Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!!

No real news here, I am just seeing the movie this Saturday in IMAX and I am pumped. Any HP fans that feel the sentiment be sure to leave some comments expressing how big of a nerd you are.

My Facebook Status sometime yesterday : "Snatch the wand from him bitch imma let u finish in a minute yeah that spell was tight but I'm about to spit the greatest curse of all time so you might wanna go back to Snape nd get new ones (Eminem voice) .. yeah I'm in a Harry Potter state of mind kid"

^Spell it out L-O-S-E-R .. yup don't even care. If you didn't get it and were wondering I took part of Eminem's verse from his song with Lil Wayne, "No Love", and modified it.

Inbox Me a Question and I Will Answer it in my Blog...

Not really, actually the point of the title was to exemplify how lame the new trend on Facebook really is. Don't believe me or not familiar with the Q and A game, well its pretty simple. First, one has to mark themselves as a participant of the game by posting a statement similar to the one in my title as their Facebook status. Then the fun begins as loads of rude and crude questions pour into you inbox, you then repost the question as your status along with the answer without revealing who asked you the question in the first place.

That's it. That is the entire game. It seems to me like the thrill people are getting from this game is asking any question they want to a person with a false sense of anonymity. Sure some guy can ask a girl a perverted question without the risk of Facebook Nation knowing exactly who asked the girl that creepy question, but who is going to stop the same girl from gossiping to their friends later of how much of a creep the creep actually is. Creep. I'm warning you fellas it 'behooves' you to refrain from asking these type of questions at any cost even for the sake of a Facebook game that will be forgotten about like Formspring or the more outdated Jetman (seriously miss that game, doesn't even work anymore). However this notion does not stand true for the women of Facebook, please continue to send away the naughty questions I will post the answers on my status ;) . That last part was a joke, I don't play the Q and A game so just text me the questions.

Which brings me to my next point. Why do we need this game to ask each other questions? I understand that this game is just a way to pass the time but it seems to me by how popular the game has become in the past 48+ hours that some people have a lot of questions for others. So why hold back? Whether it is asking a girl, "how do you feel about me?" or just asking a friend you haven't spoken to in a while, "why don't we talk?" don't wait for an oppurtunity to ask, make the oppurtunity. Am I just a hater of the game or does anyone agree?

Kanye West I'm happy for you and I'm going to let you finish ...

... but Michael Jackson had the best extended music video of all time. Of all time.

Not sure what I'm talking about? Then you haven't seen or heard about Mr. West's new 30 minute long music video/short film, "Runaway", named after his new single that he performed at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, one year after the Taylor Swift debacle.

Now I am a huge fan of Kayne West, (the musician, not the person) but when I first started watching this video all I could think was, "Kanye is trying to do 'Thriller'", and of course I resented it but overall the video is really not bad. Some of it is a little bit too abstract and may have went over my head but I really liked the theme of the video and the story as a whole. I was mesmerized to the point that at times I tried to watch the first part of the film, I got sucked in to watching the whole thing. My best interpretation of the story: Kanye meets 'bird' woman, 'bird' woman falls in love with Kanye and his music, 'bird' woman is seen as an outcast by Kanye's peers, 'bird' woman leaves Kanye .. in a nut shell that is basically what takes place during the 30 minutes (PS 'bird' woman is smoking).

This IS Kanye West we are talking about here so of course the video has sparked some contraversy, that I am not going to get into because for one, I would like people to watch the video without hearing the negatives but mainly because who has the time I've already watched it like three times see it for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg5wkZ-dJXA

If you are not a fan of what you see, at the very least close your eyes and turn up the volume because the music really is something else. If you are a fan of Mr. West's music then the soundbites heard throughout this video are a great indication of what may be his best album to date, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, scheduled to be released later this month on the 22nd.

C's Heat Up in South Beach

Once again Rajon Rondo shows off his outstanding court vision through his 16 assists on the way to a Celtics' 112-107 victory over Lebron James and the Miami Heat. It was the second meeting of the season between these two teams and so far the Celtics are 2-0 against the revamped Heat. Unless you were living under a rock this past summer you are well aware that Mr. Lebron James decided to "take his talent to South Beach" so that he could team up with buddies Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Of course as soon as this triumphviate was assembled the media ran with it and the NBA champions of the 2010-2011 season were crowned. The defending Eastern Champs, Boston Celtics, were just an after thought and in many critics eyes they did not have a chance to get back to the NBA Finals. Well Lebron and the rest of 2010-2011 on-paper champions better find an answer for Rondo if they hope to prove these critics right. All off-season the media blew up the idea of the "sexy new" Big 3 in Miami as opposed to the "aging" Big 3 in Boston, when really all eyes should have been on number 9 all along. He proved last season deep into the playoffs that this is his team (Rondo and the Big 3 has a nice ring to it) and continues to prove it by making plays on the court and leading his team to a 7-2 start.

