I'll clean it up soon!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
ARRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!
I am SOOO frustrated! I have spent hours creating my broadcasts and after several weeks of trying IT WILL NOT LET ME POST MY BROADCASTS! ARRR I want to break this machine!! ARRRRRRRRRR!!!!I have posted soooo many podcasts at podomatic that now I have to delete them in order to upload more...and those STILL don't work! Plus garageband deleted my older broadcasts and I had to do them over!!
Okay, okay...I needed to do that to feel better...I will keep trying....arrrrr....
OBAMA BROADCAST
LAST APPEAL FOR OBAMA IN NEVADA
60 SECONDS
THERE IS DANCING, SINGING, AND PUSHING FOR AUTOGRAPHS IN THIS CROWD OF
SCREAMING FANS IN LAS VEGAS, NEVADA…IS IT THE RETURN OF ELVIS…NO IT’S
SENATOR BARACK OBAMA.
THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE IS HERE GIVING HIS FINAL APPEAL THIS MORNING
BEFORE A ROARING CROWD OF AN ESTIMATED 15-THOUSAND AT THE CORONADO HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL FIELD.
OBAMA HAS VISITED NEVADA A TOTAL OF 20 TIMES SINCE HE ANNOUNCED HIS RUN
FOR OFFICE IN 2006…AND IT HAS PAID OFF WITH ROCK STAR-LIKE CROWDS AND
FANS LIKE BRANDI MOORE, WHO SAYS SHE’S VOTING FOR OBAMA BECAUSE--
“IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE. THIS IS MONUMENTAL --NOT JUST FOR OUR CULTURE
BUT FOR THIS WHOLE COUNTRY.”
THE ELECTION IS THIS COMING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2ND.
-60-
60 SECONDS
THERE IS DANCING, SINGING, AND PUSHING FOR AUTOGRAPHS IN THIS CROWD OF
SCREAMING FANS IN LAS VEGAS, NEVADA…IS IT THE RETURN OF ELVIS…NO IT’S
SENATOR BARACK OBAMA.
THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE IS HERE GIVING HIS FINAL APPEAL THIS MORNING
BEFORE A ROARING CROWD OF AN ESTIMATED 15-THOUSAND AT THE CORONADO HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL FIELD.
OBAMA HAS VISITED NEVADA A TOTAL OF 20 TIMES SINCE HE ANNOUNCED HIS RUN
FOR OFFICE IN 2006…AND IT HAS PAID OFF WITH ROCK STAR-LIKE CROWDS AND
FANS LIKE BRANDI MOORE, WHO SAYS SHE’S VOTING FOR OBAMA BECAUSE--
“IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE. THIS IS MONUMENTAL --NOT JUST FOR OUR CULTURE
BUT FOR THIS WHOLE COUNTRY.”
THE ELECTION IS THIS COMING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2ND.
-60-
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Magazine Project: Film Review
Anne Hathaway, left, and Rosemarie DeWitt in "Rachel Getting Married."Rachel Getting Married
2008
"All About Kym" should be the real title of the film and Kym, played by a punked up and modded-out Anne Hathaway, never lets you forget it. Kym, with black rimmed eyes and even blacker hair, is Rachel's (Rosemarie Dewitt) little sister who comes back home to her father's upper middle class, Connecticut compound for Rachel's multi-cultural, artsy-fartsy, eastern religion-appropriating wedding.
Kym walks directly out of rehab and straight into the chaos of Rachel's wedding and is ready, or so Kym tells herself and everyone else who will listen, to make amends with her wounded family. Rachel, on the other hand, has moved on both literally and figuratively: she has just completed her PhD in psychology, she is moving to Hawaii, and she is about to marry a sweet and gentle musician named Sydney. Kym is clearly jealous. Use to receiving all of the family’s attention, good and bad, she can't handle everyone’s eyes and ears focused on her sister, even for just this one day.
