Beer Olympics Recap

Well I'm just wrapping up a pretty awesome weekend and I have been trying to stay away from so many drinking and party posts and get a little serious, but I still got to stick to my roots. The other night was possibly one of the best I've had during my time at UNH. Our youngest roommate turned 21 on Friday and to celebrate we hosted a Beer Olympics. It's something we've all wanted to do for a while, but we never did. We planned it all out for a while, sent out facebook invites and made the brackets. We planned on having three games with 16 teams, each consisting of a guy and a girl who pick a country to represent and dress up as. We ended up with 17 teams, but we solved the matchup problem by randomly making two play a "play-in" game before starting the tournaments. We settled on Beirut, Beer Dodge and survival flip cup as the three games. However, we never got to flip cup and the Beirut tournament ended in the final four, but that didn't matter because everyone had a great time. We had around 35 people in our Gables apartment and never even had a courtesy knock. It was pretty amazing. Everyone had unbelievable costumes, but the best was the birthday boy who represented Vatican City with a pope costume topped off with a pope hat made out of a PBR 30 box.

My partner and I represented Team Romania (so we could dress up as Gypsies.) We have been friends for a while and entered the night expecting to make some noise in the Beirut tournament, but had zero expectations for the other games. We both are pretty good at beirut and can handle our beer quite well. However, it wasn't our night on the ruit table. We lost in the first round to one of my roommates whose partner started off hitting her first 6 cups. That didn't matter to us though because we would go on to win the gold medal in Beer Dodge, the one tournament that we actually completed. On our path to glory we took out Burkina Faso, Scotland (a huge upset over my roommate who is the Randy Johnson of Beer Dodge) and Kenya. In the finals we were matched up against Cuba, who stormed through their side of the bracket. But those commies couldn't handle the power of the gypsies. It was a back and forth game and both teams only had one can left. The next hit for either team would have ended the game if the ball wasn't immediately retrieved and it was my turn to throw. My partner was ready to drink and I nailed the top of the can, the ball took off straight up in the air with an amazing airtime. They caught it and slammed it down, but it was too late, my partner had finished her beer and the Gypsies were Olympic Beer dodge champions. I spent the rest of the night wearing my Gogol Bordello Gypsy flag around my back and I am considering making myself a gold medal.

If you have never done a Beer Olympics you have to add it to your UNH graduation bucket list. It was easily the best party we've ever hosted and I can honestly say that everyone there had a blast.

Lastly, I am asking for readers to submit their best planking pictures around the UNH campus. I already had another one sent in and if I get some more I'll start posting a few at a time. You can email them to me (unhblog@yahoo.com) or send them via twitter or facebook. If you want I can blur out faces if that's something you care about. Yesterday's will be hard to beat, so be creative. I'll try to post some of my or my roommates too. 

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Whiskey Time!

The Maine Guy is coming to Durham and I got my first handle of whiskey of the year. I had been on a gin kick, but it's whiskey time, which means that I'm ready to turn up to 11. Party!

This is my whiskey trifecta of songs. My playlist has plenty of hip-hop and popular college party music,   but it's good to have a little variety as well.

Whiskey pre-game pump up:

And when the clock strikes midnight and you're feeling pretty good, belt this one out with your friends:

And this one is after you can rage no more and are ready to wind down. Learn the lyrics and sing along because when the time is right, this song cannot be beat:

Gogol Bordello Broke the Spell

Warning: Non UNH post. This is basically a concert review that I just want to share for any other members of the Gogol community who might stumble across this.

Last night Gogol Bordello set the Boston House of Blues on fire with an unreal performance that lasted about two hours. Forro in the Dark got the night started with about 45 minutes of their Brazilian reggae sound, but when Eugene Hutz of Gogol took the stage to singalong with Forro's "Nonsensical" (the song that gave me the title idea for this blog) you knew that the night would be all about Hutz and his captivating stage presence.

Different concert obviously, but a similar performance:

Gogol took the stage right at 8 p.m. ripping of hits new and old beginning with "Tribal Connection," "Not a Crime" and "Wanderlust King" before the band transitioned into their latest album playing "My Companjera," "Raise the Knowledge," "Last One Goes the Hope,"Pala Tute," "Immigraniada," "Break the Spell," "Sun is on my Side" and perhaps the best performance of the night with "When Universes Collide." The band also played "Mishto," "American Wedding" (while a fan proposed to his girlfriend on stage) and an almost hip-hop esq version of "Start Wearing Purple" that had the entire house jumping and screaming. (Well, actually the entire house did that all night.) The band took a quick break before performing an encore of "Think Locally, Fuck Globally" and an extended version of "Sacred Darling." The band then stood across the stage and took their bows. Hutz gathered his band of immigrants and gypsies around him for a quick chat before saying to the audience "we got an early start tonight, so we're gonna do a few more." The crowd went nuts and Hutz introduced their next song saying, "we just just got back from Ireland and we were there for St. Patrick's Day so we'd like to take that spirit back with us" and they performed and awesome version of the Dubliners "Dirty Old Town" (made famous by the Pogues) and they finally ended their set with a great version of their old hit "Alcohol." When the concert finally ended my brother turned to me and said something along the lines of "No one else in Boston had as much fun as the people at that concert" (including the members of the band). - I may have missed a few songs, I'm writing this off memory.

