The Piano Man

The guest pianist competition has officially ended, and Scott Munekawa has been officially declared the winner! Congratulations, Scott. And thank you to all who voted for Scott's rendition of Viva La Vida on our out-of-tune piano.

The next step will be for Scott to pit his piano-playing skills against the numerous pianists in our house.

Keep your eyes peeled for round two -- coming soon!

Wifelike: In a manner befitting a wife

The ladies of the house have decided to kick off a little competition. The goal of this competition is to see who is the most wifelike. This competition was created after some girls were doing many domestic activities and wearing cute aprons. We figured that it would be fun to spur on one another to care better for the house and each other through this competition.

As we have had some men be very chivalrous and kind to the women of the house, we also have decided to include a "Man" competition. Eligible men are those who creatively find ways to serve the women of the house. Their names will be written on the white board, and as they continue to do chivalrous activities, they may gain points in a similar way that the women of the house earn "Wife points".

The contest will commence today (11/22/08) and end with the announcing of our winner at our Christmas party on December 6th.

In order to win wife points, the person who acted in a wifely manner, must inform another lady of the house, and the lady who is informed MUST post the activity that was completed in the comments section of this post. For man points, the lady who had a man treat them in a gentlemanly manner must post the action within the comments section of the post.

On December 6th, we will count up the points and the winner of the wife and man points will receive a special prize.

In order to earn wife or man points, you must follow the rules. Negative points may be applied for bad behavior.
Rules:
Rules on wife points:

1. Must do something altruistic, not just your own chores (i.e. cooking for A GROUP, doing a chore that’s not your own, decorating the house, etc.)
   
   
2. One other house member must know about the deed and verify it. That other house member gives the actual point and writes it in a comment on the Wife Points blog entry.
   
   
3. The deed must have some relation to the house: must be made in the house, done for the house or done for a house member.
   
   
4. You can lose wife points for
1. Domestic violence (pushing, hitting or kicking a house member)
   
2. Leaving messes for other people to clean up
   
3. Rude acts: hogging the driveway, putting too many to go boxes in the main fridge
   
4. Leaving on too many lights/wasting energy


5. You may not award yourself points.

Rules on Man Points

1. Must do something altruistic toward a girl in the house or the house itself. Must be a sweet, out of the ordinary or “above and beyond.”
   
   
2. A house member may give the man a point. They must write this deed in the comments section of the Wife Points blog entry.
   
   
3. The deed must have some relation to the house or house member, but doesn’t need to be performed in the house.
   
   
4. You can lose man points for
1. Coming over uninvited
   
2. Harassing a member of the house or pulling a mean prank
   
3. Rude acts: sexual innuendos, excessive boy humor, dominating a conversation
   


5. You may not award yourself points, add or erase any points.

Feel free to read through the comments section to gain clever ideas of ways to be a servant in either wifelike or gentlemanly activities.

This is all just fun and games, however we do realize that the Lord calls us to serve and encourage one another:

Hebrews 10:24-25
"And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the the more as you see the day [of the Christmas party] drawing near." (Brackets added by Amanda)


Love,
The Decadox

Turkey and [Biola] Celebrities: A Decadox Thanksgiving

The Caf was subtle about its advertisements for the annual Thanksgiving meal -- a little poster near the Grain Gallery, a scant mention in The Chimes.

But that didn´t stop the entire building from being packed just 15 minutes after it opened.

The girls of the Decadox scoured the Caf for an open seat and finally found a cramped little table in the back. Then we loaded up on all things wonderful -- artisan breads and spreads, a mixed green salad with berries and cantaloupe, summer squash stuffing, mashed potatoes and of course, turkey, carved by Biola semi-celebrity Rick Bee, director of alumni relations.

While we ate, we named things we were thankful for -- being able to live together, God´s patience in our lives, etc. We also named a few things we were NOT thankful for -- sin in the world and AIDS topped that list.

Before we left, however, the biggest celebrity of them all had arrived -- a particular, distinguished gentleman by the name of Barry Hugh Corey, who had donned a chef´s hat and posted himself in the turkey carving station. We seized upon this, pushing a few hungry students aside and asking for a picture with our university president. I think he was caught a bit off guard as six girls crouched in front of the serving station and began taking pictures in the middle of the school cafeteria. But it was just an opportunity too good to pass up.

When we headed out of the building, Claire spotted the man behind all the magic -- the usually-discreet Chef Peter. We called him out from behind a serving station and he posed for a picture with us.

We were stuffed, but it was the perfect way to welcome in Thanksgiving and the holiday season!

For Your Own Safety

In case you haven't noticed, we changed our blog name. We've been getting so many outside hits, we thought it would be wise to NOT have our addresses in our name. So we're using the house name you all voted for: Decadox. Hence the blog name: Decablogue.

As far as safety goes, we aren't too worried as we have several girls who have taken the R.A.D. (Rape Aggression Defense) class. Claire is a green belt in karate and I... really like pepper spray and darts. I'd feel sorry for anyone who tried to mess with our house -- really.

