Final Reflection

I decided to take journalism this year as my elective because I enjoy writing. I have no future plans of going into a career field that involves journalism but I believe that it has helped me expand my writing abilities. I have contributed numerous articles to Cumberland High Schools digital initiative, the Scanner. I choose to write in the Headlines department because I enjoyed doing research on various events and pieces of news. I learned how to research information better, rather than just "Googling" things. I became the Headlines editor but I tended to drift and occasionally write articles for the Pop-Culture section. Now that the semester is over I think that I should have originally signed-up to be in the Pop-Culture section because of the simple fact that one of my most visited websites is perezhilton.com and I enjoy knowing the latest buzz on celebrities, music and movies.In total, I contributed 14 articles to the Scanner and also to my blog. The topics of these articles ranged from AIDs awareness and suicide bombings in Pakistan to PPAC reviews. Every week I contributed a headlines article and every time I had to work at PPAC, I would write a review on the latest show there.
I think that overall I did a good job writing articles. There were certain articles that I feel that I defiantly could have done more research on the subject and write a little bit more. I tried to write about a range of different topics to keep things interested.
I also enrolled in this course after having Mr. Twining freshman year as my English teacher. I love him as a teacher and not only did I learn about English and journalism, but I gained a lot of real-world knowledge. Overall I enjoyed this class a lot; Mr. Twining gave us the freedom to do what we want in class but gave us the responsibility of making sure our articles are in on time.

So You Think You Can Dance

Season 6 of So You Think You Can Dance was said to be one of the best seasons with some of the most talented dancers. Through 24 episodes we saw the top 20 dancers grow as dancers from auditions to the finale. The top six dancers included Ellenore Scott, a quirky jazz dancer, Kathryn McCormick, an amazing contemporary dancer, ballroom dancers Ashleigh and Ryan Di Lello who were the first married couple to ever be on the show and Contemporary dancer Jakob Karr who came in second place. The title of “America’s Favorite Dancer” was taken by Russell Ferguson, a Boston native krumper. In the end it was down to Jakob with his extensive training and marvelous technique and Russell a raw and rugged street dancer. Jakob was most anticipated finalist but America loves an underdog. Russell walked away with a quarter of a million dollars.The finale consisted of the judges’ favorite dances and group numbers which included everyone from the top 20. Adam Lambert, Jennifer Lopez, Leona Lewis, Mary J. Blige and the Groovaloos all performed in the finale. My favorite dancers included Nathan Trasoras, an 18 year old contemporary dancer. He originally auditioned season 5, but he was only 17 and was not allowed to go through to the next round. Though he was one of the youngest people on the show, he was one of the most talented. Nathan is a fantastic dancer who wasn't given enough credit for his abilities. He was constantly criticized for being too immature. When Nathan gave his amazing solo the week he was eliminated from the show, executive producer and judge, Nigal Lythgoe said "The sad thing is that Nathan's solo tonight was probably the best he's ever done...smug comments post criticism may have contributed to his elimination." Mollee Gray, also one of the youngest contestants in the competition was also among one of my favorite dancers. Her personality was beyond amazing, she was also excited and very free spirited. In the beginning of the show she was parted up with Nathan and they were both criticized for dancing too immature, but once she was partnered with Jakob for the Viennese waltz, everyone saw her blossom into a mature dancer. She and Nathan seemed to be a fan favorite in the beginning, but that was proven wrong when they we’re both eliminated. If I had to choose one person that I would have liked to win from the top 6, it would be Kathryn. The growth she endured on the show was phenomenal and she was an amazing dancer to begin with.

Burj Khalifa

After over 6 years of construction, Dubai has finally opened the world’s tallest building. This 168-story skyscraper towers over the city at 2,716 feet. The building cost $1.5 billion to build and has been named the Burj Khalifa. This skyscraper has been called “the Vertical City” and even uses as much electricity as an entire city. The Burj Khalifa houses an Armani hotel, night clubs, restaurants, the world’s highest swimming pool, apartments, multiple sky lobbies and many offices. This building is also home to the world’s faster elevator, which brings guest up levels at 40 mph. The sky scraper was built solely for the financial benefit of tourism. It has also been said that on a clear day the view from the top can reach an astounding 75 km into the distance.The Burj Khalifa has been named after Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates

Earthquake

On Tuesday January 12th, Haiti was struck by a major earthquake which reached an astounding 7.0 on the Richter scale. Witnesses reported damages to buildings throughout the capital, including the president's residence and homes nearby. Schools, hospitals and public buildings were destroyed leaving many people homeless and without familes. When the quake hit, a cloud of dust rose over the city and covered it for about 20 minutes. Witnesses say that people are comeplty devestated, screaming and cryng on the streets. There are no official reports on the amount of casualties. There are numberous organizations attemping to help such as UNICEF, Haiti Emergency Relief Fund, AmeriCares Help For Haiti, and the American Red Cross.

