Thoughts of a Cynical Bastard

It Ain't Necessarily So..

I fell to sleep reading this. There, I blogged out it. No one will read my blog anyways, because of course my blog is the wrong URL on the Newswriting blog anyways. So there :-P

A Brief Interlude

Has anyone else noticed something that's fairly annoying. Like, oh I don't know, WHEN PEOPLE TALK ON THEIR CELL PHONES IN THE COMPUTER LABS WHEN THE SIGN SAYS SPECIFICALLY "THESE ARE NOT PERMITTED IN ACADEMCI COMPUTER LABS: FOOD, DRINKS, CELL PHONES" and then the technology department student worker--or even the department head or whatever comes in, and still does nothing about it.

and then, when a drawer is open, and they bitch about a student doing it--well maybe if you'd get off your ass and check the fucking computer labs every half hour or so, that wouldn't happen. Oh, I'm sitting next to this printer--and they haven't fixed whatevers wrong with it--but the moment a person goes to print something, they'll fix it, then basically get bitched at.

Tell ya what, if there's a lab fee on my financial aid next semester, I'll tell them to stick it. If I'm paying for that kind of service, then I don't even want it.

Assigned Text: Scott, Kevin Michael '''There's More Honor': Reinterpreting Tom and the Evasion in Huckleberry Finn''

When Leo Marx, in 1953, published his landmark essay, "Mr. Eliot, Mr. Trilling, and Huckleberry Finn," he could not have anticipated the avalanche of scholarly reactions to his critique that would proliferate during the next fifty years and that would help make Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the most controversial book in American literature. Marx's essay attempted to undercut existing defenses of the ending of Huckleberry Finn by describing that part of the text as an evasion, on the author's part, of the moral responsibilities created by the experiences Huck and Jim share on the river. According to Marx, to avoid the pain of the ending that would logically have developed (presumably, Huck hanged and Jim sold down the river), Twain has Tom Sawyer re-enter the narrative and assume command. Tom, a representative of romanticized Southern society, is responsible for subjugating Huck and subjecting Jim to farcically inhumane treatment. It is an ending, Marx argues, that betrays Huck and Jim and exposes Twain's "glaring lapse of moral imagination" (435).

I know it's not the writer of this particular essay saying this, but I have to do disagree here.

I, as a learned scholar and future author know that What Clemens did was not write the ending to appease people--what he did was write to help himself get out of a tough spot. I highly doubt that if the book would have ended with Huckleberry Finn being hung and Jim sold down the river, it would be as successful as it is today.

Maturation and the Final Chapter

Clemens, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Finish) -- American Literature, 1800-1915 (EL 266)

In the last chapter, we see everyone return home safely from the trip. Huck is now emancipated--meaning that his Pap, who left, ain’t ever returning, so that leaves Huck alone. Tom Sawyer is back home, and is looking forward to perhaps having more adventures. And Finally Jim is home, safe and sound, and $40 richer (which in those days--that was a lot). He also was taken “prisoner” by Huck and Tom, but now is safe, apologized to, and obviously as said above, given money too. Tom and Huck also made sure that was paraded around town by the other blacks in the area. The ending was a happy one, but it wasn’t happy in a sappy kind of way.

Pictures.

This is me at the Griffins game today. I left before the end of the game, but I took this picture at halftime, standing right in the middle of my proud GS Golden Lions emblem. I also took the second picture with Nick, who just turned 9-years-olds today. Happy Birthday Nick! (The pic also seemed to be the highlight day)

Newswriting Presentation

Ok..so I'm dealing with the first part of chapter four..

9 out of 10 people would say this is hard...
1 out of 5 every person that said it is hard would say this was super hard...

But the proxy doesn't say why it's hard.

That's what a proxy is people, it's when they say on TV "4 out of 5 dentists agree.." but then they don't really say what they agree on!

So the next time you take a survey, remember--that if you can't give a reason why you feel a certain way--your dealing with a proxy. The United States Cenus Bureau prefers a type of proxy.

As do many groups when they say "in a new two-year study.."

It's really fascinating.

What else is fascinating...sometimes a proxy is a good thing--or at least used for a good reason--because not everything can be measured precisely right down to who what where when how and why. So a proxy is used to get a rough guessimate. But a proxy is not really a good thing to use.

(oh, btw..if im using the incorrect term..please someone tell me!!!)

Poetry Slam: Make iContact

This friday night..Dr. Michael A. Arnzen and Eye Contact are sponsoring a Poetry Slam at DV8 at 208 S Pennsylvania Avenue, right here in the heart of Greensburg from 7pm-11pm.

I have seen flyers from all the over school. But I haven't heard anything about from people--including his fellow professors. I know..I know.."but we're busy."

Big deal. Take a Friday night, come and here some of the poetry from last year's eye contact, listen to what your fellow SHUers are saying, what people from PittG are saying, what people from SVC (i still laugh that we're a univeristy and their a college--im sorry, I grew up in Greensburg, where SHC was always better than Latrobe's SVC--even if each (at the time) only allowed one sex.)

Yeah, I know, I should be working on my Newswriting presentation, or something else that's constructive, but I've seen these flyers up--and well damn it, I couldn't resist. Don't worry Dr. Arnzen I'll be there with at least 4-5 poetry pieces.

There, now Dr. A, I want my $50 (LOL-KIDDING)

Poetry Slam Review

I should have done this last week, admittedly, but it's been a rough couple of weeks and I forgot.

So anyways...I want to say to everyone that gave me positive feedback--thank you. I appreciate it and it made my day.

As for some of the comments, let's get cracking:

-Speaking up: I spoke as loud as I thought the poem demanded.
-More emotion: I was using the same amount emotion that Poe would have used if he read the poem.

