Freshmen at Large - Cristine Mayer

Thursday nights are the nights to go out. Thursday night has been designated “Hall Night.” And I think that’s what makes it so great to be an Aggie (besides all the obvious traditions of course…). The fact that everybody goes out on Thursday and everyone goes to the Hall at least once while they’re at A&M. Now, I’m a self-proclaimed dancing-incompetent, I didn’t even know what a two-step was until I went to the Hall for my first time. But soon enough, I was two-stepping like it was nobody’s business. So like I said, Thursdays are always fun. But sometimes you just need something to spice up the night. This Thursday my friend and I ran into one of our favorite Texas A&M friends who just happened to be from our great hometown of The Woodlands, and who also happened to be a yell leader. Tyler, you are pretty much hilarious. I have to say though, I think the best part of seeing a yell leader out and about is the fact that you hear about 1,000 girls whispering to their friends as soon as one walks by. Yell leaders: A&M’s own little celebrities.

Freshmen at Large - Stephanie Hodges

It’s October and everyone knows what that means: high school homecomings! I had been so caught up in the whole college mindset that I had almost forgotten that I even went to high school, but when everyone started leaving every weekend to go home for their local homecomings, it all came back.
The only thing I couldn’t understand is why people were actually going all the way home just to go see a high school football game. Who wants to watch a bunch of 17-year-old boys who don’t even shave yet wearing not-so-legit uniforms and playing not-so-intensely when they aren’t even a blood relation? Why would you go see that when you can see Jorvorskie Lane any time?
I never really understood the whole homecoming thing anyway, so maybe I’m biased. I moved back to America my sophomore year of high school, and I had never been to any kind of a football game. So first off, I didn’t know how the sport was played or why people even went to watch it when sports like soccer existed. I was so confused when, on the day of the homecoming game, girls came down the halls wearing massive, dangling ribbon-like wind chimes decked out in our school’s colors. What were they? I was later informed about the whole “mum” thing, but I still thought it was pretty weird that everyone was still wearing them the night of the game.
So maybe the reason I don’t understand why people go back for homecoming is that when I think of homecoming, I think of red and green ribbons, poor athletics and massive chaos and confusion.

Q&A with The Academy Is... by Amber Holubec

Wish you could have a Woodie? Although college students can't win a Woodie — MTV-U’s music award — they are the ones who decide who does. The Woodie Awards are the only awards voted on by college audiences. Top nominees for this year’s 3rd annual Woodie Awards include the Arctic Monkeys, Imogen Heap, Gym Class Heroes, Hellogoodbye, Taking Back Sunday, The Academy Is… and The Fray. William Beckett from the Academy Is sat down with The Battalion to talk about the inspiration behind their music, defining moments, and what its like to be a nominee.

Does it ever shock you to see how well you’ve done over the past year?
WB: When I stop and think about it and reflect on the past three years of my life, even the past five years of my life back in High School, its a real proud moment to think about it and to be on stage and see these fans that you know. The support over the past three years has been undying, unending. The most rewarding thing for me is when I’m in the crowd and I see familiar faces and the smiles. That’s one thing about us, we interact with our fans and it’s a positive relationship. There are two things that are important to us: our songs and our fans.

What do you like most about the music you guys are making?
WB: That it’s ours. Especially now we are right in the mist of making our sophomore record. Honestly, for the past two weeks we've been doing eight hour days, writing, jamming and rehearsing, and creating; its easily the best material that we've put out, easily. As far as the way it’s being made, it’s the most exciting time in my life as far as music goes. I've never been more excited about music and our future. I can't wait to get these songs heard. Its really almost a spiritual experience being a part of writing these songs with my brothers.

How do you feel the group has grown since the first album?
WB: its been two years and we've grown in more ways than I can even say. At this point we listen to different music — we are far more focused. Up until like two weeks ago I've never felt completely myself in writing songs, I always felt like its portraying who I am but these new songs are the closest things to experiencing who we are as individuals, as a listener and being a part of — Its been an incredible process. I believe I was put here to write songs. We weren’t cut out for interviews and press and pictures and glitz and glamour shit, so up to this point all we can really do is learn from other people who are good at that, so we can get by with it.