This might seem like your average family drama, but it's not. With Dogma-like, hand-held camera action and Robert Altmanesque dialogue, the viewer is sucked into the arguing, the crying, and all the other hysterics that go on behind the scenes, and sometimes in front of the scenes, at this dysfunctional family wedding. Squeamish and embarrassed, the audience cringes with the rest of the wedding party as Kym tries to turn her speech at the rehearsal dinner into an Alcoholics Anonymous apology. With a soundtrack of an eclectic flock of floating wedding musicians, rehearsing behind partially open doors and on rain-drenched patios, the tension builds every time Kym opens her mouth or Rachel and Kym lock eyes, taking the audience with them from room to room.
Jonathan Demme’s film also has something very interesting to say about gender roles. The father, played by Bill Irwin, is gentle and soft, much like Rachel’s fiancé, and is constantly pampering and enabling Kym. He chases after her, proffered sandwich in hand, pleading with his sad, puppy dog eyes for her to behave. During one intense fight between sisters he breaks down and weeps loudly, his high-pitched wails filling the room, as his daughters stomp around, playing their own blame game.
In stark contrast, the mother, played by a radiant Debra Winger, is distant and unattached. She wants little to do with the wedding planning and even less to do with the family tragedy that Kym is trying, in her narcissistic way, to make up for. A complete opposite of the father, she seems to be running away from her daughters. Always either apologetically late or graciously leaving early, she flits in and out of the film, ghost-like, while Kym and Rachel’s small hands clench and grasp at her sleeves, trying with all of their might to hold onto her, to pull her back into their lives.
There are also some flaws with ‘Rachel Getting Married’. The issues of race and ethnicity are never mentioned although Rachel is marrying into a Black, seemingly Christian family, and she and her family seem to be White and agnostic. The film also incorporates many different cultures into the wedding ceremonies: belly dancers, conga drums, Indian saris, Jamaican singing, hip hop and rock music, to name just a few. This could be seen as positive but without explanation, it just seems like a caricature of your average east coast, latte drinking, Volvo driving, culture appropriating liberals. And this just doesn’t do the film's strong acting and beautiful camera work justice.
TOP 5 DYSFUNCTIONAL WEDDING FILMS OF ALL TIME:
1. Margot at the Wedding (2007) Noah Baumbach
Margot and her son Claude decide to visit her sister Pauline after she announces that she is getting married to less-than-impressive Malcolm.
2. After the Wedding (Efter brylluppet) (2006) Susanne Bier
A manager of an orphanage in India is sent to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he discovers a life-altering family secret at the wedding of a benefactor.
3. The Wedding Banquet (Xi yan) (1993) Ang Lee
To satisfy his nagging parents, a gay landlord and a female tenant agree to a marriage of convenience, but his parents arrive to visit and things get out of hand.
4. A Wedding (1978) Robert Altman
Muffin's wedding to Dino Corelli is to be a big affair, except the aging priest isn't too sure of the ceremony.
5. The Wedding Party (1969) Brian De Palma
This dark comedy finds Charlie (Charles Pfulger) traveling to stay at the house of his fiancee's parents two days before his wedding to Josephine.
RADIO BROADCAST:
FILM REVIEW: RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
60 SECONDS
‘RACHEL GETTING MARRIED’ IS THE TITLE OF THE FILM…ALTHOUGH THE REAL TITLE SHOULD BE ‘ALL ABOUT KYM’.
KYM--PLAYED BY ANNE HATHAWAY-- IS JUST OUT OF REHAB AND IS HEADED HOME TO CONNECTICUT FOR SISTER RACHEL’S WEDDING. RACHEL--PLAYED BY ROSEMARIE DEWITT--IS THE PERFECT SISTER MARRYING THE PERFECT MAN. KYM IS TORN BETWEEN BEING HAPPY FOR HER SISTER AND INSANELY JEALOUS OF HER.
THIS MIGHT SEEM LIKE YOUR AVERAGE FAMILY DRAMA…BUT IT’S NOT. A HAND-HELD CAMERA SUCKS THE VIEWER INTO THE HYSTERICS THAT TAKE CENTER STAGE AT THE WEDDING.
