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The OC: A Review

So, I just finished watching The OC and, I must say, I was skeptical about the show near the beginning. I even got bored at certain points but, now that I’ve finished it, I realize how much I truly loved the show. For those who haven’t watched, it’s about a 14-year-old kid named Ryan, whose mother is an alcoholic and whose Dad and brother are in jail.

The show begins with public defence lawyer Sandy Cohen bailing Ryan out of jail (Ryan’s brother forced him to help steal a car) and, after seeing how hopeless Ryan’s situation is, he decides to bring him home. Sandy lives in Newport Beach, where everyone is extremely rich: they all have huge mansions and all the teenagers have their own cars. Soon, Ryan becomes part of the Cohen family and bonds with Sandy’s son, Seth, who is a social outcast until Ryan comes into his life. From there on, Ryan meets Marissa, who is a popular and attractive girl. Things get especially complicated as Marissa’s boyfriend starts getting into fights with Ryan. By the end of the show, you see how much everyone’s lives (including Ryan’s) have been impacted because of Ryan’s arrival to Newport.

This show does a believable job of presenting the class issues involved in having a “poor kid” move in with a “rich family”. Others have pointed out that it avoided the initial cliché by having Ryan and Seth become friends, but later episodes have shown that, in spite of their friendship and common interests (like comic books), there are still deeper issues of class and sexuality that show how different their worlds really are.

Finally, I was surprised to see that the writers were actually able to make me care about the problems of the rich characters! (The adults, anyway.) For too many nighttime soap operas, portraying the “problems of the rich” are just a way to get us “unwashed” types to sneer at the problems that money brings (“I wish I had those problems!”). In The OC, the writers actually explore questions of money, class, and love in the various adult couples in a way that brings Jane Austen to mind; we can relate to the struggles the characters are going through even if their day-to-day lives are completely foreign from our own.

If you haven’t watched this show or still feel skeptical, I suggest you watch the first 5-6 episodes. I’m sure you’ll be hooked.

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Give Me a Break: A List of Activities to do In Between Classes

On the days when I have two or more classes, I look forward to the breaks that I have between classes. It’s an opportunity for me to relax, update my to-do list, or if I’ve procrastinated completing an assignment, finish it off and edit it one more time. I’ve had breaks lasting from anywhere between one hour to three hours.  Over the past three years, I’ve learned to use this time wisely as it allows me to do some things I’m unable to do at other times in the day.

Here’s a list of some productive (and not so productive) ways of killing time between classes:

1.      Organize your schedule

This usually doesn’t take a lot of time once you’ve started the task. While meeting your deadlines and attending events is another task in itself, at least you’re prepared for the weeks and months ahead. (It’s the thought that counts, right?)

2.      Watch your favourite TV shows

It’s a great way to kill time if you only have an hour-long break. Although, it’s really hard not to scream or yell at my laptop screen when I’m catching up with Pretty Little Liars (Seriously, the show is filled with plot twists).

 3.      Read a chapter/section of an assigned reading

This is a good activity to complete during your break if it’s right before the class that the reading is for. It’s also an opportunity to review the material (or complete the reading if you haven’t started!).

4.      Meet with friends

This year, it’s hard to meet up with my friends as we’re not in the same classes like last year. It’s even more difficult to meet up outside of classes because of our busy schedules.  Last semester, I started to arrange lunch dates with friends during my breaks. This gives me an opportunity to catch up with friends in person while I’m still on campus, as I’m a commuter.

5.      Take a nap

If I’m going to spend most of my nights working on assignments, I’m going to have to rest some time. I’m one of those people that NEEDS their sleep. (I think I’m one of few students at U of T who will admit this…)

 

How do you spend your time during your breaks?

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University of Toronto Drama Festival: Day 4

The University of Toronto Drama Festival is an annual competition of student-written and -directed plays at Hart House Theatre. This year, blogUT is pleased to provide reviews and critiques of each show for your elucidation and entertainment.

The final night of the festival featured only two shows, which were as different from each other as possible. Fortunately, both seemed to be improvements of other night’s shows: Shazam! acts like the more self-aware brother of Flapjacks, while The Gully accomplishes the interpersonal drama so many other productions worked so hard to almost achieve.

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University of Toronto Drama Festival: Day 3

The University of Toronto Drama Festival is an annual competition of student-written and -directed plays at Hart House Theatre. This year, blogUT is pleased to provide reviews and critiques of each show for your elucidation and entertainment.

The penultimate night’s performances departed abruptly from the trend of tragicomedy, instead offering one dedicated drama, one dedicated comedy, and only one light drama. Interestingly, all three shows dealt with the relationships between writing and life, leaving one to wonder if maybe UofT English classes aren’t a tad one-note.

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University of Toronto Drama Festival: Day 2

The University of Toronto Drama Festival is an annual competition of student-written and -directed plays at Hart House Theatre. This year, blogUT is pleased to provide reviews and critiques of each show for your elucidation and entertainment.

The second night offered more in the way of humorous tragedies, but the first two shows were plenty more dark than light. The last, a farce, couldn’t change the overall tone of the evening, which was less tragic than the first but more neurotic; the demons of this evening’s shows were mostly internal.

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University of Toronto Drama Festival: Day 1

The University of Toronto Drama Festival is an annual competition of student-written and -directed plays at Hart House Theatre. This year, blogUT is pleased to provide reviews and critiques of each show for your elucidation and entertainment.

The first night featured three adequate shows, of which none were eye-rollingly terrible nor edge-sittingly good. All three plays were, interestingly, united by stories of death and tragedy, and people facing terrible circumstances in unusual ways. Stylistically, all three shows had elements of tragicomedy, though the first veered more towards drama and the last two comedy.

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University of Toronto Drama Festival: The Preamble

I’m sitting in the Tim Horton’s at Bloor and Devonshire actively moping into my hot chocolate. I’m joined by two friends, equally mopish. We return, once again, to the topic of that night’s activities:

“I don’t think they should have won.”
“She was terrible.”
“Yeah.”
“Really awful.”

We were referring to the recent adjudication of the University of Toronto’s annual Drama Festival, a four-night series of original one-act plays by UofT undergraduate students. My friends, playwrights and contestants, were bummed by their loss, but still at least a little giddy from the thrill of the competition.

“It was an honour just to have participated” says one, only half sarcastically.

We continue to talk, well into the night, about every show, every actor, every weird plot twist and too-long soliloquy. We talk until we’ve griped about everything we can, and only then does the giddiness of the whole experience pervade through the bitterness:

“And that cast was amazing.”
“Unbelievable.”
“So convincing, and for someone so young.”
“I know.”

And then the excitement of the whole experience comes crashing down and we start all over again, going through each show and actor and plot twist and soliloquy and reliving the delight of seeing our friends and peers up on stage, performing their own words for the first time in front of an audience. The historic Hart House Theatre stage, where Donald Sutherland and Lorne Michaels began their illustrious careers, and where a fresh crop of actors, directors, and playwrights do as well every year with their entries to the Festival.

The Hart House Drama Festival is a nexus of so many rare and wonderful opportunities. It’s a debut performance for a daring young actor, an audience eager for the first words of a new playwright,  a presentation of prizes and honours for the best artists and useful critiques for the others. It’s also a friendly competition between too-often antagonistic colleges. And, of course, a treat for the audience.

blogUT will be pleased to present you with daily reviews of all the entries into the Drama Festival, but there’s no substitute for seeing the shows in person!

University of Toronto Drama Festival

Hart House Theatre

February 13 – 16, 2013        7:30PM Curtain

Adults: $12                   Students/Seniors: $10