:: Pedantic Platitudes ::

:: Friday, February 28, 2003 ::

Today, I got to hear highly acclaimed intellectual and founder of modern linguistics Noam Chomsky. He was part of a panel discussion entitled Another World is Possible, which discussed alternatives to policies around the world, from education to poverty relief. The panel also featured a representative from an organization of woman peasants in Bolivia who delivered her speech in Spanish, a girl from a high school in Boston who talked about the importance of education and other youth issues, and technology director who talked about intellectual property and its uselessness if it it is not used to help people. Unfortunately, Noam Chomsky, who was the main attraction, could only speak for about 20 minutes because he had to rush off to another engagement, but he did give an excellent speech, as always.

Two quotes I got from the discussion:
"The world has two superpowers: The first is the United States; the second is world opinion." -Noam Chomsky.
"Nelson Mandela's body was in prison, but his mind was free; some people's bodies are free, but their minds are in prison." -Mel King.

Afterwards, I went out with some of my friends to get some ice cream. I had the cheesecake flavor. It reminded me of how much I miss Coldstone Creamery in SLO-town.

Wow, today has got to be one of the best nights in my life. I was invited to go to the Freshman Formal, and I had a blast. It was sort of a last-minute affair, but I was able to procure a ticket, and I had a suit already. I couldn't go until nearly 11 because my date had a previous engagement (a presentation of the upcoming film The Dancer Upstairs hosted by director John Malkovich). But we got to the formal, which was held at this really nice hotel in downtown Boston, and headed to the ballroom. There was some nice food - crackers, cheese, fresh fruit, brownies, nachos, etc. - and some nice drinks - sodas, punch, etc. Unfortunately, the food ran out too quickly. The music was hip-hop, but they had some good dance mixes as well. They had a really neat light show, also. I had a blast. When the party ended at 2 a.m. (which was way too early), we boarded busses back to school because the subway was closed at that time. We went to 7-11 to get a snack and hung out for a while. Then sometime around four in the morning, we went to see a little of the India/Pakistan cricket match that was broadcasted live on television. It was neat... only in college do you have experiences like that. Then we talked for a long time into the early morning hours.

:: SL 2:38 PM [+] ::
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