I'm currently in a class called "Writing News for Radio" where we spend an awful lot of time training our voice and writing styles for those 30 second news updates or whatever. I actually enjoy it a lot, it's high energy but fairly relaxed... and easy. At least so far.
Our professor, Eileen, is one of the news anchors for local stations 630 CHED and Cool 880, so she decided to have an optional field trip to her station. I, of course, couldn't resist getting to wander around the halls of a major news station, so I was in for sure.
It was a cool day, I got to meet a number of news people that I've never heard of, and they were chock full of advice for the aspiring journalist.
What was also neat was were were taken to the on-air booth of the Chuck Chandler show, the morning show on Cool 880 (I didn't know that until this morning.) So he asked if any of us were actual eager disc-jockeys. My professor immediately pointed to me, and the next thing I know I'm sitting with my lips nearly pressed against a gigantic radio microphone, announcing the Chuck Chandler show on live radio.
What was really freaky about the experience was I had about five seconds to figure out what I was doing, which involved figuring out what the guy's name was, memorize what I was going to say and stop the orgy of butterflies swarming through my insides, and then I did it, and it was apparently perfect.
Now, no one I know listens to Cool 880 in the mornings, so chances are no one I know heard me. But still, it's a great feeling to know that I can be thrust into a totally foreign position like that and produce something resembling brilliance. So much so that I think I actually got a bit of a body-stone from the experience.
Life is good.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Thursday, November 08, 2007
That strange feeling of calm
Well, I've certainly felt the whole range of human emotions in the last two days. I felt the sting of failure, the testicle compressing castration of rejection and the sudden relief of calm. A series of tragic disappointments resulted in my falling into a oozing vat of sorrow only to be saved by grasping a passing olive branch.
A few weeks back, it was suggested by my photography professor that I might be able to get a job at local weekly SEE Magazine.
Naturally, I was excited, even a little elated, that I might have a foot into the door of the media industry. Zealously, I looked through my thousands of photos for those perfect five that would describe me as a photographer. I looked through my Wainwright photos, I looked through my fashion photos, my sports photos, everything I had done to date that was of any admiration.
Finally, I narrowed it down to 15 photos and took them to my professor to help me pick out five. Here, I should have seen the impending signs of doom by his lack of enthusiasm for the photos I had shown him. However, naive and full of fresh and greasy hope, I took my top five and produced a portfolio CD for the Artistic Director of SEE Magazine.
All was quiet.
Finally, after two weeks of suspense, I finally emailed him. What I recieved in response was a crippling critique, the first I had heard since I had picked up a camera. My portfolio, according to him, was "incredibly weak." He assured me that he saw potential, but that I was at that point not cool enough to play in his sandbox.
This followed an earlier incident of personal failure when, running on three hours sleep and two weeks of frustration, I handed in my (IMO Shitty) bathroom attendant story, only to recieve a mark on a story I had written earlier about Oil Royalties that was near dismal, barely passing with a 28/50.
Overburdened with frustration and fatigue, and completely devoid of any sense of self confidence, I succummed into slumber and began constructing vulgar metaphors.
Today, after returning from my radio class, I remained crippled with self disillusionment. Each click of the mouse in my search for contacts for my next story, not editor approved (naturally), was like pushing a boulder up a hill; I could hear my moans of displeasure as I asked that eternal question...
"What the fuck am I doing this for?"
However, determination will always solve the problems of the human race. In spite of the complete collapse of my self-esteem, I wrote down contacts and finally aquired the will to phone them.
I now have interviews set up with both the spokesman of the Canadian Atomic Veterans Association and the Ministry of Defence. With this in hand, my feelings of helplessness and failure seemed to wash away like a spot of dirt.
And now, there is calm.
There is balance in nature.
A few weeks back, it was suggested by my photography professor that I might be able to get a job at local weekly SEE Magazine.
Naturally, I was excited, even a little elated, that I might have a foot into the door of the media industry. Zealously, I looked through my thousands of photos for those perfect five that would describe me as a photographer. I looked through my Wainwright photos, I looked through my fashion photos, my sports photos, everything I had done to date that was of any admiration.
Finally, I narrowed it down to 15 photos and took them to my professor to help me pick out five. Here, I should have seen the impending signs of doom by his lack of enthusiasm for the photos I had shown him. However, naive and full of fresh and greasy hope, I took my top five and produced a portfolio CD for the Artistic Director of SEE Magazine.
All was quiet.
Finally, after two weeks of suspense, I finally emailed him. What I recieved in response was a crippling critique, the first I had heard since I had picked up a camera. My portfolio, according to him, was "incredibly weak." He assured me that he saw potential, but that I was at that point not cool enough to play in his sandbox.
This followed an earlier incident of personal failure when, running on three hours sleep and two weeks of frustration, I handed in my (IMO Shitty) bathroom attendant story, only to recieve a mark on a story I had written earlier about Oil Royalties that was near dismal, barely passing with a 28/50.