Um..that's really all I got in the terms of criticism...So...*shrugs*

It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of ANNABEL LEE;-- And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me.

She was a child and I was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love--
I and my Annabel Lee--
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud by night
Chilling my Annabel Lee;
So that her high-born kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me:--
Yes! that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of a cloud, chilling
And killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we--
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in Heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee:--

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I see the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea--
In her tomb by the side of the sea.

Just in case anyone wants to read the poem.

A Little of Ye Olde Historie--Hallowe'en and holiday

Today is the day we celebrate as Halloween in the U.S. Everyone is familiar with jack-o-lanterns, witches with black cats, costumes and trick-or-treaters knocking at the door. Do you know where the Halloween tradition originated? Here’s the story of Halloween.

Halloween began as an old Celtic custom, over 2000 years ago. The Celts called the day, “Samhain.” The day marked the end of summer and the beginning of winter for the Celts. They believed that on the eve of the New Year, the world of the living and the dead became blurred, allowing spirits to mingle with the living. The Celts thought spirits would return to destroy crops, cause trouble and seek out living bodies to possess. The people would put out fires in the hearth, making their house uninviting to roaming spirits. They would also parade around in costumes, making noise, making it difficult for evil spirits to distinguish between the living and the dead.

By the year 43 A.D., Romans had conquered most Celtic territory. During their rule, the Romans combined Samhain with two of their own Roman festivals, Feralia and Pomona. Feralia was held in late October, when Romans honored the passing of the dead. Pomona was a festival honoring the goddess of fruit and trees, during the harvest. Pomona’s symbol was the apple, giving speculation to the tradition of “bobbing for apples,” on Halloween.

The fading Roman culture gave way to the power of the Roman Catholic Church. By the 7th century, Catholic Pope Boniface IV wanted to eliminate pagan festivals and rituals. The Pope knew he couldn’t just ban the festivals without creating chaos, so he merely replaced Samhain with the church’s All Saint’s Day. This was a special Roman Catholic holiday, when believers would honor saints and martyrs. All Saint’s Day was also known as, “All-Hallows,” or “”All-hollowmas” and the celebration the night before was called, “All-Hallows’ Eve.” Eventually, the holiday name changed from “Hallow Evening” to “Halloween.”

I just wanted to point this out. See, what the Catholic (I suppose--at the time, until the 1500s, it should be a small letter c) church did was ruin a holiday that was celebrated by a lot of people. It was away for the people of the Celtic regions (which wasn't JUST ireland or scotland, but it was also Germany, France, etc.) to "keep" their crops; and also to celebrate the dead.

Then the church pretty much said, "Oh, this holiday looks like it's satanic." But by the churches standards so did December 25 and 16 April (based off of a 2006 calendar)--gee, don't those dates look familiar? They should, their Christmas Day and Easter Sunday (the United States is the only country in the world that does NOT celebrate Easter Monday, by the way)

See, what the church did took October 32, December 25, and April-May whatever, and decided "oh, these look pagan, and therefore are Satanic. We just do something to stop it, and to try to convert the pagans!"

See, December 25 was also the pagan Sun God, Mithra's, birthday. Mithra was also born of a virgin, had the 12 apostles (though they were called Acolytes), performed miracles, ect. So the church decided, "hmmm..this dude has the same qualities as our Jesus..let's take his holiday, and make the dying (but not coverting) PAGAN Emporer Constantine decide that Christianity is the main religion of the dying roman empire, and that Mithraday is now Christ-mas day." Tricky of the church, but it hasn't really worked what with the reorganization and the reocurrance of Wicca, a "pagan" religion.

Also, for April and May, that's where the pagan holidays of Oster and Beltane come in. See, in the pagan areas a rabbit was used to symbolize the pagan goddess of fertility. Many of the countries, particularly Germany, called the rabbit on that day (or week--it's been awhile and im going off of information from a pagan priest that's also a friend) the Oster Rabbit. Well..what did the church do..well they say "fertlity? renewal? sounds alot like our Jesus Christ dying on the cross, then rising again. We'll take the pagan holiday and turn into our own. and hopefully no one will notice the difference."

Now, tis like i said, that was the Catholic's church way of doing things.

The interesting thing to note, is that the Protestant church calls Oct. 31 "Reformation Day" and celebrates the holiday without any "Satanic" references. The "Orthodox" Jews DO consider it a Satanic holiday, and do not allow their children to celebrate--but it was primiarily the catholic church that took it and made it for their own purposes.

Watch me repost this exact post on Oct. 31.

By the way, for all of you interested, here in the City of Greensburg--trick or treating will be Monday, October 31, 2005 from 6-8 p.m.

Snow

It's Oct. 25th. 6 days before Halloween, and it's snowing. See why I told you people in American Lit--GBG has a weird way with the weather.

Anyways..I'm going over to the library after my 2pm class and writing, and then getting a book and reading before 5 pm. Stop by if you want to talk--that includes you Dr. Jerz. I'll be there from 3( :30)-5 (:30) so just come! I won't be hard to miss.

R.I.P Rosa Parks

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051025/ap_on_re_us/obit_rosa_parks

Rosa Lee Parks, whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man sparked the modern civil rights movement, died Monday. She was 92.

Mrs. Parks died at her home of natural causes, said Karen Morgan, a spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. John Conyers (news, bio, voting record), D-Mich.

Mrs. Parks was 42 when she committed an act of defiance in 1955 that was to change the course of American history and earn her the title "mother of the civil rights movement."

At that time, Jim Crow laws in place since the post-Civil War Reconstruction required separation of the races in buses, restaurants and public accommodations throughout the South, while legally sanctioned racial discrimination kept blacks out of many jobs and neighborhoods in the North.

