May 9, 2011: Avenged Sevenfold, Three Days Grace & Bullet for My Valentine

Monday night marked my last show working for the UCF Arena in Orlando and it was a doozy. Members of Bullet for My Valentine whipped their hair back and forth, Adam Gontier of Three Days Grace rocked his best power stance, and at least two guys from Avenged Sevenfold appeared as though they stepped right out of “The Lost Boys,” all before a nearly sold-out show.

  

Perhaps the most striking part of the night was the way in which one actor descended into view of the crowd: by the “neck” (actually by cables and a harness). Did it make any sense? No, but the crowd seemed to the enjoy the morbidity of a feigned hanging.

Ludacris, LMFAO & Corey Smith – October 16, 2010

LMFAO saturated the stage, photo pit, and crowd with champagne and Coronas. Above is a dripping speaker just before Ludacris, the closing act, came on.

UCF’s annual Homecoming concert rolled through last weekend and, as usual, it was amazing. There was not a single open space on the standing-room-only floor. LMFAO’s performance utterly blew me away with their energy and choreographed moves, and their use of live instruments to back up their vocals certainly didn’t hurt, either.

A Looming Graduation

Four years have gone by far too quickly, and I remember this feeling all too well. It seems as if only yesterday I was completing applications to colleges and frantically reading all of the Survive-Life-With-A-Roommate-type books that I could muster. In case you’re wondering, yes, I survived life with several roommates. Unfortunately, there’s no how-to guide for this next chapter of my life. The possibilities are endless, and that is exactly what scares me. There is no “next step.”

Armed with a list of family addresses and overpriced -though seductively foiled and embossed- stationery, I set out to assemble, fold, stuff, seal and stamp my graduation announcements. For me, this chore symbolized something much more than the hope that a relative would be so gracious as to send me a check in the mail.  It was a reminder with tangible evidence that I had arrived, but where?

‘Best Portfolio’ of spring 2010 graduating class

My friend, Whitney Hamrick, read the announcement to me from her phone and I was simply floored: My portfolio was deemed la crème de la crème of all spring 2010 journalism graduates from the University of Central Florida! There are so many talented students that will be graduating with me from the journalism program in just a few more months, so I am deeply humbled by the news.

Congratulations to journalism major Amanda Moore, whose portfolio was judged to be the best among 42 submitted this semester. The vote among the faculty was unanimous. What impressed us so much about Amanda’s work was her consistency of excellence from the front to the back of the portfolio. While Amanda is a visual track student whose primary interest is photography, she is also a heck of a reporter. Her news clips were strong, interesting, well-written and actually newsworthy. Amanda impressed as the perfect embodiment of the kind of multimedia “backpack journalist’’ that news organizations are seeking these days. We’re proud of her and hope you are too. Please congratulate her when you see her. She wins a $100 prize, which will be presented to her in class when the new semester starts in January.

Rick Brunson
For the Journalism faculty