Disney on Hulu

When I first read the headline that Disney would be joining Hulu, I was pumped to say the least. You can watch whole episodes of shows on Hulu, and I was excited to have Disney join the fold.

I must admit, though, that I was hoping that Disney would put some of their classic movies on the video-sharing site. Just think if you could watch Aladdin, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, etc., on Hulu. That would be amazing! You wouldn't have to shell out money to a movie rental place or you wouldn't have to hunt down a friend who is geeky enough (much like yourself) to have tons of Disney movies on hand. Awesome!

My bubble was burst, though, when I heard the rest of the news story. According to a CNBC video, Disney will add its shows from ABC, ABC Family, Disney Channel and SOAPnet. The story said nothing about Disney's amazing classic movies.

Still, this is an exciting day for Hulu watchers. The Disney announcement means the media giant will join News Corp and NBC Universal on the site. Viewers will get to watch some of their favorite shows from three of the major networks: FOX, ABC and NBC. That is pretty awesome!

So, I guess though I am still sad that Aladdin will not be making an appearance on my computer screen anytime soon, I am still excited for the prospects of watching Disney's television shows on my laptop. And maybe once the Disney execs see how successful Hulu is, they will add the Disney classics to the site. What a dream come true!

**Picture from the CartoonDollEmporium.

Iraqi journalists

Happy World Press Freedom Day!

Before I get too excited about this wonderful day, I must talk about a place where freedom and press are not often said in the same sentence.

That place is Iraq, and according to a BBC article, about 225 media workers have died since the war in Iraq began. "It is safer to walk around Baghdad with an AK-47 than with a camera," said Iraqi journalist Youssef Ismail in the BBC article.

But the real problem for Iraqi journalists may not be death -- though death is probably a key deterrent for recruiting journalists in the country -- but censorship.

Censorship issues had improved in the country after the fall of Saddam Hussein, and honestly, I don't think it would surprise anyone that he restricted the media during his dictatorship.

I was surprised to discover that censorship is becoming an increasing problem again. According to the article, when the Iraqi government gained more control, Iraqi journalists became to feel the pressures of the government's strength. Lawsuits are increasing against journalists, and the government works to cut advertising for those papers that are not pro-government.

To me, that is just disgusting. One of a journalist's main jobs is to serve as a watchdog of government, and so it sickens me that the Iraqi government is trying to prevent journalists from doing their jobs. It actually makes me wonder what the Iraqi government has to hide.

Hopefully, Iraqi officials are squeaky clean, and I pray that they begin to become more understanding of the journalist's role. That will only make them look better in my eyes and the world's eyes.

So, happy World Press Freedom Day! In light of this day, I encourage everyone to stay current on press freedom issues around the world.

Comic Sans: Either you love it or you hate it.

I definitely learn something new every day, and today I learned a whole lot about the Comic Sans typeface.

Today there was a featured article ("For Many, Comic Sans Not a Pretty Face") about the font on MSN's tech and gadget page. According to that article, the font was created to give its computer companion Bob an informal font.

Before I go any further, I have to say, why would you call a computer companion Bob? That is just creepy. Were people supposed to treat him as a friend? Was I supposed to invite him into my home and allow him to sleep in the same room as me (because my computer is in my bedroom)? Ummm ... weird!

But back to Comic Sans. The font is supposed to look like comic-book lettering, which apparently is quite aggravating to some designers. According to the MSN article, there has been an effort to ban the typeface for the last ten years. There's even an organized group and a Ban Comic Sans Web site.

Perhaps, I'm too apathetic, but I really don't have a crazy intense opinion on the typeface. I think it can be fun for certain situations like party invitations, etc., but I totally understand that it shouldn't be used with formal situations. But, there are several fonts that should only be used in certain instances, like for celebrations; Jokerman and Curlz MT are two that immediately come to mind as novelty fonts that should only be used limitedly.

So, I guess I am a fence sitter on this issue. I'll have to read up on the issue before I vote on it during the next font election.

If you did not find that last statement funny, perhaps this video from College Humor will tickle your fancy. I encourage anyone who knows anything about fonts to watch this video. It's superb!

**Above photo taken from the Ban Comic Sans Web site.

The Office

I heart The Office, and I have to say this past week's episode was pretty great. It was no match for the after-Super Bowl "Fire" episode, but it was still pretty solid.

**Spoiler alert: If you do not want to find out what happened this week, do not continue reading!

During this week's episode the members of The Michael Scott Paper Company return to work at Dunder Mifflin. Michael Scott starts off the episode with a meeting, which he called so that they can talk about things. Michael really just wants an apology for people not quitting their jobs to be with him. You have to love that.

The Casual Friday bit also provided some humor. Meredith's extremely inappropriate outfit made me cringe and laugh all at the same time. Plus, I loved Toby's khaki on khaki.

The final part of the episode was the best when Michael offered the sales rep job to Pam instead of Ryan. I thought for sure he was going to give the job to Ryan even though Ryan cost the company lots of money due to his crazy Web site. But even though Michael is besties with Ryan, Michael decided to give Pam a shot, which made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

My roommate and I have discussed why Pam left with Michael to form his company a couple weeks ago. To me, Pam obviously wants to move herself ahead in the world. Though she enjoys being the secretary/receptionist, she wants a job that makes her happier. She has the sales fire, and she wants to prove that she can do it. Now, Pam will get the chance to show what she's got. I just really hope she doesn't fall flat on her face during these next couple of episodes. That would break my heart!

Overall, this season has treated me well. I couldn't believe it when Michael quit at Dunder Mifflin, and honestly, I was slightly concerned that Steve Carell (who plays Michael) didn't want to be on The Office anymore. But now, he is back in the Dundler Mifflin office, and I'm sure he will be badder than ever. If he wasn't bad and pompous and slightly crazy, it wouldn't be The Office. Yay, Steve Carell, and yay, Office!

**Photo taken from The Office Web site. Pictured are characters Ryan, Jim, Michael, Dwight and Pam.

YouTube uses

I've talked about the uses for Twitter and Facebook in some of my previous posts, so I guess it must be time to talk about YouTube.

According to the BBC article, a man delivered his baby boy after watching some instructional YouTube videos. The man had watched the videos as a precautionary measure after his wife started to feel discomfort. He told the BBC he Googled how to deliver a baby and then watched a few videos. About four hours later, the man put his newfound knowledge to the test, as his wife started to have the baby.

The couple called a midwife and then an ambulance, but their fourth child was not waiting. Despite this high-stress situation, the man said he really didn't panic. He attributes that to his time in the Royal Navy. I say those most have been some darn good videos!

I have to say that I really am impressed with this story and how some people are using new technologies. I was really impressed that Facebook could "save a life," as described in an earlier post, and I also do like that people try to help each other out on Twitter, also described in an earlier post.