The Montgomery, Ala., seamstress, an active member of the local chapter of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was riding on a city bus Dec. 1, 1955, when a white man demanded her seat.

Mrs. Parks refused, despite rules requiring blacks to yield their seats to whites. Two black Montgomery women had been arrested earlier that year on the same charge, but Mrs. Parks was jailed. She also was fined $14.

Speaking in 1992, she said history too often maintains "that my feet were hurting and I didn't know why I refused to stand up when they told me. But the real reason of my not standing up was I felt that I had a right to be treated as any other passenger. We had endured that kind of treatment for too long."

Her arrest triggered a 381-day boycott of the bus system organized by a then little-known Baptist minister, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who later earned the Nobel Peace Prize for his work.

"At the time I was arrested I had no idea it would turn into this," Mrs. Parks said 30 years later. "It was just a day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of the people joined in."

The Montgomery bus boycott, which came one year after the
U.S. Supreme Court's landmark declaration that separate schools for blacks and whites were "inherently unequal," marked the start of the modern civil rights movement.

The movement culminated in the 1964 federal Civil Rights Act, which banned racial discrimination in public accommodations.

After taking her public stand for civil rights, Mrs. Parks had trouble finding work in Alabama. Amid threats and harassment, she and her husband Raymond moved to Detroit in 1957. She worked as an aide in Conyers' Detroit office from 1965 until retiring Sept. 30, 1988. Raymond Parks died in 1977.

Mrs. Parks became a revered figure in Detroit, where a street and middle school were named for her and a papier-mache likeness of her was featured in the city's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Mrs. Parks said upon retiring from her job with Conyers that she wanted to devote more time to the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development. The institute, incorporated in 1987, is devoted to developing leadership among Detroit's young people and initiating them into the struggle for civil rights.

"Rosa Parks: My Story" was published in February 1992. In 1994 she brought out "Quiet Strength: The Faith, the Hope and the Heart of a Woman Who Changed a Nation," and in 1996 a collection of letters called "Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue With Today's Youth."

She was among the civil rights leaders who addressed the Million Man March in October 1995.

In 1996, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded to civilians making outstanding contributions to American life. In 1999, she was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation's highest civilian honor.

Mrs. Parks received dozens of other awards, ranging from induction into the Alabama Academy of Honor to an NAACP Image Award for her 1999 appearance on CBS' "Touched by an Angel."

The Rosa Parks Library and Museum opened in November 2000 in Montgomery. The museum features a 1955-era bus and a video that recreates the conversation that preceded Parks' arrest.

"Are you going to stand up?" the bus driver asked.

"No," Parks answered.

"Well, by God, I'm going to have you arrested," the driver said.

"You may do that," Parks responded.

Mrs. Parks' later years were not without difficult moments.

In 1994, Mrs. Parks' home was invaded by a 28-year-old man who beat her and took $53. She was treated at a hospital and released. The man, Joseph Skipper, pleaded guilty, blaming the crime on his drug problem.

The Parks Institute struggled financially since its inception. The charity's principal activity — the annual Pathways to Freedom bus tour taking students to the sites of key events in the civil rights movement — routinely cost more money than the institute could raise.

Mrs. Parks lost a 1999 lawsuit that sought to prevent the hip-hop duo OutKast from using her name as the title of a Grammy-nominated song. In 2000, she threatened legal action against an Oklahoma man who planned to auction Internet domain name rights to http://www.rosaparks.com

After losing the OutKast lawsuit, attorney Gregory Reed, who represented Mrs. Parks, said his client "has once again suffered the pains of exploitation." A later suit against OutKast's record company was settled out of court.

She was born Rosa Louise McCauley on Feb. 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Ala. Family illness interrupted her high school education, but after she married Raymond Parks in 1932, he encouraged her and she earned a diploma in 1934. He also inspired her to become involved in the NAACP.

Looking back in 1988, Mrs. Parks said she worried that black young people took legal equality for granted.

Older blacks, she said "have tried to shield young people from what we have suffered. And in so doing, we seem to have a more complacent attitude.

"We must double and redouble our efforts to try to say to our youth, to try to give them an inspiration, an incentive and the will to study our heritage and to know what it means to be black in America today."

At a celebration in her honor that same year, she said: "I am leaving this legacy to all of you ... to bring peace, justice, equality, love and a fulfillment of what our lives should be. Without vision, the people will perish, and without courage and inspiration, dreams will die — the dream of freedom and peace."

All I have to say..is R.I.P. Rosa Parks. You will be missed but not forgotten. Thank you for your hard work and dedication in working towards equal rights in the United States.

It Ain't Necessarily So...

It Ain't Necessarily So that I wanted to buy this book. I just read the introduction, and was bored by it. I didn't want to read anymore case studies either, I know, I'm being cyncial--but it's the truth. I didn't care about coffee or it's effects, or what it means to the news world..or about obtaining facts.

I mean in Chapter 1 for instances, the only interesting thing to read was about the crime story--and that's because that's what we're discussing in class.

This book was definitely NOT worth the 5.28 I paid for it--lol.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
To be frank, I doubt I'll even becoming to class...I just can't take it anymore....some of the assignments aren't really fair with some of the circumstances involved. It's after mid-term..but I'll probably be there, considering I'm already missing class next week.

Article

Ya know..I was all excited the day the Setonian came out, thinking, "oh, cool. my last article will in there. I'll be able to see my name in print one last time at Seton Hill University."

Pick up the newspaper--and lo and behold--there's nothing there. This even worried the copyeditors of my article, because that said, "it was a good article. It should be in there right? They do put profiles in the paper right?"

