12-13-09

It's been a long time since I've been on here. Just need a record of things I'm doing for myself. Nothing interesting, just record... for now.

Morning:

Got up kind of late. Still feeling good about the macaroni I made yesterday which was:

3/4 of a sauce pan of elbow macaroni
1 and 1/2 shot of Whiskey (I used Jack)
3/4 cup of tomato sauce
sprinkle of garlic seasoning
some hot sauce
2 or 3 slices of American cheese singles

Heated on a skillet and mixed it all together. Ended up really good. Whiskey adds a little tang.. Good stuff. Wanted to make it baked but maybe next time.

Back to today, headed over to the office, checked on an assignment at 2pm. Headed over to the YMCA for the first time, got a tour. Might get a membership but I'll check to see if I can still apply for a welcome package since I moved here in June. I'd get a free month with that.

Saw Tuesday's with Morrie. It was a play at the Western Illinois Performing Arts Center. Just a two person show but it was great.

Headed home and decided to go to HyVee and get some Deep dish ingredients. Last time I buy pre made dough. Making it myself next time.

Oh yeah, covered a car fire in the square before HyVee. Girl was jump starting her friends car and the girl' car caught fire.

Just laundry now. Gonna be a late night.

Big test on Tuesday.

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Womens Soccer vs. Culver Stockton

A few pics from today's 12-0 victory.

Slideshow below:


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Day 2 wedding portraits

Here's a few from Day 2. I'm almost done editing the wedding pics. Down to the last 4 gig card. Had a blast. Just hope to get better little by little.








Now that I think about it, probably could've used the pop up flash for fill without red eye. Eh, live and learn. Next time, two strobe setup.
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Going undercover

I was listening to On the Media from New York Public Radio and it got me thinking.

I'm sure other journalist's think about this, going undercover for a big news scoop. Take for instance ABC News v. Food Lion. In the Supreme court case, ABC news went to investigate the Texas supermarket reusing and bleaching old meat and mixing it in with newer meat.

After the story came out on Primetime Live in 1992, the stock for the company plummeted but Primetime got a journalism award.

Food Lion sued and a federal court agreed with Food Lion. Still, ABC only had to pay $2 after an appellate court reversed the original decision that would have awarded Food Lion $5.5 million in damages.

hmm.


INFO: http://academics.smcvt.edu/dmindich/food%20lion.htm

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My first photo walk

Went on my first photo walk today. Had no idea what to expect. There was only one or two people when I got to the gazebo at Chandler Park but more came later.

We headed out at 10 a.m. and I felt awkward at first but stopped caring after a minute. Not used to shooting 'things' so luckily, there was a farmers market going on so I got a bunch of portraits including this Tim Riner of Rushville, IL.-



I saw his tattoo and knew I should try to get a pic. This guy was really friendly and patient as I tried to get my exposure right with the manual flash. Hopefully getting a 550ex after I figure out my budget for the month.



The backgrounds weren't all that great. Just trying to get exposure down but next time, I gotta step it up.





You could see me holding my flash in her glasses.



Really hope I didn't blind that puppy.




Met some cool people, had a good time, definitely glad I went on the walk. I'll probably join the local camera club as long as they keep having meetings that is.


(all pictures shot with a Sunpack 433 D flash on TTL-cord and my Canon 20D)
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The Sacasa Interviews

Click to play

4th of July Fireworks Update

4th of July Fireworks Update

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It's hot as usual here in Macomb. It'll be even hotter tomorrow but spent most the day inside so no biggie. Saturday was insanely busy with a protest @10am, Pin Hook Days in Industry, IL @1pm and Juneteenth celebrations @4pm. Thought I lost my voice recorder at Juneteenth but luckily someone was nice enough to return it. Thought I had lost it for sure. Good to know there's still nice, honest people out there.

Aside from that, just busy writing, shooting and all that. Got a little video but just need to edit it.

Today, finished up the budget protest story. Wish I could have gotten more sources though but in one day, it's a lot quicker than I'm usually writing articles. Well I've got a conference call at 8am so I better figure out this City Council story now.

adios-

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Busy at the moment.

