Writing Challenge #4

You know what really grinds my gears? When people SAY TOO MUCH.

I can think of a few instances when people say too much...

-When public speakers ramble on and on and on and on...

-When people can't keep private things to themselves.

-When people go the extra yard on a story (Mike Clark).

-When people yell too much.

-Eva.

-When people literally say "too much"

-And so on and so forth.

When people say too much, it usually is a bad thing. Sitting here trying to think of times when someone saying too much turned out to be a good thing, I can't come up with anything. MIKE JUST SAID TOO MUCH. And yes, it was a bad thing.

Saying too much is something that is very prevalent here at South High School. It seems like a trendy thing to do, especially around prom time. Who really cares where you go to dinner, and what dress you wear. IDGAF. All I know is my date and myself are going to Noodles & Company, and we will enjoy our cheap, yet still tasty noodles. And we are going to be looking fresh A'F as well. It's one night out of your entire life, you'll be okay. You be aight though.

Anyways, I generally don't like when people say too much. Except when they're talking about how much of an amazing person I am and other stuff like that. That's totally fine with me, you can keep doing that. Especially you Ms. Hodge.

Writing Challenge #3

It was a dank, ardent evening. The fog was somewhat superfluous, yet it was still a spooky night. The sign on the rusted fence read "no tresspassing - by the authority of the evil Count Austin Lehman." No one dared set foot in Count Lehman's land, especially on a night like this. But that didn't stop village idiot Josh Houston.

Josh didn't care about the warnings, or the stories about the disappearances associated with the Count. All he cared about was the Count's daughter, Sarah, whom he was madly in love with. Josh had taken Sarah to the valentines day ball earlier that year, and had been in love with her ever since.

On that dank night, the power of love drove Josh to enter the Count's land. He was too determined to see his one true love, sassy Sarah. But luck would not shine on the village idiot, for he was caught within seconds of entering the Count's property. Soon after, he was bullied and tortured at the Count's amusement, who laughed histerically. Josh cried out Sarah's name, but that just made the beating worse. The Count let him go the next day, and Josh never set foot near the Count again.

Writing Challenge #2

Twins' Mauer's "Bilateral Leg Weakness" Actually Growth of Third Leg

April 22nd, 2011

Earlier this week, Minnesota Twins All-Star catcher Joe Mauer was put on the disabled list. The reason behind his shelving - "Bilateral Leg Weakness." Upon further investigation, it was determined that the actual cause of Mauer's pain was the growth of a third leg.

"Yeah, sort of caught me off guard," said the 4-time All Star, "never really guessed I had a third leg."

"Yeah, he's fucked," said Twins physician Dr. Dan Buss, "I mean, he's got a third leg growing out from the side of his knee. A third leg. What do you expect?"

Dr. Buss went on to bitch and moan about how his fantasy baseball team would suffer and how his number one overall pick in his online draft had been a complete and utter waste.

"Should've gone with Pujols. Goddamn it," said Buss.

This was yet another blow to Twins fans, who already had suffered through an embarrasing start to the 2011 season. After watching their 4-time All Star closer Joe Nathan miss an entire season the year before due to Tommy John's surgery and MVP first basemen Justin Morneau lose more than half a season due to a concussion, morale in Twins nation is at an all-time low.

"Joe Mauer is our Babe Ruth," said 14-year-old Twins fan Zach Kramka, "He's our Superman. What are we going to do without Superman?"

"Pretty boy signs an 8-year, $184 million dollar contract extension, and now we find out he's got a third leg?" raged disgraced vendor Wally the Beerman outside the gates of Target Field, "Fuck 'em."

"I hope to get back on the field as soon as possible," said Mauer at a press conference shortly after the news broke, "There's balls to be hit and sticks to be handled."

Mauer then blushed, embarassed, as many of the elder writers in the baseball community laughed and giggled at his last comment. Many are skeptical, but Mauer's determined work ethic has served him well in the past. A comeback from this would sure be one for the ages.

WRITING CHALLENGE #1

"This was some adventure, huh?"

There, I said it. I'd like to take this time to talk about the adventure of the college process, which I have just very recently completed. Last night, I sat down with my parents and told them that I had made finally made a decision on where I will land next year - Washington University in St. Louis. Earlier that day my mom and I had made a day trip down to Madison, where I met up with my friend's sister and sat in on a few classes. Madison was my final stop on a long, tiring journey that lasted nearly two years.

It all started the fall of my junior year, when I took the Project Success trip to Chicago to visit such schools as Northwestern, DePaul, and University of Chicago. The school that most caught my eye was Northwestern, and I applied there. This was the only school that I did not get in, although technically I wasn't denied - I was waitlisted. Looking back on it, I'm glad they didn't outright accept me because it would have made my final choice that much harder.

Not many other schools were on my radar until my family and I decided on hiring a college advisor, a decision that I am thankful we made. She helped me find colleges that were of my liking, and helped me through the whole application process. I did not know what Washington Univeristy in St. Louis was until she suggested it to me, and I ended up visiting there this past summer and spent a night just a couple weeks ago. This trip was actually paid for by Wash U, as they offered this to me in their acceptance letter. That last trip really helped me in my final decision, I'm glad that I went.

