This Fall's Big Speaker!

Hey William and Mary--

Well, the wait is over, and we are pleased to announce that we have recently confirmed this Fall's Big Speaker!

As we mentioned in a previous blog post, we attempted to book a couple of speakers at the beginning of the summer, who ended up not working out for a variety of reasons. (financial reasons, scheduling conflicts, etc)

By the beginning of August, we were still speaker-less, and looking for inspiration wherever we could find it! There are a lot of speakers out there who seem so "last year," and while they would definitely be affordable, they didn't necessarily seem contemporary, which is what Contempo Cult is all about!

Then, a movie called Julie and Julia appeared on the scene, and we were intrigued. (As were the countless other movie-goers, who allowed the movie to make over $20 million in its first weekend, and remain in the top ten at the box office for over 6 weeks!)

Critics and audience members alike were fawning over the culinary caper-Entertainment Weekly even made the bold claim that it was Meryl Streep's Oscar to lose- and it had certainly caught the attention of Contempo Cult.

Everyone knows Julia Child, the "Julia" half of the film's title. Lesser-known, but just as fascinating, is "Julie" (aka Julie Powell) the real-life writer/chef/blogger who took on the daunting task of cooking her way through every single recipe in Julia Child's cookbook- Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

The project originated as a blog titled The Julie/Julia Project, and later evolved into the book Julie and Julia, which still remains on the New York Times bestseller list. She now has a second book in the works entitled Cleaving which will be released this coming December.

We are very pleased to be bringing Ms. Powell to campus to share her story with the W&M community. She will also be signing copies of her book during a reception which will follow the event.

Tickets will be $2 for W&M students- but your friends and family are welcome too-- tickets for the public will be available for $10 each. Also- keep an eye out for announcements about how you can have a chance to score some free tickets in the days leading up to the event!

In the meantime, check out the original Julie/Julia Project Blog, and be sure to mark your calendars for her event on October 19!

BON APPETIT!
-Contempo Cult

Silence of the Lambs, with an emphasis on the silence

Hey horror enthusiasts,

We on AMP Films just wanted to thank everyone who came out yesterday for our Late Nite Horror Double Feature at Matoaka. We had a great time!

As some of you know, we experienced technical difficulties while trying to screen The Silence of the Lambs. While the system at Matoaka worked wonderfully for Psycho, it froze up for The Silence of the Lambs (paranormal intervention...?). We checked the DVD several times, and it was working, so we believe that the problem was related to an equipment malfunction. Our tech assistant tried everything he could to get the movie up and running, but at 11:30 we called it a night.

We want to extend our apologies to everyone who came out for the event. We truly appreciate all of the support and enthusiasm you gave us and are disappointed that we weren't able to show the film.

We're currently brainstorming ways to make it up to you all (...a time machine to restore your Saturday night..?). But we hope that for now you'll come out and enjoy some of the other great film events we have planned for the semester.

Lots of love and even more apologies,
AMP films

P.S. "I'll let you finish, but Beyonce had the best joke of all time" Classic. (don't worry, if you were there you would know...)

What Scares You?

Hey, Special Events here! Do you love to be scared or love the Fall/Halloween season? If so get ready for an AWESOME event coming your way the 30th of October! The FALL SPOOKTACULAR will be coming to a sunken garden near you, featuring Potty Racers, A Petting Zoo, Pumpkin Painting, Carnival Games, A Haunted Trail and buckets of Candy! So get your costumes ready for the costume contest, and prepare for the best Halloween ever!

PICTURES!!

Hey! Have you recently attended an AMP event and seen a photographer in a dashing blue shirt walking around? Did you get a picture taken at Carbon Leaf, The Late Night Kickoff or Bo Burnham last week? Well if you have or even if you haven't there are AWESOME AMP pics up on both the AMP flicker and in the AMP Facebook group! Tag yourselves or save the pics you are in, they make some pretty awesome profile pictures :D

Dear TribeVision, why so much Tony Montana?

Hey TribeVision fans,

If you're a particularly dedicated fan of channel 52 you may have noticed something a little funny (or terrifying) these past two weeks: Scarface...where it shouldn't be.

It's a new year for TribeVision, and with a new year comes a new set of programmers. We've been working hard to bring you a great line-up of films, but we're also just getting used to the system. So no, you're not going crazy. The schedule did say 17 Again, but that was in fact Al Pacino you just saw (....and you thought Zac Efron had just grown-up a lot over the summer).