Not too much happening on here till this paper is finished. Then hopefully getting interviews and video shot for a few stories I want to cover.

Bridge Jumper update 2 and FREE DVD checkouts at SPL

Guess they did get him- Daring tackle thwarts plunge into river

Not too much going on in Skokie at the moment but I did find out some great news from the Skokie Public Library Twitter. All DVD's and other AV materials are now free instead of the $1 charge. Stopped by today and picked up a few.


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I've had a problem of getting scratched DVD's in the past but won't have to worry about losing a dollar anymore so I'm happy. Make sure to notify library staff if you get any problems with the DVD's.

Bridge Jumper update

Thought that didn't make sense. Changed to Lake Shore Drive over the Chicago River.


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Still don't know if they got him.

Bridge Jumper

There's currently a person threatening to jump off the West Side of the bridge at Randoph and Lakeshore Drive in Chicago.

scanner audio Starts at 1:50, 5:20, 6:50, 9:17, now they say over Chicago river.

Traffic on the scanner was busy so not sure if he was apprehended.

Another Bank Robbery

Heard that the bank at 1325 Howard St. in Evanston was robbed earlier today so I Googled the address and found out it was robbed last month on the 8th. Pretty crazy.


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As for now, I need to start getting to meetings, start reporting and you know, be a real journalist again.

Google Maps Street View

Just a view of Old Orchard Mall here in Skokie. Barnes and Noble to the left.


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Shooting last night

@4:50 in the audio, there was a report of an Officer down and then nothing till 11:22

http://archive.scanamerica.us/il_chicago_police2/200906010121.asx

I was following this story last night at what I thought was Ashland and Hermitage but found out the streets were perpendicular. According to the story, it was at the 6000 block of S. Hermitage around 12:30am this morning.


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Oogly Googley

Been playing around with Google Maps trying to figure out a few things. Thought I had to learn Java script but it ended up being a few really simple steps with an embed code. Wish I knew about this before. Would've been great for the paper. SO SO SO many uses.


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Localize it.

For the next few days, I'll be trying to localize my blog to Skokie. Right now, things are pretty cluttered but I'll try to fix that when I'm done playing around.

Northern Cook County Fire Departments

I'm checking out different websites and found this on a newspaper's website. Thought it was a great idea. Checked to see if they had McDonough County for Macomb but no luck. They've got Skokie Fire so I'm just using this one.

Soccer vid

Click To Play

A soccer game

Walking home from the library, stopped by a soccer game going on at the Old Orchard Junior High field. Shot some pix too.

Click To Play

Subway noises

Waiting for the Redline back to Howard St. (two minutes and 41 seconds)

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Some of the noises are just ambient noise but then there's a whole lotta random things from touching or moving the voice recorder. Speaking of which, it's an Olympus WS-321M. I barely use it but hopefully that changes. Took forever to find a free audio hosting site. Had Blip.tv for a while and didn't even realize it.

Anywho, got an Olympus clip mic from Amazon coming in a few days so hopefully get some better audio. In other news, still looking for a job across the nation or right here in Illinois. Either way, I'd go anywhere now.

30 Days

Oh yeah, giving myself 30 days to get a job. What happens if I don't? I don't really know but I need to motivate myself. So far so good. I think this is the third straight day of sending stuff out from the post office. Not sure about tomorrow though. Might just be online job apps for local stores. Either way, 27 more days. Gotta keep pushing till I find something.

Noticed a few things to change after I sent things out. Hopefully they're not deal breakers. Decided to go with CD-R's because DVD's were causing too many problems.

Post Grad life

It's been a long time since I've just written something but I need to get back into the swing of things. Been so busy with being photo editor that I haven't had a chance to write any articles.

Well I'm back home to Skokie currently living it up in the basement. It's not too bad. At least it's cool down there. Parent's are down there now watching American Idol. Not too attracted to that show so might as well keep job hunting.

It's only been three weekdays now but it feels really weird knowing there's no job to go to right now. Last time I took a summer off was probably freshman year of high school. No job or school. MOST BORING SUMMER EVER. It was horrible. Probably explains why I'm looking so hard right now.

