Fact & Fiction

Today in my Family Home Evening group we played a game where each member had to write on a piece of paper something interesting that had happened to them. A moderator would then select one event at random, and three individuals would stand up before the group claiming the incident had happened to them. The group had to decide who was telling the truth and who was fibbing. I am proud to say that when I was called up, almost no one believed me.

The incident? Three years ago I was in a bathroom stall at the 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. After I was done with my business and was zipping up my fly I turned around to discover a pair of eyes staring up at me from the neighboring stall. A sad, little man was crouched down near to the floor and poking his head up into my stall from below the divider. Pervert.

Sadly this story is true. It reminded me, however, of many rumors I've heard recently that sound like they might be true but are in fact false. (You can thank me for doing the research later.)

Here we go.

Myth #1: Hot Topic is owned by Gap.

This one is so far-fetched that it seems believable. I'm sure the cynic in us all would like to believe it. However, after hours of research on the part of Chateau and I, we are proud to declare that this rumor is indeed false. Don't believe the message boards.

Myth #2: Mexico City is the most populous city in the world.

I'd really like to believe this one because I lived there. All through the mission I'd heard that I was living in the biggest city there is. I don't know where this rumor started, but it too is false. Of course, the definition of "biggest city" is hard to pinpoint, but no official source will ever tell you Mexico DF is the winner. Here is Factmonster's opinion.

Myth #3: Myspace is the 3rd most visited website in the English language.

This one is actually the closest to being true.

Here is the top ten:

1. yahoo.com
2. msn.com
3. google.com
4. ebay.com
5. passport.net
6. amazon.com
7. myspace.com
8. microsoft.com
9. google.com.uk
10. aol.com

Myspace has taken Friendster's idea and perfected it. While I fear it may soon go the way of the Chia pet, you have to admit #7 is pretty good for now. For the complete website popularity listing, click here.

Myth #4: My extended family has a history chewing coca leaves in the Andes mountains.

This one I can't disprove.

Amadeus Awareness

Mozart was born 250 years ago today.

Yesterday at work a girl came in to check out a whole bunch of Mozart CDs. I asked her what she was planning on doing with all of them. "Oh, I'm throwing a Mozart party," she told me, "It's his birthday, y'know." I thought it was hilarious.

I guess I'm not the only one who goes crazy for the artist they love. As many know, I am in the process of planning a big Flaming Lips party for later this semester. It's nice to know there are others out there who feel the same way about their music. Google would agree.

When is Utah hipper than NYC?

In January, of course! It's Sundance time again. On Saturday Adrienne, Christina, Chateau, and I headed up to Park City to take part in the snubbery. We made it into the Star Bar on Main Street to see Imogen Heap and Rufus Wainwright. I only had to pay $1 toward our cover. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

Imogen was definitely a surprise treat for us. We all knew she had an amazing voice, but I don't think we were ready for her unique performing style. She is a true example of a one woman band. Imagine this. She pushes all the buttons, she sets all the levels, she sings, she records, she loops, she layers. All live right there live in concert. It was amazingly intimate for such synthetic music.

Rufus was great too. I respect any artist that can lug a grand piano around with them and still bust out on a guitar for half their set. Both Rufus and Imogen have found success in the soundtrack market. Collectively they've had songs in The Garden State, Chronicles of Narnia, Shrek, and Brokeback Mountain. Pretty impressive repertoire.

Alison met us there. She makes such a good head tilter, don't you think?

After the show we joined in on a historic flash mob. Some kids we know organized a mass gathering on Main Street. We all met up and distributed fake flyers exposing the "reality" that Brokeback Mountain is really about some tennis star, not cowboys. Something like that; I'm not quite sure. The flyer had all these preposterous statements concluding that it was true simply because the claims had never been refuted. It was hilarious to see people's reaction to the mess. After the distribution, one of the leaders got on a megaphone and delivered a less than inspiring sermon on being Ang Lee's nephew. (Even though he's not.) Passerbys would stop and look as they spotted our huge crowd. Everyone is looking for celebrities during the Sundance Film Festival. To finish it all off, we each recieved tennis balls which we were instructed to simultaneously throw into the street as a final statement. There were 300 thrown in total.

I really don't know what the statement was, but it was a really fun one.

Oz Fest

Over the summer I had the opportunity to see the musical WICKED with Emilie and Katie in New York. Ever since that night we've been planning on watching The Wizard of Oz to finish up the story. (For those that don't know, Wicked is like the prequel to The Wizard of Oz.)

Well, it took half a year to plan, but we finally did it this weekend.

Then Katie had the nerve to tell me that there is yet another sequel called Return to Oz or something. At our pace, we'll be lucky if we get to it in 2006.

She's Scrumptrulescent!!!

Of my high school friends from Grossmont, most are now working full time or still going to school like me.

Then there's Tiffany. She's the one touring the Western U.S. in her passenger car and playing shows on her keyboard. Tiffany would always tease me growing up about my Mormon ways. While I know she meant it with all the love in her heart, I couldn't help but laugh when I heard she was coming to Salt Lake City to play this past week.

I gathered up some friends, and we headed up to the SLC Hard Rock to see "Tiff Jimber." (Love the name change.) I must say I was extremely impressed with her set. Check her out at myspace.com/tiffjimber.

We are what we wear.

Every year Doug invites his creative track students over for a party at his house. This year the theme was "Creative shirt night." We spent the night eating deli sandwiches, modeling our creative wear, and playing "Adverteasing" (the ad trivia game). Talk about a party!

I made a shirt of a dove holding the word "oil" in his beak. It's an inside joke mocking an ad I once made that didn't go over very well.

Hunter chose to celebrate Doug's affinity for ellipses.

Becca finally came out of the Pokemon fan closet.

Adrienne decided to get all educational and teach us a little about the Battle of Bunker Hill.

And Alison just basically blossomed.

There were lots of other great shirts. Unfortunately the party ended before I could get a nice portrait of everyone.

Another friend

And who could forget Phuc Q.? She's kinda mean sometimes, but we still love her.

Friends at the library

When I get bored at work, my friends come in to keep me company. Meet Real S. Tate. He's a successful realtor here in Utah Valley. One day he says he'll give me a good deal when I need to buy a house.

Nad & Name's Sweet New Ride

One semester before graduating, my roomates finally got a car. A '97 Nissan Maxima. This will come in VERY handy next time I need to get groceries.

Peruvi-stash

Monday was BYU Moustache Day. (At least that's what the flyer said that I found in the Wilk.) I decided that I should participate.

A message from Andrew to the world!

Check out my rad moustache! I grew this over the break and have to say I represent my culture better with it. It's called a mexi-stash, eventhough I'm peruvian and I dedicate it to Pedro Sanchez.

No more Carol Burnette

So eventually Chateau did come pick me up in Hollywood. We had a great time with his crazy sisters in LA. Then school started and I grew a moustache for the occasion. I've been fidgeting with my class schedule a little bit, but not nearly as much as in semesters past. I saw my psychiatrist yesterday, and it looks like I'll be taking my happy pills for a while longer. The new Flaming Lips single came out this week. It's called "The Wand," and it's about the power within us. I'm not sure if I like it yet, but I'm sure I'll be praising it once I get used to it. I got my grades back from last semester. A, A, A-, B, E. That's right. I got an Eeeeee. I tried SO HARD to get an F in statistics, but they still gave be an E. Eeeeees aren't half as cool as Efffs. Darn buggers.