Actor, director and writer Josh Radnor is best known for playing Ted Mosby on the television show “How I Met Your Mother.” He visited UCLA Monday night, and the line to see him talk wrapped around the exterior of Ackerman Union.
Most students in line could rattle off tons of facts about Ted, but knew very little about Josh. Watch the video above to see students get quizzed on Radnor and his character.
Radnor started off his talk with a crowd-pleasing move: throwing a few bags of chips in to the audience. He was quick to say that he is not Ted Mosby and he was not going to lead a discussion solely about his television character.
So the questions that everybody no doubt wanted to ask were left unanswered – Can you say some of your taglines?How do you think the series will end?Is Cobie Smulders 100 percent committed to her husband and can I have her number and would she answer and who is the mother of your Ted’s children?
“I’m grateful for the show, and I’ve lent a lot of myself to the avatar on television, but that’s not me,” said Radnor, explaining the difference between Mosby and himself. “People get mad at me for something Ted did, and I’m like, ‘Dude, I’m a hired gun.’”
Radnor has been visiting college campuses for the last few months, and he said he likes to focus on answering students’ questions about life goals and careers, rather than his TV persona.
He spent the majority of his 25-minute talk discussing spirituality and self discovery.
“(We need to) begin the act of waking up. The real war is against unconsciousness, sleep,” Radnor said.
Following his talk, he answered students’ questions about his inspirations and his views on the state of society today.
Radnor ended the night by emphasizing how failure can be used as a source of motivation in life.
Did you attend Radnor’s talk? Tell us what you thought of the talk by tweeting @dbmojo or commenting below.
Today, I was in line for Diddy Riese after stocking up on ______ (food) at Ralphs. When I reached the front of the line ______ (number) hours later, I discovered the line wasn’t for cookies. As I struggled to remember if the ______ (number) sequel of Iron Man was playing, I realized tonight was the world premiere of ‘The Hangover Part III‘. Looking up, I ______ (verb -ed) into Bradley Cooper, with his ______ (adjective) hair and ______ (adjective) eyes. Before I could respond by ______ (verb -ing) at him, I was knocked to the ground by a mob of ______ (adjective) fans. When I tried to escape the stampede, I was instantly ______ (verb -ed) by paparazzi flashlights. I turned around, only to bump into Zach Galifianakis, who had picked up my ______ (food) and was ______ (verb -ing) it with Ken Jeong. Ken Jeong ______(verb -ed) at me and yelled “So long ______ (insult noun/expletive)!” before he ______ (verb-ed) on a ______ (noun). Before I knew it, I had gotten roped into watching the film and didn’t return home until my groceries had begun to smell like ______ (noun). Sigh, such is the life of a UCLA student. I hope I will never have to face another ______ (adjective) experience with so many celebrities … except my roommate just told me that ‘The Internship’ premieres in Westwood next week.
Since Spring Sing is happening tonight, why not brush up on some classic Company pieces? For those of you who don’t know, Spring Sing Company (SSC for short) is the comedy group that performs between acts, and opens and closes the Spring Sing show every year. We compiled our five favorite Company videos here.
1. Spring Sing 2010 Opener.
There’s only one thing you should take from this hilarious spoof of “The Hangover”: No matter where you are today, or how thirsty you were on Thursday, go to Spring Sing 2013 or … you’re dead. Warning: There’s a high likelihood that you’ll get James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful” stuck in your head after this watching video.
2. Spring Sing 2011: Club B-Cafe.
The “DOs and DON’Ts” of late nights on the Hill.
DON’T hit up that party … B-Cafe will satisfy your raging needs. They don’t even check your IDs.
DO use fantastic wordplays. “They call me milk ‘cause I’m steaming,” anyone?
DON’T lose control. There are no bathrooms at B-Cafe (thanks for the tip, SSC).
DO eat all of the “baaaagels.”
DO follow sexy European strangers. No danger here.
DO listen carefully. It took me two quarters of watching this video to figure out that the charming pigtail lady’s all-time fav B-Cafe dish was “ham and swiss.”
DO listen to this song at the gym. Best workout of your life.
3. Spring Sing 2012: UCLA VS. USC Rap Battle
“Live your life like you’ve got 19P” is perhaps the greatest mantra ever created. This video obviously deserves a place in our top five (and you’ll undoubtedly have the chorus stuck in your head for the next 24 hours).
4. Spring Sing 2010: “The Twilight Saga: Pawprint.”
It’s kind of unreal how much the actor parodying the character of Edward Cullen looks like Robert Pattinson. Also, “Pawprint” is a far better love story than Twilight. Fur-real.
5. Spring Sing 2012: Bruin Love Line
Of course, we had to include one of Company’s facetious live skits. The puns are all-inclusive, UCLA-specific, science-related and, of course, sexually charged (it’s college, after all). No wonder securing a spot in the elite Spring Sing Company is about as easy as finding a table in Powell during finals week.
Gracing the stage of Royce Hall Thursday night: student indie-folk band Alto, local indie band Wildcat! Wildcat! and Brooklyn-based experimental rock band Dirty Projectors, who played a lively show that involved standing ovations, plenty of dancing and an encore.