THE FILM ALSO INCORPORATES MANY DIFFERENT CULTURES INTO THE WEDDING CEREMONIES. THIS COULD BE SEEN AS POSITIVE AND REFRESHING…BUT WITHOUT EXPLANATION IT JUST SEEMS LIKE CARICATURE AND DOESN’T DO THE FILM’S STRONG ACTING AND BEAUTIFUL CAMERA WORK JUSTICE.
-60-
Friday, December 5, 2008
Slice of Life: The Entertainer
“Wanna see a card trick, eh? Pudin' asks, “Come over here, come on and come over here. I’m going to show you something you ain’t never seen before, I promise you this, I sure do.”
Jeramiah "Pudin'" Scott knows a thing or two about a thing or two, especially when it comes to entertainment. This afternoon, it’s card tricks with your lunch in the old, rickety Clarksdale Café, but tonight, tonight there will be some fine finger picking and maybe a full band with your beer, who knows?
“Come on, pick a card, there ya go, that one, that one will do,” Pudin' says. “Okay now you shuffle ‘em. See, see, I ain’t got nothing on me, not a single extra card. Nothing.”
The card is a three of diamonds. I put it back in the stack, shuffle, and hand him the pile.
“Ya see the trick here is the eyes, watch closely now,” he says. “Come on, watch closely, no one does it like me, I promise you this, I do”
He whirls the cards fantastically about, all the while keeping his eyes locked with mine.
“Alright, alright, alright, here we are, here we are, HERE WE ARE,” he exclaims. Pudin' pulls out a card and smacks it face down on the table. “Go on, pick it up. I promise you, it’s your card, it is.”
I pick up the card. I notice that the edges are worn and smudged with countless fingertips and although the three is faded, the diamond shines through like a beacon.
Online Writing Exercises
Okay so I choose my favorite spot for mainstream news: nytimes.com, the website of the New York Times:
Go to a news web site and see if it measures up to these criteria for online writing:
a) Do the news items reflect immediacy?
Yes most certainly. Here are some of the headlines for Friday, December 5, 2008 at 4:40 pm, notice the time stamps (highlighted in red):
At Least 22 Dead in Pakistan Blast
Stocks Rally Sharply Despite Heavy Losses of Jobs
Police: NY Hotels Vulnerable to Mumbai-Type Attack
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Law & Ethics Exercises cont.
Play editor! Read the following draft of a college newspaper story and determine if it contains any passages that are libelous. If you believe you have found a libelous passage, describe the passage and why you believe it is libelous. Then briefly explain what you would need to do to fix it (or whether you would need to omit it) before running the story.
Here's the draft to review for libel:
A sophomore at Springfield University claims a chemistry professor has sexually harassed her.
Karen Hart, 123 Hill Hall, says the professor, George O.T. Jungle, has touched her during tutoring sessions in his office and has invited her to his apartment several times. She said she declined his invitations.
"I am having trouble in the class and I have to go see him to get help with my papers and projects," Hart said. "But I am scared to go in his office now."
Jungle denied having an improper contact with the student and threatened this newspaper with a libel suit if it published the story.
Hart said she is thinking of filing a formal complaint with the university.
"I don't know how to do that," she said. "I don't know what to do."
WHAT I WOULD DO:
First of all, I would not publish any names. George O.T. Jungle has not had any formal charges brought up against him and therefore it would be libel to print his name or her name for that matter. So I would re-write the paragraph above in red and remove the part about threatening libel, since I have omitted his name. I also would remove the last two quotes. They just don't make sense with the rest of the story. Before I ran this story, I might also have the reporter do a little more investigating, asking other students in the class questions and getting a little more information before I printed such a damaging story.
Here's the draft to review for libel:
A sophomore at Springfield University claims a chemistry professor has sexually harassed her.
Karen Hart, 123 Hill Hall, says the professor, George O.T. Jungle, has touched her during tutoring sessions in his office and has invited her to his apartment several times. She said she declined his invitations.