The other schools I looked at, as well as getting accepted to, were Michigan, UW-Madison, and the U. I toured all three, and liked them all. But Michigan felt too big and too expensive for a public school, and the U was just too close. I wanted a change of scenery, so that was immediately out. That left UW-Madison, which was far enough away and also a great financial deal. This would be one of my final two options, and would go head-to-head with Wash U.

In the end, I chose Wash U. I chose it because I really got that gut feeling when I was walking around campus and sitting in on classes. You know, that feeling you get when you know something is really right. I felt comfortable, safe, and I know it will set me up and prepare me for an amazing life after college. I feel confident in my decision, and can't wait to go down to St. Louis in the fall.

Final Blog Post

PROGRESS:

First off, let me say that I just had THIS ENTIRE POST almost finished, and safari just had to go and "quit unexpectedly." Great. Anyways, I'll try and do my best to do this whole thing over. I'm happy to say that we have been spending some quality time in the editing suite at MTN over the past week or so. Most of our time has been comsumed by the editing and cutting of the interview, which is the integral part of our documentary since it is an expert opinion on the issue of pandhandling. We came up with an idea today to get some people on camera who aren't experts on the subject, and just ask them one simple question - "what do you do when you see a panhandler?" This is the main focus of our documentary, so we thought some non-expert opinions would add to our overall piece. It's going to be a lot of work, but I think we can come up with a quality finished product by the Monday deadline.

READING RESPONSE:

So I'm pretty sure I did not receive the correct reading assignment for this week's blog due to our time spend at MTN, so I'm going to react and respond to something that I read this morning in the sports page while eating my tasty Eggo waffle - Kevin Love, and his consecutive double-double streak, which is currently at 52 games. Fifty-two! That's double-digit numbers in at least two scoring categories, most commonly for him points and rebounds. I think that this is an amazing feat, especially in today's NBA, which is all about size and power. Love stands 6' 10", which by today's standards is not a giant in the NBA. He plays much larger than he actually is; snagging rebounds on both the offensive and defensive end. His effort and passion for the game is something to admire - he plays the game like it should be played, and has fun doing it. He's one of the very few bright spots on this year's Minnesota Timberwolves squad, who currently hold the worst record in the NBA. Keep doing your thang, K-Love, we're all pulling for you.

Blog Post/Reading Response #8

PROGRESS:

First off, let me apologize for missing the previous week's blog post. I put it off then realized I was going out of town with no internet connection... My bad. But as for our progress, nothing has happened since our trailer. I liked the trailers when they were presented to us, everyone had some good ideas and made some solid trailers. I didn't like how some of them were a lot longer than the 30-second timeslot that I thought we had been assigned, but it's all good. Our trailer was liked by the class it seemed like, even thought it didn't seem to be the most popular. I don't really care, it's not like it was a popularity contest or anything, but I think we did a great job and have the class and faculty looking forward to seeing our final project, which was our main goal. We are due to pick up a camera tomorrow (Thursday) from MTN, and we have scheduled our first interview for Friday around noon. I'm excited to hear what our interviewee has to say, and to finally have some media that isn't B-roll! But yeah, that's where we're at right now.

READING RESPONSE:

Every time I read something of Dr. King's, I can't help but be in awe of this man. The words he says just seem to carry such power, unlike any other speaker's from the Civil Rights Movement. Sure there were other powerful voices, such as Malcom X, but Dr. King's voice seems to stand out among the rest. I particullarly like this piece because he calls love a gift, something that I think is a good point. He's saying that poverty-stricken boys and girls have "enriched" the rest of us with the gift of love, and they did this by "rising above the cruelties of the slums and to work and march, peacefully, for human dignity." The peaceful search for human dignity was Dr. King's message, and it is presented through this piece.

Blog Post/Reading Response #6

PROGRESS:

Since my last post, we have successfully picked up, used, and returned a MTN camera. We got some pretty good B-roll out of that camera, but struck out when it came to actual panhandlers, finding none during our weekend with the camera. We were worried about this, since the panhandlers are the integral part of our documentary, and therefore should be represented in our trailer - it wouldn't be a good trailer without at least one real-life pandhandler. Fortunately, I have a camera of my own, and we struck gold today and filmed three different panhandlers, getting some good shots for our trailer. Next step is the editing session on Sunday for the trailer.

READING RESPONSE:

While reading this piece, "Fellowship," I kept saying the same word over and over again - stubborn. Very stubborn. That was for sure the overall tone of the piece. I also kept wondering why this sixth person was so disliked and not accepted, and couldn't find a more clear reason than, "In any case, we are five and don't want to be six." A very clear reason, yes, but why can't there just be six of them instead of five? Think of what they could do with six people instead of five: 3 on 3 basketball games, and... well, yeah, they could run threes in basketball! Anyways, I didn't really understand why these five people were so stubborn, but I did admire the persistence of the unwelcome sixth dude - "but however much we push him away, back he comes." Persistent little guy.