But now YouTube is the hero of the day. Who would have thought? I occasionally watch some instructional videos on the site, but mostly I watch music videos and humorous clips. I can't say that watching "Numa, Numa" is probably doing anyone any good.

Still, the options of self-improvement on YouTube are out there. And after hearing this story, you can bet I'll make my future husband self improve by watching some videos if I'm ever pregnant!

Nutella: Final Project

For the final project, I decided to profess my love for Nutella.

There were some successes and failures with this project, though I am satisfied with my project overall. One major failure in this project is that The Collegian office is located under the Aramark kitchen, and so you can hear the humming of the dishwasher during the first part of my video.

I did have some successes, though. I was proud of myself for making a freezeframe of the Nutella bottle when my video clip was not long enough for the B-roll in one part. Yay, innovation! I also liked my ripple transition, my music selection and how I got the Nutella bottle to appear by my head when I was thinking/dreaming about Nutella. Overall, I am pleased with this video, and I hope you are too!

Cribs

**Music courtesy of freeplaymusic.com.

This was the Cribs assignment, and in it, we created our own version of an MTV Cribs episode. My partner was Josh Chilson, and he came up with the idea to pretend to be me. He also wanted to include areas that obviously were not rooms in his house, The Campanile. Hopefully, that created a humorous tone.

In this assignment, I got to use my photoshop skills. I created the cutout for the opening sequence, and I created the SPECS box in photoshop. Josh also did some really great things on the editing side. He played with speeding things up and down, and he worked to sync the video up perfectly with the music. I thought he did a great job timing the pictures on the screen with the beats of the music.

I learned several things with this video. I personally tried to effectively mix flashes of images on the screen with strong beats in the music, but despite my best attempts, Josh is definitely more proficient in this area. I also made a freezeframe shot of the video for one of the first times. That was extremely easy, and I thought it added a lot to our video.

Monologue 5

**I got the inspiration for this monologue when I found a couple of news stories about disc golf. The one featured in the video can be found at BYU NewsNet. Then, once I saw that there is a PDGA, I knew I had to do this video. The rules page for the PDGA that I featured during the video can also be found here.

Two Journalists being held in North Korea

When I decided to be a journalist, I thought I'd chosen a relatively safe career. I wasn't going to be a cop or soldier, which both ask you to risk your life on a daily basis. I wasn't even going to be a fisherman, who face the prospect of drowning every day. (Click here for a link to a list of some of the most dangerous jobs.)

No, I was going to be a journalist. A safe journalist. WRONG! In the last couple of years, I've realized that a journalist is not always safe. If you write about something that upsets someone, then you make risk physical or property repercussions. Or if you are a foreign correspondent, you may be asked to enter war-zone, which were traditionally scary for journalists but now the conditions in war are becoming increasingly unsafe for journalists (see my post Life of a foreign correspondent or the BBC article on the topic for more information.)

Even if you are researching a controversial topic, you can be at risk. Just ask two journalists who are now being detained in North Korea. The two were apparently researching North Korean refugees when they were arrested in China, according to an article on the BBC. The two will most likely be charged for entering North Korea illegally from China, though the word espionage was thrown around a couple of times in the BBC article.

I have to say that I'm pretty scared for those two journalists. Though the BBC article said they were being treated well, I don't North Korea has the best record in terms of human rights.

Plus, I'm scared about how these cases could chill some journalistic activities. If journalists are threatened with imprisonment, they are probably not going to be as excited about investigative stories. In this case, the women (Euna Lee and Laura Ling) allegedly did something illegal, so yes, they will probably need to face some consequences. But if they get five years for entering North Korea illegally (as the AP is reporting), I think that will be pretty unfair. You get five years in the U.S. for stealing cars. If you ask me, if those journalists get five years, the North Korean government will just be trying to get back at them for researching an unflattering topic about North Korea.

To me, that is just wrong and scary. Maybe I didn't pick such a safe career after all!

Tough Love

It had been awhile since I'd checked in with Sarah Haskins, so I thought a Saturday would be a good day for a laugh. Today's featured video: Tough Love.

According to the video, VH1 has a new series called Tough Love. On the show, one man "who knows single woman better than anyone else" tries to teach his participants how to be or at least pretend to be perfect women when dating.

The host, Steve Ward, uses some pretty interesting tactics to make the women on his show more "dateable." According to Haskin's video, he has them pose for sexy photo shoots, have lingerie parties and participate in a game show called Cute or Crazy. During the game show, secrets are revealed about the women, and the men in the audience get to rate the girls as cute or crazy based on these secrets. I personally would rate that exercise as crazy.

I liked how Haskins looked at the show Tough Love to demostrate something that is prevalent in our culture -- people think that there is something wrong with single women. I think Haskins said it best when she compared singleness in our culture to a deadly illness. "Worse than leprosy you ask?" she said. "Yes, because lepers live in colonies and single women live alone."

Along with that, I think it's funny that it's terrible to be a single woman but it's cool to be a swinging bachelor that is afraid of commitment. That type of man is glorified in many movies and in our culture, and yet, whenever there is a show about a single woman, she is desperately trying to find a men 'to make her life complete.' BARF!

And so, due to all the 'chick-flicks' in which a woman seems lonely and unhappy without a man and also due to prevailing degrading thoughts about single women in our culture, I have to say that I've felt the pressure to find a man more than once. Some of my friends and members of my family ask me if I'm dating anyone before they'll even ask about school and my future career. Many of my family members and friends realize that school and my future are tremendously important to me, yet some of them are more curious if I've found a man or not.

However, I can't blame them for being more concerned about me finding a man than finding an amazing career. That's what our culture tells us is important through movies and also old stereotypes of women.

But to me, singleness isn't horrible. I can devote myself more to school and my work on the paper, and I have more time to cultivate life-long friendships. And yes, sometimes I do wish I could find my perfect man, but overall, I think I join Haskins when I say, I'd rather be single than be a leper.

**Photo taken from Time Out Chicago.

Mom gets plastic surgery to look like daughter

I often look at the BBC for interesting stories from around the world. Today, I was not disappointed.

According to the story "I just wanted to look like her," Janet Cunliffe had plastic surgery to look like her daughter Jane. She had a boob job to go from a 34A/B to a 34DD, had her upper and lower eyes lifted, got a nose job and had her lips plumped.

"I decided to do it because I was feeling low at the time, I'd just come out of a long-term relationship, so just to boost my confidence," she said in the BBC story.

(The pair is pictured above. From left to right: Daughter Jane and
Mom Janet as shown in the BBC article.)

In the end, all the adjustments cost her 12,000 pounds (British currency). But for her, it might be worth it because she often fools people about her age. People often mistake Janet Cunliffe for Jane's sister or some relative, but they never guess Janet is Jane's mother. I have to say looking at them I would probably guess Janet was a sister or an older cousin. I probably wouldn't guess Janet was the mother based at least on the un-motherish clothes she wears.

