Category: journalism

Stuff having to do with the world of journalism.

Battle of the Bands!

yrreskrap1 Comment

Eight. Jazz music encompassed me in an anxious din. The sweet, soulful voice of a freshman from Thatcher filled my ears-then stopped. The judges gave generous reviews.

Seven more to go. Again, the judges had accolades for the performers. Only kind words.

Six.

Five. Four. Three. Two…

It was our turn.

We were practicing backstage, doing our vocal warm ups and melting the pressure away. We didn’t sound too shabby. And my voice didn’t give out like I thought it would. We were going over the song one last time, making sure that-

“Maddie, Serry, Lindsey?” a frantic boy called.

We all nodded, the nerves flooded back, flushed into my weary veins. The clamminess returned once again to my hands and my knees were hit with a pang of unease as he led us behind the curtain, ready to push us under the unforgiving spotlight.

Easy notes of the piano gently filled the auditorium. I felt them in my fingers. Maddie’s velvet voice started us off and I felt a bit more confident. Throughout the song, I was nervous. Where should I put my hands? How should I stand? Where do I look?

The song was over soon enough and we all linked fingers while we waited for the judges to deliberate.

We had gotten marked down by the Thacher judge for having teachers playing the piano and the bass. We got the same score by a girl that hated me in 8th grade and-I believe-still hates me to this day. At first, I was a bit angry about the scores. But in the end, I didn’t care. I got to see my friends, Maddie, Lindsey, and Lucy snag third place out of the entire competition and I got a feel for what it was like to participate in such a big event. We didn’t receive horrible scores either.

For those of you who did not get the chance to hear us sing yesterday, you will get another chance to hear us sing the same song, Emotions by Destiny’s Child, at the graduation recital! Now, you can’t miss that because it’s mandatory!

Here’s my favorite cover of the song:

An End to the Endless Game of Hide and Go Seek

yourgingerkid1 Comment

It’s finally happened. Osama Bin Laden has been killed.

After years and years of hiding out from U.S. troops, he was killed Sunday after a firefight at a house.

I think that it’s kind of sad that we’re celebrating a death, in all honesty. Of course the man has done an unfathomable amount wrong, but a death is a death.

This man instigated the Twin Towers Attack, was a tyrant, and killed his own people, but he was also a good man in other ways.

It’s wrong to celebrate a death regardless of the wrong that he had done. Some people could look at former president George Bush and say the same thing. I’m sure that the whole Arab community would be thrilled to see that Bush had been killed. But as Americans, we shouldn’t be so thrilled.

For example, outside of the White House, Georgetown students are gathering and chanting “USA” and singing the national anthem. Do they not realize that within the next few days, weeks even, Osama’s followers and supporters aren’t going to be too happy with the U.S.?

It’s silly to think that there are no repercussions for killing a man who so severely influenced a whole nation and caused so much havoc to others. There are still members of the Al Qaeda out there, so why are people celebrating something that is not only sad, but terrifying! If someone killed Barack Obama, half of the U.S. would be outraged and want to seek revenge upon the killers country, right? Don’t you think that the Al Qaeda will do the same?

This whole thing perplexes me.

Revenge

smackyjackjack2 Comments

Following up on a lead he got last August, president Obama authorized an attack on a mansion in Pakistan several days  ago. After a firefight, Obama said that the special forces team found Osama Bin Laden, and shot him dead.

The American people have taken this as a time to gloat, and celebrate the death of a terrible and ruthless person. But is that what they should be doing?

The bloody death of one is no way to celebrate the revenge of the bloody deaths of others. Revenge will never lead to anything good, remember that.

To me, celebrating the death of Bin Laden is a very sick thing to do. Yes he killed many people, but revenge IS NOT OK.  Obama talked about “justice being served” today. There was no justice for him. He was found and shot. True justice would have been a fair trial. The only way this can be perceived as ok is if there was no other way to subdue Bin laden and the bullets absolutely HAD to be fired.

A death for a death is no way to run a justice system.  Bin Laden did kill many, may people, but killing him is not the solution. How does an eye for an eye make sense? “You killed someone? Well then you will die as well.”

And as for the people gathering in front of the White House to celebrate, you are doing a terrible thing. There are people grieving for Bin Laden just as many others grieved for their dead family members and friends from 9/11. I’m sorry, but revenge will never solve anything.

Good Riddance

shredicusmaximus1 Comment

“Word is Obama killed him with a pitching wedge from 30 yards out”

Those were the words from a US Naval Officer on an internet chat board regarding the new found confirmation from President Obama and the White House that Osama Bin Laden, the man who had been on the FBI’s top 10 most wanted list, the man had founded Al Qaeda in the early 1980’s, and the man who masterminded the world’s most deadly recent attacks, including the bombing of several American embassies, the 7/7 bombings, the bombings in Spain, and the September 11th attacks, is dead.