This is from a different concert, but it is the same final two songs as last night:

In short, Gogol Bordello may be the best live band around. Adjectives like "energetic" and "charismatic" don't even begin to describe their performances. I've seen them 8 times since my senior year of high school and I wouldn't have done that if it wasn't worth it (including twice in Philly - a 7 hour drive-  and twice more in NYC). If you consider yourself a fan of live music in general then do yourself a favor and see Gogol the next time they roll by your town. You won't regret it.

Day drinking in Boston!

Going down to Boston for some day drinking and then seeing Gogol Bordello. Best live band ever... and I think I'm still drunk from last night. Yay college.

Who else is ready to turn it up to 11?

I turn 21 tomorrow. After tonight I will have (hopefully) survived UNH without an underage drinking arrest or a single written warning from an RA or CA. Verbal warnings for playing awesome music loud for all to hear doesn't count. If you tell me to turn the bass down I will, but I'm gonna turn the volume up. We're cranking it up to 11 tonight, UNH! Wildcat blood.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Saturday Music Pick

Today's music pick is "When Universes Collide" by Gogol Bordello. This is one of my favorite, and possibly the most powerful song I have heard in a while. I've seen Gogol Bordello live seven times and each time they blew me away. Amazing stage presence, energy and crowd interaction. Different, I know, but give them a chance and they will probably grow on you.

Trans-Continental Hustle

What do you get when you take a Ukrainian signer/guitarist, a Russian fiddler, a Russian accordionist, an Israeli guitarist, an Ethiopian bassist, an American drummer, an Ecuadorian MC/rapper/percussionist and two Asian-American back-up signers/percussionists and put them in Brazil while writing an album? You get "Trans-Continental Hustle" by Gogol Bordello, which might be the most appropriately titled album since Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon." TCH is Gogol Bordello's fifth studio album and first since joining up with producer Rick Rueben and Columbia Records. I started listening to Gogol after their last album came out in the summer of 2007 and over the past two years I have seen them live six times. They are more well known for their theatrical live performances and gained attention after former Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello called them "the best band in the world." I have seen them twice in Philadelphia, twice in New York City, once in Boston and once at Hampton Beach and  I swear they get better with every show. Since 2006 they have played around 200 live shows... a year!

When I first heard their studio work I wasn't sure what to think but after my first live show I realized I would never see a better concert. I realized I was wrong after seeing them again... only they can top themselves live. Just watch this video of their performance on Jools Holland, a BBC music show from across the pond. Small stages and TV appearance can't control them and they instantly win over the audience.


Trans-Continental Hustle is set to be released on April 27th, the day before they play at Boston's House of Blues. It can currently be streamed for free off the band's myspace page and I think this is by far Gogol's most complete album. It has everything from slow soulful performances to rapid punk songs. Over the years the band has grown musically thanks to the passion of lead man Eugene Hutz who's rough voice perfectly fits the bands style. Hutz, who plays a nylon string accoustic guitar, sings of his past, of freedom and of hope. Born in Ukraine, Hutz and his parents were forced to relocate following the Chernobyl meltdown. For a few years they spent time living in refugee camps across Eastern Europe until immigrating to Vermont and eventually settling in New York City, which the band considers their home. They call their genre "Gypsy Punk" do to Hutz's Romani background.

If any of these songs even slightly spark your interest I highly recommend you attend their up coming show in Boston. I promise it will be an experience like no other.

Stay classy, not Umassy.

Quotable Quotes

This morning, not only did I wake up a bit hungover, but also in a very good mood. Usually those two things are the opposite. I was happy because I thought that today would be the first day of the rest of my life. I decided wanted to make a difference with my life, to live for a purpose. I thought of the song "Renegades" covered by Rage Against the Machine. There is a line those goes as follows:

"We're the renegades, we're the people,

with our own philosophies,

we change the course of history,

everyday people like you and me"

This really made me think of how you don't have to be in power, or an important person, to make a difference in the world. Then I realized that there are some many different people already trying to make a difference, so how could I make my voice heard? Then I thought of the movie "Waking Life" and the part were the professor says:

"It might be true that there are six billion people in this world, and counting, but nevertheless -what you do makes a difference. It makes a difference, first of all, in material terms, to other people, and it sets an example."

I started to think that I should try do make a difference with my life. For a better future of not only America, but the world. It's like that old Native American proverb that says:

"We do not inherit the land, we borrow it from our children."

