Rancho's Got Talent

I surprisingly had a good time tonight.

I was planning on staying in because I'm sick and NEED TO GET BETTER, but I decided that I would take a quick trip to Rancho so that I could complete my Live Event assignment for Mass Media Writing. I'm glad this spontaneous talent show popped up in my radar because it ended up being one of the best events I've ever seen Rancho throw. When I first got there, it was an interesting feeling. I looked into the sea of people and realized that I had not gone to school with a single one of them. My sister is now a senior in high school, turning 18 in a few months, and the Rancho I once knew is a much different Rancho today. There was a good mix of talent, even featuring some kids that used to go to Boys and Girls Club. Almost every person I knew at the show was someone from Boys and Girls Club, or the confirmation program at St. Polycarp. I had been a mentor figure to every person I knew there tonight (boy did I feel old!). There were even two kids that I used to coach baseball who were dancing off to the side of the show next to me, and I envied them for being able to do that. I almost wanted to join them, and be the center of attention again at Rancho, but I knew that it wouldn't have the same effect. I'm not at Rancho anymore. I'm not the big man on campus. I'm not the guy everyone knows and everyone likes. I'm the old guy that everyone wonders what he's doing there. I decided not to pop'n'lock with them, but that's not to say that I didn't want to.

Back to the show. It was an awesome show with a good mix of talent and very few duds. The biggest gripe I had was with the sucky sound equipment and/or the sucky sound technician. The guy didn't even TRY to fix the problems, he just sat there and let them be. I was like holy crap, this guy either is the laziest sound tech in the world, or he has no idea what he's doing. It made me want to take a class in sound just to make sure that I never fail if I'm in that situation. I would love to learn sound tech for concerts and events, etc. But yeah, sound sucked and it echoed the whole time, but everyone's performances made up for it. One thing that really stood out was Stephanie Garcia's brother Ricky, who was the MC of the show. The first half of the show, he was kinda quiet just running through the lineup of performers, but in the second half it seemed like he started having fun, and he ended up doing an A+ job as an MC. Being a good MC is something I take very seriously and very personally, and to have nothing bad to say about Ricky's job is probably the biggest compliment I could ever give someone as an MC. He was very impressive and was able to entertain the audience without putting the focus on himself (one of the biggest goals of being an MC). Good job Ricky, and good job to Stephanie's little brother Daniel who played the shit out of the drums in their rendition of "All the Small Things" by Blink 182.

I finished my articles on Dungeons and Dragons and the Rancho Talent Show, and though they're rushed, I enjoyed writing them. It feels relaxing when you're writing, and it doesn't have to be research papers or essays and shit. It's why I like blogging so much. You're given creativity, why not use it?

Happy birthday Scuba! You're finally 21 now. We got no more excuses =P