"I am having trouble in the class and I have to go see him to get help with my papers and projects," Hart said. "But I am scared to go in his office now."
Jungle denied having an improper contact with the student and threatened this newspaper with a libel suit if it published the story.
Hart said she is thinking of filing a formal complaint with the university.
"I don't know how to do that," she said. "I don't know what to do."
WHAT I WOULD DO:
First of all, I would not publish any names. George O.T. Jungle has not had any formal charges brought up against him and therefore it would be libel to print his name or her name for that matter. So I would re-write the paragraph above in red and remove the part about threatening libel, since I have omitted his name. I also would remove the last two quotes. They just don't make sense with the rest of the story. Before I ran this story, I might also have the reporter do a little more investigating, asking other students in the class questions and getting a little more information before I printed such a damaging story.
Law & Ethics exercises
Scenario 1
You are interviewing a high government official about her involvement in a bribery scheme, when she is called out of her office. While alone, you notice some documents on her desk that appear to be related to your investigation. Would you read them? Take them? Ask her about them when she returns?
I would certainly not take the documents, that would be theft, completely unethical and illegal! But since there would most likely be legitimate public interest in this story I might read them quickly and then ask her about them point blank when she came back in and let her defend herself. Then I would print both sides of the story.
Scenario 2
Conditions at a local nursing home are known to be substandard. It’s privately owned, and efforts to gain admittance or information have failed. Your editor asks you to get a job as an
orderly and write a story based on your first-hand experiences.
Would you do it? Why or why not?
I had this exact situation happen to me, except I was on the other side! I worked in the media room for the Labour Party in London during the 2005 elections and a month after the elections were over I found out that someone I had been working very closely with was really a journalist making an expose for channel 4 on the Labour Party and their media machine. She used my image and my voice and my words and I felt completely betrayed. I had done nothing wrong legally or ethically but she had used a hidden camera and a mic to record some uneasiness I had about the job, something that I had confided in her under strictest of confidence and she put that in her documentary. I thought it was a pretty nasty and unethical way to obtain information.
So, I would not feel comfortable lying about my identity. Would I do all that I could to get a story, yes? But I have never felt comfortable while watching this kind of journalism and in only the most extreme cases of someone doing major harm, like Big Tobacco, does it not reek of moral ineptitude.
Scenario 3
You are writing a feature story and find some excellent quotes about your subject from another written source.
– May you use those quotes as if you obtained them yourself, or must you credit the other written source?
– What if you obtained the quotes from a
web site?
I come across this quite often while writing papers and if you do not credit the other written source you are plagiarising. From a website is trickier, although I will usually credit the website, just to be on the safe side.
You are interviewing a high government official about her involvement in a bribery scheme, when she is called out of her office. While alone, you notice some documents on her desk that appear to be related to your investigation. Would you read them? Take them? Ask her about them when she returns?
I would certainly not take the documents, that would be theft, completely unethical and illegal! But since there would most likely be legitimate public interest in this story I might read them quickly and then ask her about them point blank when she came back in and let her defend herself. Then I would print both sides of the story.
Scenario 2
Conditions at a local nursing home are known to be substandard. It’s privately owned, and efforts to gain admittance or information have failed. Your editor asks you to get a job as an
orderly and write a story based on your first-hand experiences.
Would you do it? Why or why not?
I had this exact situation happen to me, except I was on the other side! I worked in the media room for the Labour Party in London during the 2005 elections and a month after the elections were over I found out that someone I had been working very closely with was really a journalist making an expose for channel 4 on the Labour Party and their media machine. She used my image and my voice and my words and I felt completely betrayed. I had done nothing wrong legally or ethically but she had used a hidden camera and a mic to record some uneasiness I had about the job, something that I had confided in her under strictest of confidence and she put that in her documentary. I thought it was a pretty nasty and unethical way to obtain information.