But was it worth it for Jane Cunliffe, the daughter? I know I would extremely creeped out if my mom had surgery to look like me or even started dressing like me. Actually, I would be shocked because my mother and I have different tastes in clothes selections. We both dress more to our age, and I have to say that I'll dress more motherly when I become a mother.

According to the article, the daughter was mad at first but mostly because she was scared of the dangers of surgery. Nowadays, the daughter is okay with the change.

"She looks like my sister and I'm happy for her," the daughter said in the article.

I really don't even know what to say about this. I was completely stunned when I first saw it, but I don't really feel like passing judgment right now. Instead, I will say that I'm not sure that changing your appearance is the best way to deal with difficulties facing a relationship. I personally would talk to a therapist first, because it's cheaper and probably less painful (though I can't say that for sure since I've never been to therapist. I can verify that surgery is painful.) But, then again that's just me. I've done some odd things in my life, too.

Slumdog cash: What's the lowdown on the slowdown?

When I was looking over the BBC site the other day, I found an interesting story "Slumdog makers pledge Mumbai cash."

The story in itself seems like it would be a feel-good story, and in a way, it is. The makers of the hit film Slumdog Millionaire are donating $745,000 to a charity that will help children living in the slums of Mumbai.

That all sounds good, right? But, I thought the makers of Slumdog promised to rehouse their child stars (pictured at right) when they won their Oscar. I can't find any story that confirms that thought, but I know a friend mentioned their Oscar promise shortly after the awards show.

So, I really could be crazy about the Oscar donation promise, but the BBC story did confirm that two of the film's star were recently rehoused after criticism that they were still living in the slums even after the film's tremendous success. So, to me that says that it took other people's scorn to finally convince the film's makers to donate or at least to spur them into action. That's not incredibly impressing to me.

In the film makers' defense, though, it seems like their hearts may be in the right place now. In the BBC article Director Danny Boyle was reported as saying, "It is only right that some of the success of the movie be ploughed back into the city."

I totally agreed. I just wish it hadn't taken so long from the movie's Oscar success to the present time for the makers to donate.

**Photo taken from the BBC article. It looks like it was originally from the AP.

More celebrities on my homepage? I don't think so.

I have admitted from time to time that I do succumb to the evils of Jen v. Angelina articles whenever I see them. I should also admit that I do enjoy looking at MSN's Wonderwall, which provides celeb gossip and tidbits.

However, I do not want more celebrities on my home page.

This was a question posed to me on MSN. (Want more celebrity news?) My initial answer was no because I am not celebrity obsessed and I can think of a lot better use of my MSN home page space.

Once I actually clicked on the celebrity-obsessed MSN beta home page, I was doubly convinced. One of the page's top stories was: Gossip: Kristen and Robert hold hands. Gasp! Sinners! How dare they! Oh, wait; who are Kristen and Robert?

Turns out Kristen and Robert are the stars of Twilight (oh, how I love Twilight fans; see the Fangirls video for more information), and apparently they have some budding romance. Okay, I guess that's important. But is it really more important than the fact that the Taliban is seizing control of strategically important territory in Pakistan?

Yes, or at least for the makers of the celeb-obsessed MSN home page. They would rather have you read about Daring and Dull Dos than current world events. Because having people read about hair instead of international crises will create a more-informed and intelligent public.

Obviously, I feel pretty passionate about this topic. I enjoy an occasional bit of celebrity gossip as much as the next person. But I am definitely not obsessed and am not in favor of creating entire home pages dedicated to celeb gossip. My advice to anyone who decides to turn their home page into a celeb-crazed site: stop monitoring their lives and start living your own.

**Photo from MSN's new celeb/entertainment beta home page.

Monologue 4

This post was inspired by the many blogs dedicated to grammar errors. The ones cited in this video are EnglishFAILBlog and GrammarBlog. My own personal grammar/headline fail in The Collegian was another inspiration for this piece, and I included an Argus Leader mistake to show that even the best make mistakes sometimes.

King Corn

I recently watched the movie/documentary King Corn, and I have to say it was pretty interesting. I don't know if it's because I'm a former farm girl or if it's because I didn't know I had corn in my hair (more on that later), but I found this movie to be very fascinating while still being educational.

Basically, the movie follows two college friends as they raise an acre of corn and try to see how their corn becomes part of the food supply.

As expected, the city boys discover some pretty funny things and more than a few disturbing aspects of our food systems. I think my favorite moment of the movie is the one shown by the movie promo picture (as retrieved from the King Corn press area). The guys decide to eat an ear of their corn straight from the field. They soon realize what everyone on the farm knows: that corn is NOT edible as is!

Along with providing me some laughs, this movie was extremely informational. I, too, had always wondered how the corn in the field feed America, and now I have a good idea. Some of that corn is used to feed cattle, which feeds us through hamburgers, etc. Over half of the corn is used to make corn syrup, which is used in many foods, such as pop, as a cheap sweetener. About a third of the corn produced in America does not enter our food supply. Instead that portion goes to ethanol production and other non-edible commodities.

Another important point in this film is that almost every processed food made in America uses corn in some way. For example, cattle are mostly corn-fed, so we are essentially eating corn when we eat beef. Many foods use corn syrup for a cheap sweeteners, so in that way, Americans are eating lots of corn, too. I loved the example that a McDonald's hamburger meal has corn in every part. The hamburger is made from corn-fed cattle meat, the fries are fried in corn or soybean oil and the pop has corn syrup for sweetener.

Because Americans do consume so many products that involve corn, the agricultural product shows up as the carbon in our hair, which as dead cells is essentially a record of things we have eaten. That is just crazy to me! Now, I really want to get my hair tested to see how much of my diet involves corn. I eat beef like crazy, and so I can only imagine how corn-fed I must be!

Useless Facebook Apps

I get at least three or four requests to add Facebook apps a day. I blame the fact that my name (Amy) is one of the first that pops up when the app asks you to add friends, but still, it's really annoying.

That is why I found it extremely refreshing when PC World named The 10 Lamest Facebook Apps. From the Honesty Box to Compare Friends to the Most Useless Application Ever, the article saved no punches when it attacked some clearly ridiculous apps and a few good ones. Here are some of winners of PC World disdain:

Bumper Stickers/ Pieces of Flair:
I have to say that I actually enjoy the bumper stickers. My sophomore year of college, my friends and I would spend hours looking at all the stickers and sending ridiculous amounts of stickers to each other. It was great fun, and I'll never forget the first sticker I sent/received: I don't skinny dip. I chunky dunk!


Pirates v. Ninjas:
I thought this app actually sounded cool because it involves pirates AND ninjas. How cool is that! Actually, it's not very cool because the whole point of the app is that you spam your friends to become a pirate or ninja. LAME!

Whopper Sacrifice:
My friend Brandon LOVED this app. He probably would have sacrificed all his friends for free Whoppers if the app hadn't been shut down. I have to say that when I saw that he had deleted friends so that he could get free Whoppers, I laughed. I thought it was extremely funny. Others did not, which is why PC World named this a lame app. The reviewers claimed it separates friends, instead of bringing them together.

