This weekend, we’ll have a blog post by our director, Olivia Kimmel that will go behind the scenes of the shoot. Please check back in!

In the fourth and final installment of The Fifth Floor, Stephen’s future plans are in doubt. Billy and Major have to part ways since the quirky English major and his girlfriend are banned from the library indefinitely. Watch and see what happens as Billy is forced to do a little growing up.

It is nearly time for Billy to go on his date with Blaire (Juliet). Major—with the help of Library Girl—finds some important background information on Blaire and decides to train Billy in the art of dating. Watch what happens when Billy uses Major’s interesting advice on the date.
Stay tuned for the fourth and final episode tomorrow!

That doesn’t mean the Faces’ music is subpar. In fact, it’s quite good. I recommend checking it out.

The reason I bring up the Faces today is because of one of their most popular songs, “Ooh La La,” seems increasingly poignant; one by one, my friends are wrapping up their final finals. That’s not a typo. I mean it. It is my peers’ last exams as undergraduates. Yikes. Everyone is wondering where the past four years have gone.

The main line in the chorus of “Oh La La” reads this way:

I wish that I knew what I know now

When I was younger

A seasoned reader will suggest that a 22-year-old blogger should not be complaining about getting old. He will tell me that my life is just beginning. Mr. Seasoned will go on a long rant about how I should “just wait ‘til I get to [his] age,” because then I’ll see how young I am. I’ll lament that I lamented about getting older at the ripe, young age of 22.

Mr. Seasoned is right. Essentially, he’s singing the same song the Faces sang all those years ago. He’s the Granddad in this first verse:

Poor old Granddad, I laughed at all his words

I thought he was a bitter man

….

For love is blind and you’re far too kind

Don’t ever let it show

Granddaddy Seasoned is correct to remind us young folks that we’re only young once. In that way, I think “Oh La La” is more of a celebration of youth than it is a warning from a cynical ol’ Grandpa. The old man is telling us to lighten up a little bit.

There’s no point in worrying about this “real life” thing people keep talking about it. Sometimes, there really is only so much you can do. Most of us have worked hard to get our collegiate degrees. We have begun applying for jobs. Hell, some people already have jobs! What more can we do? I’m not suggesting we should throw all caution to the wind. That would be stupid. I suggest we follow the heart of crazy Granddad’s words. The only way to truly enjoy the point we’re at is to take a deep breath and inhale the once in a lifetime environment around us. We’re all in this purgatory together. So what, you ask? In the eternal words of Rodney Dangerfield, “So, let’s dance!”

I’m not sure about all of you other graduating classes from other schools, but here at BU we have a senior week packed with awesome events. The crazy, drunken week leads up to graduation weekend. What better way to celebrate the last four years than live in the moment this upcoming week? Instead of dwelling on things we wish we did differently, we should rejoice in the things we actually got right. Enjoy the company of the friends you grew up with since freshman year.

Go up to someone you had a crush on and tell them how you felt. What’s the worst that can happen? You get a peck on the cheek? She tells you that she felt the same way? Use that as motivation not to be so shy next time.

If you really are dwelling on a bad memory, say sorry to someone—if it’s appropriate. We’re all about to get our slates cleared again, but if your conscience needs clearing now, go for it.

We need to keep in mind that this time is special. It’s one of those rare times in life where we can go for our dreams, mess up and start over. We still have our last get out of jail free cards—figuratively speaking. I know some of you will take that literally if I don’t clarify.

Before this post becomes too preachy, I’d like to say Happy Senior Week to my fellow seniors! Whether I dislike you, met you when we were both loopy, love you, or whatever, it’s been an honor and a privilege spending the past four years with you.

Have fun this week. Soak it all in. Remember we don’t have all the answers and it’s not always easy to find them. After all, Granddaddy Seasoned said:

Poor young grandson there’s nothing I can say

You’ll have to learn, just like me

And that’s the hardest way

In the second episode of the four-part “The Fifth Floor” web series, Major’s attempt to charm Library Girl flops. Thus, when he and Billy catch Stephen chatting up Juliet, the normally positive, up-beat Major wonders aloud whether love is really worth it. Billy is disheartened by his normally upbeat best friend’s new negative outlook on true love. Watch as Major and Billy both have surprise encounters with their respective crushes!