So, I would not feel comfortable lying about my identity. Would I do all that I could to get a story, yes? But I have never felt comfortable while watching this kind of journalism and in only the most extreme cases of someone doing major harm, like Big Tobacco, does it not reek of moral ineptitude.
Scenario 3
You are writing a feature story and find some excellent quotes about your subject from another written source.
– May you use those quotes as if you obtained them yourself, or must you credit the other written source?
– What if you obtained the quotes from a
web site?
I come across this quite often while writing papers and if you do not credit the other written source you are plagiarising. From a website is trickier, although I will usually credit the website, just to be on the safe side.
Slice of Life: More Bacon Here!
"I’ll have the oatmeal,” she stated not unkindly, but not politely either, her tone betraying her contempt for the grainy porridge, her words dripping thickly onto the smooth granite counter.
No one enjoys a late airplane and most enjoy airport cuisine even less. But here we were all stuck at the same counter while other passengers whizzed by, their airplanes accommodating them by actually meeting them at their perspective gates at the appropriate times. We were all fuming.
“I’m sorry, but we’re out of oatmeal,” the server stated matter-off-fact.
I looked the orderer up and down. She was a thin woman in her mid-fifties and judging from her expensive jogging attire, she was at the very least upper-middle class and perhaps quite fond of the elliptical machine. With nothing else to do but sit and nibble at my own breakfast, I found myself wondering what she might order next, the disdainful oatmeal being what it was. I glanced at the menu board and took a few guesses:
“Veggie omelet!”
“Dry toast with a poached egg!”
“Granola and yogurt!”
“I’ll have the three egg breakfast, extra bacon,” she stated after a brief pause.
I looked her up and down again. There was a large man in a grey pin-stripe suit on the stool next to her and I realized with relief that she must be sharing with him for no other reason than I had pegged this woman as an uptight, skinny white lady and god damn it, she was going to stay that way.
Minutes later her steaming plate of eggs, bacon and toast appeared, an extra plate was set on the counter with another stack of thick and crispy bacon piled high. I watched, I stared, I gaped, as the man in the grey pin-stripe suit turned to his companion, who was not the former oatmeal lady. At that moment the bacon lady barked, “More bacon here!”
And I watched as she ate it. She ate it all. And after, she ordered more and more, until she was fortified by a bacon blockade, barricading her from the rest of the airport, fortifying her from the rest of the world.
I exchanged a long meaningful look with the waitress. Then I paid my bill and left. I had seen enough and besides, my flight would be leaving someday soon.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Personal Meditation: Unnecessary Pain
The dress was a dark, muted navy blue. It fit well and it was a nice price and so it was rung up, bought and wrapped up in the hopes of only having to be worn once. No, it wasn't a wedding dress and no, it's way too late for the prom. Way too late.
Growing up as an overweight female, to be blunt, is painful. PAINFUL. Losing that weight as an adult is thrilling, exhilarating, motivating, and...well, painful. One is always watching, watching, watching, from what others are eating and how much, to that extra ounce of fat that suddenly appears on ones once svelte stomach, to the ever punishing bathroom scale. Where will that arrow land? See, watching, always watching.
The worst thing that can happen to a once overweight girl is to lose that weight and then gain some of it back. When you lose a lot of weight everyone comments on it, from your best friends mother to your second cousins boyfriend, to the grocery store clerk at the local Whole Foods. I'm not kidding. It's one of those things that people feel like it's still okay to point out. As if they're doing you a favor by acknowledging your weight loss.
"Oh, look at you! You look great! WONDERFUL! WOW! Don't go losing too much weight now, or we'll hardly see ya! Ha, I'm kidding...keep it up!"
Okay, yeah, thanks.
So, what happens if one, say goes to graduate school? It's stressful. Sitting in cafes on ones laptop becomes a full time occupation. Weight is gradually gained and then more weight.
Hypothetically, what happens when you run into your best friends mom? Or not so hypothetically, perhaps you are asked to open the Ark and present the Torah at your cousin's daughter's Bat Mitzvah, in front of 200 people including all of your distant relatives of whom haven't seen you since your grandmother's funeral where instead of apologizing for your loss they congratulated you on that other loss, the weight loss, raving about how great you looked in that size 4, black dress!