Ploppy:
This disgusting application asks users to rate their last bathroom experience. One question is: How are your stools at the moment? Do I really have to say how gross that is?

**Pictures taken from the PCWorld Lamest Apps Review.

Monologue 3

**Music courtesy of freeplaymusic.com.

This monologue was inspired by PC World reviews of the latest crop of cell phones. I found the reviews and photos on MSN's Tech and Gadget page.

Monologue 2

**Music courtesy of freeplaymusic.com.

This monologue was inspired by the story "Scientists create chocoholic dream: all the taste with none of the calories" on the Telegraph Web site.

The life of a foreign correspondent

Just when you think your life is bad, you read about a guy who has been shot at in Iraq and taken hostage by pirates in Somalia.

Today's Web edition of BBC News featured a story about Colin Freeman, the chief foreign correspondent of the Sunday Telegraph. Apparently, while working in Iraq and Somalia, Freeman had more luck being in the news than writing the stories.

According to Freeman's piece, for many years, journalists were almost given a free pass in war zones. They were seen similarly to Red Cross workers or other aide officials. Both sides of the conflict understood that journalists were there to report on the conflict, not fight the battles with one side or another.

In today's world, all that has changed.

Freeman said that nowadays groups like al-Qaeda don't really care who they kill, as long as they are hurting their enemy somehow. Plus, these groups no longer need foreign reporters to tell their sides of the story. They have their own television stations or they use the Internet to spread their message. In a sense, reporters are no use to them. Reporters are completely expendable, especially if they get in the group's way somehow.

For Freeman, these new attitudes toward foreign correspondence led him to be wounded and almost killed by a mob in Iraq. But he might have been one of the lucky ones amongst his colleagues. Freeman said that out of the freelance journalists that stayed in Baghdad's al-Dulaimi hotel, no fewer than six ended up being kidnapped.

But if Freeman was lucky for not being kidnapped in Iraq, his luck ran out in Somalia. While researching a story about piracy, Freeman was kidnapped and held hostage in a cave for six weeks. His claims that he was a journalist and should not be held hostage held no creedance with his captors.

For me, Freeman's story is inspiring in the sense that he would put his life on the line for the profession that he loves. But then again, it also brings me back to earth. There are plenty of days when I think my life is just the worst in the world. Then I read about people like Freeman or Aliaksei Karol and Frank Nyakairu, who have both faced bodily and financial harm for reporting on the stories that matter. Clearly, my problems really aren't that bad, and I can only hope to be half as courageous as those three men.

Octo-Mom could get reality show

Nadya Suleman is close to striking a deal on a reality show that would feature her during her daily chores, on dates and when she's bussing around her 14 children, according to People.com (and found on MSN Entertainment.)

The reports says that Suleman and her lawyer have been in talks with various production companies about creating a show that will provide her a consistent income.

My first reaction to this story is oh, good. Give the baby lady some more media attention. This is the type of lady I want to read about and see every day. (Note the sarcasm.) On second thought though, the show would give Suleman a solid income, so everyone would be assured that she is not living off the taxpayers (or at least for the duration of the show.) Plus, then we know the children should have the oppporunity to have all the basics, like healthy food, clothes and shelter.

But then again, by giving her a show, the television world is just reenforcing her behavior. To me, the show would essentially say that her choice to have 14 children as a single parent while still living with her parents (or at least I think she was living with the parents for awhile) is completely acceptable. On many different levels, I don't think her choice was completely right, and so I for one don't want to watch a television show about her. I think I would just be frustrated the entire time I watched it.

Sorry, Octo-Mom, I can guarentee I will not be a viewer.

The Hannah Montana craze

Hannah Montana is everywhere this days. On backpacks and lip gloss containers, in magazines and now on the big screen.

I can just hear the squeals of preteens everywhere.

As for me, I've never really gotten into the Hannah Montana craze. Maybe it's because I'm older and more mature ... and I can drive myself places.

I have to admit, though, I did watch Hannah Montana once. I was craving some cartoons one Saturday morning, but instead of getting Bugs Bunny, Hannah Montana filled the scene. The show wasn't too bad, though it was no Lizzy McGuire. Star Miley Cyrus was lovable and funny, even if she was a little over the top at times.

So I can see why Montana is popular with the younger set and parents, too. She is for the most part wholesome and a decent role model for girls. What I don't always understand is the obsession over Montana. It seems like her face is everywhere these days, and I swear they should just set aside half of Wal-Mart for Montana products. Today, the Argus even had a story on dressing like the popular Disney character. I'll make sure to get right on that!

As I've said, maybe my cyncism with the whole Hannah Montana love affair is due to my age. Then again, many people my age are whole-heartedly in love with Edward Cullen (gag me!) But in the end, I guess my skepticism is more directed towards those that want to be Hannah Montana. For me, role models are those who have made a difference in real life, not people who are famous and get to wear pretty clothes. So overall, my message would probably be that while it's okay to enjoy television and movie characters, instead of wishing to be those characters, look around you and watch people who are making a difference in their communities. Emulate those people.

(** Photo of Hannah Montana taken from LifeLearning.org.)

Mini-Movie

**Music courtesy of freeplaymusic.com.

Our mini-movie was based off of the movie "Fanboys," in which a group of boys face a lot of obstacles to see the filming of Star Wars. For "Fangirls," as we dubbed our video, a group of girls face a lot of obstacles to see the premier of "Twilight."

This project taught me a lot of things. First, I learned how to pitch a project idea, and then I learned how to write a script and format it correctly. As for editing, I speed up and slowed down a couple scenes for the first time ever.

There were not too many stumbling blocks during this project once we were able to film. We did have some problems trying to get together, but that was a scheduling problem, not a Film Cut or Flip Camera issue.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how the video turned out, and I hope you enjoy it, as well.

Headline mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes. Unfortunately for journalists, our mistakes are quite public, and sometimes they are in 72 point font.

Yes, the journalism devils seem to strike most often in headlines. For some reason, errors can be the most hard to catch for journalists when they are in huge font. But once the reader sees the print copy, many times the errors are quite glaring.

Take this gem from the English FAIL Blog for example:

Though this headline is quite incriminating, I do not think the people at the paper are illiterate. (I believe that, even if it's just because the article says that Mississippi's literacy program is working.) In fact, the journalists are probably quite the opposite. As I said, the journalism devils like to play tricks on unsuspecting copy editors. If they see any moment of weakness, they will strike.

And strike they do! As found on the Professor Cornbread Web site, here are some other great headline mistakes:

Queen Mary is having bottom scraped.
Panda mating fails, veterinarian takes over.
NJ judge to rule on nude beach.

Enraged cow injures farmer with ax.
Two Soviet ships collide, one dies.
Two sisters reunite after eighteen years at checkout counter.

