewood was a humbling and eye-opening experience. I’m very glad I went and would do it again in a heartbeat. They’ve inspired me to be better myself. I have the abilities to be successful so I should use them just as I told them. Too often I get lackadaisical and forget how much better I can be. Well, talking to those kids was great medicine for me. I will continue to do my best and, in this case, practice what I’ve preached.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Have Faith In President Obama - The U.S. Will "Emerge Stronger"

President Obama gave his first speech to a joint session of Congress last night, where he asked worried Americans to pull together during these hard times, for knows we will overcome our economic struggles.

During his speech, Obama confidently stated that “we will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.”

Obama’s speech was very ambitious and optimistic, as it should be. Sure, we’re in a recession but we Americans worry way too much. It’s easy for me to say because I’m just a college student who happens to be on full football scholarship. But give it some thought; too often we forget that this country has been in many recessions before, including The Great Depression, which lasted from 1929 on into the 1930’s. We didn’t stay in that mess forever did we? No, we did not.

So what makes people think this recession will last forever? Maybe it’s the stimulus plan. Even if you do not believe in it, I find it hard to believe that Republicans disapprove with everything in it. Even if they do, what do they plan to do, just sit around and mope about it?

Obama has said many times before that he is the President for all of the people and that we are the United States of America, not the country of red states and blue states. We need to come together if we are to make change. I’ve seen many people express how worried they are through articles, TV and even Facebook statuses. Some people have too little of faith.

The fact of the matter is Obama inherited the mess that we’re in. The Republicans created it. They didn’t seem to worry much about the economy while we were sinking deep into debt so why are they so up in arms now? Why are they so pessimistic? My guess is probably because their man didn’t win.

But before I make this an all out battle, let me just say that if Sen. John McCain would’ve won the presidency I would’ve supported him and backed his plans to save America. I’d have no other choice. There’s no use in worrying about everything. We forget that there is someone greater who is on our side and will make everything okay in His time. He will never leave us.

So, we all really need to chill out and listen to President Obama. Applaud the man for his ambition and confidence to change America. Many said he’d never become President and he achieved that. So what makes you think he can’t get America out of this mess? Have faith my friends.

Monday, February 23, 2009

I Guess I Better Go See Slumdog Millionaire

I should’ve known Slumdog Millionaire would be the biggest winner of the night because every time I’d tell someone that I haven’t seen the movie they’d look at me like I had eight heads. Believe it or not, I don’t have eight heads but Slumdog took home eight Academy Awards last night, nearly pulling off a full sweep. The victorious night was just a part of the ride on the wave of success that includes big wins at the Golden Globes, Writers Guild, Directors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television Awards.

When I first heard about this film months ago it seemed like another independent film that would go nowhere. The fact that it isn’t really an American film made me wonder why so many people were dying to see it. Though, Slumdog did have its troubles, as it was nearly put straight to DVD in America after its initial studio closed.

Though I have yet to see the film, I applaud Slumdog, and everyone who worked on it. About a month ago I had no idea who director, Danny Boyle was and now I’ll be paying attention to other films that he directs – given that I’ll like Slumdog. I heard it’ll be showing on the IU campus for free within the next few weeks, and you can bet I’ll be in attendance.