That's what I thought too. You know, now that I think about it, I'm glad I'm not writing anymore. Oh, and staff meetings at 9 pm on a sunday? sorry, but i gotta get up at 7:30 am, so that just ain't happening.

Annabel Lee

Let me ask you all a question, and hopefully Dr. Jerz can answer this before class--is it Ann-a-bell Lee or Aw-na-ball Lee?

Here's the poem, in it's entirity:

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Anyways, to prepare for the class tonight I've been reading the poem (obviously) and some thoughts have come to mind, that i'll be asking in class, but I thought I'd give everyone a chance to formulate their answers now:

-Is Poe pining over a lost love?
-Many of Poe's women friends claim to have inspired this poem. But is that really the case? Or could it have a deeper meaning for the poet?
-Poe wrote this as one of his last poems. Did he know he was going to die only a few years after the publication here?

I closed comments, temporarily (until after class) because I want to hear people's comments--even Dr. Jerz's--in class, not on my blog. When I open them up again, you are more than welcome to post anything else you want on my blog.

Yahoo vs. Google--Which is better

Yahoo gives you the following when you type in "Seton Hill University":

-Did you mean Seton Hall Univeristy?
-Seton Hill College

Google Gives you this:

-Seton Hill Univeristy
-Seton Hill University Atheltics.
-etc.

Now, I was looking for "Paranormal Romance" and this is what I got from Yahoo:

http://www.paranormalromancewriters.com/
http://writerspace.com/ParanormalRomance/
http://maura.setonhill.edu/~tobin/index.htm

A seton hill website on yahoo search..now mind you, Yahoo apparently does not like SHU (not the one in Jewsey) very often.

Now, Google has the following:

www.paranormalromancewriters.com/
maura.setonhill.edu/~tobin/paranormal_romance.htm

Now that proves to me that Google is by far a more superior search engine. What do ya'll think?

on this day...

at 1:02AM...I was born....
at 1:02PM...my great-grandmother died.

weird...

NOT A FRIEND

Because you are so narrow-minded & ignorant to the ways of a normal human being, you therefore have no friends. If you were willing to listen to others or just respect them, then maybe you would become the happy and complete person you so obviously aren't.

I'm the narrow-minded and ignorant one? To the person who wrote this (Ashlee is my first guess, but the IP address also listed Dr. Jerz and myself on more than one occassion), I have many friends. I can list at least ten: Moira Richardson, Michael, Brian, Jeff, and Jon DeMatty, Rob, Tif, Carrie and Raquel Hayden, James Cook (RIP), Jeremiah Battistone (RIP), Valerie Mascarelli, and Chris U. That's 12. I could list more if this person really wants to, but I am not at THIS university to make friends--I am here to get my diploma and graduate. If I wanted friends, I'd devote more time to people.

Tell ya what coward, tell me who you are, if you aren't scared.

As for listening to people, ask Jason Pugh how many times I've listened his "conservative" views and agreed with him on many things.

So I tell ya what, get to know me first then comment. Till then, you'll be quoted right here for everyone to see and possibly laugh at. I deleted your comment because it wasn't needed where you posted it. I posted it here instead. I don't leave comments like that on other people's blog, so theres no reason to leave one like that on mine.

Another Death

Jeremiah Battistone will be remembered forever has being a little young man with a big, big heart. He was in a car accident along the intersection of Route 22 and Route 819 last night at 8:30. It has been offically 24 hours and 15 minutes since his death.

That's two friends...in...LESS than a week...

I appreciate the comfort and the comments I have received from everyone. Thank you. But I am not the one who died--my friends were.

In Miah, I lost not only a friend, but a teamate.

We played football EVERY sunday--rain, shine, snow, or leap year--we played. Sometimes we didn't play on JUST a sunday--for instance, on February 29th, no matter what day it fell on, we played our quadannual "Ice Bowl" (2008's will be Ice Bowl XII).

To lose Jeremiah was a great loss, and all of us Greensburg Lions that play football every sunday, will be in attendance at his wake on Friday, and the service on Sunday. If you see me wearing a bracelet on Wednesday--it's because we bought bracelets to get his initals on it to show our support and friendship.

Thank you all once again on behalf of the Greensburg Lions.

Friend, Teamate, Brother,

Louis D. Gagliardi III

Death

The Blue Oyster Cult Band says "don't fear the reaper."

But why shouldn't we fear the Grim Reaper? I mean he comes to take us to eternal judgment once we die. He is death. The reason I ask this is because on October 7, 2005 my good friend and fellow Greensburg Salem High School alum, James P. Cook was founded in a river face down. I just found about it last night when my mom asked me "Did you know a James Cook?" That's almost 1 week ago that I found out about his death.

You people that are from out of state wouldn't understand. But I'll try to explain. Maybe 75% percent of the schools that I've gone too in this "fine" state of Pennsylvania, once you graduate from high school, that's it. It's time to move on, it's time to go and find new friends in college.

Well not Greensburg-Salem. In GSHS, once you made a friend, you made a friend for life. I'm sitting here typing this, and tears are falling onto the keyboard. Captain Cook was a good guy. He was funny, he was smart, he was dedicated to his teammates on and off the field. We called him Captain Cook because he was like a leader to us. Always showing us how we could do something, show us why should do it. On Senior Skip days he was always the one suggesting to go to school.

Jimmy, this blog entry is, and always will be, dedicated to you. You were born April 10, 1985. You never feared the reaper. I know God gained another angel my friend, I just wish that it didn't have to be so soon.

R.I.P Captain. (April 10, 1985-October 07, 2005): Friend, Teammate, and a Brother.