Blog Post/Reading Response #5

PROGRESS:

We have scheduled to pick our camera up tomorrow (Friday, 2/4). After picking up our camera we plan on shooting some solid b-roll that will be featured in our trailer, which is due in less than a couple weeks. We are also in the process of communicating with possible on-camera interviewees, while we have already gained some valuble information from a Sargaent in the Minneapolis Police Department. I think after a few days of filming we will be set for our trailer.

READING RESPONSE:

I think I have read "Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes maybe three or four times now. I still find it to be a powerful piece that expresses the feelings of a boy stuck in Harlem - there's a reason that this piece continues to be put in front of our faces. I like the somewhat informal tone of the piece, like how Hughes finishes this piece with "This is my page for English B," and how he introduces the piece in the voice of his "instructor." It is a great piece dealing with racism and the inequality that blacks were treated with, and how underneath the skin we are all the same person, we are American.

Blog Post/Reading Response #4

PROGRESS:

So far our group has laid down a solid plan. We have done some solid research and are about to start filming. Our next thing to do is schedule to get a camera so we can start filming some B-roll and a couple interviews so we can make a good trailer.

READING RESPONSE:

I liked this article because it talked about something that is critical in our documentaries - interviews. Interviews, I believe, are what can make or break our documentary. If our interviews are of good quality and really probe into the true details of panhandling, it will reflect in our documentary as a whole. The "preperation and basic skills" section was a helpful section talking about, well, the preperation and basic skills needed to perform a solid interview. The "guidelines for effective interviewing" section was the most beneficial to me, because it gave a nice general set of rules and guidelines that we can easily follow to make our interviews professional and successful.

Blog Post/Reading Response #3

PROGRESS:

Basically the only thing that has happened since my last post was our pitch, which went very well. I felt confident going into the pitch, because we had a strong grasp on what we were planning on accoplishing with our documentary. Also, we had done some research beforehand, which translated to us sounding like we really knew what we were talking about (we actually did, but you know, it still sounded good). Overall, the pitch went well - we thoroughly presented our idea to the people, got some solid feedback, and gained some more confidence in the process.

READING RESPONSE:

The second I read the title, I immediately felt better about my group - we had already delved into some solid research about our topic, and it had already proved useful during the pitch. This piece provided valuble information about not just the fact that doing research is beneficial, but specifically what kind of research is good research. I think the "quantity vs. quality" section was very helpful and rang true - you can always have a lot of research, but how much of that research is actually going to help you move forward with your documentary and actually strengthen your message? The quality of the research is very important, and I think our group knows the difference between crappy research and quality reasearch.

Blog Post/Reading Response #2

PROGRESS:

Not going to lie, up to this point I was pretty iffy on our potential topic of panhandling, but after a talk with Ms. Hodge this week I feel WAY more confident and ready to do this documentary. Ms. Hodge helped us narrow our focus down to pandhandling in South Minneapolis, and suggested possible interviewees, such as the Minneapolis Police Department. We also did some research and found a couple local groups that deal with panhandling and homelessness and wrote down their contact info, we plan to contact them soon. I feel we're almost ready to move on from to pre-planning and pre-shooting, just a few more things to do.

READING RESPONSE:

I thought this piece was interesting in the way it read - very subjective, with dashes of humor and wit. It's a nice change of pace from the usual boring pieces we're given in school today - no offense, teachers. Yet at points it got a little over the top, I felt this especially when I read about "Mr. Brainwash." I thought this title was a bit unneccessary, but I quickly forgot about this once I saw that the documentary "Catfish" was referenced - this is literally THE worst movie I've ever seen. I distinctly remember saying, and I quote, "I would rather eat a 10 dollar bill, that would be a better use of my money," after seeing that film. Anyways, the rest of the reading was less interesting to me than the beginning. It was useful in the ways that it portrayed the variations and representation of the modern documentary.

Blog Post/Reading Response #1

PROGRESS:

So far we have established a solid group - Josh, Ryley and I. We thought that since we worked together so well on the PSA that we should just continue to work together for the documentary. We have a few loose ideas that have been tossed around - most prominently the topic of panhandling. Ryley is very interested in this issue, and feels like we can make a strong documentary around it. I'm unsure how I feel about the topic at the moment, but I'm sure we'll find common ground and work something out. Other than that, we've just kind of discussed some timing for possible renting of equipment and filming and such, with me going out of town in a couple weeks and missing an entire week of school. So far, so good I'd say.

READING RESPONSE:

From this piece, "Directing the Documentary" by Michael Rabiger, I learned a few concrete ideas about what a documentary should do, how it should be filmed, and tips on presentation. The reading was actually very imformative about planning, content, ideaology, and presentation. One line that I believe relates directly to the documentaries that we are going to produce is, "the documentary seems concerned with unconvering further dimensions to actuality and implying some kind of social criticism," (1). The topic of our documentaries in VOICES are just that - social issues. What I also gathered from this reading was what makes a documentary successful - one line in particular stood out to me, "successful documentaries, like their fiction counterparts, also need a good story with interesting characters, narrative tension, and an integrated point of view," (4). This was very clear and helpful, and I'm sure we'll check back with this piece when going through a mental checklist of what our documentary has and what our documentary needs.