Any remaining instances of errant Scarfaces (there are two) have been noted and recorded on the schedule, which should be online shortly if it's not there already.

We apologize for the inconvenience, but try to think of finding the misplaced showings as a bizarre scavenger hunt. Or your best friend's older brother's dream come true.

Love,
AMP Films

P.S. Say hello to my little friend....(sorry, we couldn't resit....)

Stay Tuned... Big Speaker Announcement Coming Soon!

Hey W&M,

The Contemporary and Cultural Issues Committee (aka "Contempo Cult") spent the summer hard at work, trying to find the BEST possible "Big Speaker" for this semester.

Some of you might have taken our poll last spring, which we sent out trying to get a feel for what type of speaker you all are interested in. There was a pretty strong leaning towards bringing someone connected to "pop culture/entertainment" in particular, so we kept that in mind during our search. (Don't worry, though... that doesn't mean the other topics like journalism, sports, multicultural and/or gender issues are going to be left out-- we're keeping all these things in mind as we plan the other events, both for this semester, and for the spring!)

We looked for inspiration from all sorts of sources- newspapers, blogs, magazines... summer blockbusters that were "striking gold" at the box office and hot summer "reads" that were flying off the shelves at the bookstores. If people were talking about it, we tried to be on top of it, and see if there was any way we could bring this person/trend/issue to campus.

We also got quite a few emails from students and campus groups which gave us some great ideas. We always LOVE getting these, and take each and every one into consideration. If only we could bring about 50 speakers to campus each semester, instead of just 3-4-- because we receive SO MANY great ideas, and each and every one would make for a really interesting/fun/thought-provoking event that we'd love to be able to share with the student body...

Some of you might have heard rumblings about a certain quirky tv "Science Guy" - and that's something we tried really hard to make happen. Unfortunately some budgetary and scheduling issues meant it wasn't feasible to bring that particular event to campus. But... FEAR NOT dear Tribe, for Contempo Cult still has plenty of tricks up its sleeve! We have looked into a lot of great options, and are in the process of firming up an event that we're really excited about-- and you guys will be the first to know as soon as it's set in stone!

In the meantime- keep an eye out for publicity for our other exciting events this semester... and always feel free to send us your ideas. We'll be planning for the spring before you know it, and would love to hear what it is that you are excited to see!

Here's looking at you, kids...
-The Contempo Cult Committee

Intern Applications Due On Thursday!

Hey guys!

So now that you've been to some AMAZING AMP events so far this year, I know you are all dying to know how YOU can be one of those cool people in the blue shirts running all over, planning these events, and working backstage. Well here's your last chance to get in early and become an AMP Intern. Every other committee has recruitment in the spring (around February/March), but Interns is recruiting now! So download an application here and make sure to get it in by Thursday at 5 PM! As always, let us know at amp@wm.edu if you have any questions!

Back to Fall "Comedy Weekend" & other Shenanigans

Hey W&M!
First blog-o-post ordeal this semester, I'm the new AMP Comedy Chair: Findlay Parke. Nice to see you all. To tee things off for the fall semester we have a double-hit Back to Fall "Comedy Weekend" this September 4th-5th with Kumail Nanjiani & Bo Burnham respectively. Kumail Nanjiani hits Lodge 1 and is what people like to refer to as a Comic's comic- no big name yet but a combo of slammin' delivery and some wicked eyebrows will leave you floored. Bo Burnham takes up the lead September 5th in PBK with his now famous set-list of witty YouTube pun-laden antics. The 19 year old will be touring on his "Fake-ID" tour and visiting us for what promises to be a night of clever musical lewdness.

More updates as the semester rolls through- some names to look forward to: Eliot Chang, Todd Allen and the Tribe's own 7th Graders. Email us at: amp@wm.edu if you've got questions.


-AMP Comedy Productions

Carbon Leaf's Blog

Hey everyone! AMP Music Productions here.

Just wanted to share with you the blog Carbon Leaf posted about the show!

Check it out:

http://carbonleaf.ning.com/profiles/blogs/would-ya-stay-through-the

I hope everyone got to come out to the show!

p.s. We just started looking at Homecoming, so look out for updates!

AmpLove,
Music Productions