How might that feel? Hmmm?
Maybe one runs down to the nearest clothing store, grabs the first thing she sees, tries it on, buys it, and hopes to never, ever wear it again. See, painful.
And the moral is? Don't comment on people's weight, lost or gained? Who cares about the size of ones waist when one is increasing the size of ones mind? Don't ever be fat in American society or one will surely regret it for the rest of ones life? Tempting, but...no.
The moral of this story, if there really is one, is to never, ever, agree to be participant in a Bat Mitzvah after the age of 13.
Find That Feature Lead
Anecdotal/Narrative Lead:
"A short time ago, in honor of the impending holiday season and the looming depression, I settled in for a viewing of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” I watched it on the same laptop on which I’m writing these words, with headphones plugged in to filter out distraction, though from time to time I did shrink the image so I could check my e-mail or my favorite blogs."
A.O. Scott
The Screening of America
New York Times Magazine
Direct Address Lead:
"By this point you've probably already listened to, and made up your mind about, "Chinese Democracy," the maledicted multi-million-dollar Axl Rose entitlement program on sale Sunday at a Best Buy near you, and currently available for streaming on Guns N' Roses' MySpace page."
Allison Stewart
Guns N' Roses' Inflated 'Chinese Democracy'The Axl Rose Ego Trip Album Might Have Benefited From Adult Supervision
The Washington Post
"A short time ago, in honor of the impending holiday season and the looming depression, I settled in for a viewing of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” I watched it on the same laptop on which I’m writing these words, with headphones plugged in to filter out distraction, though from time to time I did shrink the image so I could check my e-mail or my favorite blogs."
A.O. Scott
The Screening of America
New York Times Magazine
Direct Address Lead:
"By this point you've probably already listened to, and made up your mind about, "Chinese Democracy," the maledicted multi-million-dollar Axl Rose entitlement program on sale Sunday at a Best Buy near you, and currently available for streaming on Guns N' Roses' MySpace page."
Allison Stewart
Guns N' Roses' Inflated 'Chinese Democracy'The Axl Rose Ego Trip Album Might Have Benefited From Adult Supervision
The Washington Post
Focus Structure
High school football is a dangerous game. There are 20,000 injuries in high school football each year and 12% of them permanently disable the victims.
Just ask Pete Stenhoff, 17, who played football for Chula Vista High School in Redmond, Calif. He suffered a cracked vertebrae when his head rammed into a ball carrier's chest. Stenhoff will never walk again.
Last year, thirteen youths died and 35% of the injuries were to the neck or head. Heavy criticism is being levied at the helmet.
At the time of the accident, Stenhoff weighed 210 pounds; now he weighs 172 pounds. He didn't graduate with his class and he's currently trying to get his diploma by taking correspondence courses. But Stenhoff is not bitter.
"I knew the risks involved when I decided to play football," Stenhoff says, but he adds wistfully, "I wish I would have known just how bad it could be."
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Topical Commentary: The Wrong Side of History
When listening to the angry and passionate banter from people who are opposed to gay marriage, the words "on the wrong side of history" keep playing over and over in my mind.
Here have a listen:
"It is evident that Adam and Eve were created straight. God's chosen nation Israel was straight. Jesus was straight."
"Intermarriage between two men is repulsive and averse to every sentiment of pure American spirit...It is subversive of social peace. It is destructive of moral supremacy..."
Oh wait, I'm sorry, those were the statements from people against interracial marriage from the last century. I just took the word "white" and replaced it with "straight" and the word "races" with the word "men".
Here are the current statements against equal marriage rights:
“I support Proposition 8 because I'm convinced that the traditional definition of marriage as between one man and one woman is God’s design...It’s for our children’s future. It’s for the truth. We're not just fighting a state legislative battle here. We're fighting to preserve God's design for the family as the best building block of society. It's as basic as that.”
