Well, the Grand Valley State University LipDub is over with, and while I am very happy that so many students helped make this video, I was a little upset with the final product. Sure, it captured the spirit of the university and highlighted an enormous spectrum of student organizations and groups, but I feel that it was missing some important aspects. I am here to share with you some of these facets and explain why the video could have benefited from them:

• A giant whale. While the LipDub has been gracious enough to include a couple of members of GVSU’s student-run radio station, The Whale, it has missed out on a golden opportunity. Sure, unicyclists are cool, but Moby Dick would be even cooler. The GVSU Shamu probably would have attempted to eat some of the rowers, but that would have been an amazing shot that could have easily put this video at the top of YouTube.

• Streakers. Yes, it’s illegal to show your junk in public, and yes, a lot of video-sharing sites have rules against nudity, but this is a celebration of GVSU for Pete’s sake! And what better way is there to memorialize being a Laker than a bunch of naked people running around?

• A fountain of babies. I’m sure this was discussed at some early meeting in Lip Dub’s creation, and the fountain outside of the Student Services Building was used in the final video, but there was a disappointing lack of infants. If there is one thing that YouTube has taught us, it is that people love babies, and a baby fountain would have added an adorable (albeit irresponsible) aspect.

• Bigfoot. I mean, come on! Who wouldn’t want to watch a video if there was a sasquatch lumbering around. This is Filmmaking 101. He could have even been a featured lip-syncer.

• Aliens. Even if you think that a fictitious man-ape is too much for a music video, you can’t argue that E.T. wouldn’t have made an excellent addition to “Come Sail Away.” The song is about aliens, after all. How perfect would it have been if — during the line “I thought that they were angels, but to my surprise/They climbed aboard their starship and headed for the skies” — a UFO sucked up T. Haas and blasted off into space? I have two words for you: “Ep, ic.”

Regardless of missed opportunities, it was a great treat to be a part of the project. I had a lot of fun pretending that I can sing and showcasing my ability to look into a camera for 15 seconds. I’m glad that so many people were as excited as I was to help out in whatever way we could. It’s nice to know that the spirit of—

Okay, calm down. The aliens would bring T. Haas back. It was just a hypothetical scenario, anyway. [email protected]