TIME TO SAY GOODBYE

My dear friend....

I remember how it all began

We met through anthony

And now it may be

Our last time to say good-bye

Too soon you go

Too young

Why must our lives

Be oh so not fun

I know that living

Is hard for you

But if you die

For me it will too

I hope that you

Will change your mind

But I shall not try

To do it for you

But please take this gift

My undying friendship

For in this world or another

We shall meet again.

I didn't mean to write this to make it sound like he committed suicide--but from the articles I read, that's what it honestly sounded like the GODDAMN LEECHING REPORTERS ARE SAYING. The police are still baffled.

When Valerie mentioned the "missing man's body found in river" article on Tuesday--that was my friend. Leslie or val, or anyone, if you still have Tuesdays paper, can i get the part that was in please? Also, could I get because I dont know if i have it or if anyone else does, but can I get wednesday's obituaries to get his out of there, please?

Thank you.

NewsWriting Coverpage

Ok..so here are again...portfolio time. I'm not going to really put too much energy into this one, admittedly. I just found out a good friend of mine passed away on either Monday or Tuesday, he was found upside down in a river. *cries* R.I.P "Captain" James Cook. 1985-2005. Your memory will be with us always.

Depth:
Chapter 5: Journalese: http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/011618.html
Chapter 6: Tone: The Inner Music of Words: http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/011620.html
Chapter 7: Pitfalls: Attributive Verbs and Loaded Words:http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/011621.html

Each of the above entries dealt with the AP Guide to Newswriting, and what those readings ment to me. They might not be 10 pages long, but I feel with giving examples, and ways to do it, that speaks for itself.

Timeliness

Elements of Journalism Chapter 6: Monitor Power and Offer Voice to the Voiceless.
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/011493.html

Elements of Journalism Chapter 7:
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/011494.html

Morgan Spurlock Article:
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/011524.html

Elements of Journalism, Chapter 8:
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/011532.html

Elements of Journalism, Chapter 9:

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/011533.html

Elements of Journalism, Chapter 10:

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/011536.html

I never said these were my best blog entries. These were the entries that were in on time. Each of these dealt with the reading assignments, except one. That was the Morgan Spurlock article. Yeah, it was a little bias, but you know what so are more articles than just mine.

XENOBLOGGING

This was a section that I didn't have last time--because I didn't really have anything that would have helped anyone. That's due to the fact that frankly, I don't care what other people are saying on their blogs. Sure, I'll look for an interesting view or something, but otherwise I don't care.

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/ElyseBranam/2005/10/ann_stadler.html I left a comment, but I'm waiting for it to get added. Once it's added, I'll print it out and show it to you Dr. Jerz.

WILDCARD

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/011837.html This is about the death of a friend, and how I felt. I will always miss Jimmy.

I've tasted a liquor never brewed before.

I taste a liquor never brewed,
From tankards scooped in pearl;
Not all the vats upon the Rhine
Yield such an alcohol!

Inebriate of air am I,
And debauchee of dew,
Reeling, through endless summer days,
From inns of molten blue.

When landlords turn the drunken bee
Out of the foxglove's door,
When butterflies renounce their drams,
I shall but drink the more!

Till seraphs swing their snowy hats,
And saints to windows run,
To see the little tippler
Leaning against the sun!

This one she speaks on life, for once. She speaks on life in a happy manner for once, as well. This is highly unusual for Emily Dickenson. Here she’s saying, as the cliché goes, “I’m high on life!” She knows, however, that she will eventually be right back down again, for this moment she’ll be quite content. “I shall but drink the more!” is her motto, as she drinks till the saints run to the windows to see this drunkard leaning against the sun. This is actually one of very few Emily Dickenson poems that I actually can say that I enjoyed.

Want to buy a flower?

Perhaps you'd like to buy a flower?
But I could never sell.
If you would like to borrow
Until the daffodil

Unties her yellow bonnet
Beneath the village door,
Until the bees, from clover rows
Their hock and sherry draw,

Why, I will lend until just then,
But not an hour more!

This is a whimsical poem by Emily Dickenson. I personally think it means that she’ll let you borrow her time until the spring or fall, or perhaps longer if necessary, but never any longer. It also seems as though this poem talks of death. Emily Dickenson talks of “not an hour more!” She’s basically saying that she only has an hour or so, like the flowers, is all she really has left.

Fairyland.

Sit down beside me, Isabel,
Here, dearest, where the moonbeam fell
Just now so fairy-like and well.
Now thou art dress'd for paradise!
I am star-stricken with thine eyes!
My soul is lolling on thy sighs!
Thy hair is lifted by the moon
Like flowers by the low breath of June!
Sit down, sit down — how came we here?
Or is it all but a dream, my dear?

The beginning of this poem, again, seems to me that Poe is talking to some lover—real or imaginary—from above. He is saying to sit beside him for a little chat in the middle of the night. He brings the supernatural into the picture, which was unusual for an American author to do so—as most Americans are not superstitious by nature. He says that this Isabel is dressed for heaven, and he is in love with her eyes. He also wants to know if she and him are having the same dream, or even if this is a dream. I think this was written during one of Poe’s more happier days.

I also found a different version of the Poe-m than Dr. Jerz's.

Epigram for Wall street

I'll tell you a plan for gaining wealth,
Better than banking, trade or leases —
Take a bank note and fold it up,
And then you will find your money in creases!
This wonderful plan, without danger or loss,
Keeps your cash in your hands, where nothing can trouble it;
And every time that you fold it across,
'Tis as plain as the light of the day that you double it!