Read that again. The man who for a generation embodied evil and the word “terrorism” has been pronounced dead. According to TMZ, Osama was killed by American military forces. Killed in Afghanistan, “we got him” has now become the phrase of the day. Sources from all over the world are streaming in. CNN, Huffington Post, Fox News and several other reliable news sites have confirmed that the villian was killed by an American missile strike last week in Afghanistan. This is truly a day for celebration throughout the world.

It may feel that a great piece of the mission is complete. The Taliban was removed, Saddam was executed, and finally last week, we finally had enough intelligence thanks to the CIA, we launched an attack on a compound in Pakistan where this mass murderer was hiding. A small group of Americans with great courage survived a fire fight and killed the symbol of evil while taking measures to protect innocent civilians.

As my roommate and I are sitting in my room staring at my poster of the Brooklyn bridge in the early 1990’s taken with the World Trade Center in the background,
“I’m legit stoked right now” – John Olivo
“Are you screwing with me or is this for real?” – Cole McIntosh
“He’s dead! Hell Yes! That piece of trash is finally DEAD!” – All of us.

President Obama’s press conference was streamed into my computer and we are currently holding our bottles high to the American launcher who just so happened to point his launcher in the right direction. “Obama looks exhausted,” my roommate said. Who wouldn’t be after the months upon years of effort to bring forth this outcome. The satisfaction of the work is felt, and the pursuit of justice has been rewarded. The biggest part of a legacy of terrorism which has been shadowing over the world for the past 20 years, is dead. I give thanks to the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives to stand up for our values abroad, to try to make the world a safer place, and to bring justice to all those who lost their lives. The victims did not die in vain. The unity of our nation has been greatly electrified. As we listened to Obama speak, we all, in unison, ended with Obama in his last address, “we are one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”  Salud boys, we got him.

This picture may be disturbing to some viewers, viewer discretion is advised. Here’s proof.

Traffic School

venturatrekerLeave a comment


Yesterday, April 30th Saturday.  I had traffic school, all day.  Now traffic school is pretty bad,  basically I just sat there and they “taught” us the rules of the road…again?   Now I was sitting next to a woman who looked like she was born in like 1869 or something. She was old.  It was an eight-hour course and by golly it was very boring.  To my credit, I didn’t sleep or play on my phone the whole time, I did pay attention.

The best part though, was they showed us a video of 10 drugs not to take while driving and it was really funny, but for some reason in German….

Basically what I am saying is do not get pulled over and get a ticket, because you will have to go to traffic school, and that is not fun.

Indecision 2012!

smackyjackjackLeave a comment

Please let this man run for president.

Just thinking about the fact that Donald Trump is being considered to be in a position of political power makes me laugh. The whole right wing presidential race is just the funniest thing I have ever seen.

Most, if not all of the possible candidates are either too ignorant or too stupid to be president.

First of all, the Trumpster shouldn’t be running. Why is he? Because he was smart enough to make A LOT of money? No, because he lost all of it once. What possible qualifications does he have to run? Not only is he grossly unqualified for the job, but if he were to be elected, he would make other countries think SO much less of the USA. the Trumpster symbolizes  everything people hate about the US. He symbolizes arrogance and excessive pride. His attitude is one of take what you want and do not think of the consequences.

Other candidates, such as Palin, just symbolize plain stupidity. No one should be listening to this woman. The only reason people do, is because feminists think that she is the best thing ever because she is a woman. Just because she is a woman, has several kids (one of whom plays hockey) and is from  Alaska, does not mean that she should be held with high regard.

Other candidates are bad too. Gingrich has a head much too large to be president. Ok, I’m kidding, but while he was speaker, there were many ethical charges filed against him. And even the democrats can do better. Obama has done many great things for the country, but when it comes to negotiating, he does not fit the bill.

At a time like this, it is hard to stay happy. Too many bad things are happening, and it is hard to find someone to lead us through it all. Sometimes I just feel like……you know what forget it. When I’m older I’m voting for Trig.

A Man Who Never Let His Disabilities Define Himself

Paloma SpencerLeave a comment

For people with disabilities, life is anything but easy. However, seeing people with such hardships pursuing the things they love, despite this fact, is truly inspirational.

This Saturday night fans will be crowding the Los Angeles stadium for the Dodgers home game. Though in addition to the exciting strikes and home runs, fans will witness a “ceremonial” first pitch.