Rapping Phenomenon or Exploitation?

I'm not sure if many of you have heard by now or not but there is a new rapping sensation out there that goes by the name of Matty B and he is only 7 years old. Not going to lie upon first hearing about this I was very skeptical. A seven year old rapping on YouTube? It must be his parents trying to exploit their child's cuteness and turn him into a cash cow. But after watching a few of his videos, I'll admit the kid is actually entertaining and seems to have a knack for performing. I'm not sure if he has staying power to make actual music when he gets older but at any rate I'd prefer watching him over Justin Bieber anyday.

Here are a few links to some of my personal favorites:

"Like a G6" Cover/Remix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6QE1Qcm-IE&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

"We R Who We R" Cover/Remix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRFrNZ_Br94&feature=player_embedded

"Whip My Hair" Cover/Remix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4hAseD6bXQ&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

HA! Christine O'Donnell

Yeah the title pretty much expresses my reaction to the Gawker article, as well as Christine O'Donnell in general. From my understanding it just seems like the woman can't catch a break and I'm not saying she deserves one, politicians tend to bring this sort of punishment on themselves. With that being said this is not journalism to me its just slander and not even credible slander at that. Who is to say these events are what actually occured during the night in question. Yeah there are pictures (plenty of pictures) but I'm sure a lot of people, myself included, have some incriminating pictures of ourselves on Facebook that look a lot worse than they actually are. I'm not saying Gawker did not actually recieve this story from an anonymous person claiming that they almost had a one night stand with the former Delaware Senate canidate, what I am saying is that Gawker just ran this story without substansial investigation or reporting. It has been stressed in class that a good journalist is to check his sources and is to get a point of view from more than one person, which clearly was not done in this case. In my opinion this was just another shot at a politician who at this point is really an easy target.

Milwaukee Bucks Simply Couldn't Handle The Truth

Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics scored 28 points in Wednesday night's home game versus the Bucks, leading his team to victory while also becoming only the third Celtic in the history of the franchise to score 20,000 career points. Pierce reached this milestone by scoring 12 of his 28 points in overtime after only having a total of five points in the entire second half. Paul joins the company of Boston legends the likes of John Havlicek (26,295) and Larry Bird (21,791) in reaching the 20,000 point club. This event comes after a offseason in which it was questioned whether or not the long-time Celtic would rejoin the franchise after a dissapointing Game 7 loss to the rival L.A. Lakers. In the end however Pierce made the decision to take a pay cut in rejoining the team in order for management to go out and get some more talent to put around Rajon Rondo and the aging Big Three. So far so good this season as the Celtics boast a 4-1 record in pursuit of raising an 18th banner into the rafters at TD Garden.

So How About That Ride in This Morning?

Well if you were up and outside before about 10 or 11 you would probably say it was pretty cold, and you would be right. Personally I found the brisk walk from the Spring parking lot on campus to my 9 AM class refreshing and wouldn't mind another one tomorrow. It is obvious to me however through various Facebook status updates that not everyone was "feeling" the cold weather and that I understand. Nobody enjoys leaving the comfort of a warm bed just so they can embark on a dreaded journey to their 9 AM class, or worse their 8AM class (I'm not sure if BSU offers classes earlier than that, for some reason I have never looked into it). I realize we aren't eskimos or cast member of the film Happy Feet, but we are one thing and that is we are New Enlganders (unless of course you are reading this from Utah or something, which by now should have realized this post is not directed towards you). So that means suck it up, you knew this time was coming, it wasn't going to be beautiful beach weather time forever. Back to our other 7-8 months of the year when snow is always expected but classes are almost never canceled. If you are one of the people feeling down about the cold weather that is to come just think back to are scorching summer in which temperatures often exceeded 90 degrees and days when more than one shower were required. Then maybe you will appreciate the cooler weather and if not then maybe it will warm you up a litte, who knows. I'm sure I will have another post up by mid January retracting this post and complaining about shoveling but until then I'm going to cool off.

Need a Job?