If you missed the first episode, check it out on our blog or on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-ONyf1oe10&feature=related

Watch as President of the Student Union, Arthur Emma, and Vice President, Dan Ellis talk about their experiences at BU.

The series is about a college senior, Billy, who has trouble coming to grips with graduation. Billy struggles to leave his comfort zone—Mugar Memorial Library. Billy’s quirky best friend, Major, encourages him to go after his library crush, a girl Billy and Major call Juliet. It’s hard for Billy to muster up enough confidence, especially when a snooty bookwork Stephen constantly reminds him that he doesn’t have a plan after graduation.

Please watch as Billy and Major find love, agony, crazy Recycle guys and sing karaoke in the girls’ bathroom.

The second episode will be released on Tuesday, May 10^th so stay tuned and check back in!

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is the Fawkesing man…er, wizard.

Hold on to your hippogriffs, kids. This is going to be wilder than a drunken Yule Ball.

1) Wardrobe/Artillery

“I don’t need a cloak to become invisible.”

I’m not going to sit here and tell you I know much about fashion. At the age of 22, I have yet to learn how to tie a tie. However, I’m finally starting to learn what matches.

One thing I do know about fashion is that Dumbledore has got it. Albus is true to his Merlin roots. He’s a tall, somewhat skinny wizard; naturally it makes sense to wear robes that have stars on it and half-mooned spectacles that never seem to move from the end of his crooked nose. His long white hair and beard complete the wise wizard look.

Dumby always seems dressed for the occasion too. The Headmaster—who many believe to be the most powerful wizard of all time—may just be the most suave wizard of all time too. When you look at Dumbledore, you see a guy who doesn’t mind standing out in a crowd. He gives of an “I don’t give a N.E.W.T.’s ass” aura.

Dumbledore knows that he can duel the dementor out of anyone at anytime, no matter what he is wearing. He doesn’t change clothes all the time like Gandalf. If you look at some of the most perilous moments in the Potter series—the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, the time Harry went to the Ministry of Magic and was ambushed by Voldemort, when Dumbledore took Harry to find the locket Horcrux—Dumbledore is in his freaking pajamas! The guy is ready for anything! He’ll take on basilisks in boxers.

Yoda wears a potato sack and looks like the bum on the street corner who asks for money. He gives you a sad story about how he used to be in the Jedi order but then they were all killed. Blah blah blah. A hobo, you are.

In terms of artillery, Dumbledore has the ELDER WAND! It’s the most powerful wand in the wizard world. He won it after he defeated his former comrade, Gellert Grindewald. The Elder Wand is one of the three parts to the Deathly Hallows. If one were to own all three hallows, he would be invincible. At one point in his life, Dumbledore came across all three. However, Dumbledore knew that his weakness was too much power, thus was content with owning only one of the hallows.

Oh and don’t forget, the guy doesn’t need a cloak to be invisible. Try using the force on someone you can’t see, you jumping green freak.

2) Apprentice

“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

Dumbledore trained Harry Freaking Potter. Okay, it’s actually Harry James Potter, but you get the point. I know the harshest critic will astutely point out that Dumbledore went and died on Harry—if that’s a spoiler for you, I don’t feel bad—but it was all part of Albus’s master plan.

Dumbledore knew that even though he was the most powerful wizard around, it was Harry who had to defeat Voldemort. He told Harry that Riddle had split his soul into seven parts. Yet, like a good teacher does, he left it up to his student (Harry) to find out what and where the parts were. Dumbledore was so satisfied with his training of Harry that he had full confidence that Harry would find and destroy all seven parts of horcruxes.

Furthermore, he knew that when the time came, Harry would be noble enough to sacrifice himself in order to finally defeat Voldemort. Again, if this is a spoiler for you, READ THE DAMN BOOKS. Harry was so fond of his teacher and mentor that he created an army in his name—Dumbledore’s Army. Last time I checked, Luke Skywalker never fought for Yoda’s Army. And Gandalf’s fake apprentices—the Fellowship—had their own snooty name.