What advice do you have for struggling college bands trying to make it?
WB: When it comes right down to it if there is any advice that I can give anybody, be honest with yourself and be aware of what you are doing exactly and what your goals are. Be aware of how you are affecting other people through your actions. Be persistent as hell! The only reason why we are here is because we worked our asses off, toured incessantly and gained people believing in us along the way because we believed in ourselves. That’s pretty much all you can do: believe in yourself and be honest.

Go now and vote for your favorite artist at MTVU.com. The 3rd Annual MTVU Woodie Awards premiere November 2nd at 8pm

Freshmen at Large - Cristine Mayer

It’s 2:17 p.m. I just arrived back at my dorm after an intense 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. block of classes that were preceded by an 8 a.m. All I want to do is eat lunch — something that on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I rarely have the opportunity to do. So I walk into the café and as soon as I walk in, I realize I don’t know any of the people eating there. Crap. Not wanting to seem like a total friendless loser, I get my food, sit down and immediately take out some notes to pretend as though I have been planning all along to sit alone and study — obviously. And then it hits me. I realize — duh, nobody cares. You know how in all those teenage drama movies they always have that scene where the new kid has to sit by herself or in the bathroom and then she is emotionally scarred because she thinks everyone else is making fun of her? Yeah, college is nothing like that. Nobody cares if you’re sitting alone eating macaroni and cheese; in fact they’ve probably done it a million times before. I mean, don’t forget to be social — being social is generally a good thing. But in the long run, everyone knows that you have your schedule and your friends have their schedules. So next time you’re hungry, don’t walk past Sbisa knowing you won’t have someone to sit with, strut in there and get yourself some cookies, sit alone and enjoy it.

Freshmen at Large - Stephanie Hodges

I never realized how obsessed people get with their TV shows until I got to college. Now it seems like everyone is jetting out of meetings early so they can get home in time to catch “Grey’s Anatomy,” “One Tree Hill” or “Lost.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for living your life through 30-year olds pretending to be 17 and ex-models dressed up as heart surgeons, but this is just a little too obsessive.
Don’t even get me started on all the high school dramas. Okay, I admit it, I watch “One Tree Hill” pretty frequently, but I don’t know why. I think something illegal is put over the television waves that makes us actually think we care about the fact that the ex-pregnant cheerleader is trying to break the married high school couple apart before the big basketball championship.
Oh, “Laguna Beach.” Wow. How could I forget? I mean come on, who wouldn’t want to follow around loaded SoCal girls and guys who have nothing to do but break up with each other over and over again? It’s a whole new kind of TV show because it’s “real,” which makes the conversations even more awkward than if they were scripted.
The one show that is probably the most ridiculous is “House, M.D.” The doctor is not nearly as attractive as anyone, male or female, in “Grey’s Anatomy,” and he compensates by being overly sarcastic. He uses lines like, “Yeah, could you please stop referring to your wife as a ‘her,’ because she’s a man, in case you didn’t know,” and “Sorry, Mrs. Smith, but if you weren’t so busy overdosing and beating your kids, your body wouldn’t be destroying itself.” I also love how he never wears doctor equipment and just hobbles on his cane from the patient’s room to his little private room.
Being college students, I guess a healthy amount of drama is a good thing, but come on; sometimes you’ve just got to laugh at it.