Tom Willis, a man who was born without arms, will be conducting this first pitch. However, with a lack of arms, Willis will be using his more than capable feet.
And this man is not simply pitching for fun but rather using it as part of his “Pitch for Awareness” national campaign in which Willis will travel to all 30 major league stadiums in order to promote a better understanding that people with disabilities are still capable of numerous things.

“I want to raise people’s awareness of the abilities of a person with a disability, not to focus o what they can’t do but on what they can do,” said Willis.

Willis was diagnosed at birth with a congenital bilateral upper limb deficiency in which both of his arms did not develop properly. However, Willis has found that his condition does not have to limit him. He drives his own car with the simple aid of a foot-steering system, can do his own laundry, pump his own gas, and is currently working as an independent TV producer and motivational speaker.

His campaign started in 2008 when he threw the first pitch at his hometown stadium of the San Diego Padres. Willis is now continuing his dream of traveling to Fenway Park on July 7 as well as numerous other stadiums throughout his tour.

Willis did not allow his disabilities to define who he was, but rather used what he could do to define himself.

One Man v. A Row of Tanks

yrreskrapLeave a comment

As I was working on my second Decades Paper for my history class, the dusty shelves in the memory department of my brain were revisited. My eyes fell upon a small paragraph, containing information that I would have probably just skimmed over had it not sparked something in the murky abyss of my memories. Two words reminded me of the struggles of countless students and even more so of one brave civilian who decided he had enough.

Tiananmen Square, 1989.

Students, mothers, fathers. Civilians alike banded together in the name of political reform. They had just lost a leader and strong liberalization advocate, Hu Yaobang, and felt it was in their hands to fight for the changes they wanted to see. And fight they did.

Through mainly non-violent protests, more and more people joined the cause for a more liberal government. However, the communist government fought back, mercilessly.

Buildings were on fire. Rubble and debris littered the floor. Many civilian lives were lost. However, throughout this fear for the government and citizen lives, one man refused to back down. One ordinary man who did an extraordinary act.

This is a video of the man who courageously stopped a row of tanks.

It’s quite breathtaking. To have the strength to go alone in front of tanks that can crush the human body in a matter of seconds.

Silently, I scolded myself for having let the dust collect over such a power event in those shelves of mine. So I decided to blog about this single event. This event happened 21 years ago, way before I was even born. I had almost forgotten this important moment as I am sure many other who will read this blog have as well. I am writing this blog to remind people that such bravery exists in today’s society and to inspire those who have never heard of this man-whose name I don’t even know-that stood against the row of tanks.

To learn more about this event watch the following video:

Music Map

yourgingerkidLeave a comment

Here I go again. Posting yet another music related post.

Do you guys ever get sick of listening to the same music?

Is the school’s internet too slow to host pandora or fm radio? Well I’ve got a good website for you!

This wonderful website allows you to type in the name of an artist and gives you names to plenty of others just like it.

You don’t have to go to Pandora and sit through all the songs until you find a few that you like. You don’t have to listen to the radio and figure out which songs you like. Now you can just type in the name of an artist and find plenty of others just like it.

I honestly sound like an internet advertisement, but that’s okay. I’m fine with that as long as I get the message across. You all should definitely check it out.

The Ivies

Paloma Spencer1 Comment

We have all heard the classical tales of the 8 Ivy League Institutions.

Located on the north-eastern United States, these universities are known for their gorgeous campuses, amazing academics, social elitism, and, unfortunately for most students, the lowest percentages in acceptance rates.

In case you do not know, these are the 8 wonders of the college world:

Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University, Yale University, and the University of Pennsylvania.

All these schools are of course, no doubt, amazing, but I find that many of my friends refused to apply to these universities because they “simply wouldn’t get in,” or because “there is no point to just get rejected.”

That is why I will tell you this:

Myself, as a senior applying to college had always known where I wanted to go, but afraid that I would never get in, I always created alternate top choices of schools that I would be more likely to attend.

My top was Yale University.

Yep, just the name makes me so happy!

The beautiful brick buildings, the intriguing classroom environments, and yes whoever watched Gilmore Girls would understand that Rory had a large impact on me.

Since I was young I had constantly heard the gasp of astonishment when people acclaimed they would attend Yale, and thus decided that this institution would be the place for me.

So I applied.

However, once I received my tiny little rejection letter in the mail, I felt crushed.

So I can be a bit of a drama queen, but honestly it did kind of hurt.

But the thing I realized is that although I was upset, I would have been more upset if I never even tried.

Even if you think you may not have the grades, or the extracurricular activities, you honestly don’t know what each college is looking for and there is always a chance to be pleasantly surprised.

Today, I am so happy with my college decision, even though it might not be Yale, and I do wish that all prospective college students apply to at least one of these eight institutions.

“If you never try, you’ll never know.”

: )