Black Friday

The day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, is a day filled with shoppers waiting outside their favorite store at midnight and in some cases even pitching a tent and camping out. Despite the economic crisis, sales still rose because retailers are dropping their prices dramatically. According to reports from Time magazine, another reason why retailers noticed a boost in sales for Black Friday 2009 was due to the stores opening earlier than ever this year. Although there was a boost in sales on Black Friday, most people chose to stay home and shop online on Cyber Monday. This year's Cyber Monday sales totaled $687 million, up from $484 million last year. Many stores have had record breaking sales not only in store on Black Friday but online on Cyber Monday. Cyber Mondays top stops for quick online shopping included Amazon.com, JC Penney, Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy. Online traffic hit a peak at 7,666,119 million people per minute shopping. The most popular things to buy Black Friday weekend were iPods, cameras and the Wii. This weekend the average amount spend per household was aproximetly $325 which is a drop from last year which reached almost $400. I expect sales next year to rise also, we will all have to wait and see what the hectic and crazy Black Friday weekend brings us next year.

So you think you can dance finale

Season 6 of So You Think You Can Dance was said to be one of the best seasons with some of the most talented dancers. Through 24 episodes we saw the top 20 dancers grow as dancers from auditions to the finale. The top six dancers included Ellenore Scott, a quirky jazz dancer, Kathryn McCormick, an amazing contemporary dancer, ballroom dancers Ashleigh and Ryan Di Lello who were the first married couple to ever be on the show and Contemporary dancer Jakob Karr who came in second place. The title of “America’s Favorite Dancer” was taken by Russell Ferguson, a Boston native krumper.
In the end it was down to Jakob with his extensive training and marvelous technique and Russell a raw and rugged street dancer. Jakob was most anticipated finalist but America loves an underdog. Russell walked away with a quarter of a million dollars.
The finale consisted of the judges’ favorite dances and group numbers which included everyone from the top 20. Adam Lambert, Jennifer Lopez, Leona Lewis, Mary J. Blige and the Groovaloos all performed in the finale.
My favorite dancers included Nathan Trasoras, an 18 year old contemporary dancer. He originally auditioned season 5, but he was only 17 and was not allowed to go through to the next round. Though he was one of the youngest people on the show, he was one of the most talented. Nathan is a fantastic dancer who wasn't given enough credit for his abilities. He was constantly criticized for being too immature. When Nathan gave his amazing solo the week he was eliminated from the show, executive producer and judge, Nigal Lythgoe said "The sad thing is that Nathan's solo tonight was probably the best he's ever done...smug comments post criticism may have contributed to his elimination." Mollee Gray, also one of the youngest contestants in the competition was also among one of my favorite dancers. Her personality was beyond amazing, she was also excited and very free spirited. In the beginning of the show she was parted up with Nathan and they were both criticized for dancing too immature, but once she was partnered with Jakob for the Viennese waltz, everyone saw her blossom into a mature dancer. She and Nathan seemed to be a fan favorite in the beginning, but that was proven wrong when they we’re both eliminated. If I had to choose one person that I would have liked to win from the top 6, it would be Kathryn. The growth she endured on the show was phenomenal and she was an amazing dancer to begin with.

The Lovely Bones

Alice Sebold’s famous book, The Lovely Bones, has finally been made into a film, directed by Peter Jackson. From the moment I first read this book in 2004 I knew that it needed to be made into the movie. The book/film is set in 1973, and is about a young girl named Susie Salmon. Susie is murdered, raped and dismembered by her neighbor George Harvey, Susie must linger in heaven and is forced to watch her family grieve and watch her murderer prepare to kill again. The movie has been released today, December 11^th in theatres nation wide and is rated PG 13.