Alto, which consists of three music school undergraduates Jessica Jones (bass), Nicolette Yarbrough (violin), Veronica Rogers (Viola) and Joseph Lorge (Guitar), performed a low-key, but impressive set. The last song of the set, Vocable, won the band a Bruin Choice Award, Northern California Alumni Grand Sweepstakes Award for Best Overall Entry and UCLA Las Donas Award for Best Band Entry at last year’s Spring Sing. They’ll be participating in Spring Sing again this year.
Local band, Wildcat! Wildcat! had a quirky sound and played some of their more popular songs, such as Mr. Quiche.
Dirty Projectors were the most well anticipated act of the night. They followed their exciting set with a three-song encore. Students, pressed up against the stage, prompted the band’s return through clapping and cheering. They played numerous songs, mostly off of their sixth studio album, Swing Lo Magellan. Some crowd favorites were “The Socialites,” “About to Die” and “See What She’s Seeing.”
Here’s what some Bruins thought of the show:
What did you think? Which band was your favorite? Tweet us your answers @dbmojo
There’s something happening in Bruin Plaza every day. A few weeks ago, the plaza was packed with organizers promoting Mind Well Week, Volunteer Appreciation Week, Issues Awareness Week and Earth Day. This week, the area is buzzing with activity because of Undergraduate Students Association Council election campaigning.
As UCLA students, we are accustomed to seeing a flurry of activity in Bruin Plaza. Sure, it’s where the Bruin Bear is located. But Bruin Plaza also has a clear “ecosystem” of sorts, and it’s fair to say that it’s the center of student life.
Mojo wanted to find out how it all started, so we got in touch with the Center for Student Programming, which is in charge of scheduling Bruin Plaza for registered campus organizations and helps plan activities. We spoke with the center’s director, Mike Cohn, about the evolution of Bruin Plaza throughout the years.
Surprisingly, Bruin Plaza has not always been the go-to venue for speakers, food sales, concerts and elephants. Yes, you read that right.
It seems that Meyerhoff Park, the small grassy area in front of Kerckhoff Hall, was the place to be before 1994. But after the Northridge Earthquake of 1994, however, Meyerhoff Park underwent some renovations and was blocked off.
Bruin Plaza, then called “Westwood Plaza,” became its temporary replacement. Since then, the plaza has evolved into a hub of student activity.
Here are some bizarre and significant events that have happened in Bruin Plaza throughout the years:
In 1984, the USAC internal vice-president, who was involved with Bruin Republicans, brought a live elephant onto campus, walked it through Bruin Plaza, up Bruin Walk and into Meyerhoff Park to support Ronald Reagan and the Republican candidates. Cohn, who was an undergraduate at UCLA at the time, said he remembered students’ jaws dropping when they saw the elephant.
A few years ago, a student group wanted to land a hot air balloon in Bruin Plaza. The center rejected the request.
A peace group once released 1,000 doves from the area.
Rev. Jesse Jackson once spoke in Bruin Plaza.
Bill Clinton delivered his acceptance speech in Bruin Plaza in 1992 when he secured the Democratic nomination for president. More than 5000 people were present.
With more students living on the Hill, in the apartments and the Greek houses, Cohn said Bruin Plaza has become a central walkthrough to get to campus.
Here’s how Bruin Plaza’s layout has changed recently:
Last year, the plaza was split into two designated areas: one for food and another for student entertainment and booths, to meet the demands of student group requests, Cohn said.
Now when you walk through Bruin Plaza, you can munch on some snacks from a food sale by the Bruin Bear while enjoying a concert playing on the McClure stage.
In April, the UCLA Volunteer Center hosted a Volunteer Appreciation event by the stage while Chicanos Latinos for Community Medicine held a food sale by the Bruin Bear.
Jesse Landeros, a fourth-year biology student and a member of CCM, said his group decided to host the event at Bruin Plaza because it’s at the heart of the campus.
“If you go to North or South campus, you get a good amount of students,” Landeros said, “But everyone has to cross Bruin Plaza some point during their day.”
Nowadays, hosting an event in Bruin Plaza is more complicated than you would think. Cohn gave us a bit of insight into some of the regulations and policies for using Bruin Plaza.
Here are some policies for Bruin Plaza that we didn’t know about:
Requests are granted on a first come, first serve basis but CSP staff tries to provide programs that support the needs and diversity of the entire campus.
Only certain set-ups are allowed.
Any food sales or giveaways need to be approved by the UCLA Office of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS). Any “kitchen” set ups also have to be approved by a fire marshall.
The “X” through the middle of the Plaza has to remain open to allow a vehicle to reach the Ashe Center in case of emergencies.
Amplified sound is only allowed between 11:50 a.m. and 1 p.m. No amplified sound is allowed during 10th and finals week.
Registered campus organizations can reserve the plaza for two non-consecutive days each quarter.
There is now a weight restriction and maximum capacity of 4000 people because of Lot 4 underneath.
Did any of these tidbits about Bruin Plaza surprise you? Let us know by commenting below or tweeting us @dbmojo.