This poem was funny, which is highly unusual for Edgar Alan Poe. There were a couple of “depressions” during Poe’s time, nothing as serious as the 1930s, but for that time period just as bad. So Ed Poe was trying to make a serious joke, which I think for the master of morbid, this works really well. Poe did not invent the epigram, to my knowledge, but he sure makes nice work of it for this particular piece. It’s also true.

The Raven

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. Eagerly I wished the morrow; -- vainly I had sought to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow -- sorrow for the lost Lenore -- For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore – Nameless here for evermore.

Edgar Alan Poe wrote my favorite, The Raven. I love this poem, because in it Poe says “well this is my life. I don’t like it, but I’m not going to complain come Hell or high-water.” In comes Hell though, or at least Poe’s, whom I believe is also the protagonist of this poem, inner demons. This particular stanza screams to me every time. It speaks of lost love, and of a romance even in the afterlife. Poe is lamenting the loss of his wife, as well as the loss of many people in his life. I also think that the whole screams of the fact that is immortal, no matter what anyone thinks.

I should have done this when I first came to SHU

I SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS WHEN I CAME TO SHU AND STARTED BLOGGING. BUT I DID NOT, SO SHAME ON ME.

MY INTENT, FOR ALL PURPOSES, IS MERELY TO PROVIDE SCHOOLWORK, OR THINGS THAT I FIND FASCINATING.

If I wanted people's opinions--which I have in the past--I would have asked for them.

Jay, Ashley this had nothing to do with you guys. This had to do with a comment that I got, that I had to delete the moment I saw it. I even forget what the comment said that's how upset I am.

Believe me, when it comes to class assignments, and even some personal stuff--i do like people's opinions, but when it comes to saying just plain hurtful things, that's when I draw the line.

Search Blogs AND news now on Yahoo!

http://news.yahoo.com/

Apparently Yahoo.com realizes the value of blogs. I logged onto their site to research Jack the Ripper so that I could find any modern news linked to him, and I saw that "News Search NOW WITH BLOGS!"

I find it interesting that more and more news sites or other types of sites are including blogs in their searching methods.

Annoyances

What am I annoyed by thus far today?

-Not having enough time to complete anything for American Lit because I also have News writing to deal with

-See above, only switch the two classes.

-People who constantly have to click their gum or chew with their mouths open like their a cow. I don't want to hear it, especially if it's right next to me.

-People that think Morgan Spurlock is a god. Big deal, so they put 1000 cows into 1 pound of beef--if it tastes good, then it tastes good. enough said.

Seriously though..Dr. Jerz..couldn't you move back the rough draft of the paper in American Lit until after the Semester break? Having 10 million things due, and only one class period puts a strain on students...

AP Guide to NewsWriting: Chapter 7: Pitfalls: Attributive Verbs and Loaded Words

This chapter is the one that deals with said, claimed, etc.

The AP Guide to Newswriting states:

Among attributed verbs, said usually says it best. It's short, clear, neutral, and unfailingly accurate, a verb for all seasons.

You'll need substitutes occassionally to avoid monotony, but becareful; they are not true synonyms of said, not even--especially not--stated or declared.

So what does Lou decide to do? He decides to look up some synonyms of the word, said...

articulate, ejaculatory, lingual, narrated, phonated, phonetic, phonic, recounted, related, said, sonant, sounded, told, unwritten, uttered, verbal, viva voce, vocal, voiced, word-of-mouth, accounted, alleged, assumed, conjectural, considered, deemed, estimated, gossiped, held, hypothetical, ostensible, putative, reckoned, regarded, reported, rumored, said, seeming, supposed, suppositional, suppositious, supposititious, suppositive, suppository, thought

So there ya go, the next talk you to talk to President Clinton, you can say

"I believe in the American People as awhole," ejaculated President Bill Clinton.

I know that this part of the book also says about using claimed and admitted, but I am not going into that, as I feel enough has been said in class about it.

AP Guide to Newswriting Chapter 6: Tone: The Inner Music of Words

Ah, Tone....what beautiful music it makes..

Yes, that's right I just quoted Dracula..and then paraphrased that quote at the same time..

Tone, it's all about how you say what you say.

For example:

The late Shah, who got kicked out of the country in...

That's a little TOO informal for my tastes..

Try:

The late Shah, who was exiled from Iran in the year...

That sounds a little more formal, the tone is better. I would definitely keep reading that article, only because the author seems to know what he wants to say and when he wants to say it. Tone is all about knowing what to say, when to say it, and how to word it.

Dr Jerz, who is an English professor, told his class today that he would be flying in a rocket ship to the moon.

Instead:

English professor Dennis Jerz told his class today that he would be flying on a space shuttle as he explores the lunar landscape.

The second one sounds a little better, doesn't it?

That's tone.

AP Guide to Newswriting Chapter 5: Journalese

(ok, so this is 5 days late..so sue me..)

This chapter basically goes back to what I said earlier about wordiness.

For example:

Tensions between Arizona's two senators flared before the Senate's ethics committee (11 words)

That's a little long, and doesn't have any kind "ooo..ahh...I see." kind of 'American' language to it.

Now, consider the following:

Arizona's two senators quarreled openly before the Senate's ethics committee. (10 words)

So, yeah, it loses only a word..but at least it adds a little excitement and leaves you wondering if their quarrel broke out into a fist fight.

I know a lot of journalists sometimes make up words, and that's all fine and dandy, but sometimes what happens is that they end up NOT being direct what their saying. Now what happens when they just use words that are normal American language, it becomes more direct, and sometimes even leaves the person reading the article wondering what happened next.

Editoral

First, allow me to quote the blog for October 14th.

Write a 400-word editorial, and submit it to a publication where you'd like it to appear. (If your letter is published, send me a clipping for a class participation bonus.)