Well instead of checking the classified ads, try becoming a classified ad. That is what the Martin family has essentially decided to do anyway. As of sometime next year, Carl and his wife Amy Martin will be advertising select companies as human billboards as well as promoting their products through YouTube, Facebook, and of course Twitter. Yeah and they will be getting paid for all this, while also getting the kids involved because we all know adorable children in advertisements grab our attention (See E*Trade commercials, you know the ones I mean). As reported in a CNBC article when Carl asked his son what he wanted to be when he grew up the four year old said, “I’m going to wear shirts like you”. I find this quote to be, for the lack of a better word, awesome and that word really sums up the entire story for me. These two parents are finding a way to make money for their family in a job market that is weak with little to offer. Carl’s son looks to him as if he is Lebron James, which let’s face it he is pretty much being sponsored and probably has less of an ego. Some of the reactions to this story that I have observed include people freaking over the fact that Carl’s son aspires to be a human billboard like his father instead of a lawyer or doctor. For those who share this sentiment, I wouldn’t be too worried about what this kid wants to be at the age of four, (when I was six I thought I was a Power Ranger) chances are he will grow out of it. Besides I don’t see the parents preaching that this is an ideal job, this is just a story of a family doing what it takes when times are rough. Kudos Martin Family, I wish I had your job.

"Chilean miners saw their shadows, 6 more weeks of autumn"

Note the quotations, that was NOT my joke. In fact upon first reading the joke I found it in bad taste. Yeah sure my last blog ridiculed a guy because firefighters watched as his house burned down but that was hilarious, this is just too soon. I posted this joke to point out the wave of jokes I have seen today on Facebook having to do with this and to bring up the question, are we as Americans that desensitized? Think about it, when was the last time you heard something on the news that was nothing to joke about be posted on Twitter or Facebook to get a laugh? If you have done it or if you have laughed at jokes like these don’t feel bad because so have I. This isn’t a post to tell you that these jokes are wrong and offensive, it is a post to boost awareness of them. An eye-opener really. There is an argument that this story about the miners is a feel-good story and maybe it isn’t that bad of a thing to add some humor to it. Well that would be a good argument if all miners were rescued, but instead only 15 out of 33 were. Again I’m not trying to push an agenda here and say that these jokes are horrible, I am just making a note of it, maybe get some thought and feedback going. If by cracking a joke is someone’s way of dealing with all the messed up shit that happens in this world, then so be it and more power to them. I’m sure some of these miners could use a good joke after being trapped underground for 69 days, just hope if someone tells them one they stay clear of the one I used as my title or ones similar.  

Chapter 14

This chapter really came at an ideal time for class since we should be starting interviews for our news features. Interviews are the most important step when it comes to producing a story because it is when you get most of the facts usually from the horses mouth so to speak. Therefore this chapter is a great help becase it details how one should go about it and not miss anything.
In my opinion the most important bit of advice the book gives us is that one should get to know the person they are interviewing before they interview them. Which seems like a really good idea, if you get to know the person I feel like you will be more comfortable around them and the interview may go smoother.
Another section I enjoyed was the 'What to Ask' portion, it really will help me get a jumpstart on what I want to ask when I interview someone for my news feature. Overall I thought this chapter was one of the more helpful chapters we have read.

This Guy Got Burned

Gene Cranick, along with the South Fulton fire department, watched his house burn to the ground in Obion County, Tennessee. The firefighters were fully capable of putting out the inferno but elected not to do so due to the fact that Mr. Cranick neglected to pay the fee of $75 to South Fulton. One word, hilarious. Don’t find it funny? Just wait there is more. Obion County does not have fire protection of any kind it has been that way for 20 years or more, so for that reason the county is to pay South Fulton an annual $75 fee for the services of their fire department. According to Mr. Cranick, paying the fee this year just slipped his mind, but I bet it won’t ‘slip his mind’ again. Well if the firemen weren’t going to put out the fire then why did they even bother to show up? Were they there just to taunt poor old Gene? Of course not that would be cruel, the South Fulton fire department still owed a service to the neighbors of Mr. Cranick who didn’t forget to pay the annual fee, so once the blaze got out of control they hopped into action and put out the flames. Still don’t find this amusing? Did I mention that Mr. Cranick’s brother was so upset with the firemen that he assaulted the fire chief and later on got carried away in cuffs? Well yeah that happened too. Look you’re probably thinking this is a horrible story and that the fire department should have done their job, but I would totally disagree. Mr. Cranick was never in any danger he was out of the house when he firemen arrived, had he been in there I’m sure they would have ran in and saved him. In my opinion this was the South Fulton fire department taking a stand for firefighters everywhere that are underappreciated and overlooked. These are men that run into burning buildings everyday, and once more these men in particular had no obligation to this county, it wasn’t even their jurisdiction. So you know what I say tough shit Gene Cranick, remember to pay the fee next time.

