Who's the guy speaking?

Jammed between all the program elements is a guy who's going to get up on stage and talk. He'll come after the Korean barbecue fills our stomachs. He'll come after the rocking live band takes the stage in the midst of green and blue lights flashing through the auditorium, delivering on live music that's sure to bring the house down. He'll come after the welcome announcements by our esteemed club president, and after the skit which is not only a deft display of thespian talent, but is also a comic parody of all our college experiences, whether you're a "I've been here at Cal six days" student or "I'm a working professional" alumni.

He'll walk up after the Bourne-esque lightsaber video, and he'll stand there at the front of the stage, and look at every one of us. And then he'll talk. He'll talk about life--about your life and mine. He'll talk about his life, and in the telling of it maybe give us a window into our own.

The plush seats will probably beckon some of us to dreamy Neverland (especially after that barbecue), but if you manage to stay awake and listen, I'll bet you'll be glad you did.

Acting, drama, and being funny

It's a New Student Welcome Night tradition to have an uproariously hilarious skit. Generally, we get there. But it's not without logging serious hours, jumping up and down, putting on costumes, taking them off, moving props around, and repeating some lines over and over and over again to get it just right. It's a high bar to reach NSWN-readiness, and by the end of all the practices, pretty much everyone on the skit team can recite each other's lines just as well as they can recite their own.

The inestimable Josh, theater arts major, is skit director, and taking the stage is James, Annie, Steve, Jacob, and Angela. Of course, it's about the behind-the-scenes peeps too: Sang on music, and Wanda taking care of props and costumes. The plan, as far as I know, is they're scheduling about 18 hours of practice in the next two weeks so they'll be stage-ready and funny. The first won't be a problem. The second... well... we'll have to wait and see...!