So me, being a total dumbass, wrote a letter to the editor, it probably could pass as an article, I'll let Dr. Jerz decide that. But here it is, in it's entirity:

The Tribune-Review is only maybe a mile away from Seton Hill University, yet the only coverage for any sport it seems we get is on a Sunday--the day after a football game. Now I love reading the Trib, especially on Sunday’s right before the Steelers kickoff, and I love the coverage the Trib sports section does on high school football games, and even Pitt, W.Va and Penn State games. I understand that even district college teams like IUP, Edinboro, as well as Robert Morris or Duquesne University are bigger, but still we hear about those schools constantly--like Monday's paper even though those schools played on a Friday or Saturday night.

When does Seton Hill University get its chance to shine in the Trib? Why doesn't the Trib care for, as much as it does schools as far south as Florida, Seton Hill University? I mean like I said earlier, you’re only a mile or so from the campus, or an e-mail away, or a phone call. Do some interviews, get some quotes, and come for practices! You’re only a mile and a half from Offutt Field, come to games, get reactions from the crowd, from Chris Snyder, from the opposing coach, maybe some of our freshman and sophomore players.

If I wanted a recap of Seton Hill University’s football games, I would just go to the University’s website and read what they had to say. Big deal, you get two quotes from the coach. What about the players that work their butts off on that field? What about the fans from Greensburg, that is used to success with the Golden Lions teams of the past? Are we to be excluded because the Tribune Review doesn’t want to spend money to send a team of reporters, maybe a couple of photographers to a game, or to the campus itself to get reactions?

I’m not just talking football either, though that is the main aspect of my letter. I am also talking about soccer, baseball, softball, volleyball. The only time, it seems that you see Seton Hill University in the Tribune-Review is when the school does something that is not what they would normally do. I love the human interest stories on President Boyle or on author and professor, Michael A. Arnzen, but come on! Give Seton Hill University sports a fighting chance to be in the same paper as Pitt, or undefeated Penn State. The City of Greensburg deserves to see its own college teams written about. I’m on the Seton Hill newspaper, the Setonian, and we do a better job covering the sports—and we only come out once a month for an entire semester!

It's 464 words, well over the limit set. I sent it to the Sports Editor of the Greensburg Tribune-Review, bit I have not gotten a response yet.

The Elements of Journalism, Chapter 10: Journalists Have a Responsibility to conscience

Journalists have an obligation to personal conscience.

Every journalist--from the newsroom to the boardroom--must have a personal sense of ethics and responsibility--a moral compass. What's more, they have a reponsibility to voice their personal conscience out loud and allow others around them to do so as well.

Basically, to me, this says it's ok to show your bias, as well as you do so in order to prove a point or you're writing an editoral. But, as a journalist, you should allow others to do the same.

I could be totally off-base, target or whatever you want to call it. But that's what that means to me.

Let me put a few facts of my own on here, as an example.

-I hate the Bush Administration
-I hate Morgan Spurlock and other health nuts that think they can tell me when, how, and what to eat.
- I hate the Iraqi War.
- I hate taxes.
- I hate people that hate (I purposely said a contradiction.)
and what I hate most of all...

RELIGIOUS NUTJOBS WHO THINK ITS OK TO SHOVE THEIR BELIEFS DOWN MY THROAT AND EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THE SAME THING THEY DO!

Now that I got my views out of the way..what are some of yours..? I would LOVE to hear them, debate them, and make sure everyone gets his/her time to speak.

Elements of Journalism, Chapter 9:

Journalists should keep the news in proportion and make it comphrensive.

Oh man..this one is too easy to make fall apart.

In proprotion? to make the news a "part considered in relation to the whole." I understand that part..but how do you do it? You can't say, "well Joe's article on Slomo was good..but..let's cut it down.." And to make it comphrensive to most people, like those from Hempfield (I haven't made fun of the weasels lately, leave me alone.) you would have to do "See Jon? Jon did bad. Jon go to prison." Ok..so maybe its not that bad..but still..to make it comphrensive, you'd have to make things alot shorter for everything to make sense and for people to understand it.

I don't know..there are times I love journalism..then there are times I can't stand it..making this simplier to understand is one of those times.

The Elements of Journalism, Chapter 8: Engagement and Relevance

Journalists must make the significant interesting and relevant.

Do they really though? I know the staff on the Setonian make sure they do. But do writers in the Trib-Review? What about the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette? I don't think they always do, but I know they try.

But it's hard, mainly because what's relevant AND interesting to one person, may not be interesting to another person.

Morgan Spurlock Article

(NOTE: THIS WAS DONE AS AN EXERCISE FOR NEWSWRITING)

Spurlock chews fat on questions

Thursday, October 6, Morgan Spurlock came to Seton Hill University to talk about his new book, Don’t Eat This Book, a companion read to his documentary, “Super Size Me.” There were many people that agreed with
what he said.

“It’s toxic,” said Cathy Coppula of Mount Pleasant, “But he [her son] still eats it.”

“I feel that eating McDonald’s, or any fast food, the way he did isn’t healthy. In appropriate portions, however, McDonald’s is acceptable in your diet.” said Aaron Shumar, a tenth grader from Mount Pleasant Area High School.

“Spurlock’s new book has many problems,” said Radley Balko, a Fox News reporter and blogger, “Spurlock writes in his book that McDonald’s uses beef that has been fed the ground up remains of other cows. But the FDA in 1997 banned this practice, so Spurlock is essentially accusing McDonald’s of breaking federal law for the past eight years.”

However, in his book, Spurlock names no sources to this information, and when asked about it, he said, “Talk to the LA Times.” Spurlock then started to talk about chickens and their dirty barns, instead of beef.

