My Code of Ethics

Don't hurt anyone:

So first and foremost, I don't want to hurt anyone through the posts on my blog. This is my first blog, and I'm only a handful of posts in; causing harm to anyone through any of my entries doesn't make sense to me, so I will do my best to avoid it at all costs. Additionally, this is a class requirement, it's not like this is my job, people getting hurt is just not worth it.

Tell the truth:

One of the best ways, in my opinion, to not hurt anyone through my work is to tell the truth to the best of my ability. That being said, I will fact check my information through multiple sources. If the truth could be potentially harmful, I will leave it up to my discretion whether or not to post the information, erring on the side of caution.

Speaking of sources:

If I get information from outside of my dome piece, and it's not general knowledge, I will do my best to either link to or give credit to the initial article/author. Giving credit where credit is due is fair, so all cliches aside, I won't feign other's information/opinions as my own.

Rumors:

If I encounter rumors about topics that I'm interested in or related to subjects/stories that I'm writing about, I will use my discretion about publishing them. I will find the same rumor reported by multiple sources and only publish it if there's beyond reasonable doubt that it's true. If I do eventually publish what is referred to as a rumor, I will make sure to publish and note it as such.

Correcting errors:

When it's necessary, I will edit posts for small mistakes or typos that I make or that are pointed out to me. This might be announced but are more than likely to not be announced. If I make large mistakes, such as publishing rumors that are not true, I will devote a new post to correcting my mistakes and revealing what I did wrong.

More on editing posts:

If I feel like something I wrote was stupid, incorrect, or poorly written, I will delete it on my own accord. This is for my good as well as yours.

Feedback from you:

I welcome any and all feedback from you. Let me know if I spelled something wrong, or call me out if I published a post chalk full of lies. This will not only benefit me by improving my blog but also help save you from reading terrible posts.

Bias(es):

I will do my best to remain unbiased in all of my writing. HOWEVER, here are some of my biases right off of the top: I am a Michigan sports homer through and through, I am a Philadelphia sports homer as well, I like many college sports (basketball, football primarily) a lot or slightly more than their professional equivalent, and that's all I can think of right now.

Interview About My Blog

In class today, Angela interviewed me about my blog and what I have been writing about. Here is the result:

Did Tiger Satisfy?

If you didn't hear or see, Tiger Woods broke his 3-month silence this morning with a fourteen minute long apology. The statement aired at 11 am and was not only carried on ESPN but also the three major news networks. I was sitting on my couch at ten and getting fed up with the constant Tiger coverage on ESPN that was taking over SportsCenter. At about 10:45, it reached a peak, and I got fed up enough that I told myself I wasn't going to watch, and I left the couch to take a nap. But before long, it was 11, and I was not asleep. So I went back downstairs.

Tiger came out a little after 11 and looked pretty distraught; not surprisingly, you could tell that the ordeal was really affected him. He spoke very slowly reading a prepared statement and seemed extremely genuine and honestly sorry for his actions. At times, he looked directly into the single camera in front of him when he was apologizing to or addressing his children and wife, Elin. They were not in attendance, and I think by looking into the camera, Tiger was doing his best attempt at directly addressing them without them being there, and I appreciated it.

My thoughts about his speech are pretty simple, and he mentioned many of the same ideas himself. He had to make a statement like the one he did today apologizing, but I think that what he said today will do little to nothing in determining his future and how he is remembered. It was little more than a necessary lip-service; he had to make sure to mention everyone possible that he hurt, and he seemed to do that. However, his legacy as a man, husband, and father will not be made by some speech but rather by how his behavior and actions improve or don't in the future.

Journalist Rick Reilly, who I used to respect a lot more, has launched a campaign of Tiger advice and seems to have become Tiger's self-proclaimed psychologist. I understand Reilly has a relationship with Tiger and has covered him and the sport of golf for years but Opera, really? I think that's a bad idea and would do more harm than good. Tiger gave his apology on his terms today, and regardless of his stipulations like no questions, he relied on himself and himself alone and did not do it through some third party like Opera.

My only thought about how Tiger handled this is that it should have come sooner. He should have pulled a David Letterman and talked within a week after it happened. Instead, he let the media and public speculate about every aspect of the story, and it simmered for far too long.

One thing is certain: when Tiger does return to the tour, either get out of his way or get run over.

Video and Film Projects

This video is the first group project that I was involved with last semester in my Screen Arts and Culture (SAC) 290 class. As you will see, I wrote the script (don't judge based on the language), provided the narration, had a cameo, and helped develop the initial idea. The storyline deals with time travel gone wrong. The video was shot with a Canon GL2, one of cameras we can use on our 439 projects. Warnings: it is very confusing, and the language is terrible: Time Trouble.

