Thursday, December 11, 2008

My cheap ass college, and ANDREI RUBLEV (34).

As I've said, many times, I'm going to be in Walla Walla next week for exactly four hours to interview for a position that could very well take me across the sea to China for an entire year (don't start crying yet you emotional whelps, I'm not even through the interview process). This is fine, I've been meaning to get back to my alma mater for a bit now, and this seems to be a perfect opportunity for a short, surgical strike. A short surgical strike that will put me back exactly 279 dollars. That's approximately 70 dollars an hour to hang out in a town once known for its penitentiary. Which again, I don't really care that much about - money is money and it only exists to be spent.

What bothers me is that my college cost my family (and to a degree, me) nearly 120,000 dollars over four years. It was a great education and no matter the cost, I wouldn't take it back. My problem exists with the fact that when I inquired with the college (the college who is forcing me to head back to Whitman for an interview because I live within a travelable distance) if they had some sort of travel stipend to help balance out the cost of my travels.

No, no they do not. Slightly annoyed at this point. I then asked if possibly good old Whitman College, who recently built a new science building/arts building/hi-tech fitness center could possibly send someone out to pick me up from the airport as I didn't have any one to pick me up.

No, they were too busy. And not only were they too busy, but the "taxi cab from the airport only costs 10 dollars." A quick summary: a paid Whitman 120,000 dollars for my education, they're asking me to fly back to Whitman for one day for a forty minute interview that will cost my 279 dollars and they will not help pay for it nor the cost of my taxi. Each and every week I receive a letter from my class representatives begging me to donate. Well guys, maybe not this lifetime.

The Russians and especially Andrei Tarkovsky are some weird-ass filmmakers. You want baffling symbolism? Check. What about hardcore scenes of violence and faith? Oh yeah. What about extra-super-long films that eerily transfix on horses and religious painters? Andrei Rublev (34) I think that's the one for you. Tarkovsky is an amazing director, a real painter of the screen, but lord if I ever understand what he's saying. Andrei Rublev is the story of Russia's most famous icon painter (those who paint Jesus and his Apostles) and the long journey of his often times oppressed life. Yeah, not exactly a page turner, but nonetheless this is a great piece of cinema and if you can relegate yourself to the fact that you'll probably not understand what exactly is going on, I highly recommend it (in several small doses). Also, for some reason, Tarkovsky has an obsession with the beauty of horses and this sort of haunts the film, including a terribly graphic moment late in the film where I'm pretty sure they shoot a horse with an arrow and then push it off a flight of broken stairs. Yikes! Russians are wacky!

Friday: Diabolique (35)

2 comments:

wescoat said...

Yeah all they had to do was take half a month's interest off your student loans and it's paid for. Cheap fuckers.

Another great/terrifying horse death moment: Lars Von Trier's "Medea," in which a steed tumbles over headfirst while galloping mad-dash. All I'll say is I could detect not a speck of CGI on this low-budget flick.

anna said...

don't forgot walla walla being known for tanya from the real world and drew bledsoe. at least that's what people liked to remind us when we traveled for frisbee. at least whitman doesn't make you pay to work (i.e. MUSC and my clinical rotations..you'd think that tuition would be lowered these semesters).