Overburdened with frustration and fatigue, and completely devoid of any sense of self confidence, I succummed into slumber and began constructing vulgar metaphors.
Today, after returning from my radio class, I remained crippled with self disillusionment. Each click of the mouse in my search for contacts for my next story, not editor approved (naturally), was like pushing a boulder up a hill; I could hear my moans of displeasure as I asked that eternal question...
"What the fuck am I doing this for?"
However, determination will always solve the problems of the human race. In spite of the complete collapse of my self-esteem, I wrote down contacts and finally aquired the will to phone them.
I now have interviews set up with both the spokesman of the Canadian Atomic Veterans Association and the Ministry of Defence. With this in hand, my feelings of helplessness and failure seemed to wash away like a spot of dirt.
And now, there is calm.
There is balance in nature.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Origin of War repost
We, as a civilization, continually make the same mistakes over and over again. A good study of history would make one realize that most humans were in a near constant state of war for the the last 30,000 years. Most likely, it all started when bacteria "A" ate bacteria "B"'s food particle, and we've been fighting ever since.
Thus, evolution began.
With the declaration of war by bacteria B, the three billion year war began. 10^114 innocents were raped. 10^99543 were killed, often eaten alive. At first it was between those that wanted to eat their food particles in peace and those who wanted to hoard food particles for themselves. At first, the two sides were evenly matched, but the hoarders ate more and got bigger, until they started to see the pacifists as food. Thus the war became more intense. The pacifists now needed a means to protect themselves from the predators. They opted for a variety of defenses, poisonous gases, calcium spikes, gorging on food particles themselves, but the wiley predators were always a step ahead of them. For three billion years the two sides battled, although the battlefield changed dramatically through that time. At first, the sides were clearly drawn, but as the conflict raged on, it was eventually forgotten what the fuss as all about. This took approximately two weeks. However, some three billion years later, a sign of change has arisen. For the first time in known history, a peaceful resolve is brewing amoung many of the thousand sides. People now willingly march in the streets and tell the alpha males to merrily fuck off when the they tell \ them to send their children to die. It's a start, more work is needed, but for the first time, the conflict between those who have enough and those who want more is beginning to be resolved. Let us push on in this effort!
Thus, evolution began.
With the declaration of war by bacteria B, the three billion year war began. 10^114 innocents were raped. 10^99543 were killed, often eaten alive. At first it was between those that wanted to eat their food particles in peace and those who wanted to hoard food particles for themselves. At first, the two sides were evenly matched, but the hoarders ate more and got bigger, until they started to see the pacifists as food. Thus the war became more intense. The pacifists now needed a means to protect themselves from the predators. They opted for a variety of defenses, poisonous gases, calcium spikes, gorging on food particles themselves, but the wiley predators were always a step ahead of them. For three billion years the two sides battled, although the battlefield changed dramatically through that time. At first, the sides were clearly drawn, but as the conflict raged on, it was eventually forgotten what the fuss as all about. This took approximately two weeks. However, some three billion years later, a sign of change has arisen. For the first time in known history, a peaceful resolve is brewing amoung many of the thousand sides. People now willingly march in the streets and tell the alpha males to merrily fuck off when the they tell \ them to send their children to die. It's a start, more work is needed, but for the first time, the conflict between those who have enough and those who want more is beginning to be resolved. Let us push on in this effort!
On Stupidity - Repost
So let's see, the lame word of the day is stupid. People use this word and variations a lot. It's, well, stupid. I've heard the word stupid to describe a wide variety of activities, most of which aren't stupid. Most things are not stupid. What is true is that people have specialized intellects. Due to the conditions one endures (or concieves to endure) and the tasks one feels that they need to learn to please their food providers (usually parents.) These conditions are quite varied, and by adult age these lessons and methods of survival are quite engraned. People raised on TV and Books are not necesarily athletes and the memorization of motor controls is somewhat difficult, and stopping and relaxing and thinking activities through and reading and such is somewhat difficult to those who relied mainly on physical activities to get their "perks" and food. Consequentially, things that occur to some under some circumstanes do not occur to others. Remember, no one sees the world in the same manner; and it's primarally because of this. Our entire minds are the products of everything we've experienced. No one is stupid.
Okay, since we've established that people aren't actually stupid, why are so many people identified as "idiots"? It is because most people attach their egos, that being the part of our mind that we use to interact with the universe ie other people, social roles, dealing with others. Most people say someone else is stupid because they don't agree with them on how to acomplish various tasks. So stop doing that. Every idea is worth a minute of rational analysis. Take time to breathe and think. It helps the head.
Okay, since we've established that people aren't actually stupid, why are so many people identified as "idiots"? It is because most people attach their egos, that being the part of our mind that we use to interact with the universe ie other people, social roles, dealing with others. Most people say someone else is stupid because they don't agree with them on how to acomplish various tasks. So stop doing that. Every idea is worth a minute of rational analysis. Take time to breathe and think. It helps the head.
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