Never withhold herpes from loved one.

Cold wave linked to temperatures.
Something went wrong in jet crash, experts say.

Ads that didn't translate so well:

“Bite the wax tadpole.” Coca-Cola as originally translated into Chinese.
“Pepsi bring your ancestors back from the grave.” Pepsi ad slogan ‘Pepsi Comes Alive’ as originally translated into Chinese.

Obviously these previous examples underscore the importance of careful editing. Editors must scrutinize headlines from every possible angle, in addition to making sure they are grammatically correct and accurate.

But as I've said, horrible headlines will still slip through. (I plan to share one of my most painful headline moments in a future monologue.) So in the end, journalists must have good humor. I can imagine the people who have written some of the above headlines find their mistakes just hilarious nowadays. And while they probably experienced physical pain when they discovered their bad headline, I also like to believe that they learned their lesson and moved on to write smashing (or even more funny) headlines.

Queen of Odd Jobs

After being inspired by this week's release of "Adventureland" -- a movie about one of the worst and first jobs one guy has working at an amusement park -- the creators of MSN's Wonderwall decided to feature some of the oddest jobs celebrities had before becoming famous.

Just as the Wonderwall peeps were inspired by the opening of "Adventureland," I am inspired by their Celebrity Summer Jobs Photo Gallery, and I will now proceed to compare some of my crazy jobs to the celebrities' summer jobs as listed in the photo gallery.

Eva Mendes: worked at a mall Hot Dog on a Stick. (Pictured at right; Photo taken from Examiner.com.)
Me: I served out my obligatory food service job at both Pizza Ranch and Subway.

Miley Cyrus: scrubbed toilets.
Me: I scrubbed toilets for chores at home but also got loo-cleaning experience at both Pizza Ranch and Subway.

Tina Fey: worked at a snack bar at a swim club.
Me: I also worked at a snack bar at the AdventurePark at Wild Water West.

Steve Carell: delivered the mail.
Me: I was going to deliver the YellowPages phone books before I was offered a temporary job in a hospital laundry room.

Steven Spielberg: whitewashed fruit trees to protect them from insects.
Me: I detasseled corn plants so they wouldn't cross-pollinate (or something like that.)

Madonna: served as a cashier at Dunkin’ Donuts.
Me: I had the distinct priviledge of ringing people up at Subway, and I was an official cashier at Target.

Brad Pitt: considered the king of odd jobs, as he drove limos, moved refrigerators and dressed up as a Giant Chicken.
Me: I think I could give Brad a run for his money. I have sold vacuums (so did Kelly Clarkson), guarded a gate at the Sioux Empire Fair, babysat, issued credit cards at Wells Fargo AND dressed up as a Giant Chicken during my stint at Pizza Ranch.

Extraordinary uses of Facebook

Some people are using Facebook for more than just catching up with old friends and staying up to date with acquaintance's lives. According to the BBC, the social media site is being used to save lives, catch criminals and even end marriages.

I became privy to Facebook's revolutionary powers when I noticed today's headline, "UK teenager 'saved by Facebook'" on the British news site. According to the article, a British teenager messaged a girl in Maryland, saying that he was going to kill himself. The girl's mother called local police, who placed a call to the White House, who called the British Embassy, who contacted local police in Britain. The boy was found semi-conscious in his home after a drug overdose. After a hospital stay, the boy made a full recovery.

After reading that BBC article, I noticied another that mentioned an unusual Facebook use. According to the story "Facebook campaign to find rapist," a Manchester man made a group to try to find the man who raped his fiancee. He posted a grainy police photo of the attacker on the page and created the group in hopes that someone who knows the man will come forward.

While some are using the social media site for good purposes, others are just being ridiculous. According to the story "Marriage end 'posted on Facebook,'" Emma Brady found out her six-year marriage was over after her husband changed his status to read, "Neil Brady has ended his marriage to Emma Brady." Of all the ways to be dumped, that might be the worst. If it's any consolation to Ms. Brady, I think she is better off without a man who tells his Internet "friends" that his marriage is over before he even tells his wife.

So all in all, Facebook has uses, both good and ridiculous, beyond my wildest dreams. Who knew that a site affectionately known as Stalkerbook could be so versatile?

Israel papers remove women from picture

Culture definitely affects how newspapers cover the news. Israeli papers showed an extreme example of this by removing two women from a picture of Israel's new cabinet.

Originally, I was extremely outraged when I first read the BBC headline, "Papers alter Israel cabinet photo" and subhead, "Two ultra-Orthodox Jewish newspapers have altered a photo of Israel's new cabinet, removing two female ministers." I thought that these two papers were discriminating the women with no due cause.

In a way, the papers were discriminating the women unjustly, I think. However, after reading more of the BBC article, I sort of understand the papers' decisions. According to the article, ultra-orthodox Jews think that publishing pictures of women violates their female modesty. Since both the papers that altered the photos serve ultra-orthodox readers, I can understand that if they had published the original photo, they would have outraged their readers.

Still, the way one of the papers went about omitting the women was extremely strange. While one of the papers blackened out the images of the women, the other replaced them with two men. To me, the second option is unacceptable, because now some of that paper's readers might think those two men are actually on Israel's new cabinet. Instead of not offending their readers, now that paper has confused its readers.

So even though I don't like the fact that either paper removed the women from the picture, I think the first option is more accurate and fair. By blackening out the women, at least the readers know that women are serving in the new cabinet. By replacing the women with men's photos, readers are misled to believe that only men are worthy for Israel's cabinet.

Here is a copy of the original photo vs. the photo with two men inserted in the women's places, taken from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7982146.stm:

When the news hits close to home

Turner County has been making headlines in the state lately, and neither time has the news been good.


Photo courtesy of: http://pix.epodunk.com/locatorMaps/sd/SD_12999.gif

First, a Turner County deputy was shot and killed outside a Marion home. Now, a rural Chancellor/Tea resident has been found to have drugs and a stolen vehicle.

Both times, these news stories hit a little too close to home for me. The deputy killed was a classmate to my brother. The criminal resident, who is also suspected of starting a meth lab, lives only a mile-and-a-half from my parents. Yikes!

As someone who writes news, it's always a little strange to be on the other side of the equation, or in this case, have an association with the story. So many times I empathize with the people I'm writing about and think, "Man, I'm glad that didn't happen in my neighborhood." Well, now I'm on the other side of the fence, thinking, "Man, I wish that hadn't happened in my neighborhood."

Still, I think the experience is a good lesson for me. It reminds me of what it's like to be involved in the news, not just be a removed third party. I can experience the emotions of people involved in the stories, which has reminded me that it is good to try to understand these feelings as you try to interview people for emotional stories. So, even though the past weeks' events have disheartened, saddened and freaked me out, they have in some ways shown me that empathy is a good trait in a journalist.

