Movies in Marion Square.

Hey...quick question...where are the wild things? If you don't know either come down to Marion Square with me in downtown Charleston this Thursday, April 8th, to find out. Charleston City Paper as well as many other sponsers (including Young and Free South Carolina. Yesssssss!) will be hosting Movies in Marion Square every Thursday in April.

The first movie? Where the Wild Things Are directed by Spike Jonze. This is a great movie for people of all ages! Here's a quick synopsis...

Based on Maurice Sendak's classic book, "Where the Wild Things Are," a young boy named Max--after being sent to bed for misbehaving--imagines that he sails away to where the wild things are. Max is loved by the wild creatures who make him their King, although he soon longs to be back home with his family.

Gather up your blankets, chairs, and children, pack them in the car, and head down to Marion Square this Thursday night at 6 PM and view the movie on a giant inflatable screen (the movie begins at dark). Outside food and drinks are not permitted BUT...do not fret because vedors will be there selling delicious treats to satisfy your belly. And for all you 21 and olders...they will be selling beer and wine!

If you live relatively close to Marion Square they are asking that you walk or ride your bike to the event. GO GREEN! Holy City Bike Co-op will also be there to accept donations of used and unwanted bikes, tools, and parts. AND...a portion of beer and wine sales will go to help this organization. That's people helping people! And we like that!

So, check it out. I'll be there. Come hang out. Movies in Marion Square. This Thursday. April 8th. 6 PM. Food. Beer. Movie. Wine. Fun. (not neccessarily in that order.)

I'm YOUNG and FREE!

It's official...I was named the 2010 Young and Free South Carolina Spokesperson this afternoon. After a month of hard work and sleepless nights it has all paid off. I was told that I was going to lunch to celebrate my boss's 20 year work anniversary today and when I showed up my family, friends, and the fantastic people from the credit union were there to surprise me. I didn't think it was real life. But it was!

So for the next year I will work full time for South Carolina Federal Credit Union as the spokesperson for the 18-25 year olds in the state. I plan to work my hardest while having a lot of fun at the same time. Keep your eyes open for financial tips, opportunities, and fun events to attend throughout the year. Help me help you be young and free!

Also...this just came in to the news desk...Tune in tomorrow to 95sx during the Two Girls and a Guy show and you will hear me on air around 8:15am. If you aren't around your radio you can hop on the world wide web and visit 95sx.com to hear it live.

I'm so pumped and excited about the upcoming year. My life has literally just changed overnight. I hope you all will hop aboard for a great ride...this year is going to be awesome!

Simple Cents Welcomes Yours Truly.

Today I am a guest blogger at South Carolina Federal Credit Union's Simple Cents Blog. I was asked to write a blog about how the 2010 Spokesperson search has made an impact on my life in 250 words or less. If this sounds at all interesting to you please go check it out...even if it doesn't...will you read it anyway? haha. I just want to thank SC Federal for giving me, as well as the other finalists, a chance to share our story with even more people! You guys rock!

I Said A Boom Chicka Boom!

So, even though voting is over for the Young Free SC competition powered by SC Federal Credit Union, you can still check out all of my campaign materials here. They have recently added my radio interview with 2 Girls and a Guy on 95sx from last Friday morning. That can be found here. Give it a listen and please leave some comments letting me know how you think I did.



Either tomorrow (3/24) or Thursday (3/25) I am going to be featured on SC Federal's Simple Cents Blog as a guest blogger talking about how the 2010 Young and Free competition has made an impact on my life. Be sure to take a look tomorrow or the next day to give it a read.

This competition has been such a great experience so far! What has made it so amazing is the support you all have shown me day in and day out over the last month. I truly cannot say thank you enough...even if I tried. I appreciate every single one of you who has helped and supported me through this process. I fully believe that the only reason I have made it this far is thanks to you all!

So if you get a few free minutes go check out the radio interview, blog, and all of my campaign materials and leave some comments. Thanks so much! You guys make me feel cooler than Vanilla Ice in the early 90's!