"The Church’s teachings and position on this moral issue are unequivocal. Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God, and the formation of families is central to the Creator’s plan for His children. Children are entitled to be born within this bond of marriage."
"I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts."
Gay marriage is "the greatest danger to America."
Read it, okay, now read it again and imagine yourself in the year 2057. Go ahead, close your eyes. Oooh look at all of those Jetson's-like vehicles whizzing by. Are you wearing a space suit and helmet or did President Obama finally make permanent those clean air laws that her husband enacted in his third term? Anyhow, go to the library, that's right just flip the "on" switch on your earpodtm and think "library". Okay now think "misceresex laws". What do you hear? Oh man were people in 2008 ignorant. What idiotic bigots! Don't they know that without equal rights for gays and lesbians we wouldn't have our beloved current president Satya Patwardhan, whose parents were one of the first to get married in San Francisco in '04?
Okay, come back now. Come on, I know worm holes into other dimensions are exhilarating, but we have a lot of work to do back in good old 2008.
My Favorite Magazine
I have been an avid reader of Bitch magazine since I was a freshman, excuse me, a freshwomen at Mills College in 1996 when they put out their inaugural issue. Before Bitch, I had been crying my eyes out over the demise of Sassy, a teen magazine that I had been reading religiously since the summer after 6th grade. Sassy spoke bluntly about teen sex, drugs, and issues of race and gender and contained offers like "win a free 7" single by Sonic Youth". In other words, it was sooo much cooler than the still stuck in 1955, ironically titled YM (Young and Modern) or the anorexia inducing Seventeen.
Bitch was started by two former Sassy interns who specifically wanted to make a magazine that "Sassy girls" could read as adults. As the tag line states, the focus of the magazine was to create "A feminist response to pop-culture" and to provide a forum for feminist opinion across the spectrum. Because the types of authors vary from issue to issue, the writing style is not static. Although, many might call the magazine academic in its approach to pop culture writing.
http://bitchmagazine.org/
Saturday, November 8, 2008
The Fog Index
SAMPLE: 117 words
"Following closely on the tail of Hurricane Gustav
, which wrecked havoc on the island nation of Cuba less than two weeks ago, Hurricane Ike slammed into the coasts of Texas and Louisiana early this morning. With millions without power and massive flooding throughout the Houston area, the storm system, which is more than 200 miles wide, is continuing across the Gulf Coast and is supposed to move into Arkansas by nightfall. Early reports from authorities are saying that Hurricane Ike will be the most devastating storm in 25 years since Hurricane Alicia hit the Gulf Coast in 1983. So far the estimated damages and loss of life is unknown, but both are expected to be high."
Average number of words per sentence: 26
Number of "hard words": 6
26+6=32(0.4)=12.8
Okay maybe I'll take back that last post...I guess I'm a bit too wordy, eh? I love big, beautiful words. I also love to learn new words and I use my writing as way to increase my own vocabulary. But I suppose I could certainly write shorter sentences!
Got What It Takes To Be A Reporter?
Wow! My mom always wanted me to become a reporter. She would LOVE to see this! My total score was 29, I can't always keep my cool under pressure without losing my temper, okay it's true.
But I love reading and absorbing information, I love trivia and inane and not so inane facts. I am certainly NOT shy, I have an insatiable curiosity and I am extremely tenacious, just ask my partner it drives him crazy.
But I love reading and absorbing information, I love trivia and inane and not so inane facts. I am certainly NOT shy, I have an insatiable curiosity and I am extremely tenacious, just ask my partner it drives him crazy.
ELECTION
Okay, so the question is...how many times will I cry while writing this and looking at this picture?I voted early on the Wednesday before the election. I made my way down to the Alameda County Court House in downtown Oakland and stood in the long, snaking line with the other exuberant folks and cast my ballot for Barack Obama. This was my fourth time voting in a presidential election. I also drew a big, black arrow to "NO" on prop 8, but I guess that arrow didn't reach far enough and we were defeated.