Granted, I'm sure I'll save a lot by living here but if I can find a job out of state, I'm outta here. Don't have any debt at the moment so financially, I'll be okay. Just need to live off Ramen like during last summer's unpaid internship until I can save up for real food.

I just need to find a paper that wants a photographer/writer/personal trainer. You know, to cut health care costs. I do what I can. Speaking of which, getting on my parents gym membership family plan for the time being. It'll save me a few bucks from the individual plan. With finals and everything, haven't had a chance to work out much so it'll be nice to get back to the gym. Maybe twice a day but doubt it. Plenty of jobs to apply for.

If I run out of newspapers to apply to, there's always retail/sales. Worked a few years in high school. It was rough but made money.

----

Went down to Chicago yesterday. Great weather, kinda hot today. Anyways, I need to do some sort of project. I'm thinking portraits of randoms. Maybe quick interviews. There's plenty of homeless and street performers but that's kinda cliche unless I find a new angle. I should probably get back to filling out applications and write something relevant next time.

Things on my mind:

Religious parents and kids health
GITMO prisoners
the economy
how hot it is up here
loud motorcycles
working out


later.

In Different Shoes

Words from audio found below.

First off, the audio is just AWFUL. Had to transfer from cassette to my digital voice recorder. My narration is a little rough because apparently I'm very allergic to something near my desk and my nose is stuffed. Either way, glad I'm done.

Here's all the words if you can't comprehend them:

10 oclock Im leaving. Im not waiting one minute. Im not waiting 30 seconds on somebody, Im leaving. Ya know, because if he doesnt show up when hes supposed to, maybe he wont show up at all and Im sure not going to sit there and wait on him.

You might consider Roy Evans teaching method old school. After purchasing the school in 1972, students know this guy doesnt mess around. In that time, the school has built a reputation attracting not only students across the nation, but even worldwide.

A lot of these people do, whenever they get outta school, they advertise through a ---- they get some cards printed up and they put on there they graduated Midwest Horseshoeing School which that right there gives them a big head start because this school has got a good reputation.

With bar steel provided at the school, students make their own shoes by hand. First by heating the steel, next by hammering it into shape and finally, by nailing it on. Since the hoof is like a nail, if the shoe is nailed correctly, the horse feels nothing at all.

CJ- Youre supposed to hold your knees at 45 (degrees) which is like sitting up against the wall. Just sitting there is what we do for balance and the ---- builds your legs up for this and its tough. Youre legs get burning.

Forges line the work area. The very same forges Evans used when he was a student back in the 60s. Its not that the school is outdated but even with technology advancing in nearly every aspect of our lives, the original method of making horseshoes dating back to colonial times, is still the standard.

The old way is still the best way so far. They tried glue on shoes and different things, ya know, they just dont work.

Even though the economy is down and everything, theres still demand for horseshoers right now. As long as theres horses, theyll need horseshoers.

Summit League Softball: Day 2

After losing the first game against Southern Utah, top seeded Western Illinois won three straight games after being defeated by North Dakota State in the Championship.

Summit League Softball: Day 1

Pretty much spent the entire day shooting softball for the Summit League. Just two days of work so I'll be studying for finals on Sunday. Need to check when everything gets started tomorrow too.

Horn Field Campus

Since RPTA is my minor, I have to get 100 hours of fieldwork in this semester. Decided to volunteer at Horn Field Campus about 10 minutes away from the school campus. It's peaceful out there.

Urban Forum hosted by Mayor Daley

Lots of driving. About four hours back to Chicago and about 3 and a half back to school. Got there Sunday around 2am or so and was on the campus of UIC by about 7:40am. We weren't sure if we, Ed and I, would get the credientials but everything went smooth. Lots of people there, got more to say but maybe later.

football scrimmage

Been a long time since I shot any football. Shot some practice a few weeks back when my fingers damn near froze off but the weather was a lot nicer. Guessing 70's or so. Went out with next year's photo editor to show the basics.

Had some trouble with the thumb focusing but still got some decent shots. Rusty I guess but sure wish I had this lens first semester. Gonna miss it when I graduate.

baseball v. SDSU

And so on...