And I thought, that just maybe I could do something to help out with the climate problems. But I'm not a scientist and I do know anything about climate change that could help us. Then I thought of the song"Ultimate" by Gogol Bordello that goes like this:

"There were never any good old days,

they are today, they are tomorrow

it is a stupid thing we say,

cursing tomorrow with sorrow."

And I thought to myself, Fuck it. It's Thirsty Thursday at UNH and I'm going to get drunk tonight. It is not the time or place to think back on the past or to worry about the future. It is the time to have fun and enjoy yourselves. Go get drunk tonight, and if not tonight, then this weekend. Put your worries behind you and just let go. So that being said, let Gogol Bordello take you into the weekend. Party!

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Too Much Beer is Not Enough

Well, I hope you all had a very exciting and adventurous long weekend. It was much harder to get back into class mode (sober) today than I expected. I have a few quick things to touch on today so I hope at least one of them will interest all of you. I know in a previous post I promised I wouldn't discuss college rankings for a while but it has been brought to my attention that the Princeton Review named UNH the number 2 school in the nation for "Lots of Beer" ranking behind only Penn State. Finally, a ranking we can be proud of! Although in all honesty I'm not sure how these rankings are created. The one thing I do know is that I like beer, and I guess that is all that matters. But with all good things there is always a downside. More beer means more cops, which means more of a pain in my ass. Or our ass as a collective student body.

The Union Leader ran an article today about how UNH is working with police to crack down on off campus houses and apartments that are too rowdy. I have one thing to say: GET A FUCKING LIFE! It is really worth it to pay a police force all this money for them to sit around and arrest 18-20 year old kids for drinking a beer? College students are going to have fun, and drink alcohol and probably smoke weed and honestly there are so many other things that the school should be concerned about. The whole idea of getting a house or apartment off campus is to have more freedom to drink without worrying about RA's and other university employees.

A lot of kids realize that they can't do much then sit quietly in a dorm and drink so they either join a fraternity or get an apartment. If UNH cracks down more on the apartments, then that leaves just fraternities for parties. A lot of kids already join frats for the social aspect, but there are others who join for their future resume. If more kids join frats looking to only party then the whole Greek system takes a hit. Fraternities will begin to loose their attraction to students with higher GPA's and soon enough there won't be any recognized fraternities on campus. See the picture I am painting for you? Colleges in general need off campus apartments and houses to be rowdy, simply because they are off campus. Otherwise the campus organizations will collapse and the university as a whole takes a reputation hit. Believe it or not, universities with a strong Greek system is a very good thing. It makes the university much more attractive to incoming students.

UNH is obviously overly concerned with its reputation of being a "party school" which is why this past weekend over 60 arrests were made with the huge majority being alcohol related issues. I want to know how much money is being spent for these cops to do their "jobs." The cops can arrest everyone they want, but the fact is that kids are still going to drink. How come there haven't been any articles about the conditions of the some of the dorms or other buildings? Go into any of the buildings that are more than 10 years old and rusty pipes are exposed everywhere, to say the least. Most of the big lecture halls on campus have terrible heating, the bottom of the room being freezing cold and the top rows are hotter than fuck. I know there are dozens of other things worth complaining about, but I don't feel like going through them all.

I would also like to mention that a "sister" blog has been started at UMaine by a close friend of mine. He's new to the game so show him support... or at least let him know what you think of Maine. I was thinking about asking some friends at UMass and UVM if they would be interested in creating some sort of New England State University Blogger League, but then I realize that people at UMass can't spell and those at UVM smoke way too much weed to remember to blog on a regular basis.

The Princeton Review also listed UNH as a college with poor diversity and culture. So with today's song of the day I have picked out a foreign culture song that is great to drink to.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Fuck Yeah Friday

Welcome to the debut post of "Fuck Yeah Friday!" It's warm, the sun and shining and the Sox take on the Yankees tonight at Fenway. Oh yeah, and it's a fuckin' Friday at UNH! It is time to party hard, we need to step up if we want to get back into the top 10 party schools. It's up to you to make the change. I hope to see you at DHOP tonight, singing loud and dancing awesomely. I'll probably be there, this may be your once chance to spot the New Hampshirite in action. 

Readers, I just realized that our one month anniversary is rapidly approaching! You can expect an awesome and corny "look back" post which will be the first of hopefully many multimedia posts. 

Here is today's song of the day. If you don't like it pound a few and turn up the volume to 11. I present the ultimate  band of gypsies. They have soul, they have talent, and best of all they know how to party. They are Gogol Bordello. 

The school year is winding down, so party hard, have fun and be smart. You all better be at DHOP tonight.

Stay Classy, Not UMassy.

Song of the Day

OK, so maybe you will see them on TV... This is a band that knows how to party! Gogol Bordello live on Letterman with "Wonderlust King." Members of SCOPE please take note, these guys would rock Lundholm.  Youtube them some more to see how they own a stage and connect with the crowd. I actually did it for you, just click that link!