Vandy and Seger: Like a Rock

Thom August 4th, 2009

Well done to VUMEd86, Julia, and Jonathan for correctly guessing Bob Seger as the inspiration for the Vanderbilt Roadshow logo. 
 
Thom’s top Seger songs:
 
1) You’ll Accomp’ny Me - Great sing out loud lyrics
2) Mainstreet - Summer afternoons, long shadows and the high pitched guitar riff in this song go together so naturally
3) Feel Like a Number - “I feel like a number/ I’m not a number”
4) Night Moves - Classic summer standard, especially now “with autumn closin’ in”
5) Hollywood Nights - One of the best driving songs out there

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Answer: Jalapeno Poppers, Kentuckiana, and Existentialism

Thom August 27th, 2008

Question: What are you left with after 12 hours of driving across the Greater Midwest with OUAer Brad Weiner?

The Midwest Road Show last week was a blast, if nothing else because of the wonderful new friends we made in the cities we visited.  The programs we attended were full of bright & interested students and families and it was a great start to the fall travel season.

If you know Brad or me very well, you know that we love a good conversation/debate.  It’s kind of our thing.  So what better way to pass time in the car as the corn fields fly by than to discuss the following actual topics of discussion (listed in no particular order):

  • Most influential rock album of all time (Brad says Dark Side of the Moon, I say Pet Sounds)
  • Spirituality and the existence of God
  • Whether Brad should attend his 10-year high school reunion
  • Whether Michael Phelps is part fish (8 gold medals, seriously?)
  • work/life balance
  • Blackberry: modern efficiency or just digital handcuffs?
  • The exact nature of existance and truth: “If I punch you in the face, can you prove to me that I just punched you in the face?”
  • The place of religion in politics
  • Debated merits of the US highway system while noshing Italian beef and Polish sausage sandwiches over I-94
  • Kids and family and how they forever change you
  • The purpose of higher ed in American culture
  • Jalapeno poppers: better with cheddar cheese or that strange white cheese?
  • Nashville: how many musician/baristas are just too many?
  • Is it Indi-ucky, or Kentuckiana?
  • Jack Kerouac’s best book not being On the Road
  • Jimmy Buffett, musical phony or simplistic songwriting genius
  • Ernest Hemigway’s tell like it is writing style
  • Whether to eat at yet another suburban ”O’Ruby Fri-bees”

Gearing up for Reading Season

While applications are coming in slowly, we actually do not start to read the complete files for another month or so.  We get through the Fall travel season and will begin reading those files in October after we’ve had a chance to gather our staff for a training session to make sure we’re all reading files the exact same way.

Stat of the Day:  2% The average weekly internet traffic our Vanderbilt admissions page receives from people looking for “Vanderbuilt University” in a keyword search.

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