Saving Money At The Pump Is Easier Than You Think!

Interested in saving some money? Yeah...dumb question...I know. Of course you are! Well I have a couple ways to save that I have just recently found out about.

Ever heard of Bi-Lo? Yeah...dumb question...I know. Of course you have! Saving money on gas is easy to do here. All you have to do is join the money saving fuel rewards program! Even the title sounds awesome!

How it works is you do your weekly shopping at Bi-Lo and the more money you spend there, the more you save at the pump. I mean, groceries are a necessity, right? For every $50 you spend you get 5 cents off every gallon at the pump. For every $100 you spend you get 10 cents off every gallon at the pump. The more you spend, the more you save. It's science.





Sunoco is also making strides to save you money at the pumps. They have a rewards program that works much like Bi-Lo's except you don't have to spend quite as much to reap the benefits. All you have to do is go in and ask to apply, fill out a bit of paperwork, and receive a benefits card. Then, every time you purchase specific items, such as fountain drinks and hot dogs you save money. For example, fountain drinks get you 5 cents off per gallon, hot dogs get you 3 cents off per gallon, and there are also specialty items each week that can save you even more.

I hope these couple of tips help you save some money in this harsh economy. If they're going to give you money...why not take it? Usually when you just take money...you go to jail. NOT THIS TIME!

NEW VIDEOOOOOO!

I just finished my newest video for Young Free SC. They should be posting it on www.youngfreesc.com before the afternoon is over. If you just cannot wait until then I have already posted it on youtube. Just head on over to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yQaZoOjrUs and make sure to let me know what you think. Also, if you haven't voted yet please please please do it. It only takes about a minute and if enough people do it I could have the job of my dreams in no time. Thank you guys so much! The support is awesome! Tell your friends!

TOP THREE!

So I was named one of the three finalists for the Young Free SC competition powered by South Carolina Federal Credit Union today. I am absolutely pumped! This is pretty much a dream job for me. Voting opened today and will run through the 21st. Everyone can vote once and all you need to do is go to www.youngfreesc.com and fill out your information for voting. They will send you a confirmation email. Once you get that your vote has been counted. You can also read all about the competition there and see the work that I have submitted so far. I appreciate all of the support! You guys are awesome. Keep on rocking in the free world!

Pizza Heaven.

So here's the deal...pick up your phone (probably your cell phone because who has house phones these days?)...call Pizza hut...tell them any grouping of words that involve ingredients, pizza size, and crust...and only pay 10 bucks.

The pizza is delicious AND only 10 dollars...even more delicious. I can think of very few places where you can get whatever you want on a tasty crust for only 10 dollars. It's better than the first time I heard the Beatles. It's worth it. Do it. It will make you want to do the safety dance in a meadow.

On a side note, my friend Gerald aka GT will be flying out of Charleston and heading to the Philippines, his home country, this Saturday. He will be there for a month. Just please say a quick prayer that he arrives safely. Thanks guys. You're the man GT. May the force be with you.

The Crazies in Wonderland.

This weekend I went and saw both "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Crazies" at the theater. Overall, it was a good weekend for me as far as cinematic adventures went.

Alice in Wonderland:
I think this movie was so so visually appealing. I was afraid that the special effects were going to look hokey and I was pleasantly proven wrong. They didn't try to over do it which I liked. I saw it in 3-D and I was pretty skeptical about this going into it, however it ended up being quite the addition to an already good movie. It wasn't like a Disney amusement park ride in 3-D which I really appreciated.

I think the storyline was a bit lacking, but where that fell short the special effects (seamless joint between CGI and reality) and costumes more than compensated for it. Most people consider Alice in Wonderland to be for children and story wise this was the case but some of the characters I think might frighten kids. Overall I liked the movie...it wasn't amazing but definitely worth my time and money. Grade: B.