Check out these fierce fighters. Kate doesn't need numchucks.

This is what happened to the last person who tried something. That's my foot. Thanks for the shoes, Janelle!

So yeah, but anyway, that's why we changed our blog name.

Cheers!

Love,

Decadox

Bump in the Night (A Charmin Story)

Decadox Got TP'd!

Several masters of sabotage assailed Decadox before 1:00 a.m. last night. The nefarious hooligans? We don't know, but we're going to find out. Whoever they are used 20+ rolls of toilet paper.


As you can see from our beautiful home, it doesn't need decorating, but apparently the saboteurs thought otherwise. Kate, Janelle and Gail discovered the toiletry mess in the wee hours of the morning--fortunately before the sprinklers went off. Janelle completed her unfulfilled wish of being an Indian for Halloween and Kate--not sure, folks.


In the midst of the action, Janelle caught a prime suspect: Jono Lippman, 21, from Moraga, Calif. As you can see, he didn't try very hard to escape. Until we started beating him up.



Lippman didn't deny or confirm anything, however these are our prime suspects:
Jono Lippman and house
Chris Masi and house
Jay Soch
James Browning and house

As we are an environmentally aware house, we decided to put the 3 trashbags of toilet paper to good use. Jono obliged by helping us roll it up. Thanks, Jono!

Piano Challenge Continued

Featuring the accomplished Matthew Jones, yet another skilled competitor in the continuing piano challenge at 71 Frances.

The Onion (Goggles)

On a typical Sunday afternoon at Decadox, you'll find at least three girls making a nice lunch--usually involving onions, tortillas, chicken or eggs.

Today was no different, however the onions were particularly strong and had everyone in tears. Michelle decided to commandeer the smarting situation and came up with a brilliant solution as seen left. Her resourceful technique was seemingly effective as she proceeded to cut up two onions--one of which Gail ate entirely.


We retreated from the fumes to the dining room for a nice lunch with our guests, Matthew Jones and Eric Weaver. Michelle and I aren't in the picture, but you get the idea.

Powerhouse

Great news -- a Decadox member has ascended to the royal seat of power.

We are pleased to announce that Jessica Oh has accepted the position of Eaglevision executive producer for next semester. See our broadcast journalist in action:


Prop 8 Protestors from Chimes Online on Vimeo.

Ebony and Ivory - The Great Piano Challenge

The Decadox proudly stores an old, beautiful, out-of-tune, damper-pedal-less piano in our living room. It thus behooves us to hold a piano playing challenge when our musical guests arrive. Our first two contestants are below, but soon to come are actual Decadox members showing their skills. Take a moment to vote for your favorite performance.

Rob Stevenson, with the classic romantic ballad "Just the Way You Look Tonight." Backed up by a skeptical Eric Weaver.

Scott Munekawa, with the rousing "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay, backed up by a supportive Katie Trent.

Frances girls on the move, step aside we're coming through

The girls at 71 Frances knew the 2008 Midnight Madness was going to be one to remember when Michelle walked into the kitchen with her entire face plastered with shiny, fire engine red acrylic paint – at 5:00 p.m. – when the event only started at 11:00 p.m.

The resolve to make our last pep rally a spirited one was underscored by the fact that we’re seniors. So we all pitched in with the preparations for a red hot night: Claire and Gail fetched the paint, teasing comb and of course, the all-important glitter,



Jessica expertly applied make-up before passing the rowdies off to Claire, who wielded her curling iron skillfully for the two hours before we left. Unfortunately for Kate, Claire didn’t have time to do her hair and she had to go with an au natural look. Dude, check out the fro! (Actually, Kate obliged when I begged her to show me how rockin’ her curly hair could be.)

Clarita’s bumper sticker buggy hauled most of us over to school where we quickly positioned ourselves in the middle of the mob in front of Chase Gymnasium. If college has taught us anything, it’s never miss out on free stuff. That said, we took advantage of the free red and white pom-poms and entered to win a Corolla before we practiced our cheesy, homemade chants (which we actually didn’t use) before the doors opened.

Once we charged inside, we screamed until our (Gail’s) voices were hoarse. The Biola basketball teams were great, Xopoc, as always, flashed their superb dance moves and the Biola cheerleading team surprised us again by being good. One of the most notable highlights, however, was the Biola Eagle. More specifically, our Biola Eagle, CHERYL! As part of AS Social Board, Cheryl gets to, among other things, dance with anonymous abandon in front of the whole school in a big fluffy eagle costume.

After all that preparation, the event only lasted for 45 minutes. Oh well-- it was definitely fun just being together. Afterward, some of us went over to Molcasalsa, a hole in the wall, 24-hour Mexican restaurant, a traditional place to go after a big school event. We split some greasy carne asada nachos (so worth it) and just chatted in the glow of the red neon lights. I didn't think anything could make Michelle's face look redder, but apparently I was wrong.