In the same class, our next project was a short black and white film. The director in my group wanted to produce a film that highlighted cool steps and staircases around Ann Arbor. Therefore, we split the idea into three one-minute sections and each of the three members had one minute to film their personal take on the 6 step locations. Then we each selected the music for our minute section. Mine is the second minute of the three. FYI, there was a malfunction with our film that explains the random flashes of light.

Quick Question..

The other day I used salsa instead of pasta sauce; is that weird?

It wasn't bad.

The Beatles and Others: Stuff I Just Never Realized

I would consider myself a Beatles fan, not a fanatic. I like them but I'm not that overly into them. Earlier today, my friend invited me to watch the first disk of the Beatles Anthology, and not even ten minutes into the film, it struck me the extent to which The Beatles changed music. The fact was chronicled in the first segment of the piece, but the presentation just blew me away because I had never noticed it.

This is my favorite all-time photo of The Beatles. In high school public speaking class we had to prepare a speech on a piece of art, and I choose the original album featuring this photo on the cover. I found the cardboard cover in my basement among my parent's vast collection of vinyl and there was just something about it.

Anyways, this is first song that The Beatles ever recorded: That'll Be The Day, an original Buddy Holly recording. Discussing my revelation with my friends while watching the film, the idea stretched to other musical artists. Bill Haley, credited with the first widely popular rock song of all time, became popular in the 1950s years before The Beatles blew up in 1963 on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Buddy Holly, who died at the tender age of 22 in a plane crash, is know as a pioneer of Rock N' Roll. But, the one guy who Paul McCartney was speaking talking about when he said, "That's what we were waiting for. It was like the messiah had arrived" was Elvis. Before Elvis, stage acts were boring compared to what he brought to the spotlight. His outfits, hair, and female appeal especially were irresistible:

The quote from McCartney says it all. In a way, I compare Elvis to The Beatles in that The Beatles were to group music what Elvis was to the solo movement; they each became the most well-known acts in their genre that literally the world had ever seen. The Beatles were essentially four Elvis' on stage. The four combined to form the kind of following that only Elvis had enjoyed previously.

Interesting facts that I learned:

• Paul McCartney is a natural lefty on the guitar, but when I think of the most famous lefty guitar players of all-time I first think of Jimi Hendrix.
• According to the anthology, Neil Aspinall, The Beatles first road manager, introduced the band to marijuana. Not Bob Dylan as the legend holds.

Too Much Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne is a pretty good rapper; there is no denying that. However, I get annoyed by the amount of songs, mixtapes, remixes, collaborations, albums, and whatever else he is doing these days that he is involved in or featured on.

Here is rapper and producer Funkmaster Flex talking about Lil Wayne. I think I can agree that Lil Wayne is under tremendous pressure from the rap community; he is arguably the industry's most prominent and recognizable figure and voice. But that's my problem with him: he's in too much stuff for him to be that good. It's like I have heard so much of him that I have become desensitized to his work. Imagine a song that gets overplayed on the radio. The same effect has happened to me with all of Lil Wayne's songs.

When Flex says that he doesn't believe that we have given Lil Wayne enough credit, I think he couldn't be further from the truth. Wayne gets plenty of credit. I feel like this contributes to the overload of his songs on the radio. A lot of my opinion has to do with the college culture that literally forces you to listen to hours of Lil Wayne if you enjoy going out on the town. And if you don't like him like me, people look at you like you have four eyes. I just don't get it; how could you like someone that is as overplayed as he is? And, of course, as I said above, he's good but I would listen to a variety of good music over the same great artist any day.

More on this later.

Some Cool Photos

So I really like photography and although I don't take enough pictures, here are some examples of some stuff I have taken.

Here is the photo that I shot for class, taken at my fraternity house; I love the contrast of the looks on their faces and the fact that Chris does not know that Sam is behind him:

This picture was taken last spring, and I think it belongs in a magazine or something. All of their smiles are good, they all look good, there's good symmetry, and there's a nice wind blown look. Their positioning also creates great depth:

Here is a picture of two of my friends that just got engaged. I feel the shot really expresses their feelings for each other, right?:

I really like the lighting here, and the shadow of his hand that the flash created:

Here's Chris again at Spring Break '09 in Panama City, Florida:

The whole gang, our condo was right on the beach (Gulf Coast) so every sunset was amazing; this was a nightly occurrence:

I love the three people in this, each is doing drastically different things. And you can't beat her hair, and the way he's blurred by moving back:

My older brother, Dan, jumping waves on a 1991 Yamaha SuperJet Jetski at Walloon Lake, Michigan:

A friend of mine and my older dog, Hunter, on our dock at Walloon:

The Pointe, an exclusive vacation spot that we snuck out onto in Harbor Springs, Michigan:

One of my favorite photos, and still my computer background, off of our deck at Walloon:

Another Spring Break sunset from our Condo balcony overlooking the beach:

Isn't photography great? I will post more if you guys enjoyed them.