New England Just Got Mossed

Ok so I tried my best to refrain from making this blog sports related for one reason. That reason being that I thought it would be fun to challenge myself and have a blog that could be open to all readers not just sports fans. I wanted a blog with the sole purpose to provide rants of nonsense dealing with news of little to no importance. Well after the outrage that took place in New England this morning, my blog now has an additional purpose. That new purpose is to bash New England sports organizations for their bone-headed decisions. Don't worry, I'm a fan of New England sports teams so I am fully qualified. With that being said, WHAT THE EFF PATRIOTS?! Yes, caps were necessary, I mean are you serious you dealt Randy Moss for a third round pick to the Minnesota Vikings?
I realize some fans may like the trade for reasons having to do with him being a distraction and the Patriots weren't going to resign him so we might as well get some value for him. Honestly it wasn't that bad of a trade, the Patriots now have two picks in the first four rounds in the 2011 draft. But as Jim Rome would say, "This is what I'm burning on...", the fact that we let Brett Favre have our most prized deep threat. Brett Favre, the man who has been wanting this guy since his last year in Green Bay, the man that stole our Super Bowl away from us in 1998 (I still remember old man). Yeah frickin' Brett Favre the man that if not for this trade probably would have retired by week 6 and then came back in week 17 when he noticed that the Vikings were still in playoff contention.
Okay truth is I'm really mad because Adrian Peterson is on my fantasy team and having Moss on the Vikings will no doubt take carries away from him and in turn points away from me. There I said it. Also now I yet again need a new Patriots jersy.

Why do Squirrels Hate Full Moons?

So it has been a slow week for me trying to find some hard-hitting, non-depressing news, guess nothing too irrelevant happened. So I decided to look into something that has always riddled me. Something of little significance of course but something that has fixated me nonetheless. Before I get too much more into it I would like to take this to inform the reader that this is not a blog with results, I’m merely voicing a question I have to all you out there to comment on and discuss it along with me. With that being said, has anyone ever been driving around one day and noticed a lot more road kill than usual? I’m not just talking any road kill either like possums, raccoons, or even little baby kittens named Riley that decided to wake me up at 5 in the morning today. No, I’m talking about squirrels, an unusual amount of dead squirrels. I noticed this a couple of years ago and I also noted that these unusual squirrel death counts come a night after there is a full moon. Coincidence? I think not. Now there are only two rational explanations for a happening such as this, the first there is some kind of beast that transforms on the night of a full moon only to tear these creatures (maybe its related to acorns), and the second the moon has some kind of effect on these squirrels causing them to run out onto the road and get hit by oncoming traffic. For the sake of time we will go with the latter and try to prove or disprove it. It is known that the moon has a natural effect whether its shifts with the tide in the ocean or in this case an effect on animals. Someone once told me that squirrels have receptors in their tails that allow them to detect how fast an oncoming car was going and how much time they have to move out of the way. While this does seem plausible, I was not able to find any evidence to support that they have these receptors in their tails or that they even exist. Again I, have no answer for this question I’m posting, but please feel free to add your two cents and someone please tell me I’m not the only that has noticed this strange event. I’m starting to feel like the dead squirrels are following me…

Chapter Readings

Chapter 12 really drives home the importance of checking your sources and relying on credibility when it comes to journalism. It is easy to see how stories can be exaggerated and facts distorted when it comes to people trying to put their own spin on things. As a journalist it is our job to deliver the truth so I feel as journalist we should uphold that standard. We should not sacrifice it just for the sake of rating no matter how tempting it may be. With that being said, I know that it is easier said than done so after reading this chapter it really made me think, what if it was me? I mean if I am to sit hear and preach journalistic ethics I should at least be able to reflect upon myself and have confidence that I would uphold these morals. A section of this chapter I disagree with is the portion about using the right kind of language in journalism. Bullshit. Pardon my French but why use the term “climate change” instead of “global warming” just because the former is ‘less frightening’. If global warming sounds frightening that is because it is and the reader should not be sheltered from it like a baby. I understand the argument in the chapter is not to offend the reader but c’mon, grow a pair. Life is too short to be bogged down with censorship of any kind, anyone agree?

Flying Cars!!