Let’s not forget it was Dumbledore’s Army, along with the Order of the Phoenix, who defeated the Death Eaters in the Battle For Hogwarts. Boo Yah.

3) Nemesis

“Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.”

Never scared. That should be Dumbledore’s mantra. Not only did Albus have the greatest apprentice of all-time, he had the greatest nemesis. The young Tom Riddle never fooled Dumbledore. Dumbledore—a Transfiguration teacher back then—warned some of the other teachers that Riddle was up to no good. He kept an eye on Riddle. Ultimately, the close attention he paid to Riddle allowed him to gather enough information to defeat the bastard.

Dumbledore is the only wizard that Voldemort ever feared. I know the argument here will be, “Well if Dumbledore knew Tom Riddle was going to be so bad, why didn’t he stop him earlier?” Perhaps Dumbledore’s flaw is that he believes in free will. He believes that people should make choices for themselves and live with the consequences. That being said, Dumbledore always intervened when Voldemort put innocent lives at risk. Sure, he couldn’t save everyone, but he tried.

Had Voldemort not feared Dumbledore, he probably would have been able to infiltrate Hogwarts at an earlier time in Harry’s schooling and kill the Boy Who Lived.

4) Battles

“To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.”

Dumbledore has some skeletons in his closet, but who doesn’t? When he was younger, power was his greatest weakness. As it follows, he became best friends with Gellert Grindewald. Grindewald was the only wizard who could rival Dumbledore in intellect and skill. Grindewald turned bad eventually. We’re talking raise evil armies and kill innocent people in Eastern Europe bad.

Dumbledore, knowing he could not ignore his former friend’s murders, went out found Grindewald and dueled him in what is considered the greatest wizard battle ever. Ever. Dumbledore defeated Grindewald and won the Elder Wand. Again, Dumby was not only the most powerful wizard, he had the best equipment. Did Yoda have the best lightsaber?  No. Sure, Gandalf could call up nature, but could he create a whole forest with his staff? Hmm…

Dumbledore’s battles with Voldemort were also epic. They were few, however, seeing as Voldemort peed in his pants—er, weird cloak—every time he met his former Transfiguration teacher.

It’s important here to note that Dumbledore chose his battles wisely. He did not fight death when it was imminent. Even in death, he saved Draco Malfoy’s soul—as he instead ordered Snape to kill him. AGAIN READ THE DAMN BOOK IF THIS IS A SPOILER!!

5) Coolness

“And now Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.”

Only cool people can say “flighty temptress” and get away with it. Dumbledore fills the story with awesome lines that end a scene or chapter. The guy knows how to make entrances and exits.

More importantly, Dumbledore has his own Chocolate Frog Card! There are only 101 known cards in the wizard world. The cards notes that Dumbledore is widely considered the greatest wizard of modern times. What’s cooler is that it says Dumbledore enjoys “chamber music and ten-pin bowling.”

The guy likes BOWLING. How cool is that? Sure, he can defeat Grindewald. And yes, he scares the pixies out of Voldemort. Oh, and he trained the ballsiest wizard of all-time in Harry Potter. BUT, in his spare time, he likes BOWLING! Badass.

6) Humor

“I take my hat off to you—or I would, if I were not afraid of showering you with spiders.”

“Don’t count your owls before they are delivered.”

“No, I was merely reading the Muggle magazines,” said Dumbledore. “I do love knitting patterns.”

“It’s lucky it’s dark…I haven’t blushed so much since Madame Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs.”

“By all means continue destroying my possessions. I daresay I have too many.”

“Alas! Ear wax!”

The greatest wizard of all-time could do stand up if he wanted. I dare say he’s funnier than Dane Cook. Ouch, out of date reference? Either way, Albus is a Hogwarts Trolley load funnier than Gandalf and Yoda. Halee admitted that Gandalf is not funny (and to that point, I would want SOMETHING to laugh about if an orc were killing me). Cody talks about Yoda playing up the crazy hobo routine. I do enjoy Yoda’s little act, but he’s not as consistently clever and hilarious as Dumbledore.

