Oh I wish I was a Punk Oscar with flowers in my hair

Hi all

Its that time again for me to update the blog, and it indeed looks like it will be a genuinely interesting one, as, my week has been, a genuinely interesting one. Three things of note; the 26 hour charity dance marathon hell, the deeply odd religious undertone Internship application, as well as the all important Oscars. I also bought some very nice new shoes, but im sure Ill intergrate that into the blog later. Ok, so on with the blog...

The 26 Hour Dance Marathon
As seems to have been the way since about the age of 17, I have a tenancy to put myself out extrodinarily, all in the name of charity, some of you will will remember Malawi child, or sleeping rough for a homeless charity in December. All of you will remember Ecuador. Anyhow, I would suggest that this time, even for me, this severely pushed it. In October time I signed up to dance for 26 hours, to support Pediatric Aids. There was a minimum amount that each registered dancer had to raise of $225, and, I thought, with the exchange rate being as it is, I could easily raise it. Anyhow, last week involved frantic last minute fund raising. I say last minute as if I had raised the majority of my money prior to this. In fact, I raised pretty much ALL my money last week, and only just nudged myself over the target in time for the Saturday morning deadline.

When I was told it would be a 26 hour dance marathon, I quickly learned was infact more like a 26 hour dance marathon, as well as two hours set up prior, and one hour after, so arguably a 29 hour dance challenge. I also didn't train at all for the marathon, apart from eating more in the lead up to the marathon, as well as sleeping more. Essentially letting my inhibitions of sleep and food aside for one week. It was not enough training.

OK, so the event had many different elements and rules, which I will go into in a moment. Before that I need to underline how absolutely, totally, exhausting it is to be dancing for 26 hours, I have never never never been so tired in my life. Ever. Even my roomate Francis who has trained in the Marines felt shattered by the end. I also need to underline the fact that apparently Americans enjoy industrial amounts of Hip Hop, as in industrial amounts. This was at the sacrifice of many song which you would expect to be fundamental to dancing, such as Franz Ferdinand 'Take me out', or even some White Stripes. Hell, even Christiana Aguleria hit the cutting room floor, all because of the sodding hip hop! It was painful, and I do not think I was alone in believing the music choice was floored. The one moment Kelly Clarkson did actually play, the dance floor went wild. When Hip Hop played, many resigned themselves to a very long, very tiring fate.

Another rule was that every three hours, people had to change their outfits. Apparently in the name of 'fun', it could also have been related to hygiene. Anyhow, in true 'oh god, not the photos' style, here is a quick talk through my outfits;
1) The Dance Marathon T Shirt;
This was a free number, worn int he first hour of the event, it was not part of a theme, but instead an introduction to the next 26 hours.

2) The first theme of the day, and a relitivley easy one. That of 'School Days'. This being hours one through four, spirits still high, novelty still fresh;

3) The UCLA Pride theme. Note the use of UCLA coloured face paint, as well as a rather exclusive (yet luckily for some half price UCLA hoodie). By this point, it was slowly sinking in that, even at the end of this part, there would still be TWENTY hours to go;
4) 90's Night. I didn't really know either, hence this look;

5) I have forgotten what this one was about, but suffice to say it involved an overly revealing vest. Luckily for me however, I was given some free Henna Art from the crafts stall at the back of the dance hall (see my left arm). Notice also how the smile by this point is noticably more forced;

6) The sports look. I opted for a rather fetching YMCA Basketball 2004 T Shirt. Genuine. Possibly Vintage

At this point I had been dancing for upwards of 18 hours, and I had a good 8 hours of dancing left ahead of me. I didn't want to change anymore, so the next costume change section went out of the window, only to reappear for 'Career day'. I feel that, as with My Unicorn in October, this final costume was misjudged by me. I was dressed in a genuine US Military jacket. I would suggest that, it would perhaps be valid form someone to take offense at an American wearing a British army top, especially if they were part of a danced contest. Anyhow, I think I got away with it, but it had uncomfortable moments, and not just because I had been on my feet for 26 hours... The image shown is at the end of the marathon;


Ontop of the costumes, there were many other elements to Dance marathon including;

1) Many people coming out on stage to say how ill they were or how they knew someone who was affected by Aids. When people were unavalible for comment, (as in overnight) we had videos. Whilst quite effecting, it did mean the whole event suffered from some very tight mood changes. "Ooh, it very sad. Oh well, on with the music!"

2) We had dancer captains; each dancer was assigned a captain, which then lead to a group of dancer 'teams'. About four hours into the marathon there was a quiz, which revolved around general aids related statistics. Due to the 'quiz' and competition element however, there was a very odd situation created, that went something like this;
ANNOUNCER; How many children die of Aids a day? A)1500 or B)1650
(Teams confer)
ANNOUNCER; The Answer was B, 1650 children die of aids Every. Single. DAY
Teams; HOOOORAH!!!!!
(This was only made worse by someone saying "oh, I don't think we should be applauding" as it made him look super miserable. It really was a lose lose situation)

3) The event was accented by many a celebrity. This included, but was not limited to;
A) The baddie from the first Spiderman, whom took a shine to a member of his captive audience
B) Kiberby Locke, (that would be the person who came third in American Idol 2. If she were from Britian, she would be 'Sam' from Pop Idol 2.
C) Someone from the OC. Im not sure which one.
D) By far the most exciting woman was this one however;

She came fifth in American Idol 1 I believe. She now presents the TV Guide Channel. When I told her I really didn't have a clue who she was, she laughed and said that she appreciated my honestly. Indeed, as the picture indicates, she seems to be enjoying herself. She didn't however have to dance for 26 hours...

Having danced for 26 hours, and been throughly indoctrinated into the belief that AIDS really is a bad thing, we all went home. I have however learn't three very important life rules form this event;

1) Don't ever dance for 26 hours. Unless forced to. At Gun point.
2) If in doubt play Sean Paul. No one absolutely hates Sean Paul, yet no one actively likes him. Seeing him in concert may just be as dull as drinking a glass of water.
3) A fundamental of Hip Hop is an Air Raid siren. I don't understand why.

Perhaps the best memento of the weekend is this image of my good friend Gen, taken at 6am on Sunday, that would be after 19 hours of dancing, with seven to go;