So I'm in bed, settling in to go to sleep, when I hear this rhythmic banging noise. At first, I assume a hobo is amusing himself; they do that from time to time. But it's too steady for some drunk guy with a bucket, and it keeps getting louder, and pretty soon there are other noises going along with it. So I get up and go out on the balcony to see what on earth is going on.

Turns out there's a parade going down my street. At 4 in the morning.

They've got a statue of the Virgin Mary (the traditional one you see, with the big halo around her...usually Our Lady of insert-name-of-place-where-Mary-has-supposedly-appeared-here, I think) in the back of a pickup truck leading the procession. She looks very majestic, I can tell you. There's a guy banging QUITE loudly on a big drum while another guy drags the drum along on wheels, a group of women dancers wearing some kind of robes and I think maybe playing little chimes or bells (the bells might have been on their jewelry), and another group of dancers in what I can only describe as country line dancing costumes...shiny pants with fringe down the sides, shirts with fringe, cowboy hats, etc. Bringing up the rear is a pickup truck with some kind of loudspeaker in the back playing distorted music I can't even begin to identify in terms of title, genre, or instrument. All I know for sure is that it is very loud. Several other cars trail behind, hazard lights dutifully blinking. There's a traffic cop overseeing things; apparently these folks did their paperwork and got a permit. Groups of people gather on the sidewalks to follow this little procession; some have flowers, others have candles, most look cold and not real thrilled. Some of my neighbors are out on their balconies and porches as well, bemusedly watching the show go by. All I can think is how I wish I hadn't taken the batteries out of my camera (although the wireless Guitar Hero controller was clearly the priority at the time) and how I wish my roommates were awake to reassure me that I'm not hallucinating.

The parade keeps going, and I eventually am cold and go back inside. I look up "hispanic holidays" in Wikipedia and sure enough, under "Public Holidays in Mexico," I find my answer. Apparently December 12 is Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, "the day that Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared on Tepeyac hill to the native Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin." Extra credit to anyone who calls me and can correctly pronounce Cuauhtlatoatzin. Wikipedia goes on to note that this is not an official holiday, which I guess means the post office is still open.

So there you go. A little slice of life living in a hispanic neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. We may not know what the hell to do with Christmas, but we've got Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe ALL FIGURED OUT.

So yesterday, we (Interactive Media) had a game day. A nice break from classes/finals/work/projects/stress so we could all just hang out and play video games. It ended up being a 12-hour marathon with at least 40 participants, all of the next-gen consoles and tons of games, a LAN for first-person-shootering, alcohol, food, and hijinks. HOLY CRAP it was fun! Lots of IMD kids in attendance, as well as several roommates, significant others, and Animation students who came along to see what the fuss was all about (and probably to see where all the noise was coming from). Some highlights:

Wii Tennis! Now, I had never so much as held a Wii-mote before yesterday, but this game was extremely easy to learn. My doubles partner and I won 7 best-of-three matches in a row! Lots of fun, and despite what you see in the picture, nobody got hurt. Also, hooking a Wii up to a projector is probably the best idea ever. Having a wall-sized screen made playing the sports games a lot more fun, and easier than trying to play them on a regular-sized television.

Wii Bowling Tournament! Yep. $5 buy-in, winner takes all. Again, lots of fun, even for people who'd never played before. I was pretty excited to take 5th. Stiff competition from those bastards who've had their Wiis for a couple weeks now.Guitar Hero 2! Also Guitar Hero 1! Despite the competition from the Wii, I think Guitar Hero was still the most popular game in the room. People would patiently line up and wait until their turn to rock out and impress the crowd. Multiplayer mode is DEFINITELY the best way to play this game, especially when you have an appreciative audience egging you on. The new version sets it up so that one partner is on lead guitar and the other on bass...really great, especially if you've got one person who's more skilled than the other. We had some people who'd never played before, some who had played but not in a setting like this, and others (see above) who were...seasoned pros. Gold stars and many accolades to Al Yang for his enthusiastic showmanship, Mike Rossmassler for not getting killed while playing with Al Yang, Dave Horowitz for knowing when to bow out gracefully, and Renae Radford for picking up mad skillz on her first Guitar Hero outing.

Well, that's all for this post. I feel like I should be posting more, but I suspect you would all quickly grow bored with different variations on the theme of "classes, finals, projects, stress", so I'm trying to post when I've got something interesting to report. Check back in a few days for a rehash of all the finals, including descriptions of just what I'm working on when I'd rather be sleeping or doing my laundry (that second one is a lie...I never want to do laundry).

Oh man, I can't wait for tomorrow! Flying is a pain, but then I get to be at HOME for an entire week. A bit of a breath before the storm, as it were, since the finals push will be in full swing when I get back. At any rate, if any of you are going to be in Pekin/Peoria this week, give me a call. I would love to see you.

In other news, I finally got my hands on a copy of Guitar Hero, thanks to my dear friend RJ. He wasn't all that dear before he loaned me GH, of course ;-) I had played it before, but never for any length of time, so I was never any good. I'm still not any good, but I'm having SO MUCH FUN with it. For those of you who've never seen it (I'm assuming most of the aunts, uncles, grandparents, and parents fit in this category), here is a picture:


The guitar there is the controller. So you're mimicking (poorly) the real motions of playing a guitar. Guitar Hero is to playing a real guitar what Dance Dance Revolution is to real dance: not all that close the real thing, but it resembles it enough to be entertaining anyway. Seriously, if you've never played GH, give it a try. It's hilarious. I'm hoping to be at least not terrible at it by the time Thanksgiving break is over...there's a Guitar Hero 2, you see, and I would very much like to have it.

Okay, that's all I've got for now. For serious, folks, if you're going to be around next week, give me a shout. If I don't talk to you beforehand, I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

If you're still confused about what it is we try to do in Interactive Media at USC, NPR just did an interview with a couple profs in our program. Have a look:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6484624