Buckethead to Turn Your Head by Josh Chan

Here’s one for all you metal fans out there. As many may already know, Buckethead will be playing on Friday in Houston at the Meridian. So drop everything and go, and if you are not a Buckethead fanatic, here’s what you are missing.
Back in 1996, every guitar magazine was buzzing with Buckethead’s name as his album, “Day of the Robot,” took the progressive metal world by storm. Consistently, his collaborations have been with avant-garde artists. DJ Ninj’s break-beat drum tracks and re-trigged snare charges Buckethead’s psychotic metal. And, even with a complete album of nothing but blatant, seemingly nonsensical dissonance and chops like a machine gun to unload notes like a cat purring, this does not begin to define him.
Buckethead’s next album, “Colma,” would still fit with the progressive sound, but in a completely different direction. Relying on more ambient grooves, Buckethead enlists Brain, probably better known as the drummer from Primus, and a cellist to structure an eerily mellow work. “Big Sur Moon” is one of the most notable tracks, containing a single guitar implementing a “delay” to layer the same track multiple times like an echo. “The Wishing Well,” is a modal tune holding a static level of intensity until the ending vamp, where a well-placed solo throttles the pent up energy.
In 1999, “Monsters & Robots” was released, returning Buckethead to more aggressive forms with tight, in-your-face beats and an even larger name brand cast. Even the product as a whole is much more refined. The songs have more definition, holding to a traditional verse-chorus form with the possible bridge. Here he exploits more unorthodox techniques, such as his ability to use all four fingers on his picking hand to hammer on notes by tapping on the fret board.
Fast-forwarding a few albums, “Population Override” was funkier than ever. In the past, he has worked with the legendary funk artist Bootsy Collins of Parliament Funkadelic, but this time he calls upon Travis Dickerson to apply metal guitar to totally fuzzed out funk keys with some parts resembling Marvin Gaye on steroids, like the track “Super Human,” and others emit a more bluesy sound such as “Unrestrained Growth.”
Last year, his album “Enter the Chicken,” was largely collaborated with Serj Tankian, System of a Down’s vocalist. It is obviously the most mainstream work to date, as it is the only album where the majority of the tracks include singing. Nevertheless, it still fits Buckethead’s sound and is every bit as enjoyable.
FYI: Buckethead’s persona is concealed in a Michael Myer’s mask, KFC bucket for a hat and a yellow jumpsuit. He is obsessed with the bizarre, sci-fi and kung-fu. This should intrigue the curious audiophile, as Buckethead includes a high level of performance and a very unique sound, and the concert alone raises the question, “What kind of people go to this show?” Again, drop everything for Oct. 13, with Buckethead.

Freshmen at Large - Cristine Mayer

Before I got to A&M, the one thing I kept hearing over and over was the fact that you should carry an umbrella wherever you go because College Station weather is crazy. So that’s precisely what I do. I carry my mini-umbrella in my backpack, just in case there is a random shower. Now, mini-umbrellas may be great for showers, but torrential downpours during a tornado watch? Not so much. I casually walked out of the MSC Flag Room around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, ready to go, only to look outside at the wonderful wrath of rain that awaited me. Thinking I was smart, I went to the bookstore and bought some Crocs (something I swore to myself I’d never own) and I was on my way; clad in khaki capris, pink crocs, a blazer rain jacket and the mini-umbrella. As I made my way from the MSC to Richardson, let me tell you, I found myself a little upset at the fact that I hadn’t thought to bring a tube to float down the rushing water by the Trigon. Every way I turned, there seemed to be a waterfall or an extreme lazy river being created. Fifteen minutes later, I arrived, soaked from head to toe, but hey, at least I had my cute umbrella. Which is now in the trash. Lesson learned: buy a golf umbrella.

Freshmen at Large - Cristine Mayer

Football games are fun. In fact, football games are great, and when your parents, siblings, grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousin all come down to see a Fightin’ Texas Aggie football game, well, that’s just icing on the cake. What’s not so great is when you bring your family who are all Tech or t.u. fans to a fightin’ Texas Aggie football game.
Now, let me just make sure I’m making it perfectly clear that having family come and visit is one of my favorite things, and I highly enjoy it. But, in a close game like Saturday’s, having Tech fans sitting two seats down from you is just never fun. But then I got to thinking: what’s with the rivalry? The Big 12 has become a pre-teen locker room. We don’t like t.u. but t.u. doesn’t like OU. Tech doesn’t like us and Baylor, well, Baylor just wishes that they could hate someone or be hated. But I guess all in all, it makes for great, fun rivalry. We joke about the fact that my grandmother’s rearview window is taken up by A&M, Tech and Texas stickers.
All in all, being around different types of fans and experiencing what it’s like to be at a game other than an A&M game makes you realize why being an Aggie is so awesome. And although the loss was disappointing to say the least, I’m glad to see that the true Aggies stayed true to their roots and didn’t seem to start any (noticeable) fights. But next year … it’s on.