      You read the title right, really no introduction required but I’m going to share a quick anecdote with you before getting much more into it. This is so you can share the feeling of utter excitement translating into epic disappointment along with me, which is exactly how you will feel after reading this blog. So I’m at a friend’s house on Sunday burying my sorrow into countless bottles of Bud Light while watching the Patriots lose to the Jets, when another friend of mine decides to lighten up the mood and informs me that there are flying cars being made in Massachusetts. For the moment her mission was accomplished, as I sat there humming the Jetsons theme song in my head and thinking about hopping in my purple Chrysler Cirrus to fly to Wendys for some spicy chicken nuggets (yeah my car is purple but it would still be badass if it could fly). 
       I came back down to Earth long enough to hear both of my friends still talking about the flying cars and how Massachusetts isn’t he first to start developing these magic machines. What?! How is this not on every news network every night? Next thing I think I am going to blog about this and here I am however I am not feeling as whimsical as I was upon first hearing about these flying cars and here is why. I had to know more about this so I went home and Googled my ass off to find out these “flying cars” are also known as personal planes. Well that doesn’t sound as cool or futuristic now does it?  Terrafugia is a four year old Massachusetts company that has developed these mini-aircrafts that have the ability to fold up its wings and store them while on the ground (okay so that part is still pretty cool). The Transition Roadable Aircraft is what they have been working on for the past two years and while they won’t share what the top speed is for it on the road they do inform us that it travels 115 mph in the air. Mind you most airplanes can travel at about 500-700 mph depending on the size. That's not all folks these so called flying cars also require a runway for take off which means if your stuck in a traffic jam and want to just fly away think again.
       Maybe I shouldn't bash these personal planes too much, I mean they are a step in the right direction. They are a step into the future. If there are companies out there producing these personal planes then sooner than later these engineers should find a way to make us like the Jetsons right? I don't know and to tell you the truth I'm impatient like the rest of my fellow Americans. I don't want to wait, I want my future now.

Say Grace Before Pancakes

Hey everyone (all ten followers, including myself). I have been slacking tremendously with the blog posts, for that I apologize and will attempt to make it up to you with some hard-hitting, non-depressing news and maybe add a badass profile picture. But before I get too far ahead of myself let’s talk about IHOP v. IHOP, the bout for the fluffy weight title. “What?!” you may ask yourself shouldn’t it be IHOP v. Bickfords, “No!” I reply indignantly to myself because Bickfords threw out its bid for breakfast supremacy when it became a bar & grille years ago and has been dead to this blogger ever since. This story right here pertains to something other than just the most important meal of the day, this story has to do with arguably a more important food, and that is food for thought. The International House of Pancakes has filed a lawsuit against the International House of Prayer? Which do you choose pancakes or prayer, isn’t that an interesting way of starting your morning as opposed to Folgers in your cup? The International House of Prayer is located in Kansas City, Missouri and was founded in 1999 where as the IHOP with about five different flavors of syrup has been around for over 50 years and has approximately 350 locations in the United States. Now I’m no district attorney but I think it’s pretty safe to say that the House of Pancakes has this one wrapped up. It’s not even fair really, I mean not only is IHOP a million dollar company, it also displays no fear in the face of God.

The church has yet to respond to the lawsuit, however pancake IHOP spokesperson Patrick Lenow has been quoted, “We are compelled to protect the 350 small-business owners who own IHOP franchises and the IHOP good name that's been around for 52 years” and when asked why it took them so long to take action he responded, “They've expanded - and now some of the branches are serving food”. Seriously Pat, that’s the huge concern? Maybe it’s just me and someone please correct me if I’m wrong but anytime I have had food in church I didn’t pay for it, unless it was some charity bake sale and even then the food sucked.

Really, I would have much rather paid the $10.99 for a Colorado omelet. Is this the case of doing something to help the franchise or is it the House of Pancakes just being a conglomerate bully and not playing well with others? Honestly I love everything about the House of Pancakes, especially how they are open at four in the morning when I am craving a Belgian waffle but guys you should have let the House of Prayer slide on this one.

First Blog!

Alright well I never thought that I would join the 21st century and create a blog but here it is, what I am sure you have all been waiting for you just don't know it yet. First and foremost I would like to give a quick shout out to Professor Dave Copeland if it wasn't for him this fascinating page really could not be possible. With that being said this blog was not created solely for the purpose of succumbing to a class requirement. This blog was created to reach out to my peers (and maybe even future employers *wink wink*) and share with them something other than the mundane news we hear every evening at six, or every night at eleven, or whenever it is that you watch the news, if you watch it at all. I wanted a blog that allows us to escape from the regular news and focus on what doesn't make the cut for 20/20 and 60 Minutes with a light-hearted approach. Confused? I know I am but with this being my first blog post ever that is to be expected and hopefully my skills improve as the ramblings go on in the upcoming weeks, months, or years (however long this things lasts). Thanks for reading there will be more to come.