Foolin' Around

Oh, April Fool's Day. The perfect day for regular people to turn into mischievous pranksters and for respectable news sources to make up some gripping stories.

A CNN story credited the tradition of news outlets creating outrageous stories to the infamous '50s BBC report, which claimed that Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop that year. Several people fell for the crazy report, which also featured pictures of farmers harvesting spaghetti from their trees, and called in asking how they could get their own spaghetti trees.

The April Fool's fake news tradition has stuck. The Collegian made an attempt at a humorous April Fool's Edition, and a couple years ago, the Argus Leader had a fake sports story. The Argus piece said that an eighth grader was going to be the next big thing in basketball. I believe he was said to be freakishly tall and an amazing shot, and NBA scouts were already recruiting him. The final paragraph of the story exposed the hoax. It told readers to look at the first letter of every paragraph; the letters spelled HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY.

According to CNN, one of this year's pranks involved the popular site Twitter. A paper in London claimed it would be the first newspaper to deliver its news exclusively through Twitter. I think the paper should have included a link in the paper to a fake Twitter account that just said:
OMG, U just got pranked by a "dead" medium. LOL!

ROTFL, G2G.

Online town hall: A political revolution?

On Thursday, Obama conducted the first ever online town hall in an effort to make good on his promises of government openness.

I have to say that I was impressed when I first heard about the idea. Since this past campaign season, politicians have been wisely using the Internet more and more to reach out to the younger generation. I see these efforts, including the online town hall, as an ingenious way to reach a generation that supposedly is apathetic to politics. (I say supposedly because I don't subscribe to that belief.)

Since initially hearing about the idea, though, I have heard some disturbing aspects. Nicole Ferraro of the Editor's blog on Internet Evolution says that only five of the over 100,000 questions submitted online was used in the town hall meeting even though the meeting was about one hour and twenty minutes.

Plus, people were allowed to vote on the questions, so that the most popular questions would get answered in the meeting. According to Ferraro, one question asked got six votes online. Another only got three. In total, there were over 3 million votes cast for questions. (Insert distinct sarcasm here.) So yes, the question that only got three votes must have been one of the most popular.

Obviously, there were some downsides to the meeting. The online questions did not dominate the meeting, as I was led to believe, and the questions really weren't chosen by the people (instead they must have been chosen by Obama staffers who picked convenient questions for the pres).

Plus, the pres decided to take a jab at my generation's intelligence and concerns. By questioning why three questions about legalizing marijuana were the most popular, he made it sound like everyone was part of the internet audience was a pot head.

As quoted by Ferraro, Obama said, "I don't know what this says about the online audience, but I don't want people to think. ... This was fairly popular question, and the answer is 'no.' I don't think that is a good strategy to grow our economy."

Sorry, Mr. President, not everyone in the online audience was high that night, much like some people who are in the Special Olympics are good at bowling.

So basically, as I have said, there were some faults to the meeting, but I have to say the idea was fairly forward. Politicans should continually try to use the Internet to reach the newer generation, even if we all are supposedly pot smokers.

Love the song, question the morals

F-R-E-E that spells free. Free credit report dot com baby.

I LOVE the freecreditreport.com commercials. The songs are so catchy and witty; I could sing them all day. (Check out a collection of the ads on YouTube.)

After reading a Huffington Post article on the ads, I'm starting to question the morals of the ads, though. The article says that you can get the services of freecreditreport.com for free for seven days. After that, you pay $14.95. Hmmm .... that seems to be 14 dollars and 95 cents more expense than free.

There are some disclaimers with the ad, and consumers probably shouldn't expect someone to monitor their credit for them for free. But then maybe the Web site should not have 'free' as the first word of its domain name. If you call something free, people are going to expect it to have no costs associated with it!

Then again, the Web site name is partly correct. Everyone is entitled to a free annual credit report, but what the domain name doesn't tell you is that you will be charged for other services the site offers. By the way, consumers can find the real FREE credit report at annualcreditreport.com.

So basically, I will continue to sing the freecreditreport.com songs, but if I ever want to see my credit score, I will visit the government's site. I like things that are really free.

Was Jen and John's romance killed by Twitter?

Oh, my obsession with blogging about Twitter. I promised myself I'd stop writing about the social media unit that I haven't quite figured out yet, but this story line is too good to not write about.

According to the Pink is the New Blog, Jennifer Aniston might have dumped John Mayer because he was Twittering too much. He didn't return her phone calls, e-mails, etc., and claimed to be too busy with work. Then, she looked at his Twitter page, which had frequent updates. He would post a new tidbit every couple of hours or even minutes.

If this is true, all I have to say is REALLY? Someone would actually pick Twitter, a non-animate and non-personal site, over Jennifer Aniston, a beautiful and successful woman. Someone needs to check Mayer's head. This could be enough to qualify him for the loony bin.

In Mayer's defense, this probably isn't entirely true. I hear the man does like to Twitter, but I'm guessing the Twitter obsession was just one problem amongst many between the two celebs.

Still, after hearing this report, I'll make sure to contain my tweets. I don't want people to think I'd rather be in a relationship with a Web site.

Photoshop Amy

Apparently, people are all in a tizzy over the revelation that Complex Magazine photoshopped a photo of Kim Kardashian, according to Pop Crunch.

This makes me giggle a little bit because people are acting like this doesn't happen all the time. It wouldn't surprise me if many magazine feature photos of celebs are photoshopped in some way. Even Katie Couric got the photoshop treatment when she took a promo photo for the Evening News.

I'm in no way saying that this is right. I think it is wrong on many levels because for one, it makes girls and women think that those celebs actually look that perfect. In reality, they all have imperfections like us.

So in some ways, I was happy that it came out that Kardashian's photo got photoshopped. Maybe it takes moments like these to show women that those celebs aren't actually perfect after all.

On the other hand, moments like these are also great opportunities to have fun. I decided in response to the photoshop/Complex Magazine revelation, I would photoshop a picture of myself. Now that's a good way to waste an hour or two! Enjoy.

Electric cars for everyone?

I love my car. See, aren't we cute together?















Still, despite my car's and my compatibility, we will always have one problem: gas. (Her gas, not mine.) Experts tell me at some point, there will no longer be gas available for me to fill up my car. Okay, this might not every happen in my lifetime, but that's no excuse to not be forward thinking. Plus, if nothing else, I can definitely attest to the pain I felt this summer as I was filling up each week.

That's why I think electric cars are so cool. They appear to be much better for the environment, and they use a readily available resource for power.

David Pogue seems pretty excited about electric cars, too. This past week in the New York Times, he wrote about Better Place, which he calls "a radical, overarching plan to replace the world's gas cars with electric ones--really, really quickly." (You can also watch a video of David's interview with Better Place's chief executive Shai Agassi.)

According to Pogue's interview, Better Place has set up an electric car system unlike any other before it. Agassi says in the interview that his car model differs in two distinct ways. First, the battery is removable, so you can change out the battery before/during long trips instead of waiting for the car to charge forever. Secondly, the electric car system is supposedly cheaper than a gasoline car. Cheaper? Where do I sign up?