The Crazies:
I loved this movie! There wasn't much that I didn't like about it. When I bought the tickets I got a coupon that made a pack of Twizzlers $1. YES...ONE DOLLAR! So already...I scooped hard. After I got over the excitement of dollar Twizzlers the movie began. The acting was great, which usually isn't the case with horror films. There was also minimal "I think I'm going to run the same way the creepy guy just went". This pleased me.

If you do not like gore I would recommend you go see "Dear John" or "Valentines Day" instead. It also wasn't one of the over the top kind of gory movies. Thumbs up for that. I really enjoyed the plot which is also uncharacteristic of most of the horror movies of my generation. I cannot think of anything bad to say about this flick. Grade: A+

I would definitely recommend both these movies to all of you. If you're the kind of person who doesn't have to close their eyes when someone gets stabbed through the stomach with a pitchfork...check out "The Crazies". If you enjoy watching someone walk away from a wedding proposal to chase a clock bearing rabbit down a rabbit hole...check out "Alice in Wonderland". If you're into all of that...I like your style...check them both out. I love you. Bye.

New Young and Free Pictures.

They're spreading the word at Winthrop.

BOOM!

Intermission at the South Carolina Stingrays game.

Thank you so so much to all those who have supported me thus far...you guys are amazing!

People Helping People.

A high percentage of young people spend their entire summer either working part time or relaxing during their days off from school. But, this upcoming summer seven young philanthropists will be spending two weeks helping orphans in Romania through The House of Hope Ministry. Students from Charleston Southern University, The College of Charleston, and Trident Tech will be leaving the United States on July 17th on a mission trip to Campulung, Romania to build an orphanage for underprivileged children.



In this poverty stricken country, most families do not use contraceptives. Thus, many of them become pregnant. Most do not have the money to care for their children. Often times, if this is a problem or if the child has medical issues the parents just leave the children at a hospital. Many newborns are left in cribs in the hospital nursery until the age of two. In almost all cases they are hardly ever held or played with, and then after two years they are taken to a government run orphanage.

This country's laws forbid those outside of the country from adopting the children because of national issues involving sex trafficking and organ harvesting. Thus, the children are stuck in these government run orphanages; many for their entire lives. One such orphanage in Campulung is very corrupt, and a high percentage of the children are often beaten and neglected.

These are the reasons the seven adults will take the trip...to help build an orphanage where they know the children will be taken care of properly. Which is why this new orphanage will be so properly named a "House of Hope." The orphanage will supply housing for the children, the town with a clean water system, and jobs for many of the town's people.



Since this is an independent project, House of Hope relies solely on donations and teams like this to help them with their goals for this community. This is where the dedicated team needs your help. They are asking for donations from anyone that has even the smallest of amounts to spare. Each student has to raise $2,500 for travel, lodging, and food costs.

They have already hosted Spirit Nights at Chick-Fil-A and yard sales in their attempt to raise money. If you have anything at all to donate that they could possibly sell at one of their yard sales, please do not hesitate to contact them. Everything is appreciated.

They will also be hosting a Pancake Breakfast at the Applebees in North Charleston on April 17th from 7-10 am. Patrons will come to Applebees, pay $5 a person, and will be able to eat a bottomless plate of delicious pancakes. The seven students will be your hosts, waiters, and even dish washers on this Saturday morning.



If you have any questions or anything at all to donate to this caring team you can contact Kristen Carter at mkcarter@csustudent.net. Everything is appreciated. Spread the word. Reach out. Do your part to be a part of people helping people.

NEW CAMPAIGN POSTER!

My newest poster for South Carolina Federal Credit Union's Young Free SC Competition.

You Can't Get In Without Coups!

First of all I would like to say Happy National Frozen Food Day! I hope that you all celebrated appropriately with your friends and family. I know I went to my local grocery and purchased pounds of monkey bread, 45 fish sticks, and a couple frozen chimichangas and had a gourmet meal with my closest loved ones.