Freshmen at Large - Stephanie Hodges

This weekend was one of the best weekends of my life. It wasn’t full of late-night dance parties, movies or road trips; it actually wasn’t even all that eventful. However, I accomplished a goal that I have wanted to fulfill for quite some time.
My friend Brittany and I went to Spain this summer together. We hadn’t seen each other in a while, so we had a lot to catch up on. I told her about how I was going to A&M and how excited I was about all the traditions and everything else that a new Aggie would tell her friends. She, being the private school girl that she is, brushed off my animated comments with references to the schools she wanted to apply to: Vanderbilt, Harvard and Wheaton. An agricultural school in a tiny town in Texas didn’t sound too appealing to her. Right then I made it my goal to not only convert her, but to make her the most die-hard, maroon-blooded Aggie ever.
After three weeks in Spain, I pretty much convinced Brittany that A&M was the place for everyone, including her, but that wasn’t enough. So when she came up this weekend to visit me and see the campus, I jumped at the opportunity. When I first met up with her, I had on my super cute A&M t-shirt from Northgate Vintage, which was definitely a plus. We went straight to the Tech game (most intense game ever!) and for some reason we got amazing seats. We were on the 10-yard line, first deck, right in the middle of the Corps boys. This wound up being really good because Brittany grew up around military people, so being around Corps boys definitely contributed a point or two. Then, after we had gotten completely sunburned and lost our voices, we headed to Shiver’s. Who would ever say no to a university in the same town as a snowcone place as good as Shiver’s? I think no one. Then, as if I hadn’t already completely convinced her that A&M was the best place on earth, I took her to Sweet Eugene’s. Let me tell you right now, if you ever need that little bit of leverage to cause a very indecisive person to choose A&M, take them to Sweet Eugene’s; one Oreo java shake and they’ll be sold.
The next day, I dropped Brittany off at the visitor’s center for a tour. I didn’t see her until 8:00 p.m., and when I did, I saw a different girl. Her hands were full of bags from Inspirations, Aggieland Outfitters and the MSC Bookstore. She had bought an Aggie shirt for everyday of the week, not to mention a surplus of A&M paraphernalia. Could I have been more proud?

Q&A with David Cross and Jon Benjamin of "Freak Show"

Five questions with DAVID CROSS and JON BENJAMIN:

By Amber Holubec


Do you prefer writing, stand up, movies or TV?

DC: You know, I get asked that question a lot, and its a meaningless question. I don’t mean that to be insulting, it’s just there is no rather. No one’s ever gonna say to me, ‘If you want to do a TV show, you can’t do stand up.’ Or, ‘If you do stand up, there is no way you can ever appear in a movie again.’ You know, I get to do all of it, so there’s no rather. I would just like to do all of it. Kinda at the pace I do it at.
JB: I will say, I exclusively want to do animation. And if anyone has the balls to come up to me and ask me to do film or television, I will personally punch them in the face.
DC: But with an animated fist.
JB: My assistant’s fist. Then I will fire him for punching someone.

Are you worried to being compared to other shows on Comedy Central?

DC: Well, that was a concern because it’s animated, and it’s going to follow “South Park.” The show we think we really resemble the most is “Mind of Mencia.” I think Tuck and Primi are two sides of Carlos Mencia.
JB: “Mind of Mencia” may be easier to comprehend and funnier.
DC: It’s like a smartened up, reversed, mirrored image of “Mind of Mencia.”

How did you decide on which freaks to include?

JB: It was basically the first ones we came up with. And we’ve come up with more since.
DC: We’ve got some ready to go if there is a second season. There’s a lot ready to go. We’re ready to crank them out.
JB: There’s a lot in the works. It’s pretty exciting.
DC: You have a lot to look forward to. A lot! Let me say it again. A lot!

Can you describe the writing process of the show? Is there a lot of improv in the voicing?

DC: There is, actually. We encourage that. We have to get everything down as it’s written, at least once correctly, but then we encourage everybody to riff around. There are a number of scenes that are a result of riffing around. A lot of Tuck and Benny stuff are just riffs.
JB: Mrs. Hartsdale is riffed a lot. We work pretty hard on the scripts, so there is a lot of script, but some improv.
DC: We’re all friends in there, and once everyone gets there in the recording sessions, its always fun, and it would be stupid to not take the extra couple of minutes and grab it. I mean we’re working with some of the premiere voice talent in North America.

Was the idea originally intended for Adult Swim?

JB: We pitched it to Cartoon Network before, but they declined. We told them the idea and they said no. We sent them the page! A lot of it comes from the idea that this is a superhero parody, which it’s not. People over-simplified the show. At that point, I guess if we could have described it better, I think. Clearly, if you watch all the shows it has nothing to do with that. That was their snap judgement.
DC: I agree.