Another interesting component of Agassi's system is that people don't buy the batteries, but they purchase the car and miles, just like you buy minutes from a cell phone provider. Now that's crazy!

Despite the apparent wackiness of the plan, it seems to be catching on. Six countries, including Denmark, Israel, Canada and Australia, and two states, Hawaii and California, have all started building infrastructure for the cars. So who knows, maybe we all will be driving electric cars in five years.

Jacks coverage

With the women making their big tournament debut today, obviously basketball is on my mind. In honor of the Jacks' great accomplishment, I decided to check out the media's, namely ESPN, coverage of the Jacks.

After typing in South Dakota State, here is what I found:

The search includes several photos of the players getting ready for their game against TCU today, commentary on the game and even a video prediction of how far the Jacks will go in the tournament. They say the Jacks could knock off Baylor to reach the Sweet 16. I'll take that.

Charlie Creme expressed the same sentiments in his Raleigh Bracket breakdown. He said, "Seventh-seeded South Dakota State over No. 2 Baylor in the second round. The Jackrabbits are balanced, but still have a go-to player in Jennifer Warkenthien. They play good defense and were tested outside the Summitt early in the season. It will be a tall order beating the Big 12 tournament champs, but the Lady Bears did show some vulnerability in Oklahoma City."

Overall, I think the Jacks have received good press from ESPN, mostly because we're seen as a Cinderella team. But there still have been some slip-ups. They have called us San Diego State on more than one occasion. That's annoying, but I think we Jackrabbits need to understand that we are still an emerging team, and so there will be media slip-ups from time to time. After the Jacks make some noise in the tourney, though, I hope to see the slip-ups happen less and less. It's only a matter of time before the newness of being on ESPN wears off and Jack fans start sending angry letters to the major network.

Oscar Ex-plosion

A couple weeks ago, I announced my dirty little secret: I enjoy watching how the Jennifer Aniston v. Angelina Jolie saga plays out. I admitted that I often read the stories that pop up on Msn.com about the pair and their supposed fight, and I admitted that I might be a little crazy for liking to monitor their "feud."

I think I've only tapped the iceberg of crazy. Instead, the real crazies are the celebrity shows who turned an awards show into the "Oscar Showdown" between John and Jen and Brangelina.

Anyone who doubts that last statement, I dare you to watch "Oscar Ex-plosion" by Sarah Haskins. In her video, she shows clips of many popular celeb shows (and even some serious news channels) rehashing the night's drama. But what drama was there?

Apart from the unfortunate cut from Jen presenting to Angie laughing (which I must admit, I was peeved about), there really was no tension between the two couples. Instead, the celeb shows tried to create some signs of Oscar fighting out of mid-air. They created timelines showing how the movements of both Jen and John and Brad and Angelina were orchestrated so that they wouldn't see each other. And then, they pointed out that Jen was only three feet from her ex when she went onstage to present. Gasp! I bet they even had to breath the same air!

If you think I'm exaggerating on the celeb shows' ridiculousity, then I highly suggest you watch Haskin's video. You will probably be as amazed as I was that the non-confrontation between the two couples was played up to being the jilted lover showdown of the year. And I thought that I needed help!

Reporting on funerals

Maricarrol Kueter, executive editor of the Argus Leader, has it exactly right when she says on her blog, "Photographers and reporters generally dislike being assigned to cover a funeral."

Wow would I feel awkward if I was ever given that assignment. If asked, I know I would do it, but that would be one of the hardest stories of my life. Sometimes it's hard enough to just approach random people in The Union on campus. Think how hard it would be to try to approach someone at a funeral.

Plus, there's always concerns about being sensitive towards the family. I would be terribly concerned that the family would consider me a media hound who was just trying to capitalize on their misfortune. Obviously that would not be my intention, but there would always be the nagging thought in the back of my mind that the family could be offended by my presence.

On the other hand, some families could be extremely flattered that their loved one was being honored by a paper. Not many funerals get covered, so to have a paper come to a funeral signals that whoever died was valuable and important to the community.

This probably is an extremely depressing blog post, but the thought of covering a funeral has been circling in my head ever since I saw the Argus's coverage of the recent funeral of the fallen Turner county deputy. I thought what they did was very tasteful, but as a young journalist, I kept thinking what I would do if I was asked to do a story like that. I have to say that would not be my favorite assignment.

Still, I do think there is a time and place for funeral coverage. Kueter provided the example of Gov. Mickelson's funeral, and I do think funerals for fallen soldiers and police officers can be covered tastefully, as well. Plus, stories like these can play a larger role. As Kueter says, "Photographs and stories help concerned residents understand and honor a person's public service. They also allow the community at large to pay respects and, in a small way, share the personal loss."

Wild Card: Food! Food! Food!

This video assignment was pretty wide open. We could do a video on whatever we wanted, but we had to make sure that we would be able to finish our videos during our studio time (or shortly thereafter). My partner and I decided The Market would be a good topic to cover since we were both starving this morning!

The most difficult part of this project was the audio. The audio for the first speech isn't that good because while I was talking, the camera panned away and so the camera mic slowly got farther and farther away from me. I now know that that is not a good idea. We also had audio troubles with background noise because the workers were getting The Market ready for the noon rush.

Good things were the willingness of The Market staff in allowing us to do a few fun things (i.e. me standing by the Stir Crazy grill waving two spatulas) and my increased competency with transitions. I know I talk about audio and transitions for each assignment, but for me, they are probably the two biggest things I struggle with and they are two of the biggest things that separate a professional video from a blatantly amateur one. By the end of this class, I hope my videos fit in the former category as opposed to the latter.

Open Records in SD

A great stride was taken today in open records legislation in the state. Gov. Rounds signed SB 147 which will great a presumption of openness in South Dakota. The bill will take effect July 1.

With this bill, records in the state will be considered open unless there is an exemption that specifically says they are closed.

There are several exemptions in the bill. Information about ongoing criminal investigations may be kept closed; correspondence, memoranda, calendars or logs of appointments, working papers and records of telephone calls of public officials or employees is exempted; trade secrets do not need to be released; and some private information, like social security and passport numbers, will not be open under the law.

After hearing about all these exemptions, I was worried that the bill really won't do anything to open up records in South Dakota. David Bordewyk of the South Dakota Newspaper Association assured me that isn't the case.

He said that prior to the passing of this bill, when someone would go ask for a record, that person had to prove that they could actually see the record. After the bill takes effect on July 1, the government/public officials will have to prove that someone cannot see the record. This puts the burden of proof on the government if they want to get a record closed, and as the bill says, it creates a presumption of openness of record in South Dakota.

To me, this is really exciting for South Dakota. It creates a government that can be held more accountable by its citizens (and the media), and it puts South Dakota into the middle of the pack in terms of openness of records, Bordewyk said.