Now, on to the business. COUPONS! Who would want to pay full price for an item when you can easily acquire coupons on the internet? For all you Charlestonians and those planning to visit Charleston any time soon there's http://charlestonsccoupons.com . You can get coupons for anything from the aquarium to carriage tours. It is a great way to save some dough on your Charleston adventures.

Now a website for EVERYONE. If you go to www.retailmenot.com you can search for coupons for over 50,000 stores. You can print them out to take to the store with you when you shop. It's so easy your 75 year old Aunt Ethel can do it with her dial up internet on her 1998 IBM desktop computer. Check it out...it's schweeeeeeeet!

Some highlights this week on Restaurant.com are you can get a $50 gift certificate to Charleston Beer Works for only $20. In Columbia you can also get a $50 gift certificate for $20 or $100 for $40 at 360 Sports Grill on Bush River Road. In Greenville you can buy a $25 gift certificate to The Green Room Restaurant and Bar for only $15. These restaurants are giving money away ladies and gentlemen so check it out...restaurant.com.

Call your friends and family members to the table for a chunk of that monkey bread and discuss what coupons you want to use this week. Life is awesome...but with coupons it's way more awesome.

This Weekend In South Carolina

Finally, it's Friday! You put in your 40 hours, you went to all your classes, you took the kids to karate...whatever you did this week is over and now it's the weekend! It's time to kick back, relax, and have a good time.

If you're sitting in your living room, home office, or even the bathroom right now thinking "what am I going to do this weekend"...I've got the answers.

This weekend in South Carolina there are a lot of pretty sweet things you could be doing.

-On Saturday, country music star Brad Paisley will be hitting the North Charleston Coliseum at 7:30. To order your tickets call 843-529-5000.

-If country music isn't really your thing, the 5th Annual Charleston Wine & Food Festival is this weekend. Festival goers will be able to enjoy countless flavors of the Lowcountry as well as food from top chefs from around the United States. For more information visit http://charlestonwineandfood.com .

-If you're an arts fan like me you should head down to The Village Playhouse (730 Coleman Blvd. in Mt. Pleasant ) to see their production of , "A Dead Man's Cell Phone". Jean answers the cell phone of a dead man at the next table and her life begins to take a mysterious journey. Recommended for ages 16 and up. Show times are Friday and Saturday at 8pm with a matinee on Sunday. For tickets call 856-1579 or visit villageplayhouse.com.

-For all you sports fans, Sunday at 4 the South Carolina Stingrays will take on the Cinncinati Cyclones at the North Charleston Coliseum. There's sure to be a lot of action and maybe even a fight or two. To learn more visit http://www.stingrayshockey.com/ .

-If you don't know what icing or boarding is you might be more of a baseball fan. For all you Tigers and Gamecocks, the showdown in baseball began today and will run through Sunday. Tomorrow and Sunday's games will be played in Columbia (both day's at 2:00 pm).

-Hitting theaters this weekend is the highly anticipated "Alice In Wonderland" (Rated PG) starring Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton. Also coming out this weekend is Richard Gere's new flick "Brooklyn's Finest" (Rated R).

-You could also spend the weekend at home relaxing. Go grab a pizza, rent a couple movies from the Red Box (ONLY ONE DOLLAR!) and spend some time with the family.

No matter what you do this weekend try to forget about work, school, and karate. Just be safe and have a good time because Monday will be back in the blink of an eye.

MY Whatever Savings from SC Federal Credit Union

For those of you 18-25 year olds who have not heard about South Carolina Federal Credit Union's MY Whatever Savings account you are missing out on a great idea. It is a savings account that allows you to save up for items of your choosing. You can call the account whatever your creative little mind can come up with. Some good examples I came up with are MY Pony Fund, MY Trip to See Where Elvis Was Born Fund, or MY Egyptian Cotton Sheets Fund. Basically, whatever you want to save for can have its own convenient account AND you can open up to five at the same time.