“He probably didn’t know the source, or he wants to protect the source,” said Coppula.

Many of the people, however, disagree with Coppula.

“Everything he said could be used against him as slander. It seems everything’s his way, he doesn’t tell people the whole story,” said Shumar.

“That was a nice question that went unanswered,” said JoAnne Boyle, president of Seton Hill University.

Spurlock said, “I’m pro-personal responsibility.” But he also said, “There is a basis here for contradiction…” In “Super Size Me” as well as Don’t Eat This Book, he blames McDonald’s food, as well as other fast food restaurants, of causing the obesity in American society. Spurlock even went as far as to use an NWA song to call Ronald McDonald a drug pusher.

“Everything that McDonald’s did after the movie, they claim is a bunch of ‘coincidences.’ For example, May 6th, the day before the movie came out, one of their coincidences was the “Go Active Adult Happy Meal,” Spurlock said, “When the movie opened in the United Kingdom, McDonald’s sales dropped 75 percent.”

Spurlock throughout the lecture showerd his bias towards McDonald’s, even using quotes from other sources to get his point across.

“An Australian journalist, after I told what [McDonald’s CEO] Charlie Bell said about his cancer and the previous CEO’s heart attack, said “Crikey! God must hate McDonald’s!” Spurlock said.

“He ingested big McDonald’s meals three times a day for 30 days, then blamed McDonald’s for his bloated body, and dodgy health,” said Debbie Schlussel, of the Wall Street Journal in criticism of Spurlock.

Spurlock got his message across, as evidenced by the standing ovation he received, and the long line of people waiting to buy his book.

Elements of Journalism Chapter 7:

Journalism must offer a public forum for criticm and comment.

Why? So that people like Cody Shearer can be made to look bad? So that Rush Limbaugh and Chris Matthews can get their money and their ratings?

Sure, you can write to someone in the newspaper, or call in on a television program, but will they really listen to you? I highly doubt it. That isn't the way journalism works anymore.

This brings up a topic from the past--journalism isn't independent from any faction anymore. Look at Fox News and The Washington Post--even when when America knows that President Bush's Administration (I'm done blaming the President--he has shown me he can be smarter than he lets on by firing Michael Brown), Fox News or the Washington Post, will call it "a resounding victory for President". Even the Trib-Review is known for being politically bias! So much for independence from faction...so much for being a public forum..

Elements of Journalism Chapter 6: Monitor Powe and Offer Voice to the Voiceless.

(I decided that rather than try to understand what everyone reading the american version of this book was saying--i was just going to buy one of my own. $13.73 isn't a horrible price to pay. I also thought I'd get most of my blogging out of the way before the weeekend, as I'll be in Washington D.C. with Seton Hill's trip.)

This chapter was interesting to say the least. It opened up with a story as usual. But it made me think--Investigative Reporting..shouldn't reporters be looking up their facts to get the info right in the first place?

Now, after reading the chapter I understand what it ment. It didn't mean just making sure the facts were correct. It meant making sure that the facts were correct BUT also letting Americans know when their politicians, local or national, are doing something they shouldn't.

That's my type of journalism--now understand, I don't mean "dig up dirt because we've got nothing better to do". I mean finding out where 13,000 dollars goes if its supposed to be there, and then suddenly ends up missing.

I also like the idea of giving a voice to the voiceless--that is the American that is afraid to speak his mind. To me, that's journalism.

Where's Walden #1

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First, let me say that these readings were boring. David Thoreau says he goes to live in the woods so that he can, learn what nature has to teach; he can basically “live” his life, instead of dying and finding that he hadn’t been living at all. In this time period, that’s what it was all about, was becoming a man and seeing the “frontier” like the Old Western folk heroes did—but without the gun fighting and swearing. This time period was gushy and mushy, and personally, I would have hated to be alive. I would have been in favor of tearing all the trees down from their roots and not letting them alive again. It is writers like Thoreau that turn me off to the Transcendentalists.

Walden Entry #2

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Thoreau-Walden Chapter 18

“TO THE SICK the doctors wisely recommended change of air and scenery. Thank Heaven, here is not all the world. The buckeye does not grow in New England, and the mocking bird is rarely heard here.”

Here Thoreau is saying, the doctors of his time didn’t really know how or what to prescribe to his people, so they just said “get out of this area. Go exploring or something.” I don’t think it’s really changed that much since then. Nowadays, sure doctors of medicine can say “well…here’s some Prozac, take two and call me in the morning.” They still rely on, “well maybe some fresh air, a change of scenery, and a new wife will do you some good.” Why though? Why not change this method? Because, it’s easier to see that in today’s society, more and more people just need to get away from the smog and the pollution and into cleaner air.

my Bias On Morgan Spurlock

I don't like the man. Plain and Simple. In fact, and I don't use this word much, I hate Morgan Spurlock. Why? Because of his "documentary." I think it's bias, ridiculous..and..well that covers it..

So anyways..i will come into this article with a bias, but I will not be biased. I hope what he has to say I can connect with, and perhaps after seeing him in person, understand him better.

Extending the Middle Finger to sports fans

Ya know..Marcus Vick threw the middle finger to the Western Virgina (that's a different blog entry...) fans on Saturday. Jake Plummer did it last year. Big fucking deal!

So, Marcus apologizes for it. For what? Doing what the rest of America has been doing since 1862 when W.Va seceded from Virginia (which technically, going by Lincoln's philosophy makes it illegal and therefore makes W.Va a part of Va. technically.)

Jake Plummer did it..big fucking deal. His in his upper 30s to early 40s. His a grown man.

You know what im gonna do..the next person I see raise their middle finger, I'm gonna clap.