Albus always flashes that knowing smile or a wink after one of his quips. He knows he’s good. I’d love to sit down with him and have a Butterbeer and some Firewhiskey and just shoot the shit. We’d talk about Quidditch, Hogwarts, why I never got my letter as an 11-year-old. He’d make it all funny. Heck, if we needed to, we’d go to his office so he could pull a hilarious memory out of his Pensieve.

7) Wildcard: LOVE

“That which Voldemort does not value, he takes no trouble to comprehend. Of house-elves and children’s tales, of love, loyalty, and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. Nothing. That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he has never grasped.”

How can you argue against love? Sure, many people are jaded when it comes to the intangible, existential, abstract notion of love—but not Dumbledore. That’s what makes him the strongest teacher/sage/wiseman in this debate. Love is what kept Dumbledore going.

Dumby taught Harry that it was only love that would allow him to defeat Voldemort.

Love is why Fawkes—Dumbledore’s awesome Phoenix—always flew into battle to save Harry.

The L-bomb is why people in Dumbledore’s Army and the Order of the Phoenix were willing to fight Death Eaters and Voldemort himself.

Sure, Gandalf can die and come back every time like one of those video games that doesn’t let you lose. Yoda certainly has deserved his legendary cultural status.

But Dumbledore died for love. Harry was willing to do the same. Even Snape ultimately bites the bullet for love! Everyone fighting on the side of the good in the Battle for Hogwarts fought for love. They fought for Harry. And ultimately, they fought for what Dumbledore had been fighting for his whole life.

****

Okay, that about does it. If I haven’t convinced you that Dumbledore is better than Yoda and Gandalf, then so be it. I have given everything I can.

I tried to heed the eternal words of Dumbledore…

“It is important to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then can evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated.”

In this seventh episode, we give you a summer movie preview. Let’s be honest, it’s hard to know what to see and what not to waste your time on this summer. We consider ourselves experts–or at least bold enough to give you our opinion.

Friend of the show Austin North is in studio, along with UnCommon Discussion’s own Halee Bernard.

Listen as we talk about The Deathly Hallows Part II, Super 8, Kung Fu Panda 2, Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer, Thor, and many more! As usual, Brian Donovan gives his babes of the week and Noam Newman tickles our fancies with his Anti-Jokes.

There’s great music as well. We have new stuff from Allison Francis as well as Pray for Polanski. We even feature a song by classic rock band The Faces and the new folk-rock band The Avett Brothers.

Happy Happy Hour, folks!

On that note, the forecast in Boston on this fine Saturday calls for sunny skies and a high in the low 60s— that’s fahrenheit for all my readers abroad.

I don’t have any readers abroad.

Also, I realize that “the ecosystem” couldn’t actually respond if you asked it a question. I just thought it was a clever joke.

Yikes. Time for my Saturday morning thoughts:

• It is nice to wear a suit once in a while
• Everyone is subjective when it comes to love
• And their favorite Big League Chew flavor
• It is impossible to know all the music ever
• Dance to whatever feels right
• Sometimes we think ourselves out of things that would make us happy
• I have to pick Elton John over Billy Joel
• Why does the NFL draft take fifteen days for seven rounds?
• Hold me closer, tiny dancer
• It is time to get in shape for summer
• Just did the knuckle trick; apparently April is a 30-day month
• It stinks when you see two people who belong together
• But they are not together
• I am in love… with my neon green shark silly band
• I really want Dominos right now, but it is only 10:40AM
• Time to go to the gym
• Rocket Man
• I am sure the NFL draft will be on after I finally decide to work out on Monday
• I have to believe that some people who belong together end up together
• I just wish there was a knuckle trick to prove that

Happy Saturday, folks. Go out and do something.

Go check out the Concert of Student Works TONIGHT at 8:00pm at the CFA Concert Hall (855 Comm. Ave)!

Martin Amlin will be directing pieces composed by students, including the UnCommon Discussion’s own Laurence Spezzano. Students Tom Weaver and Jonathan Brenner will also be featured.

Laurence’s piece, “Three Miniatures For Piano,” is sure to be killer. Good luck to all the performers involved!

Go get cultured, people.