After spending years as the state with the worst open government laws, I think it's about time that records be open for public viewing. To me, it's only fitting that we live up to our former state nickname: the Sunshine State.

The Good and Ugly of Twitter

Ever since hearing about Twitter this past fall, I've always wondered why people are so drawn to it. What is the purpose? Do people really want to hear that I ate a Twix bar and some Cheetos today?

A couple weeks ago, the Editor-in-chief of The Collegian began Twittering Students' Association meetings. To me, that was really cool because those of us in the newsroom could receive live updates about the meeting.

Apparently, another good use is asking people for a cure for something. Exhibit 1: David Pogue of the New York Times was showing off Twitter at a conference and decided to do a live demonstration. He said he needed a cure for hiccups and viola, dozens of random people responded with their own personal cures. Sweet!
(Click here for Pogue's full article about the incident and some fall out responses when he told the Twitterers that he asked that question as part of a demonstration.)

So there are some good uses for Twitter, but there are definitely some weird ideas tied to the medium. Prime example: George Stephanopoulos is going to "twitterview" Sen. John McCain. That's right. Stephanopoulos is going to ask McCain the tough questions about these trying times in 140 characters or less. Nothing like limiting the word count while trying to solve the country's (oh sorry, to cut out that last word, I ran out of characters!)

So for me, the live updates and twittering of meetings is the future of news outlets on Twitter. The "twitterview" ... yeah, not so much.

Monologue 1

**You can find more information about the story discussed here at the PC World Web site.

Redheads will live on forever!

Some people tell me that my kind (people blessed with red hair) will be extinct by 2030 or 2100, depending on the source. First, I want to say that I intend to still be living by 2030, and if I have a redheaded baby (which I will ... hopefully), my child will probably still be alive by 2100.

Second, redheads will never be completely extinct because they will live on forever ... in song.

According to the Redheaded Goddess Forums, the following songs mention redheads:
1. Redheaded Woman by Bruce Springsteen
2. Cinnamon Girl by Neil Young
3. Icky Thump by The White Stripes
4. Red Headed Woman by 2000 lbs. of Blues
5. Fire Woman by The Cult
6. Red Headed Stepchild by Golden Smug
7. Tangled Up in Blue by Bob Dylan
8. Keepin' the Faith by Billy Joel
9. Jolene by Dolly Parton
10. Valerie by The Zutons

I also uncovered these songs about redheads:
1. Boot Scootin' Boogie by Brooks and Dunn
2. Ain't Going Down Til the Sun Comes Up by Garth Brooks
3. Red Headed Stranger by Willie Nelson
4. Who's Messin' Up Your Red Hair Tonight by Den Hollinden

So, basically redheads rock, and we will never completely go away!

What a Week!

It has been a good two days for me in the entertainment world. First, Michael; now, Seinfeld!

According to Hollywood.com, this fall, Seinfeld stars Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards will appear on Curb Your Enthusiasm. (I will take that as a direct order since I am definitely excited!)

They will appear in several episodes of the comedy, which stars Seinfeld creator Larry David.

I have to say that I am so happy! My head is just swimming with thoughts of the Soup Nazi, the words "Not that there's anything wrong with that," the old lady that Jerry steals rye bread from and Newman. If Curb Your Enthusiasm includes even one famous Seinfeld moment, I will be hooked forever!

My Life

I have to say this video was a challenge for me. I had no idea what to talk about! I finally decided to talk about The Collegian, and though I promised myself I would not make a video about The Collegian since the professors are sick of those videos, the paper is such a large part of my life that it only seemed natural to do a video about it.

Once I found my topic, the script was extremely easy to write. It probably only took me like 10-15 minutes. Actually remembering the script and not stuttering, on the other hand, was a problem.

As for the video, the editing almost killed me. I couldn't find my sequence for the longest time and was convinced that I had deleted it. Luckily, I had not, but I lost a lot of time freaking out. The transitions and the audio were also tricky for me in this video, and I may need to seek assistance on those topics.

Despite the bads, there were some goods. I had a great Freeplaymusic.com experience, and I did learn more about Final Cut. I have to say the editing took a lot less time overall during this video, so that is an improvement. Like I have said in the past, I think it will take me some time, but I do think I should be able to figure out Final Cut and the overall video-producing process.

I like Mike!

Exciting news: Michael Jackson is back. What a "Thriller!"

According to the AP, Jackson will perform 10 shows in London in July. Tickets are expected to sell quickly for the concerts despite some concerns about Jackson's health and a failed attempt to relaunch his career in November.

My only regret in life is that I don't live in London. Though people think he is "Bad" and should "Beat it" (yes, I will stop with the bad puns), I personally love the King of Pop. I've had his "Number Ones" CD in my car for the last four years, and I always listen to it when I drive home.

If someone told me they did not like any of Michael Jackson's songs, I wouldn't believe them. From "Billie Jean" to "Black or White" to "Man in the Mirror" (or any of the aforementioned songs), Michael has songs that appeal to almost everyone. Plus, his album "Thriller," which was released in 1982, is still the best-selling album of all time. You can't argue with that.

So though he may have had some legal problems and may be a little messed up, I want everyone to realize that Michael Jackson rocks. And I would say to Michael, "I Just Can't Stop Loving You."

Are we giving our readers candy before dinner?

In the news businesses, you are always supposed to put the reader first. You need to present the news in an interesting and understandable way to grab their attention, and you need to try to give them stories that match their interests.

I believe it was for these reasons that the Argus Leader decided to run the story about a cat being put in a bong on its Nation and World Section despite having limited space.

I thought the Argus did a great job with story selection in that case because I know that I was interested in the case. The story talked about animal cruelty and a crime that happened in our region, and it was a weird story. These are all elements that interested me and probably interested a large number of people.

A friend, however, was not so pleased with the Argus's selection. She felt the story took up valuable space that could have been dedicated to other national and international issues. By selecting stories like the cat bong instead of current world issues, she said, papers are actually helping to dumb down the population.

Wait, dumb down the population. That is a serious charge.

She does have some good points. By putting that story in the paper as opposed to something like a Mexican prison riot, editors are calling the cat story more newsworthy. Once a culture is established that cat bong stories are more important than international prison riots than people will naturally read those "wild" stories instead of hard-hitting news. That could lead to an uninformed public that just wants strange stories. So in a way, journalists are responsible for giving people the news they might not find the most interesting but that is important to be informed about the world.

On the other hand, editors want to please readers. If they want to read about strange stories instead of hard news, who are we to say they can't. In the end, its actually the reader's paper, not just the editors or executives.

So I have to say that I'm officially torn on this issue. I think it's good to give readers a dose of weird news every once and a while, but then again, I don't want newspapers or other serious news outlets to become totally devoted to just offbeat news. I think newspapers need to find a balance, and in this case, I think that's exactly what the Argus was trying to do.