I was awoken by my friends piercing alarm at 4:15 a.m. the morning of the election. Groaning and cursing but bubbling with excitement, we struggled out of our beds and to the campaign office in a quiet outlying neighborhood of Las Vegas, Nevada. For the fifth day in a row, we walked our turf, going from apartment complex to housing project, from door to door, reminding people to vote and giving out their polling places.
There are so many stories to tell. There are a lot of night shifts in Las Vegas. Folks work all night in the service industry and come home tired and cranky in the wee hours of the morning. I awoke many of these day sleepers, rapping on their flimsy apartment doors. They would come to the door blurry-eyed, hair tousled, a frown on their lips. But the moment I said "Obama" a tiny smile would creep up in the corners of their mouths until it was apparent by the crinkle next to their eyes and the sudden flash of teeth that they just couldn't help themselves, the thought of voting for Barack Obama was just too exciting.
These were mostly people of color, Latinos and Blacks living with extended families in large apartment complexes. But they were also white, working class men that came to the door tattooed and shirtless, gold crosses hanging from their necks. One such man ran back into his house for pen and paper the moment I mentioned voting for Obama and returned gleefully, almost giddy at the prospect of voting for such a person.
This amazed me. Living in the Bay Area we some times forget that we don't have the patent on the word "liberal". We forget that there are many types of progressives living outside of our great bubble, people who might not look like us or act like us but share our values. This was a great wake-up call for me, to see these men and women of all ages, sizes, colors, and class have the same pride and sense of achievement at the prospect of voting for this candidate.
As the sun settled over the pink and purple dessert, we made our way back to my brother's apartment, put up our feet and switched on MSNBC. Yeah, I know, total liberal bias...and it was great. We listened as the results started pouring in from the east cost. We switched to CNN and then even FOX News, just to make sure that our information was "fair and balanced". I was disappointed but not surprised that the media started calling the election before all of the polls had closed. This is always a problem in national elections and it usually costs Democrats, but not this time.
We moved on to the Nevada State Democratic party at the Rio hotel in central Las Vegas. If you go back and look at the footage of election night on MSNBC you'll see us. One of many large, roaring crowds, drunk with the prospect of victory and, well the alcohol that circled the room. A large screen with MSNBC was front and center over the stage and many big screen televisions dotted the room. Just as some unknown representative of the party was telling us that the room had reached capacity and that if we needed the bathroom to please use one of the side doors, MSNBC announced that Barack Obama had gained more than enough electoral votes necessary to declare him the next president of the United States. We screamed and roared and whooped. It was a deafening sound that was repeated on all the screens around us all over the country and the world. One newscast showed the village in Kenya where Obama's father was from and we whooped and screamed and danced with the figures on the screen.
Moments later I found myself in front of the only TV in the room broadcasting FOX News. They announced Obama's victory and then went straight to a ten minute commercial for Nicole Kidman's new film, "Australia". Maybe that's where they wished they could be at the moment. Later, when they returned and after John McCain had given his concession speech, they spent the rest of the broadcast arguing over whether Sarah Palin had lost McCain the election or not. At that point we turned our attention away from them and to Barack Obama's acceptance speech.
Two women were with my brother and I as we watched that speech. Both were black and one was in her forties while the other in her late sixties. After, with tear streaked cheeks, the older of the two turned to us and said, to no one in particular, "they have to treat me differently tomorrow, they will treat me differently tomorrow, because tomorrow, when I march into work, I will have a black president and they will have to see me differently".
I have now gone back to Youtube and watched many different broadcasts of that night. I know, overkill. My favorite is John Stewart and Stephen Colbert teaming up for the Daily Show. Twelve times I have played the part in the show where John Stewart announces that Barack Obama has been elected as the next president of the United States. If one watches very carefully, you will see the moment that Stephen Colbert breaks character and his eyes mist a bit right before he goes back into his Republican, Bill O'Reilly persona...and I was crying with ya Stephen, all twelve times, I was crying with you.
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