http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MikeRubino/ en-us 2010-03-11T20:58:13-05:00 http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MikeRubino/034636.html Don't Break the Ice was one of my favorite games as a kid. Armed with a thin green hammer, it was up to the player to knock out blocks of ice suspended in a platform until the nervous man on a chair was killed. And he was killed--don't think anything else. If you fall through a hole in some ice, where do you think you're going to end up? Dead in sub-zero water, that's where. It was a tense game for children three and up. non_academic MikeRubino 2010-03-11T20:58:13-05:00 http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MikeRubino/035269.html My day was made up of moments. Moments when I was terrified, adrenaline rushing and heart pounding. Moments when I was relieved, calm, and prayerful. Moments when I was skidding head on towards a concrete median. Those moments are what defined my day, with an incident, a car accident, I don't necessarily recommend anyone experience. But they're moments I have now, ones I'd like to give back but can't. So I'll keep them and reflect on them. non_academic MikeRubino 2010-02-18T10:12:35-05:00 http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MikeRubino/035257.html I'm filing this blog entry under "shameless self promotion." I suppose most blog entries on most blogs--not devoted to Tom Selleck, waterfalls, and sandwiches--could be filed under some sort of shamelessness/self promotion tag. I've just taken the liberty of combining the two. non_academic MikeRubino 2010-02-16T18:52:21-05:00 http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MikeRubino/035106.html It's no secret that the world continues to march forward, embracing each new piece of technology with little hesitation or thought. It's what we do. I'm okay with that (after all, we don't want to disappoint all those science fiction writers out there by not living up to their predictions). As the world grows smaller, life becomes simpler and more refined, and knowledge of practical, tangible craft diminishes with every generation and a couple billion mouse clicks, I find it necessary to occasionally go analog. non_academic MikeRubino 2010-02-13T11:49:19-05:00 http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MikeRubino/034933.html DirecTV is the bane of every Western Pennsylvania hockey-lover's existence. You may have heard that DirecTV no longer offers the Versus channel—a station that's only worth caring about because of the eight or so hockey games they have a year—because of a dispute between the satellite company and Comcast (who owns Vs.). The dispute has left every Pens fan out in the cold, forced to go to extreme measures (like go to a sports bar) just to see the rare game that graces the channel. Last night was one of those games, as the Pens faced the Minnesota Wild. non_academic MikeRubino 2010-01-12T20:15:18-05:00 http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MikeRubino/034682.html The Cellar Dwellers, the comedy troupe I belong to, spent the past year performing 50 consecutive improv shows. Throughout 2009, we had our share of special events and guests (a giant balloon wheel filled with improv suggestions, musical comedy groups, improv actors from Pittsburgh and New York, etc.). Our year-ending Christmas show, however, raised the ridiculousness level of our already over-the-top weekly show to new and fantastic heights. We built a house on stage. non_academic MikeRubino 2010-01-09T15:11:14-05:00 http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MikeRubino/034648.html So with 2009 thankfully behind us (yeah, I didn't care for it, either), I think it's about time I briefly reflect back on all those resolutions I posted. Like most folks who value a good reason for personal growth, I made those resolutions with the full intention of honoring them. For the most part, I actually stuck with them—even though it wasn't always a conscious decision to do so. non_academic MikeRubino 2010-01-03T18:28:04-05:00 http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MikeRubino/034647.html You may not have heard, but my gift wrapping skills have received much acclaim throughout the years. My presents, while not as well regarded as my presence, are unique and well disguised in beautiful paper and ribbons. You see, a trick to wrapping presents is to hide the identity of the gift. You don't wrap a banana straight out, you put it in a gift bag. You don't wrap a car, because you'd spend too much money on enough paper to cover it fully. I'm known for simple, logical wrapping solutions like those just mentioned. So I figured, on this Christmas Eve, it would be an apt time to inform you (the valued reader) about my secret gift wrapping style. If you're like me, you've waited until now to actually wrap your presents... and now you're reading a blog instead. Before beginning, make sure you have plenty of paper, tape, scissors, ribbons and bows. Got them? Okay, lay everything on the floor and make sure you don't sit on the scissors. non_academic MikeRubino 2009-12-24T12:53:32-05:00 http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MikeRubino/034645.html This is the second year that James and I wrote a Dodge Intrepid Christmas special with the specific intention of performing it live. The first couple years of the radio show, we just threw together a Christmas episode packed with jokes, recorded it quickly in a frigid living room, and set it free. These episodes are one-shots that let us really dig into the humorous side of the show, and include a goofy, seasonal plot... sort of like how every other Christmas special works. non_academic MikeRubino 2009-12-23T11:36:29-05:00 http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MikeRubino/034640.html I have two different, back-to-back Christmas shows this week. Both involving a heavy amount of preparation in very different ways. non_academic MikeRubino 2009-12-15T11:37:42-05:00 http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MikeRubino/034635.html I finished Chapter 11 in Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" this morning. I finished it a little too quickly, unfortunately, because the end of the chapter isn't printed in my copy of the book. non_academic MikeRubino 2009-12-12T11:54:48-05:00 http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MikeRubino/034580.html There has always been a lot of crossover in the Pittsburgh improv scene. Troupes overlap, perform together, disband and then rename. But there has been nary a time when everyone has come together to before as one. A jam, if you will. That's all changed in the last month, however, as the CLO Cabaret along with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has organized a weekly show aptly titled The Pittsburgh Improv Jam. non_academic MikeRubino 2009-12-07T17:14:43-05:00 http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MikeRubino/034350.html Aesthetics and popular beauty sometimes butt heads. Classical beauty and symmetry can often lose out to the shiny, vapid looks rooted in nothing more than mob agreement. When I was in second grade, it was the Sloped S. The Sloped S, for those not familiar with a term I just coined a few moments ago, is a manner of hand writing that defies all convention and classical design. It spits in the face of two thousand years of S-writing. Essentially, the serpentine shape of the S is soured by straightening. Only half. Like an S with bed head, the top curve is angular and slanted like a ski ramp. Why? I have no idea. non_academic MikeRubino 2009-11-22T11:22:30-05:00 http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MikeRubino/034284.html Amidst his seemingly endless streak of toga-clad blockbusters, Charlton Heston starred in three classic science fiction films about life after the world ends. The films aren't a trilogy by any official standard, but they each contain similar basic elements, grounded in popular literature, that make them an informal set. I'm referring to Planet of the Apes (1968), The Omega Man (1971), and Soylent Green (1973). The premise for each film follows a simple path: one man surviving in a world overcome with chaos and danger. Each film stresses the individual and self-reliance, sometimes because you can't trust those around you, other times because there's no one left alive to trust. non_academic MikeRubino 2009-11-21T13:10:29-05:00 http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MikeRubino/034202.html Dispatch, 12/01/99: There are only a few instances in my lifetime where a discovery has been of such great importance that it has virtually changed our understanding of history. I have a feeling I have just made such a discovery. The cave's diminutive tunnel system has opened up into a large anteroom. The place is caked in fine layers of earth. Some work will be required to learn the true contents of this room. I would like to report that I'm up to the challenge. non_academic MikeRubino 2009-11-15T11:10:24-05:00