There is no minimum balance required. SC Federal Credit Union pays quarterly dividends on the average daily balance. But wait...there's more. They pay an even higher dividend rate on balances up to $1,000!

The cool thing is that you only have to deposit as much or as little money as you want when you want. You can also easily transfer money into this account online at any time.

This is just one of the innovative things that SC Federal Credit Union is offering. You can check out all that they have to offer at https://www.scfederal.org/home/home .

Also, here are some of the Financial Education Seminars that they are offering over the next month. (They're free....and free is SWEET!)

* Be Your Own Boss - A Financial Guide to Small Business Ownership - Tuesday, March 9th... 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at 68 Calhoun St (Downtown Charleston).

* Be Your Own Boss - A Financial Guide to Small Business Ownership - Thursday, March 11th... 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 68 Calhoun St (Downtown Charleston).

* Reverse Mortgages - Tuesday, March 16th... 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at 68 Calhoun St (Downtown Charleston).

* Reverse Mortgages - Thursday, March 18th... 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 2261 Otranto Road (North Charleston).

* Understanding IRAs and New Roth Rules for 2010 - Thursday, March 18th... 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 6265 Rivers Ave (North Charleston).

* Understanding IRAs and New Roth Rules for 2010 - Thursday, March 25th... 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 1251 North Fraser St (Georgetown)

* Signs of Recovery - Tuesday, March 30th... 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 1174 Boulevard St NE (Orangeburg)

Don't just learn about banking when you have to...do it NOW and feel smarter later.

SPRING BREAK!

Spring Break is right around the corner for many of you college students and with that typically comes high priced trips where you find higher priced food and drinks. (FACT: No Pina Colada is ever worth $17.) Even though you don't have school for a week and a half, you've still got car payments, phone payments, and rent...how are you supposed to be able to afford Spring Break too?

Here are a few options...
1. Road Trip: Gather up three of your best friends, hop in the car, and go. What could be easier? You can hit up cheap, hole in the wall, restaurants...because as we all know, that's where the best food is found and they are always easier on the wallet. If you see a billboard for some crazy attractions...DO IT! You never know what kind of fun and excitement you might stumble across. Whether you are going to stay with some friends two states away or you're on a mission to see the world's largest ball of yarn...ROAD TRIP IT! You don't have to go away for the whole week, but going on a road trip even for a few days with close friends will be an occasion you will never forget.

2. Volunteer: There is no better feeling than heading home after spring break having helped someone. Volunteering is a Spring Break activity that is commonly overlooked when plans are being made. Let's put an end to that! This spring break find somewhere to volunteer whether it is at your local SPCA, for all you kitty lovers, or with a group that fixes homes for less fortunate families. I promise if you volunteer this Spring Break you will take way more away from it than any trip to Cancun.

3. Go camping: Tents. Check. Food. Check. Closest friends. Check. This is the perfect recipe for an amazing spring break. Load up your friend's minivan (or pickup...whatever...I happen to prefer minivans...but I digress) with all the essentials and head out to a campsite to spend the week. Camping is a great opportunity to bond with your friends because it's just you, the outdoors, and possibly a bear or two...but probably no bears...so just you and the outdoors. If you enjoy the wilderness, a spring break in the woods is both easy on the wallet and an amazing time.

So who is crazy enough to say that you can have an amazing and unforgettable Spring Break for way way less than a $1,500 cruise to Jamaica? ME...that's who. If you take my advice I promise you that your enjoyment will far outweigh your money spent.

A Blog to the Bloggers.

Hey, I'm Darryl LaPlante and this is my blog. I'm just your typical Canadian guy living in South Carolina with a passion for theater and anything that has to do with me creating...except for babies...at least for now. Here you will see what goes through my mind on a day to day basis. Some who know me might think this to be a scary plan but I assure you that your IQ will increase every time you read my blog. It's science. Anyway, check back every now and again for updates. Until then, see ya Jobin.